This Ph.D. dissertation presents results that shed light on whether there is an association between dietary intake and depressive disorder, feelings of sadness, or thoughts of death. This question is investigated in the context of a secondary data analysis using cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002. Subjects in this study were identified as a subpopulation of the NHANES survey that completed the Composite International Diagnostic Interview questionnaire for major depression. The presence of depression may lead to a decline in dietary intake and nutritional status. Conversely, poor dietary intake may have a role in the etiology of depression. Specifically, depression is associated with lower plasma, erythrocyte, phospholipid, and adipose tissue omega-3 fatty acids. Little is known about the comprehensive dietary intake of those with depression or depressive symptoms. Initially, comparisons of the dietary profile between those with and without depression or depressive symptoms were investigated. Secondly, analysis was done to determine the relationship between dietary omega-3 fatty acids and depression or depressive symptoms. Lastly, to clarify the relationship between diet and depression, misreporting of dietary energy intake was evaluated.No significant differences in the dietary profile or nutritional biochemistries were found between the altered mood and normal mood groups. No significant differences were found in dietary omega-3 fatty acids between the depressed and non-depressed groups, even after adjusting for confounding variables. Misreporting of energy intake was not significantly associated with altered mood status and remained non-significant after adjusting for confounding variables. In both groups, a significant decreasing trend in the ratio of energy intake to estimated basal metabolic rate (EI:BMRest) was found as body mass index increased.Based on dietary intake alone, the relationship between depression and specific nutrients may not be apparent. Dietary intake among those with depression and depressive symptoms appears to be adequate, but adequacy may not be sufficient as a route for prevention or management of depression. Further investigation of diet and depression ought to measure diet, including nutrition supplements, and biochemical levels of nutrients from a broader age range of adults and children and those with comorbid illnesses.

No description available.

Esta tesis trata de las interacciones establecidas entre el enfermo familia y profesionales en el entorno de cuidados paliativos que están en función de los contextos de conciencia establecidos por los actores, de la influencia que ejerce la institución en el proceso de enfermedad/atención/muerte, y de las incógnitas que permiten sondear las representaciones y prácticas sociales de dicho proceso. El marco teórico utilizado incluye los cuidados paliativos tomando como referencia el modelo y filosofía de los hospices; el modelo médico hegemónico (MMH) que permite interpretar y analizar los distintos saberes y prácticas médicas; y los modelos explicativos (EM) para ver la interacción entre los modelos explicativos de los pacientes, familiares y profesionales que actúan como componente esencial del cuidado de la salud.La metodología aplicada fue principalmente cualitativa utilizando las técnicas metodológicas de observación participante y entrevistas en profundidad. La investigación aporta una visión de la muerte desde la construcción sociocultural del proceso de morir y la percepción particular de los enfermos, familiares y profesionales que interaccionan estableciendo diferentes grados de conciencia sobre terminalidad y muerte en una unidad de cuidados paliativos de un hospital oncológico de Barcelona, España. / This thesis work focus the interaction between the patient and family practitioners in the palliative care based on awareness contexts, the influence of the institution in the process of disease / care / death and the unknown questions that allow probing the representations and social practices of the process. The theoretical framework used, includes palliative care taking as reference the model and philosophy of the Hospices; the Hegemonic Medical Model (MMH) to interpret and analyze the knowledge and medical practices; and the Explanatory Models (EMs) to see the interaction between the explanatory models of patients, families and professionals as an essential component of health care. Qualitative research was mainly applied through methodological techniques of participant observation and in-depth interviews. This study provides a vision of death from a sociocultural construction of the process of dying and the perception of patients, families and professionals who interact establishing different degrees of awareness of death in a terminal and palliative care unit of a hospital oncology in Barcelona, Spain.

