Evidence for νμ→ντ\nu_\mu \to \nu_\tau appearance in the CNGS neutrino beam with the OPERA experiment

The OPERA experiment is designed to search for $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\tau}$ oscillations in appearance mode i.e. through the direct observation of the $\tau$ lepton in $\nu_{\tau}$ charged current interactions. The experiment has taken data for five years, since 2008, with the CERN Neutrino to Gran Sasso beam. Previously, two $\nu_{\tau}$ candidates with a $\tau$ decaying into hadrons were observed in a sub-sample of data of the 2008-2011 runs. Here we report the observation of a third $\nu_\tau$ candidate in the $\tau^-\to\mu^-$ decay channel coming from the analysis of a sub-sample of the 2012 run. Taking into account the estimated background, the absence of $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\tau}$ oscillations is excluded at the 3.4 $\sigma$ level.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

Attention bias to emotional faces varies by IQ and anxiety in Williams syndrome

Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) often experience significant anxiety. A promising approach to anxiety intervention has emerged from cognitive studies of attention bias to threat. To investigate the utility of this intervention in WS, this study examined attention bias to happy and angry faces in individuals with WS (N=46). Results showed a significant difference in attention bias patterns as a function of IQ and anxiety. Individuals with higher IQ or higher anxiety showed a significant bias toward angry, but not happy faces, whereas individuals with lower IQ or lower anxiety showed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that attention bias interventions to modify a threat bias may be most effectively targeted to anxious individuals with WS with relatively high IQ

Pharmacological activation of the ryanodine receptor in Jurkat T-lymphocytes

1. Recently, we provided evidence for cyclic adenosine 5′-diphosphate-ribose, cADP-ribose, as a second messenger in Jurkat T-lymphocytes upon stimulation of the T-cell receptor/CD3- complex (Guse et al., 1999). cADP-ribose mobilizes Ca(2+) from an intracellular Ca(2+) store which is sensitive to caffeine and gated by the ryanodine receptor/Ca(2+) release channel. In the present study we investigated the ability of the trypanocidal drug, suramin, to activate the ryanodine receptor of T-cells. Since suramin cannot permeate the plasma membrane, it was necessary to microinject the drug into Fura-2 loaded T-lymphocytes. 2. In a dose dependent manner suramin increased the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. The dose-response curve is very steep and calculates for an EC(50) of 7.6±2.9 mM suramin in the injection pipette. 3. Co-injection of the selective ryanodine receptor inhibitor ruthenium red completely abolished the suramin induced Ca(2+) transient. This finding allows for the conclusion that the IP(3)-receptor sensitive Ca(2+) pool is not the primary target of the suramin induced Ca(2+) transient. 4. Furthermore, Ins(1,4,6)PS(3), an antagonist of the InsP(3)-receptor could not suppress the suramin-induced Ca(2+) signal. The suramin induced Ca(2+) transients declined very slowly; however, in the presence of Ins(1,4,6)PS(3) this decay was accelerated. In addition, suramin did not interact with the cADP-ribose binding site of the ryanodine receptor of T-cells. 5. In conclusion, suramin is found to be an agonist for the T-cell ryanodine receptor as previously found for the cardiac and skeletal muscle isoform. Therefore, suramin can be designated a universal ryanodine receptor agonist