Review. Research and teaching at the intersection: Navigating the territory of grammar and writing in the context of metalinguistic activity, edited by Anna Camps and Xavier Fontich, 2020

Obra ressenyada: Anna CAMPS and Xavier FONTICH (ed.), Research and teaching at the intersection: Navigating the territory of grammar and writing in the context of metalinguistic activity. Brussels: Peter Lang, 2020

Quality Assessment of Hydrogeomorphological Features Derived from Digital Terrain Models

Digital terrain models (DTM) provide a model for representing the continuous earth elevation surface that can contain errors introduced by the main phases of generation and modelling. Uncertainty of the model is rarely considered by users. Assessment of uncertainty require information on the nature, amount and spatial structure of the errors. DTMs of di®erent original resolution were compared in order to assess the quality of derived hydrological and morphological features. SRTM dataset with resolution of 100m, DEM dataset mosaic from various sources with a resolution of 60m and ASTER derived dataset with a resolution of 30m were used. The error propagation was modelled with a stochastic approach. The probabilistic distribution of extracted hydrological features was drawn considering the spatial structure of errors in the datasets. The features considered were stream network and watershed divides net. The distribution of the Strahler order of the features was studied. An analysis of the overall probability of features extracted from variously prepared datasets was carried in order to get information on where is the most probable stream network or watershed divides net.JRC.H.6-Spatial data infrastructure

Occupational Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Risk Factors Profile in the Adult Population of the Southern Cone of Latin America: Results From the CESCAS I Study

OBJECTIVE: We explore the association between occupational physical activity (OPA) and cardiovascular risk factors in four cities of the Southern Cone. METHODS: Robust multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the associations. RESULTS: The working population was constituted by 1868 men and 1672 women. Men performing high levels of OPA showed higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL; mean adj. diff. = 2.24 mg/dL; P = 0.004), lower levels of triglycerides (-24.59 mg/dL; P = 0.006), and total cholesterol (TC)/HDL ratio values (-0.21; P = 0.015) than reference. Women in the highest category of OPA had higher levels of HDL (2.85 mg/dL; P = 0.006), lower TC/HDL (0.27; P = 0.001), and low-density lipoprotein/HDL ratios (-0.18; P = 0.003) than sedentary activities. CONCLUSION: Individuals who performed high levels of OPA did not exhibit a worse cardiovascular risk profile and an improvement on selected biomarkers was observed when compared with those performing sedentary activities.Fil: Poggio, Rosana. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Melendi, Santiago Ezequiel. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Gutierrez, Laura. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Elorriaga, Natalia. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Irazola, Vilma. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; Argentin

El tóxico nuestro de cada día

Muchas ocupaciones, profesiones y diversas disciplinas científicas implican la manipulación de sustancias químicas peligrosas. También las utilizamos diariamente en el ámbito hogareño. ¡Sí, en casa también las manipulamos! De esta manera, en nuestras actividades cotidianas nos exponemos a una gran variedad de sustancias, así como liberamos al medioambiente otra cantidad, convirtiéndose en el reservorio final de sus residuos o derivados.Fil: Bartel, Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Fanelli, Silvia Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - la Plata. Instituto de Limnología "dr. Raul A. Ringuelet". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.naturales y Museo. Instituto de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Poggio Herrero, Ingrid Violeta. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; Argentin

Epiphytic algae on Norway spruce needles in Sweden : geographical distribution, time-trends and influence of site factors

The occurrence of epiphytic vegetation in temperate and boreal forest is a fairly recent phenomenon. Epiphytic algae have increased especially on Norway spruce (Picea abies L.Karst.) needles in the southern part of Scandinavia and in Central Europe. The algae present on spruce needles are mainly green algae and take their nutrients directly from rainwater and air. Thick layers of algae may accumulate over several years. The colonisation of the needles by the algae may cause different problems for the vitality of the tree. The most probable repercussion is the reduction of photosynthetic active irradiation available to the needles. In this report the correlation between the algae and the main site factors, such as climate, atmospheric deposition of nutrients and acidifying compounds, soil properties, site hydrology and indices for vegetation productivity, were evaluated. In addition, the description of the individual tree and its vitality were considered. The algae variables used were the youngest needle colonized and coverage of needle in percent. The data used were obtained from the Swedish National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation, the National Forest Inventory and the Swedish Hydrological and Meteorological Institute and collected between 1993 and 2000. The total number of plots was 4055, covering the whole forested area in Sweden. The correlation was evaluated using multivariate statistical analysis, in particular principal component analysis and the analyses were made on three datasets. Each dataset was further divided into four groups, according to the geographic position and to the presence of algae, to study different rapports between the variables. The results showed that the most important factors for algae growth are climatic conditions and atmospheric deposition. Temperature is the most important climatic factor. The growth of algae seems to be inhibited up to a certain temperature sum threshold of between approximately 1100 – 1300 day degrees. Under Swedish climatic conditions, humidity does not seem to be a limiting factor for algae. Many plots with algae were found in areas with low humidity. However, it may act as a contributing factor. In favourable climatic conditions, atmospheric deposition could play the principal role for algae colonisation, acting as a limiting factor and as an accelerator. The correlation with the other variables is quite weak. The local variability of different factors, such as vicinity to nutrient sources or structure of the stand, could also play an important role for the algal colonisation. The algae show a clear geographic distribution that coincides well with climatic and deposition gradients in the country. The northward sharp decline of algae corresponds approximately to Limes norrlandicus. In addition to the correlation evaluation between variables, a partial least square regression model was calculated to try to predict the algae growth using measured values of the variables describing site factors. The prediction ability of the model was not very high. This is probably a result of local factors not covered in the present investigation The investigation of the temporal variation of algae showed a slight tendency to decrease over the period 1995 to 2000

External Validation of Cardiovascular Risk Scores in the Southern Cone of Latin America: Which Predicts Better?

Introducción: La estimación inexacta del riesgo cardiovascular poblacional puede llevar a un manejo inadecuado de las intervenciones médicas preventivas, como, por ejemplo, el uso de estatinas. Objetivo: Evaluar la validez externa de ecuaciones de predicción de riesgo cardiovascular en población general del Cono Sur de Latinoamérica. Material y métodos: Se evaluaron ecuaciones que incluyen variables evaluadas en el estudio CESCAS y que predicen tanto morbilidad como mortalidad cardiovascular global (CUORE, Framingham, Globorisk y Pooled Cohort Studies Equations). Para cada ecuación se realizó un análisis independiente en el que se tuvieron en cuenta los eventos cardiovasculares relevados. Se evaluó la discriminación de cada ecuación a través del cálculo del estadístico-C y el índice Harrell C. Para evaluar la calibración se graficó la proporción de riesgos observados vs. estimados por quintilos de riesgo para cada ecuación y se calculó la pendiente β de regresión lineal para las estimaciones. Se calculó sensibilidad y especificidad para la detección de personas con elevado riesgo cardiovascular. Resultados: La mediana del tiempo de seguimiento de la cohorte al momento del análisis es de 2,2 años, con un rango intercuartilo de 1,9 a 2,8 años. Se incorporaron a los análisis 60 eventos cardiovasculares. Todos los valores de estadístico-C y del índice de Harrell fueron superiores a 0,7. El valor de la pendiente β más alejado de 1 fue el de Pooled Cohort Studies Euations. Conclusiones: Si bien los parámetros de validación externa evaluados fueron similares, CUORE, Globorisk y el índice de Framingham fueron las ecuaciones con mejores indicadores globales de predicción de riesgo cardiovascular.Background: Inaccurate estimates of demographic cardiovascular risk may lead to an inadequate management of preventive medical interventions such as the use of statins. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the external validity of cardiovascular risk equations in the general population of the Southern Cone of Latin America. Methods: Equations including variables evaluated in the CESCAS cohort study and that estimate overall cardiovascular mortality (CUORE, Framingham, Globorisk and Pooled Cohort Studies) were assessed. For each equation, an independent analysis was performed taking into account the cardiovascular events originally considered. Discrimination of each equation was evaluated through C-statistic and Harrell’s C-index. To assess calibration, a graph was built for each equation with the proportion of observed events vs. the proportion of estimated events by risk quintiles and the β slope of the resulting linear regression was calculated. Sensitivity and specificity were determined for the detection of people at high cardiovascular risk. Results: The median follow-up time of the cohort at the time of the analysis was 2.2 years, with an interquartile range of 1.9 to 2.8 years. Sixty cardiovascular events were incorporated into the analysis. All C-statistic and Harrell’s-C index values were greater than 0.7. The value of the β slope farthest from 1 was that of the Pooled Cohort Studies score. Conclusions: Although the external validation parameters evaluated were similar, CUORE, Globorisk and the Framingham equations showed the best global performance for cardiovascular risk estimation in our population.Fil: Gulayin, Pablo Elías. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentina. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Danaei, Goodarz. Harvard University. Harvard School of Public Health; Estados UnidosFil: Gutierrez, Laura. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Poggio, Rosana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: Ponzo, Jaqueline. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Lanas, Fernando. Universidad de La Frontera; ChileFil: Rubinstein, Adolfo Luis. Ministerio de Salud de la Nación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Irazola, Vilma. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; Argentin

Methods in and Applications of the Sequencing of Short Non-Coding RNAs

Short non-coding RNAs are important for all domains of life. With the advent of modern molecular biology their applicability to medicine has become apparent in settings ranging from diagonistic biomarkers to therapeutics and fields ranging from oncology to neurology. In addition, a critical, recent technological development is high-throughput sequencing of nucleic acids. The convergence of modern biotechnology with developments in RNA biology presents opportunities in both basic research and medical settings. Here I present two novel methods for leveraging high-throughput sequencing in the study of short non-coding RNAs, as well as a study in which they are applied to Alzheimer\u27s Disease (AD). The computational methods presented here include High-throughput Annotation of Modified Ribonucleotides (HAMR), which enables researchers to detect post-transcriptional covalent modifications to RNAs in a high-throughput manner. In addition, I describe Classification of RNAs by Analysis of Length (CoRAL), a computational method that allows researchers to characterize the pathways responsible for short non-coding RNA biogenesis. Lastly, I present an application of the study of non-coding RNAs to Alzheimer\u27s disease. When applied to the study of AD, it is apparent that several classes of non-coding RNAs, particularly tRNAs and tRNA fragments, show striking changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of affected human brains. Interestingly, the nature of these changes differs between mitochondrial and nuclear tRNAs, implicating an association between Alzheimer\u27s disease and perturbation of mitochondrial function. In addition, by combining known genetic factors of AD with genes that are differentially expressed and targets of regulatory RNAs that are differentially expressed, I construct a network of genes that are potentially relevant to the pathogenesis of the disease. By combining genetics data with novel results from the study of non-coding RNAs, we can further elucidate the molecular mechanisms that underly Alzheimer\u27s disease pathogenesis

An innovative approach to improve the detection and treatment of risk factors in poor urban settings: a feasibility study in Argentina

