Asistencia social, Estado y género en América Latina: nuevos enfoques e interpretaciones

En los últimos tres lustros han cambiado las formas de entender a las organizaciones benéficas en las sociedades latinoamericanas. Mujeres y asistencia social en Latinoamérica se propone—y logra—dar cuenta de esas innovaciones. Los nuevos enfoques produjeron un doble desplazamiento. Rechazaron una visión de la modernización dentro de la cual las organizaciones de caridad representaban los rasgos atrasados de la sociedad tradicional. Y, al mismo tiempo, discuten las reconstrucciones centradas en el control social que las veían exclusivamente como parte del disciplinamiento social. El primer paradigma suponía una dirección ascendente y lineal que desconocía las violencias, desigualdades y contradicciones de la modernización en América Latina y las transformaciones modernas de actores de viejo cuño; el segundo se topaba con la dificultad de traspasar la constatación del poder de las élites y del sojuzgamiento de las clases populares. A pesar de su antagonismo, ambos enfoques tenían un efecto similar: relegaban la capacidad de los actores y favorecían una visión simplificada del proceso histórico.Fil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Estudios de Género; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

How can we reflect on the history of the middle class?

La historia de la clase media ha surgido en forma tardía y ha dado lugar a fuertes polémicas y un campo de investigación emergente. Este ensayo -inicialmente una conferencia- repasa los debates en torno a ese grupo social y lo hace a partir de la historia reciente. Centrándose en la historia de América Latina, este ángulo permite explorar cinco claves analíticas que resultan útiles para pensar históricamente a la clase media.The history of the middle class had a belated surge in Latin America and it has created strong controversy as well as an emerging field of research. This essay – initially a conference – revises the discussions about this social group on the basis of recent history. Focusing on Latin America, this framework allows us to explore five analytical key points that enable us to reflect upon the middle class from a historical approach.Fil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales; Argentin

Hospital volunteering experiences suggest that new policies are needed to promote their integration in daily care: Findings from a qualitative study

Objective: To explore Hospital Volunteers\u2019 (HVs) motivations and experiences, as well as the strategies they adopt to overcome challenging situations during volunteering and the needs they perceive. Methods: Eleven Italian HVs were purposively approached between January and July 2016, using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the descriptive phenomenological approach. Results: Hospital volunteering emerged as a complex experience characterised by five themes: (a) becoming a volunteer; (b) developing skills; (c) experiencing conflicting emotions; (d) overcoming role difficulties by enacting different resources and strategies; and (e) addressing emerging needs. Conclusions: According to the findings, hospital policies aimed at promoting volunteer integration in daily care are needed and should be based on (a) a shared vision between the hospital and the volunteer associations regarding the HVs\u2019 role and skills; (b) the development of integrated models of care combining different workforces (i.e. professionals and volunteer staff); (c) appropriate training of HVs at baseline; (d) individualised continuous education pathways aimed at supporting HVs both emotionally and in the development of the required skills; and (e) tailored education that is directed to health-care staff aimed at helping them to value the service provided by HVs

“That Little Monster”: Mafalda, generations and gender in a mythical construction

“De chica me llamaban ´Mafalda´ porque era muy preguntona”. Recuerdos semejantes pueden leerse en muchos blogs dedicados a la historieta creada por Quino en 1964, y muestran su significación social. En este artículo analizo, justamente, los sentidos sociales atribuidos a la edad y el género de Mafalda -el personaje- a partir del estudio de las tiras, las discusiones en la prensa y las percepciones de los lectores y lectoras en el contexto de la modernización sociocultural de los años sesenta y del ascenso neoliberal en las décadas de los ochenta y noventa. En mi hipótesis sostengo que el personaje contuvo en sus orígenes una representación desestabilizante en términos generacionales y de género, y una connotación liminal que facilitó que, décadas después, Mafalda cobrase vida y se convirtiese en un mito que otorga sentido al presente.“When I was a kid they called me ‘Mafalda’ because I was a very inquisitive”. Similar memories can be read in a lot of blogs dedicated to Mafalda -the comic created by the cartoonist Quino in 1964- which demonstrates her social significance. This article analyses the social meaning attributed to the character of Mafalda in relation to her age and gender through the study of the comic strips, the debates in the media and the perceptions of readers in the context of the socio-cultural modernization in the sixties and the rise of neoliberalism in the eighties and nineties. The article supports the hypothesis that Mafalda contained a destabilizing representation in generational and gender terms and resulted in a liminal connotation that facilitated that, decades later, Mafalda came to life and has become a myth that gives meaning to the present.Fil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Feasibility of an Acoustophoresis-based System for a High-Throughput Cell Washing: Application to Bioproduction

Background These last decades have seen the emergence and development of cell-based therapies, notably those based on mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). The advancement of these promising treatments requires increasing the throughput of processed cell for industrialization in order to reduce production costs. Among the various bioproduction challenges, downstream processing (DSP), including medium exchange, cell washing, cell harvesting and volume reduction, remains a critical step on which improvements are needed. Typically, these processes are performed by centrifugation. However, this approach limits the automation, especially in small batch productions where it is performed manually in open system. Methods An acoustophoresis-based system was developed for cell washing. The cells were transferred from one stream to another via the acoustic forces and were collected in a different medium. The optimal flow rates of the different streams were assessed using Red Blood Cells (RBCs) suspended in an albumin solution. Finally, the impact of acoustic washing on adipose tissue-derived MSCs (AD-MSCs) transcriptome was investigated by RNA-sequencing. Results With a single passage through the acoustic device at input flow rate of 45 mL/h, the albumin removal was up to 90% while recovering 99% of RBCs. To further increase the protein removal, a loop washing in two steps was performed and has allowed an albumin removal $\ge$99% and a RBCs/AD-MSCs recovery of 99%. After loop washing of AD-MSCs, only 2 genes, HES4 and MIR-3648-1, were differently expressed compared to the input. Conclusion In this study, we developed a continuous cell washing system based on acoustophoresis. The process allows a high cell throughput while inducing little gene expression changes. These results highly suggest that cell washing based on acoustophoresis is a relevant and promising solution for numerous applications in cell manufacturing

Fotografías, niñez y pandemia

El articulo reflexiona sobre las vivencias de los niños y los jóvenes de la pandemia.Fil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Llobet, Valeria Silvana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Exiliados, Refugiados, Desplazados: Children and Migration Across the Americas

Entender la historia de la migración infantil y los discursos asociados a este fenómeno es fundamental para hacer frente a las políticas migratorias injustas en todo el hemisferio.Understanding the history of child migration and the discourses attached to the phenomenon is critical to countering unjust immigration policies across the hemisphere.Fil: Milanich, Nara. Columbia University. Institute Of Latin American Studies.; Estados UnidosFil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Estudios de Género; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Glockner, Valentina. El Colegio de Sonora; México. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología; Méxic

Low autocrine interferon beta production as a gene therapy approach for AIDS: Infusion of interferon beta-engineered lymphocytes in macaques chronically infected with SIVmac251

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate gene therapy for AIDS based on the transduction of circulating lymphocytes with a retroviral vector giving low levels of constitutive macaque interferon β production in macaques chronically infected with a pathogenic isolate of SIVmac251. RESULTS: Two groups of three animals infected for more than one year with a pathogenic primary isolate of SIVmac251 were included in this study. The macaques received three infusions of their own lymphocytes transduced ex vivo with the construct encoding macaque IFN-β (MaIFN-β or with a vector carrying a version of the MaIFN-β gene with a deletion preventing translation of the mRNA. Cellular or plasma viremia increased transiently following injection in most cases, regardless of the retroviral construct used. Transduced cells were detected only transiently after each infusion, among the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of all the animals, with copy numbers of 10 to 1000 per 10(6 )peripheral mononuclear cells. CONCLUSION: Long-term follow-up indicated that the transitory presence of such a small number of cells producing such small amounts of MaIFN-β did not prevent animals from the progressive decrease in CD4(+ )cell count typical of infection with simian immunodeficiency virus. These results reveal potential pitfalls for future developments of gene therapy strategies of HIV infection

Human Muscle Progenitor Cells Displayed Immunosuppressive Effect through Galectin-1 and Semaphorin-3A

In human skeletal muscle, myoblasts represent the main population of myogenic progenitors. We previously showed that, beside their myogenic differentiation capacities, myoblasts also differentiate towards osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages, some properties generally considered being hallmarks of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs are also characterized by their immunosuppressive potential, through cell-cell contacts and soluble factors, including prostaglandin E-2 (PGE-2), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), interleukine-10, or indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. We and others also reported that Galectin-1 (Gal-1) and Semaphorin-3A (Sema-3A) were involved in MSCs-mediated immunosuppression. Here, we show that human myoblasts induce a significant and dose-dependant proliferation inhibition, independently of PGE-2 and TGF-β1. Our experiments revealed that myoblasts, in culture or in situ in human muscles, expressed and secreted Gal-1 and Sema-3A. Furthermore, myoblasts immunosuppressive functions were reverted by using blocking antibodies against Gal-1 or Sema-3A. Together, these results demonstrate an unsuspected immunosuppressive effect of myoblasts that may open new therapeutic perspectives