The use of SIFT-MS in profiling the faecal volatile metabolome in horses with colic: a pilot study

SIFT-MS is used for the first time in profiling the volatile organic profile in faecal headspace in two groups of horses admitted to an equine hospital, one group with acute intestinal disease (colic) affecting the large colon, plus a control group of similarly managed horses admitted for non-gastrointestinal/metabolic reasons (e.g. acute orthopaedic injury). Compounds in faecal headspace which show statistically significant concentration differences between the groups are acetone and methanol. In addition, some ions at various m/z values show significantly different ion counts between the groups. Further information may be gleaned by using multivariate statistics in evaluating the differences between the two horse groups. Principal components analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were evaluated for reducing the dimensionality of the SIFT-MS data, and OPLS-DA was found to be best at discriminating between the groups, particularly with SIFT-MS data acquired using the H3O+ precursor ion. Analysis of these data also show the significance of ammonia as a discriminating ion. These results show that SIFT-MS may potentially be used on the headspace of horse faecal samples for detecting altered microbial fermentation associated with acute intestinal disease of the colon

A Delphi‑based expert judgment method applied to the validation of a mature Agile framework for Web development projects

The validation of any new methodological proposal demands several real-life implementations. However, organizations are reluctant to invest without the firm guarantee that they will be returned the entire expended amount of money. For this purpose, expert judgment techniques are very useful to provide a less-costly initial validation that, when positive, may encourage organizations to use these new proposals. Therefore, the primary goal of the paper will be to assess how expert judgment techniques based on the Delphi method can be applied to Web Engineering field and, more in particular, to assess the validity of the NDT-Agile framework. NDT-Agile is a framework that combines Agile and Web Engineering techniques to meet Capability Maturity Model Integration development goals. The paper presents a real example of an application of a Delphi-based expert judgment method to assess NDT-Agile framework validity, explaining the design as well as the selection and usage of the different techniques it involves. The application of the method will allow assessing benefits and limitations of use in Web Engineering. As a main conclusion, we will state the utility of the proposed methods to obtain a low-resource initial validation of a certain proposal. Finally, we will identify further lines of research related to the analyzed topics.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2015-71938-RED

Assessing the Delayed Gratification, Identity Orientation and Transitional Plans of ESGP-PA Recipients: Implications for Policies and Program Development

Governments in developing countries adopted the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) system to alleviate poverty and reduce the transmission of poverty from one generation to the next. In the Philippines, the ESGP-PA is the government\u27s version of CCT. The ESGP-PA grant has immense implications to the lives of recipients and it is important to examine the psychological aspects to inform policy making and to assess the effectiveness of the program as perceived by the recipients. This study measured delayed gratification and self-identity orientations using standardized instruments and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Transitional plans were assessed qualitatively. Results showed that recipients had high levels of delayed gratification for achievement and moderate levels for food, money, physical and social interaction. They had higher personal and relational identity orientations than social and collective identity orientations. Relational identity (r=-.329, p=.000) and collective identity (r=-.363, p=.000) was negatively correlated with delayed gratification while money (F=1.614; p=.004) significantly influenced social identity orientation. They feared they would not reach their dreams, while financial difficulties and economic factors, hindered them from reaching their goals. In conclusion, ESGPPA recipients\u27 psychological well-being is positively and negatively impacted by the ESGPPA program

Homophily and Organizational Identification Towards Organizational Commitment and Organizational Justice Among Male and Female Office Workers in Iligan City

The study of identification within the organizational setting has highlighted various factors that may contribute significant changes, either positively or negatively, to the commitment and perception of fairness of employees. As workers, their jobs and relationship with their organization are also influenced by how they perceive people around them in terms of attitude and background. In connection, this study explored on the homophily and organizational identification towards the organizational commitment and organizational justice among male and female office workers in Iligan City. The respondents are male (n = 35) and female (n = 35) office workers coming from selected companies and institutions located in Iligan City. Based on the results and findings, there is a significant relationship between homophily and organizational identification; and organizational identification and organizational commitment among male office workers while there is a significant relationship between organizational identification and organizational justice among female office workers. Finally, there is a significant interaction between invested self-concept to organizational commitment of male office workers in Iligan City while there are significant interactions between background homophily to organizational justice; management connection to organizational justice; and coworker connection to organizational justice of female office workers in Iligan City

Evidence of suppression of onchocerciasis transmission in the Venezuelan Amazonian focus.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has set goals for onchocerciasis elimination in Latin America by 2015. Most of the six previously endemic countries are attaining this goal by implementing twice a year (and in some foci, quarterly) mass ivermectin (Mectizan®) distribution. Elimination of transmission has been verified in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. Challenges remain in the Amazonian focus straddling Venezuela and Brazil, where the disease affects the hard-to-reach Yanomami indigenous population. We provide evidence of suppression of Onchocerca volvulus transmission by Simulium guianense s.l. in 16 previously hyperendemic Yanomami communities in southern Venezuela after 15 years of 6-monthly and 5 years of 3-monthly mass ivermectin treatment. METHODS: Baseline and monitoring and evaluation parasitological, ophthalmological, entomological and serological surveys were conducted in selected sentinel and extra-sentinel communities of the focus throughout the implementation of the programme. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2012–2015, clinico-parasitological surveys indicate a substantial decrease in skin microfilarial prevalence and intensity of infection; accompanied by no evidence (or very low prevalence and intensity) of ocular microfilariae in the examined population. Of a total of 51,341 S. guianense flies tested by PCR none had L3 infection (heads only). Prevalence of infective flies and seasonal transmission potentials in 2012–2013 were, respectively, under 1 % and 20 L3/person/transmission season. Serology in children aged 1–10 years demonstrated that although 26 out of 396 (7 %) individuals still had Ov-16 antibodies, only 4/218 (2 %) seropositives were aged 1–5 years. CONCLUSIONS: We report evidence of recent transmission and morbidity suppression in some communities of the focus representing 75 % of the Yanomami population and 70 % of all known communities. We conclude that onchocerciasis transmission could be feasibly interrupted in the Venezuelan Amazonian focus. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1313-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The Importance of User in ISD. Do We Really Teach?

In 1999, the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) defined the framework that regulates all degrees, including Computer Engineering (CE), within the environment of the European Union. Each country, in turn, regulated each of these studies on the basis of that common framework.In the case of Computer Engineering, among the specific competencies the profession entails, there are concrete references to the effective incorporation of user and need for IT (Information Technology) professionals to learn how to manage and work in multidisciplinary environments. However, these competencies are difficult to teach to students. This paper presents a critical view of the way we are teaching future developers of information systems to work with user. Besides, it analyses the consequences that it may bring to future professionals. The paper also offers some considerations and intends to motivate a future discussion on this topic

The importance of user in ISD. Do we really teach?

In 1999, the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) defined the framework that regulates all degrees,including Computer Engineering (CE), within the environment of the European Union. Each country, in turn, regulated each of these studies on the basis of that common framework. In the case of Computer Engineering there are concrete competences that refer to the effective incorporation of user and need for Information Technology (IT) professionals to learn how to manage and work in multidisciplinary environments. However, these competencies are difficult to teach to students. This paper presents a critical view of the way we are teaching future developers of information systems to work with user. Besides, it analyses the consequences that it may bring to future professionals. For this purpose, an experiment at three different universities in Europe has been carried out. This paper also offers some considerations and intends to motivate a future discussion on this topic.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2016-76956-C3-2-R (POLOLAS)Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2015-71938-RED

Lipid nanoparticle-based mRNA candidates elicit potent T cell responses

The induction of a potent T cell response is essential for successful tumor immunotherapy and protection against many infectious diseases. In the past few years, mRNA vaccines have emerged as potent immune activators and inducers of a robust T cell immune response. The recent approval of the Moderna and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines based on lipid nanoparticles (LNP) encapsulating antigen-encoding mRNA has revolutionized the field of vaccines. The advantages of LNPs are their ease of design and formulation resulting in potent, effective, and safe vaccines. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement with respect to LNP efficacy, for instance, by optimizing the lipid composition and tuning LNP for specific purposes. mRNA delivery is known to be strongly dependent on the lipid composition of LNPs and the efficiency is mainly determined by the ionizable lipids. Besides that, cholesterol and helper lipids also play important roles in mRNA transfection potency. Here, a panel of LNP formulations was studied by keeping the ionizable lipids constant, replacing cholesterol with β-sitosterol, and changing the fusogenic helper lipid DOPE content. We studied the ability of this LNP library to induce antigen presentation and T cell proliferation to identify superior LNP candidates eliciting potent T cell immune responses. We hypothesize that using β-sitosterol and increasing DOPE content would boost the mRNA transfection on immune cells and result in enhanced immune responses. Transfection of immortal immune cell lines and bone marrow dendritic cells (BMDCs) with LNPs was studied. Delivery of mRNA coding for the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA-mRNA) to BMDCs with a number of LNP formulations, resulted in a high level of activation, as evidenced by the upregulation of the co-stimulatory receptors (CD40 and CD86) and IL-12 in BMDCs. The enhancement of BMDC activation and T cell proliferation induced by the introduction of β-sitosterol and fusogenic DOPE lipids were cell dependent. Four LNP formulations (C12-200-cho-10%DOPE, C12-200-sito-10%DOPE, cKK-E12-cho-10%DOPE and cKK-E12-sito-30%DOPE) were identified that induced robust T cell proliferation and enhanced IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2 expression. These results demonstrate that T cell proliferation is strongly dependent on LNP composition and promising LNP-mRNA vaccine formulations were identified.Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr