The puzzle of 90 degree reorientation in the vortex lattice of borocarbide superconductors

We explain 90 degree reorientation in the vortex lattice of borocarbide superconductors on the basis of a phenomenological extension of the nonlocal London model that takes full account of the symmetry of the system. We propose microscopic mechanisms that could generate the correction terms and point out the important role of the superconducting gap anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figure

Nature of 45 degree vortex lattice reorientation in tetragonal superconductors

The transformation of the vortex lattice in a tetragonal superconductor which consists of its 45 degree reorientation relative to the crystal axes is studied using the nonlocal London model. It is shown that the reorientation occurs as two successive second order (continuous) phase transitions. The transition magnetic fields are calculated for a range of parameters relevant for borocarbide superconductors in which the reorientation has been observed

An Estimate of the Prevalence of Dementia in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease

A review of the records for evidence of dementia using criteria adapted from the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in every patient (hospitalized and outpatient) with parkinsonism at a major medical center during an 18-month period revealed an overall prevalence of 10.9% in 339 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Demented patients were older, had a later age at onset of motor manifestations, and a more rapid progression of physical disability than nondemented patients. Duration of illness and levodopa use and the presence of tremor or depression were similar in demented and nondemented patients. Demented patients more often responded poorly or developed adverse effects to levodopa than nondemented patients. When Parkinson's disease began after age 70 years, dementia was noted over three times more frequently than when the disease began at an earlier age. The age-specific prevalence rate of dementia for patients older than 70 years was more than twice that for younger patients. Moreover, the number of records with evidence for dementia with idiopathic Parkinson's disease was 3.75 times greater than expected in comparison with data from a study of the prevalence of dementia in the elderly

Coexisting Dementia and Depression in Parkinson's Disease

Dementia and depression in patients with Parkinson's disease have been reported separately, but their prevalence is controversial. This study examines the coexistence of these two problems and suggests a common underlying biochemical system. We examined these two entities by retrospective chart review and cerebrospinal fluid biochemistry. We found a prevalence of 10.9% for dementia, 51% for depression, and 5.4% for coincident depression and dementia. In a prospective study of patients with Parkinson's disease we found a continuum of cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations. Patients who were either depressed or demented had lower concentrations of this metabolite than other patients with Parkinson's disease, but patients who were depressed and demented had the lowest levels. These results suggest that the coexistence of dementia and depression represents a unique clinical entity in Parkinson's disease. The serotonergic system may be involved in depression and dementia because evidence of a cumulative effect on this biochemical system is present

Effect of chondroitin sulfate on intraocular pressure in rats

PURPOSE: To study the effect of intracameral injections of chondroitin sulfate (CS) on intraocular pressure (IOP), retinal function, and histology in rats. METHODS: Acute or chronic injections of CS were performed unilaterally in the rat anterior chamber, whereas the contralateral eye was injected with vehicle. IOP was daily or weekly assessed by a tonometer. Retinal function was assessed by scotopic electroretinography (ERG) and the visual pathway by flash visual evoked potentials (VEPs), whereas the retinal and optic nerve head structure were examined by histologic analysis. RESULTS: A single injection of 8 mg (but not 2 or 4 mg) CS induced a significant increase of IOP. The increase of IOP induced by a single injection of 8 mg CS lasted for 7 days, whereas chronic (weekly) administration during 10 weeks induced a significant and sustained increase in IOP compared with eyes injected with vehicle. A significant decrease of scotopic ERG a- and b- wave amplitude was observed after 6 and 10 weeks of CS administration. Moreover, a significant decrease in scotopic flash VEP N2-P2 component amplitude was observed in eyes treated with CS for 6 and 10 weeks. A significant loss of ganglion cell layer cells and optic nerve axons was observed in eyes receiving CS for 10 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that exogenous CS simulates the accumulation of CS in primary open-angle glaucoma and that increased amounts of CS could play a key role in the IOP dysregulation characteristic of glaucoma.Fil: Belforte, Nicolás Adalberto. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Laboratorio de Neuroquímica Retiniana y Oftalmología Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Bioquímica Humana; ArgentinaFil: Sande Casal, Pablo Horacio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Laboratorio de Neuroquímica Retiniana y Oftalmología Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Bioquímica Humana; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: de Zavalia, Nuria Maria Asuncion. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Laboratorio de Neuroquímica Retiniana y Oftalmología Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Bioquímica Humana; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; ArgentinaFil: Knepper, Paul A.. University of Illinois; Estados UnidosFil: Rosenstein, Ruth Estela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Laboratorio de Neuroquímica Retiniana y Oftalmología Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Bioquímica Humana; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; Argentin

