120 research outputs found

    Percepción de la vulnerabilidad social frente al riesgo de desastres en San Juan De Lurigancho

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    This research aimed to analyze the social vulnerability to disaster risk from the perception of the population of a sector of San Juan de Lurigancho district. The study was quantitativedescriptive; a social vulnerability questionnaire about physical frailty, social frailty, resilience capacity and perception of danger was applied to 100 inhabitants of Agrupación Buena Vista Human Settlement. The results indicated that the degree of physical fragility and the perception of danger is high, nevertheless social fragility and resilience capacity are of medium degree. In conclusion, there is a high social vulnerability to disasters perceived by the inhabitants.La investigación tuvo como objetivo analizar la vulnerabilidad social frente al riesgo de desastres desde la percepción de la población de una zona de San Juan de Lurigancho, para lo cual fue necesario analizar los siguientes aspectos: la fragilidad física, la fragilidad social, la capacidad de resiliencia de la población, así como la percepción del peligro frente a los desastres. El estudio se enmarcó en la teoría de la vulnerabilidad y carencias del desarrollo (Cardona, 2001), es una investigación tipo cuantitativa - descriptiva que consideró la aplicación de un cuestionario sobre vulnerabilidad social a 100 pobladores del asentamiento humano “Agrupación Buena Vista”. Para la estimación del grado de vulnerabilidad social, se asumió el modelo de índice sumatorio ponderado propuesto por García et al. (2004). Los resultados muestran un alto grado de fragilidad física y percepción del peligro al alcanzar el valor equivalente a 1.0, mientras que la fragilidad social y capacidad de resiliencia obtuvieron el valor de 0.56 y 0.58 respectivamente, siendo de grado medio. En conclusión, el grado de vulnerabilidad social frente a los desastres percibida por los pobladores es alto. Urge fortalecer las capacidades sociales de la población para potenciar el trabajo articulado de las organizaciones sociales que den como resultado, el buen uso de los recursos y capacidades disponibles para enfrentar condiciones adversas que podrían conducir a un desastre

    Working with interpreters: how student behavior affects quality of patient interaction when using interpreters

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    Background: Despite the prevalence of medical interpreting in the clinical environment, few medical professionals receive training in best practices when using an interpreter. We designed and implemented an educational workshop on using interpreters as part of the cultural competency curriculum for second year medical students (MSIIs) at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The purpose of this study is two-fold: first, to evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop and second, if deficiencies are found, to investigate whether the deficiencies affected the quality of the patient encounter when using an interpreter. Methods: A total of 152 MSIIs completed the 3-hour workshop and a 1-station objective-structured clinical examination, 8 weeks later to assess skills. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests were used to assess workshop effectiveness. Results: Based on a passing score of 70%, 39.4% of the class failed. Two skills seemed particularly problematic: assuring confidentiality (missed by 50%) and positioning the interpreter (missed by 70%). While addressing confidentiality did not have a significant impact on standardized patient satisfaction, interpreter position did. Conclusion: Instructing the interpreter to sit behind the patient helps sustain eye contact between clinician and patient, while assuring confidentiality is a tenet of quality clinical encounters. Teaching students and faculty to emphasize both is warranted to improve cross-language clinical encounters

    Providing High-Quality Care for Limited English Proficient Patients: The Importance of Language Concordance and Interpreter Use

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    Background: Provider–patient language discordance is related to worse quality care for limited English proficient (LEP) patients who speak Spanish. However, little is known about language barriers among LEP Asian-American patients. Objective: We examined the effects of language discordance on the degree of health education and the quality of interpersonal care that patients received, and examined its effect on patient satisfaction. We also evaluated how the presence/absence of a clinic interpreter affected these outcomes. Design: Cross-sectional survey, response rate 74%. Participants: A total of 2,746 Chinese and Vietnamese patients receiving care at 11 health centers in 8 cities. Measurements: Provider–patient language concordance, health education received, quality of interpersonal care, patient ratings of providers, and the presence/absence of a clinic interpreter. Regression analyses were used to adjust for potential confounding. Results: Patients with language-discordant providers reported receiving less health education (β = 0.17, p < 0.05) compared to those with language-concordant providers. This effect was mitigated with the use of a clinic interpreter. Patients with language-discordant providers also reported worse interpersonal care (β = 0.28, p < 0.05), and were more likely to give low ratings to their providers (odds ratio [OR] = 1.61; CI = 0.97–2.67). Using a clinic interpreter did not mitigate these effects and in fact exacerbated disparities in patients’ perceptions of their providers. Conclusion: Language barriers are associated with less health education, worse interpersonal care, and lower patient satisfaction. Having access to a clinic interpreter can facilitate the transmission of health education. However, in terms of patients’ ratings of their providers and the quality of interpersonal care, having an interpreter present does not serve as a substitute for language concordance between patient and provider

    A Potassium Metal-Organic Framework based on Perylene- 3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylate as Sensing Layer for Humidity Actuators

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    We have synthesized a novel three-dimensional metal-organic-framework (MOF) based on the perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylate linker and potassium as metallic centre. We report the formation of this K-based MOF using conventional routes with water as solvent. This material displays intense green photoluminescence at room temperature, and displays an aggregation dependent quenching. Correlation of the optical properties with the crystalline packing was confirmed by DFT calculations. We also demonstrate its potential to build humidity actuators with a reversible and reproducible response, with a change of 5 orders of magnitudes in its impedance at about 40% relative humidity (RH). This 3D-MOF is based on an interesting perylene derivative octadentate ligand, a moiety with interesting fluorescent properties and known component in organic semiconductors. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to build such a printed and flexible actuator towards humidity with a reversible response, enabling precise humidity threshold monitoring.This work was supported by the Junta de Andalucía (FQM-1484, and FQM-195). Red Guipuzcoana de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (OF188/2017) and University of the Basque Country (GIU14/01, EHUA16/32). BB acknowledges funding by RyC-2012–10381 contract and computational resources provided by the RES and Alhambra supercomputing facilities. This work was also supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Technical University of Munich within the Open Access Publishing Funding Programme

    Distinct contributions of extrastriate body area and temporoparietal junction in perceiving one's own and others' body.

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    The right temporoparietal cortex plays a critical role in body representation. Here, we applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over right extrastriate body area (EBA) and temporoparietal junction (TPJ) to investigate their causative roles in perceptual representations of one's own and others' body. Healthy women adjusted size-distorted pictures of their own body or of the body of another person according to how they perceived the body (subjective task) or how others perceived it (intersubjective task). In keeping with previous reports, at baseline, we found an overall underestimation of body size. Crucially, EBA-rTMS increased the underestimation bias when participants adjusted the images according to how others perceived their own or the other woman's body, suggesting a specific role of EBA in allocentric body representations. Conversely, TPJ-rTMS increased the underestimation bias when participants adjusted the body of another person, either a familiar other or a close friend, in both subjective and intersubjective tasks, suggesting an involvement of TPJ in representing others' bodies. These effects were body-specific, since no TMS-induced modulation was observed when participants judged a familiar object. The results suggest that right EBA and TPJ play active and complementary roles in the complex interaction between the perceptions of one's own and other people's body

    Effect of ultrapure lipopolysaccharides derived from diverse bacterial species on the modulation of platelet activation

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    Platelets are small circulating blood cells that play essential roles in the maintenance of haemostasis via blood clotting. However, they also play critical roles in the regulation of innate immune responses. Inflammatory receptors, specifically Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4, have been reported to modify platelet reactivity. A plethora of studies have reported controversial functions of TLR4 in the modulation of platelet function using various chemotypes and preparations of its ligand, lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The method of preparation of LPS may explain these discrepancies however this is not fully understood. Hence, to determine the impact of LPS on platelet activation, we used ultrapure preparations of LPS from Escherichia coli (LPSEC), Salmonella minnesota (LPSSM), and Rhodobacter sphaeroides (LPSRS) and examined their actions under diverse experimental conditions in human platelets. LPSEC did not affect platelet activation markers such as inside-out signalling to integrin IIb3 or P-selectin exposure upon agonist-induced activation in platelet-rich plasma or whole blood whereas LPSSM and LPSRS inhibited platelet activation under specific conditions at supraphysiological concentrations. Overall, our data demonstrate that platelet activation is not largely influenced by any of the ultrapure LPS chemotypes used in this study on their own except under certain conditions

    Biology of moderately halophilic aerobic bacteria

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    The moderately halophilic heterotrophic aerobic bacteria form a diverse group of microorganisms. The property of halophilism is widespread within the bacterial domain. Bacterial halophiles are abundant in environments such as salt lakes, saline soils, and salted food products. Most species keep their intracellular ionic concentrations at low levels while synthesizing or accumulating organic solutes to provide osmotic equilibrium of the cytoplasm with the surrounding medium. Complex mechanisms of adjustment of the intracellular environments and the properties of the cytoplasmic membrane enable rapid adaptation to changes in the salt concentration of the environment. Approaches to the study of genetic processes have recently been developed for several moderate halophiles, opening the way toward an understanding of haloadaptation at the molecular level. The new information obtained is also expected to contribute to the development of novel biotechnological uses for these organisms

    The Role of Medical Interpretation on Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Among Asian American and Pacific Islander Women

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    We examined whether the impact of medical interpretation services was associated with the receipt of a mammogram, clinical breast exam, and Pap smear. We conducted a large cross-sectional study involving four Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities with high proportions of individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). Participants were recruited from community clinics, churches and temples, supermarkets, and other community gathering sites in Northern and Southern California. Among those that responded, 98% completed the survey rendering a total of 1,708 AAPI women. In a series of multivariate logistic regression models, it was found that women who typically used a medical interpreter had a greater odds of having received a mammogram (odds ratio [OR] = 1.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21, 2.83), clinical breast exam (OR = 3.03; 95% CI = 1.82, 5.03), and a Pap smear (OR = 2.34; 95% CI = 1.38, 3.97) than those who did not usually use an interpreter. The study provides support for increasing language access in healthcare settings. In particular, medical interpreters may help increase the utilization of breast and cervical cancer screening among LEP AAPI women

    Biobanking and consenting to research: a qualitative thematic analysis of young people’s perspectives in the North East of England

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    Background: Biobanking biospecimens and consent are common practice in paediatric research. We need to explore children and young people’s (CYP) knowledge and perspectives around the use of and consent to biobanking. This will ensure meaningful informed consent can be obtained and improve current consent procedures. Methods: We designed a survey, in co-production with CYP, collecting demographic data, views on biobanking, and consent using three scenarios: 1) prospective consent, 2) deferred consent, and 3) reconsent and assent at age of capacity. The survey was disseminated via the Young Person’s Advisory Group North England (YPAGne) and participating CYP’s secondary schools. Data were analysed using a qualitative thematic approach by three independent reviewers (including CYP) to identify common themes. Data triangulation occurred independently by a fourth reviewer. Results: One hundred two CYP completed the survey. Most were between 16–18 years (63.7%, N = 65) and female (66.7%, N = 68). 72.3% had no prior knowledge of biobanking (N = 73). Acceptability of prospective consent for biobanking was high (91.2%, N = 93) with common themes: ‘altruism’, ‘potential benefits outweigh individual risk’, 'frugality', and ‘(in)convenience’. Deferred consent was also deemed acceptable in the large majority (84.3%, N = 86), with common themes: ‘altruism’, ‘body integrity’ and ‘sample frugality’. 76.5% preferred to reconsent when cognitively mature enough to give assent (N = 78), even if parental consent was previously in place. 79.2% wanted to be informed if their biobanked biospecimen is reused (N = 80). Conclusion: Prospective and deferred consent acceptability for biobanking is high among CYP in the UK. Altruism, frugality, body integrity, and privacy are the most important themes. Clear communication and justification are paramount to obtain consent. Any CYP with capacity should be part of the consenting procedure, if possible
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