Pet Rodents and Fatal Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis in Transplant Patients

A unique strain of this virus was traced back to hamsters from an Ohio rodent distribution facility

Seasonal pulses of Marburg virus circulation in juvenile Rousettus aegyptiacus bats coincide with periods of increased risk of human infection

Marburg virus (family Filoviridae) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Bats have been implicated as likely natural reservoir hosts based most recently on an investigation of cases among miners infected in 2007 at the Kitaka mine, Uganda, which contained a large population of Marburg virus-infected Rousettus aegyptiacus fruit bats. Described here is an ecologic investigation of Python Cave, Uganda, where an American and a Dutch tourist acquired Marburg virus infection in December 2007 and July 2008. More than 40,000 R. aegyptiacus were found in the cave and were the sole bat species present. Between August 2008 and November 2009, 1,622 bats were captured and tested for Marburg virus. Q-RT-PCR analysis of bat liver/spleen tissues indicated ,2.5% of the bats were actively infected, seven of which yielded Marburg virus isolates. Moreover, Q-RT-PCR-positive lung, kidney, colon and reproductive tissues were found, consistent with potential for oral, urine, fecal or sexual transmission. The combined data for R. aegyptiacus tested from Python Cave and Kitaka mine indicate low level horizontal transmission throughout the year. However, Q-RT-PCR data show distinct pulses of virus infection in older juvenile bats (,six months of age) that temporarily coincide with the peak twiceyearly birthing seasons. Retrospective analysis of historical human infections suspected to have been the result of discrete spillover events directly from nature found 83% (54/65) events occurred during these seasonal pulses in virus circulation, perhaps demonstrating periods of increased risk of human infection. The discovery of two tags at Python Cave from bats marked at Kitaka mine, together with the close genetic linkages evident between viruses detected in geographically distant locations, are consistent with R. aegyptiacus bats existing as a large meta-population with associated virus circulation over broad geographic ranges. These findings provide a basis for developing Marburg hemorrhagic fever risk reduction strategies.The Department of Health and Human Serviceshttp://www.plospathogens.or

Institutional Reform in Mexican Higher Education: Conflict and Renewal in Three Public Universities

This paper examines the institutional reform conducted at three public universities in Mexico: the University of Sonora, the University of Guadalajara, and the University of Puebla. In the universities analyzed here, reform came on the heels of conflict resulting from institutional collapse. These organizations had seen their internal control systems dissolve and their external legitimacy relationships crumble. The focus is on policy reform at the governmental level and on changes at the institutional level, especially on the political and management dimensions

EL APRENDIZAJE DIGITAL

Frente a la explosión de literatura sobre el sistema Internet y sus efectos en la vida contemporánea, en ocasiones es difícil encontrar comentarios serios y originales que induzcan a la reflexión útil. Este artículo de John Seely Brown, jefe de investigación científica de la empresa Xerox en Palo Alto, California, y autor de múltiples publicaciones sobre nuevas formas de cognición, es una importante excepción. En este trabajo explora las maneras en que el Internet modificará el trabajo, la educación y el aprendizaje en el futuro.

Higher education in Mexico: From unregulated expansion to evaluation’, Higher Education

Abstract. This paper deals with changes in Mexican higher education over the past 20 years, with particular reference to modifications in policy underway since the late 19805. There is a general overview of the structure of the Mexican system and the basic changes that occurred during the expansionary period of the 19705: unplanned growth in public universities which quickly became large, unwieldy organizations; the rapid expansion of the academic profession; heavy influence of politicization in public institutions, which diluted many of the traditional forms of academic organization; and an expansionist and undemanding government funding policy which was basically geared to giving access to growing student demand. The 19805 were a period of economic crisis which translated into restricted public funding for higher education and a govemment stance of benign neglect. However, during the past four years a new policy has been formulated which has channelled more funds toward the sector in a context of new demands: evaluation of institutional and individual performance, closer links with the productive sector, diversification of funding (mainly through higher student fees), and differential salary scales for academics among other things. The paper concludes with some remarks on ernerging processes and various unresolved issues in a context where !Wo rationales seem to be at odds within the system: the traditional modus operandi of institutions where assessment has always been lacking, and the new government policy which demands quality and accountability from higher education