Built Form and Culture: Italian Transnational Houses in Australia

Accordingly to Wagner, “Dwellings stand as the concrete expressions of a complex interaction among cultural skills and norms, climatic conditions and the potentialities of natural materials”. This study, beginning with an enquiry into the way trans-national houses are the physical expression of interacting cultural factors, provides a theoretical framework grounded on cross-cultural studies for understanding the way cultural needs have influenced the form of the archetypal post WWII ‘house on a quarter-acre block’ built in Brisbane by Italian migrants. The findings reveal that while the architectural form of the Italian Trans-national houses built in Brisbane is influenced by the need to continue architectural cultural traditions in the host country, the spatial distribution of the artifact was influenced by socio-cultural factors and urban fabric, from both the native and hosting built environment, in the attempt of re-establishing and enhancing the native way of life

Informe de Vivencias Docentes

Relatório Final de Estágio Supervisionado, agregando os resultados das disciplinas de ESI e ESII, apresentado como requisito à obtençao do titulo de licenciado em Letras - Espanhol da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), realizado no Colégio de Aplicação – UFSC

Structure and Properties of the C-terminal Domain of Insulin-like Growth Factor-binding Protein-1 Isolated from Human Amniotic Fluid

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) regulates the activity of the insulin-like growth factors in early pregnancy and is, thus, thought to play a key role at the fetal-maternal interface. The C-terminal domain of IGFBP-1 and three isoforms of the intact protein were isolated from human amniotic fluid, and sequencing of the four N-terminal polypeptide chains showed them to be highly pure. The addition of both intact IGFBP-1 and its C-terminal fragment to cultured fibroblasts has a similar stimulating effect on cell migration, and therefore, the domain has a biological activity on its own. The three-dimensional structure of the C-terminal domain was determined by x-ray crystallography to 1.8 Angstroms resolution. The fragment folds as a thyroglobulin type I domain and was found to bind the Fe(2+) ion in the crystals through the only histidine residue present in the polypeptide chain. Iron (II) decreases the binding of intact IGFBP-1 and the C-terminal domain to IGF-II, suggesting that the metal binding site is close to or part of the surface of interaction of the two molecules

Selecting and implementing overview methods: implications from five exemplar overviews

This is the final version of the article. Available from BioMed Central via the DOI in this record.Background Overviews of systematic reviews are an increasingly popular method of evidence synthesis; there is a lack of clear guidance for completing overviews and a number of methodological challenges. At the UK Cochrane Symposium 2016, methodological challenges of five overviews were explored. Using data from these five overviews, practical implications to support methodological decision making of authors writing protocols for future overviews are proposed. Methods Methods, and their justification, from the five exemplar overviews were tabulated and compared with areas of debate identified within current literature. Key methodological challenges and implications for development of overview protocols were generated and synthesised into a list, discussed and refined until there was consensus. Results Methodological features of three Cochrane overviews, one overview of diagnostic test accuracy and one mixed methods overview have been summarised. Methods of selection of reviews and data extraction were similar. Either the AMSTAR or ROBIS tool was used to assess quality of included reviews. The GRADE approach was most commonly used to assess quality of evidence within the reviews. Eight key methodological challenges were identified from the exemplar overviews. There was good agreement between our findings and emerging areas of debate within a recent published synthesis. Implications for development of protocols for future overviews were identified. Conclusions Overviews are a relatively new methodological innovation, and there are currently substantial variations in the methodological approaches used within different overviews. There are considerable methodological challenges for which optimal solutions are not necessarily yet known. Lessons learnt from five exemplar overviews highlight a number of methodological decisions which may be beneficial to consider during the development of an overview protocol.The overview conducted by Pollock [19] was supported by a project grant from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. The overview conducted by McClurg [21] was supported by a project grant by the Physiotherapy Research Foundation. The overview by Hunt [22] was supported as part of doctoral programme funding by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC). The overview conducted by Estcourt [20] was supported by an NIHR Cochrane Programme Grant for the Safe and Appropriate Use of Blood Components. The overview conducted by Brunton [23] was commissioned by the Department of Health as part of an ongoing programme of work on health policy research synthesis. Alex Pollock is employed by the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHP) Research Unit, which is supported by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. Pauline Campbell is supported by the Chief Nurses Office of the Scottish Government

Crystallographic studies on carp Fishelectin (FEL)

A few years ago we isolated and sequenced a novel glycoprotein present in the eggs of the carp (Cyprinus carpio). The protein, that binds to a Sepharose 4B matrix column and can be eluted with 0.4 M N-acetyl glucosamine, behaves like a lectin of molecular mass 26686 Da. On the basis of DLS experiments the lectin is present in solution as a stable dimer. We have determined its 238 amino acid long sequence, the position of its 4 disulfide bridges and the structure of its single N-linked carbohydrate chain. The lectin shows a very low agglutinating activity for human A-type erythrocytes and interacts with both Gram positive and negative bacteria, these last interactions are inhibited by N-acetyl glucosamine. A data base search shows that its amino acid sequence is significantly similar to that of the members of an invertebrate lectin family that includes tachylectin-1, present in the amebocytes of the horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus, and known to participate in the innate defense system of this species and two other lectins, characterized in the plasmodium Physarum polycephalum, that are called Tectonins I and II and are located in the external surface of the plasma membrane. We have proposed the name fishelectins (by analogy with tachylectins) for this new vertebrate protein family. Homologous genes are present in other bony fish. The carp protein has 85 % identity with a gene expressed in the crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) and 78 % identity with a gene in the cDNA library of the zebrafish (Danio rerio). We have prepared three different crystal forms of the apo protein and two of co-crystals with N-acetyl glucosamine. The orthorhombic form of the apoprotein belongs to space group P212121 and was solved first using the MIR method. Our poster will present the data collection statistics of the best apo and holo forms of the lectin and the refinement statistics of the holo form and will discuss the structure and similarity of this newly identified family of vertebrate proteins to a well known invertebrate protein family

Crystallographic studies on carp Fishelectin (FEL)

A few years ago we isolated and sequenced a novel glycoprotein present in the eggs of the carp (Cyprinus carpio) (1). The protein, that binds to a Sepharose 4B matrix column and can be eluted with 0.4 M N-acetyl glucosamine, behaves like a lectin of molecular mass 26686 Da. On the basis of DLS experiments the lectin is present in solution as a stable dimer. We have determined its 238 amino acid long sequence, the position of its 4 disulfide bridges and the structure of its single N-linked carbohydrate chain. The lectin shows a very low agglutinating activity for human A-type erythrocytes and interacts with both Gram positive and negative bacteria, these last interactions are inhibited by N-acetyl glucosamine. A data base search shows that its amino acid sequence is significantly similar to that of the members of an invertebrate lectin family that includes tachylectin-1, present in the amebocytes of the horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus, and known to participate in the innate defense system of this species (2.3) and two other lectins, characterized in the plasmodium Physarum polycephalum, that are called Tectonins I and II and are located in the external surface of the plasma membrane (4). We have proposed the name fishelectins (by analogy with tachylectins) for this new vertebrate protein family. Homologous genes are present in other bony fish. The carp protein has 85 % identity with a gene expressed in the crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) (5) and 78 % identity with a gene in the cDNA library of the zebrafish (Danio rerio). We have prepared three different crystal forms of the apo protein and two of co-crystals with N-acetyl glucosamine. The orthorhombic form of the apoprotein belongs to space group P212121 and was solved first using the MIR method. Our poster will present the data collection statistics of the best apo and holo forms of the lectin and the refinement statistics of the holo form and will discuss the structure and similarity of this newly identified family of vertebrate proteins to a well known invertebrate protein family

Primary versus secondary source of data in observational studies and heterogeneity in meta-analyses of drug effects: a survey of major medical journals

The data from individual observational studies included in meta-analyses of drug effects are collected either from ad hoc methods (i.e. "primary data") or databases that were established for non-research purposes (i.e. "secondary data"). The use of secondary sources may be prone to measurement bias and confounding due to over-the-counter and out-of-pocket drug consumption, or non-adherence to treatment. In fact, it has been noted that failing to consider the origin of the data as a potential cause of heterogeneity may change the conclusions of a meta-analysis. We aimed to assess to what extent the origin of data is explored as a source of heterogeneity in meta-analyses of observational studies.publishe