Some empirical evidence on business-IT alignment processes in the public sector: A case study report

An empirical study that explores business-IT alignment processes in a networked organization among the province Overijssel, the municipalities Zwolle and Enschede, the water board district Regge & Dinkel and Royal Grolsch N.V. in The Netherlands, is summarized in this report. The aim of the study was to identify processes that contribute to improve such alignment. This study represents a continuation of previous validation efforts that help us to confirm the business-IT alignment process areas that should ultimately be included in the ICoNOs MM. Evidence was sought for the alignment of business and IT through the use of information systems to support the requirements of the organization in a specific project. The results of this study in the public sector also are relevant to the private sector where (i) business-IT alignment plays an increasingly valuable role, and (ii) the characteristics of collaborative networked organizations are present

New methodology to measure the dynamics of ocular wave front aberrations during small amplitude changes of accommodation

We present a methodology to measure the systematic changes of aberrations induced by small changes in amplitude of accommodation. We use a method similar the one used in electrophysiology, where a periodic stimulus is presented to the eye and many periods (epochs) of the stimulus are averaged. Using this technique we have measured changes in higher order aberrations from 0.006μm to 0.02μm and correlated them with amplitude changes of accommodation as small as 0.14D. These small changes would have been undetectable without epoch averaging. The correlation coefficients of Zernike terms with defocus were calculated, demonstrating higher values of correlation for epoch averaging. The accurate monitoring of defocus at the start of the accommodation response has shown some interesting trends that may be related with the mechanisms behind accommodation

Avaliação da freqüência de Lasiodiplodia theobromae em plantas cítricas com sintomas típicos de descamamento eruptivo.

O fungo Lasiodiplodia theobromae (Pat.) Griffon & Maubl., é um patógeno comumente encontrado nas regiões tropicais e subtropicais. Capaz de infectar tecidos vegetais, isoladamente ou em associação com outros patógenos, pode causar sérios prejuízos a numerosas espécies cultivadas.Em paralelo aconteceram também os seguintes eventos: V Seminário de Pesquisa do Recôncavo da Bahia; V Seminário Estudantil de Pesquisa da UFRB; V Seminário da Pós-Graduação da UFRB; II Seminário Regional de Pesquisa da EBDA; 5ª Jornada Científica da Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura; VIII Seminário Estudantil de Pesquisa e Extensão da FAMAM; Semana de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação no Agronegócio; Fórum de Gestores de Iniciação Científica e Tecnológica da Bahia; II Simpósio Baiano de Defesa Agropecuária; I Semana de Educação Tutorial da UFRB

Junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum motility in adult mouse ventricular myocytes.

Excitation-contraction (EC) coupling is the coordinated process by which an action potential triggers cardiac myocyte contraction. EC coupling is initiated in dyads where the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (jSR) is in tight proximity to the sarcolemma of cardiac myocytes. Existing models of EC coupling critically depend on dyad stability to ensure the fidelity and strength of EC coupling, where even small variations in ryanodine receptor channel and voltage-gated calcium channel-α 1.2 subunit separation dramatically alter EC coupling. However, dyadic motility has never been studied. Here, we developed a novel strategy to track specific jSR units in dissociated adult ventricular myocytes using photoactivatable fluorescent proteins. We found that the jSR is not static. Instead, we observed dynamic formation and dissolution of multiple dyadic junctions regulated by the microtubule-associated molecular motors kinesin-1 and dynein. Our data support a model where reproducibility of EC coupling results from the activation of a temporally averaged number of SR Ca2+ release units forming and dissolving SR-sarcolemmal junctions. These findings challenge the long-held view that the jSR is an immobile structure and provide insights into the mechanisms underlying its motility

Distance constraints on activation of TRPV4 channels by AKAP150-bound PKCα in arterial myocytes.

TRPV4 (transient receptor potential vanilloid 4) channels are Ca2+-permeable channels that play a key role in regulating vascular tone. In arterial myocytes, opening of TRPV4 channels creates local increases in Ca2+ influx, detectable optically as "TRPV4 sparklets." TRPV4 sparklet activity can be enhanced by the action of the vasoconstrictor angiotensin II (AngII). This modulation depends on the activation of subcellular signaling domains that comprise protein kinase C α (PKCα) bound to the anchoring protein AKAP150. Here, we used super-resolution nanoscopy, patch-clamp electrophysiology, Ca2+ imaging, and mathematical modeling approaches to test the hypothesis that AKAP150-dependent modulation of TRPV4 channels is critically dependent on the distance between these two proteins in the sarcolemma of arterial myocytes. Our data show that the distance between AKAP150 and TRPV4 channel clusters varies with sex and arterial bed. Consistent with our hypothesis, we further find that basal and AngII-induced TRPV4 channel activity decays exponentially as the distance between TRPV4 and AKAP150 increases. Our data suggest a maximum radius of action of ∼200 nm for local modulation of TRPV4 channels by AKAP150-associated PKCα

Mancha amarela do trigo: caracterização de raças.

bitstream/CNPT-2010/40701/1/p-do83.pd

Obesity as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease: the role of adipocytokines

Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia and the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease. It is an aging-related multi-factorial disorder and growing evidence support the contribution of metabolic factors to what was formerly thought to be a centrally mediated process. Obesity has already been recognized as an important player in the pathogenesis of this type of dementia, independently of insulin resistance or other vascular risk factors. Although the exact underlying mechanisms are still unknown, adipocyte dysfunction and concomitant alteration in adipocyte-derived protein secretion seem to be involved, since these adipocytokines can cross the blood-brain barrier and influence cognitive-related structures. Very few studies have assessed the role of adipocytokines dysfunction on cognitive impaired patients and yielded contradictory results. Interestingly, extensive research on the central effects of leptin in Alzheimer's disease-transgenic mice has demonstrated its capacity to enhance synaptic plasticity and strength, as well as to prevent beta-amyloid deposition and tau phosphorylation. In addition, adiponectin, the most abundant adipocytokine whose levels are inversely correlated to adiposity, has shown to be neuroprotective to hippocampal cells. Many other adipose-derived cytokines have mainly pro-inflammatory properties, being able to trigger and/or enhance central inflammatory cascades and also to influence the secretion of other adipocytokines involved in cognition. This paper pretends to review the existing evidence on the contribution of adipocytokines dysfunction to the increased risk of dementia associated with mid-life obesity, unraveling its insulin-independent effects on cognition.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio