Fermion mass hierarchy and non-hierarchical mass ratios in SU(5) x U(1)_F

We consider a SU(5) x U(1)_F GUT-flavor model in which the number of effects that determine the charged fermions Yukawa matrices is much larger than the number of observables, resulting in a hierarchical fermion spectrum with no particular regularities. The GUT-flavor symmetry is broken by flavons in the adjoint of SU(5), realizing a variant of the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism that gives rise to a large number of effective operators. By assuming a common mass for the heavy fields and universality of the fundamental Yukawa couplings, we reduce the number of free parameters to one. The observed fermion mass spectrum is reproduced thanks to selection rules that discriminate among various contributions. Bottom-tau Yukawa unification is preserved at leading order, but there is no unification for the first two families. Interestingly, U(1)_F charges alone do not determine the hierarchy, and can only give upper bounds on the parametric suppression of the Yukawa operators.Comment: 14 pages, one figure. Few typos correcte

Overcoming triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) resistance to oncolytic virotherapy by histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A

"Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a tumor classification that lack receptors for the hormones estrogen, progesterone and HER2 protein. These malignancies are characterized to be of poor prognosis, refractoriness to conventional therapy and high rates of recurrence. Virotherapy with oncolytic adenovirus (OAd) consists of cancer selective viruses that replicate, spread, and kill cancer cells by oncolysis, without affecting the normal cells."--Introduction

Probiotics and trained immunity

The characteristics of innate immunity have recently been investigated in depth in several research articles, and original findings suggest that innate immunity also has a memory capacity, which has been named “trained immunity”. This notion has revolutionized our knowledge of the innate immune response. Thus, stimulation of trained immunity represents a therapeutic alternative that is worth exploring. In this context, probiotics, live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host, represent attractive candidates for the stimulation of trained immunity; however, although numerous studies have documented the beneficial proprieties of these microorganisms, their mechanisms of action are not yet fully understood. In this review, we propose to explore the putative connection between probiotics and stimulation of trained immunity.Fil: Cortes Peres, Naima G.. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; FranciaFil: de Moreno, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Gomez Gutierrez, Jorge G.. University of Missouri; Estados UnidosFil: Leblanc, Jean Guy Joseph. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Bermúdez Humarán, Luis G.. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Franci

Modelos de medición, evaluación y control de la gestión de gobiernos locales en materia de Sustentabilidad. Su utilización como herramienta para la promoción de ciudades creativas, justas y sustentables en el corredor del Río Uruguay

Son diversos los factores que dan evidencia del crecimiento de la temática de la responsabilidad social y de la sustentabilidad (RSyS) en el ámbito empresario, organizacional e individual y aún hoy después de muchos años de estudios e investigaciones sigue evolucionando y enriqueciéndose el debate junto a otros conceptos relacionados, como la ética y la gobernanza. La gestión de los gobiernos locales tiene una amplitud y riqueza de aspectos vinculados con este paradigma, tanto por la naturaleza de sus funciones básicas, por la variedad y complejidad de tareas desarrolladas, su contacto con una multiplicidad de grupos de interés y por un importante trabajo mancomunado con organizaciones del medio. El presente trabajo pretende indagar sobre la forma en que se gestionan las acciones, proyectos y programas vinculados al paradigma de la responsabilidad social y la sustentabilidad, su eventual medición, evaluación y las formas en que los municipios comunican los resultados e impactos de estas a los grupos de interés. En este marco el estudio busca, además, identificar casos exitosos de municipios que han avanzado con un abordaje más integral la gestión del paradigma de la RSyS, en Argentina y especialmente en la Región Centro del país

A brighter era for silver chalcogenide semiconductor nanocrystals

Silver chalcogenide semiconductor nanocrystals (Ag2E SNCs) have become a household name in the biomedical field, where they are used as contrast agents in bioimaging, photothermal therapy agents, and luminescent nanothermometers. The prominent position they have come to occupy in this field stems from a unique combination of features, above all near-infrared excitation and emission alongside low cytotoxicity. However, the first reports on Ag2E SNCs showed that a great limitation of these luminescent nanomaterials resided in their low photoluminescence quantum yield, which results in reduced brightness: a crippling feature in bioimaging and biosensing. In this article, we provide an overview of the strategies developed to overcome this hurdle. These strategies aim to remedy the presence of defects in the SNC core and/or surface, the presence of metallic silver, and off-stoichiometric composition. These features stem from the high mobility and redox potential of Ag+ ions, alongside the difficulty in controlling the nucleation and growth rate of Ag2E SNCs. The effectiveness of each approach is discussed. Lastly, a perspective on future research efforts to make Ag2E SNCs even brighter – and thus more effective in biomedical applications – is provided, with the hope of inspiring further investigation on these nanomaterials with a rich, complex set of physicochemical and spectroscopic propertiesThis work was financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion under project NANONERV PID2019-106211RB-I00, NANOGRANZ PID2021-123318OB-I00, PID2021-122806OB-I00 and TED2021-132317-I00B, by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI19/ 00565), by the Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid (P2022/BMD-7403 RENIM-CM) and co-financed by the European structural and investment fund. R.M. is grateful to the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación for support to research through a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (RYC2021- 032913-I). I.Z.-G. thanks UCM-Santander for a predoctoral contract (CT63/19-CT64/19). L.M. acknowledges a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (No. 202108350018

