Immunolocalization of TSOL18 and TSOL45-1A, the successful protective peptides against porcine cysticercosis, in Taenia solium oncospheres

Taenia solium life cycle includes humans as definitive hosts and pigs as intermediate hosts. One of the measures to stop the life cycle of this parasite is by vaccination of pigs. In experiments performed in pigs with TSOL18 and TSOL45-1A, two recombinant T. solium proteins, 99.5% and 97.0% protection was induced, respectively. The purpose of this paper was to localize these antigens in all stages of the parasite (adult worms, oncospheres and cysticerci) by immunofluorescence, with the use of antibodies against TSOL18 and TSOL45-1A that were obtained from the pigs used in the vaccination experiment. Results show that TSOL18 and TSOL45-1A are expressed on the surface of T. solium oncospheres and not in tapeworms or cysticerci, indicating that they are stage-specific antigens. This, therefore, might explain the high level of protection these antigens induce against pig cysticercosis

Sources of pro-cyclicality in east Asian financial systems

Procyclicality is a normal feature of economic systems, but financial sector weaknesses can exacerbate it sufficiently to pose a threat to macroeconomic and financial stability. These include shortcomings in bank risk management and governance, in supervision and in terms of dependence on volatile sources of funds. The paper tests econometrically for the importance of such features leading to pro-cyclicality in the financial systems of 11 East Asian countries. This analysis makes it possible to identify specific policy measures for East Asian countries that could limit the extent to which financial systems exacerbate pro-cyclicality

Space Weathering on Near-Earth Objects investigated by neutral-particle detection

The ion-sputtering (IS) process is active in many planetary environments in the Solar System where plasma precipitates directly on the surface (for instance, Mercury, Moon, Europa). In particular, solar-wind sputtering is one of the most important agents for the surface erosion of a Near-Earth Object (NEO), acting together with other surface release processes, such as Photon Stimulated Desorption (PSD), Thermal Desorption (TD) and Micrometeoroid Impact Vaporization (MIV). The energy distribution of the IS-released neutrals peaks at a few eVs and extends up to hundreds of eVs. Since all other release processes produce particles of lower energies, the presence of neutral atoms in the energy range above 10 eV and below a few keVs (Sputtered High-Energy Atoms - SHEA) identifies the IS process. SHEA easily escape from the NEO, due to NEO's extremely weak gravity. Detection and analysis of SHEA will give important information on surface-loss processes as well as on surface elemental composition. The investigation of the active release processes, as a function of the external conditions and the NEO surface properties, is crucial for obtaining a clear view of the body's present loss rate as well as for getting clues on its evolution, which depends significantly on space weather. In this work, an attempt to analyze the processes that take place on the surface of these small airless bodies, as a result of their exposure to the space environment, has been realized. For this reason a new space weathering model (Space Weathering on NEO - SPAWN), is presented. Moreover, an instrument concept of a neutral-particle analyzer specifically designed for the measurement of neutral density and the detection of SHEA from a NEO is proposedComment: 36 page

Recurrent deletions and duplications of chromosome 2q11.2 and 2q13 are associated with variable outcomes

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115980/1/ajmga37269_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115980/2/ajmga37269.pd

On the consequences of procyclical fiscal policy

There is widespread evidence that procyclical fiscal policies have been prevalent in developing countries and often in some industrial nations. It is therefore surprising that, in contrast to the wealth of studies on the sources of procyclical policy, potential consequences of such seemingly sub-optimal policies have been largely ignored in the existing literature. By utilizing a comprehensive set of indicators from 114 countries for 1950-2010, we aim to address the following important question: does it matter whether a country adopts a procyclical fiscal policy stance rather than a countercyclical one? Our results produce a resounding `yes' to this question. We find that fiscally procyclical countries have lower rates of economic growth, higher rates of output volatility and higher rates of in inflation