Nanofiber Scaffolds as 3D Culture Platforms

Cell culture has become the basis for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of cell, tissue and organ function. Although major advancements in uncovering the underlying processes and mechanisms of normal and diseased cell biology have been made by using two-dimensional (2D) cell culture, there is a recent shift in moving towards three-dimensional (3D) culture platforms. The motivation is to better recapitulate the microenvironment of cells in vivo to obtain results that are more indicative to actual cellular processes. In this study, electrospun nano-fibrous scaffolds made of polycaprolactone were used as a 3D culture tool to investigate difference in cell behavior and gene expression in normal breast epithelial cells, 184B5, and breast cancer cells MCF7 and MDA-MB-231. Cells were seeded individually as well as in cocultures on the various platforms and treated with the fluorescent fructose mimic, ManCou-H for 24h and 48h. Differences in cell behavior as well as gene expression was observed amongst the different culture platforms indicating that there are discrepancies when limiting cell culture studies to 2D platforms. The varying gene expression of both GLUT5 and cytokeratin-18 amongst the platforms indicated that 3D culture platforms should be considered in experiment design

Inclusion and isolation in refugee social networks - a comparative analysis of Parkistan, Turkey and Kenya

A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, School of Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Johannesburg, 2017.Migrant social networks and their effects have dominated international migration discourse over the past few decades. The importance of social networks and social capital in migration decision-making is underscored by large volumes of research across many disciplines. There are however few comparative analyses of the refugee experience across disparate geographical spaces particularly cities in the so-called global ‘South’. Drawing on original survey data collected from refugees in Pakistan, Turkey and Nairobi in mid-2016, this paper argues that access to social networks and the value of the social capital embedded in these networks, is strongly dependent on the pre-migration social, political, cultural and economic contexts of migrants and refugees. Social networks generate positive social capital in some contexts and negative social capital in others. Logistic regression and correlational tests of association were used to analyse the relationship between social networks, employment, and well-being of refugees in the three cities mentioned. The findings speak of the complex economic and social environments refugees often find themselves, and networks of personal relations either hamper or facilitate the ability of refugees to secure employment.XL201

Contribution of private fund managers to the accumulation of pension capital of the second tier of Latvian pension system in 2012-2016

Fourteen years passed since the resources of the second tier- Mandatory State Funded Pension Scheme- were transferred from Latvian State Treasury to private fund managers. Rates of return of private fund managers in 2003-2016 were very different. The previous research of the authors showed, that in 2003-2013 an average performance of the second tier was lower, than the rates of inflation and average growth of salary. As far as crisis years were included in previous study, the aim of this paper is to assess the contribution of private fund managers to the accumulation of pension capital in post-crisis period. For the analysis of profitability 20 pension plans were divided into different groups. Then the authors analyzed the following indicators: performance of 20 pension plans in 2012-2016; profitability depending on the declared risk of pension plan; dynamics of private fund managers’ fees and population opinion on Latvian pension system. Latvian indicators were compared with Lithuania and Estonia. The conclusions about the results of the analysis were drawn. On the basis of conclusions, the authors estimated the contribution of the private fund managers to the accumulation of pension capital of the second tier of Latvian pension system. In the concluding remarks of the paper the authors made proposals for increasing the contribution of private fund managers to the accumulation of capital in the Mandatory State Funded Pension Scheme. One of the main proposals is to continue the digitalization of the system. As far as Latvian system is a model for many other countries all over the world, the authors’ proposals may be actual also in other countries.peer-reviewe

BIOMETRIČNA VERIFIKACIJA KOT STORITEV V OBLAKU - PRIMER UPORABE

Ko govorimo o avtentikaciji na internetu, v večini primerov še vedno mislimo na gesla. Eden izmed največjih problemov trenutnih avtentikacijskih pristopov je vsekakor dejstvo, da si mora uporabnik zapolniti preveliko število uporabniških imen in gesel, kar vodi k pozabljanju ali uporabi istih uporabniških imen in gesel za različne spletne strani. Rešitev tega problema lahko najdemo v uporabi biometrije. V članku predstavljamo biometrično verifikacijo kot storitev v oblaku in primer uporabe takšne storitve v aplikaciji za preverjanje prisotnosti študentov na predavanju

Divergent cellulosome architecture in rumen bacteria : structure and function studies in cohesin-dockerin complexes of Ruminococcus flavefaciens

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Veterinárias, na Especialidade de Produção AnimalProtein-protein interactions play a vital role in many cellular processes as exemplified by the assembly of the cellulosome, a bacterial multi-enzyme complex that efficiently degrades cellulose and hemicellulose. Cellulosome assembly involves the high-affinity binding of type I enzyme-borne dockerins to repeated cohesin modules located on non-catalytic structural proteins termed scaffoldins. In addition, the complex is anchored into the bacterial surface through the binding of a scaffoldin type II dockerin to cell-bound cohesins. Initially, the architecture and organization of cellulosomes was thought to rely uniquely on type I and type II cohesin-dockerin interactions. It was recently suggested that cellulosomes from rumen bacteria are organized through different mechanisms involving a third type of cohesin-dockerin complexes. Thus, the genome of the major ruminal bacterium Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 revealed a particularly elaborate cellulosome system that is assembled from a library of more than 200 different components through divergent cohesin-dockerin pairs. Providing structural insights for the specificity displayed by the increasing repertoire of cohesin-dockerin interaction is not only of fundamental importance but essential for the development of novel cellulosome based tools. The present work aimed to identify the molecular basis for the organization of R. flavefaciens cellulosome by dissecting the structural basis of cohesin-dockerin specificity in cellulosomes of rumen bacteria. The data revealed a collection of unique cohesin-dockerin interactions, supporting the functional relevance of dockerin classification in groups based on primary sequence similarity. In addition, R. flavefaciens cellulosome is assembled through a mechanism involving single but not dual-binding mode dockerins. This contrasts with the majority of the cellulosomes described to date where dockerins generally present two similar cohesin-binding interfaces, supporting a dual-binding mode. To illustrate this, the structures of two cohesin-dockerin complexes containing an Acetivibrio cellulolyticus dual-binding mode dockerin were solved. Finally, structural information was used to engineer a dockerin presenting a dual cohesin specificity, revealing the plasticity of the cohesin-dockerin platform to design novel protein-protein interactions.RESUMO - Arquitetura celulossomal divergente em bactérias ruminais: estudos de estrutura e função em complexos coesina-doquerina do Ruminococcus flavefaciens - As interacções proteína-proteína desempenham um papel essencial em vários processos celulares, sendo exemplo disso a estruturação do celulosoma, um complexo bacteriano multienzimático altamente eficiente na degradação da celulose e hemicelulose. A montagem do celulosoma envolve interações de alta afinidade entre doquerinas do tipo I, presentes em enzimas, e os módulos coesina presentes em proteínas estruturais não catalíticas denominadas de escafoldinas. Adicionalmente, todo o complexo é ancorado à superfície bacteriana através da ligação de uma dockerina do tipo II, presente numa escafoldina, a coesinas ligadas à célula. Inicialmente, pensava-se que a arquitectura e organização dos celulosomas assentava exclusivamente em interacções coesina-doquerina do tipo I e II. Recentemente, foi sugerido que a microbiota ruminal contém bactérias produtoras de celulossoma com diferentes mecanismos de organização, envolvendo um terceiro tipo de complexos coesina-dockerina. O genoma da bactéria ruminal Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1, revelou um sistema celulossomal particularmente elaborado, montado a partir de uma biblioteca com mais de 200 componentes, através de complexos coesina-doquerina do tipo III. Estabelecer uma base estrutural para a especificidade exibida pelo crescente repertório de pares coesina-doquerina é não só fundamentalmente importante mas também essencial para o desenvolvimento de novas ferramentas com base no celulossoma. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar a base estrutural para a especificidade coesina-doquerina do R. flavefaciens, permitindo descortinar os mecanismos por detrás da montagem dos celulosomas ruminais. Os dados obtidos revelaram uma colecção de interacções coesina-doquerina única, suportando a relevância funcional da classificação das doquerinas em grupos com base na homologia da sua estrutura primária. Mostraram ainda que o celulossoma do R. flavefaciens é montado através de um mecanismo envolvendo doquerinas com modo de ligação único mas não duplo. Isto contrasta com a maioria dos celulosomas descritos até à data, em que as doquerinas geralmente apresentam duas interfaces semelhantes de ligação à coesina, suportando um modo de ligação dupla. Tal é ilustrado pela estrutura de dois complexos coesina-doquerina do Acetivibrio cellulolyticus, envolvendo uma doquerina com modo de ligação dupla. Finalmente, esta informação estrutural foi usada para desenhar uma doquerina com dupla especificidade, mostranto a plasticidade da plataforma coesina-doquerina para o desenvolvimento de novas interações proteína:proteína.N/

