Science and technology, ICT and profitability in the manufacturing sector in Peru

Includes bibliography

Latin American plan of action for the application of science and technology to development

Includes bibliography

Causes and consequences of low rates of specialisation in science and technology in CDCC member countries

The importance of science and technology (S&T) in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is clearly articulated in Chapter XI, paragraphs 57, 58, 61 and 62 of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (MSI). At the regional level, the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) noted the challenge that CARICOM member States face in competing in this new international economic environment in which the impact of scientific and technological change has created a knowledge-based global economy. Given the importance of S&T to development of Caribbean SIDS, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean embarked on a study to determine the causes and consequences of low rates of specialisation in S&T with a view to making recommendations for development of strategies for addressing these challenges. Data on postgraduate (Master of Science, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy) enrolment and graduation in agriculture, engineering and the sciences from the three campuses of the University of the West Indies (UWI) as well as from the University of Technology in Jamaica and the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) were examined and analysed. Face-to-face interviews were also held with key personnel from these institutions and a questionnaire was also served to individuals in key institutions. Results of the study revealed that although the number of students enrolled in higher degree programmes has increased in absolute terms, they are decreasing in relative terms. However, enrolment in agriculture has indeed declined while enrolment rates in engineering, although increasing, were not significantly high. Market forces have proved to be a main reason for this trend while facilities for the conduct and supervision of cutting-edge research, the disconnect between science and industry and societal labelling of scientists as “misfits” are also contributing to the situation. This has resulted in a reduced desire by students at all levels of the school system and faculty to be involved in S&T; lack of innovation; a better staffed private, as compared with public, sector; and poor remuneration in science-based employment. There also appears to be a gender bias in enrolment with more males than females being enrolled in engineering while the opposite is apparent in agriculture and the sciences. Recommendations for remedying this situation range from increasing investment in S&T, creating linkages between science and industry as well as with the international community, raising awareness of the value of S&T at all levels of the education system to informing policy to stimulate the science – innovation interface so as to promote intellectual property rights.

Modeling architecture and reference models for the ERF5 project

The adoption of ERPs systems by small and middle-sized companies may not be possible due to their cost. At the same time, when adapting ERP to the company's particular needs, the user keeps depending on the system's sellers due to the lack of access and knowledge of the respective code. Free and open-source software may promote advantages to the enterprises, however, for its adoption it is necessary the development of techniques and tools in order to facilitate its deployment and code maintenance. This article emphasizes the importance of defining modeling architectures and reference models for the development and maintenance of open-source ERPs, in special the ERP5 project.

Kidney of Minke Whale (Baleanoptera acutorostrata): Architecture and structure

Sarmento C. A. P., Ferreira A. O., Rodrigues E. A. F., Lesnau G. G., Rici R. E. G., Abreu D. K., Biasi C. & Miglino M. A. 2012. [Kidney of Minke Whale (Baleanoptera acutorostrata): Architecture and structure.] Rins de Baleia Minke (Baleanoptera acutorostrata): arquitetura e estrutura. Pesquisa Veterinaria Brasileira 32(8): 807-811. Departamento de Cirurgia, Setor de Anatomia dos Animais Domesticos e Silvestres, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva 87, Sao Paulo, SP 05508-270, Brazil. E-mail: sarmento@usp.br Among marine mammals, whale is one of the most attention-arousing animals, especially concerning its urinary tract. This system follows the pattern of mammals with regard to its constitution, however, it differs in renal morphology and number of lobes, which, in turn, form complete reniculi, agglutinated in hundreds. This structure is supported by fibrous connective tissue, but highly capable of maintaining electrolyte balance. Six pairs of kidneys of Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), collected in 1982, in Cabedelo, Paraiba, Brazil, in the last fishing allowed, were dissected. These kidneys were preserved in 10% formaldehyde and they presented a very large histologic layer of collagen surrounding the medullary wall. The urinary collecting duct form papillary glasses, that reach a single collecting center which discharges in the ureter. It was found that the kidney of Minke whale has a lobe characteristic, with, on average, 700 reniculi; each reniculus has anatomical and functional characteristics of a unipyramidal kidney, with an inner layer (medulla), and an outer layer (cortex), and independent irrigation, with formation of individually arcuate arteries, as observed in unipyramidal terrestrial mammals. However, the set gathering all these reniculi constitutes, in the end, a multilobular and polipyramidal kidney, contrary to the morphology of most terrestrial mammals. It was not possible to distinguish the renicular cortex structures of the Minke whale in the level of light microscopy. Through scanning electron microscopy, it was possible to visualize a cortical layer located between two fibrous capsules. This joint, in turn, consists of connective tissue, which, along with a layer of collagen and elastic fibers, separates the cortex from the medulla; the kidney glomeruli were visualized, completely taken by the glomerular vessels and arranged into several layers. One notices that the glomerular cavity is almost a virtual space into which the glomerular filtrate is drained, and it does not present a globular shape. Vascularization is increased in the medullary region. The difference between the kidneys of terrestrial and marine mammals consists in the arrangement of morphological components, favoring the organ's physiology.

Study of materials and technology of ancient floor mosaics' substrate

Ancient pavements are composed of a variety of preparatory or foundation layers constituting the substrate, and of a layer of tesserae, pebbles or marble slabs forming the surface of the floor. In other cases, the surface consists of a mortar layer beaten and polished. The term mosaic is associated with the presence of tesserae or pebbles, while the more general term pavement is used in all the cases. As past and modern excavations of ancient pavements demonstrated, all pavements do not necessarily display the stratigraphy of the substrate described in the ancient literary sources. In fact, the number and thickness of the preparatory layers, as well as the nature and the properties of their constituent materials, are often varying in pavements which are placed either in different sites or in different buildings within a same site or even in a same building. For such a reason, an investigation that takes account of the whole structure of the pavement is important when studying the archaeological context of the site where it is placed, when designing materials to be used for its maintenance and restoration, when documenting it and when presenting it to public. Five case studies represented by archaeological sites containing floor mosaics and other kind of pavements, dated to the Hellenistic and the Roman period, have been investigated by means of in situ and laboratory analyses. The results indicated that the characteristics of the studied pavements, namely the number and the thickness of the preparatory layers, and the properties of the mortars constituting them, vary according to the ancient use of the room where the pavements are placed and to the type of surface upon which they were built. The study contributed to the understanding of the function and the technology of the pavements’ substrate and to the characterization of its constituent materials. Furthermore, the research underlined the importance of the investigation of the whole structure of the pavement, included the foundation surface, in the interpretation of the archaeological context where it is located. A series of practical applications of the results of the research, in the designing of repair mortars for pavements, in the documentation of ancient pavements in the conservation practice, and in the presentation to public in situ and in museums of ancient pavements, have been suggested.

Institutional Complexity and Technology Transfer: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

This Doctoral Thesis unfolds into a collection of three distinct papers that share an interest in institutional theory and technology transfer. Taking into account that organizations are increasingly exposed to a multiplicity of demands and pressures, we aim to analyze what renders this situation of institutional complexity more or less difficult to manage for organizations, and what makes organizations more or less successful in responding to it. The three studies offer a novel contribution both theoretically and empirically. In particular, the first paper “The dimensions of organizational fields for understanding institutional complexity: A theoretical framework” is a theoretical contribution that tries to better understand the relationship between institutional complexity and fields by providing a framework. The second article “Beyond institutional complexity: The case of different organizational successes in confronting multiple institutional logics” is an empirical study which aims to explore the strategies that allow organizations facing multiple logics to respond more successfully to them. The third work “ How external support may mitigate the barriers to university-industry collaboration” is oriented towards practitioners and presents a case study about technology transfer in Italy.

The role of the interplay between polymer architecture and bacterial surface properties on the microbial adhesion to polyoxazoline-based ultrathin films

Surface platforms were engineered from poly(L-lysine)-graft-poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PLL-g-PMOXA) copolymers to study the mechanisms involved in the non-specific adhesion of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. Copolymers with three different grafting densities (PMOXA chains/Lysine residue of 0.09, 0.33 and 0.56) were synthesized and assembled on niobia (Nb O ) surfaces. PLL-modified and bare niobia surfaces served as controls. To evaluate the impact of fimbriae expression on the bacterial adhesion, the surfaces were exposed to genetically engineered E. coli strains either lacking, or constitutively expressing type 1 fimbriae. The bacterial adhesion was strongly influenced by the presence of bacterial fimbriae. Non-fimbriated bacteria behaved like hard, charged particles whose adhesion was dependent on surface charge and ionic strength of the media. In contrast, bacteria expressing type 1 fimbriae adhered to the substrates independent of surface charge and ionic strength, and adhesion was mediated by non-specific van der Waals and hydrophobic interactions of the proteins at the fimbrial tip. Adsorbed polymer mass, average surface density of the PMOXA chains, and thickness of the copolymer films were quantified by optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS) and variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), whereas the lateral homogeneity was probed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Streaming current measurements provided information on the charge formation of the polymer-coated and the bare niobia surfaces. The adhesion of both bacterial strains could be efficiently inhibited by the copolymer film only with a grafting density of 0.33 characterized by the highest PMOXA chain surface density and a surface potential close to zero.

Destruction of lymphoid organ architecture and hepatitis caused by CD4+ T cells

Immune responses have the important function of host defense and protection against pathogens. However, the immune response also causes inflammation and host tissue injury, termed immunopathology. For example, hepatitis B and C virus infection in humans cause immunopathological sequel with destruction of liver cells by the host's own immune response. Similarly, after infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) in mice, the adaptive immune response causes liver cell damage, choriomeningitis and destruction of lymphoid organ architecture. The immunopathological sequel during LCMV infection has been attributed to cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells. However, we now show that during LCMV infection CD4(+) T cells selectively induced the destruction of splenic marginal zone and caused liver cell damage with elevated serum alanin-transferase (ALT) levels. The destruction of the splenic marginal zone by CD4(+) T cells included the reduction of marginal zone B cells, marginal zone macrophages and marginal zone metallophilic macrophages. Functionally, this resulted in an impaired production of neutralizing antibodies against LCMV. Furthermore, CD4(+) T cells reduced B cells with an IgM(high)IgD(low) phenotype (transitional stage 1 and 2, marginal zone B cells), whereas other B cell subtypes such as follicular type 1 and 2 and germinal center/memory B cells were not affected. Adoptive transfer of CD4(+) T cells lacking different important effector cytokines and cytolytic pathways such as IFNγ, TNFα, perforin and Fas-FasL interaction did reveal that these cytolytic pathways are redundant in the induction of immunopathological sequel in spleen. In conclusion, our results define an important role of CD4(+) T cells in the induction of immunopathology in liver and spleen. This includes the CD4(+) T cell mediated destruction of the splenic marginal zone with consecutively impaired protective neutralizing antibody responses.