Lifetime Measurements in 120Xe

Lifetimes for the lowest three transitions in the nucleus $^{120}$Xe have been measured using the Recoil Distance Technique. Our data indicate that the lifetime for the $2_{1}^{+} \to 0_{1}^{+}$ transition is more than a factor of two lower than the previously adopted value and is in keeping with more recent measurements performed on this nucleus. The theoretical implications of this discrepancy and the possible reason for the erroneous earlier results are discussed. All measured lifetimes in $^{120}$Xe, as well as the systematics of the lifetimes of the 2$_{1}^{+}$ states in Xe isotopes, are compared with predictions of various models. The available data are best described by the Fermion Dynamic Symmetry Model (FDSM).Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures with Postscript file available on request at [email protected], [email protected]. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Thiazolidinediones repress ob gene expression in rodents via activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma

The ob gene product, leptin, is a signaling factor regulating body weight and energy balance. ob gene expression in rodents is increased in obesity and is regulated by feeding patterns and hormones, such as insulin and glucocorticoids. In humans with gross obesity, ob mRNA levels are higher, but other modulators of human ob expression are unknown. In view of the importance of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) in adipocyte differentiation, we analyzed whether ob gene expression is subject to regulation by factors activating PPARs. Treatment of rats with the PPARalpha activator fenofibrate did not change adipose tissue and body weight and had no significant effect on ob mRNA levels. However, administration of the thiazolidinedione BRL49653, a PPARgamma ligand, increased food intake and adipose tissue weight while reducing ob mRNA levels in rats in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory action of the thiazolidinedione BRL49653 on ob mRNA levels was also observed in vitro. Thiazolidinediones reduced the expression of the human ob promoter in primary adipocytes, however, in undifferentiated 3T3-L1 preadipocytes lacking endogenous PPARgamma, cotransfection of PPARgamma was required to observe the decrease. In conclusion, these data suggest that PPARgamma activators reduce ob mRNA levels through an effect of PPARgamma on the ob promoter

Uso de morteros catalíticos sobre paneles, para el análisis de la reducción de partículas contaminantes en el aire

Trabajo de Investigación TecnológicaEste proyecto de grado se enfoca en la contaminación del aire y el uso de las nuevas tecnologías en la construcción para combatir este problema que genera afectaciones no solo ambientales, sino en la salud humana, en la flora y la fauna. La nanotecnología, es una rama que se desprende de las nuevas tecnologías y que se ha abierto paso en la industria de la construcción, por medio de la implementación de materiales y aditivos te tamaño nanométrico que mejoran y generan nuevas propiedades en los materiales comunes de construcción como el acero, concretos, morteros, pinturas, etc. En este proyecto se elaboró un concreto y mortero adicionando el Dióxido de titanio (TiO2), el cual actúa como un catalizador al combinarse con el cemento y los rayos ultra violeta, y su función principal es oxidar las partículas contaminantes suspendidas en el aire, por lo cual se categoriza como un descontaminante. Adicionalmente, el TiO2 puede mejorar las propiedades del concreto. Para comprobar el efecto del TiO2 en el concreto, se elaboraron cuatro cilindros de concreto común y de concreto adicionado, los cuales se fallaron en las edades típicas de falla y se compararon los resultados obtenidos. De igual manera, se fabricó un mortero adicionado, el cual se colocó sobre paneles y se dejó expuesto ocho días en un área de monitoreo de aire, y con los datos obtenidos se realizó el análisis correspondiente.1 INTRODUCCIÓN 2 ANTECEDENTES 3 PLANTEAMIENTO DEL PROBLEMA 4 OBJETIVOS 5 JUSTIFICACIÓN 6 DELIMITACIONES 7 MARCO DE REFERENCIA 8 METODOLOGÍA 9 DISEÑO METODOLÓGICO. 10 CONCLUSIONES 11 RECOMENDACIONES BIBLIOGRAFÍAPregradoIngeniero Civi

A Limited Role for Suppression in the Central Field of Individuals with Strabismic Amblyopia.

yesBackground: Although their eyes are pointing in different directions, people with long-standing strabismic amblyopia typically do not experience double-vision or indeed any visual symptoms arising from their condition. It is generally believed that the phenomenon of suppression plays a major role in dealing with the consequences of amblyopia and strabismus, by preventing images from the weaker/deviating eye from reaching conscious awareness. Suppression is thus a highly sophisticated coping mechanism. Although suppression has been studied for over 100 years the literature is equivocal in relation to the extent of the retina that is suppressed, though the method used to investigate suppression is crucial to the outcome. There is growing evidence that some measurement methods lead to artefactual claims that suppression exists when it does not. Methodology/Results: Here we present the results of an experiment conducted with a new method to examine the prevalence, depth and extent of suppression in ten individuals with strabismic amblyopia. Seven subjects (70%) showed no evidence whatsoever for suppression and in the three individuals who did (30%), the depth and extent of suppression was small. Conclusions: Suppression may play a much smaller role in dealing with the negative consequences of strabismic amblyopia than previously thought. Whereas recent claims of this nature have been made only in those with micro-strabismus our results show extremely limited evidence for suppression across the central visual field in strabismic amblyopes more generally. Instead of suppressing the image from the weaker/deviating eye, we suggest the visual system of individuals with strabismic amblyopia may act to maximise the possibilities for binocular co-operation. This is consistent with recent evidence from strabismic and amblyopic individuals that their binocular mechanisms are intact, and that, just as in visual normals, performance with two eyes is better than with the better eye alone in these individuals

AIDS Vaccine for Asia Network (AVAN): Expanding the Regional Role in Developing HIV Vaccines

Yiming Shao and colleagues describe the work of AVAN, the AIDS Vaccine for Asia Network, which aims to strengthen its regional efforts in finding an AIDS vaccine

The integration of occlusion and disparity information for judging depth in autism spectrum disorder

In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), atypical integration of visual depth cues may be due to flattened perceptual priors or selective fusion. The current study attempts to disentangle these explanations by psychophysically assessing within-modality integration of ordinal (occlusion) and metric (disparity) depth cues while accounting for sensitivity to stereoscopic information. Participants included 22 individuals with ASD and 23 typically developing matched controls. Although adults with ASD were found to have significantly poorer stereoacuity, they were still able to automatically integrate conflicting depth cues, lending support to the idea that priors are intact in ASD. However, dissimilarities in response speed variability between the ASD and TD groups suggests that there may be differences in the perceptual decision-making aspect of the task

Environmental justice and conceptions of the green economy

Green economy has become one of the most fashionable terms in global environmental public policy discussions and forums. Despite this popularity, and its being selected as one of the organizing themes of the United Nations Rio+20 Conference in Brazil, June 2012, its prospects as an effective mobilization tool for global environmental sustainability scholarship and practice remains unclear. A major reason for this is that much like its precursor concepts such as environmental sustainability and sustainable development, green economy is a woolly concept which lends itself to many interpretations. Hence, rather than resolve long-standing controversies, green economy merely reinvigorates existing debates over the visions, actors and policies best suited to secure a more sustainable future for all. In this review article, we aim to fill an important gap in scholarship by suggesting various ways in which green economy may be organized and synthesized as a concept, and especially in terms of its relationship with the idea of social and environmental justice. Accordingly, we offer a systemization of possible interpretations of green economy mapped onto a synthesis of existing typologies of environmental justice. This classification provides the context for future analysis of which, and how, various notions of green economy link with various conceptions of justice

AMPK Regulates Circadian Rhythms in a Tissue- and Isoform-Specific Manner

AMP protein kinase (AMPK) plays an important role in food intake and energy metabolism, which are synchronized to the light-dark cycle. In vitro, AMPK affects the circadian rhythm by regulating at least two clock components, CKIα and CRY1, via direct phosphorylation. However, it is not known whether the catalytic activity of AMPK actually regulates circadian rhythm in vivo.THE CATALYTIC SUBUNIT OF AMPK HAS TWO ISOFORMS: α1 and α2. We investigate the circadian rhythm of behavior, physiology and gene expression in AMPKα1-/- and AMPKα2-/- mice. We found that both α1-/- and α2-/- mice are able to maintain a circadian rhythm of activity in dark-dark (DD) cycle, but α1-/- mice have a shorter circadian period whereas α2-/- mice showed a tendency toward a slightly longer circadian period. Furthermore, the circadian rhythm of body temperature was dampened in α1-/- mice, but not in α2-/- mice. The circadian pattern of core clock gene expression was severely disrupted in fat in α1-/- mice, but it was severely disrupted in the heart and skeletal muscle of α2-/- mice. Interestingly, other genes that showed circadian pattern of expression were dysreguated in both α1-/- and α2-/- mice. The circadian rhythm of nicotinamide phosphoryl-transferase (NAMPT) activity, which converts nicotinamide (NAM) to NAD+, is an important regulator of the circadian clock. We found that the NAMPT rhythm was absent in AMPK-deficient tissues and cells.This study demonstrates that the catalytic activity of AMPK regulates circadian rhythm of behavior, energy metabolism and gene expression in isoform- and tissue-specific manners

International Network for Comparison of HIV Neutralization Assays: The NeutNet Report II

BACKGROUND: Neutralizing antibodies provide markers for vaccine-induced protective immunity in many viral infections. By analogy, HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies induced by immunization may well predict vaccine effectiveness. Assessment of neutralizing antibodies is therefore of primary importance, but is hampered by the fact that we do not know which assay(s) can provide measures of protective immunity. An international collaboration (NeutNet) involving 18 different laboratories previously compared different assays using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and soluble CD4 (Phase I study). METHODS: In the present study (Phase II), polyclonal reagents were evaluated by 13 laboratories. Each laboratory evaluated nine plasmas against an 8 virus panel representing different genetic subtypes and phenotypes. TriMab, a mixture of three mAbs, was used as a positive control allowing comparison of the results with Phase I in a total of nine different assays. The assays used either uncloned virus produced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (Virus Infectivity Assays, VIA), or Env (gp160)-pseudotyped viruses (pseudoviruses, PSV) produced in HEK293T cells from molecular clones or from uncloned virus. Target cells included PBMC and genetically engineered cell lines in either single- or multiple-cycle infection format. Infection was quantified by using a range of assay read-outs including extra- or intra-cellular p24 antigen detection, luciferase, beta-galactosidase or green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene expression. FINDINGS: Using TriMab, results of Phase I and Phase II were generally in agreement for six of the eight viruses tested and confirmed that the PSV assay is more sensitive than PBMC (p = 0.014). Comparisons with the polyclonal reagents showed that sensitivities were dependent on both virus and plasma. CONCLUSIONS: Here we further demonstrate clear differences in assay sensitivities that were dependent on both the neutralizing reagent and the virus. Consistent with the Phase I study, we recommend parallel use of PSV and VIA for vaccine evaluation