Dextran-Coated Magnetic Supports Modified with a Biomimetic Ligand for IgG Purification

The authors thank the financial support from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia through Grant PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2011 and contracts no. PTDC/EBB-BIO/102163/2008, PTDC/EBB-BIO/098961/2008, PTDC/EBB-BIO/118317/2010, SFRH/BD/72650/2010 for V.L.D, and Santander Totta Bank - Universidade Nova de Lisboa for the Scientific Award 2009/2010. The authors are grateful to Dr. Abid Hussain and M. Telma Barroso (REQUIMTE, FCT-UNL, Portugal) for the preparation of the synthetic affinity ligands, to Lonza Biologics, U.K. (Dr. Richard Alldread), and the Animal Cell Technology Unit of ITQB-UNL/IBET (Dr. Paula M Alves and Dr. Ana Teixeira) for providing the cells and the culture bulks and to Mr. Filipe Cardoso and Prof. Paulo Freitas (INESC-MN, Lisbon, Portugal) for the help with the VSM measurements.Dextran-coated iron oxide magnetic particles modified with ligand 22/8, a protein A mimetic ligand, were prepared and assessed for IgG purification. Dextran was chosen as the agent to modify the surface of magnetic particles by presenting a negligible level of nonspecific adsorption. For the functionalization of the particles with the affinity ligand toward antibodies, three methods have been explored. The optimum coupling method yielded a theoretical maximum capacity for human IgG calculated as 568 ± 33 mg/g and a binding affinity constant of 7.7 × 10⁴ M⁻¹. Regeneration, recycle and reuse of particles was also highly successful for five cycles with minor loss of capacity. Moreover, this support presented specificity and effectiveness for IgG adsorption and elution at pH 11 directly from crude extracts with a final purity of 95% in the eluted fraction.proofpublishe

Identifying therapeutic targets for cancer among 2074 circulating proteins and risk of nine cancers

Circulating proteins can reveal key pathways to cancer and identify therapeutic targets for cancer prevention. We investigate 2,074 circulating proteins and risk of nine common cancers (bladder, breast, endometrium, head and neck, lung, ovary, pancreas, kidney, and malignant non-melanoma) using cis protein Mendelian randomisation and colocalization. We conduct additional analyses to identify adverse side-effects of altering risk proteins and map cancer risk proteins to drug targets. Here we find 40 proteins associated with common cancers, such as PLAUR and risk of breast cancer [odds ratio per standard deviation increment: 2.27, 1.88-2.74], and with high-mortality cancers, such as CTRB1 and pancreatic cancer [0.79, 0.73-0.85]. We also identify potential adverse effects of protein-altering interventions to reduce cancer risk, such as hypertension. Additionally, we report 18 proteins associated with cancer risk that map to existing drugs and 15 that are not currently under clinical investigation. In sum, we identify protein-cancer links that improve our understanding of cancer aetiology. We also demonstrate that the wider consequence of any protein-altering intervention on well-being and morbidity is required to interpret any utility of proteins as potential future targets for therapeutic prevention

Identifying therapeutic targets for cancer among 2074 circulating proteins and risk of nine cancers

Circulating proteins can reveal key pathways to cancer and identify therapeutic targets for cancer prevention. We investigate 2,074 circulating proteins and risk of nine common cancers (bladder, breast, endometrium, head and neck, lung, ovary, pancreas, kidney, and malignant non-melanoma) using cis protein Mendelian randomisation and colocalization. We conduct additional analyses to identify adverse side-effects of altering risk proteins and map cancer risk proteins to drug targets. Here we find 40 proteins associated with common cancers, such as PLAUR and risk of breast cancer [odds ratio per standard deviation increment: 2.27, 1.88-2.74], and with high-mortality cancers, such as CTRB1 and pancreatic cancer [0.79, 0.73-0.85]. We also identify potential adverse effects of protein-altering interventions to reduce cancer risk, such as hypertension. Additionally, we report 18 proteins associated with cancer risk that map to existing drugs and 15 that are not currently under clinical investigation. In sum, we identify protein-cancer links that improve our understanding of cancer aetiology. We also demonstrate that the wider consequence of any protein-altering intervention on well-being and morbidity is required to interpret any utility of proteins as potential future targets for therapeutic prevention.</p

