Hispanic National Bar Association Commission on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession: Study on Latina Attorneys in the Public Interest Sector

This Report was originally prepared for and published by the Hispanic National Bar Association

DISTRIBUCIÓN DEL RECURSO HÍDRICO DE LA MICROCUENCA LA QUIÑA, DEPARTAMENTO DE BOYACÀ, COLOMBIA

La presente investigación se realizó entre la Universidad de Pamplona y (CORPOCHIVOR), con el objeto es determinar la oferta y demanda hídrica de la microcuenca Q. La Quiña, departamento de Boyacá, para realizar la distribución de agua con base en los usos del recurso, teniendo en cuenta  la  normativa ambiental. Se aplicaron las metodologías citadas en la  Resolución 865 del 22 de Julio 2004 y el Estudio Nacional del Agua (ENA) 2010 para determinar el índice de escasez de agua. La cartografía de la zona de estudio fue proporciona por el SIAT de CORPCHIVOR, y complementada con el levantamiento de información en campo. Los programas utilizados para la determinación de la ETP es el CROPWAT 8.0 (FAO) y para los análisis estadísticos el paquete Excel

Effects of water inlet configuration in a service reservoir applying CFD modelling

This study investigated the state of a service reservoir of a drinking water distribution network. Numerical simulation was applied to establish its flow pattern, mixing conditions, and free residual chlorine decay. The influence of the change in the water inlet configuration on these characteristics was evaluated. Four scenarios were established with different water level and flow rate as the differences between the first three scenarios. The fourth scenario was evaluated to assess the influence of the inlet configuration, momentum flow and water level on hydrodynamic conditions within the service reservoir. The distribution of four nozzles of 152.4 mm diameter was identified as a viable measure to preserve the water quality in this type of hydraulic structures

Reengineering Tumor Microenvironment with Sequential Interleukin Delivery

Some cytokines can reengineer anti-tumor immunity to modify the tumor micro-environment. Interleukin-27 (IL-27) can partially reduce tumor growth in several animal models, including prostate cancer. We hypothesized that addition of IL-18, which can induce the proliferation of several immune effector cells through inducing IFNγ could synergize with IL-27 to enhance tumor growth control. We describe our findings on the effects of IL-27 gene delivery on prostate cancer cells and how sequential therapy with IL-18 enhanced the efficacy of IL-27. The combination of IL-27 followed by IL-18 (27→18) successfully reduced cancer cell viability, with significant effects in cell culture and in an immunocompetent mouse model. We also examined a novel chimeric cytokine, comprising an IL-27 targeted at the C-terminus with a short peptide, LSLITRL (27pepL). This novel cytokine targets a receptor upregulated in tumor cells (IL-6Rα) via the pepL ligand. Interestingly, when we compared the 27→18 combination with the single 27pepL therapy, we observed a similar efficacy for both. This efficacy was further enhanced when 27pepL was sequenced with IL-18 (27pepL→18). The observed reduction in tumor growth and significantly enriched canonical pathways and upstream regulators, as well as specific immune effector signatures (as determined by bioinformatics analyses in the tumor microenvironment) supported the therapeutic design, whereby IL-27 or 27pepL can be more effective when delivered with IL-18. This cytokine sequencing approach allows flexible incorporation of both gene delivery and recombinant cytokines as tools to augment IL-27’s bioactivity and reengineer efficacy against prostate tumors and may prove applicable in other therapeutic settings

Expanded granular sludge bed bioreactor in wastewater treatment

The expanded granular sludge bed bioreactor appears today as a cheap, robust and more popular technology because it operates using a fluidized bed, which allows increasing in organic load and in cell retention times, generating higher treatment efficiencies (up to 95 %) and renewable energy (i.e., biogas, biomethane, and biohydrogen). Nevertheless, the efficiency of this bioreactor mainly depends on the operating conditions. Thus, the content presented in this review paper focuses on the analysis of the operating conditions and performance of expanded granular sludge bed bioreactor for treating different types of industrial, agro-industrial and domestic wastewaters (e.g., agro-food, beverage, alcohol distillery, tannery, slaughterhouse, chemical, pharmaceutical, municipal sewage, among others). Because of this reason, this study aimed to analyze the operating conditions and type of substrate, which has been used in these bioreactors to improve future research to wastewater treatment and renewable energy production. According to the review, it is concluded that the EGSB bioreactor is a novel sustainable alternative to treat different types of wastewaters and consequently change the paradigm of wastewater management from "treatment and disposal" to "beneficial use" as well as "profitable effort"

Control of flow geometry using electromagnetic body forcing

Accepted versio

Diversity of HLA Class I and Class II blocks and conserved extended haplotypes in Lacandon Mayans.

Here we studied HLA blocks and haplotypes in a group of 218 Lacandon Maya Native American using a high-resolution next generation sequencing (NGS) method. We assessed the genetic diversity of HLA class I and class II in this population, and determined the most probable ancestry of Lacandon Maya HLA class I and class II haplotypes. Importantly, this Native American group showed a high degree of both HLA homozygosity and linkage disequilibrium across the HLA region and also lower class II HLA allelic diversity than most previously reported populations (including other Native American groups). Distinctive alleles present in the Lacandon population include HLA-A*24:14 and HLA-B*40:08. Furthermore, in Lacandons we observed a high frequency of haplotypes containing the allele HLA-DRB1*04:11, a relatively frequent allele in comparison with other neighboring indigenous groups. The specific demographic history of the Lacandon population including inbreeding, as well as pathogen selection, may have elevated the frequencies of a small number of HLA class II alleles and DNA blocks. To assess the possible role of different selective pressures in determining Native American HLA diversity, we evaluated the relationship between genetic diversity at HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 and pathogen richness for a global dataset and for Native American populations alone. In keeping with previous studies of such relationships we included distance from Africa as a covariate. After correction for multiple comparisons we did not find any significant relationship between pathogen diversity and HLA genetic diversity (as measured by polymorphism information content) in either our global dataset or the Native American subset of the dataset. We found the expected negative relationship between genetic diversity and distance from Africa in the global dataset, but no relationship between HLA genetic diversity and distance from Africa when Native American populations were considered alone

Estimating the effects of meteorology and land cover on fire growth in Peru using a novel difference equation model

Statistical analyses of wildfire growth are rarely undertaken, particularly in South America. In this study, we describe a simple and intuitive difference equation model of wildfire growth that uses a spread parameter to control the radial speed of the modeled fire and an extinguish parameter to control the rate at which the burning perimeter becomes inactive. Using data from the GlobFire project, we estimate these two parameters for 1003 large, multi-day fires in Peru between 2001 and 2020. For four fire-prone ecoregions within Peru, a set of 24 generalized linear models are fit for each parameter that use fire danger indexes and land cover covariates. Akaike weights are used to identify the best-approximating model and quantify model uncertainty. We find that, in most cases, increased spread rates and extinguish rates are positively associated with fire danger indexes. When fire danger indexes are included in the models, the spread component is usually the best choice, but we also find instances when the fire weather index and burning index are selected. We also find that grassland cover is positively associated with spread rates and extinguish rates in tropical forests, and that anthropogenic cover is negatively associated with spread rates in xeric ecoregions. We explore potential applications of this model to wildfire risk assessment and burned area forecasting.</p