REQUIRED COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION ANALYSES IN RUNNING

The purpose of this study was to analyze the possible alterations in the required coefficient of friction (RCOF) in running under the following conditions: a) barefoot against shod; b) self-selected velocity and cadence versus imposed cadence and c) along three running phases (initial contact, mid-stance and propulsion). Two Kistler force plates were used to measure the horizontal and vertical components of ground reaction forces in order to calculate the RCOF. Statistical differences were found for cadence and phase factors. Barefoot-Shod conditions did not present statistical differences. An interaction between velocity and phase of cycle was found. At propulsion phase, an increased RCOF were revealed, especially with the interaction of an imposed cadence. In conclusion, the present study supports the relevance of RCOF as a variable affecting and being affected during running to be taken into consideration at many experimental conditions

Ectopic expression of GmNHX3 and GmNHX1, encoding two Glycine max Na+/H+ vacuolar antiporters, improves water deficit tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

The importance of Na+/H+ antiporters in salt tolerance in plants has been demonstrated in many studies, but much less is known about their protective role during drought stress. To study their possible contribution to water deficit tolerance, two closely related soybean Na+/H+ antiporters belonging to the intracellular NHX exchanger protein family, GmNHX3 and GmNHX1, were evaluated in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. A. thaliana plants ectopically expressing GmNHX3 or GmNHX1 displayed a more drought-tolerant phenotype compared to wild-type plants, which was accompanied by an increase in relative water content and chlorophyll content during stress conditions. Both GmHNX1 and GmHNX3 transgenic lines accumulated higher amounts of Na+ and K+ cations, showed increased antioxidant enzyme activities and less membrane damage due to lipid peroxidation under water deficit, as compared to non-transformed plants. Furthermore, plants expressing GmNHX3 showed an increased sensitivity to abscisic acid as deduced from stomatal closure and seed germination inhibition studies. Finally, a significant up-regulation of abiotic stress-related genes was observed in both transgenic lines compared to wild-type plants in response to abscisic acid and mannitol treatments. These results demonstrate that GmNHX3 and GmNHX1 antiporters confer protection during drought stress in A. thaliana and hence are potential genetic targets to improve drought tolerance in soybean and other crops

Pre- and post-natal melatonin administration partially regulates brain oxidative stress but does not improve cognitive or histological alterations in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome

Melatonin administered during adulthood induces beneficial effects on cognition and neuroprotection in the Ts65Dn (TS) mouse model of Down syndrome. Here, we investigated the effects of pre- and post-natal melatonin treatment on behavioral and cognitive abnormalities and on several neuromorphological alterations (hypocellularity, neurogenesis impairment and increased oxidative stress) that appear during the early developmental stages in TS mice. Pregnant TS females were orally treated with melatonin or vehicle from the time of conception until the weaning of the offspring, and the pups continued to receive the treatment from weaning until the age of 5 months. Melatonin administered during the pre- and post-natal periods did not improve the cognitive impairment of TS mice as measured by the Morris Water maze or fear conditioning tests. Histological alterations, such as decreased proliferation (Ki67+ cells) and hippocampal hypocellularity (DAPI+ cells), which are typical in TS mice, were not prevented by melatonin. However, melatonin partially regulated brain oxidative stress by modulating the activity of the primary antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase in the cortex and catalase in the cortex and hippocampus) and slightly decreasing the levels of lipid peroxidation in the hippocampus of TS mice. These results show the inability of melatonin to prevent cognitive impairment in TS mice when it is administered at pre- and post-natal stages. Additionally, our findings suggest that to induce pro-cognitive effects in TS mice during the early stages of development, in addition to attenuating oxidative stress, therapies should aim to improve other altered processes, such as hippocampal neurogenesis and/or hypocellularity.This work was supported by the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PSI2016-76194-R) and by a grant from CNPq/Brazil (proc. 2606/14-13)

Imidazolium salt and dielectric barrier discharge plasma treatment to enhance the conductivity of fabrics impregnated with pedot:PSS

Conductive textiles are a class of materials with a growing interest due to their potential applications in medical, healthcare, comfort, protective clothing, and sportswear sectors. They can be used for the development of smart textiles able to answer to different external stimuli such as thermal, mechanical, chemical, electrical, magnetic, and optical. The complex poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is the most explored polymer to prepare conductive textiles. Dopants can be introduced to add or remove electrons from the backbone of PEDOT:PSS, resulting in increased conductivity. Salts such as 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octyl sulphate (IZ) may promote ionic interactions with PEDOT:PSS, stimulating a microstructure reorganization. Moreover, the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment has been shown to improve the adhesion of coatings by modifying the surface roughness, surface chemistry, and hydrophilicity of the fabrics. In this work, untreated and DBD plasma-treated polyester (PES) fabrics were impregnated with PEDOT:PSS with and without the addition of imidazolium salt (0.2M) as a dopant. Using the IZ, it was possible to adapt the textile materials into resistors, where the applied current converted electrical energy into heat. The developed textiles can be used to produce heating garments

Search for Third Generation Vector Leptoquarks in p anti-p Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We describe a search for a third generation vector leptoquark (VLQ3) that decays to a b quark and tau lepton using the CDF II detector and 322 pb^(-1) of integrated luminosity from the Fermilab Tevatron. Vector leptoquarks have been proposed in many extensions of the standard model (SM). Observing a number of events in agreement with SM expectations, assuming Yang-Mills (minimal) couplings, we obtain the most stringent upper limit on the VLQ3 pair production cross section of 344 fb (493 fb) and lower limit on the VLQ3 mass of 317 GeV/c^2 (251 GeV/c^2) at 95% C.L.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PR

Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility in tourism: Development and validation of an efficient measurement scale in the hospitality industry.

ABSTRAC: This article aims at developing an efficient measurement scale for corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry, given the contextual character that is recognized in the practice of this construct. Indicators were generated on the basis of a literature review and qualitative research. To assess the reliability and validity, first- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis were carried out. Results show a multidimensional structure of this construct—including economic, social, and environmental issues. This study contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field of social responsibility through its practical application regarding concepts of sustainable development which have mainly been theoretical

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO