Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

INTRODUCTION: One of the most important challenges at the beginning of the pandemic was to implement strategies to prevent SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission and reduce the impact of COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the reduction of community transmission through an interinstitutional initiative, aimed at validating a SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection method, and at implementing and assessing the surveillance of asymptomatic infected healthcare workers (HCWs) at public health institutions in the city of Bahía Blanca. METHODS: To validate a coronavirus RNA detection method, RNA was extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs and identification of the viral E gene was done by RT-PCR. Validation of sample pooling was performed to increase the testing capacity. A prospective cohort study was conducted from 15 September 2020 to 15 September 2021. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of the test in individual samples was 95% (CI 95%: 85%-100%). The sensitivity of the pooling strategy was 73% (CI 95%: 46%-99%) and the specificity was 100%. A total of the 855 HCWs were included in the surveillance and 1764 swabs were performed, with an annual cumulative incidence of 2.3% (CI 95%: 1,2%-3,4%), and 20 positive asymptomatic cases were detected. DISCUSSION: The screening of asymptomatic HCWs during the pandemic contributed to reduce the risk of outbreaks in hospital settings. Moreover, an interdisciplinary team framework applicable to other health problems was generated. 

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for laboratories around the world. National and subnational governments faced the urgent need to adapt institutions for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in response to the health emergency declared in 2020. With the aim of increasing diagnostic capacity in the province of Misiones, a diagnostic laboratory of excellence was established within the “Instituto Misionero de Biodiversidad”. This article shares the steps taken and the challenges faced, in order to serve as a guide to other institutions. METHODS: The stages to establish the laboratory were: acquisition of equipment/reagents, adaptation/ renovation of the laboratory, incorporation and training of human resources, establishment of good practices and biosafety, selection of the extraction and detection methodology, implementation of quality controls and authorization. RESULTS: Since its authorization, the “Laboratorio de Análisis Integral” has processed 1186 biological samples from suspected cases of COVID-19, becoming the second reference laboratory in Misiones. DISCUSSION: The efficient articulation between the “Instituto Misionero de Biodiversidad” and the provincial Ministry of Health achieved the rapid implementation of this high complexity laboratory in a region of epidemiological importance. 

This research focuses on the health condition of 29 individuals that inhabited Los Limones site during the Armería phase (600-1000 AD). The individuals were evaluated to determine if their health conditions had any relationship with the agricultural subsistence practices that have been proposed for the site. On the basis of the standardized methodology for calculating stress indicators, a macroscopic analysis of four bone and six dental lesions was conducted. Dental caries, calculus, antemortem tooth loss, and periosteal reactions were the most frequent lesions. These lesions were identified in juvenile, young adult, and adult individuals of both sexes. Data derived from the environmental and archaeological context, as well as from the identification of bone and dental lesions, suggest that the ancient inhabitants of the Los Limones site may have had a mixed subsistence strategy that included activities such as agriculture, fishing, hunting, and collecting wild plants and fruits.

Elbow breadth relative to height is recognized as an adequate index of skeletal robustness (frame index -FI). The objective of this paper is to estimate and describe reference percentile values of frame index in girls and boys, aged 4 to 14 years, from three Argentine provinces. The sample included 7883 schoolchildren (3913 males and 3970 females) from the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chubut and Mendoza. Anthropometric measurements of elbow breadth (mm) and height (cm) were made between 2014 and 2018 following standardized protocols. From these variables, FI [(elbow breadth / height)*100] was estimated and the percentiles by age and sex were calculated using the LMS method. FI values were higher at the age of 4 years, while after that age the percentile values showed a downward behavior, until reaching the lowest value at age 14. The comparison between sexes indicated higher values in males than in females at all ages and in the different percentile curves. The tabulated and graphed values of FI can be considered a local reference and used in epidemiological and anthropological studies for inferring bone structure of girls and boys, and in the monitoring of hidden obesity in individuals with normal body mass index. 

Morphometric analyses lead to biases in the level of precision, and therefore, error. Geometric morphometrics development has made it possible to create digital collections composed by records from diverse sources. The combined use of data obtained through multiple methods introduces a new type of error, the inter-method error. The joint use of distinct digitization sources will result in low error, as long as there are no significant differences in the results obtained among techniques. An analysis of the Procustes variance, a principal component analysis on the Procrustes coordinates and a hierarchical cluster analysis were carried out to analyse the inter-method and intra-observer error in eight human skulls from Southern Patagonia, digitized by computerized tomography, surface scanner and photogrammetry, using 35 landmarks type I, II and III. The results show that there are no significant differences between the digitization sources, so 3D files from different sources could be used together. No significant intra-observer error was observed for any of the sources, also presenting a lower magnitude than the intermethod error. In the present study, photogrammetry, the only method that permitsrecovering the texture and in which the landmarks were previously indicated, is the source that presents the lowest error. Based on the results obtained, it is suggested that it is possible to perform satisfactory geometric morphometric analyses regardless of the source used for its registration, considering those analysed here, highlighting the influence of the texture and the registration of landmarks on the degree of error.

