16,457 research outputs found

    Teaching for Social Justice in the Engaged Classroom: The Intersection of Jesuit and Feminist Moral Philosophies

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    Roll 129. SLU Judo Team. Image 9 of 17. (27 April, 1954) [PHO 1.129.9]The Boleslaus Lukaszewski (Father Luke) Photographs contain more than 28,000 images of Saint Louis University people, activities, and events between 1951 and 1970. The photographs were taken by Boleslaus Lukaszewski (Father Luke), a Jesuit priest and member of the University's Philosophy Department faculty

    Improving rainfall nowcasting and urban runoff forecasting through dynamic radar-raingauge rainfall adjustment

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    The insufficient accuracy of radar rainfall estimates is a major source of uncertainty in short-term quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) and associated urban flood forecasts. This study looks at the possibility of improving QPFs and urban runoff forecasts through the dynamic adjustment of radar rainfall estimates based on raingauge measurements. Two commonly used techniques (Kriging with External Drift (KED) and mean field bias correction) were used to adjust radar rainfall estimates for a large area of the UK (250,000 km2) based on raingauge data. QPFs were produced using original radar and adjusted rainfall estimates as input to a nowcasting algorithm. Runoff forecasts were generated by feeding the different QPFs into the storm water drainage model of an urban catchment in London. The performance of the adjusted precipitation estimates and the associated forecasts was tested using local rainfall and flow records. The results show that adjustments done at too large scales cannot provide tangible improvements in rainfall estimates and associated QPFs and runoff forecasts at small scales, such as those of urban catchments. Moreover, the results suggest that the KED adjusted rainfall estimates may be unsuitable for generating QPFs, as this method damages the continuity of spatial structures between consecutive rainfall fields

    Oral Tolerance: Therapeutic Implications for Autoimmune Diseases

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    Oral tolerance is classically defined as the suppression of immune responses to antigens (Ag) that have been administered previously by the oral route. Multiple mechanisms of tolerance are induced by oral Ag. Low doses favor active suppression, whereas higher doses favor clonal anergy/deletion. Oral Ag induces Th2 (IL-4/IL-10) and Th3 (TGF-β) regulatory T cells (Tregs) plus CD4+CD25+ regulatory cells and LAP+T cells. Induction of oral tolerance is enhanced by IL-4, IL-10, anti-IL-12, TGF-β, cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), Flt-3 ligand, anti-CD40 ligand and continuous feeding of Ag. In addition to oral tolerance, nasal tolerance has also been shown to be effective in suppressing inflammatory conditions with the advantage of a lower dose requirement. Oral and nasal tolerance suppress several animal models of autoimmune diseases including experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), uveitis, thyroiditis, myasthenia, arthritis and diabetes in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse, plus non-autoimmune diseases such as asthma, atherosclerosis, colitis and stroke. Oral tolerance has been tested in human autoimmune diseases including MS, arthritis, uveitis and diabetes and in allergy, contact sensitivity to DNCB, nickel allergy. Positive results have been observed in phase II trials and new trials for arthritis, MS and diabetes are underway. Mucosal tolerance is an attractive approach for treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases because of lack of toxicity, ease of administration over time and Ag-specific mechanism of action. The successful application of oral tolerance for the treatment of human diseases will depend on dose, developing immune markers to assess immunologic effects, route (nasal versus oral), formulation, mucosal adjuvants, combination therapy and early therapy

    Soil microbiota benefits from phytoremediation coupled to metal-resistant rhizobacteria

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    Phytoremediation is used for requalifying soils contaminated with heavy metals (HM). Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the most studied species for the remediation of HM-contaminated soils. To increase the bioavailability of nutrients and of metals in soils, metal-resistant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), can be associated to phytoremediation strategies. Soil microbiota can benefit from this association, due to the reduced exposure to HMs toxic effect. In this study, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was applied for investigating shifts in soil microbial community after HMs remediation by sunflowers from a soil amended with Cupriavidus sp. strain 1C2. Sunflower was also grown in a non-contaminated soil (control). Actinobacteria were dominant while Proteobacteria was the second most abundant phylum in both soils. Acidobacteria and Nitrospirae were present in higher relative abundance in the control soil. Results have shown that phytoremediation associated to PGPR induced changes in the contaminated soil microbial community: Acidobacterium (Acidobacteria phylum) and Nitrospira (Nitrospirae phylum) bacterial genera increased their abundance at the end of plant growth. These changes did not occur in the control soil, which presented a more stable bacterial community throughout the experiment. This research increases our knowledge on the relationship between soil microbiota and phytoremediation strategies achievements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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