Towards an improved Neisseria meningitidis B vaccine: vesicular PorA formulations

There is a great need for vaccines against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B. This is especially important in Western European countries, were approximately two thirds of the cases of meningococcal disease can be attributed to serogroup B strains. Against this serogroup, traditional vaccines based on capsular polysaccharides are not effective. The immunogenicity of the capsular polysaccharide of group B meningococci is low, due to structural similarity with epitopes expressed by host neural tissue. During the search for vaccine candidates against serogroup B meningococci, a great interest has been focused on PorA, a porin located in the outer membrane of the bacteria. PorA is one of the immunodominant antigens expressed by Neisseria meningitidis. Monoclonal antibodies directed against PorA have shown to have a high bactericidal activity and are protective in an infant rat meningitis model. The vaccine potential of PorA embedded in outer membrane vesicles (OMV) developed by different groups has been studied in various clinical trials. The vaccine presently being developed by the Netherlands Vaccine Institute (NVI) is based on OMV purified from genetically modified meningococcal strains expressing three different PorA serosubtypes (trivalent OMV). The vaccine contains a mixture of two different trivalent OMV are mixed, which together represent the majority of PorA serosubtypes circulating in the Netherlands and other European countries. Among the PorA serosubtypes included in the NVI vaccine, the serosubtype P1.7-2,4 is present in up to 40% of the serogroup B strains causing bacterial meningitis. Thus, a PorA-based vaccine should cover at least this subtype. On the other hand, the immunogenicity of PorA P1.7-2,4 is not yet optimal in its present formulation as OMV vaccine. For these reasons, PorA P1.7-2,4 was chosen as a model protein for our studies. The objective this thesis was to improve the immunogenicity of PorA. The research was exclusively focused on the study of the effect of the presentation form on the immunogenicity of PorA P1.7-2,4. For this purpose, three lines of investigation were followed: ? Detailed study of physicochemical and immunochemical characteristics of PorA and its presentation form. Also, study of the effects of different storage conditions on the physicochemical stability and immunogenicity of PorA formulated in different types of OMV. ? Preparation of well-defined liposomal PorA formulations and study of the effect of various targeting strategies for dendritic cells (DC) on the immunogenicity of PorA. ? Addition of adjuvants to liposomal PorA formulations and study of their effect on the PorA-specific immune response

Kan yamakan/Érase una vez: el podcast como herramienta docente

“Kan yamakan” es un proyecto de innovación docente aplicado a la enseñanza de la literatura árabe en el Grado de Estudios Árabes e Islámicos de la Universidad de Granada. Su objetivo principal es el diseño y grabación, por parte de los estudiantes, de podcasts de literatura árabe a partir de la lectura de textos/obras literarias, tanto clásicas como contemporáneas, en relación al temario de las asignaturas de literatura del citado Grado implicadas en el Proyecto.“Kan yamakan” is a Teaching Innovation Project for teaching Arab Literature in the Degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Granada. Its main goal is to enable students to design and to elaborate bilingual Arab Literature podcasts from the previous reading of literary classical texts/works, as well as contemporary ones, related to the programs of Literature subjects involved in the project.Plan FIDO UGR 2020-2022, Unidad de Calidad, Innovación Docente y Prospectiv

Kan Yamakan/Érase una vez: el podcast como herramienta docente, 2ª edición

Kan yamakan es un proyecto de innovación docente aplicado a la enseñanza de la literatura árabe en el Grado de Estudios Árabes e Islámicos de la Universidad de Granada. Su objetivo principal es el diseño y grabación, por parte de los estudiantes, de podcasts de literatura árabe a partir de la lectura de textos/obras literarias, tanto clásicas como contemporáneas, en relación al temario de las asignaturas de literatura del citado Grado implicadas en el Proyecto. La segunda edición del proyecto se ha servido de la experiencia de la edición anterior para aumentar la colección de podcast de literatura árabe y plasmar todo el proceso y los conocimientos adquiridos en un manual que será publicado en abierto con el objetivo de difundir los resultados del proyecto y servir de material de innovación docente a profesores, alumnos y a cualquier interesado en llevar a cabo una actividad similar en otros ámbitos de conocimiento.Kan yamakan is a Teaching Innovation Project for teaching Arab Literature in the Degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Granada. Its main goal is to enable students to design and to elaborate bilingual Arab Literature podcasts from the previous reading of literary classical texts/works, as well as contemporary ones, related to the programs of Literature subjects involved in the project. The second edition of this project has used the previous experience of the first edition to increase the number of podcasts on Arabic Literature and to develop an open-access handbook that aims to disseminate the results of the project and to be a reference work in the field of Teaching Innovation for everyone interested in carrying out a similar activity in other fields of knowledge. This 2nd. edition project has also been guided by the same principles that inspired the first edition and by the growing trend of using podcasts for leisure purposes but also for educational and cultural ones. The current edition of the project has consolidated podcasting as an innovative didactic methodology to the teaching and learning of Literature in the Undergraduate Degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Granada.Plan FIDO UGR 2020-2022, Unidad de Calidad, Innovación Docente y Prospectiv

Improvement of Body Satisfaction in Older People: An Experimental Study

Aging typically manifests itself in a variety of physical and cognitive alterations and challenges that are not always easily accepted. Feeling dissatisfied with these changes can also affect the mood and self-esteem of older people causing body image problems. The present study focuses on body satisfaction in Spanish older people (176 participants; M and SD = 64.03 ± 1 8.06; age range 50 to over 75) by employing experimental research to test whether psychosocial interventions may have a positive impact. Our aims are threefold: (1) To describe the body satisfaction of older people considering intervening variables, such as age, gender, having a stable partner, time of the year, and place of residence; (2) to compare body satisfaction improvement in older people participating in a specific body satisfaction program designed for this purpose versus a non-specific program run by the Spanish Red Cross; and (3) to examine the relationship between age, gender, having a stable partner, time of the year, place of residence, body satisfaction and participating in the experimental condition. The IMAGINA specific body image program yielded a significant improvement in body satisfaction when compared with the non-specific program in both men and women regardless of marital status and in some age groups: 50 to 54 years old, 60 to 64 years old, and 65 to 69. Male participants, as well as singles, were more satisfied with their bodies, and the contrary was true for divorced and separated. The IMAGINA program was particularly useful in participants with more body image problems. As shown, the pressure to fit beauty standards and related problems do not go away with age, a fact that is embodied and experienced differently in men and women