Future fuels and engines for railroad locomotives. Volume 1: Summary

The potential for reducing the dependence of railroads on petroleum fuel, particularly Diesel No. 2 was investigated. Two approaches are studied: (1) to determine how the use of Diesel No. 2 can be reduced through increased efficiency and conservation, and (2) to use fuels other than Diesel No. 2 both in Diesel and other types of engines. Because synthetic hydrocarbon fuels are particularly suited to medium speed diesel engines, the first commercial application of these fuels may be by the railroad industry

Evidence of bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) infection: Serological survey in Argentina

This is the first report of serological evidence for bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) infection in Argentina. The analysis was performed in 589 dairy bovine sera samples, applying indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (I-ELISA) using a synthetic antigen (transmembrane peptide, TM) and Immunofluorescent assay (IFA). In this study, 9 dairy herds from 4 Argentinian provinces were evaluated and 12% of the animals tested positive for BIV. Seven of the 9 herds tested were BIV seropositive and the percentage of BIV seropositive animals in the herds ranged from 2% to 42%. Direct detection of BIV provirus applying nested PCR was not conclusive. Antibody detection against bovine leukemia virus (BLV) in all sera was also performed applying immunodiffusion (ID) assay and 59% resulted seropositive. Statistical analysis of the results was carried out and possible evidence of association between BIV and BLV infection was considered. Future studies should be performed including local field isolates strains of BIV.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

The Peroxisomal 3-keto-acyl-CoA thiolase B Gene Expression Is under the Dual Control of PPARα and HNF4α in the Liver

PPARα and HNF4α are nuclear receptors that control gene transcription by direct binding to specific nucleotide sequences. Using transgenic mice deficient for either PPARα or HNF4α, we show that the expression of the peroxisomal 3-keto-acyl-CoA thiolase B (Thb) is under the dependence of these two transcription factors. Transactivation and gel shift experiments identified a novel PPAR response element within intron 3 of the Thb gene, by which PPARα but not HNF4α transactivates. Intriguingly, we found that HNF4α enhanced PPARα/RXRα transactivation from TB PPRE3 in a DNA-binding independent manner. Coimmunoprecipitation assays supported the hypothesis that HNF4α was physically interacting with RXRα. RT-PCR performed with RNA from liver-specific HNF4α-null mice confirmed the involvement of HNF4α in the PPARα-regulated induction of Thb by Wy14,643. Overall, we conclude that HNF4α enhances the PPARα-mediated activation of Thb gene expression in part through interaction with the obligate PPARα partner, RXRα

Evidence of bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) infection: Serological survey in Argentina

This is the first report of serological evidence for bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) infection in Argentina. The analysis was performed in 589 dairy bovine sera samples, applying indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (I-ELISA) using a synthetic antigen (transmembrane peptide, TM) and Immunofluorescent assay (IFA). In this study, 9 dairy herds from 4 Argentinian provinces were evaluated and 12% of the animals tested positive for BIV. Seven of the 9 herds tested were BIV seropositive and the percentage of BIV seropositive animals in the herds ranged from 2% to 42%. Direct detection of BIV provirus applying nested PCR was not conclusive. Antibody detection against bovine leukemia virus (BLV) in all sera was also performed applying immunodiffusion (ID) assay and 59% resulted seropositive. Statistical analysis of the results was carried out and possible evidence of association between BIV and BLV infection was considered. Future studies should be performed including local field isolates strains of BIV.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

International entrepreneurship in SMEs: a study of influencing factors in the textile industry

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11365-012-0242-3International entrepreneurship is an incipient research area with a rapidly increasing body of knowledge and contributions. An important part of this literature has focused on the analysis of the contributing factors to IE development. From these studies, this work attempts to analyse and validate through an integrative model the effect on this construct in SME of some of the main factors proposed by the literature such as Skills and Competences, Attitude and Proactiveness, Creativity and Innovation, Networking, Employees and Activity. To proceed with this aim, we conducted an empirical research focused on 174 textile SME in Spain. The results obtained confirm a positive relationship between the studied factors and the IE development. 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Prevalence of antibodies against Kilham virus in experimental rat colonies of Argentina Prevalencia de anticuerpos contra el virus Kilham en colonias experimentales de ratas de Argentina

The Kilham rat virus (KRV) is a parvovirus originally isolated from a rat sarcoma in the late 1950s. The clinical signs associated with a natural KRV infection include foetal resorption in dams, runtin, ataxia, cerebellar hypoplasia and jaundice in suckling rats, and sudden death, scrotal cyanosis, abdominal swelling and dehydration in juvenile rats. The ability of this virus to produce persistent infections has resulted in a high frequency of contamination of cell cultures and transplantable-tumor system. In addition, the virus may interfere with research in other ways. The remarkable resistance to environmental conditions determines the importance of the detection and control of this agent, especially in the laboratory animal production. This study determines the seroprevalence of Kilham antibodies from sera of adult rats from conventional facilities, using the haemagglutination inhibition test. The seroprevalence varied between 27.8% and 75%. This result confirms that the virus is circulating in Argentinean conventional facilities and might be interfering with research. The recognized Kilham virus may be prevented from supply sources by implementing a health monitoring schedule including a regular serological surveillance, and by keeping the animals under barrier systems.<br>El virus Kilham es un parvovirus aislado originalmente a partir de un sarcoma de rata, a fines de la década del 50. Los signos clínicos que produce son reabsorción fetal, disminución del crecimiento, ataxia, hipoplasia cerebelar, ictericia en lactantes, muerte súbita, cianosis escrotal, hinchazón abdominal y deshidratación de ratas jóvenes. La capacidad del virus para producir infecciones persistentes hace que los cultivos celulares derivados de ratas puedan estar contaminados. Además, el virus puede interferir con los ensayos de investigación de diferentes formas. La resistencia a las condiciones ambientales determina la importancia de la detección y el control de este agente, particularmente en la producción de animales de laboratorio. En este estudio se analizó la prevalencia de anticuerpos contra el virus Kilham en ratas adultas provenientes de bioterios convencionales de Argentina utilizando la prueba de inhibición de la hemoaglutinación. La seroprevalencia varió entre 27,8% y 75%. Este resultado confirma que el virus está circulando en los bioterios convencionales de Argentina, por lo que podría estar interfiriendo con las investigaciones. La infección por este virus debe ser prevenida aplicando sistemas de vigilancia y control, y manteniendo a los animales con sistemas de barrera