Medicinal Plants of Chile: Evaluation of their Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi Activity

San Martin, J (San Martin, Jose). Univ Talca, Inst Biol Vegetal & Biotecnol, Talca, ChileThe extracts of several plants of Central Chile exhibited anti-Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes activity. Most active extracts were those obtained from Podanthus ovatifolius, Berberis microphylla, Kageneckia oblonga, and Drimys winteri. The active extract of Drimys winteri (IC50 51.2 mu g/mL) was purified and three drimane sesquiterpenes were obtained: polygodial, drimenol, and isodrimenin. Isodrimenin and drimenol were found to be active against the trypomastigote form of T cruzi with IC50 values of 27.9 and 25.1 mu M, respectivel

SLAM-based augmented reality for the assessment of short-Term spatial memory. A comparative study of visual versus tactile stimuli

The assessment of human spatial short-Term memory has mainly been performed using visual stimuli and less frequently using auditory stimuli. This paper presents a framework for the development of SLAM-based Augmented Reality applications for the assessment of spatial memory. An AR mobile application was developed for this type of assessment involving visual and tactile stimuli by using our framework. The task to be carried out with the AR application is divided into two phases: 1) a learning phase, in which participants physically walk around a room and have to remember the location of simple geometrical shapes; and 2) an evaluation phase, in which the participants are asked to recall the location of the shapes. A study for comparing the performance outcomes using visual and tactile stimuli was carried out. Fifty-Three participants performed the task using the two conditions (Tactile vs Visual), but with more than two months of difference (within-subject design). The number of shapes placed correctly was similar for both conditions. However, the group that used the tactile stimulus spent significantly more time completing the task and required significantly more attempts. The performance outcomes were independent of gender. Some significant correlations among variables related to the performance outcomes and other tests were found. The following significant correlations among variables related to the performance outcomes using visual stimuli and the participants subjective variables were also found: 1) the greater the number of correctly placed shapes, the greater the perceived competence; 2) the more attempts required, the less the perceived competence. We also found that perceived enjoyment was higher when a higher sense of presence was induced. Our results suggest that tactile stimuli are valid stimuli to exploit for the assessment of the ability to memorize spatial-Tactile associations, but that the ability to memorize spatial-visual associations is dominant. Our results also show that gender does not affect these types of memory tasks

An X-ray study of the SNR G344.7-0.1 and the central object CXOU J170357.8-414302

Aims. We report results of an X-ray study of the supernova remnant (SNR) G344.7-0.1 and the point-like X-ray source located at the geometrical center of the SNR radio structure. Methods. The morphology and spectral properties of the remnant and the central X-ray point-like source were studied using data from the XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites. Archival radio data and infrared Spitzer observations at 8 and 24 $\mu$m were used to compare and study its multi-band properties at different wavelengths. Results. The XMM-Newton and Chandra observations reveal that the overall X-ray emission of G344.7-0.1 is extended and correlates very well with regions of bright radio and infrared emission. The X-ray spectrum is dominated by prominent atomic emission lines. These characteristics suggest that the X-ray emission originated in a thin thermal plasma, whose radiation is represented well by a plane-parallel shock plasma model (PSHOCK). Our study favors the scenario in which G344.7-0.1 is a 6 x 10^3 year old SNR expanding in a medium with a high density gradient and is most likely encountering a molecular cloud on the western side. In addition, we report the discovery of a soft point-like X-ray source located at the geometrical center of the radio SNR structure. The object presents some characteristics of the so-called compact central objects (CCO). However, its neutral hydrogen absorption column (N_{H}) is inconsistent with that of the SNR. Coincident with the position of the source, we found infrared and optical objects with typical early-K star characteristics. The X-ray source may be a foreground star or the CCO associated with the SNR. If this latter possibility were confirmed, the point-like source would be the farthest CCO detected so far and the eighth member of the new population of isolated and weakly magnetized neutron stars.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Higher resolution figures can be seen on A&

A combined high-pressure experimental and theoretical study of the electronic band-structure of scheelite-type AWO4 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba, Pb) compounds

The optical-absorption edge of single crystals of CaWO4, SrWO4, BaWO4, and PbWO4 has been measured under high pressure up to ~20 GPa at room temperature. From the measurements we have obtained the evolution of the band-gap energy with pressure. We found a low-pressure range (up to 7-10 GPa) where alkaline-earth tungstates present a very small Eg pressure dependence (-2.1 < dEg/dP < 8.9 meV/GPa). In contrast, in the same pressure range, PbWO4 has a pressure coefficient of -62 meV/GPa. The high-pressure range is characterized in the four compounds by an abrupt decrease of Eg followed by changes in dEg/dP. The band-gap collapse is larger than 1.2 eV in BaWO4. We also calculated the electronic-band structures and their pressure evolution. Calculations allow us to interpret experiments considering the different electronic configuration of divalent metals. Changes in the pressure evolution of Eg are correlated with the occurrence of pressure-induced phase transitions. The band structures for the low- and high-pressure phases are also reported. No metallization of any of the compounds is detected in experiments nor is predicted by calculations.Comment: 26 pages, 1 table, 6 figure

Dynamic Virtual Network Reconfiguration Over SDN Orchestrated Multitechnology Optical Transport Domains

Network virtualization is an emerging technique that enables multiple tenants to share an underlying physical infrastructure, isolating the traffic running over different virtual infrastructures/tenants. This technique aims to improve network utilization, while reducing the complexities in terms of network management for operators. Applied to this context, software defined networking (SDN) paradigm can ease network configurations by enabling network programmability and automation, which reduces the amount of operations required from both service and infrastructure providers. SDN techniques are decreasing vendor lock-in issues due to specific configuration methods or protocols. Application-based Network Operations (ABNO) is a toolbox of key network functional components with the goal of offering application-driven network management. Service provisioning using ABNO may involve direct configuration of data plane elements or delegate it to several control plane modules. We validate the applicability of ABNO to multi-tenant virtual networks in multi-technology optical domains based on two scenarios, in which multiple control plane instances are orchestrated by the architecture. Congestion Detection and Failure Recovery, are chosen to demonstrate fast recalculation and reconfiguration, while hiding the configurations in the physical layer from the upper layer.Grant numbers : supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project FARO (TEC2012-38119)

Gene expression differences in relation to age and social environment in queen and worker bumble bees

Eusocial insects provide special insights into the genetic pathways influencing aging because of their long-lived queens and flexible aging schedules. Using qRT-PCR in the primitively eusocial bumble bee Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus), we investigated expression levels of four candidate genes associated with taxonomically widespread age-related pathways (coenzyme Q biosynthesis protein 7, COQ7; DNA methyltransferase 3, Dnmt3; foraging, for; and vitellogenin, vg). In Experiment 1, we tested how expression changes with queen relative age and productivity. We found a significant age-related increase in COQ7 expression in queen ovary. In brain, all four genes showed higher expression with increasing female (queen plus worker) production, with this relationship strengthening as queen age increased, suggesting a link with the positive association of fecundity and longevity found in eusocial insect queens. In Experiment 2, we tested effects of relative age and social environment (worker removal) in foundress queens and effects of age and reproductive status in workers. In this experiment, workerless queens showed significantly higher for expression in brain, as predicted if downregulation of for is associated with the cessation of foraging by foundress queens following worker emergence. Workers showed a significant age-related increase in Dnmt3 expression in fat body, suggesting a novel association between aging and methylation in B. terrestris. Ovary activation was associated with significantly higher vg expression in fat body and, in younger workers, in brain, consistent with vitellogenin's ancestral role in regulating egg production. Overall, our findings reveal a mixture of novel and conserved features in age-related genetic pathways under primitive eusociality

Charge and spin configurations in the coupled quantum dots with Coulomb correlations induced by tunneling current

We investigated the peculiarities of non-equilibrium charge states and spin configurations in the system of two strongly coupled quantum dots (QDs) weakly connected to the electrodes in the presence of Coulomb correlations. We analyzed the modification of non-equilibrium charge states and different spin configurations of the system in a wide range of applied bias voltage and revealed well pronounced ranges of system parameters where negative tunneling conductivity appears due to the Coulomb correlations.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure