239 research outputs found

    STEPS TO A LOCALIZATION OF A STUDENT CENTRED IS AN EXPLORATORY APPROACH

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    In this exploratory paper we propose a particular interpretation of what “localization” and “centring” could represent within a n-fold approach, aimed to question the reality to raise analytic and methodological issues. This concern a discussion on a project of localization of an information system addressed to student\u27s needs. Our subject of analysis is the student of Trento University (Italy) that stands for the pivoting point of the comprehension and knowledge of the situated context we study. Adopting a scenario-based design we try to give the researchers and designers a useful tool embodying the questions and problems of a complex reality such student\u27s life is

    Gas separation membranes obtained by partial pyrolysis of polyimides exhibiting polyethylene oxide moieties

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    Aromatic copolyimides (PIx) and aromatic-aliphatic copolyimides (PIxEOy) were synthesized by reacting 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) with mixtures obtained from 2,2′-bis(4-aminophenyl)hexafluoropropane (6FpDA), 5-diaminobenzoic acid (DABA) and Jeffamine ED-2003 (PEO). The selective thermal removal of PEO from PIxEOy yielded membranes with high thermal stability and good mechanical properties. The presence of carboxylic groups minimized the shrinkage during the cross-linking process. The membranes containing 10 mol% DABA exhibited good O2/N2 and CO2/CH4 separation performance, and resistance to CO2 plasticization. PIx/PIxEOy blends containing less than 10 wt% PEO were prepared. The CO2/CH4 selectivity/permeability balance of cross-linked membranes largely exceeded that of PIx. The results highlight a possible strategy for using analogous cross-linkable polymers exhibiting ethylene oxide moieties as mere additive to prepare high free volume polyimide's membranes, exhibiting enhanced separation properties and high resistance to plasticization.This work was supported by the Spanish Government (AEI) through projects PID2019-109403RB-C21, PID2019-109403RB-C22 and PID2020-118547 GB-I00, and by the Regional Government of Castilla y León and the EU-FEDER program (CLU2017-09, UIC082, VA088G19 and VA224P20). M.G. acknowledges support of this work from the University of Oklahoma (VPR OfficePeer reviewe

    Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

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    Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

    Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

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    Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

    Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

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    Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

    In assenza di politiche familiari: l'influenza della famiglia sul lavoro di uomini e donne in un confronto fra Italia e Stati Uniti

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    L'oggetto di studio della tesi è rappresentato dell'analisi delle conseguenze degli eventi familiari sulle carriere individuali, sia riguardo alla partecipazione al mercato del lavoro, sia riguardo agli esiti che il lavoro produce. Gli eventi familiari considerati sono: 1) l'inizio di una nuova unione familiare, 2) la nascita dei figli e 3) le dissoluzioni familiari (separazioni e divorzi). Il lavoro empirico è costruito attorno alla comparazione fra Italia e Stati Uniti: due contesti in cui lo Stato non promuove attivamente la conciliazione tra famiglia e lavoro e il sostegno pubblico all'occupazione femminile è limitato, sebbene il problema della mancanza di sostegno statale, in Italia trova risposta nella (o viene scaricato sulla) famiglia, mentre negli Stati Uniti è in gran parte risolto dal mercato. L'analisi empirica è condotta su dati di tipo longitudinale raccolti a livello nazionale: per l'Italia si è fatto ricorso all'indagine «Famiglie e Soggetti sociali» effettuata nel 2009 dall'ISTAT nell'ambito delle Indagini multiscopo sulle famiglie, mentre le analisi relative agli Stati Uniti sono state svolte sul Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Le principali tecniche di analisi adottate comprendono la panel data analysis e l'event history analysis. L'appartenenza dell'Italia e degli Stati Uniti rispettivamente al regime di welfare conservatore nella sua variante «mediterranea» e al regime di welfare liberale emerge come l'elemento istituzionale che meglio aiuta a interpretare i principali risultati empirici emersi in questo lavoro. Al di là  del ruolo del regime di welfare nel determinare i tassi di occupazione femminili (Esping-Andersen 1990, 1999) esso ha un ruolo rilevante nel determinare le traiettorie occupazionali delle donne lungo il corso di vita. Nell'ambito della comparazione degli assetti istituzionali di Italia e Stati Uniti questo lavoro ha contribuito al dibattito circa le conseguenze lavorative degli eventi familiari in quattro direzioni: 1) si ritiene di aver fornito una misura dell'effetto dei figli sui tassi di occupazione femminili più accurata rispetto ai precedenti studi: In Italia, in particolare, si è stimato un effetto negativo superiore a quanto riscontrato in letteratura; 2) ci si è posto per la prima volta l'obiettivo di analizzare in maniera sistematica, per l'Italia, l'effetto del divorzio sull'occupazione femminile. Si è stimato un effetto positivo che persiste anche nel medio termine, limitato però alle donne senza figli in età  prescolare; 3) questo lavoro non si è limitato a considerare gli effetti degli eventi familiari solo sulle carriere delle donne, ma ha allargato l'analisi alle conseguenze sul lavoro degli uomini. 4) Infine, è stato dimostrato che negli Stati Uniti le traiettorie occupazionali delle donne appartenenti alle coorti più recenti sono meno sensibili alla nascita dei figli, mentre in Italia accade l'esatto opposto. Nello specifico, in Italia la penalizzazione occupazionale della nascita di un figlio è significativamente più forte per le donne appartenenti alle coorti più recenti. Il risultato ha una grande rilevanza se si considera che nonostante a) le trasformazioni intervenute negli ultimi decenni riguardo al lavoro delle donne, b) la crescente presenza dei temi della conciliazione nel discorso pubblico e nella retorica politica e c) le timide politiche implementate a sostegno della famiglia, la conciliazione famiglia-lavoro è oggi più difficoltosa in Italia di quanto non fosse per le donne della generazione precedente

    Community Services or Philanthrophy, Which One Should We Focus On?

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    As fraternity and sorority we are committed to participating in community service and philanthropic efforts; however, most times we pick philanthropy over services. This session will provide students the opportunity to better understand the importance of having a healthy balance between community services and philanthropic efforts within our Greek Community

    Community Services or Philanthrophy, Which One Should We Focus On?

    No full text
    As fraternity and sorority we are committed to participating in community service and philanthropic efforts; however, most times we pick philanthropy over services. This session will provide students the opportunity to better understand the importance of having a healthy balance between community services and philanthropic efforts within our Greek Community
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