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Copyright of Revista Poligramas is the property of Universidad del Valle and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Derecho del Estado is the property of Universidad Externado de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Movimento (0104754X) is the property of Movimento, da Escola de Educacao, Fisica, Fisioterapia e Danca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper proposes a methodology for the estimation of the current account equilibrium exchange rate - the exchange rate that guarantees the intertemporal current account equilibrium for a country. Moreover, the methodology is tested throughout appropriate econometric technics (VECM Models) for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, using quarterly data from around 2000 (according to data availability for each country) to 2020. The model includes both long-term structural variables such as terms of trade, goods and service trade as percentage of GDP and GDP per capita as well short term policy variables such as interest rate differential and EMBI plus. Apart from proposing an innovative methodology for estimating the current account equilibrium exchange rate, the paper brings important insights in terms of chronicle and cyclical appreciation (depreciation) of the exchange rate in LA countries. In addition, it shows high correlation between the exchange rate negative (positive) misalignments and the current account deficits (surpluses) in the countries analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Complutense de Educación is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Irrational antimicrobial consumption (AMC) became one of the main global health problems in recent decades. Objective: In order to understand AMC in Latin-American Region, we performed the present research in 6 countries. Methods: Antimicrobial consumption (J01, A07A, P01AB groups) was registered in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Peru. Source of information, AMC type, DDD (Defined Daily Doses), DID (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day), population were variables explored. Data was analyzed using the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) tool. Results: Source of information included data from global, public, and private sectors. Total AMC was highly variable (range 1.91-36.26 DID). Penicillin was the most consumed group in all countries except in Paraguay, while macrolides and lincosamides were ranked second. In terms of type of AMC according to the WHO-AWaRe classification, it was found that for certain groups like "Reserve," there are similarities among all countries. Conclusion and Relevance: This paper shows the progress that 6 Latin-American countries made toward AMC surveillance. The study provides a standardized approach for building a national surveillance system for AMC data analysis. These steps will contribute to the inclusion of Latin-America among the regions of the world that have periodic, regular, and quality data of AMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Aula (0214-3402) is the property of Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Signo y Pensamiento is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We simulate the short- and long-term distributional consequences of COVID-19 in the four largest Latin American economies: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. We show that the short-term impact on income inequality and poverty can be very significant, but that additional spending on social assistance more than offsets the effect in Brazil. The offsetting effect is significant in Argentina and Colombia and nil in Mexico, where there has been no such expansion. We find that a universal basic income that would have produced the same reduction in the poverty gap as actual policies would have cost slightly more but would have benefited the poor (the nonpoor) slightly less (more). To project the longterm consequences, we estimate the impact of the pandemic on school achievement and its intergenerational persistence. We use information on school closures, educational mitigation policies, and account for educational losses related to health shocks and parental job loss. Our findings show that in all four countries the impact is strongly asymmetric and affects particularly the high-school completion rates of children from disadvantaged families. Our simulations suggest that mitigation policies seem to have a minor impact on containing these negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia y Sociedad (01218417) is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Economicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Exploring phytochemicals from ethnomedicinal plants for pharmacological applications is a promising research area. By studying ethnomedicine, researchers can identify plants used for centuries to treat ailments and investigate their phytochemicals. Consequently, phytochemicals can be isolated, characterized, and tested for pharmacological activities, leading to new drug development. This research also helps preserve traditional knowledge and biodiversity. Lithospermum officinale L., found in Eurasia, Argentina (South), Colombia, and the United States, is valued for its medicinal properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial effects. The current review emphasizes L. officinale L. as a significant reservoir of bioactive phytochemicals, with alkaloids, quinones, glucosides, phenolics, flavonoids, and lipids identified as the principal metabolites. It also unveils the unexplored potential of this plant for future research endeavors. Continued research on L. officinale L. can unlock its full potential, providing insights into its medicinal uses and contributing to biodiversity preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions have been complicit with the ongoing coloniality project that reinforces and perpetuates inequities, dismisses interests, knowledges, alternative discourses, and world views different from Western European thought (Bell, 2018; Dastile & Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2013; Harms-Smith & Rasool, 2020). Education is rooted in colonialism, which raises doubts about the feasibility of universities implementing a decolonial agenda (Dhillon, 2021). To contribute to the conversation about decolonial praxis and the documented efforts in the literature on how to enact a decolonial rehumanizing agenda, this paper presents a systematic literature review of works from the Global South that attempt to disentangle universities from colonial practices in higher education. The works reviewed describe a variety of practices from pedagogical practices, curriculum changes, and institutional connections with marginalized communities that make visible knowledges, languages, and perspectives traditionally excluded from universities.

