Antibodies and protection in systemic Salmonella infections: do we still have more questions than answers?

Salmonella causes grave systemic infections in humans and other animals and provides a paradigm for other diseases where the bacteria have both intracellular and extracellular lifestyles. New generations of vaccines rely on the essential contribution of the antibody responses for their protection. The quality, antigen specificity and functions associated with antibody responses to this pathogen have been elusive for a long time. Recent approaches that combine studies in humans and genetically manipulated experimental models, and exploit awareness of the location and within-host life cycle of the pathogen, are shedding light on how humoral immunity to Salmonella operates. However, this area of research remains full of controversy and discrepancies

The Cost of Capital in Regulated Firms: The Argentine Experience

The sustainability of service is one of the fundamental aims of any regulatory system, and this tends to be reflected in the general principles within the legal framework of each public service. The necessity to cover economic costs of service then follows, in order to cover costs in such a way as to guarantee the maintaining and continuity of the system as well as its expansion. These economic costs should necessarily include sufficient retribution for the capital used by investors: the cost of capital. In the case of Argentine regulation, it is usual practice to use an adapted form of the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) to calculate the opportunity cost of equity, in such a way as to take the country risk into account. In this work we will analyse the components of the adapted formula for the cost of capital, discussing incentives which generate each of the possible outcomes for the regulated firms. Finally, we will present a model of dynamic optimisation for a regulated firm in a country such as Argentina.regulatory system; public service; CAPM; country risk

Women’s Working Conditions during COVID-19: A Review of the Literature and a Research Agenda

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered new working modalities, typically aimed at flexibility. However, the COVID-related restrictions caused adverse effects such as unemployment, precariousness, and social anxiety. Effects on working conditions differ depending on the socio-demographic features of those affected (e.g., gender, social status, economic situation, ethnicity). Scholars agree that people who were disadvantaged before the pandemic—the so-called minority power groups, e.g., women, young people, and immigrants—suffered the most from its effects. This literature review systematizes the main findings of studies on one of these minority power groups, namely women

Within-host spatiotemporal dynamic of systemic salmonellosis: Ways to track infection, reaction to vaccination and antimicrobial treatment.

During the last two decades our understanding of the complex in vivo host-pathogen interactions has increased due to technical improvements and new research tools. The rapid advancement of molecular biology, flow cytometry and microscopy techniques, combined with mathematical modelling, have empowered in-depth studies of systemic bacterial infections across scales from single molecules, to cells, to organs and systems to reach the whole organism level. By tracking subpopulations of bacteria in vivo using molecular or fluorescent tags, it has been possible to reconstruct the spread of infection within and between organs, allowing unprecedented quantification of the effects of antimicrobial treatment and vaccination. This review illustrates recent advances in the study of heterogeneous traits of the infection process and illustrate approaches to investigate the reciprocal interactions between antimicrobial treatments, bacterial growth/death as well as inter- and intra-organ spread. We also discuss how vaccines impact the in vivo behaviour of bacteria and how these findings can guide vaccine design and rational antimicrobial treatment

Entanglement Controlled Single-Electron Transmittivity

We consider a system consisting of single electrons moving along a 1D wire in the presence of two magnetic impurities. Such system shows strong analogies with a Fabry - Perot interferometer in which the impurities play the role of two mirrors with a quantum degree of freedom: the spin. We have analysed the electron transmittivity of the wire in the presence of entanglement between the impurity spins. The main result of our analysis is that, for suitable values of the electron momentum, there are two maximally entangled state of the impurity spins the first of which makes the wire transparent whatever the electron spin state while the other strongly inhibits the electron transmittivity. Such predicted striking effect is experimentally observable with present day technology.Comment: Published version (6 figures

Phosphorus availability in the central area of the Argentine Pampean region. 1: Relationship between soil parameters, adsorption processes and wheat, soybean and corn yields in different soil and management environments

Retention of phosphorus in the soil solid phase is a complex process, caused by a combination of physical and chemical mechanisms that determine pools of compounds with different degrees of solubility. The amount of P available in a given pool can be associated with the adsorption maximum proposed by the Langmuir isotherm model, and with the energy with which it is retained. The aims of this work were: i) to evaluate the impact of the fertilization history and soil type on phosphorus adsorption parameters, and ii) to analyze the effect of soil properties, mainly the phosphorus adsorption parameters, on the yield of wheat, soybean and corn crops. In this study we established that the Bray & Kurtz 1 extractant is insufficiently sensitive for assessing changes in the nutrient availability when phosphorous concentrations are relatively low.The amount of phosphorus retained in the labile pool and its retention energy, however, are sensitive indicators of the availability of this nutrient. These indexes explain most of the variations in crop yields, and are determined more by P fertilization management than by soil typeLa retención de fósforo en la fase sólida del suelo es un proceso complejo que es causada por una combinación de varios mecanismos físicos y químicos, que determinarán reservorios de compuestos con diferente grado de solubilidad. La cantidad de P disponible en un reservorio dado se puede asociar al máximo de adsorción propuesto por el modelo de isoterma de Langmuir y a la energía con la que está retenida en la fase sólida. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron: i) evaluar el impacto de la historia de fertilización y el tipo de suelo en los parámetros de adsorción de fósforo, y ii) analizar el efecto de las propiedades del suelo, principalmente los parámetros de adsorción de fósforo, en el rendimiento de los cultivos de trigo, soja y maíz. En este estudio se estableció la baja sensibilidad del extractante Bray y Kurtz 1 para evaluar los cambios en la disponibilidad de fósforo cuando las concentraciones son relativamente bajas, mientras que la cantidad del nutriente retenido en el reservorio lábil y su energía de adsorción son indicadores sensibles de su disponibilidad. Estos índices explican la mayor parte de las variaciones en los rendimientos de los cultivos y están determinados más por las condiciones de manejo que por el tipo de suelo.publishedVersionFil: Silva Rossi, Martín María. Estudio Agronómico; Argentina.Fil: Rollán, Adriana Ana del Carmen. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Cátedra de Edafología; Argentina.Fil: Bachmeier, Omar Antoniol. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Cátedra de Edafología; Argentina

Outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by Yersinia pestis in Afghanistan.

Plague, which is most often caused by the bite of Yersinia pestis-infected fleas, is a rapidly progressing, serious disease that can be fatal without prompt antibiotic treatment. In late December 2007, an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis occurred in Nimroz Province of southern Afghanistan. Of the 83 probable cases of illness, 17 died (case fatality 20·5%). Being a case was associated with consumption or handling of camel meat (adjusted odds ratio 4·4, 95% confidence interval 2·2-8·8, P<0·001). Molecular testing of patient clinical samples and of tissue from the camel using PCR/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry revealed DNA signatures consistent with Yersinia pestis. Confirmatory testing using real-time PCR and immunological seroconversion of one of the patients confirmed that the outbreak was caused by plague, with a rare gastrointestinal presentation. The study highlights the challenges of identifying infectious agents in low-resource settings; it is the first reported occurrence of plague in Afghanistan

RAPID: Retrofitting IEEE 802.11ay Access Points for Indoor Human Detection and Sensing

In this work we present RAPID, a joint communication and radar (JCR) system based on next-generation IEEE 802.11ay WiFi networks operating in the 60 GHz band. In contrast to most existing approaches for human sensing at millimeter-waves, which employ special-purpose radars to retrieve the small-scale Doppler effect (micro-Doppler) caused by human motion, RAPID achieves radar-level sensing accuracy by retrofitting IEEE 802.11ay access points. For this, it leverages the IEEE 802.11ay beam training mechanism to accurately localize and track multiple individuals, while the in-packet beam tracking fields are exploited to extract the desired micro-Doppler signatures from the time-varying phase of the channel impulse response (CIR). The proposed approach enables activity recognition and person identification with IEEE 802.11ay wireless networks without requiring modifications to the packet structure specified by the standard. RAPID is implemented on an IEEE 802.11ay-compatible FPGA platform with phased antenna arrays, which estimates the CIR from the reflections of transmitted packets. The proposed system is evaluated on a large dataset of CIR measurements, proving robustness across different environments and subjects, and outperforming state-of-the-art sub-6 GHz WiFi sensing techniques. Using two access points, RAPID reliably tracks multiple subjects, reaching activity recognition and person identification accuracies of 94% and 90%, respectively.Comment: 16 pages, 18 figures, 4 table

Mejora genética y parámetros de calidad del silaje de sorgo (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) en comparación con el ensilaje de maíz (Zea mays L.)

The aim of this review was to report studies on genetic improvement of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), intended for obtaining genotypes with better forage characteristics for silage production. Among the forages destined to silage production, the sorghum constitutes a good alternative, with production superior to 20 t ha-1 of dry biomass. The main advantage of using sorghum is the possibility of producing higher biomass volume and better quality silage, with digestible fibers of great animal consumption and performance, in areas where cultivation restrictions for maize and others forages are risky and/or impossible. One of the limitations of using sorghum on animal nutrition is the tannin concentration in the grain, relating negatively with dry mass digestibility. By means of genetic improvement, such situation, through the knowledge of genetic inheritance of this characteristic, enabled 95% of the national sorghum to be devoid from tannin in the grains. As for the bromatological composition of silage, the sorghum presents fiber levels on neutral detergent varying from 52% to 56% against 45% to 64% in maize, in acid detergent from 32% to 35% against 28% to 35% in maize, and dry matter digestibility in vitro from 52% to 56% against 54% to 78% in maize, evidencing strong similarities regarding these parameters. The genetic improvement has made the sorghum cultivation an alternative to the maize replacement for animal nutrition.O objetivo desta revisão foi relatar trabalhos com melhoramento genético de sorgo (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), destinados a obtenção de genótipos com melhores características forrageiras para produção de silagem. Entre as forrageiras destinadas a produção de silagens o sorgo constitui-se numa boa alternativa com produtividade superior a 20 t ha-1 de biomassa seca. O grande destaque na utilização do sorgo é a possibilidade de se produzir maior volume de biomassa e uma silagem de melhor qualidade com fibras digestíveis de elevado consumo e desempenho animal, em áreas de restrição ao cultivo do milho e/ou outras forrageiras se torna impossível ou de risco. Um dos limitadores do uso do sorgo na nutrição animal é a concentração de taninos condensados no grão por relacionar-se negativamente com a digestibilidade da matéria seca. Por meio do melhoramento tal situação, via conhecimento das heranças genéticas desta característica, possibilitou atualmente em 95% do sorgo nacional não possuir tanino nos grãos. Quanto à composição bromatológica de silagem, o sorgo apresenta teores de fibra em detergente neutro variando 52% a 56% contra 45% a 64% em milho, fibra em detergente ácido de 32% a 35% contra 28% a 35% em milho e digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca de 52% a 56% contra 54% a 78% em milho, evidenciando fortes semelhanças quanto a estes parâmetros. O melhoramento genético tornou a cultura do sorgo forrajeiro em uma opção alternativa a substituição do milho na alimentação animal.El objetivo de esta revisión fue reportar artículos a respecto de la mejora genética del sorgo (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) con el fin de la obtención de genotipos con las mejores características de forraje para ensilado. Entre las forrajee destinados a la producción de ensilaje el sorgo constituye una buena alternativa con productividad superior a 20 t ha-1 de biomasa seca. Lo más destacado en el uso de sorgo es la posibilidad de producir mayor volumen de biomasa y ensilaje de mejor calidad, con fibras digeribles de alto consumo y rendimiento animal en las zonas de restricción de cultivo de maíz y/o otros forrajes se convierte en imposible o de riesgo. Uno de los limitadores del sorgo en la alimentación animal es la concentración de taninos condensados en el grano por se relacionaren negativamente con la digestibilidad de la materia seca. Por medio del mejoramiento esta situación, a través del conocimiento de la herencia genética de esta característica, permitió actualmente en 95% del sorgo nacional no tener el tanino en el grano. Cuanto a la composición bromatológica del ensilaje, el sorgo presenta fibra detergente neutro que van de 52% a 56% contra 45% a 64% en el maíz, fibra detergente ácida de 32% a 35% contra 28% a 35% en el maíz y digestibilidad in vitro de la materia seca de 52% a 56% contra 54% a 78% en el maíz, que muestran fuertes similitudes en estos parámetros. El mejoramiento genético tornó la cultura del sorgo forrajero en una opción alternativa para reemplazar el maíz en la alimentación animal

Características agronómicas de variedades de trigo en respuesta a la urea tratada con inhibidor de la ureasa en cobertura

La reducción de las pérdidas de nitrógeno aportado en cobertura en el cultivo de trigo es una necesidad en la producción nacional de trigo, este avance podrá aumentar el rendimiento y para ello, el uso de fertilizantes nitrogenados fortificados con inhibidores de la ureasa puede ser una alternativa para los productores. En este contexto, el objetivo fue estudiar la eficiencia de los diferentes fertilizantes nitrogenados, con y sin inhibidor de la ureasa en cobertura en el trigo y sus efectos en la expresión de los caracteres agronómicos. El experimento se realizó en Guarapuava en la zafra de 2012 en el campo experimental de la Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad Estadual do Centro-Oeste do Paraná - UNICENTRO. El diseño experimental fue bloques al azar con cinco repeticiones, en un factorial 3x2, con tres tratamientos de cobertura con nitrógeno (control, urea convencional y urea con el inhibidor de la ureasa - NBPT) y 2 cultivares de trigo (Mirante® y BRS Pardela®). Hubo una diferencia significativa entre los tratamientos con fertilizantes nitrogenados para las características: número de macollos (NP), número de granos por mazorca (GE), peso de mil granos (P1000 ) y el rendimiento de grano (PROD). Los resultados de este estudio permiten concluir que hubo un aumento en el rendimiento del trigo cuando se asocia el uso de fertilizantes en cobertura con el inhibidor de la ureasa NBPT (200 kg ha-1 - 90 kg N), en comparación con los otros tratamientos evaluados. La urea con inhibidor de la ureasa NBPT produjo mayor peso de mil granos en comparación con la urea convencional, siendo este resultado dependiente del cultivar probado.Reductions of nitrogen losses applied in coverage on the wheat crop is a necessity in the national wheat production, this advanced can increase grains yield, and for this, the use of nitrogen sources enriched with urease inhibitors can be a alternative for producers. In this context the objective of this study was to verify the different nitrogen fertilizers efficiency, with and without urease inhibitors, in coverage on the wheat crop and its effects on the expression of agronomics traits. The experiment was conducted in Guarapuava on the season of 2012, in the Experimental Camp of the Agronomy Department of the Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste of Paraná – UNICENTRO. The used design was of randomized blocks with five replications, in 3x2 factorial, being 3 traits of nitrogen coverage (control treatment, conventional urea and urea with urease inhibitor – NBPT), and 2 wheat cultivars (Mirante® e BRS Pardela®). There was significant difference between traits with nitrogen fertilizer for the assessed characteristics: Tillers number (NP), grains number for ears (GE), weight of a thousand grains (P1000) and grains yield (PROD). The results of this study allow to conclude that there was increase in the wheat grains yield when associated to the used coverage fertilizer with uerase inhibitor NBPT (200 kg ha-1 - 90 kg N), in face of the other evaluated treatments. The urea with urease inhibitor NBPT provided higher weight of a thousand grains when compared with conventional urea, being the result dependent of the evaluated cultivar.Reduções de perdas de nitrogênio aplicado em cobertura na cultura do trigo é uma necessidade na triticultura nacional, avanço este que permitirá aumentar a produtividade de grãos e para isto, o uso de fontes nitrogenadas enriquecidas com inibidores da uréase pode ser uma alternativa para os produtores. Neste contexto o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a eficiência de diferentes fertilizantes nitrogenados, com e sem inibidor de uréase, em cobertura na cultura do trigo e seus efeitos na manifestação de caracteres agronômicos. O experimento foi conduzido em Guarapuava na safra de 2012, no Campo Experimental do Departamento de Agronomia, da Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste do Paraná – UNICENTRO. O delineamento utilizado foi de blocos ao acaso com cinco repetições, em esquema fatorial 3x2, sendo 3 tratamentos de cobertura com nitrogênio (testemunha; ureia convencional e ureia com inibidor da urease - NBPT) e 2 cultivares de trigo (Mirante® e BRS Pardela®). Houve diferença significativa entre os tratamentos com adubação nitrogenada para as características: Números de perfilhos (NP), número de grãos por espigas (GE), peso de mil grãos (P1000) e produtividade de grãos (PROD). Os resultados deste trabalho permitem concluir que houve aumento na produtividade de grãos de trigo quando associado o uso do fertilizante em cobertura com inibidor de uréase NBPT (200 kg ha-1 - 90 kg N), frente aos demais tratamentos de cobertura avaliados. A ureia com inibidor de uréase NBPT propiciou maior peso de mil grãos quando comparado com a ureia convencional, sendo este resultado dependente da cultivar avaliada