Abstract: In this study, a model assisted strategy is developed to control the distribution of colloids in porous media in the framework of nanoremediation, an innovative environmental nanotechnology aimed at reclaiming contaminated aquifers. This approach is exemplified by the delivery of humic acid-stabilized iron oxide nanoparticles (FeOx), a typical reagent for in situ immobilization of heavy metals. By tuned sequential injections of FeOx suspensions and of solutions containing a destabilizing agent (i.e. calcium or magnesium), the two fronts, which advance at different rates, overlap at the target location (i.e., the central portion) of the porous systems. Here, the particles deposit and accumulate irreversibly, creating a reactive zone. An analytical expression predicting the position of the clustering zone in 1D systems is derived from first principles of advective-dispersive transport. Through this equation, the sequence and duration of the injection of the different solutions in the medium is assessed. The model robustness is demonstrated by its successful application to various systems, comprising the use of different sands or immobilizing cations, both in 1D and 2D geometries. The method represents an advancement in the control of nanomaterial fate in the environment, and could enhance nanoremediation making it an effective alternative to more conventional techniques. Resumen: En este estudio, una estrategia modelística es desarrollada con el fin de controlar la distribución de coloides en medios porosos en el marco de la nanorremediación, una nanotecnología ambiental enfocada a la recuperación de acuíferos contaminados. En el presente análisis, se usan de nanopartículas de óxido de hierro estabilizadas con ácido húmico (FeOx), un reactivo típico para la inmovilización in situ de metales pesados. Mediante aplicaciones secuenciales controladas de suspensiones de FeOx y soluciones que contienen un agente desestabilizador (calcio o magnesio), los dos frentes, que avanzan a diferentes velocidades, se superponen en la ubicación deseada (en este caso en el centro) del medio porosos. Aquí, las partículas se depositan y acumulan de forma irreversible, creando una zona reactiva. Una expresión analítica que predice la posición de la zona de deposición en sistemas unidimensionales (1D) se deriva de los primeros principios del transporte advectivo-dispersivo. A través de esta ecuación se evalúa la secuencia y duración de la inyección de las diferentes soluciones en el medio poroso. La robustez del modelo se demuestra con la exitosa aplicación en diversos sistemas, que comprenden el uso de diferentes tamaños de grano o cationes inmovilizadores, tanto en geometrías 1D como 2D. El método representa un avance en el control del destino final de los nanomateriales en el medio ambiente y podría mejorar la nanorremediación, convirtiéndolo en una alternativa eficaz a las técnicas convencionales actuales.

Abstract: Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is an autosomal dominant (NIPBL, SMC3 and RAD21) or X-linked (SMC1A and HDAC8) disorder, characterized by distinctive craniofacial appearance, growth retardation, intellectual disability and limb anomalies. Its clinical presentation can be extremely variable. Here we report on a girl with classical CdLS phenotype, growth retardation, intellectual disability and gastroesophageal reflux disease, who is mosaic for the c.6647A>C mutation in the NIPBL gene. While this mutation was undetected by standard Sanger sequencing, it was identified by subsequent exome and panel sequencing approaches. Allele quantification by pyrosequencing showed the presence of the mutation in about 10%, 23.5% and 46.5% of DNA samples from peripheral blood leukocytes, buccal epithelial cells and fibroblasts, respectively. NIPBL mutations in a mosaic state are a frequent cause of CdLS, but clinical diagnosis of these patients can be challenging. In our case, the panel enriched sequencing as well as the exome sequencing clearly demonstrated to be very sensitive tools for mosaic mutation detection.

Abstract: Although the analysis of urban poverty has advanced towards the integration of objective and subjective approaches to assessing urban development, evaluation of quality of life in cities remains tied to a commodity framework which conceptualises it as the mere dotation of urban amenities. Multidimensional indicators of quality of life attempt to overcome this sort of restriction by considering broader informational spaces to assess well-being in cities. The capability approach has gone some way in addressing this as a multidimensional approach, however the interpretation of spatial phenomena has been absent from its application, meaning that the role of space in the configuration of urban poverty has been neglected. Drawing on cross-sectional data, this paper examines a multidimensional measure of urban poverty based on capabilities of young adults in Bogota in order to identify clusters of deprivation and affluence of well-being and determine levels of urban segregation based on this type of metric. The result is a spatialised index of capabilities that allow us to assess well-being from a perspective of socio-spatial differences. The findings support the importance of considering spatial patterning of capabilities in understanding poverty dynamics in cities. Spatialised capabilities may help to support urban policy design and promote greater understanding of spatial inequalities in cities.

Abstract: QoL studies conceptualise urban well-being as a multidimensional process that is influenced by personal and environmental factors. A much less explored field in QoL has to do with the notion of capabilities and functionings as measurements to evaluate the level of quality of life that people experience in cities. By investigating the young adults category, this article develops a measurement of QoL based on the normative framework of the Capability Approach (CA) to capture urban domains that affect quality of life in Bogota. This study introduces a quantitative methodology to use secondary aggregated data to build a QoL measurement based on capabilities. A nonlinear categorical principal component analysis was used to explore the underlying factor structure of a calibration sample (n=6,998). Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to validate identified factors, revealing a good fit (SRMR=0.033, CFI=0.910). The result is a Young Adult Capability Index (YACI) that empirically explores the use of capability achievements as a space for evaluating urban QoL in young adults. A multiple linear regression was calculated to predict YACI based on additional variables which are sensitive to inequality for young adults. Results show that capability scores are lower once young adults enter adulthood. Women arrive with better capabilities from childhood and adolescence than men, but rapidly undergo a marked process of decapitalisation of capabilities during their transition to adulthood, suggesting the need for more attention in the elaboration of public policies for this type of population.

Abstract: Objective: To investigate opportunities for task shifting to decongest an outpatient neurology clinic in Zambia by describing current patient flow through the clinic and potential nodes for intervention using process mapping. Background: Zambia has a population of approximately 18 million people with 4 full-time adult neurologists, as of 2018, who all practice at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), the main tertiary care center in the country. As a result of this provider-to-patient ratio, the outpatient neurology clinic is overcrowded and overbooked. Task-shifting programs have shown to improve efficiency, access and quality of care through the use of less specialized healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Methods: We evaluated patient flow in the UTH neurology outpatient clinic through the development and analysis of a process map. The characteristics of the clinic population between 2014 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed from the clinic register. Between July and August 2018, we prospectively collected appointment lag times and time each patient spent waiting at various points in the clinic process. We conducted interviews with clinic staff and neurologists to generate a detailed process map of current pathways to care within the clinic. We then devised task- shifting strategies to help reduce patient wait times based on the overview of clinic process mapping and patient demographics. Results: From 2014 to 2018, there were 4701 outpatients seen in the neurology clinic. The most common neurologi- cal diagnoses were epilepsy (39.2%), headache (21.5%) and cerebrovascular disease (16.7%). During prospective data collection, patients waited an average of 57.8 (SD 73.4) days to be seen by a neurologist. The average wait time from arrival in the clinic to departure was 4.0 (SD 2.5) h. The process map and interviews with clinic staff revealed long waiting times due to a paucity of providers. Nurses and clerks represent an influential stakeholder group, but are not actively involved in any activity to reduce wait times. A large proportion of follow-up patients were stable and seen solely to obtain medication refills. Conclusions: Epilepsy, headache, and stroke make up the largest percentage of outpatient neurological illness in Zambia. Targeting stable patients in these diagnostic categories for a task-shifting intervention may lead to substan- tially decreased patient wait times. Potential interventions include shifting clinical follow-ups and medication refills to less specialized healthcare workers.

Abstract: Objective: To investigate opportunities for task shifting to decongest an outpatient neurology clinic in Zambia by describing current patient flow through the clinic and potential nodes for intervention using process mapping. Background: Zambia has a population of approximately 18 million people with 4 full-time adult neurologists, as of 2018, who all practice at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), the main tertiary care center in the country. As a result of this provider-to-patient ratio, the outpatient neurology clinic is overcrowded and overbooked. Task-shifting programs have shown to improve efficiency, access and quality of care through the use of less specialized healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Methods: We evaluated patient flow in the UTH neurology outpatient clinic through the development and analysis of a process map. The characteristics of the clinic population between 2014 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed from the clinic register. Between July and August 2018, we prospectively collected appointment lag times and time each patient spent waiting at various points in the clinic process. We conducted interviews with clinic staff and neurologists to generate a detailed process map of current pathways to care within the clinic. We then devised task- shifting strategies to help reduce patient wait times based on the overview of clinic process mapping and patient demographics. Results: From 2014 to 2018, there were 4701 outpatients seen in the neurology clinic. The most common neurologi- cal diagnoses were epilepsy (39.2%), headache (21.5%) and cerebrovascular disease (16.7%). During prospective data collection, patients waited an average of 57.8 (SD 73.4) days to be seen by a neurologist. The average wait time from arrival in the clinic to departure was 4.0 (SD 2.5) h. The process map and interviews with clinic staff revealed long waiting times due to a paucity of providers. Nurses and clerks represent an influential stakeholder group, but are not actively involved in any activity to reduce wait times. A large proportion of follow-up patients were stable and seen solely to obtain medication refills. Conclusions: Epilepsy, headache, and stroke make up the largest percentage of outpatient neurological illness in Zambia. Targeting stable patients in these diagnostic categories for a task-shifting intervention may lead to substan- tially decreased patient wait times. Potential interventions include shifting clinical follow-ups and medication refills to less specialized healthcare workers.

Abstract: The election of right-wing politicians in several Latin American countries in recent years seems to present a break from the left-wing governments previously in power across the subcontinent. However, Colombia is distinct from these trends in that it has consistently been dominated by centre-right or right-wing politics. The absence of political space for left-wing politics in Colombia has allowed different governments to portray protests and protestors as subversive and criminal. Despite the high risks of mobilization, protests have continued to take place, even in periods during which armed conflict has escalated. Since mid-2008, right-wing movements have embraced, supported and used protest as a tactic; undertaking, calling for, and giving political support to different protests across the country. This has had an unexpected consequence: the use of protests by right-wing politicians has “normalized” protests in the country in the eyes of the political right, government institutions, and some sectors within the security and defence forces that now see protests as valid and normal. This article argues that the normalization of protest movements in Colombia has taken place due in part to right-wing and populist politicians’ support of protests. To discuss this, a brief historical analysis of the protests in Colombia since 1948 is presented, with the period from 2002 onwards discussed in greater detail.

Resumen: En la coyuntura histórica de Bogotá a principios de 1998, el rasgo fundamental fue el de la sacralización del nuevo marco constitucional y jurídico que le otorgaba facultades a los dirigentes urbanos para interpretar las normas de acuerdo con una filosofía radical, la cual configuró un imperio y una ideología de la ley en torno a la cuestión del espacio público en la ciudad, orientada a privilegiar unos intereses particulares y unas tendencias ideológicas específicas afines a las condiciones hegemónicas existentes en la actual modernidad global. Esto alteró de forma sustancial las dinámicas socioculturales que se habían venido produciendo en la Plaza de San Victorino y el antiguo barrio de Santa Inés durante, al menos, la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Esta situación dio lugar a la reconfiguración de los fenómenos de informalidad y marginalidad presentes en el sector que no desaparecieron sino que, por el contrario, cobraron otras formas y readaptaron sus prácticas a las nuevas condiciones del espacio urbano en este sector de Bogotá.

The genus Sarcocystis and the species Toxoplasma gondii are the most prevalent sarcocystid organisms found in birds. Molecular phylogenies based on the first internal transcribed spacer of the ribosomal coding DNA (ITS1) have been widely used to identify them. Here, pectoral muscles from 400 wild birds from Brazil were screened by means of molecular methods using nested PCR, and Sanger sequencing yielded amplicons. A pan-sarcocystid ITS1-directed nested PCR revealed 28 birds infected by Sarcocystis falcatula (ten Piciformes, eight Psittaciformes, five Columbiformes, two Accipitriformes, one Anseriformes, one Passeriformes and one Strigiformes); one infected by Sarcocystis halieti (one Accipitriformes); nine infected by unknown or undescribed Sarcocystis (six Passeriformes, one Piciformes, one Cathartiformes and one Cuculiformes); and six harboring Toxoplasma gondii DNA (three Pelecaniformes, two Falconiformes and one Columbiformes). Samples harboring S. falcatula-related ITS1 sequences were further characterized by means of PCR and sequencing of genetic sequences of three surface antigen coding genes (SAGs). From this, 10 new allelic combinations of SAGs (SAG2, SAG3 and SAG4) were identified, in addition to 11 SAG allelic combinations already found in Brazil. Samples with S. falcatula-unrelated ITS1 sequences were further characterized by means of PCR and sequencing of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I coding sequences (CO1) and 18S ribosomal DNA gene (18S rDNA). This study was the first extensive survey of wild birds in Brazil for Sarcocystidae species. It provides the first molecular evidence of natural S. falcatula infection in 14 species, including in the order Piciformes, and shows the high genetic diversity of S. falcatula in intermediate hosts in South America. Evidence of occurrence of at least three non-described species of Sarcocystis was also presented in this study. This survey corroborated the ubiquity of T. gondii infection but revealed surprisingly low prevalence of this parasite (1.5%).

Resumen: El artículo científico trata de los problemas que tiene la interpretación de los derechos y la creación de los mismos en el escenario de los jueces. Presenta una nueva teoría para superar el asunto. Dada su importancia, fue publicado en la Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Jurisprudencia. La Academia es la asociación de juristas más importantes de Colombia, fundada en 1894 y sirve de Consultora del Estado colombiano, el gobierno y las altas cortes.