79 research outputs found
Navigating the World of Cryptocurrencies: Technology, Economics, Regulations, and Future Trends
No full textThis book is a thorough exploration of the digital currency realm, designed for both newcomers and seasoned enthusiasts. The book offers an in-depth analysis of the multifaceted world of cryptocurrencies, covering technological, economic, regulatory, and social aspects. It provides a foundational understanding of cryptocurrencies, their origins, and how they differ from traditional currencies. The author illustrates the mechanics of blockchain technology, explaining how it ensures security, transparency, and decentralization in digital transactions. The book discusses the development of central bank digital currencies and their potential to transform the financial system. The author examines how governments are responding to the rise of private cryptocurrencies by developing their own digital currencies. Furthermore, the book explores the broader implications of digital currencies on society and the environment, including issues related to energy consumption, digital inclusion, and the potential for financial empowerment. This work is an essential resource for understanding the complex and dynamic world of cryptocurrencies, offering valuable insights for academics, professionals, and enthusiasts alike
AI and Chatbots in FinTech: Revolutionizing Digital Experiences and Predictive Analytics
No full textThis book is a comprehensive guide to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Financial Technology (FinTech) industry. It is comprised of ten chapters, each addressing a specific aspect of AI in FinTech. The reader is introduced to AI in FinTech, including its history and current state and the role of chatbots in FinTech and how they are used to improve customer service. Furthermore, the book explores the business framework of AI-based ChatGPT in FinTech, including the technology behind ChatGPT and how it can be applied to various financial sectors. The book examines the use of predictive analytics and machine learning in FinTech, highlighting how these tools are used to predict customer behavior and improve decision-making. The author delves into how ChatGPT is used to determine buying behavior and discusses the use of machine learning to reshape the digital experience in FinTech. Additionally, the book provides best practices for retaining customers in FinTech, including how to use AI to create personalized experiences that keep customers coming back, and explores the different applications of predictive models in FinTech, including how they are used to improve risk management and fraud detection. Lastly, the book discusses the use of ChatGPT for stock price prediction and the detection of financial fraud and examines the role of ChatGPT in the world of cryptocurrency, including how it can be used to make informed investment decisions. Overall, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the different ways AI is being used in FinTech and the potential it holds for improving customer experiences and driving innovation in the financial industry
Boosting of post-exposure human T-cell and B-cell recall responses in vivo by Burkholderia pseudomallei-related proteins.
No full textBurkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, an infectious disease with high incidence and mortality in South East Asia and northern Australia. To date there is no protective vaccine and antibiotic treatment is prolonged and not always effective. Most people living in endemic areas have been exposed to the bacteria and have developed some immunity, which may have helped to prevent disease. Here, we used a humanized mouse model (hu-PBL-SCID), reconstituted with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells from seropositive donors, to illustrate the potential of three known antigens (FliC, OmpA and N-PilO2) for boosting both T-cell and B-cell immune responses. All three antigens boosted the production of specific antibodies in vivo, and increased the number of antibody and interferon-γ-secreting cells, and induced antibody affinity maturation. Moreover, antigen-specific antibodies isolated from either seropositive individuals or boosted mice, were found to enhance phagocytosis and oxidative burst activities from human polymorphonuclear cells. Our study demonstrates that FliC, OmpA and N-PilO2 can stimulate human memory T and B cells and highlight the potential of the hu-PBL-SCID system for screening and evaluation of novel protein antigens for inclusion in future vaccine trials against melioidosis
Innovation in the Rural Areas and the Linkage with the Quintuple Helix Model
No full textAbstractIn this paper we analyze some specific conditions for local development. Our interest is oriented towards a multidimensional aspect of peripheral and rural areas. The rural areas considered as a productive system reflects a strong relationship between the agriculture and the other economic activities, In addition eco-systems must be protected and enhanced to develop innovation models that propose new roles and responsibilities for a new development vision. Following the implementation of the Smart Specialization Strategy and the Quintuple Helix Model this paper underlines the importance of connecting the innovation process with rural territories. We have considered some environmental and sectorial indicators for Sicily compared with the rest of Italy, to underline the role of peripheral areas for a new style of competitiveness based on the principles of sustainable development
Flexible vs Rigid Epitope Conformations for Diagnostic- and Vaccine-Oriented Applications: Novel Insights from the <i>Burkholderia pseudomallei</i> BPSL2765 Pal3 Epitope
No full textPeptides
seldom retain stable conformations if separated from their native
protein structure. In an immunological context, this potentially affects
the development of selective peptide-based bioprobes and, from a vaccine
perspective, poses inherent limits in the elicitation of cross-reactive
antibodies by candidate epitopes. Here, a 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole-mediated
stapling strategy was used to stabilize the native α-helical
fold of the Pal3 peptidic epitope from the protein antigen Pal<sub>Bp</sub> (BPSL2765) from <i>Burkholderia pseudomallei</i>, the etiological agent of melioidosis. Whereas Pal3 shows no propensity
to fold outside its native protein context, the engineered peptide
(Pal3H) forms a stable α-helix, as assessed by MD, NMR, and
CD structural analyses. Importantly, Pal3H shows an enhanced ability
to discriminate between melioidosis patient subclasses in immune sera
reactivity tests, demonstrating the potential of the stapled peptide
for diagnostic purposes. With regard to antibody elicitation and related
bactericidal activities, the linear peptide is shown to elicit a higher
response. On these bases, we critically discuss the implications of
epitope structure engineering for diagnostic- and vaccine-oriented
applications
From crystal structure to in silico epitope discovery in the Burkholderia pseudomallei flagellar hook-associated protein FlgK
No full textMelioidosis, caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a potentially fatal infection that is endemic in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia that is poorly controlled by antibiotics. Research efforts to identify antigenic components for a melioidosis vaccine have led to the identification of several proteins, including subunits forming the flagella that mediate bacterial motility, host colonization, and virulence. This study focuses on the B. pseudomallei flagellar hook-associated protein (FlgKBp), and provides the first insights into the 3D structure of FlgK proteins as targets for structure-based antigen engineering. The FlgKBp crystal structure (presented here at 1.8-Å resolution) reveals a multidomain fold, comprising two small β-domains protruding from a large elongated α-helical bundle core. The evident structural similarity to flagellin, the flagellar filament subunit protein, suggests that, depending on the bacterial species, flagellar hook-associated proteins are likely to show a conserved, elongated α-helical bundle scaffold coupled to a variable number of smaller domains. Furthermore, we present immune serum recognition data confirming, in agreement with previous findings, that recovered melioidosis patients produce elevated levels of antibodies against FlgKBp, in comparison with seronegative and seropositive healthy subjects. Moreover, we show that FlgKBp has cytotoxic effects on cultured murine macrophages, suggesting an important role in bacterial pathogenesis. Finally, computational epitope prediction methods applied to the FlgKBp crystal structure, coupled with in vitro mapping, allowed us to predict three antigenic regions that locate to discrete protein domains. Taken together, our results point to FlgKBp as a candidate for the design and production of epitope-containing subunits/domains as potential vaccine components
BPSL1626 : Reverse and Structural Vaccinology Reveal a Novel Candidate for Vaccine Design Against Burkholderia pseudomallei
No full textDue to significant advances in computational biology, protein prediction, together with antigen and epitope design, have rapidly moved from conventional methods, based on experimental approaches, to in silico-based bioinformatics methods. In this context, we report a reverse vaccinology study that identified a panel of 104 candidate antigens from the Gram-negative bacterial pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is responsible for the disease melioidosis. B. pseudomallei can cause fatal sepsis in endemic populations in the tropical regions of the world and treatment with antibiotics is mostly ineffective. With the aim of identifying potential vaccine candidates, we report the experimental validation of predicted antigen and type I fimbrial subunit, BPSL1626, which we show is able to recognize and bind human antibodies from the sera of Burkholderia infected patients and to stimulate T-lymphocytes in vitro. The prerequisite for a melioidosis vaccine, in fact, is that both antibody- and cell-mediated immune responses must be triggered. In order to reveal potential antigenic regions of the protein that may aid immunogen re-design, we also report the crystal structure of BPSL1626 at 1.9 angstrom resolution on which structure-based epitope predictions were based. Overall, our data suggest that BPSL1626 and three epitope regions here-identified can represent viable candidates as potential antigenic molecules
Sequence- and Structure-Based Immunoreactive Epitope Discovery for Burkholderia pseudomallei Flagellin
No full textBurkholderia pseudomallei is a Gram-negative bacterium responsible for melioidosis, a serious and often fatal infectious disease that is poorly controlled by existing treatments. Due to its inherent resistance to the major antibiotic classes and its facultative intracellular pathogenicity, an effective vaccine would be extremely desirable, along with appropriate prevention and therapeutic management. One of the main subunit vaccine candidates is flagellin of Burkholderia pseudomallei (FliCBp). Here, we present the high resolution crystal structure of FliCBp and report the synthesis and characterization of three peptides predicted to be both B and T cell FliCBp epitopes, by both structure-based in silico methods, and sequence-based epitope prediction tools. All three epitopes were shown to be immunoreactive against human IgG antibodies and to elicit cytokine production from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Furthermore, two of the peptides (F51-69 and F270-288) were found to be dominant immunoreactive epitopes, and their antibodies enhanced the bactericidal activities of purified human neutrophils. The epitopes derived from this study may represent potential melioidosis vaccine components
Cryptococcosis in Anti-Interferon-Gamma Autoantibody-Positive Patients: a Different Clinical Manifestation from HIV-Infected Patients
No full textUnital aligned shift equivalence and the graded classification conjecture for Leavitt path algebras
No full textWe prove that a unital shift equivalence induces a graded isomorphism of Leavitt path algebras when the shift equivalence satisfies an alignment condition. This yields another step towards confirming the Graded Classification Conjecture. Our proof uses the bridging bimodule developed by Abrams, the fourth-named author and Tomforde, as well as a general lifting result for graded rings that we establish here. This general result also allows us to provide simplified proofs of two important recent results: one independently proven by Arnone and Va{\v s} through other means that the graded -theory functor is full, and the other proven by Arnone and Cortiñas that there is no unital graded homomorphism between a Leavitt algebra and the path algebra of a Cuntz splice.v2. 14 pages, added Remark 5.
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