Abstract Ecuador has achieved great progress in terms of quality, inclusion and relevance of Higher Education. However, the higher education system still shows deep gaps which reproduce the structural characteristics of the economic and demographic asymmetry of the country. This study explores the conception of education as a human right and public assets. From this perspective, the study explores the challenges that the higher education system faces. The analysis starts from the data presented by the entities in charge of higher education, and subjects it to a critical reading while presenting ways to regionalize the impacts of the higher education institutions in Ecuador. The data is contrasted with the different social, legal, planning, and development the Ecuadorian framework as well as the international framework (UNESCO and the UN documents among others).

Resumen Ecuador ha logrado grandes avances en relación a la calidad, la inclusión y la pertinencia de la educación superior, sin embargo, el sistema de educación superior aún conserva profundas brechas que reproducen las características estructurales de la asimetría económica y poblacional del país. El presente estudio explora la concepción de la educación como “derecho humano” y “bien público”, y desde esa perspectiva explora los retos que el sistema de educación superior debe enfrentar. El análisis parte de los datos presentados por los organismos rectores del nivel de educación en mención, para someterlos a una lectura crítica y presentar formas de regionalizar los impactos de las instituciones de educación superior. Los datos son contrastados con los principales discursos presentes en los diversos marcos sociales del Ecuador (legal, planificación y desarrollo) y del contexto internacional (documentos de la UNESCO, la ONU, entre otros).

Actualmente todas las manifestaciones culturales están incorporadas al concepto de Industrias Culturales y por tanto al ámbito comercial, sin embargo, algunas manifestaciones culturales como la cumbia chicha incorporan ciertas características específicas que las diferencian de lo que podría considerarse como "música comercial". Este artículo analizará algunas características de lo que se considera como música comercial, para diferenciarla de un tipo de música no comercial. Esto se realizará estudiando los orígenes de los estilos musicales, es decir, a los músicos pioneros y los consumidores de esta música

At the moment all the cultural manifestations are incorporate to the concept Cultural Industries and therefore to the commercial environment, however some cultural manifestations as the cumbia chicha incorporate certain spe-cific characteristics that differentiate them of what could be considered as "commercial music". This article will analyze some characteristics of what is considered as commercial music, to differentiate it of non commercial music's type. This will be carried out studying the origins of the musical styles, that is to say, to the pioneer musicians and this music's consumers

When assessing experimentally the performance of metaheuristic algorithms on a set of hard instances of an NP-complete problem, the required time to carry out the experimentation can be very large. A means to reduce the needed effort is to incorporate variance reduction techniques in the computational experiments. For the incorporartion of these techniques, the traditional approaches propose methods which depend on the technique, the problem and the metaheuristic algorithm used. In this work we develop general-purpose methods, which allow incorporating techniques of variance reduction, independently of the problem and of the metaheuristic algorithm used. To validate the feasibility of the approach, a general-purpose method is described which allows incorporating the antithetic variables technique in computational experiments with randomized metaheuristic algorithms. Experimental evidence shows that the proposed method yields a variance reduction of the random outputs in 78% and that the method has the capacity of simultaneously reducing the variance of several random outputs of the algorithms tested. The overall reduction levels reached on the instances used in the test cases lie in the range from 14% to 55%.

Cuando se evalúa el desempeño de algoritmos metaheurísticos, con un conjunto de instancias difíciles de un problema NP-completo, el tiempo requerido para realizar la experimentación puede ser muy grande. Una forma de reducir el esfuerzo necesario es incorporar técnicas de reducción de la varianza en los experimentos computacionales. Para incorporar dichas técnicas, los enfoques tradicionales proponen métodos que dependen de la técnica, del problema y del algoritmo usado. En este trabajo se propone desarrollar métodos de propósito general, los cuales permitan incorporar técnicas de reducción de la varianza, independientemente del problema y del algoritmo metaheurístico usado. Para validar la factibilidad del enfoque, se describe un método de propósito general, el cual permite incorporar la técnica de variables antitéticas en experimentos computacionales con algoritmos metaheurísticos aleatorizados. La evidencia experimental muestra que el método propuesto produce una reducción de la varianza de las salidas aleatorias en un 78% de las instancias consideradas y que el método tiene la capacidad de reducir simultáneamente la varianza de varias salidas aleatorias de los algoritmos probados. Los niveles globales de reducción alcanzados con las instancias usadas en los casos de prueba van del 14% al 55%.

Se presenta 106 niños intoxicados que ingresaron a la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos del Hospital del Niño Dr. Ovidio Aliaga U. de la ciudad de La Paz en el período comprendido de Enero 1997 a Junio 2003, correspondiendo al 2.87% del total de ingresos a la UCI, y que en relación a la década pasada (4.36%) muestra una disminución de ingresos por esta entidad. Se analizó: edad, sexo, agente tóxico, causa de intoxicación, mortalidad y estancia en el servicio. El grupo etáreo más afectado fue el de lactantes menores con 33 casos correspondiendo al 31.13% del total de intoxicados. Hubo un ligero predominio masculino 53 pacientes, frente a 50 pacientes de sexo femenino. Las intoxicaciones no medicamentosas constituyeron el 82.08% destacando en primer lugar a los órganofosforados con 48 casos (45.28%), en cambio los medicamentos representaron sólo el 18% predominando los salicilatos con 8 casos, (7.54%). La causa de intoxicación más frecuente fue la accidental y en la mayoría de los casos ocurrió en el hogar. Fallecieron 12 pacientes siendo un 11.32% del total de intoxicados. El tiempo promedio de estancia en el servicio fue de 3 días. El artículo recomienda medidas de prevención, educación, utilización del jarabe de Ipeca, carbón activado y, fundamentalmente, la necesidad de crear el centro de intoxicados.

We studied 106 poisoned children admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Hospital del Niño "Dr. OvidioAliaga Uría", in La Paz between January 1997 and June 2003. This is 2.87% of total ICU admissions which compared to the 10 previous years (4.36%) shows a decrease of admissions through the ICU. Age, sex, toxic agent, cause of poisoning, mortality and length of stay at the ICU were analized. Young infants were the most affected age group (33 cases), 31.13% of the total number. There was a slightly higher incidence in male patients (53 cases) than in female patients (50 cases). Non-drug poisoning made up 82.08% of all cases of which the main cause were phosphate substances, 45.28% (45 cases). On the other hand drug poisoning made up only 18% of which 7.54% were due to ingestion of salicilates (8 cases). The most frequent cases were due to accidental poisoning and mostly at home. 12 patients died, making up 11.32% of the total number. Average length of stay was 3 days. The article recommends preventive measures, education, use of Ipecac syrup, activated carbon and most important the need to create a Poison Center.

OBJETIVO: Investigar a influência de fatores socioeconômicos e gestacionais sobre a hospitalização por pneumonia no período pós-neonatal. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Longitudinal. Crianças com idade entre 28 e 364 dias, nascidas na cidade de Pelotas, RS (Brasil), em 1993. A definição de caso foi a permanência em ambiente hospitalar por um período igual ou superior a 24 horas em conseqüência de pneumonia. Foi aplicado delineamento longitudinal. RESULTADOS: Dentre as 5.304 crianças da coorte, 152 (2,9%) foram hospitalizadas por pneumonia no período. O valor preditivo positivo do diagnóstico clínico comparado com o radiológico alcançou 76%. A análise através de regressão logística mostrou que a classe social e a escolaridade materna estiveram forte e inversamente associadas à admissão hospitalar. Filhos de mães adolescentes tiveram risco duplicado à internação; paridade igual ou superior a três representou risco 2,8 vezes maior em relação às mães primíparas; ganho de peso inferior a 10 kg durante a gestação implicou risco cerca de 40% maior à hospitalização. CONCLUSÕES: A classe social e a escolaridade materna foram os principais determinantes da hospitalização. Idade e paridade materna e o ganho de peso durante a gestação foram também fatores de risco importantes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of socioeconomic and gestational factors on admission due to pneumonia in the post-neonatal period. METHODOLOGY: Cohort. Children born in the city Pelotas, Brazil, in 1993. Cases were children admitted to hospital for 24 hours or more, between the ages of 28 and 364 days, with a diagnosis of pneumonia. RESULTS: Of the 5,304 children in the cohort, 152 (2.9%) were hospitalized with pneumonia. The positive preditive value of the clinical diagnosis compared to the radiological assessment was 76%. Analysis by conditional logistic regression showed that social class and maternal schooling were strongly inversely associated with pneumonia. Children of adolescent mothers were twice as likely to be admitted. The relative risk for children whose mothers were of parity three or greater was 2.8 relative to primiparae. Maternal weight gain during pregnancy of less than 10 kg was associated with a 40% increase in risk. CONCLUSION: Socioeconomic factors were important determinants of pneumonia admissions. Maternal age, parity and weight gain were also significant risk factors.

OBJETIVO: Investigar a influência de fatores socioeconômicos e gestacionais sobre a hospitalização por pneumonia no período pós-neonatal. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Longitudinal. Crianças com idade entre 28 e 364 dias, nascidas na cidade de Pelotas, RS (Brasil), em 1993. A definição de caso foi a permanência em ambiente hospitalar por um período igual ou superior a 24 horas em conseqüência de pneumonia. Foi aplicado delineamento longitudinal. RESULTADOS: Dentre as 5.304 crianças da coorte, 152 (2,9%) foram hospitalizadas por pneumonia no período. O valor preditivo positivo do diagnóstico clínico comparado com o radiológico alcançou 76%. A análise através de regressão logística mostrou que a classe social e a escolaridade materna estiveram forte e inversamente associadas à admissão hospitalar. Filhos de mães adolescentes tiveram risco duplicado à internação; paridade igual ou superior a três representou risco 2,8 vezes maior em relação às mães primíparas; ganho de peso inferior a 10 kg durante a gestação implicou risco cerca de 40% maior à hospitalização. CONCLUSÕES: A classe social e a escolaridade materna foram os principais determinantes da hospitalização. Idade e paridade materna e o ganho de peso durante a gestação foram também fatores de risco importantes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of socioeconomic and gestational factors on admission due to pneumonia in the post-neonatal period. METHODOLOGY: Cohort. Children born in the city Pelotas, Brazil, in 1993. Cases were children admitted to hospital for 24 hours or more, between the ages of 28 and 364 days, with a diagnosis of pneumonia. RESULTS: Of the 5,304 children in the cohort, 152 (2.9%) were hospitalized with pneumonia. The positive preditive value of the clinical diagnosis compared to the radiological assessment was 76%. Analysis by conditional logistic regression showed that social class and maternal schooling were strongly inversely associated with pneumonia. Children of adolescent mothers were twice as likely to be admitted. The relative risk for children whose mothers were of parity three or greater was 2.8 relative to primiparae. Maternal weight gain during pregnancy of less than 10 kg was associated with a 40% increase in risk. CONCLUSION: Socioeconomic factors were important determinants of pneumonia admissions. Maternal age, parity and weight gain were also significant risk factors.

É descrito o caso de uma paciente submetida a derivação ventrículo-peritoneal em que foi observada expectoração de líquido cefalorraqueano, como complicação.

A child, who had undergone ventriculoperitoneal shunting, presented with repeated episodes of pneumonia and expectoration of CSF. Chest x-ray demonstrated the presence of the shunt catheter in the base of the left lung. In the present case the distal end of the catheter perfored the diaphragm, entering the thoracic cavity through the pleura and penetrating the pulmonary parenchyma. CSF then flowed freely into the alveoli and bronchi and became expectorated during repeated bousts of coughing associated with pneumonia. This respiratory complication disappeared after the removal of the catheter. We theorize that the penetration of the catheter into the thoracic cavity was secundary to its displacement from the iliac fossa to the left infradiaphragmatic space between the spleen and the diaphragm where the intra-abdominal pressure is lowest. The respiratory movements and the hypertension inside the abdomen created a constant friction of the catheter against the diaphragm which was finally perforated, permitting the passage of the peritoneal end of the shunting device into the thoracic cavity and secundary penetration of the lung.