A platform for efficient, thiol-stable conjugation to albumin's native single accessible cysteine

Herein we report the use of bromomaleimides for the construction of stable albumin conjugates via conjugation to its native, single accessible, cysteine followed by hydrolysis. Advantages over the classical maleimide approach are highlighted in terms of quantitative hydrolysis and absence of undesirable retro-Michael deconjugation

Developmental changes in the role of different metalinguistic awareness skills in Chinese reading acquisition from preschool to third grade

Copyright @ 2014 Wei et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The present study investigated the relationship between Chinese reading skills and metalinguistic awareness skills such as phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness for 101 Preschool, 94 Grade-1, 98 Grade-2, and 98 Grade-3 children from two primary schools in Mainland China. The aim of the study was to examine how each of these metalinguistic awareness skills would exert their influence on the success of reading in Chinese with age. The results showed that all three metalinguistic awareness skills significantly predicted reading success. It further revealed that orthographic awareness played a dominant role in the early stages of reading acquisition, and its influence decreased with age, while the opposite was true for the contribution of morphological awareness. The results were in stark contrast with studies in English, where phonological awareness is typically shown as the single most potent metalinguistic awareness factor in literacy acquisition. In order to account for the current data, a three-stage model of reading acquisition in Chinese is discussed.National Natural Science Foundation of China and Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Economic History and History of Economics: Complementary Approaches to Portuguese Economic Development

This chapter focuses on how the problems of economic development were addressed by the Portuguese historiography of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The ensuing discussion benefits from the simultaneous consideration of two historiographical domains that complement each other: economic history and the history of economics. On the one hand, there are the authors and texts of economic history that seek to describe the facts and circumstances related to the functioning and dynamics of economic reality, for a given period or succession of periods, in order to establish evolutionary trends. On the other hand, there are the authors and texts of the history of economics that seek to adopt analytical forms (principles and laws) and doctrinal and programmatic frameworks (visions and ideologies) aimed at providing explanatory meaning to the observed economic changes, phenomena and regularities. A true understanding of the important issues pertaining to Portuguese economic development is to be found, however, in the intersection of these distinct but complementary historiographical perspectives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Body composition and body fat distribution are related to cardiac autonomic control in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Heart rate recovery (HRR), a cardiac autonomic control marker, was shown to be related to body composition (BC), yet this was not tested in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. The aim of this study was to determine if, and to what extent, markers of BC and body fat (BF) distribution are related to cardiac autonomic control in NAFLD patients. SUBJECTS/METHODS: BC was assessed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 28 NAFLD patients (19 men, 51±13 years, and 9 women, 47±13 years). BF depots ratios were calculated to assess BF distribution. Subjects’ HRR was recorded 1 (HRR1) and 2 min (HRR2) immediately after a maximum graded exercise test. RESULTS: BC and BF distribution were related to HRR; particularly weight, trunk BF and trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio showed a negative relation with HRR1 (r 1⁄4 0.613, r 1⁄4 0.597 and r 1⁄4 0.547, respectively, Po0.01) and HRR2 (r 1⁄4 0.484, r 1⁄4 0.446, Po0.05, and r 1⁄4 0.590, Po0.01, respectively). Age seems to be related to both HRR1 and HRR2 except when controlled for BF distribution. The preferred model in multiple regression should include trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio and BF to predict HRR1 (r2 1⁄4 0.549; Po0.05), and trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio alone to predict HRR2 (r2 1⁄4 0.430; Po0.001). CONCLUSIONS: BC and BF distribution were related to HRR in NAFLD patients. Trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio was the best independent predictor of HRR and therefore may be best related to cardiovascular increased risk, and possibly act as a mediator in age-related cardiac autonomic control variation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How Academic Biologists and Physicists View Science Outreach

Scholars and pundits alike argue that U.S. scientists could do more to reach out to the general public. Yet, to date, there have been few systematic studies that examine how scientists understand the barriers that impede such outreach. Through analysis of 97 semi-structured interviews with academic biologists and physicists at top research universities in the United States, we classify the type and target audiences of scientists’ outreach activities. Finally, we explore the narratives academic scientists have about outreach and its reception in the academy, in particular what they perceive as impediments to these activities. We find that scientists’ outreach activities are stratified by gender and that university and disciplinary rewards as well as scientists’ perceptions of their own skills have an impact on science outreach. Research contributions and recommendations for university policy follow

Teste à cabeceira no HFF: a última oportunidade para evitar transfusões ABO incompatíveis

Introdução: O teste à cabeceira é utilizado desde há cerca de 12 anos no Hospital Fernando Fonseca (HFF). Este teste é um teste realizado imediatamente antes da transfusão para a determinação do grupo ABO do doente à cabeceira do doente a transfundir. Este teste (cartão Medtro NK4®Medtro GmbH) permite, de uma maneira rápida e fácil (aproximadamente 2 minutos) confrontar o resultado obtido com o resultado do grupo obtido na amostra estudada pelo Serviço de Sangue e Medicina Transfusional. Este resultado deverá ser o mesmo. O resultado do teste é ainda comparado com o grupo da unidade de concentrado eritrocitário (CE) a transfundir, determinan-do assim a sua compatibilidade com o grupo do receptor. O teste é constituído por um soro anti-A (clone Birma-1) e outro anti-B (clone-LB2), sendo de execução fácil e o seu preço é convidativo (1,57€/teste). Os enfermeiros que realizam o teste devem registar na ficha de confirmação positiva da transfusão (CPT) que o efectuaram e se está ou não conforme. A ficha de CPT faz também, como o teste à cabeceira, parte integrante do sistema de hemovigilância implementado no Hospital. Objetivo Analisar a efectiva implementação do teste à cabeceira e da confirmação positiva da transfusão no nosso hospital e a sua contribuição para o aumento da segurança transfusional. Material e métodos: Analisámos as fichas de confirmação positiva da transfusão que foram entregues no nosso serviço entre 21 de Novembro de 2012 e 20 de Setembro de 2014, num total de 17284 e que incluem o registo dos testes à cabeceira efetuados antes da transfusão de CEs. Resultados: Durante o período analisado, foram transfundidas 23954 unidades de CE correspondentes a 17284 pedidos. Foram registados 16195 testes à cabeceira, ficando por registar 1089 (6,3%), ficando por se saber se estes não foram efectuados ou simplesmente não registada a sua execução. Todas as fichas de confirmação positiva da transfusão, relativas aos pedidos efectuados, foram devolvidas ao serviço (100%). Conclusão: A confirmação positiva da transfusão está, na nossa opinião, totalmente implementada no HFF, permitindo o registo, rastreabilidade e arquivo dos dados relativos à transfusão de todos os componentes eritrocitários transfundidos aos doentes. A fácil execução e a rapidez na obtenção de resultados do teste à cabeceira permitiu uma grande adesão à sua execução pelos enfermeiros responsáveis pela transfusão (93,7%). É, por isso, imprescindível continuar o reforço da formação em Segurança Transfusional, já em curso no Hospital, para que o risco de transfusão de componentes ABO incompatíveis se aproxime do zero, tendo o Hospital classificado esta possibilidade como "Não Evento"

Avaliação das técnicas de massagem e ordenha no tratamento do ingurgitamento mamário por termografia

OBJETIVO: evaluar los métodos de masaje y bombeo en el tratamiento de la congestión mamaria posparto a través de la termografía. MÉTODO: el estudio se realizó en el Banco de Leche Humana de un hospital en Curitiba, Brasil. Se seleccionaron al azar 16 mujeres en periodo de lactancia con congestión con clasificación lobar, ampular y glandular, moderada e intensa. Se compararon los patrones diferenciales de temperatura, antes y después del tratamiento por medio de masaje y bombeo. RESULTADOS: se encontró un degradado negativo de 0,3°C de temperatura entre el pre y post-tratamiento en el grupo experimental. Las mamas con intensa congestión eran 0,7°C más caliente en comparación a aquellos con congestión moderada. CONCLUSIÓN: el masaje y el bombeo electromecánico fueron superiores a los métodos manuales cuando se evaluaron por termografía. REBEC: U1111-1136-9027.OBJETIVO: avaliar técnicas de massagem e ordenha no tratamento do ingurgitamento mamário puerperal, por meio da termografia. MÉTODO: a pesquisa foi realizada no Banco de Leite Humano de um hospital de Curitiba, Brasil. Selecionaram-se, aleatoriamente, 16 lactantes com ingurgitamento com classificação lobar, ampolar e glandular moderado e intenso. Compararam-se os padrões diferenciais de temperatura, antes e após o tratamento realizado, por meio de massagem e ordenha. RESULTADOS: constatou-se um gradiente negativo de 0,3ºC de temperatura entre o pré e o pós-tratamento no grupo experimental. Mamas com ingurgitamento intenso foram 0,7ºC mais quentes quando comparadas com ingurgitamento moderado. CONCLUSÃO: a massagem e ordenha eletromecânicas são superiores às manuais, quando avaliadas por termografia. REBEC: U1111-1136-9027.OBJECTIVE: to evaluate techniques of massage and pumping in the treatment of postpartum breast engorgement through thermography. METHOD: the study was conducted in the Human Milk Bank of a hospital in Curitiba, Brazil. We randomly selected 16 lactating women with engorgement with the classification lobar, ampullary and glandular, moderate and intense. We compared the differential patterns of temperature, before and after the treatment by means of massage and pumping. RESULTS: we found a negative gradient of 0.3°C of temperature between the pre- and post-treatment in the experimental group. Breasts with intense engorgement were 0.7°C warmer when compared with moderate engorgement. CONCLUSION: massage and electromechanical pumping were superior to manual methods when evaluated by thermography. REBEC: U1111-1136-9027