Immune Response Modulation by Tumor-Secreted Glycosphingolipids

Although originally considered merely structural components of cellular membranes, glycosphingolipids (GSL) arenow recognized as having critical effects on cellular physiology, including proliferation, differentiation, viraltransformation and ontogenesis. In addition, a vast majority of human cancers have modified GSL compositioncompared to parental normal cells. These modifications may contribute to both tumor survival and exert strikingeffects on anti-tumor immunity. In this review, we discuss mechanisms of immune modulation by tumor-secreted GSL.Fil: Lardone, Ricardo Dante. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Cely, Ingrid. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados UnidosFil: Sieling, Peter A.. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados UnidosFil: Lee, Delphine. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados Unido

Analysis of a possible association between oral lichen planus and drug intake. A controlled study

Objectives: To investigate whether daily systemic and/or topical medication contributes to the development of oral lichen planus (OLP) lesions. Study Design: The study involved 110 OLP patients and 76 control subjects, matched by age, race and sex. The analyzed data included medical records, drug intake and topical medication. Criteria for analysis of drug intake included: (1) ATC-code drug classification; (2) number of different drugs used daily in the categories of monopharmacy (1 drug), minor polypharmacy (2 4 drugs), and major polypharmacy (> 5 drugs); and (3) drugs implicated in lichenoid reactions (DILRs). Results: Sixty (54.5%) of the 110 OLP patients reported daily medication (prior to the appearance of the OLP lesion) compared to 52 (68.4%) of the 76 control subjects. No statistical difference was found between the two groups in terms of systemic diseases, number of medicated individuals in the categories of mono- and polypharmacy, nor use of DILRs (P > 0.05). Regarding the clinical forms and site of involvement, a statistically significant difference was only found for the clinical erosive form of OLP, seen more frequently in non-DILR (P = 0.04) and nonmedicated OLP patients (P = 0.02) than in DILR OLP patients. Daily use of topical oral medication was reported by 2 (1.8%) OLP patients and 1 (1.3%) control subject. Conclusions: It seems that the use of systemic medication does not lead to a significant increase in the incidence of OLP lesions. For their part, lichenoid drug reactions are likely to occur only in a very low percentage of patients. © Medicina Oral S. L

Oceanographic Observations in Chilean Coastal Waters Between Valdivia and Concepcion

The physical oceanography of the biologically productive coastal waters of central Chile (36 degrees to 40 degrees S) is relatively unknown. In December 1998 we made a short exploratory cruise between Valdivia (40 degrees S) and Concepcion (37.8 degrees S) taking temperature, salinity, oxygen, and current velocity profiles. Coincident sea surface temperature and color measurements were obtained by satellite. The results showed an area dominated by wind-induced coastal upwelling, river runoff, intrusion of offshore eddies, mixing, and heating. Upwelling centers were found over the shelf at three locations: inshore of Mocha Island, off Valdivia, and off Lavapie Point. At these centers, equatorial subsurface water (ESSW) intrudes into the coastal waters, sometimes affecting the surface waters. Since ESSW has characteristically low-oxygen and high-salinity values, it is easily detected. Off Valdivia, runoff imparts stratification, while farther north, solar heating and reduced mixing may facilitate stratification. In some areas, even strong winds would not destroy the stratification imparted by the advection of buoyancy that occurs during the upwelling process. Strong equatorward currents (\u3e1 m s(-1)) in the form of an upwelling jet were found off Lavapie Point. This is also the location of an intruding anticyclone. Elsewhere, currents were mainly northward but highly variable because of intrusions from offshore eddies. The sea surface temperature and ocean color images show a complex field of onshore and offshore intrusions combined with the effects of mixing on chlorophyll concentrations. The residence time of upwelled water on the shelf is estimated to be less than 1 week

EPR, Magnetic, and Computational Characterization of Linear and Zigzag Ladder‐type Chains of Exchange Coupled Cu(II) Complexes with Picolinic and Dipicolinic Acid Ligands

We report magnetic, EPR, and computational studies on two representative examples of structurally well-characterized one dimension (1D) molecular systems: the copper complexes catena-[bis(μ-pyridine-2-carboxylato)-copper dihydrate] and catena-[(μ2-pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylato)-diaqua-copper(II)], hereafter 1 and 2, respectively. Experimental and theoretical results confirmed that the structural chains in both compounds behave as magnetic chains in which the copper ions are weakly coupled by isotropic exchange. Magnetic susceptibility measurements of 1 suggested that the copper ions are antiferromagnetically coupled whereas EPR measurements suggested ferromagnetic coupling at temperature above 100 K which becomes antiferromagnetic at low temperatures. Computational calculations would indicate that the ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic change may be due to dCu−Oap shortening on lowering temperature temperature (a fact that was observed experimentally by XRD at low temperatures), which redistributes the small Cu(II) unpaired spin density delocalized on the apical ligand to copper. The 1D magnetic behavior of the zigzag ladder chain of 2 is less detectable than that of the single chain of 1. Magnetic susceptibility measurements in conjunction with computational calculations showed that the pathways that give rise to the 1D ladder transmit ferromagnetic exchange interactions with different strengths, with the stronger interaction being transmitted along the rungs. The role of the weaker exchange interactions transmitted along the rails on the magnetic dimensionality of 2 is analyzed.Fil: Pérez, Ana Laura. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Kemmerer, Axel. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Baggio, Ricardo Fortunato. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Ramos, Carlos A.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Dalosto, Sergio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Física del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Física del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Passeggi, Mario Cesar Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Física del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Física del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Rizzi, Alberto Claudio. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Brondino, Carlos Dante. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentin

Plan de negocios para la creaci?n de una plataforma virtual colaborativa de estacionamientos

Se ha establecido la realizaci?n de encuestas para profundizar en el an?lisis del mercado que se desea conocer. Este m?todo de investigaci?n nos permite conocer de primera mano las opiniones y preferencias de los potenciales usuarios para una herramienta novedosa en el mercado. Gracias a la Internet los costos de realizar una encuesta pr?cticamente han desaparecido y que al ser desarrollado en la intimidad de su smartphone de manera privada el nivel de veracidad es alto. El estudio de mercado muestra un alto inter?s por parte de los conductores de hacer sus reservaciones de estacionamientos a trav?s de un aplicativo m?vil, como es la soluci?n que estamos planteando en este plan de negocio, hecho similar ocurre con aquellos propietarios que tienen un estacionamiento. El modelo de negocio sustentado es una soluci?n tecnol?gica y econ?micamente viable, que emerge como resultado de la b?squeda de una gesti?n eficiente a la problem?tica del tr?fico y la falta de espacios de aparcamiento en las grandes urbes y, que mediante este modelo de negocio se pretende resolver

A Maritime Piracy Scenario for the n-Core Polaris Real-Time Locating System

here is a wide range of applications where Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) can be used to build context-aware systems. On the one hand, WSNs comprise an ideal technology to develop sensing systems, as well as Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) aimed at indoor environments, where existing global navigation satellite systems, such as GPS, do not work correctly. On the other hand, agent technology is an essential piece in the analysis of data from distributed sensors and gives them the ability to work together and analyze complex situations. In this sense, n-Core Polaris is an indoor and outdoor RTLS based on ZigBee WSNs and an innovative set of locating and automation engines. This paper describes the main components of the n-Core Polaris system, as well as a proposed scenario where n-Core Polaris can be used to support boarding and rescue operations in maritime piracy environments

Biophysical profile of Lutao Reef in 2007

Coral reefs are one of the most productive marine ecosystems that helps replenish fish stocks in the sea. Samar, Philippines relies so much on marine products as the main source of food and livelihood, thus care of its reef is very important. There are several reefs in the bays and seas of Samar with Lutao Reef as the largest for the City of Catbalogan. The barrier reef is estimated to be 1.6 km long and 0.25 km width covering an area of about 37.64 hectares. Despite being a protected habitat since 1996, the reef shows a certain level of degradation attributed to some destructive fishing, gleaning of important marine resource, and practices such as improper waste disposals causing damage to the corals in the reef. Non-biodegradable waste clings on to the coral reef were observed. Only about ¾ is covered with about 13 genres of live corals mostly of Acropora genre. About 10% of the reef corals are dead, some exhibits coral bleaching. A total of 43 species of fish were identified with nine dominant species namely; Pomacentrus trilineatus, Pomacentrus richardsoni, Plotosus lineatus, Cheilodipterus novemstriatus, Abudefduf vaigiensis, Pterocaesio tile, Neoglyphidodon melas, Abudefduf sexfasciatus, and Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus with numbers varying monthly. There are signs of slow phase of recovery which can be enhanced with strong intervention from the authorities and the people

Evaluación de la capacidad amortiguadora de ingredientes utilizados en la formulación de dietas para rumiantes

Evaluación de la capacidad amortiguadora de ingredientes utilizados en la formulación de dietas para rumiantes. Se recolectaron 22 muestras de diferentes ingredientes, que se clasificaron en: energéticos altos ( > 15 %) y bajos ( < 15 %) en proteína, forrajes, alimentos fermentados y aditivos, con el objetivo de evaluar su capacidad amortiguadora (CA). Se determinó la capacidad amortiguadora expresando los resultados en miliequivalentes de ácido clorhídrico requerido para producir un cambio en una unidad de pH de la muestra original de alimento. Los resultados obtenidos fueron comparados con los reportados en otros estudios. La CA es alta en alimentos altos en proteína y leguminosas, intermedia en alimentos energéticos y fermentados, y baja en gramíneas