Multiscale model for the effects of adaptive immunity suppression on the viral therapy of cancer

Oncolytic virotherapy - the use of viruses that specifically kill tumor cells - is an innovative and highly promising route for treating cancer. However, its therapeutic outcomes are mainly impaired by the host immune response to the viral infection. In the present work, we propose a multiscale mathematical model to study how the immune response interferes with the viral oncolytic activity. The model assumes that cytotoxic T cells can induce apoptosis in infected cancer cells and that free viruses can be inactivated by neutralizing antibodies or cleared at a constant rate by the innate immune response. Our simulations suggest that reprogramming the immune microenvironment in tumors could substantially enhance the oncolytic virotherapy in immune-competent hosts. Viable routes to such reprogramming are either in situ virus-mediated impairing of CD$8^+$ T cells motility or blockade of B and T lymphocytes recruitment. Our theoretical results can shed light on the design of viral vectors or new protocols with neat potential impacts on the clinical practice.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Geometry of phase separation

We study the domain geometry during spinodal decomposition of a 50:50 binary mixture in two dimensions. Extending arguments developed to treat non-conserved coarsening, we obtain approximate analytic results for the distribution of domain areas and perimeters during the dynamics. The main approximation is to regard the interfaces separating domains as moving independently. While this is true in the non-conserved case, it is not in the conserved one. Our results can therefore be considered as a first-order approximation for the distributions. In contrast to the celebrated Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner distribution of structures of the minority phase in the limit of very small concentration, the distribution of domain areas in the 50:50 case does not have a cut-off. Large structures (areas or perimeters) retain the morphology of a percolative or critical initial condition, for quenches from high temperatures or the critical point respectively. The corresponding distributions are described by a $c A^{-\tau}$ tail, where $c$ and $\tau$ are exactly known. With increasing time, small structures tend to have a spherical shape with a smooth surface before evaporating by diffusion. In this regime the number density of domains with area $A$ scales as $A^{1/2}$, as in the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner theory. The threshold between the small and large regimes is determined by the characteristic area, ${\rm A} \sim [\lambda(T) t]^{2/3}$. Finally, we study the relation between perimeters and areas and the distribution of boundary lengths, finding results that are consistent with the ones summarized above. We test our predictions with Monte Carlo simulations of the 2d Ising Model.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Coarsening of Disordered Quantum Rotors under a Bias Voltage

We solve the dynamics of an ensemble of interacting rotors coupled to two leads at different chemical potential letting a current flow through the system and driving it out of equilibrium. We show that at low temperature the coarsening phase persists under the voltage drop up to a critical value of the applied potential that depends on the characteristics of the electron reservoirs. We discuss the properties of the critical surface in the temperature, voltage, strength of quantum fluctuations and coupling to the bath phase diagram. We analyze the coarsening regime finding, in particular, which features are essentially quantum mechanical and which are basically classical in nature. We demonstrate that the system evolves via the growth of a coherence length with the same time-dependence as in the classical limit, $R(t) \simeq t^{1/2}$ -- the scalar curvature driven universality class. We obtain the scaling function of the correlation function at late epochs in the coarsening regime and we prove that it coincides with the classical one once a prefactor that encodes the dependence on all the parameters is factorized. We derive a generic formula for the current flowing through the system and we show that, for this model, it rapidly approaches a constant that we compute.Comment: 53 pages, 12 figure

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Association of Body Mass Index of HIV-1-Infected Pregnant Women and Infant Weight, Body Mass Index, Length, and Head Circumference: The NISDI Perinatal Study.

This study assessed the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) of HIV-1-infected women and their infants' perinatal outcomes. The study population consisted of women enrolled in the NICHD International Site Development Initiative (NISDI) Perinatal Study with data allowing calculation of the BMI adjusted for length of gestation (adjBMI), who delivered singleton infants. Outcome variables included infant growth parameters at birth (weight, BMI, length and head circumference) and gestational age. Of 697 women from Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil and Mexico who were included in the analysis, the adjBMI was classified as underweight for 109 (15.6%), normal for 418 (60.0%), overweight for 88 (12.6%) and obese for 82 (11.8%). Median infant birth weight, BMI, birth length and head circumference differed significantly according to maternal adjBMI (P</=0.0002). Underweight mothers gave birth to infants with lower weight, lower BMI, shorter length and smaller head circumference, while infants born to normal, overweight and obese mothers were of similar size

Inclusión social de personas con discapacidad intelectual en Guadalajara, México

El presente artículo tiene por objetivo analizar las problemáticas sociales que enfrentan las personas con discapacidad intelectual y sus familias en Guadalajara, México. El estudio que se presenta es de tipo cualitativo, cuya técnica de investigación fue la entrevista semiestructurada a familias con un integrante con discapacidad intelectual. El tipo de muestreo fue por conveniencia bajo el principio de saturación de la información. El texto muestra entre sus resultados los retos para la inclusión que se presentan por la falta de protección social a este sector de la población, principalmente con respecto al derecho a la salud y la educación. Se hace evidente el hecho de que las familias enfrentan prácticamente solas el costo social de lo que ello implica, de tal manera que se hace un llamado urgente a la creación de políticas públicas pertinentes, desde la perspectiva de la Convención sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad. The present article has the objective to analyze the social problematic that persons with intellectual disability and their families have to face in Guadalajara, Mexico. The study that is presented is qualitative type, which its investigation´s technique was the semi structured interview of families that have a member with intellectual disability. The type of sampling was for convenience under the principle of saturation of the information. The text shows in its results the challenges for the inclusion that exist because of the lack of social protection to this sector of the population, especially about the rights to health and education. It makes evident the fact that the families that practically face alone the social costs of what this implies, so it makes an urgent call for the creation of pertinent public policies, from the perspective of the Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities

Identidad cultural: una estrategia de intervención para la convivencia escolar

The general intention, of the investigation it is strengthens the school conviviality from a strategy of intervention based on the cultural identity Soledeña of the students of paula Santander's, methodologically this I. E. Francisco framed in the paradigm Partner - critic, introspective existential approach, type of investigation; Investigation Action Educational Participant (IAPE), with a Design constituted by an opened and flexible system of technical specific action and units of work shaped by students, educational, managerial teachers, family parents, community leaders, Since technologies of compilation of information effected meetings, workshop, interview semi structured and counterfoils of information and triangulation to establish the relation between the analysis of documents, the information gathered to establish a series of categories that are structured along the work fell like: the conviviality and the sense of belonging. Concluding that a process of cultural identity developed well inside The Educational Institution Francisco de Paula Santander is fundamental to value the own culture of the municipality and to be able to coexist inside any context with other persons.El propósito general, de la investigación es fortalecer la convivencia escolar desde una estrategia de intervención basada en la identidad cultural Soledeña de los estudiantes de la I. E. Francisco de Paula Santander, metodológicamente está enmarcado en el enfoque introspectivo vivencial, el paradigma Socio-Critico y el tipo de Investigación Acción Participativa Educativa (IAPE), con unidades de trabajo conformadas por estudiantes, docentes, directivos docentes y padres de familia, se utilizó como técnicas la revisión documental, encuentros – taller y entrevistas semi estructuradas, además de instrumentos como matrices de información de dos canales, guías de entrevistas, de procesamiento y validación; se realizó una triangulación para establecer la relación entre el análisis de documentos, la información recolectada y los referentes teóricos que permitieron establecer una serie de categorías que se encuentran a lo largo del trabajo tales como: la convivencia y el sentido de pertenencia. Se concluye que un proceso de identidad cultural bien desarrollado entro de La Institución Educativa Francisco de Paula Santander permite la valoración cultural del municipio y genera una mejor convivencia dentro un contexto especifico con otras personas

Educating Pharmacy Students to Improve Quality (EPIQ) in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

Objective. To assess course instructors’ and students’ perceptions of the Educating Pharmacy Students and Pharmacists to Improve Quality (EPIQ) curriculum. Methods. Seven colleges and schools of pharmacy that were using the EPIQ program in their curricula agreed to participate in the study. Five of the 7 collected student retrospective pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Changes in students’ perceptions were evaluated to assess their relationships with demographics and course variables. Instructors who implemented the EPIQ program at each of the 7 colleges and schools were also asked to complete a questionnaire. Results. Scores on all questionnaire items indicated improvement in students’ perceived knowledge of quality improvement. The university the students attended, completion of a class project, and length of coverage of material were significantly related to improvement in the students’ scores. Instructors at all colleges and schools felt the EPIQ curriculum was a strong program that fulfilled the criteria for quality improvement and medication error reduction education. Conclusion. The EPIQ program is a viable, turnkey option for colleges and schools of pharmacy to use in teaching students about quality improvement