Adult social isolation leads to anxiety and spatial memory impairment: Brain activity pattern of COx and c-Fos

Social isolation during adulthood is a frequent problem that leads to a large variety of adverse emotional and cognitive effects. However, most of the social isolation rodent procedures begin the separation early post-weaning. This work explores locomotor activity, anxiety-like behaviour, and spatial working memory after twelve weeks of adult social isolation. In order to study the functional contribution of selected brain areas following a working memory task, we assessed neuronal metabolic activity through quantitative cytochrome oxidase histochemistry and c-Fos immunohistochemistry. Behaviourally, we found that isolated animals (IS) showed anxiety-like behaviour and worse working memory than controls, whereas motor functions were preserved. Moreover, IS rats showed lower levels of learning-related c-Fos immunoreactivity, compared to controls, in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), ventral tegmental area (VTA), and nucleus accumbens shell. In addition, the IS group showed lower neuronal metabolic activity in the mPFC, VTA, and CA1 subfield of the hippocampus. These results indicate that twelve weeks of social isolation in adult rats leads to different behavioural and brain alterations, and they highlight the importance of social support, not only in development, but also in adulthood

Comparisons between dynamics of SBSL and an encapsulated bubble in spherical resonator

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.Single bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) and ultrasound agent contrast (UAC), each one levitating in a standing wave field (30~70 kHz) inside of a spherical resonator filled with sterile water, are compared in order to understand their radial dynamics. Light scattering technique is employed to measure the radial pulsations of individual/cloud microbubbles. Waves emitted by bubble (shock wave) and the intensity of the acoustic field applied are measured through a needle hydrophone. UAC is highly diluted Polyson® microbubbles. Waveforms are processed by means of Fourier and time-frequency analysis. The experimental data and the main parameters involved (T, , Pa, Re and De) are analyzed as a function of short and long regimen. Linear and nonlinear oscillations were observed and associated with time-frequency spectra. Parametric instabilities are inferred from the light-scattered signal. The resting diameter and temperature are shown as principal parameters in the prediction of microbubble behavior.cf201

Diagnóstico y alternativas de control al problema de la mortalidad bovina en un área del departamento del Vichada.

Se presenta un estudio que trata de identificar las posibles causas de la presencia de un síndrome que afecta generalmente a vacas paridas de ganado de carne, que se caracteriza en términos generales por: aislamiento del animal al apartarse de la manada, ataxia del tren anterior y, o del tren posterior, decúbito sin pérdida de apetito y posteriormente muerte, proceso que puede durar entre 7 y 25 días. El estudio se realizó en la altillanura del Vichada, entre noviembre de 1994 y octubre de 1995, período en el cual se recolectó información de 10 fincas, con muestreo de suelos de sabanas con bovinos en pastoreo, forrajes de sabana como oferta nutritiva y en 6 predios se tomaron muestras de sangre a terneros, novillas y vacas en época de verano e invierno. En las muestras de suelo se determinó análisis físico químico completo, en el forraje se analizó: proteina cruda, fibra detergente neutro, degradabilidad ruminal a las 48 horas, minerales en materia seca. En los sueros de bovinos se determinaron: colesterol, Ca, P, Fe, Mg, proteinas, albúmina y globulinas. Se determinaron diferencias significativas en análisis de suelo por época del año y por localidad. En los análisis foliares, diferencias significativas según época del año. En sueros bovinos, diferencias significativas para hemoglobina, hematocrito, globulinas, entre terneros, novillas y vacas, siendo el último grupo el más crítico. Se sugiere la producción de sal mineralizada que supla deficiencias minerales, suministro contínuo de ésta, mejoramiento en disponibilidad de proteina y energía para mejorar eficiencia productiv

Multispecies virial expansions

We study the virial expansion of mixtures of countably many different types of particles. The main tool is the Lagrange–Good inversion formula, which has other applications such as counting coloured trees or studying probability generating functions in multi-type branching processes. We prove that the virial expansion converges absolutely in a domain of small densities. In addition, we establish that the virial coefficients can be expressed in terms of two-connected graphs

The Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function at the Dawn of Gaia

The [O III] 5007 Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function (PNLF) is an excellent extragalactic standard candle. In theory, the PNLF method should not work at all, since the luminosities of the brightest planetary nebulae (PNe) should be highly sensitive to the age of their host stellar population. Yet the method appears robust, as it consistently produces < 10% distances to galaxies of all Hubble types, from the earliest ellipticals to the latest-type spirals and irregulars. It is therefore uniquely suited for cross-checking the results of other techniques and finding small offsets between the Population I and Population II distance ladders. We review the calibration of the method and show that the zero points provided by Cepheids and the Tip of the Red Giant Branch are in excellent agreement. We then compare the results of the PNLF with those from Surface Brightness Fluctuation measurements, and show that, although both techniques agree in a relative sense, the latter method yields distances that are ~15% larger than those from the PNLF. We trace this discrepancy back to the calibration galaxies and argue that, due to a small systematic error associated with internal reddening, the true distance scale likely falls between the extremes of the two methods. We also demonstrate how PNLF measurements in the early-type galaxies that have hosted Type Ia supernovae can help calibrate the SN Ia maximum magnitude-rate of decline relation. Finally, we discuss how the results from space missions such as Kepler and Gaia can help our understanding of the PNLF phenomenon and improve our knowledge of the physics of local planetary nebulae.Comment: 12 pages, invited review at the conference "The Fundamental Cosmic Distance Scale: State of the Art and Gaia Perspective", to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Effective Lagrangian description of the lepton flavor violating decays Z-->li lj

A comprehensive analysis of the lepton flavor violating (LFV) decays Z-->li lj is presented within the effective Lagrangian approach. Both the decoupling and nondecoupling scenarios are explored. The experimental constraints from li --> lj lk \bar{lk} and li -->lj gamma as well as some relationships arising from the gauge invariance of the effective Lagrangian are used to put constraints on Z-->li lj. It is found that while current experimental data impose very strong constraints on Z-->mu e, the channel Z --> tau mu (e)still may be at the reach of the planned TESLA collider.Comment: References added, final version to appear in Physical Review

Factors of the epidemiological triad that influence the persistence of human papilloma virus infection in women with systemic lupus erythematosus

We studied the epidemiologic triad-related factors influencing human papilloma virus (HPV) persistence in Mexican women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Patients aged ?18 years with SLE (American College of Rheumatology criteria), with and without HPV persistence, were selected. Groups were analyzed by (1) host: clinical disease characteristics; (2) agent: (I) infectious (prevalence, incidence, HPV genotype and co-infections (?2 HPV genotypes or mycoplasmas)), (II) chemical (contraceptives and immunosuppressive drugs) and (III) physical (vitamin D deficiency) and (3) environment. A total of 121 SLE patients were selected over a two-year period. (1) Host: mean age 45.8 years and disease duration 12.7 years. (2) Agent: (I) infectious. HPV infection prevalence in the second sample was 26.4%, high-risk HPV genotypes 21.5% and co-infections 7.4%. HPV infection incidence was 13.2%, persistence 13.2% and clearance 15.7%. (II) Chemical: use of oral hormonal contraceptives 5% and immunosuppressive treatment 97.5%. (III) Physical: Vitamin D levels were similar in both groups. (3) Environment: (I) natural. A total of 60.6% of patients were residents of Puebla City. (II) Social: The mean education level was 10.9. Poverty levels were: III degree 52.4%, IV degree 28% and II degree 17%. (III) Cultural behavioral: Onset of sexual life was 20.5 years, 10% had ?3 sexual partners and 51.2% were postmenopausal. In conclusion, no factor of the epidemiologic triad was associated with HPV infection prevalence. © The Author(s) 2018

