Going After Lipotoxins to Reduce Inflammation in the Airway of Cystic Fibrosis Patients

poster abstractPeople with cystic fibrosis (CF) typically have chronic lung infections, predominantly with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Lung inflammation, in connection with bacterial colonization, is one of the major factors contributing to the morbidity and mortality of CF patients. Recent studies suggest that a common mutation among CF P. aeruginosa isolates (in the gene mucA) results in high-level expression of lipoproteins which stimulates a pro-inflammatory reaction in cultured CF-derived airways cell (CFBE). Our previous work in this area has revealed that a strain containing a mutation in the putative lipotoxin gene PA4326 is dramatically less toxic to CFBE. We hypothesize that lipotoxins lead to airway structure damage by causing epithelial cell death and tissue destruction, possibly as a downstream effect of immune stimulation. Our results demonstrate that deletion of the PA4326 gene does not affect growth, motility, adhesion, or biofilm development. However, this mutant strain produces 59.1% less pyocyanin compared to the non-mutant strain. Pyocyanin is a bacterial toxin that triggers airway inflammation by stimulating the immune system to produce the signaling molecule IL-8. Thus, our data suggest a possible clue about the decreased toxicity of the PA4325 mutant. The aim of future work is to confirm the role of this lipotoxin gene in the inflammatory process and to elucidate the underlying mechanism of its function. Our long term goal is to characterize other lipotoxins and to develop a novel inhibitor of lspA (a bacterial gene required for lipotoxin production) as an anti-inflammatory strategy to slow down the airway damage and hence improve the longevity and quality of life for people with CF

The New Food Safety Regime in the US: How Will it Affect Canadian Competitiveness

The FSMA appears to be a major undertaking with a very large responsibility placed on the FDA. It would seem that bottlenecks to exporting are bound to appear which will be very frustrating for Canadian firms. It is important for Canadian firms and Canadian policy makers to work hard to ensure that temporary bottlenecks do not become permanent inhibitors of trade. The Canadian government needs to understand industry concerns and use any mechanisms – including those in the NAFTA – to initiate consultations with the US. Given the likely lags in implementation, North American food markets are likely to exhibit considerable disequilibrium over the near term. Trade flows will be affected. As the implementation programs of the FSMA become more transparent, more sophisticated analysis into its effect on Canadian competitiveness in the US market can be undertaken.food, safety, competitiveness, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The New Food Safety Regime in the US: How Will it Affect Canadian Competitiveness

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) which was signed into law in January, 2011 represents a major initiative to improve food safety in the US. The legislation mandates the US Food and Drug Administration with developing a regulatory system to implement the Act. As yet, the full effect of the Act cannot be evaluated because the regulatory requirements are yet to be developed. There is little doubt, however, that those firms, both domestic and foreign, that wish to supply US consumers with food will face a considerable increase in regulatory costs. This paper outlines the major requirements of the FSMA and suggests how the regulatory burden may fall on foreign versus US domestic suppliers. Areas where Canadian firms may be disadvantaged relative to US firms are outlined. Opportunities that may arise from the FSMA for Canadian agri-food firms are discussed, as are the areas where the FSMA may not conform with the international trade commitments of the United States.competitiveness, food safety, regulatory burden, SPS, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

Syzygium Cumini Leaf Extract Showed Vibriocidal Activity on Selected Diarrhea Causing Bacteria

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of ethanolic leaf extract (ELE) of Syzygium cumini against Vibrio cholerae particularly two serogroups Ogawa and Inaba. The phenolic content of the ELE was found high which is comparable to ascorbic acid. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was then performed to check the cytotoxic effects of ELE. The lower LC50 value of ELE obtained indicated its less cytotoxic properties. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was then evaluated by the disc diffusion method against multi-drug resistant Vibrio serogroups Ogawa and Inaba. The extract effectively inhibited the growth of both serogroups. Altogether, the results demonstrated that the ELE of S. cumini has a significant vibriocidal activity that might be useful as a drug for the treatment of cholera

The Roman Dogma of Animal Breeding: Bark aeological Findings Reveal the Effects of Selective Pressures on Roman Dogs

Animals as a whole are often overlooked when studying ancient Rome, but there is one animal that even Roman authors of farming guides often dismissed as being insignificant; this animal being the dog. The Romans kept dogs for many purposes; such as for hunting game, protecting a flock of sheep, guarding the house, and providing companionship. The authors of Roman farming guides often provided guidelines as to which characteristics were ideal for each type of working dog, but are these ideal characteristics reflected in the reality of Roman dogs? I set out to conclude to what extent the Romans influenced observable dog traits by the process of selective breeding. The ideal dogs described in the guides written by Columella, Varro, and the Greek author Xenophon have been analyzed and compared to archaeological findings depicting real Roman dogs in the forms of vases, mosaics, and actual dog bones. It was found that the Romans placed selective pressures most strongly on their hunting and herding dogs, followed closely by their guard dogs, and then minimally on their lap dogs. The nearly uniform traits shared by herding and hunting dogs is most likely due to the high stakes positions that these dogs held, as their owner depended on them for money and food. The guard dog also held a high stakes position in protecting the household, so it is not surprising that it experienced selection in a similar way. The lap dog did not contribute to its household as working dogs did, and selection for a lap dog’s traits was likely done on an individual basis, based on the owner’s personal preferences. This leads to the highest degree of diversity being observed in Roman lap dogs

Tax Compliance in Immigrant Communities: Bangladeshis in the UK

This thesis employs Bourdieu’s theory of practice to explore small immigrant business owners’ adaptation to the host country’s income tax system. In doing this, the thesis applies a sociological perspective in the theorizing and study of their tax compliance behaviour. Drawing on a survey (N=101) and in-depth interviews (N=27) with Bangladeshi family business owners and their tax advisers in the UK, this thesis demonstrates that immigrant business owners’ engagement with the host country’s tax system is grounded in the sociocultural status they inherit from their country of origin, even though their social class positions in the new society unconsciously condition and impact on how they practise tax compliance. Findings suggest that the power relations inherent in the tax professional-taxpayer relationship act as a critical factor in the reproduction and transformation of immigrant business owners’ moral disposition towards compliance with tax laws. The thesis argues that the ways small Bangladeshi family business owners think, feel and act in their approach to tax compliance is likely to differ not only from those of native business communities but also from those of other immigrant communities in the UK

The Roman Dogma of Animal Breeding: “Bark”aeological Findings Reveal the Effects of Selective Pressures on Roman Dogs

Animals as a whole are often overlooked when studying ancient Rome, but there is one animal that even Roman authors of farming guides often dismissed as being insignificant; this animal being the dog. The Romans kept dogs for many purposes; such as for hunting game, protecting a flock of sheep, guarding the house, and providing companionship. The authors of Roman farming guides often provided guidelines as to which characteristics were ideal for each type of working dog, but are these ideal characteristics reflected in the reality of Roman dogs? I set out to conclude to what extent the Romans influenced observable dog traits by the process of selective breeding. The ideal dogs described in the guides written by Columella, Varro, and the Greek author Xenophon have been analyzed and compared to archaeological findings depicting real Roman dogs in the forms of vases, mosaics, and actual dog bones. It was found that the Romans placed selective pressures most strongly on their hunting and herding dogs, followed closely by their guard dogs, and then minimally on their lap dogs. The nearly uniform traits shared by herding and hunting dogs are most likely due to the high stakes positions that these dogs held, as their owner depended on them for money and food. The guard dog also held a high stakes position in protecting the household, so it is not surprising that it experienced selection in a similar way. The lap dog did not contribute to its household as working dogs did, and selection for a lap dog’s traits was likely done on an individual basis, based on the owner’s personal preferences. This leads to the highest degree of diversity being observed in Roman lap dogs

The Foreign-Income and Real-Exchange-Rate Elasticities of Bangladesh Exports

Bangladesh began implementing trade-reform policies in the mid 1980s, leading to a gradual change in its anti-export-policy. Since then the share of exports in her GDP has been rising steadily with the economy growing at about 5 percent per annum. This growth is associated with structural change in the country’s export composition favouring non-traditional exports, namely garments and frozen foods. This paper specifies and estimates an aggregate export-demand function; deploys Pesaran’s bounds-testing approach to estimate export-elasticities of foreign income and the exchange rate; and tests for the stability of the estimated function. The empirical results, based on annual data for the period 1973-2010, suggest a long-run relationship between real exports and export-weighted foreign real income. Similarly, real exports and the real effective exchange rate of the taka are found to be related. Finally, the results suggest that the dynamic behaviour of exports possesses an error-correction representation. The CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests suggest no significant instability in the export-demand function. However, the recursive and rolling-regression coefficients indicate that the export-demand function has undergone some structural change since the early 1990s. This is reflected in the decreasing sensitivity of real exports vis á vis the exchange rate. JEL classification: C32, F11 Keywords: Exports’ Elasticities, Pesaran’s Bounds Test, Export-demand Stability, Banglades