Amyloid-β peptide remnants in AN-1792-immunized Alzheimer's disease patients: A biochemical analysis Patton, R. Lyle; Kalback, Walter M.; Esh, Chera L.; Kokjohn, Tyler A.; Van Vickle, Gregory D.; Luehrs, Dean C.; Kuo, Yu-Min; Lopez, John; Brune, Daniel; Ferrer, Isidro; Masliah, Eliezer; Newel, Amanda J.; Beach, Thomas G.; Castaño, Eduardo Miguel; Roher, Alex E. Experiments with amyloid-β (Aβ)-42-immunized transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease have revealed amyloid plaque disruption and apparent cognitive function recovery. Neuropathological examination of patients vaccinated against purified Aβ-42 (AN-1792) has demonstrated that senile plaque disruption occurred in immunized humans as well. Here, we examined tissue histology and quantified and biochemically characterized the remnant amyloid peptides in the gray and white matter and leptomeningeal/cortical vessels of two AN-1792-vaccinated patients, one of whom developed meningoencephalitis. Compact core and diffuse amyloid deposits in both vaccinated individuals were focally absent in some regions. Although parenchymal amyloid was focally disaggregated, vascular deposits were relatively preserved or even increased. Immunoassay revealed that total soluble amyloid levels were sharply elevated in vaccinated patient gray and white matter compared with Alzheimer's disease cases. Our experiments suggest that although immunization disrupted amyloid deposits, vascular capture prevented large-scale egress of Aβ peptides. Trapped, solubilized amyloid peptides may ultimately have cascading toxic effects on cerebrovascular, gray and white matter tissues. Anti-amyloid immunization may be most effective not as therapeutic or mitigating measures but as a prophylactic measure when Aβ deposition is still minimal. This may allow Aβ mobilization under conditions in which drainage and degradation of these toxic peptides is efficient.

Differential involvement of ERK1-2 and p38MAPK activation on Swiss 3T3 cell proliferation induced by prostaglandin F2alpha Dekanty, Andres; Giulianelli, Sebastian Jesus; Coso, Omar Adrian; Rudland, Phillip S.; Jimenez de Asua, Luis Adan Felipe Prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) induces cyclin D1 expression and DNA synthesis in Swiss 3T3 cells. In order to assess which signaling mechanisms are implicated in these processes, we have used both a pharmacological approach and interfering mutants. We demonstrate that PGF2alpha induces extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK1-2) and p38MAPK activation, and inhibition of any of these signaling pathways completely blocks PGF2alpha-stimulated DNA synthesis. We also show that ERK1-2, but not p38MAPK activation is required to induce cyclin D1 expression, strongly suggesting that the concerted action of cyclin D1 gene expression and other events are required to induce complete phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein and S-phase entry in response to PGF2alpha.

Retinal dysfunction in patients with chronic Chagas’disease is associated to anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies that crossreact with rhodopsin Matsumoto, Silvia C.; Labovsky, Vivian; Roncoroni, Marcela; Guida, Maria Catalina; Gimenez, Luisa; Mitelman, Jorge; Gori, Horacio; Jurgelevicius, Renata; Grillo, Alejandro; Manfredi, Pablo; Levìn, Mariano J.; Paveto, Cristina To investigate retinal involvement in chronic Chagas' disease, we performed electroretinography and retinal fluorescein angiography studies in chagasic patients. Our results demonstrated a dissociated electrophysiological response characterized by both an abnormal reduction of the electroretinographic b-wave amplitude and a delayed latency, under the dark-adaptated condition. These alterations are compatible with a selective dysfunction of the rods. Antibodies raised against Trypanosoma cruzi that also interact with beta1-adrenergic receptor blocked light stimulation of cGMP-phosphodiesterase in bovine rod membranes. The specificity from the antibody-rhodopsin interaction was confirmed by Western blot analysis and antigenic competition experiments. Our results suggest an immunomediated rhodopsin blockade. T. cruzi infection probably induces an autoimmune response against rhodopsin in the chronic phase of Chagas' disease through a molecular mimicry mechanism similar to that described previously on cardiac human beta1-adrenergic and M2-cholinergic receptors, all related to the same subfamily of G-protein-coupled receptors.

Alfa-enolasa: a novel autoantigen in patients with premature ovarian failure Sundblad, Victoria; Bussmann, Leonardo Edmundo; Chiauzzi, Violeta Alicia; Pancholy, Vijay; Charreau, Eduardo Hernan Although controversial, the presence of circulating antiovarian antibodies (AOA) may be considered a marker of autoimmune premature ovarian failure (POF). The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the presence of AOA in POF patients, and to identify a possible autoantigen in order to develop a reliable diagnostic tool that might help to determine the real prevalence of autoimmune POF.

Metodología para determinar el potencial solar de entornos de baja densidad del área metropolitana de Mendoza Arboit, Mariela Edith; Diblasi, Angela Magdalena; Mesa, Nestor Alejandro; de Rosa, Carlos El presente estudio intenta aportar conocimientos y metodologías para evaluar el acceso al recurso solar del parque edilicio urbano existente, reconociendo su complejidad y definiendo con precisión las variables significativas que definen la utilización del recurso, para los usos de calefacción de espacios (muros al norte) y calentamiento de agua para uso doméstico (techos horizontales y proyección horizontal de techos con pendiente). El objetivo del mismo es aplicar un modelo estadístico de regresión lineal múltiple que permita estudiar la correlación existente entre el potencial solar del parque edilicio urbano actual (variable respuesta), y un conjunto de variables explicativas, urbanas y edilicias: forma y orientación de las manzanas, ancho de los cañones urbanos, incidencia del arbolado, morfología edilicia, áreas de parcelas, ocupación del suelo y densidad edilicia. Se propone desarrollar una metodología que permita cuantificar el potencial de la edilicia del Área Metropolitana de Mendoza (AMM), y elaborar lineamientos de diseño apropiados para formular e implementar una legislación que establezca rangos de valores para cada variable significativa, tendiente al aprovechamiento pleno del recurso solar en la ciudad, y por lo tanto al desarrollo ambiental y energéticamente sustentable.; The present study aims at contributing knowledge and methodology to assess the access to the solar resource of the existing urban building stock, a knewedging its complexity and precisely defining the utilization of the resources, for the uses of space heating (north facing walls) and domestic water heating ( horizontal roofs and horizontal projection of tilted roofs). The objective of the study is to utilize a statistical multiple linear regression model that would allow to define the correlations between the solar potential of the present building stock (variable response) and a set of urban and building explanatory variables: form and orientation of city blocks, urban canyon width, urban forest incidence, building morphology, parcel dimensions, soil occupation and building density. It is expected that the results of the study will allow to quantify the solar potential of the present building stock in MMA and elaborate suitable design guidelines for the elaboration and implementation of norms that would establish value ranges for each significant variable, aiming at the maximum utilization of the solar resource in the city, as a significant contribution to its environmental and energy sustainable development

Comparación de métodos de lisis y extracción de ADN de trofozoiteos de Giardia lamblia; Comparison of lysis methods and DNA extraction of Giardia lamblia trophozoites Molina, Nora Beatriz; Polverino, Daniela; Minvielle, Marta Cecilia; Apezteguía, María; Aguilar, Orlando Mario; Basualdo, Juan A. The efficiency of lysis procedures and DNA purification treatments of Giardia lamblia trophozoites were evaluated regarding the breaking-up efficiency, quantity and pureness of DNA, processing time and costs. Five lysis methods (distilled water and heating; distilled water, heating and proteinase K; buffer D Lysis; buffer E lysis, and commercial kit), and three DNA purification methods (phenol:chloroform:isoamilic, Chelex 100 and commercial kit) were tested. The obtained data were statistically analyzed. The buffer E lysis and Chelex combination was simple and economic method which produced high DNA performance with low pureness. Commercial kit was simple and expensive method which generated low yields of DNA with appropriate purity level for molecular analysis.; Se evaluó la eficiencia de procedimientos de lisis y tratamientos de extracción de ADN de trofozoítos de Giardia lamblia respecto a la eficiencia de ruptura, cantidad y pureza de ADN, además de los tiempos de procesamiento y costos. Se testearon cinco métodos de lisis (agua destilada y calor; agua destilada, calor y proteinasa K; buffer de lisis D; buffer de lisis E y un kit comercial) y tres métodos de purificación de ADN (fenol:cloroformo: isoamílico; Chelex 100 y un kit comercial). Los datos obtenidos se analizaron estadísticamente. La combinación de buffer de lisis E y Chelex fue un método simple y económico, que produjo alto rendimiento de ADN con baja pureza. Ella técnica comercial fue un método simple, más costoso que produjo bajas cantidades de ADN con un nivel de pureza apropiado para estudios moleculares.

The equilibrium limit of the Casati-Prosen model Castagnino, Mario Alberto G. J. An alternative explanation of the decoherence in the Casati–Prosen model is presented. It is based on the self-induced decoherence formalism extended to non-integrable systems.

Description of Maunder-like events from a stochastic Alpha–Omega model Gomez, Daniel Osvaldo; Mininni, Pablo Daniel One of the most impressive solar phenomena is its magnetic activity cycle. The number of sunspots observed in the solar surface varies with a period of approximately 11 years. Superimposed to this cyclic behavior, there are sporadic events such as the Maunder minimum, during which very few sunspots were detected. In the present work, an Alpha–Omega dynamo model is proposed to study these phenomena. We use velocity profiles of the solar interior obtained from helioseismology, which include differential rotation (the X-effect), a meridional flow and the turbulent velocity field of the convective region (the a-effect). By simulating the helicoidal and disordered flow of the giant cells through a stochastic component in the a coefficient, we reproduce not only the periodic behavior of the solar cycle, but also sporadic events such as the Maunder minimum. This model suggests the existence of a link between giant cell fluctuations and the irregularities observed in the solar cycle, such as north–south asymmetries and secular variations like the Maunder minimum.

Redescription of Excirolana armata (Dana, 1853) and synonymy of Cirolana argentina Giambiagi, 1930 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cirolanidae) Ribetti, Virginia L.; Roccatagliata, Daniel Carlos Excirolana armata (Dana, 1853) is redescribed on the basis of material collected from Puerto Quequén, Argentina, the type locality of Cirolana argentina Giambiagi, 1930. Based on this material, it is concluded that C. argentina is a junior synonym of E. armata. The distribution of E. armata is extended from Rio de Janeiro to Golfo San José (northern Patagonia). Excirolana armata is most similar to the Chilean species Excirolana hirsuticauda Menzies, 1962 and Excirolana monodi Carvacho, 1977; a table comparing these three species is provided. The male second pleopod and pleotelson of E. hirsuticauda are illustrated.

Photophysics of anthracene–indole systems in unilamellar vesicles of DMPC and POPC: Exciplex formation and temperature effects Novaira, Ana Ines; Previtali, Carlos Mario The quenching of anthracene fluorescence by indole (IN), 1,2-dimethylindole (DMI), tryptophan (Trp) and indole 3-acetic acid (IAA) in dimiristoylphophatidylcholine (DMPC) and palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) lipid bilayers was investigated. The studies were carried out at 25 ºC in POPC vesicles and below (15 C) and above (35 C) the phase transition temperature (24 ºC) of DMPC. A very efficient quenching of the anthracene fluorescence by IN and DMI in the lipid membrane is observed in all cases. It is less efficient in the case of Trp and IAA. Stern–Volmer plots are linear for DMI but present a downward curvature for the other quenchers. This was interpreted as an indication of the presence of an inaccessible fraction of anthracene molecules. By a modified Stern–Volmer analysis the fraction accessible to the quenchers and the quenching constant were determined. Partition constants of the quenchers were obtained from the changes in the fluorescence emission of the indole moiety caused by the presence of the phospholipid. Using the partition constants bimolecular quenching rate constants were determined in terms of the local concentration of quencher in the lipid bilayer. These corrected rate constants are lower than those in homogeneous solvents. In the case of DMPC values the gel phase are higher than in the liquid-crystalline phase. In the quenching by IN and DMI a new, red shifted, emission band appears which could be assigned to an exciplex emission. The exciplex band is absent in the quenching by IAA and Trp.

