Characterization Of A Schistosoma Mansoni C(3) Receptor As A Potential Vaccine Candidate

Schistosomiasis, a chronic and debilitating parasitic disease, infects an estimated 200 million people and causes 750,000 deaths a year. Therefore, the development of an effective vaccine is of high priority for the control of this disease.;The surface of the syncytial epithelium of Schistosoma mansoni consists of an apical plasma membrane and an overlying envelope. The rapid turnover of these membranes in response to the host\u27s attack is considered to be one of the mechanisms by which this parasite escapes the effects of the host\u27s immune system. Our approach has been to identify surface components which play a pivotal role in this evasion mechanism and target functional important antigens as possible vaccine candidates against schistosomiasis.;The third component of Complement (C{dollar}\sb3{dollar}) has previously been shown to stimulate the synthesis of the EN via a Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar}-dependent signal transduction mechanism. The present study was designed to identify and characterize a C{dollar}\sb3{dollar} receptor on the schistosome surface.;Using rosette assays a C{dollar}\sb3{dollar} binding site was found present in the older stages of schistosome development, and with immunolabelling microscopy the C{dollar}\sb3{dollar} binding site was localized on the dorsal surface of male parasites. ELISAs performed on isolated surface membranes shown that the C{dollar}\sb3{dollar} binding site is restricted to the envelope fraction. Crosslinking experiments demonstrated that a 130 kD envelope polypeptide is the C{dollar}\sb3{dollar} receptor, and metabolic labelling studies proved that the receptor is synthesized by the schistosomes and not adsorbed from the host. Antibodies raised against this receptor were able to block envelope synthesis in vivo, confirming the function of this receptor in envelope synthesis. Immunological cross-reaction studies have demonstrated the presence of the C{dollar}\sb3{dollar} receptor on S. haematobium and S. mansoni.;In conclusion, the C{dollar}\sb3{dollar} receptor by virtue of its accessibility on the surface, its immunogenicity, and its function in membrane turnover, should be an excellent experimental vaccine candidate against schistosomiasis. Furthermore, it is the first time that an envelope component was identified and can be used as a marker for the envelope

Woman-life-freedom. Women’s participation in the economic/ecological project of the Democratic Federation of Norther Syria-Rojava

Bajo los principios de la ecología social, el confederalismo democrático ha propiciado que las mujeres que participan en él consideren ineludible su adscripción al sistema de comunas y cooperativas a través de las cuales se está creando un modelo sustentable de producción y, hasta ahora, lo que consideran como el logro más representativo de este proceso, es decir, Jinwar, la única aldea ecológica de mujeres. A pesar de ello, el proyecto económico/ecológico de Rojava también enfrenta una serie de dificultades que ponen en peligro su subsistenciaFollowing the principles of social ecology, Democratic Confederalism has led its women participants essentially to consider their membership in the system of communes and cooperatives. On it, they see one important and sustainable production model and, so far, the most representative achievement of this process, this is, the creation of Jinwar, the only ecological village of women. Despite this, the economic/ecological project of Rojava also faces a series of difficulties that endanger its subsistenc

Integration of economic MPC and modifier adaptation in slow dynamic processes with structural model uncertainty

Real-Time Optimization, known by its acronym RTO, uses a steady-state nonlinear model of the process to optimize a plant's economic objective subject to process constraints. This is the technology currently used in commercial RTO applications. However, no model is a perfect representation of reality, and structural and parametric model uncertainties make the optimum calculated by RTO do not match those of the actual process. One way to address this problem is to modify the optimization problem so that the Necessary Conditions of Optimality (NCO) of the problem match those of the actual plant. This strategy is known as Modifier Adaptation (MA) methodology. The MA methodology requires the gradient values of the real plant and the model to calculate the modifiers. There are several ways to accurately estimate model gradients, but estimation of the real process gradients are more difficult. In addition, the need to use stationary data is a limitation of RTO with MA, especially for slow dynamic systems. This thesis focuses on ways to mitigate the weaknesses of RTO and MA unification that we consider most critical for its application in industry. To this end, it is proposed to couple the RTO and control layers with the concepts of the Modifier Adaptation (MA) methodology by estimating process gradients or directly the MA modifiers using transient data.La Optimización en Tiempo Real, conocida por la sigla en inglés RTO usa un modelo no lineal estacionario del proceso para optimizar un objetivo económico de la planta frente a restricciones del proceso. Esta es la tecnología usada actualmente por las aplicaciones comerciales de RTO. Sin embargo, ningún modelo es una representación perfecta de la realidad y las incertidumbres estructurales y paramétricas de los modelos hacen que los óptimos calculados por la RTO no coincidan con los del proceso real. Una forma de abordar este problema es modificar el problema de optimización de modo que las condiciones necesarias de optimalidad del problema (NCO) se igualen a los de la planta real. Esa estrategia es conocida como la metodología de adaptación de modificadores (Modifier Adaptation, MA). La metodología MA necesita de los valores de gradiente de la planta real y del modelo para el cálculo de los modificadores. Hay diversas formas de estimar los gradientes del modelo con exactitud, sin embargo, la estimación en proceso real es más difícil. Además, la necesidad de usar datos en estacionario sigue siendo una limitación fundamental de la RTO con MA, principalmente para sistemas dinámicos lentos. Esta tesis se enfoca en formas de mitigar las debilidades de la unificación RTO y MA que consideramos las más críticas para su aplicación en la industria. Para eso se propone que las capas de RTO y control se unan con los conceptos de la metodología de adaptación de modificadores (Modifier Adaptation, MA) estimando los gradientes de proceso o directamente los modificadores de MA usando datos de transitorio.Escuela de DoctoradoDoctorado en Ingeniería Industria

El consumo, ¿un juego de niños?

Hoy como nunca nos hallamos ante la presencia de nuevas formas de consumo cargadas de componentes simbólicos; ya sea para proyectar determinada imagen o juzgar a otros, la posesión de bienes se presenta como indicador primario de quién se es y de cómo nos relacionamos con los otros. El presente artículo se deriva de la investigación titulada "¡Dime qué marca usas y te diré quién eres! Cosificación de los tweens por el marketing de marca", desarrollada por la autora como trabajo de grado de la Maestría en Ciencias de la Administración (Universidad EAFIT, 2009), en el cual se trató el tema del consumo simbólico en la configuración de estilos de vida de los tweens, siendo la intención de su autora mostrar la necesidad de generar la comprensión de los fenómenos que acontecen en la sociedad de consumo tomando como sujeto de estudio al consumidor infantil/preadolescente

Comparison of Canopy Openness in Different Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Production Systems in Alto Beni, Bolivia

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) grows naturally as an understory tree in tropical forests and produces well under shaded and non-shaded conditions. It is cultivated by small scale farmers in South America under various conditions, ranging from monocultures to different kinds of agroforestry systems. While in monocultures it is exposed to direct sunlight, one or various tree species shade the cocoa in agroforestry systems. Also organic cocoa cultivation is becoming more and more popular due to premium prices and increasing ecological consciousness. In Alto Beni, Bolivia, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and local partners have established a long-term field trial to compare cocoa production systems. The bi-factorial randomised block design includes management and biodiversity factors combined to the following five cocoa treatments: monoculture and agroforestry systems both under organic and conventional management, and successional agroforestry system (high plant species diversity) under organic management and for further comparison fallow plots of same age as the cocoa plots. Research is done in all fields of agronomic, economic and environmental interest. This study focuses on the comparison of the canopy openness of the different cocoa production systems and fallow plots. Knowledge about the canopy openness enables the estimation of light entering the production system, especially on the cocoa layer (photosynthesis relevant) and also on the soil as canopy openness influences the microclimate in the plantation. Another aspect of the canopy is the impact on the throughfall within the plot. Over the time, variations in the canopy structure indicate the production of biomass, of nutrient enrichment by throughfall (rain-wash and nutrient leaf leaching in the canopy) and may indicate pruning necessities when the plant cover above the cocoa exceeds critical values. To estimate the canopy openness, in the years 2012 and 2013 hemispherical photography was taken with fisheye lenses in the different cocoa production systems and in the fallow plots. The photos were analysed with the programme Gap Light Analyser. First results of canopy openness between the cocoa systems will be shown and discussed for leave area index and potential microclimate differences

Trends and topics in IJPR from 1961 to 2017:a statistical history

This paper studies the history of the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) by analysing the topics that have received the most attention in each of the journal’s publication years. Text mining exposed for scrutiny the most frequently mentioned and cited terms contained in the titles, abstracts and keywords of IJPR papers. Analyses suggest that the triad of scheduling/optimisation/simulation and supply-chain-related topics have been IJPR’s mainstays, but valuable opportunities remain for relevant topics that have not yet been concurrently and frequently studied. Results also show that terms related to sustainability and risk management topics have gained recent relevance. In addition, IJPR appears to complement its modelling technique focus with empirical methodological approaches to provide a well-balanced perspective, since the ‘case study’ term is common. Finally, a linear relationship is found between the number of papers that have covered certain topics and the number of citations those topics have received, highlighting which topics had fewer or more citations than expected, given the number of papers that covered those topics. IJPR stands as one of the most prestigious and established journals in its field and the results from this study indicate the evolving interests of the field for over half a century

Bariatric surgery in HIV-infected patients: review of literature

Obesity is now a common problem among HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Until recently, HIV infection has been considered a contraindication to bariatric surgery for various reasons. Insurance carriers have considered HIV a terminal disease, and surgeons have been reluctant to operate HIV-infected patients because of this, as well as the associated risk of infectious transmissions, although this has been changing. Gastric bypass surgery may be an option for some patients who have failed diet and therapeutic lifestyle changes, modification in ART or other treatment modalities for HIV/ART-related lipohypertrophy and obesity. However, few data are available regarding HIV-related outcomes after such surgery and its impact on ART tolerability. The aim of this study is to review bariatric surgery in HIV-infected patients

Mujeres indígenas en carreras STEM. Estudio de caso en los Institutos Tecnológicos del Estado de Oaxaca, México

Objetivo General • Diseñar y validar un modelo de mentorías con perspectivas de género dentro del contexto de educación superior para facilitar y fomentar la participación de las mujeres indígenas en el contexto STEM. Objetivos específicos • Analizar los estudios previos relacionados con mujeres indígenas en programas STEM en educación superior en Latinoamérica. • Analizar la tasa de estudiantes de origen indígena y que sean mujeres en programas STEM en educación superior en Oaxaca. • Conocer la perspectiva y opiniones de los y las estudiantes que se encuentran ya en el contexto de la educación superior sobre las carreras STEM. • Definir y pilotar un modelo de mentorías con perspectiva de género orientado a estudiantes mujeres indígenas en programas STEM. • Implementar acciones para fomentar e incentivar la elección de carreras STEM en las mujeres indígenas