Cornea regeneration as an alternative to human donor transplantation

There is a need for an alternative to human donor corneas as the availability of good-quality tissues remains limited, with this situation potentially worsening as the population in many countries is progressively ageing. There have been numerous attempts to develop corneal equivalent as alternatives to donated human corneas as well as prostheses. In this short review, we focus on the efforts in bioengineering implants that promote regeneration by Canadian researchers, including our current team of authors. The examples of technologies developed that we describe include biomaterials that allow for partial regeneration of corneal tissue, self-assembled cornea constructs and cell-free corneal implants that promoted regeneration when evaluated in clinical trials in Europe

JUANA MANUELA GORRITI E SUA TRADUÇÃO AO PORTUGUÊS: UMA ANÁLISE À LUZ DOS EDT DE GIDEON TOURY

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo expor a análise realizada na comparação do conto “El emparedado”, de Juana Manuela Gorriti (1818-1892), e sua tradução ao português brasileiro, realizada por Fernanda del Mestre Portella e publicada sob o título “O emparedado”, no livro Contos de Juana Manuela Gorriti (São Paulo: LiberArs, 2017), que é a primera antologia dessa autora argentina em português. Como marco teórico de análise, será usada uma interface de teorias: a Lingüística Sistêmico Funcional, para proceder a segmentação textual, e os Estudos Descritivos da Tradução, para verificar se a tradutora cumpriu as normas iniciais e operacionais previstas por Gideon Toury (1995). O principal objetivo é verificar se há sistematização nas decisões de tradução, que comprovam uma coerência em suas escolhas. Dessa forma, a partir da comparação dos segmentos oracionais do original e da tradução, buscaremos averiguar se a tradução do conto mantem mais adequaçao ao Texto de Origem (TO) ou contém mais aceitabilidade ao Texto Meta (TM). A principal hipótese de trabalho refere-se a adequação das trocas lexicais e sintáticas, principalmente, no que corresponde às normas iniciais e operacionais, previstas nos EDT, e também no que estuda o par tema/rema, previsto na LSF

International entrepreneurship in Africa: The roles of institutional voids, entrepreneurial networks and gender

This paper explored how institutional voids (market-unfriendly regulations and corruption) in the home country affect the internationalization degree of early-stage entrepreneurs in Africa. We examined the contingent roles of entrepreneurial networks and gender in the relationship between these institutional voids and entrepreneurs’ internationalization degree. We used 2003–2017 GEM data from 17 African countries and applied multilevel-ordered logistic models. Our analysis revealed that market-unfriendly regulations have a negative effect on the entrepreneurs’ internationalization degree and that corruption, in line with the escapism view, has a positive effect. Our results indicated that entrepreneurs engage in networking bricolage to internationalize their ventures and overcome context limitations. They also suggested that the internationalization degree of female entrepreneurs increases in market-unfriendly regulatory environments. Finally, our results showed that the ‘escapism effect’ of corruption is greater for female entrepreneurs; however, for female entrepreneurs with medium and large internationalization degrees, this context imposes additional constraints on them

A tradução de contos de escritoras hispano-americanas ao português brasileiro

Esta reseña presenta un proyecto realizado en una universidad pública de Brasil, con ejemplos de problemas de traducción y una reflexión sobre la traducción de cuentos de autoras que se destacaron en sus países –Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica y Perú– a fines del siglo XIX e inicio del siglo XX y que no ganaron proyección en Brasil, pues no tuvieron, salvo raras excepciones, sus obras traducidas y publicadas en portugués. Con el objetivo de dar visibilidad a esas escritoras y promover estudios sobre literatura hispanoamericana en Brasil, un grupo de quince docentes universitarios –de diversas regiones de Brasil– formar la obra Antologia do conto feminino hispano-americano (Editorial LiberArs, en prensa). Se toman como marco teórico los Estudios Descriptivos de Traducción (EDT), de Gideon Toury (1980), porque proponen el reconocimiento de la literatura como sistema cultural que incluye la situación histórica, cultural y social del texto. Además, se tienen en cuenta los estudios enunciativos fundamentados en Mijaíl Bajtín (2003), que considera el hecho literario como una forma ideológica y, consecuentemente, como reflejo lingüístico de las ideologías sociales, un elemento fundamental en este proyecto, dada la distancia temporal entre los originales y las traducciones y determinados elementos que condicionaron la escritura de las autoras y que tienen implicaciones en las traducciones. Los docentes contaron con criterios de traducción elaborados según el encargo de traducción en los términos de Christiane Nord (1991), en base a la Teoría de las Normas (Toury, 2004).Esta resenha apresenta um projeto realizado em uma universidade brasileira, com exemplos de problemas de tradução e uma reflexão sobre a tradução de contos de autoras que se destacaram em seus países – Argentina e Venezuela – no final do século XIX e início do século XX e que não ganharam projeção literária no Brasil, pois elas não tiveram, com raras exceções, suas obras traduzidas e publicadas em português. Com o objetivo de dar visibilidade a essas escritoras e promover pesquisas sobre a literatura latino-americana no Brasil, um grupo de quinze professores universitários de várias regiões do Brasil traduziu, ao português brasileiro, contos dessas autoras – e também de Bolívia, Chile, Colômbia, Cuba, Costa Rica e Peru – para formar a Antologia do conto feminino hispano-americano (editora LiberArs, no prelo). Os referencias teóricos são baseados nos Estudos Descritivos da Tradução (EDT), de Gideon Toury (1980), por proporem o reconhecimento da literatura como um sistema cultural que inclui a situação histórica, cultural e social do texto. Também se consideram os estudos enunciativos baseados em Mikhail Bakhtin (2003), que considera o fato literário como uma forma ideológica e, consequentemente, é o reflexo linguístico das ideologias sociais, elemento fundamental neste projeto, dada a distância temporal entre os originais e as traduções e certos elementos que condicionaram a tradução nos termos de Christiane Nord (1991), baseada na Teoria das Normas, de Toury (2004)

TP53 Polymorphisms allow for genetic sub-grouping of the canine transmissible venereal tumor

The canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is found mainly in dogs' sexual organs. Currently, it is widely accepted that all samples of CTVT show similar histopathological characteristics and share common genetic alterations. Despite the common genetic origin of CTVT, mutations in the P53 gene have been reported. In this study, we proposed that tumor samples can be genetically grouped using this gene. The presence of different subgroups of CTVT was determined in Mexican dogs using the TP53 gene sequence in CTVT samples. Four new polymorphisms were found and therefore, the CTVT samples were classified in five subgroups

BEaTS-β: an open-source electromechanical bioreactor for simulating human cardiac disease conditions

Heart disease remains the leading cause of worldwide mortality. Although the last decades have broadened our understanding of the biology behind the pathologies of heart disease, ex vivo systems capable of mimicking disease progression and abnormal heart function using human cells remain elusive. In this contribution, an open-access electromechanical system (BEaTS-β) capable of mimicking the environment of cardiac disease is reported. BEaTS-β was designed using computer-aided modeling to combine tunable electrical stimulation and mechanical deformation of cells cultured on a flexible elastomer. To recapitulate the clinical scenario of a heart attack more closely, in designing BEaTS-β we considered a device capable to operate under hypoxic conditions. We tested human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, and coronary artery endothelial cells in our simulated myocardial infarction environment. Our results indicate that, under simulated myocardium infarction, there was a decrease in maturation of cardiomyocytes, and reduced survival of fibroblasts and coronary artery endothelial cells. The open access nature of BEaTS-β will allow for other investigators to use this platform to investigate cardiac cell biology or drug therapeutic efficacy in vitro under conditions that simulate arrhythmia and/or myocardial infarction

Biomaterials-enabled cornea regeneration in patients at high risk for rejection of donor tissue transplantation

The severe worldwide shortage of donor organs, and severe pathologies placing patients at high risk for rejecting conventional cornea transplantation, have left many corneal blind patients untreated. Following successful pre-clinical evaluation in mini-pigs, we tested a biomaterials-enabled pro-regeneration strategy to restore corneal integrity in an open-label observational study of six patients. Cell-free corneal implants comprising recombinant human collagen and phosphorylcholine were grafted by anterior lamellar keratoplasty into corneas of unilaterally blind patients diagnosed at high-risk for rejecting donor allografts. They were followed-up for a mean of 24 months. Patients with acute disease (ulceration) were relieved of pain and discomfort within 1-2 weeks post-operation. Patients with scarred or ulcerated corneas from severe infection showed better vision improvement, followed by corneas with burns. Corneas with immune or degenerative conditions transplanted for symptom relief only showed no vision improvement overall. However, grafting promoted nerve regeneration as observed by improved touch sensitivity to normal levels in all patients tested, even for those with little/no sensitivity before treatment. Overall, three out of six patients showed significant vision improvement. Others were sufficiently stabilized to allow follow-on surgery to restore vision. Grafting outcomes in mini-pig corneas were superior to those in human subjects, emphasizing that animal models are only predictive for patients with non-severely pathological corneas; however, for establishing parameters such as stable corneal regeneration and nerve regeneration, our pig model is satisfactory. While further testing is merited, we have nevertheless shown that cell-free implants are potentially safe, efficacious options for treating high-risk patients

The histone H3.1 variant regulates TONSOKU-mediated DNA repair during replication

The tail of replication-dependent histone H3.1 varies from that of replication-independent H3.3 at the amino acid located at position 31 in plants and animals, but no function has been assigned to this residue to demonstrate a unique and conserved role for H3.1 during replication. Here, we show that TONSOKU (TSK/TONSL), which rescues broken replication forks, specifically interacts with H3.1 via recognition of alanine 31 by its tetratricopeptide repeat domain. Our results indicate that genomic instability in the absence of ATXR5/ATXR6-catalyzed H3K27me1 in plants depends on H3.1, TSK and DNA polymerase theta (Pol θ). Overall, this work reveals an H3.1-specific function during replication and the common strategy used in multicellular eukaryotes for regulating post-replicative chromatin maturation and TSK, which relies on histone mono-methyltransferases and reading the H3.1 variant

New Copy Number Variations in Schizophrenia

Genome-wide screenings for copy number variations (CNVs) in patients with schizophrenia have demonstrated the presence of several CNVs that increase the risk of developing the disease and a growing number of large rare CNVs; the contribution of these rare CNVs to schizophrenia remains unknown. Using Affymetrix 6.0 arrays, we undertook a systematic search for CNVs in 172 patients with schizophrenia and 160 healthy controls, all of Italian origin, with the aim of confirming previously identified loci and identifying novel schizophrenia susceptibility genes. We found five patients with a CNV occurring in one of the regions most convincingly implicated as risk factors for schizophrenia: NRXN1 and the 16p13.1 regions were found to be deleted in single patients and 15q11.2 in 2 patients, whereas the 15q13.3 region was duplicated in one patient. Furthermore, we found three distinct patients with CNVs in 2q12.2, 3q29 and 17p12 loci, respectively. These loci were previously reported to be deleted or duplicated in patients with schizophrenia but were never formally associated with the disease. We found 5 large CNVs (>900 kb) in 4q32, 5q14.3, 8q23.3, 11q25 and 17q12 in five different patients that could include some new candidate schizophrenia susceptibility genes. In conclusion, the identification of previously reported CNVs and of new, rare, large CNVs further supports a model of schizophrenia that includes the effect of multiple, rare, highly penetrant variants