Alternatives for administrative penalties and consumer protection psychoactive substances in Colombia: Lessons from the experiences of U.S.A. and the UK with the drug treatment courts

The recently approved reform of Article 49 of the Constitution of Colombia introduces a new administrative sanction and protection system for illicit drug users in the country. This article discusses the scope of this new system as well as the contents of a bill setting administrative procedures to enact it, in the light of lessons learned from experiences with Drug Treatment Courts in USA and UK, where this mechanism has operated with promising results for a number of years based on the “harm reduction” doctrine.La recientemente aprobada reforma del artículo 49 de la Constitución Política de Colombia estableció un régimen de sanción y protección administrativa para consumidores de drogas ilícitas en el país. Este artículo discute los alcances del nuevo régimen, al igual que el contenido de un proyecto de ley que fija los procedimientos administrativos para su desarrollo, a la luz de lecciones aprendidas a partir de las experiencias con los tribunales de tratamiento de drogas en Estados Unidos y el Reino Unido, donde este mecanismo opera con resultados promisorios desde hace varios lustros con base en la doctrina de “reducción del daño”

Online petitions as citizen participation form in cultural industry. Case study: Netflix and Change.org

Durante la última década, se advierte un incremento de la participación ciudadana en torno a Netflix desde el sitio de peticiones en línea Change.org. La relevancia que, en tal sentido, esta industrial cultural ha adquirido para su masiva audiencia, se manifiesta con particular énfasis en la América Latina de habla hispana. De ello dan cuenta las 683 iniciativas que se examinan en el presente trabajo, mediante el análisis de contenido facilitado por el programa NVivo 11, la observación directa y la revisión bibliográfica y documental. Se persigue un objetivo encaminado a identificar los rasgos y productos de la plataforma de streaming que se expresan, interpelan e impactan a través de tales iniciativas. Los principales hallazgos demuestran una correlación entre el número de peticiones y el de los suscriptores de Netflix, así como entre su crecimiento y el número de iniciativas impulsadas durante el encuadre temporal del estudio, en los países que forman parte de él. Se verifica, asimismo, una cifra numéricamente representativa de suscriptores que, mediante sus firmas, se han venido pronunciando durante el sexenio anterior. Se determinan, igualmente, ciertas preferencias de los suscriptores latinoamericanos, evidenciadas en los audiovisuales objetos de demanda. Se concluye que, a pesar del bajo impacto constatado, las peticiones en línea constituyen una forma de participación ciudadana que satisface necesidades expresivas clausuradas por Netflix, con el potencial de incidir en los productos de su catálogo audiovisual.During the last decade, there has been an increase in citizen participation around “Netflix” from the online petition site “Change.org”. The relevance of this cultural industry has been acquiring, in that sense, for its massive audience, is manifested with particular emphasis in Spanish-speaking Latin America. This is accounted for by the 683 initiatives that are examined in this work, through content analysis provided by the “NVivo 11” program, direct observation, and bibliographic and documentary review. The aim is to identify the features and products of the streaming platform that are expressed, challenged and made an impact through such initiatives. The main findings show a correlation between the number of requests and “Netflix” subscribers, as well as between its growth and the number of initiatives promoted during the time frame of this study, in countries part of it. There are also a numerically representative number of subscribers-users who, through their signatures, have been speaking during the previous six-year term. It is concluded, despite the low impact found, online petitions constitute a form of citizen participation that satisfies expressive needs closed by “Netflix”, with the potential to influence to products of its audiovisual catalog

Expresiones de racismo y discriminación en grupos autistas en Facebook

Based on a qualitative approach and the use of ethnographic techniques such as the semi-structured interview and participant observation, an analysis is presented of how diverse racist and discriminatory expressions take place within a non-representative and non-probabilistic selection of “autistic” closed groups in Facebook, in which young people from all Latin America participate. Results suggest that, although the observed racism correspond to aspects based on characteristics such as ethnic group and skin color; this form of discrimination is also present from diverse cultural issues

Contribution to Risk Analysis of a Standard Brewery: Application of a Hygiene Assessment System Survey

"Beer is a food product with a high consumption in Gran Canaria and the brewery industry is also present in this island. In order to carry out this study, it was designed a survey to assist in the assessment of risks from the facilities and infrastructures of the brewery, the raw materials used in the beer production and the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) plan.An initial assessment of various aspects of the industry has been conducted at the beginning of hygienic-sanitary counselling and a second assessment on the effects could manifest such counselling. It was observed that there was an increase score in most of points tested following the guidance in the interval of time between the both assessments.

Análisis de los factores satisfacción, apropiación y pertenencia, asociados al desarrollo de la identidad en las trabajadoras de la empresa EFICACIA S.A, línea lice

Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar los factores que se encuentran asociados a la Identidad como satisfacción, apropiación y pertenencia de las trabajadoras de EFICACIA S.A, línea Lice. La metodología utilizada en la investigación es de naturaleza descriptiva e interpretativa, con un enfoque cualitativo y cuantitativo, permitiendo conocer la percepción que tienen las trabajadoras de la línea Lice sobre la organización

ACELERACIÓN DE CORIOLIS, UN MÉTODO DE FÁCIL ENSEÑANZA-APRENDIZAJE (CORIOLIS ACCELERATION, AN EASY TEACHING-LEARNING METHOD)

ResumenDinámica es un curso esencial en cualquier carrera de ingeniería. En ese sentido la aceleración de Coriolis, a pesar de haber sido ampliamente estudiada en diversos libros de texto y artículos científicos, representa un tópico retador para la enseñanza. En consecuencia, los estudiantes experimentan problemas en comprender la conexión entre las expresiones matemáticas y el significado físico del fenómeno. Esto es debido al hecho de que usualmente la aceleración de Coriolis se explica con base en un sistema de referencia rotatorio y otro inercial, por ejemplo, en libros de texto típicos la aceleración de Coriolis se deduce y explica en solo dos páginas.  El método expuesto en este trabajo es más general y puede ser fácilmente extendido a los análisis cinemáticos de orden superior del cuerpo rígido debido a que éste está basado en simples derivadas temporales de vectores que relacionan cuerpos rígidos en movimiento general.Palabra(s) Clave: Aceleración, Cinemática, Coriolis, Enseñanza/Aprendizaje, Vector anclado, Vector libre. AbstractDynamics is an essential issue in any engineering program. In that concern Coriolis acceleration, eventhough that it has been widely addressed in many textbooks and technical papers, represents a challenging topic to teach. Consequently, undergraduate students undergo troubles to understand the connection between the mathematical expressions and the physical meaning of the phenomenon. This is due to the fact that usually the Coriolis acceleration is briefly explained based on rotating frames of reference and one noninertial frame, e.g., in typical textbooks the Coriolis acceleration is derived and explained in only two pages. The method exposed in the contribution is more general and can be easily extended to higher-order kinematic analyses of rigid body owing that it is based on simple time derivatives of vectors relating bodies in general motionKeywords: Acceleration, Bound vector, Coriolis, Free vector, Kinematics, Teaching/Learning

Exploring long COVID condition in Latin America: Its impact on patients’ activities and associated healthcare use

"Background: Studies exploring long COVID condition (LCC) in low- and middle-income countries are scarce. Further characterization of LCC patients experiencing activity limitations and their associated healthcare use is needed. This study aimed to describe LCC patients’ characteristics, its impact on activities, and associated healthcare use in Latin America (LATAM). Participants: Individuals who (cared for someone or) had COVID-19 and could read, write, and comprehend Spanish and lived in a LATAM country were invited to complete a virtual survey. Sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19 and LCC symptoms, activity limitations, and healthcare use. Results: Data from 2,466 people from 16 countries in LATAM were analyzed (females = 65.9%; mean age of 39.5 ± 53.3 years). 1,178 (48%) of the respondents had LCC symptoms (≥3 months). These were more likely to have COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic, were older, had no COVID vaccines, had more comorbidities, needed supplementary oxygen, and reported significantly more COVID-19 symptoms during the infectious period. 33% of the respondents visited a primary care provider, 13% went to the emergency department, 5% were hospitalized, 21% visited a specialist, and 32% consulted ≥1 therapist for LCC symptoms mainly extreme fatigue, sleep difficulties, headaches, muscle or joint pain, and shortness of breath with activity. The most consulted therapists were respiratory therapists (15%) and psychologists (14%), followed by physical therapists (13%), occupational therapists (3%), and speech pathologists (1%). One-third of LCC respondents decreased their regular activities (e.g., work, school) and 8% needed help with activities of daily living (ADLs). LCC respondents who reduced their activities reported more difficulty sleeping, chest pain with activity, depression, and problems with concentration, thinking, and memory, while those who needed help with ADLs were more likely to have difficulty walking, and shortness of breath at rest. Approximately 60% of respondents who experienced activity limitations sought a specialist and 50% consulted therapists. Conclusions and relevance: Results supported previous findings in terms of the LCC demographics, and provided insight into LCC impact on patients’ activities and healthcare services used in LATAM. This information is valuable to inform service planning and resource allocation in alignment with the needs of this population.

Plan de social media para posicionar el Hotel Sahara en su segmento con la finalidad de incrementar la influencia o visita turística

En cuanto a las negociaciones también hay un punto importante que destacar, el internet abrió las puertas a un mundo digital en el cual las empresas y personas se dan a conocer, por medio de las redes sociales que revolucionaron la forma en cómo las personas perciben el mundo y las comunicaciones cambiaron de manera drástica. La información es más instantánea y es por ello que es importante tener presencia en ella

A pharmacogenetic intervention for the improvement of the safety profile of antipsychotic treatments

Antipsychotic drugs fail to achieve adequate response in 30-50% of treated patients and about 50% of them develop severe and lasting side effects. Treatment failure results in poorer prognosis with devastating repercussions for the patients, carers and broader society. Our study evaluated the clinical benefits of a pharmacogenetic intervention for the personalisation of antipsychotic treatment. Pharmacogenetic information in key CYP polymorphisms was used to adjust clinical doses in a group of patients who started or switched treatment with antipsychotic drugs (PharmG+, N = 123), and their results were compared with those of a group of patients treated following existing clinical guides (PharmG−, N = 167). There was no evidence of significant differences in side effects between the two arms. Although patients who had their antipsychotic dose adjusted according to CYPs polymorphisms (PharmG+) had a bigger reduction in side effects than those treated as usual (PharmG−), the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05 for all comparisons). However, PharmG+ patients treated with CYP2D6 substrates that were carriers of CYP2D6 UMs or PMs variants showed a significantly higher improvement in global, psychic and other UKU side effects than PharmG− patients (p = 0.02, p = 0.05 and p = 0.01, respectively). PharmG+ clozapine treated patients with CYP1A2 or CYP2C19 UM and PMs variants also showed higher reductions in UKU scores than PharmG− clozapine patients in general. However, those differences were not statistically significant. Pharmacogenetic interventions may improve the safety of antipsychotic treatments by reducing associated side effects. This intervention may be particularly useful when considering treatment with antipsychotics with one major metabolic pathway, and therefore more susceptible to be affected by functional variants of CYP enzymes

A phase I trial of oncolytic adenovirus ICOVIR-5 administered intravenously to cutaneous and uveal melanoma patients

Oncolytic viruses represent a unique type of agents that combine self-amplification, lytic, and immunostimulatory properties against tumors. A local and locoregional clinical benefit has been demonstrated upon intratumoral injections of an oncolytic herpes virus in melanoma patients, leading to its approval in the United States and Europe for patients without visceral disease (up to stage IVM1a). However, in order to debulk and change the local immunosuppressive environment of tumors that cannot be injected directly, oncolyitc viruses need to be administered systemically. Among different viruses, adenovirus has been extensively used in clinical trials but with few evidences of activity upon systemic administration. Preclinical efficacy of a single intravenous administration of our oncolytic adenovirus ICOVIR5, an adenovirus type 5 responsive to the retinoblastoma pathway commonly deregulated in tumors, led us to use this virus in a dose-escalation phase 1 trial in metastatic melanoma patients. The results in 12 patients treated with a single infusion of a dose up to 1 × 1013 viral particles show that ICOVIR5 can reach melanoma metastases upon a single intravenous administration but fails to induce tumor regressions. These results support the systemic administration of armed oncolytic viruses to treat disseminated cancer