Hypothesis: is yeast a clock model to study the onset of humans aging phenotypes?

In this paper we report the growth and aging of yeast colonies derived from single cells isolated by micromanipulation and seeded one by one on separated plates to avoid growth interference by surrounding colonies. We named this procedure clonal life span, and it could represent a third way of studying aging together with the replicative life span and chronological life span. In this study we observed over time the formation of cell mass similar to the human "senile warts" (seborrheic keratoses), the skin lesions that often appear after 30 years of life and increase in number and size over the years. We observed that similar signs of aging appear in yeast colonies after about 27 days of growth and increase during aging. In this respect we hypothesize to use yeast as a clock to study the onset of human aging phenotypes

A phenomenological study of middle school bullying in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas

The purpose of this paper was to describe the study concerning special education students in middle school who were bullied. Many students in the special education program are being bullied, whether it is due to their disabilities or other factors (Mishna, 2003; Rose, Espelage, & Monda-Amaya, 2009; Coloroso, 2008; Christensen, Fraynt, Neece, & Baker, 2012). While several quantitative studies have been conducted addressing this worldwide phenomenon, few qualitative studies have been performed. A phenomenological approach allowed the participants to share their own experiences with bullying. Twenty-five students from several middle schools (6th, 7th, 8th grades) in a city in the Rio Grande Valley, an area of the southernmost tip of South Texas, were asked to participate in this study. A semi-structured 45-minute interview was conducted at the students’ schools. The interviews were recorded with a microcassette recorder and then transcribed. As suggested by Creswell (2013), the data analysis process included coding the statements and forming themes from these statements in order to understand the meaning found from these students’ common experiences of bullying

Biomass valorization using green technologies: an entrepreneurship approach

The aim of this thesis project is to suggest a market application for Subcritical Water Extraction Technology (SW Technology), which uses water based processes. It is a green, versatile and environmental safe technology. The first step was to study in detail the technical features of the technology in order to provide a set of possible market applications focused on waste valorization. Selection criteria were considered for the raw material as well as for the market application and resulted in the choice of two applications: i) potato starch from Industrial potato wastes and ii) pectin from Industrial citrus and apple peels. From further market application, potential production and market need analysis, it transpired that pectin for food applications is the best promising application from the market point of view. The business model proposes the creation of a start-up, BioADD, constituted by a team of highly qualified specialists in different areas. BioADD will produce the product PectiCitrus from orange wastes adopting a factory in factory business model with the company Lara, Laranjas do Algarve. The European pectin market is valued in 372 M€ and BioADD will target 3% of it in the first year of operations. BioADD business model is Business to Business and PectiCitrus will be sold to European Distributing companies. The business model is developed for a five years time period, where the first year is dedicated to technology scale up studies in order to fit Lara orange peels production. The necessary investment to create BioADD is about 850 000€ with return of investment period in three years and internal rate of return of 32%. PectiCitrus is positioned in the market as a sustainable and competitive product. The Food industry market application is large. Although BioADD technology detains the potential to cover all applications, BioADD will focus on three major markets: i) Soft drinks, ii) Jams, jellies and marmalades and iii) Yoghurt and acidified milk drinks

Adversity, depressive symptoms and suicide attempts: study of women in community and comparison between women in prison and women in the community

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia (área de especialização em Psicologia da Justiça)A relação entre adversidade na infância, depressão e tentativas de suicídio tem sido estudada, mas nunca o foi em amostras exclusivamente femininas da comunidade. Por outro lado a literatura sugere que existe uma elevada prevalência de adversidade, depressão e tentativas de suicídio em reclusas. Este estudo teve como objetivos analisar estas variáveis em mulheres da comunidade e compará-las com um grupo de reclusas, analisando o contributo da adversidade para a depressão e tentativas de suicídio. Um total de 394 mulheres (211 reclusas e 183 da comunidade) completou o Adverse Childhood Experiences Study Questionnaire e a sub-escala da depressão do Psychopathological Symptom Inventory. As mulheres na comunidade relatam muitas experiências adversas e estas são preditoras da sintomatologia depressiva e das tentativas de suicídio. As reclusas relataram mais abuso sexual, abuso de substâncias na família, familiares em reclusão e divórcio dos pais, enquanto as da comunidade relataram mais violência doméstica. Não há diferenças entre os dois grupos quanto ao total de experiências adversas. A depressão e as tentativas de suicídio são superiores nas reclusas. Nos dois grupos a adversidade é preditora tentativas de suicídio. Programas de prevenção comunitários e projetos prisionais que considerem a história de vida e problemas específicos são necessários em contexto prisional.The relationship between childhood adversity, depression and suicide attempts has been studied, but never in exclusively female community samples. On the other hand the literature suggests that there is a high prevalence of adversity, depression and suicide attempts in female inmates. This study aimed to analyze these variables in women from the community and compare them with a group of inmates, analyzing the contribution of adversity to depression and suicide attempts. A total of 394 women (211 inmates and 183 from community) completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study Questionnaire and the depression subscale of the Psychopathological Symptom Inventory. Women in the community reported many adverse experiences and these are predictors of depressive symptoms and suicide attempts. Female inmates reported more sexual abuse, substance abuse in the family, family members in prison and divorced parents, while the community reported more domestic violence. There are no differences between the two groups in the total number of adverse experiences. Depression and suicide attempts are higher among inmates. In both groups the adversity predicts suicide attempts. Prevention community programs and projects that consider life history and specific problems are needed in the prison context

Native Speaker Stance-Taking In A Multinational Conference Call

The present study examines the stance-taking measures of a native speaker director in a conference call, focusing on social contexts where foreign speakers are also involved. The transcript used in this study is comprised of a global departmental team meeting call from a multinational company based in Austin, TX. Subjects are native and nonnative co-workers or specialists in the field of home vacation rental and a native director. The analysis aims at finding what different stance-taking measures are enacted by the director throughout this conference call, what linguistic strategies are used to claim authority, and whether different strategies or stances are used towards nonnative speakers. Primarily, this study intended to address features of foreigner talk; however, no strong indications of usage of this register were found. With the purpose of accounting for style-shifting and linguistic strategies, the quantitative analysis will look at the frequency distribution of non-contracted forms for evidence of elision avoidance, and verify whether the director uses careful articulation by analyzing the number of words used per minute. The qualitative analysis will explore lexical choices, stress on both content and function words, and stance-taking measures used towards native and nonnative participants. The objective of this study is to understand how authority is expressed and how language and stance are used as tools for claiming and maintaining authority in a setting where the director does not have any visual contact with the participants

The role of phytochemicals in Arcobacter butzleri resistance

Arcobacter butzleri is an emergent pathogen found in a wide range of habitats and hosts, which has developed resistance to several antibiotics. Efflux pumps are an important mechanism of antimicrobial resistance, therefore, the use of efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) may have the potential to restore A. butzleri susceptibility to old antibiotics. Plants have shown the ability to fight off infections despite the moderate antimicrobial action of some phytochemicals, so we aimed to test several bioactive compounds as putative EPIs, evaluating their role in the improvement of antibiotics’ performance against A. butzleri. To achieve this goal, the tolerance or resistance profile of A. butzleri strains regarding phytochemicals and antibiotics was traced through the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC); assays of ethidium bromide accumulation were performed to assess the inhibition of the efflux pumps; the MIC of the phytochemicals in the presence of known EPIs was determined to examine the potential role of efflux pumps as resistance mechanism to the phytochemicals; checkerboard assays were made to investigate if the phytochemicals had a synergic interaction with the antibiotics; and finally, quorum sensing inhibition tests were carried out, since this mechanism is a promisor target to fight off bacterial infection. The determination of the MIC of the phytochemicals demonstrated that none of the compounds had antimicrobial activity at the concentrations tested, except for stilbenes, which MIC ranged from 64 to 512 µg/mL. Ethidium bromide accumulation assays showed that some of the tested phytochemicals presented a fluorescence folding increase higher than the controls, indicating that they may inhibit efflux pumps; however only the stilbenes presented a typical EPI profile. The assessment of the MIC of the phytochemicals in the presence of a sub-inhibitory concentration of EPIs, revealed that the importance of efflux pumps in the bacteria resistance to phytochemicals is dependent on the strain. Several phytochemicals were selected for checkerboard titration assays revealing no synergism with antibiotics, however, several cases of additivity were detected. Quorum sensing assays revealed that resveratrol and pinosylvin were able to inhibit this mechanism. In conclusion, some of the phytochemicals tested presented potential to reduce A. butzleri resistance to antibiotics as demonstrated by the results obtained to resveratrol, pinosylvin and gallic acid, which have shown an additive effect when combined with the antibiotics. According to the ethidium bromide accumulation assay, the additive action of resveratrol and pinosylvin may be associated with efflux pump inhibition. Furthermore, these two stilbenes also possess the capacity to inhibit quorums sensing, suggesting that they may be able to inhibit A. butzleri virulence traits.Arcobacter butzleri é um patogéneo emergente normalmente associado a doenças gastrointestinais em humanos e animais, e a problemas reprodutores, nomeadamente abortos, em animais. Como muitos agentes patogénicos, A. butzleri tem vindo a desenvolver resistência e multirresistências a vários antibióticos. Considerando que as bombas de efluxo são um importante mecanismo de resistência antimicrobiana, sendo essenciais para o desenvolvimento de multirresistências, a estratégia de usar inibidores de bombas de efluxo para restaurar a suscetibilidade desta bactéria a antibióticos comuns é deveras promissora. Tendo em conta que as plantas estão constantemente expostas a stresses bióticos e abióticos e, apesar de alguns fitoquímicos apresentarem fraca atividade antimicrobiana contra bactérias Gram-negativas, as plantas conseguem combater infeções bacterianas com sucesso através do sinergismo entre compostos, surgindo assim como uma potencial fonte de compostos a explorar. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a capacidade de 14 fitoquímicos em inibir as bombas de efluxo de A. butzleri, e avaliar o seu potencial na melhoria da atividade de vários antibióticos contra esta bactéria. Para alcançar este objetivo, o perfil antimicrobiano dos fitoquímicos e de vários antibióticos foi avaliado através da determinação da concentração mínima inibitória. Ensaios de acumulação de brometo de etídio foram realizados para determinar a possível inibição das bombas de efluxo pelos compostos em estudo. A concentração mínima inibitória dos fitoquímicos na presença de inibidores de bombas de efluxo conhecidos foi definida, a fim de investigar se as bombas de efluxo são o principal mecanismo de resistência da bactéria aos fitoquímicos. Também foram realizados ensaios de checkerboard para avaliar o potencial sinergismo entre os fitoquímicos e antibióticos e por fim também foram realizados ensaios de inibição do quorum sensing. A determinação da concentração mínima inibitória dos fitoquímicos e dos antibióticos revelou que todos os fitoquímicos têm uma concentração mínima inibitória superior a 1024 µg/mL, exceto o resveratrol, o pterostilbeno e o pinosilvino, cujos valores variam entre 64 e 512 µg/mL, para as estirpes em estudo. Os resultados obtidos relativos aos ensaios de acumulação de brometo de etídio mostraram que alguns fitoquímicos, nomeadamente (+)-catequina, (-)-epicatequina, rutina, ácidos cafeico e clorogénico, resveratrol, pterostilbeno e pinosilvino levam a um aumento de fluorescência superior ao aumento de fluorescência verificado para os controlos dos solventes. Isto é, eles levam a uma acumulação de brometo de etídio dentro das células superior aos controlos, o que sugere que estes compostos podem estar a inibir as bombas de efluxo. Porém, somente os estilbenos registaram um aumento de fluorescência superior ao verificado para o inibidor de bombas de efluxo usado como controlo. Estes compostos são também os únicos que apresentam um perfil típico de um inibidor de bombas de efluxo. A fim de determinar se as bombas de efluxo são um mecanismo relevante de resistência aos fitoquímicos, a concentração mínima inibitória dos fitoquímicos foi determinada na presença de concentrações sub-inibitórias de inibidores de bombas de efluxo para as estirpes de A. butzleri mais suscetível (DQ46M1) e mais resistente (CR50-2), de entre as estudadas. Verificou-se que a importância das bombas de efluxo na resistência da bactéria aos fitoquímicos é dependente da estirpe, sendo a mais resistente mais dependente das bombas de efluxo do que a mais suscetível. Com base nos resultados do ensaio da acumulação de brometo de etídio, vários fitoquímicos foram selecionados para testes de checkerboard. Os resultados mostraram que várias combinações fitoquímico/antibiótico apresentaram um efeito aditivo, não se observando interação antagonista para nenhuma das combinações avaliadas. Os estilbenos, mais uma vez, foi a classe de fitoquímicos que apresentou os melhores resultados. Por fim, ensaios de inibição do quorum sensing foram realizados a fim de determinar se os fitoquímicos têm a capacidade de inibir estes mecanismos de comunicação celular. Os ensaios mostraram que o resveratrol e o pinosilvino conseguem inibir estes sistemas. Assim, uma vez que o quorum sensing é fundamental para a regulação de diversos fatores de virulência como é o caso da formação de biofilmes, estes compostos bioativos podem ter o potencial de contribuir para o controlo de A. butzleri ao atuar sobre a formação de biofilmes, inibindo-os. Concluindo, apesar do reduzido potencial antimicrobiano da maioria dos fitoquímicos testados, alguns destes compostos apresentaram potencial no aumento de atividade de antibióticos, como foi o caso do resveratrol, pinosilvino e ácido gálico, os quais mostraram ter uma interação aditiva com os antibióticos. De acordo com o ensaio da acumulação de brometo de etídio, o efeito aditivo apresentado pelo resveratrol e pelo pinosilvino pode estar associado à inibição das bombas de efluxo. Estes dois estilbenos também demostraram a capacidade de inibir o quorum sensing, o que sugere que podem ter a capacidade de inibir fatores de virulência associados a A. butzleri

VERBAL ASPECT – PROGRESSIVE WITH PERCEPTION VERBS

This study aims at analyzing verbal aspect of the English Language on a cognitive linguistics perspective. Much has been said about aspect, but many authors have utilized examples from introspection. We tested (COMRIE, 1976)’s assumptions on aspect using native speaker’s corpus. To answer the question “Does the progressive aspect occur with inert perception verbs HEAR and SEE in English (language in use)?” the online corpus COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English) was analyzed. Both spoken and written languages were analyzed; results showed that the progressive is used with this kind of verb

Determinación de seroprevalencia de brucelosis bovina en la Provincia de Pastaza y posibles factores de riesgo asociados con la enfermedad

La brucelosis bovina es una enfermedad que puede transmitirse de los animales a los humanos (zoonosis); causada por bacterias del género Brucella. Estos microorganismos tienen afinidad por el sistema reproductivo, tanto de machos como de hembras, causando orquitis, aborto en el último tercio de gestación, acompañado con retención placentaria y metritis, pudiendo llegar a causar infertilidad. El objetivo de este estudio fue establecer la prevalencia aparente de brucelosis bovina en la provincia de Pastaza, a través de dos pruebas serológicas: Rosa de Bengala y Suero Aglutinación Lenta en Tubo con EDTA y los factores de riesgo asociados a la aparición y permanencia de esta enfermedad en cada una de las fincas donde se desarrolló el presente estudio. La prevalencia encontrada en la provincia por finca fue de 3,4% y por animal fue de 1,04%. Se identificaron 14 factores de riesgo de los cuales los más importantes fueron el tipo de explotación (p valor = 0,001) y movilización (p valor= 0,22). Con este estudio se demostró que la brucelosis bovina afecta a las ganaderías de la provincia de Pastaza y el único factor de riesgo estadísticamente importante es el tipo de explotación.Bovine brucellosis is a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans (zoonoses), caused by bacteria of the Brucella gender. These microorganisms have an affinity for the reproductive system of both males and females, causing orchitis, abortion in the last third of gestation, together with retained placenta and metritis, and can even cause infertility. The aim of this study was to establish the apparent prevalence of bovine brucellosis in the province of Pastaza, through two serological tests: Rose Bengal and Slow Serum Agglutination in Tube with EDTA and risk factors associated with the occurrence and continuance of this disease in each of the farms where this study took place. The prevalence found in the province per farm was 3.4% and per animal was 1.04%. We identified 14 risk factors of which the most important were the type of operation (p value = 0.001) and mobilization (p value = 0.22). This study demonstrated that bovine brucellosis affected herds in the province of Pastaza and the only statistically significant risk factor is the type of exploitation