Litio como terapia neuroprotectora en el modelo appsl/ps1m146l de la enfermedad de Alzheimer

El litio se utiliza desde hace varias décadas en el tratamiento de trastornos bipolares y la depresión, y recientemente se debate su uso potencial en patologías neurodegenerativas como la enfermedad de Alzheimer (AD)

Measuring the Hidden Aspects of Solar Magnetism

2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of astrophysical magnetic fields, when George Ellery Hale recorded the Zeeman splitting of spectral lines in sunspots. With the introduction of Babcock's photoelectric magnetograph it soon became clear that the Sun's magnetic field outside sunspots is extremely structured. The field strengths that were measured were found to get larger when the spatial resolution was improved. It was therefore necessary to come up with methods to go beyond the spatial resolution limit and diagnose the intrinsic magnetic-field properties without dependence on the quality of the telescope used. The line-ratio technique that was developed in the early 1970s revealed a picture where most flux that we see in magnetograms originates in highly bundled, kG fields with a tiny volume filling factor. This led to interpretations in terms of discrete, strong-field magnetic flux tubes embedded in a rather field-free medium, and a whole industry of flux tube models at increasing levels of sophistication. This magnetic-field paradigm has now been shattered with the advent of high-precision imaging polarimeters that allow us to apply the so-called "Second Solar Spectrum" to diagnose aspects of solar magnetism that have been hidden to Zeeman diagnostics. It is found that the bulk of the photospheric volume is seething with intermediately strong, tangled fields. In the new paradigm the field behaves like a fractal with a high degree of self-similarity, spanning about 8 orders of magnitude in scale size, down to scales of order 10 m.Comment: To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200

Thoracic empyema with scarlatiniform rash and acral desquamation: a case report

A 5 year old girl with thoracic empyema developed a scarlatiniform rash and acral desquamation. Cultures from blood, throat, and pleural fluid all grew Streptococcus pyogenes, a common etiologic agent of pediatric thoracic empyema. The presence of a scarlatiniform rash and acral desquamation in children with a thoracic empyema may help identify the causative organism

DNA resection in eukaryotes: deciding how to fix the break

DNA double-strand breaks are repaired by different mechanisms, including homologous recombination and nonhomologous end-joining. DNA-end resection, the first step in recombination, is a key step that contributes to the choice of DSB repair. Resection, an evolutionarily conserved process that generates single-stranded DNA, is linked to checkpoint activation and is critical for survival. Failure to regulate and execute this process results in defective recombination and can contribute to human disease. Here, I review recent findings on the mechanisms of resection in eukaryotes, from yeast to vertebrates, provide insights into the regulatory strategies that control it, and highlight the consequences of both its impairment and its deregulation

The Main Belt Comets and ice in the Solar System

We review the evidence for buried ice in the asteroid belt; specifically the questions around the so-called Main Belt Comets (MBCs). We summarise the evidence for water throughout the Solar System, and describe the various methods for detecting it, including remote sensing from ultraviolet to radio wavelengths. We review progress in the first decade of study of MBCs, including observations, modelling of ice survival, and discussion on their origins. We then look at which methods will likely be most effective for further progress, including the key challenge of direct detection of (escaping) water in these bodies

Adaptation of the difficulty level in an infant-robot movement contingency study

19th International Workshop of Physical Agents (WAF). Madrid (22-23 Noviembre 2018)ABSTRACT: This paper presents a personalized contingency feedback adaptation system that aims to encourage infants aged 6 to 8 months to gradually increase the peak acceleration of their leg movements. The ultimate challenge is to determine if a socially assistive humanoid robot can guide infant learning using contingent rewards, where the reward threshold is personalized for each infant using a reinforcement learning algorithm. The model learned from the data captured by wearable inertial sensors measuring infant leg movement accelerations in an earlier study. Each infant generated a unique model that determined the behavior of the robot. The presented results were obtained from the distributions of the participants' acceleration peaks and demonstrate that the resulting model is sensitive to the degree of differentiation among the participants; each participant (infant) should have his/her own learned policy.This work was supported by NSF award 1706964 (PI: Smith, Co-PI: Matarić). In addition, this work was developed during an international mobility program at the University of Southern California being also partially funded by the European Union ECHORD++ project (FP7-ICT-601116), the LifeBots project (TIN2015-65686-C5) and THERAPIST project (TIN2012-38079)

A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws

A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust, bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero' relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies, whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling. For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to Springer: 07-June-201

Substrate finishing and niobium content effects on the high temperature corrosion resistance in steam atmosphere of CrN/NbN superlattice coatings deposited by PVD-HIPIMS

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the oxidation resistance of three PVD-HIPIMS CrN/NbN coatings, studying the effect of the surface finishing of the substrate and the role of niobium content into the coating composition. CrN/NbN nano-multilayered films on P92 steel were tested at 650°C in pure steam atmosphere. The mass gain was measured at fixed intervals to study their oxidation kinetics. The morphology and thickness of nanoscales were measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Characterization of coatings before and after the thermal treatment was performed by scanning electron microscopy-energy with facilities of dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). All coatings improved the oxidation resistance of the substrate material, but the best behaviour was exhibited by the CrN/NbN with the high niobium (Nb) content and deposited on the substrate with the finest surface finishing

Effect of genetic testing for risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus on health behaviors and outcomes: study rationale, development and design

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Type 2 diabetes is a prevalent chronic condition globally that results in extensive morbidity, decreased quality of life, and increased health services utilization. Lifestyle changes can prevent the development of diabetes, but require patient engagement. Genetic risk testing might represent a new tool to increase patients' motivation for lifestyle changes. Here we describe the rationale, development, and design of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessing the clinical and personal utility of incorporating type 2 diabetes genetic risk testing into comprehensive diabetes risk assessments performed in a primary care setting.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Patients are recruited in the laboratory waiting areas of two primary care clinics and enrolled into one of three study arms. Those interested in genetic risk testing are randomized to receive <it>either </it>a standard risk assessment (SRA) for type 2 diabetes incorporating conventional risk factors plus upfront disclosure of the results of genetic risk testing ("SRA+G" arm), <it>or </it>the SRA alone ("SRA" arm). Participants not interested in genetic risk testing will not receive the test, but will receive SRA (forming a third, "no-test" arm). Risk counseling is provided by clinic staff (not study staff external to the clinic). Fasting plasma glucose, insulin levels, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference are measured at baseline and 12 months, as are patients' self-reported behavioral and emotional responses to diabetes risk information. Primary outcomes are changes in insulin resistance and BMI after 12 months; secondary outcomes include changes in diet patterns, physical activity, waist circumference, and perceived risk of developing diabetes.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The utility, feasibility, and efficacy of providing patients with genetic risk information for common chronic diseases in primary care remain unknown. The study described here will help to establish whether providing type 2 diabetes genetic risk information in a primary care setting can help improve patients' clinical outcomes, risk perceptions, and/or their engagement in healthy behavior change. In addition, study design features such as the use of existing clinic personnel for risk counseling could inform the future development and implementation of care models for the use of individual genetic risk information in primary care.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00849563">NCT00849563</a></p