Detección de procesamiento atípico de emociones en excombatientes colombianos

The reincorporation process of Colombian ex-combatants is hindered by their chronic exposure to violence, which affects their Emotional Processing (EP). Characterizing their EP will contribute to their reinsertion. The objective of this work is to define an EEG-based brain connectivity approach to identify differences in EP between Colombian ex-combatants and individuals who were not directly exposed to the armed conflict. The proposed approach involves defining the Regions of Interest (ROI) and selecting one of five commonly used brain connectivity metrics: Correlation, Cross-Correlation, Coherence, Imaginary part of Coherency, and Phase-Lag Index. Significant differences were found in the positive valence stimuli in the Beta frequency band. These results support the previously reported trend in the literature regarding the difficulties ex-combatants have to process emotional information with positive valence.El proceso de reincorporación social de los excombatientes colombianos, se dificulta debido a que la exposición crónica a la violencia afecta su procesamiento emocional (PE). Este proceso de reincorporación se puede facilitar mediante la caracterización de su PE. El objetivo de este artículo es definir una metodología de conectividad con EEG que permita identificar diferencias entre el EP de excombatientes y personas no directamente expuestas al conflicto armado. La metodología propuesta consiste en definir las Regiones de Interés (ROI) y seleccionar una de cinco métricas de conectividad funcional cerebral comúnmente utilizadas: correlación, correlación cruzada, coherencia, parte imaginaria de la coherencia y el índice de desfase. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en los estímulos con valencia positiva en la banda de frecuencias Beta. Estos resultados apoyan la tendencia previamente reportada en la literatura hacia las dificultades de los excombatientes para procesar información emocional con valencia positiva

Detecting atypical functioning of emotional processing in Colombian ex-combatants

El proceso de reincorporación social de los excombatientes colombianos, se dificulta debido a que la exposición crónica a la violencia afecta su procesamiento emocional (PE). Este proceso de reincorporación se puede facilitar mediante la caracterización de su PE. El objetivo de este artículo es definir una metodología de conectividad con EEG que permita identificar diferencias entre el EP de excombatientes y personas no directamente expuestas al conflicto armado. La metodología propuesta consiste en definir las Regiones de Interés (ROI) y seleccionar una de cinco métricas de conectividad funcional cerebral comúnmente utilizadas: correlación, correlación cruzada, coherencia, parte imaginaria de la coherencia y el índice de desfase. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en los estímulos con valencia positiva en la banda de frecuencias Beta. Estos resultados apoyan la tendencia previamente reportada en la literatura hacia las dificultades de los excombatientes para procesar información emocional con valencia positiva.The reincorporation process of Colombian ex-combatants is hindered by their chronic exposure to violence, which affects their Emotional Processing (EP). Characterizing their EP will contribute to their reinsertion. The objective of this work is to define an EEG-based brain connectivity approach to identify differences in EP between Colombian ex-combatants and individuals who were not directly exposed to the armed conflict. The proposed approach involves defining the Regions of Interest (ROI) and selecting one of five commonly used brain connectivity metrics: Correlation, Cross-Correlation, Coherence, Imaginary part of Coherency, and Phase-Lag Index. Significant differences were found in the positive valence stimuli in the Beta frequency band. These results support the previously reported trend in the literature regarding the difficulties ex-combatants have to process emotional information with positive valence

Detección de procesamiento atípico de emociones en excombatientes colombianos

RESUMEN: El proceso de reincorporación social de los excombatientes colombianos, se dificulta debido a que la exposición crónica a la violencia afecta su procesamiento emocional (PE). Este proceso de reincorporación se puede facilitar mediante la caracterización de su PE. El objetivo de este artículo es definir una metodología de conectividad con EEG que permita identificar diferencias entre el EP de excombatientes y personas no directamente expuestas al conflicto armado. La metodología propuesta consiste en definir las Regiones de Interés (ROI) y seleccionar una de cinco métricas de conectividad funcional cerebral comúnmente utilizadas: correlación, correlación cruzada, coherencia, parte imaginaria de la coherencia y el índice de desfase. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en los estímulos con valencia positiva en la banda de frecuencias Beta. Estos resultados apoyan la tendencia previamente reportada en la literatura hacia las dificultades de los excombatientes para procesar información emocional con valencia positiva.ABSTRACT: The reincorporation process of Colombian ex-combatants is hindered by their chronic exposure to violence, which affects their Emotional Processing (EP). Characterizing their EP will contribute to their reinsertion. The objective of this work is to define an EEG-based brain connectivity approach to identify differences in EP between Colombian ex-combatants and individuals who were not directly exposed to the armed conflict. The proposed approach involves defining the Regions of Interest (ROI) and selecting one of five commonly used brain connectivity metrics: Correlation, Cross-Correlation, Coherence, Imaginary part of Coherency, and Phase-Lag Index. Significant differences were found in the positive valence stimuli in the Beta frequency band. These results support the previously reported trend in the literature regarding the difficulties ex-combatants have to process emotional information with positive valence

Tratamiento de contaminantes orgánicos por foto fenton con luz artificial

El objetivo principal de la investigación que da lugar a este escrito fue minimizar el efecto contaminante de los residuos líquidos orgánicos solubles y medianamente solubles generados en los laboratorios del Centro de Laboratorios de la Universidad de Medellín (Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia), por medio de la fotodegradación sensibilizada (foto–fenton), usando luz artificial como fuente de radiación. Las concentraciones de hierro se variaron entre 5 y 50 mg/L y las de peróxido de hidrógeno entre 200 y 500 mg/L, y se encontró un valor óptimo para la remoción del Carbono Orgánico Total (COT) de 27.5 mg/L de Fe y 300 mg/L de H2O2, que corresponde a un 80% de mineralización, alcanzado en 150 minutos de irradiación

Atypical modulations of N170 component during emotional processing and their links to social behaviors in ex-combatants

ABSTRACT: Emotional processing (EP) is crucial for the elaboration and implementation of adaptive social strategies. EP is also necessary for the expression of social cognition and behavior (SCB) patterns. It is well-known that war contexts induce socio-emotional atypical functioning, in particular for those who participate in combats. Thus, ex-combatants represent an ideal non-clinical population to explore EP modulation and to evaluate its relation with SCB. The aim of this study was to explore EP and its relation with SCB dimensions such as empathy, theory of mind and social skills in a sample of 50 subjects, of which 30 were ex-combatants from illegally armed groups in Colombia, and 20 controls without combat experience. We adapted an Emotional Recognition Task for faces and words and synchronized it with electroencephalographic recording. Ex-combatants presented with higher assertion skills and showed more pronounced brain responses to faces than Controls. They did not show the bias toward anger observed in control participants whereby the latter group was more likely to misclassify neutral faces as angry. However, ex-combatants showed an atypical word valence processing. That is, words with different emotions yielded no differences in N170 modulations. SCB variables were successfully predicted by neurocognitive variables. Our results suggest that in ex-combatants the links between EP and SCB functions are reorganized. This may reflect neurocognitive modulations associated to chronic exposure to war experiences

Atypical modulations of N170 component during emotional processing and their links to social behaviors in ex-combatants

Emotional processing (EP) is crucial for the elaboration and implementation of adaptive social strategies. EP is also necessary for the expression of social cognition and behavior (SCB) patterns. It is well-known that war contexts induce socio-emotional atypical functioning, in particular for those who participate in combats. Thus, ex-combatants represent an ideal non-clinical population to explore EP modulation and to evaluate its relation with SCB. The aim of this study was to explore EP and its relation with SCB dimensions such as empathy, theory of mind and social skills in a sample of 50 subjects, of which 30 were ex-combatants from illegally armed groups in Colombia, and 20 controls without combat experience. We adapted an Emotional Recognition Task for faces and words and synchronized it with electroencephalographic recording. Ex-combatants presented with higher assertion skills and showed more pronounced brain responses to faces than Controls. They did not show the bias toward anger observed in control participants whereby the latter group was more likely to misclassify neutral faces as angry. However, ex-combatants showed an atypical word valence processing. That is, words with different emotions yielded no differences in N170 modulations. SCB variables were successfully predicted by neurocognitive variables. Our results suggest that in ex-combatants the links between EP and SCB functions are reorganized. This may reflect neurocognitive modulations associated to chronic exposure to war experiences. © 2017 Trujillo, Valencia, Trujillo, Ugarriza, Rodríguez, Rendón, Pineda, López, Ibañez and Parra

Tratamiento de contaminantes orgánicos por foto fenton con luz artificial

El objetivo principal de la investigación que da lugar a este escrito fue minimizar el efecto contaminante de los residuos líquidos orgánicos solubles y medianamente solubles generados en los laboratorios del Centro de Laboratorios de la Universidad de Medellín (Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia), por medio de la fotodegradación sensibilizada (foto–fenton), usando luz artificial como fuente de radiación. Las concentraciones de hierro se variaron entre 5 y 50 mg/L y las de peróxido de hidrógeno entre 200 y 500 mg/L, y se encontró un valor óptimo para la remoción del Carbono Orgánico Total (COT) de 27.5 mg/L de Fe y 300 mg/L de H2O2, que corresponde a un 80% de mineralización, alcanzado en 150 minutos de irradiación

Modeling Rett syndrome with human patient-specific forebrain organoids

Copyright © 2020 Gomes, Fernandes, Vaz, Silva, Bekman, Xapelli, Duarte, Ghazvini, Gribnau, Muotri, Trujillo, Sebastião, Cabral and Diogo. 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) and the copyright owner(s) 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.Engineering brain organoids from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is a powerful tool for modeling brain development and neurological disorders. Rett syndrome (RTT), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, can greatly benefit from this technology, since it affects multiple neuronal subtypes in forebrain sub-regions. We have established dorsal and ventral forebrain organoids from control and RTT patient-specific hiPSCs recapitulating 3D organization and functional network complexity. Our data revealed a premature development of the deep-cortical layer, associated to the formation of TBR1 and CTIP2 neurons, and a lower expression of neural progenitor/proliferative cells in female RTT dorsal organoids. Moreover, calcium imaging and electrophysiology analysis demonstrated functional defects of RTT neurons. Additionally, assembly of RTT dorsal and ventral organoids revealed impairments of interneuron's migration. Overall, our models provide a better understanding of RTT during early stages of neural development, demonstrating a great potential for personalized diagnosis and drug screening.We also acknowledge financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, through iBB, Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (UIDB/04565/2020) and from Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa 2020 (Project No. 007317). AG was supported by FCT (PD/BD/128373/2017).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mitochondrial Redox Metabolism in Trypanosomatids Is Independent of Tryparedoxin Activity

Tryparedoxins (TXNs) are oxidoreductases unique to trypanosomatids (including Leishmania and Trypanosoma parasites) that transfer reducing equivalents from trypanothione, the major thiol in these organisms, to sulfur-dependent peroxidases and other dithiol proteins. The existence of a TXN within the mitochondrion of trypanosomatids, capable of driving crucial redox pathways, is considered a requisite for normal parasite metabolism. Here this concept is shown not to apply to Leishmania. First, removal of the Leishmania infantum mitochondrial TXN (LiTXN2) by gene-targeting, had no significant effect on parasite survival, even in the context of an animal infection. Second, evidence is presented that no other TXN is capable of replacing LiTXN2. In fact, although a candidate substitute for LiTXN2 (LiTXN3) was found in the genome of L. infantum, this was shown in biochemical assays to be poorly reduced by trypanothione and to be unable to reduce sulfur-containing peroxidases. Definitive conclusion that LiTXN3 cannot directly reduce proteins located within inner mitochondrial compartments was provided by analysis of its subcellular localization and membrane topology, which revealed that LiTXN3 is a tail-anchored (TA) mitochondrial outer membrane protein presenting, as characteristic of TA proteins, its N-terminal end (containing the redox-active domain) exposed to the cytosol. This manuscript further proposes the separation of trypanosomatid TXN sequences into two classes and this is supported by phylogenetic analysis: i) class I, encoding active TXNs, and ii) class II, coding for TA proteins unlikely to function as TXNs. Trypanosoma possess only two TXNs, one belonging to class I (which is cytosolic) and the other to class II. Thus, as demonstrated for Leishmania, the mitochondrial redox metabolism in Trypanosoma may also be independent of TXN activity. The major implication of these findings is that mitochondrial functions previously thought to depend on the provision of electrons by a TXN enzyme must proceed differently

Search for a vector-like quark T′ → tH via the diphoton decay mode of the Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

A search for the electroweak production of a vector-like quark T′, decaying to a top quark and a Higgs boson is presented. The search is based on a sample of proton-proton collision events recorded at the LHC at = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. This is the first T′ search that exploits the Higgs boson decay to a pair of photons. For narrow isospin singlet T′ states with masses up to 1.1 TeV, the excellent diphoton invariant mass resolution of 1–2% results in an increased sensitivity compared to previous searches based on the same production mechanism. The electroweak production of a T′ quark with mass up to 960 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, assuming a coupling strength κT = 0.25 and a relative decay width Γ/MT′ < 5%