Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement

This article challenges the notion that the organised sex worker movement originated in the Global North. Beginning in Havana, Cuba at the end of the nineteenth century, sex workers in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region have been organising for recognition and labour rights. This article focuses on some of the movement’s advances, such as the election of a sex worker to public office in the Dominican Republic, the system where Nicaraguan sex workers act as court-appointed judicial facilitators, the networks of sex worker organisations throughout the region, and cutting-edge media strategies used to claim social and labour rights. Sex workers are using novel strategies designed to disrupt the hegemonic social order; contest the inequalities, discrimination, and injustices experienced by women in the sex trade; provoke critical reflection; and raise the visibility of sex work advocacy. New challenges to the movement include the abolitionist movement, the conflation of all forms of sex work with human trafficking, and practices that seek to ‘rescue’ consenting adults from the sex trade

Assessing the Association of Acculturation, Racial Discrimination, Social Support, and Breastfeeding Intention with Postpartum Depression: Findings from the 2012-2014 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Among Latinas

Postpartum depression (PPD) nearly doubles among immigrants. When we consider that Latinas are densely represented in the United States, the need to explore the risk and protective factors that may be associated with PPD onset among Latinas is critical. A consideration of racial discrimination, social support, and breastfeeding practices may aid in incorporating contributors that may be prevalent among Latinas. In particular, breastfeeding practices have differed by acculturation, yet there are inconclusive relations with depressive symptoms, therefore, examining the relationship with predictors may shed light on the intersection among individual, cultural, and societal factors by acculturation among Latinas. This dissertation examined the intersection of risk and protective factors with PPD and breastfeeding practices in three separate papers, with the inclusion of intersectionality and the convoy model of social networks. The first paper examined PPD risk through an intersectional lens that included the individual, cultural, and macro level contexts. The second paper, a quantitative secondary analysis using the NYC PRAMS dataset, explored the relationship between PPD, racial discrimination, and social support. Lastly, the third paper, a quantitative secondary analysis of the NYC PRAMS dataset, examined the relationship between risk and protective factors with PPD and breastfeeding practices. Outcomes for the studies reveal differences and an overlap between the risk and protective factors and their association with PPD and breastfeeding practices when considering acculturation among Latinas. The papers incorporated cultural and societal factors that are paramount within this population. Recommendations for research, practice, and policy were addressed in each of the papers

Detecting dynamic system regime boundaries with Fisher information: the case of ecosystems

The direct measurement of the resilience (resistance to disturbances) of an ecosystem’s current regime (or “alternative stable state”) remains a key concern for managing human impacts on these ecosystems and their risk of collapse. Approaches which utilize statistics or information theory have demonstrated utility in identifying regime boundaries. Here, we use Fisher information to establish the limits of the resilience of a dynamic regime of a predator–prey system. This is important because previous studies using Fisher information focused on detecting whether a regime change has occurred, whereas here we are interested in determining how much an ecological system can vary its properties without a regime change occurring. We illustrate the theory with simple two species systems. We apply it first to a predator–prey model and then to a 60-year wolf–moose population dataset from Isle Royale National Park in Michigan, USA. We assess the resilience boundaries and the operating range of a system’s parameters without a regime change from entirely new criteria for Fisher information, oriented toward regime stability. The approach allows us to use system measurements to determine the shape and depth of the “cup” as defined by the broader resilience concept

Intrinsic Optical and Electronic Properties from Quantitative Analysis of Plasmonic Semiconductor Nanocrystal Ensemble Optical Extinction

The optical extinction spectra arising from localized surface plasmon resonance in doped semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) have intensities and lineshapes determined by free charge carrier concentrations and the various mechanisms for damping the oscillation of those free carriers. However, these intrinsic properties are convoluted by heterogeneous broadening when measuring spectra of ensembles. We reveal that the traditional Drude approximation is not equipped to fit spectra from a heterogeneous ensemble of doped semiconductor NCs and produces fit results that violate Mie scattering theory. The heterogeneous ensemble Drude approximation (HEDA) model rectifies this issue by accounting for ensemble heterogeneity and near-surface depletion. The HEDA model is applied to tin-doped indium oxide NCs for a range of sizes and doping levels but we expect it can be employed for any isotropic plasmonic particles in the quasistatic regime. It captures individual NC optical properties and their contributions to the ensemble spectra thereby enabling the analysis of intrinsic NC properties from an ensemble measurement. Quality factors for the average NC in each ensemble are quantified and found to be notably higher than those of the ensemble. Carrier mobility and conductivity derived from HEDA fits matches that measured in the bulk thin film literature

Applications of low enthalpy geothermal energy: the case of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Chile

In recent decades, the industry has observed a significant shift towards the use of renewable energy, such as solar, wind and geothermal. The Chilean scenario has not been an exception, and much progress has been made in sustainable energy prospection and implementation, especially in the electricity sector, where solar and wind power amount 2300 MW, and since April 2017, the first geothermal power plant (48 MW) has come into operation. In the area of low enthalpy geothermal energy, the use is around 19 MW. The Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Chile has been contributing to this transformational process, with its Sustainable Campus initiative. The first step of this initiative is the introduction of renewable energy on site, which has been achieved through the installation of a solar photovoltaic plant of 15 kW. Along this line, the design and implementation of a geothermal air conditioning system (HAVC) is underway, which will serve the classrooms and offices in the traditional engineering building of the campus. The technology to be used in this project is the Ground Heat Pump (GHP). The present paper includes an introduction of the applications of low enthalpy geothermal energy in Chile, a description of the Office of Engineering for Sustainable Development at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and the design of a geothermal HAVC system in the university campus, considering economic, environmental, technical and social aspects. Besides the operation of the GHP, the system will be used for teaching purposes to incorporate sustainable development in the curriculum of the university. The expected savings of the geothermal system versus an aerothermal design are 41,070 kWh annually, considering both cooling and heating.This research was partially funded by the Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA) and the Complex Engineering Systems Institute, ISCI (Project CONICYT: FB0816)

Estrategias narrativas y de representación en el videoclip de la música andina indígena en Ecuador

En los últimos años, el video musical ha resurgido para tomar fuerza e instalarse en las diversas plataformas que alojan materiales audiovisuales. Un formato estrella de la televisión por cable dentro de la cultura popular de los años 90 se adapta ahora a la lógica de los nuevos medios digitales. Esta adaptación significa el acercamiento del video musical a los distintos públicos, el surgimiento de otras formas de narrar y espacios para representar temas de diversa índole. El carácter versátil, las reglas no tan claras y la espectacularidad del género provocan la atención del mercado musical. Dicho fenómeno de resurgimiento y consolidación del video musical en la red no ha estado ajeno a la mirada de los productores audiovisuales y de las agrupaciones de música andina indígena en Ecuador. Estos dos actores, principalmente, se han percatado de que la inserción del video musical en la red digital conlleva oportunidades de trabajar funciones publicitarias y, además, generar estrategias de representación de la identidad cultural de los pueblos indígenas a través de la narrativa y la performance. En este marco, se da una aparición y un desarrollo sostenido de la producción de videoclips de estilo descriptivo, narrativo y performativo..