Horse immunization with short-chain consensus α-neurotoxin generates antibodies against broad spectrum of elapid venomous species

Antivenoms are fundamental in the therapy for snakebites. In elapid venoms, there are toxins, e.g. short-chain α-neurotoxins, which are quite abundant, highly toxic, and consequently play a major role in envenomation processes. The core problem is that such α-neurotoxins are weakly immunogenic, and many current elapid antivenoms show low reactivity towards them. We have previously developed a recombinant consensus short-chain α-neurotoxin (ScNtx) based on sequences from the most lethal elapid venoms from America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Here we report that an antivenom generated by immunizing horses with ScNtx can successfully neutralize the lethality of pure recombinant and native short-chain α-neurotoxins, as well as whole neurotoxic elapid venoms from diverse genera such as Micrurus, Dendroaspis, Naja, Walterinnesia, Ophiophagus and Hydrophis. These results provide a proof-ofprinciple for using recombinant proteins with rationally designed consensus sequences as universal immunogens for developing next-generation antivenoms with higher effectiveness and broader neutralizing capacity.Universidad de Costa Rica/[741-B7-608]/UCR/Costa RicaDireccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico/[IN203118]/DGAPA/MéxicoDireccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico/[IN207218]/DGAPA/MéxicoUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP

A Call to Transformation: Unlearning and Learning Again How to Follow Jesus

Our Western version of Christianity has compartmentalized faith to being a good, moral person who attends a few hours of spectator activity each week with no clearly defined understanding of what it really means to follow Jesus Christ. Unchurched and churched alike have bought into a selfish, self-centered, fear-based, consumer-defined, individualistic vision of humanity that is driven by lust and greed. This thesis will examine the need for the present-day western Church to exchange the fundamental mental model of what it means to be a follower of Christ. For that to happen, leaders must see themselves not as church members, but as catalysts, that as they are going into places where they live their lives, they connect and mobilize other followers of Jesus to the mission he calls them to engage. For our culture to be transformed, a new movement must be fostered in which the disciple-making efforts of the Church are refocused on teaching people how to love like Jesus loved, in their families, neighborhoods, schools and businesses and third places...

Epistemologia dell\u2019insegnante di matematica sulla sua conoscenza professionale. (Parte III: Metodologia e risposte alle domande di ricerca D1-D4).

Le prime due parti di questo lavoro si trovano nei precedenti due numeri della rivista. Nella prima parte \ue8 stato descritto il quadro teorico ed \ue8 stata fatta una rassegna di alcuni risultati di ricerca. Nella seconda parte \ue8 stata completata la rassegna dei principali risultati di ricerca sul tema in esame e sono stati introdotti i problemi sui quali si \ue8 focalizzata questa ricerca. In questa terza parte si descrive la metodologia utilizzata per indagare l\u2019epistemologia dell\u2019insegnante di matematica sulla sua conoscenza professionale e si riportano e discutono alcuni risultati ottenuti

The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) Are Transforming the Way Academic Medical Institutions Approach Translational Research: The University of Michigan Experience

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96314/1/j.1752-8062.2011.00319.x.pd

The Effectiveness of a Wearable Long-Duration Therapeutic Ultrasound Device for the Post- Exercise Clearance of Lactic Acid

Please view abstract in the attached PDF fil

With cognitive enhancement comes great responsibility?

Although drugs that enhance the cognition of ‘healthy’ individuals (e.g. methylphenidate and modafinil) have received attention from ethicists and philosophers, little research has focused on the concrete opportunities they present for particular groups in society. Recent policy discussion has gone as far as suggesting there may be a moral obligation for individuals in high-risk professions (e.g. surgeons, pilots) to take enhancers. This chapter outlines a theoretical framework and methodology for investigating the claims that some professionals: (a) might have a responsibility to enhance and (b) might acquire more responsibilities once enhanced. Our methodology is interdisciplinary — as we examine normative hypotheses alongside psychological data and legal precedent — and practice-oriented—as we ultimately aim to make recommendations for policy and the professionals within its remit. Philosophical analysis exposes the conceptual and normative questions involved in a discussion of enhancement in professional contexts, offering and refining definitions of concepts (capacity, responsibility) and theory about their relationship. Psychological inquiry uses surveys and experimental methods to collect data from lay people and professionals on attitudes and responsibility attributions associated with enhancement. Legal analysis examines the conditions under which professional duties to enhance might emerge and how the law might impose or limit liability