Measuring the efficiency of the Colombian higher education system: a two-stage approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficiency of the Colombian higher education system, differentiating between public and private universities. Design/methodology/approach – A data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is applied to separately and jointly evaluate the teaching and research efficiencies of universities. The empirical application considers a sample of 78 Colombian universities across the period 2015–2017. A two-stage DEA is performed in which DEA scores are first evaluated and then regressed on potential covariates via truncated regression. Findings – Public universities outperform their private counterparts in terms of teaching and research efficiency, whereas private universities have higher global efficiency. Furthermore, the proportion of PhD faculty positively impacts all dimensions of efficiency and in fact is the only variable improving research efficiency. Research limitations/implications – First, the data do not permit a direct analysis of the impact of improvements in resources or capabilities on knowledge transfer. Second, policies and their efficiency may be influenced by differences in cultural contexts, regulatory frameworks and knowledge transfer activities. Finally, the country specificity of this research study calls for obvious caution when generalizing and interpreting its findings. Practical implications – The analysis of this data set will help decision and policy makers identify resources that are used efficiently by universities and interventions for improving resource management by inefficient universities. Originality/value – Few studies have addressed the efficiency of higher education in developing economies. This paper contributes to the literature by applying a two-stage methodological approach to estimate the efficiency of Colombian universities and provide a better understanding of the factors driving university efficiency

Escala de duelo perinatal: validación en mujeres mexicanas con pérdida gestacional

La pérdida de un hijo al inicio de la vida constituye uno de los estresores emocionales más intensos que puede experimentar una mujer. La evaluación de este proceso de duelo requiere contar con instrumentos confiables y válidos. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue determinar las características psicométricas de la Perinatal Grief Scale (Escala de Duelo Perinatal, EDP) en una muestra de mujeres mexicanas que habían experimentado pérdidas perinatales. La escala fue traducida, retraducida, piloteada y adaptada, para finalmente aplicarla a 200 mujeres que habían experimentado una o más pérdidas perinatales y que asistían a una clínica especializada. Los datos fueron sometidos a los procedimientos estadísticos usuales de validación (análisis de distribución de frecuencias,comparación de grupos extremos, análisis factorial exploratorio y análisis factorial confirmatorio, así como correlación entre subescalas) y de evaluación de consistencia interna, obteniendo índices adecuados de confiabilidad y validez. La EDP quedó conformada por 27 reactivos, agrupados en cuatro subescalas: duelo activo, depresión, culpa y aceptación. Se discute su utilización en la investigación y en la práctica clínica

Dasatinib-induced spleen contraction leads to transient lymphocytosis

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor dasatinib is approved for Philadelphia chromosome–positive leukemia, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Although effective and well tolerated, patients typically exhibit a transient lymphocytosis after dasatinib uptake. To date, the underlying physiological process linking dasatinib to lymphocytosis remains unknown. Here, we used a small rodent model to examine the mechanism of dasatinib-induced lymphocytosis, focusing on lymphocyte trafficking into and out of secondary lymphoid organs. Our data indicate that lymphocyte homing to lymph nodes and spleen remained unaffected by dasatinib treatment. In contrast, dasatinib promoted lymphocyte egress from spleen with kinetics consistent with the observed lymphocytosis. Unexpectedly, dasatinib-induced lymphocyte egress occurred independently of canonical sphingosine-1-phosphate–mediated egress signals; instead, dasatinib treatment led to a decrease in spleen size, concomitant with increased splenic stromal cell contractility, as measured by myosin light chain phosphorylation. Accordingly, dasatinib-induced lymphocytosis was partially reversed by pharmacological inhibition of the contraction-promoting factor Rho-rho associated kinase. Finally, we uncovered a decrease in spleen size in patients with CML who showed lymphocytosis immediately after dasatinib treatment, and this reduction was proportional to the magnitude of lymphocytosis and dasatinib plasma levels. In summary, our work provides evidence that dasatinib-induced lymphocytosis is a consequence of drug-induced contractility of splenic stromal cell

Deregulated cellular circuits driving immunoglobulins and complement consumption associate with the severity of COVID-19 patients

SARS-CoV-2 infection causes an abrupt response by the host immune system, which is largely responsible for the outcome of COVID-19. We investigated whether the specific immune responses in the peripheral blood of 276 patients were associated with the severity and progression of COVID-19. At admission, dramatic lymphopenia of T, B, and NK cells is associated with severity. Conversely, the proportion of B cells, plasmablasts, circulating follicular helper T cells (cTfh) and CD56–CD16+ NK-cells increased. Regarding humoral immunity, levels of IgM, IgA, and IgG were unaffected, but when degrees of severity were considered, IgG was lower in severe patients. Compared to healthy donors, complement C3 and C4 protein levels were higher in mild and moderate, but not in severe patients, while the activation peptide of C5 (C5a) increased from the admission in every patient, regardless of their severity. Moreover, total IgG, the IgG1 and IgG3 isotypes, and C4 decreased from day 0 to day 10 in patients who were hospitalized for more than two weeks, but not in patients who were discharged earlier. Our study provides important clues to understand the immune response observed in COVID-19 patients, associating severity with an imbalanced humoral response, and identifying new targets for therapeutic interventionThe study was funded by grants SAF2017- 82886-R to FS-M from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, and from “La Caixa Banking Foundation” (HR17-00016) to FS-M. Grant PI018/01163 to CMC and grant PI19/00549 to AA were funded by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Spain. SAF2017-82886-R, PI018/01163 and PI19/00549 grants were also co-funded by European Regional Development Fund, ERDF/FEDER. This work has been funded by grants Fondo Supera COVID (CRUE-Banco de Santander) to FSM, and “Ayuda Covid 2019” from Comunidad de Madri

A Neutrophil Timer Coordinates Immune Defense and Vascular Protection

Neutrophils eliminate pathogens efficiently but can inflict severe damage to the host if they over-activate within blood vessels. It is unclear how immunity solves the dilemma of mounting an efficient anti-microbial defense while preserving vascular health. Here, we identify a neutrophil-intrinsic program that enabled both. The gene Bmal1 regulated expression of the chemokine CXCL2 to induce chemokine receptor CXCR2-dependent diurnal changes in the transcriptional and migratory properties of circulating neutrophils. These diurnal alterations, referred to as neutrophil aging, were antagonized by CXCR4 (C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4) and regulated the outer topology of neutrophils to favor homeostatic egress from blood vessels at night, resulting in boosted anti-microbial activity in tissues. Mice engineered for constitutive neutrophil aging became resistant to infection, but the persistence of intravascular aged neutrophils predisposed them to thrombo-inflammation and death. Thus, diurnal compartmentalization of neutrophils, driven by an internal timer, coordinates immune defense and vascular protection. Neutrophils display circadian oscillations in numbers and phenotype in the circulation. Adrover and colleagues now identify the molecular regulators of neutrophil aging and show that genetic disruption of this process has major consequences in immune cell trafficking, anti-microbial defense, and vascular health.This study was supported by Intramural grants from A∗STAR to L.G.N., BES-2013-065550 to J.M.A., BES-2010-032828 to M.C.-A, and JCI-2012-14147 to L.A.W (all from Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad; MEIC). Additional MEIC grants were SAF2014-61993-EXP to C.L.-R.; SAF2015-68632-R to M.A.M. and SAF-2013-42920R and SAF2016-79040Rto D.S. D.S. also received 635122-PROCROP H2020 from the European Commission and ERC CoG 725091 from the European Research Council (ERC). ERC AdG 692511 PROVASC from the ERC and SFB1123-A1 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft were given to C.W.; MHA VD1.2/81Z1600212 from the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) was given to C.W. and O.S.; SFB1123-A6 was given to O.S.; SFB914-B08 was given to O.S. and C.W.; and INST 211/604-2, ZA 428/12-1, and ZA 428/13-1 were given to A.Z. This study was also supported by PI12/00494 from Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS) to C.M.; PI13/01979, Cardiovascular Network grant RD 12/0042/0054, and CIBERCV to B.I.; SAF2015-65607-R, SAF2013-49662-EXP, and PCIN-2014-103 from MEIC; and co-funding by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) to A.H. The CNIC is supported by the MEIC and the Pro CNIC Foundation and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MEIC award SEV-2015-0505)

Somatic mTOR mutation in clonally expanded T lymphocytes associated with chronic graft versus host disease

Graft versus host disease (GvHD) is the main complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Here we report studies of a patient with chronic GvHD (cGvHD) carrying persistent CD4+ T cell clonal expansion harboring somatic mTOR, NFKB2, and TLR2 mutations. In the screening cohort (n = 134), we detect the mTOR P2229R kinase domain mutation in two additional cGvHD patients, but not in healthy or HSCT patients without cGvHD. Functional analyses of the mTOR mutation indicate a gain-of-function alteration and activation of both mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling pathways, leading to increased cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis. Single-cell RNA sequencing and real-time impedance measurements support increased cytotoxicity of mutated CD4+ T cells. High throughput drug-sensitivity testing suggests that mutations induce resistance to mTOR inhibitors, but increase sensitivity for HSP90 inhibitors. Our findings imply that somatic mutations may contribute to aberrant T cell proliferations and persistent immune activation in cGvHD, thereby paving the way for targeted therapies.</p

Analysis of migratory and prosurvival pathways induced by the homeostatic chemokines CCL19 and CCL21 in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

El pdf del artículo es la versión pre-print.[Objective]: The CCR7 chemokine receptor has been reported to promote homing of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells into lymph nodes and support their survival, but the mechanisms mediating these effects are largely unknown. We investigated the role of different signaling pathways triggered by CCR7 engagement by its ligands, the chemokines CCL19 and CCL21, in the control of CLL migration and survival. [Materials and Methods]: Chemotaxis and apoptosis assays were performed in the presence of pharmacologic inhibitors and genetic mutants of the phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI3K), Rho guanosine triphosphatase, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascades to assess the role of these pathways on primary CLL migration and survival in response to CCR7 activation. Kinase activation was determined by immunoblotting and pull-down experiments. [Results]: CLL chemotactic activity induced by CCL19 or CCL21 was markedly reduced by inhibitors of PI3K and the Rho effector molecule Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein kinases (ROCK), and also by the expression of dominant negative forms of PI3K and RhoA, whereas constitutively activated PI3K and RhoA mutants strongly promoted CLL migration. In contrast, MAPKs were not significantly involved in CLL migration to CCL19/CCL21. Conversely, extracellular signal-regulated kinase and c-Jun-N-terminal kinase, along with PI3K, had a role in CCR7-mediated CLL cell survival. Biochemical experiments confirmed that CCL19/21 induced PI3K-dependent phosphorylation of Akt/protein kinase B, activation of the Rho/Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein kinases/myosin light chain pathway and MAPKs phosphorylation. [Conclusions]: The role of PI3K, Rho guanosine triphosphatases, and MAPKs in CCR7-mediated CLL cells migration and survival suggests that these signal transduction pathways could represent promising targets for CLL therapy. © 2010 ISEH - Society for Hematology and Stem Cells.Funding was from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (PETRI2005_0908), IMMUNONET (SUDOE1/P1/E014) and Immunological and Medicinal Products Inc. (Madrid, Spain) (064700) to C.M-C, and FIS (PI080170) to JMZ. S.L-G. was supported by the Fundación de Investigación Biomédica, Hospital de La Princesa (Madrid, Spain). M.A-P. was supported by the Fundación LAIR (Madrid, Spain).Peer Reviewe

CD4+ T Cell Immune Specificity Changes After Vaccination in Healthy And COVID-19 Convalescent Subjects

The immune response promoted by SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is relevant to develop novel vaccines and optimized prevention strategies. We analyzed the adaptive immunity in healthy donors (HD) and convalescent individuals (CD), before and after administering BNT162b2 vaccine. Our results revealed specific changes in CD4+ T cell reactivity profile in vaccinated HD and CD, with an increase in S1 and S2 positive individuals, proportionally higher for S2. On the contrary, NCAP reactivity observed in HD and CD patients was no longer detectable after vaccination. Despite the substantial antibody response in CD, MPro-derived peptides did not elicit CD4+ lymphocyte activation in our assay in either condition. HD presented an increment in anti-S and anti-RBD IgG after first dose vaccination, which increased after the second vaccination. Conversely, anti-S and anti-RBD IgG and IgA titers increased in already positive CD after first dose administration, remaining stable after second dose inoculation. Interestingly, we found a strong significant correlation between S1-induced CD4+ response and anti-S IgA pre-vaccination, which was lost after vaccine administration.This work was supported by grants to AA: FIS PI19/01491 (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III with co-funding from the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER) and Sociedad Cooperativa de Viviendas Buen Suceso, S.Coop.Mad. To AA and FS-M: CIBER Cardiovascular from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III with co-funding from the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional; FEDER). To FS-M: SAF2017-82886-R (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO)), HR17-00016 (“La Caixa” Banking Foundation), “Fondos Supera COVID19” (Banco de Santander and CRUE), “Ayuda Covid 2019” and “Inmunovacter” REACT-UE (Comunidad de Madrid). To MV: Spanish National Research Council (CSIC, project number 202020E079 and CSIC-COVID19-028).Peer reviewe

Didactics of knowledge management and digital humanities for cultural heritage contemporary preservation. From traditional dictionaries to libraries as a conversation

De los diccionarios tradicionales a las Biblioguías virtuales en conservación del patrimonio se desarrolla el proceso de Knowledge Management y los alumnos son parte investigadora y productora del conocimiento gracias a las conversaciones con los bibliotecarios, archiveros y especialistas en digitalización. Las conversaciones e interacciones en el espectro real o presencial tienen su reflejo en el marco virtual gracias a la tecnología, cuyas narrativas pasan de ser lineales a interconectadas gracias a los metadatos y recuperadas a través de las palabras clave de los diccionarios y tesauros en conservación del patrimonio cultural. Experiencias de innovación docentes previas como el Diccionario de “Terminología básica de conservación y restauración del Patrimonio Cultural 2. Español – Inglés – Francés – Italiano – Alemán” dirigido por Ana Calvo (PID 2015 nº 293) nos sirve de punto de apoyo para comprender la importancia de los términos y palabras clave en las búsquedas digitales y están relacionadas con los tesauros de clasificación de las bibliotecas. Se pretende continuar con su desarrollo y el estudio por parte de los alumnos ampliando los términos a la praxis de la gestión de riesgos, integrados en el ciclo de gestión de conocimiento digital y haciéndolos accesibles a través de la biblioguía especializada en conservación del patrimonio, implementándose paulatinamente como fórmula de conversación con la Biblioteca.From traditional dictionaries to virtual libraries in heritage conservation, the process of Knowledge Management develops and students are part of the research and production of knowledge through conversations with librarians, archivists and digitisation specialists. Conversations and interactions in the real or face-to-face spectrum are reflected in the virtual framework thanks to technology, whose narratives go from being linear to interconnected thanks to metadata and retrieved through the keywords of dictionaries and thesauri in cultural heritage conservation. Previous teaching innovation experiences such as the Dictionary of "Basic Terminology of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage 2. Spanish - English - French - Italian - German" directed by Ana Calvo (PID 2015 no. 293) serve as a support point to understand the importance of terms and keywords in digital searches and are related to the classification thesauri of libraries. It is intended to continue with its development and study by the students by extending the terms to the praxis of risk management, integrated into the digital knowledge management cycle and making them accessible through the bibliography specialising in heritage conservation, gradually being implemented as a formula for conversation with the Library.Depto. de Pintura y Conservación-RestauraciónFac. de Bellas ArtesFALSEINNOVA-Docentiasubmitte