Human substantia nigra neurons encode unexpected financial rewards

The brain's sensitivity to unexpected outcomes plays a fundamental role in an\ud organism's ability to adapt and learn new behaviors. Emerging research suggests that\ud midbrain dopaminergic neurons encode these unexpected outcomes. We used\ud microelectrode recordings during deep brain stimulation surgery to study neuronal activity in\ud the human substantia nigra (SN) while patients with Parkinson's disease engaged in a\ud probabilistic learning task motivated by virtual financial rewards. Based on a model of the ..

Algunas reflexiones sobre la comunicación y salud en España tras cinco años del Observatorio de Comunicación y Salud = Some reflections about health communication in Spain after five years of the Observatory of Communication and Health

Resumen: El presente artículo pretende aportar una serie de reflexiones sobre la comunicación y salud en España. El escrito es meramente descriptivo y, en cierto grado, especulativo, y está redactado desde la experiencia que da el dirigir el Observatorio de Comunicación y Salud del InCom-UAB desde 2005, fecha de su fundación y primera entidad que de forma estable ha dedicado su actividad a la comunicación y salud en nuestro estado. El artículo tiene dos objetivos: por un lado, centrándonos en la investigación universitaria, reseñar de manera sintética qué hemos hecho y de dónde provenimos, y, por otro, subrayar nuestras fortalezas y nuestras debilidades. Pero su finalidad última, sin esconder cierto grado de provocación, es propiciar un necesario diálogo teórico en torno a nuestro ámbito de estudio: cuál es, cuál debería de ser y cuáles son, si se deben considerar, sus finalidades. Palabras clave: Comunicación en la salud, España, Perspectivas Abstract: This article aims to provide a series of reflections about communication and health in Spain. The text, merely descriptive and to some extent speculative, has been created from the direct experience that gives the direction of Centre for Communication and Health Studies InCom-UAB since 2005, the date of its founding and first entity that has dedicated his stable communication activity and health in our state. The article has two objectives: first, focusing on university research, a brief summary outline of what we have done and where we come from, and, secondly, to highlight our strengths and our weaknesses. But his ultimate purpose, without hiding some degree of provocation, is a necessary to promote theoretical dialogue about our areas of study: what is, what should be and what they are, whether to consider its goals. Keywords: Health Communication, Spain, Perspective

Caracterización etnológica de la raza bovina negra andaluza

La raza bovina Negra Andaluza o de las Campiñas, una de las razas mansas procedentes del Tronco Negro Ibérico, vio reducido su censo como consecuencia de la llegada de la mecanización del campo, por ello, en la actualidad, está catalogada como raza de protección oficial, quedando algunos rebaños en las zonas de sierra de las provincias de Córdoba y Huelva y en las tierras bajas de las provincias de Sevilla, Cádiz y Huelva. Pese a existir descripciones de la raza en la bibliografía clásica, hasta la fecha no se había realizado ningún estudio de caracterización detallada. Los estudios realizados para el presente trabajo se han desarrollado con este fin bajo la financiación del proyecto INIA identificado como RZ2004-0013. Se han analizado un total de 6 medidas zoométricas y 27 caracteres de índole morfológica y faneróptica en una muestra de 81 animales (78 hembras y 3 machos). Las medias obtenidas en las variables zoométricas son inferiores, tanto en las hembras como en los machos, a las aportadas por la bibliografía clásica (135-140 para la alzada a la cruz, 138-143 para la alzada a las palomillas y 60-66 para el diámetro bicostal). En cuanto a los caracteres cualitativos, se ha obtenido que éstos son poco polimórficos y que su forma de presentación más frecuente coincide en muchos de ellos con el estándar racial vigente.Proyecto INIA. Ministerio de Educación y Cienci

Generalized erythematous scaly rash after glucocorticoids

A 65-years-old woman with a medical history of idiopathic throm- bocytopenic purpura and psoriasis in treatment with topical glucocor- ticoids presented with a three-month history of burning, generalized erythematous, scaly rash, and chills. A few weeks before the rash, the patient presented petechiae on her thighs due to a low platelet count (28.000 platelets per microliter), for which she started treatment with prednisone 25 mg/week. The rash was initially treated with topical ointments including clobetasol, urea, salicylic acid, ammonium lactate, and propylene glycol without improvement. The physical examination showed generalized erythroderma (Fig. 1A) from neck to feet (Fig. 1B), with thick silvery desquamation respecting the face and back of the legs (Fig. 1C), involving more than 90% of the patient’s body surface area and erythematous scaly plaques on the scalp. Laboratory test results were normal. A punch biopsy specimen obtained from an arm area showed increased keratinization at the level of the corneal layer with compact parakeratosis with abundant polymorphonuclear cells. The epidermis presented psoriasiform hyperplasia with significant spongio- sis. What is the diagnosis

A Robotic Solution for the Restoration of Fresco Paintings

In this paper, a service robot solution is presented for the analysis, surveying and restoration of fresco paintings. The proposed design approach integrates robot design and restoration operation. It aims to merge them into a feasible solution that can be both practical and feasible for restorers. The simulation results are reported to show a successful design solution, which has been conceived with the constraints of a low-cost user-oriented design and the consideration of cultural heritage

Wetting Properties of Seven Phosphonium Cation-Based Ionic Liquids

This paper studies the wetting properties of seven phosphonium cation-based ionic liquids: trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate [P66614][(iC8)2PO2], trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate [P66614][BEHP], trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide [P66614][NTf2], tributyltetradecylphosphonium dodecylbenzenesulfonate [P44414][DBS], tributylethylphosphonium diethylphosphate [P4442][DEP], trihexyltetradecylphosphonium dicyanamide [P66614][DCA], and trihexyltetradecylphosphonium chloride [P66614][Cl]. The surface tension was analyzed using the Gibbs free energy in a temperature range of 293-353 K, obtaining the expected linear decrease with temperature rise. The contact angle was measured on four different surfaces (AISI 52100 steel, CrN, TiN, and ZrN) and all liquids with high surface tensions interacting with hydrophobic systems displayed high contact angles as expected. The polarity fraction (PF) and the spreading parameter (SP) were estimated to complete and improve the wetting characterization of these ionic liquids, finding TiN-[P66614][BEHP] and TiN-[P66614][(iC8)2PO2] as the most favorable surface-ionic liquid combinations from a wetting point of view

Effective GDNF brain delivery using microspheres-A promising strategy for Parkinson's disease

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has shown promise in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders of basal ganglia origin such us Parkinson\u27s disease (PD). In this study, we investigated the neurorestorative effect of controlled GDNF delivery using biodegradable microspheres in an animal model with partial dopaminergic lesion. Microspheres were loaded with N-glycosylated recombinant GDNF and prepared using the Total Recirculation One-Machine System (TROMS). GDNF-loaded microparticles were unilaterally injected into the rat striatum by stereotaxic surgery two weeks after a unilateral partial 6-OHDA nigrostriatal lesion. Animals were tested for amphetamine-induced rotational asymmetry at different times and were sacrificed two months after microsphere implantation for immunohistochemical analysis. The putative presence of serum IgG antibodies against rat glycosylated GDNF was analyzed for addressing safety issues. The results demonstrated that GDNF-loaded microspheres, improved the rotational behavior induced by amphetamine of the GDNF-treated animals together with an increase in the density of TH positive fibers at the striatal level. The developed GDNF-loaded microparticles proved to be suitable to release biologically active GDNF over up to 5 weeks in vivo. Furthermore, none of the animals developed antibodies against GDNF demonstrating the safety of glycosylated GDNF use

Rapid probe of the nicotine spectra by high-resolution rotational spectroscopy

Nicotine has been investigated in the gas phase and two conformational forms were characterized through their rotational spectra. Two spectroscopic techniques have been used to obtain the spectra: a new design of broadband Fourier transform microwave (FTMW) spectroscopy with an in-phase/quadrature- phase-modulation passage-acquired-coherence technique (IMPACT) and narrowband FTMW spectroscopy with coaxially oriented beam-resonator arrangement (COBRA). The rotational, centrifugal distortion and hyperfine quadrupole coupling constants of two conformers of nicotine have been determined and found to be in N-methyl trans configurations with the pyridine and pyrrolidine rings perpendicular to one another. The quadrupole hyperfine structure originated by two 14N nuclei has been completely resolved for both conformers and used for their unambiguous identification. © 2011 the Owner Societies