Secretion of biologically active interferon-gamma inducible protein-10 (IP-10) by Lactococcus lactis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chemokines are a large group of chemotactic cytokines that regulate and direct migration of leukocytes, activate inflammatory responses, and are involved in many other functions including regulation of tumor development. Interferon-gamma inducible-protein-10 (IP-10) is a member of the C-X-C subfamily of the chemokine family of cytokines. IP-10 specifically chemoattracts activated T lymphocytes, monocytes, and NK cells. IP-10 has been described also as a modulator of other antitumor cytokines. These properties make IP-10 a novel therapeutic molecule for the treatment of chronic and infectious diseases. Currently there are no suitable live biological systems to produce and secrete IP-10. <it>Lactococcus lactis </it>has been well-characterized over the years as a safe microorganism to produce heterologous proteins and to be used as a safe, live vaccine to deliver antigens and cytokines of interest. Here we report a recombinant strain of <it>L. lactis </it>genetically modified to produce and secrete biologically active IP-10.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The IP-10 coding region was isolated from human cDNA and cloned into an <it>L. lactis </it>expression plasmid under the regulation of the pNis promoter. By fusion to the usp45 secretion signal, IP-10 was addressed out of the cell. Western blot analysis demonstrated that recombinant strains of <it>L. lactis </it>secrete IP-10 into the culture medium. Neither degradation nor incomplete forms of IP-10 were detected in the cell or supernatant fractions of <it>L. lactis</it>. In addition, we demonstrated that the NICE (nisin-controlled gene expression) system was able to express IP-10 "de novo" even two hours after nisin removal. This human IP-10 protein secreted by <it>L. lactis </it>was biological active as demonstrated by Chemotaxis assay over human CD3+T lymphocytes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Expression and secretion of mature IP-10 was efficiently achieved by <it>L. lactis </it>forming an effective system to produce IP-10. This recombinant IP-10 is biologically active as demonstrated by its ability to chemoattract human CD3+ T lymphocytes. This strain of recombinant <it>L. lactis </it>represents a potentially useful tool to be used as a live vaccine <it>in vivo</it>.</p

The Influence of Perceived Parenting on Substance Initiation Among Mexican Children

Parents shape their children\u27s behaviors and impact their developmental trajectories. Despite this, few studies have examined the potential relationship between child reported parenting factors and lifetime substance use and use intentions. The current study examined the potential impact of parenting factors (i.e., positive parenting, supervision, parental illicit substance use, substance-specific communication) on early substance use and intentions among Latinx children. Data for the present study utilized a representative sample of Mexican children (n = 52,171; 5th and 6th grades) who participated in a national survey on substance use. Children reported their demographics, lifetime substance use/intentions, and perceived parenting characteristic and practices. Child reported parental (i.e., individual or both parents) illicit substance use was associated with the largest increases in risk for reporting lifetime use of all substances examined. Higher levels of positive parenting were consistently associated with reductions in risk for reporting intentions for and use of all substances examined. Parent-child substance specific communication was not significantly related to child reported lifetime use or use intentions, with the exception of a minor decrease in the odds of reporting lifetime inhalant use. Supervision was associated with small to modest increase in risk. Substance use prevention efforts targeting Latinx populations may benefit from promoting positive parenting and direct supervision during childhood. Targeted prevention efforts may be needed for Latinx children exposed to parental illicit substance use, as they may be especially at risk for early substance initiation

Boosting the near-infrared emission of Ag2S nanoparticles by a controllable surface treatment for bioimaging applications

Ag2S nanoparticles are the staple for high-resolution preclinical imaging and sensing owing to their photochemical stability, low toxicity, and photoluminescence (PL) in the second near-infrared biological window. Unfortunately, Ag2S nanoparticles exhibit a low PL efficiency attributed to their defective surface chemistry, which curbs their translation into the clinics. To address this shortcoming, we present a simple methodology that allows to improve the PL quantum yield from 2 to 10%, which is accompanied by a PL lifetime lengthening from 0.7 to 3.8 μs. Elemental mapping and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate that the PL enhancement is related to the partial removal of sulfur atoms from the nanoparticle's surface, reducing surface traps responsible for nonradiative de-excitation processes. This interpretation is further backed by theoretical modeling. The acquired knowledge about the nanoparticles' surface chemistry is used to optimize the procedure to transfer the nanoparticles into aqueous media, obtaining water-dispersible Ag2S nanoparticles that maintain excellent PL properties. Finally, we compare the performance of these nanoparticles with other near-infrared luminescent probes in a set of in vitro and in vivo experiments, which demonstrates not only their cytocompatibility but also their superb optical properties when they are used in vivo, affording higher resolution image