Sites for Gamma-ray Astronomy in Argentina

We have searched for possible sites in Argentina for the installation of large air Cherenkov telescope arrays and water Cherenkov systems. At present seven candidates are identified at altitudes from 2500 to 4500 m. The highest sites are located at the Northwest of the country, in La Puna. Sites at 2500 and 3100 m are located in the West at El Leoncito Observatory, with excellent infrastructure. A description of these candidate sites is presented with emphasis on infrastructure and climatology.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of "4th Heidelberg International Symposium on High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy 2008

Striatal responsiveness to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load: A preliminary study.

Reward and stress are important determinants of motivated behaviors. Striatal regions play a crucial role in both motivation and hedonic processes. So far, little is known on how cognitive effort interacts with stress to modulate reward processes. This study examines how cognitive effort (load) interacts with an unpredictable acute stressor (threat-of-shock) to modulate motivational and hedonic processes in healthy adults. A reward task, involving stress with unpredictable mild electric shocks, was conducted in 23 healthy adults aged 20-37 (mean age: 24.7 ± 0.9; 14 females) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Manipulation included the use of (a) monetary reward for reinforcement, (b) threat-of-shock as the stressor, and (c) a spatial working memory task with two levels of difficulty (low and high load) for cognitive load. Reward-related activation was investigated in a priori three regions of interest, the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), caudate nucleus, and putamen. During anticipation, threat-of-shock or cognitive load did not affect striatal responsiveness to reward. Anticipated reward increased activation in the ventral and dorsal striatum. During feedback delivery, both threat-of-shock and cognitive effort modulated striatal activation. Higher working memory load blunted NAcc responsiveness to reward delivery, while stress strengthened caudate nucleus reactivity regardless reinforcement or load. These findings provide initial evidence that both stress and cognitive load modulate striatal responsiveness during feedback delivery but not during anticipation in healthy adults. Of clinical importance, sustained stress exposure might go along with dysregulated arousal, increasing therefore the risk for the development of maladaptive incentive-triggered motivation. This study brings new insight that might help to build a framework to understand common stress-related disorders, given that these psychiatric disorders involve disturbances of the reward system, cognitive deficits, and abnormal stress reactivity

Primary care implications of the British Thoracic Society Guidelines for bronchiectasis in adults 2019

The British Thoracic Society (BTS) Guidelines for Bronchiectasis in adults were published in January 2019, and comprise recommendations for treatment from primary to tertiary care. Here, we outline the practical implications of these guidelines for primary care practitioners. A diagnosis of bronchiectasis should be considered when a patient presents with a recurrent or persistent (>8 weeks) productive cough. A definitive diagnosis is made by using thin-section chest computed tomography (CT). Once diagnosed, patients should be initially assessed by a specialist respiratory team and a shared management plan formulated with the patient, the specialist and primary care teams. The cornerstone of primary care management is physiotherapy to improve airway sputum clearance and maximise exercise capacity, with prompt treatment of acute exacerbations with antibiotics

Polycystic ovary syndrome

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 5-20% of women of reproductive age worldwide. The condition is characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction and polycystic ovarian morphology (PCOM) - with excessive androgen production by the ovaries being a key feature of PCOS. Metabolic dysfunction characterized by insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinaemia is evident in the vast majority of affected individuals. PCOS increases the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes and other pregnancy-related complications, venous thromboembolism, cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events and endometrial cancer. PCOS is a diagnosis of exclusion, based primarily on the presence of hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction and PCOM. Treatment should be tailored to the complaints and needs of the patient and involves targeting metabolic abnormalities through lifestyle changes, medication and potentially surgery for the prevention and management of excess weight, androgen suppression and/or blockade, endometrial protection, reproductive therapy and the detection and treatment of psychological features. This Primer summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding the epidemiology, mechanisms and pathophysiology, diagnosis, screening and prevention, management and future investigational directions of the disorder.Robert J Norman, Ruijin Wu and Marcin T Stankiewic