“Corazón, canta y no llores, no llores que los dolores hay que espantarlos bailando”

Ellas danzan con los desaparecidosDanzan con los muertosDanzan con amores invisiblesCon silenciosa angustiaDanzan con sus padresCon sus hijosCon sus espososEllas danzan solas Inicio este ensayo recordando una interesante reflexión de Nancy Nicholls, cuando advierte que en ciertos campos el arte puede dar cuenta de fenómenos que difícilmente son reproducibles por las ciencias sociales. Así ocurre, por ejemplo, con experiencias como la detención, la desaparición forzada, la tortura y la muerte...

DNA Vaccines: Developing New Strategies against Cancer

Due to their rapid and widespread development, DNA vaccines have entered into a variety of human clinical trials for vaccines against various diseases including cancer. Evidence that DNA vaccines are well tolerated and have an excellent safety profile proved to be of advantage as many clinical trials combines the first phase with the second, saving both time and money. It is clear from the results obtained in clinical trials that such DNA vaccines require much improvement in antigen expression and delivery methods to make them sufficiently effective in the clinic. Similarly, it is clear that additional strategies are required to activate effective immunity against poorly immunogenic tumor antigens. Engineering vaccine design for manipulating antigen presentation and processing pathways is one of the most important aspects that can be easily handled in the DNA vaccine technology. Several approaches have been investigated including DNA vaccine engineering, co-delivery of immunomodulatory molecules, safe routes of administration, prime-boost regimen and strategies to break the immunosuppressive networks mechanisms adopted by malignant cells to prevent immune cell function. Combined or single strategies to enhance the efficacy and immunogenicity of DNA vaccines are applied in completed and ongoing clinical trials, where the safety and tolerability of the DNA platform are substantiated. In this review on DNA vaccines, salient aspects on this topic going from basic research to the clinic are evaluated. Some representative DNA cancer vaccine studies are also discussed

La música del Estallido social chileno: el despertar visto desde la ventana del acontecimiento

This work is a research exercise about the history of present time in which we show how it is possible to make intelligible facts that are in temporal proximity to the observer. To do so, we take as a case study the Chilean mobilisations of 2019 in Chile and, in particular, a corpus of songs broadcasted on the YouTube channel of Lavitrola.cl under the hashtag #únansealcanto. From an analysis of what musicians’ “sing”, “say” and “do”, we explored how songs could inform and signify an event, as well as how this event could be itself a window to capture the sense of the present, to illuminate its structural dynamics, and to comprehend the aspirations of its main actors pursue. Keywords: event; Chilean social outburst; history of present time; music; digital cultures.Este trabajo es un ejercicio investigativo sobre la historia del tiempo presente en el que mostramos cómo es posible volver inteligibles hechos en proximidad temporal al observador. Para ello, tomamos como caso de estudio las movilizaciones ocurridas durante el 2019 en Chile y, en particular, un corpus de canciones sobre el estallido difundidas en el canal de Youtube de Lavitrola.cl bajo el hashtag #únansealcanto. A partir de un análisis de lo que “cantan”,  lo que “dicen” y lo que “hacen” los músicos exploramos cómo las canciones dan información y significación sobre el acontecimiento, y cómo ese acontecimiento puede ser en sí mismo una ventana para capturar el sentido del presente, para iluminar las dinámicas estructurales que le subyacen y para comprender las aspiraciones de sus principales actores. Palabras clave: Acontecimiento, estallido social chileno, historia del tiempo presente, música, culturas digitales.Este trabajo es un ejercicio investigativo sobre la historia del tiempo presente en el que mostramos cómo es posible volver inteligibles hechos en proximidad temporal al observador. Para ello, tomamos como caso de estudio las movilizaciones ocurridas durante el 2019 en Chile y, en particular, un corpus de canciones sobre el estallido difundidas en el canal de YouTube de Lavitrola.cl bajo el hashtag #únansealcanto. A partir de un análisis de lo que “cantan”, lo que “dicen” y lo que “hacen” los músicos exploramos cómo las canciones dan información y significación sobre el acontecimiento, y cómo ese acontecimiento puede ser en sí mismo una ventana para capturar el sentido del presente, para iluminar las dinámicas estructurales que le subyacen y para comprender las aspiraciones de sus principales actores.   Palabras clave: acontecimiento; estallido social chileno; historia del tiempo presente; música, culturas digitales

The neural correlates of verb and noun processing A PET study

The hypothesis that categorical information, distinguishing among word classes, such as nouns, verbs, etc., is an organizational principle of lexical knowledge in the brain, is supported by the observation of aphasic subjects who are selectively impaired in the processing of nouns and verbs. The study lesion location in these patients has suggested that the left temporal lobe plays a crucial role in processing nouns, while the left frontal lobe is necessary for verbs. To delineate the brain areas involved in the processing of different word classes, we used PET to measure regional cerebral activity during tasks requiring reading of concrete and abstract nouns and verbs for lexical decision. These tasks activated an extensive network of brain areas, mostly in the left frontal and temporal cortex, which represents the neural correlate of single word processing. Some left hemispheric areas, including the dorsolateral frontal and lateral temporal cortex, were activated only by verbs, while there were no brain areas more active in response to nouns. Furthermore, the comparison of abstract and concrete words indicated that abstract word processing was associated with selective activations (right temporal pole and amygdala, bilateral inferior frontal cortex), while no brain areas were more active in response to concrete words. There were no significant interaction effects between word class and concreteness. Taken together, these findings are compatible with the view that lexical-semantic processing of words is mediated by an extensive, predominantly left hemispheric network of brain structures. Additional brain activations appear to be related to specific semantic content, or, in the case of verbs, may be associated with the automatic access of syntactic information

Regional reductions of gray matter volume in familial dyslexia

An in vivo anatomic study of gray matter volume was performed in a group of familial dyslexic individuals, using an optimized method of voxel-based morphometry. Focal abnormalities in gray matter volume were observed bilaterally in the planum temporale, inferior temporal cortex, and cerebellar nuclei, suggesting that the underlying anatomic abnormalities may be responsible for defective written language acquisition in these subjects

Genetic Immunization with CDR3-Based Fusion Vaccine Confers Protection and Long-Term Tumor-Free Survival in a Mouse Model of Lymphoma

Therapeutic vaccination against idiotype is a promising strategy for immunotherapy of B-cell malignancies. We have previously shown that CDR3-based DNA immunization can induce immune response against lymphoma and explored this strategy to provide protection in a murine B-cell lymphoma model. Here we performed vaccination employing as immunogen a naked DNA fusion product. The DNA vaccine was generated following fusion of a sequence derived from tetanus toxin fragment C to the VHCDR3109−116 epitope. Induction of tumor-specific immunity as well as ability to inhibit growth of the aggressive 38C13 lymphoma and to prolong survival of vaccinated mice has been tested. We determined that DNA fusion vaccine induced immune response, elicited a strong protective antitumor immunity, and ensured almost complete long-term tumor-free survival of vaccinated mice. Our results show that CDR3-based DNA fusion vaccines hold promise for vaccination against lymphoma

Twenty years of surveillance of Invasive Meningococcal Diseases in Puglia, Italy

The study aims to investigate the change in the burden of disease and the microbiological characteristics of Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) in Puglia in comparison with overall incidence from 1994 through 2014

Identification, molecular and phylogenetic analysis of poxvirus in skin lesions of southern right whale

Poxvirus skin disease has been reported in several species of cetaceans, principally in odontocetes, and a single report in mysticetes. Southern right whales Eubalaena australis in Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, show a variety of skin lesions of unknown etiology, and the number of these lesions has increased in recent years. Samples from dead whales were taken in order to establish the etiology of these lesions. One calf and one adult presented ring-type lesions, characterized by a circumscribed and slightly raised area of skin. Lesions were histologically characterized by the presence of microvesicles and vacuolated cells in the stratum spinosum, along with hyperplasia of the stratum corneum and eosinophilic inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells. Transmission electron microscopy showed aggregations of virions with typical poxvirus morphology. PCR of cetacean poxvirus (CPV) DNA polymerase, DNA topoisomerase I and parapoxvirus DNA polymerase gene fragments was done, and confirmed the presence of poxvirus in one sample. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the detected poxvirus belongs to the CPV-2 group. This is the first confirmed report of poxvirus in southern right whales in Argentina.Fil: Fiorito, Carla Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Palacios, Carlos Adolfo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica. Laboratorio de Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología ; ArgentinaFil: Golemba, Marcelo Darío. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría ; ArgentinaFil: Bratanich, Ana Cristina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica. Laboratorio de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Argüelles, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Fazio, Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Bertellotti, Néstor Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Lombardo, Daniel Marcelo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentin

The BMI1 inhibitor PTC-209 is a potential compound to halt cellular growth in biliary tract cancer cells

BMI1 is a core component of the polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) and is up-regulated in biliary tract cancer (BTC), contributing to aggressive clinical features. In this study we investigated the cytotoxic effects of PTC-209, a recently developed inhibitor of BMI1, in BTC cells. PTC-209 reduced overall viability in BTC cell lines in a dose-dependent fashion (0.04 - 20 μM). Treatment with PTC-209 led to slightly enhanced caspase activity and stop of cell proliferation. Cell cycle analysis revealed that PTC-209 caused cell cycle arrest at the G1/S checkpoint. A comprehensive investigation of expression changes of cell cycle-related genes showed that PTC-209 caused significant down-regulation of cell cycle-promoting genes as well as of genes that contribute to DNA synthesis initiation and DNA repair, respectively. This was accompanied by significantly elevated mRNA levels of cell cycle inhibitors. In addition, PTC-209 reduced sphere formation and, in a cell line-dependent manner, aldehyde dehydrogease-1 positive cells. We conclude that PTC-209 might be a promising drug for future in vitro and in vivo studies in BTC

Estudio preliminar de la aeromicobiota en 3 sitios del Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata, Argentina

La presencia de microorganismos y/o sus diásporas en ámbitos de guarda patrimonial como los museos, pueden ser factores promotores de biodeterioro en los bienes patrimoniales que se custodian. Se entiende por biodeterioro cualquier cambio indeseable en las propiedades de un material a causa de la actividad vital de los organismos (Hueck, 1965). Los problemas de biodeterioro alcanzan gran importancia económica y social cuando los sustratos colonizados pertenecen al patrimonio cultural (Fazio et al., 2010). Los hongos son uno de los agentes causales más importantes de biodeterioro de las colecciones debido a la gran diversidad de materiales que pueden degradar (Cáneva et al., 1991). Por otro lado, existen varios tipos de hongos filamentosos, en especial los pertenecientes al grupo de los Dematiaceos, que son capaces de producir ácidos orgánicos y pigmentos que favorecen el deterioro estético de los bienes y el foxing, pequeñas manchas redondeadas de color pardo amarillento o rojizo en el papel (Borrego et al., 2010; Ardelean A. & Melniciuc-Puică N., 2013). En condiciones ambientales apropiadas, la micobiota del aire puede coexistir con las colecciones y con las personas sin causar grandes daños. Sin embargo, al producirse variaciones en la temperatura y la humedad relativa, los microorganismos pueden desencadenar procesos que aceleren el deterioro debido al crecimiento y desarrollo vegetativo sobre las mismas (Rodríguez García, 2016). Por otra parte, los hongos también pueden causar o agravar distintos tipos de alergias. (Żukiewicz-Sobczak, 2013). El Museo de La Plata es un museo universitario de historia natural. iene como misión específica resguardar colecciones de Argentina y América del Sur y difundirlas a través de la exhibición y extensión educativa en un marco de integración y respeto por el patrimonio natural y la diversidad de los pueblos.El objetivo de este trabajo fue realizar un estudio aerobiológico preliminar de la micobiota en 3 sitios del Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata.Fil: Parfajt, Leonardo Javier. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Nitiu, Daniela Silvana. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fazio, Alejandra Teresa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Micología y Botánica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Micología y Botánica; ArgentinaFil: Mallo, Andrea Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentin