Cientópolis: motorizando la ciencia ciudadana

En ciertas situaciones como la toma, clasificación y etiquetado de muestras, el científico realiza un gran número de tareas simples, repetitivas, que no pueden ser automatizadas y que podrían ser ejecutadas por personas sin formación en la materia si se las entrena y asiste con herramientas. En el pasado, en proyectos de conservación, astronomía y biología, entre otros, este tipo de tareas se ha delegado de manera efectiva a voluntarios. Cuando se convoca a ciudadanos voluntarios para colaborar con los científicos, se habla de ciencia ciudadana. Encontrar e involucrar a esos voluntarios, sumado a coordinar y reconocer su trabajo, es una tarea compleja. Definir y conducir proyectos de ciencia ciudadana presenta desafíos en tres áreas críticas: metodologías, tecnologías y construcción de comunidades de voluntarios. El proyecto Cientópolis (http://cientopolis.org) tiene como objetivo producir avances en estas tres áreas y socializarlos con la comunidad. En la actualidad, Cientópolis brinda espacios para compartir conocimiento y experiencias, ofrece herramientas para la construcción de proyectos de toma de muestras con dispositivos móviles y construcción colaborativa de conocimiento, da acceso a una comunidad creciente de ciudadanos científicos y explora estrategias de ludificación para consolidar y sostener dicha comunidad.Trabajo presentado por el Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada (LIFIA

Carbon Fiber Composites of Pure Polypropylene and Maleated Polypropylene Blends Obtained from Injection and Compression Moulding

A comparative study of the mechanical performance of PP and PP/PP-g-MAH blends reinforced with carbon fibre (CF) obtained by two different moulding techniques is presented. Three filler contents were used for fabricating the composites: 1, 3, and 5 pph (parts per hundred). The crystallisation behaviour of the composites was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Morphological and structural features of these samples were observed by atomic field microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Mechanical properties of the injection and compression moulded composites were evaluated by means of tensile and impact resistance tests. The fracture surface of the impacted samples was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The processing method had a noticeable effect on the results obtained in these tests. Young’s modulus was enhanced up to 147% when adding 5 pph CF to a PP matrix when processed by compression moulding. Addition of PP-g-MAH and CF had a favourable effect on the tensile and impact strength properties in most samples; these composites showed improved performance as the filler content was increased

Cientópolis: motorizando la ciencia ciudadana

En ciertas situaciones como la toma, clasificación y etiquetado de muestras, el científico realiza un gran número de tareas simples, repetitivas, que no pueden ser automatizadas y que podrían ser ejecutadas por personas sin formación en la materia si se las entrena y asiste con herramientas. En el pasado, en proyectos de conservación, astronomía y biología, entre otros, este tipo de tareas se ha delegado de manera efectiva a voluntarios. Cuando se convoca a ciudadanos voluntarios para colaborar con los científicos, se habla de ciencia ciudadana. Encontrar e involucrar a esos voluntarios, sumado a coordinar y reconocer su trabajo, es una tarea compleja. Definir y conducir proyectos de ciencia ciudadana presenta desafíos en tres áreas críticas: metodologías, tecnologías y construcción de comunidades de voluntarios. El proyecto Cientópolis (http://cientopolis.org) tiene como objetivo producir avances en estas tres áreas y socializarlos con la comunidad. En la actualidad, Cientópolis brinda espacios para compartir conocimiento y experiencias, ofrece herramientas para la construcción de proyectos de toma de muestras con dispositivos móviles y construcción colaborativa de conocimiento, da acceso a una comunidad creciente de ciudadanos científicos y explora estrategias de ludificación para consolidar y sostener dicha comunidad.Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzad

Derivation and external validation of the SIMPLICITY score as a simple immune-based risk score to predict infection in kidney transplant recipients

Existing approaches for infection risk stratification in kidney transplant recipients are suboptimal. Here, we aimed to develop and validate a weighted score integrating non-pathogen-specific immune parameters and clinical variables to predict the occurrence of post-transplant infectious complications. To this end, we retrospectively analyzed a single-center derivation cohort of 410 patients undergoing kidney transplantation in 2008-2013 in Madrid. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations, serum immunoglobulin and complement levels were measured at one-month post-transplant. The primary and secondary outcomes were overall and bacterial infection through month six. A point score was derived from a logistic regression model and prospectively applied on a validation cohort of 522 patients undergoing kidney transplantation at 16 centers throughout Spain in 2014-2015. The SIMPLICITY score consisted of the following variables measured at month one after transplantation: C3 level, CD4+ T-cell count, CD8+ T-cell count, IgG level, glomerular filtration rate, recipient age, and infection within the first month. The discrimination capacity in the derivation and validation cohorts was good for overall (areas under the receiver operating curve of 0.774 and 0.730) and bacterial infection (0.767 and 0.734, respectively). The cumulative incidence of overall infection significantly increased across risk categories in the derivation (low-risk 13.7%; intermediate-risk, 35.9%; high-risk 77.6%) and validation datasets (10.2%, 28.9% and 50.4%, respectively). Thus, the SIMPLICITY score, based on easily available immune parameters, allows for stratification of kidney transplant recipients at month one according to their expected risk of subsequent infection

Molecular Systematic of Three Species of Oithona (Copepoda, Cyclopoida) from the Atlantic Ocean: Comparative Analysis Using 28S rDNA

Species of Oithona (Copepoda, Cyclopoida) are highly abundant, ecologically important, and widely distributed throughout the world oceans. Although there are valid and detailed descriptions of the species, routine species identifications remain challenging due to their small size, subtle morphological diagnostic traits, and the description of geographic forms or varieties. This study examined three species of Oithona (O. similis, O. atlantica and O. nana) occurring in the Argentine sector of the South Atlantic Ocean based on DNA sequence variation of a 575 base-pair region of 28S rDNA, with comparative analysis of these species from other North and South Atlantic regions. DNA sequence variation clearly resolved and discriminated the species, and revealed low levels of intraspecific variation among North and South Atlantic populations of each species. The 28S rDNA region was thus shown to provide an accurate and reliable means of identifying the species throughout the sampled domain. Analysis of 28S rDNA variation for additional species collected throughout the global ocean will be useful to accurately characterize biogeographical distributions of the species and to examine phylogenetic relationships among them

Supplement: "Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914" (2016, ApJL, 826, L13)

This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM follow-up observations that were performed in the different bands