The social foundations of structural power: strategic position, worker unity and external alliances in the making of the Chilean dockworker movement

This article examines the associational and societal foundations of structural power. A case study of the ten-year-long history of the Unión Portuaria de Chile is analysed with a focus on a critical juncture in 2012–2014. The Chilean dockworker case is an emblematic example of trade union movement revitalisation via strikes of strategically positioned workers. Yet ethnographic research with the organisation suggests that the role it has come to play in the country was only possible as a result of intensive long-term organising efforts to develop a high degree of internal unity at multiple scales, as well as sustained alliances with external actors. As a result, the authors argue that the most economistic accounts of worker power and trade union movement revitalisation are analytically insufficient and would benefit from greater attention to associational and societal dimensions of power, even among the most strategically positioned workers

Test de Zohlen y su relación con el ángulo Q en población sin dolor patelofemoral

ResumenObjetivoDeterminar qué porcentaje de una población sin dolor anterior de rodilla tiene un test de Zohlen positivo, además determinar el ángulo Q de esta población y buscar si existe alguna relación entre la positividad del test de Zohlen y alteraciones en el ángulo Q.Material y métodoEstudio descriptivo-prospectivo observacional. Aplicación del test de Zohlen y medición del ángulo Q. La población se dividió en 2 grupos: test de Zohlen positivo y test de Zohlen negativo. Cuantificación y comparación de medias del ángulo Q en los dos grupos.Resultados90 sujetos evaluados, promedio de edad 20,18 años (18-40). Veinte sujetos (22,2%) con test de Zohlen positivo. Ángulo Q promedio en los sujetos con test de Zohlen negativo: 14,95°; ángulo Q promedio en los sujetos con test de Zohlen positivo: 16,9° (p < 0,05).Ángulo Q promedio en hombres con test de Zohlen negativo13,4°; ángulo Q promedio en hombres con test de Zohlen positivo: 16° (p < 0,05). Ángulo Q promedio en mujeres con test de Zohlen negativo: 16,5°; ángulo Q promedio en mujeres con test de Zohlen positivo: 18°, sin diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre ambos grupos.ConclusionesEl test de Zohlen tiene una correlación positiva con el ángulo Q en sujetos de sexo masculino. Dada la correlación entre un ángulo Q alterado y la presencia de dolor anterior de rodilla, en los pacientes que presentan un test de Zohlen positivo sin haber consultado por dolor anterior de rodilla, la prevención primaria de dolor anterior de rodilla puede ser de utilidad.AbstractObjectiveTo determine the percentage of a population without anterior knee pain with a positive Zohlen test, and also to determine the Q angle of this population and to determine if there is any relationship between the Zohlen test and Q angle anomalies.MethodsA prospective observational study was conducted in which Zohleńs test was applied and the Q angle was measured. The population was divided into 2 groups: Zohleńs positive and Zohleńs negative. Q angle was compared in the 2 groups.ResultsThe study included 90 subjects, with a mean age 20.18 years (18-40), of whom 20 subjects (22.2%) had positive Zohleńs test. The mean Q angle in subjects with negative Zohleńs test was 14.95°, and the mean Q angle in subjects with positive Zohleńs test was 16,9° (p<.05). The mean Q angle in men with negative Zohleńs test was 13.4°, and the mean Q angle in men with positive Zohleńs test was 16° (p < .05). The mean Q angle in women with negative Zohleńs test was 16.5°, with a mean Q angle of 18° in women with positive Zohleńs test, with no statistically significant differences found between groups.ConclusionsZohleńs test has a positive correlation with the Q angle in male subjects. Given the correlation between the Q angle and the presence of anterior knee pain in patients who have a positive test without symptoms, primary prevention of anterior knee pain can be achieved

Overexpression of aurora B kinase (AURKB) in primary non-small cell lung carcinoma is frequent, generally driven from one allele, and correlates with the level of genetic instability

Aurora kinases are key regulators of chromosome segregation during mitosis. We have previously shown by microarray analysis of primary lung carcinomas and matched normal tissue that AURKB (22 out of 37) and AURKA (15 out of 37) transcripts are frequently over-represented in these tumours. We now confirm these observations in a second series of 44 carcinomas and also show that aurora B kinase protein levels are raised in the tumours compared to normal tissue. Elevated levels of expression in tumours are not a consequence of high-level amplification of the AURKB gene. Using a coding sequence polymorphism we show that in most cases (seven out of nine) tumour expression is predominantly driven from one AURKB allele. Given the function of aurora B kinase, we examined whether there was an association between expression levels and genetic instability. We defined two groups of high and low AURKB expression. Using a panel of 10 microsatellite markers, we found that the group showing the higher level of expression had a higher frequency of allelic imbalance (P=0.0012). Analysis of a number of other genes that are strongly and specifically expressed in tumour over normal lung, including SERPINB5, TERT and PRAME, showed marked allelic expression imbalances in the tumour tissue in the context of balanced or only marginally imbalanced relative allelic copy numbers. Our data support a model of early carcinogenesis wherein defects in the process of inactivation of lung stem-cell associated genes during differentiation, contributes to the development of carcinogenesis

