Bacteriophage and their potential roles in the human oral cavity.

The human oral cavity provides the perfect portal of entry for viruses and bacteria in the environment to access new hosts. Hence, the oral cavity is one of the most densely populated habitats of the human body containing some 6 billion bacteria and potentially 35 times that many viruses. The role of these viral communities remains unclear; however, many are bacteriophage that may have active roles in shaping the ecology of oral bacterial communities. Other implications for the presence of such vast oral phage communities include accelerating the molecular diversity of their bacterial hosts as both host and phage mutate to gain evolutionary advantages. Additional roles include the acquisitions of new gene functions through lysogenic conversions that may provide selective advantages to host bacteria in response to antibiotics or other types of disturbances, and protection of the human host from invading pathogens by binding to and preventing pathogens from crossing oral mucosal barriers. Recent evidence suggests that phage may be more involved in periodontal diseases than were previously thought, as their compositions in the subgingival crevice in moderate to severe periodontitis are known to be significantly altered. However, it is unclear to what extent they contribute to dysbiosis or the transition of the microbial community into a state promoting oral disease. Bacteriophage communities are distinct in saliva compared to sub- and supragingival areas, suggesting that different oral biogeographic niches have unique phage ecology shaping their bacterial biota. In this review, we summarize what is known about phage communities in the oral cavity, the possible contributions of phage in shaping oral bacterial ecology, and the risks to public health oral phage may pose through their potential to spread antibiotic resistance gene functions to close contacts

Turbulencias políticas, crisis y cambios de etapa en el horizonte latinoamericano

En América Latina el año 2016 ha continuado con la tendencia negativa en el terreno económico que ya venía observándose en años anteriores. Aunque la crisis ha afectado de forma desigual a la región, los apuros de los grandes países como Brasil, Argentina y México lastran la recuperación. Las dificultades económicas están teniendo impacto tanto en términos de costes sociales para los ciudadanos, como en las consecuencias políticas para los gobiernos. Esto ha supuesto que se produjeran cambios en las tendencias políticas y en los equilibrios regionales y se ha intensificado la polarización social. La región afronta retos importantes para su proceso de consolidación democrática, pero también se constatan rayos de esperanza; entre ellos destacan el avance significativo en el proceso de paz de Colombia o las reformas en Cuba, que continúa su proceso de apertura, ahora ya sin la presencia del que fuera líder indiscutible de la Revolución, Fidel Castro. 2016 se ha cerrado con una gran incertidumbre acerca de las consecuencias que puede tener la elección de Donald Trump como nuevo presidente de los Estados Unidos debido a su discurso hostil hacia los intereses de la región

Identidad, cultura e inclusión en las políticas curriculares en Brasil

This text present a reflection about the conditions of possibility of an inclusive curriculum in the context in which there develop public policies of basic education in Brazil, from last decade of the 20th century. It takes in account the internationally definite concept of incorporation and the conceptions of curriculum orientated by the theories of the culture, in the questions of identity and difference, in the interface with some basic beginning of the �neoliberal� politics that comes marking the economic globalization and the educational speech of the developing countries. It ends up by inferring some possibilities of restructuration curricular under the conceptual perspective that one proposes the inclusive education.Este texto plantea una reflexión acerca de las condiciones de posibilidad de un currículo inclusivo en el contexto en el que se desarrollan políticas públicas de educación básica en Brasil, a partir de la última década del siglo XX. Lleva en cuenta el concepto de inclusión internacionalmente definido y las concepciones de currículo orientadas por las teorías de la cultura, en las cuestiones de identidad y diferencia, en la interfaz con algunos principios básicos de la política neoliberal que viene marcando la globalización económica y el discurso educacional de los países en desarrollo. Concluye infiriendo algunas posibilidades de restructuración curricular bajo la perspectiva conceptual que se propone la educación inclusiva

Persistence of Poverty across Generations: A Comparison of Anglos, Blacks, and Latinos

Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study examines the impact of children\u27s growing up in poverty on the probability of their remaining in poverty during young adulthood. The primary goals of the research are to examine racial, ethnic, and gender differences in patterns of persistent poverty and to identify predictors of poverty status in young adulthood. The results suggest that both women, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or adolescent poverty status, and black men who grew up in poverty are more likely to be poor as young adults than Anglo men. Logistic regression analyses reveal that in addition to education and work experience, metropolitan unemployment rates were also significant predictors of poverty status for both men and women. Further, while growing up in a poor family for extended periods of time was found to be associated with the increasing probability of being poor for minority men and Anglo women, other family background variables were insignificant predictors of adult poverty status in all models

