Tuning the functional properties of bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia) protein films grafted with spermidine

Bitter vetch protein films containing positively charged spermidine, alone or with low amounts of glycerol, showed high tensile strength that progressively decreased by increasing the plasticizer concentration. Accordingly, lower film elongation at break and higher Young’s module values were detected in the presence of the polyamine without or with small amounts of glycerol. These data suggest that spermidine not only acts as a plasticizer itself by ionically interacting with proteins, but that it also facilitates glycerol-dependent reduction of the intermolecular forces along the protein chains, consequently improving the film flexibility and extensibility. Thus, spermidine may be considered not only as a primary, but also as a secondary plasticizer because of its ability to enhance glycerol plasticizing performance. Such double behavior of the polyamine was confirmed by the film permeability tests, since spermidine increased the barrier properties to gases and water vapor, while glycerol emphasized this effect at low concentrations but led to its marked reversal at high concentrations. Film microscopic images also substantiated these findings, showing more compact, cohesive, and homogeneous matrices in all spermidine-containing films. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Is ‘employment during motherhood’ a ‘value changing experience’?

We study whether the experience of ‘employment during motherhood’ (EDM) exerts an effect on attitudes towards the welfare effects of EDM, which proxy gender norms with regards to employment. We examine unique evidence from a large, representative, and longitudinal data set that collects attitudinal data over about a decade in the United Kingdom. We draw on an instrumental variable (IV) strategy that exploits variation in local labour markets using a Bartik instrument for employment to address the potential endogeneity of EDM experience in explaining attitudes. We find that both childless women who work and mothers who do not work are more likely to agree with the statement that ’pre-school children suffer if their mothers work’, which we interpret as more traditional gender values. However, this is not the case for women who work and have children. These findings suggest that motherhood confirms individuals’ priors, and suggest that EDM is a value preserving rather than a value changing experience. These results suggest that the so-called ‘motherhood penalty’ in employment trajectories cannot be fully explained by a change in attitudes after giving birth

El coworking: la comunicación en la construcción de la identidad

El presente trabajo fue realizado para la obtención del grado de Licenciatura en Comunicación Social. Fue dirigido por María José Bustos y codirigido por Vanina Ramé.El tema de este trabajo final se centra en la comunicación en el coworking como nuevo modelo de organización y tiene como objetivo principal analizar el rol de la misma en la construcción de la identidad de estos espacios. El ámbito de la investigación se focaliza en tres casos testigo seleccionados en la Ciudad de Córdoba, que fueron elegidos según criterios que permitan poner de manifiesto la diversidad de este nuevo modelo de organización. Estos son: Capital Coworking, Co-Innova y La Oficina-Coworking Cor. Para este estudio, se ha realizado en primera instancia un análisis bibliográfico con el fin de esclarecer la naturaleza de este nuevo tipo de estructuras, y luego una investigación empírica en cada una de las organizaciones seleccionadas, utilizando diferentes técnicas e instrumentos de análisis: se ha entrevistado a dueños y fundadores, responsables de comunicación, miembros de staff y coworkers; se ha pasado un cuestionario a estos últimos y se han analizado las diferentes formas y medios de comunicación propias de cada caso testigo. A la vista del estudio, se puede concluir que, si bien la comunicación es un proceso constitutivo de todo tipo de organización, en el coworking asume un rol particular. Sin las tecnologías de la comunicación este nuevo modelo de organización no sería posible y sin la comunicación como proceso de gestión, no podría funcionar

Prevalence and risk factors for atopic disease in a population of preschool children in Rome: Challenges to early intervention

Background: Allergic diseases are complex identities determined by an interplay of genetic and environmental factors, resulting in the clinical manifestation of the disease. So far in Italy, updated data about the prevalence and risk factors of respiratory and allergic diseases in preschool children are not available. Methods: Children aged 3-5 years, attending four different nursery schools in an urban district of the city of Rome. A standardized questionnaire developed under the SIDRIA-2 protocol was administered to the parents of the children for the assessment of the potential risk factors and the outcomes. Results: A total of 494 children were enrolled in the study; 289 of them (60.3%) performed a skin prick test (SPT). In the 12 months preceding the interviews, 15% of children experienced at least one episode of wheezing, 5.5% of allergic rhinitis, 11% of children had a doctor diagnosis of asthma, 12% of children who underwent the SPT were positive to at least one of the tested allergens, being diagnosed as atopic. The univariate analysis for the health outcomes of the study shows that asthma was positively associated with daycare attendance, mother's history of atopy, siblings' history of atopy, recurrent siblings' bronchitis, and dermatitis. Atopy was positively associated with mother's history of atopy and dermatitis, whereas there is a borderline protective association with recurrent siblings' bronchitis. Conclusions: This study represents a first comprehensive epidemiological evaluation of prevalence of respiratory and allergic diseases in children aged 3-5 years in the city of Rome and an updating of the evolution of allergic diseases

In vitro biopharmaceutic evaluation of capsules containing fluconazole

Atualmente, no mercado brasileiro, vários laboratórios farmacêuticos comercializam produtos a base do antifúngico fluconazol na forma de cápsulas de 150 mg. Pretendeu-se, neste trabalho, realizar avaliação biofarmacêutica in vitro de três formulações do mercado nacional contendo fluconazol, designadas por produtos A, B e C. Após desenvolvimento e padronização do método de dissolução, avaliou-se a cinética de dissolução de cápsulas de fluconazol provenientes de dois lotes de cada produto por meio dos parâmetros k (constante de velocidade de dissolução e t85% (tempo necessário para dissolução de 85% do fármaco presente na forma farmacêutica), derivados dos perfis de dissolução. Obteve-se k s de 0,1377 min-1 e 0,1079 min-1 para os lotes de A, 0,5421min-1 para os lotes de B e 0,0354 min-1 e 0,0146 min-1 para os lotes de C. t85% foi de 15,09 min e 20,06 min para os lotes de A, 5,64 min e 6,02 min para os lotes de B e 132,12 min e 56,05 min para os lotes de C. Concluiu-se que a dissolução de fluconazol em cápsulas segue cinética de primeira ordem para os três produtos avaliados, sendo que o produto B apresenta maior velocidade de dissolução do fármaco, seguido pelo produto A e pelo produto C.Many brazilian pharmaceutical industries manufacture capsules containing 150 mg of the antifungal agent fluconazole. The present study was designed to perform a in vitro biopharmaceutical evaluation of three commercial products available in Brazil, designated as products A, B and C. After a dissolution method was developed and standardized, the dissolution kinetics for samples of two batches of each product was analysed through k s (dissolution rate constant) and t85% (time for dissolution of 85% of the drug in the dosage form), obtained from dissolution profiles. Results showed k s values of 0,1377 min-1 and 0,1079 min-1 for the tested batches of A, 0,5421min-1 for the tested batches of B and 0,0354 min-1 and 0,0146 min-1 for the tested batches of C. t85% was 15,09 min e 20,06 min for the tested batches of A, 5,64 min and 6,02 min for the tested batches of B and 132,12 min and 56,05 min for the tested batches of C. It was concluded that the dissolution of fluconazole in capsules follows first order kinetics for the three products and product B shows the greatest dissolution rate, followed by products A and C