El género y la etnicidad como barreras para el desarrollo: Mujeres indígenas, acceso a recursos en Ecuador en perspectiva latinoamericana

Placing original research undertaken in Ecuador with Kichwa and Tsáchila women, into the Latin American context, the paper addresses the barriers experienced by indigenous women to voice, rights and resources in the context of development programmes. The paper identifies racism, biased knowledges, and entrenched assumptions about women and indigenous people as the primary factors influencing indigenous women’s marginalization. The paper ends with a discussion of indigenous women’s critiques of development, and their recommendations for the future.Dentro de una investigación original sobre las mujeres Kichwa y Tsáchila en Ecuador, el artículo aborda los obstáculos experimentados por las mujeres indígenas de expresar sus derechos y recursos en el contexto de los programas de desarrollo. El artículo identifica elracismo, el conocimiento sesgado, y los supuestos arraigos sobre las mujeres y los indígenas como los factores principales influyendo en la marginalización de las mujeres indígenas. El artículo termina con una discusión sobre las críticas de las mujeres indígenas sobre el desarrollo y sus recomendaciones para el futuro

La blanquitud en liceos segregados: el racismo institucional en el sur de Chile

En relación con los liceos de la Región de la Araucanía con alta composición indígena, este artículo explora los modos enque los significados y las conductas acerca de la blanquitud son reproducidos en y a través de la educación. Nos focalizamosen las intersecciones entre criterios socioeconómicos, geográficos y raciales para entender cómo los privilegios de la blanquitud son naturalizados, en el marco del suministro de educación existente en la región y entre los alumnos indígenas mapuche.Aunque se reconocen las desigualdades socio-económicas producidas desde la reforma educativa en 1980, nosotrosresaltamos la naturaleza omnipresente y no distintiva de la blanquitud en el sistema educativo, en relación con la segregaciónsocio-espacial de alumnos mapuche, los textos escolares, las actitudes de los docentes, y el auto-posicionamiento de losjóvenes respecto al logro individual y la normalización del racismo en sus escuelas. Estos aspectos de racismo institucionalse combinan de una manera tal que marginalizan y le restan poder a las poblaciones mapuche en un conjunto de liceosrurales en la región de la Araucanía.

Generalising some results about right-angled Artin groups to graph products of groups

We prove three results about the graph product G=\G(\Gamma;G_v, v \in V(\Gamma)) of groups $G_v$ over a graph $\Gamma$. The first result generalises a result of Servatius, Droms and Servatius, proved by them for right-angled Artin groups; we prove a necessary and sufficient condition on a finite graph $\Gamma$ for the kernel of the map from $G$ to the associated direct product to be free (one part of this result already follows from a result in S. Kim's Ph.D. thesis). The second result generalises a result of Hermiller and Sunic, again from right-angled Artin groups; we prove that for a graph $\Gamma$ with finite chromatic number, $G$ has a series in which every factor is a free product of vertex groups. The third result provides an alternative proof of a theorem due to Meier, which provides necessary and sufficient conditions on a finite graph $\Gamma$ for $G$ to be hyperbolic

Postpartum Weight-Loss Tracker to Guide Low-Income Postpartum Women on their Weight-Loss Journey

Studies have shown that postpartum weight retention is a key contributor to obesity among women. Studies have also shown that resources dedicated to postpartum weight loss are scarce. Weight tracking has been found to help with weight management during pregnancy. However, a postpartum weight-loss tracker (PPWLT) was yet to exist. This article describes the creation and initial impressions of a PPWLT that were collected via focus groups (FG) discussions with WIC participants. Methods: Two FG discussions (English and Spanish) were conducted at a WIC clinic in Southern California. All discussions were audio-recorded for transcription. Transcripts were analyzed using the scissor –and-sort technique. The sample consisted of ten Latina women, with a mean age of 28.7 ± 5.06 years and a mean current Body Mass Index (BMI) of 32.8 ± 7.8. Results: Participants in both FGs expressed a strong interest in the PPWLT and reported a willingness to use the tracker if provided by WIC. The Spanish-speaking group had several specific suggestions to make the instructions easier to understand. Conclusion: We believe that this new innovative tool has the potential to impact a mother’s well-being and give her an opportunity to optimize her health before a subsequent pregnancy

Addressing the climate challenge

In 2021, colleagues from across the University of Birmingham community were invited to write articles about topics relevant to the COP26 climate change summit. In this series of articles, experts from across many different disciplines provide new insight and evidence on how we might all understand and tackle climate change

Prospective, multicentre study of screening, investigation and management of hyponatraemia after subarachnoid haemorrhage in the UK and Ireland

Background: Hyponatraemia often occurs after subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). However, its clinical significance and optimal management are uncertain. We audited the screening, investigation and management of hyponatraemia after SAH. Methods: We prospectively identified consecutive patients with spontaneous SAH admitted to neurosurgical units in the United Kingdom or Ireland. We reviewed medical records daily from admission to discharge, 21 days or death and extracted all measurements of serum sodium to identify hyponatraemia (<135 mmol/L). Main outcomes were death/dependency at discharge or 21 days and admission duration >10 days. Associations of hyponatraemia with outcome were assessed using logistic regression with adjustment for predictors of outcome after SAH and admission duration. We assessed hyponatraemia-free survival using multivariable Cox regression. Results: 175/407 (43%) patients admitted to 24 neurosurgical units developed hyponatraemia. 5976 serum sodium measurements were made. Serum osmolality, urine osmolality and urine sodium were measured in 30/166 (18%) hyponatraemic patients with complete data. The most frequently target daily fluid intake was >3 L and this did not differ during hyponatraemic or non-hyponatraemic episodes. 26% (n/N=42/164) patients with hyponatraemia received sodium supplementation. 133 (35%) patients were dead or dependent within the study period and 240 (68%) patients had hospital admission for over 10 days. In the multivariable analyses, hyponatraemia was associated with less dependency (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.35 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.69)) but longer admissions (aOR=3.2 (1.8 to 5.7)). World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies grade I–III, modified Fisher 2–4 and posterior circulation aneurysms were associated with greater hazards of hyponatraemia. Conclusions: In this comprehensive multicentre prospective-adjusted analysis of patients with SAH, hyponatraemia was investigated inconsistently and, for most patients, was not associated with changes in management or clinical outcome. This work establishes a basis for the development of evidence-based SAH-specific guidance for targeted screening, investigation and management of high-risk patients to minimise the impact of hyponatraemia on admission duration and to improve consistency of patient care