Evaluación espacial de procesos geodinámicos en el ambiente montañoso de la cuenca del río Cachapoal, Chile central. Impacto geodinámico sobre el potencial corredor de comercio Las Leñas, VI Región del Libertador Gral. Bernardo O'Higgins

En el contexto de la posible habilitación de una ruta entre Chile y Argentina a través del paso fronterizo Las Leñas en Chile central, alternativo al Cristo Redentor, se procedió a analizar las vulnerabilidades y los impactos provocados por la geodinámica en áreas montañosas. Se evaluaron procesos erosivos en los ambientes de baja, media y alta montaña en el valle del río Cachapoal. La alta energía de estos paisajes es causante de la generación y el aporte de sedimentos mediante erosión, la que es activada por las precipitaciones intensas y la acción periglacial. Las diferencias erosivas se entienden por la presencia de distintas formas del paisaje; así, los depósitos basales en alta montaña están asociados a movimientos del terreno en masa, y la erosión lineal se desarrolla sobre las terrazas fluviales ubicadas en fondo de valle, las que se encuentran estabilizadas por la mayor cobertura vegetal.

Evaluación espacial de procesos geodinámicos en el ambiente montañoso de la cuenca del río Cachapoal, Chile central. Impacto geodinámico sobre el potencial corredor de comercio Las Leñas, VI Región del Libertador Gral. Bernardo O'Higgins

En el contexto de la posible habilitación de una ruta entre Chile y Argentina a través del paso fronterizo Las Leñas en Chile central, alternativo al Cristo Redentor, se procedió a analizar las vulnerabilidades y los impactos provocados por la geodinámica en áreas montañosas. Se evaluaron procesos erosivos en los ambientes de baja, media y alta montaña en el valle del río Cachapoal. La alta energía de estos paisajes es causante de la generación y el aporte de sedimentos mediante erosión, la que es activada por las precipitaciones intensas y la acción periglacial. Las diferencias erosivas se entienden por la presencia de distintas formas del paisaje; así, los depósitos basales en alta montaña están asociados a movimientos del terreno en masa, y la erosión lineal se desarrolla sobre las terrazas fluviales ubicadas en fondo de valle, las que se encuentran estabilizadas por la mayor cobertura vegetal.

Evaluación espacial de procesos geodinámicos en el ambiente montañoso de la cuenca del río Cachapoal, Chile central. Impacto geodinámico sobre el potencial corredor de comercio Las Leñas, VI Región del Libertador Gral. Bernardo O'Higgins

En el contexto de la posible habilitación de una ruta entre Chile y Argentina a través del paso fronterizo Las Leñas en Chile central, alternativo al Cristo Redentor, se procedió a analizar las vulnerabilidades y los impactos provocados por la geodinámica en áreas montañosas. Se evaluaron procesos erosivos en los ambientes de baja, media y alta montaña en el valle del río Cachapoal. La alta energía de estos paisajes es causante de la generación y el aporte de sedimentos mediante erosión, la que es activada por las precipitaciones intensas y la acción periglacial. Las diferencias erosivas se entienden por la presencia de distintas formas del paisaje; así, los depósitos basales en alta montaña están asociados a movimientos del terreno en masa, y la erosión lineal se desarrolla sobre las terrazas fluviales ubicadas en fondo de valle, las que se encuentran estabilizadas por la mayor cobertura vegetal.

Effects of susceptibility to normative influence and type of testimonial on attitudes toward print advertising

In two experiments, we show how a consumer’s susceptibility to normative influence (SNI) offers useful insights into the effectiveness of two types of testimonials: a typical person endorsement (Study 1) and a celebrity endorsement (Study 2). Specifically, we suggest that two variables moderate testimonial effects—SNI and product attribute information. Results show that in forming their evaluations, high-SNI consumers place a greater emphasis on the testimonial than on the attribute information. In contrast, low-SNI consumers are more influenced by attribute information. A mediation analysis shows that advertising attitudes for high-SNI consumers are mediated by testimonial thoughts, whereas the attitudes for low-SNI consumers are mediated by their attribute thoughts. Theoretical and managerial implications are presented.

The impact of susceptibility to informational influence on the effectiveness of consumer testimonials

In this article we examine how a consumer's susceptibility to informative influence (SII) affects the effectiveness of consumer testimonials in print advertising. More specifically, we show that consumers that are high in SII and that seek consumption-relevant information from other people are more influenced by the strength of the testimonial information than the strength of the attribute information. Conversely, consumers low in SII place greater emphasis on the strength of the attribute information when forming their evaluations. Our results show that consumer psychological traits can have an important impact on the acceptance of testimonial advertising. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.

The susceptibility of digital signatures to fraud in the National Electronic Conveyancing System : an analysis

Public key cryptography, and with it,the ability to compute digital signatures, have made it possible for electronic commerce to flourish. It is thus unsurprising that the proposed Australian NECS will also utilise digital signatures in its system so as to provide a fully automated process from the creation of electronic land title instrument to the digital signing, and electronic lodgment of these instruments. This necessitates an analysis of the fraud risks raised by the usage of digital signatures because a compromise of the integrity of digital signatures will lead to a compromise of the Torrens system itself. This article will show that digital signatures may in fact offer greater security against fraud than handwritten signatures; but to achieve this, digital signatures require an infrastructure whereby each component is properly implemented and managed.

Deletion mapping suggests that the 1p22 melanoma susceptibility gene is a tumor suppressor localized to a 9-Mb interval

Loss of the short arm of chromosome 1 is frequently observed in many tumor types, including melanoma. We recently localized a third melanoma susceptibility locus to chromosome band 1p22. Critical recombinants in linked families localized the gene to a 15-Mb region between D1S430 and D1S2664. To map the locus more finely we have performed studies to assess allelic loss across the region in a panel of melanomas from 1p22-linked families, sporadic melanomas, and melanoma cell lines. Eighty percent of familial melanomas exhibited loss of heterozygosity (LOH) within the region, with a smallest region of overlapping deletions (SRO) of 9 Mb between D1S207 and D1S435. This high frequency of LOH makes it very likely that the susceptibility locus is a tumor suppressor. In sporadic tumors, four SROs were defined. SRO1 and SRO2 map within the critical recombinant and familial tumor region, indicating that one or the other is likely to harbor the susceptibility gene. However, SRO3 may also be significant because it overlaps with the markers with the highest 2-point LOD score (D1S2776), part of the linkage recombinant region, and the critical region defined in mesothelioma. The candidate genes PRKCL2 and GTF2B, within SRO2, and TGFBR3, CDC7, and EVI5, in a broad region encompassing SRO3, were screened in 1p22-linked melanoma kindreds, but no coding mutations were detected. Allelic loss in melanoma cell lines was significantly less frequent than in fresh tumors, indicating that this gene may not be involved late in progression, such as in overriding cellular senescence, necessary for the propagation of melanoma cells in culture.

Identification of a novel prostate cancer susceptibility variant in the KLK3 gene transcript

Abstract Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 30 prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. One of these (rs2735839) is located close to a plausible candidate susceptibility gene, KLK3, which encodes prostate-specific antigen (PSA). PSA is widely used as a biomarker for PrCa detection and disease monitoring. To refine the association between PrCa and variants in this region, we used genotyping data from a two-stage GWAS using samples from the UK and Australia, and the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) study. Genotypes were imputed for 197 and 312 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from HapMap2 and the 1000 Genome Project, respectively. The most significant association with PrCa was with a previously unidentified SNP, rs17632542 (combined P = 3.9 × 10−22). This association was confirmed by direct genotyping in three stages of the UK/Australian GWAS, involving 10,405 cases and 10,681 controls (combined P = 1.9 × 10−34). rs17632542 is also shown to be associated with PSA levels and it is a non-synonymous coding SNP (Ile179Thr) in KLK3. Using molecular dynamic simulation, we showed evidence that this variant has the potential to introduce alterations in the protein or affect RNA splicing. We propose that rs17632542 may directly influence PrCa risk.

Interleukin-13 promotes susceptibility to chlamydial infection of the respiratory and genital tracts

Chlamydiae are intracellular bacteria that commonly cause infections of the respiratory and genital tracts, which are major clinical problems. Infections are also linked to the aetiology of diseases such as asthma, emphysema and heart disease. The clinical management of infection is problematic and antibiotic resistance is emerging. Increased understanding of immune processes that are involved in both clearance and immunopathology of chlamydial infection is critical for the development of improved treatment strategies. Here, we show that IL-13 was produced in the lungs of mice rapidly after Chlamydia muridarum (Cmu) infection and promoted susceptibility to infection. Wild-type (WT) mice had increased disease severity, bacterial load and associated inflammation compared to IL-13 deficient (−/−) mice as early as 3 days post infection (p.i.). Intratracheal instillation of IL-13 enhanced bacterial load in IL-13−/− mice. There were no differences in early IFN-g and IL-10 expression between WT and IL-13−/− mice and depletion of CD4+ T cells did not affect infection in IL-13−/− mice. Collectively, these data demonstrate a lack of CD4+ T cell involvement and a novel role for IL-13 in innate responses to infection. We also showed that IL-13 deficiency increased macrophage uptake of Cmu in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the depletion of IL-13 during infection of lung epithelial cells in vitro decreased the percentage of infected cells and reduced bacterial growth. Our results suggest that enhanced IL-13 responses in the airways, such as that found in asthmatics, may promote susceptibility to chlamydial lung infection. Importantly the role of IL-13 in regulating infection was not limited to the lung as we showed that IL-13 also promoted susceptibility to Cmu genital tract infection. Collectively our findings demonstrate that innate IL-13 release promotes infection that results in enhanced inflammation and have broad implications for the treatment of chlamydial infections and IL-13-associated diseases.