Endothelial, but not smooth muscle, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ regulates vascular permeability and anaphylaxis.

BACKGROUND: Remodeling of quiescent vessels with increases in permeability, vasodilatation, and edema are hallmarks of inflammatory disorders. Factors involved in this type of remodeling represent potential therapeutic targets. OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether the nuclear hormone receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) β/δ, a regulator of metabolism, fibrosis, and skin homeostasis, is involved in regulation of this type of remodeling. METHODS: Wild-type and various Pparb/d mutant mice were used to monitor dermal acute vascular hyperpermeability (AVH) and passive systemic anaphylaxis-induced hypothermia and edema. PPARβ/δ-dependent kinase activation and remodeling of endothelial cell-cell junctions were addressed by using human endothelial cells. RESULTS: AVH and dilatation of dermal microvessels stimulated by vascular endothelial growth factor A, histamine, and thrombin are severely compromised in PPARβ/δ-deficient mice. Selective deletion of the Pparb/d-encoding gene in endothelial cells in vivo similarly limits dermal AVH and vasodilatation, providing evidence that endothelial PPARβ/δ is the major player in regulating acute dermal microvessel remodeling. Furthermore, endothelial PPARβ/δ regulatory functions are not restricted to the skin vasculature because its deletion in the endothelium, but not in smooth muscle cells, also leads to reduced systemic anaphylaxis, the most severe form of allergic reaction, in which an acute vascular response plays a key role. PPARβ/δ-dependent AVH activation likely involves the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase and Akt pathways and leads to downstream destabilization of endothelial cell-cell junctions. CONCLUSION: These results unveil not only a novel function of PPARβ/δ as a direct regulator of acute vessel permeability and dilatation but also provide evidence that antagonizing PPARβ/δ represents an important strategy to consider for moderating diseases with altered endothelial integrity, such as acute inflammatory and allergic disorders.

Antifungal activities of SCY-078 (MK-3118) and standard antifungal agents against clinical non-Aspergillus mold isolates.

The limited armamentarium of active and oral antifungal drugs against emerging non-Aspergillus molds is of particular concern. Current antifungal agents and the new orally available beta-1,3-d-glucan synthase inhibitor SCY-078 were tested in vitro against 135 clinical non-Aspergillus mold isolates. Akin to echinocandins, SCY-078 showed no or poor activity against Mucoromycotina and Fusarium spp. However, SCY-078 was highly active against Paecilomyces variotii and was the only compound displaying some activity against notoriously panresistant Scedosporium prolificans.

E-Cigarettes: A Review of New Trends in Cannabis Use.

The emergence of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) has given cannabis smokers a new method of inhaling cannabinoids. E-cigs differ from traditional marijuana cigarettes in several respects. First, it is assumed that vaporizing cannabinoids at lower temperatures is safer because it produces smaller amounts of toxic substances than the hot combustion of a marijuana cigarette. Recreational cannabis users can discretely "vape" deodorized cannabis extracts with minimal annoyance to the people around them and less chance of detection. There are nevertheless several drawbacks worth mentioning: although manufacturing commercial (or homemade) cannabinoid-enriched electronic liquids (e-liquids) requires lengthy, complex processing, some are readily on the Internet despite their lack of quality control, expiry date, and conditions of preservation and, above all, any toxicological and clinical assessment. Besides these safety problems, the regulatory situation surrounding e-liquids is often unclear. More simply ground cannabis flowering heads or concentrated, oily THC extracts (such as butane honey oil or BHO) can be vaped in specially designed, pen-sized marijuana vaporizers. Analysis of a commercial e-liquid rich in cannabidiol showed that it contained a smaller dose of active ingredient than advertised; testing our laboratory-made, purified BHO, however, confirmed that it could be vaped in an e-cig to deliver a psychoactive dose of THC. The health consequences specific to vaping these cannabis preparations remain largely unknown and speculative due to the absence of comprehensive, robust scientific studies. The most significant health concerns involve the vaping of cannabinoids by children and teenagers. E-cigs could provide an alternative gateway to cannabis use for young people. Furthermore, vaping cannabinoids could lead to environmental and passive contamination.

Daily activity patterns of 2316 men and women from five countries differing in socioeconomic development.

