Epstein Barr virus in relation to apoptosis markers and patients' outcome in pediatric B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

In this study, we investigated Epstein Barr virus (EBV) presence, associated to proliferation and apoptosis proteins in pediatric B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). EBERs, Ki67, active caspase 3, Bax and Bcl2 were analyzed on B-NHL tissue from 40 patients. Forty percent showed EBV expression, significantly higher among patients ≤10. years (P= 0.027), and associated with immunosuppression (P= 0.020), but not associated apotosis markers. However, EBV was associated with a worse event-free survival (P= 0.016), particularly under immunosuppression. Even though EBV did not seem to alter apoptotic pathways, it exhibited survival disadvantage and could be an important cofactor in B-cell lymphomagenesis in younger children.Fil: Chabay, Paola Andrea. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lara, María Julia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; ArgentinaFil: Lorenzetti, Mario Alejandro. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cambra, P.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; ArgentinaFil: Acosta Haab, G.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; ArgentinaFil: Aversa, L.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; ArgentinaFil: de Matteo, Elena Noemí. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Preciado, María Victoria. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Chemistry Across Multiple Phases (CAMP) version 1.0: an integrated multiphase chemistry model

A flexible treatment for gas- and aerosol-phase chemical processes has been developed for models of diverse scale, from box models up to global models. At the core of this novel framework is an “abstracted aerosol representation” that allows a given chemical mechanism to be solved in atmospheric models with different aerosol representations (e.g., sectional, modal, or particle-resolved). This is accomplished by treating aerosols as a collection of condensed phases that are implemented according to the aerosol representation of the host model. The framework also allows multiple chemical processes (e.g., gas- and aerosol-phase chemical reactions, emissions, deposition, photolysis, and mass transfer) to be solved simultaneously as a single system. The flexibility of the model is achieved by (1) using an object-oriented design that facilitates extensibility to new types of chemical processes and to new ways of representing aerosol systems, (2) runtime model configuration using JSON input files that permits making changes to any part of the chemical mechanism without recompiling the model (this widely used, human-readable format allows entire gas- and aerosol-phase chemical mechanisms to be described with as much complexity as necessary), and (3) automated comprehensive testing that ensures stability of the code as new functionality is introduced. Together, these design choices enable users to build a customized multiphase mechanism without having to handle preprocessors, solvers, or compilers. Removing these hurdles makes this type of modeling accessible to a much wider community, including modelers, experimentalists, and educators. This new treatment compiles as a stand-alone library and has been deployed in the particle-resolved PartMC model and in the Multiscale Online AtmospheRe CHemistry (MONARCH) chemical weather prediction system for use at regional and global scales. Results from the initial deployment to box models of different complexity and MONARCH will be discussed, along with future extension to more complex gas–aerosol systems and the integration of GPU-based solvers.Matthew L. Dawson has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 747048. Matthew L. Dawson, Oriol Jorba, and Christian Guzman have been supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (grant no. RTI2018-099894-BI00). Christian Guzman acknowledges funding from the AXA Research Fund. Nicole Riemer, Matthew West, and Jeffrey H. Curtis acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation (grant no. AGS 19-41110). This material is based upon work supported by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is a major facility sponsored by the National Science Foundation under cooperative agreement no. 1852977.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Chemistry Across Multiple Phases (CAMP) version 1.0: an integrated multiphase chemistry model

A flexible treatment for gas- and aerosol-phase chemical processes has been developed for models of diverse scale, from box models up to global models. At the core of this novel framework is an “abstracted aerosol representation” that allows a given chemical mechanism to be solved in atmospheric models with different aerosol representations (e.g., sectional, modal, or particle-resolved). This is accomplished by treating aerosols as a collection of condensed phases that are implemented according to the aerosol representation of the host model. The framework also allows multiple chemical processes (e.g., gas- and aerosol-phase chemical reactions, emissions, deposition, photolysis, and mass transfer) to be solved simultaneously as a single system. The flexibility of the model is achieved by (1) using an object-oriented design that facilitates extensibility to new types of chemical processes and to new ways of representing aerosol systems, (2) runtime model configuration using JSON input files that permits making changes to any part of the chemical mechanism without recompiling the model (this widely used, human-readable format allows entire gas- and aerosol-phase chemical mechanisms to be described with as much complexity as necessary), and (3) automated comprehensive testing that ensures stability of the code as new functionality is introduced. Together, these design choices enable users to build a customized multiphase mechanism without having to handle preprocessors, solvers, or compilers. Removing these hurdles makes this type of modeling accessible to a much wider community, including modelers, experimentalists, and educators. This new treatment compiles as a stand-alone library and has been deployed in the particle-resolved PartMC model and in the Multiscale Online AtmospheRe CHemistry (MONARCH) chemical weather prediction system for use at regional and global scales. Results from the initial deployment to box models of different complexity and MONARCH will be discussed, along with future extension to more complex gas–aerosol systems and the integration of GPU-based solvers.Matthew L. Dawson has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 747048. Matthew L. Dawson, Oriol Jorba, and Christian Guzman have been supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (grant no. RTI2018-099894-BI00). Christian Guzman acknowledges funding from the AXA Research Fund. Nicole Riemer, Matthew West, and Jeffrey H. Curtis acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation (grant no. AGS 19-41110). This material is based upon work supported by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is a major facility sponsored by the National Science Foundation under cooperative agreement no. 1852977.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Second international congress on immunopharmacology : delivery systems and current strategies for drug design

The 2nd International Congress on Immunopharmacology was held in June of 2011 at the Conference Center of Plaza America in Varadero, Cuba. The main goal of this meeting was to provide state-of-the-art communications for scientists, manufacturers, regulators and healthcare workers, to accelerate progress in the development of biological and biotechnological products and to promote exchange/scientific cooperation between researchers. 300 delegates from 22 countries attended the conference. The wide-ranging programme commenced with a plenary session and then split into a series of parallel workshops and symposia, covering “Advances in Immunopharmacology”, “Neuroimmunology”, “Therapeutic Biological Products”, “Prophylaxis and Treatment of Helicobacter pylori”, “Pharmacology of Cytochrome P450”, “Hereditary Ataxias” and “Delivery Systems and Current Strategies for Drug Design”. In this last Symposium, a substantial body of data was presented relating to the development of delivery systems with adjuvant and vaccine potential and also to strategies focused in therapeutic and prophylactic approaches against tuberculosis. This issue is dedicated to some of the results presented in this area

Grassroots Leadership Development

Over a four-year period, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation invested more than $20 million in grants to 23 local, regional, and national organizations involved in grassroots leadership development. Dr. Jeanne Campbell, a Minnesota-based research consultant, was retained to lead the research on this project. Her charge was to visit these 23 organizations and capture what they had learned about grassroots leadership. Largely based on the Campbell Report, this workbook provides new insights for aspiring or current grassroots leaders to sharpen and clarify assumptions about grassroots leadership and its power.Healthy communities need involved citizens. A civil society depends on citizen concern and citizen action as its lifeblood. How we sustain and strengthen communities is an enduring question. The examples in this workbook offer practical, proven suggestions on how to strengthen and build healthy communities.Whether you are interested in solving a problem in your community or involving more of your neighbors in your cause, you'll find something of value to your work in these findings. Some of the findings give weight and credibility to the obvious or assumed. Others break new ground and point to approaches that can help all of us get more results from grassroots leadership efforts.What follows are the five main findings from this research and related work by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Seroprevalence of Cysticercosis in Children and Young Adults Living in a Helminth Endemic Community in Leyte, the Philippines

Cysticercosis is a significant public health problem in countries where pigs are raised for consumption and remains an important cause of neurological disease worldwide. The Philippines is considered an endemic area for cysticercosis because cases in both humans and pigs have been reported; however, epidemiologic information stays limited. We conducted a pilot survey of the seroprevalence of human cysticercosis in a village in Leyte, the Philippines, by measuring antibody specific for Taenia solium cyst-fluid antigen. There were 497 subjects aged 7–30 years in our study and most subjects were infected with one or more helminths. The overall cysticercosis seroprevalence in this population was 24.6% (95% CI: 20.82% ~ 28.58%) with no significant difference based on age, sex, or other helminth coinfection status. Although the sample may not be representative of the whole community, the findings suggest that cysticercosis is a significant, but underrecognized public health concern in the Philippines

Caracterización de las niñas, niños y adolescentes desvinculados de los grupos armados ilegales: Inserción social y productiva desde un enfoque de Derechos Humanos: Introducción.

El reclutamiento ilícito es una de las formas de victimización a las que, con mayor frecuencia, se ven expuestos niños, niñas y adolescentes en escenarios de conflicto armado como el que estamos viviendo los colombianos en donde la población civil es la que resulta más afectada. Los grupos armados ilegales son los principales responsables de este delito, con el que incumplen las normas protectoras del derecho de los derechos humanos y el derecho internacional humanitario, lo mismo que el derecho penal internacional. Este fenómeno está asociado, igualmente, a situaciones como la ausencia de redes sociales, familiares, institucionales y comunitarias de protección de la infancia y la adolescencia, a políticas precarias de inclusión social para la niñez y la familia, al no reconocimiento de las y los niños como sujetos de derechos y a las diferentes manifestaciones de violencia en su contra (violencia sociopolítica, violencia intrafamiliar, delitos sexuales, explotación laboral infantil, etc.,); factores todos que remiten a la responsabilidad del Estado, la sociedad y la familia de la garantía y protección de los derechos de la infancia. Asumiendo la naturaleza compleja del fenómeno, las premisas éticas que su abordaje comporta y bajo un respeto profundo por las voces y percepciones de los niños, niñas y adolescentes participantes del estudio, la presente investigación “Caracterización de las niñas, niños y adolescentes desvinculados de los grupos armados ilegales: inserción social y productiva desde un enfoque de derechos humanos”, ofrece un análisis crítico, comprensivo y con rigor metodológico, de los factores que inciden en la realización de los derechos de la niñez y adolescencia víctima del delito de reclutamiento ilícito, según los distintos momentos asociados con la vinculación y desvinculación de esta población a los grupos armados ilegales y desde el punto de vista del interés superior de la infancia, la doctrina de protección integral, la perspectiva de los derechos de la infancia, la perspectiva de género, y el principio de corresponsabilidad. En desarrollo de la investigación se adelantó un riguroso análisis de los derechos a la vida, a la familia, a la educación, a la protección y al ejercicio de los derechos sexuales y reproductivos de los niños, niñas y adolescentes desvinculados de los grupos armados ilegales atendidos en los servicios del Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar durante los meses de agosto y septiembre de 2005. Para tal efecto, se partió de un proceso de identificación de los factores socioeconómicos, familiares, personales y de la dinámica del conflicto, asociados a su vinculación y desvinculación de los grupos armados, así como de las condiciones que caracterizaron su reclutamiento y permanencia en tales organizaciones dentro del propósito de establecer cómo afecta y pone en riesgo el ejercicio y goce de los derechos mencionados. Se concluyó con la identificación y análisis de los factores que facilitan el proceso de inserción social y productiva durante su tránsito y egreso en los modelos de atención del ICBF. La presente investigación ofrece un universo rico en elementos de análisis para impulsar estrategias y acciones de intervención en la problemática del reclutamiento ilícito. Creemos que este estudio contiene un insumo importante para el cumplimiento de la responsabilidad de promover la efectividad de los derechos humanos de la población afectada y fomentar acciones transformadoras para la implementación de políticas públicas tanto en lo nacional como en lo local. Esperamos, entonces, que los hallazgos de la investigación contribuyan al diseño y ejecución de una política pública integral de infancia capaz de movilizar al Estado, la sociedad y la familia, lo mismo que a los grupos armados ilegales. Se requiere de medidas concretas y oportunas para la formulación, fortalecimiento y puesta en marcha de estrategias efectivas de inclusión social de la niñez y adolescencia colombiana como mecanismo de prevención del delito de reclutamiento ilícito y que permitan la inserción social y familiar de la población infantil y adolescente afectada por el mismo en el marco de una adecuada y coordinada complementariedad interinstitucional. Es importante señalar que esta investigación no hubiese sido posible sin el apoyo técnico y financiero brindado por el Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia – UNICEF, en el marco del convenio interinstitucional suscrito desde 1995; período en el cual la Defensoría del Pueblo ha divulgado una serie de investigaciones sobre el nivel de realización de los derechos humanos de la infancia colombiana en el contexto del conflicto armado. Así mismo, cabe destacar la apertura y disposición del Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar a través del Programa de Atención a Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes Desvinculados de los Grupos Armados Irregulares, la espontaneidad con la que los niños, niñas y adolescentes compartieron sus experiencias vitales y el apoyo permanente que brindaron las diferentes dependencias y equipos de la Defensoría del Pueblo que contribuyeron al adelanto y culminación de este proyecto de investigación. A todos ellos y ellas, gracias les sean rendidas

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie