Selection of allozyme genotypes of two species of marine gastropods (genus Littorina) in experiments of environmental stress by nonionic detergent and crude oil-surfactant mixtures

International audienc

The Northern and Central Oases of the Province of Mendoza (Argentina): water resources and sustainability challenges

International audiencePendant les dernières décennies du 20ème siècle, les oasis de Mendoza, au coeur de la diagonale aride sudaméricaine, ont connu de profondes mutations de leur modèle socio-économique, fondé sur l'agriculture et les industries agro-alimentaires. La mondialisation, Mendoza l'a connue assez brutalement : la crise économique du Mercosur des années 2000 - suivant de près celle des marchés asiatiques (1997-98) - a entrainé un afflux massif d'investissements internationaux, malheureusement localisés sur l'oasis Centre, aux dépens de l'oasis historique, l'Oasis Nord. Tandis que celle-ci subit une très forte pression démographique et industrielle entraînant une pollution marquée de l'eau d'irrigation, l'oasis Centre connaît un véritable boom économique. C'est ainsi toute la structure sociale de la province qui est bouleversée, ce qui se manifeste géographiquement par une inversion des centralités-périphéries

A crossmodal crossover: opposite effects of visual and auditory perceptual load on steady-state evoked potentials to irrelevant visual stimuli

Mechanisms of attention are required to prioritise goal-relevant sensory events under conditions of stimulus competition. According to the perceptual load model of attention, the extent to which task-irrelevant inputs are processed is determined by the relative demands of discriminating the target: the more perceptually demanding the target task, the less unattended stimuli will be processed. Although much evidence supports the perceptual load model for competing stimuli within a single sensory modality, the effects of perceptual load in one modality on distractor processing in another is less clear. Here we used steady-state evoked potentials (SSEPs) to measure neural responses to irrelevant visual checkerboard stimuli while participants performed either a visual or auditory task that varied in perceptual load. Consistent with perceptual load theory, increasing visual task load suppressed SSEPs to the ignored visual checkerboards. In contrast, increasing auditory task load enhanced SSEPs to the ignored visual checkerboards. This enhanced neural response to irrelevant visual stimuli under auditory load suggests that exhausting capacity within one modality selectively compromises inhibitory processes required for filtering stimuli in another

Co-Management of COVID-19 and heart failure during the COVID-19 pandemic. lessons learned

The COVID pandemic has brought many new challenges worldwide, which has impacted on patients with chronic conditions. There is an increasing evidence base suggesting an interaction between chronic heart failure (HF) and COVID-19, and in turn the prognostic impact of co-existence of the two conditions. Patients with existing HF appear more prone to develop severe complications on contracting COVID-19, but the exact prevalence in patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19 not requiring hospital admission is poorly investigated. In addition, hospitalization rates for acute HF over the pandemic period appear reduced compared to previous periods. Several key issues remain rather unaddressed and, importantly, a specific algorithm focused on diagnostic differentiation between HF and acute respiratory distress syndrome, a severe complication of COVID-19, is still lacking. Furthermore, recent data suggests potential interaction existing between HF treatment and some anti-viral anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed during the infection, raising some doubts about a universal treatment strategy for all patients with COVID-19. With this manuscript, we aim to review the current literature in this field in light of growing understanding of COVID-19 in the setting of the HF population, its associated morbidity and mortality burden, and the impact on healthcare systems. We hope that this may stimulate a discussion to guarantee a better, more tailored delivery of care for patients with HF in the setting of concomitant COVID-19 infection

Emotional attentional capture in children with conduct problems: the role of callous-unemotional traits

Appropriate reactivity to emotional facial expressions, even if these are seen whilst we are engaged in another activity, is critical for successful social interaction. Children with conduct problems (CP) and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by blunted reactivity to other people's emotions, while children with CP and low levels of CU traits can over-react to perceived emotional threat. No study to date has compared children with CP and high vs. low levels of CU traits to typically developing (TD) children or each other, using a task that assesses attentional capture by irrelevant emotional faces

Aplicación de índices integradores de calidad hídrica al piedemonte andino argentino

Este trabajo presenta los resultados de la aplicación del Water Quality Index (WQI) del Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment, con el objeto de caracterizar de manera sintética y gráfica la calidad del agua, considerando un conjunto de parámetros biológicos, físicos y químicos en grandes cuencas. Este índice deja a criterio del investigador la elección de aquellos parámetros que resulten importantes para la zona y que además sean representativos de los distintos usos del agua. Se presentan aquí los resultados obtenidos a partir de una base de datos de calidad de agua de riego de dos cuencas del piedemonte andino argentino, considerando diferentes parámetros y límites sugeridos por el Departamento General de Irrigación de la provincia de Mendoza, un organismo internacional (FAO), las agencias de agua (AE) francesas y un país como Marruecos, cuyo entorno medioambiental es muy similar al analizado. Se concluye que la metodología lleva a una sobrevaloración del Factor 1 del WQI y permite a) manipular los resultados al incluir en la construcción del índice parámetros más/menos favorables; b) modificar dicho factor para disminuir su peso en el cálculo del índice, y c) no obstante todas las limitaciones detectadas, resulta útil para la comparación de la calidad del agua entre distintos sitios y/o cuencas regadías

Lack of Effect of Sleep Apnea on Oxidative Stress in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) Patients

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate markers of systemic oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity in subjects with and without OSAS in order to investigate the most important factors that determine the oxidant-antioxidant status. METHODS: A total of 66 subjects referred to our Sleep laboratory were examined by full polysomnography. Oxidative stress and antioxidant activity were assessed by measurement of the derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) and the biological antioxidant capacity (BAP) in blood samples taken in the morning after the sleep study. Known risk factors for oxidative stress, such as age, sex, obesity, smoking, hypelipidemia, and hypertension, were investigated as possible confounding factors. RESULTS: 42 patients with OSAS (Apnea-Hypopnea index >15 events/hour) were compared with 24 controls (AHI<5). The levels of d-ROMS were significantly higher (p = 0.005) in the control group but the levels of antioxidant capacity were significantly lower (p = 0.004) in OSAS patients. The most important factors predicting the variance of oxidative stress were obesity, smoking habit, and sex. Parameters of sleep apnea severity were not associated with oxidative stress. Minimal oxygen desaturation and smoking habit were the most important predicting factors of BAP levels. CONCLUSION: Obesity, smoking, and sex are the most important determinants of oxidative stress in OSAS subjects. Sleep apnea might enhance oxidative stress by the reduction of antioxidant capacity of blood due to nocturnal hypoxia