Control of food intake by MC4-R signaling in the lateral hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens shell and ventral tegmental area: Interactions with ethanol

The Melanocortin system is involved in animal models of obesity and anorexia-cachexia and MC4 receptors (MC4-R) are currently a target system for the development of drugs aimed to treat obesity and eating disorders in humans. Previous evidence suggest that feeding peptides might lack their orexigenic activity while stimulate ethanol intake. The present study comparatively evaluated food intake (4-h interval) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats drinking ethanol (6% w/v, 2 bottle choice paradigm) (EE group) and ethanol-naïve (EN) rats in response to bilateral infusion of the selective MC4-R antagonist HS014 (0, 0.02 or 0.05 μg/0.5μl/site) or the selective MC4-R agonist cyclo(NH-CH2-CH2-CO-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Glu)-NH2 (0, 0.75 or 1.5 μg/0.5μl/site), into the lateral hypothalamus (LH), the nucleus accumbens (NAc), or the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The main findings in the study are: 1) LH-infusions of the MC4-R antagonist increased and the agonist reduced feeding and total calories consumed, while ethanol intake remained unaltered. 2) NAc- and VTA-infusions of the selective agonist reduced food, ethanol and total calories intake. 3) NAc- and VTA-infusions of the MC4-R antagonist increased feeding in EN rats, but not in EE animals which showed a mild increase in ethanol intake, while total calories consumed remained unaltered. Present data show that having ethanol available reduces feeding elicited by NAc and VTA-MC4-R blockade. Additionally, while MC4-R signalling in the LH appears to modulate homeostatic aspects of feeding, it may contribute to non-homeostatic aspects of ingestive behaviours in the VTA and the NAc

The VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey: Evolution in the Halo Occupation Number since z ∼\sim 1

We model the evolution of the mean galaxy occupation of dark-matter halos over the range $0.1<z<1.3$, using the data from the VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey (VVDS). The galaxy projected correlation function $w_p(r_p)$ was computed for a set of luminosity-limited subsamples and fits to its shape were obtained using two variants of Halo Occupation Distribution models. These provide us with a set of best-fitting parameters, from which we obtain the average mass of a halo and average number of galaxies per halo. We find that after accounting for the evolution in luminosity and assuming that we are largely following the same population, the underlying dark matter halo shows a growth in mass with decreasing redshift as expected in a hierarchical structure formation scenario. Using two different HOD models, we see that the halo mass grows by 90% over the redshift interval z=[0.5,1.0]. This is the first time the evolution in halo mass at high redshifts has been obtained from a single data survey and it follows the simple form seen in N-body simulations with $M(z) = M_0 e^{-\beta z}$, and $\beta = 1.3 \pm 0.30$. This provides evidence for a rapid accretion phase of massive halos having a present-day mass $M_0 \sim 10^{13.5} h^{-1} M_\odot$, with a $m > 0.1 M_0$ merger event occuring between redshifts of 0.5 and 1.0. Futhermore, we find that more luminous galaxies are found to occupy more massive halos irrespectively of the redshift. Finally, the average number of galaxies per halo shows little increase from redshift z$\sim$ 1.0 to z$\sim$ 0.5, with a sharp increase by a factor $\sim$3 from z$\sim$ 0.5 to z$\sim$ 0.1, likely due to the dynamical friction of subhalos within their host halos.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables. MNRAS accepted

Near Surface Atmospheric Temperatures at Jezero From Mars 2020 MEDA Measurements

The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer instrument on Mars 2020 has five Atmospheric Temperature Sensors at two altitudes (0.84 and 1.45 m) plus a Thermal InfraRed Sensor that measures temperatures on the surface and at ∼40 m. We analyze the measurements from these sensors to describe the evolution of temperatures in Jezero up to mission sol 400 (solar longitude LS = 13°–203°). The diurnal thermal cycle is characterized by a daytime convective period and a nocturnal stable atmosphere with a variable thermal inversion. We find a linear relationship between the daytime temperature fluctuations and the vertical thermal gradient with temperature fluctuations that peak at noon with typical values of 2.5 K at 1.45 m. In the late afternoon (∼17:00 Local True Solar Time), the atmosphere becomes vertically isothermal with vanishing fluctuations. We observe very small seasonal changes in air temperatures during the period analyzed. This is related to small changes in solar irradiation and dust opacity. However, we find significant changes in surface temperatures that are related to the variety of thermal inertias of the terrains explored along the traverse of Perseverance. These changes strongly influence the vertical thermal gradient, breaking the nighttime thermal inversion over terrains of high thermal inertia. We explore possible detections of atmospheric tides on near-surface temperatures and we examine variations in temperatures over timescales of a few sols that could be indicative of atmospheric waves affecting near-surface temperatures. We also discuss temperatures during a regional dust storm at LS = 153°–156° that simultaneously warmed the near surface atmosphere while cooling the surface.We are very grateful to the entire Mars 2020 science operations team. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions that helped us to improve the quality of the manuscript. A. Munguira is supported by the grant PRE2020-092562 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future.” R. Hueso and A. Sánchez-Lavega are supported by Grant PID2019-109467GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/and by Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1742-22. US coauthors have been funded by NASA's STMD, HEOMD, and SMD. Part of the research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). B. Chide is supported by the Director's Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. M. Lemmon is supported by contract 15-712 from Arizona State University and 1607215 from Caltech-JPL. R. Lorenz was supported by JPL contract 1655893. G. Martínez acknowledges JPL funding from USRA Contract Number 1638782. A. Vicente-Retortillo is supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) Project No. MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”- Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), and by the Comunidad de Madrid Project S2018/NMT-4291 (TEC2SPACE-CM). Researchers based in France acknowledge support from CNES for their work on Perseverance

