Energy and volume of vector fields on spherical domains

We present in this paper a \boundary version" for theorems about minimality of volume and energy functionals on a spherical domain of threedimensional Euclidean sphere

Ultrafast Excited State Dynamics in a First Generation Photomolecular Motor

Efficient photomolecular motors will be critical elements in the design and development of molecular machines. Optimisation of the quantum yield for photoisomerisation requires a detailed understanding of molecular dynamics in the excited electronic state. Here we probe the primary photophysical processes in the archetypal first generation photomolecular motor, with sub-50 fs time resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. A bimodal relaxation is observed with a 100 fs relaxation of the Franck-Condon state to populate a red-shifted state with a reduced transition moment, which then undergoes multi-exponential decay on a picosecond timescale. Oscillations due to the excitation of vibrational coherences in the S 1 state are seen to survive the ultrafast structural relaxation. The picosecond relaxation reveals a strong solvent friction effect which is thus ascribed to torsion about the C−C axle. This behaviour is contrasted with second generation photomolecular motors; the principal differences are explained by the existence of a barrier on the excited state surface in the case of the first-generation motors which is absent in the second generation. These results will help to provide a basis for designing more efficient molecular motors in the future

Prevalência e tendências temporais de transtornos mentais necessitando de tratamento de internação na cidade de Porto Alegre: Um estudo de toda a cidade incluindo todas as internações por motivo de saúde mental no sistema público de 2013-2017

Objectives: To investigate the 5-year prevalence of patients admitted to public inpatient care units due to a mental disorder, stratifying them by age group and diagnosis, and to assess trends of admissions over this time period in Porto Alegre. Methods: All admissions to the public mental health care system regulated by the city-owned electronic system Administração Geral dos Hospitais (AGHOS) were included in the analysis. The total population size was obtained by estimations of Fundação de Economia e Estatística (FEE). General information about 5-year prevalence of inpatient admissions, time-series trends e prevalence by age groups and diagnosis were presented. Results: There were 32,608 admissions over the 5-year period analyzed. The overall prevalence of patients was 1.62% among the total population, 0.01% among children, 1.12% among adolescents, 2.28% among adults and 0.93% among the elderly. The most common diagnosis was drug-related, followed by mood, alcohol-related and psychotic disorders. There was a linear trend showing an increase in the number of admissions from 2013 to the midst of 2014, which dropped in 2015. Conclusions: Admissions due to mental disorders are relatively common, mainly among adults and related to drug use and mood disorders. Time trends varied slightly over the 5 years. Prevalence rates in real-world settings might be useful for policymakers interested in planning the public mental health system in large Brazilian cities

Monosodium urate crystals promote innate anti-mycobacterial immunity and improve BCG efficacy as a vaccine against tuberculosis

A safer and more effective anti-Tuberculosis vaccine is still an urgent need. We probed the effects of monosodium urate crystals (MSU) on innate immunity to improve the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. Results showed that in vitro MSU cause an enduring macrophage stimulation of the anti-mycobacterial response, measured as intracellular killing, ROS production and phagolysosome maturation. The contribution of MSU to anti-mycobacterial activity was also shown in vivo. Mice vaccinated in the presence of MSU showed a lower number of BCG in lymph nodes draining the vaccine inoculation site, in comparison to mice vaccinated without MSU. Lastly, we showed that MSU improved the efficacy of BCG vaccination in mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), measured in terms of lung and spleen MTB burden. These results demonstrate that the use of MSU as adjuvant may represent a novel strategy to enhance the efficacy of BCG vaccination

Exemplar scoring identifies genetically separable phenotypes of lithium responsive bipolar disorder

Predicting lithium response (LiR) in bipolar disorder (BD) may inform treatment planning, but phenotypic heterogeneity complicates discovery of genomic markers. We hypothesized that patients with "exemplary phenotypes"-those whose clinical features are reliably associated with LiR and non-response (LiNR)-are more genetically separable than those with less exemplary phenotypes. Using clinical data collected from people with BD (n = 1266 across 7 centers; 34.7% responders), we computed a "clinical exemplar score," which measures the degree to which a subject's clinical phenotype is reliably predictive of LiR/LiNR. For patients whose genotypes were available (n = 321), we evaluated whether a subgroup of responders/non-responders with the top 25% of clinical exemplar scores (the "best clinical exemplars") were more accurately classified based on genetic data, compared to a subgroup with the lowest 25% of clinical exemplar scores (the "poor clinical exemplars"). On average, the best clinical exemplars of LiR had a later illness onset, completely episodic clinical course, absence of rapid cycling and psychosis, and few psychiatric comorbidities. The best clinical exemplars of LiR and LiNR were genetically separable with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.88 (IQR [0.83, 0.98]), compared to 0.66 [0.61, 0.80] (p = 0.0032) among poor clinical exemplars. Variants in the Alzheimer's amyloid-secretase pathway, along with G-protein-coupled receptor, muscarinic acetylcholine, and histamine H1R signaling pathways were informative predictors. This study must be replicated on larger samples and extended to predict response to other mood stabilizers

Early phase of plasticity-related gene regulation and SRF dependent transcription in the hippocampus

Hippocampal organotypic cultures are a highly reliable in vitro model for studying neuroplasticity: in this paper, we analyze the early phase of the transcriptional response induced by a 20 \ub5M gabazine treatment (GabT), a GABA-Ar antagonist, by using Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarray, RT-PCR based time-course and chromatin-immuno-precipitation. The transcriptome profiling revealed that the pool of genes up-regulated by GabT, besides being strongly related to the regulation of growth and synaptic transmission, is also endowed with neuro-protective and pro-survival properties. By using RT-PCR, we quantified a time-course of the transient expression for 33 of the highest up-regulated genes, with an average sampling rate of 10 minutes and covering the time interval [10 3690] minutes. The cluster analysis of the time-course disclosed the existence of three different dynamical patterns, one of which proved, in a statistical analysis based on results from previous works, to be significantly related with SRF-dependent regulation (p-value<0.05). The chromatin immunoprecipitation (chip) assay confirmed the rich presence of working CArG boxes in the genes belonging to the latter dynamical pattern and therefore validated the statistical analysis. Furthermore, an in silico analysis of the promoters revealed the presence of additional conserved CArG boxes upstream of the genes Nr4a1 and Rgs2. The chip assay confirmed a significant SRF signal in the Nr4a1 CArG box but not in the Rgs2 CArG box

Taxonomy of the order Bunyavirales : second update 2018

In October 2018, the order Bunyavirales was amended by inclusion of the family Arenaviridae, abolishment of three families, creation of three new families, 19 new genera, and 14 new species, and renaming of three genera and 22 species. This article presents the updated taxonomy of the order Bunyavirales as now accepted by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).Non peer reviewe

Search for Supersymmetry with Gauge-Mediated Breaking in Diphoton Events with Missing Transverse Energy at CDF II

accepted to Phys. Rev. LettWe present the results of a search for supersymmetry with gauge-mediated breaking and \NONE\to\gamma\Gravitino in the $\gamma\gamma$+missing transverse energy final state. In 2.6$\pm$0.2 \invfb of $p{\bar p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$$=$1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II detector we observe no candidate events, consistent with a standard model background expectation of 1.4$\pm$0.4 events. We set limits on the cross section at the 95% C.L. and place the world's best limit of 149\gevc on the \none mass at $\tau_{\tilde{\chi}_1^0}$$We present the results of a search for supersymmetry with gauge-mediated breaking and χ˜10→γG˜ in the γγ+missing transverse energy final state. In 2.6±0.2  fb-1 of pp̅ collisions at √s=1.96  TeV recorded by the CDF II detector we observe no candidate events, consistent with a standard model background expectation of 1.4±0.4 events. We set limits on the cross section at the 95% C.L. and place the world’s best limit of 149  GeV/c2 on the χ˜10 mass at τχ˜10≪1  ns. We also exclude regions in the χ˜10 mass-lifetime plane for τχ˜10≲2  ns.Peer reviewe