An eGovernment Platform for Improving Communication among Municipalities and Citizens in the North of Chile

Government and its further development has been increasingly associated with the use of IT and communication. This interconnection is also happening in developing countries such as Chile. This study is designed to assess the e-government infrastructure and the use of IT and communication among some municipalities in Chile in order to implement a platform that allows government to government (G2G), government to employees and government to citizens (G2C) communication. The proposed platform will allow these municipalities to share information about citizens and corporations in the region. This study is conducted in second region of Chile and considered eight municipal governments. The findings suggest that while all the municipalities are highly interested in e-government initiatives, their infrastructure are different and in a very early stage of development. Thus, the study suggested e-government platform highly flexible to incorporate the differences in infrastructure among the municipalities, as secure as possible to allows government interactions, and implemented using an Application Service Provider (ASP) solution. As a result a distributed system using a Java system (J2EE) was the technology chosen e implemented for the ARM2 e-government platform

Ontological Review of Smart City Research

The meaning of the word “city” has evolved since the first urban civilization was labeled as such more than 5,000 years ago. The concept of Smartness in Cities appeared initially because of the advancements in information technology; now cities are working diligently towards being considered “Smart”. However, the term Smart City is still conceptually vague and sometimes biased towards the use of information technology, and not on the city. This article a) presents an ontological framework of Smart City which is logically constructed but grounded in the literature of Smart Cities, and b) maps 373 journal articles—published in 2016 on the topic “smart city”—onto the framework. The mapping reveals that Smart City research in 2016 mainly focuses on the Smart part of the framework, specifically the structural elements, while the City part remains largely unexplored

The Content of the Basic/Required MIS Course in a Latin-American MBA

The panel is about the basic/required MIS course in Latin-American MBA programs. Given the current insufficiency of qualified MIS faculty in Latin-America this course is frequently taught by faculty from other areas and its content is often highly technical. The panel (introduced and moderated by Dr. Carlos Ferran) will discuss the current and the ideal content of this course as well as avenues to move forward. Two panelists are resident faculty in Latin-American universities (Dr. Aurora Sanchez –UCNA in Chile– and Dr. David Montesinos –INCAE in Costa Rica–), one visits Latin-America regularly to teach MIS in MBA programs (Dr. Enrique Mu), and one is completely unrelated to Latin-America (Dr. Janis Gogan) who will question why the course should be any different to the ones taught elsewhere. The panel is of interest to Latin-American academics but also for any academic interested on what should be included in the basic/required MIS course in MBA programs regardless of geography

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

CCL2-Expressing Astrocytes Mediate the Extravasation of T Lymphocytes in the Brain. Evidence from Patients with Glioma and Experimental Models In Vivo

CCL2 is a chemokine involved in brain inflammation, but the way in which it contributes to the entrance of lymphocytes in the parenchyma is unclear. Imaging of the cell type responsible for this task and details on how the process takes place in vivo remain elusive. Herein, we analyze the cell type that overexpresses CCL2 in multiple scenarios of T-cell infiltration in the brain and in three different species. We observe that CCL2+ astrocytes play a part in the infiltration of T-cells in the brain and our analysis shows that the contact of T-cells with perivascular astrocytes occurs, suggesting that may be an important event for lymphocyte extravasation

The regulatory subunit of PKA-I remains partially structured and undergoes β-aggregation upon thermal denaturation

Background: The regulatory subunit (R) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) is a modular flexible protein that responds with large conformational changes to the binding of the effector cAMP. Considering its highly dynamic nature, the protein is rather stable. We studied the thermal denaturation of full-length RIα and a truncated RIα(92-381) that contains the tandem cyclic nucleotide binding (CNB) domains A and B. Methodology/Principal Findings: As revealed by circular dichroism (CD) and differential scanning calorimetry, both RIα proteins contain significant residual structure in the heat-denatured state. As evidenced by CD, the predominantly α-helical spectrum at 25°C with double negative peaks at 209 and 222 nm changes to a spectrum with a single negative peak at 212-216 nm, characteristic of β-structure. A similar α→β transition occurs at higher temperature in the presence of cAMP. Thioflavin T fluorescence and atomic force microscopy studies support the notion that the structural transition is associated with cross-β-intermolecular aggregation and formation of non-fibrillar oligomers. Conclusions/Significance: Thermal denaturation of RIα leads to partial loss of native packing with exposure of aggregation-prone motifs, such as the B' helices in the phosphate-binding cassettes of both CNB domains. The topology of the β-sandwiches in these domains favors inter-molecular β-aggregation, which is suppressed in the ligand-bound states of RIα under physiological conditions. Moreover, our results reveal that the CNB domains persist as structural cores through heat-denaturation. © 2011 Dao et al

Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing in a Large Cohort of Genetically Undiagnosed Patients with Neuromuscular Disorders in Spain

This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Advances in Neuromuscular Disorders: From Gene Identification to Gene Therapy.The term neuromuscular disorder (NMD) includes many genetic and acquired diseases and differential diagnosis can be challenging. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is especially useful in this setting given the large number of possible candidate genes, the clinical, pathological, and genetic heterogeneity, the absence of an established genotype-phenotype correlation, and the exceptionally large size of some causative genes such as TTN, NEB and RYR1. We evaluated the diagnostic value of a custom targeted next-generation sequencing gene panel to study the mutational spectrum of a subset of NMD patients in Spain. In an NMD cohort of 207 patients with congenital myopathies, distal myopathies, congenital and adult-onset muscular dystrophies, and congenital myasthenic syndromes, we detected causative mutations in 102 patients (49.3%), involving 42 NMD-related genes. The most common causative genes, TTN and RYR1, accounted for almost 30% of cases. Thirty-two of the 207 patients (15.4%) carried variants of uncertain significance or had an unidentified second mutation to explain the genetic cause of the disease. In the remaining 73 patients (35.3%), no candidate variant was identified. In combination with patients’ clinical and myopathological data, the custom gene panel designed in our lab proved to be a powerful tool to diagnose patients with myopathies, muscular dystrophies and congenital myasthenic syndromes. Targeted NGS approaches enable a rapid and cost-effective analysis of NMD- related genes, offering reliable results in a short time and relegating invasive techniques to a second tier.This study was granted by FIS PI15/01898, funded by ISCIII and FEDER, ‘Una manera de hacer Europa’ and by Fundación Mutua Madrileña in the “Convocatoria de ayudas a la Investigación en Salud 2015”. It was also funded by an ACCI grant from CIBERER. Daniel Natera-de Benito is the recipient of a grant from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Contrato Rio Hortega, CM17/00044)

HER2 expression in cervical cancer as a potential therapeutic target

BACKGROUND: Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against the HER2 receptor is currently being used in breast and other tumor types. Early studies have shown that a variable proportion of cervical carcinoma tumors overexpress the HER2 receptor as evaluated by diverse techniques and antibodies. Currently it is known that a tumor response to trastuzumab strongly correlates with the level of HER2 expression evaluated by the Hercep Test, thus, it seems desirable to evaluate the status of expression of this receptor using the FDA-approved Hercep Test and grading system to gain insight in the feasibility of using trastuzumab in cervical cancer patients. METHODS: We analyzed a series of cervical cancer cell lines, the primary tumors of 35 cases of cervical cancer patients and four recurrent cases, with the Hercep Test in order to establish whether this tumor type overexpress HER2 at level of 2+/3+ as trastuzumab is currently approved for breast cancer having such level of expression. RESULTS: The results indicate that only 1 out of 35 primary tumors cases overexpress the receptor at this level, however, two out of four recurrent tumors that tested negative at diagnosis shifted to Hercep Test 2+ and 3+ respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The low frequency of expression in primary cases suggests that trastuzumab could have a limited value for the primary management of cervical cancer patients, however, the finding of "conversion" to Hercep Test 2+ and 3+ of recurrent tumors indicates the need to further evaluate the expression of HER2 in the metastatic and recurrent cases

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

βα-Hairpin Clamps Brace βαβ Modules and Can Make Substantive Contributions to the Stability of TIM Barrel Proteins

Non-local hydrogen bonding interactions between main chain amide hydrogen atoms and polar side chain acceptors that bracket consecutive βα or αβ elements of secondary structure in αTS from E. coli, a TIM barrel protein, have previously been found to contribute 4–6 kcal mol−1 to the stability of the native conformation. Experimental analysis of similar βα-hairpin clamps in a homologous pair of TIM barrel proteins of low sequence identity, IGPS from S. solfataricus and E. coli, reveals that this dramatic enhancement of stability is not unique to αTS. A survey of 71 TIM barrel proteins demonstrates a 4-fold symmetry for the placement of βα-hairpin clamps, bracing the fundamental βαβ building block and defining its register in the (βα)8 motif. The preferred sequences and locations of βα-hairpin clamps will enhance structure prediction algorithms and provide a strategy for engineering stability in TIM barrel proteins