Intranasal treatment with a novel immunomodulator mediates innate immune protection against lethal Pneumonia Virus of Mice.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major causative agent of acute lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children. Unfortunately, there are no licensed RSV vaccines available, and the few treatment options for high-risk individuals are either extremely costly or cause severe side effects and toxicity. Thus, the development of effective vaccines and therapeutic interventions against RSV is a preeminent public health priority. Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM) causes similar clinical symptoms and disease in mice to those observed in RSV-infected patients, and therefore is used as a model for pathogenesis studies. Lethal PVM infection (i.e. 3000 pfu) in Balb/c mice is characterized by 20% weight loss in total body weight, rough coats, abnormal posture, nasal discharge, and difficulty breathing due to neutrophilia, edema and alveolitis in the lower airways. Also, these mice will succumb to the infection between days 6 and 7 p.i. Immunomodulation mediated by a novel formulation composed of the toll-like receptor 3 agonist poly I:C, an innate defense regulator peptide and a polyphosphazene (i.e. P-I-P) was first assessed in healthy adult Balb/c mice. Subsequently, the protective potential of P-I-P was further investigated in the context of a lethal PVM infection. P-I-P induced highest mRNA and protein expression of chemokines and cytokines in the lung milieu between 6 and 24 hr post-treatment. In addition, a single dose of P-I-P protected adult mice against PVM when given 24 hr prior to challenge. These animals displayed minimal body weight changes, no clinical disease, 100% survival, as well as reduced lung virus titers and pathology. P-I-P pre-treatment induced early mRNA and protein expression of key chemokine and cytokines, and decreased neutrophil and eosinophil numbers in the lungs, resulting in an overall modulation of the delayed exacerbated nature of PVM disease without short-term side effects. It was determined that the protective effects of P-I-P prophylaxis were maintained if administered up to 3 days prior to lethal PVM infection. On day 14 post-infection, P-I-P-treated survivor mice were confirmed to be PVM-free. These results demonstrate the capacity of this formulation to prevent PVM and possibly other viral respiratory infections

Emission line objects in NGC 6822. New Planetary Nebula candidates

Images obtained with the CTIO 4-m telescope and the MOSAIC-2 wide field camera in [O III] 5007 and H\alpha on-band and off-band filters are analyzed to search for emission lines objects in the galaxy NGC 6822. In particular we search for PN candidates. In addition, data of a sub-sample of objects obtained with ESO VLT-FORS2 are used to calibrate the MOSAIC imaging. A large number of line emission regions were detected, for which we measured instrumental magnitudes in all the filters. Based on some criteria to distinguish between PNe and compact HII regions, we found 26 PN candidates, increasing the known sample in 8 objects. Also we detected a number of compact HII regions and 20 stellar objects emitting in Halpha. For all the objects we present coordinates, instrumental magnitudes and nebular [O III] and Halpha+[N II] fluxes. The observed PNLF for the PN [O III] 5007 magnitudes and the cumulative PNLF were calculated. We confirm that the PNLF presents a dip similar to the one detected for the SMC at 2.5 mag down the maximum. The cumulative PNLF returns a value M^\star_{5007}=-3.71^{+0.21}_{-0.42} for the peak absolute magnitude of the PNLF which is faint compared to the value expected for galaxies with metallicity similar to the one of NGC 6822 but similar within uncertainties. From our best fit to the observed PNLF we obtained a rough distance modulus m-M = 23.64 ^{+0.23}_{-0.43} mag, which agrees within uncertainties with recent values reported in the literature. The number of PN in the brightest 0.5 mag normalized to the galactic bolometric luminosity, alpha_{0.5} was estimated to be (3.8^{+0.90}_{-0.71}) E-9, which is similar to the values derived for galaxies with recent star formation and small galaxies (M_B fainter than - 18 mag).Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 1 long table, A&A Accepted Nov 6, 200

Plano de intervenção para melhorar a assistência aos pacientes hipertensos atendidos na Unidade Básica de Saúde em Ribeirão das Neves - MG

INTRODUÇÃO: A hipertensão arterial sistêmica (HAS) constitui-se um grave risco para as doenças cardiovasculares, acidentes vasculares e caracteriza-se como umas das mais importantes doenças na área da saúde pública devido às altas taxas de morbidade e mortalidade. A doença requer cuidados essenciais do usuário e um estilo de vida adequado, por isso a equipe de saúde precisa envolver-se nesta problemática. OBJETIVO: Elaborar um projeto de intervenção com o intuito de melhorar a qualidade de assistência aos pacientes hipertensos. MÉTODO: Trata-se de uma revisão narrativa de literatura sobre o tema e desenvolvimento de ações com base no Planejamento Estratégico Situacional e na Estimativa Rápida. CONSIDERAÇÕES FINAIS: Espera-se que este projeto de intervenção seja implantado e que possibilite a melhoria da qualidade de assistência aos pacientes atendidas na Unidade Básica de saúde de Ribeirão das Neves

Mathematical modelling of the restenosis process after stent implantation

The stenting procedure has evolved to become a highly successful technique for the clinical treatment of advanced atherosclerotic lesions in arteries. However, the development of in-stent restenosis remains a key problem. In this work, a novel two-dimensional continuum mathematical model is proposed to describe the complex restenosis process following the insertion of a stent into a coronary artery. The biological species considered to play a key role in restenosis development are growth factors, matrix metalloproteinases, extracellular matrix, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. Diffusion–reaction equations are used for modelling the mass balance between species in the arterial wall. Experimental data from the literature have been used in order to estimate model parameters. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to study the impact of varying the parameters of the model on the evolution of the biological species. The results demonstrate that this computational model qualitatively captures the key characteristics of the lesion growth and the healing process within an artery subjected to non-physiological mechanical forces. Our results suggest that the arterial wall response is driven by the damage area, smooth muscle cell proliferation and the collagen turnover among other factors

Nitrogen isotopic evidence for deglacial changes in nutrient supply in the eastern equatorial Pacific

The Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) is a high nutrient–low chlorophyll region of the ocean. Downcore nitrogen isotope records from the EEP have been previously interpreted as a direct reflection of changes in nutrient consumption. However, the observed changes in sedimentary δ15N since the last glacial maximum have no coherent relationship with export productivity or an inferred variation in the iron‐to‐nitrate ratio of the surface waters. Rather, downcore N isotope records in the EEP strongly resemble changes in the extent of water column denitrification as recorded in nearby sedimentary δ15N records along the western margin of the Americas. This similarity is attributed to the overprinting of the N isotopic composition of nitrate in the EEP through the advection of nitrate westward from the margins in the subsurface. A local nitrogen isotope record of changes in the degree of nutrient consumption is extracted from the bulk sedimentary record by subtracting two different sedimentary δ15N records of denitrification changes from two new EEP δ15N records (TR163‐22 and ODP Site 1240). The denitrification records used are from 1) the Central American margin (ODP Site 1242) and 2) the South American margin (GeoB7139‐2). The degree of consumption in the surface waters declines rapidly from elevated values during the last glacial maximum to a pair of minima around 15 and 11–13 ka, and finally it increases into the Holocene. The derived EEP nitrogen isotope record indicates that the regional peak in export productivity occurred when the supply of nutrients exceeded the apparently high demand. The influx of nutrients during the deglaciation is attributed to the resumption of intense overturning in the Southern Ocean and the release of sequestered CO2 and nutrient‐rich, O2 poor waters from the deep ocean. This has important implications for understanding the glacial‐interglacial scale variation in intermediate water suboxia and water column denitrification

Measurement driven quantum evolution

We study the problem of mapping an unknown mixed quantum state onto a known pure state without the use of unitary transformations. This is achieved with the help of sequential measurements of two non-commuting observables only. We show that the overall success probability is maximized in the case of measuring two observables whose eigenstates define mutually unbiased bases. We find that for this optimal case the success probability quickly converges to unity as the number of measurement processes increases and that it is almost independent of the initial state. In particular, we show that to guarantee a success probability close to one the number of consecutive measurements must be larger than the dimension of the Hilbert space. We connect these results to quantum copying, quantum deleting and entanglement generation.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

A comprehensive survey on recent deep learning-based methods applied to surgical data

