Effect of Antioxidants in Cathepsin B Release by HIV Infected Macrophages

During HIV infection of macrophages, the lysosomal protein cathepsin B is released and induces neurotoxicity. Also, the levels of cathepsin B are increased in plasma and post-mortem brain tissue of patients with HIV-associated dementia. Oxidative damage is increased in HIV- infected patients, while antioxidants are decreased in HIV-associated dementia. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF), an antioxidant, has been reported to decrease HIV replication and neurotoxicity caused by HIV-infected macrophages. Since HIV also increases cathepsin B, we hypothesize that DMF will also reduce cathepsin B release from HIV-infected macrophages. Monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) were isolated from healthy donors and inoculated with HIV-1ADA. After removal of infection, MDM were treated with DMF at different concentrations (15, 30, and 60 µM) until day 12 post-infection, changing and collecting media every three days. HIV-1p24 and cathepsin B levels were assessed from HIV-infected MDM supernatants at the end of cultures using ELISA. Results indicate that DMF reduced HIV-1 replication and cathepsin B secretion from HIV-infected macrophages, in a concentration-dependent manner, in comparison with vehicle (DMSO)-treated controls. However, cathepsin B secretion was not affected by HIV infection in vehicle-treated controls. In conclusion, DMSO may have had an unexpected effect in cathepsin B secretion in our experiments, and this could explain why cathepsin B secretion was not affected by HIV infection. Future experiments will include an untreated control group to determine if DMSO vehicle is having an effect in cathepsin B secretion. This will lead us to determine the role of DMF in cathepsin B secretion from HIV-infected macrophages

Sedimentología de la Formación Calizas con oncolitos de Higueruelas (Malm) en la región de Muel-Belchite (Provincia de Zaragoza)

El estudio sedimentológico de la Formación Higueruelas (Malm) en la región de Muel-Belchite, permite definir un ciclo regresivo con gran variedad de facies y ambientes, con desarrollo en la plataforma interna de montículos algales y coralinos, y sedimentación oolítica litoral

Building from Within: How Two Female Prisoners Survived Incarceration

According to the US Commission of Civil Rights, from 1980 to 2016, the percentage of imprisoned women surpassed 730% (4). Severe isolation, lack of sunlight, and sensory deprivation tactics were employed during the 1980s, when Silvia Baraldini and Laura Whitehorn were incarcerated at the federal women’s prison in Lexington, Kentucky. Both women maintained their basic humanity and spirit by creating educational opportunities for fellow inmates, advocating for improved conditions, and sharing their experiences through letter writing. They each wrote hundreds of letters to friends, family, and other social activists concerned with their plight. Using a collection of letters written by Baraldini and Whitehorn, dating from 1987 to 2000, now part of the Kate Black Social Activism Papers at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center, this research will explore the work, activity, and mental health of these women during their incarceration. While Whitehorn was mainly concerned with health education, especially regarding the burgeoning health crisis of HIV and AIDS, Baraldini’s advocacy focused on reform of current incarceration tactics, like the High Security Unit in the Lexington prison. Because of Baraldini’s efforts, with support from Amnesty International, the High Security Unit at Lexington’s Federal Correctional Institution was shut down in 1988. This research relates Baraldini and Whitehorn’s activism to studies on how prison systems treat women prisoners differently than male prisoners, whether they receive more extreme punishments, and the nature of those punishments. In light of the current prison system, Baraldini and Whitehorn offer examples of how women maintain their humanity while incarcerated

Chemical similarities between Galactic bulge and local thick disk red giant stars

The evolution of the Milky Way bulge and its relationship with the other Galactic populations is still poorly understood. The bulge has been suggested to be either a merger-driven classical bulge or the product of a dynamical instability of the inner disk. To probe the star formation history, the initial mass function and stellar nucleosynthesis of the bulge, we performed an elemental abundance analysis of bulge red giant stars. We also completed an identical study of local thin disk, thick disk and halo giants to establish the chemical differences and similarities between the various populations. High-resolution infrared spectra of 19 bulge giants and 49 comparison giants in the solar neighborhood were acquired with Gemini/Phoenix. All stars have similar stellar parameters but cover a broad range in metallicity. A standard 1D local thermodynamic equilibrium analysis yielded the abundances of C, N, O and Fe. A homogeneous and differential analysis of the bulge, halo, thin disk and thick disk stars ensured that systematic errors were minimized. We confirm the well-established differences for [O/Fe] (at a given metallicity) between the local thin and thick disks. For the elements investigated, we find no chemical distinction between the bulge and the local thick disk, which is in contrast to previous studies relying on literature values for disk dwarf stars in the solar neighborhood. Our findings suggest that the bulge and local thick disk experienced similar, but not necessarily shared, chemical evolution histories. We argue that their formation timescales, star formation rates and initial mass functions were similar.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 5 page

Is the solar spectrum latitude dependent? An investigation with SST/TRIPPEL

Context: In studies of the solar spectrum relative to spectra of solar twin stars, it has been found that the chemical composition of the Sun seems to depart systematically from those of the twins. One possible explanation is that the effect is due to the special aspect angle of the Sun when observed from Earth, as compared with the aspect angles of the twins. Thus, a latitude dependence of the solar spectrum, even with the heliocentric angle constant, could lead to effects of the type observed. Aim: We explore a possible variation in the strength of certain spectral lines, used in the comparisons between the composition of the Sun and the twins, at loci on the solar disk with different latitudes but at constant heliocentric angle. Methods: We use the TRIPPEL spectrograph at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope on La Palma to record spectra in five spectral regions in order to compare different locations on the solar disk at a heliocentric angle of 45 deg. Equivalent widths and other parameters are measured for fifteen different lines representing nine atomic species. Results: The relative variations in equivalent widths at the equator and at solar latitude 45 deg are found to be less than 1.5 % for all spectral lines studied. Translated to elemental abundances as they would be measured from a terrestrial and a hypothetical pole-on observer, the difference is estimated to be within 0.005 dex in all cases. Conclusion: It is very unlikely that latitude effects could cause the reported abundance difference between the Sun and the solar twins. The accuracy obtainable in measurements of small differences in spectral line strengths between different solar disk positions is very high.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic