Using Data Mining to Support the University Decision Process: A Case in a Chilean University

Data mining is increasingly becoming an essential tool in organizations today. Particularly, academic organizations are requesting more sophisticated tools to improve their decision making process. A large quantity of data and information is produced during the student’s life, but it is still necessary to turn them into insight. This paper describes a project that use data mining to support the decision making process in higher education in Chile. The aim of this project is to find patterns that allow the identification and determination of relationships among the initial conditions of students and with their final status as a student (drop-out or graduated). The study is conducted in a university in the north of Chile and it considers five undergraduate majors. The final results of this project are expected to support the decisions making process related with university admission policies, causes of student failure or success, and university marketing policies

Distinct gene expression patterns in vector-residing Leishmania infantum identify parasite stage-enriched markers.

BACKGROUND:Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne neglected disease. Inside the natural sand fly vector, the promastigote forms of Leishmania undergo a series of extracellular developmental stages to reach the infectious stage, the metacyclic promastigote. There is limited information regarding the expression profile of L. infantum developmental stages inside the sand fly vector, and molecular markers that can distinguish the different parasite stages are lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We performed RNAseq on unaltered midguts of the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis after infection with L. infantum parasites. RNAseq was carried out at various time points throughout parasite development. Principal component analysis separated the transcripts corresponding to the different Leishmania promastigote stages, the procyclic, nectomonad, leptomonad and metacyclics. Importantly, there were a significant number of differentially expressed genes when comparing the sequential development of the various Leishmania stages in the sand fly. There were 836 differentially expressed (DE) genes between procyclic and long nectomonad promastigotes; 113 DE genes between nectomonad and leptomonad promastigotes; and 302 DE genes between leptomonad and metacyclic promastigotes. Most of the DE genes do not overlap across stages, highlighting the uniqueness of each Leishmania stage. Furthermore, the different stages of Leishmania parasites exhibited specific transcriptional enrichment across chromosomes. Using the transcriptional signatures exhibited by distinct Leishmania stages during their development in the sand fly midgut, we determined the genes predominantly enriched in each stage, identifying multiple potential stage-specific markers for L. infantum. CONCLUSIONS:Overall, these findings demonstrate the transcriptional plasticity of the Leishmania parasite inside the sand fly vector and provide a repertoire of potential stage-specific markers for further development as molecular tools for epidemiological studies

A second generation leishmanization vaccine with a markerless attenuated Leishmania major strain using CRISPR gene editing

© 2020, This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply. Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania protozoa transmitted by infected sand flies. Vaccination through leishmanization with live Leishmania major has been used successfully but is no longer practiced because it resulted in occasional skin lesions. A second generation leishmanization is described here using a CRISPR genome edited L. major strain (LmCen−/−). Notably, LmCen−/− is a genetically engineered centrin gene knock-out mutant strain that is antibiotic resistant marker free and does not have detectable off-target mutations. Mice immunized with LmCen−/− have no visible lesions following challenge with L. major-infected sand flies, while non-immunized animals develop large and progressive lesions with a 2-log fold higher parasite burden. LmCen−/− immunization results in protection and an immune response comparable to leishmanization. LmCen−/− is safe since it is unable to cause disease in immunocompromised mice, induces robust host protection against vector sand fly challenge and because it is marker free, can be advanced to human vaccine trials

A second generation leishmanization vaccine with a markerless attenuated Leishmania major strain using CRISPR gene editing

Here, the authors engineer an attenuated knock-out Leishmania (LmCen −/−) vaccine that is safe in immunocompromised mice and induces an immune response and protection similar to leishmanization with wild-type Leishmania. Since LmCen −/− is antibiotic resistant marker free, it is a candidate for clinical development

Identification of candidate genes associated with mealiness and maturity date in peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] using QTL analysis and deep sequencing

Artículo de publicación ISIPeach and nectarine quality traits such as flavor, texture, and juiciness are important for consumer acceptance. Maturity date (MD) also plays a role in the fruit-ripening process and is an important factor for marketing fresh fruit. On the other hand, cold storage produces a physiological disorder known as chilling injury where the most important symptom is a lack of juice in the flesh or mealiness (M). In this study, we analyzed an F2 population obtained from a self-pollination of "Venus" nectarine that segregates for MD and M. We built a linkage map with 1,830 SNPs, 7 SSRs and two slow-ripening (SR) morphological markers, spanning 389.2 cM distributed over eight linkage groups (LGs). The SR trait was mapped to LG4 and we compared the whole genome sequences of a SR individual and "Venus" and identified a deletion of 26.6 kb containing ppa008301m (ANAC072) co-localized with the SR trait. Three Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) for MD were detected; they all co-localize on LG4 between 31.0 and 42.0 cM. Four co-localizing QTLs on LG4 between 33.3 and 40.3 cM were detected for M, explaining 34 % of the phenotypic variation. We identified five and nine candidate genes (CGs) for MD and M from the QTL regions, respectively. Our results suggest that the transcription factors (TFs) ANAC072 and ppa010982m (ERF4) are CGs for both traits. LG4 contains a cluster for genetic factors that possibly regulate MandMD, but functional validation is necessary to unravel the complexity of genetic control responsible for fruit traits.Conicyt-Fondecyt 11121396 Conicyt-FONDEF G13i10005 Corfo-Innova 09PMG-7240 Fondo de Areas Prioritarias Centro de Regulacion del Genoma 15090007 UNAB DI-489-14R CONICYT D-21090737 PFB-1

Transcriptome analysis during ripening of table grape berry cv. Thompson Seedless.

Ripening is one of the key processes associated with the development of major organoleptic characteristics of the fruit. This process has been extensively characterized in climacteric fruit, in contrast with non-climacteric fruit such as grape, where the process is less understood. With the aim of studying changes in gene expression during ripening of non-climacteric fruit, an Illumina based RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis was performed on four developmental stages, between veraison and harvest, on table grapes berries cv Thompson Seedless. Functional analysis showed a transcriptional increase in genes related with degradation processes of chlorophyll, lipids, macromolecules recycling and nucleosomes organization; accompanied by a decrease in genes related with chloroplasts integrity and amino acid synthesis pathways. It was possible to identify several processes described during leaf senescence, particularly close to harvest. Before this point, the results suggest a high transcriptional activity associated with the regulation of gene expression, cytoskeletal organization and cell wall metabolism, which can be related to growth of berries and firmness loss characteristic to this stage of development. This high metabolic activity could be associated with an increase in the transcription of genes related with glycolysis and respiration, unexpected for a non-climacteric fruit ripening