Interactive distance professional updating program design

El diseño de programas de actualización profesional es un proceso complejo en el que se conjugan aspectos instruccionales, estructurales, organizativos y tecnológicos muy particulares. La estructura del programa, los modos de interacción facilitador-participante, la forma y estructura de los contenidos y los tipos de actividades instruccionales son algunos de los aspectos que deben ser diseñados cuidadosamente a fin de lograr una alta efectividad del programa. En este artículo, se discuten e ilustran estos aspectos a través del estudio de un caso real: el Programa de Actualización Profesional en Ingeniería de Software de la Universidad de Los Andes. Este programa está compuesto de un conjunto de cursos que cubren diferentes áreas de conocimiento de la Ingeniería de Software. Estos cursos son desarrollados y ofrecidos bajo la modalidad de enseñanza-aprendizaje a distancia. Cada uno de ellos es implementado como un sitio web de tipo instruccional, para lo cual se emplea un sistema de gestión de cursos en línea de código abierto denominado MOODLE. La experiencia descrita en este artículo puede ser de mucho interés para aquellas instituciones universitarias que se inician en este tipo de programas de extensió[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@ula.vetrimestralThe design of professional updating programs is a complex process in which several very particular instructional, structural, organizational and technological aspects are mixed. The program structure, the facilitator-participant interaction modes, content form and structure and the type of instructional activities are some of the aspects that have to be carefully designed in order to achieve a high effectiveness in the program. In this article, these aspects are discussed and illustrated through the study of a real case: The University of Los Andes Software Engineering Professional Updating Program. This program is made of a group of courses that cover different areas of Software Engineering knowledge. These courses are offered as distance teaching-learning. Each one of them is implemented as an instructional website, for which and open code line course management system is used called MOODLE. The experience described in this article can be of much interest for those university institutions starting with this type of extension programs

La industria nacional del software en Venezuela.

La industria nacional del software en Venezuela. (Montilva G., Jonás; Rivero A., Dulce M.; Barrios Albornoz, Judith del Rosario; Besembel C., Isabel M.; Sandia, Beatriz E. y Martínez, Ana) Abstract El presente trabajo muestra un panorama del estado actual de la industria del software en Venezuela (INS), destacando los aspectos de formación y capacitación del personal, como dos de los factores claves para el alcance de los estándares de calidad del software, estándares que son requeridos para competir en los mercados nacional e internacional. En este artículo, se presentan los resultados de un sondeo realizado con la finalidad de apreciar la formación académica que el personal de la INS tiene actualmente, para luego definir las necesidades de capacitación y/o actualización profesional que dicha industria requiere satisfacer en el corto y mediano plazo. I Encuentro venezolano sobre tecnologías de la información e ingeniería del software (EVETIS`07). Isla de Margarita, Venezuela. Mayo de [email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@gmail.comNivel monográfic

Evidence for the Effect of Vaccination on Host-Pathogen Interactions in a Murine Model of Pulmonary Tuberculosis by .

The global control of Tuberculosis remains elusive, and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) -the most widely used vaccine in history-has proven insufficient for reversing this epidemic. Several authors have suggested that the mass presence of vaccinated hosts might have affected the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) population structure, and this could in turn be reflected in a prevalence of strains with higher ability to circumvent BCG-induced immunity, such as the recent Beijing genotype. The effect of vaccination on vaccine-escape variants has been well-documented in several bacterial pathogens; however the effect of the interaction between MTB strains and vaccinated hosts has never been previously described. In this study we show for the first time the interaction between MTB Beijing-genotype strains and BCG-vaccinated hosts. Using a well-controlled murine model of progressive pulmonary tuberculosis, we vaccinated BALB/c mice with two different sub-strains of BCG (BCG-Phipps and BCG-Vietnam). Following vaccination, the mice were infected with either one of three selected MTB strains. Strains were selected based on lineage, and included two Beijing-family clinical isolates (strains 46 and 48) and a well-characterized laboratory strain (H37Rv). Two months after infection, mice were euthanized and the bacteria extracted from their lungs. We characterized the genomic composite of the bacteria before and after exposure to vaccinated hosts, and also characterized the local response to the bacteria by sequencing the lung transcriptome in animals during the infection. Results from this study show that the interaction within the lungs of the vaccinated hosts results in the selection of higher-virulence bacteria, specifically for the Beijing genotype strains 46 and 48. After exposure to the BCG-induced immune response, strains 46 and 48 acquire genomic mutations associated with several virulence factors. As a result, the bacteria collected from these vaccinated hosts have an increased ability for immune evasion, as shown in both the host transcriptome and the histopathology studies, and replicates far more efficiently compared to bacteria collected from unvaccinated hosts or to the original-stock strain. Further research is warranted to ascertain the pathways associated with the genomic alterations. However, our results highlight novel host-pathogen interactions induced by exposure of MTB to BCG vaccinated hosts