Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Implications to Global Wine Market

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was first introduced in 2013, with the goal of liberalization of the trade and investments, better coordination of trade by specific regulations, enhancing intellectual property protection and lifting government’s impediments to trade. This Thesis is concerned on potential implications of the TTIP on the wine industry in the European Union and particular consequences related to EU wine producers. The literature review of this paper is developed with the purpose to bring general knowledge in the matter of the TTIP. In addition, linkages of the TTIP with the political economy are provided in the latter part of this chapter. We conducted our methodological approach through the Gravity model in the international agricultural trade. The pooled linear regression analysis was utilized, where the dependent variable was wine trade intensity. We have discovered variables, which directly affect the fluctuations in the wine trade intensity, as the income, distance, exchange rate volatility or relative wine endowment of a country. Remarkably interesting result conveyed by regression analysis was the fact, that developed country’s membership in the FTA with the United States does not have significant impact on the trade intensity. The European Union is currently battling with the wine oversupply and low prices. Within the TTIP, additional amount of wine would be imported from the United States to the European Union. In addition, the conclusion of the TTIP agreement is questionable as the harmonization of the sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards in the wine sector with the lower standards of the United States might have direct impact on consumer’s health. In spite of that, the cost-efficiency would be advantageous feature of lowering wine production standards. The last part of this Thesis is dedicated to the suggestions for further research, with respect to development of the TTIP negotiations in future time periods

Design and Implementation of Wave Digital Filters

One of possibilities of the Wave Digital Filters (WDF) design is using the classical LC-filters theory. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the design of WDF from the LC filter and the implementation of WDF on the fixed-point digital signal processor. The theory of wave digital filter has been developed by using the classical scattering parameter theory. The theory of ladder filters is well-known, and so our present problem can thus be reduced to a problem how to replace the L and C elements of the filters by adaptors and delay elements, adders and multipliers

Efectos inter municipales del desarrollo industrial en Colombia

El estudio del desarrollo industrial colombiano ha sido contextualizado dentro de los grandes periodos que rigieron la formulación de la política económica. Reforzado por la consolidación del mercado nacional, este proceso fue el resultado de la integración de mercados regionales, los cuales emergieron por rendimientos crecientes surgidos por intercambios intrarregionales. Si bien la industria se instaló en las cercanías de los grandes centros urbanos ha habido importantes efectos de contagio a los municipios vecinos que han transmitido la dinámica de la actividad económica mediante spillovers espaciales. Este artículo propone un ejercicio de Regresión geográficamente ponderada.The study of industrial development in Colombia has focused upon the long stages that led to the formulation of economic policy. A national market formed from the integration of regional markets. Even though industry tended to concentrate in the large urban centres, there was a considerable spillover into the adjoining counties. This article proposes a Geographical Weighted Regression (GWR) in order to analyze these phenomena.peerReviewe

Propiedad Intelectual y Procesos de Innovación en el marco del Objetivo 17 de Desarrollo Sostenible

This paper presents a conceptual discussion focused on the basic vision of science and technology, which is the primary purpose and reference framework of the produced United Nations’ documents and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. The most important intention and the objective of these documents is the technology transfer, which carries a risk of not recognizing other technological options—such as eco-technology—and the limited role representing science and innovation in the achievement of these Sustainable Development Goals. We focused on the broader aspects of international patent law approaches that approximate to incentives of technological transfer and innovation process. This article contributes to the theoretical overview of patent law in the application process of intellectual property use in the international context. In conclusion, we discussed, according to the literature review, the possibility of maintaining the environment by considering technological transfer and innovation process as solutions for world disasters. Sustainable development goals are proposed for the same prevention, which should be clear for every country in the world.En este documento se presenta un debate conceptual centrado en la visión básica de la ciencia y la tecnología, la cual es el propósito principal y el marco de referencia de los documentos producidos al respecto por las Naciones Unidas y los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (SDG) de la Agenda 2030. La intención y el objetivo de aquellos documentos es la transferencia de tecnología, que conlleva el riesgo de no reconocer otras opciones tecnológicas —como la ecotecnología— y el limitado papel que representan la ciencia y la innovación en el logro de estos Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible. Nos centramos en los aspectos más amplios de los enfoques del derecho internacional de patentes que se aproximan a los incentivos de la transferencia tecnológica y el proceso de innovación. Este artículo contribuye a la visión general teórica del derecho de patentes en el proceso de aplicación del uso de la propiedad intelectual en el contexto internacional. En conclusión, discutimos, de acuerdo con la revisión de la literatura, la posibilidad de mantener el medio ambiente considerando la transferencia tecnológica y el proceso de innovación como soluciones para los desastres mundiales. Se proponen objetivos de desarrollo sostenible para la misma prevención, que deben ser claros para todos los países del mundo

Attenuation of the insulin amyloid aggregation in presence of Fe3O4-based magnetic fluids

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Introducing lasso peptides as molecular scaffolds for drug design: Engineering of an integrin antagonist.

Thumbnail image of graphical abstract Tightening the noose: Lasso peptides are a class of stable bacterial peptides with unique characteristics that encourage their application in drug design. Epitope grafting of the integrin binding motif RGD onto the lasso structure of microcin J25 converts the knotted peptide into a nanomolar integrin antagonist (see picture). Engineered lasso peptides can therefore be used for pharmacophore presentation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Pullulan-based nanoparticles as carriers for transmucosal protein delivery

Polymeric nanoparticles have revealed very effective in transmucosal delivery of proteins. Polysaccharides are among the most used materials for the production of these carriers, owing to their structural flexibility and propensity to evidence biocompatibility and biodegradability. In parallel, there is a preference for the use of mild methods for their production, in order to prevent protein degradation, ensure lower costs and easier procedures that enable scaling up. In this work we propose the production of pullulan-based nanoparticles by a mild method of polyelectrolyte complexation. As pullulan is a neutral polysaccharide, sulfated and aminated derivatives of the polymer were synthesized to provide pullulan with a charge. These derivatives were then complexed with chitosan and carrageenan, respectively, to produce the nanocarriers. Positively charged nanoparticles of 180-270 nm were obtained, evidencing ability to associate bovine serum albumin, which was selected as model protein. In PBS pH 7.4, pullulan-based nanoparticles were found to have a burst release of 30% of the protein, which maintained up to 24h. Nanoparticle size and zeta potential were preserved upon freeze-drying in the presence of appropriate cryoprotectants. A factorial design was approached to assess the cytotoxicity of raw materials and nanoparticles by the metabolic test MTT. Nanoparticles demonstrated to not cause overt toxicity in a respiratory cell model (Calu-3). Pullulan has, thus, demonstrated to hold potential for the production of nanoparticles with an application in protein delivery

Lampreys, the jawless vertebrates, contain three Pax6 genes with distinct expression in eye, brain and pancreas

10.1038/s41598-019-56085-8Scientific Reports911955

Pre-formulation and delivery strategies for the development of bacteriocins as next generation antibiotics

peer-reviewedBacteriocins, a class of antimicrobial peptide produced by bacteria, may offer a potential alternative to traditional antibiotics, an important step towards mitigating the ever increasing antimicrobial resistance crisis. They are active against a range of clinically relevant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Bacteriocins have been discussed in the literature for over a century. Although they are used as preservatives in food, no medicine based on their antimicrobial activity exists on the market today. In order to formulate them into clinical antibiotics, pre-formulation studies on their biophysical and physicochemical properties that will influence their activity in vivo and their stability during manufacture must be elucidated. Thermal, pH and enzymatic stability of bacteriocins are commonly studied and regularly reported in the literature. Solubility, permeability and aggregation properties on the other hand are less frequently reported for many bacteriocins, which may contribute to their poor clinical progression. Promising cytotoxicity studies report that bacteriocins exhibit few cytotoxic effects on a variety of mammalian cell lines, at active concentrations. This review highlights the lack of quantitative data and in many cases even qualitative data, on bacteriocins’ solubility, stability, aggregation, permeability and cytotoxicity. The formulation strategies that have been explored to date, proposed routes of administration, trends in in vitro/in vivo behaviour and efforts in clinical development are discussed. The future promise of bacteriocins as a new generation of antibiotics may require tailored local delivery strategies to fulfil their potential as a force to combat antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections