Peripheral to brain and hippocampus crosstalk induced by exercise mediates cognitive and structural hippocampal adaptations.

Endurance exercise leads to robust increases in memory and learning. Several exercise adaptations occur to mediate these improvements, including in both the hippocampus and in peripheral organs. Organ crosstalk has been becoming increasingly more present in exercise biology, and studies have shown that peripheral organs can communicate to the hippocampus and mediate hippocampal changes. Both learning and memory as well as other hippocampal functional-related changes such as neurogenesis, cell proliferation, dendrite morphology and synaptic plasticity are controlled by these exercise responsive peripheral proteins. These peripheral factors, also called exerkines, are produced by several organs including skeletal muscle, liver, adipose tissue, kidneys, adrenal glands and circulatory cells. Previous reviews have explored some of these exerkines including muscle-derived irisin and cathepsin B (CTSB), but a full picture of peripheral to hippocampus crosstalk with novel exerkines such as selenoprotein 1 (SEPP1) and platelet factor 4 (PF4), or old overlooked ones such as lactate and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is still missing. We provide 29 different studies of 14 different exerkines that crosstalk with the hippocampus. Thus, the purpose of this review is to explore peripheral exerkines that have shown to exert hippocampal function following exercise, demonstrating their particular effects and molecular mechanisms in which they could be inducing adaptations.

Ecologies of violence in urban peripheries during health emergencies / Ecología de violencias en las periferias urbanas durante emergencias sanitarias / Ecologia de violências nas periferias urbanas em tempos de emergências sanitárias

Violence is a health problem and a determinant of health emergencies, with structural dimensions going beyond interpersonal physical aggression. In the present text, we outline the ecologies of violence and relate them to pandemic experiences in a favela of São Paulo city, taking the perspective of One Health of Peripheries. We show how imposed precariousness, exploitation, persecution, territorial expulsions, incarceration practices, and household aggressions harm peripheral subjects and find in health emergencies the possibility of elevating themselves to the condition of a syndemic of violences. This has happened in the Covid-19 pandemic, in recent epidemics, and it is expected to happen in the next health emergency. Through de ecologies of violence, we hope to give more visibility to the entanglement that frustrates prevention and protection efforts in the face of health emergencies. Entanglement between marginalizing apparatuses, modalities of violence, and health emergencies, materialized in multispecies collectives.

La violencia es un problema de salud y un determinante de emergencias sanitarias, con dimensiones estructurales que van más allá de las agresiones físicas interpersonales. En el presente texto esbozamos la ecología de violencias y la relacionamos con vivencias de la pandemia en una favela de la ciudad de São Paulo, bajo la perspectiva de Una Salud de las Periferias. Mostromaos como precariedad impuesta, exploración, persecución, expulsiones territoriales, prácticas de encarcelamiento y agresiones intradomiciliares violentan sujetos periféricos y encuentran en las emergencias sanitarias posibilidades de convertirse en sindemia de violencias. Eso sucedió en la pandemia de Covid-19, en epidemias recientes y se espera que suceda en la próxima emergencia sanitaria. Por medio de la ecología de violencias le damos más visibilidad a la imbricación que frustra tentativas de prevención y protección frente a emergencias sanitarias. Imbricación entre dispositivos marginalizantes, modalidades de violencia e emergencias sanitarias, materializada en colectivos multiespécies.

A violência é um problema de saúde e um determinante das emergências sanitárias, com dimensões estruturais que vão além das agressões físicas interpessoais. No presente texto esboçamos a noção de ecologia de violências e a relacionamos com vivências da pandemia em uma favela paulistana, na perspectiva da Saúde Única em Periferias. Mostramos como marginalização, precariedade imposta, exploração, perseguição, expulsões territoriais, práticas de encarceramento e agressões no ambiente domiciliar violentam sujeitos periféricos e encontram nas emergências sanitárias possibilidades de se elevar à condição de sindemia de violências. Isso aconteceu na pandemia de Covid-19, em epidemias anteriores, e espera-se que aconteça na próxima emergência sanitária. Por meio da ecologia de violência damos mais visibilidade à imbricação que frustra tentativas de prevenção e proteção frente a emergências sanitárias. Imbricação entre dispositivos marginalizantes, modalidades de violência e emergências sanitárias, materializada em coletivos multiespécies.

Produções literárias e audiovisuais nas periferias de Fortaleza: (re)inventando territórios de infâncias e juventudes periféricas / Literary and audiovisual productions on the peripheries of Fortaleza: (re)inventing peripheral childhood and youth territo

Este artigo tem como objetivo discutir a reinvenção de territórios das infâncias e juventudes periféricas a partir de fotografias e poemas produzidos pelo fotógrafo Leo Silva e pelo poeta Talles Azigon (identificados após a aprovação do artigo) como modo de re-existência em Fortaleza. São problematizações advindas da realização de uma pesquisa-inter(in)venção de ethos cartográfico, junto a esses jovens, em que as imagens e os poemas emergem como dispositivos lúdicos na produção de movimentos contra-hegemônicos frente às "imagens oficiais" historicamente impostas sobre as periferias. Por meio dessas fotografias e poemas, e, portanto, da arte, a reivindicação dos territórios retrata e narra infâncias e juventudes de periferias de Fortaleza a partir de suas potências e não de suas precarizações. Como experimentação, o artigo foi produzido a partir desses poemas e fotografias, além de contar com as participações de (a ser identificado, caso o artigo seja aceito, pois atua como participante da escrita do artigo) e (a ser identificado, caso o artigo seja aceito, pois atua como participante da escrita do artigo) na elaboração do texto como um movimento decolonial de (des)habitar a escrita acadêmica.

This article aims to discuss the reinvention of territories of peripheral childhoods and youths based on photographs and poems produced by photographer Leo Silva and poet Talles Azigon (identified after acceptance of the article) as a way of re-existing in Fortaleza. These are problematizations arising from the realization of an inter(in)vention research of cartographic ethos, with these young people, in which images and poems emerge as playful devices in the production of counter-hegemonic movements against the "official images" historically imposed on the peripheries. Through these photographs and poems, and, therefore, through art, the claim of territories portrays and narrates childhoods and youths on the outskirts of Fortaleza from their strengths and not from their precariousness. As an experiment, the article was produced from these poems and photographs, in addition to counting on the participation of (to be identified if the article is accepted, as it acts as a participant in the writing of the article) and (to be identified if the article is accepted, as it acts as a participant in the writing of the article) in the elaboration of the text as a decolonial movement (dis)inhabiting academic writing.

Problematizando as alteridades para uma compreensão feminista e decolonial da Saúde Única em Periferias / Problematizing alterities for a feminist and decolonial understanding of One Health of Peripheries

Resumo Neste trabalho, refletimos sobre o modo como diversas figuras de alteridade são alvo de marginalização e o que isso implica em termos de reconhecimento nas gramáticas políticas que estabelecem quem pode se tornar um sujeito da saúde. A partir de contribuições feministas e decoloniais, discutimos algumas premissas ontológicas acerca da relação entre humanos, não humanos e a natureza, para alargar o entendimento da Saúde Única em Periferias. Também incorporamos narrativas de adolescentes que moram na favela Jardim São Remo (São Paulo, SP) e atuam como Agentes Mirins da Saúde Única em Periferias. Em diálogo com eles, exploramos o processo de exclusão constitutiva das favelas, apoiado em retóricas que não reconhecem a pluralidade das configurações coletivas e reforçam a figura das favelas como ameaça à segurança pública. Em contraposição a esse projeto, trazemos os princípios de reflorestamento e da confluência de alteridades significativas para reforçar a justiça multiespécie promovida pela práxis da Saúde Única em Periferias.

Abstract In this work, we reflect on how different figures of alterity are targets of marginalization and what this implies in terms of recognition in political grammars that establish who can become a subject of health. Based on feminist and decolonial contributions, we discuss some ontological assumptions about the relationship between humans, non-humans, and nature to broaden the understanding of the One Health of Peripheries. We also incorporate some narratives of adolescents who live in the Jardim São Remo favela (São Paulo, SP) and act as One Health of Peripheries Young Agents. In dialogue with them, we explore the process of constitutive exclusion of favelas, based on rhetorics that do not recognize the plurality of collective configurations and reinforce the figure of favelas as a threat to public security. In contrast to this project, we bring the principles of reforestation and confluence of significant alterities to reinforce the multispecies justice promoted by the praxis of One Health of Peripheries.

Volcano: Between Structural Vulnerabilities and Collective Defence of Honor in Communities Surrounding an Open Dumpsite.

This study analyzes the dynamics in which structural vulnerabilities are shaped and expressed in the day-to-day lives of people making a living from a garbage dump in Argentina. It is a mixed methods case study, qualitative driven with a collaborative cycle (2016-2021). The study is embedded in medical anthropology, social epidemiology and Latin America Social Medicine, with the focus on the ways people respond to inequalities locally. The findings contribute to the field of health disparities in three directions: 1) the description of patterns of segregation in South America peripheries, shedding light on cumulative disadvantages and multiple exposures; 2) the experience of living enmeshed in places with strong stigmas, revising the ways this source of discrimination become social suffering; and 3) the detection of the impact of collective action and social capital in providing material and symbolic resources for restoring dignity and honour that challenge depreciated status.

Mapping the hyperlinks and networks of Central and South American capital cities in three languages: consistencies and variations.

In a globalized, urbanized and knowledge/information world, mapping information about places is critical for a city's local, regional, and international standing. Those networks are important in a city's positioning within a country and in a larger regional and global context. We investigate these linkages and networks by exploring the regional networks of 8 Central and 13 South American capital cities plus São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Our research adds a new dimension to urban places by exploring variations in the hyperlink volumes and networks in English as well as Spanish and Portuguese. Sizable language differences but also regularities were evident in the hyperlink volumes of individual cities and in hyperlink pairs. The maps illustrate regional variations and unevenness in the knowledge about places and their networking in a Latin American context.

One Health of Peripheries: Biopolitics, Social Determination, and Field of Praxis.

Amid the urgency to solve countless and severe health problems, asking what is health or who can and must have it may seem like a waste of time. However, some responses can reveal prevailing practices that divert attention from fundamental problems, thus maintaining privileges and deepening health inequities. One Health of Peripheries arises from these questions and takes three interdependent senses. The first refers to attributes determining the well-being and suffering of peripheral multispecies collectives: a state, a process, the realization of capacities. The second problematizes marginalizing apparatuses that define health and who can and should have it. The third encompasses practices in more-than-human social spaces in which, and through which, One Health is experienced, understood, and transformed. The qualification of health as "one" does not refer to the lack of plurality, nor to the simple aggregation of health fragments (human + animal + environmental), but to the complexity of health in a field with peripheral places, ensuing from margins to privilege those who are inside and legitimize the exploitation of those who are outside. The interaction among margins creates degrees and kinds of privilege and vulnerability that materialize epidemiologic profiles while articulating different peripheral strengths and needs supports a collective resistance to break margins. Social determination, a key concept in the (Latin American) collective health movement, underlies such profiles. However, this movement overlooks the more-than-human dimension of social determination; that is to say, One Health of Peripheries is a blind spot of collective health. The cartography of One Health of Peripheries has unique needs regarding participation, research, and inclusive policies for the decolonial promotion of healthy lifestyles.

From Modern Planetary Health to Decolonial Promotion of One Health of Peripheries.

The concept of Planetary Health has recently emerged in the global North as a concern with the global effects of degraded natural systems on human health. It calls for urgent and transformative actions. However, the problem and the call to solve it are far from new. Planetary health is a colonial approach that disregards alternative knowledge that over millennia have accumulated experiences of sustainable and holistic lifestyles. It reinforces the monolog of modernity without realizing that threats to "planetary health" reside precisely in its very approach. It insists on imposing its recipes on political, epistemological, and ontological peripheries created and maintained through coloniality. The Latin American decolonial turn has a long tradition in what could be called a "transformative action," going beyond political and economic crises to face a more fundamental crisis of civilization. It deconstructs, with other decolonial movements, the fallacy of a dual world in which the global North produces epistemologies, while the rest only benefit from and apply those epistemologies. One Health of Peripheries is a field of praxis in which the health of multispecies collectives and the environment they comprise is experienced, understood, and transformed within symbolic and geographic peripheries, ensuing from marginalizing apparatuses. In the present article, we show how the decolonial promotion of One Health of Peripheries contributes to think and advance decentralized and plural practices to attend to glocal realities. We propose seven actions for such promotion.

Re-Thinking Gender, Artivism and Choices. Cultures of Equality Emerging From Urban Peripheries.

Gender dimensions of violence, and especially women's experiences in settings of urban violence have been the subject of important feminist research, including those that highlight gender as essential for comprehensive analyses of security and urban violence, and for promoting solutions and positive change. A primary contribution of feminist research indeed has been to demonstrate that there are both visible and invisible aspects of urban violence. A gap in literature on these gender dimensions is that of men's construction of masculinities - and how these constructions are challenged during times. An important set of invisible phenomena within urban spaces and their peripheries includes the positive and decolonial responses that occur, including non-violent and feminist cultural and artistic pathways and the factors that lead men to resist to dominant, violent, or 'hyper' versions of masculinities. While there is a predominate focus on men's involvement in violence, far less attention has been placed on men's non-violent pathways. Based on examples of cultural, artistic and activist practices from the peripheries, namely those emerging in Rio de Janeiro, this article aims to discuss how artivism can challenge gender inequalities and power relations.

One Health of Peripheries: biopolitics, social determination and field of praxis / Una Salud de las Periferias: biopolítica, determinación social y campo de praxis / Saúde Única em Periferias: biopolítica, determinação social e campo de práxis

Amid the urgency to solve countless and severe health problems, asking what is health or who can and must have it may seem like a waste of time. However, some responses can reveal prevailing practices that divert attention from fundamental problems, thus maintaining privileges and deepening health inequities. One Health of Peripheries arises from these questions and takes three interdependent senses. The first refers to attributes determining the well-being and suffering of peripheral multispecies collectives: a state, a process, the realization of capacities. The second problematizes marginalizing apparatuses that define health and who can and should have it. The third encompasses practices in more-than-human social spaces in which, and through which, One Health is experienced, understood, and transformed. The qualification of health as "one" does not refer to the lack of plurality, nor to the simple aggregation of health fragments (human + animal + environmental), but to the complexity of health in a field with peripheral places, ensuing from margins to privilege those who are inside and legitimize the exploitation of those who are outside. The interaction among margins creates degrees and kinds of privilege and vulnerability that materialize epidemiologic profiles while articulating different peripheral strengths and needs supports a collective resistance to break margins. Social determination, a key concept in the (Latin American) collective health movement, underlies such profiles. However, this movement overlooks the more-than-human dimension of social determination; that is to say, One Health of Peripheries is a blind spot of collective health. The cartography of One Health of Peripheries has unique needs regarding participation, research, and inclusive policies for the decolonial promotion of healthy lifestyles.

Frente a la urgencia para resolver innúmeros e severos problemas de salud, preguntar que es salud y quien puede e debe tenerla puede parecer una perdida de tiempo. Sin embargo, algunas respuestas revelan prácticas prevalecientes para desviar la atención de problemas fundamentales que mantienen privilegios y profundizan iniquidades de salud. Una Salud de las Periferias surge de eses cuestionamientos y adquiere tres sentidos interdependientes. El primer se refiere a atributos que determinan el buen vivir y el sufrimiento de colectivos multiespécie periféricos: estados, procesos, realización de capacidades. El segundo problematiza dispositivos de marginalización que definen la salud y quien puede y debe tenerla. El tercero abarca piráticas en espacios sociales más-que-humanos en los cuáles, y por los cuáles, Una Salud es vivida, entendida y transformada. La calificación de la salud como "una" no se refiere a la falta de pluralidad ni a la simple agregación de fragmentos de salud (humana + animal + ambiental), sino a la complejidad de la salud en un campo con lugares periféricos, producto de márgenes para privilegiar a los que están dentro y legitimar la exploración de los que están fuera. La interacción entre márgenes crea grados y tipos de privilegio y vulnerabilidad que materializan perfiles epidemiológicos, mientras que la articulación de diferentes fuerzas y necesidades periféricas apoyan resistencias colectivas para romper márgenes. La determinación social da la salud que explica esos perfiles epidemiológicos es un concepto clave en el movimiento de la salud colectiva. No obstante, ese movimiento omite la dimensión más-que-humana de la determinación social; esto es, Una Salud de las Periferias es un punto ciego de la salud colectiva. La cartografía da Una Salud de las Periferias tiene necesidades específicas en términos de participación, investigación y políticas inclusivas para promover decolonialmente estilos de vida saludables.

Diante da urgência para resolver inúmeros e severos problemas de saúde, perguntar que é saúde e quem pode e deve tê-la pode parecer uma perda de tempo. Entretanto, algumas respostas revelam práticas prevalecentes que desviam a atenção de problemas fundamentais, mantendo assim privilégios e aprofundando iniquidades de saúde. A Saúde Única em Periferias surge desses questionamentos e assume três sentidos interdependentes. O primeiro refere-se a atributos que determinam o bem viver e o sofrimento de coletivos multiespécie periféricos: estados, processos, realização de capacidades. O segundo problematiza dispositivos de marginalização que definem a saúde e quem pode e deve tê-la. O terceiro abrange práticas em espaços sociais mais-que-humanos em que, e pelas que, a Saúde Única é vivenciada, entendida e transformada. A qualificação da saúde como "única" não se refere à falta de pluralidade nem à simples agregação de fragmentos de saúde (humana + animal + ambiental), mas à complexidade da saúde num campo com lugares periféricos, decorrentes de margens para privilegiar os que estão dentro e legitimar a exploração dos que estão fora. A interação entre margens cria graus e tipos de privilégio e vulnerabilidade que materializam perfis epidemiológicos, enquanto a articulação de diferentes forças e necessidades periféricas apoia resistências coletivas para romper margens, A determinação social da saúde que explica esses perfis epidemiológicos é um conceito chave no movimento da saúde coletiva. Porém, esse movimento omite a dimensão mais-que-humana da determinação social; isto é, a Saúde Única em Periferias é um ponto cego da saúde coletiva. A cartografia da Saúde Única em Periferias tem necessidades específicas em termos de participação, pesquisa e políticas inclusivas para promover decolonialmente estilos de vida saudáveis.

From modern Planetary Health to decolonial promotion of One Health of Peripheries

The concept of Planetary Health has recently emerged in the global North as a concern with the global effects of degraded natural systems on human health. It calls for urgent and transformative actions. However, the problem and the call to solve it are far from new. Planetary health is a colonial approach that disregards alternative knowledge that over millennia have accumulated experiences of sustainable and holistic lifestyles. It reinforces the monologue of modernity without realizing that threats to "planetary health" reside precisely in its very approach. It insists on imposing its recipes on political, epistemological, and ontological peripheries created and maintained through coloniality. The Latin American decolonial turn has a long tradition in what could be called a "transformative action", going beyond political and economic crises to face a more fundamental crisis of civilization. It deconstructs, with other decolonial movements, the fallacy of a dual world in which the global North produces epistemologies, while the rest only benefit from and apply those epistemologies. One Health of Peripheries is a field of praxis in which the health of multispecies collectives and the environment they comprise is experienced, understood, and transformed within symbolic and geographic peripheries, ensuing from marginalizing apparatuses. In the present article, we show how the decolonial promotion of One Health of Peripheries contributes to think and advance decentralized and plural practices to attend to local realities. We propose seven actions for such promotion.

The Significance of Subpleural Sparing in CT Chest: A State-of-the-Art Review.

The subpleural sparing pattern is a common finding on computed tomography (CT) of the lungs. It comprises of pulmonary opacities sparing the lung peripheries, typically 1cm and less from the pleural surface. This finding has a variety of causes, including idiopathic, inflammatory, infectious, inhalational, cardiac, traumatic, and bleeding disorders. Specific disorders that can cause subpleural sparing patterns include nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP), organizing pneumonia (OP), pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), vaping-associated lung injury (VALI), cracked lung, pulmonary edema, pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP), pulmonary contusion, and more recently, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Knowledge of the many etiologies of this pattern can be useful in preventing diagnostic errors. In addition, although the etiology of subpleural sparing pattern is frequently indistinguishable during an initial radiologic evaluation, the differences in location of opacities in the lungs, as well as the presence of additional radiologic findings, patient history, and clinical presentation, can often be useful to suggest the appropriate diagnosis. We did a comprehensive search on Pubmed and Google Scholar database using keywords of "subpleural sparing," "peripheral sparing," "sparing of peripheries," "CT chest," "chest imaging," and "pulmonary disease." This review aims to describe the primary differential diagnosis of subpleural sparing pattern seen on chest imaging with a strong emphasis on clinical and radiographic findings. We also discuss the pathogenesis and essential clues that are crucial to narrow the differential diagnosis.

Feline sporotrichosis: social vulnerability and prioritization of geographic areas in Guarulhos, SP, Brazil / Esporotricose felina: vulnerabilidade social e priorização de áreas geográficas em Guarulhos, SP, Brasil

Over the past two decades, many Brazilian cities have been reporting an increasing incidence and spread of feline sporotrichosis. The disease is neglected, and little is known about the causal processes underlying its epidemic occurrence. This study characterized the spatiotemporal dynamics of feline sporotrichosis in Guarulhos. Moreover, we proposed and tested a causal explanation for its occurrence and zoonotic transmission, giving a key role to social vulnerability. A direct acyclic graph represented the causal explanation, while Bayesian spatial models supported its test as well as the attribution of a risk-based priority index to the census tracts of the city. Between 2011 and 2017, the disease grew exponentially and the spatial spread increased. The model findings showed a dose-response pattern between an index of social vulnerability and the incidence of feline sporotrichosis. This pattern was not strictly monotonic, so some census tracts received a higher priority index than others with higher vulnerability. According to our causal explanation, there will not be effective prevention of feline and zoonotic sporotrichosis as long as social inequities continue imposing precarious livelihoods.(AU)

Nas últimas duas décadas, diversas cidades brasileiras têm relatado um aumento na incidência esporotricose felina e sua disseminação. A doença é negligenciada e pouco se sabe sobre os processos causais que estão envolvidos na sua ocorrência epidêmica. Neste estudo, foi caracterizada a dinâmica espaço-temporal da esporotricose felina em Guarulhos. Além disso, é proposta e testada uma explicação causal para sua ocorrência e transmissão zoonótica, atribuindo um papel fundamental à vulnerabilidade social. Um grafo acíclico direcionado representou a explicação causal, enquanto modelos espaciais Bayesianos foram usados para testá-la e para atribuir um índice de prioridade baseado em risco aos setores censitários da cidade. Entre 2011 e 2017, a doença cresceu exponencialmente e a sua disseminação espacial aumentou. Os resultados do modelo mostraram um padrão de dose-resposta entre um índice de vulnerabilidade social e a incidência de esporotricose felina. Esse padrão não foi estritamente monotônico, já que alguns setores censitários receberam um índice de prioridade mais alto do que outros com maior vulnerabilidade. Segundo nossa explicação causal, não haverá prevenção efetiva da esporotricose felina e zoonótica enquanto as iniquidades sociais continuarem impondo condições de vida precárias.(AU)

¿Cosmopolitismo o subordinación? La participación de científicos latinoamericanos en programas europeos: motivaciones y dinámicas analizadas desde el punto de vista de los líderes europeos / Cosmopolitanism or subordination? Latin American scientists' participation in European programs: motivations and dynamics analyzed from the European scientific leaders' point of view

Resumen Partiendo de un enfoque cualitativo, pretendemos dar cuenta de las motivaciones de grupos científicos y sus dinámicas de cooperación internacional. Consideramos la participación de científicos latinoamericanos en consorcios europeos y analizamos el punto de vista de los líderes europeos. Dentro de la cooperación científica "Norte-Sur", planteamos tres niveles de análisis: a nivel institucional, comprender el interés de Europa en cooperar con Latinoamérica; en relación con las estrategias cognitivas, averiguar las motivaciones de líderes europeos para enrolar latinoamericanos en sus investigaciones; a nivel de las prácticas, conocer la organización del trabajo en el interior de esos consorcios. Hacia el final, proponemos una tipología de algunas configuraciones de cooperación científica de grupos latinoamericanos.

Abstract Using a qualitative approach, we explore the motivations of scientific groups and their dynamics in international cooperation. We consider the participation of Latin American scientists in European consortia and analyze the European hosts' point of view. Within the framework of "North-South" scientific cooperation, we propose three levels of analysis: on the institutional level, understanding Europe's interest in cooperating with Latin America; in terms of cognitive strategies, tracing what motivates European group leaders to include Latin Americans in their research projects; and in terms of practices, figuring out how work within these consortia is allotted. Towards the end, we propose a typology of some of the modalities of scientific cooperation by Latin American groups.

Systemic low-frequency oscillations observed in the periphery of healthy human subjects.

This study investigated the relationships of systemic low-frequency oscillations (sLFOs) measured at different peripheral sites in resting state, during passive leg raising (PLR), and during a paced breathing (PB) test. Twenty-five healthy subjects (21 to 57 years old; males: 13 and females: 12) were recruited for these experiments. During the experiments, the fluctuations of oxyhemoglobin concentration were measured at six peripheral sites (left and right toes, fingertips, and earlobes) using a multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy instrument developed by our group. We applied cross-correlation and frequency component analyses on the data. The results showed that the sLFO signals in the symmetric peripheral sites were highly correlated, with time delays close to zero, whereas the correlation coefficients decreased between the sLFO signals of asymmetric sites, with delays up to several seconds. Furthermore, in PLR/PB tests, we found that PB caused wider and more robust changes in hemoglobin concentrations at peripheral sites compared to PLR. Among six peripheral sites, earlobes were the most sensitive to these perturbations, followed by fingertips, and then toes. Lastly, we showed that the perturbation signals may have different coupling mechanisms than the sLFO signals. The study deepened our understanding of the sLFO signals and establishes baseline measures for developing perfusion biomarkers to assess peripheral vascular integrity.

Oxygen-Doped Zig-Zag Molecular Ribbons.

The synthesis of a zig-zag oxygen-doped molecular rhombic ribbon has been achieved. This includes oxidative C-C and C-O bond formations that allowed the stepwise elongation and planarization of an oxa-congener of 2,7-periacenoacene. X-ray diffraction analysis corroborated the flat structure and the zig-zag topology of the O-doped edges. Photophysical and electrochemical investigations showed that the extension of the peri-xanthenoxanthene (PXX) into the molecular ribbon induces a noticeable shrinking of the molecular band gap devised by a rising of the HOMO energy level, a desirable property for p-type organic semiconductors.