Impact on growth and aflatoxin B1 accumulation by Kluyveromyces isolates at different water activity conditions La Penna, Mariángeles; Etcheverry, Miriam Graciela This study showed the impact on germination, mycelial growth and aflatoxin B1 accumulation when interacting Aspergillus aflatoxigenic strains with Kluyveromyces isolates and the effect of water activity on this relationship. Isolates Y14 and Y16 reduced the percentage of germination of all Aspergillus strains and decrease germ tube elongation rate at majority of water activity assayed. Similarly they produced an increase of germination lag phase and lag phase of growth beside decreased growth rate of all Aspergillus strains. At water activities 0.994, 0.982, 0.955 and 0.937, no aflatoxins were produced in paired cultures with isolates Y25, Y22, Y16, and Y14, and Kluyveromyces isolates Y14 and Y16 impact both growth and aflatoxin accumulation at wide range of water activity.

Monte Carlo simulation of metal deposition on foreign substrates Giménez, María Cecilia; Ramirez Pastor, Antonio Jose; Leiva, Ezequiel Pedro M. The deposition of a metal on a foreign substrate is studied by means of grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations and a lattice-gas model with pair potential interactions between nearest neighbors. The influence of temperature and surface defects on adsorption isotherms and differential heat of adsorption is considered. The general trends can be explained in terms of the relative interactions between adsorbate atoms and substrate atoms. The systems Ag/Au(1 0 0), Ag/Pt(1 0 0), Au/Ag(1 0 0) and Pt/Ag(1 0 0) are analyzed as examples.

VLSI implementation of an energy-aware wake-up detector for an acoustic surveillance sensor network Goldberg, David H.; Andreou, Andreas; Julian, Pedro Marcelo; Pouliquen, Philippe O.; Riddle, Laurence; Rosasco, Rich We present a low-power VLSI wake-up detector for a sensor network that uses acoustic signals to localize ground-base vehicles. The detection criterion is the degree of low-frequency periodicity in the acoustic signal, and the periodicity is computed from the "bumpiness" of the autocorrelation of a one-bit version of the signal. We then describe a CMOS ASIC that implements the periodicity estimation algorithm. The ASIC is functional and its core consumes 835 nanowatts. It was integrated into an acoustic enclosure and deployed in field tests with synthesized sounds and ground-based vehicles.

Le musée Leleque et le groupe Benetton en Patagonie : Photographies mémoire et parrainage privé; The Leleque museum and the Benetton Group in Patagonia Vezub, Julio Esteban Le groupe Benetton a financé la réalisation d’un musée d’histoire régionale, qui a ouvert ses portes en mai 2000 au milieu d’une grande estancia dont il est propriétaire dans le nord-ouest de la Patagonie argentine. C’est à partir de l’expérience de l’un des membres de l’équipe d’anthropologues et d’historiens qui a élaboré les expositions du Musée Leleque que sont analysées les utilisations et les interprétations de photographies de la fin du XIXe siècle qui représentent des indigènes alors définitivement écartés du contrôle du territoire de la Patagonie. L’article retrace les conflits de mémoire et ceux relatifs à la propriété de la terre qui se sont ouverts à cette occasion entre le groupe Benetton et les familles mapuches. Il s’interroge aussi sur les aspects éthiques de la participation de professionnels des sciences sociales à l’élaboration de récits historiques dans les conditions d’un parrainage privé.; The Benetton Group financed the setting up of a museum of regional history, which opened in May 2000, located on a large estancia owned by the group in northwestern Argentine Patagonia. Based on the experience of a member of the team of anthropologists and historians who planned the exhibitions housed in the Leleque museum, analysis is made of the use and interpretation of late 19th century photographs of natives with no outside territorial monitoring. The article takes a closer look at the conflicts of memory and over land ownership that the event gave rise to between the Benetton Group and Mapuche families, and also considers the ethical aspects of participation by social sciences professionals in the drawing up of historical accounts in a context of private patronage.

Un sistema de apoyo a la decisión en la gestión logística de una PYME Casal, Ricardo Nestor; Frutos, Mariano; Claverie, Agustín En este articulo se presenta un sistema de apoyo a la decisión (SAD) para solucionar los complejos problemas logísticos en empresas can servicio de reparto. Este sistema optimiza un modelo que refleja una situación en la que los clientes se agrupan por clusters, de forma que todas las rutas que sirven a un mismo grupo deban ser finalizarse antes de un instante de tiempo prefijado, sin sobrepasar el ciclo de distribución predeterminado, abasteciendo en cada viaje una cantidad mínima de pedidos y evitando la sobrecarga del vehículo. El objetivo que se plantea es minimizar la distancia total recorrida supeditada alas restricciones indicadas. Este sistema utiliza un enfoque no convencional de procesamiento y aprovecha las utilidades del ordenador para que el algoritmo de búsqueda sea mas eficiente. Par ultimo, se presenta una aplicación practica del sistema anterior que se utilizó en la gestión de la logística de distribución de productos perecederos de una empresa de la zona.; In this paper a decision support system (SAD) to solve complex logistic problems in companies with delivery services is presented. This system optimizes a model that represents a situation in which customers are grouped by Clusters, in a way that all the routes used for a certain group must be completed before a certain predefined moment, without exceeding the predefined distribution cycle, supplying in every trip a certain minimum amount of orders and without overloading the vehicle. The objective is to minimize the total traveled distance under the mentioned restrictions. This system uses a non conventional processing approach and takes advantage of the computer utilities so as to make the search algorithm more efficient. Finally, a practical application of the mentioned system, that was used in the distribution logistic management of perishable products in a regional company, is shown.

Reflexiones en torno a la cultura en América Latina Perilli, Carmen Noemi La descolonización de la cultura latinoamericana supone la revisión de los múltiples relatos tejidos alrededor de la identidad del continente, identidad entendida como esencia. Desde antes de la Conquista La Letra proyectó una imagen virtual del Nuevo Mundo. Las representación estuvo signada por la alteridad del objeto, en relación a un sujeto que lo definía desde fuera.

Stainless Steels Can Be Cathodically Protected Using Energy Stored at the Marine Sediment/Seawater Interface Orfei, Leda Hilen; Simison, Silvia Noemi; Busalmen, Juan Pablo Laboratory-scale experiments were performed in which the corrosion protection of stainless steels in seawater was afforded by cathodic protection. The method was implemented for the first time using the potential difference at the marine sediment/seawater interface as the only source of electric power. Graphite electrodes buried in marine sediment, developing a potential of -0.45 V versus a saturated calomel electrode (SCE), were used as anodes to cathodically polarize UNS S30403 stainless steel coupons that were exposed to seawater. The cathodic protection system was operated with low polarization of stainless steel, typically to -0.2 V (vs SCE) and was found to properly prevent material failure even in the presence of a well-developed biofilm. With voltammetry, the protection current was found to be related to the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds in the sediments. Results demonstrate that this inexpensive and environmentally friendly method can, so far, extend the service life of stainless steels in seawater.

Thermostatistical description of gas mixtures from space partitions Rohrmann, Rene Daniel; Zorec, J. The new mathematical framework based on the free energy of pure classical fluids presented by Rohrmann is extended to multicomponent systems to determine thermodynamic and structural properties of chemically complex fluids. Presently, the theory focuses on D -dimensional mixtures in the low-density limit (packing factor Ε<0.01). The formalism combines the free-energy minimization technique with space partitions that assign an available volume v to each particle. v is related to the closeness of the nearest neighbor and provides a useful tool to evaluate the perturbations experimented by particles in a fluid. The theory shows a close relationship between statistical geometry and statistical mechanics. New, unconventional thermodynamic variables and mathematical identities are derived as a result of the space division. Thermodynamic potentials Iil, conjugate variable of the populations Nil of particles class i with the nearest neighbors of class l are defined and their relationships with the usual chemical potentials I i are established. Systems of hard spheres are treated as illustrative examples and their thermodynamics functions are derived analytically. The low-density expressions obtained agree nicely with those of scaled-particle theory and Percus-Yevick approximation. Several pair distribution functions are introduced and evaluated. Analytical expressions are also presented for hard spheres with attractive forces due to Kac-tails and square-well potentials. Finally, we derive general chemical equilibrium conditions.

Creaming stability of oil in water (O/W) emulsions: Influence of pH on soybean protein–lecithin interaction Comas, D. I.; Wagner, Jorge Ricardo; Tomás, Mabel Cristina In the present work, the influence of pH on stability of oil in water O/W (25:75 w/w) emulsions prepared with soy isolates and lecithin (Lec) was studied. Emulsions were prepared using native (NSI) and denatured (DSI) soybean isolates, Lec and sunflower oil, with a protein–Lec ratio of 10:1. Dispersions of soybean proteins were adjusted to pH 2.0–6.2. Emulsions were optically characterized by droplet size distribution and using a vertical scan analyzer (Quick Scan) to determine the creaming destabilization and the corresponding kinetics involved. At pH 2, a negative effect was observed on droplet size distribution and stability of Lec emulsion. Changes in droplet size and creaming rate as a function of pH value were observed for NSI–Lec and DSI–Lec emulsions in comparison with their corresponding control systems (Lec, NSI, DSI). NSI–Lec emulsions at pH 2.0 presented an important initial emulsifying activity, but the creaming rate recorded was faster than that corresponding to pH 5.5–6.2. For DSI–Lec systems, the stability increased at pH 2.0 and 6.2, values away from the isoelectric point. The presence of Lec enhanced both the initial characteristics reflected in BS0 and droplet size, and the stability against the creaming process.

Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp lactis strain CIDCA 133 inhibits nitrate reductase activity of Escherichia coli Hugo, Ayelen Amelia; de Antoni, Graciela Liliana; Perez, Pablo Fernando The aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of strain CIDCA 133 on the nitrate reductase activity of a non-pathogenic Escherichia coli strain. Suspensions containing different ratios of the strains under study were coincubated in MRS or MRS without glucose. In some experiments lactobacilli were killed by UV treatment. The nitrate reductase activity was determined by using a diazotization reaction for nitrite. Presence of live lactobacilli leads to a dose–response diminution in the specific nitrate reductase of E. coli even when no acidification occurred. Killing of lactobacilli by UV treatment completely abolished the anti-nitrate reductase effect. In addition, the effect was only partially observed with filtered spent culture supernatants of lactobacilli. Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp lactis strain CIDCA 133 is able to antagonize the nitrate reductase activity of E. coli. This effect is neither due to a diminution of the viability of E. coli nor is depending on the acidification of the medium by the lactobacilli. Viability is needed for maximal anti-nitrate reductase activity. Modulation of undesirable enzymatic activities of intestinal microorganisms by means of selected microorganisms constitutes a further insight on the mechanisms by which probiotics lead to beneficial effects. Administration of probiotic strains able to modulate microbial intestinal activities could lead to a protection of the host against harmful effects of some members of the intestinal microflora.