Oligonucleotide delivery: A patent review (2010-2013)

Introduction: The use of aptamers, antisense technology and RNA interference has allowed nucleic acids to be considered as promising alternatives to classical drugs. However, nucleic acids face several obstacles in the creation of effective nucleic acid drugs. The development of these approaches has strengthened the pipeline with an increasing number of these therapies in clinical trials.Areas covered: This review covers research and patent literature from the last three years, focusing on the development of safe and effective non-viral drug delivery systems for the treatment of diseases such as cancer or genetic disorders by using oligonucleotides.Expert opinion: The therapeutic applications of oligonucleotides have overcome multiple obstacles, especially in biodistribution and cellular internalization. Cationic lipids are the most used vehicles for the preparation of novel formulations. Combinatorial libraries of these compounds and the use of solid lipid nanoparticles carrying these synthetic cationic lipids (cholesterol and PEG) have enhanced cellular uptake and biocompatibility of nucleic acids. Besides this extensive use, synthesis of oligonucleotides covalently linked to lipids has also emerged as a promising alternative to formulations. The use of peptides alone or in combination with lipids is an expanding field for oligonucleotide delivery. Polymeric platforms are also good candidates as they showed improved cellular uptake, biodegradability, biocompatibility and the possibility of incorporating several components, such as ligands for receptor-mediated endocytosis and molecules, to facilitate endosomal escape. Finally, nanomaterials may also play an important role in the future. The last developments showed improvement in in vivo efficacy, thus gaining a foothold in therapeutics.This work is supported by the European Commission (Grant NMP4-LA-2011-262943, MULTIFUN), by the Spanish Ministry of Education (Grant CTQ2010-20541), the Generalitat de Catalunya (2009/SGR/208) and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CB06_01_0019).Peer reviewe

Casablanca; rehabilitació d'una de les icones del Delta de l'Ebre

Aquest projecte final de grau conté una proposta d’intervenció en una Masia que data del 1886, situada en la població de Sant Carles de la Ràpita, dintre del Parc Natural del Delta de l’Ebre. L’objectiu és rehabilitar l’edifici adaptant-lo a la normativa actual d’habitabilitat i intervenir en les tres granges adjacents a la Masia per fer-ne en el seu lloc un Restaurant – Bar. El document es divideix en tres blocs principals, la diagnosi de l’estat dels edificis, la proposta d’intervenció i l’obra nova adjacent a la Masia. En la diagnosi s’exposa l’estat en el que es troben els edificis, determinat a partir de la realització d’inspeccions visuals, peritatge estructural i la utilització d’eines de diagnosi. En segon lloc, es proposa una intervenció que adapta l’edifici a les necessitats pròpies d’una casa rural, partint d’una nova distribució, introducció d’energies renovables i la reutilització de materials ja existents en l’edifici. Per últim, es procedirà a l’enderroc de les granges per donar lloc a la construcció del Restaurant – Bar que pugui completar les necessitats de la Masia com a un allotjament rural. Per a la seva construcció s’ha tingut en compte la realització d’una edificació sostenible a partir de la utilització de panells de fusta contralaminada KLH en tota la seva estructura. Com a resultat de la intervenció s’obté un complex de caràcter rural i turístic, que dóna servei a l’alt índex de visites que rep el Parc Natural del Delta de l’Ebre, i intentant en tot moment la creació d’un espai respectuós amb el medi ambient

ANTIPROLIFERATIVE AND APOPTOTIC EFFECTS OF FICUS PSEUDOPALMA BLANCO (MORACEAE) AGAINST HEPATOCARCINOMA (HepG2)

