Deducing high pressure behavior for chemically fragile systems: the polymorphism of spironolactone

International audienc

Polymorphism of spironolactone: An unprecedented case of monotropy turning to enantiotropy with a huge difference in the melting temperatures

Postprint (author's final draft

Offshore Oligo-Miocene volcanic fields within the Corsica-Liguria Basin: Magmatic diversity and slab evolution in the western Mediterranean Sea

International audienceThe European and Corsica-Sardinia margins of the Ligurian Sea (western Mediterranean) have been affected by a geochemically diverse igneous activity, offshore and onshore, since the Eocene. This magmatism occurred in a global subduction-related framework. On the European side, the oldest Tertiary magmatism dated at ca. 35 Ma was mainly calc-alkaline. It included the emplacement of plutonic bodies of adakitic affinity, such as the quartz microdiorite laccolith locally referred to as "esterellite". Younger magmatic events on-land within the whole Ligurian domain were mostly medium-K or K-rich calc-alkaline. Miocene volcanic activity was important in Sardinia, where andesites and ignimbrites were erupted during several magmatic cycles. In Corsica, it was minor although it emplaced lamprophyres near Sisco at 15 Ma. Dredging and diving cruises conducted in the Ligurian Sea during the last thirty years allowed us to collect a number of submarine samples. We discuss here their geochemistry (major and trace elements) and their whole-rock K-Ar ages and mineral 40Ar-39Ar plateau ages. Around 15 Ma, minor amounts of adakitic lavas were emplaced off southwestern Corsica, in the deepest part of the Liguria-Corsica Basin. They rested over the thinnest southwestern Corsica Hercynian continental crust. Closer to the coast, contemporaneous calc-alkaline rocks erupted on a less thinned crust. The adakitic events could be indicative of either the final stages of active subduction, or alternatively of a slab tearing linked to the southeastern retreat and steepening of the slab. The latter event could be connected with the end of the Corsica-Sardinia block drifting and its correlative eastern collision. Younger volcanic effusions, dated at 14-6 Ma, occurred mostly northwest and north of Corsica. K-rich calc-alkaline basalts, shoshonites and K-rich trachytes were emplaced during this period, and alkali basalts erupted as early as 12 Ma in Sardinia. In the Toulon area, alkali basalts dated at 7-6 Ma represent the last onshore activity just before the Messinian crisis, and the Pliocene alkali basaltic outpouring in Sardinia. We propose to link these latter volcanic events to the development of a slab window in a post-collisional tectonic framework

Enhancement-mode PEDOT:PSS organic electrochemical transistors using molecular de-doping

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) show great promise for flexible, low-cost, and low-voltage sensors for aqueous solutions. The majority of OECT devices are made using the polymer blend poly(ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), in which PEDOT is intrinsically doped due to inclusion of PSS. Because of this intrinsic doping, PEDOT:PSS OECTs generally operate in depletion mode, which results in a higher power consumption and limits stability. Here, a straightforward method to de-dope PEDOT:PSS using commercially available amine-based molecular de-dopants to achieve stable enhancement-mode OECTs is presented. The enhancement-mode OECTs show mobilities near that of pristine PEDOT:PSS (≈2 cm2 V−1 s−1) with stable operation over 1000 on/off cycles. The electron and proton exchange among PEDOT, PSS, and the molecular de-dopants are characterized to reveal the underlying chemical mechanism of the threshold voltage shift to negative voltages. Finally, the effect of the de-doping on the microstructure of the spin-cast PEDOT:PSS films is investigated.</p

Motor Network Degeneration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Structural and Functional Connectivity Study

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by motor neuron degeneration. How this disease affects the central motor network is largely unknown. Here, we combined for the first time structural and functional imaging measures on the motor network in patients with ALS and healthy controls. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Structural measures included whole brain cortical thickness and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of crucial motor tracts. These structural measures were combined with functional connectivity analysis of the motor network based on resting state fMRI. Focal cortical thinning was observed in the primary motor area in patients with ALS compared to controls and was found to correlate with disease progression. DTI revealed reduced FA values in the corpus callosum and in the rostral part of the corticospinal tract. Overall functional organisation of the motor network was unchanged in patients with ALS compared to healthy controls, however the level of functional connectedness was significantly correlated with disease progression rate. Patients with increased connectedness appear to have a more progressive disease course. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrate structural motor network deterioration in ALS with preserved functional connectivity measures. The positive correlation between functional connectedness of the motor network and disease progression rate could suggest spread of disease along functional connections of the motor network

Morbidity, utilization of curative care and service entry point preferences in metropolitan Centro Habana, Cuba

Pol De Vos - ORCID: 0000-0002-1672-6469 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1672-6469First-line health services with a primary health care approach are a strong trigger for adequate health-care-seeking behavior. Research on the association between prevalence of chronic diseases and acute illnesses and use of health services emphasizes the importance of socioeconomic determinants in such patterns of utilization. In a cross-sectional study of 408 families in Centro Habana, Cuba, home interviews were conducted between April and June 2010 to analyze socio-demographic determinants of acute and chronic health problems and use of formal health services. Bivariate and logistic regression models were used. 529 persons reported a chronic disease. During the previous month, 155 of the latter reported an exacerbation and 50 experienced an unrelated acute health problem. 107 persons without chronic diseases reported acute health problems. Age was the strongest determinant of chronic disease prevalence. Adult women and the elderly were more likely to report acute problems. Acute patients with underlying chronic disease used formal services more often. No socio-demographic variable was associated with services use or consultation with the family physician. While the family physician is defined as the system's entry-point, this was the case for only 54% of patients that had used formal services, thus compromising the physician's role in counseling patients and summarizing their health issues. The importance of chronic diseases highlights the need to strengthen the family physician's pivotal role. New economic policies in Cuba, stimulating self-employment and private initiative, may increase the strain on the exclusively public health care system. Still, the Cuban health system has demonstrated its ability to adapt to new challenges, and the basic premises of Cuba's health policy are expected to be preserved.Paper adds to the growing body of evidence that children can acquire phonological systems before they are able to master the phonetic skills needed to convey the contrasts in that systemsch_iih32pub5025e00108914pub1

Does having a twin-brother make for a bigger brain?

Objective: Brain volume of boys is larger than that of girls by ∼10%. Prenatal exposure to testosterone has been suggested in the masculinization of the brain. For example, in litter-bearing mammals intrauterine position increases prenatal testosterone exposure through adjacent male fetuses, resulting in masculinization of brain morphology. Design: The influence of intrauterine presence of a male co-twin on masculinization of human brain volume was studied in 9-year old twins. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging brain scans, current testosterone, and estradiol levels were acquired from four groups of dizygotic (DZ) twins: boys from same-sex twin-pairs (SSM), boys from opposite-sex twin-pairs (OSM), girls from opposite-sex twin-pairs (OSF), and girls from same-sex twin-pairs (SSF; n=119 individuals). Data on total brain, cerebellum, gray and white matter volumes were examined. Results: Irrespective of their own sex, children with a male co-twin as compared to children with a female co-twin had larger total brain (+2.5%) and cerebellum (+5.5%) volumes. SSM, purportedly exposed to the highest prenatal testosterone levels, were found to have the largest volumes, followed by OSM, OSF and SSF children. Birth weight partly explained the effect on brain volumes. Current testosterone and estradiol levels did not account for the volumetric brain differences. However, the effects observed in children did not replicate in adult twins. Conclusions: Our study indicates that sharing the uterus with a DZ twin brother increases total brain volume in 9-year olds. The effect may be transient and limited to a critical period in childhood. © 2009 European Society of Endocrinology

Use of medical services in a health area

De Vos, Pol - ORCID 0000-0002-1672-6469 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1672-6469Introducción: en la utilización de los servicios de salud convergen no solo la necesidad de atención de la población en términos de enfermedad, sino sus creencias y aspectos culturales; pero, sobre todo, el complejo contexto en que se da la prestación de servicios. Objetivo: exponer las características sociodemográficas y las enfermedades o sintomatologías más frecuentes en la población del área de salud "Marcio Manduley", del municipio Centro Habana, y los que hicieron uso de los servicios de salud durante el período abril - junio de 2010. Métodos: estudio descriptivo transversal. Se seleccionó una muestra poblacional representativa del área; se tomó en consideración el total de viviendas. Como se desconoce la prevalencia del factor bajo estudio, se maximizó la muestra tomando como prevalencia el 50 %, la precisión en 10 % y una posible caída muestral del 10 %. El tamaño muestral fue de 408 familias. Se aplicaron cuestionarios a todos los integrantes de las familias seleccionadas y en particular a aquellos individuos que durante los últimos 30 días enfermaron e hicieron uso de algún servicio de salud. Resultados: se obtuvieron datos de 1 244 personas; de ellas enfermaron 25,1 % en los últimos 30 días y el 17,7 % hizo uso de servicios formales de salud. Las enfermedades más frecuentes fueron respiratorias, cardiovasculares y osteomioarticular. La puerta de entrada al sistema de salud más utilizada fue el consultorio médico (54,1 %). Conclusiones: en nuestro estudio los factores del individuo que influyen en la utilización de los servicios de salud son el nivel de enfermedad percibida o necesidad de salud y el sexo.Introduction: use of health services is determined not only by the need of health care in case of illness, but also by beliefs and cultural views, and above all by the complex environment in which services are rendered. Objective: present the sociodemographic characteristics and the most common conditions and symptoms in Marcio Manduley health area, municipality of Centro Habana, and describe the use of health services in the period from April to June 2010. Methods: descriptive cross-sectional study of a representative sample of the population in the area, taking into consideration the total number of households. Since the prevalence of the factor under study is unknown, the sample was maximized to a prevalence of 50%, an accuracy of 10% and a potential sample dropout rate of 10%. The sample size was 408 households. Questionnaires were given to all members of the households selected, particularly to those who had been ill in the previous 30 days and had made use of any health service. Results: data were obtained about 1 244 persons, of whom 25.1% had been ill in the previous 30 days and 17.7% had made use of formal health services. The most frequent conditions were respiratory, cardiovascular and osteoarticular. Family doctors' offices were the most common entrance door to the health care system (54.1%). Conclusions: according to our study, the factors exerting the greatest influence on the use of health services by the population are the level of perceived severity of the illness or need of medical care, and gender.http://ref.scielo.org/wvhcr551pubpub

Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS):A team science effort to predict societal trajectories in adolescence and young adulthood

Our society faces a great diversity of opportunities for youth. The 10-year Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) program has the long-term goal to understand which combination of measures best predict societal trajectories, such as school success, mental health, well-being, and developing a sense of belonging in society. Our leading hypothesis is that self-regulation is key to how adolescents successfully navigate the demands of contemporary society. We aim to test these questions using socio-economic, questionnaire (including experience sampling methods), behavioral, brain (fMRI, sMRI, EEG), hormonal, and genetic measures in four large cohorts including adolescents and young adults. Two cohorts are designed as test and replication cohorts to test the developmental trajectory of self-regulation, including adolescents of different socioeconomic status thereby bridging individual, family, and societal perspectives. The third cohort consists of an entire social network to examine how neural and self-regulatory development influences and is influenced by whom adolescents and young adults choose to interact with. The fourth cohort includes youth with early signs of antisocial and delinquent behavior to understand patterns of societal development in individuals at the extreme ends of self-regulation and societal participation, and examines pathways into and out of delinquency. We will complement the newly collected cohorts with data from existing large-scale population-based and case-control cohorts. The study is embedded in a transdisciplinary approach that engages stakeholders throughout the design stage, with a strong focus on citizen science and youth participation in study design, data collection, and interpretation of results, to ensure optimal translation to youth in society.</p