Outbreak Of NDM-1-producing Klebsiella Pneumoniae In A Neonatal Unit In Colombia

Six multiresistant, NDM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were recovered from an outbreak that affected six neonatal patients in a Colombian hospital. Molecular analysis showed that all of the isolates harbored the blaNDM-1, qnrA, and intI1 genes and were clonally related. Multilocus sequence typing showed that the isolates belonged to a new sequence type (ST1043) that was different from the sequence types that had previously been reported. This is the first report of NDM-1-producing isolates in South America

Students today, between Facebook, Google and Metacognition. Ideas to innovate in Higher Education

[ES] En los estudios superiores, al igual que en los demás contextos educativos, no basta con adquirir una serie de conocimientos, es indispensable reflexionar sobre los propios procesos cognitivos para tomar decisiones autónomas y fundamentadas respecto de los aprendizajes. Aprender va mucho más allá de las cuestiones cognitivas, las emociones puestas en juego y las posibilidades de reflexionar respecto de los aprendizajes resultan decisivas en los complejos procesos de construcción de conocimientos. El objetivo del estudio es analizar aspectos metacognitivos vinculados al aprendizaje académico de estudiantes de primer año del Profesorado en Educación Inicial de la Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto y del Instituto Superior María Inmaculada (Argentina). En la primera parte de la investigación, los estudiantes respondieron a un cuestionario general referido a prácticas y hábitos de estudio y a un inventario de patrones de aprendizaje: ILS (Vermunt, 1998). Luego, se realizaron entrevistas grupales con los estudiantes con el propósito de conocer diferentes puntos de vista respecto de las prácticas de estudio, aprendizaje y enseñanza en la educación superior. Los resultados muestran que la mayoría de los participantes requieren de regulaciones externas para desarrollar los procesos de aprendizaje. Se observan ciertas dificultades en la autorregulación de los procesos de lectura, escritura y en el estudio en general. Se propone desarrollar estrategias innovadoras que promuevan en los estudiantes prácticas reflexivas y metacognitivas respecto de los aprendizajes en contextos académicos.[ES] In college, as in other educational contexts, not enough to acquire a body of knowledge, it is essential to think about the cognitive processes to make independent and informed decisions regarding learning. Learning goes beyond cognitive issues, emotions and the posssibilities of think over of learning are critical in the complex processes of knowledge construction. The purpose of the study is to analyze metacognitive aspects related to academic learning on first year students of Kindergarten Teacher at the Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto and Intituto Superior María Inmaculada (Argentina). At the first part of the research, students answered a general questionnaire on practices and habits of study and an inventory of learning patterns: ILS (Vermunt, 1998). Then, we conducted group interviews with students in order to acknowledge different views regarding the study practices, learning and teaching in contexts of higher education. The results show that most of students require external regulations to develop learning processes. We observe some difficulties in self-regulation of reading processes, writing and study in general. It is proposed to develop innovative strategies to promote thoughtful and metacognitive practices in students concerning learning in academic contexts.Elisondo, R.; De La Barrera, ML.; Rigo, DY.; Kowszyk, DI.; Fagotti Kucharski, E.; Ricetti, A.; Siracusa, M. (2016). Estudiantes hoy, entre Facebook, Google y Metacognición. Ideas para innovar en la Educación Superior. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 14(1):225-244. doi:10.4995/redu.2016.5800.SWORD22524414

Cell-Mediated Immunity Generated in Response to a Purified Inactivated Vaccine for Dengue Virus Type 1

Dengue is the most prevalent arboviral disease afflicting humans, and a vaccine appears to be the most rational means of control. Dengue vaccine development is in a critical phase, with the first vaccine licensed in some countries where dengue is endemic but demonstrating insufficient efficacy in immunologically naive populations. Since virus-neutralizing antibodies do not invariably correlate with vaccine efficacy, other markers that may predict protection, including cell-mediated immunity, are urgently needed. Previously, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research developed a monovalent purified inactivated virus (PIV) vaccine candidate against dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV-1) adjuvanted with alum. The PIV vaccine was safe and immunogenic in a phase I dose escalation trial in healthy, flavivirus-naive adults in the United States. From that trial, peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained at various time points pre- and postvaccination were used to measure DENV-1-specific T cell responses. After vaccination, a predominant CD4+ T cell-mediated response to peptide pools covering the DENV-1 structural proteins was observed. Over half (13/20) of the subjects produced interleukin-2 (IL-2) in response to DENV peptides, and the majority (17/20) demonstrated peptide-specific CD4+ T cell proliferation. In addition, analysis of postvaccination cell culture supernatants demonstrated an increased rate of production of cytokines, including gamma interferon (IFN-γ), IL-5, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Overall, the vaccine was found to have elicited DENV-specific CD4+ T cell responses as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot), intracellular cytokine staining (ICS), lymphocyte proliferation, and cytokine production assays. Thus, together with antibody readouts, the use of a multifaceted measurement of cell-mediated immune responses after vaccination is a useful strategy for more comprehensively characterizing immunity generated by dengue vaccines

Mid-term effects on ecosystem services of quarry restoration with Technosols under Mediterranean conditions : 10-year impacts on soil organic carbon and vegetation development

