Regional development gaps in Argentina: A multidimensional approach to identify the location of policy priorities

Spatial inequalities within Latin American countries have historically attracted the interest ofacademics, policy-makers, and international agencies. This article aims to provide amultidimensional diagnosis of provincial development gaps in Argentina, in order to identifythe location of policy priorities. Therefore, we built a large database, which covers sevendevelopment dimensions, and applied multivariate analysis techniques to overcome someanalytical limitations of previous studies. Results show the stability of provincial developmentgaps between 2003 and 2013 and some heterogeneity within geographic regions. Instead,cluster analysis offers a better classification of Argentine provinces according to theirdevelopment gaps, which can help the government to prioritize the places wheredevelopment policies are strategic.Fil: Niembro, Andrés Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; ArgentinaFil: Sarmiento, Jesica Isabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; Argentin

Arbovirus serosurvey (Orthobunyavirus, Flavivirus, and Alphavirus) in a draft horse population from Santa Fe, Argentina (2013-2016)

In the present study, we serosurveyed the exposure of 222 draft horses to different arboviruses in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina. Plaque reduction neutralization tests confirmed exposure to Fort Sherman virus (FSV), Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), West Nile virus (WNV), and Río Negro virus (RNV). Apparently, Western and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses did not circulate in the population tested. The confirmation of five seroconversions for WNV, FSV, and SLEV and the association between prevalence and age are indicative of recent circulation. These results highlight the importance of considering draft horses in arboviral surveillance in urban and rural areas of developing countries.Fil: Albrieu Llinás, Guillermo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Virología Dr. J. M. Vanella; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Gallardo, Romina Belen. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Virología Dr. J. M. Vanella; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Konigheim, Brenda Salome. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Virología Dr. J. M. Vanella; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Quaglia, Agustín Ignacio Eugenio. University of Florida; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Mariño, Betina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Curiotti, Jimena. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Mazzini, R.. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Contigiani de Minio, Marta Silvia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Virología Dr. J. M. Vanella; Argentin

Towards a workflow for operational mapping of Aedes aegypti at urban scale based on remote sensing

Remote sensing (RS) applications for vector borne diseases are a field of high social impact increasingly relevant in the context of a higher frequency of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika outbreaks at global scale and especially in Latin America. The operative use of RS technologies is however still rare. Therefore, the objective of this work is to generate and analyze multitemporal Aedes aegypti's suitability maps and to share the open source tools used towards the building of an operative workflow. As a proof of concept, we implemented a process chain to obtain maps for Ae. aegypti activity within the 2017–2018 mosquito breeding season based on ovitraps records and RS data within the framework of ecological niche modeling. The workflow was carefully thought as to consider possible biases in training data, model calibration to attain the best hyper-parameter combination, model selection, variable selection and validation with independent data. The predictive maps showed high suitability for Ae. aegypti within the city, except in large vegetated areas and the commercial downtown consistently with previous studies and our own observations. Relevant variables included distance to built-up surfaces, distance to vegetated areas and correlation, a texture measure reflecting surface heterogeneity. Validation results suggested that the spatial distribution of ovitraps should be re-examined. All the steps in the proposed workflow were implemented using freely available and open source software, which warrants reproducibility and allows for re-use and modifications in terms of methods and RS or mosquito data available.Fil: Andreo, Verónica Carolina. Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. Instituto de Altos Estudios Espaciales "Mario Gulich"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cuervo Bustamante, Pablo Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Porcasi Gomez, Ximena. Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. Instituto de Altos Estudios Espaciales "Mario Gulich"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Laura. No especifíca;Fil: Guzman, Claudio. No especifíca;Fil: Scavuzzo, Carlos Matias. Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. Instituto de Altos Estudios Espaciales "Mario Gulich"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin