A note on a paper of S.G. Kim

Respondemos a una pregunta formulada por S.G. Kim en [3] y mostramos que algunos de los resultados de su artículo son consecuencias inmediatas de resultados conocidos.We answer a question posed by S.G. Kim in [3] and show that some of the results of his paper are immediate consequences of known results.peerReviewe

Information Quality in Latin American Digital Native Media: Analysis Based on Structured Dimensions and Indicators

The current communicative ecosystem has profoundly transformed journalistic work and the media, generating with great eagerness the emergence of digital native media that do not follow the logic of their conventional peers. Although the advent of these media is not entirely negative, as they create multiple voices that contribute to pluralism, their quality has undoubtedly been questioned on several academic fronts. This work analyzes the most important Latin American digital native media by number of accesses (traffic), using a taxonomy of evaluation of dimensions of the informative quality, in which aspects such as informative sources, uses of international news agencies, correction of contents and factuality levels, ideological plurality in their opinion contents, among others, are taken into consideration. Of the emerging results, the ‘use of statistical indicators’ was the least rated (32.5%), mainly due to a lack of data journalism in the media studied. It is also worth noting that the indicator ‘comments and monitoring’ obtained the second-lowest rating, indicating an absence of conversation between the media and its audience through the comments section of each content

Asociación entre incidencia de Tuberculosis e índice de desarrollo humano en 165 países del mundo

Objetivos: Evaluar la relación entre el índice de desarrollo humano (IDH) y la incidencia de tuberculosis (TB) en 165 países del mundo en el período 2005-2011. Materiales y métodos: Se realizó un estudio ecológico para el cual el IDH se obtuvo de la base de datos del Fondo de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) y la incidencia de TB del Programa Alto a la TB de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Se evaluó la variación anual de las variables y se realizaron modelos de regresión no lineales (exponencial). Resultados. Al analizar los datos con los modelos de regresión no lineal, se observó que los países con mayores tasas de incidencia de TB fueron aquellos con menores valores de IDH, siendo significativa su asociación (p<0,01). De igual forma se observó que en los países, la variación en el tiempo se asoció significativamente con la variación en el IDH. Conclusiones: Se ha encontrado una relación inversa y significativa entre el IDH y la morbilidad por TB en los países estudiados, incluidos tanto los países de mayor carga de enfermedad como los de la región andina en Latinoamérica. Esta información refleja la influencia significativa de indicadores socioeconómicos como el IDH sobre la tasa de incidencia de la TB, especialmente en países endémicos, siendo inversa entre ambos tipos de variables; con el incremento o mejoría del IDH la tasa de incidencia de la enfermedad disminuyó o se encontró siendo significativamente menor.Objectives: Assess relationship between the Human Development Index (HDI) and the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in 165 countries in the World in the period 2005-2011. Materials and methods. An ecological study was done, using HDI data that were obtained from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the incidence rates from the Stop TB Program of the World Health Organization (WHO). The annual variation of the variables was assessed and non-linear regression models (Exponential), were done. Results. At the non-linear regression models, it was observed that the relationship between epidemiological and HDI was significant, those countries with higher rates presented lower values of HDI (p<0.01). Additionally the variation in time was significantly associated with HDI variation. Conclusions: This information reflect the significant influence of socioeconomical indicators such as the HDI on the TB incidence rates in the World, particularly in endemic countries, being an inverse relationship between both types of variables; with an increase or improvement in the HDI, the disease incidence rate decreased or it is found lower

Phage lytic proteins: Biotechnological applications beyond clinical antimicrobials

Most bacteriophages encode two types of cell wall lytic proteins: endolysins (lysins) and virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolases. Both enzymes have the ability to degrade the peptidoglycan of Gram-positive bacteria resulting in cell lysis when they are applied externally. Bacteriophage lytic proteins have a demonstrated potential in treating animal models of infectious diseases. There has also been an increase in the study of these lytic proteins for their application in areas such as food safety, pathogen detection/diagnosis, surfaces disinfection, vaccine development and nanotechnology. This review summarizes the more recent developments, outlines the full potential of these proteins to develop new biotechnological tools and discusses the feasibility of these proposals.Peer Reviewe

Autoimmune neurological conditions associated with Zika virus infection

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging flavivirus rapidly spreading throughout the tropical Americas. mosquitoes is the principal way of transmission of the virus to humans. ZIKV can be spread by transplacental, perinatal, and body fluids. ZIKV infection is often asymptomatic and those with symptoms present minor illness after 3 to 12 days of incubation, characterized by a mild and self-limiting disease with low-grade fever, conjunctivitis, widespread pruritic maculopapular rash, arthralgia and myalgia. ZIKV has been linked to a number of central and peripheral nervous system injuries such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), transverse myelitis (TM), meningoencephalitis, ophthalmological manifestations, and other neurological complications. Nevertheless, mechanisms of host-pathogen neuro-immune interactions remain incompletely elucidated. This review provides a critical discussion about the possible mechanisms underlying the development of autoimmune neurological conditions associated with Zika virus infection

Characterization and evaluation of antifungal activity in vitro of Aloe vera fractions against postharvest fungi

Aloe vera leaves can be separated in a liquid fraction (exudate) and a mucilaginous pulp (gel). Recently, the antifungal activity of their components has been reported. The common technique for gel extraction from A. vera leaves are the traditional manual (in this case the liquid fraction is not separated) and a mechanical methods. Moreover, as a result of its processing the bagasse is obtained. The aim of this work was to recover and characterize the fractions of A. vera and to identify the fraction with highest antifungal activity against phytopathogen postharvest fungi (Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium spp.). A simple and inexpensive extraction method was used to obtain A. vera fractions from 50 kg leaves by means of a designed laboratory roll processor. The yields of extraction were as follows: 15.76% ± 4.0, 51.20% ± 5.20, and 33.02% ± 5.0 for gel, liquid fraction and bagasse, respectively. The three fractions were physico-chemically characterized (protein, monosaccharide composition, ashes, lipids) and resulted to be mainly composed by glucose and mannose in all the cases. Results showed the effectiveness of A. vera fractions in the growth control of phytopathogen postharvest fungi, with visible reduction of fungal growth