Background: The participation of health professionals in designing interventions is considered vital to effective implementation, yet in areas such as clinical coordination is rarely promoted and evaluated. This study, part of Equity-LA II, aims to analyse the design process of interventions to improve clinical coordination, taking a participatory-action-research (PAR) approach, in healthcare networks of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. This participatory process was planned in four phases, led by a local steering committee (LSC): (1) dissemination of problem analysis results and creation of professionals' platform, (2) selection of problems and intervention (3) intervention design and planning (4) adjustments after evaluation of first implementation stage. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study based on documentary analysis, using a topic guide, was conducted in each intervention network. Documents produced regarding the intervention design process were selected. Thematic content analysis was conducted, generating mixed categories taken from the topic guide and identified from data. Main categories were LSC characteristics, type of design process (phases, participants' roles, methods) and associated difficulties, coordination problems and interventions selected. Results: LSCs of similar composition (managers, professionals and researchers) were established, with increasing membership in Chile and high turnover in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. Following results dissemination and selection of problems and interventions (more participatory in Chile and Colombia: 200–479 participants), the interventions were designed and planned, resulting in three different types of processes: (1) short initial design with adjustments after first implementation stage, in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico; (2) longer, more participatory process, with multiple cycles of action/reflection and pilot tests, in Chile; (3) open-ended design for ongoing adaptation, in Argentina and Uruguay. Professionals' time and the political cycle were the main barriers to participation. The clinical coordination problem selected was limited communication between primary and secondary care doctors. To address it, through discussions guided by context and feasibility criteria, interventions based on mutual feedback were selected. Conclusions: As expected in a flexible PAR process, its rollout differed across countries in participation and PAR cycles. Results show that PAR can help to design interventions adapted to context and offers lessons that can be applied in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Sociológicos is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article studies the relationship between teleworking and job quality in 2021 for reference countries in Latin America, namely, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. Teleworking is an increasingly important alternative line of work; hence, it is relevant to investigate its influence on the quality of jobs. To this end the following points are addressed: (i) the definitions of teleworking and job quality are conceptually reviewed; (ii) the relationships between both concepts are identified in the literature; (iii) a comparable job quality index is constructed for each of the countries studied using factorial analysis, ensuring the objective nature of the data is considered rather than preconceived judgments; and (iv) the characteristics of job quality and the constructed index are compared in a controlled manner using a propensity score matching model. This research finds that teleworkers, compared to other workers with similar observable characteristics, have higher labor income in Colombia and Argentina. In addition, teleworkers work fewer hours per week and have similar levels of job stability across the three countries. Regarding teleworkers in Brazil and Colombia, a gap in social security coverage is observed and needs to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Our study analyzes the cost-effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru. Methods: Using a previously published SVEIR model, we analyzed the impact of a vaccination campaign (2021) from a national healthcare perspective. The primary outcomes were quality adjusted life years (QALYs) lost and total costs. Other outcomes included COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and life years. We applied a discount rate of 3% for health outcomes. We modeled a realistic vaccination campaign in each country (the realistic country-specific campaign). Additionally, we assessed a standard campaign (similar, "typical" for all countries), and an optimized campaign (similar in all countries with higher but plausible population coverage). One-way deterministic sensitivity analyses were performed. Findings: Vaccination was health improving as well as cost-saving in almost all countries and scenarios. Our analysis shows that vaccination in this group of countries prevented 573,141 deaths (508,826 standard; 685,442 optimized) and gained 5.07 million QALYs (4.53 standard; 6.03 optimized). Despite the incremental costs of vaccination campaigns, they had a total net cost saving to the health system of US$16.29 billion (US$16.47 standard; US$18.58 optimized). The realistic (base case) vaccination campaign in Chile was the only scenario, which was not cost saving, but it was still highly cost-effective with an ICER of US$22 per QALY gained. Main findings were robust in the sensitivity analyses. Interpretation: The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in seven Latin American and Caribbean countries -that comprise nearly 80% of the region- was beneficial for population health and was also cost-saving or highly cost-effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The transparency of data on the value chain of medicines is crucial for the study and monitoring of the pharmaceutical system. These data may impact medicine pricing negotiations, contribute to patient access to pharmaceutical products, and strengthen health systems. Objective: This study analyzed the national strategies to ensure the transparency of data from medicine cost development to marketing in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. Method: A descriptive study was carried out by searching databases, reports, documents, and scientific articles published between January and August 2022 related to rules on transparency and databases, including 1) marketing authorization; 2) pricing; 3) intellectual property; 4) clinical trials; 5) research and development (R&D); and 6) health technology assessment (HTA) of selected biopharmaceuticals. Results: Transparency data, rules, and information are not uniform. The infostructures (organizational capacity for collecting and distributing information) regarding the pharmaceutical value chain in these three countries face limitations in appropriate measures to publicly share data and evidence, including pre-clinical data, clinical data, and costs. None of the countries require transparency about data on research and development costs. All three countries present similar publicization of data on marketing authorization and intellectual property, with some differences. The significant limitations in Argentina include the absence of formal price regulation and data on the volume of medicine purchased and respective amounts paid. Among the three countries, Brazil showed a higher degree of information transparency, perhaps due to the legal regulation that guarantees citizens access to information of public interest. Brazil also stands out in terms of the public availability of HTA reports and pricing, in addition to the highest volume of information. In contrast, Colombia has in place a decree that allows 5 years of trial data exclusivity for new medicines, an act contrary to data transparency. Despite the different stages of transparency, no country has evidenced a robust use of these data in public policy decision-making. Conclusion: The results reinforce the presence of information asymmetry between stakeholders, data fragmentation, data gaps and overlap, and difficulty in comparing available data across the three countries and the use of these data nationally to produce evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alopecia areata (AA) represents an underrecognized burden in Latin America (LA), severely impacting quality of life (QoL). This impact is exacerbated by limited access to specialized dermatologic care and therapies for AA within and among nations. Many of the unmet needs for AA globally also exist in LA. The region has geographic, ethnic, cultural, and economic conditions. With new AA medicines targeting immunologic pathways on the horizon, LA must prepare regarding regulatory issues, reimbursement, awareness, and education to give adequate and timely treatment for patients with AA. To address these issues, the Americas Health Foundation convened a panel of six dermatologists from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico who are experts in AA and its comorbidities for a 3-day virtual meeting to discuss AA diagnosis and treatment in LA and create a manuscript offering recommendations to address discussed barriers. This publication examines unmet AA needs in LA, treatment, and innovative therapies and recommends improving AA care. Access constraints to conventional and novel medicines hinder appropriate treatments for patients. Therapy initiation delays can affect QoL, mental health, and disease progression. People with AA face stigmas, discrimination, and misconceptions owing to a lack of disease awareness. With promising new treatments for AA on the horizon, all stakeholders must coordinate efforts to enhance LA's AA management landscape and improve patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology & Society is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to evaluate and discuss the digital competence of academics at universities, to identify challenges and define recommendations for policy. This study was conducted through collaboration between the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and Metared of the Universia Foundation, surveying 30,407 participants who present the perceptions of their own digital competence levels. These self-reflections took place in universities in seven countries, namely Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Portugal, and used the Check-In tool, which consists of 22 questions based on the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators--or 'DigCompEdu' framework. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed, followed by a qualitative evaluation. Almost 70% of the academics have an average intermediate level of competence when the data is aggregated, with results varying in each DigCompEdu area according to the specific question asked. There is no significant difference between young and senior academics, as well as between men and women. The results present a discussion of whether the age and gender of educators and their work environment have an impact on their digital competence level, and at the same time highlights the areas in which educators perceive themselves to be most and least competent. It shows how the amount of institutional support that is offered affects the academics' perceptions of their level of digital competence. On the basis of the results, recommendations are presented for higher-education institutions, with the aim of supporting the professional development of their academics.

Copyright of Revista Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Niñez y Juventud is the property of Centro de Estudiso Avanzados en Ninez y Juventud alaianza Cinde, Universidad de Manizales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The multidisciplinary project Prediction of Air Pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean (PAPILA) is dedicated to the development and implementation of an air quality analysis and forecasting system to assess pollution impacts on human health and economy. In this context, a comprehensive emission inventory for South America was developed on the basis of the existing data on the global dataset CAMS-GLOB-ANT v4.1 (developed by joining CEDS trends and EDGAR v4.3.2 historical data), enriching it with data derived from locally available emission inventories for Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. This work presents the results of the first joint effort of South American researchers and European colleagues to generate regional maps of emissions, together with a methodological approach to continue incorporating information into future versions of the dataset. This version of the PAPILA dataset includes CO, NOx , NMVOCs, NH3 , and SO2 annual emissions from anthropogenic sources for the period 2014–2016, with a spatial resolution of 0.1 ∘ × 0.1 ∘ over a domain that covers 32–120 ∘ W and 34 ∘ N–58 ∘ S. The PAPILA dataset is presented as netCDF4 files and is available in an open-access data repository under a CC-BY 4 license: 10.17632/btf2mz4fhf.3. A comparative assessment of PAPILA–CAMS datasets was carried out for (i) the South American region, (ii) the countries with local data (Argentina, Colombia, and Chile), and (iii) downscaled emission maps for urban domains with different environmental and anthropogenic factors. Relevant differences were found at both country and urban levels for all the compounds analyzed. Among them, we found that when comparing PAPILA total emissions versus CAMS datasets at the national level, higher levels of NOx and considerably lower levels of the other species were obtained for Argentina, higher levels of SO2 and lower levels of CO and NOx for Colombia, and considerably higher levels of CO, NMVOCs, and SO2 for Chile. These discrepancies are mainly related to the representativeness of local practices in the local emission estimates, to the improvements made in the spatial distribution of the locally estimated emissions, or to both. Both datasets were evaluated against surface concentrations of CO and NOx by using them as input data to the WRF-Chem model for one of the analyzed domains, the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, for summer and winter of 2015. PAPILA-based modeling results had a smaller bias for CO and NOx concentrations in winter while CAMS-based results for the same period tended to deliver an underestimation of these concentrations. Both inventories exhibited similar performances for CO in summer, while the PAPILA simulation outperformed CAMS for NOx concentrations. These results highlight the importance of refining global inventories with local data to obtain accurate results with high-resolution air quality models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chagas disease (CD) is endemic in Latin America; however, its spread to nontropical areas has raised global interest in this condition. Barriers in access to early diagnosis and treatment of both acute and chronic infection and their complications have led to an increasing disease burden outside of Latin America. Our goal was to identify those barriers and to perform an additional analysis of them based on the Inter American Society of Cardiology (SIAC) and the World Heart Federation (WHF) Chagas Roadmap, at a country level in Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and the United States, which serve as representatives of endemic and nonendemic countries. Methodology and principal findings: This is a nonsystematic review of articles published in indexed journals from 1955 to 2021 and of gray literature (local health organizations guidelines, local policies, blogs, and media). We classified barriers to access care as (i) existing difficulties limiting healthcare access; (ii) lack of awareness about CD and its complications; (iii) poor transmission control (vectorial and nonvectorial); (iv) scarce availability of antitrypanosomal drugs; and (v) cultural beliefs and stigma. Region-specific barriers may limit the implementation of roadmaps and require the application of tailored strategies to improve access to appropriate care. Conclusions: Multiple barriers negatively impact the prognosis of CD. Identification of these roadblocks both nationally and globally is important to guide development of appropriate policies and public health programs to reduce the global burden of this disease. Author summary: Chagas disease (CD) has been described as an epidemic in Latin America, but its geographical influence is global. One of the biggest challenges in providing care for patients with CD is to improve access to early diagnosis and treatment in order to avoid chronic cardiovascular and gastrointestinal complications. However, different roadblocks interfere with the optimal care of these patients, which facilitates disease progression. While some barriers to care are global in scope, there are additionally national and even local obstacles for patients with CD. Appropriate delineation of these barriers will allow for the development of targeted interventions to improve the outlook for CD patients in both endemic and nonendemic countries alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fitting Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) models to incidence data is problematic when not all infected individuals are reported. Assuming an underlying SIR model with general but known distribution for the time to recovery, this paper derives the implied differential-integral equations for observed incidence data when a fixed fraction of newly infected individuals are not observed. The parameters of the resulting system of differential equations are identifiable. Using these differential equations, we develop a stochastic model for the conditional distribution of current disease incidence given the entire past history of reported cases. We estimate the model parameters using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte-Carlo sampling of the posterior distribution. We use our model to estimate the transmission rate and fraction of asymptomatic individuals for the current Coronavirus 2019 outbreak in eight American Countries: the United States of America, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Panama, from January 2020 to May 2021. Our analysis reveals that the fraction of reported cases varies across all countries. For example, the reported incidence fraction for the United States of America varies from 0.3 to 0.6, while for Brazil it varies from 0.2 to 0.4., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.