Igualdad de género percibida en el reparto de cuidados y salud mental: impacto de la crisis sanitaria por COVID-19 en una muestra de mujeres andaluzas

The restrictions during COVID-19 seem to have had an unequal impact on the mental health and habits of the population in terms of gender. The literature states that crises such as this have a more negative impact on women. We explored perceived overload due to household chores and informal caregiving in a sample of Andalusian women, their perception of an increase in this overload after the pandemic, and its possible effect on mental health. To do this, we administered an online retrospective questionnaire to explore the perception of 166 women on care economy variables by estimating hours, effort, overload, and sharing of chores at three different times: before the onset of the pandemic, during lockdown, and at the time of data collection (one year after lockdown). We also measured depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction at the time of data collection through validated scales. Results showed that women estimated significantly more time and effort on household chores and caregiving for the lockdown period. The retrospective estimation of the sharing of tasks was similar over the three moments but women perceived that they did more than their heterosexual partners. One in four women perceived an increase in caregiving overload after the pandemic. Women who felt mental overload due to caregiving scored higher in depression than those who felt physical overload. Considering these findings, and despite the limitations of this study, the pandemic may have led to an increase in informal caregiving overload for many women. Furthermore, the relation between depression and overload one year after lockdown was demonstrated. Measures are required to reduce the impact of gender in crises by designing prevention policies and programs that promote co-responsibility.Las restricciones vividas durante la COVID-19 parecen haber causado un impacto diferencial de género en la salud mental y en los hábitos de gran parte de la población. Asimismo, la literatura indica que las situaciones de crisis como la vivida tienen peor impacto en las mujeres. El objetivo de este trabajo es explorar la sobrecarga percibida por las tareas del hogar y cuidados informales en una muestra de mujeres andaluzas, su percepción de un incremento en la misma tras la pandemia, y su posible relación con variables de salud mental. Para ello se administró un cuestionario online para explorar la percepción de 166 mujeres en variables de economía de cuidados estimando retrospectivamente las horas, esfuerzo, sobrecarga y reparto de tareas del hogar para el momento de recogida de datos (un año tras el confinamiento), para el momento previo al inicio de la pandemia y durante el confinamiento. También se administraron instrumentos validados para medir depresión, ansiedad, estrés y satisfacción vital en el momento de recogida de datos. Los resultados mostraron una percepción de mayor dedicación y esfuerzo debido a los cuidados y tareas del hogar estimado para el momento de confinamiento. El reparto de tareas se estimó similar para los tres momentos sobre los que se preguntó, y percibieron que ellas hacían más estas tareas que sus parejas heterosexuales. Una de cada cuatro mujeres percibió un aumento de la sobrecarga debida a cuidados tras la pandemia y los niveles de depresión fueron mayores en mujeres que sentían una sobrecarga mental debida a los cuidados, por encima de quien identificó sobrecarga física. Aun considerando las limitaciones de este trabajo, la pandemia ha podido suponer un incremento en la sobrecarga por los cuidados informales para muchas mujeres y, evidenciada la relación entre depresión y sobrecarga, podría entenderse que esta relación también se diera durante el confinamiento. Se requieren medidas que reduzcan el impacto de género en situaciones de crisis y políticas y programas de prevención que fomenten la corresponsabilidad.This work has been funded by Fundación María Fulmen (Sevilla) within their Third Call for Grants for Projects Aimed at Women Promotion (2021) [III Convocatoria de ayudas 2021 a proyectos dirigidos a la promoción de mujeres]

Mixing body-parts model for 2D human pose estimation in stereo videos

This study targets 2D articulated human pose estimation (i.e. localisation of body limbs) in stereo videos. Although in recent years depth-based devices (e.g. Microsoft Kinect) have gained popularity, as they perform very well in controlled indoor environments (e.g. living rooms, operating theatres or gyms), they suffer clear problems in outdoor scenarios and, therefore, human pose estimation is still an interesting unsolved problem. The authors propose here a novel approach that is able to localise upper-body keypoints (i.e. shoulders, elbows, and wrists) in temporal sequences of stereo image pairs. The authors' method starts by locating and segmenting people in the image pairs by using disparity and appearance information. Then, a set of candidate body poses is computed for each view independently. Finally, temporal and stereo consistency is applied to estimate a final 2D pose. The authors' validate their model on three challenging datasets: `stereo human pose estimation dataset', `poses in the wild' and `INRIA 3DMovie'. The experimental results show that the authors' model not only establishes new state-of-the-art results on stereo sequences, but also brings improvements in monocular sequences

Dispersion of the RmInt1 group II intron in the Sinorhizobium meliloti genome upon acquisition by conjugative transfer

RmInt1 is a self-splicing and mobile group II intron initially identified in the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti, which encodes a reverse transcriptase–maturase (Intron Encoded Protein, IEP) lacking the C-terminal DNA binding (D) and DNA endonuclease domains (En). RmInt1 invades cognate intronless homing sites (ISRm2011-2) by a mechanism known as retrohoming. This work describes how the RmInt1 intron spreads in the S.meliloti genome upon acquisition by conjugation. This process was revealed by using the wild-type intron RmInt1 and engineered intron-donor constructs based on ribozyme coding sequence (ΔORF)-derivatives with higher homing efficiency than the wild-type intron. The data demonstrate that RmInt1 propagates into the S.meliloti genome primarily by retrohoming with a strand bias related to replication of the chromosome and symbiotic megaplasmids. Moreover, we show that when expressed in trans from a separate plasmid, the IEP is able to mobilize genomic ΔORF ribozymes that afterward displayed wild-type levels of retrohoming. Our results contribute to get further understanding of how group II introns spread into bacterial genomes in nature

Stereo Pictorial Structure for 2D Articulated Human Pose Estimation

In this paper, we consider the problem of 2D human pose estimation on stereo image pairs. In particular, we aim at estimating the location, orientation and scale of upper-body parts of people detected in stereo image pairs from realistic stereo videos that can be found in the Internet. To address this task, we propose a novel pictorial structure model to exploit the stereo information included in such stereo image pairs: the Stereo Pictorial Structure (SPS). To validate our proposed model, we contribute a new annotated dataset of stereo image pairs, the Stereo Human Pose Estimation Dataset (SHPED), obtained from YouTube stereoscopic video sequences, depicting people in challenging poses and diverse indoor and outdoor scenarios. The experimental results on SHPED indicates that SPS improves on state-ofthe- art monocular models thanks to the appropriate use of the stereo informatio

Genetic diagnosis of pseudovaginal perineoscrotal hypospadias in an adolescent patient

El déficit enzimático de 5α-reductasa tipo 2 produce una forma de pseudohermafroditismo masculino en el cual un paciente de sexo cromosómico masculino (46XY) muestra genitales ambiguos al nacer, hipospadias y desarrollo de la masculinización en la pubertad. Presentamos un caso de una paciente adolescente con genitales externos femeninos y amenorrea primaria que consulta por sospecha de acromegalia. Se realiza un estudio hormonal, de imagen y genético que revela un déficit de 5-alfa-reductasa tipo 2, con la presencia de la variante c.271T>G (p.Tyr91Asp) en homocigosis. La tardanza en el diagnóstico supuso un retraso en la instauración de un régimen terapéutico adecuado, provocando una androgenización excesiva de la paciente con la consecuente afectación psicológica.5-alpha-reductase enzymatic deficit produces a form of pseudohermaphroditism in which a chromosomic male (46XY) shows ambiguous genitalia at birth, hypospadias and masculinization at puberty. We present a clinical case of a teenage patient with female external genitalia and primary amenorrhoea who was derived from her family doctor on suspicion of acromegaly. Hormonal, imaging and genetic research was conducted and it revealed a 5-alpha-reductase type 2, presenting the variant c.271T>G (p.Tyr91Asp) in homozygosity. A diagnosis delay suppossed a lag in appropiate therapeutic regime instauration, thus leading to an excessive androgenization of the patient with the corresponding psychological distress

Epidemic processes with immunization

We study a model of directed percolation (DP) with immunization, i.e. with different probabilities for the first infection and subsequent infections. The immunization effect leads to an additional non-Markovian term in the corresponding field theoretical action. We consider immunization as a small perturbation around the DP fixed point in d<6, where the non-Markovian term is relevant. The immunization causes the system to be driven away from the neighbourhood of the DP critical point. In order to investigate the dynamical critical behaviour of the model, we consider the limits of low and high first infection rate, while the second infection rate remains constant at the DP critical value. Scaling arguments are applied to obtain an expression for the survival probability in both limits. The corresponding exponents are written in terms of the critical exponents for ordinary DP and DP with a wall. We find that the survival probability does not obey a power law behaviour, decaying instead as a stretched exponential in the low first infection probability limit and to a constant in the high first infection probability limit. The theoretical predictions are confirmed by optimized numerical simulations in 1+1 dimensions.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. v.2: minor correction

Los Avatares de los Museos de Ciencia a Través de los Tiempos: Breve Estado de la Cuestión

Este artículo corresponde a la investigación La comunicación de la ciencia y la tecnología: Una propuesta para la ciudad de Medellín, del grupo de investigación en Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad –CTS– del Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano, en él se presenta una revisión preliminar acerca de cómo ha sido la comunicación de la ciencia y la tecnología en los museos de CyT, desde la época de los griegos, pasando por el Renacimiento para llegar a la Modernidad y continuar con los museos postmodernos y los del futuro próximo.En este recorrido se evidencian las transformaciones de los museos de CyT en su búsqueda por ser más eficiente en los procesos de comunicación y, en esa medida, dejar de ser excluyente de la sociedad en general, y ganar espacios que propicien el acercamiento a la ciencia y la tecnología de una manera lúdica, donde la interactividad ocupe un papel importante para su comprensión y para la formación de actitudes y valores que tomen expresión en la opinión y participación ciudadana.This paper is part of the research project Communicating Science and Technology: A Proposal for the City of Medellin, developed by the Research Group on Science, Technology and Society –CTS– of the Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano. This project presents a preliminary review of the way communication and science has taken place in science and technology museums from Greek times, through Renaissance, to modern times and also covering postmodern and coming future museums.This tour shows the transformations undergone by science and technology museums in their search for more efficient communication processes. In the same line, they also try to stop excluding general society and to gain spaces that ludicly benefit a closer relation between science and technology where interactivity plays an important role to understand science and technology and to buildattitudes and values that are expressed in the citizens’ opinionand participation

Pràctiques amb ordinador semipresencials: eina d'aprenentatge

El projecte d’innovació docent que es presenta té per objectiu incorporar pràctiques amb ordinador semipresencials en el procés d’aprenentatge. S’explora aquesta modalitat en la recerca de combinacions per al procés d’aprenentatge de l’estudiantet mitjançant tècniques d’aprenentatge mixt (blended learning). Les aplicacions informàtiques permeten fer moltes tasques en matemàtiques i estadística, potencial que s’incorpora en l’aprenentatge tant per a la resolució de problemes, com per a la millora de l’aprenentatge teòric; i també per contribuir a les competències transversals en TIC aplicades. La gran accessibilitat actual de l’alumnat a infraestructures informàtiques i a l’entorn d’aprenentatge virtual de la Universitat permet aquest plantejament. Les sessions habituals de pràctiques presencials no eren satisfactòries per la falta d’imbricació amb la teoria i aplicació, a causa de problemes de logística i de calendari. La semipresencialitat permet aconseguir la integració desitjada. L’adaptació del programari al nivell i objectius de les assignatures permet el seu ús de manera comprensible per a l’alumnat. En el marc de l'EEES s’ha realitzat una experiència a dues escoles del Campus de Terrassa per incorporar aquesta modalitat a assignatures impartides pel Departament de Matemàtica Aplicada III.Peer Reviewe

Green light photoelectrocatalysis with sulfur-doped carbon nitride : using triazole-purpald for enhanced benzylamine oxidation and oxygen evolution reactions

Novel high performing materials will dictate the pace of reinventing industrial chemical processes to attain desired carbon neutrality targets. Regarding the urgency of exploiting solar irradiation long range visible-light photoelectrocatalysts from abundant resources will play a key role in the aforementioned effort. Anionic doping via co-polymerization and pre-organization of precursors results in tuneable and extrinsic semiconductors, making this a highly attractive methodology. Triazole derivative-purpald, an unexplored precursor but sulfur (S) container, combined with melamine during one solid-state polycondensation reaction with two thermal steps leads to S-doped carbon nitrides (C34). The series of S-doped/CN4-based materials demonstrated enhanced optical, electronic, structural, geometric, textural, and morphological properties and exhibited higher performance in organic benzylamine photooxidation, oxygen evolution, and similar storing energy (capacitor brief investigation) than references. Among the five composites, 50M-50P exhibited the highest photooxidation conversion yield (84±3%) of benzylamine to imine at 535 nm – green light for 48h, due to an extra discrete shoulder reaching ~700 nm, an unusual high sulfur content, preservation of crystal size, new intraband energy states, rare deep structural defects by layer distortion, hydrophobic surface, low porosity, and 10-16 nm pores. An in-depth analysis of S doping was investigated coupling x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, and elemental analysis, providing insights on bonds, distribution, and surface/bulk content. This work contributes to the development of amorphous photocatalysts with long-visible-light range for solar energy conversion and storage

Spreading with immunization in high dimensions

We investigate a model of epidemic spreading with partial immunization which is controlled by two probabilities, namely, for first infections, $p_0$, and reinfections, $p$. When the two probabilities are equal, the model reduces to directed percolation, while for perfect immunization one obtains the general epidemic process belonging to the universality class of dynamical percolation. We focus on the critical behavior in the vicinity of the directed percolation point, especially in high dimensions $d>2$. It is argued that the clusters of immune sites are compact for $d\leq 4$. This observation implies that a recently introduced scaling argument, suggesting a stretched exponential decay of the survival probability for $p=p_c$, $p_0\ll p_c$ in one spatial dimension, where $p_c$ denotes the critical threshold for directed percolation, should apply in any dimension $d \leq 3$ and maybe for $d=4$ as well. Moreover, we show that the phase transition line, connecting the critical points of directed percolation and of dynamical percolation, terminates in the critical point of directed percolation with vanishing slope for $d<4$ and with finite slope for $d\geq 4$. Furthermore, an exponent is identified for the temporal correlation length for the case of $p=p_c$ and $p_0=p_c-\epsilon$, $\epsilon\ll 1$, which is different from the exponent $\nu_\parallel$ of directed percolation. We also improve numerical estimates of several critical parameters and exponents, especially for dynamical percolation in $d=4,5$.Comment: LaTeX, IOP-style, 18 pages, 9 eps figures, minor changes, additional reference