5 x 5: Conceptual and Technical Challenge

Goals for the Week to Week Project As an undergraduate student pursuing a BFA, the apotheosis of my education is to find and develop the content for my art and convey it in the form of my capstone BFA exhibition. My creative research for this project consisted of building a finished work of art each week during a five-week time period. The intent of the project was to expedite concept development and increase my personal technical speed while focusing on craftsmanship and design. Having seven days to respond to a content prompt, I was challenged to focus on creating without overthinking design or the technical aspects of making. This allowed me to explore various techniques, as well as learn from my successes and failures. As Bayles and Orland describe in Art & Fear “you learn how to make your work by making your work”. The culmination of my project revealed a pattern and a core concept that is prevalent in the body of work I have produced and can help me design future series

ORIENTACIONES TEÓRICAS PARA UN DISEÑO CURRICULAR COMPLEJO Y POR COMPETENCIAS EN TURISMO

El diseño curricular de una carrera universitaria implica la toma de decisiones sobre los modelos que se aplicaran tanto desde el punto de vista epistemológico como curricular. Es importante que el diseño propuesto sea coherente en esos dos ámbitos para que garantizar el éxito del proyecto educativo. En el presente documento los autores hacen una revisión documental de los conceptos que normalmente se usan en un diseño curricular dentro del paradigma de formación por competencias para verificar su coherencia con el paradigma de la complejidad, se incluyen conceptos como dominio, niveles, unidades, elementos, criterios y evidencias. El método empleado es el hermenéutico y se desarrolla hasta estructurar un Modelo de Diseño Curricular de Formación Por Competencias aplicable al desarrollo de una carrera universitaria en turismo. Al final se discute si el modelo generado, que puede tener aplicabilidad en cualquier área de conocimiento, desarrolla los principios dialógico, recursivo y hologramático de la complejidad

Reference values for areal bone mineral density among a healthy Mexican population

Objective. Compare the influence of ethnicity in the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in various Mexican populations using two normal dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) reference databases: manufacturer¿s incorporating US Hispanic population and a normal mestizo Mexican population. Material and Methods. MMP included 9 946 subjects participating in an ongoing long-term cohort study focusing on lifestyle and chronic diseases, of which 6 487 MMP males and females aged 7 to 80 years were the normal subjects used to determine bone density T- and Z-scores, following WHO criteria, and peak bone mass values. Abnormal bone mass density values estimated by the manufacturer's and peak bone mass reference values were compared. Results and Conclusions. Our results show that by using the manufacturer´s T-score values in the mestizo Mexican population we are underestimating the number of abnormal bone mass BMD populations

Measuring progress and projecting attainment on the basis of past trends of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 countries: an analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are grounded in the global ambition of “leaving no one behind”. Understanding today’s gains and gaps for the health-related SDGs is essential for decision makers as they aim to improve the health of populations. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016), we measured 37 of the 50 health-related SDG indicators over the period 1990–2016 for 188 countries, and then on the basis of these past trends, we projected indicators to 2030

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 333 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

BACKGROUND: Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast changing epidemiological patterns against health system performance and identify specific needs for resource allocation in research, policy development, and programme decision making. Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016, we drew from two widely used summary measures to monitor such changes in population health: disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE). We used these measures to track trends and benchmark progress compared with expected trends on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 for all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, and non-fatal disease burden to derive HALE and DALYs by sex for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost and years of life lived with disability for each location, age group, sex, and year. We estimated HALE using age-specific death rates and years of life lived with disability per capita. We explored how DALYs and HALE differed from expected trends when compared with the SDI: the geometric mean of income per person, educational attainment in the population older than age 15 years, and total fertility rate. FINDINGS: The highest globally observed HALE at birth for both women and men was in Singapore, at 75·2 years (95% uncertainty interval 71·9-78·6) for females and 72·0 years (68·8-75·1) for males. The lowest for females was in the Central African Republic (45·6 years [42·0-49·5]) and for males was in Lesotho (41·5 years [39·0-44·0]). From 1990 to 2016, global HALE increased by an average of 6·24 years (5·97-6·48) for both sexes combined. Global HALE increased by 6·04 years (5·74-6·27) for males and 6·49 years (6·08-6·77) for females, whereas HALE at age 65 years increased by 1·78 years (1·61-1·93) for males and 1·96 years (1·69-2·13) for females. Total global DALYs remained largely unchanged from 1990 to 2016 (-2·3% [-5·9 to 0·9]), with decreases in communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disease DALYs offset by increased DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The exemplars, calculated as the five lowest ratios of observed to expected age-standardised DALY rates in 2016, were Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Maldives, Peru, and Israel. The leading three causes of DALYs globally were ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and lower respiratory infections, comprising 16·1% of all DALYs. Total DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates due to most CMNN causes decreased from 1990 to 2016. Conversely, the total DALY burden rose for most NCDs; however, age-standardised DALY rates due to NCDs declined globally. INTERPRETATION: At a global level, DALYs and HALE continue to show improvements. At the same time, we observe that many populations are facing growing functional health loss. Rising SDI was associated with increases in cumulative years of life lived with disability and decreases in CMNN DALYs offset by increased NCD DALYs. Relative compression of morbidity highlights the importance of continued health interventions, which has changed in most locations in pace with the gross domestic product per person, education, and family planning. The analysis of DALYs and HALE and their relationship to SDI represents a robust framework with which to benchmark location-specific health performance. Country-specific drivers of disease burden, particularly for causes with higher-than-expected DALYs, should inform health policies, health system improvement initiatives, targeted prevention efforts, and development assistance for health, including financial and research investments for all countries, regardless of their level of sociodemographic development. The presence of countries that substantially outperform others suggests the need for increased scrutiny for proven examples of best practices, which can help to extend gains, whereas the presence of underperforming countries suggests the need for devotion of extra attention to health systems that need more robust support. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Sewer System Alternatives Evaluation for Potential Creswell Area Expansion in Harford County

Final project for ENCE422: Project Cost Accounting and Economics (Fall 2018). University of Maryland, College Park.This report summarizes the findings of the ENCE422 Fall 2018 class term project. Students were tasked with evaluating sewer system alternatives for the Creswell area expansion in Harford County. Student groups were to consider environmental impacts, community/social impacts, and perform financial analysis for the alternatives they chose to evaluate. This report extracts information from 14 separate team presentations and synthesizes it around the following structure; 1. Systems that Utilize Septic Tanks a. Traditional Septic System b. Orenco Effluent System c. Small Diameter Gravity Sewer System 2. System that Do Not Utilize Septic Tanks a. Traditional Gravity System b. Vacuum System c. Grinder Pump SystemHarford Count

The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study

Objective To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation. Patients and Methods This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged ≥16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries. Results Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3–34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1–30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77–1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80–1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32–2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90–4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30–3.18; P < 0.001). Conclusions A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer

El nivel de conocimiento que tiene el estudiantado de Medicina sobre el cáncer bucal en Costa Rica

This research determined the knowledge of medical students about oral cancer. The population comprised last year students of the Licentiate career of five Costa Rican universities. A structured questionnaire was administered. One-hundred-fourteen students completed the evaluation; 51 were men. Their mean age was 24 years; 95% had ages between 21 and 29 years. Medical students have poor knowledge about oral cancer (mean value of 39,8%, with a minimum value of 5% and a maximum value of 77,5%); no statiscally significant differences were detected (p = 0,489) within the scores of the students of the different universities

Autopercepción de las competencias informacionales por estudiantes de dos centros regionales de universidades panameñas

Descriptive and quantitative study with the purpose of knowing the level of mastery of the informational competences of the third year university students, in order to propose training strategies, based on the results of the research.&nbsp;&nbsp;This study was performed at two regional centers in Veraguas, Panama, through a self-perception survey, with 29 questions, this instrument, at the beginning was legitimized by IL-HUMASS and, later, validated by the University of La Serena, Chile.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Students had similarities and differences in both groups. In the CRU-UTP case, they achieved a better domain of informational competences, in contrast of CRUV-UP students.&nbsp;&nbsp;Based on the results, an Information Literacy Program (ILP) is suggested in both institutions, under the responsibility of the university library. Keywords: Competencies; informational skills; users; Information Literacy&nbsp;Estudio descriptivo y cuantitativo que tiene el propósito de conocer el nivel de dominio de las competencias informacionales de los estudiantes universitarios de III año, a fin de proponer estrategias de capacitación, en función de los resultados de la investigación.&nbsp; Se trabaja con dos centros regionales de Veraguas, Panamá, mediante una encuesta de autopercepción, con 29 preguntas, instrumento, en principio, legitimado por IL-HUMASS y, luego, validado por la Universidad de La Serena, Chile.&nbsp; Los estudiantes tuvieron similitudes y diferencias en ambos grupos.&nbsp; En el caso del CRU-UTP lograron mejor dominio de las competencias informacionales, con relación a los estudiantes del CRUV-UP.&nbsp;&nbsp; En función de los resultados, se sugiere un Programa de alfabetización informacional (ALFIN) en ambas instituciones, bajo responsabilidad de la biblioteca universitaria