"Justificaciones discursivas para el consumo de marihuana y cocaína en jóvenes de estratos medios altos en la ciudad de Temuco". CORECE IX región-Universidad Católica de Temuco-Harmos Ltda.

Estudio que tiene por objetivo comprender las elaboraciones discursivas de jóvenes de enseñanza media, universitaria y del mundo laboral respecto del consumo de marihuana y cocaína y elaborar propuestas comunicacionales apropiadas al discurso de los jóvenes para la prevención del consumo de marihuana y cocaína

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Lo sociocultural en la óptica de la producción científica y tecnológica regiona l: una lectura crítica.

Resultado del Proyecto DIUCT "Tecnologías, innovación y sociedad en la producción científico tecnológica de FONDECYT y FONDEFF en la IX Región de la Araucanía", ejecutado entre los meses de abril del 2000 y abril del 2001Las reflexiones que en el presente texto se elaboran son resultado de un proceso de investigación que busca develar la interacción existente entre ciencia, tecnología y sociedad en el escenario sociocultural de la IX Región de la Araucanía, Chile. El análisis de la imagen y el tipo de relación que las producciones científicas establecen con la realidad sociocultural regional marcan los objetivos del estudio. Algunos insumos de orden cuantitativo que consideramos, ilustrativos en relación a la lógica e intencionalidad de los proyectos de investigación e innovación tecnológica ejecutados, sirven de base para indagar en tomo a cómo se configura lo sociocultural desde la racionalidad científica. El estudio se ha centrado en los proyectos FONDECYT Y FONDEF desde 1994 (existen otros "actores" que se abocan al desarrollo científico en la región), ya que éstos representan la mayor producción y más legítima desde el discurso de la ciencia normal como ciencia oficial a nivel de desarrollo científico e innovación tecnológica. Las interpretaciones construidas tienen como referente teórico principal los Estudios Sociales de Ciencia y Tecnología, apoyándose igualmente en consideraciones provenientes de la Filosofía de la Ciencia y el Análisis Sociocultural.The ideas developed in this paper are the result of research work, whose purpose was to clarify the interaction which exists between science, technology and society in the sociocultural scenario of the IX (Araucania) Region of Chile. The objectives of the study are determined by an analysis of the image projected by scientific trends within the socio-cultural environment of the region, and the type of relationship which such policies establish with that environment. Some quantitative inputs - which we consider illustrative of the motivation and the underlying logic of the scientific development and technological innovation projects carried out -constitute a basis from which we can investigate how the sociocultural environment is shaped by scientific rationality. Although there are other players involved in scientific development in the region, the study concentrated on data from FONDECYT and FONDEF projects carried out since 1994, as these are the largest and most dependable source of data from normal, and as such official, "standard scientific" activity at the leve1 of scientific development and technological innovation. The main theoretical references of the conclusions reached are the Social Studies of Science and Technology; some considerations arising from the Philosophy of the Science and from Sociocultural Analysis are also taken into consideration