Current trends in research, development and production of prophylactic vaccines : Report of Vaccipharma 2015 Congress

On June 14-19, 2015, the IUPHAR Section of Immunopharmacology and the Cuban Society of Pharmacology, together with the Latin- American Association of Pharmacology (ALF), Finlay Vaccine Institute and other prestigious Cuban scientific institutions, organized the Congress VACCIPHARMA 2015 (3rd International Congress on Pharmacology of Vaccines), held as part of the First International Convention IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY–VACCIPHARMA 2015 (Meliá Marina Varadero Hotel, in Varadero beach, Cuba) VACCIPHARMA 2015 was organised into two large Workshops, addressing topics related to the research, development, clinical evaluation, production and quality control of Therapeutic and Prophylactic Vaccines, respectively. At the same time the Workshop on Prophylactic Vaccines was integrated by several Symposiums, focused on meningococcal, pneumococcal, enteric, tuberculosis and pertussis vaccines. About 250 delegates, including 100 international researchers from 15 countries, attended this meeting. The Congress had a remarkable Opening Session, with a Key Lecture given by the outstanding scientist Professor Dr. Shiv Pillai (United States of America), who talked about the changing views in the field of the immunology of vaccination and the challenges ahead. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the main topics discussed in the Prophylactic Vaccines Workshop, not as a complete narration of the events, but to provide an update of the latest state of the art and methodologies being applied to prophylactic vaccines with an expert commentary on the invited speakers

Structural basis for the inactivation of cytosolic DNA sensing by the vaccinia virus.

Detection of cytosolic DNA is a central element of the innate immunity system against viral infection. The Ku heterodimer, a component of the NHEJ pathway of DNA repair in the nucleus, functions as DNA sensor that detects dsDNA of viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm. Vaccinia virus expresses two proteins, C4 and C16, that inactivate DNA sensing and enhance virulence. The structural basis for this is unknown. Here we determine the structure of the C16 - Ku complex using cryoEM. Ku binds dsDNA by a preformed ring but C16 sterically blocks this access route, abrogating binding to a dsDNA end and its insertion into DNA-PK, thereby averting signalling into the downstream innate immunity system. C4 replicates these activities using a domain with 54% identity to C16. Our results reveal how vaccinia virus subverts the capacity of Ku to recognize viral DNA

Efficient mapping of hierarchical trees on coarse-grain reconfigurable architectures

Reconfigurable architectures have become increasingly important in recent years. In this paper we present an approach to the problem of executing 3D graphics interactive applications onto these architectures. The hierarchical trees are usually implemented to reduce the data processed, thereby diminishing the execution time. We have developed a mapping scheme that parallelizes the tree execution onto a SIMD reconfigurable architecture. This mapping scheme considerably reduces the time penalty caused by the possibility of executing different tree nodes in SIMD fashion. We have developed a technique that achieves an efficient hierarchical tree execution taking decisions at execution time. It also promotes the possibility of data coherence in order to reduce the execution time. The experimental results show high performance and efficient resource utilization on tested applications

Implications of restricted access to grazing by cattle in wet season in the Sahel

To address the problem of restricted access to grazing by cattle in wet season in the Sahel, a grazing trial was conducted to study the effect of duration of grazing and grazing method on cattle nutrition and performance. Twenty-four intact steers weighing 259 kg (SD ¼ 62) were randomly allotted to four treatments to study the effect of the combination of grazing method (tethering and close herding) and grazing duration (6 and 9 h per day) on diet selection, faecal output, forage intake, grazing behaviour and weight changes in the wet season. Three esophageally fistulated steers were used in a cross-over design to sample diet selected by tethered and herded animals. Extrusa samples from esophageally fistulated steers and faecal output from intact steers were collected in weeks 6 and 9 of the experiment and grazing behaviour of the intact steers was observed in week 6. Tethered animals selected diets of lower organic matter digestibility (OMD) but tethering had no significant effect on crude protein. Close herded steers consistently consumed more forage than those tethered in both periods. Both grazing method and duration had significant effect on ingestion rate by the steers. Tethered steers had lower average daily gain than those herded. The results demonstrate that the common practice of tethering sedentary cattle in the wet season in the southern Sahel in West Africa reduces forage intake and consequently average daily gai

SARS-CoV-2 viral load analysis at low and high altitude: A case study from Ecuador

SARS-CoV-2 has spread throughout the world, including remote areas such as those located at high altitudes. There is a debate about the role of hypobaric hypoxia on viral transmission and COVID-19 incidence. A descriptive cross-sectional analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection and viral load among patients living at low (230 m) and high altitude (3800 m) in Ecuador was completed. Within these two communities, the total number of infected people at the time of the study was 108 cases (40.3%). The COVID-19 incidence proportion at low altitude was 64% while at high altitude was 30.3%. The mean viral load from those patients who tested positive was 3,499,184 copies/mL (SD = 23,931,479 copies/mL). At low altitude (Limoncocha), the average viral load was 140,223.8 copies/mL (SD = 990,840.9 copies/mL), while for the high altitude group (Oyacachi), the mean viral load was 6,394,789 copies/mL (SD = 32,493,469 copies/mL). We found no statistically significant differences when both results were compared (p = 0.056). We found no significant differences across people living at low or high altitude; however, men and younger populations had higher viral load than women older populations, respectivel

Reconnaissance observations by CIGIDEN after the 2015 Illapel, Chile earthquake and tsunami

This paper describes the reconnaissance work conducted by researchers from the National Research Center for Integrated Natural Disaster Management (CIGIDEN) between September 23rd and October 2nd in the area affected by the Mw 8.3 Illapel megathrust earthquake, which struck offshore the coast of the Coquimbo Region in central Chile on September 16th , 2015. A first team focused on the seismic performance and effects of the tsunami on public hospitals and on reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. A second team focused on the road network infrastructure. Field work included: (i) a survey on the physical and functional damages of the public hospitals in the Region; (ii) a visual inspection and preliminary damage assessment of 20 RC buildings in the largest cities of the region and an aftershock instrumentation of the Coquimbo hospital; and (iii) the inspection of bridges, pedestrian bridges, and rockfall along overstepped cut slopes of the road network. The overall limited impact of this megathrust earthquake may be explained in part by the long-term efforts made by the country to prepare for such events. Learnings from the 2010 Maule earthquake were evidenced in the successful evacuation along the coast of the country, and the overall good performance of engineered masonry structures, and of RC buildings designed after 2010

Electrical compatibility of transmission fluids in electric vehicles

The in electrical vehicles, where the electric motor is inside the transmissielectrical compatibility of the automatic transmission fluids (ATFs) is very important on and in contact with the ATF. This work studies the influence of factors like temperature, time, and air exposition on the oxidation of three ATFs and their changes in electrical conductivity. The results showed that the higher content of additive the lower variations of electrical conductivity with the oxidation; the measurements of electrical conductivity are better than FT-IR ones for monitoring oil thermo-oxidative degradation at initial periods; the conventional ATFs could maintain good electrical compatibility in electrified drivelines, although their materials compatibility and copper corrosion protection of electrical components should be also tested

Tribological performance of three fatty acid anion-based ionic liquids (FAILs) used as lubricant additive

This paper studies the tribological behavior of three fatty acid anion-based ionic liquids: methyltrioctylammonium octanoate ([N8881][C8:0]), methyltrioctylammonium laurate ([N8881][C12:0]) and methyltrioctylammonium palmitate ([N8881][C16:0]) used as additive at 0.5, 1 and 2 wt% in an ester base oil. The tribological experiments were performed in two different tribometers: a Bruker UMT-3 using a reciprocating “ball-on-disc” configuration for pure sliding tests and a Mini Traction Machine (MTM) for rolling/sliding tests. After sliding tests, the wear scar was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Sliding tests results showed both friction and wear reduction of the mixtures with respect to the ester only at 25 °C. The worse tribological behavior at 100 °C could be attributed to the moderate thermal stability of these ionic liquids. Under rolling/sliding conditions, samples displayed similar antifriction and ECR behavior than the base oil at high speeds, changing to a higher friction and lower ECR at low speeds and increasing temperatures. EDX analysis showed mainly the steel disc elements. The XPS oxygen signal showed higher amount of C[dbnd]O bond on the worn surface after reciprocating tests at 25 °C, which could be attributable to IL-surface interaction and can explain the better wear reduction performance