The new initiative of field actions science: FACTS

Introduction Many actors intervene in developing countries and in the most impoverished areas of emerging and developed countries to overcome problems related to poverty, health, education, the environment and to development issues as a whole. Governmental and non-governmental organizations, public and private, national and international institutions are engaged in many actions in the field. Too often, these actions are insufficiently evaluated and communication, cooperation and/or coordinati..

T cell receptor selection by and recognition of two class I major histocompatibility complex-restricted antigenic peptides that differ at a single position.

Peptides derived from HLA-Cw3 and HLA-A24 within region 170-179 differ by a single substitution, at position 173, and are both presented by the class I major histocompatibility complex molecule H-2Kd for recognition by murine cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTLs). As a first approach to understand the way T cell receptors (TCRs) intact with the HLA peptides, we have analyzed the TCR selection by, and recognition of, the two HLA antigenic sites. First, we have compared the TCR repertoires selected by HLA-Cw3 and HLA-A24, not only by sequencing the TCRs carried by CTL clones isolated and grown in vitro, but also by analyzing the TCRs expressed in vivo by peritoneal exudate lymphocytes from immune animals. Second, we have compared the TCR crossrecognition of HLA-A24 by CTLs selected by HLA-Cw3 with that of HLA-Cw3 by CTLs selected by HLA-A24. The combined analysis of TCR selection by and recognition of these two related HLA antigenic sites provides evidence that the TCR beta junctional regions interact with the amino-terminal part of the HLA peptides

Modeling Stochasticity and Variability in Gene Regulatory Networks

Modeling stochasticity in gene regulatory networks is an important and complex problem in molecular systems biology. To elucidate intrinsic noise, several modeling strategies such as the Gillespie algorithm have been used successfully. This paper contributes an approach as an alternative to these classical settings. Within the discrete paradigm, where genes, proteins, and other molecular components of gene regulatory networks are modeled as discrete variables and are assigned as logical rules describing their regulation through interactions with other components. Stochasticity is modeled at the biological function level under the assumption that even if the expression levels of the input nodes of an update rule guarantee activation or degradation there is a probability that the process will not occur due to stochastic effects. This approach allows a finer analysis of discrete models and provides a natural setup for cell population simulations to study cell-to-cell variability. We applied our methods to two of the most studied regulatory networks, the outcome of lambda phage infection of bacteria and the p53-mdm2 complex.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

Entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurship education to University students in Portugal

[EN] This article analyzes entrepreneurial intentions and motivations that encourage university students of Tourism to create their own company. Methodology is based on an empirical study, using a questionnaire adapted from a model of Veciana and Urbano (Actitudes de los estudiantes universitarios hacia la creación de empresas: un estudio empírico comparativo entre Catalunya y Puerto Rico. El emprendedor innovador y la creación de empresas de I + D + I, University of Valencia, pp 35 58, 2004), including the desirability and viability concepts. One hundred and sixty students answered the questionnaire from a total study population of 243 official Tourism degree students of the Superior Institute of Accounting and Management of Porto. This research finds out that the university students have a very positive perception about the desire to create their own company; a 90 % of students express their desire to do it, and 83.5 % express their intention. Moreover, a 57.5 % think that within actual crisis it is more difficult to do than before it. This research lets us get an in-depth study of a student of Tourism degree, finding out his entrepreneurial attitudes. It can be the first step to wake up and encourage students interest for starting up their own business.Del Rio-Rama, MDLC.; Peris-Ortiz, M.; Álvarez García, J.; Rueda Armengot, C. (2016). Entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurship education to University students in Portugal. Technology, Innovation and Education. 2(7):1-11. doi:10.1186/s40660-016-0013-5S11127Ajzen I (1991) The theory of plannes behavior. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50:179–211Aponte M (2002) Factores condicionantes de la creación de empresas en Puerto Rico: un enfoque institucional. Doctoral dissertation, Autonomous University of BarcelonaAponte M, Urbano D, Veciana JM (2006) Actitudes hacia la creación de empresas: un estudio comparativo entre Catalunya y Puerto Rico. 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Phage Lambda CIII: A Protease Inhibitor Regulating the Lysis-Lysogeny Decision

The ATP-dependent protease FtsH (HflB) complexed with HflKC participates in post-translational control of the lysis-lysogeny decision of bacteriophage lambda by rapid degradation of lambda CII. Both phage-encoded proteins, the CII transcription activator and the CIII polypeptide, are required for efficient lysogenic response. The conserved CIII is both an inhibitor and substrate of FtsH. Here we show that the protease inhibitor CIII is present as oligomeric amphipathic α helical structures and functions as a competitive inhibitor of FtsH by preventing binding of the CII substrate. We identified single alanine substitutions in CIII that abolish its activity. We characterize a dominant negative effect of a CIII mutant. Thus, we suggest that CIII oligomrization is required for its function. Real-time analysis of CII activity demonstrates that the effect of CIII is not seen in the absence of either FtsH or HflKC. When CIII is provided ectopically, CII activity increases linearly as a function of the multiplicity of infection, suggesting that CIII enhances CII stability and the lysogenic response. FtsH function is essential for cellular viability as it regulates the balance in the synthesis of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides. Genetic experiments confirmed that the CIII bacteriostatic effects are due to inhibition of FtsH. Thus, the early presence of CIII following infection stimulates the lysogenic response, while its degradation at later times ensures the reactivation of FtsH allowing the growth of the established lysogenic cell

Role of Personal Networks in the Growth of Entrepreneurship Ventures of Ethnic Minority Female Entrepreneurs

The main objective of the paper is to explore and explain the differences/similarities in personal networks of, and their use by, immigrant and British born Pakistani female entrepreneurs for business growth.A broad range of studies has explored the social context of ethnic minority and immigrant entrepreneurship by assuming all minority entrepreneurs as a cohesive group without taking into account intergroup (geographical categorisation) and intra-group (generational) differences. These differences are explained by socio-economic and cultural factors such as family background and support, ethnicity, religion, education, and more importantly personal network (Metcalf et. al., 1996; Basu, 1998). The blend of culture and religion depicted in entrepreneurial practices of Pakistani entrepreneurs is an interesting but under-researched area. Our particular interest is to explore the scope, depth, variations and limitations of the personal networks of Pakistani female entrepreneurs in their effort to grow their business

IL-1β, IL-6, and RANTES as Biomarkers of Chikungunya Severity

Little is known about the immunopathogenesis of Chikungunya virus. Circulating levels of immune mediators and growth factors were analyzed from patients infected during the first Singaporean Chikungunya fever outbreak in early 2008 to establish biomarkers associated with infection and/or disease severity.Adult patients with laboratory-confirmed Chikungunya fever infection, who were referred to the Communicable Disease Centre/Tan Tock Seng Hospital during the period from January to February 2008, were included in this retrospective study. Plasma fractions were analyzed using a multiplex-microbead immunoassay. Among the patients, the most common clinical features were fever (100%), arthralgia (90%), rash (50%) and conjunctivitis (40%). Profiles of 30 cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors were able to discriminate the clinical forms of Chikungunya from healthy controls, with patients classified as non-severe and severe disease. Levels of 8 plasma cytokines and 4 growth factors were significantly elevated. Statistical analysis showed that an increase in IL-1beta, IL-6 and a decrease in RANTES were associated with disease severity.This is the first comprehensive report on the production of cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors during acute Chikungunya virus infection. Using these biomarkers, we were able to distinguish between mild disease and more severe forms of Chikungunya fever, thus enabling the identification of patients with poor prognosis and monitoring of the disease

A Forward-Genetic Screen and Dynamic Analysis of Lambda Phage Host-Dependencies Reveals an Extensive Interaction Network and a New Anti-Viral Strategy

Latently infecting viruses are an important class of virus that plays a key role in viral evolution and human health. Here we report a genome-scale forward-genetics screen for host-dependencies of the latently-infecting bacteriophage lambda. This screen identified 57 Escherichia coli (E. coli) genes—over half of which have not been previously associated with infection—that when knocked out inhibited lambda phage's ability to replicate. Our results demonstrate a highly integrated network between lambda and its host, in striking contrast to the results from a similar screen using the lytic-only infecting T7 virus. We then measured the growth of E. coli under normal and infected conditions, using wild-type and knockout strains deficient in one of the identified host genes, and found that genes from the same pathway often exhibited similar growth dynamics. This observation, combined with further computational and experimental analysis, led us to identify a previously unannotated gene, yneJ, as a novel regulator of lamB gene expression. A surprising result of this work was the identification of two highly conserved pathways involved in tRNA thiolation—one pathway is required for efficient lambda replication, while the other has anti-viral properties inhibiting lambda replication. Based on our data, it appears that 2-thiouridine modification of tRNAGlu, tRNAGln, and tRNALys is particularly important for the efficient production of infectious lambda phage particles

Amyloidogenic Regions and Interaction Surfaces Overlap in Globular Proteins Related to Conformational Diseases

Protein aggregation underlies a wide range of human disorders. The polypeptides involved in these pathologies might be intrinsically unstructured or display a defined 3D-structure. Little is known about how globular proteins aggregate into toxic assemblies under physiological conditions, where they display an initially folded conformation. Protein aggregation is, however, always initiated by the establishment of anomalous protein-protein interactions. Therefore, in the present work, we have explored the extent to which protein interaction surfaces and aggregation-prone regions overlap in globular proteins associated with conformational diseases. Computational analysis of the native complexes formed by these proteins shows that aggregation-prone regions do frequently overlap with protein interfaces. The spatial coincidence of interaction sites and aggregating regions suggests that the formation of functional complexes and the aggregation of their individual subunits might compete in the cell. Accordingly, single mutations affecting complex interface or stability usually result in the formation of toxic aggregates. It is suggested that the stabilization of existing interfaces in multimeric proteins or the formation of new complexes in monomeric polypeptides might become effective strategies to prevent disease-linked aggregation of globular proteins