Daily rhythmicity in the locomotor activity of laboratory animals has been studied in great detail for many decades, but the daily pattern of locomotor activity has not received as much attention in humans. We collected waist-worn accelerometer data from more than 2000 individuals from five countries differing in socioeconomic development and conducted a detailed analysis of human locomotor activity. Body mass index (BMI) was computed from height and weight. Individual activity records lasting 7 days were subjected to cosinor analysis to determine the parameters of the daily activity rhythm: mesor (mean level), amplitude (half the range of excursion), acrophase (time of the peak) and robustness (rhythm strength). The activity records of all individual participants exhibited statistically significant 24-h rhythmicity, with activity increasing noticeably a few hours after sunrise and dropping off around the time of sunset, with a peak at 1:42 pm on average. The acrophase of the daily rhythm was comparable in men and women in each country but varied by as much as 3 h from country to country. Quantification of the socioeconomic stages of the five countries yielded suggestive evidence that more developed countries have more obese residents, who are less active, and who are active later in the day than residents from less developed countries. These results provide a detailed characterization of the daily activity pattern of individual human beings and reveal similarities and differences among people from five countries differing in socioeconomic development.

Rotation mentale et différences sexuelles: influence des axes directionnels extraits de l'environnement

Les tâches nécessitant des manipulations et des transformations de figures géométriques et de formes, comme les tâches de rotation mentale, donnent lieu à des différences de performance entre hommes et femmes qui restent intrigantes. Plusieurs hypothèses ont été proposées pour expliquer ces différences. La plus récurrente porte sur les différences de stratégie globale vs locale utilisées pour traiter l'information. Bien que cette conjecture soit intéressante, elle reste difficile à opérationnaliser car elle englobe tous les mécanismes cognitifs (acquisition, conservation et récupération de l'information). Ce travail prend la forme d'un retour aux sources dans la mesure où il se base sur des recherches anciennes qui ont montré que les hommes perçoivent significativement mieux que les femmes la verticale et l'horizontale. Il teste l'hypothèse selon laquelle les hommes, comparativement aux femmes, présentent une plus forte indépendance au champ perceptif visuel et sont donc plus susceptibles d'utiliser la verticalité et l'horizontalité pour résoudre une tâche de rotation mentale. Une première série d'expériences s'est penchée sur la perception spatiale pour évaluer son impact sur la résolution d'une tâche impliquant la rotation mentale. Les résultats ont montré que seuls les hommes se référaient à la verticalité et à l'horizontalité pour résoudre la tâche. Une seconde série d'expériences ont investigué l'effet de la présence, ou absence, d'axes directionnels directement liés à une tâche de rotation mentale. Elles ont été menées également en environnement réel afin d'évaluer comment le déplacement actif ou passif, correspondant à un changement de perspective en lieu et place d'une rotation mentale, module la performance des hommes et des femmes. Les résultats n'ont pas mis en évidence de différence sexuelle. Notre hypothèse est vérifiée puisque c'est uniquement lorsque la tâche ne présente pas d'axes orthogonaux évidents mais implicites que seuls les hommes, plus indépendants au champ perceptif visuel que les femmes, utilisent la perception de la verticalité et de l'horizontalité pour améliorer leur compétence en rotation mentale. -- Tasks that require manipulation and transformation of geometric shapes and forms, like tasks of mental rotation and give rise to differences in performance between men and women, remain intriguing. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain these differences. The most recurring hypothesis addresses differences in global versus local strategies for processing information. While this conjecture is interesting, it remains difficult to study because it encompasses all the cognitive mechanisms (acquisition, retention and output). This work returns to the sources, which are based on earlier research that shows that men are significantly better than women at perceiving verticality and horizontality. It tests the hypothesis according to which men, as compared to women, exhibit a greater independence on the perceptive visual field, and therefore are more susceptible to utilizing the verticality and the horizontality to solve a mental rotation task. A first set of experiments examined spatial perception in order to assess its impact on the resolution of a task involving mental rotation. The results showed that only men referred to the verticality and the horizontality to solve the task. A second series of experiments investigated the effect of a presence, or absence of directional axes directed tied to the task of mental rotation. They were also conducted in a real world environment to evaluate how the active or passive displacement, corresponding to a change in perspective instead of a mental rotation, modulates the performance of men and women. The results did not show sex differences. Our hypothesis is verified: it is only when the task presents no obvious, but implicit orthogonal axes that men, who exhibit a greater independence on the perceptive visual field than women, use the perception of verticality and horizontality to improve their competence in mental rotation.

Co-evolution of Policy Sectors: Health Care and Public Health in five Countries

Cette thèse analyse la co-évolution de deux secteurs dans la politique de la santé: santé publique (public health) et soins aux malades (health care). En d'autres termes, la relation entre les dimensions curative et préventive de la politique de la santé et leur développement dans la durée. Une telle recherche est nécessaire car les problèmes de la santé sont complexes et ont besoin de solutions coordonnées. De plus, les dépenses de la santé ont augmenté sans arrt durant les dernières décennies. Un moyen de réduire une future augmentation des dépenses pourrait consister en davantage d'investissement dans des mesures préventives. En relation avec cette idée, ma recherche analyse les politiques de la santé publique et les soins aux malades de cinq pays: Allemagne, Angleterre, Australie, Etats-Unis et Suisse. En m'appuyant sur la littérature secondaire, des statistiques descriptives et des entretiens avec des experts et des politiciens, j'analyse la relation entre les deux secteurs depuis la fin du dix-neuvième siècle. En particulier, je me focalise sur la relation des deux champs sur trois niveaux: institutions, acteurs et politiques. Mes résultats montrent les similitudes et les différences d'évolution entre les cinq pays. D'un c^oté, lorsque la profession médicale est politiquement active et que le pays consiste en une fédération centralisée ou en un gouvernement unitaire, les deux secteurs sont intégrés au niveau institutionnel, ralliant les professions et groupes d'intérêt des deux secteurs la cause commune dans une activité politique. Par contre, dans tous les pays, les deux secteurs ont co-évolué vers une complémentarité malgré de la politisation des professions et la centralisation du gouvernement. Ces résultats sont intéressants pour la science politique en général car ils soulignent l'importance des professions pour le développement institutionnel et proposent un cadre pour l'analyse de la co-évolution des politiques publiques en général. -- This Ph.D. thesis analyzes the co-evolution of the health care and the public health sectors. In other words, the relation between preventive and curative health policy and its evolution over time. Such research is necessary, because current health problems are complex and might need coordinated solutions. What is more, health expenditures have increased continuously in the last decades. One way to slow down further increase in health spending could be to invest more in preventative health policies. Therefore, I am connecting individual health care and public health into a common analysis, taking Australia, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and the U.S. as examples. Based on secondary literature, descriptive statistics and interviews with experts and policymakers, I am analyzing how the two sectors' relations co-evolved between the late nineteenth and the early twenty-first century. Specifically, I am researching how health care and public health were related on the levels of institutions, actors and policies. My results show that there are differences and similarities in the co-evolution of policy sectors between these countries. On the one hand, when the medical profession was politically active and the country a centralized federation or a unitary state, there was institutional integration and common political advocacy of the sectors' interest groups and professions. On the other hand, in all countries, both sectors co-evolved towards complementarity, irrespectively of the politicization of professions and centralization of government. These findings are interesting for the political science literature at large, because they underline the importance of professions for institutional development and propose an analytical framework for analyzing the co-evolution of policy sectors in general.

Quels sont les bénéfices d'une immunisation passive postexpositionnelle contre la rougeole ? : Revue Cochrane pour le praticien

Question clinique : Une patiente de 43 ans connue pour un lupus érythémateux disséminé et une néphropathie lupique stable et traitée par hydroxychloroquine et mycophénolate mofétil vous rapporte avoir eu contact il y a quatre jours avec un enfant atteint de la rougeole. Elle ne présente aucun symptôme et son dernier bilan vaccinal montre un taux d'anticorps contre la rougeole non protecteur. La patiente devrait-elle recevoir une immunisation active ou passive contre la rougeole? Contexte En Suisse : la couverture vaccinale contre la rougeole n'est pas assez importante pour empêcher sa diffusion. L'immunisation passive avec des immunoglobulines est destinée aux personnes non immunes exposées à la rougeole, recommandée en Suisse aux personnes à haut risque. Cette revue visait à évaluer l'efficacité et l'innocuité de l'injection intramusculaire ou de la perfusion intraveineuse d'immunoglobulines pour prévenir la rougeole chez les personnes susceptibles avant l'apparition des symptômes.

Pass-through in dollarized countries: should Ecuador abandon the U.S. Dollar?

In this article we examine the convenience of dollarization for Ecuador today. As Ecuador is strongly integrated financially and commercially with the United States, the exchange rate pass-through should be zero. However, we sustain that rising rates of imports from trade partners other than the United States and subsequent real effective exchange rate depreciations are causing the pass-through to move away from zero. Here, in the framework of the Vector Error Correction Model, we analyse the impulse response function and variance decomposition of the inflation variable. We show that the developing economy of Ecuador is importing inflation from its main trading partners, most of them emerging countries with appreciated currencies. We argue that if Ecuador recovered both its monetary and exchange rate instruments it would be able to fight against inflation. We believe such an analysis could be extended to other countries with pegged exchange rate regimes.

Regional differences of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in Swiss children are not explained by socio-demographics or the built environment.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether regional differences in physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) existed along language boundaries within Switzerland and whether potential differences would be explained by socio-demographics or environmental characteristics. METHODS: We combined data of 611 children aged 4 to 7 years from four regional studies. PA and SB were assessed by accelerometers. Information about the socio-demographic background was obtained by questionnaires. Objective neighbourhood attributes could be linked to home addresses. Multivariate regression models were used to test associations between PA and SB and socio-demographic characteristics and neighbourhood attributes. RESULTS: Children from the German compared to the French-speaking region were more physically active and less sedentary (by 10-15 %, p < 0.01). Although German-speaking children lived in a more favourable environment and a higher socioeconomic neighbourhood (differences p < 0.001), these characteristics did not explain the differences in PA behaviour between French and German speaking. CONCLUSIONS: Factors related to the language region, which might be culturally rooted were among the strongest correlates of PA and SB among Swiss children, independent of individual, social and environmental factors.

Timing and nature of alluvial fan and strath terrace formation in the Eastern Precordillera of Argentina

Sixty-eight 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) surface exposure ages are presented to define the timing of alluvial fan and strath terrace formation in the hyper-arid San Juan region of the Argentine Precordillera. This region is tectonically active, and numerous fault scarps traverse Quaternary landforms. The three study sites, Marquesado strath complex, Loma Negra alluvial fan and Carpintería strath complex reveal a history of alluvial fan and strath terrace development over the past w225 ka. The Marquesado complex Q3m surface dates to w17 3 ka, whereas the Loma Negra Q1ln, Q2ln, Q3ln, Q4ln, and Q5ln surfaces date to w24 3 ka, w48 2 ka, w65 13 ka, w105 21 ka, and w181 29 ka, respectively. The Carpintería complex comprises eight surfaces that have been dated and include the Q1c (w23 3 ka), Q2c (w5 5 ka), Q3ac (w25 12 ka), Q3bc (w29 15 ka), Q4c (w61 12 ka), Q5c (w98 18 ka), Q6c (w93 18 ka), and Q7c (w212 37 ka). 10Be TCN depth profile data for the Loma Negra alluvial fan complex and Carpintería strath terrace complex, as well as OSL ages on some Carpintería deposits, aid in refining surface ages for comparison with local and global climate proxies, and additionally offer insights into inheritance and erosion rate values for TCNs (w10 104 10Be atoms/g of SiO2 and w5 m Ma 1, respectively). Comparison with other alluvial fan studies in the region show that less dynamic and older preserved surfaces occur in the Carpintería and Loma Negra areas with only younger alluvial fan surfaces preserved both to the north and south. These data in combination with that of other studies illustrate broad regional agreement between alluvial fan and strath terrace ages, which suggests that climate is the dominant forcing agent in the timing of terrace formation in this region.

Neural synchrony indexes impaired motor slowing after errors and novelty following white matter damage.

In humans, action errors and perceptual novelty elicit activity in a shared frontostriatal brain network, allowing them to adapt their ongoing behavior to such unexpected action outcomes. Healthy and pathologic aging reduces the integrity of white matter pathways that connect individual hubs of such networks and can impair the associated cognitive functions. Here, we investigated whether structural disconnection within this network because of small-vessel disease impairs the neural processes that subserve motor slowing after errors and novelty (post-error slowing, PES; post-novel slowing, PNS). Participants with intact frontostriatal circuitry showed increased right-lateralized beta-band (12-24 Hz) synchrony between frontocentral and frontolateral electrode sites in the electroencephalogram after errors and novelty, indexing increased neural communication. Importantly, this synchrony correlated with PES and PNS across participants. Furthermore, such synchrony was reduced in participants with frontostriatal white matter damage, in line with reduced PES and PNS. The results demonstrate that behavioral change after errors and novelty result from coordinated neural activity across a frontostriatal brain network and that such cognitive control is impaired by reduced white matter integrity.

A comprehensive model for quantum noise characterization in digital mammography.

NlmCategory="UNASSIGNED">A version of cascaded systems analysis was developed specifically with the aim of studying quantum noise propagation in x-ray detectors. Signal and quantum noise propagation was then modelled in four types of x-ray detectors used for digital mammography: four flat panel systems, one computed radiography and one slot-scan silicon wafer based photon counting device. As required inputs to the model, the two dimensional (2D) modulation transfer function (MTF), noise power spectra (NPS) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) were measured for six mammography systems that utilized these different detectors. A new method to reconstruct anisotropic 2D presampling MTF matrices from 1D radial MTFs measured along different angular directions across the detector is described; an image of a sharp, circular disc was used for this purpose. The effective pixel fill factor for the FP systems was determined from the axial 1D presampling MTFs measured with a square sharp edge along the two orthogonal directions of the pixel lattice. Expectation MTFs were then calculated by averaging the radial MTFs over all possible phases and the 2D EMTF formed with the same reconstruction technique used for the 2D presampling MTF. The quantum NPS was then established by noise decomposition from homogenous images acquired as a function of detector air kerma. This was further decomposed into the correlated and uncorrelated quantum components by fitting the radially averaged quantum NPS with the radially averaged EMTF(2). This whole procedure allowed a detailed analysis of the influence of aliasing, signal and noise decorrelation, x-ray capture efficiency and global secondary gain on NPS and detector DQE. The influence of noise statistics, pixel fill factor and additional electronic and fixed pattern noises on the DQE was also studied. The 2D cascaded model and decompositions performed on the acquired images also enlightened the observed quantum NPS and DQE anisotropy.

Estudio sobre el desarrollo de la identidad en la adolescencia

The aim of this study was to determine how adolescents construct their own identity during this important stage of their lifecycle.We evaluated the identity of a group of 42 adolescents between 11 and 12 years (early adolescence) and between 14 and 15 years (late adolescence), from EOMEIS-II (Extended Version of the Objective Mesure of Ego Identity Estatus created by Adams, Benion and Huh, 1989) which is part of an Ericksonian conceptualization of identity. In the results obtained we can see that students have higher scores on a global level, the most active and mature estatus (identity achieved and moratorium) in the passive and immature estatus (identity foreclosed and diffused). The boys have a higher score than girls in stating the identity moratorium on free time and political identity achieved

Quantum magnetic deflagration in Mn12 acetate

We report controlled ignition of magnetization reversal avalanches by surface acoustic waves in a single crystal of Mn12 acetate. Our data show that the speed of the avalanche exhibits maxima on the magnetic field at the tunneling resonances of Mn12. Combined with the evidence of magnetic deflagration in Mn12 acetate [Y. Suzuki et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 147201 (2005)], this suggests a novel physical phenomenon: deflagration assisted by quantum tunneling.

Uma introdução à espectroscopia atômica: II - o espectro do sódio

The present article is devoted to Chemistry or Physics undergraduate students, given their difficulty to understand fundamental concepts and technical language used in atomic spectroscopy and quantum mechanics. An easy approach is shown in the treatment of the emission spectrum of the sodium atom without any involved calculations. In a previous article, the hydrogen spectrum was considered and the energy degeneracy of the angular momentum quantum number was observed. For the sodium spectrum, due to the valence electron penetration into internal shells, a breakdown of this degeneracy occurs and a dependence of this penetration on the angular momentum quantum number is observed. The eigenvalues are determined introducing the quantum defect correction (Rydberg correction) in the denominator of the Balmer equation, and the energy diagram is obtained. The intensity ratio for the observed doublets is explained by introducing new wave functions, containing the magnetic quantum number of the total angular momentum.