Acute reversible inactivation of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis induces antidepressant-like effect in the rat forced swimming test

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) is a limbic forebrain structure involved in hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis regulation and stress adaptation. Inappropriate adaptation to stress is thought to compromise the organism's coping mechanisms, which have been implicated in the neurobiology of depression. However, the studies aimed at investigating BNST involvement in depression pathophysiology have yielded contradictory results. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of temporary acute inactivation of synaptic transmission in the BNST by local microinjection of cobalt chloride (CoCl₂) in rats subjected to the forced swimming test (FST).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Rats implanted with cannulae aimed at the BNST were submitted to 15 min of forced swimming (pretest). Twenty-four hours later immobility time was registered in a new 5 min forced swimming session (test). Independent groups of rats received bilateral microinjections of CoCl₂(1 mM/100 nL) before or immediately after pretest or before the test session. Additional groups received the same treatment and were submitted to the open field test to control for unspecific effects on locomotor behavior.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CoCl₂injection into the BNST before either the pretest or test sessions reduced immobility in the FST, suggesting an antidepressant-like effect. No significant effect of CoCl₂was observed when it was injected into the BNST immediately after pretest. In addition, no effect of BNST inactivation was observed in the open field test.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that acute reversible inactivation of synaptic transmission in the BNST facilitates adaptation to stress and induces antidepressant-like effects.</p

Patologia dos anexos oculares

Os principais temas da patologia dos anexos oculares foram revistos, com ênfase nas patologias que pertencem ao campo de atuação da oculoplástica.The main topics of the adnexal ocular pathology were reviewed with emphasis in the pathologic conditions that belong to the oculoplastic field

Simulação Empresarial: desenvolvimento de novas funcionalidades

O modelo de Simulação Empresarial é desenvolvido na unidade curricular, com a mesma designação, do 3º ano da licenciatura em Contabilidade ministrada no Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do ISCA da Universidade de Aveiro. No âmbito de protocolos interinstitucionais, abrange uma rede de escolas do ensino superior politécnico portuguesas, e ainda dois estabelecimentos de ensino superior moçambicanos: Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Maputo e Chibuto) e Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Auditoria de Moçambique (Maputo). As metodologias de ensino inovadoras presentes nesta rede de ensino implicam um acompanhamento contínuo das equipas de docentes envolvidas por forma a tornar real a partilha de experiências. Com este projeto procurou-se melhorar o conjunto de instrumentos que facilitam a automatização da informação relevante para avaliação do aluno, face aos dados que estes têm de submeter na plataforma no decorrer da unidade curricular.Simulação Empresarial’s model is part of the unit with the same name, present in the the 3th year of the program's degree of “licenciatura em Contabilidade”, offered by Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do ISCA, University of Aveiro. It is a net model, which includes several portuguese politechnical schools and also two mozambican institutions, the University Eduardo Mondlane (in Maputo and Chibuto) and Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Auditoria (in Maputo). This teaching network brings inovative methodologies that requires a continuous support to local teachers so they can experience a real teaching sharing event. With this project we take one further step to improve the set of working instruments. The goal is to facilitate the automatization of treating relevant information related to the process of evaluation of students, considering the amount of data they have to upload into the platform during the course

Crystallographic studies on decameric Brucella spp. lumazine synthase: A novel quaternary arrangement evolved for a new function?

The enzyme lumazine synthase (LS) catalyzes the penultimate step of riboflavin biosynthesis in plants, fungi and bacteria. The quaternary structure of the polypeptide differs between species, existing as pentamers or as icosahedrally arranged dodecamers of pentamers with 60 subunits. The pathogen Brucella spp. expresses two proteins that exhibit LS activity, RibH1 and RibH2. The latter enzyme belongs to a novel third category of quaternary arrangement for LS, that of a decameric structure assembled as a head-to-head oriented dimer of pentamers. In contrast, the RibH1 enzyme is assembled as a pentamer, as noted for several other LS enzymes. RibH1 appears to be the functional LS in Brucella spp., whereas RibH2, an enzyme of lower catalytic activity, is a virulence factor presumably acting in response to oxidative stress. The latter observation prompted us to further investigate the structural and catalytic properties of RibH2 in order to clarify the biological function of this enzyme. Here, we present a detailed analysis of two new crystallographic forms of RibH2 that explain the low catalytic activity of this enzyme in comparison with RibH1 and other LSs. Additionally, we analyze the effect of pH on the structure of this enzyme, and the binding of riboflavin and 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine to its active site.Fil: Klinke, Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Zylberman, Vanesa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Vega, Daniel Roberto. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Guimarães, Beatriz G.. Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron; BrasilFil: Braden, Bradford C.. Bowie State University; Estados UnidosFil: Goldbaum, Fernando Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Study of the potential employment of Malvaceae Species in composites materials

The employ of vegetal fibers for textiles and composites represents a great potential in economic and social sustainable development. Some Malvaceae species are considered tropical cosmopolitans, such as from Sida genus. Several species of this genus provide excellent textile bast fibers, which are very similar in qualities to the jute textile fiber. The objective of the present study is present the physicochemical characterization of six Brazilian vegetal fibers: Sida rhombifolia L.; Sida carpinifolia L. f.; Sidastrum paniculatum (L.) Fryxell; Sida cordifolia L.; Malvastrum coromandelianum (L.) Gurck; Wissadula subpeltata (Kuntze) R.E.Fries. Respectively the two first species are from Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome and the four remaining from Brazilian Cerrado biome, despite of present in other regions of the planet. The stems of these species were retted in water at 37oC for 20 days. The fibers were tested in order to determine tensile rupture strength, tenacity, elongation, Young’s modulus, cross microscopic structure, Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), regain, combustion, acid, alkali, organic solvent and cellulase effects, pH of the aqueous extract, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The obtained values were compared with those from fibers of recognized applicability in the textile industry including hemp. The results are promising in terms of their employment in thermoset and thermoplastic medium resistance composites.FAPESP (“Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo”), CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and CNPq (“Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico”) are gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Ervin Sriubas Jr. and Kellinton José Mendonça Francisco for their technical support

Análise Paramétrica do Transporte Sedimentar a Barlamar de um Esporão: Impacto na Evolução da Linha de Costa.

Este trabalho pretende contribuir para a otimização do desempenho do programa de modelação numérica LTC (Long Term Configuration), através da análise do comportamento da linha de costa, em função da alteração gradual de determinados parâmetros de entrada. Para tal foi avaliada a influência dos parâmetros e a sensibilidade do modelo num caso de estudo com uma extensão de 10km de praia, a barlamar de um esporão de 145m de comprimento. Numa primeira análise foi avaliada a influência da definição da largura ativa dos perfis transversais na proximidade a sotamar do esporão. Para efetuar esta avaliação, foi definido um valor de profundidade de fecho igual ao do perfil imediatamente a barlamar, ao longo de diferentes extensões a sotamar, em função do comprimento do esporão. Numa segunda e terceira análises foi estudado o efeito da alteração dos ângulos de atrito dos sedimentos e da batimetria inicial, respetivamente. A alteração do ângulo de atrito na direção transversal não originou alteração da posição da linha de costa, enquanto que o aumento do ângulo de atrito na direção longitudinal originou um avanço da posição da linha de costa. O cenário onde se procedeu à alteração da batimetria inicial foi o que registou maior impacto na posição da linha de costa, com diferenças significativas nos resultados. Uma última análise consistiu no estudo da influência do coeficiente de transporte sedimentar. A configuração da linha de costa foi calculada para diferentes instantes de cálculo, correspondendo aos tempos de enchimento obtidos para cada valor do coeficiente de transporte e a um tempo de cerca de 40 anos, correspondente a uma situação de equilíbrio da praia. Verifica-se que o valor do coeficiente de transporte apenas afeta a rapidez com que a linha de costa atinge determinada posição. Palavras-chave: Análise de sensibilidade; Coeficiente de transporte; LTC; Modelo numérico; Posição da linha de costa

On human-in-the-loop CPS in healthcare: a cloud-enabled mobility assistance service

Despite recent advancements on cloud-enabled and human-in-the-loop cyber-physical systems, there is still a lack of understanding of how infrastructure-related quality of service (QoS) issues affect user-perceived quality of experience (QoE). This work presents a pilot experiment over a cloud-enabled mobility assistive device providing a guidance service and investigates the relationship between QoS and QoE in such a system. In our pilot experiment, we employed the CloudWalker, a system linking smart walkers and cloud platforms, to physically interact with users. Different QoS conditions were emulated to represent an architecture in which control algorithms are performed remotely. Results point out that users report satisfactory interaction with the system even under unfavorable QoS conditions. We also found statistically significant data linking QoE degradation to poor QoS conditions. We finalize discussing the interplay between QoS requirements, the human-in-the-loop effect, and the perceived QoE in healthcare applications