Optogenetically enhanced pituitary corticotroph cell activity post-stress onset causes rapid organizing effects on behaviour

The anterior pituitary is the major link between nervous and hormonal systems, which allow the brain to generate adequate and flexible behaviour. Here, we address its role in mediating behavioural adjustments that aid in coping with acutely threatening environments. For this we combine optogenetic manipulation of pituitary corticotroph cells in larval zebrafish with newly developed assays for measuring goal-directed actions in very short timescales. Our results reveal modulatory actions of corticotroph cell activity on locomotion, avoidance behaviours and stimulus responsiveness directly after the onset of stress. Altogether, the findings uncover the significance of endocrine pituitary cells for rapidly optimizing behaviour in local antagonistic environments

Altered glucocorticoid reactivity and behavioral phenotype in rx3-/- larval zebrafish

Introduction: The transcription factor rx3 is important for the formation of the pituitary and parts of the hypothalamus. Mutant animals lacking rx3 function have been well characterized in developmental studies, but relatively little is known about their behavioral phenotypes. Methods: We used cell type staining to reveal differences in stress axis architecture, and performed cortisol measurements and behavior analysis to study both hormonal and behavioral stress responses in rx3 mutants. Results and Discussion: Consistent with the role of rx3 in hypothalamus and pituitary development, we show a distinct loss of corticotrope cells involved in stress regulation, severe reduction of pituitary innervation by hypothalamic cells, and lack of stress-induced cortisol release in rx3 mutants. Interestingly, despite these deficits, we report that rx3-/- larval zebrafish can still display nominal behavioral responses to both stressful and non-stressful stimuli. However, unlike wildtypes, mutants lacking proper pituitary-interrenal function do not show enhanced behavioral performance under moderate stress level, supporting the view that corticotroph cells are not required for behavioral responses to some types of stressful stimuli but modulate subtle behavioral adjustments under moderate stress

Analysis of the coefficients of cytological examination performed and altered in paraná / análise dos coeficientes de exames citopatológicos realizados e alterados no paraná

Objetivo: analisar o comportamento dos coeficientes de exames citopatológicos realizados e alterados em mulheres Paranaenses no período de 2006 a 2014. Método: estudo transversal do tipo ecológico, utilizou dados do Sistema de Informação do Câncer do Colo do Útero, segundo faixa etária de 15 a 59 anos. Foi calculada a razão entre o número de casos de câncer de colo uterino, segundo a faixa etária, e mulheres paranaenses da mesma faixa etária, divididos por 100.000. Resultados: apresentaram-se segundo estatística descritiva, utilizando gráficos e tabelas. Mostraram um aumento de exames realizados nas faixas etárias 15-19 e 50-59 anos, e quedas nas centrais, 20-49 anos. Os exames alterados aumentaram no período estudado nas faixas de 15-19 e 30-49 anos, e caíram nas demais. Conclusão: o estudo evidencia uma mudança no perfil daquelas que procuram o exame citopatológico, com aumento da busca pelas jovens, assim como de exames alterados nas mesmas.  

Analysis of the coefficients of cytological examination performed and altered in paraná / análise dos coeficientes de exames citopatológicos realizados e alterados no paraná

Objetivo: analisar o comportamento dos coeficientes de exames citopatológicos realizados e alterados em mulheres Paranaenses no período de 2006 a 2014. Método: estudo transversal do tipo ecológico, utilizou dados do Sistema de Informação do Câncer do Colo do Útero, segundo faixa etária de 15 a 59 anos. Foi calculada a razão entre o número de casos de câncer de colo uterino, segundo a faixa etária, e mulheres paranaenses da mesma faixa etária, divididos por 100.000. Resultados: apresentaram-se segundo estatística descritiva, utilizando gráficos e tabelas. Mostraram um aumento de exames realizados nas faixas etárias 15-19 e 50-59 anos, e quedas nas centrais, 20-49 anos. Os exames alterados aumentaram no período estudado nas faixas de 15-19 e 30-49 anos, e caíram nas demais. Conclusão: o estudo evidencia uma mudança no perfil daquelas que procuram o exame citopatológico, com aumento da busca pelas jovens, assim como de exames alterados nas mesmas.  

Serum Cystatin C Reflects the Progress of Albuminuria

BackgroundResearch on the relationship between urinary albumin excretion and serum cystatin C in diabetes is restricted to cross-sectional studies. In this study, we investigated how well serial measurements of serum cystatin C level reflect changes in the urinary albumin excretion rate.MethodsWe enrolled and retrospectively collected data on 1,058 participants with type 2 diabetes who were older than 18 years and who had more than 3 years of follow-up with serial measurements of albuminuria and serum cystatin C at an outpatient clinic.ResultsWith the use of a linear mixed model, we found that the albuminuria level for each patient over time corresponded with the annual change in serum cystatin C-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (cysC-eGFR) but did not correspond with the creatinine-based eGFR calculated by the modification of diet in renal disease formula (MDRD-eGFR). The discrepancy in the direction of the trend was smaller with cysC-eGFR than with MDRD-eGFR.ConclusionSerum cystatin C level reflects the trend in albuminuria level more accurately than serum creatinine level in Korean type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

The behavior of larval zebrafish reveals stressor-mediated anorexia during early vertebrate development

The relationship between stress and food consumption has been well documented in adults but less so in developing vertebrates. Here we demonstrate that an encounter with a stressor can suppress food consumption in larval zebrafish. Furthermore, we provide indication that food intake suppression cannot be accounted for by changes in locomotion, oxygen consumption and visual responses, as they remain unaffected after exposure to a potent stressor. We also show that feeding reoccurs when basal levels of cortisol (stress hormone in humans and teleosts) are re-established. The results present evidence that the onset of stress can switch off the drive for feeding very early in vertebrate development, and add a novel endpoint for analyses of metabolic and behavioral disorders in an organism suitable for high-throughput genetics and non-invasive brain imaging

Positive taxis and sustained responsiveness to water motions in larval zebrafish

Larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become favored subjects for studying the neural bases of behavior. Here, we report a highly stereotyped response of zebrafish larvae to hydrodynamic stimuli. It involves positive taxis, motion damping and sustained responsiveness to flows derived from local, non-stressful water motions. The response depends on the lateral line and has a high sensitivity to stimulus frequency and strength, sensory background and rearing conditions—also encompassing increased threshold levels of response to parallel input. The results show that zebrafish larvae can use near-field detection to locate sources of minute water motions, and offer a unique handle for analyses of hydrodynamic sensing, sensory responsiveness and arousal with accurate control of stimulus properties

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV