Motor abnormalities (MAs) may be already evidenced long before the beginning of illness and are highly prevalent in psychosis. However, the extent to which the whole range of MAs are related to ...cognitive impairment in psychosis remains understudied.
This study aimed to examine comparatively the relationships between the whole range of motor abnormalities and cognitive impairments in the first-episode of psychosis (FEP), their unaffected siblings and healthy control subjects.
Fifty FEP patients, 21 of their healthy siblings and 24 age- and sex matched healthy controls were included. Motor assessment included catatonic, extrapyramidal and neurological soft signs (NSS) by means of standardized instruments. An exhaustive neuropsychological battery was also performed to extract the 7 cognitive dimensions of MATRICS initiative.
Higher scores on NSS but not on extrapyramidal and catatonic signs showed significant associations with worse cognitive performance in the three study groups. However, the pattern of associations regarding specific cognitive functions was different among the three groups. Moreover, extrapyramidal signs showed significant associations with cognitive impairment only in FEP patients but not in their unaffected siblings and healthy controls. Catatonic signs did not show any significant association with cognitive functioning in the three study groups.
These findings add evidence to the associations between motor abnormalities, particularly NSS and extrapyramidal signs, and cognitive impairment in first-episode psychosis patients. In addition, our results suggest that the specific pattern of associations between MAs and cognitive functioning is different in FEP patients from those of the unaffected siblings and healthy subjects.
Wave energy is poised to thrive as a renewable energy provider. Present and future wave energy resource for the northwest Iberian Peninsula coast is classified by means of a dynamical downscaling ...performed with the SWAN model of WAVEWATCH III simulations driven by historical wind data and future wind under the RCP8.5 greenhouse gas emission scenario. The wave energy resource classification was performed applying a Delphi method to seven indices, related to wave resource, stability, risk and installation and maintenance costs (mean wave power energy, temporal and monthly variability, downtime, risk, water depth and distance to the coast). In general, conditions for the exploitation of wave energy will worsen by the end of the century due to the decrease in wave energy's mean value and an increase in energy variability. Furthermore, the risk factor will also worsen due to the increase in the frequency of extreme ocean waves. Despite this, the wave energy resource will be classified as excellent along the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula and as good along the Bay of Biscay's coast by the end of the century. Only in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, the wave resource will be classified as outstanding.
•Classification of present and future wave energy resource based on a Delphi method.•Delphi applied to factors related to wave energy resource, stability, risk and cost.•SWAN dynamical downscaling of present and future wave properties (Hs, Tp).•On average, future conditions for the exploitation of wave energy will worsen.
Objective
Amidst restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID‐19, jokes have surfaced regarding weight gain during the pandemic. The current study documents perceived changes since COVID‐19 and ...compares these to observed longitudinal changes in reported weight, BMI, and how college students described their weight from January to April 2020.
Method
Undergraduates (N = 90; 88% female) completed on‐line assessments before and after students were required to leave campus due to COVID‐19. Time 1 and Time 2 surveys collected demographic information, height, weight, and a Likert‐scale rating to describe perceived weight, ranging from 1 = very underweight to 5 = very overweight (weight description). Time 2 surveys added questions for perceived changes since COVID‐19 in body weight, eating, physical activity, various forms of screen time, and concerns about weight, shape, and eating.
Results
Time 2 surveys indicated perceived increases in body weight, eating, and screen time, and decreases in physical activity along with increased concerns about weight, shape and eating since COVID‐19. Longitudinal data indicated no significant change in weight, body mass index (BMI), or BMI category, but how participants described their weight changed significantly from January to April 2020. Compared to longitudinal changes in BMI category, students' weight description was significantly more likely to fall into a higher category from Time 1 to Time 2.
Discussion
Shifts in how body weight is experienced in the wake of COVID‐19 that do not align with observed changes in reported weight may reflect cognitive distortions that could increase risk for disordered eating in some individuals.
Despite the main strategy to overcome bacterial resistance has focused on the development of more potent antimicrobial agents, the evolutionary pressure caused by such drugs makes this strategy ...limited. Molecules that interfere with virulence factors appear as a promising alternative though, as they cause reduced selective pressure. As a matter of fact, staphyloxanthin biosynthesis inhibition (STXBI) has been pursued as promising strategy to reduce S. aureus virulence. Herein, we report the inhibitory profile of 27 tetrangomycin derivatives over staphyloxanthin production. The experimental result showed that naphthoquinone dehydro-α-lapachone (25 - EC50 = 57.29 ± 1.15 μM) and 2-Isopropylnaphtho2,3-bfuran-4,9-dione (26 EC50 = 82.10 ± 1.09 μM) are the most potent compounds and suggest that hydrogen acceptor groups and lipophilic moieties decorating the naphthoquinone ring are crucial for STXBI. In addition, we present an in situ analysis, through RAMAN spectroscopy, that is inexpensive and might be employed to probe the mechanism of action of staphyloxanthin biosynthesis inhibitors. Therefore, our molecular simplification strategies afforded promising lead compounds for the development of drugs that modulate S. aureus staphyloxanthin biosynthesis.
•Tetrangomcycin derivates inhibit staphyloxanthin production in S. aureus.•RAMAN spectroscopy allows in situ analysis of S. aureus carotenoid profile.•Naphthoquinone dehydro-α-lapachone (25 ) inhibits staphyloxanthin production (EC50= 57.29 ± 1.15 µM ).•Compound 25 effect over S. aureus’ carotenoid profile is more similar to terbinafine’s than to farnesol’s.
Cardiac failure is a common complication in cancer survivors treated with anthracyclines. Here we followed up cardiac function and excitation-contraction (EC) coupling in an in vivo doxorubicin (Dox) ...treated mice model (iv, total dose of 10 mg/Kg divided once every three days). Cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiography at 2, 6 and 15 weeks after the last injection. While normal at 2 and 6 weeks, ejection fraction was significantly reduced at 15 weeks. In order to evaluate the underlying mechanisms, we measured Ca2+i transients by confocal microscopy and action potentials (AP) by patch-clamp technique in cardiomyocytes isolated at these times. Three phases were observed: 1/depression and slowing of the Ca2+i transients at 2 weeks after treatment, with occurrence of proarrhythmogenic Ca2+ waves, 2/compensatory state at 6 weeks, and 3/depression on Ca2+i transients and cell contraction at 15 weeks, concomitant with in-vivo defects. These Ca2+i transient alterations were observed without cellular hypertrophy or AP prolongation and mirrored the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ load variations. At the molecular level, this was associated with a decrease in the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA2a) expression and enhanced RyR2 phosphorylation at the protein kinase A (PKA, pS2808) site (2 and 15 weeks). RyR2 phosphorylation at the Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII, pS2814) site was enhanced only at 2 weeks, coinciding with the higher incidence of proarrhythmogenic Ca2+ waves. Our study highlighted, for the first time, the progression of Dox treatment-induced alterations in Ca2+ handling and identified key components of the underlying Dox cardiotoxicity. These findings should be helpful to understand the early-, intermediate-, and late- cardiotoxicity already recorded in clinic in order to prevent or treat at the subclinical level.
•Anthracyclines anticancer treatment is hampered by their cardiotoxic effects.•Doxorubicin injections did not induce mice mortality, but impaired cardiac contractile function 15 weeks later.•This cardiac dysfunction could be related to a depressed Ca2+i transients 15 weeks after the last injection.•Spontaneous Ca2+ release and enhanced RyR phosphorylation at CaMKII site precedes this depression.•Thus alteration in Ca2+ handling in cardiac myocytes precedes clinical signs of dysfunction.
Marine renewable energies can play a key role by reducing the dependency on fossil fuels and, therefore, mitigating climate change. Among them, it is expected that wave energy will experience rapid ...growth in the upcoming decades. Thus, it is important to know how wave climate will change and how suitable the wave energy converters (WECs) will be to the new wave conditions. This paper aims to evaluate the capability of four different WECs—a WaveRoller type device (WRTD), Atargis, AquaBuoy and RM5—to extract wave energy on the Northwest coast of Spain (NWCS). The analysis was performed using the high-resolution wave data obtained from the Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model over the near future winters (2026–2045). The energy output (PE), the power load factor (ε), the normalized capture width (NCw) and the operational time (OT) were analyzed. According to these parameters, among the devices that work for intermediate-deep waters, Atargis would be the best option (PE=1400 ± 56 kW, ε =55.4 ± 2.2%, NCw=35.5 ± 4.1% and OT =84.5 ± 3.3%). The WRTD would also be a good option for shallow nearshore areas with PE=427 ± 248 kW, ε =12.8 ± 7.4%, NCw = 48.9 ± 9.6% and OT = 88.7 ± 18.9%. A combination of Atargis and WRTDs is proposed to make up the future wave energy farms on the NWCS.
•Dynamical downscaling using SWAN to simulate near-shore wave conditions.•Wave energy converters suitability is analyzed in the context of climate change.•Atargis is the most suitable device to future sea conditions in intermediate waters.•WaveRoller type devices can constitute future wave farms for shallow waters.
Synthesis of acetylcholine depends on the plasma membrane uptake of choline by a high affinity choline transporter (CHT1). Choline uptake is regulated by nerve impulses and trafficking of an ...intracellular pool of CHT1 to the plasma membrane may be important for this regulation. We have generated a hemagglutinin (HA) epitope tagged CHT1 to investigate the organelles involved with intracellular trafficking of this protein. Expression of CHT1‐HA in HEK 293 cells establishes Na+‐dependent, hemicholinium‐3 sensitive high‐affinity choline transport activity. Confocal microscopy reveals that CHT1‐HA is found predominantly in intracellular organelles in three different cell lines. Importantly, CHT1‐HA seems to be continuously cycling between the plasma membrane and endocytic organelles via a constitutive clathrin‐mediated endocytic pathway. In a neuronal cell line, CHT1‐HA colocalizes with the early endocytic marker green fluorescent protein (GFP)‐Rab 5 and with two markers of synaptic‐like vesicles, VAMP‐myc and GFP‐VAChT, suggesting that in cultured cells CHT1 is present mainly in organelles of endocytic origin. Subcellular fractionation and immunoisolation of organelles from rat brain indicate that CHT1 is present in synaptic vesicles. We propose that intracellular CHT1 can be recruited during stimulation to increase choline uptake in nerve terminals.
Status of the HOLMES Experiment Faverzani, M.; Alpert, B.; Balata, M. ...
Journal of low temperature physics,
05/2020, Letnik:
199, Številka:
3-4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The absolute neutrino mass is still an unknown parameter in the modern landscape of particle physics. The HOLMES experiment aims at exploiting the calorimetric approach to directly measure the ...neutrino mass through the kinematic measurement of the decay products of the weak process decay of
163
Ho. This low energy decaying isotope, in fact, undergoes electron capture emitting a neutrino and leaving the daughter atom,
163
Dy
∗
, in an atomic excited state. This, in turn, relaxes by emitting electrons and, to a considerably lesser extent, photons. The high-energy portion of the calorimetric spectrum of this decay is affected by the non-vanishing neutrino mass value. Given the small fraction of events falling within the region of interest, to achieve a high experimental sensitivity on the neutrino mass, it is important to have a high activity combined with a very small undetected pileup contribution. To achieve these targets, the final configuration of HOLMES foresees the deployment of a large number of
163
Ho ion-implanted TESs characterized by an ambitiously high activity of 300 Hz each. In this paper, we outline the status of the major tasks that will bring HOLMES to achieve a statistical sensitivity on the neutrino mass as low as 2 eV/c
2
.
The assessment of neutrino absolute mass scale is still a crucial challenge in today particle physics and cosmology. Beta or electron capture spectrum end-point study is currently the only ...experimental method which can provide a model-independent measurement of the absolute scale of neutrino mass. HOLMES is an experiment funded by the European Research Council to directly measure the neutrino mass. HOLMES will perform a calorimetric measurement of the energy released in the electron capture decay of the artificial isotope
163
Ho. In a calorimetric measurement, the energy released in the decay process is entirely contained into the detector, except for the fraction taken away by the neutrino. This approach eliminates both the issues related to the use of an external source and the systematic uncertainties arising from decays on excited final states. The most suitable detectors for this type of measurement are low-temperature thermal detectors, where all the energy released into an absorber is converted into a temperature increase that can be measured by a sensitive thermometer directly coupled with the absorber. This measurement was originally proposed by De Rujula and Lusignoli (Nucl Phys B 219:277,
1983
.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0550-3213(83)90642-9
), but only in the last decade the technological progress in detectors development has allowed to design a sensitive experiment. HOLMES plans to deploy a large array of low-temperature microcalorimeters with implanted
163
Ho nuclei. In this contribution we outline the HOLMES project with its physics reach and technical challenges, along with its status and perspectives.
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