Overexpression and purification of the CSFV-E2 recombinant protein for diagnostics from biofactories using biotechnological methods

The production and purification of the E2 protein for develop of a diagnostic tool for detection of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) has raised interest by the current impossibility to distinguish between vaccinated and infected animals. The production of the recombinant E2 protein is important for the development of a diagnostic kit that allows the early detection of animals infected with the swine fever virus.Bionaturis is developing a recombinant E2 molecule using the FlyLife platform. For the production, the E2 protein was cloned in recombinant baculovirus, which were used for protein overexpression by infecting Trichoplusia ni larvae. The addition of a histidine tail to the original protein is also a key question to facilitate E2 protein purification. By using SDS-PAGE and anti-CSFV-V8 Wester blot analyzes, a 44kDa size band of the E2 protein was observed as expected. The results indicated that overexpression efficiently took place, yielding a large amounts of the desired protein.In conclusion, a protein extraction and purification protocol has been developed using affinity chromatography and denaturing conditions and a yield of 0.30 mg/larvae and 86% purity has been obtained. The use of a histidine tail to facilitate purification has allowed an increase in purity. Finally, a step of refolding the denatured protein has been carried out and its activity has been validated by an in vitro potency test by specific antibody recognition (ELISA)

Conceptual Drivers for an Exploration Medical System

Interplanetary spaceflight provides unique challenges that have not been encountered in prior spaceflight experience. Extended distance and timeframes introduce new challenges such as an inability to resupply medications and consumables, inability to evacuate injured or ill crew, and communication delays that introduce a requirement for some level of autonomous medical capability. Because of these challenges the approaches used in prior programs have limited application to a proposed three year Mars mission. This paper proposes a paradigm shift in the approach to medical risk mitigation for crew health and mission objectives threatened by inadequate medical capabilities in the setting of severely limited resources. A conceptual approach is outlined to derive medical system and vehicle needs from an integrated vision of how medical care will be provided within this new paradigm. Using NASA Design Reference Missions this process assesses each mission phase to deconstruct medical needs at any point during a mission. Two operational categories are proposed, nominal operations (pre-planned activities) and contingency operations (medical conditions requiring evaluation) that meld clinical needs and research needs into a single system. These definitions are used to derive a task level analysis to support quantifiable studies into a medical capabilities trade. This trade allows system design to proceed from both a mission centric and ethics-based approach to medical limitations in an exploration class mission

A Strategic Approach to Medical Care for Exploration Missions

Exploration missions will present significant new challenges to crew health, including effects of variable gravity environments, limited communication with Earth-based personnel for diagnosis and consultation for medical events, limited resupply, and limited ability for crew return. Providing health care capabilities for exploration class missions will require system trades be performed to identify a minimum set of requirements and crosscutting capabilities which can be used in design of exploration medical systems. Current and future medical data, information, and knowledge must be cataloged and put in formats that facilitate querying and analysis. These data may then be used to inform the medical research and development program through analysis of risk trade studies between medical care capabilities and system constraints such as mass, power, volume, and training. These studies will be used to define a Medical Concept of Operations to facilitate stakeholder discussions on expected medical capability for exploration missions. Medical Capability as a quantifiable variable is proposed as a surrogate risk metric and explored for trade space analysis that can improve communication between the medical and engineering approaches to mission design. The resulting medical system approach selected will inform NASA mission architecture, vehicle, and subsystem design for the next generation of spacecraft

Smoking cessation interventions for college students. A meta-analysis

Póster de Pardavila-Belio,M. I., Canga-Armayor, N., Carcia-Vivar-C., et al "Smoking cessation interventions for college students. A meta-analysis" en 15th SRNT - EuropeAnnual Meeting 2014, celebrado en Santiago de Compostela (España) el 20 de septiembre de 201

Biomagnifcation and body distribution of ivermectin in dung beetles

We thank the staf of Doñana Biological Reserve (DBR-ICTS), Doñana National Park, and Los Alcornocales Natural Park, especially D. Paz, F. Ibáñez, P. Bayón, M. Malla and D. Ruiz for logistic facilities for the field work and permissions (2019107300000904/IRM/MDCG/mes) to collect cattle dung and dung beetles. We are grateful to J. Castro and A. Rascón for technical assistance. We also thank A. V. Giménez-Gómez for her technical assistance in the laboratory work. We thank also F.-T Krell and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Financial support was provided by the project CGL2015-68207-R of the Secretaría de Estado de Investigación–Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad.A terrestrial test system to investigate the biomagnifcation potential and tissue-specifc distribution of ivermectin, a widely used parasiticide, in the non-target dung beetle Thorectes lusitanicus (Jekel) was developed and validated. Biomagnifcation kinetics of ivermectin in T. lusitanicus was investigated by following uptake, elimination, and distribution of the compound in dung beetles feeding on contaminated faeces. Results showed that ivermectin was biomagnifed in adults of T. lusitanicus when exposed to non-lethal doses via food uptake. Ivermectin was quickly transferred from the gut to the haemolymph, generating a biomagnifcation factor (BMFk) three times higher in the haemolymph than in the gut after an uptake period of 12 days. The fat body appeared to exert a major role on the biomagnifcation of ivermectin in the insect body, showing a BMFk 1.6 times higher than in the haemolymph. The results of this study highlight that the biomagnifcation of ivermectin should be investigated from a global dung-based food web perspective and that the use of these antiparasitic substances should be monitored and controlled on a precautionary basis. Thus, we suggest that an additional efort be made in the development of standardised regulatory recommendations to guide biomagnifcation studies in terrestrial organisms, but also that it is necessary to adapt existing methods to assess the efects of such veterinary medical products

The Pharmacokinetics and Interactions of Ivermectin in Humans—A Mini-review

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug with a broad spectrum of activity, high efficacy as well as a wide margin of safety. Since 1987, this compound has a widespread use in veterinary medicine and it use has been extended in humans. Here we present a brief review of the information availabile regarding the pharmacokinetics and interactions of ivermectin in humans. Awareness of these characteristics could improve the clinical efficacy of Ivermectin. All Authors declare that they do not have any Conflict of interest and that the work is original. All Authors agree that the contents of the manuscript are confidential and will not be copyrighted, submitted, or published elsewhere (including the Internet), in any language, while acceptance by the Journal is under consideration

The impact of graduate construction management education on professional life

In the paper, the authors discuss the impact of graduate construction management education on professional life in Turkey, and how such education can be improved so as to reveal greater competitive advantages for its graduates. The paper is based on a survey given to graduates from the relevant programme at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey, which seeks comments from graduates regarding the competitive advantage of having a MSc degree in construction management, as well as recommendations on how to improve the programme. Questionnaire findings have demonstrated that a construction management degree provides a competitive advantage in the Turkish construction sector where the magnitude of the advantage differs according to various factors such as the type of sub-sector, client organisation, etc. Moreover, the survey revealed that, despite its deficiencies, the programme achieved its primary mission. Recommendations on how to improve the programme are also discussed by the authors within the paper

The Impact of Graduate Construction Management Education on Professional Life

In the paper, the authors discuss the impact of graduate construction management education on professional life in Turkey, and how such education can be improved so as to reveal greater competitive advantages for its graduates. The paper is based on a survey given to graduates from the relevant programme at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey, which seeks comments from graduates regarding the competitive advantage of having a MSc degree in construction management, as well as recommendations on how to improve the programme. Questionnaire findings have demonstrated that a construction management degree provides a competitive advantage in the Turkish construction sector where the magnitude of the advantage differs according to various factors such as the type of sub-sector, client organisation, etc. Moreover, the survey revealed that, despite its deficiencies, the programme achieved its primary mission. Recommendations on how to improve the programme are also discussed by the authors within the paper