The African Lungfish (\u3cem\u3eProtopterus dolloi\u3c/em\u3e): Ionoregulation and Osmoregulation in a Fish out of Water

Although urea production and metabolism in lungish have been thoroughly studied, we have little knowledge of how internal osmotic and electrolyte balance are controlled during estivation or in water. We tested the hypothesis that, compared with the body surface of teleosts, the slender African lungfish (Protopterus dolloi) body surface was relatively impermeable to water, Na+ and Cl- due to its greatly reduced gills. Accordingly, we measured the tritiated water (3H-H2O) flux in P. dolloi in water and during air exposure. In water, 3H-H2O efflux was comparable with the lowest measurements reported in freshwater teleosts, with a rate constant (K) of 17.6% body water h-1. Unidirectional ion fluxes, measured using 22Na+ and 36Cl-, indicated that Na+ and Cl- influx was more than 90% lower than values reported in most freshwater teleosts. During air exposure, a cocoon formed within 1 wk that completely covered the dorsolateral body surface. However, there were no disturbances to blood osmotic or ion (Na+, Cl-) balance, despite seven- to eightfold increases in plasma urea after 20 wk. Up to 13-fold increases in muscle urea (on a dry-weight basis) were the likely explanation for the 56% increase in muscle water content observed after 20 wk of air exposure. The possibility that muscle acted as a “water reservoir” during air exposure was supported by the 20% decline in body mass observed during subsequent reimmersion in water. This decline in body mass was equivalent to 28 mL water in a 100-g animal and was very close to the calculated net water gain (approximately 32 mL) observed during the 20-wk period of air exposure. Tritiated water and unidirectional ion fluxes on air-exposed lungfish revealed that the majority of water and ion exchange was via the ventral body surface at rates that were initially similar to aquatic rates. The 3H-H2O flux declined over time but increased upon reimmersion. We conclude that the slender lungfish body surface, including the gills, has relatively low permeability to water and ions but that the ventral surface is an important site of osmoregulation and ionoregulation. We further propose that an amphibian-like combination of ventral skin water and ion permeability, plus internal urea accumulation during air exposure, allows P. dolloi to extract water from its surroundings and to store water in the muscle when the water supply becomes limited

The use of new digital information and communication technologies in psychological counseling during the CoViD-19 pandemic

The use of digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) has enabled many professionals to continue to provide their services during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about the adoption of ICTs by psychologists and the impact of such technologies on their practice. This study aimed to explore psychologists’ practices related with the use of ICTs before and during the COVID-19 lockdown, to identify the main changes that the pandemic has brought and the impact that such changes have had on their practice with clients, and also identify the factors that potentially have affected such changes. The Portuguese Psychologists Association announced the study, and 108 psychologists responded to an online survey during the mandatory lockdown. The results showed that these professionals continued to provide their services due to having adopted ICTs. Comparing with face-to-face interventions, psychologists recognized that additional precautions/knowledge were needed to use such technologies. Despite the challenges identified, they described the experience with the use of ICTs as positive, meeting clients’ adherence, and yielding positive results. Psychologists with the most years of professional experience maintained their services the most, but those with average experience showed the most favorable attitudes toward the use of technologies and web-based interventionsThis research was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through R&D Units funding (UIDB/05210/2020), and through a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/138723/2018) awarded to Andreia Geraldo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Increased gene expression of a facilitated diffusion urea transporter in the skin of the African lungfish (Protopterus annectens) during massively elevated post-terrestrialization urea excretion

The full-length cDNA sequence of a putative urea transporter (IfUl) of the facilitated diffusion UT-A type has been cloned from the African lungfish Protopterus annectens. The IFUTcDNA is 1990bp in length and its open reading frame encodes a 409 amino acid long protein, with a calculated molecular mass of 44,723 Da. The sequence is closest to those of amphibians (∼65% amino acid homology), followed by mammals and elasmobranchs (∼60%), and then teleosts (∼50%). IfUT was clearly expressed in gill, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle and skin. Upon re-immersion in water after 33days of air exposure (\u27terrestrialization\u27), lungfish exhibited a massive rise in urea-N excretion which peaked at 12-30h with rates of 2000-5000μmol-N kg-1 h -1 (versus normal aquatic rates of \u3c130μmol-Nkg -1h-1) and persisted until 70h. This appears to occur mainly through the skin. Total \u27excess\u27 urea-N excretion amounted to ∼81,000-91,000 μmol-N kg-1 over 3 days. By real-time PCR, there was no difference in IfUT expression in the ventral abdominal skin between aquatic ammoniotelic controls and terrestrialized lungfish immediately after return to water (0h), and no elevation of urea-N excretion at this time. However, skin biopsies revealed a significant 2.55-fold elevation of IfUT expression at 14h, coincident with peak urea-N excretion. At 48h, there was no longer any significant difference in IFUT mRNA levels from those at 0 and 14h, or from aquatic fed controls. In accordance with earlier studies, which identified elevated urea-N excretion w\u27athe skin of P. dolloi with pharmacology typical of UT-A carriers, these results argue that transcriptional activation of a facilitated diffusion type urea transporter (IfUT) occurs in the skin during re-immersion. This serves to clear the body burden of urea-N accumulated during terrestrialization

Incontinentia pigmenti presenting as hypodontia in a 3-year-old girl: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Incontinentia pigmenti or Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome is a rare X-linked dominant disease that mainly affects the skin, eyes, hair, central nervous system and teeth. The disease is predominant among women. Although dermatologic manifestations are among the most important aspects for the diagnosis of the syndrome, they are less damaging to the patient and do not require treatment. However, oral involvement characterized by hypodontia of deciduous and permanent teeth is important for the diagnosis and treatment of the patient.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 3-year-old girl with ophthalmologic and neurologic disturbances, cutaneous manifestations and hypodontia. Since the patient did not present more damaging manifestations such as neurologic and/or ophthalmologic problems, her most severe complications were related to dental anomalies. The importance of integrated dental treatment, which combines pediatric dentistry, orthodontics and conventional prosthesis, is emphasized.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Hypodontia is a frequent finding in incontinentia pigmenti, and dentists should be aware of this condition in order to help with the diagnosis.</p

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN