Armed Conflict Exposure, Human Capital Investments and Child Labor: Evidence from Colombia

Using a unique combination of household and violence data sets and a duration analysis methodology, this paper estimates the effect that exposure to armed conflict has on school drop-out decisions of Colombian children between the ages of six and seventeen. After taking into account the possible endogeneity of municipal conflict related events through the use of instrumental variables, we find that armed conflict reduces the average years of schooling in 8.78% for all Colombian children. This estimate increases to 17.03% for children between sixteen and seventeen years old. We provide evidence that such effect may be induced mainly through higher mortality risks, and to lesser extent due to negative economic shocks and lower school quality; all of which induce a trade-off between schooling and child labor.Armed con.ict, School drop-out, Duration Analysis, Colombia

Antibiotic prophylaxis habits in dental implant surgery among dentists in Spain. A cross-sectional survey

The use of antibiotics to prevent dental implant failures and postoperative infections remains a controversial issue. The objectives of this study were to assess the current antibiotic prescribing patterns and antibiotic prescribing frequency of dentists in Biscay (Spain) in conjunction with routine dental implant surgery among healthy patients and to determine whether any consensus has been reached by such practitioners and last published evidence was being followed. Observational cross-sectional study: electronic survey. This study was reported according to the STROBE guidelines. This anonymous questionnaire contained open-ended and close-ended questions. An email was sent 26 October 2017 to all the registered members of the Biscay dentists? College (n=989). The collected data were analyzed using STATA® 14 software, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to assess the frequency of prescription for each antibiotic regimen. The survey was responded to by a total of 233 participants (response rate=23.56%). Overall, 210 participants finished the survey completely, and 23 surveys were answered partially. The questionnaire was responded to by 122 females (58.1%) and 88 males (41.9%). Of the participants, 88% (n=207) always routinely prescribed prophylactic antibiotics in conjunction with dental implant surgery (95% CI: 84.79-92.88%). Approximately 9% (n=22) prescribed antibiotics sometimes (95% CI: 5.68-13.19%), and only 4 dentists (1.72%) never prescribed antibiotics (95% CI: 0.04-3.38%). Overall, 179 of 233 respondents prescribed both pre- and postoperative antibiotics (78.85%, 95% CI: 72.96-83.97%), 13 prescribed antibiotics only preoperatively (5.73%, 95% CI: 3.08-9.59%), and 35 prescribed antibiotics exclusively after routine dental implant surgery (15.42%, 95% CI: 10.98-20.78%). Most of the dentists working in Biscay routinely prescribe prophylactic antibiotics in conjunction with dental implant surgery among healthy patients. A large range of prophylactic regimens are prescribed and the most recently published evidence is not being followed

Hacia una mejor educación rural: impacto de un programa de intervención a las escuelas en Colombia

Utilizando información censal de las sedes educativas rurales de Colombia el presente trabajo evalúa el impacto que tuvo el Programa de Educación Rural -PER - en las tasas de eficiencia (cobertura, reprobación, aprobación y deserción) y calidad de la educación en las sedes en donde se aplicó. A través de la implementación de modelos educativos flexibles adaptados a las necesidades de la comunidad, el programa logró efectos positivos en las medidas de eficiencia y calidad de las sedes tratadas. Los resultados son robustos a distintas metodologías de estimación y grupos de control y evidencian que programas de intervención dirigidos a la oferta (escuelas) pueden mejorar sustancialmente la eficiencia y calidad de la educación en las zonas rurales. Se encuentra, en adición, que el efecto del PER sobre los indicadores de eficiencia de las sedes educativas rurales se da a través de la calidad tanto del material educativo y de la capacitación en los modelos pedagógicos como de las mejoras en la gestión y administración de la institución educativa.Educación rural, evaluación de impacto, diferencias endiferencias, matching estimators.

