Levels of subjective quality of life among adults with psychotic disorders formerly in foster care: Compared to a matched sample

The purpose of this study was to explore whether or not adults with psychotic disorders, who were formerly in foster care, are more likely to report a lesser quality of life as compared to a matched sample with no history of foster care

Randomly branching theta-polymers in two and three dimensions: Average properties and distribution functions

Motivated by renewed interest in the physics of branched polymers, we present here a detailed characterization of the connectivity and spatial properties of 2- and 3-dimensional single-chain conformations of randomly branching polymers under theta-solvent conditions obtained by Monte Carlo computer simulations. The first part of the work focuses on polymer average properties, such as the average polymer spatial size as a function of the total tree mass and the typical length of the average path length on the polymer backbone. In the second part, we move beyond average chain behavior and we discuss the complete distribution functions for tree paths and tree spatial distances, which are shown to obey the classical Redner-des Cloizeaux functional form. Our results were rationalized first by the systematic comparison to a Flory theory for branching polymers and next by generalized Fisher-Pincus relationships between scaling exponents of distribution functions. For completeness, the properties of theta-polymers were compared to their ideal (i.e., no volume interactions) as well as good-solvent (i.e., above the theta-point) counterparts. The results presented here complement the recent work performed in our group [A. Rosa and R. Everaers, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 49, 345001 (2016); J. Chem. Phys. 145, 164906 (2016); and Phys. Rev. E 95, 012117 (2017)] in the context of the scaling properties of branching polymers

Analysis of the rainfall variability in the subtropical North Atlantic region: Bermuda, Canary Island, Madeira and Azores

Tesis presentada en la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Programa de doctorado Física Fundamental y Aplicada. Departamento de Física[EN] This study presents an analysis of the rainfall in the subtropical North Atlantic region, proceeding as a reference the archipelagos of Bermuda, Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores. The spatial and seasonal variability and the annual cycle of the rainfall, on the basis of daily rainfall data records in the past decades with particular emphasis on the normal period 1981-2010, have been the main focus of this work. Particular importance has been given to the annual pattern, due to its crucial role in freshwater resources management.[ES] Este estudio presenta un análisis de la precipitación en la región subtropical del Atlántico Norte, tomando como referencia los archipiélagos de Bermudas, Canarias, Madeira y Azores. La variabilidad espacial y estacional, así como el ciclo anual de la lluvia en las pasadas décadas con particular énfasis en el periodo normal 1981-2010 han supuesto el centro de atención del mismo. Particular énfasis se ha dado también a la tendencia anual debido al papel crucial que tiene en la gestión de los recursos hídricos

Media Representation of Male Violence towards Women: Analysis of Trump's and Weinstein's Sexual Misconduct Cases in the British Press.

Los planteamientos lingüísticos feministas (Spender, 1980) destacan la importancia de la revisión del lenguaje como parte de la lucha por la igualdad de las mujeres. Adoptando las ideas del Relativismo Lingüístico y tomando el Análisis Crítico del Discurso (Fairclough, 1989, 1995) como marco teórico, este trabajo tratará de mostrar las maneras en las que dos periódicos británicos de ideologías opuestas, The Guardian y The Daily Mail, retratan la violencia sexual ejercida por hombres blancos de indiscutible poder como Donald Trump y Harvey Weinstein. Se llevará a cabo un análisis cualitativo centrado especialmente en los aspectos evaluativos (Hunston y Thompson, 2011), entre otros. Al comparar los distintos enfoques que se dan a los mismos hechos, se mostrará cómo el relato resultante retrata a los agresores, a las denunciantes y a los hechos en sí de diferente manera, contribuyendo así al refuerzo ideológico del lector meta. <br /

Melatonin Treatment Triggers Metabolic and Intracellular pH Imbalance in Glioblastoma

Supplementary Materials The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/cells11213467/s1, Figure S1: Metabolic baseline characterization, treatments with melatonin agonists, and combina-tion treatments of melatonin (aMT) and the standard of care for GBM; Figure S2: Seahorse com-plementary analyses; Figure S3: pH fluctuations; Figure S4: In vivo results after melatonin intra-tumoral treatment.Funding This research was funded by the Distinguished Mayo Clinic Investigator Award (A.Q.-H.) and the William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor (A.Q.-H.); the Uihlein Neuro-oncology Research Fund (A.Q.-H.) and R01CA200399 (A.Q.-H.).Metabolic rewiring in glioblastoma (GBM) is linked to intra- and extracellular pH regulation. In this study, we sought to characterize the role of melatonin on intracellular pH modulation and metabolic consequences to identify the mechanisms of action underlying melatonin oncostatic effects on GBM tumor initiating cells. GBM tumor initiating cells were treated at different times with melatonin (1.5 and 3.0 mM).We analyzed melatonin’s functional effects on GBM proliferation, cell cycle, viability, stemness, and chemo-radiosensitivity. We then assessed the effects of melatonin on GBM metabolism by analyzing the mitochondrial and glycolytic parameters. We also measured the intracellular and extracellular pH. Finally, we tested the effects of melatonin on a mouse subcutaneous xenograft model. We found that melatonin downregulated LDHA and MCT4, decreasing lactate production and inducing a decrease in intracellular pH that was associated with an increase in ROS and ATP depletion. These changes blocked cell cycle progression and induced cellular death and we observed similar results in vivo. Melatonin’s cytotoxic effects on GBM were due, at least in part, to intracellular pH modulation, which has emerged as a newly identified mechanism, providing new insights into the oncostatic effect of melatonin on GBM.Distinguished Mayo Clinic Investigator Award (A.Q.-H.)William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor (A.Q.-H.)Uihlein Neuro-oncology Research Fund (A.Q.-H.)R01CA200399 (A.Q.-H.

Autism and Faux Pas. Influences of Presentation Modality and Working Memory

People diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulties on Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks involving social situations, such as ‘faux pas’. The objective of this study was to find the modality of presentation (visual, verbal, or mixed) that yields the best understanding of a ‘faux pas’, and the possible influence of other variables, including intelligence (IQ), age, and working memory. Thirty autistic children and 30 neurotypical children, all aged 7 to 12 years old and comparable in age and IQ, participated in this study. They were asked to resolve nine ‘faux pas’ stories (three per modality). Significant between-groups differences were found in the visual (t = 2.99, p = .004) and verbal modalities (t = 2.64, p = .011), such that the neurotypical (NT) group had higher scores than the ASD group. The ASD group’s comprehension was better via the mixed modality than the verbal modality (t = 2.48, p = .019). In addition, working memory had a bigger impact on Faux Pas understanding in cases of autism than in typical development (R2 explained between .19 and .28 of variance in Faux Pas test outcomes), and could therefore explain some of the difficulties previously reported in this area. Future research should include a measure of working memory and a control among the stimuli presented to test for group differences in faux pas understanding

Assessment of psychological skills in young elite female handball players

The aim of this study was to know psychological characteristics of young elite female handball players using the C.P.R.D. questionnaire, and to establish possible differences based on years competing. The obtained results show that these young female handball players have similar psychological characteristics to other sports players. Players with more year of competitive experience showed higher scores in different psychological skills assessed. Nevertheless, only significant differences were found between more experienced players and less experienced players (years competing) in mental skills scale (p≤ 0,05)

Level Domain of Psychological Skills in Young Woman Elite Handball Players

The study aimed to know psychological skills of young elite female handball players and to analyze possible differences in these variables considering their level of competitive experience, depending on the scores obtained in CHPCDC- Children and Youth Scale. The more experienced players showed lower scores on several psychological skills and also a lower total score. Therefore should be included in sports training, psychological skills training

Geminivirus C2 protein represses genes involved in sulphur assimilation and this effect can be counteracted by jasmonate treatment

Geminiviruses are plant viruses that infect a broad range of crops and cause extensive losses worldwide, having an important economic impact. C2, a multifunctional pathogenicity factor encoded by geminiviruses, has been recently shown to suppress the responses to jasmonates in the host plant, which might at least partially explain its well-established role in pathogenicity. Sulphur is one of the essential macro-elements for plant life, and is considered to have a role in plant defence, in a phenomenon named sulphur-induced resistance (SIR) or sulphur-enhanced defence (SED). In this work, we show that geminivirus C2 protein represses the expression of genes involved in the sulphur assimilation pathway in Arabidopsis, but, interestingly, this effect can be neutralized by exogenous jasmonate treatment. These preliminary results may raise the idea that geminiviruses might be affecting sulphur metabolism, and maybe counteracting SIR/SED, through the manipulation of the jasmonate signalling pathway, which would define a novel strategy in plant-virus interactions and may unveil SIR/SED as an important player in the plant defence against viruses.Ministerio de Ciencia y Innovación/FEDER AGL2007-66062-C02-02/AGR AGL2010-22287-CO2European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) BIO2010-15201Junta de Andalucía BIO­27

Cytochrome c signalosome in mitochondria

Cytochrome c delicately tilts the balance between cell life (respiration) and cell death (apoptosis). Whereas cell life is governed by transient electron transfer interactions of cytochrome c inside the mitochondria, the cytoplasmic adducts of cytochrome c that lead to cell death are amazingly stable. Interestingly, the contacts of cytochrome c with its counterparts shift from the area surrounding the heme crevice for the redox complexes to the opposite molecule side when the electron flow is not necessary. The cytochrome c signalosome shows a higher level of regulation by post-translational modifications—nitration and phosphorylation—of the hemeprotein. Understanding protein interfaces, as well as protein modifications, would puzzle the mitochondrial cytochrome c-controlled pathways out and enable the design of novel drugs to silence the action of pro-survival and pro-apoptotic partners of cytochrome c.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation BFU2009-07190Andalusian Government BIO198 P08-CVI-387