The Dominican Republic is one of the few countries of Latin America that at the moment lacks a Competition Law which would allow it to identify and sanction certain practices that restrict competition. Although the Dominican Constitution consecrates a market economy and prohibits monopolies, and although the Dominican government has made efforts to equip this country with a legal framework to promote and protect competition, the results have been little. The purpose of this article is to analyse the existing regulation of competition of the Dominican Republic, reviewing the social, economic and political context in order to explain the difficulties and the challenges for the establishment of a Competition Law, as well as the legal and economic reasons why these efforts must continue. Finally, some observations are made to the competition Law bill that is currently discussed in the Dominican Congress

After the recent enactment of General Defense Competition Law No. 42‐08, of the Dominican Republic and the culmination of a discussion process of more than a decade, it is of special relevance to perform an economic analysis of this new law, from a substantive, institutional and procedural approach. In this paper, the authors perform a comprehensive economic analysis of the new legislation, reviewing each individual section of the piece, and using as reference for the analysis the regulatory framework of the United States of America Antirust Law and the European Union Competition Law provisions.

Introduction: Histamine-mediated angioedema is a potentially life-threatening reaction following exposures that incite mast cell activation. In Florida, red tides are a frequent phenomenon caused by overgrowth of the harmful algae species Karenia brevis, which contain environmentally detrimental brevetoxins. Even in low concentrations, brevetoxins can cause disease in humans through inducing histamine release. We report the first documented case of angioedema associated with red tide exposure.

Case Report: A 52-year-old-male presented with severe angioedema encompassing both lips within a few hours after exposure to red tide algae. Other symptoms included voice changes and difficulty swallowing. Laboratory findings revealed complement factors that were within reference range, which ruled out a bradykinin-mediated pathology and supported the diagnosis of histaminergic angioedema. Symptoms resolved after 24 hours in the intensive care unit under management with epinephrine, diphenhydramine, methylprednisolone, and famotidine.

Conclusion: In coastal regions, red tide algae should be recognized as a rare cause of acute angioedema. Emergency management of histamine-mediated angioedema should focus on preventing respiratory compromise with frequent airway monitoring and treatment with steroids, antihistamines, and epinephrine.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the world's most successful human pathogens, infecting over 1.7 billion people worldwide. A key to its success is the ability to survive and replicate within macrophages through the use of a type VII secretion system, ESX-1. Upon phagocytosis, M. tuberculosis establishes a specialized phagosomal environment within macrophages, allowing for intracellular replication, persistence, and communication with the host cytoslic environment. Mycobacterial mutants defective in genes necessary for ESX-1 secretion are attenuated within infected macrophages and animal models of infection. While much work has been done to detail the molecular mechanism of ESX-1 secretion, little is still known about how the ESX-1 system modulates and affects the host-response during M. tuberculosis infection.

Through the use of gene expression arrays and microscopy analysis we demonstrate that the ESX-1 system of M. tuberculosis activates two key innate immune responses during infection of macrophages. One response is the transcription of type I interferons and induction of interferon stimulated genes (ISGs). The second response is ubiquitin mediated selective autophagy of the mycobacterial phagosome. Surprisingly, we demonstrate that both pathways are activated through a common mechanism via ESX-1 dependent release of mycobacterial DNA within the host cytosol. Activation of host DNA sensing machinery by mycobacterial DNA stimulates the STING-TBK1 pathway which simultaneous activates both the transcriptional induction of ISGs and recruitment of autophagic adaptors.

Sí Se Puede, Sí Se Pudo, Sí Se Va a Poder:The Narrative Experience of Newcomer Immigrant Adolescent Students in Obtaining a High School Diploma

School districts across the country are responsible for providing a fair and equitable education to all students who enter its doors. The current flows of immigration have created a challenge for educational agencies to meet the needs of newcomer immigrant adolescent students. As unique members of the education system, these students enter not knowing the language, academic structures, educational requirements, or social norms of their new academic home. As families continue to migrate, their children often struggle to find a successful path in the American education system. For newcomer immigrant adolescent students, the first step in achieving their American dream is to earn their high school diploma. This study explored the lived experiences of newcomer immigrant adolescent students as they pursued their high school diplomas. Moving forward, I utilize newcomer immigrant adolescent students to identify RAIELs (Recently Arrived Immigrant English Learners Students) to define the group of students I study. The literature review presented explored research on English Language Learner students (ELLs) with a focus on RAIEL students, current academic structures serving ELLs, and the importance of a student’s voice. Research indicated that to ensure academic success for newcomer immigrant adolescent students, it is imperative to have strong and purposeful academic structures that meet the social-emotional needs of these students. In addition to strong and purposeful structures, it is essential to clearly articulate the importance of a leadership role to ensure all agencies and decision-making entities are coordinated with an understanding of the academic, linguistic, social, and emotional needs of this special population. This population, often marginalized by so much more than just the inability to speak English; social justice and leadership implications are also discussed. This narrative inquiry study used qualitative methods to explore the nature of the questions based on the participants' views and experiences. This narrative inquiry study used qualitative methods to understand participants views based on the questions asked by the researcher. explore the nature of the questions based on the participants' views. Narrative inquiry describes a collaboration between participants and researchers during the collection of stories in which both gain valuable insight because of the process (Creswell, 2012). Allowing newcomer immigrant adolescent students to tell their stories was best suited through narrative inquiry. From my data analysis, three themes emerged from using the cultural proficiency essential element assessing culture and cultural proficiency essential element valuing diversity: historical context, family, and community programs. The importance of understandings students lived experiences, the importance of family inclusion, and the importance of community programs that connect students to resources. Student expression played a key role in this analysis, allowing them to describe their experiences through their own voice. The essential elements that this study focused on was assessing culture and valuing diversity. Through this analysis, I address the following research questions: How do newcomer immigrant adolescent students experience their high school journey? and, Specifically, what experiences contribute to and detract from their ability to persevere toward graduation? Empowering and providing support to foster positive experiences for newcomer adolescent students is a collective task of parents, educational leaders, and community. Newcomer adolescent immigrants continue to arrive at schools in hopes of achieving their American dream. Ensuring structures are in place to support their academic and social emotional well-being will likely benefit society. As these students acclimate themselves into the communities where they live, it is important they integrate in a manner that positively impacts society.

The visual cycle, crucial for human vision, involves the recycling of the visual chromophore within the retina. This cycle enables us to process light and generate sight, granting humans and animals the ability to perceive their surroundings. Unfortunately, certain genetic conditions lead to visual diseases and loss of vision. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of key enzymes in this cycle, particularly those involved in visual chromophore production, has allowed scientists and clinicians to develop therapies aimed at preserving vision and managing these diseases. Conversely, a delayed understanding of key enzymes has inhibited the production of therapies. This thesis explores both vertebrate and invertebrate systems, particularly focusing on visual chromophore-producing enzymes to strengthen our understanding of the visual process across species.In animals, the retinal light response begins with the photoisomerization of the opsin-coupled 11-cis-retinaldehyde chromophore. This visual chromophore is enzymatically produced by carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases. In vertebrates, two such enzymes—β-carotene oxygenase 1 and retinal pigment epithelium 65 (RPE65)—convert carotenoid substrates into 11-cis-retinaldehyde. In contrast, invertebrates, such as insects, rely on a single enzyme, Neither Inactivation Nor Afterpotential B (NinaB), to perform this conversion. Both RPE65 and NinaB couple trans–cis isomerization with hydrolysis and oxygenation, respectively, but the detailed mechanism of their isomerase activities is still not fully understood. In this thesis, we present the structure of NinaB, shedding light on its active site and membrane-binding properties. Through structure-guided mutagenesis, we identify key residues in the substrate-binding cleft that regulate NinaB's isomerization activity. Our findings demonstrate that isomerization is mediated by distinct active site regions in NinaB and RPE65, providing a deeper understanding of the evolutionary convergence in visual system functions. Another important enzyme in the visual cycle and retinoid processing in humans is lecithin:retinol acyl transferase (LRAT), which esterifies retinoids for storage in various tissues. While much is known about the enzymatic function of LRAT, there is still a lack of structural insight into this enzyme. Mutations in genes such as LRAT contribute to retinal diseases like retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Gaining a comprehensive structural understanding of LRAT could pave the way for therapeutic developments to treat such conditions. By exploring various biochemistry methods, we aim to enhance the current handling of the membrane protein LRAT for future studies. Enzymes are typically classified into one of seven basic reaction classes, each corresponding to a specific type of chemical reaction. However, some enzymes catalyze multiple reaction types within a single active site. An example of this are isomerohydrolases and isomerooxygenases, which catalyze isomerization-coupled reactions essential for the production of 11-cis-retinoids, as mentioned above. In these enzymes, isomerization is coupled with other reactions, such as hydrolysis and oxygenation. A small number of enzymes exhibit similar coupled isomerization activities, some of which have been studied in detail. In an Appendix chapter, we also review these unique enzymes, exploring the structural and mechanistic basis of their reaction coupling, and revealing key catalytic commonalities that deepen our understanding of the visual cycle.