Commentary: Actions to end violence against women : a multi-sector approach

Many forms of violence affect women and girls, such as physical and sexual abuse, trafficking, female genital mutilation, early and forced marriage, murders in the name of honour or dowry, and sexual harassment and abuse by authority figures. Prevention is imperative, and promising programmes exist that need to be tested and scaled up. The UN’s post-2015 global agenda, currently under discussion, must include a target to eliminate violence against women and girls, which supports the actions outlined in this article

Randall-Sundrum brane cosmology: modification of late-time cosmic dynamics by exotic matter

In this paper we show, through the study of concrete examples, that, depending on the cosmic dynamics of the energy density of matter degrees of freedom living in the brane, Randall-Sundrum (RS) brane effects can be important not only at short distances (UV regime), but also at large cosmological scales (IR regime). Our first example relies on the study, by means of the dynamical systems tools, of a toy model based in a non-linear electrodynamics (NLED) Lagrangian. Then we show that other, less elaborated models, such as the inclusion of a scalar phantom field, and of a tachyon phantom field -- trapped in the brane -- produce similar results. The form of the RS correction seems to convert what would have been future attractors in general relativity into saddle points. The above "mixing of scales" effect is distinctive only of theories that modify the right-hand-side (matter part) of the Friedmann equation, so that, for instance, DGP-brane models do not show this feature.Comment: Latex, 12 pages, 9 eps figures. Title changed, discussion improved. Version that matches the one published in CQ

Designing Oral-based Rubric for Oral Language Testing wiht Undergraduate Spanish Students in ESP Contexts

During several decades, considerable attention has been paid to speaking assessment procedures. Probably, the reason for this relevance lies in the difficulties in dealing with oral assessment and in determining the adequate type of assessment (Campbell et al., 2001; Schwartz & Arena, 2013; Stoynoff, 2013). The main aim of this article is to analyze to what extent students’ oral competences (such as their English competence and fluency) affect their peers’ English oral production. More precisely, we intend to study effective procedures to assess oral production in ESP contexts. In order to assess our students, we have designed a speaking-based rubric as the main instrument (called ‘Speaking Diagnostic Test’), based on previous research (Spandel, 2006; Wilson, 2006). The results obtained from both questionnaires will help us identify to what extent students’ preferences in working with other classmates influence their English oral production and therefore to what extent theseThe research conducted in this article is part of the Education and Innovation research project: Proyecto de Innovación Educativa Universitat Jaume I 2779/13 Parámetros de aproximación a la evaluación de las destrezas orales en lengua inglesa: tipología, diseño de tests y criterios de validación. 2 Universitat Jaum

Asymptotic Properties of a Supposedly Regular (Dirac-Born-Infeld) Modification of General Relativity

We apply the dynamical systems tools to study the asymptotic properties of a cosmological model based on a non-linear modification of General Relativity in which the standard Einstein-Hilbert action is replaced by one of Dirac-Born-Infeld type. It is shown that the dynamics of this model is extremely rich: there are found equilibrium points in the phase space that can be associated with matter-dominated, matter-curvature scaling, de Sitter, and even phantom-like solutions. Depending on the value of the overall parameters the dynamics in phase space can show multi-attractor structure into the future (multiple future attractors may co-exist). This is a consequence of bifurcations in control parameter space, showing strong dependence of the model's dynamical properties on the free parameters. Contrary to what is expected from non-linear modifications of general relativity of this kind, removal of the initial spacetime singularity is not a generic feature of the corresponding cosmological model. Instead, the starting point of the cosmic dynamics -- the past attractor in the phase space -- is a state of infinitely large value of the Hubble rate squared, usually associated with the big bang singularity.Comment: 12 pages, Revtex, 12 eps figures. Several new references added. Minor changes in the main text. Discussion improve

Desigualdades en la mortalidad por insuficiencia cardiaca congestiva e hipertensión arterial según sexo y variables socioeconómicas en el departamento de santander, 2014 – 2018

Cada vez son más las personas que sufren enfermedades como la Insuficiencia Cardiaca (IC) y la Hipertensión Arterial (HTA), desde hace varios años se ha confirmado el incremento en la mortalidad por estas causas relacionado con las características socioeconómicas y demográficas generando una amplia desigualdad en la salud. A través de la investigación se determinaron las desigualdades en la mortalidad por las causas mencionadas las que están estrechamente relacionadas cuya diferencia se estableció según las estadísticas de mortalidad del DANE. Objetivo: Determinar las desigualdades en la mortalidad por Insuficiencia Cardiaca Congestiva (ICC) e Hipertensión Arterial (HTA) relacionadas con variables socioeconómicas según sexo en el departamento de Santander, 2014 – 2018. Materiales y métodos: Se realizó un estudio ecológico a través del cual con se comparó la mortalidad por ICC e HTA en los 87 municipios del departamento de Santander a partir de los datos de defunciones según sexo (DANE), se realizaron cálculo y ajuste directo de tasas. El valor de NBI se obtuvo del DANE, los datos de Cobertura de acueducto (REC), Cobertura de alcantarillado (REC), Cobertura en educación, Déficit cualitativo de vivienda, Déficit cuantitativo de vivienda, Índice de pobreza multidimensional de la página del Departamento Nacional de Planeación; del SIVICAP (Sistema de Información de la Vigilancia de la Calidad del Agua para Consumo Humano) fue extraída la información del IRCA. Las desigualdades se determinaron a través del índice de regresión acotado y el índice de concentración calculados en el Programa EPIDAT 4.1. Resultados: Las desigualdades en la mortalidad por HTA e ICC en hombres se ven aumentados en municipios que presentan deficiencias en servicios públicos, déficit de vivienda, cobertura en educación, NBI y presencia de IPM. En las mujeres las desigualdades en la mortalidad por HTA e ICC según NBI e IPM se mantiene aunque los indicadores de desigualdad disminuyen hacia el año 2018. Conclusiones: Los resultados muestran que existe una relación entre las desigualdades en términos socioeconómicos en mortalidad por HTA e ICC en ambos sexos. Las variables que mostraron una relación más cercana con los casos de mortalidad reportados en los municipios con peores condiciones fueron: déficit habitacional cualitativo, índice de pobreza multidimensional y necesidades básicas insatisfechas.More and more people suffer from diseases such as Heart Failure (HF) and Arterial Hypertension (HTN), for several years the increase in mortality from these causes has been confirmed, related to socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, generating a wide inequality in health. Through research, inequalities in mortality due to the aforementioned causes were determined. To determine the inequalities in mortality due to Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and Arterial Hypertension (HTN) related to socioeconomic variables according to sex in the department of Santander, 2014 - 2018. An ecological study was carried out, with a quantitative approach where mortality due to CHF and HT was compared in the 87 municipalities of the department of Santander, data on deaths by sex were taken based on (list of causes grouped 6/67 ICD - 10 from OPS) according to DANE estimates, from which the NBI data were also taken, from the National Planning Department page the data on Aqueduct Coverage (REC), Sewerage Coverage (REC), Education Coverage, Deficit were obtained qualitative housing, quantitative housing deficit, multidimensional poverty index and from the SIVICAP (Information System for the Surveillance of Water Quality for Human Consumption) the information from IRCA was extracted. The inequality indices used were calculated by ranges and in regression models, as well as with the concentration indices in the EPIDAT 4.1 program. Inequalities in mortality due to AHT and CHF in men are increased in municipalities with deficiencies in public services, housing deficit, education coverage, UBN and MPI. In women, inequalities in mortality from AHT and CHF according to NBI and MPI are maintained although they decrease towards 2018. The results show that there is a relationship between inequalities in socioeconomic terms in mortality from AHT and CHF in both sexes. The variables that showed a closer relationship with the mortality cases reported in the municipalities with worse conditions were: qualitative housing deficit, multidimensional poverty index and unsatisfied basic needs

Acceso, permanencia y desarrollo profesional de seis mujeres que ingresaron a la educación superior y fueron parte de la historia de la universidad Tecnológica de Pereira: décadas 1970 y 1980

Con el fin de evidenciar y analizar posibles barreras sociales, culturales y políticas, a partir de las voces de mujeres que entretejen sus relaciones laborales y/o educativas dentro del escenario de educación superior, y aportar desde el discurso de género, al desarrollo institucional, a través de la formulación de una política de inclusión y equidad de género en la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira. Las universidades públicas de Colombia no han consolidado una política de inclusión y equidad de género, a pesar de los múltiples intentos del Estado colombiano por ampliar la protección para las mujeres en materia de derechos sociales, culturales, políticos y económicos. Lo cual ha dificultado las investigaciones sobre este tema, al disuadir la búsqueda de solución desde la academia, para diferentes problemáticas sociales que hoy enfrenta el sexo femenino. Por tal motivo este proyecto de investigación se lleva a cabo con el propósito de obtener insumos que con lleven a la comprensión de las problemáticas académicas para avanzar en la formulación de una política de inclusión y de equidad de género al interior de las universidades públicas, además de aportar a la construcción de la historia de la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, desde el discurso de género para contribuir al desarrollo institucional