Aplicación de herramientas de gestión de costos en las PyMES mendocinas

Toda empresa es creada con el objetivo de maximizar su rentabilidad, para esto tiene dos alternativas: aumentar sus ventas, ya sea mejorando el precio o incrementado el volumen para recuperar gastos de estructura, u optimizar sus costos. Las ventas están dadas por variables no controlables, ajenas a la empresa. Esto es así porque el precio final de un producto o servicio se encuentra determinado por el mercado, es decir, el precio estará dado por lo que los consumidores estén dispuestos a pagar para obtener un producto o servicio con determinadas características. Por el contrario, la optimización de costos está vinculada a un proceso interno y las variables son más controlables. Como se puede observar, el escenario de mejorar las ventas no es el más alentador. Por eso, la tendencia actual es la optimización de costos. Muchas empresas logran bajar sus costos, a través de la mejora continua de los procesos; de la aplicación de un análisis de costos sobre las actividades de la empresa; de la gestión de calidad que como expresa Juran (1990) "La mayoría de las empresas no tienen conciencia de los costos reales provocados por hacer mal las cosas y luego hacer todo una vez más"; y de las alianzas estratégicas entre clientes y proveedores.Fil: Caligiore Gei, María Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Cimador, Ailín del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Moretta Setay, Néstor Federico. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

Analysis of natural killer–cell function in familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL): defective CD107a surface expression heralds Munc13-4 defect and discriminates between genetic subtypes of the disease

Abstract Natural killer (NK) cells from patients with familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis because of PRF1 (FHL2, n = 5) or MUNC13-4 (FHL3, n = 8) mutations were cultured in IL-2 prior to their use in various functional assays. Here, we report on the surface CD107a expression as a novel rapid tool for identification of patients with Munc13-4 defect. On target interaction and degranulation, FHL3 NK cells displayed low levels of surface CD107a staining, in contrast to healthy control subjects or perforin-deficient NK cells. B-EBV cell lines and dendritic cell targets reveal the FHL3 NK-cell defect, whereas highly susceptible tumor targets were partially lysed by FHL3 NK cells expressing only trace amounts of Munc13-4 protein. Perforin-deficient NK cells were completely devoid of any ability to lyse target cells. Cytokine production induced by mAb-crosslinking of triggering receptors was comparable in patients and healthy control subjects. However, when cytokine production was induced by coculture with 721.221 B-EBV cells, FHL NK cells resulted in high producers, whereas control cells were almost ineffective. This could reflect survival versus elimination of B-EBV cells (ie, the source of NK-cell stimulation) in patients versus healthy control subjects, thus mimicking the pathophysiologic scenario of FHL

Canonical Correlation Analysis to Biomass CHONS Prediction

Fermentation biomasses can be defined as a complex mixture of different natural components and microbes, having biodegradable and organic waste as the primary source. Its correct characterization is crucial to have proper processing in fermentative units. Firstly, proximate analysis is done to retrieve the content of specific compounds in the mixture, such as fat, proteins, and carbohydrates. However, this is often not enough to achieve the sufficient precision, since some low-concentration species are not easily found through this methodology (i.e., sulfate compounds, ethanol, caproic acid). Consequently, ultimate analysis is performed to evaluate the exact amount of every element in the mixture. For biomass-based compounds, atoms content can be synthesized in carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. The total content of these elements is also known as CHONS. From this, it is possible to derive the exact amount of the relative species in the biomass. However, the experimental procedure for its determination is rather time and budget-consuming. On the other hand, the amount of data collected in the literature, from both experimental and industrial analysis, can be exploited to build a numerical model, based on the multivariate statistical analysis and machine learning principles that predict the CHONS content for every type of biomass. In this work, a data-driven model has been developed to achieve this aim, having as input a set of relevant variables. Consequently, a dataset has been built to gather all these data. The multivariate statistical technique of Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) is used to find 'hidden' correlations and predict CHON content for 27 different biomass types. In future research, machine learning techniques will be applied to compare the results obtained

Dysregulation of regulatory CD56bright NK cells/T cells interactions in multiple sclerosis

Recent evidence has shown that CD56bright NK cells, a subset of NK cells abundant in lymph nodes, may have an immunoregulatory function. In multiple sclerosis (MS), expansion of CD56bright NK cells has been associated to successful response to different treatments and to remission of disease during pregnancy; how whether they exert immunoregulation in physiologic conditions and whether this is impaired in MS is not known. We dissected the immunoregulatory role of CD56bright NK cells function in healthy subjects (HS) and compared it with that of untreated MS subjects or patients with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of MS (CIS). We found that CD56bright NK cells from HS acquire, upon inflammatory cues, the capability of suppressing autologous CD4+T cell proliferation through direct cytotoxicity requiring engagement of natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) and secretion of granzyme B. CD56bright NK cells from patients with MS/CIS did not differ in frequency and share a similar phenotype but displayed a significantly lower ability to inhibit autologous T cell proliferation. This impairment was not related to deficient expression of NCRs or granzyme B by CD56bright NK cells, but to increased HLA-E expression on T cells from MS/CIS subjects, which could enhance the inhibitory effect mediated by NKG2A that is homogeneously expressed on CD56bright NK cells. The defect in controlling autologous T cells by CD56bright NK cells in MS/CIS might contribute to the excess of autoimmune response that is associated to disease development

Thermodynamic Equilibrium Study of Anaerobic Digestion through Helmholtz Equation of State

The growing attention regarding a more sustainable future, and thus into energy recovery and waste reduction technologies, has intensified the interest towards processes which allow to exploit waste and biomasses to generate energy, such as the anaerobic digestion. Improving the efficiency of this industrial application is crucial to increase methane production, and is essential from the economic, environmental and safety point of view. This study focuses on the thermodynamic modelling of a steady-state reactor as a flash unit, in order to determine the best operating conditions to produce the maximum amount of pure bio-methane. To this purpose, a new hybrid approach based on the Peng–Robinson cubic equation of state and on the Multi-Parameter Helmholtz-Energy EoS has been proposed. The simulations, performed using the developed algorithm at temperatures between 20 and 55 °C and at pressure values between 0.3 atm and 1.5 atm, point out that the fugacity of the mixture evaluated with the proposed technique is much more accurate and reliable than the one calculated with the PR EoS. In addition, this research has shown not only that the purity and the production of the biogas can be optimised by working at mesophilic conditions and at pressure between 1 atm and 1.5 atm, but also that it is not convenient to operate in a temperature range of 42 °C–45 °C, since about 20 % more H2S goes into the exiting biogas, reducing the CH4 amount and raising the post-treatment costs. Lastly, it has been seen that there is a significant water content in the vapour phase (∼5 %wt.), and this is a factor to be taken into account in order to improve the process

PCOS and Muscle Strength: Preliminary Results in Normal Weight Women: 1471 Board #124 June 2, 8: 00 AM - 9: 30 AM

[No abstract available

Functionalized Polymeric Materials with Bio-Derived Antimicrobial Peptides for "Active" Packaging

Food packaging is not only a simple protective barrier, but a real “active„ component, which is expected to preserve food quality, safety and shelf-life. Therefore, the materials used for packaging production should show peculiar features and properties. Specifically, antimicrobial packaging has recently gained great attention with respect to both social and economic impacts. In this paper, the results obtained by using a polymer material functionalized by a small synthetic peptide as “active„ packaging are reported. The surface of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), one of the most commonly used plastic materials in food packaging, was plasma-activated and covalently bio-conjugated to a bactenecin-derivative peptide named 1018K6, previously characterized in terms of antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities. The immobilization of the peptide occurred at a high yield and no release was observed under different environmental conditions. Moreover, preliminary data clearly demonstrated that the “active„ packaging was able to significantly reduce the total bacterial count together with yeast and mold spoilage in food-dairy products. Finally, the functionalized-PET polymer showed stronger efficiency in inhibiting biofilm growth, using a Listeria monocytogenes strain isolated from food products. The use of these “active„ materials would greatly decrease the risk of pathogen development and increase the shelf-life in the food industry, showing a real potential against a panel of microorganisms upon exposure to fresh and stored products, high chemical stability and re-use possibility

Unraveling the regulatory role of NK cells on T-cell effector functions: Implications for CNS autoimmunity

none11Eric Armentani;Alice Laroni;Federico Ivaldi;Roopali Gandhi;Ilaria Gandoglia;Emanuela Marcenaro;Simona Sivori;Alessandro Moretta;Nicole Kerlero De Rosbo;Howard L. Weiner;Antonio UccelliArmentani, Eric; Laroni, Alice; Federico, Ivaldi; Roopali, Gandhi; Ilaria, Gandoglia; Marcenaro, Emanuela; Sivori, Simona; Moretta, Alessandro; Nicole Kerlero De, Rosbo; Howard L., Weiner; Uccelli, Antoni