Foreign Investment in Indonesia

The purpose of this Article is to describe the principal laws and regulations currently applicable to foreign investment in Indonesia, including the investment approval process, local incorporation rules, reporting requirements, investment incentives, foreign employee guidelines, investment guaranties, and protection of intellectual property rights

Foucault, Normativity, and Freedom: A Reappraisal

The aim of this article is to contribute to the recently revived debate over the normativity of Foucault’s genealogical method. More specifically, I shall respond to Fraser’s charge that Foucault’s rejection of humanism is unjustified because he cannot state why a totally panopticized, autonomous society would be objectionable. After dismissing a non-normative defence strategy of Foucault’s work, I shall proceed as follows: firstly, I shall clarify Fou-cault’s model of critique as a practice of problematization geared to free his addressees from their captivation to the system of truths sustaining the power mechanisms of modern biopolitics. Secondly, I shall argue that Fraser’s society should be resisted because it would reproduce this regime of captivity, thereby obstructing the exercise of freedom as self-transformation. Thirdly, I shall contend that Foucault’s normative orientation to a post-humanist conception of freedom as self-transformation finds a contextual, explanatory account in his attempt to revitalize the emancipatory project of Enlightenment modernity through a transformative problematization of our normative commitments. Moreover, I shall show that the standard of validity of this effort is represented by Foucault’s exemplary embodiment of the critical ethos of the Enlightenment in both his style of existence and theoretical activity. Finally, the article terminates by illustrating three shortcomings of Foucault’s normative approach

Introduction to neutrino astronomy

This writeup is an introduction to neutrino astronomy, addressed to astronomers and written by astroparticle physicists. While the focus is on achievements and goals in neutrino astronomy, rather than on the aspects connected to particle physics, we will introduce the particle physics concepts needed to appreciate those aspects that depend on the peculiarity of the neutrinos. The detailed layout is as follows: In Sect.~1, we introduce the neutrinos, examine their interactions, and present neutrino detectors and telescopes. In Sect.~2, we discuss solar neutrinos, that have been detected and are matter of intense (theoretical and experimental) studies. In Sect.~3, we focus on supernova neutrinos, that inform us on a very dramatic astrophysical event and can tell us a lot on the phenomenon of gravitational collapse. In Sect.~4, we discuss the highest energy neutrinos, a very recent and lively research field. In Sect.~5, we review the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations and assess its relevance for neutrino astronomy. Finally, we offer a brief overall assessment and a summary in Sect.~6. The material is selected - i.e., not all achievements are reviewed - and furthermore it is kept to an introductory level, but efforts are made to highlight current research issues. In order to help the beginner, we prefer to limit the list of references, opting whenever possible for review works and books.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication The European Physical Journal Plus. Based on the lecture given at the "4th Azarquiel School of Astronomy", June 2017, Porto Paolo di Capo Passero, Syracuse (Italy) https://agenda.infn.it/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=1208

THE ROLE OF HLA TYPING IN RHEUMATIC DISEASES

Association between HLA-DR4 and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been known for 4 decades, and amino acid sites within HLA-DRB1 (11/13, 71, 74) are highly associated with RA. HLA is not useful for diagnosis or prognosis, but it may help predict severe and erosive disease. Since 90% of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 50-70% of other spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients are HLA-B*27 positive, HLA is a stronghold of diagnostic algorithms. Genetic predisposition to juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is mainly due to HLA class II, and to a lesser extent to HLA class I. Although HLA plays a role in rheumatic disorders, its clinical relevance is not homogeneous. When classical biomarkers are lacking or in complex cases, HLA typing may provide support for the management of patients

Enterocolite necrosante: resposta imflamatória x corticoterapia pré-natal

Necrotizing enterocolitis is the most frequently occurring gastrointestinal disorder in premature neonates. Animal models of necrotizing enterocolitis and prenatal administration of cortisone have demonstrated that cortisone may accelerate maturation of the mucosal barrier, therefore reducing the incidence of this gastrointestinal disorder. The authors present a review of the literature of the most important risk factors associated with necrotizing enterocolitis, such as inflammatory gastrointestinal mediators, enteral feeding and bacterial colonization, and immaturity of the gastrointestinal barrier, and we emphasize the necessity for additional studies to explore the prenatal administration of cortisone as a preventive strategy for necrotizing enterocolitis.A enterocolite necrosante é a mais freqüente patologia gastrointestinal adquirida no período neonatal, acometendo preferencialmente o recém-nascido prematuro. Estudos experimentais sugerem que a corticoterapia pré-natal acelera a maturação da mucosa gastrintestinal, levando a diminuição da incidência desta doença. Os autores apresentam uma revisão da literatura em relação aos principais fatores fisiopatológicos associados a enterocolite necrosante, tais como mediadores inflamatórios gastrintestinais, nutrição enteral e colonização bacteriana e imaturidade gastrintestinal e enfatizam a necessidade de mais estudos que avaliem a influencia da corticoterapia pré-natal com fator de prevenção da enterocolite necrosante

The luminosity constraint in the era of precision solar physics

The luminosity constraint is a very precise relationship linking the power released by the Sun as photons and the solar neutrino fluxes. Such a relation, which is a direct consequence of the physical processes controlling the production and the transport of energy in the solar interior, is of great importance for the studies of solar neutrinos and has a special role for the search of neutrinos from the CNO cycle, whose first detection with a 5$\sigma$ significance has been recently announced by the Borexino collaboration. Here we revise the luminosity constraint, discussing and validating its underlying hypotheses, in the light of latest solar neutrino and luminosity measurements. We generalize the current formulation of the luminosity constraint relation so that it can be easily used in future analysis of solar neutrino data, and we provide a specific application showing the link between CNO and pp neutrino fluxes.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in JPh

Effect of postnatal malnutrition on hyperoxia-induced newborn lung development

Several factors are associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Among them, hyperoxia and lung immaturity are considered to be fundamental; however, the effect of malnutrition is unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of 7 days of postnatal malnutrition and hyperoxia on lung weight, volume, water content, and pulmonary morphometry of premature rabbits. After c-section, 28-day-old New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into four groups: control diet and room air (CA, N = 17), control diet and ≥95% O2 (CH, N = 17), malnutrition and room air (MA, N = 18), and malnutrition and ≥95% O2 (MH, N = 18). Malnutrition was defined as a 30% reduction of all the nutrients provided in the control diet. Treatments were maintained for 7 days, after which histological and morphometric analyses were conducted. Lung slices were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, modified orcein-resorcin or picrosirius. The results of morphometric analysis indicated that postnatal malnutrition decreased lung weight (CA: 0.83 ± 0.19; CH: 0.96 ± 0.28; MA: 0.65 ± 0.17; MH: 0.79 ± 0.22 g) and water content, as well as the number of alveoli (CA: 12.43 ± 3.07; CH: 8.85 ± 1.46; MA: 7.33 ± 0.88; MH: 6.36 ± 1.53 x 10-3/mm) and elastic and collagen fibers. Hyperoxia reduced the number of alveoli and increased septal thickening and the mean linear intercept. The reduction of alveolar number, collagen and elastic fibers was intensified when malnutrition and hyperoxia were associated. These data suggest that dietary restriction enhances the magnitude of hyperoxia-induced alveolar growth arrest and lung parenchymal remodeling. It is interesting to consider the important influence of postnatal nutrition upon lung development and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.FAPES