EQUIDAD SOCIAL EN EL ACCESO Y PERMANENCIA EN LA UNIVERSIDAD PÚBLICA: DETERMINANTES Y FACTORES ASOCIADOS

Este trabajo estudia cuáles son los factores determinantes en el acceso y la permanencia en las universidades públicas colombianas. A partir de una completa base de datos construida a partir de información suministrada por las universidades públicas colombianas y por el ICFES. Se estiman modelos de tipo logístico para el acceso y la permanencia, en los cuales se controló por las condiciones propias de cada universidad, variables del hogar, variables de habilidad académica del estudiante y otras variables del estudiante como la edad y el sexo. Los resultados muestran que el acceso a las Universidades públicas está determinado, en principio, por el resultado en las pruebas de Estado (prueba del Icfes). Adicionalmente tienen efecto en la probabilidad de admisión las condiciones de oferta de cupos y de demanda de cada una de las universidades analizadas y los factores que condicionan los resultados del examen de estado, es decir, condiciones estructurales como las características de las familias. De otro lado, el estudio muestra que la existencia de programas de acción afirmativa" durante la carrera aumenta en forma positiva y significativa la probabilidad de permanencia de los estudiantes en general, aunque no aumenta la permanencia de los estudiantes más pobres. Se encuentra que gran parte de las universidades públicas cuentan con programas de acción afirmativa. No obstante, dichos programas tienen una baja cobertura, se encuentran poco diversificados y no tienen un carácter integral. En la mayoría de los casos no existen mecanismos de seguimiento y evaluación ni a los programas ni a los estudiantes cobijados por estos. En este sentido, para mejorar las condiciones de equidad social en el acceso y permanencia en las universidades públicas, se requieren acciones que mejoren la calidad de la educación media y básica en los estratos más pobres, y mayor eficacia de los programas dirigidos a garantizar la permanencia y logro en las universidades de los estudiantes de menores recursos económicos. Todo esto trasciende claramente el campo de acción de la universidad, e involucra la responsabilidad de los diversos actores, instancias e instituciones que componen el Sistema Educativo Colombiano."Economía de la Educación, Sociología de la Educación, Acceso y permanencia en universidades públicas, equidad social

Tetracyclines in Food and Feedingstuffs: From Regulation to Analytical Methods, Bacterial Resistance, and Environmental and Health Implications

Antibiotics are widely used as growth promoters in animal husbandry; among them, the tetracyclines are a chemical group of relevance, due to their wide use in agriculture, surpassing in quantities applied almost every other antibiotic family. Seeing the considerable amounts of tetracyclines used worldwide, monitoring of these antibiotics is paramount. Advances must be made in the analysis of antibiotics to assess correct usage and dosage of tetracyclines in food and feedstuffs and possible residues in pertinent environmental samples. The tetracyclines are still considered a clinically relevant group of antibiotics, though dissemination of tolerance and resistance determinants have limited their use. This review focuses on four different aspects: (i) tetracyclines, usage, dosages, and regulatory issues that govern their food-related application, with particular attention to the prohibitions and restrictions that several countries have enforced in recent years by agencies from both the United States and the European Union, (ii) analytical methods for tetracyclines, determination, and residues thereof in feedstuffs and related matrices with an emphasis on the most relevant and novel techniques, including both screening and confirmatory methods, (iii) tetracycline resistance and tetracycline-resistant bacteria in feedstuff, and (iv) environmental and health risks accompanying the use of tetracyclines in animal nutrition. In the last two cases, we discuss the more relevant undesirable effects that tetracyclines exert over bacterial communities and nontarget species including unwanted effects in farmers.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Centro de Investigación en Nutrición Animal (CINA)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales (CIET

The effect of preoperative clindamycin in reducing early oral implant failure: a randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial

Objectives To assess the effect of preoperative oral clindamycin in reducing early implant failure in healthy adults undergoing conventional implant placement. Materials and methods We conducted a prospective, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in accordance with the ethical principles and Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement. We included healthy adults who underwent a single oral implant without previous infection of the surgical bed or the need for bone grafting. They were randomly treated with a single dose of oral clindamycin (600 mg) 1 h before surgery or a placebo. All surgical procedures were performed by one surgeon. A single trained observer evaluated all patients on postoperative days 1, 7, 14, 28, and 56. Early dental implant failure was defined as the loss or removal of an implant for any reason. We recorded the clinical, radiological, and surgical variables, adverse events, and postoperative complications. The study outcomes were statistically analysed to evaluate differences between the groups. Furthermore, we calculated the number required to treat or harm (NNT/NNH). Results Both the control group and clindamycin group had 31 patients each. Two implant failures occurred in the clindamycin group (NNH = 15, p = 0.246). Three patients had postoperative infections, namely two placebo-treated and one clindamycin-treated, which failed (relative risk: 0.5, CI: 0.05-5.23, absolute risk reduction = 0.03, confidence interval: - 0.07-0.13, NNT = 31, CI: 7.2-infinity, and p = 0.5). One clindamycin-treated patient experienced gastrointestinal disturbances and diarrhoea. Conclusions Preoperative clindamycin administration during oral implant surgery in healthy adults may not reduce implant failure or post-surgical-complications.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. Open Access funding provided by University of the Basque Country. This clinical trial has been funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the project “PI18/00809″ (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund; “A way to make Europe”/”Investing in your future”)

Is clindamycin effective in preventing infectious complications after oral surgery? Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

[EN] Objective To determine the effect of clindamycin in the prevention of infection after oral surgery. Material and Methods This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the PRISMA statement, the PICO-framework and included only randomized controlled clinical trials. In all studies clindamycin was administered to prevent infections in patients who underwent oral surgery. Two independent researchers conducted the search, data extraction and risk of bias assessment. Included studies were classified by the type of oral surgery. Besides, data of patients, procedures and outcome variables were collected. Risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by using Mantel-Haenszel model and the number needed to treat (NNT). Finally, any potential sources of heterogeneity were estimated. Results Seven trials of 540 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. Four articles assessing the effect of oral clindamycin in third molar surgery were quantitatively analyzed. The overall RR was 0.66 (95% CI = 0.38-1.16), being non-statistically significant (p = 0.15). There was no heterogeneity between the studies I-2 = 0, p = 0.44. The NNT was 29 (95% CI = 12- -57). Conclusions The effectiveness of clindamycin could not be evaluated except in third molar extraction. Oral clindamycin is ineffective in preventing infection in third molar surgery.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. Open Access funding provided by University of the Basque Country

Influence of scoring methods and numerical superiority on physical demands in elite young soccer players

Small-sided games (SSGs) are a useful strategy to optimize the training process in soccer. The modification of some variables simultaneously implies several physical adaptations in soccer players. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the differences in the physical demands encountered by soccer players in different SSGs formats focusing on the scoring methods (i.e., mini-goals and regular goals with goalkeepers) and to the numerical superiority situations (i.e., no superiority, variable superiority, and fixed superiority). Eight elite young soccer players from the same team (age: 17.9 ± 1.1 years) randomly completed six SSG formats. Physical parameters (i.e., total distance [TD], distance covered at different speeds [D1, D2, D3, D4, D5 and D6], and distance covered accelerating [ACC] and decelerating [DEC]) were collected. The main results showed that the variable superiority (i.e., 4vs4+1) situation is more demanding, in terms of TD and distance covered at D3 and D4, in comparison to no superiority (i.e., 4vs4) and fixed superiority (i.e., 5vs4) situations both SSGs played with mini-goals and regular goals with goalkeepers. Besides, higher physical demands were registered in fixed superiority (i.e., 5vs4) than in no superiority (i.e., 4vs4) situation. Finally, only in a no superiority (i.e., 4vs4) situation higher distances at D1 and D5 were registered during the SSG played with mini-goals but higher distance at D3 was covered in the SSG format with regular goals and goalkeepers. Playing SSGs in variable superiority situation is more demanding in comparison to no superiority (i.e., 4vs4) and fixed superiority situations both during those SSGs played with mini-goals and/or regular goals and goalkeepers. In addition, SSGs played with mini-goals induced higher physical demands than playing with regular goals and goalkeepers during no superiority games. These findings could be useful for coaches in order to periodize the training drills within the microcycle to modulate the training session intensity

Scaling and compressing melodies using geometric similarity measures

Melodic similarity measurement is of key importance in music information retrieval. In this paper, we use geometric matching techniques to measure the similarity between two melodies. We represent music as sets of points or sets of horizontal line segments in the Euclidean plane and propose efficient algorithms for optimization problems inspired in two operations on melodies; linear scaling and audio compression. In the scaling problem, an incoming query melody is scaled forward until the similarity measure between the query and a reference melody is minimized. The compression problem asks for a subset of notes of a given melody such that the matching cost between the selected notes and the reference melody is minimized