Hypothalamic 5-HT functional regulation through 5-HTIA and 5-HT2c receptors during pancreatic regeneration

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Decreased 5-F{T1fti Receor Gene Expression and 5-F4T11 Receptor Protein in the Cerebra'' Cortex and Brain Stem during Pancreatic Regenera tion in Rats

The present study was to investigate the rote of central 5-11T and 5-HT,:v receptor Lindin4o and acne expression in it 'at mo(lel of pancreatic regeneration using 60" -, pancreatcutumy. The pancreatic regeneration was evaluated by 5-HT content and 5-HT,,receptor gene expression in the cerebral cortex (CC) and brain stem MS) of Alain opcrate,t, 7 It utd 7 (.lays panereatectomised rats. 5-11T content significantly increased in the CC' (I' 1.1)11 and 13S (P 0.05) of 72 Ii p.ntcreateetomiscd rats. Sympathetic activity was decreased as indicated by the significantly decreased norcpiuephrine (NIi) and epinephrine (FTI) Icvcl (1' < 0.001 and P < 0.05) in the plasma of 72 h panereateetomised rats. 5-111 ,^, receptor density and affinity was decreased in the CC (P < 0.01) and BS (P < 0.01). These rh:)nge; correlated with a diminished 5-IITIA receptor mRNA expression in the brain region. studied. Our resuils suggest that the brain 5-11T through 5-HTin receptor has it funcuon:0 rule iii 11w pi+ncreatic regcner:ttion through the sympathetic regulation.

Què ens oculta el vel estadístic? Reflexió feminista entorn del disseny i l'explotació de les fonts de dades socials (part 4 de 5)

Ponent: Marta Luxan / Presenta: Ruth Vilà

Dopamine D2 and 5-HT2A receptor gene expression

Neuronal dopamine and serotonin receptors are widely distributed in the central and the peripheral nervous systems at different levels. Dopaminergic and serotonergic systems have crucial role in aldehyde dehydrogenase regulation Stimulation of autonomic nervous system during ethanol treatment is suggested to be an important factor in regulating the ALDH function. The ALDH enzyme activity was increased in plasma, cerebral cortex, and liver but decreased in cerebellum. The ALDH enzyme affinity was decreased in plasma, brainstem and liver and increased in cerebral cortex and cerebellum. Dopamine and serotonin content decreased in liver and brain regions - cerebral cortex, corpus striatum of ethanol treated rats with an increased HVA/DA, 5-HIAA/5-HT tumover rate. Dopamine content decreased in brainstem with an increased HVA/DA turnover rate and serotonin content decreased with an increased 5-HIAA/5-HT turnover rate in the brainstem of ethanol treated rats compared to control. Serotonin content increased in hypothalamus with a decreased 5-HIAA/5—HT turnover rate where as dopamine content decreased in hypothalamus with an increased HVA/DA tumover rate of ethanol treated rats compared to control.alterations of DA D2 and 5-HTQA receptor function and gene expression in the cerebellum, hypothalamus, corpus striatum, cerebral cortex play an important role in the sympathetic regulation of ALDH enzyme in ethanol addiction. There is a serotonergic and dopaminergic functional regulation of ALDH activity in the brain regions and liver of ethanol treated rats. Gene expression studies of DA D2 and 5'HT2A studies confirm these observations. Perfusion studies using DA, 5-HT and glucose showed ALDH regulatory function. Brain activity measeurement using EEG showed a prominentfrontal brain wave difference. This will have immense clinical significance in the management of ethanol addiction.

“Design and Development of Coplanar Strip Fed Planar Antennas”

With the recent progress and rapid increase in the field of communication, the designs of antennas for small mobile terminals with enhanced radiation characteristics are acquiring great importance. Compactness, efficiency, high data rate capacity etc. are the major criteria for the new generation antennas. The challenging task of the microwave scientists and engineers is to design a compact printed radiating structure having broadband behavior along with good efficiency and enhanced gain. Printed antenna technology has received popularity among antenna scientists after the introduction of planar transmission lines in mid-seventies. When we view the antenna through a transmission line concept, the mechanism behind any electromagnetic radiator is quite simple and interesting. Any electromagnetic system with a discontinuity is radiating electromagnetic energy. The size, shape and orientation of the discontinuities control the radiation characteristics of the system such as radiation pattern, gain, polarization etc. It can be either resonant or non-resonant. This thesis deals with antennas that are developed from a class of transmission lines known as coplanar strip-CPS, a planar analogy of parallel pair transmission line. The specialty of CPS is its symmetric structure compared to other transmission lines, which makes the antenna structures developed from CPS quite simple for design and fabrication. The structural modifications on either metallic strip of CPS results in different antennas. The first part of the thesis discusses a single band and dual band design derived from open ended slot lines which are very much suitable for 2.4 and 5.2 GHz WLAN applications. The second section of the study is vectored into the development of enhanced gain dipoles. A single band dipole and a wide band enhanced gain dipole suitable for 5.2/5.8 GHZ band and imaging applications are developed and discussed. Last part of the thesis discusses the development of directional UWBs. Three different types of ultra-compact UWBs are developed and almost all the frequency domain and time domain analysis of the structures are discussed.

Design and study of self-assembled functional organic and hybrid systems for biological applications

The focus of self-assembly as a strategy for the synthesis has been confined largely to molecules, because of the importance of manipulating the structure of matter at the molecular scale. We have investigated the influence of temperature and pH, in addition to the concentration of the capping agent used for the formation of the nano-bio conjugates. For example, the formation of the narrower size distribution of the nanoparticles was observed with the increase in the concentration of the protein, which supports the fact that γ-globulin acts both as a controller of nucleation as well as stabiliser. As analyzed through various photophysical, biophysical and microscopic techniques such as TEM, AFM, C-AFM, SEM, DLS, OPM, CD and FTIR, we observed that the initial photoactivation of γ-globulin at pH 12 for 3 h resulted in small protein fibres of ca. Further irradiation for 24 h, led to the formation of selfassembled long fibres of the protein of ca. 5-6 nm and observation of surface plasmon resonance band at around 520 nm with the concomitant quenching of luminescence intensity at 680 nm. The observation of light triggered self-assembly of the protein and its effect on controlling the fate of the anchored nanoparticles can be compared with the naturally occurring process such as photomorphogenesis.Furthermore,our approach offers a way to understand the role played by the self-assembly of the protein in ordering and knock out of the metal nanoparticles and also in the design of nano-biohybrid materials for medicinal and optoelectronic applications. Investigation of the potential applications of NIR absorbing and water soluble squaraine dyes 1-3 for protein labeling and anti-amyloid agents forms the subject matter of the third chapter of the thesis. The study of their interactions with various proteins revealed that 1-3 showed unique interactions towards serum albumins as well as lysozyme. 69%, 71% and 49% in the absorption spectra as well as significant quenching in the fluorescence intensity of the dyes 1-3, respectively. Half-reciprocal analysis of the absorption data and isothermal titration calorimetric (ITC) analysis of the titration experiments gave a 1:1 stoichiometry for the complexes formed between the lysozyme and squaraine dyes with association constants (Kass) in the range 104-105 M-1. We have determined the changes in the free energy (ΔG) for the complex formation and the values are found to be -30.78, -32.31 and -28.58 kJmol-1, respectively for the dyes 1, 2 and 3. Furthermore, we have observed a strong induced CD (ICD) signal corresponding to the squaraine chromophore in the case of the halogenated squaraine dyes 2 and 3 at 636 and 637 nm confirming the complex formation in these cases. To understand the nature of interaction of the squaraine dyes 1-3 with lysozyme, we have investigated the interaction of dyes 1-3 with different amino acids. These results indicated that the dyes 1-3 showed significant interactions with cysteine and glutamic acid which are present in the side chains of lysozyme. In addition the temperature dependent studies have revealed that the interaction of the dye and the lysozyme are irreversible. Furthermore, we have investigated the interactions of these NIR dyes 1-3 with β- amyloid fibres derived from lysozyme to evaluate their potential as inhibitors of this biologically important protein aggregation. These β-amyloid fibrils were insoluble protein aggregates that have been associated with a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases. We have synthesized amyloid fibres from lysozyme through its incubation in acidic solution below pH 4 and by allowing to form amyloid fibres at elevated temperature. To quantify the binding affinities of the squaraine dyes 1-3 with β-amyloids, we have carried out the isothermal titration calorimetric (ITC) measurements. The association constants were determined and are found to be 1.2 × 105, 3.6× 105 and 3.2 × 105 M-1 for the dyes, 1-3, respectively. To gain more insights into the amyloid inhibiting nature of the squaraine dyes under investigations, we have carried out thioflavin assay, CD, isothermal titration calorimetry and microscopic analysis. The addition of the dyes 1-3 (5μM) led to the complete quenching in the apparent thioflavin fluorescence, thereby indicating the destabilization of β-amyloid fibres in the presence of the squaraine dyes. Further, the inhibition of the amyloid fibres by the squaraine dyes 1-3, has been evidenced though the DLS, TEM AFM and SAED, wherein we observed the complete destabilization of the amyloid fibre and transformation of the fibre into spherical particles of ca. These results demonstrate the fact that the squaraine dyes 1-3 can act as protein labeling agents as well as the inhibitors of the protein amyloidogenesis. The last chapter of the thesis describes the synthesis and investigation of selfassembly as well as bio-imaging aspects of a few novel tetraphenylethene conjugates 4-6.Expectedly, these conjugates showed significant solvatochromism and exhibited a hypsochromic shift (negative solvatochromism) as the solvent polarity increased, and these observations were justified though theoretical studies employing the B3LYP/6-31g method. We have investigated the self-assembly properties of these D-A conjugates though variation in the percentage of water in acetonitrile solution due to the formation of nanoaggregates. Further the contour map of the observed fluorescence intensity as a function of the fluorescence excitation and emission wavelength confirmed the formation of J-type aggregates in these cases. To have a better understanding of the type of self-assemblies formed from the TPE conjugates 4-6, we have carried out the morphological analysis through various microscopic techniques such as DLS, SEM and TEM. 70%, we observed rod shape architectures having ~ 780 nm in diameter and ~ 12 μM in length as evidenced through TEM and SEM analysis. We have made similar observations with the dodecyl conjugate 5 at ca. 70% and 50% water/acetonitrile mixtures, the aggregates formed from 4 and 5 were found to be highly crystalline and such structures were transformed to amorphous nature as the water fraction was increased to 99%. To evaluate the potential of the conjugate as bio-imaging agents, we have carried out their in vitro cytotoxicity and cellular uptake studies though MTT assay, flow cytometric and confocal laser scanning microscopic techniques. Thus nanoparticle of these conjugates which exhibited efficient emission, large stoke shift, good stability, biocompatibility and excellent cellular imaging properties can have potential applications for tracking cells as well as in cell-based therapies. In summary we have synthesized novel functional organic chromophores and have studied systematic investigation of self-assembly of these synthetic and biological building blocks under a variety of conditions. The investigation of interaction of water soluble NIR squaraine dyes with lysozyme indicates that these dyes can act as the protein labeling agents and the efficiency of inhibition of β-amyloid indicate, thereby their potential as anti-amyloid agents.

Ionization potentials and radii of atoms and ions of element 105 (unnilpentium) and ions of tantalum derived from multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations

Multiconfiguration relativistic Dirac-Fock (MCDF) values were calculated for the first five ionization potentials of element 105 (unnilpentium) and of the other group 5b elements (V, Nb, and Ta). Some of these ionization potentials in electron volts (eV) with uncertainties are: 105(0), 7.4±0.4; 105(1 +), 16.3 ±0.2; 105(2 +), 24.3 ± 0.2; 105(3 + ), 34.9 ± 0.5; and 105(4 + ), 44.9 ± 0.1. Ionization potentials for Ta(1+), Ta(2 +), and Ta(3 + ) were also calculated. Accurate experimental values for these ionization potentials are not available. Ionic radii are presented for the 2+, 3+, 4 +, and 5+ ions of element 105 and for the + 2 ions of vanadium and niobium. These radii for vanadium and niobium are not available elsewhere. The ionization potentials and ionic radii obtained are used to determine some standard electrode potentials for element 105. Born-Haber cycles and a form of the Born equation for the Gibbs free energy of hydration of ions were used to calculate the standard electrode potentials.

Translation Invariance in Object Recognition, and Its Relation to Other Visual Transformations

Human object recognition is generally considered to tolerate changes of the stimulus position in the visual field. A number of recent studies, however, have cast doubt on the completeness of translation invariance. In a new series of experiments we tried to investigate whether positional specificity of short-term memory is a general property of visual perception. We tested same/different discrimination of computer graphics models that were displayed at the same or at different locations of the visual field, and found complete translation invariance, regardless of the similarity of the animals and irrespective of direction and size of the displacement (Exp. 1 and 2). Decisions were strongly biased towards same decisions if stimuli appeared at a constant location, while after translation subjects displayed a tendency towards different decisions. Even if the spatial order of animal limbs was randomized ("scrambled animals"), no deteriorating effect of shifts in the field of view could be detected (Exp. 3). However, if the influence of single features was reduced (Exp. 4 and 5) small but significant effects of translation could be obtained. Under conditions that do not reveal an influence of translation, rotation in depth strongly interferes with recognition (Exp. 6). Changes of stimulus size did not reduce performance (Exp. 7). Tolerance to these object transformations seems to rely on different brain mechanisms, with translation and scale invariance being achieved in principle, while rotation invariance is not.

Análisis de los grafismos conducentes al dibujo y a la escritura en las edades de 3, 4 y 5 años.

Abordar el nacimiento y desarrollo de los primeros trazados del niño, habitualmente conocidos como garabatos, dentro de los cuales es posible discernir aquellos que configurarán un lenguaje gráfico básico de comunicación, que se manifestará en los primeros dibujos infantiles y en la escritura, dentro del trazado de las letras manuscritas, tanto mayúsculas como minúsculas. Los sujetos de la investigación son niños y niñas del tramo de Educación Infantil, con edades medias de 3, 4 y 5 años. Su número por curso oscilaba entre 24-25. Las pruebas se agrupan en cinco grandes bloques: 1.- Grafismos 2.- Relaciones geométricas 3.- Relación garabato-escritura 4.-Dibujo 5.- Escritura. A lo largo de los dos años se realizan 25 pruebas con 79 aplicaciones y con un total de 1.715 láminas realizadas por los niños: 15 de ellas con criterios de tipo cuantitativo-estadístico y 10 con un enfoque de corte eminentemente cualitativo. El amplio número de pruebas responde, por un lado, a la necesidad de variar las actividades ante los niños de edades pequeñas y, por otro, a la de alcanzar con cierto rigor conclusiones que estén suficientemente fundamentadas tanto cualitativa como cuantitativamente. Las conclusiones responden a los tres bloques de los objetivos planteados como respuesta final a las interrogantes que han marcado este trabajo 1.- Grafismos 2.- Dibujo 3.- Escritura. Se llega a sólidas conclusiones referidas tanto a los aspectos psicomotores en la gestación de los garabatos, como en las formas de representación de los dibujos y de la escritura, sistemas expresivos y comunicativos fuertemente entrelazados en los inicios del aprendizaje infantil.

La integración de la imagen en los procesos de aprendizaje de la lectoescritura en las edades de 4 y 5 años.

Articular la imagen con los procesos de iniciación lecto-escritora a través de las producciones e interpretaciones gráficas propias del alumnado de 4 y 5 años. Se persigue describir y analizar las soluciones y recursos que una serie de alumnos y alumnas de distintas edades, especialmente de 4 y 5 años, momento de inicio del aprendizaje de la lectura y escritura, utilizan o inventan para expresar gráficamente ideas o segmentos lingüísticos, así como su manera de interpretar mensajes visuales de distinto grado de abstracción (dibujos, pictogramas, ideogramas, fonogramas), dentro de contextos de aprendizaje lecto-escritor. Con ello, se pone de relieve las capacidades de interpretación, creación y elaboración que el niño despliega al construir un sistema nuevo de representación e intentar aplicarlo y adaptarlo mejor a las necesidades de comunicación gráfica que se le presentan. La metodología elegida es la metodología ecléctica que combine métodos cuantitativos, de corte estadístico, y métodos cualitativos o interpretativos, lo cual configura una triangulación metodológica. En esta investigación no sólo se recurre a la triangulación entre métodos, sino también dentro del método, pues se combinan diferentes técnicas de recogida de datos (observación participante, entrevista no estructurada, diario, notas de campo, análisis de documentos, pruebas). Se desarrolla con un grupo de 25 alumnos-as, aproximadamente, que inicialmente se encuentran en el segundo nivel de Educación Infantil, grupo que posteriormente promocionó al siguiente nivel, por lo que la población investigada se encuentra con las edades medias de 4 y 5 años respectivamente permitiendo un seguimiento evolutivo longitudinal, observando los cambios de un mismo grupo de sujetos a lo largo de dos cursos escolares. Para completar nuevas pruebas surgidas durante el segundo año de la investigación definitiva, participa en este estudio otro grupo de 25 pequeños de 4 años distinto al mencionado (grupo 2), lo que posibilita una comparación transversal, es decir, se logra contrastar los resultados de grupos diferentes de sujetos a distintos niveles de edad. Las conclusiones se presentan divididas en tres bloques: a) conclusiones referidas a signos gráficos aislados; b) conclusiones referidas a composiciones o vínculos entre signos; y c) conclusiones referidas a las pruebas en general. Finalmente, la conclusión general es que vivimos en una época poblada de elementos visuales y gráficos transmitidos por diferentes medios de comunicación. El lenguaje de la imagen está presente en nuestra sociedad a través de libros, carteles, anuncios, fotografías, periódicos, cómics, cuentos, televisión, video, etc., por lo que es necesario aprender a interpretar y utilizar cada vez con más precisión estos procedimientos gráficos acercándose, de manera comprensiva pero, a la vez, creativa y crítica, a los modelos culturales habituales. El abordaje de las distintas formas de expresión y representación no debe contemplarse como tarea exclusiva de una sola asignatura del currículo, sino que requiere la contribución compartida de las distintas materias de aprendizaje, pues en todas ellas se ponen en marcha mecanismos de comunicación a través de distintos sistemas de representación (códigos matemáticos, visuales, lingüísticos, musicales, técnicos, señales para la educación vial, etc.).

An??lisis del procesamiento en tareas tradicionalmente cognitivas y de teor??a de la mente en ni??os de 4 y 5 a??os

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Spondyloarthropathies in autoimmune diseases and vice versa

Polyautoimmunity is one of the major clinical characteristics of autoimmune diseases (ADs). The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of ADs in spondyloarthropathies (SpAs) and vice versa. This was a two-phase cross-sectional study. First, we examined the presence of ADs in a cohort of patients with SpAs (). Second, we searched for the presence of SpAs in a well-defined group of patients with ADs () including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). Among patients with SpAs, ankylosing spondylitis was observed in the majority of them (55.6%). There were two patients presenting with SS in the SpA group (1.4%) and 5 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (3.5%). The global prevalence of ADs in SpAs was 4.86%. In the ADs group, there were 5 patients with SpAs (0.46%). Our results suggest a lack of association between SpAs and ADs. Accordingly, SpAs might correspond more to autoinflammatory diseases rather than to ADs.

Evaluación de un programa de expresión corporal en niños de 4 a 5 años de edad.

Comprobar si un programa de educación psicomotriz de intervención temprana basado en técnicas de expresión corporal optimiza la maduración del niño preescolar. 108 sujetos de entre 4 y 5 años: 53 niños y 55 niñas de un nivel sociocultural bajo. En total forman un grupo control con 60 sujetos y un grupo experimental con 48 sujetos. Describe el marco teórico y revisa las distintas tendencias y concepciones de la psicomotricidad, la relación entre aprendizaje y educación psicomotriz, el concepto de maduración y la intervención temprana, así como la expresion corporal, su metodología y recursos necesarios. Variable independiente: programa de intervención de expresión corporal. Variable dependiente: distintos niveles de maduración del niño preescolar (verbal, memoria, motricidad, etc.). Plantea un diseño de grupo control y experimental, aplicando a este último el programa de expresión corporal. Para obtener los datos realiza una evaluación test-retest mediante tests estandarizados de psicomotricidad y desarrollo de las variables independientes antes y después del tratamiento. Lleva a cabo un análisis estadístico descriptivo para cada factor de desarrollo del niño y un análisis de variancia para calcular la significatividad entre grupos y centros. Expone el programa de técnicas de expresión corporal. Escalas McCarthy de aptitudes y psicomotricidad para niños (MSCA). Sociograma. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) de Achenbach. Programa de técnicas de expresión corporal ad hoc. Estadística descriptiva, ANOVA, gráficas y SPSS. El test retest muestra que los sujetos del grupo experimental han incrementado las puntuaciones en: maduración motriz, maduración perceptivo-manipulativa, maduración numérica y maduración cognitivo general. No ha habido cambios, o ha sido por el paso del tiempo, en maduración verbal y memoria. La intervención con técnicas de expresión corporal es más eficaz en los factores estrictamente motores que en los verbales, y es más eficaz si se aplica a grupos pequeños que en grupos grandes.