Specifying Exposure Classification Parameters for Sensitivity Analysis: Family Breast Cancer History

One of the challenges to implementing sensitivity analysis for exposure misclassification is the process of specifying the classification proportions (eg, sensitivity and specificity). The specification of these assignments is guided by three sources of information: estimates from validation studies, expert judgment, and numerical constraints given the data. The purpose of this teaching paper is to describe the process of using validation data and expert judgment to adjust a breast cancer odds ratio for misclassification of family breast cancer history. The parameterization of various point estimates and prior distributions for sensitivity and specificity were guided by external validation data and expert judgment. We used both nonprobabilistic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses to investigate the dependence of the odds ratio estimate on the classification error. With our assumptions, a wider range of odds ratios adjusted for family breast cancer history misclassification resulted than portrayed in the conventional frequentist confidence interval.Children's Cancer Research Fund, Minneapolis, MN, US

Actinomicetos termoalcalófilos del área subtropical de Jujuy, Argentina

El objetivo de este trabajo fue examinar los actinomicetos termoalcalófilos presentes en el área subtropical de Jujuy, Argentina, caracterizada por el cultivo de la caña de azúcar. Se aislaron en medio con novobiocina las especies Laceyella putida, Laceyella sacchari, Thermoactinomyces intermedius, Thermoactinomyces vulgaris y Thermoflavimicrobium dichotomicum a partir de la rizósfera de plantas y de renuevos de caña de azúcar, así como de suelos de pastura y de monte natural. El pH de los suelos era casi neutro a ligeramente alcalino, excepto en un solo caso en que el suelo estaba acidificado por licor láctico. El número de actinomicetos encontrados sobre los tejidos vivos y en el bagazo recién obtenido o almacenado según el método de Ritter fue pequeño en comparación con el observado sobre las hojas en descomposición. L. sacchari predominó respecto de T. vulgaris. Se aislaron especies termoalcalófilas de Laceyella, Thermoactinomyces, Thermoflavimicrobium, Saccharomonospora, Streptomyces y Thermononospora de los residuos compostados de caña de azúcar utilizando medio sin novobiocina. El aire capturado cerca de pilas de bagazo en compostaje contenía esporos de estos organismos.The objective of this study was to examine the alkalithermophilic actinomycete communities in the subtropical environment of Jujuy, Argentina, characterized by sugarcane crops. Laceyella putida, Laceyella sacchari, Thermoactinomyces intermedius, Thermoactinomyces vulgaris and Thermoflavimicrobium dichotomicum were isolated on the media with novobiocin, from sugar cane plants and renewal rhizospheres, and grass and wood soils. Soil pH was almost neutral or lightly alkaline, except for grass soil acidified by lactic liquor. A smaller number of actinomycetes was found on the living plants and bagasse (recently obtained or stored according to the Ritter method) with respect to decomposed leaves on the soil. Thermophilic species of Laceyella, Thermoactinomyces, Thermoflavimicrobium, Saccharomonospora, Streptomyces and Thermononospora were isolated on the media without novobiocin, from composted sugar cane residues. Air captured near composted bagasse piles, contained alkalithermophilic actinomycete spores.Fil: Carrillo, L.. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Benitez Ahrendts, Marcelo Rafael. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Maldonado, Marcos Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentin

Searching for Mother: Chicana Writers Revise and Renew Malinche and Guadalupe

Chicana writers currently assume the role of border culturalists in order to present alternative views of female figures perpetuated by histories, chronicles, myths, and other narrations motivated by imperial ideology and patriarchy. Two such female figures in Mexican-American culture are La Virgen de Guadalupe and La Malinche, archetypes that emerged in Mexico during the Spanish conquest period and that traditionally became dichotomous constructions of virgin and whore, Virgin Mary and Eve, and protector and traitor, respectively. However, contemporary Chicana feminist writers, such as Gloria Anzaldúa, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros and Pat Mora, not only revise traditional images of Malinche and Guadalupe, but also offer alternative constructions based, in part, on oral tradition and matriarchal authorities. Their writings question patriarchally-inscribed images of Malinche and Guadalupe that are steeped in colonial ideology and religion and present alternative constructions that depict these figures as ones that resist and struggle rather than ones that are static and oppressed by creating them as powerful emblems of Mother--Malinche as Historical Mother and Guadalupe as Spiritual Mother. For Chicana writers, textuality is connected to materiality and contributes to identity formation for them and other Chicana women. With their reinventions of the archetypes of Malinche and Guadalupe, the Chicana writers presented in this dissertation uncover a cultural matrilineal legacy that may contribute to identity formation for them and other women who live in a contemporary world

Testimonios of Latin@ Leaders in Large Urban School Systems: Educación, Lenguaje y Cultura

Across the nation, Latina/o educational leaders who serve large urban school systems face the challenges of educating historically marginalized Latinx student populations, many of whom represent a diverse group of English Learners (ELs) in school systems designed for monolingual English speakers. This study is an exploratory, qualitative, multiple case study, using testimonio methodology to document the experiences of seven Latina/o leaders across the nation to arrive at new understandings of their practices. The review of the literature focused on the sociopolitical history of Latina/o education, linguistic hegemony in schooling, and theories of leaders of color. These concepts were used were used to develop cross-testimonio analyses of the seven testimonios, which revealed five cross-case themes: (a) personal moral compass, (b) relating to students and families, (c) systemic inequities are revealed, (d) bilingual/bicultural connections, and (e) proving the right to lead. The leaders approached their leadership through their identity as bilingual members of the same communities they led, they used their lived experiences to hire bilingual teachers, implemented dual language programs, used bilingual text, renamed English Learners to Emergent bilingual and made public data to reveal areas for improvement. They led with sympathy, compassion and a sense of community to ensure they proved why they were the right leaders. Recommendations include the need for national, state and local policies to use an asset based lens for educating Latina/o and English Learners, identification and support for more Latina/o leaders and creation of a Latina/o Leadership Framework

Estrategias didácticas para favorecer el aprendizaje en las carreras de Ingeniería utilizando tecnologías de información y comunicación (TICS)

En el proceso de formación de los estudiantes de carreras de ingeniería existe regularmente un índice considerable de reprobación y deserción. Se analizan los factores que inciden en esta problemática y se proponen distintas estrategias didácticas con TICs (Tecnologías para la Educación) para favorecer el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en las materias de Física clásica. Se utilizó el software “Easy Java Simulations” (EJS) basado en applets para la creación de simulaciones discretas y facilitar un proceso de aprendizaje significativo de los conceptos matemáticos y físicos que constituyen la base de su carrera profesional. El uso de simuladores provocó en el estudiante su propia compresión acerca de los fenómenos y leyes físicas desarrollando una compresión de las relaciones entre conceptos físicos, variables y fenómenos