Noncommutativity in Field Space and Lorentz Invariance Violation

The connection between Lorentz invariance violation and noncommutativity of fields in a quantum field theory is investigated. A new dispersion relation for a free field theory with just one additional noncommutative parameter is obtained. While values for the noncommutative scale much larger than 10^{-20} eV^{-1} are ruled out by the present experimental status, cosmic ray physics would be compatible with and sensible to a noncommutativity arising from quantum gravity effects. We explore the matter-antimatter asymmetry which is naturally present in this framework.Comment: 10 pages, no figures. Final version to appear in Phys. Lett. B with slight changes in the presentatio

Image processing tools for the validation of CryoEM maps

The number of maps deposited in public databases (Electron Microscopy Data Bank, EMDB) determined by cryo-electron microscopy has quickly grown in recent years. With this rapid growth, it is critical to guarantee their quality. So far, map validation has primarily focused on the agreement between maps and models. From the image processing perspective, the validation has been mostly restricted to using two halfmapsand the measurement of their internal consistency. In this article, we suggest that map validation can be taken much further from the point of view of image processing if 2D classes, particles, angles, coordinates, defoci, and micrographs are also provided. We present a progressive validation scheme that qualifies a result validation status from 0 to 5 and offers three optional qualifiers (A, W, and O) that can be added. The simplest validation state is 0, while the most complete would be 5AWO. This scheme has been implemented in a website https://biocomp.cnb.csic.es/EMValidationService/ to which reconstructed maps and their ESI can be uploaded.We are thankful to Philip Baldwin, Dmitry Lyumkis, and Gabriel Lander for making their validation methods available (4.h and A.c). Javier Vargas and Jordi Burguet would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for financial support through the call 2019 Proyectos de I+D+i – RTI Tipo A (PID2019- 108850RA-I00) and Arrate Muñoz Barrutia, PID2019-109820RB-I00, MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033/, cofinanced by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), “A way of making Europe.”. The authors acknowledge the economic support from MICIN of the Instruct Image Processing Center (I2PC) as part of the Spanish participation in Instruct-ERIC, the European Strategic Infrastructure Project (ESFRI) in the area of Structural Biology, Grant PID2019-104757RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and “ERDF A way of making Europe”, by the European Union and Grant PRE2020 - 093527 funded by MCIN/ AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. We also acknowledge support from “Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid” through Grant: S2017/BMD-3817, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (project IMPaCT-Data, exp. IMP/ 00019), co-funded by the European Union, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, “A way to make Europe”), and European Union (EU) and Horizon 2020 through grants: EOSC Life (INFRAEOSC-04-2018, Proposal: 824087), High- ResCells (ERC – 2018 – SyG, Proposal: 810057), IMpaCT (WIDESPREAD-03-2018 – Proposal: 857203), EOSC – Synergy (EINFRA-EOSC-5, Proposal: 857647), iNEXTDiscovery (Proposal: 871037), EnLaCES (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, Proposal: 101024130)

The Milky Way Bulge: Observed properties and a comparison to external galaxies

The Milky Way bulge offers a unique opportunity to investigate in detail the role that different processes such as dynamical instabilities, hierarchical merging, and dissipational collapse may have played in the history of the Galaxy formation and evolution based on its resolved stellar population properties. Large observation programmes and surveys of the bulge are providing for the first time a look into the global view of the Milky Way bulge that can be compared with the bulges of other galaxies, and be used as a template for detailed comparison with models. The Milky Way has been shown to have a box/peanut (B/P) bulge and recent evidence seems to suggest the presence of an additional spheroidal component. In this review we summarise the global chemical abundances, kinematics and structural properties that allow us to disentangle these multiple components and provide constraints to understand their origin. The investigation of both detailed and global properties of the bulge now provide us with the opportunity to characterise the bulge as observed in models, and to place the mixed component bulge scenario in the general context of external galaxies. When writing this review, we considered the perspectives of researchers working with the Milky Way and researchers working with external galaxies. It is an attempt to approach both communities for a fruitful exchange of ideas.Comment: Review article to appear in "Galactic Bulges", Editors: Laurikainen E., Peletier R., Gadotti D., Springer Publishing. 36 pages, 10 figure