Direitos Humanos e cristianismo: a igualdade entre os homens e o princípio da universalidade

Pretendo mostrar neste ensaio que existe um elo forte entre determinada filosofia/doutrina da Ecclesia e os Direitos Humanos modernos. Parto do princípio de que é possível encontrar fundamentos teóricos dos Direitos Humanos em certos documentos da Igreja Católica. Destaco a intimidade desses dois corpus filosóficos a partir do princípio da universalidade e da igualdade entre os homens

Estimating Potential Evapotranspiration by Missing Temperature Data Reconstruction

This work studies the statistical characteristics of potential evapotranspiration calculations and their relevance within the water balance used to determine water availability in hydrological basins. The purpose of this study was as follows: first, to apply a missing data reconstruction scheme in weather stations of the Rio Queretaro basin; second, to reduce the generated uncertainty of temperature data: mean, minimum, and maximum values in the evapotranspiration calculation which has a paramount importance in the manner of obtaining the water balance at any hydrological basin. The reconstruction of missing data was carried out in three steps: (1) application of a 4-parameter sinusoidal type regression to temperature data, (2) linear regression to residuals to obtain a regional behavior, and (3) estimation of missing temperature values for a certain year and during a certain season within the basin under study; estimated and observed temperature values were compared. Finally, using the obtained temperature values, the methods of Hamon, Papadakis, Blaney and Criddle, Thornthwaite, and Hargreaves were employed to calculate potential evapotranspiration that was compared to the real observed values in weather stations. With the results obtained from the application of this procedure, the surface water balance was corrected for the case study

Leave a free country or die for Haiti: on global governance in the case of MINUSTAH

Deixar a pátria livre ou morrer pelo Haiti aborda a global governance a partir do caso da MINUSTAH – Mission des Nations Unis pour la stabilization en Haiti. Analisa, essencialmente, os relatórios do secretário geral das Nações Unidas produzidos entre 2004 e 2014. Reconstitui o processo de desestabilização política e social que conduziu à necessidade dessa missão no Haiti. Leva em consideração a sobreposição de crises locais, regionais e mundiais nesses dez anos e considera a manutenção como genuíno esforço de global governance.Leave a free country or die for Haiti address the global governance from the case of MINUSTAH - Mission des Nations Unis pour la stabilization en Haiti. Analyzes essentially the UN Secretary General’s reports produced between 2004 and 2014. Reconstitutes the process of political and social unrest that led to the need of the mission in Haiti. It takes into account the overlap of local, regional and global crises in these ten years and considers the maintenance effort as genuine global governance

La revisión excepcional de precios en Obra Pública. Actualización legislativa 2022

Dentro de las tipologías de contratación de bienes o servicios por parte de la Administración Pública, la contratación de obras establece una serie de particularidades que conllevan el tratamiento singularizado del Contrato de Obras. La implantación del Registro de Contratos del Sector Público permite analizar los datos del mismo para la obtención de una imagen del estado actual de la materia. Hoy en día los contratos de obra representan al menos el 20% del importe total contratado por las Administraciones Públicas, aumentado este porcentaje hasta un 22.8% si se incluyen la concesión de obra pública. Atendiendo a los procedimientos de contratación, el procedimiento abierto es el más utilizado, representa el 49,7% de los contratos. Le sigue en importancia el procedimiento negociado (35,2%), teniendo los demás procedimientos un menor peso. Otro dato importante para tener en cuenta es el importe medio de las distintas tipologías contractuales que permita establecer el orden de magnitud de cada una de ellas. Es significativamente más elevado en el ámbito de la Administración General, principalmente por las grandes infraestructuras que acomete el Estado en materia de carreteras, ferrocarriles, puertos, etc. De los datos expuestos anteriormente se aprecia la importancia que tiene la contratación pública de obras dentro del tejido productivo del país en todos sus niveles. La aparición de circunstancias extraordinarias, como la pandemia desatada por el virus SARS-CoV-2, ha tenido una repercusión directa en el contexto económico y ha derivado en una rotura de las cadenas logísticas, además del aumento exponencial del coste de las materias primas. Como el resto del entorno económico del país, la contratación de obra pública se ha visto gravemente afectada por el encarecimiento de las materias primas. En concreto, los contratistas han visto como el equilibrio económico, en el que se fundamenta la ejecución de este tipo de contratos, ha desaparecido y excedido el principio de riesgo y ventura que deben soportar. La aparición de estas circunstancias era del todo imposible de prever en los procedimientos administrativos en los que se licitaron los contratos y ha derivado en la imposibilidad material de ejecutarlos. El legislador estatal, ante la gravedad de la situación y en el uso de sus facultades competenciales, para atajar la problemática y mitigar los efectos del incremento de costes en las obras, ha optado por la creación de un mecanismo de revisión excepcional de los precios de obra pública y dotado a las comunidades autónomas la potestad de adscribirse, adaptarlo y complementarlo

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Sex difference and intra-operative tidal volume: Insights from the LAS VEGAS study

BACKGROUND: One key element of lung-protective ventilation is the use of a low tidal volume (VT). A sex difference in use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) has been described in critically ill ICU patients.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether a sex difference in use of LTVV also exists in operating room patients, and if present what factors drive this difference.DESIGN, PATIENTS AND SETTING: This is a posthoc analysis of LAS VEGAS, a 1-week worldwide observational study in adults requiring intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals in 29 countries.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Women and men were compared with respect to use of LTVV, defined as VT of 8 ml kg-1 or less predicted bodyweight (PBW). A VT was deemed 'default' if the set VT was a round number. A mediation analysis assessed which factors may explain the sex difference in use of LTVV during intra-operative ventilation.RESULTS: This analysis includes 9864 patients, of whom 5425 (55%) were women. A default VT was often set, both in women and men; mode VT was 500 ml. Median [IQR] VT was higher in women than in men (8.6 [7.7 to 9.6] vs. 7.6 [6.8 to 8.4] ml kg-1 PBW, P &lt; 0.001). Compared with men, women were twice as likely not to receive LTVV [68.8 vs. 36.0%; relative risk ratio 2.1 (95% CI 1.9 to 2.1), P &lt; 0.001]. In the mediation analysis, patients' height and actual body weight (ABW) explained 81 and 18% of the sex difference in use of LTVV, respectively; it was not explained by the use of a default VT.CONCLUSION: In this worldwide cohort of patients receiving intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery, women received a higher VT than men during intra-operative ventilation. The risk for a female not to receive LTVV during surgery was double that of males. Height and ABW were the two mediators of the sex difference in use of LTVV.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01601223