The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a macro-social event that reinforces territorial inequalities.The objective of this study is to increase knowledge of food security in the province of Tucumán during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, by describing the extent and distribution of food insecurity at a departmental level, and analyzing, in particular, households with children and adolescents. A quantitative and cross-sectional study was carried out by means of a digital questionnaire. The Latin American and Caribbean Scale for the measurement of Food Security was applied to distinguish betweenhouseholds with food security and households with food insecurity (mild, moderate, severe). Information from 3,915 households was obtained. Prevalences of food insecurity were calculated at a departmental level and according to the presence or absence of minors in the household. In addition, spatial indicators and thematic cartography were developed and census data were analyzed. Comparisons were made considering the presence of minors in the home (chi-square tests). The results indicated that, during the first months of the pandemic, food insecurity showed marked socio-spatial differences. The most affected households were those where children and adolescents lived. The analysis at departmental level confirms this trend and reveals critical areas of food insecurity and perception of hunger associated with conditions of persistent inequality. The results and cartographic developments obtained provide evidence on the vulnerability of child populations in the context of a pandemic.

In order to study the phenomenon of old age, this research carried out the osteobiographical characterization of the individuals who achieved greater longevity in a prehispanic population group that lived in the colombian eastern Andes during the Early Muisca (200-1000 AD). Methodologically, this research used a qualitative analysis based on the bioarcheology of the individual on four case studies. The funerary context, together with the macroscopic analysis of bone and dental stress indicators, as well as cultural indicators, was used to answer the  questions posed by the osteobiographical model from a life course, life-history theory and  biocultural approach. The results revealed a possible heterogeneity of funeral practices and injuries that were similar in the four cases, such as degenerative joint disease in moderate and severe degrees, as well as oral and dental conditions associated with caries, loss of antemortem teeth, periodontal disease and severe wear of the occlusal surface. This allowed us to infer that the conditions the analyzed individuals suffered from are related to the population’s way of subsistence and its senescence processes.

This work aims to study the prevalence and possible causes of bipartite patella (BP) and vastus notch (VN) in late Holocene (ca. 3500-200 years BP) human skeletons of terrestrial-mixed and maritime hunter-gatherers from southern Patagonia (Argentina). The studied sample included 36 patellae of 22 individuals (15 males and 7 females; 13 young adults and 9 middle adults). All patellae were macroscopically inspected. The morphology, location and roughness of their concavities were registered, as well as the presence of bone fragments. BP was classified according to the location of the fragments (Type I, II or III). The results were evaluated by age, sex, and subregion. Only BP Type III was recorded, affecting 13,6 % of the skeletons, all of them males from Tierra del Fuego. In contrast, VN was recorded in 22,7 % of the individuals, mainly females, and it was distributed equally in the skeletons from all the analyzed subregions. The type of BP found seems to be caused by developmental defects, although trauma and mechanical loading cannot be completely ruled out. In contrast, VN could be related to biomechanical overloading and postural demands. The geographical provenance of the individuals, and the economic strategies consequently adopted, seems to be unrelated to these two bone traits. Thus, terrestrial-mixed and maritime hunter-gatherers from southern Patagonia were similarly affected by both BP and VN.

The thoracic spine manifests degenerative changes from aging, obesity, repetitive strain and occupational stress, although sex differences are poorly understood. In this work we examine whether differences in the expression of thoracic degenerative joint changes can be found in females and males with respect to age. The two age groups included in the study are older adults between 50 and 55 years and elderly individuals between 70-75 years from the William M. Bass osteological collection of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (USA). The first interval represents the onset of skeletal decline.The second is correlated with reduced mobility and an increase in arthritic pain. The thoracic vertebrae from 99 individuals (52 females and 47 males) were macroscopically examined on superior and inferior centra and zygapophyses for lipping, porosity and eburnation following Buikstra and Ubelaker’s (1994) scoring system. Elderly females and males exhibit a higher severity of degenerative changes than older adults, and in males the degree of lipping was extreme. Regarding older adults, males present a greater severity of lipping, extent of lipping, porosity, and extent of porosity than females. However, females show a greater degree of eburnation among older adults, particularly in the lower thoracic vertebrae. When elderly adults are compared, males express a higher degree of lipping, extent of lipping and extent of porosity than females. Like their older adult counterparts, elderly females show evidence of a greater severity in eburnation than males, suggesting hormonal profile disruption associated with reproductive cessation as well as occupational stress, may also cause the deterioration of the intervertebral discs, particularly in the lower thoracic skeleton.

The study of the structural and functional properties of the brain of Homo sapiens, and of other non-human primates, is a founding topic in the research tradition of biological anthropology. However, early questioning of the racial-typological perspective led to the abandonment of intraspecific analyses, strongly limiting their integration into neurosciences. This study presents a critical historical analysis of brain research carried out from biological anthropology and neurosciences—particularly in biomedicine—, with an emphasis on current human populations. Finally, we discuss some topics that could strengthen both areas. We conclude that the ontological and theoretical-methodological corpus developed within biological anthropology for the study of patterns of spatio-temporal variation in phenotypic and genetic traits, as well as the evolutionary processes and environmental factors that modeled them, could be a significant contribution to the studies developed by neurosciences.