Discovery of Gamma Rays from the Quiescent Sun with HAWC

We report the first detection of a TeV γ-ray flux from the solar disk (6.3σ), based on 6.1 years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. The 0.5-2.6 TeV spectrum is well fit by a power law, dN/dE=A(E/1  TeV)^{-γ}, with A=(1.6±0.3)×10^{-12}  TeV^{-1} cm^{-2} s^{-1} and γ=3.62±0.14. The flux shows a strong indication of anticorrelation with solar activity. These results extend the bright, hard GeV emission from the disk observed with Fermi-LAT, seemingly due to hadronic Galactic cosmic rays showering on nuclei in the solar atmosphere. However, current theoretical models are unable to explain the details of how solar magnetic fields shape these interactions. HAWC's TeV detection thus deepens the mysteries of the solar-disk emission.

Mujeres mapuche en la ciudad. Trayectoria de vida y participación política en Santiago de Chile

El texto analiza la trayectoria política de diez mujeres mapuche en la ciudad de Santiago de Chile. Se basa en una investigación cualitativa cuyas principales técnicas metodológicas fueron la observación participante y la entrevista en profundidad. El texto se apoya en los enfoques de los feminismos decoloniales e indígenas para dar cuenta de las distintas tensiones que se expresan en las trayectorias políticas de estas mujeres, vinculadas a cuestiones como el género, la clase y su identidad mapuche urbana. El artículo revela que a pesar de que la participación política de las mujeres indígenas es heterogénea, se caracteriza por la conformación de redes y búsqueda de alternativas, tanto en espacios autónomos como institucionales.

Resolvin-D1 attenuation of angiotensin II-induced cardiac inflammation in mice is associated with prevention of cardiac remodeling and hypertension

AIMS

Despite the broad pharmacological arsenal to treat hypertension, chronic patients may develop irreversible cardiac remodeling and fibrosis. Angiotensin II, the main peptide responsible for the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone-System, has been closely linked to cardiac remodeling, hypertrophy, fibrosis, and hypertension, and some of these effects are induced by inflammatory mediators. Resolvin-D1 (RvD1) elicits potent anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving effects in various pathological models. In this study, we aimed to examine whether RvD1 ameliorates cardiac remodeling and hypertension triggered by angiotensin II.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Alzet® osmotic mini-pumps filled with angiotensin II (1.5 mg/kg/day) were implanted in male C57BL/6 J mice for 7 or 14 days. RvD1 (3 μg/kg/day, i.p) was administered one day after the surgery and during the complete infusion period. Blood pressure and myocardial functional parameters were assessed by echocardiography. At the end of the experimental procedure, blood and heart tissue were harvested, and plasma and histological parameters were studied. After 7 and 14 days, RvD1 reduced the increase of neutrophil and macrophage infiltration triggered by angiotensin II, and also reduced ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression levels. RvD1 also reduced cytokine plasma levels (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, KC, MCP-1), cardiac hypertrophy, interstitial and perivascular fibrosis, and hypertension.

CONCLUSIONS

This study unveils novel cardioprotective effects of RvD1 in angiotensin II-induced hypertension and cardiac remodeling by attenuating inflammation and provides insights into a potential clinical application.

Constraints on Lorentz Invariance Violation from HAWC Observations of Gamma Rays above 100 TeV

Because of the high energies and long distances to the sources, astrophysical observations provide a unique opportunity to test possible signatures of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). Superluminal LIV enables the decay of photons at high energy. The high altitude water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is among the most sensitive gamma-ray instruments currently operating above 10 TeV. HAWC finds evidence of 100 TeV photon emission from at least four astrophysical sources. These observations exclude, for the strongest of the limits set, the LIV energy scale to 2.2×10^{31}  eV, over 1800 times the Planck energy and an improvement of 1 to 2 orders of magnitude over previous limits.

Multiple Galactic Sources with Emission Above 56 TeV Detected by HAWC

We present the first catalog of gamma-ray sources emitting above 56 and 100 TeV with data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory, a wide field-of-view observatory capable of detecting gamma rays up to a few hundred TeV. Nine sources are observed above 56 TeV, all of which are likely galactic in origin. Three sources continue emitting past 100 TeV, making this the highest-energy gamma-ray source catalog to date. We report the integral flux of each of these objects. We also report spectra for three highest-energy sources and discuss the possibility that they are PeVatrons.

Publisher Correction: Very-high-energy particle acceleration powered by the jets of the microquasar SS 433

In this Letter, owing to a production error, the penultimate version of the PDF was published. The HTML version was always correct. The PDF has been corrected online.

Ascariasis as cause of intestinal occlusion and concurrent appendicitis

Intestinal occlusion by ascariasis is a commonly seen socio-economic status low, is associated with poor sanitary hygiene. It is rare to see a case with both intestinal occlusion and appendicitis at the same time, as described in this report.

Cisgenesis and intragenesis: new tools for improving crops

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) could be the answer for many relevant problems affecting crops. However, improving crops through GMO is also often associated with safety concerns, environmental risks and health issues due to the presence of foreign DNA. These limitations have prompted the development of alternative technologies. Recently, cisgenesis and intragenesis have been developed as new tools aimed to modify crops. While cisgenesis involves genetic modification using a complete copy of natural genes with their regulatory elements that belong exclusively to sexually compatible plants, intragenesis refers to the transference of new combinations of genes and regulatory sequences belonging to that particular species. So far, application of cisgenesis and intragenesis as alternatives to conventional transgenesis are limited to a few species, mainly due to the lack of knowledge of the regulatory sequences required. The grape is one of the most cultivated crops worldwide and is the most economically relevant crop in Chile. Its genomic sequence has been completed, making available new sources of information to improve grape traits by genetic manipulation. This review is focused on the current alternatives to transgenesis in plants, including new approaches to develop marker-free crops, their application to economically relevant crops and future perspectives in the area. Also, the identification of grapevine promoters with a wide range of expression profiles is shown. The expression pattern of these genes was analyzed in different tissues and developmental stages, as well as under several stresses and stimuli, giving a broad range of expression patterns, including genes expressed exclusively during ripening, in response to sugars, senescence and biotic stress, among others. Genes with strong and constitutive expression were also identified. Functional analysis using reporter genes has been conducted in order to confirm the promoter's transcription activity, opening new possibilities for developing cisgenic/intragenic grapevines.

The effect of a topical anesthetic on the sensitivity of calf dehorning wounds

The objective was to determine the effect of a topical local anesthetic on the sensitivity of dehorning wounds in calves. Thirty 2-mo-old Holstein-Friesian calves were randomly allocated to sham dehorning control (CON), scoop dehorning without treatment with topical anesthetic (SnoTA), or scoop dehorning with an application of a topical anesthetic (STA). Sensitivity was measured by providing mechanical stimulation to the dehorned wound and peri-wound area using von Frey monofilaments calibrated at 10 and 300 g. Calf responses were categorized as absent, minor, moderate, or severe. Sensitivity measurements were performed before treatment and at various time points up to 24h posttreatment. Sham dehorned calves displayed unchanging absent or minor responses to stimulation. Regardless of whether topical anesthetic was applied, scoop dehorned calves were more likely to display minor, moderate, or severe responses than sham dehorned control calves, and responses tended to be most extreme at 4h postdehorning. Calves in the STA group tended to be less likely to display minor, moderate, or severe responses than calves in the SnoTA group at most time points (exception at 4h postdehorning). Responses were significantly more likely to be less severe in STA calves than in SnoTA calves at 40 min and 1.5h following dehorning. Thus, the use of the topical anesthetic for calves reduced the short-term sensitivity of scoop dehorning wounds.

Magnifying lens for 800 MeV proton radiography

This article describes the design and performance of a magnifying magnetic-lens system designed, built, and commissioned at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for 800 MeV flash proton radiography. The technique of flash proton radiography has been developed at LANL to study material properties under dynamic loading conditions through the analysis of time sequences of proton radiographs. The requirements of this growing experimental program have resulted in the need for improvements in spatial radiographic resolution. To meet these needs, a new magnetic lens system, consisting of four permanent magnet quadrupoles, has been developed. This new lens system was designed to reduce the second order chromatic aberrations, the dominant source of image blur in 800 MeV proton radiography, as well as magnifying the image to reduce the blur contribution from the detector and camera systems. The recently commissioned lens system performed as designed, providing nearly a factor of three improvement in radiographic resolution.

Senescence-associated genes induced during compatible viral interactions with grapevine and Arabidopsis

The senescence process is the last stage in leaf development and is characterized by dramatic changes in cellular metabolism and the degeneration of cellular structures. Several reports of senescence-associated genes (SAGs) have appeared, and an overlap in some of the genes induced during senescence and pathogen infections has been observed. For example, the enhanced expression of SAGs in response to diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses that trigger the hypersensitive response (HR) or during infections induced by virulent fungi and bacteria that elicit necrotic symptoms has been observed. The present work broadens the search for SAGs induced during compatible viral interactions with both the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and a commercially important grapevine cultivar. The transcript profiles of Arabidopsis ecotype Uk-4 infected with tobacco mosaic virus strain Cg (TMV-Cg) and Vitis vinifera cv. Carménère infected with grapevine leafroll-associated virus strain 3 (GLRaV-3) were analysed using microarray slides of the reference species Arabidopsis. A large number of SAGs exhibited altered expression during these two compatible interactions. Among the SAGs were genes that encode proteins such as proteases, lipases, proteins involved in the mobilization of nutrients and minerals, transporters, transcription factors, proteins related to translation and antioxidant enzymes, among others. Thus, part of the plant's response to virus infection appears to be the activation of the senescence programme. Finally, it was demonstrated that several virus-induced genes are also expressed at elevated levels during natural senescence in healthy plants.

Gene expression associated with compatible viral diseases in grapevine cultivars

Viral diseases affect grapevine cultures without inducing any resistance response. Thus, these plants develop systemic diseases and are chronically infected. Molecular events associated with viral compatible infections responsible for disease establishment and symptoms development are poorly understood. In this study, we surveyed viral infection in grapevines at a transcriptional level. Gene expression in the Vitis vinifera red wine cultivars Carménère and Cabernet-Sauvignon naturally infected with GLRaV-3 were evaluated using a genome-wide expression profiling with the Vitis vinifera GeneChip from Affymetrix. We describe numerous genes that are induced or repressed in viral infected grapevines leaves. Changes in gene expression involved a wide spectrum of biological functions, including processes of translation and protein targeting, metabolism, transport, and cell defense. Considering cellular localization, the membrane and endomembrane systems appeared with the highest number of induced genes, while chloroplastic genes were mostly repressed. As most induced genes associated with the membranous system are involved in transport, the possible effect of virus in this process is discussed. Responses of both cultivars are analyzed and the results are compared with published data from other species. This is the first study of global gene profiling in grapevine in response to viral infections using DNA microarray.

Echocardiographic texture analysis using the wavelet transform: differentiation of early heart muscle disease

Echocardiographic quantitation of myocardial texture for diagnosis of early cardiomyopathy (CMP) remains problematic. Conventional statistical methods are limited, contributed by a small image region-of-interest (ROI) and difficulty in discrimination from noise. This study was performed to evaluate the 2-D Haar wavelet decomposition method as a tool to identify textural changes in a rat model of early CMP, focusing on changes that occur before development of M-mode structural abnormalities. Early diabetic CMP, ethanol CMP and diabetic-ethanol CMP rat models were evaluated. Echocardiography was performed on two groups of rats. Group I (5 week cohort, n = 4 per subgroup) included controls, rats on 12% ethanol, a diabetic subgroup, and diabetic rats on 4% ethanol. Group II (10 week cohort, n = 5 per subgroup) included the same categories as group I with an additional subgroup taking 4% ethanol was also studied. M-mode left ventricular measurements were comparable in all subgroups of group I. However, diabetic rats in group II had an increased left ventricular dimension (LVD) compared to all others and an increased septal dimension (IVSD) and posterior wall dimension (PWD) were noted in the 4% and 12% ethanol groups. End-diastolic digital images of all rats in the parasternal short axis view, at the papillary muscle level, were downloaded to a computer. A 16 x 16 (ROI) was selected from the anterior interventricular septum. Although standard statistical methods could not differentiate any of the groups, calculation of textural energy and normalized textural energy with the 2-D Haar wavelet decomposition method found at 5 weeks increased normalized texture energy in diabetics compared to all others. At 10 weeks increased texture energy was noted in diabetics. Diabetic-ethanol rats at both 5 and 10 weeks revealed a blunted textural energy compared to diabetic rats. In a rat model of diabetic cardiomyopathy, the 2-D wavelet decomposition method identified textural energy changes before development of echocardiographic structural changes. Ethanol-associated blunting of textural changes in diabetic rats was also noted. This method for quantitation of ventricular texture may be relevant for diagnosis of early cardiomyopathy.

TeV Observations of Markarian 501 with the Milagrito Water Cerenkov Detector

The Milagrito water Cerenkov detector near Los Alamos, New Mexico, was operated as a sky monitor at energies of a few TeV between 1997 February and 1998 May, including the period of the strong, long-lasting 1997 flare of Markarian 501. Milagrito served as a test run for the full Milagro detector. An event excess with a significance of 3.7 sigma from Markarian 501 was observed, in agreement with expectations.

Expression and inheritance of multiple transgenes in rice plants

The ability to control integration, inheritance, and expression of multiple transgenes is a prerequisite for manipulating biosynthetic pathways and complex agronomic characteristics in plants. One hundred and twenty-five independent transgenic rice plants were regenerated after cobombarding embryogenic tissues with a mixture of 14 different pUC-based plasmids. Eighty-five percent of the R0 plants contained more than two, and 17% more than nine, of the target genes. Plants containing multiple transgenes displayed normal morphologies and 63% set viable seed. Multigene cotransformation efficiency was correlated with the ratio in which the plasmids were mixed with respect to the selectable marker. All target genes had an equal chance of integration, indicating that the nature of the coding region had no effect on the efficiency of integration. Three plant lines containing 11, 10, and 9 transgenes, respectively, were analyzed for patterns of integration and inheritance until the R3 generation. Integration of multiple transgenes occurred at either one or two genetic loci, with inheritance conforming to a 3:1 Mendelian ratio. Coexpression of four marker genes was investigated until the R2 generation.

[Aneurysms of the left ventricle. Surgical treatment]

Left ventricular aneurysm as a complication of myocardial infarction is observed in 10% of patients. In recent years, all surgical teams have observed a significant decrease of this complication. There is no doubt that this is due to the current medical treatment in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. Surgical treatment is considered only when the ventricular aneurysm presents complications such as congestive heart failure, thromboembolism, malignant ventricular arrhythmias or angina. In this review, we comment on the principle surgical procedures reported up to now. The indication of surgery is based on good functional results and long-term survival.

Ketanserin and anxiety levels: influence of gender, estrous cycle, ovariectomy and ovarian hormones in female rats

The influence of gender, estrous cycle, ovariectomy and ovarian hormones on the behavioral effects of the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin (KET), was studied. Intact males, female rats in the four stages of the estrous cycle and ovariectomized (OVX) female rats 14 days after surgery were used. The OVX rats received progesterone [PROG, 25 mg/kg, subcutaneously (SC)] and/or estradiol benzoate (EB, 10 micrograms/kg, SC). KET (3 mg/kg, SC) was injected 30 min before testing. All the animals were subjected to the following behavioral tests: exploration of an elevated plus-maze and retention of a passive-avoidance response. KET enhanced the exploration of the open arms in diestrous female rats but inhibited this behavior during the other stages of the cycle and in OVX rats injected either with oil or EB. This dose of KET was ineffective in males and in OVX rats injected with PROG. Furthermore, KET inhibited the retention of the passive avoidance response in males, in diestrous and metestrous female rats and in OVX rats injected with oil. In estrous females and in OVX rats injected with EB, KET enhanced the passive-avoidance response. These results demonstrate that the sensitivity to KET differs with the gender, estrous cycle and hormonal treatment and suggest that central serotonergic activity is influenced by the hormonal status of the animal.

Infectious bronchitis: effect of viral doses and routes on specific lacrimal and serum antibody responses in chickens

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the effect of various infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) (strain H-120) vaccine doses and routes of immunization on specific lacrimal and serum antibody responses. The results of the first trial showed that the maximum dose, 10(6) median embryo infective doses (EID50s), delivered by the ocular route elicited both a systemic and a local antibody response in the vaccinated chickens. Lower doses of vaccinal virus, 10(4) (median dose) and 10(2) (minimum dose) EID50 delivered by the same route did not induce a detectable systemic antibody response. A significant increase of IBV-specific lacrimal IgA was elicited by both the maximum and the median vaccine doses. The low vaccine dose (10(2) EID50) did not induce a detectable increase of lacrimal IgA. In a second trial approximately the same vaccine dose was administered to different chicken groups by ocular instillation, drinking water, spray, and cloaca. The results showed that all routes of vaccination tested, including the cloacal route, resulted in an increase of specific serum antibodies. Higher IgG levels were detected throughout the experimental period after vaccination by the ocular route as compared with vaccination via the drinking water. All routes of vaccination tested resulted in an increase of specific IgA in lacrimal fluid. The vaccine application methods spray, ocular instillation, and drinking water induced similar lacrimal IgA responses.

Cost-benefit analysis for the use of Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine in Santiago, Chile

Cost-benefit analyses can be integral to the evaluation of interventions in developing countries. The authors compare the potential benefits to the Chilean Ministry of Health, in terms of treatment costs averted, by prevention of Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) invasive disease, with the costs of adding HIB conjugate vaccine to the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) immunization routinely administered to infants. In their basecase model, over a 10-year period (1991-2000), vaccination against HIB will prevent 1,229 cases of HIB invasive disease, including 713 cases of meningitis, 107 of whom would suffer severe, long-term sequelae, and between 29 and 116 deaths. Assuming a cost of US$1 for a full three-dose regimen of vaccine, the benefit/cost ratio of 1.66, with a net discounted savings of over $403,225, illustrates that HIB vaccine can be cost-beneficial. Sensitivity analyses which alter each of the variables in the analysis indicate that if the true incidence of HIB disease is twice the published rate, then three doses of vaccine remains cost-beneficial at US#3.

Sipple syndrome with lichen amyloidosis as a paracrinopathy: pleiotropy, heterogeneity, or a contiguous gene?

A five-generation white family with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A had six affected members. Two, a mother and her daughter, had interscapular cutaneous pruritic lesions resembling macular/lichen amyloidosis. In the daughter, light microscopy showed homogeneous aggregates in the papillary dermis. Crystal violet staining showed metachromasia and indicated that the deposits were amyloid. This is the fourth family with familial medullary thyroid carcinoma with cutaneous amyloidosis and as such it allowed comparative analysis. Genetic heterogeneity, a contiguous gene, and pleiotropy were considered. It appears that multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A/familial medullary thyroid carcinoma with cutaneous amyloidosis represents the phenotypic variability of the expression of a pleiotropic gene. The condition is one of the predominantly ectodermal autosomal dominant phakomatoses and is most likely a paracrinopathy.