Non-invasive dry mass determination and monitoring at the single cell level with digital holographic microscopy

Digital holography microscopy (DHM) is an optical microscopy technique which allows recording non-invasively the phase shift induced by living cells with nanometric sensitivity. Here, we exploit the phase signal as an indicator of dry mass (related to the protein concentration). This parameter allows monitoring the protein production rate and its evolution during the cell cycle. ©2008 COPYRIGHT SPIE

Disseny d’un banc d’assaig d’efectes diferits en elements de formigó armat amb barres FRP

L'objectiu d'aquest projecte és el disseny dels bancs d'assaig necessaris per poder realitzar tres assajos de fisuració i deformació diferida al laboratori de resistència de materials de la UdGsobre provetes i bigues de formigó armat amb FRP i estudiar- ne el comportament. El primer assaig és el de fluència del formigó, on es sotmet una proveta a una compressió mantinguda en el temps. El segon assaig és un de tracció directa, on s'aplica una càrrega a tracció mantinguda en el temps en una proveta de formigó armat amb una barra FRP de reforç intern. El tercer és un assaig a flexió, on es carregarà una biga a flexió durant un període llarg de temps

Estudi hidrodinàmic per elements finits de diferents pales simètriques per a la impulsió a rem en banc fix

Actualment l’esport del rem només s’entén com a activitat de lleure o esport de competició.Dins del rem, hi ha una gran varietat de disciplines esportives; totes coincideixen en l’impuls d’una embarcació mitjançant un sistema de palanques simple. Es diferencien en dos grans grups: el banc mòbil i el banc fix. El banc mòbil disposa d’un seient sobre rodes que permet aprofitar la força de les cames per la impulsió, en canvi, en el banc fix, no hi ha desplaçament del seient, el que implica el treball del tors i braços. Un dels punts que tenen en comú tot el banc fix, és el disseny del seu rem; a diferènciadel banc mòbil on la pala pot tenir el disseny que es vulgui. En banc fix la pala del rem ha de ser simètrica i alineada amb la canya del rem. L’objectiu d’aquest projecte és l’anàlisi hidrodinàmic de diferents models de pales simètriques per tal de determinar el model més eficient, des del punt de vista hidrodinàmic, per a la impulsió de l’embarcació de banc fix. Així, es simularan virtualment diferents models de pales simètriques disponibles en el mercat com models prototipus amb un programa de dinàmica de fluids computacional. L’anàlisi dels resultats determinarà el model més eficient. En la realització del projecte, l’estudi hidrodinàmic es realitzarà de manera virtual a partir de la utilització de programes comercials de dinàmica de fluids. Així com també programes de disseny 3D i programes de mallat que siguin compatibles amb el programa de simulació a utilitzar. En el disseny s’utilitzaran programes com Autocad i Rhinoceros, després, en funció del disseny, utilitzarem un programa d’elements finits anomenat ICEM ANSYS que mallarà la geometria emprada. Finalment, la simulació s’efectuarà amb el programa ANSYS CFX. L’estudi no preveu el càlcul de resistència mecànica dels models ni la seva construcció

Conceptualising 'precarious prosperity' - Empirical and Theoretical Elements for Debate

Empirical studies have recently pointed towards a socio-structural category largely overlooked in social inequality research: the dynamic positions of households adjacent to those of the poor and yet not representing those of the established, more prosperous positions in society. These results suggest that the population in this category fluctuates into and out of poverty more often than moving into and out of secure prosperity. This category - still lacking theoretical conceptualization - is characterized by both precariousness and a certain degree of prosperity; despite a restricted and uncertain living standard it holds a range of opportunities for action. We seek analytical elements to conceptualize 'precarious prosperity' for comparative empirical research by subjecting various concepts of social inequality research to critical scrutiny. We then operationally define 'precarious prosperity' to screen for this population in three countries. Based on qualitative interviews with households in precarious prosperity, we present first analyses of perceptions and household strategies that underline the relevance of the concept in different countries.

Regulatory elements involved in the post-transcriptional control of stage-specific gene expression in Trypanosoma cruzi: a review

Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease, exhibits unique mechanisms for gene expression such as constitutive polycistronic transcription of protein-coding genes, RNA editing and trans-splicing. In the absence of mechanism controlling transcription initiation, organized subsets of T. cruzi genes must be post-transcriptionally co-regulated in response to extracellular signals. The mechanisms that regulate stage-specific gene expression in this parasite have become much clearer through sequencing its whole genome as well as performing various proteomic and microarray analyses, which have demonstrated that at least half of the T. cruzi genes are differentially regulated during its life cycle. In this review, we attempt to highlight the recent advances in characterising cis and trans-acting elements in the T. cruzi genome that are involved in its post-transcriptional regulatory machinery.

High-mobility group box-1 protein determination in postmortem samples.

The aims of this study were to assess whether high-mobility group box-1 protein can be determined in biological fluids collected during autopsy and evaluate the diagnostic potential of high-mobility group box-1 protein in identifying sepsis-related deaths. High-mobility group box-1 protein was measured in serum collected during hospitalization as well as in undiluted and diluted postmortem serum and pericardial fluid collected during autopsy in a group of sepsis-related deaths and control cases with noninfectious causes of death. Inclusion criteria consisted of full biological sample availability and postmortem interval not exceeding 6h. The preliminary results indicate that high-mobility group box-1 protein levels markedly increase after death. Concentrations beyond the upper limit of the calibration curve were obtained in undiluted postmortem serum in septic and traumatic control cases. In pericardial fluid, concentrations beyond the upper limit of the calibration curve were found in all cases. These findings suggest that the diagnostic potential of high-mobility group box-1 protein in the postmortem setting is extremely limited due to molecule release into the bloodstream after death, rendering antemortem levels difficult or impossible to estimate even after sample dilution.

Modelització numèrica d’un sistema de descàrrega d’una columna de la catedral d Girona mitjançant el mètode dels elements finits (anàlisi no lineal)

Aquest projecte consisteix en aplicar el càlcul no lineal en la modelització volumètricanumèrica de l’estructura del sistema de descàrrega d’una columna del claustre de lacatedral de Girona mitjançant el mètode dels elements finits. A la Universitat de Gironas’ha fet diferents estudis del claustre de la catedral de Girona però sempre simulant uncomportament lineal de les característiques dels materials. El programa utilitzat és la versió docent del programa ANSYS disponible al Dept.d’EMCI i l’element emprat ha sigut el SOLID65. Aquest element permet introduircaracterístiques de no linealitat en els models i és adequat per a anàlisi no lineald’elements com la pedra de Girona

Early detection of leprosy by examination of household contacts, determination of serum anti-PGL-1 antibodies and consanguinity

A cross-sectional clinical trial in which the serum anti-phenolic glycolipid (anti-PGL-1) antibodies were analysed in household contacts (HHC) of patients with leprosy as an adjunct early leprosy diagnostic marker was conducted. The families of 83 patients underwent clinical examination and serum anti-PGL1 measurement using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Of 320 HHC, 98 were contacts of lepromatous leprosy (LL), 80 were contacts of borderline lepromatous (BL), 28 were contacts of borderline (BB) leprosy, 54 were contacts of borderline tuberculoid (BT), 40 were contacts of tuberculoid (TT) and 20 were contacts of indeterminate (I) leprosy. Consanguinity with the patients was determined for 232 (72.5%) HHC. Of those 232 contacts, 183 had linear consanguinity. Forty-nine HHC had collateral consanguinity. Fifty-eight contacts (18.1%) tested positive for anti-PGL1 antibodies. The number of seropositive contacts based on the clinical forms of the index case was 17 (29.3%) for LL, 15 (25.9%) for BL, one (1.7%) for BB, 14 (24.1%) for BT, three (5.2%) for TT and eight (13.7%) for I. At the one year follow-up, two (3.4%) of these seropositive contacts had developed BT leprosy. The results of the present study indicate that the serum anti-PGL-1 IgM antibody may be useful for evaluating antigen exposure and as a tool for an early leprosy diagnosis in HHC.

Enhanced diagnosis of pollen allergy using specific immunoglobulin E determination to detect major allergens and panallergens.

BACKGROUND Pollen is one of the main causes of allergic sensitization. It is not easy to make an etiological diagnosis of pollen-allergic patients because of the wide variety of sensitizing pollens, association with food allergy, and increasing incidence of polysensitization, which may result from the presence of allergens that are common to different species, as is the case of panallergens. OBJECTIVE To compare the results of skin prick tests (SPT) using whole pollen extract with specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E determination for several allergens (purified panallergens included) in the diagnosis of polysensitized pollen-allergic patients. METHODS The study sample comprised 179 pollen-sensitized patients who underwent SPT with pollen extract and allergen-specific IgE determination against different allergens. RESULTS The level of concordance between the traditional diagnostic test (SPT) and IgE determination was low, especially in patients sensitized to the panallergens profilin and polcalcin. In the case of SPT, the results demonstrated that patients who are sensitized to either of these panallergens present a significantly higher number of positive results than patients who are not. However, IgE determination revealed that while patients sensitized to polcalcins are sensitized to allergens from a higher number of pollens than the rest of the sample, this is not the case in patients sensitized to profilins. On the other hand, sensitization to profilin or lipid transfer proteins was clearly associated with food allergy. CONCLUSIONS Sensitization to panallergens could be a confounding factor in the diagnosis of polysensitized pollen-allergic patients as well as a marker for food allergy. However, more studies are required to further investigate the role of these molecules.

EWS-FLI1 Utilizes Divergent Chromatin Remodeling Mechanisms to Directly Activate or Repress Enhancer Elements in Ewing Sarcoma.

The aberrant transcription factor EWS-FLI1 drives Ewing sarcoma, but its molecular function is not completely understood. We find that EWS-FLI1 reprograms gene regulatory circuits in Ewing sarcoma by directly inducing or repressing enhancers. At GGAA repeat elements, which lack evolutionary conservation and regulatory potential in other cell types, EWS-FLI1 multimers induce chromatin opening and create de novo enhancers that physically interact with target promoters. Conversely, EWS-FLI1 inactivates conserved enhancers containing canonical ETS motifs by displacing wild-type ETS transcription factors. These divergent chromatin-remodeling patterns repress tumor suppressors and mesenchymal lineage regulators while activating oncogenes and potential therapeutic targets, such as the kinase VRK1. Our findings demonstrate how EWS-FLI1 establishes an oncogenic regulatory program governing both tumor survival and differentiation.

Modelling of non-linear viscoelastic tissues with bar elements

In this work we develop a viscoelastic bar element that can handle multiple rheo- logical laws with non-linear elastic and non-linear viscous material models. The bar element is built by joining in series an elastic and viscous bar, constraining the middle node position to the bar axis with a reduction method, and stati- cally condensing the internal degrees of freedom. We apply the methodology to the modelling of reversible softening with sti ness recovery both in 2D and 3D, a phenomenology also experimentally observed during stretching cycles on epithelial lung cell monolayers.