Whonet en el control pragmático de la tuberculosis en el Valle del Cauca - Colombia

WHONET is a software used worldwide for storage, analysis and surveillance of clinical laboratory data related to bacterial infections, drug resistance and nosocomial outbreaks. The main objective of this work is to contribute to the Tuberculosis (TB) public health surveillance system through a technological resource, freely available, reliable and easy to use. WHONET was set up and adapted according to the information features required by the Tuberculosis Control Program of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Therefore, the software allowed the storage and analysis of TB information; moreover, the adaptation of variables such as “Antituberculosis drugs evaluation methodologies” and “Antituberculosis drugs evaluation concentration” was possible. This software is a potential tool for TB surveillance and adjustments should be made for the inclusion and recognition of important variables related to resistance and TB transmission patterns.PublishedWHONET es un software utilizado mundialmente para el monitoreo de infecciones bacterianas, para el seguimiento de la resistencia y los estudios de brotes nosocomiales. El principal objetivo de este trabajo fue aportar al sistema de vigilancia en salud pública de Tuberculosis (TB) un recurso tecnológico, de libre acceso, confiable y de fácil uso, a través de su configuración y adaptación a las características de la información que requiere el Programa de Control de TB del Valle del Cauca, utilizando información del Programa y del Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM). WHONET permitió el almacenamiento y análisis de la información de TB, requiriendo la adaptación de variables como “metodologías de evaluación de medicamentos antituberculosos” y “concentraciones de evaluación de medicamentos antituberculosos”. En conclusión, WHONET es una herramienta con potencial para el monitoreo de TB y sería importante su reestructuración para reconocer variables importantes en la monitorización de resistencia y transmisión de esta enfermedad

Estudios de la tuberculosis desde la Sucursal del Cielo

PublishedEste libro está dirigido a la comunidad académica, científica y en general a aquellas personas interesadas en ampliar sus conocimientos sobre la tuberculosis. Iniciamos con una revisión general de la evolución de las metodologías diagnósticas. Posteriormente, destacamos diferentes trabajos de investigación realizados en Cali y el Valle del Cauca en torno a la tuberculosis, resaltando herramientas empleadas para la vigilancia epidemiológica de la enfermedad, así como el estudio de la tuberculosis en población vulnerable (tuberculosis infantil y la incidencia de esta enfermedad en trabajadores de la salud en los últimos años en Cali). Este libro resalta la necesidad de entender el enfoque humano que rodea esta enfermedad, en esa dirección los dos últimos capítulos los enfocamos en las creencias sobre la tuberculosis y la interacción del paciente con las entidades prestadoras de servicios de salud. Esperamos que nuestro libro genere importantes aportes a aquellos que se involucran en el estudio de esta enfermedad que ha acompañado al hombre probablemente desde su presencia en el planeta y sea, además, el insumo de futuros investigadores en las diversas áreas del conocimiento que confluyen en el entendimiento de esta enfermedad infecciosa

Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene

To identify novel genes associated with ALS, we undertook two lines of investigation. We carried out a genome-wide association study comparing 20,806 ALS cases and 59,804 controls. Independently, we performed a rare variant burden analysis comparing 1,138 index familial ALS cases and 19,494 controls. Through both approaches, we identified kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A) as a novel gene associated with ALS. Interestingly, mutations predominantly in the N-terminal motor domain of KIF5A are causative for two neurodegenerative diseases: hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG10) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2). In contrast, ALS-associated mutations are primarily located at the C-terminal cargo-binding tail domain and patients harboring loss-of-function mutations displayed an extended survival relative to typical ALS cases. Taken together, these results broaden the phenotype spectrum resulting from mutations in KIF5A and strengthen the role of cytoskeletal defects in the pathogenesis of ALS.Peer reviewe

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Measurement of B-c(2S)(+) and B-c*(2S)(+) cross section ratios in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of the W gamma Production Cross Section in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=13 TeV and Constraints on Effective Field Theory Coefficients

A fiducial cross section for W gamma production in proton-proton collisions is measured at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 137 fb(-1) of data collected using the CMS detector at the LHC. The W -> e nu and mu nu decay modes are used in a maximum-likelihood fit to the lepton-photon invariant mass distribution to extract the combined cross section. The measured cross section is compared with theoretical expectations at next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics. In addition, 95% confidence level intervals are reported for anomalous triple-gauge couplings within the framework of effective field theory.Peer reviewe