Apolipoprotein A-I inhibits the increased activities of chitotriosidase and β-glucosaminidase in the liver of mice with BCG-induced tuberculosis inflammation

The aim of the investigation was to study the activity of lysosomal chitinases (chitotriosidase and β-glucosaminidase) in the liver of mice using a model of BCG-induced tuberculous inflammation after intravenous administration of apolipoprotein A-I. Material and methods. The study was carried out on male CBA mice weighing 20–22 g. Disseminated tuberculous inflammation was modeled by a single intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 mg of BCG vaccine. The activity of chitinases was determined using fluorescent substrates 4-methylumbelliferyl β-D-N,N′,N′′-triacetylchitotrioside and 4-methylumbelliferyl N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminide. Results and discussion. BCG-infection of animals after 4 weeks caused a significant increase in the activity of endogenous chitinases in comparison with the control group: chitotriosidase – 3.05 times (p <0.001), β-glucosaminidase – 1.76 times (p <0.01). Intravenous administration of apolipoprotein A-I to animals against the background of BCG infection inhibited the increased enzyme activity, values did not significantly differ from the control values. Conclusions. The results of these studies indicate the ability of apolipoprotein A-I to reduce the increased activity of endogenous lysosomal chitinases in the liver of mice with BCG-induced tuberculous inflammation

Democratising jUst Sustainability Transitions : Deliverable 1.1: Theoretical and conceptual framework

This deliverable is the result of Task 1.1 Theoretical and conceptual framework within the DUST Work package 1 Theory and methods. The document presents a comprehensive framework for research in and across the individual work packages of the DUST project. Guided by the concept of ‘active subsidiarity,’ the DUST project aims at an increased understanding of the participation of the politically least-engaged communities in the deliberative governance of place-based approaches to just sustainability transitions. Key concepts underlying this core objective stem from the fields of public policy, the democracy studies, and spatial planning and design. In conjunction they establish the DUST project’s interdisciplinary focus area within the wider field of citizen participation. More detailed objectives of the project are addressed in different dimensions of the DUST research. In its analytical dimension research will identify factors that enhance or hinder participation. In its evaluative dimension research will result in an index for assessing participation. In its instrumental dimension, research will test instruments for enhancing participation in democratic life at scale. In its communicative dimension research will increase our understanding of how narratives help or hinder participation and how affective two-way communication can support the emergence and dissemination of unheard story lines. The document presents theories and concepts that underpin and guide research in these dimensions

Supervision, Coaching and Mentoring of Independent Management Consultants

The study aims to investigate how independent management consultants experience the differences between supervision, mentoring and coaching and how they employ these approaches in their professional development. It also aims to find out how mentoring, coaching and supervision could be conceptualized in a strategy for independent management consultants’ professional development. The paper is based on independent management consultants’ accounts of lived experiences in supervision, coaching and mentoring. The empirical material constitutes 7 narrative interviews and informational materials on coaching and supervision received from some of the interviewees on occasions irrelevant to the study