92 research outputs found
Achievements of EU funded project BFIRST on BIPV technology
EU funded “Building-integrated fibre reinforced solar technology” (BFIRST) project (Grant Agreement number 296016) was launched in 2012 by a consortium of EU companies, research institutes and universities, led by Tecnalia. The project, which will end in early 2017, is focused on the design, development, fabrication and demonstration of a set of standardized multifunctional photovoltaic products for building integration using an innovative manufacturing solution based on glass fibre-reinforced composite materials. This novel encapsulation technology is the basis for a wide range of new BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaic) products with enhanced building integration possibilities. The resulting modules present advanced characteristics in terms of flexibility of design, adaptability to non-planar geometries, structural properties and lightweight, among others. They provide additional advantages related to cost reduction in transport, manipulation, assembly and installatio
Ursodeoxycholate reduces ethinylestradiol glucuronidation in the rat: Role of prevention in estrogen-induced cholestasis
ABSTRACT Ethinylestradiol (EE) administration (5 mg/kg, s.c., daily for 5 days) to rats leads to cholestasis, and its derivative EE 17-glucuronide is a likely mediator of this effect. Coadministration of ursodeoxycholate (UDC) was shown to prevent ethinylestradiol-induced cholestasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of UDC on EE glucuronidation in vivo and in vitro as a potential mechanism to explain UDC protection. UDC treatment (25 mg/kg, i.p., daily for 5 days) decreased the biliary excretion of EE 17-glucuronide in bile after administration of a trace dose of [ 3 H]EE and reduced microsomal EE 17-glucuronidation activity by 20% and expression of UGT2B1, one of the enzymes involved in EE conjugation, by 30%. Glucuronidation kinetic studies were performed in vitro using normal microsomes and isolated hepatocytes in the presence of tauroursodeoxycholate (TUDC), the major endogenous derivative of UDC in the rat. Kinetic enzymatic studies in microsomes showed a noncompetitive inhibition of EE 17-glucuronidation by TUDC, which was unique for this bile salt since other endogenous bile salts such as taurocholate, taurochenodeoxycholate, or taurodeoxycholate did not affect the enzyme activity. Studies in isolated hepatocytes confirmed the inhibitory effect of TUDC on EE glucuronidation and indicated that TUDC can reach the enzyme active site in intact cells. In conclusion, both in vivo and in vitro experiments indicate that UDC decreased the metabolic pathways involved in EE glucuronidation, hence decreasing the formation of the cholestatic derivative EE 17-glucuronide
Comparative serology techniques for the diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in a rural population from the state of Querétaro, Mexico
Immunological diagnostic methods for Trypanosoma cruzi depend specifically on the presence of antibodies and parasitological methods lack sensitivity during the chronic and “indeterminate” stages of the disease. This study performed a serological survey of 1,033 subjects from 52 rural communities in 12 of the 18 municipalities in the state of Querétaro, Mexico. We detected anti-T. cruzi antibodies using the following tests: indirect haemagglutination assay (IHA), indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), ELISA and recombinant ELISA (rELISA). We also performed Western blot (WB) analysis using iron superoxide dismutase (FeSOD), a detoxifying enzyme excreted by the parasite, as the antigen. Positive test results were distributed as follows: ELISA 8%, rELISA 6.2%, IFA and IHA 5.4% in both cases and FeSOD 8%. A comparative study of the five tests was undertaken. Sensitivity levels, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, concordance percentage and kappa index were considered. Living with animals, trips to other communities, gender, age, type of housing and symptomatology at the time of the survey were statistically analysed using SPSS software v.11.5. Detection of the FeSOD enzyme that was secreted by the parasite and used as an antigenic fraction in WBs showed a 100% correlation with traditional ELISA tests
Effects of IL-8 up-regulation on cell survival and osteoclastogenesis in multiple myeloma
[EN]IL-8 promotes cancer cell growth, survival, angiogenesis, and metastasis in several tumors. Herein, we investigated the sources of IL-8 production in multiple myeloma (MM) and its potential roles in MM pathogenesis. We found that bone marrow cells from patients with MM secreted higher amounts of IL-8 than healthy donors. IL-8 production was detected in cultures of CD138+ plasma cells and CD138(-) cells isolated from bone marrows of MM patients, and in three of seven human myeloma cell lines (HMCLs) analyzed. Interactions between MM and stromal cells increased IL-8 secretion by stromal cells through cell-cell adhesion and soluble factors. Interestingly, 1L8 expression also increased in HMCLs, stromal cells, and osteoclasts after treatment with the antimyeloma drugs melphalan and bortezomib. In fact, the effect of bortezomib on IL-8 production was higher than that exerted by stromal-MM cell interactions. Addition of exogenous IL-8 did not affect growth of HMCLs, although it protected cells from death induced by serum starvation through a caspase-independent mechanism. Furthermore, IL-8 induced by stromal-MM cell interactions strongly contributed to osteoclast formation in vitro, because osteoclastogenesis was markedly reduced by IL-8 specific neutralizing antibodies. In conclusion, our results implicate IL-8 in myeloma bone disease and point to the potential utility of an anti IL-8 therapy to prevent unwanted effects of IL-8 up-regulation on survival, angiogenesis, and osteolysis in MM.Spanish RTICC, Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC), the INNOCAMPUS Program , Spanish ISCIII-FIS (PI12/02591) and FEDER, Regional Council from Castilla y León (Consejería de Educación) and the Network of Centers for Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy from Castilla y León
Barriers to women entrepreneurship. Different methods, different results?
Building on research by Akehurst et al. (Serv Ind J 32:2489-2505, 2012), this study analysed internal and external factors in women entrepreneurship and linked these factors to the barriers that women face when starting businesses. To do so, two contrasting statistical techniques were used: PLS and QCA. After analysing results from each of these techniques, we observed that family duties and difficulties in obtaining financing (both internal and external) were the main factors related to barriers faced by women entrepreneurs
High Levels of Diversity Uncovered in a Widespread Nominal Taxon: Continental Phylogeography of the Neotropical Tree Frog
Species distributed across vast continental areas and across major biomes provide unique model systems for studies of biotic diversification, yet also constitute daunting financial, logistic and political challenges for data collection across such regions. The tree frog Dendropsophus minutus (Anura: Hylidae) is a nominal species, continentally distributed in South America, that may represent a complex of multiple species, each with a more limited distribution. To understand the spatial pattern of molecular diversity throughout the range of this species complex, we obtained DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the 16S rhibosomal gene (16S) for 407 samples of D. minutus and closely related species distributed across eleven countries, effectively comprising the entire range of the group. We performed phylogenetic and spatially explicit phylogeographic analyses to assess the genetic structure of lineages and infer ancestral areas. We found 43 statistically supported, deep mitochondrial lineages, several of which may represent currently unrecognized distinct species. One major clade, containing 25 divergent lineages, includes samples from the type locality of D. minutus. We defined that clade as the D. minutus complex. The remaining lineages together with the D. minutus complex constitute the D. minutus species group. Historical analyses support an Amazonian origin for the D. minutus species group with a subsequent dispersal to eastern Brazil where the D. minutus complex originated. According to our dataset, a total of eight mtDNA lineages have ranges >100,000 km2. One of them occupies an area of almost one million km2 encompassing multiple biomes. Our results, at a spatial scale and resolution unprecedented for a Neotropical vertebrate, confirm that widespread amphibian species occur in lowland South America, yet at the same time a large proportion of cryptic diversity still remains to be discovered
Socioeconomic Status Is Not Related with Facial Fluctuating Asymmetry: Evidence from Latin-American Populations
The expression of facial asymmetries has been recurrently related with poverty and/or disadvantaged socioeconomic status. Departing from the developmental instability theory, previous approaches attempted to test the statistical relationship between the stress experienced by individuals grown in poor conditions and an increase in facial and corporal asymmetry. Here we aim to further evaluate such hypothesis on a large sample of admixed Latin Americans individuals by exploring if low socioeconomic status individuals tend to exhibit greater facial fluctuating asymmetry values. To do so, we implement Procrustes analysis of variance and Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) to estimate potential associations between facial fluctuating asymmetry values and socioeconomic status. We report significant relationships between facial fluctuating asymmetry values and age, sex, and genetic ancestry, while socioeconomic status failed to exhibit any strong statistical relationship with facial asymmetry. These results are persistent after the effect of heterozygosity (a proxy for genetic ancestry) is controlled in the model. Our results indicate that, at least on the studied sample, there is no relationship between socioeconomic stress (as intended as low socioeconomic status) and facial asymmetries
Diagnóstico de infecção pelo Trypanosoma cruzi em gambas, naturalmente infectados, pela reação de imunofluorescência indireta
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