Early-life stress induces persistent alterations in 5-HT1A receptor and serotonin transporter mRNA expression in the adult rat brain

Early-life experience plays a major role in the stress response throughout life. Neonatal maternal separation (MS) is an animal model of depression with an altered serotonergic response. We hypothesize that this alteration may be caused by differences in 5-HT(1A) receptor and serotonin transporter (SERT) mRNA expression in brain areas involved in the control of emotions, memory, and fear as well as in regions controlling the central serotonergic tone. To test this, Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to MS for 3 h daily during postnatal days 2–12. As control, age matched rats were non-separated (NS) from their dams. When animals reached adulthood (11–13 weeks) brain was extracted and mRNA expression of 5-HT(1A) receptor in amygdala, hippocampus and dorsal raphé nucleus (DRN) and SERT in the DRN was analyzed through in situ hybridisation. Densitometric analysis revealed that MS increased 5-HT(1A) receptor mRNA expression in the amygdala, and reduced its expression in the DRN, but no changes were observed in the hippocampus in comparison to NS controls. Also, MS reduced SERT mRNA expression in the DRN when compared to NS rats. These results suggest that early-life stress induces persistent changes in 5-HT(1A) receptor and SERT mRNA expression in key brain regions involved in the development of stress-related psychiatric disorders. The reduction in SERT mRNA indicates an alteration that is in line with clinical findings such as polymorphic variants in individuals with higher risk of depression. These data may help to understand how early-life stress contributes to the development of mood disorders in adulthood

Sensing with coupled-core optical fiber Bragg gratings

[EN] Sensitive bending and vibration sensors based on a coupled-core optical fiber with Bragg gratings are proposed and demonstrated. The interrogation of such sensors is cost effective without comprising the sensors performance.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under projects No. PGC2018-101997-B100 and RTI2018-0944669-BC31 and the Universitat Politècnica de València with the scholarship PAID-01-18.Flores-Bravo, JA.; Madrigal-Madrigal, J.; Zubia, J.; Margulis, W.; Sales Maicas, S.; Villatoro, J. (2021). Sensing with coupled-core optical fiber Bragg gratings. Optica Publishing Group. 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1364/FIO.2021.FM2C.21

Entorno colaborativo para el aprendizaje a distancia del diseño domótico mediante simulación

Tanto el CSCW como la domótica son áreas emergentes de investigación. En este trabajo se presenta un entorno cooperativo de trabajo para la realización de tareas de diseño domótico y su aprendizaje. Esta herramienta, que se puede utilizar a distancia, se basa en la planificación y la simulación mediante ordenador para lograr estos propósitos.CSCW and Domotics are two emerging areas of research. In this work, we are presenting a cooperative work environment for the learning and realization of domotic design tasks. To achieve these objectives, this tool, which can be used in a remote way, is based on planning and simulation through computers

Phosphorus availability drives mycorrhiza induced resistance in tomato

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis can provide multiple benefits to the host plant, including improved nutrition and protection against biotic stress. Mycorrhiza induced resistance (MIR) against pathogens and insect herbivores has been reported in different plant systems, but nutrient availability may influence the outcome of the interaction. Phosphorus (P) is a key nutrient for plants and insects, but also a regulatory factor for AM establishment and functioning. However, little is known about how AM symbiosis and P interact to regulate plant resistance to pests. Here, using the tomato-Funneliformis mosseae mycorrhizal system, we analyzed the effect of moderate differences in P fertilization on plant and pest performance, and on MIR against biotic stressors including the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea and the insect herbivore Spodoperta exigua. P fertilization impacted plant nutritional value, plant defenses, disease development and caterpillar survival, but these effects were modulated by the mycorrhizal status of the plant. Enhanced resistance of F. mosseae-inoculated plants against B. cinerea and S. exigua depended on P availability, as no protection was observed under the most P-limiting conditions. MIR was not directly explained by changes in the plant nutritional status nor to basal differences in defense-related phytohormones. Analysis of early plant defense responses to the damage associated molecules oligogalacturonides showed primed transcriptional activation of plant defenses occurring at intermediate P levels, but not under severe P limitation. The results show that P influences mycorrhizal priming of plant defenses and the resulting induced-resistance is dependent on P availability, and suggest that mycorrhiza fine-tunes the plant growth vs defense prioritization depending on P availability. Our results highlight how MIR is context dependent, thus unravel molecular mechanism based on plant defence in will contribute to improve the efficacy of mycorrhizal inoculants in crop protection

Influence of Two Exercise Programs on Heart Rate Variability, Body Temperature, Central Nervous System Fatigue, and Cortical Arousal after a Heart Attack

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs’ benefits are overall consensual; however, during exercise, progressive physiological effects have not been studied yet in cardiac patients. Our study aims to analyze physiological parameters of thermography, heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, central nervous system (CNS) fatigue, and cortical arousal in heart attack patients (HAP) who belong to CR programs of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Moderate-intensity Continuous Training (MICT) compared to healthy participants. In this case control study, two HAP patients (both male, age 35 and 48, respectively) and two healthy people (both male, age 38 and 46, respectively) were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1:1 allocation ratio to one of four groups: cardiac MICT, cardiac HIIT, control MICT, and control HIIT. The HIIT at _85–95% of peak heart rate (HR) was followed by a one-minute recovery interval at 40% peakHR, and MICT at _70–75% of peakHR. Outcome measurements included thermography, HRV, blood pressure, CNS fatigue, and cortical arousal; The HAP presents more than twice the CNS fatigue in MICT than control participants, but HIIT has almost the same CNS fatigue in HAP and control. In addition, both of the HAP groups presented higher temperatures in the chest. The HIIT protocol showed better physiological responses during exercise, compared to MICT in HAP

Editorial: Obesogenic Environmental Conditions Affect Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration

Editorial on the Research Topic. Obesogenic Environmental Conditions Affect Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneratio

Playful Robotic Environment for Rehabilitation Therapies of Pediatric Patients with Upper Limb Disability

[ES] Este trabajo presenta una propuesta de asistencia para las terapias de rehabilitación de niños con lesión del miembro superior, basada en el desarrollo de un ambiente lúdico de asistencia tecnológica, cuyo objetivo es contribuir al aumento del beneficio de las terapias, en cuanto a la motivación y avance en el componente de rehabilitación físico. Este ambiente se denominó SpinBOT, y está compuesto por:  un guante didáctico instrumentado con un acelerómetro, un módulo de control, una plataforma robótica y una herramienta de visualización. Se seleccionaron 4 sujetos de estudio, divididos en dos grupos, grupo objetivo y grupo de control. La intervención de la terapia consistió en el desarrollo de 3 tareas durante 4 semanas y 2 sesiones por semana. Mediante la valoración GAS, (del inglés: “Goal Attainment Scale”) se observó el progreso del uso operativo del robot, lo que ayudó en la motivación para asistir a las terapias; además de, generar habilidades físicas y cognitivas.[EN] This project presents a proposal to assist the therapies for the children’s rehabilitation with upper limb injury, based on the development of a playful environment for technological assistance, with the goal of improving patient participation and motivation, to benefit and advance the rehabilitation patient’s therapies with upper limb disability. This environment was called SpinBOT, and consists of: a didactic glove instrumented with an accelerometer, a control module, a robotic platform and a visualization tool. Four study subjects were selected, divided into two groups, target group and control group. The intervention of the therapy consisted in the development of 3 tasks during 4 weeks and 2 sessions per week. Goal attainment scaling indicated improvement in the target group in operational competence of the robot, which facilitated the motivation to attend therapies. In addition, therapy with the robot simultaneously helped generate physical and cognitive skills.Acevedo-Londoño, JA.; Caicedo-Bravo, E.; Castillo-García, JF. (2018). Ambiente Robótico Lúdico para Terapias de Rehabilitación de Pacientes Pediátricos con Lesión del Miembro Superior. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial. 15(2):203-210. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2017.9043OJS203210152Acevedo, J. A., Bravo, E. C., & García, J. F. C. (2017). Aplicación de tecnologías de rehabilitación robótica en ni-os con lesión del miembro superior. REVISTA SALUD UIS, 49(1), 103-114.Brooke, J. (1996). SUS-A quick and dirty usability scale. Usability evaluation in industry, 189(194), 4-7.Borsci, S., Federici, S., & Lauriola, M. (2009). On the dimensionality of the System Usability Scale: a test of alternative measurement models. Cognitive processing, 10(3), 193-197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-009-0268-9Bangor, A., Kortum, P., & Miller, J. (2009). Determining what individual SUS scores mean: Adding an adjective rating scale. Journal of usability studies, 4(3), 114-123.Cook, A. M., Hoseit, P., Liu, K. M., Lee, R. Y., & Zenteno-Sanchez, C. M. (1988). Using a robotic arm system to facilitate learning in very young disabled children. IEEE Transactions on biomedical engineering, 35(2), 132-137. https://doi.org/10.1109/10.1351Cook, A. M., Liu, K. M., & Hoseit, P. (1990). Robotic arm use by very young motorically disabled children. Assistive Technology, 2(2), 51-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.1990.10132150Cook, A. M., Meng, M. H., Gu, J. J., & Howery, K. (2002). Development of a robotic device for facilitating learning by children who have severe disabilities. IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering, 10(3), 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2002.802877Cook, A. M., Bentz, B., Harbottle, N., Lynch, C., & Miller, B. (2005). School-based use of a robotic arm system by children with disabilities. IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering, 13(4), 452-460. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2005.856075Cook, A., Encarnação, P., & Adams, K. (2010). Robots: Assistive technologies for play, learning and cognitive development. Technology and Disability, 22(3), 127-145.Colombo, R., Pisano, F., Micera, S., Mazzone, A., Delconte, C., Carrozza, M. C., Dario, P., Minuco, G., 2005. Robotic techniques for upper limb evaluation and rehabilitation of stroke patients . IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering 13 (3), 311-324. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2005.848352Colomer, C., Baldovi, A., Torrome, S., Navarro, M., Moliner, B., Ferri, J., Noe, E., 2013. Efficacy of armeo® spring during the chronic phase of stroke. study in mild to moderate cases of hemiparesis. Neurologia (English Edition) 28 (5), 261-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nrl.2012.04.017Forman, G. (1986). Observations of young children solving problems with computers and robots. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 1(2), 60-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568548609594908Frank Lopresti, E., Mihailidis, A., Kirsch, N., 2004. Assistive technology for cognitive rehabilitation: State of the art. Neuropsychological rehabilitation 14 (1-2), 5-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602010343000101Harwin, W. S., Ginige, A., & Jackson, R. D. (1988). A robot workstation for use in education of the physically handicapped. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 35(2), 127-131. https://doi.org/10.1109/10.1350Hillman, M., 2004. 2 rehabilitation robotics from past to present-a historical perspective . En: Advances in Rehabilitation Robotics . Springer, pp. 25-44. https://doi.org/10.1007/10946978_2Hogan, N., Krebs, H. I., Charnnarong, J., Srikrishna, P., & Sharon, A. (1992, September). MIT-MANUS: a workstation for manual therapy and training. I. In Robot and Human Communication, 1992. Proceedings., IEEE International Workshop on (pp. 161-165). IEEE.Kiresuk, T. J., & Sherman, R. E. (1968). Goal attainment scaling: A general method for evaluating comprehensive community mental health programs. Community mental health journal, 4(6), 443-453. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01530764Kwee, H., Quaedackers, J., Van de Bool, E., Theeuwen, L., & Speth, L. (1999). POCUS project: adapting the control of the MANUS manipulator for persons with cerebral palsy. In Proceedings of International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (pp. 106-114).Maciejasz, P., Eschweiler, J., Gerlach-Hahn, K., Jansen-Troy, A., Leonhardt, S., 2014. A survey on robotic devices for upper limb rehabilitation. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation 11 (1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-0003-11-3Sale, P., Lombardi, V., Franceschini, M., 2012. Hand robotics rehabilitation: feasibility and preliminary results of a robotic treatment in patients with hemiparesis . Stroke research and treatment 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/820931Seitz, R., Kammerzell, A., Samartzi, M., Jander, S., Wojtecki, L., et al., 2014. Monitoring of visuomotor coordination in healthy subjects and patients with stroke and parkinson?s disease : an application study using the pablo-device. lnt J Neurorehabil 1, 113.Tejima, N. (2001). Rehabilitation robotics: a review. Advanced Robotics, 14(7), 551-564. https://doi.org/10.1163/156855301742003WHO, 2016. World report on disability. WHO.Wille, D., Eng, K., Holper, L., Chevrier, E., Hauser, Y., Kiper, D., Pyk, P., Schlegel, S., Meyer-Heim, A., 2009. Virtual reality-based paediatric interactive therapy system (pits) for improvement of arm and hand function in children with motor impairment?a pilot study. Developmental Neurorehabilitation 12 (1), 44-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/1751842090277311

Origin and consequences of brain Toll-like receptor 4 pathway stimulation in an experimental model of depression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a pressing need to identify novel pathophysiological pathways relevant to depression that can help to reveal targets for the development of new medications. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) has a regulatory role in the brain's response to stress. Psychological stress may compromise the intestinal barrier, and increased gastrointestinal permeability with translocation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria may play a role in the pathophysiology of major depression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to chronic mild stress (CMS) or CMS+intestinal antibiotic decontamination (CMS+ATB) protocols. Levels of components of the TLR-4 signaling pathway, of LPS and of different inflammatory, oxidative/nitrosative and anti-inflammatory mediators were measured by RT-PCR, western blot and/or ELISA in brain prefrontal cortex. Behavioral despair was studied using Porsolt's test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CMS increased levels of TLR-4 and its co-receptor MD-2 in brain as well as LPS and LPS-binding protein in plasma. In addition, CMS also increased interleukin (IL)-1β, COX-2, PGE₂and lipid peroxidation levels and reduced levels of the anti-inflammatory prostaglandin 15d-PGJ₂in brain tissue. Intestinal decontamination reduced brain levels of the pro-inflammatory parameters and increased 15d-PGJ₂, however this did not affect depressive-like behavior induced by CMS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that LPS from bacterial translocation is responsible, at least in part, for the TLR-4 activation found in brain after CMS, which leads to release of inflammatory mediators in the CNS. The use of Gram-negative antibiotics offers a potential therapeutic approach for the adjuvant treatment of depression.</p

Benefits of SpinBOT Playful Robotic Environment in the Development of Cognitive Abilities

[EN] Children with physical disabilities are at high risk of developing adverse effects on their cognitive development, due to their lack of ability to interact with the world around them. Multiple studies have demonstrated the potential of robots as tools used to assist playful activities, which allow the learning of cognitive, social, motor and language skills. In this area of application, this article describes a study with 4 children between 11 and 17 years of age, in order to evaluate a low-cost, technological assistance environment for the rehabilitation of the upper limb, which during the treatment with the Robot, allowed to demonstrate the cognitive concepts of causality, negation, symbolic play and sequencing. At the beginning and the end of the intervention, an evaluation was carried out by professionals in the psychology and physiotherapy area. An interview was applied to the therapists and parents or caregivers, where the progress of the cognitive component was observed through the use of the robot.[ES] Los niños que presentan discapacidad física corren un alto riesgo de desarrollar efectos adversos en su desarrollo cognitivo, debido a su incapacidad de interactuar con el medio. Múltiples estudios han demostrado el potencial de los robots como herramientas usadas para asistir actividades lúdicas, dado que, permiten el aprendizaje de habilidades cognitivas, sociales, motrices y de lenguaje. En este ámbito de aplicación, este artículo describe un estudio con 4 niños entre 11 y 17 años de edad, con el fin de evaluar un ambiente lúdico de asistencia tecnológica de bajo costo, para la rehabilitación del miembro superior, que, durante el tratamiento con el robot, permitió demostrar los conceptos cognitivos de causalidad, negación, juego simbólico y secuenciación. Al inicio y final de la intervención, se hizo una valoración por profesionales del área de psicología y fisioterapia. También, se entrevistó a los terapeutas y padres o cuidadores, donde se observó el progreso del componente cognitivo mediante el uso operativo del robot.Este trabajo ha sido hecho gracias a la Asesoría de la Asociación ABRAZAR, ubicada en Calarcá/Quindío Colombia. Agradecemos a su coordinadora Mónica Lorena Piedrahita, la terapeuta Julieth Calderón, al psicólogo Alejandro Valencia y a la trabajadora social Diana Lady Hurtado.Acevedo-Londoño, JA.; Caicedo-Bravo, E.; Ferney Castillo-García, J. (2019). Beneficios del Ambiente Robótico Lúdico SpinBOT en el Desarrollo de Habilidades Cognitivas. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática. 16(2):171-177. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2017.8763SWORD17117716

Impact of cross-section uncertainties on supernova neutrino spectral parameter fitting in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

This document was prepared by the DUNE Collaboration using the resources of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility. Fermilab is managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359. This work was supported by CNPq, FAPERJ, FAPEG and FAPESP, Brazil; CFI, IPP and NSERC, Canada; CERN; MSMT, Czech Republic; ERDF, H2020-EU and MSCA, European Union; CNRS/IN2P3 and CEA, France; INFN, Italy; FCT, Portugal; NRF, South Korea; CAM, Fundacion "La Caixa," Junta de Andalucia-FEDER, MICINN, and Xunta de Galicia, Spain; SERI and SNSF, Switzerland; TUBITAK, Turkey; The Royal Society and UKRI/STFC, United Kingdom; DOE and NSF, United States of America. This work was also supported by FAPESB T. O. PIE 0013/2016 and UESC/PROPP 0010299-61.A primary goal of the upcoming Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is to measure the Oo10 thorn MeV neutrinos produced by a Galactic core-collapse supernova if one should occur during the lifetime of the experiment. The liquid-argon-based detectors planned for DUNE are expected to be uniquely sensitive to the & nu;e component of the supernova flux, enabling a wide variety of physics and astrophysics measurements. A key requirement for a correct interpretation of these measurements is a good understanding of the energy-dependent total cross section & sigma;oE & nu; thorn for charged-current & nu;e absorption on argon. In the context of a simulated extraction of supernova & nu;e spectral parameters from a toy analysis, we investigate the impact of & sigma;oE & nu; thorn modeling uncertainties on DUNE's supernova neutrino physics sensitivity for the first time. We find that the currently large theoretical uncertainties on & sigma;oE & nu; thorn must be substantially reduced before the & nu;e flux parameters can be extracted reliably; in the absence of external constraints, a measurement of the integrated neutrino luminosity with less than 10% bias with DUNE requires & sigma;oE & nu; thorn to be known to about 5%. The neutrino spectral shape parameters can be known to better than 10% for a 20% uncertainty on the cross-section scale, although they will be sensitive to uncertainties on the shape of & sigma;oE & nu; thorn . A direct measurement of low-energy & nu;e-argon scattering would be invaluable for improving the theoretical precision to the needed level.CERNERDF, H2020-EUMSCA, European UnionCAM, SpainLa Caixa FoundationJunta de Andalucia-FEDER, SpainSpanish GovernmentXunta de GaliciaMICINN, SpainFAPESB T. O. PIE0013/2016UESC/PROPP 0010299-6