Cambio tecnológico, empleo y distribución de la renta: algunas consideraciones

Desde la revolución industrial hasta hoy el cambio tecnológico ha sido tanto una fuente de preocupación como de optimismo, entre otras razones, porque determinar su impacto depende de la perspectiva que se asuma. En este trabajo se abordan dos cuestiones: por un lado, los efectos sobre el nivel de empleo y, por otro, la incidencia en la distribución de la renta

Cambio tecnológico, empleo y distribución de la renta: algunas consideraciones

From the industrial revolution up to date, technological change has been both a source of concern and optimism, among other reasons, because determining its impact depends on the perspective assumed. This paper addresses two issues: on the one hand, the effects on the level of employment and, on the other, the impact on income distribution.Desde la revolución industrial hasta hoy el cambio tecnológico ha sido tanto una fuente de preocupación como de optimismo, entre otras razones, porque determinar su impacto depende de la perspectiva que se asuma. En este trabajo se abordan dos cuestiones: por un lado, los efectos sobre el nivel de empleo y, por otro, la incidencia en la distribución de la renta

The costs of preventing and treating chagas disease in Colombia

Background: The objective of this study is to report the costs of Chagas disease in Colombia, in terms of vector disease control programmes and the costs of providing care to chronic Chagas disease patients with cardiomyopathy. Methods: Data were collected from Colombia in 2004. A retrospective review of costs for vector control programmes carried out in rural areas included 3,084 houses surveyed for infestation with triatomine bugs and 3,305 houses sprayed with insecticide. A total of 63 patient records from 3 different hospitals were selected for a retrospective review of resource use. Consensus methodology with local experts was used to estimate care seeking behaviour and to complement observed data on utilisation. Findings: The mean cost per house per entomological survey was $4.4 (in US$ of 2004), whereas the mean cost of spraying a house with insecticide was $27. The main cost driver of spraying was the price of the insecticide, which varied greatly. Treatment of a chronic Chagas disease patient costs between$46.4 and $7,981 per year in Colombia, depending on severity and the level of care used. Combining cost and utilisation estimates the expected cost of treatment per patient-year is$1,028, whereas lifetime costs averaged $11,619 per patient. Chronic Chagas disease patients have limited access to healthcare, with an estimated 22% of patients never seeking care. Conclusion: Chagas disease is a preventable condition that affects mostly poor populations living in rural areas. The mean costs of surveying houses for infestation and spraying infested houses were low in comparison to other studies and in line with treatment costs. Care seeking behaviour and the type of insurance affiliation seem to play a role in the facilities and type of care that patients use, thus raising concerns about equitable access to care. Preventing Chagas disease in Colombia would be cost-effective and could contribute to prevent inequalities in health and healthcare.Wellcome Trus

Effect of branchings on blood flow in the system of human coronary arteries

In this work, we investigate the behavior of the pulsatile blood flow in the system of human coronary arteries. Blood is modeled as an incompressible non-Newtonian fluid. The transient phenomena of blood flow through the coronary system are simulated by solving the three dimensional unsteady state Navier-Stokes equations and continuity equation. Distributions of velocity, pressure and wall shear stresses are determined in the system under pulsatile conditions on the boundaries. Effect of branching vessel on the flow problem is investigated. The numerical results show that blood pressure in the system with branching vessels of coronary arteries is lower than the one in the system with no branch. The magnitude of wall shear stresses rises at the bifurcation

Knockout of the dhfr-ts Gene in Trypanosoma cruzi Generates Attenuated Parasites Able to Confer Protection against a Virulent Challenge

Chagas disease is the clinical manifestation of the infection produced by the flagellate parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and currently there is no vaccine to prevent this disease. Therefore, different approaches or alternatives are urgently needed. Vaccination with live attenuated parasites has been used effectively in mice to reduce parasitemia and histological damage. However, the use of live parasites as inmunogens is controversial due to the risk of reversion to a virulent phenotype. In this work we genetically manipulated a naturally attenuated strain of T. cruzi in order to produce parasites with impaired replication and infectivity, using the mutation as a safety device against reversion to virulence. We show that genetically modified parasites display a lower proliferation rate in vitro and induced almost undetectable levels of T. cruzi specific CD8+ T cells when injected in mice. Furthermore, the immune response induced by these live mutant parasites confers protection against a subsequent virulent infection even a year after the original immunization