Metabolic syndrome and the immunological affair with the blood-brain barrier

Copyright © 2015 Mauro, De Rosa, Marelli-Berg and Solito. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms

From Coulomb blockade to the Kondo regime in a Rashba dot

We investigate the electronic transport in a quantum wire with localized Rashba interaction. The Rashba field forms quasi-bound states which couple to the continuum states with an opposite spin direction. The presence of this Rashba dot causes Fano-like antiresonances and dips in the wire's linear conductance. The Fano lineshape arises from the interference between the direct transmission channel along the wire and the hopping through the Rashba dot. Due to the confinement, we predict the observation of large charging energies in the local Rashba region which lead to Coulomb-blockade effects in the transport properties of the wire. Importantly, the Kondo regime can be achieved with a proper tuning of the Rashba interaction, giving rise to an oscillating linear conductance for a fixed occupation of the Rashba dot.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; presentation improved, discussions extended. Published versio

Variabilidad temporal de la macrofauna estuarina de la Laguna de los Patos, Brasil

La variabilidad temporal de la densidad de la macrofauna y su relación con las propiedades del agua y sedimento fue estudiada a través de muestreos mensuales en una ensenada estuarina de la Laguna de los Patos, Brasil, de enero a diciembre de 2001. Las características del agua y del sedimento mostraron un nítido patrón estacional. Los mayores valores de salinidad y temperatura del agua se observaron en los meses de verano, mientras que un aumento de las fracciones finas en el sedimento ocurrió durante el invierno. Durante el estudio fueron recolectadas 18 especies, con un total de 38.827 organismos. El bivalvo Erodona mactroides, el tanaidaceo Kalliapseudes schübartii, los poliquetos Heteromastus similis y Nephtys fluviatilis y el gasterópodo Heleobia australis fueron los organismos dominantes, correspondiendo juntos, al 90% de la abundancia total. La macrofauna también mostró un patrón estacional de distribución, con las mayores densidades registradas durante los meses de verano (enero = 62.205 ind. m-2) y las menores en invierno (julio = 9.410 ind. m-2). Este patrón es resultante del proceso reproductivo de las especies, el cual comienza con el aumento de la temperatura a partir de fines de primavera. Las bajas densidades en el invierno están relacionadas con el efecto de una fuerte depredación sobre estos organismos asociada con la ausencia de reclutamientos efectivos en los meses fríos. Las alteraciones sedimentarias también pueden haber contribuido a la reducción de la densidad de la macrofauna durante el invierno

Lender of Last Resort and moral hazard

In this paper we revisit the Lender of Last Resort (LOLR) function of the central bank and the associated moral hazard incentives. We argue that, from an economic perspective, the strict application of penalties to the operation of LOLR actions can make that instrument unworkable. Instead, we suggest that both penalties and publication should only be applied after such LOLR had been in place for a time. Normative frameworks ought to be adjusted in this regard

Genetic and environmental covariation between autistic traits and behavioral problems

Objective: To examine the overlap between autistic traits and other behavioral problems in a general population sample, and explore the extent to which this overlap is due to genetic or environmental factors. Method: Youth Self Report (YSR) data were collected in a general population sample of 424 twin pairs at 18 years of age, and their non twin siblings. In 197 of these twin families, self-report ratings on the Autism-spectrum Quotient (AQ) were collected. Results: Stepwise backward regression analyses revealed that of all 8 YSR syndrome scales, the Withdrawn Behavior (WB) and Social Problems (SOC) scale were the most important predictors of AQ scores, and together with sex, explained 23% of the variance in AQ scores. Genetic structural equation modeling showed that the overlap between AQ and WB and SOC was mainly due to genetic effects. About half of the genetic variance in AQ scores was specific to the AQ, with the remaining half shared with genetic variance in WB and SOC. Conclusions: Endorsement of autistic traits in a general population sample is associated with social and withdrawn behavioral problems and these problems partly share a common genetic etiology with autistic traits. However, most of the variance in AQ scores remains unexplained by YSR scores, and half of the genetic variance in AQ is unshared with WB and SOC. These results indicate that autistic traits have specific characteristics that are substantially genetically independent from other common but related behavioral domains such as social problems and withdrawn behavior