The complex microbiome from native semen to embryo culture environment in human in vitro fertilization procedure

Background Only a few microbial studies have conducted in IVF (in vitro fertilization), showing the high-variety bacterial contamination of IVF culture media to cause damage to or even loss of cultured oocytes and embryos. We aimed to determine the prevalence and counts of bacteria in IVF samples, and to associate them with clinical outcome. Methods The studied samples from 50 infertile couples included: raw (n = 48), processed (n = 49) and incubated (n = 50) sperm samples, and IVF culture media (n = 50). The full microbiome was analyzed by 454 pyrosequencing and quantitative analysis by real-time quantitative PCR. Descriptive statistics, t-, Mann-Whitney tests and Spearman's correlation were used for comparison of studied groups. Results The study involved normozoospermic men. Normal vaginal microbiota was present in 72.0% of female partners, while intermediate microbiota and bacterial vaginosis were diagnosed in 12.0 and 16.0%, respectively. The decreasing bacterial loads were found in raw (35.5%), processed (12.0%) and sperm samples used for oocyte insemination (4.0%), and in 8.0% of IVF culture media. The most abundant genera of bacteria in native semen and IVF culture media were Lactobacillus, while in other samples Alphaproteobacteria prevailed. Staphylococcus sp. was found only in semen from patients with inflammation. Phylum Bacteroidetes was in negative correlation with sperm motility and Alphaproteobacteria with high-quality IVF embryos. Conclusion Our study demonstrates that IVF does not occur in a sterile environment. The prevalent bacteria include classes Bacilli in raw semen and IVF culture media, Clostridia in processed and Bacteroidia in sperm samples used for insemination. The presence of Staphylococcus sp. and Alphaproteobacteria associated with clinical outcomes, like sperm and embryo quality.Peer reviewe

Automatic analysis of facilitated taste-liking

This paper focuses on: (i) Automatic recognition of taste-liking from facial videos by comparatively training and evaluating models with engineered features and state-of-the-art deep learning architectures, and (ii) analysing the classification results along the aspects of facilitator type, and the gender, ethnicity, and personality of the participants. To this aim, a new beverage tasting dataset acquired under different conditions (human vs. robot facilitator and priming vs. non-priming facilitation) is utilised. The experimental results show that: (i) The deep spatiotemporal architectures provide better classification results than the engineered feature models; (ii) the classification results for all three classes of liking, neutral and disliking reach F1 scores in the range of 71%-91%; (iii) the personality-aware network that fuses participants’ personality information with that of facial reaction features provides improved classification performance; and (iv) classification results vary across participant gender, but not across facilitator type and participant ethnicity.EPSR

Temperature Dependence of the Flux Line Lattice Transition into Square Symmetry in Superconducting LuNi2_2B2_2C

We have investigated the temperature dependence of the H || c flux line lattice structural phase transition from square to hexagonal symmetry, in the tetragonal superconductor LuNi_2B_2C (T_c = 16.6 K). At temperatures below 10 K the transition onset field, H_2(T), is only weakly temperature dependent. Above 10 K, H_2(T) rises sharply, bending away from the upper critical field. This contradicts theoretical predictions of H_2(T) merging with the upper critical field, and suggests that just below the H_c2(T)-curve the flux line lattice might be hexagonal.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure