A complete census of AGN and their hosts from optical surveys?

Large optical surveys provide an unprecedented census of galaxies in the local Universe, forming an invaluable framework into which more detailed studies of objects can be placed. But how useful are optical surveys for understanding the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies, given their limited wavelength coverage, selection criteria, and depth? In this conference paper I present work-in-progress comparing optical and mid-IR diagnostics of three "unusual" low redshift populations (luminous Seyferts, dusty Balmer-strong AGN, ULIRGs) with a set of ordinary star-forming galaxies from the SDSS. I address the questions: How well do the mid-infrared and optical diagnostics of star formation and AGN strength agree? To what extent do optical surveys allow us to include extreme, dusty, morphologically disturbed galaxies in our "complete" census of black hole-galaxy co-evolution?Comment: Proceedings of contributed talk at "Co-Evolution of Central Black Holes and Galaxies" (eds. B.M. Peterson, R.S. Somerville, and T. Storchi-Bergmann), IAU symposium 267, August 2009. 6 pages, 5 figure

Sirtuin-1 mediates the obesity induced risk of common degenerative diseases: Alzheimer\u27s disease, coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes

Obesity, especially at mid-life, is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, which in turn contrib- ute to coronary artery disease (CAD), Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The rise in overweight and obesity in all societies is prompting intense research into the causes and effects of the condition. Obesity disrupts many body systems including glucose and lipid me- tabolism, circadian rhythms and liver function. It also causes or increases inflammation and oxi- dative stress. Within cells, the endoplasmic re- ticulum (ER) appears to be particularly suscep- tible to such metabolic disruption. Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) and leptin have received attention recently as they are central regulatory factors for the body’s metabolic pathways which interact at particular levels, for example lipid and Abeta metabolism. This mini-review discusses recent findings con- cerning obesity, lipid metabolism and the role of Sirtuin 1 and how all influence the ER. A greater understanding of obesity and its effects on me- tabolic control systems of the body are required, to develop pharmacological, dietary and lifestyle changes that will reduce the incidence of CAD, Type 2 diabetes and AD

A future for the LDCF?

The Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) is a climate fund that was set up in 2001 at the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-7) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The decision to establish such a dedicated fund for the 48 countries characterised as the poorest and weakest members of the international community stemmed from Article 4.9 of the Convention. This provision mandates all parties to “take full account of the specific needs and special situations of the least developed countries in their actions with regard to funding and transfer of technology” (UN, 1992). In Paris, parties agreed that the LDCF shall support the implementation of the new agreement. Fifteen years after the LDCF’s establishment however, the fund—which relies on voluntary contributions from developed countries—is in a very precarious situation: it has been neglected to the point that there are no more resources available for LDCs to access. As the global finance architecture evolves, within and beyond UNFCCC boundaries, whether or not there is a role for the LDCF in the coming years is being questioned. This working paper argues that despite challenges, the LDCF continues to be an important fund for LDCs and its future should be secured. In reviewing the context of the Fund’s establishment, its governance and operation structure and its active portfolio, it finds that the unique aspects of the Fund highlights its relevance and importance in the evolving climate finance landscape. Certain reforms, such as establishing a replenishment cycle, ear-marking, and direct access can address concerns raised about the LDCF and make it a fit-for-purpose, viable fund that plays a key role in the post-Paris climate regime

Guerra e autoridade em Proc?pio de Cesareia : um estudo comparado dos l?deres pol?tico-militares na Hist?ria das Guerras.

Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Hist?ria. Departamento de Hist?ria, Instituto de Ci?ncias Humanas e Sociais, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.Proc?pio de Cesareia (490-562) foi um historiador bizantino que escreveu a cole??o de livros intitulada Hist?ria das Guerras, publicada entre 551 e 554. Nessa obra s?o narradas as campanhas militares promovidas pelo imperador Justiniano no s?culo VI, com o objetivo reestabelecer o controle pol?tico nos antigos os territ?rios do Imp?rio Romano perdidos para os povos germ?nicos (godos, v?ndalos, lombardos e francos) nas fronteiras da Europa Ocidental, do norte da ?frica e contra os persas no Oriente. Essas campanhas militares trouxeram consequ?ncias de ordem pol?tica e cultural na medida em que almejavam um imp?rio cujas fronteiras agregavam diversos povos e territ?rios. Tal marca do governo de Justiniano n?o envolveu apenas uma pol?tica de restaura??o territorial, mas incluiu tamb?m, no plano ideol?gico, determinadas concep??es do poder imperial para legitimar sua posi??o em Biz?ncio. A hip?tese desta disserta??o ? que, nessas elabora??es acerca da autoridade pol?tica, o contraste com os povos b?rbaros enfrentados no momento teve um papel fundamental. Proc?pio constr?i, em sua narrativa das guerras, uma s?rie de imagens das lideran?as pol?ticas envolvidas nas lides b?licas com o intuito de compor exemplos positivos e negativos a serem considerados por Biz?ncio. O projeto historiogr?fico de Proc?pio teria assim uma forte vincula??o como uma discuss?o mais ampla sobre o poder imperial no Imp?rio Bizantino.Procopius of Caesarea (490-562) was a Byzantine historian who wrote the collection of books entitled History of the Wars, published between 551 and 554. In this work are narrated the military campaigns promoted by the emperor Justinian in the sixth century, with the objective of reestablishing political control in the former territories of the Roman Empire lost to the Germanic peoples (Goths, Vandals, Lombards and Franks) on the borders of Western Europe, North Africa and against the Persians in the EastThese military campaigns brought political and cultural consequences as they aimed at an empire whose borders covered various peoples and territories. Such a mark of Justinian?s government did not only involve a policy of territorial restoration, but also included, on the ideological plane, certain conceptions of imperial power to legitimize his position in Byzantium. The hypothesis of this dissertation is that, in these elaborations about political authority, the contrast with the barbarian peoples faced at the time played a fundamental role. Procopius elaborates, in his narrative of wars, a series of images of the political leaders involved in the war effort with the intention of composing positive and negative examples to be considered in Byzantium. The historiographical project of Procopius had a strong connection as a broader discussion of imperial power in the Byzantine Empire

Procópio de Cesareia e a construção dos retratos imperiais na obra "História das Guerras”

Procópio de Cesareia (490-562) foi um historiador bizantino que escreveu a coleção de livros intitulada História das Guerras, publicada entre 551 e 554. Nessa obra são narradas as guerras de reconquista promovidas pelo imperador Justiniano no século VI, com o objetivo de retomar para o Império o domínio sobre seus antigos territórios nas fronteiras da Europa Ocidental, no norte da África e na Pérsia, que estavam sob o domínio (de godos, francos, lombardos e vândalos) e dos persas. Essas campanhas militares trouxeram consequências de ordem política e cultural na medida em que almejavam um império cujas fronteiras agregavam diversos povos e territórios. Tal marca do governo de Justiniano não envolveu apenas uma política de restauração territorial, mas incluiu também, no plano ideológico, determinadas concepções do poder imperial para legitimar sua posição em Bizâncio. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é problematizar como Procópio constrói, em sua narrativa das guerras, as imagens das lideranças políticas envolvidas nas lides bélicas, com o intuito de compor exemplos positivos e negativos a serem considerados por Bizâncio.&nbsp

Patterns of drug use and HIV infection among adults in a nationally representative sample

Background: Little is known about drug use patterns among people living with HIV in comparison to an uninfected group in the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between legal and illegal drug use and HIV infection in a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. Methods: Public use data files (2005–2014) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were used. Respondents were asked whether a medical professional had ever told them that they had HIV/AIDS. Ever (lifetime), past-year, and past month use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, and nonmedical use of psychotherapeutics was assessed. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of the relationship between drug use and HIV infection, adjusting for demographics. Results: Of 377,787 respondents age 18 and older, 548 (0.19%) were categorized as HIV-infected. Ever use of cigarettes, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, and psychotherapeutics was higher in HIV-infected individuals compared to HIV-uninfected individuals after adjustment for sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, total family income, and marital status. Past year and past month use was also higher for HIV-infected individuals for all substances aside from alcohol. Conclusions: In a nationally representative sample, there are higher levels of drug use and DSM-IV dependence among the HIV-infected population compared to the HIV-uninfected population. This is of concern because drug use and dependence can impede engagement in HIV care and adherence to antiretroviral therapy

Validation and reliability of the Alzheimer’s disease-Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation food frequency questionnaire

Accuracy in measuring intake of dietary constituents is an important issue in studies reporting the associations between diet and chronic diseases. We modified a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to include foods of interest in the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research. The aim of the current study was to determine the reliability and validity of the AD-CSIROFFQ in 148 cognitively normal older adults. The AD-CSIROFFQ was completed before and after completion of a four-day weighed food record. Of the 508 food and beverage items reported, 309 had sufficient consumption levels for analysis of reliability. Of the 309 items, over 78% were significantly correlated between the two questionnaire administrations (Spearman’s rank correlations). We used two additional methods to assess absolute nutrient intake agreement between the AD-CSIROFFQ and the weighed food records (Pearson’s correlation coefficients and Bland–Altman plots) and quintile rankings to measure group level agreement. The adequate correlations observed between questionnaire responses suggest that the AD-CSIROFFQ is reliable. All nutrient intakes were acceptable for ranking of individuals on a group level, whilst the agreement levels with respect to the weighed food records for 11 of the 46 nutrients show validity in terms of their individual level absolute intake. The AD-CSIROFFQ makes an important contribution to the tools available for assessing usual dietary intake in groups of older adults with respect to AD research

Protein aggregation containing beta-amyloid, alpha-synuclein and hyperphosphorylated tau in cultured cells of hippocampus, substantia nigra and locus coeruleus after rotenone exposure

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein aggregates containing alpha-synuclein, beta-amyloid and hyperphosphorylated tau are commonly found during neurodegenerative processes which is often accompanied by the impairment of mitochondrial complex I respiratory chain and dysfunction of cellular systems of protein degradation. In view of this, we aimed to develop an <it>in vitro </it>model to study protein aggregation associated to neurodegenerative diseases using cultured cells from hippocampus, locus coeruleus and substantia nigra of newborn Lewis rats exposed to 0.5, 1, 10 and 25 nM of rotenone, which is an agricultural pesticide, for 48 hours.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrated that the proportion of cells in culture is approximately the same as found in the brain nuclei they were extracted from. Rotenone at 0.5 nM was able to induce alpha-synuclein and beta amyloid aggregation, as well as increased hyperphosphorylation of tau, although high concentrations of this pesticide (over 1 nM) lead cells to death before protein aggregation. We also demonstrated that the 14kDa isoform of alpha-synuclein is not present in newborn Lewis rats.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Rotenone exposure may lead to constitutive protein aggregation <it>in vitro</it>, which may be of relevance to study the mechanisms involved in idiopathic neurodegeneration.</p

Green bonds: uma análise contemporânea para o mercado brasileiro (2015 - 2020)

The Paris Agreement main goal is to control the global warming temperature to 1.5ºC.To achieve the goal, world economies need to modify their carbon-intensive productive struc- tures. The rapid restructuring of the productive bases depends on expressive amounts of financing. The current study analyzes the developments of the Brazilian green bond market between the years 2015 and 2020 in order to identify the climate contributions made through the Brazilian green market. Using public data from the Climate Bond Initiative (CBI), Green Bond Transparency (GBTP) and Sitawi Financ¸as do Bem, it was verified that the energy sector captures most of the resources from green bonds. The issuers behavior showed a greater long-term commitment to the sustainable transition, but the BNDES role is still small in climate financing efforts.O Acordo Climático de Paris tem como meta principal o controle do aumento da temperatura média global em 1,5ºC. Para atingir a meta as economias mundiais precisam modificar suas estruturas produtivas intensivas em carbono. A rápida reestruturação das bases produtivas dependem de valores expressivos de financiamento. O presente trabalho analisa os desenvolvimentos do mercado de títulos verdes brasileiro entre os anos de 2015 e 2020 com o objetivo de identificar as contribuições climáticas realizadas através do mercado verde brasileiro. Por meio dos dados públicos da Climate Bond Initiative (CBI), Green Bond Transparency (GBTP) e Sitawi Finanças do Bem, foi verificado que o setor energético captura a maior parte dos recursos oriundos de green bonds. O comportamento dos emissores apresentou um maior comprometimento de longo prazo com a transição sustentável, mas atuação do BNDES ainda ´e pequena nos esforços de financiamento climático

Implementation Framework for Energy Flexibility Technologies in Alkmaar and Évora

This research was funded by POCITYF, (FP7 grant agreement No 864400).As energy generation based on renewable resources does not always match energy consumption profiles, Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) should embody energy flexibility technologies to decrease possible negative impacts on existing grids due to, e.g., reverse power flows. As part of the EU H2020 Smart Cities and Communities project POCITYF, the cities Alkmaar (NL) and evora (PT) aim to support the deployment and market uptake of such districts and in doing so demonstrate innovative and integrated technologies to enable flexibility in the energy system. This paper addresses implementation conditions for energy flexibility technologies that help cities to engender the expected impact and ensure replication of these technologies to other sites. It aims to guide both urban planners and technology solution providers through pitfalls and opportunities that can appear during the design and implementation of PEDs. Taking this into consideration, the RUGGEDISED innovation and implementation framework for smart city technology was taken as a starting point to describe and analyze the experiences in Alkmaar and evora.publishersversionpublishe