Infrared spectroscopy (NIRS and ATR-FTIR) together with multivariate classification for non-destructive differentiation between female mosquitoes of Aedes aegypti recently infected with dengue vs. uninfected females.

One of the most important steps in preventing arboviruses is entomological surveillance. The main entomological surveillance action is to detect vector foci in the shortest possible stages. In this work, near and medium infrared spectra collected from female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes recently infected and not infected with dengue were used in order to build chemometric models capable of differentiating the spectra of each class. For this, computational algorithms such as Successive Projection Algorithm (SPA) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) were used together with Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). The constructed models were evaluated with sensitivity and specificity calculations. It was observed that models based on near infrared (NIR) spectra have better classification results when compared to mid infrared (MIR) spectra, as well as models based on GA present better results when compared to those based on SPA. Thus, NIR-GA-LDA obtained the best results, reaching 100.00 % for sensitivity and specificity. NIR spectroscopy is 18 times faster and 116 times cheaper than RT-qPCR. The findings reported in this study may have important applications in the field of entomological surveillance, prevention and control of dengue vectors. In the future, mosquito traps equipped with portable NIR instruments capable of detecting infected mosquitoes may be used, in order to enable an action plan to prevent future outbreaks of the disease.

The Portuguese Severe Asthma Registry: Development, Features, and Data Sharing Policies.

The Portuguese Severe Asthma Registry (Registo de Asma Grave Portugal, RAG) was developed by an open collaborative network of asthma specialists. RAG collects data from adults and pediatric severe asthma patients that despite treatment optimization and adequate management of comorbidities require step 4/5 treatment according to GINA recommendations. In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of RAG, its features, and data sharing policies. The contents and structure of RAG were defined in a multistep consensus process. A pilot version was pretested and iteratively improved. The selection of data elements for RAG considered other severe asthma registries, aiming at characterizing the patient's clinical status whilst avoiding overloading the standard workflow of the clinical appointment. Features of RAG include automatic assessment of eligibility, easy data input, and exportable data in natural language that can be pasted directly in patients' electronic health record and security features to enable data sharing (among researchers and with other international databases) without compromising patients' confidentiality. RAG is a national web-based disease registry of severe asthma patients, available at asmagrave.pt. It allows prospective clinical data collection, promotes standardized care and collaborative clinical research, and may contribute to inform evidence-based healthcare policies for severe asthma.

Eficacia de esterilización del instrumental odontológico en las centra-les de esterilización de la Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad Central del Ecuador, mediante la utilización de indicador biológico / Effectiveness of sterilization of dental instruments in the sterilization centers of the Faculty of Dentistry of the Central University of Ecuador, through the use of biological indicator

RESUMEN El riesgo por infección cruzada se encuentra permanentemente durante la práctica odontológica, razón por la cual es vital aplicar las normas de bioseguri-dad y mantener un control estricto del proceso de esterilización del material e instrumental empleado; para esto, la utilización de indicadores biológicos ayu-da a obtener mayor confiabilidad en la determinación de la eficacia del proceso esterilización, ya que evidencian la destrucción o no de esporas. Objetivo: Establecer la eficacia de esterilización por calor húmedo del instrumental odontológico en las centrales de esterilización de pregrado, quirófano y exodoncia de la FOUCE, mediante el uso de indicador biológico en la capacidad máxima de las autoclaves. Materiales y métodos: la investigación fue desarrollada en el autoclave de las centrales de esterilización de pregrado, quirófano y exodoncia FOUCE, colocando un indicador biológico en cada uno de ellos a 121ºC, 1 atmósfera y activando el proceso de esterilización propiamente dicha por 20 minutos, para luego de ser incubado obtener el resultado. Este estudio se llevó a cabo en dos ciclos de esterilización al día, dos días a la semana, durante un mes. Resultados: En la central de esterilización de pregrado, el 100% de sus muestras fueron negativas a presencia de esporas. En la central de esterilización de quirófano el 50% de las muestras fueron negativas y el 50% positivas. Y en la central de esterilización de exodoncia el 94% de las muestras fueron negativas y el 6,0% positivas. Conclusión: La Facultad de odontología de la Universidad Central del Ecuador, en sus centrales de esterilización de pregrado, exodoncia y quirófano cuentan con una eficacia del 81,25%

ABSTRACT The risk of cross infection is permanently found during dental practice; for this reason, it is vital to apply biosafety standards and maintain strict control of the sterilization process of the material and instruments used; for this, the use of biological indicators helps to obtain greater reliability in determining the effectiveness of the sterilization process, since they show the destruction or not of spores. Objective: Establish the effectiveness of wet heat sterilization of dental instruments in FOUCE undergraduate, operating room and exodontic sterilization plants, using the biological indicator in the maximum capacity of the autoclaves. Material and methods: the research was carried out in the autoclave of the FOUCE undergraduate, operating and sterilization plants, placing a biological indicator in each of them at 121°C, 1 atmosphere and activating the sterilization process for 20 minutes, after being incubated get the result. This study was carried out in two sterilization cycles a day, two days a week, for a month. Results: in the undergraduate sterilization center, 100% of its samples were negative in the presence of spores. In the operating room sterilization center 50% of the samples were negative and 50% positive. And in the exodontic sterilization center 94% of the samples were negative and 6.0% positive. Conclusion: The dental faculty of the Central University of Ecuador, in its undergrad-uate sterilization centers, tooth extraction and operating room have an efficiency of 81.25%.

La reconstrucción de lo público. movimiento social, ciudadanía y gestión de agua en cochabamba

Esta investigación presenta las relaciones entre ciudadanía y gestión del agua, a partir de la constitución de un movimiento social que ha cuestionado y revertido la privatización del servicio del agua en Cochabamba. Plantea también una propuesta teórica para abordar el estudio de la ciudadanía y los movimientos sociales.