random

were life a plot of random scatter, these days would fall upon the regression line:

lunes y = mx + b, martes y = mx + b, miercoles y = mx + b...

* * *

i'm going to interject this entry with a bit more detalles. there is due homage to uncle fogarty, big brother, and the powers that be to share about the many global diseases i ward away from vulnerable peoples and the unconscionable social inequities i spend my days rectifying.

so a bit about work.

last week, i attended a week-long workshop on RCTs (randomized controlled trials) or because i know you've been dying to know how to say it in spanish, ECAs (estudios controlados aleatorizados). i've been really impressed by the research acumen of my foreign counterparts. maybe because researchers in the developing world joined later on in the game, they were introduced first to the CONSORT checklist rather than having to wade through all the subpar variations of RCTs that tainted the research literature before then. researchers from tucuman (northern argentina) and researchers from uruguay can all tell you the advantages of choosing block randomization over simple randomization.

in a similar vein, the institute where i work is a Cochrane Review Center, so i'm traversing the tedious steps of a very exigent systematic review. it's nice though. i've always thought researchers needed to have some streak of OCD or have some vague trace of autism. CONSORT checklists and Cochrane Reviews easily tempt the hungry perfectionist monster that lies within. fortunately, i don't think i'm that much of a perfectionist, but i can err on the side of being too curious. and por eso, i can easily get lost in something--reading and reading until i am swallowed up into some endless abyss.

but all is making me appreciate the stringencies of quality research design. the diligent fine-tuning that gives way to parsimonious explanation is i think, another one of life's simple joys. or is that just me? haha. though it's kind of ironic that you can spend your days slaving away to design something that is so effortlessly random.

anyway, someone recently told me that the maternal morbidity rate in the rural part of argentina is 7 times that in buenos aires. in that way, argentina is reminiscent of china (don't let the tango and great wall fool you; these countries are one and the same !) because you have large, bustling urban areas where people are living developed-world lives; yet in rural areas it's developing, developing...or simply and sadly stagnant.

interestingly, one of the major reasons women in rural areas are dying is due to illegal abortions. uruguay recently tried to legalize abortions, but to no avail. making laws is hard. i wonder. if your worldview leads you to believe that abortion = killing babies, what do you do when your ban on legalizing abortions also results in a high number of deaths--of both mothers and babies?

* * *

anyway, patagonia for the upcoming holidays:




i think it might be kind of amazing.