Background: The effective management of cardiovascular (CVD) prevention among the population with exclusive public health coverage in Argentina is low since less than 30% of the individuals with predicted 10-year CVD risk ≥10% attend a clinical visit for CVD risk factors control in the primary care clinics (PCCs). Methods: We conducted a non-controlled feasibility study using a mixed methods approach to evaluate acceptability, adoption and fidelity of a multi-component intervention implemented in the public healthcare system. The eligibility criteria were having exclusive public health coverage, age ≥ 40 years, residence in the PCC’s catchment area and 10-year CVD risk ≥10%. The multi-component intervention addressed (1) system barriers through task shifting among the PCC’s staff, protected medical appointments slots and a new CVD form and (2) Provider barriers through training for primary care physicians and CHW and individual barriers through a home-based intervention delivered by community health workers (CHWs). Results: A total of 185 participants were included in the study. Of the total number of eligible participants, 82.2% attended at least one clinical visit for risk factor control. Physicians intensified drug treatment in 77% of participants with BP ≥140/90 mmHg and 79.5% of participants with diabetes, increased the proportion of participants treated according to GCP from 21 to 32.6% in hypertensive participants, 7.4 to 33.3% in high CVD risk and 1.4 to 8.7% in very high CVD risk groups. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure were lower at the end of follow up (156.9 to 145.4 mmHg and 92.9 to 88.9 mmHg, respectively) and control of hypertension (BP < 140/90 mmHg) increased from 20.3 to 35.5%. Conclusion: The proposed CHWs-led intervention was feasible and well accepted to improve the detection and treatment of risk factors in the poor population with exclusive public health coverage and with moderate or high CVD risk at the primary care setting in Argentina. Task sharing activities with CHWs did not only stimulate teamwork among PCC staff, but it also improved quality of care. This study showed that community health workers could have a more active role in the detection and clinical management of CVD risk factors in low-income communities.Fil: Poggio, Rosana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: Danaei, Goodarz. Harvard University. Harvard School of Public Health; Estados UnidosFil: Gutierrez, Laura. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Cavallo, Ana. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, María Victoria. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Irazola, Vilma. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; Argentin

Dietary patterns in adult population from Argentina

1p.Background and objectives: Dietary patterns (DP) have been used to identify different combinations of foods that may be associated with mortality and risk of chronic disease. The objective of this study was to identify DP in the adult population of Argentina, and explore associations with socio-demographic features. Methods: We defined DP among 3,000 adults between 35 to 74 years old, participating in CESCAS I, a population-based cohort study carried out in two cities in Argentina, Marcos Paz and Bariloche. Data on food intake was obtained from a validated self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Principal component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify DP. A summary score for each pattern was then derived and used in multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between DP and socio-demographic variables. Results: Using PCA, we identified 3 major eating patterns. The first factor (Traditional dietary pattern), was characterized by a high intake of refined grains, red meat, whole fat dairy products, vegetable oils, and ?mate?, a traditional South American infused drink frequently consumed in Argentina; the second factor (Healthy dietary pattern), was characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruit, low fat dairy products, whole grains, and legumes; the third factor (Processed-food dietary pattern) consisted mainly of processed meat, snacks, pizza, and ?empanadas?, a stuffed bread baked or fried. After adjusting for energy intake, we found that DP were associated with age, gender, and educational level. Healthy DP score was higher among women and high educational level (p=0.001) while men and young people scored significantly higher in the Processed-food DP (p=0.01). Conclusions: Local DP has been identified in our population. This study will provide useful information to set priority targets for nutrition interventions.https://www.karger.com/Article/PDF/354245Fil: Elorriaga, Natalia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Escuela de Nutrición. Cátedra de Evaluación Nutricional; Argentina.Fil: Defagó, María Daniela. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Escuela de Nutrición. Universidad de Tulane. Escuela de Salud Pública. Cátedra de Salud Cardiovascular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciuencias de la Salud; Argentina.Fil: Gutiérrez, Laura: Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Cátedra de Bioestadística y Metodología de la Investigación. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Cátedra Estadística de la Maestría en Efectividad Clínica; Argentina.Fil: Poggio, Rosana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires. Escuela de Medicina; Argentina.Fil: Irazola, Vilma. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Escuela de Medicina. Maestría en Efectividad Clínica. Cátedra de Medición de Resultados, Estadística Avanzada y Bioestadística; Argentina.Nutrición, Dietétic

El tóxico nuestro de cada día

Muchas ocupaciones, profesiones y diversas disciplinas científicas implican la manipulación de sustancias químicas peligrosas. También las utilizamos diariamente en el ámbito hogareño. ¡Sí, en casa también las manipulamos! De esta manera, en nuestras actividades cotidianas nos exponemos a una gran variedad de sustancias, así como liberamos al medioambiente otra cantidad, convirtiéndose en el reservorio final de sus residuos o derivados.Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet