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Transnational motherhood and Latin-American migrants in the U.S. have been explored in the literature primarily in the context of labor migration and marginalized identities. Existing research delves into how mothers negotiate the challenges and opportunities posed by migration in their parenting journeys. However, scholars advocate to look closer at how the social location of individuals create specific sets of experiences. Using the lenses of transnationalism and translocational positionalities, I look at the motherhood identities of 32 mothers in the U.S. who belong to higher socioeconomic levels in Colombia. I find that through their motherhood practices and discourses, participants perform class distinctions to distance themselves from negative stereotypes associated with migrants from Latin America and white U.S. American culture. Addressing the nuances of motherhood, class, and race within the context of migration is a step toward understanding how identities and ideologies transcend transnational boundaries and the role they play in simultaneously fostering and hindering social inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perífrasis. Revista de Literatura, Teoría y Crítica is the property of Universidad de los Andes 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.)

Este trabajo se desprende de una investigación más amplia de la obra Letras de la Nueva España (1948) de Alfonso Reyes, conjunto de siete ensayos, cuyo séptimo lugar corresponde a “La Era Crítica (XVIII y XIX)”. Proponemos un análisis de este ensayo, que se apoyará, en primera instancia, en presupuestos conceptuales del propio Reyes sobre sus conceptos de cultura y síntesis cultural presentes en sus ensayos-conferencias “Notas sobre la inteligencia americana” (1936) y “Posición de América” (1942), y lo observaremos a partir del concepto poscolonial que propone Ángel Rama, del intelectual de la ciudad letrada en su libro La ciudad Letrada (1998). Este contexto conceptual e histórico-cultural será la base para un análisis del discurso de algunos momentos del ensayo, desde las perspectivas de Teun Van Dijk (2000), Helena Calsamiglia y Amparo Tusón (1999), así como desde la teoría de la enunciación de Emile Benveniste (1971). Esto nos permitirá comprender el lugar que Letras de la Nueva España y el ensayo en cuestión ocupan en la obra de Reyes, y la forma en la que el autor se integra al quehacer cultural mexicano y latinoamericano a partir de, en este caso, su valoración de las letras mexicanas del periodo colonial.

Introduction: POEMS syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome caused by an underlying plasma cell disorder. The acronym refers to the following features: polyradiculoneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal paraproteinemia, and skin changes. Methods: The study was conducted at 24 hematological centers across 8 Latin-American countries. The study included a total of 46 patients {median age was 52 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 42–61.5), 30 males and 16 females} fulfilling the POEMS syndrome criteria diagnosed over a period of 12 years (January 1, 2011, through July 31, 2023). Epidemiological and clinical data were collected in an ad hoc database sent to the members of GELAMM, as well as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Kaplan-Meier estimates. Results: All patients had polyneuropathy and monoclonal gammopathy; 89% had bone marrow plasma cell infiltration, 33% had sclerotic bone lesions. Only 10 patients underwent vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) testing in plasma samples. The paraproteinemia was IgG λ in 32% and IgA λ in 30%. 59% patients presented with cutaneous changes, mainly hyperpigmentation, 54% had organomegaly, and 74% endocrinopathy. The median interval from symptom onset to diagnosis was 7.7 months (IQR: 4.0–12.6). 69% of patients received a single line of treatment. The median follow-up period was 25 months (IQR: 9.37–52.0) and the 2-year overall survival rate was 100%. All patients who underwent transplantation (43%) are alive, with a median follow-up of 45.62 months (IQR: 15.46–70). Conclusion: This study investigates POEMS syndrome in Latin America and presents an initial overview of the disease in the region. VEGF usage is recommended for accurate diagnosis, but only 7 hematology centers in the region used it. Survival rate in Latin America is comparable with those observed internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Aims Materials and Methods Results Discussion Conclusion This study examines the relationship between dark personality traits and attitudes towards punishment.Considering the evidence, we propose two hypotheses to be tested in this study: Of four dark tetrad traits, Machiavellianism will be the most strongly related to punitiveness (deterrence, incapacitation, desertion and moral balance); high scores in conservatism/right‐wing ideology will be positively related to deterrence, incapacitation, desert and moral balance attitudes. People with a liberal/left‐wing ideology will score higher in restorative justice and rehabilitation.The study sample was composed of 1552 participants from Spain and Latin America (Mexico, Colombia and Peru). Participants responded to an adaptation of penal attitudes scale, the Short Dark‐Tetrad Questionnaire and a political ideology scale.The results indicated that among demographic characteristics, ideology was the best predictor of penal justice attitudes, whereas Machiavellianism surpassed other dark traits as a predictor.No previous research examined how De Keiser et al. scale of attitudes towards criminal justice relates to dark personality and ideology. This research shows that dark personality predicts punitiveness and how Machiavellianism plays a relevant role. Future research could also combine Big‐Five ‘bright personality’ variables and since Dark Personality variables.Of the four dark personality traits, Machiavellianism is the strongest predictor of all punitiveness penal attitudes (deterrence, incapacitation, desertion and moral balance). Conservative/right‐wing ideology is related to punitive attitudes; however, rehabilitation and restorative justice were unrelated to ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standardised International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) have gained prominence in global and national educational discussions. ILSAs claim to offer valuable insights for improving education systems, but their impact on educational policy varies and has become a contested arena. This article analyses how these assessments fed educational policymaking in six Latin American countries based on a review of policy documents; the article advances three theses on how ILSAs are used by policymakers: First, there is a tokenistic usage of ILSAs; second, ILSAs must be considered more as political devices bolstering national reputation rather than studies in the academic sense; third, ILSAs can serve as leverage tools that can be mobilised for broader political ends. The study shows that the promises, designs and reporting of ILSAs are not necessarily aligned, that participation in ILSAs has become a symbolic gesture, and that ILSAs' data are often cherry-picked to support pre-existing diagnoses and policy agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University Mission Statements (UMS) were born by imitating a common practice in the business world, where private organisations state their core values and main purposes. Recently, there has been growing interest in analysing UMS through the lens of the Third Mission (TM) of universities. Despite the increasing attention to UMS analysis of TM at the national level, there remains a dearth of research that conducts international comparisons of UMS across various countries utilizing a TM perspective. In this study, we adopt a text mining approach commonly employed in Natural Language Processing studies to categorize 1304 UMS from 19 Latin American countries based on generalized social and economic orientations of TM. By eschewing classifications reliant on specific TM aspects and activities, our analysis aims to facilitate meaningful regional and cross-country comparisons. On average, the orientation of UMS from Latin American countries is 82% social and 55% economic, significant variations observed across countries reflecting the particularities of each Higher Education System. Our results are comparable to previous research analysing single-country UMS, utilizing interpretive content analysis and a Third Mission lens. This evidence offers a quantitative perspective that aligns with existing regional narratives, enriching our understanding of the Third Mission across Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the present study was to analyze the profile and trends of HIV mother‐to‐child transmission (MTCT) in the Brazilian land border strip (LBS). Methods: This was a quantitative, ecological, and cross‐sectional study using secondary data available in the information systems of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. All cases reported in the Notifiable Diseases Information System between 2010 and 2021 were studied. Results: Between 2010 and 2021, 275 children were born infected through MTCT, and 6076 pregnant women were living with HIV in the Brazilian LBS. HIV detection rates in pregnant women increased in all border arcs. The northern arc experienced the highest increase (19.6%), followed by the central arc (11.4%), and the southern arc (6.1%). Despite historically high detection rates, the southern arc exhibited the smallest increase. While MTCT rate decreased by 37.7% in the border area, the central arc showed no statistically significant reduction. In 2021, the average age of pregnant women was 26.2 years, 25.7% had up to 8 years of schooling, and 55.8% identified as non‐white. The majority (92.8%) received antenatal care, and 59.7% were diagnosed with HIV before prenatal care. The use of prophylactic antiretroviral therapy during prenatal care occurred in 69.6% of pregnant women, and infant prophylaxis was provided within first 24 h to 43.6% of live births. Conclusion: The results indicate progress in reducing MTCT cases in Brazilian LBS. Disparities in HIV detection rates may be influenced by differences in testing uptake, despite mandatory testing for all babies. It is crucial to continue implementing strategies to reach these women and ensure equitable access to healthcare services for MTCT prevention. Synopsis: This study shows that there are differences among the different arcs of the Brazilian land border strip regarding progress towards the elimination of mother‐to‐child transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how two community-led newspapers in Maré and Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, promoted social resilience in their respective favelas during the first 6 months of COVID-19. We reviewed stories published in both newspapers and interviewed a sample of their journalists to investigate the newspapers’ responses to the pandemic’s effects, government policies (or lack thereof), and resident reactions to evolving virus-related risks during our study period. We employed Keck and Sakdapolrak’s social resilience framework to examine our data and found that the newspapers contributed significantly to the resilience of both communities during our study period. Contrary to the neoliberal view of resilience as self-reliance, these newspapers sought instead to encourage sustained collective agency and to challenge oppressive governance through generative activities and advocacy. Our findings deepen understanding of the role of community-organized activities in marginalized populations’ struggles to assert their right to the city, particularly during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last ten years, although a certain amount of critical effort has gone into bringing the debates around Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies closer together, these two areas still remain on opposite or different sides of a debate that is often heated and irreconcilable. Particularly at the beginning of the current century, following the publication of Walter Mignolo's (2000) Local Histories/Global Designs, much of the postcolonial criticism found itself on a collision course with decolonial discourse. In the same way, the main authors of the Modernity/Coloniality/Decoloniality group became critics of Postcolonial Studies by formulating the bases of Decolonial thought under the concept of the "Decolonial Turn", which demands a disconnection and break with the Western structures of thought, under which Postcolonialism built its responses to the literature of the former colonialist empires. In this sense, this text intends to investigate the theoretical path that culminates in the break between Decolonial and Postcolonial studies, and our aim is to open up questions that can favor dialogue between the two theoretical fields and also open up possibilities for a South-South dialogue based on a new understanding of the new and old epistemologies.

Alexandra Arias-Mendoza,1 Jorge A Ortega-Hernández,1 Diego Araiza-Garaygordobil,1 Héctor González-Pacheco,1 Mireya Martínez-García,2 Enrique Hernández-Lemus,3 Rodrigo Gopar-Nieto,1 Tomás Tadeo Sandoval-Aguilar,1 Daniel Sierra-Lara Martinez,1 Salvador Mendoza-García,1 Alfredo Altamirano-Castillo,1 José Luis Briseño-de-la-Cruz,1 Midori Alondra Ortega-Hernández,4 Luis Alejandro Soliz-Uriona,1 Jorge Gaspar-Hernández5 1Coronary Care Unit, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Mexico City, Mexico; 2Immunology, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Mexico City, Mexico; 3Computational Genomics, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Mexico City, Mexico; 4Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico; 5Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Mexico City, MexicoCorrespondence: Alexandra Arias-Mendoza, Coronary Care Unit, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano, Sección XVI, 14080, Tlalpan, Mexico City, Mexico, Tel +52-55- 54852219, Fax +52-55-54852219, Email aariasm@yahoo.comPurpose: While pharmacoinvasive strategy (PI) is a safe and effective approach whenever access to primary percutaneous intervention (pPCI) is limited, data on each strategy’s economic cost and impact on in-hospital stay are scarce. The objective is to compare the cost-effectiveness of a PI with that of pPCI for the treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in a Latin-American country.Patients and Methods: A total of 1747 patients were included, of whom 470 (26.9%) received PI, 433 (24.7%) pPCI, and 844 (48.3%) NR. The study’s primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for PI compared with those for pPCI and non-reperfused (NR), calculated for 30-day major cardiovascular events (MACE), 30-day mortality, and length of stay.Results: For PI, the ICER estimates for MACE showed a decrease of $– 35.81/per 1% (95 confidence interval, – 114.73 to 64.81) compared with pPCI and a decrease of $– 271.60/per 1% (95% CI, – 1086.10 to – 144.93) compared with NR. Also, in mortality, PI had an ICER decrease of $– 129.50 (95% CI, – 810.57, 455.06) compared to pPCI and $– 165.27 (– 224.06, – 123.52) with NR. Finally, length of stay had an ICER reduction of − 765.99 (− 4020.68, 3141.65) and − 283.40 (− 304.95, − 252.76) compared to pPCI and NR, respectively.Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that PI may be a more efficient treatment approach for STEMI in regions where access to pPCI is limited or where patient and system delays are expected.Keywords: pharmacoinvasive, cost-effectiveness, STEMI, Latin-America

Today, we as Latin-Americans are faced with a dilemma, accept without recourse that we are plainly and simply westerners, members of the western civilization; or to the contrary, doubt our "membership" in this civilization. Opinions are divided; authors such as the Venezuelan philosopher J.M. Briceño Guerrero share the first option, while the American political scientist Samuel Huntington classifies the Latin-American subcontinent as a sub civilization of the West. It falls to Latin-American philosophy scholars to clarify who we are and thus define where we are going and who we will become in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As previous literature shows, non-farm income represents up to 50 per cent of rural household income in developing countries. Mostly due to a lack of representative information on climate and family networks, two key factors have been excluded in previous studies on income diversification: (i) the role of intra-seasonal climate variability (affected by climate change), and (ii) the role of family networks located in distant areas (increasingly important given population mobility due to internal conflicts and improved roads and communications). This study analyses the role of these factors on non-farm working hours and non-farm income shares in the Peruvian Andes. Controlling for other assets and environmental conditions, the study finds that households with distant, strong networks diversify more into non-farm activities. Increases in intra-seasonal climate variability (measured by temperature range during the main crop growing season) have heterogeneous effects across subregions. While we find no direct effect among Southern households (more isolated and indigenous), households in the cooler areas of the Central and Northern Andes (below 13 °C during the crop growing season) tend to increase non-farm income as climate variability increases. The study suggests that distant, strong ties facilitate non-farm opportunities for households facing increasing temperature variability in Central and Southern areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic activities are increasing the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2); around a third of the CO2 emitted by these activities has been taken up by the ocean. Nevertheless, this marine ecosystem service of regulation remains largely invisible to society, and not enough is known about regional differences and trends in sea-air CO2 fluxes (FCO2), especially in the Southern Hemisphere. The objectives of this work were as follows: first to put values of FCO2 integrated over the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of five Latin-American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela) into perspective regarding total country-level greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Second, to assess the variability of two main biological factors affecting FCO2 at marine ecological time series (METS) in these areas. FCO2 over the EEZs were estimated using the NEMO model, and GHG emissions were taken from reports to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. For each METS, the variability in phytoplankton biomass (indexed by chlorophyll-a concentration, Chla) and abundance of different cell sizes (phy-size) were analyzed at two time periods (2000–2015 and 2007–2015). Estimates of FCO2 at the analyzed EEZs showed high variability among each other and non-negligible values in the context of greenhouse gas emissions. The trends observed at the METS indicated, in some cases, an increase in Chla (e.g., EPEA-Argentina) and a decrease in others (e.g., IMARPE-Peru). Evidence of increasing populations of small size-phytoplankton was observed (e.g., EPEA-Argentina, Ensenada-Mexico), which would affect the carbon export to the deep ocean. These results highlight the relevance of ocean health and its ecosystem service of regulation when discussing carbon net emissions and budgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) 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.)

Abstract Background Understanding how urban environments influence people’s health, especially as individuals age, can help identify ways to improve health in the rapidly urbanizing and rapidly aging populations. Objectives To investigate the association between age and self-reported health (SRH) in adults living in Latin-American cities and whether gender and city-level socioeconomic characteristics modify this association. Methods Cross-sectional analyses of 71,541 adults aged 25–97 years, from 114 cities in 6 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, and Guatemala), as part of the Salud Urbana en America Latina (SALURBAL) Project. We used individual-level age, gender, education, and self-reported health (SRH) data from harmonized health surveys. As proxies for socioeconomic environment we used a city-level socioeconomic index (SEI) calculated from census data, and gross domestic product (GDP) per-capita. Multilevel Poisson models with a robust variance were used to estimate relative risks (RR), with individuals nested in cities and binary SRH (poor SHR vs. good SRH) as the outcome. We examined effect modification by gender and city-level socioeconomic indicators. Results Overall, 31.4% of the sample reported poor SRH. After adjusting for individual-level education, men had a lower risk of poor SRH (RR = 0.76; CI 0.73–0.78) compared to women, and gender modified the association between age and poor SRH (p-value of interaction

In recent years, the disinformation phenomenon, brought about by the ease with which fake news and hoaxes spread on social networks, has grown considerably. Twitter, especially, is a network that from the outset has been closely linked to news processes that are widely used by journalists. It has become a highly efficient means of spreading disinformation owing to its immediacy and capacity to spread contents. The microblogging network has attracted the attention of researchers and is a suitable subject matter for analysing how fact-checkers communicate as agents who nurture digital literacy in the general public to help them spot disinformation. The aim of this research is to characterise the use of Twitter by Ibero-American fact-checkers and to determine to what extent their posting habits influence interaction. To do so, the trending and timing for posts, the type of contents and resources used by each fact-checker and the interactions created on all levels are analysed. This research stated that Ibero-American fact-checkers throughout 2021 were highly active on Twitter. This was closely linked to the crises related to Covid-19. Communications from these organisations have helped to spread and reinforce their fact-checking and digital literacy mission, even though their performance is no more efficient in terms of the scope and impact of their work. The results show that boosting posts of reactive tweets, adjusting posting time to the Twitter dynamics and increasing the use of resources such as images and mentions are useful strategies for promoting interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the opinion of Latin–American physicians on remote blood pressure monitoring and telehealth for hypertension management. Cross-sectional survey of physicians residing in Latin–America. The study was conducted by the Mexico Hypertension Experts Group, Interamerican Society of Hypertension, Interamerican Society of Cardiology Epidemiology and Cardiovascular Prevention Council, and National Cardiologist Association of Mexico. An online survey composed of 40 questions using Google Forms was distributed from 7 December 2021, to 3 February 2022. The survey was approved by the GREHTA Ethics Committee and participation was voluntary and anonymous. Multiple logistic regression models were constructed to identify the challenges of telehealth. 1753 physicians' responses were gathered. The responses came from physicians from different Latin–American countries, as follows: 24% from Mexico, 20.6% from Argentina, 14.7% from Colombia, 10.9% from Brazil, 8.7% from Venezuela, 8.2% from Guatemala and 3.2% from Paraguay. Responders with a high interest in carrying out their assistance task through remote telemonitoring reached 48.9% (821), while 43.6% are already currently conducting telemonitoring. A high number, 62%, claimed to need telemonitoring training. There is a direct relation between higher interest in telemonitoring and age, medical specialty, team working, residence in the biggest cities, expectations regarding telemedicine and reimbursement. Remote monitoring is feasible in Latin–America. General practitioners and specialists from bigger cities seem eager and are self-perceived as well-trained and experienced. Facilities and resources do not seem to be a challenge but training reinforcement and telemedicine promotion is necessary for those physicians less motivated. What is the context? Hypertension is one of the leading worldwide modifiable risk factors for premature death. Strong evidence supports that effective treatment of this condition results in a significant reduction of hard outcomes. Only 20%–30% of hypertensive patients are within the blood pressure targets recommended by guidelines in Latin–America. There is an urgent need to implement innovative strategies to reverse this alarming health situation. What is new? Latin–American physicians were highly predisposed to telemonitoring practice. This high motivation was not influenced by hardware or software availability, technological knowledge or experience, by volume of monthly consultations, or by area (private–public) where the care activity is carried out. This high motivation may be supported by the conviction that this practice could be very useful as a complement to face–to–face assistance and a highly effective tool to improve adherence even though respondents considered that just 10% of the patients would prefer telemonitoring over office consultation. What is the impact? Facilities and resources do not seem to be a challenge but training reinforcement and telemedicine promotion is necessary for those physicians less motivated. The general perception is that it is necessary to move forward to resolve legal gaps and financial aspects. Physicians must adapt to changes and develop new communication strategies in a world where the unrestricted access to teleinformation makes patients self-perceived as experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perspective of vascular access care in patients with end-stage renal disease has migrated from nephrology-centered or vascular surgery-centered care to multidisciplinary-focused patient-centered care. This new perspective should not only be theoretical but also have practical utility. A non-multidisciplinary focus can contribute to the low prevalence of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) in the population. Latin America has multiple health systems and the coordination of vascular access is heterogeneous. In Peru, there is a high prevalence of central venous catheter use with its associated complications, such as stenosis, thrombosis, infection, and recurrent hospitalizations in the context of fragmented care. However, in the last few years, there has been an effort to integrate the communication between vascular surgery, interventional radiology, and nephrology to improve vascular access care. In this review, we analyze the availability of care, the intervention, and the future directions from the experience of both perspectives.