Cognitive impairment induced by delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol occurs through heteromers between cannabinoid CB1 and serotonin 5-HT2A receptors

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound of marijuana, induces numerous undesirable effects, including memory impairments, anxiety, and dependence. Conversely, THC also has potentially therapeutic effects, including analgesia, muscle relaxation, and neuroprotection. However, the mechanisms that dissociate these responses are still not known. Using mice lacking the serotonin receptor 5-HT2A, we revealed that the analgesic and amnesic effects of THC are independent of each other: while amnesia induced by THC disappears in the mutant mice, THC can still promote analgesia in these animals. In subsequent molecular studies, we showed that in specific brain regions involved in memory formation, the receptors for THC and the 5-HT2A receptors work together by physically interacting with each other. Experimentally interfering with this interaction prevented the memory deficits induced by THC, but not its analgesic properties. Our results highlight a novel mechanism by which the beneficial analgesic properties of THC can be dissociated from its cognitive side effects

The sound of a Martian dust devil

Dust devils (convective vortices loaded with dust) are common at the surface of Mars, particularly at Jezero crater, the landing site of the Perseverance rover. They are indicators of atmospheric turbulence and are an important lifting mechanism for the Martian dust cycle. Improving our understanding of dust lifting and atmospheric transport is key for accurate simulation of the dust cycle and for the prediction of dust storms, in addition to being important for future space exploration as grain impacts are implicated in the degradation of hardware on the surface of Mars. Here we describe the sound of a Martian dust devil as recorded by the SuperCam instrument on the Perseverance rover. The dust devil encounter was also simultaneously imaged by the Perseverance rover's Navigation Camera and observed by several sensors in the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer instrument. Combining these unique multi-sensorial data with modelling, we show that the dust devil was around 25m large, at least 118m tall, and passed directly over the rover travelling at approximately 5ms-1. Acoustic signals of grain impacts recorded during the vortex encounter provide quantitative information about the number density of particles in the vortex. The sound of a Martian dust devil was inaccessible until SuperCam microphone recordings. This chance dust devil encounter demonstrates the potential of acoustic data for resolving the rapid wind structure of the Martian atmosphere and for directly quantifying wind-blown grain fluxes on Mars.We are most grateful for the support of the Mars 2020 project team, including hardware and operation teams. This project was supported in the US by the NASA Mars Exploration Program, and in France by CNES. It is based on observations with SuperCam embarked on Perseverance (Mars2020). The research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, is under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). The JPL co-author (M.T.) acknowledges funding from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Science Mission Directorate. A. V-R is supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) Project No. MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”- Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), and by the Comunidad de Madrid Project S2018/NMT-4291 (TEC2SPACE-CM). R.H. and A.S-L. were supported by Grant PID2019-109467GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1742-22. A.M. was supported by Grant PRE2020-092562 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. R.L. acknowledges InSight PSP Grant 80NSSC18K1626 as well as the Mars 2020 project. B.C. is supported by the Director’s Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, grant 20210960PRD3. JA.RM., M.M, J.T and J.G-E were supported by MCIN/AEI’s Grant RTI2018-098728-B-C31

Connecting stellar mass and star-formation rate to dark matter halo mass out to z ~ 2

We have constructed an extended halo model (EHM) which relates the total stellar mass and star-formation rate (SFR) to halo mass (M_h). An empirical relation between the distribution functions of total stellar mass of galaxies and host halo mass, tuned to match the spatial density of galaxies over 0<z<2 and the clustering properties at z~0, is extended to include two different scenarios describing the variation of SFR on M_h. We also present new measurements of the redshift evolution of the average SFR for star-forming galaxies of different stellar mass up to z=2, using data from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) for infrared-bright galaxies. Combining the EHM with the halo accretion histories from numerical simulations, we trace the stellar mass growth and star-formation history in halos spanning a range of masses. We find that: (1) The intensity of the star-forming activity in halos in the probed mass range has steadily decreased from z~2 to 0; (2) At a given epoch, halos in the mass range between a few times 10^{11} M_Sun and a few times 10^{12} M_Sun are the most efficient at hosting star formation; (3) The peak of SFR density shifts to lower mass halos over time; (4) Galaxies that are forming stars most actively at z~2 evolve into quiescent galaxies in today's group environments, strongly supporting previous claims that the most powerful starbursts at z~2 are progenitors of today's elliptical galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio for the Assessment of Intermediate Left Main Coronary Artery Stenosis: Correlations With Fractional Flow Reserve/Intravascular Ultrasound and Prognostic Implications: The iLITRO-EPIC07 Study

Background: There is little information available on agreement between fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) in left main coronary artery (LMCA) intermediate stenosis. Besides, several meta-analyses support the use of FFR to guide LMCA revascularization, but limited information is available on iFR in this setting. Our aims were to establish the concordance between FFR and iFR in intermediate LMCA lesions, to evaluate with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in cases of FFR/iFR discordance, and to prospectively validate the safety of deferring revascularization based on a hybrid decision-making strategy combining iFR and IVUS. Methods: Prospective, observational, multicenter registry with 300 consecutive patients with intermediate LMCA stenosis who underwent FFR and iFR and, in case of discordance, IVUS and minimal lumen area measurements. Primary clinical end point was a composite of cardiovascular death, LMCA lesion-related nonfatal myocardial infarction, or unplanned LMCA revascularization. Results: FFR and iFR had an agreement of 80% (both positive in 67 and both negative in 167 patients); in case of disagreement (31 FFR+/iFR- and 29 FFR-/iFR+) minimal lumen area was & GE;6 mm(2) in 8.7% of patients with FFR+ and 14.6% with iFR+. Among the 300 patients, 105 (35%) underwent revascularization and 181 (60%) were deferred according to iFR and IVUS. At a median follow-up of 20 months, major adverse cardiac events incidence was 8.3% in the defer group and 13.3% in the revascularization group (hazard ratio, 0.71 [95% CI 0.30-1.72]; P=0.45). Conclusions: In patients with intermediate LMCA stenosis, a physiology-guided treatment decision is feasible either with FFR or iFR with moderate concordance between both indices. In case of disagreement, the use of IVUS may be useful to indicate revascularization. Deferral of revascularization based on iFR appears to be safe in terms of major adverse cardiac events

Convective Vortices and Dust Devils Detected and Characterized by Mars 2020

We characterize vortex and dust devils (DDs) at Jezero from pressure and winds obtained with the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) instrument on Mars 2020 over 415 Martian days (sols) (Ls = 6°–213°). Vortices are abundant (4.9 per sol with pressure drops >0.5 Pa correcting from gaps in coverage) and they peak at noon. At least one in every five vortices carries dust, and 75% of all vortices with Δp > 2.0 Pa are dusty. Seasonal variability was small but DDs were abundant during a dust storm (Ls = 152°–156°). Vortices are more frequent and intense over terrains with lower thermal inertia favoring high daytime surface-to-air temperature gradients. We fit measurements of winds and pressure during DD encounters to models of vortices. We obtain vortex diameters that range from 5 to 135 m with a mean of 20 m, and from the frequency of close encounters we estimate a DD activity of 2.0–3.0 DDs km−2 sol−1. A comparison of MEDA observations with a Large Eddy Simulation of Jezero at Ls = 45° produces a similar result. Three 100-m size DDs passed within 30 m of the rover from what we estimate that the activity of DDs with diameters >100 m is 0.1 DDs km−2sol−1, implying that dust lifting is dominated by the largest vortices in Jezero. At least one vortex had a central pressure drop of 9.0 Pa and internal winds of 25 ms−1. The MEDA wind sensors were partially damaged during two DD encounters whose characteristics we elaborate in detail.The authors are very grateful to the entire Mars 2020 science operations team. The authors would also like to thank Lori Fenton and an anonymous reviewer for many suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript. This work was supported by Grant PID2019-109467GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1742-22 and by the Spanish National Research, Development and Innovation Program, through the Grants RTI2018-099825-B-C31, ESP2016-80320-C2-1-R, and ESP2014-54256-C4-3-R. Baptiste Chide is supported by the Director's Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. M. Lemmon is supported by contract 15-712 from Arizona State University and 1607215 from Caltech-JPL. R. Lorenz was supported by JPL contract 1655893. Germán Martínez acknowledges JPL funding from USRA Contract Number 1638782. A. Munguira was supported by Grant PRE2020-092562 funded by MCIN/AEI and by “ESF Investing in your future.” A. Vicente-Retortillo is supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) Project No. MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”-Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), and by the Comunidad de Madrid Project S2018/NMT-4291 (TEC2SPACE-CM). Part of the research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Finnish researchers acknowledge the Academy of Finland Grant 328 310529. Researchers based in France acknowledge support from the CNES for their work on Perseverance