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We report the observation of graphene doped up to the Lifshitz transition obtained solely by the intercalation of Erbium atoms. ARPES measurements show that a wide flat band is generated around the M point of the Brillouin zone. We propose that this is the effect of an induced spin-orbit coupling. Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) experiments reveal a longrange ordered hexagonal superstructure: we argue that this reflects the ordering of the intercalated Er atoms acting as impurities. This system provides a playground to study the interaction between a magnetic order and a divergent density of states at the Fermi level.

ABSTRACT: Acid oils and fatty acid distillates are fat by-products of the refining process of edible oils and are characterized by their high proportion of free fatty acids (FFA). While lipids are essential in poultry diets, their chemical structure may interfere with calcium absorption. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of dietary FFA content and the degree of fat saturation on bone metabolism in commercial layers. For 15-wk, a total of 144 laying hens (19-wk-old) were randomly assigned to 8 treatments (6 replicates with 3 birds each), which were obtained by gradually replacing crude soybean oil (rich in unsaturated fatty acids [UFA]) with soybean acid oil (rich in UFA and FFA), or crude palm oil (rich in saturated fatty acids [SFA]) with palm fatty acid distillate (rich in SFA and FFA). Following a 2 × 4 factorial design, 4 UFA-rich and 4 SFA-rich diets were created with varying FFA content: 10, 20, 30, and 45%. Tibiae (6 birds/treatment) were collected at the end of the trial for the assessment of mineral composition, morphological properties, and mechanical characteristics. The data were analyzed using a 2-way ANOVA with the GLM procedure. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts were employed to determine the linear effect of increasing %FFA, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05. The degree of saturation was found to negatively impact on calcium and phosphorus bone content, with higher levels found in soybean-based diets (P < 0.001). A significant interaction was observed for medullary bone mineral content, showing a linear decrease as the dietary %FFA increased (P < 0.05) in palm diets. In contrast, morphological and mechanical bone traits, total ash content, and cortical bone mineral composition remained unaffected (P > 0.05). These results suggest that the degree of fat saturation exerts a greater impact than FFA content on bone mineral metabolism, supporting the commercial use of fat by-products rich in FFA in laying hen diets, at least during the early stages of the laying cycle.

Abstract The hippocampus is a plastic brain area that shows functional segregation along its longitudinal axis, reflected by a higher level of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of the dorsal hippocampus (DH) compared to the ventral hippocampus (VH), but the mechanisms underlying this difference remain elusive. Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of microglia–neuronal communication in modulating synaptic transmission and hippocampal plasticity, although its role in physiological contexts is still largely unknown. We characterized in depth the features of microglia in the two hippocampal poles and investigated their contribution to CA1 plasticity under physiological conditions. We unveiled the influence of microglia in differentially modulating the amplitude of LTP in the DH and VH, showing that minocycline or PLX5622 treatment reduced LTP amplitude in the DH, while increasing it in the VH. This was recapitulated in Cx3cr1 knockout mice, indicating that microglia have a key role in setting the conditions for plasticity processes in a region-specific manner, and that the CX3CL1–CX3CR1 pathway is a key element in determining the basal level of CA1 LTP in the two regions. The observed LTP differences at the two poles were associated with transcriptional changes in the expression of genes encoding for Il-1, Tnf-α, Il-6, and Bdnf, essential players of neuronal plasticity. Furthermore, microglia in the CA1 SR region showed an increase in soma and a more extensive arborization, an increased prevalence of immature lysosomes accompanied by an elevation in mRNA expression of phagocytic markers Mertk and Cd68 and a surge in the expression of microglial outward K+ currents in the VH compared to DH, suggesting a distinct basal phenotypic state of microglia across the two hippocampal poles. Overall, we characterized the molecular, morphological, ultrastructural, and functional profile of microglia at the two poles, suggesting that modifications in hippocampal subregions related to different microglial statuses can contribute to dissect the phenotypical aspects of many diseases in which microglia are known to be involved.

This paper presents a novel slotted array for dual-band and circular-polarized applications. Two different propagation modes within a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW), TE10 and TE20, feed at the same time two pairs of slots, aimed at different frequency bands. The pairs are properly placed to be illuminated by an only propagation mode, whereas the magnetic field of the other propagation mode presents a null. Unlike many dual-band slot arrays, this novel antenna holds the same beam tilt for both frequency bands by a new method, which is only feasible through the use of two propagation modes. A dual-mode transition, based on a double microstrip input, allows to excite both propagation modes within the SIW, and it can be fed by a novel single layer dual-band phase shifter with a different shift at each frequency. A square patch is placed over each pair of slots to increase the coupled energy per element, resulting in a low polarization loss and high performance compact antenna at 3.5GHz and 6GHz for dual-band TX/RX systems at C-Band.

Introduction Functional Movement Disorders (FMD) are characterized by the presence of neurological symptoms that cannot be explained by typical neurological diseases or other medical conditions. First evidence showed that, compared to healthy controls (CTR), FMD patients presented increased levels of glutamate+glutamine in the anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex, and decreased levels of glutamate in the cerebrospinal fluid, suggesting that a glutamatergic dysfunction might play a role in FMD pathophysiology. Objectives According to the evidence of these abnormalities in many neuropsychiatric disorders at level of brain network activity, connectivity, and specific anatomic areas of altered metabolic, and given the evidence of a potential role of glutamate and BDNF in the pathophysiology of FND, in this study we aimed to assess circulating levels of glutamate, BDNF, dopamine, oxidative stress biomarkers, creatinine, neopterin and uric acid in patients with FMD and in a control group of healthy subjects. Methods 12 FMD patients (4 males, 8 females) and 20 CTR (4 males, 16 females) were recruited and underwent venous blood sampling and urine collection: levels of glutamate, BDNF, dopamine, oxidative stress, creatine, neopterin, and uric acid were analysed. Participants also underwent a psychometric assessment investigating depression, anxiety, and alexithymia. Results Levels of glutamate, BDNF and dopamine were significantly lower in the blood of FMD patients than CTR. Glutamate and dopamine levels were positively associated with levels of alexithymia. Conclusions Our findings give further evidence that glutamatergic dysfunction might be involved in the pathophysiology of FMD, possibly representing a biomarker of disease; moreover, since glutamatergic and dopaminergic system are closely interconnected, our results might have a relevance in terms of treatment options for FMD patients. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Abstract Background Life-threatening streptococcal sepsis nowadays represents an uncommon event in previously healthy infants and children. Critically ill patients suffering from severe streptococcal sepsis complications may present with pre-antibiotic era clinical pictures and require a timely clinical approach to achieve restitutio ad integrum. Results We report a series of four patient groups affected by an uncommon life-threatening streptococcal sepsis, each of them exhibiting some distinct features. Streptococcus Agalactiae sepsis was associated with cerebral thrombotic/ischaemic lesions, whereas severe cardiogenic shock was prominent in the Streptococcus Viridans group; Streptococcus Faecalis and β-hemolytic group A Streptococcus patients mostly reported lung complications. Conclusions Previous antibiotic treatments should not delay aggressive treatment in the intensive care setting. Early diagnostic suspicion, as well as appropriate and aggressive treatment provided within an intensive care setting are crucial for the clinical outcome.

SUMMARY: To ensure that laying hens can make full use of the various resources within an aviary barn and develop optimum bone health while minimizing keel bone fractures, appropriate cognitive and bone development during rearing is critical. Given previous work documenting the benefit of ramps that could be used by hens to transition between tiers and reduced incidence of keel bone fractures, the project examined the provision of ramps during the rearing period, which birds could use voluntarily from 10 d of age. We hypothesized that the provision of ramps would influence how pullets distribute within the aviary and how birds vertically move between the aviary tiers leading to greater bone strength in birds with access to ramps. The study used 2 flocks of laying hen chicks (Lohmann Selected Leghorn; 4,800 chicks/flock) that were reared in one of 2 commercial rearing facilities with each divided into 4 pens (600 chicks/pen) to allow for treatment assignments. In 2 pens of each facility, ramps were installed from each of the 3 tiers providing a walking path that birds could access from 10 d of age. Video recordings were made at 4 times per day at 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, and 14 wk of age to determine the relative distribution of birds and the number of transitions between each tier. At 16 wk of age, 10 birds per pen per flock were killed and the tibia and humerus collected for biomechanical assessment; the keel was also collected for bone mineral density via computed tomography. Chicks/pullets within pens provided ramps demonstrated a rapid use of the upper tiers of the aviary paralleling greater usage of ramps between all aviary levels. Despite the ramp and tier usage following the predicted pattern, differences in bone strength were opposite than expected for tibiae and may reflect the different behaviors pens with ramps and without ramps would allow. Results support the position that provision of ramps within a commercial system will lead to voluntary usage of the ramps with long term effects on the distribution of birds in the system throughout the rearing period.

Vortioxetine is a novel multimodal antidepressant that modulates a wide range of neurotransmitters throughout the brain. Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that vortioxetine exerts positive effects on different cognitive domains and neuroprotective effects. Considering the key role of microglial cells in brain plasticity and cognition, we aimed at investigating the effects of pretreatment with vortioxetine in modulating behavioral and molecular effects induced by an immune challenge: peripheral injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). To this purpose, C57BL/6J male mice were first exposed to a 28-day standard diet or vortioxetine-enriched diet, which was followed by an acute immune challenge with LPS. Sickness symptoms and depressive-like behaviors (anhedonia and memory impairment) were tested 6 and 24 h after exposure to LPS, respectively. Moreover, the expressions of markers of immune activation and M1/M2 markers of microglia polarization were measured in the dorsal and ventral parts of the hippocampus. The pretreatment with vortioxetine did not affect both LPS-induced sickness behavior and anhedonia but prevented the deficit in the recognition memory induced by the immune challenge. At the transcriptional level, chronic exposure to vortioxetine did not prevent LPS-induced upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines 6 h after the immune challenge but rather seemed to potentiate the immune response to the challenge also by affecting the levels of expression of markers of microglia M1 phenotype, like cluster of differentiation (CD)14 and CD86, in an area-dependent manner. However, at the same time point, LPS injection significantly increased the expression of the M2 polarization inducer, interleukin 4, only in the hippocampus of animals chronically exposed to vortioxetine. These results demonstrate that a chronic administration of vortioxetine specifically prevents LPS-induced memory impairment, without affecting acute sickness behavior and anhedonia, and suggest that hippocampal microglia may represent a cellular target of this novel antidepressant medication. Moreover, we provide a useful model to further explore the molecular mechanisms specifically underlying cognitive impairments following an immune challenge.

Abstract Background Mycoplasma hominis is a human urogenital pathogen involved in gynaecological, neonatal and extra-genital infections. However, no versatile genetic tools are currently available to study the pathogenicity of this bacterium. Targeting-Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) is a reverse-genetic method that combines point mutations induced by chemical mutagenesis with a DNA screening technique. We used ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) that introduces C-G to T-A transition mutations to generate a library of M. hominis mutants. As a proof of concept, mutagenized organisms were screened for mutations in two target genes previously associated with the mycoplasma pathogenicity, the vaa gene encoding an adhesin lipoprotein and the oppA gene encoding the main ectoATPase of the bacterium. The resulting mutants were evaluated using functional assays, an adhesion to HeLa cell assay for vaa-mutants and an ATPase activity test for oppA-mutants. Results A 1200-clone library was generated by exposing M. hominis PG21 to 9 mg/mL EMS for 3 h. To identify mutants of interest, targeted gene fragments were amplified, heat-denatured, slowly reannealed and digested with the mismatch-specific endonuclease ENDO1. If multiple alleles were present in the PCR amplicons, these alleles formed heteroduplexes during reannealing that were specifically cleaved by ENDO1 at mismatching positions. A total of four vaa-mutants and two oppA-mutants harbouring missense mutations were obtained and fully sequenced. Zero to eight additional mutations were identified in the genomes of each mutant. The vaa-mutants were tested for adhesion to immobilized HeLa cells but their adhesion was not significantly different from the adhesion of M. hominis PG21. One of the two oppA-mutants that were tested for ATPase activity presented a higher affinity for its ATP substrate than the parental strain. Conclusion For the first time, we demonstrated that M. hominis gene-targeted mutants could be successfully obtained using this TILLING strategy. In the absence of robust genetic tools for studying M. hominis, the TILLING strategy that can target any gene of the genome could help to elucidate gene functions and to better understand the pathogenesis of this human pathogenic species.

Electron beam quality in accelerators is crucial for light source application. Here the authors demonstrate beam conditioning of laser plasma electrons thanks to a specific transport line enabling the control of divergence, energy, steering and dispersion and the application to observe undulator radiation.

The contribution of landslides to the Quaternary evolution of relief is poorly documented in arid contexts. In southern Peru and northern Chile, several massive landslides disrupt the arid western Andean front. The Chuquibamba landslide, located in southern Peru, belongs to this set of large landslides. In this area, the Incapuquio fault system captures the intermittent drainage network and localizes rotational landslides. Seismic activity is significant in this region with recurrent Mw 9 subduction earthquakes; however, none of the latest seismic events have triggered a major landslide. New terrestrial cosmogenic dating of the Chuquibamba landslide provides evidence that the last major gravitational mobilization of these rotational landslide deposits occurred at ~ 102 ka, during the Ouki wet climatic event identified on the Altiplano between 120 and 98 ka. Our results suggest that wet events in the arid and fractured context of the Andean forearc induced these giant debris flows. Finally, our study highlights the role of tectonics and climate on (i) the localization of large Andean landslides in the Western Cordillera and on (ii) the long-term mass transfer to the trench along the arid Andean front.

