The Theory of Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Giant Planets

Straddling the traditional realms of the planets and the stars, objects below the edge of the main sequence have such unique properties, and are being discovered in such quantities, that one can rightly claim that a new field at the interface of planetary science and and astronomy is being born. In this review, we explore the essential elements of the theory of brown dwarfs and giant planets, as well as of the new spectroscopic classes L and T. To this end, we describe their evolution, spectra, atmospheric compositions, chemistry, physics, and nuclear phases and explain the basic systematics of substellar-mass objects across three orders of magnitude in both mass and age and a factor of 30 in effective temperature. Moreover, we discuss the distinctive features of those extrasolar giant planets that are irradiated by a central primary, in particular their reflection spectra, albedos, and transits. Aspects of the latest theory of Jupiter and Saturn are also presented. Throughout, we highlight the effects of condensates, clouds, molecular abundances, and molecular/atomic opacities in brown dwarf and giant planet atmospheres and summarize the resulting spectral diagnostics. Where possible, the theory is put in its current observational context.Comment: 67 pages (including 36 figures), RMP RevTeX LaTeX, accepted for publication in the Reviews of Modern Physics. 30 figures are color. Most of the figures are in GIF format to reduce the overall size. The full version with figures can also be found at: http://jupiter.as.arizona.edu/~burrows/papers/rm

The PLATO mission

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is ESA’s M3 mission designed to detect and characterise extrasolar planets and perform asteroseismic monitoring of a large number of stars. PLATO will detect small planets (down to <2R ) around bright stars (<11 mag), including terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. With the complement of radial velocity observations from the ground, planets will be characterised for their radius, mass, and age with high accuracy (5%, 10%, 10% for an Earth-Sun combination respectively). PLATO will provide us with a large-scale catalogue of well-characterised small planets up to intermediate orbital periods, relevant for a meaningful comparison to planet formation theories and to better understand planet evolution. It will make possible comparative exoplanetology to place our Solar System planets in a broader context. In parallel, PLATO will study (host) stars using asteroseismology, allowing us to determine the stellar properties with high accuracy, substantially enhancing our knowledge of stellar structure and evolution. The payload instrument consists of 26 cameras with 12cm aperture each. For at least four years, the mission will perform high-precision photometric measurements. Here we review the science objectives, present PLATO‘s target samples and fields, provide an overview of expected core science performance as well as a description of the instrument and the mission profile towards the end of the serial production of the flight cameras. PLATO is scheduled for a launch date end 2026. This overview therefore provides a summary of the mission to the community in preparation of the upcoming operational phases

Prevalencia de parasitismo intestinal en la comunidad Seminke del resguardo indígena Wiwa de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2014

Introduction: it has been reported, in Latin America, highs parasitism prevalent activities in indigenous communities, considered as a health public problem. In Colombia, studies in these offerings are few, but these studies show similar prevalence. Objective: To determine the general and specific gastrointestinal parasite prevalence, and related factors in the indigenous community of Seminke of Wiwa shelter, in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2014. Methods: Cross-sectional study in indigenous population, where information collection is enhanced by a social-health survey, and analysis pro triplicate samples of fecal matter subsequence of a Mini Parasep sf. concentration. The description of the population was carried out with summary measures and then the variables were compared through chi-square tests of Pearson and Mann-Whitney, taking into account a significance value of 0.05 in SPSS 21.0. Results: 81 Indigenous were included with a mean age of 19 years (2 months-93 years), finding a parasitism of 96.4%, with 94% of polyparasitism, up to 9 agents per person, versus 97.6% of protozoa to 27.7% of helminths which 67.5% were pathogens. Among the most prevalent species, it was found Blastocystis spp with 94%, Endolimax nana 89.2%, E. coli 84.3%, E. histolytica/E. dispar 55.4% and 44.6% Giardia intestinalis. It was found several statistics according with the gender, not use any treatment for drinking water, the way to eliminate waste, indoor air relationship with animals and the use of shoes. Conclusion: it was found the highest prevalence reported among studies of indigenous communities in Colombia, it was found as risk factors; absence of water treatment; the waste treatment and the intra- or extra-domestic coexistence with animals. © 2015 [email protected]

Prevalencia de parasitismo intestinal en la comunidad Seminke del resguardo indígena Wiwa de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2014

Introduction: it has been reported, in Latin America, highs parasitism prevalent activities in indigenous communities, considered as a health public problem. In Colombia, studies in these offerings are few, but these studies show similar prevalence. Objective: To determine the general and specific gastrointestinal parasite prevalence, and related factors in the indigenous community of Seminke of Wiwa shelter, in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2014. Methods: Cross-sectional study in indigenous population, where information collection is enhanced by a social-health survey, and analysis pro triplicate samples of fecal matter subsequence of a Mini Parasep sf. concentration. The description of the population was carried out with summary measures and then the variables were compared through chi-square tests of Pearson and Mann-Whitney, taking into account a significance value of 0.05 in SPSS 21.0. Results: 81 Indigenous were included with a mean age of 19 years (2 months-93 years), finding a parasitism of 96.4%, with 94% of polyparasitism, up to 9 agents per person, versus 97.6% of protozoa to 27.7% of helminths which 67.5% were pathogens. Among the most prevalent species, it was found Blastocystis spp with 94%, Endolimax nana 89.2%, E. coli 84.3%, E. histolytica/E. dispar 55.4% and 44.6% Giardia intestinalis. It was found several statistics according with the gender, not use any treatment for drinking water, the way to eliminate waste, indoor air relationship with animals and the use of shoes. Conclusion: it was found the highest prevalence reported among studies of indigenous communities in Colombia, it was found as risk factors; absence of water treatment; the waste treatment and the intra- or extra-domestic coexistence with animals.Introducción: Se han reportado en Latinoamérica altas prevalecías de parasitosis en comunidades indígenas, considerándose como un problema de salud pública. En Colombia los estudios en estas oblaciones son escasos, pero los existentes muestran prevalencia similares. Objetivo: Determinar la prevalencia global y específica de parasitismo intestinal y sus factores relacionados en la comunidad indígena Seminke del resguardo indígena Wiwa de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2014. Métodos: Estudio descriptivo transversal en población indígena, donde la recolección de la información, se realizó por medio de una encuesta socio-sanitaria y el análisis por triplicado de muestras de materia fecal posterior a una concentración con Mini Parasep sf. La descripción de la población se realizó con medidas de resumen y posteriormente se compararon las variables a través de las pruebas de chi cuadrado de Pearson y U de Mann-Whitney, teniendo en cuenta un valor de significancia del 0,05 en SPSS 21.0. Resultados: Se incluyeron 81 indígenas con edad promedio de 19 años (2 meses-93 años), hallándose un parasitismo del 96.4%, con un 94% de poliparasitismo, hasta con 9 agentes por persona, 97.6% de protozoos frente a un 27.7% de helmintos de los cuales el 67.5% fueron patógenos. Entre las especies más prevalentes se encontraron Blastocystis spp con el 94%, Endolimax nana 89.2%, E. coli 84.3%, E. histolytica/E. dispar 55.4% y Giardia intestinalis 44.6%. Se presentaron diferencias estadísticas según el sexo, ocupación, el no utilizar ningún tratamiento para potabilizar el agua, la forma de eliminación de las basuras, la relación intradomiciliaria con los animales y el uso de calzado. Conclusión: Se evidencia una de las más altas prevalencias reportadas entre los estudios de comunidades indígenas del país, encontrándose como factores de riesgo; la falta de tratamiento del agua; la forma de eliminación de basuras y la convivencia intra o extradomiciliario con animales

Prevalencia de parasitismo intestinal en la comunidad Seminke del resguardo indígena Wiwa de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2014

Introduction: it has been reported, in Latin America, highs parasitism prevalent activities in indigenous communities, considered as a health public problem. In Colombia, studies in these offerings are few, but these studies show similar prevalence. Objective: To determine the general and specific gastrointestinal parasite prevalence, and related factors in the indigenous community of Seminke of Wiwa shelter, in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2014. Methods: Cross-sectional study in indigenous population, where information collection is enhanced by a social-health survey, and analysis pro triplicate samples of fecal matter subsequence of a Mini Parasep sf. concentration. The description of the population was carried out with summary measures and then the variables were compared through chi-square tests of Pearson and Mann-Whitney, taking into account a significance value of 0.05 in SPSS 21.0. Results: 81 Indigenous were included with a mean age of 19 years (2 months-93 years), finding a parasitism of 96.4%, with 94% of polyparasitism, up to 9 agents per person, versus 97.6% of protozoa to 27.7% of helminths which 67.5% were pathogens. Among the most prevalent species, it was found Blastocystis spp with 94%, Endolimax nana 89.2%, E. coli 84.3%, E. histolytica/E. dispar 55.4% and 44.6% Giardia intestinalis. It was found several statistics according with the gender, not use any treatment for drinking water, the way to eliminate waste, indoor air relationship with animals and the use of shoes. Conclusion: it was found the highest prevalence reported among studies of indigenous communities in Colombia, it was found as risk factors; absence of water treatment; the waste treatment and the intra- or extra-domestic coexistence with animals. © 2015 [email protected]

L-Type Calcium Channels Modulation by Estradiol

Voltage-gated calcium channels are key regulators of brain function, and their dysfunction has been associated with multiple conditions and neurodegenerative diseases because they couple membrane depolarization to the influx of calcium—and other processes such as gene expression—in excitable cells. L-type calcium channels, one of the three major classes and probably the best characterized of the voltage-gated calcium channels, act as an essential calcium binding proteins with a significant biological relevance. It is well known that estradiol can activate rapidly brain signaling pathways and modulatory/regulatory proteins through non-genomic (or non-transcriptional) mechanisms, which lead to an increase of intracellular calcium that activate multiple kinases and signaling cascades, in the same way as L-type calcium channels responses. In this context, estrogens—L-type calcium channels signaling raises intracellular calcium levels and activates the same signaling cascades in the brain probably through estrogen receptor-independent modulatory mechanisms. In this review, we discuss the available literature on this area, which seems to suggest that estradiol exerts dual effects/modulation on these channels in a concentration-dependent manner (as a potentiator of these channels in pM concentrations and as an inhibitor in nM concentrations). Indeed, estradiol may orchestrate multiple neurotrophic responses, which open a new avenue for the development of novel estrogen-based therapies to alleviate different neuropathologies. We also highlight that it is essential to determine through computational and/or experimental approaches the interaction between estradiol and L-type calcium channels to assist these developments, which is an interesting area of research that deserves a closer look in future biomedical research. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.Universidad Autónoma de Chil