LFE as a development tool for next generation earthquake professionals

In January 2017 the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute in partnership with the National Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN) led a five-day travel study program in Chile in which students and young professionals engaged in learning from earthquakes activities. The 16 participants attended lectures and field trips and completed two resilience projects to contribute to the body of knowledge about recovery since the 2010 Maule earthquake while also becoming familiar with reconnaissance tools and techniques. The program was created to provide learning-from-earthquakes opportunities for younger members outside the limited postevent reconnaissance teams; and to engage younger members in EERI activities and train them for future reconnaissance, which might include long-term resilience and recovery components. The success of the program can be attributed to the strong partnership with CIGIDEN, experienced mentors who accompanied the group, senior academics and practitioners who lectured and led tours, as well as a strong interdisciplinary team of participants who worked extremely hard interviewing locals and compiling the data for their resilience project

Asociación de marcadores genómicos para consumo residual en genes de IGF1 y neuropéptido Y con la conducta ingestiva de terneras Angus en pastoreo

En bovinos, el consumo residual (CR), medido a corral, está asociado a la presencia de alelos particulares en diferentes sitios del genoma con polimorfismos de un solo nucleótido (SNP). La asociación de estas variantes génicas con la conducta ingestiva en pastoreo no ha sido estudiada en ganado para carne. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar si existe una asociación entre la presencia de marcadores genómicos para CR en SNP de genes de IGF1 y neuropéptido Y (NPY) y la conducta ingestiva de terneras Angus en pastoreo.Fil: Milano, G. D.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Nadin, L. B.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Producción Animal; ArgentinaFil: Bakker, Maria Leontina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Producción Animal; ArgentinaFil: Quintana, Silvina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción, Sanidad y Ambiente - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción, Sanidad y Ambiente; ArgentinaFil: Giustina, S.. No especifíca;Fil: Comerio, A.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Herrera, R.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Hoffer, L. W.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Rigueiro, M.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina44° Congreso Argentino de Producción AnimalArgentinaAsociación Argentina de Producción AnimalUniversidad Nacional de Comahu

An interdisciplinary system dynamics model for post-disaster housing recovery

Many previous disasters have demonstrated the need for extensive personal, public, and governmental expenditures for housing recovery highlighting the importance of studying housing recovery. Yet, much research is still needed to fully understand the multi-faceted and complex nature of housing recovery. The goal of this paper is to present a holistic model to further the understanding of the dynamic processes and interdependencies of housing recovery. The impetus for this work is that inequalities in housing recovery could be addressed more effectively if we better understood interconnected factors and dynamic processes that slow down recovery for some. Currently, there is a lack of understanding about such factors and processes. Literature from engineering and social sciences was reviewed to develop an integrated system dynamics model for post-disaster housing recovery. While it is beyond current capabilities to quantify such complexities, the presented model takes a major stride toward articulating the complex phenomenon that is housing recovery

A tetracationic porphyrin with dual anti-prion activity

Prions are deadly infectious agents made of PrPSc, a misfolded variant of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) which self-propagates by inducing misfolding of native PrPC. PrPSc can adopt different pathogenic conformations (prion strains), which can be resistant to potential drugs, or acquire drug resistance, hampering the development of effective therapies. We identified Zn(II)-BnPyP, a tetracationic porphyrin that binds to distinct domains of native PrPC, eliciting a dual anti-prion effect. Zn(II)-BnPyP binding to a C-terminal pocket destabilizes the native PrPC fold, hindering conversion to PrPSc; Zn(II)-BnPyP binding to the flexible N-terminal tail disrupts N- to C-terminal interactions, triggering PrPC endocytosis and lysosomal degradation, thus reducing the substrate for PrPSc generation. Zn(II)-BnPyP inhibits propagation of different prion strains in vitro, in neuronal cells and organotypic brain cultures. These results identify a PrPC-targeting compound with an unprecedented dual mechanism of action which might be exploited to achieve anti-prion effects without engendering drug resistance

Antibodies Against Domain 1 and Domain 4/5 of β2 Glycoprotein I : Clinical Relevance in Obstetric Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome

Background/Purpose: The domain reactivity of antibodies against b2 glycoprotein I (anti-b2GPI) has been investigated in patients with thrombotic anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS), leading to the identification of antibodies targeting domain 1 of the molecule (anti-D1) as the most relevant autoantibody subpopulation. Scarce attention has been paid to the domain profiling of patients with pregnancy morbidity (PM). The aim of this study was to characterize the relevance of the fine epitope reactivity of anti-b2GPI antibodies in anti-phospholipid antibody (aPL)-associated PM. Methods: Women with persistent positivity for anti-b2GPI IgG antibodies at medium-high titers, with at least one pregnancy and without systemic autoimmune disease were included. Anti-D1 and anti-D4/5 antibodies were tested using a chemiluminescent immunoassay and a research ELISA assay, respectively (QUANTA Flash b2GPI IgG and QUANTA Lite, Inova Diagnostics). Statistical analysis was performed using R package. Results: 138 women fulfilling the inclusion criteria were retrospectively recruited at 3 referral centres. 49 patients (35%) had obstetric APS, 18 (13%) thrombotic APS, 37 (27%) thrombotic and obstetric APS while 34 women (25%) were asymptomatic aPL carriers. 81 women (60%) displayed triple aPL positivity, 32 (23%) had two positive aPL test and 23 (17%) carried a single aPL positivity. 110 patients had at least one untreated pregnancy, culminating in a live birth in 31 cases (28%). 89 women underwent a pregnancy course while receiving treatment, with 71 women (80%) having a live birth. A significant difference in the distribution of positive anti-D1 antibodies emerged between women with or without PM and with or without thrombosis (p=0.05, c2=2.710 and p<0.001, c2=12.174, respectively); no significant difference was observed for anti-D4/5 antibodies (Table 1). In a multivariate logistic regression model also encompassing treatment, positive anti-D1 antibodies, but not anti-D4/5, were significantly associated with obstetric complications, conferring an odds ratio (OR) of 2.32 (p=0.040 and p=0.724, respectively). Triple aPL positivity corrected by treatment significantly predicted PM (p=0.015, OR=2.78). Conclusion: Our data suggest that anti-D1 antibodies are significantly associated not only with thrombosis but also with obstetric morbidity while positive anti-D4/5 antibodies are not predictive of PM

A Seismic Performance Classification Framework to Provide Increased Seismic Resilience

Several performance measures are being used in modern seismic engineering applications, suggesting that seismic performance could be classified a number of ways. This paper reviews a range of performance measures currently being adopted and then proposes a new seismic performance classification framework based on expected annual losses (EAL). The motivation for an EAL-based performance framework stems from the observation that, in addition to limiting lives lost during earthquakes, changes are needed to improve the resilience of our societies, and it is proposed that increased resilience in developed countries could be achieved by limiting monetary losses. In order to set suitable preliminary values of EAL for performance classification, values of EAL reported in the literature are reviewed. Uncertainties in current EAL estimates are discussed and then an EAL-based seismic performance classification framework is proposed. The proposal is made that the EAL should be computed on a storey-by-storey basis in recognition that EAL for different storeys of a building could vary significantly and also recognizing that a single building may have multiple owners