To define the neural networks responsible of an epileptic seizure, it is useful to perform advanced signal processing techniques. In this context, electrophysiological signals present three types of waves: oscillations, spikes, and a mixture of both. Recent studies show that spikes and oscillations should be separated properly in order to define the accurate neural connectivity during the pre-ictal, seizure and inter-ictal states. Retrieving oscillatory activity is a sensitive task due to the frequency overlap between oscillations and transient activities. Advanced filtering techniques have been proposed to ensure a good separation between oscillations and spikes. It would be interesting to apply them in real time for instantaneous monitoring, seizure warning or neurofeedback systems. This requires improving execution time. This constraint can be overcome using embedded systems that combine hardware and software in an optimized architecture. We propose here to implement a stationary wavelet transform (SWT) as an adaptive filtering technique retaining only pre-ictal gamma oscillations, as validated in previous work, on a partial dynamic configuration. Then, the same architecture is used with further modifications to integrate spatio temporal mapping for an early recognition of seizure build-up. Data that contains transient, pre-ictal gamma oscillations and a seizure was simulated. the method on real intracerebral signals was also tested. The SWT was integrated on an embedded architecture. This architecture permits a spatio temporal mapping to detect the accurate time and localization of seizure build-up, while reducing computation time by a factor of around 40. Embedded systems are a promising venue for real-time applications in clinical systems for epilepsy.

Laser plasma accelerators (LPA) can sustain GeV/m accelerating fields offering outstanding new possibilities for compact applications. The LPA beam brightness can now be comparable to radio-frequency accelerators’ (RFA), thanks essentially to the beams short duration (

The original version of this Article contained an error in the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Introduction and incorrectly read ‘A proper electron beam control is one of the main challenges towards the Graal of developing a compact alternative of X-ray free-electron lasers by coupling LWFA gigaelectron-volts per centimetre acceleration gradient with undulators in the amplification regime in equation 11, nx(n-β) x β: n the two times and beta the two times should be bold since they are vectorsin Eq. 12, β should be bold as well.’ The correct version is ‘A proper electron beam control is one of the main challenges towards the Graal of developing a compact alternative of X-ray free-electron lasers by coupling LWFA gigaelectron-volts per centimetre acceleration gradient with undulators in the amplification regime.’This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Th (T helper) cells are differentiated into either Th1 or Th2 phenotype. It is generally considered that Th1 phenotype is proinflammatory, whereas Th2 phenotype exerts anti-inflammatory or protective effects. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been associated with a decreased Th1 phenotype, whereas macrosomia is marked with high expression of Th1 cytokines. Besides, these two pathological situations are marked with high concentrations of inflammatory mediators like tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), known to play a pivotal role in insulin resistance. Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) may exert a beneficial effect by shifting Th1/Th2 balance to a Th2 phenotype and increasing insulin sensitivity. In this paper, we shed light on the role of T-cell malfunction that leads to an inflammatory and pathophysiological state, related to insulin resistance in GDM and macrosomia. We will also discuss the nutritional management of these pathologies by dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

Short period, high field undulators are used to produce hard x-rays on synchrotron radiation based storage ring facilities of intermediate energy and enable short wavelength free electron laser. Cryogenic permanent magnet undulators take benefit from improved magnetic properties of RE_{2}Fe_{14}B (Rare Earth based magnets) at low temperatures for achieving short period, high magnetic field and high coercivity. Using Pr_{2}Fe_{14}B instead of Nd_{2}Fe_{14}B, which is generally employed for undulators, avoids the limitation caused by the spin reorientation transition phenomenon, and simplifies the cooling system by allowing the working temperature of the undulator to be directly at the liquid nitrogen one (77 K). We describe here the development of a full scale (2 m), 18 mm period Pr_{2}Fe_{14}B cryogenic permanent magnet undulator (U18). The design, construction and optimization, as well as magnetic measurements and shimming at low temperature are presented. The commissioning and operation of the undulator with the electron beam and spectrum measurement using the Nanoscopmium beamline at SOLEIL are also reported.

Blood supply is essential for development and growth of tumors and angiogenesis is the fundamental process of new blood vessel formation from preexisting ones. Angiogenesis is a prognostic indicator for a variety of tumors, and it coincides with increased shedding of neoplastic cells into the circulation and metastasis. Several molecules such as cell surface receptors, growth factors, and enzymes are involved in this process. While antiangiogenic therapy for cancer has been proposed over 20 years ago, it has garnered much controversy in recent years within the scientific community. The complex relationships between the angiogenic signaling cascade and antiangiogenic substances have indicated the angiogenic pathway as a valid target for anticancer drug development and VEGF has become the primary antiangiogenic drug target. This review discusses the basic and clinical perspectives of angiogenesis highlighting the importance of comparative biology in understanding tumor angiogenesis and the integration of these model systems for future drug development.

High gradient quadrupoles are key components for the coming generation of storage ring based light sources. The typical specifications of these magnets are: almost 100 T/m gradient, half a meter long, and a vertical aperture for the extraction of the x-ray beam. This paper presents the preparation work done at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, from the design to the manufacture and measurements of a prototype. It demonstrates the feasibility of such magnets. Different aspects of magnet engineering are discussed, including the study of the main scale factors and the preliminary design, the pole shaping, the impact of mechanical errors, and the magnetic measurements of a prototype with a stretched-wire system.