La incuestionabilidad del riesgo

Con anterioridad a la década de 1980, la literatura especializada en análisis y gestión del riesgo estaba dominada por la llamada visión tecnocrática o dominante. Esta visión establecía que los desastres naturales eran sucesos físicos extremos, producidos por una naturaleza caprichosa, externos a lo social y que requerían soluciones tecnológicas y de gestión por parte de expertos. Este artículo se centra en desarrollar una nueva explicación para entender la persistencia hegemónica de la visión tecnocrática basada en el concepto de incuestionabilidad del riesgo. Esta propuesta conceptual hace referencia a la incapacidad y desidia de los expertos, científicos y tomadores de decisiones en general (claimmakers) de identificar y actuar sobre las causas profundas de la producción del riesgo ya que ello conllevaría a cuestionar los imperativos normativos, las necesidades de las elites y los estilos de vida del actual sistema socioeconómico globalizado.Before de 1980s, the natural hazard analysis and management specialized literature was dominated by the so called "dominant" or "technocratic" view. Such perspective had established that natural disasters are extreme physical events caused by a whimsical nature and that these events are external to society. These events required technological and management solutions developed by experts. The current article aims at addressing a new explanatory component in the hegemonic persistence of the technocratic view. Such assumption was based on the "unquestionability of the risk" concept. It is stated that the "unquestionability of the risk" is the overall incapacity and neglect of experts, scientists and decision makers to identify and act over the deep causes of risk production, since it would make them question the normative imperatives and the demands from the elite as well as the life style in nowadays globalized socio-economic system

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor with Primary Ovarian Involvement: Case Report and Review

Background. Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a rare, aggressive, malignant neoplasm that has recently been characterized. It has not been associated with a primary visceral organ. In women, cases are even more rare and often have some ovarian involvement. Case. An 11-year-old girl presented with abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. A CT scan revealed a large heterogeneous pelvic mass with cystic components and an 8-cm midabdominal mass. During exploratory laparotomy, the patient was found to have a pelvic mass measuring 12.9 cm replacing normal ovarian tissue. The midabdominal mass was also removed. Pathology, cytology, and immunohistochemistry confirmed a desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Even with aggressive surgical and medical intervention, the patient died 11 months after initial diagnosis. Conclusion. We present a rare small cell tumor that is associated with ovarian involvement. The prognosis in these patients is extremely poor and very few survivals have been reported

Efectos de la reforma contable en el patrimonio neto consolidado a 1 de enero de 2008 de los grupos españoles que no aplican normativa NIIF: Effect of changes in accounting policies and criteria on consolidated equity at 1 January 2008 among Spanish groups that did not apply the IFRS

This paper analyzes the effect of changes in accounting policies and criteria on consolidated equity at January 1st 2008 among Spanish unlisted groups that did not implement the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), following the revision of the accounting rules implemented through the new General Accounting Plan and the explanatory note published by the Institute of Accounting and Accounts Auditing (ICAC) on the standards for the presentation of consolidated financial statements. In addition, we evaluate the effects of the transition to the new rules, taking into account the size of each group. To do so, we analyzed the consolidated annual accounts of the 100 largest Spanish firms which have been prepared in accordance with applicable Spanish regulations, by seeking significant differences between equities under the two sets of standards. The results obtained show there has been no significant impact on the consolidated net assets of Spanish groups that have not implemented the international rules regarding the transition to new accounting standards for 2007-2008, and therefore that the information, by enabling comparability, is useful for users. Therefore, the decision by Spanish Government to allow groups that do not implement the IFRS not to present comparative information can be considered to have been correct, as this has facilitated the transition to the new standards without provoking comparability costs and troubles of presentation and conversion.En este trabajo se analiza el efecto de los cambios en las políticas y criterios contables sobre el patrimonio neto consolidado a 1 de enero de 2008 de los grupos españoles, no cotizados, que no aplicaron las NIIF como consecuencia de la adaptación de la normativa contable, instrumentada a través del nuevo PGC y la nota explicativa del ICAC sobre las normas de formulación de cuentas anuales consolidadas. Asimismo, se evalúan los efectos de la transición a la nueva normativa teniendo en cuenta el tamaño de los grupos. Con este objetivo, se examinaron las cuentas anuales consolidadas de los 100 mayores grupos españoles formuladas de acuerdo con la normativa española, buscando diferencias significativas entre los patrimonios netos bajo ambas normativas. Los resultados obtenidos ofrecen evidencia sobre la ausencia de impacto significativo en el patrimonio neto consolidado de estos grupos españoles en la transición a las nuevas normas contables del ejercicio 2007 al 2008 y, con ello, de que la información resulta útil para los usuarios en cuanto a su comparabilidad. Por consiguiente, el hecho de que el Gobierno permitiera para los grupos (y empresas) españoles que no aplican NIIF no presentar información comparativa, puede considerarse finalmente una decisión acertada, pues ha facilitado la transición a las nuevas normas sin coste de comparabilidad y sin problemas de presentación y conversión de las cifras anteriores