SURFACE WATER IMPACT ON A LARGE LUDZAS LAKE

The theme. Surface water impact on a Large Ludzas Lake. Problem statement. It is not known – what the lake surface water pollution affects the quality of the Lake Large Problems actuality. Ludza region data on the Lake Large Ludzas quality are not completely

Technical, Legal, Economic and Social Aspects of Biometrics for Cloud Computing

This article addresses technical, legal, economic and social aspects of biometrics for cloud computing, featuring application example, gains of such solution, current laws, directives and legislation for biometrics and cloud computing. It is primarily based on Slovenian example due to common general EU legislation in the field of cloud computing and biometrics. Authentication on the Internet is still mainly done using passwords, while biometrics is practically not used. It is commonly known that everything is moving to the cloud and biometrics is not an exception. Amount of biometric data is expected to grow significantly over the next few years and only cloud computing is possible to process such amounts of data. Due to these facts and increasing security needs, we propose and implement the use of biometry as a service in the cloud. A challenge regarding the use of biometric solutions in the cloud is the protection of the privacy of individuals and their personal data. In Slovenia privacy legislation is very strong, it permits usage of biometrics only for very specific reasons, but we predict that big players on the market will change this fact globally. One of the important reasons for that is also the fact that biometrics for cloud computing provides some strong benefits and economic incentives. Proper deployment can provide significant savings. Such solutions could improve people’s quality of life in terms of social development, especially in sense of more convenient, safer and reliable identification over multiple government and non-government services

BIOMETRIČNA VERIFIKACIJA KOT STORITEV V OBLAKU - PRIMER UPORABE

Ko govorimo o avtentikaciji na internetu, v večini primerov še vedno mislimo na gesla. Eden izmed največjih problemov trenutnih avtentikacijskih pristopov je vsekakor dejstvo, da si mora uporabnik zapolniti preveliko število uporabniških imen in gesel, kar vodi k pozabljanju ali uporabi istih uporabniških imen in gesel za različne spletne strani. Rešitev tega problema lahko najdemo v uporabi biometrije. V članku predstavljamo biometrično verifikacijo kot storitev v oblaku in primer uporabe takšne storitve v aplikaciji za preverjanje prisotnosti študentov na predavanju

Interactive augmented reality marketing system

Choosing the right way of advertisement to get the customer's attention is one of the hardest tasks a company has to face. Companies are aware that the advertise-ment will receive more attention if it stands out among others. That is why the way of advertising is constantly changing. This article presents interactive aug-mented reality advertising system. It consists of a camera, screen and software on the computer. The system inserts thoughts in real time to the visitors in front of the camera in the form of comic books speech balloons, which augment live vid-eo on screen, while the content follows the predetermined scenario. The system was tested at two fairs and the impact on visitors was remarkable. The visitors stopped almost always, engaged with the system and had fun. Due to these facts we believe that such systems will change marketing strategies in the near future

Measuring Attitudes Towards Motorcycle Helmet Use in Laos

This paper examines attitude towards use of motorcycle helmet in Laos. A quantitative approach using the survey questionnaire method was adopted to assess this attitude. A total of 257 university students in Vientiane, Laos was interviewed. Forward translation, backward translation, and cognitive debriefing were carried out. Factor analysis of the principal components was also performed. The four-factor solution was used to explain the 58.867% of total variance. The correlation between items showed values between .01 and .566. The total item correlation values were between .129 and .566. Cronbach alpha coefficient was .764 for overall scale and between .801 and .601 on the four factors. Spearman Brown prediction formula was used to test psychometric properties and reliability of the items. A total of 17 items were considered reliable, such as such as susceptibility, trafficability, safety and usability, in determining overall attitudes of Laotians in using motorcycle helmet. These can be used in future research