Acquisition of Pavlovian Fear Conditioning Using beta-Adrenoceptor Activation of the Dorsal Premammillary Nucleus as an Unconditioned Stimulus to Mimic Live Predator-Threat Exposure

In the present work, we sought to mimic the internal state changes in response to a predator threat by pharmacologically stimulating the brain circuit involved in mediating predator fear responses, and explored whether this stimulation would be a valuable unconditioned stimulus (US) in an olfactory fear conditioning paradigm (OFC). The dorsal premammillary nucleus (PMd) is a key brain structure in the neural processing of anti-predatory defensive behavior and has also been shown to mediate the acquisition and expression of anti-predatory contextual conditioning fear responses. Rats were conditioned by pairing the US, which was an intra-PMd microinjection of isoproterenol (ISO; beta-adrenoceptor agonist), with amyl acetate odor-the conditioned stimulus (CS). ISO (10 and 40 nmol) induced the acquisition of the OFC and the second-order association by activation of beta-1 receptors in the PMd. Furthermore, similar to what had been found for contextual conditioning to a predator threat, atenolol (beta-1 receptor antagonist) in the PMd also impaired the acquisition and expression of OFC promoted by ISO. Considering the strong glutamatergic projections from the PMd to the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), we tested how the glutamatergic blockade of the dPAG would interfere with the OFC induced by ISO. Accordingly, microinjections of NMDA receptor antagonist (AP5, 6 nmol) into the dPAG were able to block both the acquisition, and partially, the expression of the OFC. In conclusion, we have found that PMd beta-1 adrenergic stimulation is a good model to mimic predatory threat-induced internal state changes, and works as a US able to mobilize the same systems involved in the acquisition and expression of predator-related contextual conditioning. Neuropsychopharmacology (2011) 36, 926-939; doi:10.1038/npp.2010.231; published online 5 January 2011

Immune Evasion of Leptospira Species by Acquisition of Human Complement Regulator C4BP

Leptospirosis is a spirochetal zoonotic disease of global distribution with a high incidence in tropical regions. In the last 15 years it has been recognized as an important emerging infectious disease due to the occurrence of large outbreaks in warm-climate countries and, occasionally, in temperate regions. Pathogenic leptospires efficiently colonize target organs after penetrating the host. Their invasiveness is attributed to the ability to multiply in blood, adhere to host cells, and penetrate into tissues. Therefore, they must be able to evade the innate host defense. The main purpose of the present study was to evaluate how several Leptospira strains evade the protective function of the complement system. The serum resistance of six Leptospira strains was analyzed. We demonstrate that the pathogenic strain isolated from infected hamsters avoids serum bactericidal activity more efficiently than the culture-attenuated or the nonpathogenic Leptospira strains. Moreover, both the alternative and the classical pathways of complement seem to be responsible for the killing of leptospires. Serum-resistant and serum-intermediate strains are able to bind C4BP, whereas the serum-sensitive strain Patoc I is not. Surface-bound C4BP promotes factor I-mediated cleavage of C4b. Accordingly, we found that pathogenic strains displayed reduced deposition of the late complement components C5 to C9 upon exposure to serum. We conclude that binding of C4BP contributes to leptospiral serum resistance against host complement.

Age-Dependent Acquisition of Protective Immunity to Malaria in Riverine Populations of the Amazon Basin of Brazil

Five community-based cross-sectional surveys of malaria morbidity and associated risk factors in remote riverine populations in northwestern Brazil showed average parasite rates of 4.2% (thick-smear microscopy) and 14.4% (polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) in the overall population, with a spleen rate of 13.9% among children 2-9 years of age. Plasmodium vivax was 2.8 times more prevalent than P. falciparum, with rare instances of P. malariae and mixed-species infections confirmed by PCR; 9.6% of asymptomatic subjects had parasitemias detected by PCR. Low-grade parasitemia detected by PCR only was a risk factor for anemia, after controlling for age and other covariates. Although clinical and subclinical infections occurred in all age groups, the risk of infection and disease decreased significantly with increasing age, after adjustment for several covariates in multilevel logistic regression models. These findings suggest that the continuous exposure to hypo- or mesoendemic malaria may induce significant anti-parasite and anti-disease immunity in native Amazonians.

Upgrading a TCABR data analysis and acquisition system for remote participation using Java, XML, RCP and modern client/server communication/authentication

The TCABR data analysis and acquisition system has been upgraded to support a joint research programme using remote participation technologies. The architecture of the new system uses Java language as programming environment. Since application parameters and hardware in a joint experiment are complex with a large variability of components, requirements and specification solutions need to be flexible and modular, independent from operating system and computer architecture. To describe and organize the information on all the components and the connections among them, systems are developed using the extensible Markup Language (XML) technology. The communication between clients and servers uses remote procedure call (RPC) based on the XML (RPC-XML technology). The integration among Java language, XML and RPC-XML technologies allows to develop easily a standard data and communication access layer between users and laboratories using common software libraries and Web application. The libraries allow data retrieval using the same methods for all user laboratories in the joint collaboration, and the Web application allows a simple graphical user interface (GUI) access. The TCABR tokamak team in collaboration with the IPFN (Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa) is implementing this remote participation technologies. The first version was tested at the Joint Experiment on TCABR (TCABRJE), a Host Laboratory Experiment, organized in cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in the framework of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on ""Joint Research Using Small Tokamaks"". (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Schenberg data acquisition and analysis: results from its first commissioning run

The Mario Schenberg gravitational wave detector has started its commissioning phase at the Physics Institute of the University of Sao Paulo. We have collected almost 200 h of data from the instrument in order to check out its behavior and performance. We have also been developing a data acquisition system for it under a VXI System. Such a system is composed of an analog-to-digital converter and a GPS receiver for time synchronization. We have been building the software that controls and sets up the data acquisition. Here we present an overview of the Mario Schenberg detector and its data acquisition system, some results from the first commissioning run and solutions for some problems we have identified.

WRITING ELECTRONIC FERROMAGNETIC STATES IN A HIGH-TEMPERATURE PARAMAGNETIC NUCLEAR SPIN SYSTEM

In this paper, we use Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to write electronic states of a ferromagnetic system into high-temperature paramagnetic nuclear spins. Through the control of phase and duration of radio frequency pulses, we set the NMR density matrix populations, and apply the technique of quantum state tomography to experimentally obtain the matrix elements of the system, from which we calculate the temperature dependence of magnetization for different magnetic fields. The effects of the variation of temperature and magnetic field over the populations can be mapped in the angles of spin rotations, carried out by the RF pulses. The experimental results are compared to the Brillouin functions of ferromagnetic ordered systems in the mean field approximation for two cases: the mean field is given by (i) B = B(0) + lambda M and (ii) B = B(0) + lambda M + lambda`M(3), where B(0) is the external magnetic field, and lambda, lambda` are mean field parameters. The first case exhibits second order transition, whereas the second case has first order transition with temperature hysteresis. The NMR simulations are in good agreement with the magnetic predictions.

Optical changes and writing on hydrotalcite supported gold nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) incorporated into hydrotalcite (HT), provide an interesting type of pigment in which temperature can modulate the plasmon resonance and the aggregation phenomenon. As inferred from microscopy techniques, the preferential binding sites are located at the border of the HT external basal surface, leading to aggregates of gold nanoparticles displaying characteristic plasmon resonance and interference bands around 520 and 700 nm, respectively. The thermally induced color changes in the HT-supported gold material arise from the competition between of nanoparticles aggregation and fusion processes, as characterized by TEM and STM. A laser beam can also induce such changes, allowing the writing of optical information on this type of material.

Fast Acquisition of (13)C NMR Spectra using the Steady-state Free Precession Sequence

In this paper, we show that the steady-state free precession sequence can be used to acquire (13)C high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and applied to qualitative analysis. The analysis of brucine sample using this sequence with 60 degrees flip angle and time interval between pulses equal to 300 ms (acquisition time, 299.7 ms; recycle delay, 300 ms) resulted in spectrum with twofold enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio, when compared to standard (13)C sequence. This gain was better when a much shorter time interval between pulses (100 ms) was applied. The result obtained was more than fivefold enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio, equivalent to more than 20-fold reduction in total data recording time. However, this short time interval between pulses produces a spectrum with severe phase and truncation anomalies. We demonstrated that these anomalies can be minimized by applying an appropriate apodization function and plotting the spectrum in the magnitude mode.

Writing-to-Learn Using Social Pedagogy and Technology

Accounting faculty from LaGuardia will share the structure and results of an initiative centered on using ePortfolio and social pedagogy to facilitate writing-to-learn for accounting students. Through a series of ePortfolio-based assignments that connected two classes, along with an in-class writing workshop conducted by non-discipline faculty, students worked together to understand the importance of writing in the accounting discipline and strengthened their writing abilities.

Are We Terribly Different? : A case-study of male and female fiction-writing in English

The aim of this study is to find similarities and differences between male and female fiction-writing. The data has been collected from pupils at an upper secondary school in Central Sweden. They were given an extract from a novel by Bernard MacLaverty and from that they were supposed to continue the story.Theories that have evolved during the last centuries claim that the language use between men and women differ in many aspects. Women, it is said, use a more emotional language than men do, while men use more expletives than women. Likewise, the language is said to differ in the use of adverbs, verbs and adjectives. It has also been claimed that men and women have different topic developments and that women write longer sentences than men.The results of the current study show that most of these claims are false, or at least not true in this specific context. In most cases there is little or no difference between the male writing and the female writing. There are also cases where the opposite is true – for example, the female participants write shorter sentences than the male participants. A general conclusion of the study is that the writing between the two groups are quite similar – or at least that similarities are present to a larger extent than differences.

The Place of Writing in the Poetry of W. B. Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh

Abstract This article addresses the theme of place in the poetry of W. B. Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh, focusing on the concept of place as a physical and psychological entity. The article explores place as a creative force in the work of these two poets, in relation to the act of writing. Seamus Heaney, in his essay “The Sense of Place,” talks about the “history of our sensibilities” that looks to the stable element of the land for continuity: “We are dwellers, we are namers, we are lovers, we make homes and search for our histories” (Heaney 1980: 148-9). Thus, in a physical sense, place is understood as a site in which identity is located and defined, but in a metaphysical sense, place is also an imaginative space that maps the landscapes of the mind. This article compares the different ways in which Yeats and Kavanagh relate to their place of writing, physically and artistically, where place is understood as a physical lived space, and as a liberating site for an exploration of poetic voice, where the poet creates his own country of the mind.

The place of writing in the poetry of W.B Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh

This article addresses the theme of place in the poetry of W. B. Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh, focusing on the concept of place as a physical and psychological entity. The article explores place as a creative force in the work of these two poets, in relation to the act of writing. Seamus Heaney, in his essay “The Sense of Place,” talks about the “history of our sensibilities” that looks to the stable element of the land for continuity: “We are dwellers, we are namers, we are lovers, we make homes and search for our histories” (Heaney 1980: 148-9). Thus, in a physical sense, place is understood as a site in which identity is located and defined, but in a metaphysical sense, place is also an imaginative space that maps the landscapes of the mind. This article compares the different ways in which Yeats and Kavanagh relate to their place of writing, physically and artistically, where place is understood as a physical lived space, and as a liberating site for an exploration of poetic voice, where the poet creates his own country of the mind.

Role of Culture in the Acquisition of CSL – From the Perspective of Intercultural Communication Competence

In the past few decades, the demands for coping with the rapid development of information communication technology, internationalization and globalization worldwide have shifted the focus of Chinese as a second language (CSL) towards intercultural communication competence in which the role of culture in the acquisition of CSL and in the pragmatic use of the language is emphasized and promoted. However, most of the present research in this academic area still remains only on a theoretical level.   In order to explore the possibilities and limitations of integrating Chinese culture and implementing intercultural communication theory into CSL education, an action research has been conducted since the beginning of 2013 to review an actual course for beginners. This paper will present the findings of the research: 1) By applying the theoretical framework of intercultural communicative competence, the findings indicated that the existing CSL course provided limited information explaining the cultural elements that are reflected in the Chinese language. 2) The findings also suggested that the cultural skills acquired in the students’ first language do influence their acquisition of CSL. This is demonstrated in the students’ written tasks such as introducing themselves and presenting other people, etc. The findings can be examples and resources for further research in this academic field.