Chagas Disease Diagnostic Applications: Present Knowledge and Future Steps

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is a lifelong and debilitating illness of major significance throughout Latin America and an emergent threat to global public health. Being a neglected disease, the vast majority of Chagasic patients have limited access to proper diagnosis and treatment, and there is only a marginal investment into R&D for drug and vaccine development. In this context, identification of novel biomarkers able to transcend the current limits of diagnostic methods surfaces as a main priority in Chagas disease applied research. The expectation is that these novel biomarkers will provide reliable, reproducible and accurate results irrespective of the genetic background, infecting parasite strain, stage of disease, and clinical-associated features of Chagasic populations. In addition, they should be able to address other still unmet diagnostic needs, including early detection of congenital T. cruzi transmission, rapid assessment of treatment efficiency or failure, indication/prediction of disease progression and direct parasite typification in clinical samples. The lack of access of poor and neglected populations to essential diagnostics also stresses the necessity of developing new methods operational in point-of-care settings. In summary, emergent diagnostic tests integrating these novel and tailored tools should provide a significant impact on the effectiveness of current intervention schemes and on the clinical management of Chagasic patients. In this chapter, we discuss the present knowledge and possible future steps in Chagas disease diagnostic applications, as well as the opportunity provided by recent advances in high-throughput methods for biomarker discovery.Fil: Balouz, Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús). Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús); ArgentinaFil: Fernandez Aguero, Maria Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús). Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús); ArgentinaFil: Buscaglia, Carlos Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús). Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús); Argentin

Proceso de vigilancia, inteligencia y prospectiva

En una sociedad con organizaciones cada vez más dinámicas en la producción de datos, pero aún no veloces en su procesamiento y aplicación sistemática (a pesar de contar con tecnologías cada vez más complejas en el análisis de los mismos). La capacidad adaptativa de las organizaciones, y la aplicación de las mejores herramientas para interpretación de datos, se constituyen en soportes estratégicos para la ventaja competitiva duradera. En este contexto, los procesos de exploración y acción – eficiente y efectiva – sobre los hallazgos de oportunidades y amenazas, se constituyen en generadores de insumos de información de alta calidad para la toma de decisiones a nivel estratégico en la alta gerencia. Ello sólo se logra bajo la integración de los procesos de Vigilancia – Inteligencia – Prospectiva (VIP), cada uno de los cuales tiene actividades y herramientas de distinto nivel de complejidad. De otro lado, la velocidad, veracidad y pertinencia en el análisis de los datos generados por el proceso VIP, se constituye en factores críticos de éxito para la toma de decisiones correctas. Por otro lado, la capacidad de absorción de nuevos conocimientos (soportado en su velocidad de aprendizaje, la cultura organizacional, las capacidades tecnológicas y flexibilidad de adaptación) se constituyen en el entorno ideal para que el proceso VIP y su aplicación en las organizaciones. A este entorno se le denomina organización ambidiestra (Fillipi y otros, 2012)

The Relationship Between Subterranean Termites and Soilborne Pathogens

Social insects are among some of the most ecologically successful species. However, social living can also carry severe costs, such as an increased risk of disease transmission. In response, social insects have evolved social immunity, which comprises a variety of defenses that provide colony-wide disease protection. Studies investigating the diversity and success of social immune defenses have largely focused on the social Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants). Termites, however, have independently evolved social immunity and serve as an important counterpoint to studies with Hymenoptera. In this thesis, I investigate several facets of social immunity using the subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes. In my first two objectives, I tested if changes in genetic diversity influenced social immunity at both the individual and collective levels. In contrast to what has been found in several Hymenoptera species, increased genetic diversity does not appear to improve immunity in R. flavipes. Next, I determined if colonies of R. flavipes are able to manipulate the surrounding environmental microbial communities in order to create more favorable nest conditions. I found that microbial community diversity is significantly reduced in the foraging galleries and on the cuticle, compared to the surrounding soil. In addition, I found evidence that the foraging galleries of R. flavipes host beneficial bacterial associations and colonies may accumulate pathogen loads as they age. My final objective aimed to determine if infected individuals alter their immune behaviors in order to decrease the risk of disease transmission throughout the colony. Termites display shaking alarms in response to pathogens and may become less active as an infection becomes lethal, but I found that these changes in behavior were not influenced by the presence of nestmates. Additionally, instead of self-isolating from the colony, infected individuals congregated with large numbers of workers. Together, these results illustrate how social immunity can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms and highlight the need for further research across different taxa

Redes de colaboración y producción de patentes de la Universidad EAFIT de Colombia presentes en la base de datos de la Oficina Europea de Patentes (Espacenet)

Objetivo: Hacer visible inventores, organizaciones y líneas de interés tecnológico de la Universidad EAFIT mediante el análisis de redes y estudio del registro de sus patentes en Espacenet, identificando el grado de colaboración interno y externo. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo transversal de las patentes registradas hasta julio de 2019, focalizando los resultados en ranking de producción y medidas de centralidad y poder del Análisis de Redes. Resultados: Se evaluaron 60 patentes, identificándose 125 inventores, 18 organizaciones colaborativas y 79 líneas de interés tecnológico. Se observa un incremento considerable en el registro de patentes del 2014 al 2017, y una caida al 2018 (sólo dos registros). El 97% corresponde a invenciones originales (A), 57% son solicitudes hechas fuera de Colombia, lo que refleja un alto grado de internacionalización. Finalmente, se observa que la colaboración con otras organizaciones e inventores extranjeros es nula, lo que refleja una gran oportunidad para desarrollar un mayor trabajo colaborativo fuera de Colombia, a pesar de ello, EAFIT cuenta con capacidades propias que le permiten tener presencia en otras regionesObjective: To make visible inventors, organizations and lines of technological interest of the EAFIT University by analyzing networks and studying the registration of their patents in Espacenet, identifying the degree of internal and external collaboration. Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive study of the patents registered until July 2019, focusing the analysis of the results in the ranking of production and measures of centrality and power of Network Analysis. Results: 60 patents were evaluated, identifying 125 inventors, 18 collaborative organizations and 79 lines of technological interest. There is a considerable increase in the registration of patents from 2014 to 2017, and a fall to 2018 (only two registrations). 97% corresponds to invention patents, 57% to applications made outside of Colombia, reflecting a high degree of internationalization. Finally, no collaborations with foreign organizations and inventors have been identified, reflecting a great opportunity to develop more collaborative work outside Colombia, despite this, EAFIT has its own capabilities that allow it to have a presence in other regions

Identificación mediante el Análisis de Redes de la dinámica temática presente en la revista Información, Cultura y Sociedad

Objective: Identify the research lines present in the Journal Información, Cultura y Sociedad (ICS), through network analysis, defining historical trends of interest, as well as opportunities to cover knowledge gaps. Methods: A cross - sectional descriptive study based on research published in ICS from its inception until 2016, considering as key elements the keywords, considering them as referring to the issue of publication. The evaluation had two approaches: number of occurrence of the nodes in the study period and analysis of power relations, scope and greater impact among them, applying Network Analysis (AR). Finally, it was comparatively evaluated the occurrence versus relations between nodes. Results: We reviewed 197 research papers, identifying 570 key words or research topics. The AR established that the majority of research papers have Argentina as the main topic, with a greater interest in issues directly related to librarianship, few of which correspond to cross-cutting themes and related to other environments. Conclusions: The greatest number of research topics in ICS are linked to library techniques and processes, so there is an opportunity to strengthen the content of the publication with transversal topics of an organizational type, such as knowledge management, information management Organizational, intelligence or business surveillance.Objetivo: Identificar las líneas de investigación presentes en la revista Información, Cultura y Sociedad (ICS) mediante el análisis de redes, definiendo tendencias históricas de interés, así como las oportunidades para cubrir vacíos de conocimiento. Métodos: Estudio descriptivo transversal en base a investigaciones publicadas en la ICS desde su inicio hasta el 2016, considerándose como elementos de estudio las palabras claves, considerándolos referentes de la temática de la publicación. La evaluación tuvo dos enfoques: número de ocurrencia de los nodos en el periodo de estudio y análisis de las relaciones de poder, alcance y mayor impacto entre ellos, aplicándose el Análisis de Redes (AR). Finalmente se evaluó comparativamente la ocurrencia versus relaciones entre nodos. Resultados: Se revisaron 197 documentos de investigación, identificándose 569 palabras claves o temas de investigación. Mediante el AR se estableció que la mayoría de documentos de investigación tienen a Argentina como tema principal, existiendo un mayor interés por temas directamente relacionados a aspectos bibliotecológicos, siendo escasos los correspondientes a temas transversales y vinculados a otros entornos. Conclusiones: El mayor número de temas de investigación en ICS están vinculados a técnicas y procesos bibliotecológicos, por lo que existe la oportunidad de fortalecer el contenido de la publicación con temas transversales de tipo organizacional, como son la gestión del conocimiento, gestión de información organizacional, inteligencia o vigilancia empresarial

Heterogeneous context-aware robots providing a personalized building tour regular paper

Existing robot guides offer a tour of a building, such as a museum or science centre, to one or more visitors. Usually the tours are predefined and lack support for dynamic interactions between the different robots. This paper focuses on the distributed collaboration of multiple heterogeneous robots (receptionist, companion) guiding visitors through a building. Semantic techniques support the formal definition of tour topics, the available content on a specific topic, and the robot and person profiles including interests and acquired knowledge. The robot guides select topics depending on their participants' interests and prior knowledge. Whenever one guide moves into the proximity of another, the guides automatically exchange participants, optimizing the amount of interesting topics. Robot collaboration is realized through the development of a software module that allows a robot to transparently include behaviours performed by other robots into its own set of behaviours. The multi-robot visitor guide application is integrated into an extended distributed heterogeneous robot team, using a receptionist robot that was not originally designed to cooperate with the guides. Evaluation of the implemented algorithms presents a 90% content coverage of relevant topics for the participants

An Agent-Based Approach for a Smart Transport System

This paper presents a proposal for a Smart Transport System which is an application that facilitates the interconnection between people (citizens, tourists) and transport providers (Bus, metro, trains, trams), defining the services that everyone can request or offer. The system has been defined as a virtual organization where agents (representing actors of the transport system) can enter or leave into the system consuming or offering services. Due to the fact that modern urban public transport is increasingly an important service used by citizens in current cities, the proposed system will improve the use of resources while also ensuring time flexible mobility solutions for citizens

Catalytic feasibility of Ce-doped LaCoO3 systems for chlorobenzene oxidation: An analysis of synthesis method

A family of Ce-doped LaCoO3 perovskites are presented as possible catalysts for Cl–VOCs elimination. These materials with different contents of Ce were obtained through the citrate and the reactive grinding methods. The insertion of Ce in the original perovskite structure favours the presence of Co2+/Co3+ and Ce3+/Ce4+ redox pairs and a higher content of oxygen vacancies that enhances the catalytic performance in chlorobenzene combustion based on differential kinetics studies. The family obtained by the grinding method presents a performance as high as that synthesized by citrate method. Thus, the reactive grinding is a feasible green chemistry alternative to obtain a catalyst with the same performance as that obtained from traditional methods. Finally, the stability of samples was evaluated under total combustion reaction conditions showing an excellent activity during 45 h time on stream.Fil: Acosta Perez, Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Cadus, Luis Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Aguero, Fabiola Nerina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; Argentin

Topology tools for network analysis on gis platforms

Vector Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have network analysis tools thatare of great importance in the modeling of electrical networks and especially for anystudy based on the interconnectivity of their sections. This work presents thedevelopment of computer tools that use as a basis the analysis of network topologiesand their application for the detection of areas interconnected or affected byinterruptions in supply, the identification and selection of each of the elementsrepresented and the possibility of exchanging data with other calculation software.Fil: Aguero, Carlos Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Di Mauro, Guillermo Fabián. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Anaut, Daniel Orlando. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Vignerte, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Strack, Jorge Luis. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentin