Análisis etnográfico sobre el impacto social y cultural del Microteatro itinerante: en grupos vulnerables en cuatro municipios del estado de Colima, México

This article offers an ethnographic analysis that refers the social impact of a cultural and artistic event produced by the itinerant Microtheater that used the handling of the technique of Bunraku puppets. With its brief perfomances, it addressed the need to endorse the environmental care in eight vulnerable locations of four municipalities in the state of Colima, Mexico, as well as in basic education schools located in these same contexts of social vulnerability. The field work was coordinated by the University Center for Social Research (Centro de Investigaciones Sociales – CUIS) of the University of Colima. The proyect was developed jointly by a group of professional puppeteers and environmentalists of the Sowing Culture (SECUAM) Civil Association, as well as by 18 students from five faculties of the same University: Literature and Communication, Philosophy, Political and Social Sciences, Pedagogy and Physical Education. The itinerant Microtheater was conceived as a learning strategy for this Population by exposing and socializing contents about the care of the environment. The Argument that we will develop in this article is that the itinerant Microtheater to have given an unusual spectacle to residents of these eight colonies, offered new Cultural meanings for the environmental care by putting into play cognitive, artistic, emotional, playful and aesthetic elements that positively impacted the spectators.Este artículo ofrece un análisis etnográfico que refiere el impacto social del evento cultural y artístico generado por el Microteatro itinerante que mostró el manejo de la técnica de títeres Bunraku. Con sus funciones breves, abordó el cuidado del medio ambiente en ocho colonias llamadas vulnerables de cuatro municipios del estado de Colima, México, así como en escuelas de educación básica ubicadas en estos mismos contextos de vulnerabilidad social. El trabajo de campo fue coordinado por el Centro Universitario de Investigaciones Sociales (CUIS) de la Universidad de Colima y desarrollado en conjunto por un grupo de profesionales titiriteros y ambientalistas de la A.C. Sembrando Cultura Ambiental (SECUAM), así como por 18 estudiantes de cinco facultades de esta universidad: Letras y Comunicación, Filosofía, Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, Pedagogía y Educación Física. El Microteatro itinerante fue concebido como una estrategia de aprendizaje para esta población al exponer y socializar contenidos sobre el cuidado del medio ambiente. El argumento que desarrollaremos en este artículo es que el Microteatro itinerante además de haber dado un espectáculo inusitado en moradores de estas ocho colonias, ofreció nuevos significados cultuales sobre el cuidado del entorno poniendo en juego elementos cognitivos, artísticos, emocionales, lúdicos y estéticos que impactaron positivamente en los receptores

Cultural identification as a moderator to self-expansion and self-efficacy in interracial romantic relationships

The objective of the study was to further explore self-expansion as a psychological construct, its correlation with self-efficacy in the context of romantic relationships, and how that very correlation is affected by an individual\u27s cultural identification. The respondents (n=200), most of whom were young Filipino females, were either formerly or currently part of an interracial relationship. Data were obtained by letting the respondents answer a questionnaire composed of three parts: the first part measured cultural identification using the psychological acculturation scale by Tropp et al. (1999) the second part measured self-expansion using the self expansion questionnaire by Lewandowski (2003 as cited in Kashiwabara, 2006), and the third measured relationship self-efficacy using the relationship self-efficacy scale by Lopez, Morua & Rice (2007). Statistical results confirm the relationship of self-expansion and relationship self-efficacy, and it further reveals how cultural identification moderates the relationship. Moreover, the study highlights the positive impacts of self-expansion beyond the self, as well as the growing importance of culture in relationships. Finally, the study can also help pave way to a less discriminating and more accepting society by advocating for openness to experience

Racial, Ethnic, and Insurance Status Disparities in Use of Posthospitalization Care after Trauma

Abstract available at publisher's web site.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2011.08.01

Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles further worsen race- and insurance-based disparities in trauma outcomes: The case for inner-city pedestrian injury prevention programs

Background: Pedestrian trauma is the most lethal blunt trauma mechanism, and the rate of mortality in African Americans and Hispanics is twice that compared with whites. Whether insurance status and differential survival contribute to this disparity is unknown. Methods: This study is a review of vehicle-struck pedestrians in the National Trauma Data Bank, v7.0. Patients \u3c16 years and \u3e or =65 years, as well as patients with Injury Severity Score (ISS) \u3c9, were excluded. Patients were categorized as white, African American, or Hispanic, and as privately insured, government insured, or uninsured. With white and privately insured patients as reference, logistic regression was used to evaluate mortality by race and insurance status after adjusting for patient and injury characteristics. Results: In all, 26,404 patients met inclusion criteria. On logistic regression, African Americans had 22% greater odds of mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.41) and Hispanics had 33% greater odds of mortality (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.14-1.54) compared with whites. Uninsured patients had 77% greater odds of mortality (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.52-2.06) compared with privately insured patients. Conclusion: African American and Hispanic race, as well as uninsured status, increase the risk of mortality after pedestrian crashes. Given the greater incidence of pedestrian crashes in minorities, this compounded burden of injury mandates pedestrian trauma prevention efforts in inner cities to decrease health disparitie

The hazards of off-road motor sports: Are four wheels better than two?

Background: Off-road motorsports are an increasing popular activity, yet the relative safety profile of all-terrain vehicles (ATV) to off-road motorcycles (ORMC) has not been compared.Study design: A retrospective review of the 2002-2006 US National Trauma Data Bank of ATV and ORMC crash victims. Patients were described according to demographic (age, sex, race and ethnicity, insurance status) and injury characteristics (Injury Severity Score, hypotension, motor component of the Glasgow Coma Score, presence of a severe head or extremity injury) known to affect trauma outcomes. Logistic regression evaluated the independent effect of an ATV vehicle on mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and placement on a ventilator relative to ORMC. The anatomic distribution of severe injuries was compared between survivors and decedents within each vehicle type.Results: A total of 34,457 patients met inclusion criteria, of whom, 24,582 were ATV patients and 9875 were ORMC patients. ATV patients had 51% higher risk-adjusted odds of death (OR 1.51; 95% CI 1.03-2.20), 55% higher risk-adjusted odds of being admitted to an ICU (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.42-1.70), and 42% higher risk-adjusted odds of being placed on a ventilator (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.17-1.72) compared to ORMC crash victims. Decedents in both vehicle types were more likely to suffer severe head, thoracic, and abdominal injuries relative to their surviving counterparts.Conclusion: For injured riders, ATVs are associated with increased mortality and higher resource utilisation compared to ORMCs. Both groups suffer distinct anatomic injuries, suggesting the need for focused areas of injury prevention planning and research

Microbial Communities in the Water Surface Microlayer and Associations with Microbes in Aerosols, Beach Sand, and Bulk Water

The water surface microlayer (SML) serves as a boundary through which microbes can be exchanged. To evaluate exchanges of microbes, this study compared microbial communities within different reservoirs, with an emphasis on the water SML and aerosols. Additionally, the microbial communities during a sewage spill and perigean tides were evaluated and the results were compared to times without these events. Results show that during perigean tides and during the sewage spill, levels of culturable bacteria were highest and showed an increase via sequencing in potential pathogenic bacteria (Corynebacterium and Vibrio, which increased from 3.5%-1800% depending on sample type). In the aerosol samples, Corynebacterium (average of 2.0%), Vibrio (1.6%), and Staphylococcus (10%), were the most abundant genera. Aerosolization factors, which were used to examine the transfer of the microbes, were high for these three genera. Measurements of general marine bacteria (GMB) by culture showed a weak but significant correlation between culturable GMB in aerosol samples versus in water and in SML. More research is needed to evaluate the exchange of pathogens between the SML and air, given the increase in potentially pathogenic microbes within the SML during rare events and evidence that suggests that microbes maintain viability during transfers across reservoirs

Mechanism of injury predicts case fatality and functional outcomes in pediatric trauma patients: The case for its use in trauma outcomes studies

Background/purpose: The mechanism of injury (MOI) may serve as a useful adjunct to injury scoring systems in pediatric trauma outcomes research. The objective is to determine the independent effect of MOI on case fatality and functional outcomes in pediatric trauma patients.Methods: Retrospective review of pediatric patients ages 2 to 18 years in the National Trauma Data Bank from 2002 through 2006 was done. Mechanism of injury was classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, E codes. The main outcome measures were mortality, discharge disposition (home vs rehabilitation setting), and functional impairment at hospital discharge. Multiple logistic regression was used to adjust for injury severity (using the Injury Severity Score and the presence of shock upon admission in the emergency department), age, sex, and severe head or extremity injury.Results: Thirty-five thousand ninety-seven pediatric patients in the National Trauma Data Bank met inclusion criteria. Each MOI had differences in the adjusted odds of death or functional disabilities as compared with the reference group (fall). The MOI with the greatest risk of death was gunshot wounds (odds ratio [OR], 3.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.23-5.54 95). Pediatric pedestrians struck by a motor vehicle have the highest risk of locomotion (OR, 3.30; 95% CI, 2.89-3.77) and expression (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.22-2.23) disabilities.Conclusion: Mechanism of injury is a significant predictor of clinical and functional outcomes at discharge for equivalently injured patients. These findings have implications for injury prevention, staging, and prognosis of traumatic injury and posttreatment planning

Should the IDC-9 Trauma Mortality Prediction Model become the new paradigm for benchmarking trauma outcomes?

Background: Optimum quantification of injury severity remains an imprecise science with a need for improvement. The accuracy of the criterion standard Injury Severity Score (ISS) worsens as a patient\u27s injury severity increases, especially among patients with penetrating trauma. The objective of this study was to comprehensively compare the mortality prediction ability of three anatomic injury severity indices: the ISS, the New ISS (NISS), and the DRG International Classification of Diseases-9th Rev.-Trauma Mortality Prediction Model (TMPM-ICD-9), a recently developed contemporary injury assessment model.Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients in the National Trauma Data Bank from 2007 to 2008. The TMPM-ICD-9 values were computed and compared with the ISS and NISS for each patient using in-hospital mortality after trauma as the outcome measure. Discrimination and calibration were compared using the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve. Subgroup analysis was performed to compare each score across varying ranges of injury severity and across different types of injury.Results: A total of 533,898 patients were identified with a crude mortality rate of 4.7%. The ISS and NISS performed equally in the groups with minor (ISS, 1-8) and moderate (ISS, 9-15) injuries, regardless of the injury type. However, in the populations with severe (ISS, 16-24) and very severe (ISS, ≥ 25) injuries for all injury types, the NISS predicted mortality better than the ISS did. The TMPM-ICD-9 outperformed both the NISS and ISS almost consistently.Conclusion: The NISS and TMPM-ICD-9 are both superior predictors of mortality as compared with the ISS. The immediate adoption of NISS for evaluating trauma outcomes using trauma registry data is recommended. The TMPM-ICD-9 may be an even better measure of human injury, and its use in administrative or nonregistry data is suggested. Further research on its attributes is recommended because it has the potential to become the basis for benchmarking trauma outcomes

Predictors of Positive Head CT Scan and Neurosurgical Procedures After Minor Head Trauma

Background:There continues to be an ongoing debate regarding the utility of head CT scans in Patients with a normal Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) after minor head injury. The objective of this study is to determine Patient and injury characteristics that predict a positive head CT scan or need for a neurosurgical procedure (NSP) among Patients with blunt head injury and a normal GCS. Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of adult Patients in the National Trauma Data Bank who presented to the ED with a history of blunt head injury and a normal GCS of 15. The primary outcomes were a positive head CT scan or a NSP. Multivariate logistic regression controlling for Patient and injury characteristics was used to determine predictors of each outcome. Results: Out of a total of 83,566 Patients, 24,414 (29.2%) had a positive head CT scan and 3476 (4.2%) underwent a NSP. Older Patients and Patients with a history of fall (compared with a motor vehicle crash) were more likely to have a positive finding on a head CT scan. Male Patients, African-Americans (compared with Caucasians), and those who presented with a fall were more likely to have a NSP. Conclusions: Older age, male gender, ethnicity, and mechanism of injury are significant predictors of a positive finding on head CT scans and the need for neurosurgical procedures. This study highlights Patient and injury-specific characteristics that may help in identifying Patients with supposedly minor head injury who will benefit from a head CT scan