The experience of educational research at doctoral level in the region of Cuyo, Argentina

[EN] In this paper are reported the results of an exploratory-analytical research of a qualitative nature, whose intention is to approach the comprehension of the experiences, their peculiarities and problems, of a sample of students and graduates from the three doctorates in Education existing in the region of Cuyo, Argentina, which –though they reach a certain maturity– also show in these years some specific difficulties, among which the most relevant is the low rate of completion (close to 20%). The administered questionnaire, elaborated ad hoc, by means of open-ended questions, inquires on three dimensions that can explain the experience of the PhD student: 1) educational research methodology training, 2) practice in scientific research and 3) doctoral research process. The results show that curricular paths of doctorate’s research methodology, in dependence of their approach, play an important role in the process of theses, in synergy with other factors: integration into a research team, a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motives in the choice of the topic, a more elaborated conceptualization of educational research, conceptual changes of greater importance. Among the peculiarities, one warns the primacy of the experience and/or teacher workplace in decisions concerning doctoral research; among the difficulties, stand out the lack of time and the major frequency of intrinsic difficulties to the thesis in delayed students.[ES] En este trabajo se informan los resultados de una investigación exploratorio-analítica de carácter cualitativo, cuyo propósito es acercarnos a la comprensión de las experiencias, sus particularidades y problemáticas, de una muestra de alumnos y egresados de los tres doctorados en Educación existentes en la región de Cuyo, Argentina, los que –si bien alcanzan una cierta madurez– también muestran en estos años algunas dificultades específicas, entre las cuales la más relevante es la baja tasa de finalización (cercana al 20%). El cuestionario que se administra, elaborado ad hoc, mediante preguntas abiertas, indaga sobre tres dimensiones que pueden explicar la experiencia del doctorando: 1) formación en metodología de la investigación educativa, 2) práctica en investigación científica y 3) proceso de investigación doctoral. Los resultados muestran que los trayectos curriculares de metodología de la investigación del doctorado, en dependencia de su enfoque, desempeñan un papel relevante en el proceso de tesis, en sinergia con otros factores: la inserción en un equipo de investigación, una combinación de motivos intrínsecos y extrínsecos en la elección del tema, una conceptualización más elaborada de investigación educativa, cambios conceptuales de mayor envergadura. Entre las peculiaridades, se advierte la primacía de la experiencia y/o desempeño docente en decisiones relativas a la investigación doctoral; entre las dificultades, destaca la falta de tiempo y la mayor frecuencia de dificultades intrínsecas a la tesis en los estudiantes demorados.Difabio De Anglat, H.; Portela De Nieto, A.; Gelonch Villarino, S.; Muscará, F.; Boarini De Dutto, MG. (2018). La experiencia de investigación educativa de nivel doctoral en la región de Cuyo, Argentina. 11-32. doi:10.4995/redu.2018.5690SWORD113

Deep-sequencing reveals broad subtype-specific HCV resistance mutations associated with treatment failure

A percentage of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients fail direct acting antiviral (DAA)-based treatment regimens, often because of drug resistance-associated substitutions (RAS). The aim of this study was to characterize the resistance profile of a large cohort of patients failing DAA-based treatments, and investigate the relationship between HCV subtype and failure, as an aid to optimizing management of these patients. A new, standardized HCV-RAS testing protocol based on deep sequencing was designed and applied to 220 previously subtyped samples from patients failing DAA treatment, collected in 39 Spanish hospitals. The majority had received DAA-based interferon (IFN) a-free regimens; 79% had failed sofosbuvir-containing therapy. Genomic regions encoding the nonstructural protein (NS) 3, NS5A, and NS5B (DAA target regions) were analyzed using subtype-specific primers. Viral subtype distribution was as follows: genotype (G) 1, 62.7%; G3a, 21.4%; G4d, 12.3%; G2, 1.8%; and mixed infections 1.8%. Overall, 88.6% of patients carried at least 1 RAS, and 19% carried RAS at frequencies below 20% in the mutant spectrum. There were no differences in RAS selection between treatments with and without ribavirin. Regardless of the treatment received, each HCV subtype showed specific types of RAS. Of note, no RAS were detected in the target proteins of 18.6% of patients failing treatment, and 30.4% of patients had RAS in proteins that were not targets of the inhibitors they received. HCV patients failing DAA therapy showed a high diversity of RAS. Ribavirin use did not influence the type or number of RAS at failure. The subtype-specific pattern of RAS emergence underscores the importance of accurate HCV subtyping. The frequency of “extra-target” RAS suggests the need for RAS screening in all three DAA target regions

Higher COVID-19 pneumonia risk associated with anti-IFN-α than with anti-IFN-ω auto-Abs in children

We found that 19 (10.4%) of 183 unvaccinated children hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia had autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I IFNs (IFN-alpha 2 in 10 patients: IFN-alpha 2 only in three, IFN-alpha 2 plus IFN-omega in five, and IFN-alpha 2, IFN-omega plus IFN-beta in two; IFN-omega only in nine patients). Seven children (3.8%) had Abs neutralizing at least 10 ng/ml of one IFN, whereas the other 12 (6.6%) had Abs neutralizing only 100 pg/ml. The auto-Abs neutralized both unglycosylated and glycosylated IFNs. We also detected auto-Abs neutralizing 100 pg/ml IFN-alpha 2 in 4 of 2,267 uninfected children (0.2%) and auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-omega in 45 children (2%). The odds ratios (ORs) for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia were, therefore, higher for auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-alpha 2 only (OR [95% CI] = 67.6 [5.7-9,196.6]) than for auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-. only (OR [95% CI] = 2.6 [1.2-5.3]). ORs were also higher for auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations (OR [95% CI] = 12.9 [4.6-35.9]) than for those neutralizing low concentrations (OR [95% CI] = 5.5 [3.1-9.6]) of IFN-omega and/or IFN-alpha 2