Minimally invasive surgery is highly operator dependant with a lengthy procedural time causing fatigue to surgeon and risks to patients such as injury to organs, infection, bleeding, and complications of anesthesia. To mitigate such risks, real-time systems are desired to be developed that can provide intra-operative guidance to surgeons. For example, an automated system for tool localization, tool (or tissue) tracking, and depth estimation can enable a clear understanding of surgical scenes preventing miscalculations during surgical procedures. In this work, we present a systematic review of recent machine learning-based approaches including surgical tool localization, segmentation, tracking, and 3D scene perception. Furthermore, we provide a detailed overview of publicly available benchmark datasets widely used for surgical navigation tasks. While recent deep learning architectures have shown promising results, there are still several open research problems such as a lack of annotated datasets, the presence of artifacts in surgical scenes, and non-textured surfaces that hinder 3D reconstruction of the anatomical structures. Based on our comprehensive review, we present a discussion on current gaps and needed steps to improve the adaptation of technology in surgery.Comment: This paper is to be submitted to International journal of computer visio

Breaking the H2 chemical bond in a crystalline environment

Through density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations, we have analysed various metal polyhydrides to understand whether hydrogen is present in its molecular or atomic form - tetrahydrides of Ba,Sr,Ra, Cs and La; Ba$_8$H$_{46}$ and BaH$_{12}$. We show that, in experimentally reported binary barium hydrides (BaH$_x$), molecular H$_2$ and atomic H$^-$ can coexist with the metallic cations. In this thorough study of differences between BaH$_4$, higher barium hydrides, and other binary tetrahydrides we find the number of atomic hydrogens is equal to the formal charge of the cations. The remaining hydrogen forms molecules in proportions yielding, e.g. BaH$_2$(H$_2)_x$, at pressures as high as 200 GPa. At room temperature these are highly dynamic structures with the hydrogens switching between H$^-$ and H$_2$ while retaining the 2:x ratio. We find some qualitative differences between our static DFT calculations and previously reported structural and spectroscopic experimental results. Two factors allow us to resolve such discrepancies: Firstly, in static relaxation H$_2$ must be regarded as a non-spherical object, which breaks symmetry in a way invisible to X-rays; Secondly the required number of molecules $x$ may be incompatible with the experimental space group (e.g. $BaH_2(H_2)_5$). In molecular dynamics, bond-breaking transitions between various structural symmetry configurations happen on a picosecond timescale via an H$_3^-$ intermediate. Rebonding is slow enough to allow a spectroscopic signal but frequent enough to average out over the lengthscale involved in diffraction

4-terminal tandem photovoltaic cell using two layers of PTB7:PC71BM for optimal light absorption

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS applied materials and interfaces, copyright © American Chemical Society, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b04537A 4-terminal architecture is proposed in which two thin active layers (<100 nm) of PTB7:PC71BM are deposited on a two-sided ITO covered glass substrate. By modeling the electric field distribution inside the multilayer structure and applying an inverse solving problem procedure, we designed an optimal device architecture tailored to extract the highest photocurrent possible. By adopting such a 4-terminal configuration, we numerically demonstrated that even when the two subcells use identical absorber materials, the performance of the 4-terminal device may overcome the performance of the best equivalent single-junction device. In an experimental implementation of such a 4-terminal device, we demonstrate the viability of the approach and find a very good match with the trend of the numerical predictions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Modelo de producción y políticas deportivas

En el siguiente trabajo intenta analizar la política social deportiva en la argentina a partir de un cambio de régimen político puesto que creemos provocó un cambio de paradigma. Ubicamos este quiebre en el derrocamiento del segundo gobierno peronista en 1955. Tomamos como guía las políticas implementadas en materia deportiva por los gobiernos peronistas para realizar una comparación entre estas y las de gobiernos posteriores. Este comparación se encuadra en la certeza de que este quiebre fue también el primer paso en el camino de un cambio de rumbo del modelo de producción nacional, cambio que se efectivizó con las políticas económicas y sociales implantadas por la última dictadura militar a partir de 1976. Centraremos nuestro trabajo en dos tópicos. El desarrollo del deporte como trasmisor de ideas, como herramienta de fomento de la política y las practicas sanitaristas. Y a raíz de esto hacemos hincapié en instituciones que fueron vías de desarrollo de políticas deportivas y centros de organización del pueblo, los clubes de barrio.Panel: "Deporte, Política y Estado".Departamento de Educación Físic