At the beginning of WhatsApp It was not possible to delete “for all” the participants in a chat anything we sent. Whether it was a text, a photo, an image or a voice memo, there was no way to remove it if it was compromising content or a comment out of tune. Over the years, the app was updated, allowing us to correct those errors for a small amount of time after which we would only be able to remove “just for us” content.
So the next step of the app was to offer users the ability to send messages with some expiration parameter. Either a period of time of several seconds, minutes or maybe hours, or a number of visualizations, which is the case that we have seen today in one of the latest Android beta versions: 2.20.201.1.
Send, they see it and it erases itself
As we have remembered on other occasions, Telegram has a thing called “secret chats” that delete all the content that we publish in them after a period of time defined by the user. In this case, What WhatsApp does is allow us to tag an image, or whatever, as “to see only once”, which means that as soon as the recipient opens the chat and watches it, it will be deleted.
Automatic deletion of messages on WhatsApp. WABetaInfo
Now it has transpired that what we send on the condition that it can only be seen once, will have a counterpoint in our chat, and that is the moment we get out of there, we won’t be able to see it again. As indicated by the beta application and that you can read in the screenshot that you have just above, on the left. After all, from the app what they want is for both parties to play under the same conditions.
What’s more, once we click on the “Ok” button in the notice that appears, the next thing in our chat is a message saying that “the one-time view of the photo has already expired”. This opens up a multitude of possibilities for future chats in which we want to send some kind of information for a single glance.
Anyway it would be nice to know whether WhatsApp will allow screenshots of those “one-glance” messages, which we assume will be used to send comments or graphic evidence of something that we do not want to be in the hands of anyone else. Although for the latter case, the best advice is always not to share anything. A secret between two is not a secret. For now, this feature is still in beta.
Towards a new health protocol at school: the Ministry of Education was studying Friday a relaxation of the rules on contact cases which should lower class closures due to Covid-19. This change was initiated by the Minister of Health Olivier Véran who assured Thursday, based on an opinion of High Council for Public Health (HSCP), that children were unlikely to infect each other and infect adults.
As a result, he explained, if a child tests positive, he must be isolated for seven days at home, but the students in his class must be able to continue to attend school normally. Until now, if a student was considered a contact case, he could only return to school if a test, carried out seven days after the last contact with the confirmed case, was negative.
A kindergarten or elementary school teacher wearing a mask and having worked with a non-masked student positive for Covid-19 should no longer be considered as a contact case or sent home, also ruled the HSCP. This recommendation could avoid certain class closures since the teacher would not be sent to solitary confinement in this case.
“We should see the number of closed classes decrease”
The Ministry of Education should theoretically specify during the day how these recommendations will be applied in practice at school. ” We should see the number of closed classes decrease », We say in the entourage of Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer. ” There will be fewer children sent home as a precaution ».
According to the latest official figures, 81 schools and just over 2,100 classes are currently closed in France due to cases of Covid-19. While the epidemic continues to progress, the government wants to limit the absences of teachers and students who risk multiplying with fall diseases.
« There is no need to send students home, or even to close entire establishments at the first alert », Insisted Olivier Véran. ” You should not evict your children yourself if they have a cold “, he said. ” The redefinition of contact cases within schools to maintain education at all costs takes the risk of exposure to contamination of students, staff and users », Reacted Snuipp-FSU, the first primary school union.
We will undoubtedly avoid a certain number of conflicts with the families ”
The new protocol should provide relief to parents, many of whom fear a school year ” in gruyere For their children. On the other hand, will he simplify the task of school heads, already ” under pressure », Just three weeks after the start of the school year? ” We will undoubtedly avoid a certain number of conflicts with families », Estimates Gilles Langlois, director of a Parisian school and union member at SE-Unsa. Until now the definition of contact case could potentially ” concern a large number of children and strain relations between school and parents », He explains.
