The Globalization of Food Security: the role of preferences and framing in setting the food security agenda

For any policy problem, the way it is framed has the potential to directly influence the types of solutions decision-makers choose. The challenge seems to come when there are multiple frames for a single policy problem. Food security is one such policy problem; it has multiple frames through which we can understand the challenges and opportunities. This research attempts to understand how the framings of food security as a global or local problem impact the types of choices we make in order to address this complex issue and how the policy agenda may better reflect the preferences of the public. This thesis reviewed the literature on choice architecture, sets up a behavioural experiment that presents multiple choices to a population drawn from the lay public and evaluates the impacts of different frames (local-global; certain-uncertain; immediate-long-term) on decisions. We found that respondents generally were not motivated to allocate funds differently when they were distributing their own money and public funds but we found they were more inclined to support global, long-term initiatives and local, short-term ventures. These allocations lead to the conclusion that individuals may frame chronic, ongoing food insecurity as a global issue, which is best addressed by employing larger scale integrated solutions such as research and development projects, and see local food insecurity as a temporary problem that can be alleviated through community based short term projects like food banks

Paper Session I-A - Space Strategy and the New World Order

Military applications of space were conceived well before the first orbiting satellites. For over a decade after World War II, the U. S. military studied possible uses of space and developed technologies essential for spaceflight. However, it took the shock of Sputnik in October 1957 for America to begin its military space program in earnest. Since that time, national imperatives and technology advances have driven our military space program, including surveillance and assessment of the Soviet military threat, and collection of data to monitor treaties. As advances were made in space technologies, applications, such as communications and meteorology, proved to be of significant value to military operations. Leaders within the defense community have long recognized our growing dependence on space. Today, we depend on space for indications and warning of hostile acts, command and control of nuclear and conventional forces, environmental information for planning air, land and sea campaigns and operations, and precise targeting and navigation data

Effects of intra-animal nephron heterogeneity on studies of glomerular dynamics

Effects of intra-animal nephron heterogeneity on studies of glomerular dynamics. Quintuplicate determinations of the parameters measured in studies of glomerular dynamics revealed that the intra-animal coefficients of variation for Bowman's space and star vessel pressures, nephron filtration rate, and filtration fractions were 54 to 72% larger than the corresponding interanimal coefficients of variation; those for glomerular capillary pressure were more nearly equal. With a net efferent filtration pressure (ΔPE) of 10.6 ± SEM 1.92mm Hg, the rats were far from filtration pressure equilibrium and the calculated ultrafiltration coefficient (Kf) of 2.1 ± SEM 0.2 nl/min ·2mm Hg was lower than in many other studies. Statistical analysis revealed that the precision of estimates of both the measured and the derived parameters in glomerular dynamic studies is affected appreciably by ignoring the intra-animal effect. The importance of the intra-animal variance in glomerular dynamic studies is greatest when only one or two samples of each measured parameter are obtained in every rat (k = 1 or 2) and least when k is large. Triplicate sampling provides combined SEMS that are not greatly larger than those obtained with k = 5, however, and offers the greatest economy in studies of glomerular dynamics. The number of animals required to provide values with ΔPE and Kf that are within ± 20% of the “true” values is rather large.Effets de l'hétérogénéité néphronique intra-animale sur les études de la dynamique glomérulaire. Des déterminations en quintuple des paramètres mesurés dans les études de la dynamique glomérulaire ont révélé que les coefficients de variation intra-animale pour les pressions dans l'espace de Bowman et les vaisseaux étoilés, le débit de filtration glomérulaire et les fractions de filtration étaient 54 à 74% plus grandes que les coefficients de variation inter-animale correspondants; ceux de la pression capillaire glomérulaire étaient plus proches. Avec une pression de filtration effèrente nette (ΔPE) de 10,6 ± SEM 1,92mm Hg, les rats étaient loin d'une pression de filtration en équilibre, et le coefficient d'ultrafiltration calculé (Kf) de 2,1 ± SEM 0,2 nl/min ·2mm Hg était plus faible que lors de nombreuses autres études. L'analyse statistique a révélé que la précision des paramètres mesurés et déduits des études de la dynamique glomérulaire est affectée de façon appréciable en ignorant l'effet intra-animal. L'importance de la variance intra-animale dans les études de la dynamique glomérulaire est très grande lorsque seulement un ou deux échantillons de chaque paramètre mesuré sont obtenus chez chaque rat (k = 1 ou 2), et moindre lorsque k est élevé. Un échantillon-age triple offre cependant des SEM combinés qui ne sont pas beaucoup plus grands que ceux obtenus pour k = 5, cependant, et offre la plus forte économie lors des mesures de la dynamique glomérulaire. Le nombre d'animaux nécessaires pour obtenir des valeurs avec ΔE et Kf entre ± 20% des valeurs “vraies” est assez grand

Beneficial Inner-City Quay Walls?

Inner-city quay walls in public urban areas: expense or added value? These civil structures approach, reach or exceed the end of their life span. This threatens the quality of the public urban area. Many municipalities are still willing to invest in the management of inner-city quay walls, despite the costs. Apparently, the quay walls generate more benefits than that are initially expected based on their original functions. Until now, municipalities have failed to determine the added value of inner-city quay walls. Theoretical and practical research suggests that adequate asset management is indispensable. Nevertheless, no research focuses on valuable management of inner-city quays, in terms of performance, costs, benefits and risks. How to decide on a management strategy that adds the most value to the public area? A new framework should identify and incorporate the value of inner-city quay walls in the management process

Mono and Di-Fucosylated Glycans of the Parasitic Worm S. Mansoniare Recognized Differently by the Innate Immune Receptor DC-SIGN

The parasitic worm,Schistosoma mansoni, expresses unusual fucosylated glycans in a stage-dependent manner that can be recognized by the human innate immune receptor DC-SIGN, thereby shaping host immune responses. We have developed a synthetic approach for mono- and bis-fucosylated LacdiNAc (LDN-F and LDN-DF, respectively), which are epitopes expressed on glycolipids and glycoproteins ofS. mansoni. It is based on the use of monosaccharide building blocks having carefully selected amino-protecting groups, facilitating high yielding and stereoselective glycosylations. The molecular interaction between the synthetic glycans and DC-SIGN was studied by NMR and molecular modeling, which demonstrated that the alpha 1,3-fucoside of LDN-F can coordinate with the Ca2+-ion of the canonical binding site of DC-SIGN allowing for additional interactions with the underlying LDN backbone. The 1,2-fucoside of LDN-DF can be complexed in a similar manner, however, in this binding mode GlcNAc and GalNAc of the LDN backbone are placed away from the protein surface resulting in a substantially lower binding affinity. Glycan microarray binding studies showed that the avidity and selectivity of binding is greatly enhanced when the glycans are presented multivalently, and in this format Le(x)and LDN-F gave strong responsiveness, whereas no binding was detected for LDN-DF. The data indicates thatS. mansonihas developed a strategy to avoid detection by DC-SIGN in a stage-dependent manner by the addition of a fucoside to a number of its ligands.This research was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO; TOP-PUNT grant 718.015.003 to G.-J.B.), the Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSP; grant LT000747/2018-C to L.U.), the European Research Council (ERC-2017-AdG, project number 788143-RECGLYC-ANMR to J.J.-B.), the Agencia Estatal Investigacion of Spain (AEI; grant RTI2018-094751-B-C21 to J.J.-B.) and the Severo Ochoa Excellence Accreditation (SEV-2016-0644 to J.J.-B.)

Paving the Way for a Real-Time Context-Aware Predictive Architecture

Internet of Things society generates and needs to consume huge amounts of data in a demanding context-aware scenario. Such exponentially growing data sources require the use of novel processing methodologies, technologies and tools to facilitate data processing in order to detect and prevent situations of interest for the users in their particular context. To solve this issue, we propose an architecture which making use of emerging technologies and cloud platforms can process huge amounts of heterogeneous data and promptly alert users of relevant situations for a particular domain according to their context. Last, but not least, we will provide a graphical tool for domain experts to easily model, automatically generate code and deploy the situations to be detected and the actions to be taken in consequence. The proposal will be evaluated through a real case study related to air quality monitoring and lung diseases in collaboration with a doctor specialist on lung diseases of a public hospital

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans as attachment factor for SARS-CoV-2

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is causing an unprecedented global pandemic demanding the urgent development of therapeutic strategies. Microarray binding experiments using an extensive heparan sulfate (HS) oligosaccharide library showed the spike of SARS-CoV-2 can bind HS in a length- and sequence-dependent manner. Hexa- and octasaccharides composed of IdoA2S-GlcNS6S repeating units were identified as optimal ligands. Surface plasma resonance (SPR) showed the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds with higher affinity to heparin (K D 55 nM) compared to the receptor binding domain (RBD, K D 1 µM) alone. An octasaccharide composed of IdoA2S-GlcNS6S could inhibit spike-heparin interaction with an IC 50 of 38 nM. Our data supports a model in which the RBD of the spike of SARS-CoV-2 confers sequence specificity for HS expressed by target cells whereas an additional HS binding site in the S1/S2 proteolytic cleavage site enhances the avidity of binding. Collectively, our results highlight the potential of using HS oligosaccharides as a therapeutic agent by inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 binding to target cells

Synthetic HNK-1 containing glycans provide insight into binding properties of serum antibodies from MAG-neuropathy patients

Anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (anti-MAG) neuropathy is an autoimmune disease in which IgM autoantibodies target glycoconjugates of peripheral nerves resulting in progressive demyelination. To examine fine specificities of serum IgM autoantibodies and develop a more robust platform for diagnosis and disease monitoring, we describe here a chemoenzymatic approach that readily provided a panel of HNK-1 containing oligosaccharides presented on type 2 oligo-N-acetyl lactosamine (LacNAc) chains typical of glycosphingolipids. The compounds were prepared by a chemoenzymatic strategy in which an oligo-LacNAc structure was assembled enzymatically and then subjected to protecting group manipulation to chemically install a 3-O-sulfate glucuronic acid moiety. The synthetic strategy is highly divergent and made it possible to prepare from key precursors, additional compounds lacking sulfate of HNK-1 and derivatives in which the HNK-1 epitope is replaced by sulfate or sialic acid. The oligosaccharides were printed as a microarray to examine binding specificities of several monoclonal antibodies and serum antibodies of anti-MAG neuropathy patients. Surprisingly, three distinct patient subgroups were identified with variable dependance on the length of the LacNAc chain and sulfation of the glucuronyl moiety. In most cases, a lacto-neohexaose backbone was required for binding indicating the antibodies target corresponding glycosphingolipids