Formación ambiental de estudiantes de Ciencias Naturales para el desarrollo de actividades de Extensión, en la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo.

La Extensión Universitaria genera espacios que permiten a los actores universitarios vincularse con otros actores sociales y formar parte de ámbitos de trabajo grupal y colectivo en donde las diversas miradas puedan integrarse en propuestas concretas de acción, de reflexión, y de crecimiento para la transformación de la realidad de las personas hacia un mundo social y ambiental más justo. Es un espacio de formación social-comunitario, profundamente humanizante, por estar atravesado por el tema de los valores. En este sentido, la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo de la UNLP, a través de la Secretaría de Extensión, considera que la formación del estudiante tiene un rol destacado a cumplir y es por ello que desarrolla entre otros, el Programa de Educación Ambiental, que busca trascender los límites académicos, ideando y llevando adelante propuestas de acción con y para la comunidad, intentando mejorar la calidad de vida del barrio, de la ciudad, de la región. Desde el programa se pretende que el saber ambiental articule  y sea transversal a todas las actividades desarrolladas por dicha secretaría, enriqueciéndolas y orientándolas. Algunas de sus propuestas más representativas son: el Ciclo “de Vacaciones con los Dinosaurios”, y las Actividades Complementarias de Grado “Taller de los Talleres” y “Educación Ambiental”. El Ciclo “de Vacaciones con los Dinosaurios” es una propuesta educativa de vinculación comunitaria que se desarrolla desde diciembre de 1989, destinada a niños de 3 a 12 años de edad. El objetivo principal del mismo es brindar a niños/as la posibilidad de acercarse a las Ciencias Naturales y más precisamente al saber ambiental en un espacio de aprendizaje distendido en donde los/as niños/as puedan obtener las herramientas necesarias para la formación de nuevos modos de pensar e interactuar con la naturaleza. Por otra parte, para alumnos/as de esta institución es un espacio de formación continua. Tanto la ACG “Taller de los talleres”, como la de “Educación Ambiental” son espacios de formación de grado en los cuales se capacitan y forman anualmente futuros talleristas, y de donde surgen las nuevas propuestas de talleres que se insertarán en el Programa antes mencionado en los ciclos venideros. Además dichas ACGs persiguen sus propios objetivos como: fortalecer la formación de recursos humanos en prácticas metodológicas para la planificación e implementación de actividades de extensión universitaria y valorizar la estrategia taller en el marco de las nuevas perspectivas de enseñanza de las ciencias y el trabajo sobre problemáticas ambientales

Participación de la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo UNLP en la Cumbre de Rio+20, a través del Consejo Consultivo de la Sociedad Civil de Cancillería Argentina.

El mundo se encuentra en una  profunda crisis Ambiental Civilizatoria (manifiesto por la vida 2002) que impacta negativamente sobre los sistemas ecológicos. Como consecuencia de ésta, la mayor parte de la población mundial se encuentra en situación de pobreza y de inaccesibilidad de recursos para vivir dignamente. Esto se debe al colonialismo de los países dominantes sobre los países dominados, a los cuales históricamente los han saqueado y privado de sus recursos naturales a través de las guerras, dominación política y económica. Sin lugar a dudas el factor más influyente es el modelo capitalista que ha instalado un estándar de vida donde el bienestar humano y la felicidad solo se logran con la acumulación de riqueza y consumo desmedido. Para salir de esta crisis es necesario un cambio de mentalidad, construyendo un nuevo paradigma ambiental, donde la sustentabilidad ambiental debe consolidarse desde cuatro dimensiones; Económica, Ecológica, Social y Política. (García-Priotto 2009) En este sentido podemos decir que no hay justicia ambiental si no hay justicia social. Entre el 20 y 22 de junio de 2012 se volverá a realizar en Río de Janeiro la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Desarrollo Sustentable, conocida como la Cumbre de la Tierra, impulsado por el PNUMA, cuyos  principales ejes de debate son la “Economía Verde” y la “Gobernanza Mundial”. Ninguna presenta una alternativa de cambio entre progreso económico y sustentabilidad ambiental y por el contrario, profundizan el modelo consumista sin constituir una real alternativa enmarcada dentro de lo denominado sustentable, intentando capitalizar en el mercado los bienes y servicios de la naturaleza. (Colectivo Platense 2012). La Secretaría de Extensión de la FCNyM UNLP ha decidido participar del Consejo Consultivo de la Sociedad Civil de Cancillería Argentina  a través de la Red Social Argentina para el Desarrollo Sustentable, juntamente con organizaciones ambientalistas, ecologistas, sociales, Universitarias, sindicales, políticas y de pueblos originarios, para elaborar una propuesta alternativa al PNUMA en las negociaciones de la Cumbre que tenga en cuenta el derecho de los pueblos y los Estados al desarrollo, que implica el reconocimiento al derecho de las poblaciones para superar la pobreza, la eliminación de las condiciones que generan inequidad y exclusión, el ejercicio de derechos en armonía con la naturaleza, respetando a la Madre Tierra, y los derechos de los pueblos indígenas y comunidades locales, bajo los principios de la Agenda 21 y otros instrumentos relevantes

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

Reduction of cardiac imaging tests during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Italy. Findings from the IAEA Non-invasive Cardiology Protocol Survey on COVID-19 (INCAPS COVID)

Background: In early 2020, COVID-19 massively hit Italy, earlier and harder than any other European country. This caused a series of strict containment measures, aimed at blocking the spread of the pandemic. Healthcare delivery was also affected when resources were diverted towards care of COVID-19 patients, including intensive care wards. Aim of the study: The aim is assessing the impact of COVID-19 on cardiac imaging in Italy, compare to the Rest of Europe (RoE) and the World (RoW). Methods: A global survey was conducted in May–June 2020 worldwide, through a questionnaire distributed online. The survey covered three periods: March and April 2020, and March 2019. Data from 52 Italian centres, a subset of the 909 participating centres from 108 countries, were analyzed. Results: In Italy, volumes decreased by 67% in March 2020, compared to March 2019, as opposed to a significantly lower decrease (p &lt; 0.001) in RoE and RoW (41% and 40%, respectively). A further decrease from March 2020 to April 2020 summed up to 76% for the North, 77% for the Centre and 86% for the South. When compared to the RoE and RoW, this further decrease from March 2020 to April 2020 in Italy was significantly less (p = 0.005), most likely reflecting the earlier effects of the containment measures in Italy, taken earlier than anywhere else in the West. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic massively hit Italy and caused a disruption of healthcare services, including cardiac imaging studies. This raises concern about the medium- and long-term consequences for the high number of patients who were denied timely diagnoses and the subsequent lifesaving therapies and procedures

Impact of COVID-19 on Diagnostic Cardiac Procedural Volume in Oceania: The IAEA Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocol Survey on COVID-19 (INCAPS COVID)

Objectives: The INCAPS COVID Oceania study aimed to assess the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiac procedure volume provided in the Oceania region. Methods: A retrospective survey was performed comparing procedure volumes within March 2019 (pre-COVID-19) with April 2020 (during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic). Sixty-three (63) health care facilities within Oceania that perform cardiac diagnostic procedures were surveyed, including a mixture of metropolitan and regional, hospital and outpatient, public and private sites, and 846 facilities outside of Oceania. The percentage change in procedure volume was measured between March 2019 and April 2020, compared by test type and by facility. Results: In Oceania, the total cardiac diagnostic procedure volume was reduced by 52.2% from March 2019 to April 2020, compared to a reduction of 75.9% seen in the rest of the world (p&lt;0.001). Within Oceania sites, this reduction varied significantly between procedure types, but not between types of health care facility. All procedure types (other than stress cardiac magnetic resonance [CMR] and positron emission tomography [PET]) saw significant reductions in volume over this time period (p&lt;0.001). In Oceania, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) decreased by 51.6%, transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) by 74.0%, and stress tests by 65% overall, which was more pronounced for stress electrocardiograph (ECG) (81.8%) and stress echocardiography (76.7%) compared to stress single-photon emission computerised tomography (SPECT) (44.3%). Invasive coronary angiography decreased by 36.7% in Oceania. Conclusion: A significant reduction in cardiac diagnostic procedure volume was seen across all facility types in Oceania and was likely a function of recommendations from cardiac societies and directives from government to minimise spread of COVID-19 amongst patients and staff. Longer term evaluation is important to assess for negative patient outcomes which may relate to deferral of usual models of care within cardiology

International Impact of COVID-19 on the Diagnosis of Heart Disease

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has adversely affected diagnosis and treatment of noncommunicable diseases. Its effects on delivery of diagnostic care for cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death worldwide, have not been quantified. Objectives: The study sought to assess COVID-19's impact on global cardiovascular diagnostic procedural volumes and safety practices. Methods: The International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a worldwide survey assessing alterations in cardiovascular procedure volumes and safety practices resulting from COVID-19. Noninvasive and invasive cardiac testing volumes were obtained from participating sites for March and April 2020 and compared with those from March 2019. Availability of personal protective equipment and pandemic-related testing practice changes were ascertained. Results: Surveys were submitted from 909 inpatient and outpatient centers performing cardiac diagnostic procedures, in 108 countries. Procedure volumes decreased 42% from March 2019 to March 2020, and 64% from March 2019 to April 2020. Transthoracic echocardiography decreased by 59%, transesophageal echocardiography 76%, and stress tests 78%, which varied between stress modalities. Coronary angiography (invasive or computed tomography) decreased 55% (p &lt; 0.001 for each procedure). In multivariable regression, significantly greater reduction in procedures occurred for centers in countries with lower gross domestic product. Location in a low-income and lower–middle-income country was associated with an additional 22% reduction in cardiac procedures and less availability of personal protective equipment and telehealth. Conclusions: COVID-19 was associated with a significant and abrupt reduction in cardiovascular diagnostic testing across the globe, especially affecting the world's economically challenged. Further study of cardiovascular outcomes and COVID-19–related changes in care delivery is warranted