Another difficulty: children deprived of school do not benefit from distance lessons, as was the case during confinement. School heads also fear staffing problems, which are already being felt in places: ” Teachers are only replaced when the absences are long, which is not the case with periods of isolation », Underlines Audrey Chanonat, principal assistant of a college of La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) and member of the SNPDEN. ” In several regions, the quota of substitutes has already reached its limits ».
At the next conference “SberConf”, which will be held on September 24, the company “SberDevices” may present a smart set-top box with a voice assistant of its own design. About this “Vedomosti” was told by two people familiar with the developers of the device. According to one of them, the device will have a number of functions that have not yet been found in smart speakers developed in Russia.
First of all, this is the management of personal finances using voice – this opportunity is provided by the assistant of Sberbank, which has been tested since August 2020. The “smartphone” version of the assistant allows bank customers to make payments, transfer money to each other, change card PIN codes, check account balances , find out exchange rates and so on. True, which of these functions of the voice assistant will be integrated into the set-top box and whether a smartphone will be needed to verify financial transactions is not clear yet, the source of Vedomosti says.
The marriageable couple Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Peugeot maker PSA can finally walk down the aisle. The Jeep maker has agreed to cut a huge dividend linked to its planned merger by nearly half, but its shareholders will get more savings and shares in parts maker Faurecia. The change will boost the balance of the future Stellantis group and will eliminate the anguish that persists in the operation.
Moderation in the Covid-19 era makes sense on multiple levels. By reducing an originally planned 5.5 billion payment to € 2.9 billion, Fiat admits the inevitable: that it needs to preserve cash in the pandemic.
It also eliminates the threat of a challenge from PSA shareholders to the terms of the original deal. Fiat has been burning cash in the crisis. Paying himself a huge bonus would also have been odd after he obtained a € 6.3 billion loan backed by the Italian state, the biggest help of the crisis for a European carmaker.
Fiat shareholders are being compensated by other means. Under the terms of the revised deal revealed Monday, PSA will distribute its 46% stake in auto parts maker Faurecia to all Stellantis shareholders, rather than just PSA’s. This means that FCA investors will get 50% of that stake of around 2,500 million euros of current market value, or almost 1,300 million, in addition to the 2,900 million euros of cash dividend.
Even adding Faurecia shares, Fiat investors appear to be € 1.3 billion short of the original dividend plan. But they can get an optional dividend of 500 million later. And they have been promised that their share of the annual savings will be worth at least 5 billion euros, more than originally estimated at 3.7 billion euros and that it will amount to about 35 billion once they are taxed and capitalized.
Tuesday’s rally in Fiat shares reflects in part the fact that its shareholders could have expected a stronger blow to send the ball of the deal flying over the net. But it is also driven by much greater confidence in its completion.
At current market prices, the merger spread between the two stocks has dropped below 4% from almost 12% prior to the announcement of the deal. That’s the value of removing a large dose of distress.
The authors are columnists for Reuters Breakingviews. Opinions are yours. The translation, ofCarlos Gómez Down, it is the responsibility of Five days
The ICO-shielded liquidity circles are working. The public bank has guaranteed a total of 791,675 operations for an amount of 75,140 million euros, according to the latest data available as of August 31. And BBVA has decided to innovate while supporting the Spanish tourism sector. The financial entity has signed three bilateral financings with the ICO shield for Levantur, Grupo Piñero’s parent company, owner of the Bahía Príncipe hotel chain, according to financial sources. The novelty is that the credits are sustainable.
The tourism company will cover its liquidity and working capital needs with this money to face the impact of Covid-19. Headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Levantur is a small giant in the sector, with consolidated sales of 819 million euros and an attributable profit of 103 million in 2018, the latest available according to Insight View records.
Like the entire sector, it has been affected by Covid and part of its activity has been paralyzed. The group has 27 hotels, four golf courses, the tour operator Soltour and several other firms that support the tourism sector. “It is positioned in the Dominican Republic, Riviera Maya and Jamaica as the Spanish hotel chain of reference for tourism from the United States, Canada and Europe, through its Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts brand,” says the company.
BBVA has granted two tranches of financing and has renewed its credit line with the ICO shield. The novelty is that the conditions will vary depending on the evolution of the rating in terms of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors of the company, a measurement that will be carried out by the rating agency Vigeo Eiris . It is the first sustainable loan with the ICO.
Jose Ramón Vizmanos, head of Global Client Coverage at BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking, explains that “during the Covid-19 crisis, BBVA’s role has been and continues to be one of total support and closeness to the travel and tourism sector”. “This sector has been particularly affected due to restrictions on mobility and the general closure of the hotel plant and the bank has offered solutions aimed at guaranteeing the solvency of companies, with the aim of making it a crisis limited in time” he points out.
If some people are used to drawing their bank card to pay for their purchases, others prefer to feel cash. They risk being surprised when they want to pay their due with AutoSecurity.
The approved private body, which is in charge of technical inspections of vehicles and the organization of theoretical and practical driving license exams, has in fact decided to impose the obligation to pay by credit card.
A decision that surprised more than one. These people were offered alternative solutions. This is the case with Michaël, who does not usually pay by credit card and prefers payment in cash.
However, this measure is applicable in all centers, since their reopening in May. Since that date, customers’ attention has been drawn to this particularity. “The obligation to pay by card is mentioned on our website but also on the invitations”, explains AutoSecurity.
The “ice water seal challenge” was all the rage in 2014 and has become a real social phenomenon. But beyond the buzz, the campaign has since helped move forward in the fight against Charcot disease.
Six years ago, funny videos flourished on the net. In turn, people challenged each other to tip a bucket of ice water on their heads while naming up to three friends to do the same within 24 hours. If the nominees did not fulfill their task, they were invited to make a donation to the “Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association” which fights against Charcot’s disease. The idea, launched by the American Pete Frates, himself affected by this neurodegenerative disease and since deceased, has had some success. As 7sur7 reports, 300 million euros were collected thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge. A sum which was followed by effects.
A way to fight against this scourge
Charcot’s disease is fatal, but the problem is that we do not yet know very well how it works and where it comes from. Gradually, it degrades motor neurons and the patient has more and more difficulty moving. After losing the use of his legs, everyday actions like eating or talking become more and more difficult. Ultimately, it becomes impossible to breathe, which results in death.
But thanks to the money raised with the challenge, a promising treatment method has just been developed. A double-blind test was thus carried out in which 89 patients received the new drug while 137 other patients only received a placebo. Result: the treatment slows the progression of the disease. ” Patients tell me that their primary goal is to be able to maintain physical function for as long as possible. They want to be able to keep walking and using their hands Dr. Sabrina Paganoni, lead author of the study, told NBC News. In this sense, this drug represents a source of hope.
The flip side is that for now, this solution has side effects with gastrointestinal issues. It will therefore have to be combined with other treatments to maximize the benefits. Other tests must also be carried out with the money from the Ice Bucket Challenge to continue to advance in research. ” The Ice Bucket Challenge was a turning point in the fight against disease. It made it possible to make it known, to raise awareness and to attract more researchers and investment in research. », Concludes Dr Paganoni.
“I always faced the powerful because I like the truth. What’s wrong with me. I am in a great moment of my life because I am alone, with my daughter, my family, new friends appeared to help me unconditionally, “she said.
“Last Sunday, while they released this horrible news, I had to make sure they let me go to my personal phone WhatsApp messages telling me the things they would do to me, it was about gender violence, from dawn to dusk“, she indicated very angry.
“But he turned around, people already realized everything. Shift operators, hats, crawlers, they’re a horror, they’re pathetic. Do not be afraid of being free, do not be afraid of freedom, “Viviana continued.
“I feel super proud, I finally made it mom, I arrived, it is beautiful to be on the sidewalk in front of the sons of bitches, of the jets, corrupt, criminals, it is beautiful to be on this side. It is pleasant, pure ecstasy, “she concluded energetically.
Monday, July 13, 2020. Hundreds of future resident doctors flock to the Ministry of Health. The nerves are on the surface, since in the next few days those gathered there will choose what they want to specialize in. Dermatology, plastic surgery, cardiology, anesthesia … are just a handful of the 44 medical specialties, distributed among the 7,512 places, which are distributed among the nearly 16,000 opponents who have submitted to the resident internal medical exam this year. But how did they get here?
After six years of careers, future medical specialists They have to pass the MIR exam, a test that opens the doors of specialization. “The degree of medicine per se in Spain practically does not allow the practice of medicine, so it is almost essential training as a resident intern in the different hospitals or Primary Care centers ”, explains Dr. Antonio Martín Conejero, director of the MIR faculty and tutors of the academy high school CTO. Therefore, this test is nothing more than the way to order all the candidates according to their knowledge so that they can opt for the different specialization positions that are offered in Spanish hospitals.
The MIR is convened each year between the end of January and the beginning of February, in 2020 it took place on January 25, and consists of a total of 185 questions -175 plus 10 reserve questions- that candidates have to answer in no more than four hours. “This is the best model, the fairest. In fact, countries like Italy or Portugal have already imported it ”, says Dr. Borja Ruiz Mateos, director of the Amir preparatory academy.
However, the fairness of the exam does not detract one iota from its toughness. CEach square is required by at least two opponents, and this taking into account that the applicant does not have preferences neither for the specialization nor for the hospital where to train. The more desired the specialty or the center, the better the score is required. “A very good MIR exam is the 2,500 first places”, adds Ruiz Mateos. “It can be understood that the doctor” plays “everything to a letter, since the MIR represents 90% of the grade for the choice of place. This for many is unfair because “anyone can have a bad day”, but it is true that it gives all recent medical graduates the same possibilities to choose the desired position, “says Martín Conejero.
To understand the pressure on future specialists, it is enough to take a look at the allocation of places this year. Applicants with a position below 2,834 were no longer eligible for specialties such as dermatology, plastic surgery or cardiology.
To the more than remarkable competitiveness to access the best positions, we must add the detail that the MIR exam does not have an official agenda, since applicants must demonstrate that they have internalized and learned all the concepts studied in the previous six years. The evident amount of subject to review, coupled with the pressure of the exam, makes many of the future residents begin to prepare without even having finished the degree in medicine. “In sixth grade, the study of the MIR can begin to be combined with the end of the race,” explains Ruiz Mateos. In total, it would be about 18 months of study, in which both trainers agree that they require sacrifice and perseverance, in addition to the support of an academy.
Whether or not to go to a specialized center to prepare the MIR and to which one to go is one of the fundamental decisions that doctors face. “Yes, it is possible to pass the MIR without going to an academy. But it is much more complicated. We must bear in mind that the academies have years of experience preparing opponents, in addition to having the materials, specialized teachers, exams from other years … “explains Ruiz Mateos,” that’s why almost all of the aspiring resident doctors come to us ” , finishes off.
When deciding which academy to choose, it is important to know what its study methodology is and whether it is going to be adapted to the student or not. Currently most of the academies offer almost tailor-made courses for each of the students, with face-to-face, blended or distance mode; intensive courses, mock exams …
But choosing the academy that best suits you is only the first step. Students who prepare the MIR face days of 9 to 10 hours of study. “We recommend up to 10 hours of study a day, which include classes and drills. Although when they start we tell students to follow the 8-8-8 rule. Eight hours of study, eight hours of rest and eight hours of sleep ”, explains Ruiz Mateos. For his part, Martín Conejero, from CTO, is a little more specific: “in the first phases of the course, and given that the student is still in 6th grade of medicine, we ask the student to be able to take 2-3 hours of study a day MIR. We are progressively demanding more hours from the student until we reach the days before the MIR, with days of 11 hours ”.
Therefore, continuous study, together with the choice of a good academy, seem to be the bases for obtaining a good result, but they are not the only ones. Due to the unique exam modality, knowing how to temper the nerves and keep a cool head, are two fundamental qualities to face the MIR in a positive way. “It is useless that you know the entire syllabus perfectly and that you have embroidered it in the drills if before the exam you have an anxiety attack”, says Ruiz Mateos. For this reason, in recent years the academies have also focused on this fundamental part of the preparation and offer their students psychological support, and even classes of mindfulness. “I did not know what the mindfulness (full attention), until I was asked to give courses to MIR students “, confesses Ruiz Mateos, Amir’s director,” and the truth is that they give great results for the exam. “
This program seeks to approach alternative pharmacy: homeopathy and phytotherapy, the constituents of medicinal plants and those most used, the administration of medicinal plants, the homeopathic formulation, the application of the fundamentals of anatomy, physiology and pathology.
This postgraduate allows to know the biological bases of nutrition, immunonutrition, diets for malnutrition, diets with fat modification, diets with carbohydrates modification, diets with protein modification, diets with fiber modification, pathologies linked to poor diet and diets in different pathological states.
This Master provides materials in PDF and multimedia format, videos, clinical cases and workshops, where the specialist from home can familiarize himself with the advances and controversial issues of the day to day and update his knowledge about the Hospital Emergency Services. The Master has a duration of 2 years and is organized in 14 training modules with the aim of covering the knowledge and skills of the different areas of the specialty.
“I prefer to repress than to depress”, is one of the bedside phrases of the Argentine doctor Marcelo Fernández. In times of health crisis like the one we are experiencing now, the 50-year-old man tries to contain his emotions in order to work better, keep a cool head and make good decisions. He serves as head of mission for Doctors without borders (MSF) for Mexico and Central America. There she coordinates operations to care for patients, especially migrants with covid-19.
22 years ago, Fernández left the Argentine city of Rosario to begin his journey in various humanitarian projects. His first mission was in San Lucas de Sacatepéquez, in Guatemala, with MSF. There he dedicated himself to treating people with HIV. In 2001, he moved on to the first projects the NGO opened in Malawi and Cambodia.
The coronavirus pandemic found him in Mexico, where he has lived for four years. “When I arrived in Mexico, I was focused on caring for victims of violence, which is an epidemic in this region,” he says. The team that works alongside him offers medical and psychosocial assistance to migrants and refugees in Tamaulipas, considered one of the states with the highest levels of danger in the country. Most of the health problems of those who undertake the dangerous migratory route from Central America to the United States have to do with travel: respiratory problems, skin infections, foot injuries and injuries from falls. They also meet people who suffered some kind of physical, sexual or psychological violence.
Thousands of displaced people from the Northern Triangle of Central America —El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras— pass through Mexico every year; most of them flee violence and poverty in their countries of origin. “Although the borders of the United States at this moment are totally closed, it is not possible to prevent a person from migrating. No matter how much administrative barriers or walls are put in place, when people want to go from one place to another, they will always achieve it, by whatever means. I saw that in all the countries where I had to work ”, he says.
According to Fernández, United States Government Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) and the lack of humanitarian assistance from the government of Mexico endanger the lives of asylum seekers in the State of Tamaulipas. The MPP forces migrants to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed, staying in cities like Matamoros, where poor infrastructure and high levels of violence, including kidnapping, extortion, armed robbery, and sexual violence, they put their health and lives at risk. “When I see a mother or father who brings their children, who were victims of rape, that leaves a mark on me on a personal level. They are very complex realities ”, says the doctor.
What comes to us is the medical problem, but we also get involved in social problems
Since the MPP was implemented in Matamoros in August 2019, MSF has witnessed the forced return of 100 asylum seekers a day. Some spend the night in the open in tents, exposed to the contexts of violence that unleash the clashes between organized crime groups. “It is unacceptable that vulnerable beings, women, children, families and men are forced to live in risky conditions due to the violence of criminal networks and also to the inhumane treatment to which they are subjected by Mexico and the United States,” warns the doctor.
To respond to this context of health crisis, in coordination with the hospital system of the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros, MSF opened two covid-19 treatment centers in the gymnasiums of the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas campuses, to serve severe patients in order to avoid an overflow in health services. The two specially adapted structures have 20 beds and the same number of oxygen concentrators. Inside the Reynosa covid-19 center, an isolation area was contemplated for people returned from the United States suspected of having the virus. In this space, patients are isolated until the possible contagion is ruled out or their treatment ends. In turn, the Matamoros care center has 20 more beds to treat mild cases, but that do not have the option of isolation at home.
“In normal times we are 200 people working on different projects in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. At the moment, today we are 430. In a super fast period we recruited more than 200 people, especially in Mexico. In the team we are doctors, hygienists, nurses, orderlies, security guards and administrative staff. As the transmission of the virus is community, we already had cases within the staff. Inside the health center they are protected, which is why they are more likely to be infected in the community. I go to the centers every two weeks. When personnel are needed to stand watch, I am present. A project coordinator needs a break next week and I will cover for him so he can be absent. I cannot travel to Guatemala and Honduras due to quarantine. I have virtual contacts with these teams ”, he says.
The Argentine doctor has not seen his children, who live in France, for six months. He says: “I can only communicate with them virtually. Before the pandemic, I would visit them every two months. ” This is one of the hardest changes in your new routine. “My choice was to stay here and continue doing what I know how to do. I usually repress the emotions related to the family and personal to try to give quality work. At some point that is going to hatch, but for now I keep putting it under the rug. Every day I get up and drink my coffee with the pleasure of knowing that I provide a service to a population that needs it. I love what I do. Beyond the suffering I see, I have tools that can alleviate the ailment of these people ”.
Health promotion activities in the migrant and asylum seeker camp in Matamoros.Arlette Blanco (MSF)
Working with uncertainty is not new for Fernández. It’s something he got used to working in the humanitarian world. “I am always wondering: Will I have the means to give a treatment? Will I be able to do that surgery? Will I be able to give access to quality services to all patients? The pandemic adds one more uncertainty to what we already live in our day to day. As a humanitarian aid professional, I am prepared to resolve emergency situations such as an armed conflict, an epidemic, a hunger crisis ”, he reflects.
For 20 years, Fernández dedicated himself to the care of patients with HIV and initially his objectives were to generate access to medicines, to make governments pay attention to the problem and to make treatment less expensive. “When I started this fight, the treatment cost $ 1,000 per patient per month. That is, about $ 12,000 per year. It was impossible for any patient to have access. At the end of the 1990s, a campaign was made with civil society organizations to give people access and lower prices. From all this experience I learned that you should never lower your arms, ”he recalls.
Since the covid-19 centers opened on the northern border of Mexico, more than 150 people have passed through there. MSF predicted that the migrant population would not have access to medical services and created the infrastructure to protect this population, which is often discriminated against in health centers. “In the northern border, the hospitals are overwhelmed and we were able to confirm that they do not prioritize the care of a migrant person. This population comes to our centers because they did not receive medical services elsewhere. If this center were not open, I think they would be left without attention ”, says Fernández.
Although the MSF mission chief for Mexico and Central America is also a migrant and identifies with his patients in some ways, he admits that he was fortunate to leave because he wanted to. “I consider myself a hormonal exile, I left because I fell in love with a person. It was a personal decision, it was not an economic or political issue. In the last 20 years, I have seen many people fleeing conflicts and one feels empathy for the suffering of those people who suffer violence, discrimination, political persecution or economic problems in their countries. What comes to us is the medical problem, but we also get involved in social problems. Still, I try not to get emotionally involved because otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to do this job. Many times one sees so many needs in such difficult contexts that in the end you feel that the possibility of intervention is very limited. Keeping a cool head allows you to make difficult decisions ”, he concludes.
