Modulation of Host Immunity by Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Virulence Factors: A Synergic Inhibition of Both Innate and Adaptive Immunity

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.The Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (hRSV) is a major cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) and high rates of hospitalizations in children and in the elderly worldwide. Symptoms of hRSV infection include bronchiolitis and pneumonia. The lung pathology observed during hRSV infection is due in part to an exacerbated host immune response, characterized by immune cell infiltration to the lungs. HRSV is an enveloped virus, a member of the Pneumoviridae family, with a non-segmented genome and negative polarity-single RNA that contains 10 genes encoding for 11 proteins. These include the Fusion protein (F), the Glycoprotein (G), and the Small Hydrophobic (SH) protein, which are located on the virus surface. In addition, the Nucleoprotein (N), Phosphoprotein (P) large polymerase protein (L) part of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase complex, the M2-1 protein as a transcription elongation factor, the M2-2 protein as a regulator of viral transcription and (M) protein all of which locate inside the virion. Apart from the structural proteins, the hRSV genome encodes for the non-structural 1 and 2 proteins (NS1 and NS2). HRSV has developed different strategies to evade the host immunity by means of the function of some of these proteins that work as virulence factors to improve the infection in the lung tissue. Also, hRSV NS-1 and NS-2 proteins have been shown to inhibit the activation of the type I interferon response. Furthermore, the hRSV nucleoprotein has been shown to inhibit the immunological synapsis between the dendritic cells and T cells during infection, resulting in an inefficient T cell activation. Here, we discuss the hRSV virulence factors and the host immunological features raised during infection with this virus.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00367/ful

Religion and Attitudes toward Same-Sex Marriage among U.S. Latinos

Objectives. This study examines links between multiple aspects of religious involvement and attitudes toward same-sex marriage among U.S. Latinos. The primary focus is on variations by affiliation and participation, but the possible mediating roles of biblical beliefs, clergy cues, and the role of religion in shaping political views are also considered. Methods. We use binary logistic regression models to analyze data from a large nationwide sample of U.S. Latinos conducted by the Pew Hispanic Forum in late 2006. Results. Findings highlight the strong opposition to same-sex marriage among Latino evangelical (or conservative) Protestants and members of sectarian groups (e.g., LDS), even compared with devout Catholics. Although each of the hypothesized mediators is significantly linked with attitudes toward same-sex marriage, for the most part controlling for them does not alter the massive affiliation/attendance differences in attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Conclusions. This study illustrates the importance of religious cleavages in public opinion on social issues within the diverse U.S. Latino population. The significance of religious variations in Hispanic civic life is likely to increase with the growth of the Latino population and the rising numbers of Protestants and sectarians among Latinos

Hydrophobically modified polyelectrolytes as potential drugs reservoirs of n-alkyl-nitroimidazoles

Indexación: ScieloThe solubilization of three commercial drugs (ornindazole, metronidazole and tinidazole) and model compounds (N-alkyl-2-methyl-4-nitroimidazoles) on aggregates formed by anionic polyelectrolytes, carrying alkyl side chains of different length, have been investigated in aqueous solution at pH 3.0, 7.0 and 11.0. Potassium salts of poly(maleic acid-co-1-olefins), PA-nK2 with n ranging from 8 to 18, were used as micelle-forming polymers. The partition of these drugs between water and the hydrophobic microdomains provided by PA-nK2 was studied by the pseudo-phase model to determinate the distribution coefficient KS, and the standard free energy of transfer Δμºt. The results indicate that solubility of alkyl-nitroimidazoles on these polymer micelles depends moderately on the length of the alkyl chain, and therefore is mainly determined by the heterocyclic group. On the other hand, the solubilization of 1-hexyl-2-methyl-4-nitroimidazole increase with decreasing length of the side alkyl chain; i.e. KS follows the order PA-8K2 > PA-10K2 > PA-12K2 > PA-14K2 > PA-16K2 >PA-18K2.http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-97072007000100014&nrm=is

An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Home Foreclosure on the Crime Rate: Evidence in Atlanta, GA

Over the past 28 years the United States has seen its share of prosperity and hard times. At times there have been significant increases in the number of subprime mortgages issued in the United States. Studies have shown that the number of foreclosures is highly correlated to the number of subprime loans issued. Another main issue that seems to occur with the abundance of loans and the spike in foreclosures is that crime rates tend to also increase during these times. The two major crimes that will be taken into account are violent crime and property crimes. I use foreclosure, income, and crime data from various databases from 1980 to 2008. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between United States foreclosure rates and crime rates. Results from simple regression models suggest that the increase in foreclosures is significantly related to crime level increases across the United States. I conclude with the discussion of implementing social and educational programs to help the less fortunate that are on the verge of losing their homes

Faith, Race-Ethnicity, and Public Policy Preferences: Religious Schemas and Abortion Attitudes among U.S. Latinos

Research has demonstrated that white conservative Protestants are more opposed to abortion than their Catholic counterparts. At the same time, conservative Protestantism has made significant inroads among U.S. Latinos. This study augments existing research on religion and racial-ethnic variations in abortion attitudes by comparing levels of support for legalized abortion among Catholic and conservative Protestant Latinos. Data are drawn from a nationally representative sample of U.S. Latinos. Significantly greater opposition to abortion is found among religiously devout conservative Protestant Latinos when compared with their Catholic counterparts. Latino Catholicism, which functions as a near-monopolistic, highly institutionalized faith tradition among Hispanics, produces weaker antiabortion attitudes than those exhibited in Latino conservative Protestantism. Among Latinos, conservative Protestantism operates as a niche voluntaristic faith. These factors produce a religious schema that yields robust antiabortion attitudes. This study has important implications for understanding the intersection of race-ethnicity, religion, and public policy preferences

Xenomicrobiology: a roadmap for genetic code engineering

Biology is an analytical and informational science that is becoming increasingly dependent on chemical synthesis. One example is the high-throughput and low-cost synthesis of DNA, which is a foundation for the research field of synthetic biology (SB). The aim of SB is to provide biotechnological solutions to health, energy and environmental issues as well as unsustainable manufacturing processes in the frame of naturally existing chemical building blocks. Xenobiology (XB) goes a step further by implementing nonnatural building blocks in living cells. In this context, genetic code engineering respectively enables the redesign of genes/genomes and proteins/proteomes with non-canonical nucleic (XNAs) and amino (ncAAs) acids. Besides studying information flow and evolutionary innovation in living systems, XB allows the development of new-to-nature therapeutic proteins/ peptides, new biocatalysts for potential applications in synthetic organic chemistry and biocontainment strategies for enhanced biosafety. In this perspective, we provide a brief history and evolution of the genetic code in the context of XB. We then discuss the latest efforts and challenges ahead for engineering the genetic code with focus on substitutions and additions of ncAAs as well as standard amino acid reductions. Finally, we present a roadmap for the directed evolution of artificial microbes for emancipating rare sense codons that could be used to introduce novel building blocks. The development of such xenomicroorganisms endowed with a 'genetic firewall' will also allow to study and understand the relation between code evolution and horizontal gene transfer

Directed Chaotic Transport in Hamiltonian Ratchets

We present a comprehensive account of directed transport in one-dimensional Hamiltonian systems with spatial and temporal periodicity. They can be considered as Hamiltonian ratchets in the sense that ensembles of particles can show directed ballistic transport in the absence of an average force. We discuss general conditions for such directed transport, like a mixed classical phase space, and elucidate a sum rule that relates the contributions of different phase-space components to transport with each other. We show that regular ratchet transport can be directed against an external potential gradient while chaotic ballistic transport is restricted to unbiased systems. For quantized Hamiltonian ratchets we study transport in terms of the evolution of wave packets and derive a semiclassical expression for the distribution of level velocities which encode the quantum transport in the Floquet band spectra. We discuss the role of dynamical tunneling between transporting islands and the chaotic sea and the breakdown of transport in quantum ratchets with broken spatial periodicity.Comment: 22 page

The chromatin remodeller ACF acts as a dimeric motor to space nucleosomes.

Evenly spaced nucleosomes directly correlate with condensed chromatin and gene silencing. The ATP-dependent chromatin assembly factor (ACF) forms such structures in vitro and is required for silencing in vivo. ACF generates and maintains nucleosome spacing by constantly moving a nucleosome towards the longer flanking DNA faster than the shorter flanking DNA. How the enzyme rapidly moves back and forth between both sides of a nucleosome to accomplish bidirectional movement is unknown. Here we show that nucleosome movement depends cooperatively on two ACF molecules, indicating that ACF functions as a dimer of ATPases. Further, the nucleotide state determines whether the dimer closely engages one or both sides of the nucleosome. Three-dimensional reconstruction by single-particle electron microscopy of the ATPase-nucleosome complex in an activated ATP state reveals a dimer architecture in which the two ATPases face each other. Our results indicate a model in which the two ATPases work in a coordinated manner, taking turns to engage either side of a nucleosome, thereby allowing processive bidirectional movement. This novel dimeric motor mechanism differs from that of dimeric motors such as kinesin and dimeric helicases that processively translocate unidirectionally and reflects the unique challenges faced by motors that move nucleosomes

Techno-economic analysis of on-grid biomass renewable energy power station: A case study in Caribbean region of Colombia

In this article a techno-economic study of an Electric-Biomass on-grid power plant is presented, in order to compare the performance and the operating annual cost under some types of biogas produced from poultry, bovine and porcine manure, and solid urban organic waste, using the Homer® software to develop many solutions. Certainly, the best set up had the maximum combined renewable energy with a minimum electric consumption from the grid. The scheme was integrated by two 500kW biogas-powered electric generator on grid to supply an average energy of 1401.6kW, with an annual operating cost of $2.09 million when the energy supply is electric. Results presented a significant operational cost reduction when the biogas generator is operating on grid, finding an 8.61% of cost decrease using biogas generated from poultry, bovine and porcine manure, and a 10.53% of cost decrease using biogas from solid urban organic waste from centers and grocery market places at Caribbean Region of Colombia

Analysis and optimization for the process of glass tempering using autoclave

A mathematical analysis of the glass tempering process was carried out using an autoclave, varying the operating parameters of the system. It was found that the process time can be reduced by up to 3.23% by changing the resistance to 15Ω, but increasing the resistance more than this value would mean compromising the quality of the final product. Thus, it is advisable to make variations of the resistance between 10Ω and15Ω, which will allow the optimization of the process time and pressures without affecting the quality of the resul