Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación: más de lo mismo o más y diferente en educación

Todos somos conscientes de la importancia de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en la educación. No obstante, hemos reparado en alguna ocasión cómo se ha producido el advenimiento y la impulsión de estas tecnologías digitales en la cotidianeidad y en la propia educación. Detenerse a pensar en esto conlleva algunos interrogantes que pueden terminar invitándonos a pensar que las TIC no son más de lo mismo en esto de la educación sino, indiscutiblemente, más (relaciones con la información y la comunicación) y diferente (maneras de acceder al conocimiento). De igual modo, nos surge la necesidad de reflexionar sobre el papel que desempeñará la cibercultura en la educación del siglo XXI, además de cuáles serán nuestras responsabilidades, qué disposición o predisposición existe y existirá, con qué herramientas contaremos, etc

La competencia fiscal en el entorno europeo: La movilidad de las rentas más altas

Este trabajo, tiene como objetivo analizar los efectos de la competencia fiscal, desde unaperspectiva general y centrándome en el entorno europeo, con la intención de comprobarel alcance de los efectos de esta clase de políticas, en especial de los supuestos efectosque tiene sobre la movilidad de los individuos de mayores rentas y si estos son tan nocivoscomo algunos afirman.El trabajo se inicia con una síntesis del análisis teórico de la competencia fiscal a lo largode la historia, tomando en cuenta las posturas a favor y en contra y los méritos y deméritosde la armonización fiscal. Posteriormente, con el propósito de mostrar la aplicación deestas políticas en la práctica, se estudian las políticas que se han llevado a cabo, dentrodel entorno europeo, mostrando cómo ha sido, es y posiblemente será, la forma en la quecompiten fiscalmente. Seguidamente, a través de distintas investigaciones, se examinanlos efectos que tiene la competencia sobre la movilidad de los agentes, tanto a nivelinternacional como intranacional. La conclusión alcanzada es que la competencia fiscaltiene un efecto sobre las decisiones de localización de, por lo menos, las rentas más altas.Y finalmente, se aportan recomendaciones para alcanzar una armonización fiscal efectivaa largo plazo. <br /

HIV: Seek, test, treat, and retain

AbstractThe “HIV: Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain” session was chaired by Dr Jacques Normand, the director of AIDS Research at the US National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr Yi-Ming Chen served as the discussant. The three presenters (and their presentation topics) were: Dr Julio Montaner (Treatment as Prevention–The Key to an AIDS-free Generation), Dr Chi-Tai Fang (Population-level Effect of Free Access to HAART on Reducing HIV Transmission in Taiwan), and Dr Zunyou Wu (Challenges in Promoting HIV Test and Treat Strategy in China)

Dual Sexual and Drug-related Predictors of Hepatitis C Incidence among Sex Workers in a Canadian Setting: Gaps and Opportunities for Scale-up of Hepatitis C Virus Prevention, Treatment, and Care

Background&nbsp; Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality globally. While sex workers may face elevated HCV risks through both drug and sexual pathways, incidence data among sex workers are severely lacking. HCV incidence and predictors of HCV seroconversion among women sex workers in Vancouver, BC were characterized in this study. Methods&nbsp; Questionnaire and serological data were drawn from a community-based cohort of women sex workers (2010–2014). Kaplan–Meier methods and Cox regression were used to model HCV incidence and predictors of time to HCV seroconversion. Results&nbsp; Among 759 sex workers, HCV prevalence was 42.7%. Among 292 baseline-seronegative sex workers, HCV incidence density was 3.84/100 person-years (PY), with higher rates among women using injection drugs (23.30/100 PY) and non-injection crack (6.27/100 PY), and those living with HIV (13.27/100 PY) or acute sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (5.10/100 PY). In Cox analyses adjusted for injection drug use, age (hazard ratio (HR) 0.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.86–1.01), acute STI (HR 2.49, 95% CI 1.02–6.06), and non-injection crack use (HR 2.71, 95% CI 1.18–6.25) predicted time to HCV seroconversion. Discussion&nbsp; While HCV incidence was highest among women who inject drugs, STIs and the use of non-injection stimulants appear to be pathways to HCV infection, suggesting potential dual sexual/drug transmission. Integrated HCV services within sexual health and HIV/STI programs are recommended

Prescription opioid injection and risk of hepatitis C in relation to traditional drugs of misuse in a prospective cohort of street youth

Objective: Despite dramatic increases in the misuse of prescription opioids, the extent to which their intravenous injection places drug users at risk of acquiring hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains unclear. We sought to compare risk of HCV acquisition from injection of prescription opioids to that from other street drugs among high-risk street youth. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from September 2005 to November 2011. Participants: The At-Risk Youth Study (ARYS) is a prospective cohort of drug-using adolescents and young adults aged 14–26 years. Participants were recruited through street-based outreach and snowball sampling. Primary outcome measure HCV antibody seroconversion, measured every 6 months during follow-up. Risk for seroconversion from injection of prescription opioids was compared with injection of other street drugs of misuse, including heroin, cocaine or crystal methamphetamine, using Cox proportional hazards regression controlling for age, gender and syringe sharing. Results: Baseline HCV seropositivity was 10.6%. Among 512 HCV-seronegative youth contributing 860.2 person-years of follow-up, 56 (10.9%) seroconverted, resulting in an incidence density of 6.5/100 person-years. In bivariate analyses, prescription opioid injection (HR=3.48; 95% CI 1.57 to 7.70) predicted HCV seroconversion. However, in multivariate modelling, only injection of heroin (adjusted HR=4.56; 95% CI 2.39 to 8.70), cocaine (adjusted HR=1.88; 95% CI 1.00 to 3.54) and crystal methamphetamine (adjusted HR=2.91; 95% CI 1.57 to 5.38) remained independently associated with HCV seroconversion, whereas injection of prescription opioids did not (adjusted HR=0.94; 95% CI 0.40 to 2.21). Conclusions: Although misuse of prescription opioids is on the rise, traditional street drugs still posed the greatest threat of HCV transmission in this setting. Nonetheless, the high prevalence and incidence of HCV among Canadian street youth underscore the need for evidence-based drug prevention, treatment and harm reduction interventions targeting this vulnerable population

Overrepresentation of Injection Drug Use Route of Infection Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus Long-term Nonprogressors: A Nationwide, Retrospective Cohort Study in China, 1989-2016.

BackgroundWhy some persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH) progress quickly and others remain "healthy" for a decade or more without treatment remains a fundamental question of HIV pathology. We aimed to assess the epidemiological characteristics of HIV long-term nonprogressors (LTNPs) based on a cohort of PLWH in China observed between 1989 and 2016.MethodsWe conducted a nationwide, retrospective cohort study among Chinese PLWH with HIV diagnosed before 1 January 2008. Records were extracted from China's national HIV/AIDS database on 30 June 2016. LTNPs were defined as those with AIDS-free, antiretroviral therapy-naive survival, with CD4 cell counts consistently ≥500/μL for ≥8 years after diagnosis. Prevalence was calculated, characteristics were described, and determinants were assessed by means of logistic regression. Potential sources of bias were also investigated.ResultsOur cohort included 89 201 participants, of whom 1749 (2.0%) were categorized as LTNPs. The injection drug use (IDU) route of infection was reported by 70.7% of LTNPs, compared with only 37.1% of non-LTNPs. The odds of LTNP status were greater among those infected via IDU (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 2.28 [1.94-2.68]) and with HIV diagnosed in settings with large populations of persons who inject drugs (1.75 [1.51-2.02] for detention centers, 1.61 [1.39-1.87] for Yunnan, 1.94 [1.62-2.31] for Guangdong, and 2.90 [2.09-4.02] for Xinjiang).ConclusionsOverrepresentation of the IDU route of infection among LTNPs is a surprising finding worthy of further study, and this newly defined cohort may be particularly well suited to exploration of the molecular biological mechanisms underlying HIV long-term nonprogression

Does ratification of human-rights treaties have effects on population health?

Human-rights treaties indicate a country's commitment to human rights. Here, we assess whether ratification of human-rights treaties is associated with improved health and social indicators. Data for health (including HIV prevalence, and maternal, infant, and child [<5 years] mortalities) and social indicators (child labour, human development index, sex gap, and corruption index), gathered from 170 countries, showed no consistent associations between ratification of human-rights treaties and health or social outcomes. Established market economy states had consistently improved health compared with less wealthy settings, but this was not associated with treaty ratification. The status of treaty ratification alone is not a good indicator of the realisation of the right to health. We suggest the need for stringent requirements for ratification of treaties, improved accountability mechanisms to monitor compliance of states with treaty obligations, and financial assistance to support the realisation of the right to health