628 research outputs found

    Factores cr?ticos de ?xito para el uso de micropagos en el sector no bancarizado

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    En la actualidad, los micropagos comprenden un alto porcentaje de las transacciones realizadas de forma diaria, permitiendo el desarrollo del comercio en sus diferentes variantes a nivel mundial. Sin embargo, en el Per? y en Am?rica Latina, existe un porcentaje alto de la poblaci?n que no utiliza medios electr?nicos o digitales para satisfacer sus necesidades de compra y consumo, realizando transacciones tradicionales a trav?s de pagos en efectivo y evitando generar informaci?n que permita a las instituciones financieras definir servicios y productos a medida de las necesidades de la poblaci?n, ampliando los niveles de no bancarizaci?n en el pa?s. La literatura expone factores que permiten reducir esta brecha, facilitando el uso de micropagos en el sector no bancarizado como la regulaci?n de los servicios financieros, la infraestructura tecnol?gica, las caracter?sticas de lo micropagos entre otros. En total seis factores que este estudio identific? y clasific? como factores cr?ticos de ?xito, en base al juicio experto de profesionales participantes en diferentes sectores relacionados. Los hallazgos permiten conocer el escenario actual de los micropagos en el contexto peruano, los factores a considerar para su impulso y un ecosistema de inclusi?n financiera de aplicaci?n en beneficio del sector no bancarizado del Per?

    Brazilian Guidelines for Hereditary Angioedema Management - 2017 Update Part 1: Definition, Classification and Diagnosis

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    Hereditary angioedema is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by recurrent angioedema attacks with the involvement of multiple organs. The disease is unknown to many health professionals and is therefore underdiagnosed. Patients who are not adequately diagnosed and treated have an estimated mortality rate ranging from 25% to 40% due to asphyxiation by laryngeal angioedema. Intestinal angioedema is another important and incapacitating presentation that may be the main or only manifestation during an attack. In this article, a group of experts from the “Associação Brasileira de Alergia e Imunologia (ASBAI)” and the “Grupo de Estudos Brasileiro em Angioedema Hereditário (GEBRAEH)” has updated the Brazilian guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hereditary angioedema

    Placental Vesicles Carry Active Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Their Activity is Reduced in Preeclampsia.

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    Preeclampsia (PE), a multi-system hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, is associated 25 with increased systemic vascular resistance. Placentae from PE patients have 26 reduced levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and thus less nitric oxide 27 (NO). Syncytiotrophoblast extracellular vesicles (STBEV), comprised of microvesicles 28 (STBMV) and exosomes (STBEX), carry signals from the STB to the mother. We 29 hypothesized that STBEV bound eNOS (STBEV-eNOS), capable of producing NO, 30 are released into the maternal circulation. Dual-lobe ex vivo placental perfusion and 31 differential centrifugation was used to isolate STBEV from PE (n=8) and normal 32 pregnancies (NP) (n=11). Plasma samples of gestational age matched PE and NP 33 (n=6) were used to isolate circulating STBMV. STBEV expressed placental alkaline 34 phosphatase (PlAP), confirming placental origin. STBEV co-expressed eNOS, but not 35 iNOS, confirmed using Western blot, flow cytometry and immuno-depletion. STBEV-36 eNOS produced NO which was significantly inhibited by L-NAME (eNOS inhibitor, 37 *p<0.05), but not 1400W (iNOS inhibitor). STBEV-eNOS catalytic activity was 38 confirmed by visualising eNOS dimerization. STBEV-eNOS was more abundant in 39 uterine vein compared to peripheral blood, indicating placental origin. STBEV isolated 40 from PE perfused placentae had lower levels of STBEV-eNOS (STBMV; *p<0.05) and 41 overall lower NO activity (STBMV, ns; STBEX, *p<0.05) compared to NP. Circulating 42 plasma STBMV from PE women had lower STBEV-eNOS expression compared to NP 43 women (**p<0.01). This is the first observation of functional eNOS expressed on 44 STBEV from NP and PE placentae, as well as in plasma. The lower STBEV-eNOS 45 NO production seen in PE may contribute to the decreased NO bioavailability in this 46 disease

    Modeling the competition between lung metastases and the immune system using agents

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Triplex cell vaccine is a cancer cellular vaccine that can prevent almost completely the mammary tumor onset in HER-2/neu transgenic mice. In a translational perspective, the activity of the Triplex vaccine was also investigated against lung metastases showing that the vaccine is an effective treatment also for the cure of metastases. A future human application of the Triplex vaccine should take into account several aspects of biological behavior of the involved entities to improve the efficacy of therapeutic treatment and to try to predict, for example, the outcomes of longer experiments in order to move faster towards clinical phase I trials. To help to address this problem, MetastaSim, a hybrid Agent Based - ODE model for the simulation of the vaccine-elicited immune system response against lung metastases in mice is presented. The model is used as in silico wet-lab. As a first application MetastaSim is used to find protocols capable of maximizing the total number of prevented metastases, minimizing the number of vaccine administrations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The model shows that it is possible to obtain "in silico" a 45% reduction in the number of vaccinations. The analysis of the results further suggests that any optimal protocol for preventing lung metastases formation should be composed by an initial massive vaccine dosage followed by few vaccine recalls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Such a reduction may represent an important result from the point of view of translational medicine to humans, since a downsizing of the number of vaccinations is usually advisable in order to minimize undesirable effects. The suggested vaccination strategy also represents a notable outcome. Even if this strategy is commonly used for many infectious diseases such as tetanus and hepatitis-B, it can be in fact considered as a relevant result in the field of cancer-vaccines immunotherapy. These results can be then used and verified in future "in vivo" experiments, and their outcome can be used to further improve and refine the model.</p

    Cattle transhumance and agropastoral nomadic herding practices in central Cameroon

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    Abstract Background In sub-Saharan Africa, livestock transhumance represents a key adaptation strategy to environmental variability. In this context, seasonal livestock transhumance also plays an important role in driving the dynamics of multiple livestock infectious diseases. In Cameroon, cattle transhumance is a common practice during the dry season across all the main livestock production zones. Currently, the little recorded information of the migratory routes, grazing locations and nomadic herding practices adopted by pastoralists, limits our understanding of pastoral cattle movements in the country. GPS-tracking technology in combination with a questionnaire based-survey were used to study a limited pool of 10 cattle herds from the Adamawa Region of Cameroon during their seasonal migration, between October 2014 and May 2015. The data were used to analyse the trajectories and movement patterns, and to characterize the key animal health aspects related to this seasonal migration in Cameroon. Results Several administrative Regions of the country were visited by the transhumant herds over more than 6 months. Herds travelled between 53 and 170 km to their transhumance grazing areas adopting different strategies, some travelling directly to their destination areas while others having multiple resting periods and grazing areas. Despite their limitations, these are among the first detailed data available on transhumance in Cameroon. These reports highlight key livestock health issues and the potential for multiple types of interactions between transhumant herds and other domestic and wild animals, as well as with the formal livestock trading system. Conclusion Overall, these findings provide useful insights into transhumance patterns and into the related animal health implications recorded in Cameroon. This knowledge could better inform evidence-based approaches for designing infectious diseases surveillance and control measures and help driving further studies to improve the understanding of risks associated with livestock movements in the region

    Search for New Physics in e mu X Data at D0 Using Sleuth: A Quasi-Model-Independent Search Strategy for New Physics

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    We present a quasi-model-independent search for the physics responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. We define final states to be studied, and construct a rule that identifies a set of relevant variables for any particular final state. A new algorithm ("Sleuth") searches for regions of excess in those variables and quantifies the significance of any detected excess. After demonstrating the sensitivity of the method, we apply it to the semi-inclusive channel e mu X collected in 108 pb^-1 of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV at the D0 experiment during 1992-1996 at the Fermilab Tevatron. We find no evidence of new high p_T physics in this sample.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Physical Review
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