Enhanced adenosine A(1) receptor and Homer1a expression in hippocampus modulates the resilience to stress-induced depression-like behavior

Resilience to stress is critical for the development of depression. Enhanced adenosine A1 receptor (A1R) signaling mediates the antidepressant effects of acute sleep deprivation (SD). However, chronic SD causes long-lasting upregulation of brain A1R and increases the risk of depression. To investigate the effects of A1R on mood, we utilized two transgenic mouse lines with inducible A1R overexpression in forebrain neurons. These two lines have identical levels of A1R increase in the cortex, but differ in the transgenic A1R expression in the hippocampus. Switching on the transgene promotes robust antidepressant and anxiolytic effects in both lines. The mice of the line without transgenic A1R overexpression in the hippocampus (A1Hipp-) show very strong resistance towards development of stress-induced chronic depression-like behavior. In contrast, the mice of the line in which A1R upregulation extends to the hippocampus (A1Hipp+), exhibit decreased resilience to depression as compared to A1Hipp-. Similarly, automatic analysis of reward behavior of the two lines reveals that depression resistant A1Hipp-transgenic mice exhibit high sucrose preference, while mice of the vulnerable A1Hipp + line developed stress-induced anhedonic phenotype. The A1Hipp + mice have increased Homer1a expression in hippocampus, correlating with impaired long-term potentiation in the CA1 region, mimicking the stressed mice. Furthermore, virus-mediated overexpression of Homer1a in the hippocampus decreases stress resilience. Taken together our data indicate for first time that increased expression of A1R and Homer1a in the hippocampus modulates the resilience to stress-induced depression and thus might potentially mediate the detrimental effects of chronic sleep restriction on mood

Theoretical study of the absorption spectra of the lithium dimer

For the lithium dimer we calculate cross sections for absorption of radiation from the vibrational-rotational levels of the ground X [singlet Sigma g +] electronic state to the vibrational levels and continua of the excited A [singlet Sigma u +] and B [singlet Pi u] electronic states. Theoretical and experimental data are used to characterize the molecular properties taking advantage of knowledge recently obtained from photoassociation spectroscopy and ultra-cold atom collision studies. The quantum-mechanical calculations are carried out for temperatures in the range from 1000 to 2000 K and are compared with previous calculations and measurements.Comment: 20 pages, revtex, epsf, 6 fig

Project ThaiPASS: international outreach blending astronomy and Python

We present our outreach program, the Thailand–UK Python+Astronomy Summer School (ThaiPASS), a collaborative project comprising UK and Thai institutions and assess its impact and possible application to schools in the United Kingdom. Since its inception in 2018, the annual ThaiPASS has trained around 60 Thai high-school students in basic data handling skills using Python in the context of various astronomy topics, using current research from the teaching team. Our impact assessment of the 5 day summer schools shows an overwhelmingly positive response from students in both years, with over 80% of students scoring the activities above average in all activities but one. We use this data to suggest possible future improvements. We also discuss how ThaiPASS may inspire further outreach and engagement activities within the UK and beyond

Relaxation Effects in the Transition Temperature of Superconducting HgBa2CuO4+delta

In previous studies on a number of under- and overdoped high temperature superconductors, including YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y} and Tl_{2}Ba_{2}CuO_{6+\delta}, the transition temperature T_c has been found to change with time in a manner which depends on the sample's detailed temperature and pressure history. This relaxation behavior in T_c is believed to originate from rearrangements within the oxygen sublattice. In the present high-pressure studies on HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} to 0.8 GPa we find clear evidence for weak relaxation effects in strongly under- and overdoped samples ($T_c\simeq 40 - 50 K$) with an activation energy $E_{A}(1 bar) \simeq 0.8 - 0.9 eV$. For overdoped HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} E_{A} increases under pressure more rapidly than previously observed for YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.41}, yielding an activation volume of +11 \pm 5 cm^{3}; the dependence of T_c on pressure is markedly nonlinear, an anomalous result for high-T_c superconductors in the present pressure range, giving evidence for a change in the electronic and/or structural properties near 0.4 GPa

Atomic scale models of Ion implantation and dopant diffusion in silicon

We review our recent work on an atomistic approach to the development of predictive process simulation tools. First principles methods, molecular dynamics simulations, and experimental results are used to construct a database of defect and dopant energetics in Si. This is used as input for kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. C and B trapping of the Si self- interstitial is shown to help explain the enormous disparity in its measured diffusivity. Excellent agreement is found between experiments and simulations of transient enhanced diffusion following 20-80 keV B implants into Si, and with those of 50 keV Si implants into complex B-doped structures. Our simulations predict novel behavior of the time evolution of the electrically active B fraction during annealing

Volunteering in a hybrid institutional and organizational environment: an emerging research agenda

Traditionally, volunteers are core participants in classic voluntary associations; however, the organizational context of volunteering has changed significantly in recent decades through the proliferation of new and hybrid settings of participation that mingle roles and rationalities of civil society, state and market. In this chapter, I examine the consequences of this organizational change for the nature and functions of volunteering by means of a literature review

General Relativistic Gravity Gradiometry

Gravity gradiometry within the framework of the general theory of relativity involves the measurement of the elements of the relativistic tidal matrix, which is theoretically obtained via the projection of the spacetime curvature tensor upon the nonrotating orthonormal tetrad frame of a geodesic observer. The behavior of the measured components of the curvature tensor under Lorentz boosts is briefly described in connection with the existence of certain special tidal directions. Relativistic gravity gradiometry in the exterior gravitational field of a rotating mass is discussed and a gravitomagnetic beat effect along an inclined spherical geodesic orbit is elucidated.Comment: 18 pages, invited contribution to appear in "Relativistic Geodesy: Foundations and Applications", D. Puetzfeld et al. (eds.), 2018; v2: matches version published in: D. Puetzfeld and C. L\"ammerzahl (eds.) "Relativistic Geodesy" (Springer, Cham, 2019), pp. 143-15

Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Solar System

Recent years have seen increasing efforts to directly measure some aspects of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic interaction in several astronomical scenarios in the solar system. After briefly overviewing the concept of gravitomagnetism from a theoretical point of view, we review the performed or proposed attempts to detect the Lense-Thirring effect affecting the orbital motions of natural and artificial bodies in the gravitational fields of the Sun, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. In particular, we will focus on the evaluation of the impact of several sources of systematic uncertainties of dynamical origin to realistically elucidate the present and future perspectives in directly measuring such an elusive relativistic effect.Comment: LaTex, 51 pages, 14 figures, 22 tables. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Science (ApSS). Some uncited references in the text now correctly quoted. One reference added. A footnote adde