Morphological and electrophysiological properties of pyramidal-like neurons in the stratum oriens of Cornu ammonis 1 and Cornu ammonis 2 area of Proechimys

AbstractProechimys (Rodentia: Echimyidae) is a neotropical rodent of the Amazon region that has been successfully colonized in the laboratory and used for experimental medicine. Preliminary studies indicated that Proechimys (casiragua) rodents express an atypical resistance to developing a chronic epileptic condition in common models of temporal lobe epilepsy. Moreover, previous investigation of our laboratory described a remarkably different Proechimy's cytoarchitecture organization of the hippocampal CA2 subfield. In the present study, we investigated the intrinsic neuronal properties and morphological characteristics of the Proechimys's hippocampal pyramidal neurons of the CA1 and CA2 areas. A comparative approach was performed using neurons recorded in Wistar rats. A striking finding in Proechimys rodents was the presence of large pyramidal-like neurons throughout the stratum oriens from CA2 to CA1 area. In order to confirm such distinctive feature of the Proechimys's hippocampus, we performed Nissl staining and immunohistochemistry for neurofilament protein SM311. CA2 pyramidal neurons in the stratum pyramidale of Proechimys exhibited a significantly higher input resistance and lower time constant when compared to corresponding cell groups in the same area of the Wistar rat's. This newly identified population of pyramidal-shaped neurons in stratum oriens of Proechimys exhibited distinct electrophysiological and morphological properties. This included larger capacitance, lower input resistance, larger rheobase, long latency to first action potential and slower firing frequency. In addition, the apical dendrites of these neurons were oriented in parallel to apical dendrites of regular pyramidal neurons in stratum pyramidale. Moreover, these neurons were immunoreactive to SM311 as the majority of the neurons of the pyramidal layer. The functional role of these hippocampal neurons of the rodent Proechimys deserves further investigation

Evapotranspiração E Coeficiente De Cultura Da Alstroemeria (alstroemeria × Hybrida) Cultivada Em Estufa

The determination of water requirements of a crop throughout its cycle is critical for a proper irrigation management. The objective of this study was to determine the evapotranspiration and crop coefficient (Kc) of Alstroemeria × hybrida grown under greenhouse conditions. The crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was determined by weighing lysimeters, and the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was estimated by the Penman-Monteith method. The Experiment was conducted under controlled conditions at the Polytechnic College of UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, and the treatment comprised five depths for water replacement associated to the pot retention capacity (WHC) (30, 45, 60, 75 and 90% of WHC). The experimental design adopted was completely randomized, with ten repetitions, one plant per pot. For the evaluation of Kc, 90% of the container capacity was consideredas limit. The crop coefficient was obtained by the relationship between the crop evapotranspiration and reference evapotranspiration. Our results demonstrated that water consumption for Alstroemeria × hybrida in the treatments with a limit of water availability varied from 47.6 mm to 207.8 mm. The average crop coefficient of Alstroemeria × hybrida grown under greenhouse conditions was 0.39 for the growth stages, 0.41 for the beginning of flowering, 0.95 for flowering, and1.50 and 0.75 for full flowering and for the end of the flowering, respectively. © 2016, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP. All rights reserved.21481782

Uso de de almidón de papa andina nativa y deshidratada (chuño) como estabilizantes en la elaboración de yogur firme reducido en grasa

