Secreted αKlotho isoform protects against age-dependent memory deficits.

αKlotho is a gene regulator of aging, increasing life expectancy when overexpressed and accelerating the development of aging phenotypes when inhibited. In mice, expression levels of the secreted isoform Klotho (s-KL) are very high in the brain, suggesting that s-KL activity may have an important role in the nervous system. Here we study the functional relevance at behavioural level of modifying s-KL levels in the aging brain. We used AAVrh10 vectors to deliver and sustained expression of s-KL in 6- and 12-month-old wild-type C57BL/6J males. This study demonstrates for we believe the first time in vivo that 6 months after a single injection of s-KL into the central nervous system, long-lasting and quantifiable enhancement of learning and memory capabilities are found. More importantly, cognitive improvement is also observable in 18-month-old mice treated once, at 12 months of age. These findings demonstrate the therapeutic potential of s-KL as a treatment for cognitive decline associated with aging.

Gas phase dehydration of glycerol to acrolein over WO3-based catalysts prepared by non-hydrolytic sol-gel synthesis.

Solid acid catalysts based on WO3-SiO2 and WO3-ZrO2-SiO2 were prepared by one-pot non-hydrolytic sol-gel method and tested in the gas phase glycerol dehydration to acrolein. Their structural and textural characteristics were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Their acid characteristics were studied by both temperature programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) and FTIR of adsorbed pyridine. Under our operating conditions, all the catalysts were active and selective in the transformation of glycerol to acrolein, which was always the main reaction product. The high selectivity to acrolein is achieved on catalysts presenting a higher proportion of Brønsted acid sites. In addition, the role of oxygen in the feed on catalytic performance of these catalysts is also discussed.

Traumatismo espinal / Spinal trauma

El tratamiento de un paciente con una fractura vertebral pasa por un correcto diagnóstico y una categorización del problema. Para la toma de decisiones terapéuticas son necesarios datos clínicos y de la propia lesión, que son aportados por los estudios radiológicos y su interpretación (AU)

The treatment of a patient with a vertebral fracture requires an accurate diagnosis and categorization of the problem. Treatment decisions must be based on clinical data and information about the lesion itself, which is provided by imaging studies and their interpretation (AU)

Spinal trauma. / Traumatismo espinal.

The treatment of a patient with a vertebral fracture requires an accurate diagnosis and categorization of the problem. Treatment decisions must be based on clinical data and information about the lesion itself, which is provided by imaging studies and their interpretation.

[The physiology of the lid motor system]. / Fisiología del sistema motor del párpado.

OBJECTIVE: The physiology and anatomy of the lid motor system have been widely studied from experimental and clinical points of view during last years. These studies, mainly carried out in animals, have helped to understand its functioning in normal and pathologic situations. Despite the apparent simplicity of this motor system, lids are able of doing many types of movements, depending on each particular situation. Besides participating in reflex and spontaneous blinks, lids take part actively in motor responses of major complexity and that requires a better precision, for instance, during emotional responses as laughing or crying in human beings. Lid movements also accompanies the eyes in such a manner not to cover the pupil while they maintain a fixed position in the orbit or during reflex and voluntary saccades. DEVELOPMENT: This paper deals with the neural circuits underlying lid motor system and how the activity in them translates, through the corresponding muscles, in a coherent response despite the different situations imposed by the different stimuli. In this way, it is described each element and how they contribute in the whole we observe as lid movements, in its repertoire. CONCLUSION: The facial motor system has been quite preserved through phylogeny, so it can be said that human beings possess a mechanism for lubricating and protecting the eye that, except for certain differences, share with the rest of the terrestrial living beings.

Effects of pretraining paradoxical sleep deprivation upon two-way active avoidance.

In order to study whether paradoxical sleep (PS) is necessary to prepare subjects for the subsequent learning of a distributed two-way active avoidance conditioning, 10 rats were subjected to 5 h of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD group) by means of the platform method immediately before each of 5 acquisition sessions (one daily), as well as before a long-term retention (LTR) session (14 days). Another group of rats (PSD control group; n = 10) were placed on large platforms as a control for the side effects induced by PSD platforms. Rats in the dry control group (n = 10) did not receive any treatment. The number of avoidances of the PSD group was significantly lower on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd acquisition sessions compared to the PSD control group, and on the 2nd and 3rd sessions compared to the dry control group. PSD rats made significantly less intertrial crossings than dry controls on the 2nd and 3rd acquisition sessions, but no significant correlations were found between this variable and the number of avoidances. Therefore, our results are not fully in contradiction with the hypothesis that PS previous to the training sessions might prepare the animal for subsequent learning, although the influence of locomotor changes upon the performance of PSD subjects cannot be fully rejected.

Effects of parafascicular electrical stimulation and lesion upon two-way active avoidance in rats.

To evaluate a possible role of the parafascicular nucleus (PF) in modulating distributed two-way active avoidance acquisition and long-term retention (LTR), we designed two experiments. Experiment I was aimed at checking whether posttraining PF intracranial electrical stimulation (PF ICS) can improve the acquisition and/or the LTR of the task. All subjects (Ss, male Wistar rats) were implanted with an electrode at the PF. After each learning session two groups of Ss were stimulated for 10 (ICS-10 group) and 5 (ICS-5 group) min, respectively. A Control group never received PF ICS, while Ss in an ICS-Control group received PF ICS only during a previous search for a nonconvulsive current intensity. Unexpectedly, the ICS-Control group showed poor performance of the task compared to the remaining groups. Since the histological analyses showed that the pretraining ICS treatment produced some PF tissue lesion, Experiment II was aimed at evaluating the effects upon the same task of (1) pretraining PF electrolytical lesions (PF-Lesion group) and (2) posttraining PF ICS treatment (ICS group) at a lower current intensity and without a previous search for nonconvulsive current intensity. PF pretraining lesion decreased conditioning, while posttraining PF ICS did not affect it. We concluded that PF could have a modulatory role in acquisition, and might also contribute to posttraining consolidation, of a distributed two-way active avoidance.

State legislation inhibiting the operation of managed care pharmacy programs increases costs.

Managed care has become integral to major health care reform proposals; yet state legislatures are increasingly asked to enact laws that would inhibit its growth. An HIAA/Wyatt Company study examines the impact that such restrictive measures have on managed care's effectiveness.