On the radioecological issues of natural radionuclides in water and sediment of a highly contaminated lagoon from Mexico

Se han determinado las concentraciones de actividad de radionucleidos naturales en el agua y los sedimentos de la laguna El Pedernalillo, Zacatecas, México

Meteorological normalisation using boosted regression trees to estimate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on air quality levels

The global COVID-19 pandemic that began in late December 2019 led to unprecedented lockdowns worldwide, providing a unique opportunity to investigate in detail the impacts of restricted anthropogenic emissions on air quality. A wide range of strategies and approaches exist to achieve this. In this paper, we use the “deweather” R package, based on Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) models, first to remove the influences of meteorology and emission trend patterns from NO, NO2, PM10 and O3 data series, and then to calculate the relative changes in air pollutant levels in 2020 with respect to the previous seven years (2013–2019). Data from a northern Spanish region, Cantabria, with all types of monitoring stations (traffic, urban background, industrial and rural) were used, dividing the calendar year into eight periods according to the intensity of government restrictions. The results showed mean reductions in the lockdown period above −50% for NOx, around −10% for PM10 and below −5% for O3. Small differences were found between the relative changes obtained from normalised data with respect to those from observations. These results highlight the importance of developing an integrated policy to reduce anthropogenic emissions and the need to move towards sustainable mobility to ensure safer air quality levels, as pre-existing concentrations in some cases exceed the safe threshold

Biogeochemistry and microbial diversity in the marine cavity beneath the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica:Biogeochemistry under the MCM ice shelf

Ice shelves surround ~ 75% of Antarctica's coastline and are highly sensitive to climate change; several have recently collapsed and others are predicted to in the near future. Marine waters beneath ice shelves harbor active ecosystems, while adjacent seas can be important areas of bottom water formation. Despite their oceanographic significance, logistical constraints have resulted in few opportunities to directly sample sub-ice shelf cavities. Here, we present the first data on microbial diversity and biogeochemistry beneath the McMurdo Ice Shelf (MIS) near Ross Island, Antarctica. Physicochemical profiles obtained via a 56 m deep borehole through the MIS revealed three vertically layered water masses (Antarctic Surface Water [AASW], Ice Shelf Water [ISW], and modified High Salinity Shelf Water [mHSSW]). Metabolically active, moderately diverse (Shannon diversity from 2.06 to 5.74) microbial communities were detected in the AASW and mHSSW. Heterotrophic bacterial production and dissolved organic matter concentrations were higher (12-37% and 24%, respectively) in mHSSW relative to AASW. Chemoautotrophic production was 5.3 nmol C L-1 d-1 and 6.0 nmol C L-1 d-1 in the AASW and mHSSW, respectively. Phytoplankton cells were more abundant and larger in the mHSSW sample relative to the AASW, which indicates sinking of phytoplankton produced in surface waters and, together with southerly flowing currents (0.09-0.16 m s-1), horizontal advection of phytoplankton from McMurdo Sound. Advected phytoplankton carbon together with in situ chemoautotrophic production provide important sources of organic matter and other reduced compounds to support ecosystem processes in the dark waters in the ice shelf cavity

Incidence of human granulocytic anaplasmosis in returning travellers with fever.

Although tick-borne pathogens have been reported as an important cause of imported fever, the incidence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), in travellers is unknown. We conducted a prospective cohort study to investigate the aetiologies of fever in returning travellers (November 2017-July 2019). Polymerase chain reaction for msp2 gene amplification and indirect immunofluorescence assay for A. phagocitophilum were performed in all returning travellers with undifferentiated non-malarial fever. Among 141 travellers included, 8 patients were diagnosed with probable or confirmed HGA. The overall incidence rate of HGA was 19.9 cases/1000 person-week of travel. The main destination of travel was Asia, accounting for 62.5% patients with HGA. Co-infections were found in 37.5% of patients with HGA. Diagnosis of HGA and empirical treatment with doxycycline should be considered in travellers with fever

Occupational Heat Exposure and Breast Cancer Risk in the MCC-Spain Study

[EN] Background: Mechanisms linking occupational heat exposure with chronic diseases have been proposed. However, evidence on occupational heat exposure and cancer risk is limited. Methods: We evaluated occupational heat exposure and female breast cancer risk in a large Spanish case-control study. We enrolled 1,738 breast cancer cases and 1,910 frequency-matched population controls. A Spanish job-exposure matrix, MatEmEsp, was used to assign estimates of the proportion of workers exposed (P >= 25% for at least 1 year) and work time with heat stress (wet bulb globe temperature ISO 7243) for each occupation. We used three exposure indices: ever versus never exposed, lifetime cumulative exposure, and duration of exposure (years). We estimated ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI), applying a lag period of 5 years and adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Ever occupational heat exposure was associated with a moderate but statistically significant higher risk of breast cancer (OR 1.22; 95% CI, 1.01-1.46), with significant trends across categories of lifetime cumulative exposure and duration (P-trend = 0.01 and 0.03, respectively). Stronger associations were found for hormone receptor-positive disease (OR ever exposure = 1.38; 95% Cl, 1.12-1.67). We found no confounding effects from multiple other common occupational exposures; however, results attenuated with adjustment for occupational detergent exposure. Conclusions: This study provides some evidence of an association between occupational heat exposure and female breast cancer risk.SIThis study was partially funded by the “Accion Transversal del Cancer,” approved by the Spanish Ministry Council on October 11, 2007; the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER (PI08/1770, PI08/1359, PI09/00773, PI09/01286, PI09/01903, PI09/02078, PI09/01662, PI11/01403, PI11/01889, and PI12/00265); the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (API 10/09); the Junta de Castilla y León (LE22A10-2); the Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía (2009-S0143); the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana (AP_061/10); the Recercaixa (2010ACUP 00310); the Regional Government of the Basque Country; the Consejería de Sanidad de la Región de Murcia; the European Commission grants FOOD-CT-2006–036224-HIWATE; the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation; the Catalan Government DURSI grant 2014SGR647; the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia (2017SGR1085); the Fundación Caja de Ahorros de Asturias; and the University of Oviedo. M.C. Turner is funded by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-01892) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and co-funded by the European Social Fund. The authors acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S) and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. Statistical assistance provided by Ana Espinosa Morano was greatly appreciated

The role of Prenatal Care and Social Risk Factors in the relationship between immigrant status and neonatal morbidity: A retrospective cohort study

Background and Aim Literature evaluating association between neonatal morbidity and immigrant status presents contradictory results. Poorer compliance with prenatal care and greater social risk factors among immigrants could play roles as major confounding variables, thus explaining contradictions. We examined whether prenatal care and social risk factors are confounding variables in the relationship between immigrant status and neonatal morbidity. Methods Retrospective cohort study: 231 pregnant African immigrant women were recruited from 2007–2010 in northern Spain. A Spanish population sample was obtained by simple random sampling at 1:3 ratio. Immigrant status (Spanish, Sub-Saharan and Northern African), prenatal care (Kessner Index adequate, intermediate or inadequate), and social risk factors were treated as independent variables. Low birth weight (LBW < 2500 grams) and preterm birth (< 37 weeks) were collected as neonatal morbidity variables. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) were estimated by unconditional logistic regression with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results Positive associations between immigrant women and higher risk of neonatal morbidity were obtained. Crude OR for preterm births in Northern Africans with respect to nonimmigrants was 2.28 (95% CI: 1.04–5.00), and crude OR for LBW was 1.77 (95% CI: 0.74–4.22). However, after adjusting for prenatal care and social risk factors, associations became protective: adjusted OR for preterm birth = 0.42 (95% CI: 0.14–1.32); LBW = 0.48 (95% CI: 0.15–1.52). Poor compliance with prenatal care was the main independent risk factor associated with both preterm birth (adjusted OR inadequate care = 17.05; 95% CI: 3.92–74.24) and LBW (adjusted OR inadequate care = 6.25; 95% CI: 1.28–30.46). Social risk was an important independent risk factor associated with LBW (adjusted OR = 5.42; 95% CI: 1.58– 18.62). Conclusions Prenatal care and social risk factors were major confounding variables in the relationship between immigrant status and neonatal morbidity

Rheo-PIV of a shear-banding wormlike micellar solution under large amplitude oscillatory shear

We explore the behavior of a wormlike micellar solution under both steady and large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) in a cone–plate geometry through simultaneous bulk rheometry and localized velocimetric measurements. First, particle image velocimetry is used to show that the shear-banded profiles observed in steady shear are in qualitative agreement with previous results for flow in the cone–plate geometry. Then under LAOS, we observe the onset of shear-banded flow in the fluid as it is progressively deformed into the non-linear regime—this onset closely coincides with the appearance of higher harmonics in the periodic stress signal measured by the rheometer. These harmonics are quantified using the higher-order elastic and viscous Chebyshev coefficients e [subscript n] and v [subscript n] , which are shown to grow as the banding behavior becomes more pronounced. The high resolution of the velocimetric imaging system enables spatiotemporal variations in the structure of the banded flow to be observed in great detail. Specifically, we observe that at large strain amplitudes (γ [subscript 0] ≥ 1), the fluid exhibits a three-banded velocity profile with a high shear rate band located in-between two lower shear rate bands adjacent to each wall. This band persists over the full cycle of the oscillation, resulting in no phase lag being observed between the appearance of the band and the driving strain amplitude. In addition to the kinematic measurements of shear banding, the methods used to prevent wall slip and edge irregularities are discussed in detail, and these methods are shown to have a measurable effect on the stability boundaries of the shear-banded flow.Spain. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC) (Project FIS2010-21924-C02-02