Customer's trust in vendors' reputation is a key factor that facilitates economic transactions in e-commerce platforms. Although the trust-sales relationship is assumed robust and consistent, its empirical evidence remains neglected for Latin American countries. This work aims to provide a data-driven comprehensive framework for extracting valuable knowledge from public data available in the leading Latin American e-commerce platform with commercial operations in 18 countries. Only Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela showed the highest trust indexes among all nations analyzed. The trust-sales relationship was statistically inconsistent across nations but worked as the most important predictor of sales, followed by purchase intention and price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IPCC's Sixth Assessment is a landmark in recognizing social justice and local knowledge as imperative for successful climate adaptation; however, taking this new scientific consensus seriously has profound implications. While narratives of fossil fuel companies and closing climate windows often dominate climate politics, there is an urgent need for new thinking frames, especially given that everyday adaptations by the most vulnerable are often hindered by incumbent actors at more local scales. In response, this paper tackles the issue of climate risk and human wellbeing in Latin America from an emerging and innovative perspective: reparation ecology. Reparation is a heuristic category by means of which we systematize converging evidence about the responses of local Latin-American communities to severe socio-environmental crises that are closely connected to climate risks and to long-lasting threats to the wellbeing of human societies and ecosystems. The results focus on a comparative analysis of five case studies on nature-based urban adaptation in two low-income settlements in Brazil; local ecological governance led by actors from the organized civil society in Colombia; agroecological and just innovative food production systems in Ecuador and sustainable urban-rural food markets in Guatemala. Assuming the complexity of climate change from a culturally and geographically located perspective, the paper unveils the non-doomed, ecologically reparative character of these initiatives. It therefore contributes to the recent turn in the debate on climate risk, claiming that diverse groups of people and communities around the world are contributing to radical change, tuning their behaviors and social arrangements in what an emerging scholarship defines as reparation ecology.

Background: Understanding how urban environments influence people's health, especially as individuals age, can help identify ways to improve health in the rapidly urbanizing and rapidly aging populations.Objectives: To investigate the association between age and self-reported health (SRH) in adults living in Latin-American cities and whether gender and city-level socioeconomic characteristics modify this association.Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of 71,541 adults aged 25-97 years, from 114 cities in 6 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, and Guatemala), as part of the Salud Urbana en America Latina (SALURBAL) Project. We used individual-level age, gender, education, and self-reported health (SRH) data from harmonized health surveys. As proxies for socioeconomic environment we used a city-level socioeconomic index (SEI) calculated from census data, and gross domestic product (GDP) per-capita. Multilevel Poisson models with a robust variance were used to estimate relative risks (RR), with individuals nested in cities and binary SRH (poor SHR vs. good SRH) as the outcome. We examined effect modification by gender and city-level socioeconomic indicators.Results: Overall, 31.4% of the sample reported poor SRH. After adjusting for individual-level education, men had a lower risk of poor SRH (RR = 0.76; CI 0.73-0.78) compared to women, and gender modified the association between age and poor SRH (p-value of interaction < 0.001). In gender stratified models, the association between older age and poor SRH was more pronounced in men than in women, and in those aged 25-65 than among those 65+ (RR/10 years = 1.38 vs. 1.10 for men, and RR/10 years = 1.29 vs. 1.02 for women). Living in cities with higher SEI or higher GDP per-capita was associated with a lower risk of poor SRH. GDP per-capita modified the association between age (25-65) and SRH in men and women, with SEI the interaction was less clear.Conclusions: Across cities in Latin America, aging impact on health is significant among middle-aged adults, and among men. In both genders, cities with lower SEI or lower GDP per-capita were associated with poor SRH. More research is needed to better understand gender inequalities and how city socioeconomic environments, represented by different indicators, modify exposures and vulnerabilities associated with aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is evolving evidence of non-uniform distribution of ALS worldwide, with apparently lower incident and prevalent rates outside populations of European origin. However, the phenotype, survival and environmental risk in populations of mixed ancestral origin have not been well established. Large scale population based studies of incidence, prevalence, phenotype and risk factors in admixed populations are necessary to determine the true demography of ALS, and to test the hypothesis of differential risk and phenotype in populations of mixed ancestry. Methods: The Latin American Epidemiological Network of ALS (LAENALS) has been established to perform a comparative analysis of ALS epidemiology between three different Latin American populations (Cuba, Uruguay and Chile), and to test the hypothesis that the demographics, phenotype and outcome of ALS are influenced by ancestral origin, and that environmental and occupational risk factors differ across different ethnicities due to subtle differences in gene- environmental interactions. Recognition and interrogation of these differences is an important step toward novel therapeutic approaches and personalized medicine for all ALS both in the US, and worldwide. Discussion: This work will enable direct and detailed comparative studies between different ancestral populations with varying degrees of admixture, with facility for comparison with a large European reference dataset for ALS, and will provide a unique and rich dataset of admixed populations for later comparative genomic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's experiences of the pandemic in Chile need to be understood in the context of the social unrest that started explosively (although with a much longer history) in October 2019. We reflect here on children and young peoplés social and political participation in this process, the position of childhood in the Constitution and general inequality as the context in which the pandemic developed. The invisibility of children's experiences and practices, their generalised vulnerability and the acute socioeconomic inequalities that affect them are discussed as the key elements shaping the impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic in their everyday lives and spatialities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ensayos de Economia is the property of Universidad Nacional 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.)

Background: Services during the pandemic were severely restricted, public reluctance to seek medical assistance rose, with a reduction of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities use in coronary artery disease (CAD). However, information about perceived barriers of care among cardiologists is limited. We aim to explore these barriers diagnostic and treatment modalities of CAD in Latin America during the pandemic. Methods: An anonymous Google form 12 closed-questions survey was conducted between November 2020 to January 2021. Latin American cardiologists members of the Imaging Society (SISIAC) of the Inter-American Society of Cardiology (SIAC) were reached by email and social media. Results: Differences were found in relation to patients’ perceived reluctance to undergo testing, particularly in South America and inpatient care (p

This study examines the role of fatherhood for incarcerated men in Mexico, based on repeated life-story interviews with twelve men. We distinguish between their descriptions of fatherhood in the past and present and how they imagine the future, and explore how fathers describe their relationship with their children. The incarcerated men idealize the past with their children or tell stories of how they have changed from being "bad" to "good" fathers. They emphasize how they are still able to protect and educate their children from prison, reflecting widespread values of fatherhood. They admit that fathering while incarcerated is difficult and hope that things will be better in the future. In line with previous research on fathers in prison, we argue that storytelling of being "good fathers" is a way of projecting "normalcy", using one of the few gendered resources available, and is an escape from the harsh realities of prison life. Following insights from narrative criminology and desistance studies, we further argue that their stories of fatherhood can be a resource for reintegration into society. Finally, we suggest that inmates' emphasis on involved fatherhood might reflect diffusing narratives, ideals, and norms of parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A monitoring study was carried out in two micro-catchments in the Reventazón basin, in Northern Cartago, Costa Rica; pesticide occurrence and water quality were analyzed. Twelve pesticides were detected, five insecticides (chlorpyrifos, carbofuran, cypermethrin, imidacloprid, and oxamyl), four fungicides (carbendazim, imazalil, metalaxyl, and thiabendazole), and three herbicides (diuron, linuron, and terbutryn); eight of them presented risk quotients RQ >1, which implies a high risk for the environment. The water quality evaluation included fourteen physicochemical and microbiological parameters, out of which thermotolerant coliforms, nitrate, and total phosphorus exceeded a selected threshold value in every sample. Five metals were also included in the evaluation, Pb was the most frequent, followed by few detections of Cd, Cu, and Cr. Four water quality indexes (WQIs) were applied, two of them, the CCME WQI, based on physicochemical parameters, and the BMWP-CR WQI, based on benthic macroinvertebrate recount adapted to Costa Rican species, categorized all the sampling points as "bad" and "very bad" quality. This work of monitoring is important in the Latin American region, where there is a lack of information for regulation improvement and management decisions. These results showed poor management of the micro-catchments in this agricultural rural area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background In contrast to the rapid increase in thyroid cancer incidence, the mortality has remained low and stable over the last decades. In Ecuador, however, thyroid cancer mortality has increased. The objective of this study is to determine possible drivers of high rates of thyroid cancer mortality, through a cross-sectional analysis of all patients attending a thyroid cancer referral center in Ecuador. Methods From June 2014 to December 2017, a cross-sectional study was conducted at the Hospital de Especialidades Eugenio Espejo, a regional reference public hospital for endocrine neoplasia in adults in Quito, Ecuador. We identified the mechanism of detection, histopathology and treatment modalities from a patient interview and review of clinical records. Results Among 452 patients, 74.8% were young adults and 94.2% (426) were female. 13.7% had a family history of thyroid cancer, and patients’ median tumor size was 2 cm. The incidental finding was 54.2% whereas 45.8% was non-incidental. Thyroid cancer histology reported that 93.3% had papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), 2.7% follicular, 1.5% Hurtle cells, 1.6% medullary, 0.7% poor differentiated, and 0.2% anaplastic carcinoma. The mean MACIS (metastasis, age, completeness, invasion, and size) score was 4.95 (CI 4.15–5.95) with 76.2% of the thyroid cancer patients having MACIS score less than or equal to 6. The very low and low risk of recurrence was 18.1% (79) and 62% (271) respectively. An analysis of 319 patients with non-metastatic thyroid cancer showed that 10.7% (34) of patients had surgical complications. Moreover, around 62.5% (80 from 128 patients with thyroglobulin laboratory results) of TC patients had a stimulated-thyroglobulin value equal or higher than 2 ng/ml. Overall, a poor surgical outcome was present in 35.1% (112) patients. Out of 436 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma, 86% (375) received radioactive iodine. Conclusion Thyroid cancer histological characteristics and method of diagnosis are like those described in other reports without any evidence of the high frequency of aggressive thyroid cancer histology. However, we observed evidence of overtreatment and poor surgical outcomes that demand additional studies to understand their association with thyroid cancer mortality in Ecuador.

The goal of the current study was to evaluate life satisfaction in a sample of 300 immigrant children aged between 8 and 13 years old. Satisfaction in different domains and overall life, was evaluated using the General Domain Satisfaction Index and the Overall Life Satisfaction index, respectively. These instruments were also applied to a sample of 300 non-immigrant children of similar age. Statistically significant differences were found only in the 12–13 years group, where the mean scores for immigrants were lower than those for natives, on the domains of family and home, material goods, interpersonal relationships, health, and use of time. Additionally, immigrants had higher mean scores on the domains of area of residence, school, and personal satisfaction. These results allow us to reflect on the influence of society in all domains throughout their lives. Thus, these findings contribute toward the creation of policies that integrate migrants.

This paper attempts to analyse the transformations that the Latin-American macho figure undergoes when caught up in migratory movements, taking as case study the two short story collections of Dominican-born author Junot Diaz (Drown, 1996 and This is How You Lose Her, 2012). Discussions on the consequences of migration on gender constitution have appeared relatively late and less frequently in migration studies when compared to the analyses of socio-economic factors influenced by migrations. Thus, after some preliminary reflections on this link between gender and migration, the paper will focus on different meanings of the term macho, with a particular focus on the Latin-American geo-cultural space. Several stories will then be analysed through the lens of the dislocation of classical machismo and its representation through the narrator’s life. For a better understanding of the formative years of his narrator, the last section of the paper will briefly consider Diaz’s only novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 2007.

Abstract Background Front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labeling is a cost-effective strategy to help consumers make informed and healthier food choices. We aimed to investigate the effect of the FOP labels used in the Latin American region on consumers’ shopping intentions when prompted to make their choices with specific nutrients-to-limit in mind among low- and middle-income Mexican adults (> 18 y). Methods In this experimental study of an online simulated shopping situation participants (n = 2194) were randomly assigned to one of three labeling conditions: Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA), Multiple Traffic Lights (MTL), or red Warning Labels (WL). Participants were required to view a video explaining how to correctly interpret the assigned label. Primary outcomes were the overall nutritional quality (estimated using the Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion [NPSC] and NPSC baseline score) and mean energy and nutrient content of purchases. Secondary outcomes included shopping time variables. We also evaluated the impact of the labels across food categories (ready-made foods, dairy beverages, non-dairy beverages, salty snacks, and breakfast cereals) and sociodemographic subgroups. Results The MTL and the WL led to a better overall nutritional quality of the shopping cart compared to the GDA (p

Abstract Background Prevalence of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is estimated between 1 and 2% of all diabetes cases. In Latin-America little information has been described about the frequency of the disease, perhaps due to limited access to genetic studies. Case presentation We present the case of a male patient with a history of two years of fatigue, mild hyperglycemia and intermittent polyuria, accompanied by a recent history of weight loss. He was diagnosed initially as type 2 diabetes, but in the follow-up as a patient with type 1 diabetes. He required relatively low doses of insulin and was evaluated in the endocrinology service at a hospital in Lima. The results of glucose, insulin and C-peptide in the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) performed were not consistent with a type 1 diabetes. Moreover, the age of the patient and the clinical characteristics did not strongly suggest a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes either. These clinical features had prompted us to carry out the genetic study. The genetic test performed with a genetic MODY panel through a massive sequencing. Heterozygous pathogenic for a variant in GCK gene was found c.629C>T p.(Thr210Met). His parents were negative for this variant after performed the genetic test. Conclusions This is the first case of MODY for a pathogenic variant in the GCK gene reported in Perú. The genetic evaluation of a clinical suspicion of MODY is important to confirm the diagnosis and establish an adequate treatment in patients.

This study attempts to adapt and validate the Spanish version of The Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure CORE-OM questionnaire for Colombian and Peruvian populations. A linguistic and cultural adaptation of the CORE-OM Spanish version was created via cognitive interviews of potential users (Colombians n=28; Peruvians n=8). Then the questionnaire was applied along with the SOS and OQ-45 tests to 270 participants, divided in clinical (n=60), and non-clinical (n=210) samples, from three Colombian cities and one city in Peru. Some students made a retest application (n=26) 15 to 30 days after the first one. The CFA conducted showed a four-factor structure (χ2/df=2.09; RMSEA=0.064; RMR=.069) that included well-being, problems/symptoms, general functioning, and risk. The Spanish version of CORE-OM showed excellent acceptability (96%; omission rate 0.14%), good internal consistency (α .70 in most of the scales and samples), acceptable test-retest reliability (Spearman rho0.70; p.001) and convergent validity (all domains r .4; p 0.01, except subjective well-being) in both populations. Significant differences were found in the scores between the clinical and non-clinical sample; although, the clinical sample presented higher scores. These results validate the 1-point cut-off score of between clinical and non-clinical populations.

The application of Virtual Reality as a simulation tool to support manufacturing has stood out in the context of Industry 4.0. This work aims at the study of qualitative factors, exposed as categories of analysis, important to be considered in terms of the application of Virtual Reality in manufacturing. The study obeys the bibliographic review method, being carried out using the keywords: Virtual Reality, manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and industrial, with 74 articles of interest being found. The analysis of the articles allowed the identification of 44 articles classified in 6 categories of application of Virtual Reality: Product Development, Process Development, Industrial Hygiene and Safety, Logistics, Quality Verification, and Maintenance Training. This study shows that the application of Virtual Reality within manufacturing can only reveal its full potential within companies with optimized processes and objectives compatible with the transition to Industry 4.0. An analysis within the Latin American scenario was also carried out. As a suggestion for future studies, a quantitative study of the survey type can be considered, and the evaluation of the organizational maturity necessary for the implementation of 4.0 technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macarena Suanes and Oriol Roca studied the main determinants of inequality and economic growth in Latin America between 1980 and 2009 and found that one of the main determinants was foreign direct investment. This paper extends that study to 2015 and shows that such investment is no longer significant. In contrast, increasing human capital significantly reduces inequality and improves economic growth. It is recommended, then, that economic policies are oriented towards raising educational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Urban expansion in Latin-American cities is faster than urban planning. In order to implement sustainable planning the capacity of peri-urban areas to provide ecosystem services must be evaluated in the context of competing urbanization and conservation pressures. In this study we analyzed the effect of urban expansion on peri-urban vegetation of the Metropolitan Area of Santiago and what ecosystem services are provided by El Panul, land rich in biodiversity embedded in the fringe of the city. The city has lost vegetation while urbanized areas grow. Under this context, we evaluated the multi-functionality of El Panul through the quantification of three ecosystem services (ES): sense of place through the interviews of 60 residents, recreation via GIS analyses, and local climate regulation determined with air temperature measurements. El Panul increased the provision of urban green spaces, where inhabitants recognize and appreciate ES, and it plays a significant role in mitigating the urban heat island on summer nights. ES have emerged as a concept and framework for evaluating competing urban development alternatives.

The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) was created in the post-war, when Latin-American countries were facing disequilibrium in international trade, capital shortage and rising inflation. The ECLAC intended to aid in the definition of a development strategy that could deal with these issues. Between the first ECLAC publications, three of them are considered to be “the trilogy that founds the structuralist theory” (Bielschowsky, 2011, p. 8): the Latin-American Manifesto, the Economic Survey of Latin America-1949, and Theoretical and Practical Problems of Economic Growth. These documents set the center-periphery relation as a conditioning feature for the behavior of national economies, and describe the trajectory of terms of trade deterioration and its consequences to peripheral nations. The objective here is to argue that this trilogy contains an analysis of inflation in underdevelopment, and anticipates the main elements of what would later be called the structuralist theory of inflation. The introduction depicts the context that originated the ECLAC and the debates on how to foster post-war Latin-American development. The second section analyzes the Singer Report and the Latin-American Manifesto with regard to the causes of inflation in peripheral nations. The third section discusses the Economic Survey of Latin America – 1949, with a focus on the consequences of technology incorporation in underdeveloped structures. Section four explores “Theoretical and Practical Problems of Economic Growth” and the issue of inelastic production. Section five surveys the incorporation of Prebisch’s approach into the Brazilian debate. The conclusion sets Prebisch’s contribution in perspective with other structuralist authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]