Bottom up ethics - neuroenhancement in education and employment

Neuroenhancement involves the use of neurotechnologies to improve cognitive, affective or behavioural functioning, where these are not judged to be clinically impaired. Questions about enhancement have become one of the key topics of neuroethics over the past decade. The current study draws on in-depth public engagement activities in ten European countries giving a bottom-up perspective on the ethics and desirability of enhancement. This informed the design of an online contrastive vignette experiment that was administered to representative samples of 1000 respondents in the ten countries and the United States. The experiment investigated how the gender of the protagonist, his or her level of performance, the efficacy of the enhancer and the mode of enhancement affected support for neuroenhancement in both educational and employment contexts. Of these, higher efficacy and lower performance were found to increase willingness to support enhancement. A series of commonly articulated claims about the individual and societal dimensions of neuroenhancement were derived from the public engagement activities. Underlying these claims, multivariate analysis identified two social values. The Societal/Protective highlights counter normative consequences and opposes the use enhancers. The Individual/Proactionary highlights opportunities and supports use. For most respondents these values are not mutually exclusive. This suggests that for many neuroenhancement is viewed simultaneously as a source of both promise and concern

Complete kappa-reducibility of pseudovarieties of the form DRH

We denote by. the implicit signature that contains the multiplication and the (omega-1)-power. It is proved that for any completely kappa-reducible pseudovariety of groups H, the pseudovariety DRH of all finite semigroups whose regular R-classes are groups in H is completely kappa-reducible as well. The converse also holds. The tools used by Almeida, Costa, and Zeitoun for proving that the pseudovariety of all finite R-trivial monoids is completely kappa-reducible are adapted for the general setting of a pseudovariety of the form DRH

Encuesta COLLES realizada a los participantes de 4 cursos impartidos por la Facultad de Veterinaria a través de Moodle

La Facultad de Veterinaria de la Universidad de la República (Uruguay) ha instalado la plataforma Moodle para realizar actividades semipresenciales y a distancia. Los participantes de 4 cursos que la utilizaron -uno de estudiantes de grado, uno de profesores de veterinaria, dos de profesores de educación terciaria del interior del país- realizaron la encuesta COLLES (Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey) para evaluar la calidad del ambiente educativo. Del análisis de los resultados de las encuestas se evidencia que que obtienen menor nivel de aprobación la Interactividad y Apoyo de los compañeros, manteniéndose en un nivel medio a alto los correspondientes a Relevancia, Pensamiento Reflexivo e Interpretación, y en un nivel medio el correspondiente al Apoyo del Tutor. Se observa que los docentes que realizan los cursos de perfeccionamiento, ven mucho más relevante los aprendido en los cursos en línea para su práctica profesional, que los estudiantes de grado. Los participantes del curso de grado valoran los niveles de relevancia y pensamiento reflexivo ligeramente por debajo de lo manifestado por los participantes de los cursos de perfeccionamiento docente. La continua implementación de instancias de formación en tecnología educativa es indispensable para acompañar exitosamente este proceso

El uso de las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TIC) en la Facultad de Veterinaria Actitudes y percepciones de los Docentes

En una institución universitaria, el cuerpo docente es el motor del proceso de incorporación y uso de nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TIC). Este trabajo presenta los resultados del análisis de las encuestas realizadas a un grupo de docentes de la Facultad de Veterinaria – UDELAR con una dedicación horaria igual o mayor a 20 horas semanales. El cuestionario utilizado incluyó preguntas sobre el uso de las TIC en la Institución, las percepciones y actitudes frente su utilización. Resultados primarios indican que 70% de los docentes utiliza material proveniente de Internet en sus clases y están dispuestos a recibir formación en esa área. El 51% no facilita direcciones Web a estudiantes, y el 61% no utiliza el correo institucional ni foros de discusión. A mayor edad del docente, más valor se le da a las TIC y al uso educativo de las mismas, a diferencia de lo esperado la edad es el factor que más influye en las actitudes, y en segundo lugar el grado académico, no siendo significativo el género. La información generada permite un plan de formación y apoyo a los docentes para la incorporación de las TIC como medios de enseñanza – aprendizaje