Urban flash flood vulnerability:spatial assessment and adaptation - a case study in Istanbul, Turkey

The Ayamama River basin in Istanbul is a densely populated urban area that is frequently impacted by flash floods causing damage to people and infrastructure. The IPCC expects that under climate change conditions, more intense precipitation will occur, leading to a higher risk of flash floods. Approaches to assess vulnerability focus on particular hazards without relating to climate change; usually emphasizing either physical or social vulnerability. However, enabling governance systems to deal with risks due to climate change requires participation of local inhabitants and inclusion of local knowledge for planning effective climate change adaptation measures. This paper presents a framework for a spatial assessment of urban vulnerability to flash floods under climate change conditions. Qualitative interviews were conducted to capture local knowledge of citizens in the Ayamama area about flood events and climate change. Spatial multi criteria evaluation was applied to calculate vulnerability indices

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life

Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Association for the Advancement of Science via the DOI in this record.Seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed across Latin America and the Caribbean and are highly threatened, with less than 10% of their original extent remaining in many countries. Using 835 inventories covering 4660 species of woody plants, we show marked floristic turnover among inventories and regions, which may be higher than in other neotropical biomes, such as savanna. Such high floristic turnover indicates that numerous conservation areas across many countries will be needed to protect the full diversity of tropical dry forests. Our results provide a scientific framework within which national decision-makers can contextualize the floristic significance of their dry forest at a regional and continental scale.This paper is the result of the Latin American and Caribbean Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Floristic Network (DRYFLOR), which has been supported at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh by a Leverhulme Trust International Network Grant (IN-074). This work was also supported by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/I028122/1; Colciencias Ph.D. scholarship 529; Synthesys Programme GBTAF-2824; the NSF (NSF 1118340 and 1118369); the Instituto Humboldt (IAvH)–Red colombiana de investigación y monitoreo en bosque seco; the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI; Tropi-Dry, CRN2-021, funded by NSF GEO 0452325); Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR); and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). The data reported in this paper are available at www.dryflor.info. R.T.P. conceived the study. M.P., A.O.-F., K.B.-R., R.T.P., and J.W. designed the DRYFLOR database system. K.B.-R. and K.G.D. carried out most analyses. K.B.-R. R.T.P., and K.G.D. wrote the manuscript with substantial input from A.D.-S., R.L.-P., A.O.-F., D.P., C.Q., and R.R. All the authors contributed data, discussed further analyses, and commented on various versions of the manuscript. K.B.-R. thanks G. Galeano who introduced her to dry forest research. We thank J. L. Marcelo, I. Huamantupa, C. Reynel, S. Palacios, and A. Daza for help with fieldwork and data entry in Peru

Diabetic foot ulcers treatment with silver nanoparticles

Diabetic foot ulcers are highly susceptible to microbial infections and are the leading cause of lower limb hospitalization and amputation in diabetic patients. Due to their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the most widely used nanomaterial in biomedicine. Herein, we present the usage of AgNPs for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers with a stage II in Wagner classification. In addition to conventional antibiotic treatment, the ulcers were treated with topical administration of AgNPs at a concentration of 1.2 mg/ml of metallic silver. The results showed a significant improvement in the evolution of the ulcers, where the edges of the lesion were effectively approached, granulation tissue being observed, edema decreased and fibrin plaques. These results form the basis for further studies on the use of AgNPs for the treatment of chronic ulcers of different origins.Las úlceras del pie diabético son altamente susceptibles a infecciones microbianas y son la principal causa de hospitalización y amputación de extremidades inferiores en pacientes diabéticos. Debido a sus propiedades antimicrobianas y anti-inflamatorias, las nanopartículas de plata (AgNPs) son el nanomaterial más utilizado en biomedicina. En este trabajo presentamos el uso de AgNPs para el tratamiento de úlceras de pie diabético grado II de la clasificación de Wagner. Además del tratamiento con antibióticos convencionales, las úlceras fueron tratadas mediante la administración tópica de AgNPs a una concentración de 1.2 mg/mL de plata metálica. Los resultados obtenidos, revelan una mejora significativa en la evolución de las úlceras, en donde los bordes de la lesión se acercaron de manera efectiva, observándose tejido de granulación, disminución del edema y placas de fibrina. Estos resultados constituyen la base para nuevos estudios sobre el uso de AgNPs para el tratamiento de úlceras crónicas de diferentes orígenes

Diseño estratégico y gestión del espacio público para un entorno sostenible en la pospandemia por COVID-19

Se presentan aportaciones teóricas, conceptuales y empíricas generadas sobre el impacto de la pandemia en nuestra sociedad, organizadas en dos vertientes temáticas claramente definidas e interrelacionadas: el diseño estratégico y la gestión del espacio público como factores indispensables en el desarrollo de entornos sostenibles durante la pandemia y en la pospandemia

Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications

Seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed across Latin America and the Caribbean and are highly threatened, with less than 10% of their original extent remaining in many countries. Using 835 inventories covering 4660 species of woody plants, we show marked floristic turnover among inventories and regions, which may be higher than in other neotropical biomes, such as savanna. Such high floristic turnover indicates that numerous conservation areas across many countries will be needed to protect the full diversity of tropical dry forests. Our results provide a scientific framework within which national decision-makers can contextualize the floristic significance of their dry forest at a regional and continental scale

Neotropical ornithology: Reckoning with historical assumptions, removing systemic barriers, and reimagining the future

A major barrier to advancing ornithology is the systemic exclusion of professionals from the Global South. A recent special feature, Advances in Neotropical Ornithology, and a shortfalls analysis therein, unintentionally followed a long-standing pattern of highlighting individuals, knowledge, and views from the Global North, while largely omitting the perspectives of people based within the Neotropics. Here, we review current strengths and opportunities in the practice of Neotropical ornithology. Further, we discuss problems with assessing the state of Neotropical ornithology through a northern lens, including discovery narratives, incomplete (and biased) understanding of history and advances, and the promotion of agendas that, while currently popular in the north, may not fit the needs and realities of Neotropical research. We argue that future advances in Neotropical ornithology will critically depend on identifying and addressing the systemic barriers that hold back ornithologists who live and work in the Neotropics: unreliable and limited funding, exclusion from international research leadership, restricted dissemination of knowledge (e.g., through language hegemony and citation bias), and logistical barriers. Moving forward, we must examine and acknowledge the colonial roots of our discipline, and explicitly promote anti-colonial agendas for research, training, and conservation. We invite our colleagues within and beyond the Neotropics to join us in creating new models of governance that establish research priorities with vigorous participation of ornithologists and communities within the Neotropical region. To include a diversity of perspectives, we must systemically address discrimination and bias rooted in the socioeconomic class system, anti-Blackness, anti-Brownness, anti-Indigeneity, misogyny, homophobia, tokenism, and ableism. Instead of seeking individual excellence and rewarding top-down leadership, institutions in the North and South can promote collective leadership. In adopting these approaches, we, ornithologists, will join a community of researchers across academia building new paradigms that can reconcile our relationships and transform science. Spanish and Portuguese translations are available in the Supplementary Material.• Research conducted by ornithologists living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean has been historically and systemically excluded from global scientific paradigms, ultimately holding back ornithology as a discipline.• To avoid replicating systems of exclusion in ornithology, authors, editors, reviewers, journals, scientific societies, and research institutions need to interrupt long-held assumptions, improve research practices, and change policies around funding and publication.• To advance Neotropical ornithology and conserve birds across the Americas, institutions should invest directly in basic field biology research, reward collective leadership, and strengthen funding and professional development opportunities for people affected by current research policies.Peer reviewe

XIII Jornada de Investigación 2022

Los desafíos en las dinámicas económicas, sociales, políticas y psicológicas han puesto de relieve la importancia de involucrar en la enseñanza universitaria actividades que conecten a los estudiantes con las realidades del contexto en el que se desarrollan; simultáneamente, hoy más que nunca se hace evidente que la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación (CTI) son cruciales para atender los retos sociales, ambientales y económicos de las sociedades actuales. En este contexto, la Jornada de Investigación de la Universidad Católica de Colombia es quizás uno de los espacios institucionales más emblemáticos en el que se visibilizan las actividades en CTI de estudiantes, jóvenes investigadores y profesores, que buscan contribuir a la solución de problemáticas relevantes del entorno. En esta oportunidad, aproximadamente 177 autores y más de 250 espectadores se dieron cita en un escenario virtual que permitió el intercambio de saberes y conocimientos en torno a muchos temas con un lenguaje común: el bienestar de la humanidad y la respuesta efectiva a los retos que tenemos como comunidad. Esta cuarta versión de las Memorias compila las ponencias presentadas en la XIII Jornada de Investigación de 2022, enmarcadas en los tres ejes temáticos de investigación que tiene la Universidad Católica de Colombia: i) Derecho, Cultura y Sociedad, ii) Desarrollo Humano y Sostenible, y iii) Gestión de la Tecnología al Servicio de la Sociedad. Desde la Dirección Central de Investigaciones nos encontramos profundamente agradecidos con todos y cada uno de los participantes, y nos sentimos aún más orgullosos por la calidad de los trabajos presentados. Sea esta la oportunidad para hacer extensiva una felicitación a los autores y a las diferentes Unidades Académicas que, con su compromiso e invaluable labor, permitieron que este evento se desarrollara con éxito.Persona, hospitalidad y construcción de comunidad desde la fraternidad. José Martí: acerca de la libertad en la condición humana. Moda, imagen y alimentación: una tríada para el bien y para el mal. Lecciones de la pandemia de covid-19: conflictos entre la protección jurídica de las patentes farmacéuticas y el interés general de la salud pública. Psicología y sexualidad: propuesta para la formación de psicólogos colombianos. Estrategias para el desarrollo de herramientas que fomentan el aprendizaje para el reconocimiento y la apropiación del patrimonio cultural. Análisis descriptivo de relatos honestos y deshonestos por medio del sistema de evaluación global. El uso de la herramienta LIWC para el estudio de relatos altruistas y prosociales. ¿De qué manera influyen las redes sociales como medio de información en campañas políticas?. Sistema de Seguridad Social en Colombia: una crisis deficitaria que se refuerza con el tiempo. Turismo sexual en menores de edad: problemática endémica en el territorio colombiano. Transgresión de los derechos humanos en relación con los asesinatos de líderes sociales en el Estado colombiano. El nuevo escenario para la procedencia de la eutanasia en Colombia: una mirada desde los derechos humanos. Protección de los derechos de la infancia frente a los grupos al margen de la ley. El derecho a un nivel de vida adecuado: un enfoque hacia el desplazamiento forzado de los pueblos indígenas. Tráfico de órganos humanos: delito transnacional que vulnera los derechos humanos y su regulación en el marco jurídico colombiano. Transgresión de los derechos a la vida y la libertad en el sistema penitenciario como consecuencia de la violencia social. Acceso a la justicia colombiana en tiempos de SARS-CoV-2. Prioridades para la administración de justicia penal en Colombia: ¿balanceando espectáculo e indicadores de eficacia? Desarrollo de competencias para la investigación en neuropsicología: experiencia del semillero experimental. La dificultad al ingreso de los centros geriátricos. Principio de realidad sobre la formalidad constitucional en contrato verbal laboral en un satélite del Consultorio Jurídico de la Universidad Católica de Colombia. La pena de muerte en colisión con los derechos fundamentales. Maternidad subrogada: objetificación y vulneración de los derechos de la mujer. Una dieta inconsciente hacia el vegetarianismo. Sistema de evaluación del bienestar gerontológico para un diseño arquitectónico sostenible. Caso de estudio: hogar de paso San Francisco de Asís, Villavicencio, Meta. Revisión sistemática interacción líder-colaborador: futuras investigaciones. Análisis conceptual del talento académico desde los modelos teóricos que lo sustentan. Identificación de potenciales factores de riesgo suicida: una mirada contextual. La regulación emocional en tiempos de coronavirus. GEES: Guía de Evaluación de Edificaciones Sostenibles, vivienda de interés social, clima cálido húmedo. Estructura proyectual y sostenible para el diseño y desarrollo de un modelo de vivienda de madera en San Andrés y Providencia, Colombia. Innovación social para la gestión territorial. Construcción de material didáctico para el entrenamiento en habilidades de regulación emocional e interpersonales dirigidas a poblaciones expuestas a situaciones de violencia política. Alternativas sostenibles de modelos de desarrollo industrial. La ruralidad dentro de los procesos del desarrollo local en Usme. Se ha dejado de dibujar arquitectura con las manos. Calidad de vida, bienestar y felicidad en el trabajo: una revisión sistemática de la literatura científica, 2011-2021. Autonomía, autorregulación y educación moral: reflexiones desde la psicología del desarrollo moral. Características de los niños, niñas y adolescentes expuestos a contextos de conflicto armado en Colombia. Revisión bibliométrica de artículos sobre la crianza en niños, niñas y adolescentes colombianos. Narrativas sociales en el proceso de cualificación de lo público La habitación exterior como extensión de la vivienda. Utilización de nanopartículas magnéticas Fe3O4 y ozono para la degradación/eliminación de azul de metileno en agua residual textil. Estudio paramétrico de un modelo numérico Fem de un ensayo CBR. ¿Cómo construir identidad de manera incluyente a partir del reconocimiento de patrimonio cultural construido?. Veracidad de los resultados del ensayo de penetración dinámica de CONO(PDC). Análisis de texto a partir del procesamiento de lenguaje natural para identificar sintomatología depresiva en redes sociales. Análisis de texto para la detección de depresión en comentarios de usuarios de la red social Instagram. Diseño y desarrollo de un videojuego para evaluar la interacción de las redes atencionales en la sintomatología depresiva. Herramienta tecnológica para el apoyo en la detección de sintomatología ansiosa en jóvenes. Optimización del despliegue de aplicaciones web a partir de computación en nube sin servidor. Prototipo alfa de un videojuego serio para el apoyo en la detección de sintomatología depresiva en adultos jóvenes. La importancia de la visualización de datos en la era del Big Data y sus herramientas. Prototipo de sensor para el registro electroencefalográfico. Prototipo de un algoritmo basado en inteligencia artificial para el apoyo a especialistas en el diagnóstico del Alzheimer. Evaluación posocupacional del confort térmico en la vivienda social: análisis de una revisión sistemática prisma desde el diseño resiliente. Inteligencia artificial, problema u oportunidad para el Derecho. Impacto en el empleo en relación con las TIC y la inteligencia artificial. Neuroprivacidad. El test de asociación implícita, un paradigma que permite abordar nuestras actitudes inconscientes. ¿Cuál es el límite del uso de las tecnologías frente al derecho de información y de la libre expresión?. Tendencias de fijación de precios basados en el valor: un análisis desde la minería de datos. Recorrido virtual de la Universidad Católica de Colombia Sede Claustro para la inducción de estudiantes y docentes. Introducción a la bioarquitectura del paisaje, cartilla Paisaje, ambiente y tecnología. Descripción plan piloto (Choachí). Caracterización de las habilidades específicas para el reconocimiento del patrimonio cultural – Borde urbano sur oriental de Bogotá. Videojuego para estimular la memoria episódica en pacientes con deterioro cognitivo leve: validación de contenido. CONCLUSIONESTercera edició

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways

Epidemiology and outcomes of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections in intensive care unit patients: the EUROBACT-2 international cohort study

Purpose In the critically ill, hospital-acquired bloodstream infections (HA-BSI) are associated with significant mortality. Granular data are required for optimizing management, and developing guidelines and clinical trials. Methods We carried out a prospective international cohort study of adult patients (≥ 18 years of age) with HA-BSI treated in intensive care units (ICUs) between June 2019 and February 2021. Results 2600 patients from 333 ICUs in 52 countries were included. 78% HA-BSI were ICU-acquired. Median Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was 8 [IQR 5; 11] at HA-BSI diagnosis. Most frequent sources of infection included pneumonia (26.7%) and intravascular catheters (26.4%). Most frequent pathogens were Gram-negative bacteria (59.0%), predominantly Klebsiella spp. (27.9%), Acinetobacter spp. (20.3%), Escherichia coli (15.8%), and Pseudomonas spp. (14.3%). Carbapenem resistance was present in 37.8%, 84.6%, 7.4%, and 33.2%, respectively. Difficult-to-treat resistance (DTR) was present in 23.5% and pan-drug resistance in 1.5%. Antimicrobial therapy was deemed adequate within 24 h for 51.5%. Antimicrobial resistance was associated with longer delays to adequate antimicrobial therapy. Source control was needed in 52.5% but not achieved in 18.2%. Mortality was 37.1%, and only 16.1% had been discharged alive from hospital by day-28. Conclusions HA-BSI was frequently caused by Gram-negative, carbapenem-resistant and DTR pathogens. Antimicrobial resistance led to delays in adequate antimicrobial therapy. Mortality was high, and at day-28 only a minority of the patients were discharged alive from the hospital. Prevention of antimicrobial resistance and focusing on adequate antimicrobial therapy and source control are important to optimize patient management and outcomes