Epigenetic modulation of host: new insights into immune evasion by viruses

Viruses have evolved with their hosts, which include all living species. This has been partly responsible for the development of highly advanced immune systems in the hosts. However, viruses too have evolved ways to regulate and evade the host’s immune defence. In addition to mutational mechanisms that viruses employ to mimic the host genome and undergo latency to evade the host’s recognition of the pathogen, they have also developed epigenetic mechanisms by which they can render the host’s immune responses inactive to their antigens. The epigenetic regulation of gene expression is intrinsically active inside the host and is involved in regulating gene expression and cellular differentiation. Viral immune evasion strategies are an area of major concern in modern biomedical research. Immune evasion strategies may involve interference with the host antigen presentation machinery or host immune gene expression capabilities, and viruses, in these manners, introduce and propagate infection. The aim of this review is to elucidate the various epigenetic changes that viruses are capable of bringing about in their host in order to enhance their own survivability and pathogenesis

Rethinking models of architectural research: we don't do objects

Historically, an argument can be made that architectural research was produced internal to firms and manufacturers as proprietary objects or sets of data. The concept of disciplines and professions reinforced the separation of open-sourced knowledge and the application of that knowledge in a commercial context. However, design has rapidly changed from an object-solution profession and is now faced with finding solutions to complex problems within complex systems. The past practice model of client, architect, and final product seems an ill-fit in this new context. The question is how to integrate a critical research process into a professional capacity in which that architectural research needs an inherent and immediate value to be performed or pursued. The SYNCH Research Group [synchRG] was formed in response to this question. Although research consortiums, design initiatives and research centres exist within many schools of architecture, most operate as a department or extensions of a school of architecture. SynchRG operates in neither private practice nor as a division of the university. Organized as a diverse and fluid association of faculty, students, professionals, and consultants, the synchRG group is focused on a designmethodology and philosophical structure rather than a client, site, building, typology, or object. The focus on idiosyncratic or aesthetic solutions to singular problems is set aside in order to provide acollaborative intellectual space for professional based explorations. The paper will examine synchRG's response to current architectural research challenges and illustrate its unique structure as a possible model to be replicated. A dialogue will be initiated on a model for practice aligned with both academia and industry

Abrogated Inflammatory Response Promotes Neurogenesis in a Murine Model of Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) induces neuroinflammation with typical features of viral encephalitis, including inflammatory cell infiltration, activation of microglia, and neuronal degeneration. The detrimental effects of inflammation on neurogenesis have been reported in various models of acute and chronic inflammation. We investigated whether JEV-induced inflammation has similar adverse effects on neurogenesis and whether those effects can be reversed using an anti-inflammatory compound minocycline.Here, using in vitro studies and mouse models, we observed that an acute inflammatory milieu is created in the subventricular neurogenic niche following Japanese encephalitis (JE) and a resultant impairment in neurogenesis occurs, which can be reversed with minocycline treatment. Immunohistological studies showed that proliferating cells were replenished and the population of migrating neuroblasts was restored in the niche following minocycline treatment. In vitro, we checked for the efficacy of minocycline as an anti-inflammatory compound and cytokine bead array showed that production of cyto/chemokines decreased in JEV-activated BV2 cells. Furthermore, mouse neurospheres grown in the conditioned media from JEV-activated microglia exhibit arrest in both proliferation and differentiation of the spheres compared to conditioned media from control microglia. These effects were completely reversed when conditioned media from JEV-activated and minocycline treated microglia was used.This study provides conclusive evidence that JEV-activated microglia and the resultant inflammatory molecules are anti-proliferative and anti-neurogenic for NSPCs growth and development, and therefore contribute to the viral neuropathogenesis. The role of minocycline in restoring neurogenesis may implicate enhanced neuronal repair and attenuation of the neuropsychiatric sequelae in JE survivors

Propuesta : Iglesia Católica de Santa Elena

La Iglesia Católica de Santa Elena solicitó la asistencia del curso Futuros Sostenibles 2002 del Instituto Monteverde para investigar la posibilidad de mover una parte o todas sus intalaciones a la nueva propiedad localizada en frente del cementerio en el vecindario del mismo nombre. The Catholic Church in Santa Elena asked for the attendance of the Sustainable Futures 2002 course of the Monteverde Institute to investigate the possibility to move a part or all the facilities to the new property located in front of the cementery in the neighborhood of the same name.https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/sustainable_futures/1003/thumbnail.jp

Visceral Leishmaniasis in India: Promises and Pitfalls of a PCR-Based Blood Test

Traditional methods of diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) in India suffer from a number of disadvantages. Amplification of multicopy nuclear genes and messenger ribonucleic acid of Leishmania by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was evaluated as an alternative assay under various clinical conditions. PCR of peripheral blood has the highest absolute sensitivity among all the available procedures, and is particularly useful for detecting parasites in early infections, post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis, concurrent infections and immunocompromised cases, but is not so reliable for late infections. PCR of immunopurified blood mononuclear cells indicated the association of parasites with monocytes as well as non-monocyte cell types