Waiting for the DACA Decision During the Pandemics: Two Perspectives

Journal #79 from Media Rise's Quarantined Across Borders Collection by Dilma Da Silva and Julio Maldonado Guzman. Da Silva is from Brazil. Quarantined in College Station, Texas. Maldonado Guzman is from Mexico. Quarantined in Harlingen, Texas.The COVID-19 crisis highlights the critical contributions from DACA recipients as we await a decision on the future of DACA from the Supreme Court.Media Rise Publications. Quarantined Across Borders Collection. Edited by Dr. Srividya "Srivi" Ramasubramanian

El efecto de la imagen de marca país en el proceso de decisión de compra del consumidor

El objetivo principal de esta investigación consiste en determinar el efecto de la imagen de las empresas de España en Brasil. Para tal efecto, se ha realizado un análisis comparativo de la imagen de las empresas de España, y de las empresas de sus principales competidores en Brasil (EEUU y Alemania), en una muestra de 346 empresarios brasileños. Los resultados del estudio podrán servir a los empresarios españoles como soporte para desarrollar mejores tácticas de marketing adecuadas al mercado brasileño.The main objective of this research will be to determine the effect of national brand image of Spanish Firms in Brazil. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of the image of the Spanish companies and of their main competitors in Brazil (USA and Germany) has been made, from a sample of 346 Brazilian entrepreneurs. The results of this research may contribute to Spanish entrepreneurs in supporting the development of better marketing tactics, adapted to the Brazilian market

The effect of national brand image in the process of customer purchase decision

El objetivo principal de esta investigación consiste en determinar el efecto de la imagen de las empresas de España en Brasil. Para tal efecto, se ha realizado un análisis comparativo de la imagen de las empresas de España, y de las empresas de sus principales competidores en Brasil (EEUU y Alemania), en una muestra de 346 empresarios brasileños. Los resultados del estudio podrán servir a los empresarios españoles como soporte para desarrollar mejores tácticas de marketing adecuadas al mercado brasileño.The main objective of this research will be to determine the effect of national brand image of Spanish Firms in Brazil. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of the image of the Spanish companies and of their main competitors in Brazil (USA and Germany) has been made, from a sample of 346 Brazilian entrepreneurs. The results of this research may contribute to Spanish entrepreneurs in supporting the development of better marketing tactics, adapted to the Brazilian market.Peer Reviewe

West Nile virus infection in the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus): a model for West Nile encephalitis.

This report describes a new hamster model for West Nile (WN) virus encephalitis. Following intraperitoneal inoculation of a New York isolate of WN virus, hamsters had moderate viremia of 5 to 6 days in duration, followed by the development of humoral antibodies. Encephalitic symptoms began 6 days after infection; about half the animals died between the seventh and 14th days. The appearance of viral antigen in the brain and neuronal degeneration also began on the sixth day. WN virus was cultured from the brains of convalescent hamsters up to 53 days after initial infection, suggesting that persistent virus infection occurs. Hamsters offer an inexpensive model for studying the pathogenesis and treatment of WN virus encephalitis

An IoT-based energy management system for AC microgrids with grid and security constraints

This paper proposes an Internet-of-Things (IoT) based energy management system (EMS) for the optimal operation of unbalanced three-phase AC microgrids. The system utilizes a software architecture based on microservices, which includes a stochastic economic dispatch optimizer (EDO), a database, a web-based graphical user interface (GUI), and an application programming interface (API). The EDO uses a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to ensure the day-ahead dispatch of the distributed energy resources (DERs) in the microgrid while adhering to grid constraints such as voltage, current, and power limits. Additionally, the optimization module takes into account security constraints for unplanned islanded operation, as well as stochastic scenarios of local demand and renewable generation. To assess the performance of the proposed IoT-based EMS, tests are conducted using a real-time simulator in a software-in-the-loop (SIL) experimental setup. Actual data from a microgrid located at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil is utilized for the tests. The microgrid consisted of a photovoltaic (PV) system, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a thermal generation unit, and variable demands. Results indicated the effectiveness of the proposed IoT-based EMS in monitoring the operation of the microgrid and defining the optimal day-ahead dispatch of local DERs.</p

NMR Model of PrgI-SipD Interaction and its Implications in the Needle-Tip Assembly of the Salmonella Type III Secretion System

Salmonella and other pathogenic bacteria use the type III secretion system (T3SS) to inject virulence proteins into human cells to initiate infections. The structural component of the T3SS contains a needle and a needle tip. The needle is assembled from PrgI needle protomers and the needle tip is capped with several copies of the SipD tip protein. How a tip protein docks on the needle is unclear. A crystal structure of a PrgI-SipD fusion protein docked on the PrgI needle results in steric clash of SipD at the needle tip when modeled on the recent atomic structure of the needle. Thus, there is currently no good model of how SipD is docked on the PrgI needle tip. Previously, we showed by NMR paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) methods that a specific region in the SipD coiled-coil is the binding site for PrgI. Others have hypothesized that a domain of the tip protein – the N-terminal α-helical hairpin, has to swing away during the assembly of the needle apparatus. Here, we show by PRE methods that a truncated form of SipD lacking the α-helical hairpin domain binds more tightly to PrgI. Further, PRE-based structure calculations revealed multiple PrgI binding sites on the SipD coiled-coil. Our PRE results together with the recent NMR-derived atomic structure of the Salmonella needle suggest a possible model of how SipD might dock at the PrgI needle tip. SipD and PrgI are conserved in other bacterial T3SSs, thus our results have wider implication in understanding other needle-tip complexes

Limited evolution of West Nile virus has occurred during its southwesterly spread in the United States

AbstractAnalysis of partial nucleotide sequences of nine West Nile virus strains isolated in southeast Texas during June–August 2002 revealed a maximum of 0.35% nucleotide variation from a New York 1999 strain. Two sequence subtypes were identified that differed from each other by approximately 0.5%, suggesting multiple introductions of virus to this area. Analysis of sequences from cloned PCR products for one strain revealed up to 0.6% divergence from the consensus sequence at the subpopulation level. The presence of unique patterns of small numbers of mutations in North American West Nile strains studied to date may suggest the absence of a strong selective pressure to drive the emergence of dominant variants

Efecto del flufenoxuron sobre la actividad copuladora del macho de Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The effect of benzoilphenylureas was studied on the copulating capacity of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) males. Two groups of third instar larvae were treated with flufenoxuron, one by ingestion and another by contact with an DL60 rate. After emergence of the adults, ten males of the each treatment were put individualy in a filter paper cylinder, from the first night until death, in the presence of a virgin female that shift daily. After the female death they were desiccated in order to see the presence or not of the spermatophore in the bursa copulatrix. It was observed that the S. littoralis males that proceeded from the flufenoxuron treated larvae did not change their copulating capacity. The metodology was considerate efficient to evaluate the copulate capacity of this specie males.Ha sido evaluado el efecto de benzoilfenylureia sobre la capacidad copuladora de machos de Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepdoptera: Noctuidae). Dos grupos de larvas de 3o estadio fueron tratados con el flufenoxuron, uno por ingestión y el otro por contacto, con una concentración del producto igual a la DL60. Cuando hubo la emergencia de los adultos, 10 machos por tratamiento fueron individualizados en cilindros de papel de filtro y puestos a copular con hembras vírgenes, que eron sustituídas diariamente, hasta la muerte de las mismas. Las hembras que fueron ofrecidas a los machos, al morir, eron dissecadas para verificar se estaban o no copuladas, a través de la observación de la presencia de espermatóforos en la bursa copulatrix. Fue observado que los machos de S. littoralis provenientes de larvas tratadas con el flufenoxuron, no tuvieron su capacidad copuladora alterada. La metodología fue considerada adecuada para evaluar la atividad copuladora y el número de copulaciones realizadas por el macho de esta especie

Evaluating probabilistic dengue risk forecasts from a prototype early warning system for Brazil

Open accessRecently, a prototype dengue early warning system was developed to produce probabilistic forecasts of dengue risk three months ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Here, we evaluate the categorical dengue forecasts across all microregions in Brazil, using dengue cases reported in June 2014 to validate the model. We also compare the forecast model framework to a null model, based on seasonal averages of previously observed dengue incidence. When considering the ability of the two models to predict high dengue risk across Brazil, the forecast model produced more hits and fewer missed events than the null model, with a hit rate of 57% for the forecast model compared to 33% for the null model. This early warning model framework may be useful to public health services, not only ahead of mass gatherings, but also before the peak dengue season each year, to control potentially explosive dengue epidemics