28 research outputs found

    Regulation of immunity during visceral Leishmania infection

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    Unicellular eukaryotes of the genus Leishmania are collectively responsible for a heterogeneous group of diseases known as leishmaniasis. The visceral form of leishmaniasis, caused by L. donovani or L. infantum, is a devastating condition, claiming 20,000 to 40,000 lives annually, with particular incidence in some of the poorest regions of the world. Immunity to Leishmania depends on the development of protective type I immune responses capable of activating infected phagocytes to kill intracellular amastigotes. However, despite the induction of protective responses, disease progresses due to a multitude of factors that impede an optimal response. These include the action of suppressive cytokines, exhaustion of specific T cells, loss of lymphoid tissue architecture and a defective humoral response. We will review how these responses are orchestrated during the course of infection, including both early and chronic stages, focusing on the spleen and the liver, which are the main target organs of visceral Leishmania in the host. A comprehensive understanding of the immune events that occur during visceral Leishmania infection is crucial for the implementation of immunotherapeutic approaches that complement the current anti-Leishmania chemotherapy and the development of effective vaccines to prevent disease.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No.602773 (Project KINDRED). VR is supported by a post-doctoral fellowship granted by the KINDReD consortium. RS thanks the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for an Investigator Grant (IF/00021/2014). This work was supported by grants to JE from ANR (LEISH-APO, France), Partenariat Hubert Curien (PHC) (program Volubilis, MA/11/262). JE acknowledges the support of the Canada Research Chair Program

    Challenges in the application of quantitative approaches in risk assessment: a case study with di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate

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    Introducing organisational heritage: Linking corporate heritage, organisational identity, and organisational memory

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    In this article we formally introduce and explicate the organisational heritage notion. The authors conclude organisational heritage can be designated in three broad ways as: (1) organisational heritage identity as the perceived and reminisced omni-temporal traits – both formal/normative and utilitarian/societal – of organisational members’ work organisation; (2) organisational heritage identification as organisational members’ identification/self-categorisation vis-à-vis these perceived and reminisced omni-temporal traits of their work organisation, and (3) organisational heritage cultural identification as 0rganisational members’ multi-generational identification/self-categorisation vis-à-vis the perceived and reminisced omni-temporal traits of their work organisation’s corporate culture. To date, advances in heritage studies at the institutional-level have primarily taken place within the broad corporate marketing paradigm. However, we are mindful of developments in the organisational memory field and the need to address and engage with organisational behaviour/management scholarship in the broad organisational identity domain. The realisation that there is a distinct genus of corporate heritage institution (corporate heritage identity) and brand (corporate heritage brand) represents a seismic shift in how scholars theorise about heritage institutions and corporate heritage brands and how the aforementioned are managed. In the development of a field concept introduction and explanation is a key means through which an area can progress and the explicit aim of this article is to achieve the aforementioned by our elucidation of the organisational heritage notion. We argue the literatures on corporate heritage identity, organisational identity, and organisational memory are of assistance in appreciating the saliency of organisational heritage. As such, by building on embryonic scholarship in the corporate heritage this article aims to explicate the nature and significance of organisational heritage. The implications of organisational heritage for corporate heritage brands are also delineated
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