In adult cardiomyocytes, the established mechanism of excitation-contraction coupling is calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) mediated by L-type Ca2+ channels (Cav1.2). Briefly, membrane depolarization opens voltage-gated Cav1.2 to allow for the influx of extracellular Ca2+ into the cytosol. This small sarcolemmal (SL) Ca2+ influx is necessary for triggering a larger release of Ca2+ from the intracellular Ca2+ storage site, the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), through the SR Ca2+ release channel also known as the ryanodine receptor (RyR). RyR-mediated release of SR Ca2+ effectively raises the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration, allowing for Ca2+ binding to troponin C on the troponin-tropomysin complex, leading to cross-bridge formation and cell contraction. However, previous functional data suggests an additional CICR modality involving reverse mode Na+-Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) activity also exists in neonate cardiomyocytes. To further our understanding of how CICR changes occur during development, we investigated the spatial arrangement of caveolin-3 (cav-3), the principle structural protein of small membrane invaginations named caveolae, and NCX in developing rabbit ventricular myocytes. Using traditional as well as novel image processing and analysis techniques, both qualitative and quantitative findings firmly establish the highly robust and organized nature of NCX and cav-3 distributions during development. Specifically, our results show that NCX and cav-3 are distributed on the peripheral membrane as discrete clusters and are not highly colocalized throughout development. 3D distance analysis revealed that NCX and cav-3 clusters are organized with a distinct longitudinal and transverse periodicity of 1-1.5 μm and that NCX and cav-3 cluster have a pronounced tendency to be mutually exclusive on the cell periphery. Although these findings do not support the original hypothesis that caveolae is the structuring element for a restricted microdomain facilitating NCX-CICR, our results cannot rule out the existence of such microdomain organized by other anchoring proteins. The developmentally stable distributions of NCX and cav-3 imply that the observed developmental CICR changes are achieved by the spatial re-organization of other protein partners of NCX or non-spatial modifications. In addition, the newly developed image processing and analysis techniques can have wide applicability to the investigations on the spatial distribution of other proteins and cellular structures.

No description available.

El propósito de esta investigación se dirige a determinar las características que, como receptores de los medios de comunicación social, tienen los docentes y alumnos(as) de la frontera colombo-venezolana, entendiendo a la escuela como ámbito cultural donde se forjan las identidades, se activan los derechos ciudadanos y la participación social. Los mensajes de las industrias culturales son hoy el centro de preocupación de los programas pedagógicos urgidos por la severa competencia que éstas le plantean en la difusión de los saberes escolares, por los cambios en la sensibilidad de los niños(as) y jóvenes y por la implicación de intereses hegemónicos globalizados. Los dos países dan respuesta a esos retos socioculturales al poner en marcha programas inspirados en sus particulares y muy disímiles concepciones educativas, comunicacionales y sociopolíticas: Venezuela, con propuestas de cambio económico y social bajo intenso debate, y Colombia, con iniciativas que se abren paso en medio de las múltiples violencias de más de medio siglo. La investigación, de carácter cualitativo, describe a los docentes y alumnos de San Antonio del Táchira (Venezuela) y San José de Cúcuta (Colombia) en su condición de habitantes de una zona metropolitana binacional, hermanados por lazos históricos y culturales, pero también como consumidores de medios de comunicación; actores que en el aula establecen esporádicos y superficiales intercambios de ideas sobre estos mensajes, y expresan su interés en ampliar la comprensión del lenguaje audiovisual, con la aspiración de incorporar los medios en el aula. Al considerar al noticiario televisivo como fuente de conocimiento y espacio de socialización, fueron invitados a participar como "emisores" en una actividad lúdica y sus narraciones han revelado los imaginarios sociales que han construido acerca de su país, la nación vecina y el mundo. Docentes y niños(as) también concedieron sus definiciones de las palabras clave de las noticias, ya que el conjunto de procesos con los que se uniformiza el mundo va unido a la estandarización de la lengua que usamos para designarlo, situación que requiere de una escuela que al socializar a las nuevas generaciones también las oriente en el discernimiento a fin de que sean dueñas de sus palabras y protagonistas autónomas de su vida y de su mundo. / The purpose of this investigation goes to determine the characteristics that, as receivers of the communication social media; have the educational teachers and students of the Colombian-Venezuelan border, understanding the school as a cultural environment where the identities are forged, the civic rights and the social participation are enabled.The messages of the cultural industries are today the centre of concern of the pedagogical programs been urgent by the severe competition that these raise in the diffusion of the school knowledge, by the changes in the sensibility of the children and young people and by the implication of global hegemonic interests. Both countries respond to those socio-cultural challenges when starting up programs inspired by its individuals and very dissimilar educative communicational and socio-political conceptions: Venezuela, with proposals of economic and social change under intense debate, and Colombia, with initiatives that open up step amid the multiple violence of more than half century. The qualitative character investigation, describes the teachers and students of San Antonio del Táchira (Venezuela) and San Jose de Cucuta (Colombia) in their condition of inhabitants of a binational metropolitan field, mated by historical and cultural loops, but also like mass media consumers, actors who in the classroom settle down sporadic and superficial interchanges of ideas on these messages, but they speak of their interest in extending the understanding of the audio-visual language and with the aspiration to incorporate means in the classroom.When considering to the televising newscast as source of knowledge and space of socialization, they were invited to participate in a recreational activity like "emitters", and their narrations have revealed imaginary the social ones constructed about their country, the neighbouring nation and the world. educational and young also granted their definitions of the keywords of the news, since the assembly of processes with which the world is uniformed goes united to the standardization of the language that we use to designate it, situation that requires of a school that when socializing to the new generations orients them in the discernment in order that they are owners of theirs words and autonomous protagonists of their life and their world.

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease (LD), is an intracellular pathogen of freshwater protozoa that can also persist in the environment as a free-living bacterium. L. pneumophila has many morphological forms that fit within a developmental cycle. In water, L. pneumophila enters into a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state that is largely uncharacterized. VBNC cells were produced from two developmental L. pneumophila forms, stationary phase forms (SPFs) and mature infectious forms (MIFs) by suspension in double deionized (dd) or tap-water at 45°C. Electron microscopy results showed that VBNC cells have a unique morphology and that in tap water they lose their poly 3-hydroxybutyrate inclusion bodies. Both SPFs and MIFs lost culturability faster in dd- than in tap water, and addition of salts to dd-water prolonged L. pneumophila culturability and enhanced viability. However, MIFs retained higher viability in dd- and tap water (85% and 51%, respectively) than SPFs (5% and 20%, respectively) as determined by the BacLight vital stain. Only ~1 VBNC cell out of 105 of those produced from SPFs in tap water regained culturability via infection of Acanthamoeba. All VBNC cells, except for those produced from SPFs in dd-water, resisted both digestion inside Tetrahymena spp. and detergent-mediated lysis. SDS-PAGE analysis and shotgun proteomics revealed a number of VBNC cell specific proteins; one of these was 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (BdhA), which is involved in the metabolism of poly 3-hydroxybutyrate inclusion bodies. A bdhA mutant showed an early loss of culturability and a dramatic decrease in viability as compared to the parent strain, and complementing the mutant with a functional bdhA gene restored the parent's strain phenotypes. In conclusion, VBNC L. pneumophila has a distinct morphology and physiology that varies according to the developmental stage and the environmental conditions used to produce such VBNC cells. VBNC cells have a different protein profile and morphology than the culturable cells, suggesting that this state constitutes a distinct differentiated form within the developmental cycle of L. pneumophila. BdhA seems to influence L. pneumophila survival and hence VBNC cell formation. Collectively, the results from this study provide a better understanding of L. pneumophila VBNC form and the factors influencing its formation.

Simulation modelling was used to quantify the accuracy of positions estimated in a three dimensional underwater environment. Time of arrival differences combined with multilateration methods were used to make positional estimates of a signal source (acoustic tag). The network studied was used to examine position estimates of aquatic organisms within a sensor (hydrophone) array. Hydrophone position uncertainty (distribution and variance), background noise converted to a measurement of signal strength in the form of a signal to noise ratio, a signal to noise ratio threshold and geometry of the hydrophone array were considered. Each of these factors was studied at two levels by way of a 2 to the power of 5 factorial design and analyzed with an ANOVA analysis to determine their influence on three dimensional positioning error. The level of background noise and hydrophone geometry were the two most influential factors in position accuracy. When a high level of background noise was present, it was essential that hydrophone geometry was as close to ideal as possible to ensure accurate position estimates.

The Actin Related Protein (ARP) 2/3 complex is a major regulator of the actin cytoskeleton that is implicated in cell morphogenesis in plants. However, a similar role is attributed to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). My research explored the relationship between the two systems by using transgenic plants simultaneously expressing fluorescent proteins highlighting F-actin and ER organization in living cells. A comparison of F-actin organization in cells of wild type Arabidopsis thaliana and mutants with aberrant actin cytoskeleton suggests bundling in the distorted2 mutant but a relatively fine F-actin arrangement in klunker. These differences correlate with ER organization into cisternae, fenestrated sheets and tubules. A model relating ER-organization to the degree of actin bundling in a cell emerges and is supported by drug-induced interference in actin polymerization, altered ionic conditions and temperature. The study adds to the mechanistic understanding of cell morphogenesis in plants.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and vitamin D both have anti-cancer effects through common and unique pathways. The hypothesis of this thesis is that the combination of n-3 PUFA with 1,25(OH)2D3 will inhibit breast cancer cell growth in an additive or synergistic manner. A 3X3 factorial design was used to test the combinations of five PUFA treatments (α-linoleic acid (ALA, 18:3n3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n3), γ-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3n6) and arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n6)) with 1,25(OH)2D3 on MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-10A cell growth, and determine any potential synergism in combination treatments. MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells responded to PUFA and 1,25(OH)2D3 treatments, but combinations provided no potential synergism. MDA-MB-231 growth was not affected by 1,25(OH)2D3, while combinations treatments involving ALA, EPA, GLA, and AA caused potentially synergistic growth inhibition. This thesis presents the novel observation that PUFA are sensitizing MDA-MB-231 cells to 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment.