VO2 Kinetics During Heavy and Severe Exercise in Swimming

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Seroprevalence of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi in the Swiss horse population

In Switzerland, the prevalence and incidence of equine piroplasma parasite (EPP) infections are unknown. In order to obtain a first insight into the prevalence, a representative sample of 689 sera of horses from Switzerland was serologically tested for the presence of antibodies directed against T. equi and B. caballi using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT). A total of 50 (7.3%) horses were seropositive for EPP: overall, the seroprevalence of T. equi was significantly higher than that of B. caballi (p=0.002). The seropositivities in indigenous horses (animals bred and raised in Switzerland) and in imported horses were 4.8% (11/230) and 8.5% (39/459), respectively. Unlike in indigenous horses, where no significant difference in seroprevalences could be observed between the two parasite species, the seroprevalence of T. equi was significantly higher (p<0.001) than that of B. caballi in imported horses. Horses imported from France, Spain and Portugal exhibited a significantly higher seroprevalence, and horses imported from Germany a significantly lower seroprevalence of EPP compared to indigenous horses. There were no associations between sex, age, weight loss, surgery or blood transfusions with T. equi and B. caballi seroprevalences. The overall seroprevalence of 7.3% clearly shows that infection with EPP is a threat to the health of the horses in Switzerland. With the presumed expansion of permissive tick vectors, EPP infections will potentially increase in importance in the future. Therefore, continuous monitoring is mandatory.

政治制度形成の論理 －新興民主主義国の制度分析に向けて－

本稿は政治制度をめぐる二つの大きな理論的流れについて整理したものである。一つは、制度の効果に注目する外生的制度論の流れである。制度の効果を前提としたうえで，自己利益極大化のためそうした効果を期待する制度設計者によって制度が設計されたと考えるものである。取引費用の低減、集合行為問題の解決などがそのカギとなる。もう一つは、制度をプレーヤーたちの行うゲームのなかでの均衡と考える議論である。プレーヤーのインセンティブを重視し、制度形成を内生的なメカニズムのなかで考えるもので、内生的制度論と呼ばれる。

The stakes of politics and electoral administration : a comparative study of Southeast Asian democracies

Elections play a crucial role in political stability in post-democratization, and electoral administrations are the key to the electoral process. However, not all newly democratized countries have established reliable electoral administration. New democracies in Southeast Asia, such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, have independent election commissions which have different characteristics, especially in terms of neutrality. Based on three cases, this paper claims that the stakes of politics are the major determinant of the variations in neutrality. The high stakes of politics in Thailand brought about the partisan election commission, while the low stakes in Indonesia made the electoral system relatively neutral. Like Thailand, the high stakes of politics in the Philippines also cause political intervention in the electoral administration.

アフリカの「三選問題」 -- ブルンジ、ルワンダ、コンゴ共和国の事例から

ブルンジ、ルワンダ、コンゴ共和国では、いずれも2015年に大統領の三選禁止規定が変更されたが、その影響は大きく異なった。ブルンジでは激しい抗議活動と弾圧によって政治が著しく混乱したのに対し、コンゴでは抗議活動はほぼ封じ込められ、ルワンダでは抗議活動すら起こらなかった。抗議活動の強弱は、反政府勢力の組織力に依存する。ルワンダとコンゴでは、1990年代の内戦に勝利した武装勢力が政権を握り、国内に強力な反政府組織が存在しないうえ、経済的資源の分配を通じて反対派を懐柔できた。一方、国際社会の仲介によって内戦が終結したブルンジでは、権力分有制度のために反政府勢力が強い影響力を保持し、また反対派を懐柔するための資源も乏しかった。「三選問題」が示すのは、民主的な政治制度を採用しつつそれを形骸化させる政権の姿勢だが、それは冷戦後のアフリカで形成された政治秩序の一つの類型でもある。

Héctor Delbosco, El Humanismo platónico del Cardenal Bessarión, Eunsa, Pamplona, 2008, 218 págs.; ISBN 978-84-313-2552-7

Fil: Costarelli Brandi, Hugo Emilio. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Laura E. Corso de Estrada-Mª. Idoya Zorroza (Eds.), Ius et virtus en el Siglo de Oro, EUNSA, Pamplona, 2011, 220 pp., ISBN: 978-84-313-2792-7.

Fil: Martin De Blassi, Fernando.

Educación artística y desarrollo musical en niños de 6 y 7 años.

Resumen tomado de la revista

Synthesis, Characterization, Luminescence and Defect Centres in CaYAl(3)O(7):Eu(3+) Red Phosphor

CaYAl(3)O(7):Eu(3+) phosphor was prepared at furnace temperatures as low as 550A degrees C by a solution combustion method. The formation of crystalline CaYAl(3)O(7):Eu(3+) was confirmed by powder X-Ray diffraction pattern. The prepared phosphor was characterized by SEM, FT-IR and photoluminescence techniques. Photoluminescence measurements indicated that emission spectrum is dominated by the red peak located at 618 nm due to the (5)D(0)-(7)F(2) electric dipole transition of Eu(3+) ions. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) studies were carried out to identify the centres responsible for the thermoluminescence (TL) peaks. Room temperature ESR spectrum of irradiated phosphor appears to be a superposition of two distinct centres. One of the centres (centre I) with principal g-value 2.0126 is identified as an O(-) ion while centre II with an isotropic g-factor 2.0060 is assigned to an F(+) centre (singly ionized oxygen vacancy). An additional defect centre is observed during thermal annealing experiments and this centre (assigned to F(+) centre) seems to originate from an F centre (oxygen vacancy with two electrons). The F(+) centre appears to correlate with the observed high temperature TL peak in CaYAl(3)O(7):Eu(3+) phosphor.

Lithiasis in 1,313 Kidney Transplants: Incidence, Diagnosis, and Management

Background. Renal transplantation remains the optimal treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease. Urinary lithiasis represents an unusual urologic complication in renal transplantation, with an incidence of <1%. Today, recipients of kidneys from deceased donors are more likely to receive grafts with undiagnosed lithiasis, which does not occur in patients from living donors, owing to screening with computerized tomography. Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence, diagnosis, and therapeutic management of renal lithiasis in transplanted kidneys at a single institution. Methods. We reviewed the medical records for 1,313 patients who underwent kidney transplantation from February 1968 to February 2011. Results. Among the grafts, 17 patients (1.29%) had nephrolithiasis: 9 women and 8 men. Ages ranged from 32 to 63 years (mean = 45.6 years). Fifteen patients received kidneys from cadaveric and only 2 from living related donors. Two stones, both located inside the ureter, were identified during transplant surgery (11.7%). Three instances of lithiasis were incidentally diagnosed by ultrasound during graft evaluation, within 7 days after surgery (17.6%); all 3 were in the calyces. The 12 remaining patients had the stones diagnosed later (70.58%): 6 in the calyces, 3 in the renal pelvis, and 3 inside the ureter. Conclusions. Urinary lithiasis is a rare complication in renal transplantation. In most patients the condition occurs without pain. The diagnosis and treatment options for graft urolithiasis are similar to those patients with nephrofithiasis in the general population. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was the most common treatment method.

Changes in hippocampal gene expression by 7-nitroindazole in rats submitted to forced swimming stress

Nitric oxide (NO) is an atypical neurotransmitter that has been related to the pathophysiology of major depression disorder. Increased plasma NO levels have been reported in depressed and suicidal patients. Inhibition of neuronial nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), on the other hand, induces antidepressant effects in clinical and pre-clinical trials. The mechanisms responsible for the antidepressant-like effects of nNOS inhibitors, however, are not completely understood. In this study, genomic and proteomic analyses were used to investigate the effects of the preferential nNOS inhibitor 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) on changes in global gene and protein expression in the hippocampus of rats submitted to forced swimming test (FST). Chronic treatment (14 days, i.p.) with imipramine (15 mg/kg daily) or 7-NI (60 mg/kg daily) significantly reduced immobility in the FST. Saturation curves for Serial analysis of gene expression libraries showed that the hippocampus of animals submitted to FST presented a lower number of expressed genes compared to non-FST stressed groups. Imipramine, but not 7-NI, reverted this effect. GeneGo analyses revealed that genes related to oxidative phosphorylation, apoptosis and survival controlled by HTR1A signaling and cytoskeleton remodeling controlled by Rho GTPases were significantly changed by FST. 7-NI prevented this effect. In addition, 7-NI treatment changed the expression of genes related to transcription in the cAMP response element-binding pathway. Therefore, this study suggests that changes in oxidative stress and neuroplastic processes could be involved in the antidepressant-like effects induced by nNOS inhibition.