SugE: proteína envolvida na resistência ao TBT em A. molluscorum Av27

Mestrado em MicrobiologiaThe extensive use of organotin compounds and their subsequent discharge into the environment has led to contamination of marine and freshwater environments. Several studies shown that these compounds are involved in the phenomenon known as "imposex" in gastropods and may affect other organisms, including humans. It is thus of great importance, the removal of these contaminants in ecosystems. It was isolated species of the genus Aeromonas with high resistance to tributyltin (TBT). Aeromonas molluscorum Av27, is able to degrade TBT into less toxic compounds such as dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT). It was demonstrated that the gene sugE A. molluscorum Av27 (sugE-Av27), was linked to TBT resistance in this strain. This gene codes a protein homologous to SugE, a member of the small multidrug resistance protein family (SMR). Given the possible application of Av27 in bioremediation, it is necessary to study the whole mechanism of resistance and optimize the degradation of TBT in this Av27 strain. Thus, the objectives of this study were: (i) verify the over-expression of SugE A. molluscorum Av27 (SugE-Av27) protein in Av27 in the presence of TBT; (ii) clone Av27-sugE gene into an Escherichia coli expression system, which will allow further purification of the protein for future characterization studies; (iii) development and optimization of a simple and rapid method to evaluate the TBT degradation/toxicity. In the protein extracts obtained it was not possible to identify the protein SugE-Av27. However, analysis by mass spectrometry, suggested that genes related to protein synthesis, glycolysis and ATP synthesis are being overexpressed in response to TBT exposure. An enzyme, D-alanine-D-alanine ligase, involved in cell wall synthesis, also appears to be overexpressed. Indicating that one of the resistance mechanisms can be related to the maintenance of the cell wall stability. For the purification of the protein under study, the gene sugE-Av27 was inserted into the vector pET24 and cloned in E.coli BL21 (DE3). After four hours of induction with IPTG, there was an increased expression of SugE-Av27 protein indicated by Western blot analysis. Micrococcus luteus was shown to be sensitive to TBT, thus can be applied as an indicator species in degradation bioassays of TBT by Av27. It was evidenced a decrease of the TBT toxicity to M. luteus after a period of 54h, therefore this compound is being degraded by Av27. New perspectives opened up with this work in relation to TBT resistance mechanisms in Av27. To corroborate these results, further studies are needed including an analysis of the genes up- and downregulated in Av27 to TBT exposure and attempt some variations in the physicochemical parameters in the degradation bioassays.O uso extensivo de compostos organostânicos e a sua consequente descarga no ambiente levou à contaminação dos ecossistemas marinhos e de água doce. Vários estudos mostram que estes compostos estão envolvidos no fenómeno conhecido como “Imposex” em gastrópodes e que podem afectar outros organismos, incluindo os seres humanos. É assim, de grande importância, a remoção destes contaminantes dos ecossistemas. Foi isolada e identificada uma espécie do género Aeromonas com elevada resistência ao tributilestanho (TBT). A estirpe, Aeromonas molluscorum Av27, é capaz de degradar o TBT em compostos menos tóxicos como o dibutilestanho (DBT) e o monobutilestanho (MBT). Foi demonstrado que nesta estirpe o gene sugE A. molluscorum Av27 (sugE-Av27) está implicado na resistência ao TBT. Este gene codifica para uma proteína homóloga à SugE, um membro da família das “small multidrug resistance” (SMR). Dada a possível aplicação de Av27 em processos de biorremediação, torna-se necessário aprofundar o estudo de todo o mecanismo de resistência nesta estirpe, bem como, optimizar o processo de avaliação da degradação do TBT pela estirpe Av27. O presente trabalho teve como objectivos: (i) verificar se, na presença de TBT, o aumento de expressão do gene sugE-Av27 se traduz num aumento da quantidade de proteína; (ii) clonar o gene sugE-Av27 num sistema de expressão em Escherichia coli, para posterior purificação da proteína; (iii) desenvolver e optimizar um método simples e rápido para detectar a degradação do TBT. Não foi possível identificar a proteína SugE A. molluscorum Av27 (SugE-Av27) nos extractos proteicos. Contudo, da análise por espectrometria de massa, pode-se inferir que outros genes relacionados com a síntese proteica, glicólise e síntese de ATP estão a ser sobrexpressos em resposta à exposição ao TBT. Uma enzima, D-alanina-D-alanina ligase, envolvida na síntese da parede celular, parece estar também a ser sobrexpressa, indicando que um dos mecanismos de resistência possivelmente envolverá a manutenção da estabilidade da parede celular. Com vista à purificação da proteína em estudo, o gene sugE-Av27 foi inserido no vector pET24 e clonado em E. coli BL21 (DE3). Após quatro horas de indução com IPTG verificou-se um aumento da expressão da proteína SugE-Av27, por análise em Western blot. Na tentativa de desenvolver um método rápido para detecção de TBT em laboratório e sendo Micrococcus luteus sensível ao TBT, utilizou-se está espécie indicadora em bioensaios de degradação do TBT pela Av27. Assim, verificou-se que após um período de 54h a toxicidade do TBT diminuiu, sendo então provável que este composto esteja a ser degradado pela estirpe Av27. No presente trabalho iniciaram-se alguns estudos que poderão, no futuro, contribuir para o esclarecimento do mecanismo de resistência /degradação ao TBT pela estirpe Av27. Contudo, mais estudos são necessários, nomeadamente no que refere à análise da expressão dos genes que estão a ser sub- e sobre-expressos em Av27 em resposta à exposição ao TBT e ainda no que refere ao bioensaio para avaliar a degradação do TBT por Av27