State of the Art in the Studies on Crotamine, a Cell Penetrating Peptide from South American Rattlesnake

Animal venoms comprise a naturally selected cocktail of bioactive peptides/proteins and other molecules, each of which playing a defined role thanks to the highly specific interactions with diverse molecular targets found in the prey. Research focused on isolation, structural, and functional characterizations of novel natural biologics (bioactive peptides/proteins from natural sources) has a long way to go through from the basic science to clinical applications. Herein, we overview the structural and functional characteristics of the myoneurotoxin crotamine, firstly isolated from the South American rattlesnake venom. Crotamine is the first venom peptide classified as a natural cell penetrating and antimicrobial peptide (CPP and AMP) with a more pronounced antifungal activity. in contrast to other known natural CPPs and AMPs, crotamine demonstrates a wide spectrum of biological activities with potential biotechnological and therapeutic values. More recent studies have demonstrated the selective in vitro anticancer activity of crotamine. in vivo, using a murine melanoma model, it was shown that crotamine delays tumor implantation, inhibits tumor cells proliferation, and also increases the survival of mice engrafted with subcutaneous melanoma. the structural and functional properties and also the possible biotechnological applications of minimized molecules derived from crotamine are also discussed.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Inst Butantan, Genet Lab, BR-05503900 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Farmacol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Ceara, Labomar Inst Ciencias Mar, Fortaleza, CE, BrazilUniv Estado Amazonas, Manaus, AM, BrazilCBA, Lab Bioquim & Biol Mol, Manaus, AM, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Farmacol, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Anti-Racism Working Group: Exploring the Results of an Interdisciplinary Partnership at a Large Public University

Institutions of higher education fail to address ongoing systemic racism within their classrooms, boardrooms, and commons when university personnel and students are not prepared to discuss racism and structural inequalities that exist within the campus community. To address this at a public, Predominantly White Institution (PWI), a group of students, staff, and faculty developed an action-oriented community to increase awareness and advocacy efforts against systemic and micro-level racism. Founded by faculty in the university’s BSW and MSW programs, the Anti-Racism Working Group (ARWG) is composed of faculty, staff, and students from multiple university departments. The goals of ARWG include education and awareness, and dialogue about race, ethnicity, bias, power, and privilege; cultivating interdisciplinary faculty and student relationships, and inspiring anti-racist actions. This paper discusses and disseminates research about ARWG’s inaugural year and early assessments of the program. Data includes responses from students who attended ARWG workshops and found them useful in their conceptualization and self-awareness around race, privilege, and taking anti-racist action. ARWG members benefited around three themes including skill development, relationship building, and the increased awareness and ability to engage in productive discussions around race, power, and privilege. We share these results with other universities and organizations to encourage the creation of similar programs and to facilitate learning from our experiences

Switching Multiple Sclerosis Patients with Breakthrough Disease to Second-Line Therapy

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with breakthrough disease on immunomodulatory drugs are frequently offered to switch to natalizumab or immunosuppressants. The effect of natalizumab monotherapy in patients with breakthrough disease is unknown. METHODS: This is an open-label retrospective cohort study of 993 patients seen at least four times at the University of California San Francisco MS Center, 95 had breakthrough disease on first-line therapy (60 patients switched to natalizumab, 22 to immunosuppressants and 13 declined the switch [non-switchers]). We used Poisson regression adjusted for potential confounders to compare the relapse rate within and across groups before and after the switch. RESULTS: In the within-group analyses, the relapse rate decreased by 70% (95% CI 50,82%; p<0.001) in switchers to natalizumab and by 77% (95% CI 59,87%; p<0.001) in switchers to immunosuppressants; relapse rate in non-switchers did not decrease (6%, p =  0.87). Relative to the reduction among non-switchers, the relapse rate was reduced by 68% among natalizumab switchers (95% CI 19,87%; p = 0.017) and by 76% among the immunosuppressant switchers (95% CI 36,91%; p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Switching to natalizumab or immunosuppressants in patients with breakthrough disease is effective in reducing clinical activity of relapsing MS. The magnitude of the effect and the risk-benefit ratio should be evaluated in randomized clinical trials and prospective cohort studies

Kinetics of AlN Precipitation in Microalloyed Steel

In this work, the thermodynamic information on AlN formation in steel and experimental data on AlN precipitation kinetics are reviewed. A revised expression for the Gibbs energy of AlN is presented with special emphasis on microalloyed steel. Using the software package MatCalc, computer simulations of AlN precipitation are performed and compared with independent experimental results from the literature. A new model for grain boundary precipitation is employed, which takes into account fast short-circuit diffusion along grain boundaries as well as slower bulk diffusion inside the grain, together with the classical treatment for randomly distributed precipitates with spherical diffusion fields. It is demonstrated that the precipitation of AlN can be modelled in a consistent way if precipitation at grain boundaries and dislocations is taken into account, dependent on chemical composition, grain size and annealing temperature. It is also demonstrated that, for consistent simulations, the influence of volumetric misfit stress must be taken into account for homogeneous precipitation of AlN in the bulk and heterogeneous precipitation at dislocations

Buku pintar terlengkap sistem-sistem pemerintahan sedunia : Ragam bentuk dan sistem pemerintahan negara-negara di dunia

Setiap negara, tentu mempunyai sistem pemerintaan tersendiri. Namun, tak jarang ada kemiripan antara satu dengan yang lain. Hal ini dapat dipengarui oleh sejarah terbentuknya suatu negara. Afrika Selatan misalnya. Negara itu menganut sistem pemerintahan parlementer kareana wilayahnya pernah dikuasai Inggris yang menganut sistem pemerintahan tersebut. Lalu, bagaimana dengan negara lainnya?Setiap negara, tentu mempunyai sistem pemerintahan tersendiri. Namun, tak jarang ada kemiripan antara satu dengan yang lain. Hal ini dapat dipengaruhi oleh sejarah terbentuknya suatu negara.Nah, buku di hadapan Anda ini menjelaskan mengenai pengertian dan macam-macam sistem pemerintahan, bentuk-bentuk pemerintahan, serta pelaksanaan pemerintahan dalam suatu negara. Setidaknya, lebih dari 20 negara yang dibahas secara tuntas di sini. Negara mana sajakah?300 hlm.; illus. 15,5 x 24 c