Liquefied petroleum gas or biomass for cooking and effects on birth weight

BACKGROUND: Exposure during pregnancy to household air pollution caused by the burning of solid biomass fuel is associated with adverse health outcomes, including low birth weight. Whether the replacement of a biomass cookstove with a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cookstove would result in an increase in birth weight is unclear. METHODS: We performed a randomized, controlled trial involving pregnant women (18 to <35 years of age and at 9 to <20 weeks’ gestation as confirmed on ultrasonography) in Guatemala, India, Peru, and Rwanda. The women were assigned in a 1:1 ratio to use a free LPG cookstove and fuel (intervention group) or to continue using a biomass cookstove (control group). Birth weight, one of four prespecified primary outcomes, was the primary outcome for this report; data for the other three outcomes are not yet available. Birth weight was measured within 24 hours after birth. In addition, 24-hour personal exposures to fine particulate matter (particles with a diameter of ≤2.5 μm [PM2.5]), black carbon, and carbon monoxide were measured at baseline and twice during pregnancy. RESULTS: A total of 3200 women underwent randomization; 1593 were assigned to the intervention group, and 1607 to the control group. Uptake of the intervention was nearly complete, with traditional biomass cookstoves being used at a median rate of less than 1 day per month. After randomization, the median 24-hour personal exposure to fine particulate matter was 23.9 μg per cubic meter in the intervention group and 70.7 μg per cubic meter in the control group. Among 3061 live births, a valid birth weight was available for 94.9% of the infants born to women in the intervention group and for 92.7% of infants born to those in the control group. The mean (±SD) birth weight was 2921±474.3 g in the intervention group and 2898±467.9 g in the control group, for an adjusted mean difference of 19.6 g (95% confidence interval, −10.1 to 49.2). CONCLUSIONS: The birth weight of infants did not differ significantly between those born to women who used LPG cookstoves and those born to women who used biomass cookstoves. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; HAPIN ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02944682. opens in new tab.

Acercamientos metodológicos a la subjetivación política : debates latinoamericanos

El trabajo académico que se condensa en este texto, tiene como telón de fondo una apuesta ético política que ha asumido un colectivo de investigadores e investigadoras de América Latina y el Caribe, preocupados por develar horizonte de transformación social a través de la generación de conocimiento relacionado con la noción de subjetividades y subjetivaciones políticas, como categorías de las ciencias sociales que permiten comprender, desde cuerpos interdisciplinarios y complejos de conocimiento, las múltiples capacidades que pueden desplegar los sujetos, para configurar vínculos sociales alternativos que lleven a un buen vivir

A fuzzy ELECTRE structure methodology to assess big data maturity in healthcare SMEs

Advances in technology and an increase in the amount and complexity of data that are generated in healthcare have led to an indispensable revolution in this sector related to big data. Analytics of information based on multimodal clinical data sources requires big data projects. When starting big data projects in the healthcare sector, it is often necessary to assess the maturity of an organization with respect to big data, i.e., its capacity in managing big data. The assessment of the maturity of an organization requires multicriteria decision making as there is no single criterion or dimension that defines the maturity level regarding big data but an entire set of them. Based on the ISO 15504, this article proposes a fuzzy ELECTRE structure methodology to assess the maturity level of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the healthcare sector. The obtained experimental results provide evidence that this methodology helps to determine and compare maturity levels in big data management of organizations or the evolution of maturity over time. This is also useful in terms of diagnosing the readiness of an organization before starting to implement big data initiatives or technologies. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

El bosque seco tropical en Colombia

Más de cuarenta investigadores nacionales e internacionales de más de 20 instituciones contribuyeron a este libro que recoge el estado del conocimiento sobre la biodiversidad, el estado de fragmentación y transformación, y la restauración del bosque seco en Colombia. Sin duda nos quedaron por fuera investigadores e instituciones que realizan un trabajo muy valioso en el BST. Con este libro queremos extenderles la invitación a ellos y a todos los demás interesados en BST para que continúen el trabajo en este ecosistema que es clave para la conservación de la biodiversidad y la provisión de servicios ecosistémicos en áreas secas de Colombia. Sobretodo porque hasta ahora empezamos a entender la importancia ecológica de estos ecosistemas.Bogotá, D. C.Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbold