Pneumatic Systems: How Air Effects Space

“The sky starts under our feet” Air is one of the most fundamental, yet forgotten, elements within the architectural discourse. It is something not seen, but felt; smelled, but not experienced. Air, in practical discourse, is something that is always referenced. Formulating an air-tight façade is something of high importance to architects. In large cities, air rights become valuable property. In Chicago, the Boeing tower spans atop rail lines that terminate at Ogilvie station a few blocks away. However important this air space may be, one does not purchase the air, but rather a volumetric area that matter is constantly moving through, blurring boundaries. Challenging air as matter, medium, site, and collaborator, this series of projects seeks to explore how air can be made physically manifest, through data-set representation, air-fed mega-structures, and wind. Beginning with drawing, I move onto a collaborative visual data-set, a large air-fed reflective pavilion, and return to the idea of drawing with a kite-directed mechanism for drawing

A promising new ELISA diagnostic test for cattle babesiosis based on Babesia bigemina Apical Membrane Antigen-1.

Babesiosis due to Babesia bigemina is a relevant tick‑borne disease, affecting cattle worldwide. Many surface proteins of the pathogen including the Apical Membrane Antigen 1 (AMA‑1) ‑ have been analysed for vaccine and diagnostic purposes. This study focused on B. bigemina AMA‑1 and on its use for the assessment of diagnostic tests. After bioinformatic analyses, AMA‑1 codifying region was amplified and cloned into an expression vector used to induce protein synthesis in Escherichia coli cells. AMA‑1 was purified by affinity chromatography and used to set up the best condition for an ELISA protocol. Bovine field sera positive to B. bigemina were used to evaluate the presence of anti‑AMA‑1 antibodies. In order to verify the assay specificity, sera positive to Babesia bovis or to the piroplasm Theileria annulata were also included. Significant differences were obtained between sera negative to both B. bigemina and B. bovis and samples positive to B. bigemina, to B. bovis or to both pathogens. No significant reaction was observed with T. annulata positive sera. The results showed that AMA‑1 protein is suitable to be used as antigen in diagnostic assays for babesiosis diagnosis in cattle, as it does not show any cross reaction with anti-T. annulata antibodies

Gevrey local solvability in locally integrable structures

We consider a locally integrable real-analytic structure, and we investigate the local solvability in the category of Gevrey functions and ultradistributions of the complex d' naturally induced by the de Rham complex. We prove that the so-called condition Y(q) on the signature of the Levi form, for local solvability of d' u=f, is still necessary even if we take f in the classes of Gevrey functions and look for solutions u in the corresponding spaces of ultradistributions.Comment: 12 page

Variations of Procalcitonin Serum Levels in Neonatal Period

PCR and qPCR detection of HCV, HBV, Dengue, HIV, HSV, H5, CMV, M. tuberculosis, C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae. This method has been being employed for all PCR diagnostic tests carried out at our laboratory, as well as at other diagnostic laboratories where our PCR diagnostic kits are being used. Conclusion: This method has a broad application potential since it can be used in diagnostic laboratories which are capable of doing PCR to detect human pathogens. Additionally, it can be helpful for developing the standard criteria for diagnostic PCR

Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Transcriptome Highlights Specific Expression Profiles in Severe Pediatric Obesity: A Pilot Study

The prevalence of pediatric obesity is rising rapidly worldwide, and "omic" approaches are helpful in investigating the molecular pathophysiology of obesity. This work aims to identify transcriptional differences in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (scAT) of children with overweight (OW), obesity (OB), or severe obesity (SV) compared with those of normal weight (NW). Periumbilical scAT biopsies were collected from 20 male children aged 1-12 years. The children were stratified into the following four groups according to their BMI z-scores: SV, OB, OW, and NW. scAT RNA-Seq analyses were performed, and a differential expression analysis was conducted using the DESeq2 R package. A pathways analysis was performed to gain biological insights into gene expression. Our data highlight the significant deregulation in both coding and non-coding transcripts in the SV group when compared with the NW, OW, and OB groups. A KEGG pathway analysis showed that coding transcripts were mainly involved in lipid metabolism. A GSEA analysis revealed the upregulation of lipid degradation and metabolism in SV vs. OB and SV vs. OW. Bioenergetic processes and the catabolism of branched-chain amino acids were upregulated in SV compared with OB, OW, and NW. In conclusion, we report for the first time that a significant transcriptional deregulation occurs in the periumbilical scAT of children with severe obesity compared with those of normal weight or those with overweight or mild obesity

Adelmidrol, in combination with hyaluronic acid, displays increased anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects against monosodium iodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis in rats

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease produced by a cascade of events that can ultimately lead to joint damage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adelmidrol, a synthetic palmitoylethanolamide analogue, combined with hyaluronic acid on pain severity and modulation of the inflammatory response in a rat model of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis. Methods OA was induced by intra-articular injection of MIA in the knee joint. On day 21 post-MIA administration, the knee joint was analyzed. Rats subjected to OA were treated by intra-articular injection of adelmidrol in combination with sodium hyaluronate at different doses and time points after MIA induction. Limb nociception was assessed by the paw withdrawal latency and threshold measurement. Samples were examined macroscopically, histologically, and by immunohistochemistry. Results At day 21 post-MIA injection, the MIA\u2009+\u2009solvent and MIA\u2009+\u20091.0% sodium hyaluronate groups showed irregularities and fibrillation in the surface layer, a decrease in blood cells and multilayering in transition and radial zones, no pannus formation, and modified Mankin scores significantly higher than sham knees. The combination of hyaluronic acid and adelmidrol dose-dependently (adelmidrol 0.6%\u2009+\u20091.0% sodium hyaluronate and adelmidrol 2%\u2009+\u20091.0% sodium hyaluronate) reduced the histological alterations induced by MIA. Moreover, degeneration of articular cartilage, mast cell infiltration, and pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine plasma levels were significantly downregulated by treatment with a combination of hyaluronic acid and adelmidrol at the above doses. Conclusions Our results clearly demonstrate that the combination of hyaluronic acid and adelmidrol improves the signs of OA induced by MIA