Objectives.Hepatocellular carcinoma is the third most frequent cause of cancer-related death in the Philippines.  The prevalence of this disease continuously pose a great challenge to the medical and health sectors of the country, especially in discovering safe, efficacious and cheap alternative medicines with less or no adverse side effects.  Among our endemic medicinal plant species that belong to Moraceae family, Ficus pseudopalma remains understudied.  To our knowledge, there are no reports into the molecular mechanisms underlying the growth inhibitory effects of F.  pseudopalma against hepatocellular carcinoma.  We provided evidence that F.  pseudopalma enhances apoptotic cell death of HepG2, specifically targeting DNA damage. Methods. To assess the apoptotic and genotoxic abilities of the plant extract, trypan blue exclusion test, MTT, Comet, TUNEL and Caspase-3 activations assays were performed.  Results. Results showed that the crude extract of F. pseudopalma dose-dependently inhibited cell growth of HepG2 recording an IC50 of 353.342µg/mL.  Interestingly, all assays indicated apoptotic DNA fragmentation of HepG2 cells at concentrations of 300µg/ml and 1000µg/ml.  In particular, changes in morphological features such as aggregation of chromatin, cell shrinkage, and formation of apoptotic bodies were also observed in treated HepG2 cells.Conclusion. The data strongly suggest that F. pseudopalma may be used as an alternative, natural, cheap, readily available, and potent cancer chemoprotective agent by inhibiting cell growth and promoting cell death.  The study provides the first molecular evidence on the plant that induces apoptosis for the development of phytotherapeutic regimen for cancer prevention or treatment. Keywords:Ficus pseudopalma, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, Comet assay, TUNEL assay, caspase assa

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results : cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing using the MAGLIM lens sample

The cosmological information extracted from photometric surveys is most robust when multiple probes of the large scale structure of the Universe are used. Two of the most sensitive probes are the clustering of galaxies and the tangential shear of background galaxy shapes produced by those foreground galaxies, socalled galaxy-galaxy lensing. Combining the measurements of these two two-point functions leads to cosmological constraints that are independent of the way galaxies trace matter (the galaxy bias factor). The optimal choice of foreground, or lens, galaxies is governed by the joint, but conflicting requirements to obtain accurate redshift information and large statistics. We present cosmological results from the full 5000 deg2 of the Dark Energy Survey’s first three years of observations (Y3) combining those two-point functions, using for the first time a magnitude-limited lens sample (MAGLIM) of 11 million galaxies, especially selected to optimize such combination, and 100 million background shapes. We consider two flat cosmological models, the Standard Model with dark energy and cold dark matter (ΛCDM) a variation with a free parameter for the dark energy equation of state (wCDM). Both models are marginalized over 25 astrophysical and systematic nuisance parameters. In ΛCDM we obtain for the matter density Ωm ¼ 0.320þ0.041 −0.034 and for the clustering amplitude S8 ≡ σ8ðΩm=0.3Þ0.5 ¼ 0.778þ0.037 −0.031 , at 68% C.L. The latter is only 1σ smaller than the prediction in this model informed by measurements of the cosmic microwave background by the Planck satellite. In wCDM we find Ωm ¼ 0.32þ0.044 −0.046 , S8 ¼ 0.777þ0.049 −0.051 and dark energy equation of state w ¼ −1.031þ0.218 −0.379 . We find that including smaller scales, while marginalizing over nonlinear galaxy bias, improves the constraining power in the Ωm − S8 plane by 31% and in the Ωm − w plane by 41% while yielding consistent cosmological parameters from those in the linear bias case. These results are combined with those from cosmic shear in a companion paper to present full DES-Y3 constraints from the three two-point functions (3 × 2pt)

Chatbot-Based Natural Language Interfaces for Data Visualisation: A Scoping Review

Rapid growth in the generation of data from various sources has made data visualisation a valuable tool for analysing data. However, visual analysis can be a challenging task, not only due to intricate dashboards but also when dealing with complex and multidimensional data. In this context, advances in Natural Language Processing technologies have led to the development of Visualisation-oriented Natural Language Interfaces (V-NLIs). In this paper, we carry out a scoping review that analyses synergies between the fields of Data Visualisation and Natural Language Interaction. Specifically, we focus on chatbot-based V-NLI approaches and explore and discuss three research questions. The first two research questions focus on studying how chatbot-based V-NLIs contribute to interactions with the Data and Visual Spaces of the visualisation pipeline, while the third seeks to know how chatbot-based V-NLIs enhance users' interaction with visualisations. Our findings show that the works in the literature put a strong focus on exploring tabular data with basic visualisations, with visual mapping primarily reliant on fixed layouts. Moreover, V-NLIs provide users with restricted guidance strategies, and few of them support high-level and follow-up queries. We identify challenges and possible research opportunities for the V-NLI community such as supporting high-level queries with complex data, integrating V-NLIs with more advanced systems such as Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), particularly for advanced visualisations, expanding guidance strategies beyond current limitations, adopting intelligent visual mapping techniques, and incorporating more sophisticated interaction methods