Ajuts : This study was funded by the Department of Territory and Sus-tainability of the Government of Catalonia through the project"Research and innovation on the control and the restoration ofextractive activities.The use of Technosols for the restoration of limestone quarries overcomes the usual "in situ" scarcity of soil and/or its poor quality. The use of mine spoils, improved with mineral and/or organic amendments, could be an efficient and environmentally friendly option. Properly treated sewage sludge from urban wastewater treatment plants could be a suitable organic amendment and fertilizer (rich in N and P) whenever its pollutant burden is low (heavy metals and/or organic pollutants). Its appropriate use could improve essential soil physical and chemical properties and, therefore, promote key ecosystem services of restored areas, such as biomass production and carbon sequestration, as well as biodiversity and landscape recovery. However, the mid-term impacts of these restoration practices on soil functioning and their services have rarely been reported in the available literature. In this study we assess the mid-term effects (10 years) of the use of sewage sludge as a Technosol amendment on soil organic carbon (SOC), nutrient status, and plant development in several restored quarries. Soils restored using sewage sludge showed a threefold increase in SOC compared to the corresponding unamended ones, despite the moderate sludge dosage applied (below 50 tonnes/ha). Plant cover was also higher in amended soils, and recruitment was not affected by sludge amendment at these doses. This study demonstrates that, used at an appropriate rate, sewage sludge is a good alternative for the valorization of mine spoils in quarry restoration, improving some important regulatory ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, without compromising woody plant encroachment

Observation of confined current ribbon in JET plasmas

we report the identification of a localised current structure inside the JET plasma. It is a field aligned closed helical ribbon, carrying current in the same direction as the background current profile (co-current), rotating toroidally with the ion velocity (co-rotating). It appears to be located at a flat spot in the plasma pressure profile, at the top of the pedestal. The structure appears spontaneously in low density, high rotation plasmas, and can last up to 1.4 s, a time comparable to a local resistive time. It considerably delays the appearance of the first ELM.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

On Switch-Reference Phenomena in Kolyma Yukaghir

「環太平洋の言語」成果報告書A2-002ELPR publication series A2-00

Microbiological profile of infections in the Intensive Care Units of Colombia (EPISEPSIS Colombia)

Introducción y objetivo En Colombia faltan datos fiables sobre el comportamiento de la sepsis. Se pretende determinar la prevalencia de los microorganismos en las principales infecciones tratadas en las unidades de cuidados intensivos (UCI) de nuestro país. Métodos Este es un subestudio de una cohorte prospectiva recolectada en 10 hospitales durante 6 meses. Los criterios de inclusión eran hospitalización en UCI y confirmación de una infección según las definiciones del CDC, considerando tres grupos (comunidad, hospital, UCI) según el sitio de adquisición de la infección. Resultados Se incluyó en el análisis a 826 pacientes; el 51% contrajeron procesos infecciosos extrahospitalarios; el 5,33%, en el hospital y el 43,7%, en UCI. Los diagnósticos más frecuentes fueron neumonía (29,54%), infección intraabdominal (18,16%) e infección del tracto urinario (11,62%). El microorganismo más frecuente en las infecciones extrahospitalarias fue Escherichia coli —pulmón (16,4%), peritoneo (57,7%), orina (55,5%) y sangre (22,4%)—. En las adquiridas en UCI predomina también E. coli —peritoneo (29,3%) y orina (52,9%)—, excepto en pulmón y sangre, en los que fueron Staphylococcus aureus (32,4%) y Klebsiella pneumoniae (15,7%) los más prevalentes. Se tomaron cultivos a 655 pacientes, de los que el 40% recibió antibióticos antes de la toma, sin que esto afectara al porcentaje de positividad (p=0,583). Conclusiones La neumonía fue la infección más frecuente independientemente del sitio de adquisición. E. coli fue el patógeno más prevalente, excepto en las infecciones pulmonares adquiridas en UCI, donde lo fue S. aureus.Q2Artículo original75-83Background and objective:Valid and reliable data regarding sepsis is lacking in Colombia. Ouraim was to determine the prevalence of the microorganisms in the main infections treated inIntensive Care Units (ICUs) in our country.Methods:This is a sub-study of a prospective cohort with 10 general hospitals in Colombiaduring a 6-month period. The inclusion criteria were hospitalization in ICU and confirmation ofinfection according to the CDC definitions. Patients were classified into three groups, that is,community, hospital and intensive care, according to the site where the infection was acquired.Results:A total of 826 patients were included in this analysis. Of these, 51% developed infec-tions in the community, 5.33% in the hospital and 43.7% in intensive care unit. Overall, themost common diagnoses were pneumonia (29.54%), intra-abdominal infection (18.16%) and uri-nary tract infection (11.62%). The most frequent germ in community-acquired infections wasE. coli—–lung (16. 4%), peritoneum (57.7%), urine (55.5%), blood (22.4%)—–.E. coli—–peritoneum(29.3%), urine (52.9%)—– also predominated in the ICU-acquired infections, except for lung andblood in whichStaphylococcus aureus(32.4%) andKlebsiella pneumoniae(15.7%) were the mostprevalent. Cultures were requested from 655 patients, 40% of them having received antibioticsbefore cultures were taken, although this did not affected the percentages of positive cultures(P= 0.583).Conclusions:Pneumonia was the main cause of infection regardless of the site of acquisition.E. coliwas the most prevalent germ, except in the pulmonary infections acquired in UCI inwhichS. aureuswas the most prevalent