A monovalent chimpanzee adenovirus Ebola vaccine boosted with MVA

BACKGROUND The West African outbreak of Ebola virus disease that peaked in 2014 has caused more than 11,000 deaths. The development of an effective Ebola vaccine is a priority for control of a future outbreak. METHODS In this phase 1 study, we administered a single dose of the chimpanzee adenovirus 3 (ChAd3) vaccine encoding the surface glycoprotein of Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) to 60 healthy adult volunteers in Oxford, United Kingdom. The vaccine was administered in three dose levels — 1×1010 viral particles, 2.5×1010 viral particles, and 5×1010 viral particles — with 20 participants in each group. We then assessed the effect of adding a booster dose of a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) strain, encoding the same Ebola virus glyco- protein, in 30 of the 60 participants and evaluated a reduced prime–boost interval in another 16 participants. We also compared antibody responses to inactivated whole Ebola virus virions and neutralizing antibody activity with those observed in phase 1 studies of a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus–based vaccine expressing a ZEBOV glycoprotein (rVSV-ZEBOV) to determine relative potency and assess durability. RESULTS No safety concerns were identified at any of the dose levels studied. Four weeks after immunization with the ChAd3 vaccine, ZEBOV-specific antibody responses were similar to those induced by rVSV-ZEBOV vaccination, with a geometric mean titer of 752 and 921, respectively. ZEBOV neutralization activity was also similar with the two vaccines (geo- metric mean titer, 14.9 and 22.2, respectively). Boosting with the MVA vector increased virus-specific antibodies by a factor of 12 (geometric mean titer, 9007) and increased glycoprotein-specific CD8+ T cells by a factor of 5. Significant increases in neutralizing antibodies were seen after boosting in all 30 participants (geometric mean titer, 139; P<0.001). Virus-specific antibody responses in participants primed with ChAd3 remained positive 6 months after vaccination (geometric mean titer, 758) but were significantly higher in those who had received the MVA booster (geometric mean titer, 1750; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The ChAd3 vaccine boosted with MVA elicited B-cell and T-cell immune responses to ZEBOV that were superior to those induced by the ChAd3 vaccine alone. (Funded by the Wellcome Trust and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02240875.)

Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers

The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 bc)1. There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art2 in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site3. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown4. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect’s biochemistry. Thus, the chemical ‘fingerprint’ of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal bc, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process.

The Visible and the Invisible Hilary Mantel

This talk addresses the scarcity of critical material on Hilary Mantel’s writing in the academy. It questions the suitability of the ‘origin’ paradigm within the criticism that is available, which closes off the excess of Mantel’s texts through attempts to ‘unite’ her corpus. The ambiguity of her writing, and its suspicions, suggest Jacques Derrida’s thought as a pertinent means to read the differences in her work differently. The proximity of Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophy with Derrida’s thought allows the significance of ellipsis to surface as a liberating catalyst for weaving the implications of Derrida’s thinking through the writing of Mantel. This synthesis constitutes an original combination because Mantel’s writing has not been closely studied, Derrida’s notion of ellipsis has been eclipsed by philosophy, and the combination of these two ‘invisibilities’ is seminal. The talk begins with an exploration of the mythologies I discovered and interrogated during the course of my thesis. It then considers the key points in Mantel’s writing career. In particular taking her from the difficulty and invisibility of 1979 when A Place of Greater Safety, her first novel, was rejected, to winning the Booker prize twice in succession in 2009 and 2012. It thereby traces the story of her shift from invisible to infamous, in terms of her treatment by the mainstream British media as well as her phenomenal post-millennium success.

Desarrollo de un modelo de calibración de pérdidas por riesgos inherentes a una Hipoteca Inversa. Métrica del riesgo de supervivencia.

391 p.

Is Merleau-Ponty's position in phenomenology of perception a new type of transcendental idealism?

It has recently been suggested that Merleau-Ponty’s position in Phenomenology of Perception is a unique form of transcendental idealism. The general claim is that in spite of his critique of “Kantianism,” Merleau-Ponty’s position comes out as a form of transcendental idealism that takes the perceptual processes of the lived body as the transcendental constituting condition for the possibility of experience. In this article I critically appraise this claim. I argue that if the term “idealist” is intended in a sufficiently similar sense to Kant’s usage of the term in naming his position as a “transcendental idealism” then it is a misrepresentation to subsume Merleau-Ponty’s position under that term. This is because Merleau-Ponty rejects the transcendental metaphysics of the reflecting subject that underpins transcendental idealism. In its place he advocates a methodological transcendentalism that, whilst being anti-realist, is not idealist. Thus to call his position “a new kind of transcendental idealism,” as Sebastian Gardner has, is to misunderstand the significance of his existentialist break with what he sees as the “intellectualism” of this position.

Economic evaluation of price discounts and skill-building strategies on purchase and consumption of healthy food and beverages: The SHELf randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Pricing strategies are a promising approach for promoting healthier dietary choices. However, robust evidence of the cost-effectiveness of pricing manipulations on dietary behaviour is limited. We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of a 20% price reduction on fruits and vegetables and a combined skills-based behaviour change and price reduction intervention. DESIGN AND METHODS: Cost-effectiveness analysis from a societal perspective was undertaken for the randomized controlled trial Supermarket Healthy Eating for Life (SHELf). Female shoppers in Melbourne, Australia were randomized to: (1) skill-building (n = 160); (2) price reductions (n = 161); (3) combined skill-building and price reduction (n = 161); or (4) control group (n = 161). The intervention was implemented for three months followed by a six month follow-up. Costs were measured in 2012 Australian dollars. Fruit and vegetable purchasing and consumption were measured in grams/week. RESULTS: At three months, compared to control participants, price reduction participants increased vegetable purchases by 233 g/week (95% CI 4 to 462, p = 0.046) and fruit purchases by 364 g/week (95% CI 95 to 633, p = 0.008). Participants in the combined group purchased 280 g/week more fruits (95% CI 27 to 533, p = 0.03) than participants in the control group. Increases were not maintained six-month post intervention. No effect was noticed in the skill-building group. Compared to the control group, the price reduction intervention cost an additional A$2.3 per increased serving of vegetables purchased per week or an additional A$3 per increased serving of fruit purchased per week. The combined intervention cost an additional A$12 per increased serving of fruit purchased per week compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: A 20% discount on fruits and vegetables was effective in promoting overall fruit and vegetable purchases during the period the discount was active and may be cost-effective. The price discount program gave better value for money than the combined price reduction and skill-building intervention. The SHELf trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials Registration ISRCTN39432901.

Merleau-Ponty's conception of dialectics in phenomenology of perception

Although the fact that Merleau-Ponty has a dialectical approach in Phenomenology of Perception has been discussed in recent Anglophone readings, there has not been an explicit clarification as to how his varying usages of the term hang together. Given his repeated references to Hegel and to dialectics, coupled with the fact that dialectics are not part of the Husserlian phenomenology or Heideggerean existentialism from which Merleau-Ponty draws so much, the question of just what he does with the idea of dialectics presents itself. In this paper I argue that, in Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty saw Hegel as providing a model for the conception of rationality and meaning that must underpin the existentialist response to the problems bequeathed him by Husserlian phenomenology: namely, the problems of embodiment, perception and the constitution of the world. In connection with this, I suggest an interpretation of Merleau-Ponty's “existential dialectics” that focuses on his three principal uses of the term: 1) a “dialectic of objective thought,” 2) a set of existential-dialectical categories intended to capture the ontological structure of the “body-subject” as “being-in-the-world,” and 3) a dialectic at the cultural level concerning others and history.

Actividad física e imagen corporal: conceptos y enfoques desde la equidad-inequidad en salud

Este trabajo rastrea el tratamiento dado a las categorías Actividad Física e Imagen Corporal en una selección de textos científicos del área de la salud; revisa la relación entre categorías y examina si en dichos textos son abordadas desde el enfoque de los Determinantes Sociales de la Salud o desde el enfoque de la Determinación Social de la Salud, usando la categoría de equidad como parámetro y explorando las implicaciones de ello. Su paradigma epistemológico es la construcción social del conocimiento y el eje metodológico el análisis de contenido. Los resultados muestran una construcción insipiente de las categorías, una relación diversa entre ellas y un privilegio del enfoque de los determinantes sociales de la salud en los textos académicos. Finalmente, el trabajo indaga sobre las implicaciones prácticas mediante un análisis de contenido de dos documentos de la OMS. Se concluye que en la práctica sí se reflejan las diferencias de enfoque.

El concepto de duelo en los familiares de los desaparecidos : una revisión de la literatura

Este trabajo de grado tiene por objetivo realizar una revisión de literatura que dé cuenta de las características conceptuales del duelo que viven los familiares de los desaparecidos, en un contexto de desaparición forzada de personas como ilícito internacional de los derechos humanos. Para ello se exploraron libros de consulta reconocidos en el tema, artículos de revistas indexadas de los últimos diez años, y jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de casos de desapariciones forzada. Se presenta la definición de la desaparición forzada como ilícito internacional en DDHH, una categorización de víctimas, el desarrollo del concepto de duelo general y para estos casos y su aplicabilidad a los casos de la Corte IDH. Se encontró que los hallazgos dados por la teoría son aplicados en los dictámenes de esta corte, con un discurso de reivindicación de derechos y reparación integral. Se recomiendan futuras investigaciones en propuestas terapéuticas.

Solastalgia y conductas pro-ambientales en un conflicto socioambiental por la construcción de una hidroeléctrica

Introducción: La construcción de megaproyectos hídricos implica una reconfiguración territorial donde se ven afectadas las fuentes de agua dulce, la biodiversidad terrestre y acuática, y los asentamientos humanos que colindan con dichas construcciones. Objetivo: estimar la asociación entre las conductas proambientales con la solastalgia entre las personas que se encuentran ejerciendo un proceso de resistencia social contra la Central Hidrosogamoso en el departamento de Santander, Colombia. Metodología: se utilizó un diseño de estudio transversal en el que se entrevistaron integrantes y no integrantes de grupos ambientalistas de las zonas de influencia del proyecto. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo de las variables sociodemográficas de los dos grupos de comparación presentando frecuencias absolutas y relativas y diferencias significativas por medio de la prueba ji cuadrado, exacta de Fisher y U de Mann Whitney. Se utilizó un modelo de regresión lineal múltiple en el que la variable dependiente fue el puntaje de solastalgia y las variables independientes fueron las escalas de las conductas proambientales: altruismo, austeridad, equidad, conducta ecológica, deliberación, indignación y aprecio por lo natural, además, se ajustó por algunas variables sociodemográficas de interés. Resultados: los grupos comparados presentaron diferencias importantes en cuanto a la zona de procedencia, condiciones económicas y organización social. El incremento de 5 puntos en la escala del sentimiento de indignación incrementó 0.98 la escala de solastalgia (IC95%: 0.19; 1.78). Las personas sin pareja estable tuvieron 3.02 puntos menos de solastalgia comparadas con personas casadas o en unión libre (IC95%: -4.96; -1.44), mientras que aquellas con alto nivel educativo obtuvieron 2.02 puntos menos que las personas con primaria y bachillerato (IC95%: -3.99; -0.06). Un modelo alterno mostró que no pertenecer a un grupo ambientalista disminuye en 2.29 puntos la solastalgia, comparado con pertenecer a un grupo (IC95%: -4.31; -0.28),. Conclusión: posiblemente las motivaciones por las cuales los actores involucrados se resisten a las transformaciones territoriales ocasionadas por la construcción de las represas son más un reflejo de la condición socioeconómica que de la preocupación de los actores por el daño del medio ambiente y además, esta resistencia es un fenómeno que se limita a aquellos que están afectados directamente en el área de influencia del proyecto