El yogur es el alimento lácteo fermentado de mayor consumo a nivel internacional, debido tanto a sus propiedades nutricionales y sensoriales distintivas como por su impacto positivo en la salud del consumidor. Así, el mercado de yogur es uno de los más dinámicos del sector lácteo, con propuestas novedosas, entre las cuales se destaca las variedades con contenido reducido en grasas. Sin embargo, la omisión de la grasa introduce problemas de calidad que conducen al rechazo por el consumidor. La principal estrategia empleada para superar estas limitaciones es el agregado de hidrocoloides (HC) como estabilizantes. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue evaluar la influencia del agregado de almidón de papa andina nativa y de "chuño" (papa andina congelada y deshidratada) como estabilizantes en la elaboración de yogur firme bajo en grasas. Se prepararon tres formulaciones de yogures a partir de leche descremada reconstituida (10%, p/v) añadida con almidón de papa nativo (AN) o "chuño" (ACH) [2,5% (p/v) final en producto]. Los HC previamente disueltos en leche (en proporción 1:10) se agregaron previo al tratamiento térmico (90°C, 5 min con agitación). La fermentación de la leche se llevo a cabo a 45ºC en baño de agua hasta pH 4,5. El grado de sinéresis, propiedades de flujo y viscoelásticas de los yogures fueron evaluados y comparados con los de un yogur control preparado sin almidón, en los días 1, 7, 14 y 28 de almacenamiento. Para la obtención de las curvas de flujo y las medidas oscilatorias se utilizó un reómetro (AR 2000; TA Instruments, New Castle, DE, EE. UU.) geometría plato-plato de 40 mm. El agregado de almidones de AN y ACH modificó significativamente los parámetros evaluados en relación al yogur control. En relación a la sinéresis, los mayores valores se observaron en el YC, efecto que incrementó significativamente con el tiempo de almacenamiento. Se observa que las formulaciones con almidones no mostraron diferencias significativas entre ellas hasta el día 7. Sin embargo, el YCH incrementó paulatinamente los valores de sinéresis luego del día 14, mientras que en la formulación YN no se observaron diferencias hasta el final del ensayo. Además, las muestras mostraron claras diferencias en cuanto a sus propiedades reológicas. En términos generales, los yogures que contienen almidones exhibieron valores de viscosidad aparente más altos que los observados en el YC después de 1 día de almacenamiento, tendencia que se mantuvo hasta el final del ensayo. Por otra parte, los valores de los módulos viscoso (G'), elástico (G'') y complejo (G*) incrementaron proporcionalmente a la frecuencia angular, siendo G' superior a G'' en todos los casos. G* también mostró diferencias entre las muestras, siendo significativamente mayores en las muestras con AN, seguida de ACH, en relación al control para todos los tiempos evaluados. Nuestros resultados demostraron que la incorporación de almidones de papa andina y chuño en la formulación de yogur firme reducido en grasas permitió reducir el grado de sinéresis proporcionando mejores características reológicas al producto final.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimento

Generalized Contact Formalism Analysis of the 4^4He(e,e′pN)(e,e'pN) Reaction

Measurements of short-range correlations in exclusive $^4$He$(e,e'pN)$ reactions are analyzed using the Generalized Contact Formalism (GCF). We consider both instant-form and light-cone formulations with both the AV18 and local N2LO(1.0) nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) potentials. We find that kinematic distributions, such as the reconstructed pair opening angle, recoil neutron momentum distribution, and pair center of mass motion, as well as the measured missing energy, missing mass distributions, are all well reproduced by GCF calculations. The missing momentum dependence of the measured $^4$He$(e,e'pN)$ / $^4$He$(e,e'p)$ cross-section ratios, sensitive to nature of the $NN$ interaction at short-distacnes, are also well reproduced by GCF calculations using either interaction and formulation. This gives credence to the GCF scale-separated factorized description of the short-distance many-body nuclear wave-function.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Letters B. 8 pages, 4 figures and online supplementary material

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Protease-anti-protease compartmentalization in SARS-CoV-2 ARDS: Therapeutic implications

Background Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is elevated in SARS-CoV-2 infection. IL-6 regulates acute-phase proteins, such as alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), a key lung anti-protease. We investigated the protease-anti-protease balance in the circulation and pulmonary compartments in SARS-CoV-2 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) compared to non-SARS-CoV-2 ARDS (nsARDS) and the effects of tocilizumab (IL-6 receptor antagonist) on anti-protease defence in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Levels and activity of AAT and neutrophil elastase (NE) were measured in plasma, airway tissue and tracheal secretions (TA) of people with SARS-CoV-2 ARDS or nsARDS. AAT and IL-6 levels were evaluated in people with moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection who received standard of care +/- tocilizumab. Findings AAT plasma levels doubled in SARS-CoV-2 ARDS. In lung parenchyma AAT levels were increased, as was the percentage of neutrophils involved in NET formation. A protease-anti-protease imbalance was detected in TA with active NE and no active AAT. The airway anti-protease, secretory leukoprotease inhibitor was decreased in SARS-CoV-2-infected lungs and cleaved in TA. In nsARDS, plasma AAT levels were elevated but TA samples had less AAT cleavage, with no detectable active NE in most samples. Induction of AAT in ARDS occurred mainly through IL-6. Tocilizumab down-regulated AAT during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Interpretation There is a protease-anti-protease imbalance in the airways of SARS-CoV-2-ARDS patients. This imbalance is a target for anti-protease therapy. Funding NIH Serological Sciences Network, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases