•Voluntary certifications are widespread in Costa Rica to meet market demands.•There are no consistent financial incentives for farmers to pursue certification.•The structure of the certified coffee ...market limits farm-level change.•Certifications offer non-financial benefits to both farmers and cooperatives.
Our research examines the benefits and drawbacks for cooperatives who participate in voluntary coffee certifications. We interviewed administrators at twenty Costa Rican coffee cooperatives about management practices related to voluntary certification. Voluntary certifications are popular among coffee cooperatives. Access to certified markets is facilitated by state support of the cooperative sector, regulation of the coffee sector and well-enforced environmental and social laws. However, there are no significant or consistent financial incentives for farmers to pursue certification. Multiple certifications may lower auditing and implementation costs, but cooperatives rarely receive the full premium for multiply-certified coffee. Low market demand for certified coffee, weak price incentives and high auditing and management costs encourage cooperatives to certify only a portion of their members. This strategy rewards compliant farmers rather than inducing widespread change to farming practices among the entire membership. Though financial incentives are weak, certifications offer non-financial benefits to both farmers and cooperatives, including better management and more resilient cooperatives.
A mixed‐method approach was used to explore parent and child perspectives on death in Mexico. Parents’ and children’s death‐related experiences and understanding of death were examined. While all ...children in this sample displayed a biological understanding of death, older children were less likely to endorse that all living things die. Children also displayed coexistence of beliefs related to death that can be attributed to both their biological and spiritual understanding of death. We also found that older children were more likely to report that a child should feel sad following the death of a loved one. These findings highlight how cultural practices shape the development of cognitive and affective processes related to death.
The influence of the composition of magnesium alloys on their environmental impact was analyzed. In order to perform a more accurate environmental impact calculation, life cycle assessment (LCA) with ...the ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint and IPCC 2013 GWP (100 y) methodology was used, taking the EcoInvent AZ91 magnesium alloy dataset as reference. This dataset has been updated with the material composition range of several alloys included in the European standard EN 1753:2019. The balanced, maximum, and minimum environmental impact values were obtained. In general, the overall impact of the studied magnesium alloys varied from 3.046 Pt/kg to 4.853 Pt/kg and from 43.439 kg CO2 eq./kg to 55.427 kg CO2 eq./kg, depending on the composition. In the analysis of maximum and minimum environmental impacts, the alloy that had the highest uncertainty was 3.5251, with a range of ±7.20%. The element that contributed the most to increase its impact was silver. The AZ91 alloy, provided by the EcoInvent dataset, had a lower environmental impact than all the magnesium alloys studied in this work. The content of critical raw materials (CRMs) was also assessed, showing a high content in CRMs, between 89.72% and 98.22%.
La medida y certificación de la competencia digital es un tema sobre el que se viene trabajando desde hace unos años pero que está cobrando una mayor importancia desde que se plantea su importancia ...en la Agenda Digital para Europa en el marco de la Estrategia Europa 2020 (Comisión Europea, 2014). En el caso del profesorado en general -y del profesorado universitario en particular-, la competencia digital es clave en el desempeño de su profesión, sobre la que se han realizado muchos trabajos y se han aplicado instrumentos que permiten su medida desde el punto de vista de la autopercepción, pero no para la certificación. Este artículo hace una revisión de las iniciativas y mecanismos que diferentes organismos y entidades han puesto en marcha para acreditar la competencia digital. Esta búsqueda es el resultado del estudio del estado del arte en el marco de una investigación cuyo objeto principal es diseñar una prueba de certificación de la competencia digital del profesorado universitario. Tras esta búsqueda se presentan los diferentes instrumentos de certificación entre los que solo dos de ellos se centran en la competencia digital docente, uno de ellos el elaborado por el INTEF (2017a) y otro que en estos momentos se encuentra en proceso de validación en el marco de nuestra investigación, siendo además este último el único instrumento existente en nuestro contexto destinado a certificar la competencia digital del profesorado universitario con las particularidades que conlleva este tipo de docente.
β-Galactosidase supplementation plays an important role in the life of people with lactose intolerance. However, these formulations are rendered ineffective by the low pH and pepsin in the stomach ...and pancreatic proteases in the intestine. Therefore, it is necessary to develop oral transport systems for carrying this enzyme in the active form up to the intestine, where the lactose digestion occurs. In this research, a new hydrogel was developed that could potentially be used for enzyme supplement therapy. In this regard, the chitosan-based β-Gal formulations described in the manuscript are an alternative long-acting preparation to the so far available preparations that allow for enzyme protection and mucosal targeting. These hydrogels were prepared from chitosan and polyethylene glycol and contained a covalently immobilized β-galactosidase from Aspergillus oryzae. The β-galactosidase in the hydrogel was protected from degradation in a gastric medium at a pH of 2.5 and retained 75 % of its original activity under subsequent intestinal conditions. In the case of a simulated gastric fluid with a pH of 1.5, a copolymer containing methacrylic acid functional groups was sufficient to protect the hybrid hydrogel from the extremely acidic pH. In addition, the surface of the hydrogel was chemically modified with thiol and amidine groups, which increased the binding to intestinal mucin by 20 % compared with the unmodified hydrogel. These results represent a promising approach for oral transport as a reservoir for β-galactosidase in the small intestine to reduce the symptoms of hypolactasia.
The microbial populations of the human intestinal tract and their relationship to specific diseases have been extensively studied during the last decade. However, the characterization of the human ...bile microbiota as a whole has been hampered by difficulties in accessing biological samples and the lack of adequate methodologies to assess molecular studies. Although a few reports have described the biliary microbiota in some hepatobiliary diseases, the bile microbiota of healthy individuals has not been described. With this in mind, the goal of the present study was to generate fundamental knowledge on the composition and activity of the human bile microbiota, as well as establishing its potential relationship with human bile-related disorders.
Human bile samples from the gallbladder of individuals from a control group, without any record of hepatobiliary disorder, were obtained from liver donors during liver transplantation surgery. A bile DNA extraction method was optimized together with a quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for determining the bacterial load. This allows the selection of samples to perform functional metagenomic analysis. Bile samples from the gallbladder of individuals suffering from lithiasis were collected during gallbladder resection and the microbial profiles assessed, using a 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing analysis, and compared with those of the control group. Additionally, the metabolic profile of the samples was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We detected, for the first time, bacterial communities in gallbladder samples of individuals without any hepatobiliary pathology. In the biliary microecosystem, the main bacterial phyla were represented by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria. Significant differences in the relative abundance of different taxa of both groups were found. Sequences belonging to the family Propionibacteriaceae were more abundant in bile samples from control subjects; meanwhile, in patients with cholelithiasis members of the families Bacteroidaceae, Prevotellaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, and Veillonellaceae were more frequently detected. Furthermore, the metabolomics analysis showed that the two study groups have different metabolic profiles.
Our results indicate that the gallbladder of human individuals, without diagnosed hepatobiliary pathology, harbors a microbial ecosystem that is described for the first time in this study. Its bacterial representatives and metabolites are different from those detected in people suffering from cholelithiasis. In this regard, since liver donors have been subjected to the specific conditions of the hospital's intensive care unit, including an antibiotic treatment, we must be cautious in stating that their bile samples contain a physiologically normal biliary microbiome. In any case, our results open up new possibilities to discover bacterial functions in a microbial ecosystem that has not previously been explored.
To assess nursing students' experiences of using photovoice as a pedagogical approach to active learning in the community.
A descriptive design with a cross-sectional mixed-method questionnaire was ...used with 108 students following an educational activity, in which their communities were photographed and the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable populations was reflected. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data.
Seventy eight percent of the students felt that photovoice was an interesting and useful tool for nurses, 89% affirmed it helped stimulate reflection on social and health inequities in times of pandemic, 82% described that it developed many emotions and feelings and 86% would like to disseminate their photographs directly to stakeholders, citizens, and politicians. Three themes were identified in the data: "stimulate critical reflection", "develop emotional skills", and "encourage action".
Photovoice is a successful active learning pedagogical approach that engages nursing students to develop critical awareness while connecting with their communities, with the real world. It fosters students' sensitivity and motivation and encourages them to take action. Teachers need to introduce new scaffolds for active learning, such as photovoice, to provide innovative academic support that nurtures and develops the next generation of nurses appropriately.
This paper studies the influence of community capitals on well-being through a Community Capital Index (CCI) within coffee-growing families in southern Colombia. Our results show different farm ...typologies, with different levels of capital endowment translated into well-being that, in our case, were represented in the CCI. Specifically, social and political capitals positively affect coffee-growing families' decisions in terms of life strategies. The results of this study increase our understanding of welfare enhancement and its relationship with capital endowment according to the type of coffee producer, having implications for the planning of more effective programs towards the improvement of quality of life.
Adverse effects due to surgery occur in 25% of patients, and the patient safety perception seems to differ between nurses and surgeons in the operating room (OR). This difference can be attributed to ...lack of communication. However, our hospital has not conducted any studies on patient safety climate (PSC) in the OR.
To determine if the perception of PSC of nurses and surgeons in the OR diverges and understand whether these differences could be explained by communication gap.
A total of 42 perioperative nurses and 44 surgeons in the OR of a tertiary hospital answered the Spanish version of the US Hospital Survey on PSC. This was an observational, cross-sectional study with descriptive statistics and a non-parametric test.
Nurses had a worse perception of the dimensions of overall safety, leader expectations, teamwork within units, feedback, staffing, and hospital management (p < .05). Although no differences were found concerning organizational learning/continuous improvement, communication openness, nonpunitive responses, and teamwork across hospital unit dimensions, the findings suggest that the nurses’ perception was worse than that of the surgeons.
In general, OR nurses have worse PSC than surgeons, mainly in the areas where communication it's important. Our study has provided the data that will enable the hospital management team to make decisions to improve the PSC in the operating room area. We recommend a more active presence of nurses in directive teams.
•Perioperative nurses and surgeons have different perception patient safety.•An effort must be done to obtain that they proceed just as one team.•TPoor communication can explains the differences about the patient safety perception between nurses and surgeons.
Shorter duration of symptoms before remdesivir has been associated with better outcomes. Our goal was to evaluate variables associated with the need of ICU admission in a cohort of hospitalized ...patients for COVID-19 under remdesivir including the period from symptoms onset to remdesivir.
We conducted a retrospective multicentric study analysing all patients admitted with COVID-19 in 9 Spanish hospitals who received treatment with remdesivir in October 2020. The main outcome was the need of ICU admission after 24 h of the first dose of remdesivir.
In our cohort of 497 patients, the median of days from symptom onset to remdesivir was 5 days, and 70 of them (14.1%) were later admitted into ICU. The clinical outcomes associated with ICU admission were days from symptoms onset (5 vs. 6; p = 0.023), clinical signs of severe disease (respiratory rate, neutrophil count, ferritin levels and very-high mortality rate in SEIMC-Score) and the use of corticosteroids and anti-inflammatory drugs before ICU. The only variable significatively associated with risk reduction in the Cox-regression analyses was ≤ 5 days from symptoms onset to RDV (HR: 0.54, CI95%: 0.31-0.92; p = 0.024).
For patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, the prescription of remdesivir within 5 days from symptoms onset diminishes the need of ICU admission.
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