Designing Supportive Chatbots for Blood Donors

Healthcare systems worldwide rely on voluntary blood donations, as blood cannot be produced artificially, but is needed for many surgeries and treatments. In countries like South Africa or Ghana, currently less than 1 % of the population donates blood. Donor education, mobilisation and management are therefore crucial. Chatbots offer easy access to information for all types of donors as well as for blood services to educate (potential) donors. By applying the design science research approach and grounding our research on behaviour change models, we have developed a chatbot for all donor types in South Africa and Ghana. In this work, we present an instantiation of the chatbot and its positive evaluation with non-, first-time, lapsed and regular donors of both countries

Effect on salt in the groth and metabolism of Glycine max L., cv. IAC 17

Orientador: Claudia Regina Baptista HaddadDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaResumo: A salinidade inibe o crescimento das plantas e interfere na produtividade de espécies cultivadas. Com o objetivo de verificar alterações no crescimento e metabolismo, plantas de soja, Glycine max (L) Merr., cv. IAC 17, foram cultivadas na presença de NaCI, nas concentrações de 50 mM, 100 mM e 200 mM. A análise dos parâmetros de crescimento revelou que as raízes de plantas de soja são menos afetadas pelo sal do que a parte aérea. O comprimento e a massa fresca das raízes não foram afetados em concentrações elevadas de sal. Dados na literatura relatam que a manutenção do crescimento normal das raízes sob condições adversas de cultivo demonstra que a planta pode apresentar tolerância ao sal. Sob salinidade houve aumento do conteúdo de água das raízes, o que pode estar relacionado com a maior tolerância ao estresse salino, pois, desta forma, a planta conseguiria diminuir a concentração de sais no citoplasma. Observou-se um decréscimo gradativo na área foliar, massas secas e secas livres de cinzas de folhas, caules e raízes com o aumento da salinidade. O teor de proteínas em folhas de plantas de soja não foi alterado significativamente pela salinidade, em relação ao controle, uma explicação para o fato é a possibilidade de ter havido aumento na síntese de proteínas específicas de estresse. Outra possibilidade é que a duração do experimento não tenha sido suficiente para que fossem observadas alterações na concentração de proteínas. Não houve uma relação clara entre a concentração de açúcares solúveis totais nas raízes e a concentração de NaCl no meio de cultivo, indicando que os açúcares solúveis não devem estar envolvidos no ajustamento osmótico em plantas de soja. Houve redução nas concentrações de nitrato e aminoácidos solúveis totais nas raízes, quando as plantas foram submetidas à salinidade. A redução na concentração de aminoácidos livres totais pode estar ligada à diminuição da absorção de nitrato pelas raízes, devido a uma possível interferência exercida pelo Cl- sobre transportadores de membrana, que limitaria a entrada do nitrato nas raízes. Diante de uma menor absorção de nitrato, haveria limitação na assimilação do nitrogênio necessário para a síntese de aminoácidos. A salinidade provocou alterações no perfil de aminoácidos transportados no xilema. Houve um aumento na concentração de SER, ALA, GABA e PRO e redução de ASN no exsudato do xilema de plantas submetidas aos tratamentos com solução salina. A diminuição da concentração de ASN pode ter ocorrido devido à interconversão deste aminoácido em ALA. Nas raízes de plantas controle, os aminoácidos que apresentaram a maior proporção foram ASN, GABA e GLU, respectivamente e, após a adição de sal ao meio, apenas a concentração do aminoácido ASN diminuiu. A PRO e o GABA têm um possível papel na redução da acidificação do citosol, sob estresse salino. Apesar da elevação observada dos mesmos não foi suficiente para evitar a redução do crescimento sob salinidade, uma vez que houve diminuição da massa seca das plantas de sojaAbstract: Salinity inhibits plant growth and crop production. With the objective of verifying changes in metabolism and growth, soybean plants (Glycine max (L) Merr., cv. IAC 17) were cultivated in the presence of different NaCl concentrations (50 mM, 100 mM and 200 mM). The analysis of growth parameters showed that the roots of soybean plants are less affected by salt than the shoot. The length and fresh matter of roots were not significantly reduced by the increase in salt concentration. Data from the literature indicate that normal growth of roots under adverse conditions may demonstrate the capacity of plants to tolerate salt stress. The increase of water content in roots of soybean plants cultivated at higher salt concentrations can be related with salt tolerance, since the increase of water reduces salt concentration inside the cytoplasm. A gradual decrease was observed in leaf area, dry matter and ash-free dry matter of leaves, stem and roots, with the increase of salinity. The protein concentration of soybean leaves was not significantly changed by the salinity. The explanation for this is probably related to the increase of specific proteins synthesized by the plants under stress conditions. Another possibility is that the experimental period was not enough to allow observations in changes of protein concentrations. There was no clear relationship between total soluble sugars located in the root system and the NaCl concentration, which may indicate that these were not used by the plant for osmotic adjustment. A reduction of nitrate and total soluble amino acids was observed in plants affected by salinity. The reduction of free total amino acids may be related to the decrease of nitrate absorption by the roots, possibly resulting from an interference of Cl- on membrane nitrate transporters. Salinity changed the amino acid profile transported in the xylem. There was an increase in concentration of SER, ALA, GABA and PRO and reduction of ASN in xylem sap of plants under salt stress. The decrease of ASN can be explained by the interconversion of this into ALA. In the roots of control plants the most abundant amino acids were ASN, GABA and GLU, respectively, and after the addition of salt, only the ASN level was reduced. Some authors consider that PRO and GABA have a role in the reduction of cytosol acidification under salinity stress. Although an increase in PRO and GABA were observed, it did not avoid the reduction of growth, as shown by the reduction of dry matter in plants under salt stressMestradoMestre em Biologia Vegeta

Nota sobre a ocorrência de leishmaniose tegumentar americana na Serra da Cantareira, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

A microepidemic outbreak of american mucocutaneous leishmaniasis occurred at the beginning of 1978 in the "Serra da Cantareira", S. Paulo, Brazil. The persistence of some of the niche is commented on.Relata-se a ocorrência de um pequeno surto de leishmaniose tegumentar americana, na Serra da Cantareira, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. Foram feitas considerações sobre a persistência de nichos de leishmaniose no Estado de São Paulo

The role of local colleagues in establishing international scientific collaboration : social capital in emerging science systems

International collaborations are important for developing science systems. Using a dataset of South African university scientists, we ask whether social capital relevant to international collaboration held by one scientist spills over to local colleagues. Distinguishing between different ways of acquiring foreign ties, we find that 20% of our cases resemble the most-studied form of international collaborations, via the unique ties of an individual with specific characteristics, e.g., foreign research training. In all other cases, both personal and local peers’ international social capital is relevant for foreign tie formation. Underlining the systemic functioning of science, international social capital is activated through scientific collaboration among local scientists. The mediating effect of local scientific collaboration is present across all scientific fields and holds for scientists trained locally or abroad. Our findings thus imply that local collaboration is a relevant mechanism to strengthen international collaboration and the formation of international social capital.https://academic.oup.com/icchj2023Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS

Large and variable genome size unrelated to serpentine adaptation but supportive of cryptic sexuality in Cenococcum geophilum

Estimations of genome size and its variation can provide valuable information regarding the genetic diversity of organisms and their adaptation potential to heterogeneous environments. We used flow cytometry to characterize the variation in genome size among 40 isolates of Cenococcum geophilum, an ectomycorrhizal fungus with a wide ecological and geographical distribution, obtained from two serpentine and two non-serpentine sites in Portugal. Besides determining the genome size and its intraspecies variation, we wanted to assess whether a relationship exists between genome size and the edaphic background of the C. geophilum isolates. Our results reveal C. geophilum to have one of the largest genome sizes so far measured in the Ascomycota, with a mean haploid genome size estimate of 0.208 pg (203 Mbp). However, no relationship was found between genome size and the edaphic background of the sampled isolates, indicating genetic and demographic processes to be more important for shaping the genome size variation in this species than environmental selection. The detection of variation in ploidy level among our isolates, including a single individual with both presumed haploid and diploid nuclei, provides supportive evidence for a possible cryptic sexual or parasexual cycle in C. geophilum (although other mechanisms may have caused this variation). The existence of such a cycle would have wide significance, explaining the high levels of genetic diversity and likelihood of recombination previously reported in this species, and adds to the increasing number of studies suggesting sexual cycles in previously assumed asexual fungi.This work was supported by research grant PTDC/BIA-BEC/100733/2008, funded by the European Union and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, awarded to Ludo Muller

The enzyme kinetics of the NADP-malic enzyme from tobacco leaves

Malic enzyme (L-malate: NADP + oxidoreductase (oxaloacetate-decarboxylating), EC 1.1.1.40, NADP-ME), which was found in chloroplasts, was isolated from tobacco leaves (Nicotiana tabacum L.) almost homogenous. The specific enzyme activity was 0.95 µmol min -1 mg -1 . The enzyme pH optimum was found between pH 7.1 and 7.4. Malic enzyme (L-malate: NAD(P) + oxidoreductase (decarboxylating)) catalyzes oxidative decarboxylation of L-malate using NAD + or NADP + as coenzymes in the presence of divalent metal ions to produce pyruvate, NAD(P)H and CO 2 1,2 . This is ascribed to three related forms of malic enzymes. The first, EC 1.1.1.38, which uses NAD + as a coenzyme and ca

Leprosy-specific oral lesions : a report of three cases

Leprosy is a chronic infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a bacillus that presents a peculiar tropism for the skin and peripheral nerves. The clinical spectrum of leprosy ranges from the tuberculoid form (TT) to the disseminative and progressive lepromatous form (LL). Oral lesions are rare but, when present, occur in the lepromatous form. This article describes the clinical and microscopic findings of three cases of LL with oral manifestations. All patients had the lepromatous form and their leprosy-specific oral lesions occurred in the palate. The diagnosis was based on clinical, serological and histopathological findings, and multidrug therapy for multibacillary leprosy was started and continued for 24 months. All patients completed treatment, but developed reaction episodes which were treated with prednisone and/or thalidomide. The authors emphasize the importance of oral mucosa evaluation by a dental health professional during patient care since oral lesions may act as a source of infection

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor is required for optimal B-cell proliferation

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a transcription factor known for mediating xenobiotic toxicity, is expressed in B cells, which are known targets for environmental pollutants. However, it is unclear what the physiological functions of AhR in B cells are. We show here that expression of Ahr in B cells is up‐regulated upon B‐cell receptor (BCR) engagement and IL‐4 treatment. Addition of a natural ligand of AhR, FICZ, induces AhR translocation to the nucleus and transcription of the AhR target gene Cyp1a1, showing that the AhR pathway is functional in B cells. AhR‐deficient (Ahr (−/−)) B cells proliferate less than AhR‐sufficient (Ahr (+/+)) cells following in vitro BCR stimulation and in vivo adoptive transfer models confirmed that Ahr (−/−) B cells are outcompeted by Ahr (+/+) cells. Transcriptome comparison of AhR‐deficient and AhR‐sufficient B cells identified cyclin O (Ccno), a direct target of AhR, as a top candidate affected by AhR deficiency

Investigação do haplótipo 5' da globina β em indígenas brasileiros

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