Women\u27s Perceptions of Their Agency and Power in Post-Conflict Timor-Leste

Women in Timor-Leste face a variety of obstacles to full political, social, and financial inclusion. The tension between government initiatives to protect women and the reality of lived experiences is apparent in the high gender-based violence rate. Though there is strong scholarship in the quantitative-based reporting and analysis of gender and women\u27s rights in post-conflict Timor-Leste, there is a lack of space for Timorese women\u27s voices to directly narrate how they see these issues affecting their lives. This qualitative study expands on previous findings and attempts to bring Timorese women\u27s voices to the center of the current conversation around gender in Timor-Leste. Findings indicate that rigid post-conflict gender roles and a strong patriarchal tradition are obstacles to gender equity, despite the apparent numbers of women in Timor-Leste pushing forward and fighting for women\u27s rights. Themes of competition between women, gender-based violence, access to reproductive health and rights, concerns about financial stability and access to education, and women\u27s political representation emerged during the interview process. These trends indicate the opportunity for Timorese-centered reflections and further research on manifestations of gender inequality and power in this context

Collision of ductal adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas: a case report and review of the literature

Background: Simultaneous occurrence of exocrine and neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas is very infrequent. We report a patient with an endocrine tumor in the pancreatic-duodenal area and extensive exocrine carcinoma involving the whole pancreas. Case presentation: A 69-year-old woman was hospitalized in May 2016 for epigastric pain and weight loss. Her past medical history revealed an undefined main pancreatic duct dilation that was subsequently confirmed at CT scan (23 mm) and endoscopic ultrasound. There was no evidence of pancreatic masses, but the cephalic portion of the main pancreatic duct presented hypoechoic nodules. A diagnosis of the main-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm was made, and the patient underwent total pancreatectomy. Pathological examination showed a collision tumor constituted by a ductal adenocarcinoma involving the whole pancreas and a neuroendocrine tumor located in the duodenal peripancreatic wall and the head of the pancreas. There was one peripancreatic lymph node metastasis from the ductal adenocarcinoma and eight node metastases from the neuroendocrine tumor. These findings suggested a diagnosis of collision of neuroendocrine and ductal adenocarcinomas of the pancreas. The postoperative course was uneventful. Conclusions: The coexistence of pancreatic endocrine and exocrine tumors is very uncommon. When present, problems in differential diagnosis may arise between mixed exocrine-endocrine carcinoma or the collision of separate tumors

Propuesta didáctica para desarrollar las habilidades de razonamiento en el nivel universitario

La presente comunicación se focaliza en las estrategias didácticas aplicadas en la intervención pedagógica llevada a cabo en un espacio curricular de Lógica pero con una propuesta metodológica de Lógica informal/Pensamiento crítico sustentada en el modelo de Halpern, Saiz. El objetivo general que vertebra la intervención es desarrollar habilidades de razonamiento transferibles a la vida cotidiana. Los objetivos específicos se orientan a: - Aprender a identificar las tesis centrales y las razones que las sustentan para analizar y evaluar la argumentación (válida o falaz) que acontece en los contextos de lenguaje natural ?científicos, periodísticos, publicitarios, políticos, etc- (y no como reglas lógicas que no se transfieren a la vida) a fin de saber argumentar, dar razones de peso a favor o en contra de tesis controvertidas, evitar la manipulación y aprender a ser personas de criterio. - Desarrollar la capacidad argumentativa y el juicio crítico para preparar a los jóvenes para roles sociales, académicos, científicos, laborales y políticos responsables. Se presentan las estrategias didácticas aplicadas en la intervención pedagógica llevada a cabo en 2008, durante un semestre con alumnos de primer año de la especialidad Humanidades (Ciencias de la Educación y Psicopedagogía) de nivel universitario. Se trata de una investigación-acción, en la que se realiza intervención pedagógica, en proceso.Fil: Da Dalt, Elizabeth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina; Argentin

Relationship between Protein Oxidation Biomarkers and Uterine Health in Dairy Cows during the Postpartum Period

High neutrophil (PMN, Polymorphonuclear neutrophil) counts in the endometrium of cows affected by endometritis, suggests the involvement of oxidative stress (OS) among the causes of impaired fertility. Protein oxidation, in particular, advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), are OS biomarkers linked to PMN activity. To test this hypothesis, the relationship between protein oxidation and uterus health was studied in thirty-eight dairy cows during the puerperium. The animals were found to be cycling, without any signs of disease and pharmacological treatments. PMN count was performed either through a cytobrush or a uterine horn lavage (UHL). Cows were classified into four groups, based on the uterine ultrasonographic characteristics and the PMN percentage in the uterine horns with a higher percentage of high neutrophil horn (HNH). They were classified as: Healthy (H); Subclinical Endometritis (SCE); Grade 1 Endometritis (EM1); and Grade 2 Endometritis (EM2). AOPP and carbonyls were measured in plasma and UHL. UHL samples underwent Western blot analysis to visualize the carbonyl and dityrosine formation. Plasma AOPP were higher (p < 0.05) in EM2. AOPP and carbonyl group concentrations were higher in the HNH samples (p < 0.05). Protein concentration in the UHL was higher in the EM2 (p < 0.05). Carbonyl and dityrosine formation was more intense in EM1 and EM2. Protein oxidation observed in the EM2 suggests the presence of an inflammatory status in the uterus which, if not adequately hindered, could result in low fertility

A SuperLearner-enforced approach for the estimation of treatment effect in pediatric trials

Background: Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) represent the gold standard among scientific evidence. RCTs are tailored to control selection bias and the confounding effect of baseline characteristics on the effect of treatment. However, trial conduction and enrolment procedures could be challenging, especially for rare diseases and paediatric research. In these research frameworks, the treatment effect estimation could be compromised. A potential countermeasure is to develop predictive models on the probability of the baseline disease based on previously collected observational data. Machine learning (ML) algorithms have recently become attractive in clinical research because of their flexibility and improved performance compared to standard statistical methods in developing predictive models. Objective: This manuscript proposes an ML-enforced treatment effect estimation procedure based on an ensemble SuperLearner (SL) approach, trained on historical observational data, to control the confounding effect. Methods: The REnal SCarring Urinary infEction trial served as a motivating example. Historical observational study data have been simulated through 10,000 Monte Carlo (MC) runs. Hypothetical RCTs have been also simulated, for each MC run, assuming different treatment effects of antibiotics combined with steroids. For each MC simulation, the SL tool has been applied to the simulated observational data. Furthermore, the average treatment effect (ATE), has been estimated on the trial data and adjusted for the SL predicted probability of renal scar. Results: The simulation results revealed an increased power in ATE estimation for the SL-enforced estimation compared to the unadjusted estimates for all the algorithms composing the ensemble SL

A Bayesian Sample Size Estimation Procedure Based on a B-Splines Semiparametric Elicitation Method

Sample size estimation is a fundamental element of a clinical trial, and a binomial experiment is the most common situation faced in clinical trial design. A Bayesian method to determine sample size is an alternative solution to a frequentist design, especially for studies conducted on small sample sizes. The Bayesian approach uses the available knowledge, which is translated into a prior distribution, instead of a point estimate, to perform the final inference. This procedure takes the uncertainty in data prediction entirely into account. When objective data, historical information, and literature data are not available, it may be indispensable to use expert opinion to derive the prior distribution by performing an elicitation process. Expert elicitation is the process of translating expert opinion into a prior probability distribution. We investigated the estimation of a binomial sample size providing a generalized version of the average length, coverage criteria, and worst outcome criterion. The original method was proposed by Joseph and is defined in a parametric framework based on a Beta-Binomial model. We propose a more flexible approach for binary data sample size estimation in this theoretical setting by considering parametric approaches (Beta priors) and semiparametric priors based on B-splines