Domestic Violence and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Mixed-Race Developing Country

This study investigates the heterogeneous effects of domestic violence over labor markets in an ethnically fragmented country such as Bolivia. Among developing countries, Bolivia “excels” in having one of the highest levels of domestic violence in the region. Anecdotal evidence and empirical evidence suggest that response to domestic violence is not homogeneous across different ethnic groups. Using information from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) for Bolivia, we examine the heterogeneous impacts of domestic violence over one of the key labor market outcomes such as employment. We employ a probabilistic decision model and treatment regression techniques to examine this effect. We claim that the impact of domestic violence on labor markets is limited among indigenous people, given that violence is, to some extent, socially recognized and accepted. We find that for most of the cases, indigenous women are less responsive to domestic violence than non-indigenous ones, except for groups with a high income level. Our results are robust for alternative methodologies to address possible endogeneity problems.labor markets, domestic violence, Bolivia, indigenous

Traumatic brain injury in contact sports

Traumatic brain injury is a topic that in recent years has received increased scrutiny by the media and is viewed as a cause for public health concern in athletes that are participating in contact sports. There has been an apparent rise in the reported number of traumatic brain injuries over the last decade possibly due to a number of factors such as an increase in enrollment of sports and suspected better understanding of brain injury in the sports world. Direct or indirect impact forces applied involving acceleration/deceleration and linear/angular forces primarily cause trauma to the brain. This insult results in evident diffuse axonal and focal injuries to varying degrees in brain tissue. The spectrum of pathophysiology in traumatic brain injury involves structural, neurochemical, metabolic, vascular, inflammatory, immunologic, and ultimately cell death, which plays a hand directly in the nonspecific presentation of symptoms reported by athletes as well as the progression of recovery. Traumatic brain injury is typically associated with short- and long-term sequelae, however, inducing repetitive episodes of trauma over a career, as may happen in sports, may lead to a progressive neurodegenerative disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy has been known to affect boxers previously, but in recent years the attention has shifted and found this disease in athletes from other sports. The spectrum of disease in chronic traumatic encephalopathy involves a progressive tauopathy that spreads across different regions of the brain in a classified four staged grading system. Several risk factors have been identified in placing athletes at risk for traumatic brain episodes, however no risk factors have been directly linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Much information is lacking in a complete understanding of traumatic brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, therefore emphasizing the importance of further research and consistently improving modifications in the protocols for assessment, recognition, management, and return to play criteria for injured athletes. Furthermore, despite the gaps in knowledge, preventative measures should serve a particular role in reducing the incidence of detected traumatic brain injuries, which should include policy changes, sport rule changes, and especially changes to the accepted sports culture through mandatory education

Récupérateur d'énergie vibratoire utilisant une raideur non-linéaire

Dans le cadre de la récupération d'énergie vibratoire, nous avons étudié l'apport d'une non-linéarité mécanique dans un système de récupération. Nous nous sommes intéressés à un générateur électromagnétique composé d'un ressort magnétique, non-linéaire par nature, couplé à un générateur électromagnétique monophasé linéaire. L'étude qui a été faite nous a permis de révéler les avantages de ce type de structures ainsi que de mettre en évidence les paramètres importants pour le calcul du dispositif

Development of an Ackermann-type Mobile Platform for the Validation of Autonomous Navigation Algorithms within the ESPOCH Campus

The continual development of the automotive industry has evolved to astronomical levels, capable of promoting a new technological generation of several automated systems (both mechanical and electronic systems). As a result, a generation of autonomous vehicles – also known as intelligent vehicles – capable of avoiding human errors has emerged. In the present investigation, an Ackermann-type mobile prototype is used to validate autonomous navigation algorithms in different environmental conditions, which is developed by covering artificial vision stages such as the detection of the bicycle lane and traffic signals at scale. The control system consists of three parts – First is the detection algorithm through an artificial vision to collect information from the environment through a Pi camera that can later be processed through Python with its OpenCV tool. The second deals with the training of traffic signs (Stop and Speed Signage) through the Haar Cascade, as well as the detection of road lines through which various filters such as Canny, edge detection, and the transformation of Hough are executed on the Python platform with the OpenCV tool. The third part is the communication between the processing of the codes and their respective actuators (Motor, Servomotor) to finally collect the statistical data and validate the algorithms in the Ackerman-type mobile prototype. Keywords: Python, OpenCV, Canny Filter, Hough Transform, Haar Cascade. Resumen El desarrollo constante de la industria automotriz evoluciono a niveles astronómicos capaz de impulsar una nueva generación tecnológica de automatización de varios los sus sistemas ya sean: mecánicos o electrónicos y así forma la generación de vehículos autónomos o llamados también vehículos inteligentes, capaces de evitar errores humanos al conducir. En la presente investigación se implementa un prototipo móvil tipo Ackermann para validar algoritmos de navegación autónoma en diferentes condiciones de su entorno que se desarrolle cubriendo etapas de visión artificial como la detección del carril de una ciclovía y señales de tránsito a escala. El sistema de control consta de tres partes, la primera parte es el algoritmo de detección por medio de visión artificial para recolectar información del entorno a través de una cámara Pi y posteriormente ser procesada a través de Python con su herramienta OpenCV. La segunda parte se encarga del entrenamiento de las señales de tránsito (Pare y Señalética de Velocidad) por medio de Haar cascade, además la detección las líneas de la carretera las cuales a través. de varios filtros como Canny, detección de bordes y la transformada de Hough todos estos filtros se lo ejecutan en la plataforma de Python con la herramienta de OpenCV, y la tercera parte es la comunicación entre el procesamiento de los códigos a sus respectivos actuadores (Motor, Servomotor) para finalmente recolectar datos estadísticos y Validar los algoritmos en el prototipo móvil tipo Ackerman. Palabras Clave: Python, Open, Filtro Canny, Tranformada de Houg, Haar Cascade

La adhesión voluntaria al Mecanismo Único de Supervisión: los procedimientos de cooperación estrecha

Para limitar los efectos perjudiciales de la existencia de distintas prácticas supervisoras en un mercado de servicios financieros común se procedió a la implantación de un Mecanismo Único de Supervisión (MUS) de escala comunitaria. Si bien, mientras que los Estados Miembros de la Eurozona se encuentran automáticamente integrados en el MUS, los que no tienen el euro por moneda oficial deben solicitar su adhesión voluntaria mediante formalización de una cooperación estrecha. El establecimiento de una cooperación estrecha da paso a la aplicación de un régimen particular, en el que el Estado miembro queda obligado a implementar las decisiones supervisoras del Banco Central Europeo, pero contando con la posibilidad de promover procedimientos de desacuerdo que pueden llevar, incluso, al fin de la cooperación. En cualquier caso, la pertinencia de la figura se pone en cuestión pues, actualmente, y por diversos motivos, ningún Estado miembro la ha utilizado

Mecanismo de gestión del diálogo y estrategias de comunicación efectiva en el terminal portuario Paracas, Ica - 2022

La presente investigación de investigación titulado “Mecanismo de Gestión del Diálogo y Estrategias de Comunicación Efectiva en el Terminal Portuario Paracas, Ica – 2022”, tuvo como objetivo: Determinar la relación entre los mecanismos de gestión del diálogo y estrategia de comunicación efectiva en el terminal portuario de Paracas, Ica 2022. La investigación de enfoque cuantitativo nivel correlacional, de tipo básica, con un diseño no experimental de corte transversal; para la recolección de información se usó como técnica la encuesta y el cuestionario como instrumento por cada variable con una muestra de 155 colaboradores. El estudio llegó a la conclusión que los mecanismos de gestión del diálogo no se relacionan con las estrategias de comunicación efectiva en el terminal portuario Paracas, Ica 2022. Ello demostrado por el valor de Rho de Spearman que indicó una significancia bilateral de 0,163> 0,005 y un coeficiente de correlación de 0,113 respectivamente

Assessing HIV Risk, Syndemics, Resilience and Engagement in Care in a Large National Cohort of Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States

Background: HIV continues to be a pervasive public health issue in the United States with more than 1.2 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) across the nation. Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) account for over two-thirds of all new HIV diagnoses with racial and ethnic minorities shouldering a large proportion of the burden of disease. Although HIV transmission is predominantly driven by sexual behaviors, there are underlying complex individual, behavioral, and structural factors that contribute to high rates of sexual behavior and subsequent HIV acquisition. Moreover, difficulties remain in maximizing linkage to care and viral suppression for PLWHIV. Despite the wealth of research showing the importance of viral suppression as a tool for controlling the HIV epidemic, over one-quarter of HIV-positive GBM are not fully engaged in HIV primary medical care; Sexual minority populations of color experience starkly worse rates of engagement in HIV care. This multi-method dissertation aimed to understand how multi-level factors compound HIV risk in a U.S. national sample of GBM and to describe engagement in HIV care among those newly diagnosed with HIV. The following specific aims were addressed: Aim 1: Measure exposure to syndemic conditions, describe the conditions most likely to co-occur and examine their association to HIV risk. Aim 2: Describe the levels of resilience and identify associations with HIV risk and conduct comparisons by race/ethnicity, region, age and other socio-demographic characteristics. Aim 3: Describe the barriers and facilitators to engagement in prompt HIV care 3-months after the delivery of an HIV-positive result. Methods: Data for this study was collected as part of the Together 5,000 study, a U.S. national, internet-based cohort study of men, transgender men, and transgender women who have sex with men. For Aims 1 and 2, we conducted secondary analysis of quantitative survey data from a cohort of 6,118 GBM ages 16-49 at high risk for HIV transmission. The surveys gathered data on demographics, HIV risk behaviors, HIV and STI testing history, mental health, and interpersonal factors. For Aim 1, we evaluated the prevalence of syndemic conditions and explored their associations with HIV risk. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample and the prevalence of syndemic conditions. The associations were determined using adjusted multiple linear regressions. For Aim 2, we measured and described the sociodemographic differences in levels of resilience and explored the association between resilience and HIV risk. The associations were determined using adjusted multiple linear regressions. For aim 3, we conducted secondary analysis of qualitative in-depth interviews from 50 GBM diagnosed HIV-positive during their participation in Together 5,000. The goal of Aim 3 was to described participants experiences getting linked-to-care and identify barriers and facilitators to engagement in HIV care using thematic analysis. Results: In Aim 1 we found a high prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV), experiences of childhood sexual abuse, homelessness and mental health issues. Further, IPV, depression, polydrug use, incarceration history and homelessness were positively associated with HIV risk. We also demonstrated that increasing cumulative syndemic conditions were associated with higher HIV risk. Those who reported 3 or more co-occurring conditions had the highest risk for HIV. In Aim 2, we found higher mean resilience scores among those identifying as black, with higher education, having full-time employment, higher incomes, and those who have health insurance. Although we found no statistically significant association between resilience and our composite measure of HIV risk, we did find a significant association between higher resilience and lower condomless receptive anal sex acts in the last 3 months. In Aim 3, we found that the majority of participants reported being linked-to-care, while only 74.5% of those reported initiating ART. Thematic analysis identified 4 major themes related to participants’ engagement in care: 1) Reasons for HIV testing (e.g., HIV self-testing and expectation of positivity), 2) Linkage-to-care (e.g., appointment/logistic issues and social support as encouragement), 3) Barriers (e.g., financial burden, competing priorities and fear/stigma) and facilitators (e.g., financial assistance, patient-provider relationships, auxiliary support services and health agency) to engagement in HIV care, and 4) PrEP as a missed prevention opportunity. Conclusion: Overall, the findings from this multi-method dissertation suggest that the HIV epidemic is complex, and therefore an effective response requires an understanding of the diversity and dynamic nature of individuals, communities, and our socio-political environment. We demonstrated that environmental and behavioral factors such as homelessness, incarceration are prevalent among GBM in the U.S. and contribute to HIV acquisition, thus offering compelling evidence for the adoption of these variables in future syndemic models. Further, there needs to be a more comprehensive investigation of the unique risk factors in this population, particularly those that may impact uptake and adoption of preventive HIV health behaviors, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). For instance, larger structural factors like societal racial discrimination, anti-immigration laws, lack of health insurance coverage and unemployment can significantly impact adherence to biomedical tools and use of testing services. Future research should explore these social and structural determinants within the context of HIV prevention. There is a need for targeted interventions for those at the highest risk, particularly racial and ethnic minorities and those from impoverished communities to increase HIV testing frequency and facilitate better engagement in care. Further, as seen in our study findings, HIV prevention is a multi-faceted process. As such, there is a need for a more holistic approach to prevention, wherein HIV prevention is conceptualized as more than just HIV testing and PrEP initiation but that takes into account intrapersonal (e.g,, resilience) and interpersonal factors (e.g., social support). Finally, addressing policy-, social- and individual-level barriers could improve GBM’s engagement in HIV care. Capitalizing on GBM’s health agency through partnerships with local agencies and fostering better patient-provider relationships could optimize continuity of HIV care. We possess the tools needed to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S., particularly by advocating for a new federal policy which streamlines HIV testing, linkage-to-care and ART initiation

La influencia del taoísmo y el budismo en la poesía china de paisaje: los casos de Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei y Feng Zhi

This article analyses the relationship between poetry and nature through Chinese landscape poetry. The study focuses on three Chinese poets from three different periods of Chinese history: Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei and Feng Zhi. Through the poet Tao Yuanming, the influence of Taoism on landscape poetry, the influence of Buddhism on Wang Wei's poetry and the influence of both Taoism and Buddhism and modern European thought on Feng Zhi's poetry are analysed. In short, this article aims to highlight respect for nature in Chinese poetry, both in classical and modern poetry.En este artículo se analiza la relación de la poesía y la naturaleza a través de la poesía china de paisaje. El estudio se ha centrado en tres poetas chinos pertenecientes a tres épocas diferentes de la historia de este país: Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei y Feng Zhi. A través del poeta Tao Yuanming se analiza la influencia del taoísmo en la poesía de paisaje, la huella del budismo en la poesía de Wang Wei y la influencia tanto del taoísmo y el budismo como del pensamiento moderno europeo en la poesía de Feng Zhi. En suma, con este artículo se quiere poner en valor el respeto hacia la naturaleza en la poesía china, tanto en la poesía clásica como en la poesía moderna

Semi-analytical study of 3 kinds of axial flux PM actuator

This paper deals with the study of discoidal Permanent Magnet machines using a method of field calculation based on the magnetic charges theory. This fast calculation method enables a systematic study of these devices. The presented method has been validated by a comparison with the classical FE method. Three kinds of discoidal machines are studied and compared. The first is a classical machine with axially magnetized magnets with iron stator and rotor cores. The second and third use simple Halbach array configurations for the magnets with iron and ironless rotor core. This study illustrates the interest of the Halbach structures for this type of device