The Shaping of the Economic Area in the State-Building Framework: Eastern El Salvador, 1840-1855

Tras la disolución del experimento federal centroamericano y el surgimiento de El Salvador como Estado independiente, la región oriental salvadoreña gozó de una posición económica privilegiada por la cercanía del puerto de La Unión en la Bahía de Fonseca, un enclave comercial que vertebró la región de San Miguel, que tradicionalmente había Estado estrechamente vinculada con el sur de Honduras y el oeste nicaragüense. El desarrollo económico de San Miguel fue el motor económico principal en la fase inicial del proceso de formación estatal de El Salvador. En este artículo se intenta dilucidar las características del proyecto que propició la configuración del espacio económico regional y al mismo tiempo, generó los recursos para constituir y modelar el Estado salvadoreño.From the dissolution of the Central American federation until the middle of 19th century, the Eastern region of El Salvador enjoyed a privileged economic position because of its proximity of the port of La Union, on the Bay of Fonseca, a commercial enclave that supported the entire region of San Miguel, which was traditionally interrelated with Southern Honduras and Western Nicaragua. The economic development of San Miguel was the main economic driving force in the initial period of state-formation in El Salvador. This article attempts to explain the project that facilitated the configuration of the regional economy and, at the same time, generated the resources that gave shape to a new political entity

La organización del municipio salvadoreño entre 1840 y 1869. Una aproximación a la construcción del estado desde el ámbito local

Este artículo plantea un acercamiento al proceso de construcción estatal de El Salvador desde la perspectiva de las Municipalidades, a mediados del siglo xix. Se parte de la base de que el ente municipal colaboró, en la medida de sus posibilidades, con importantes recursos financieros y humanos en la constitución del estado liberal decimonónico. Sobre este supuesto se hace una introducción a las relaciones fiscales entre el estado salvadoreño y sus municipios. La delegación de funciones en los municipios fue una estrategia de los grupos dominantes que controlaban el gobierno ejecutivo para implementar un proyecto político que lograra un estado centralizado desde un punto de vista político y económico.This article presents an attempt to the rapprochement of El Salvador State building process from a municipal point of view, in the mid 19th century. It is based on the premise that the local body contributed, however possible, important human and financial resources for building El Salvador as a nineteenth century liberal state. Working on this assumption, it introduces the financial relations between the Salvadoran State and its municipalities. The delegation of responsibilities to municipalities was a strategy of ruling groups, who controlled the central government, to implement a political project, which aimed to achieve a centralized State politically and financially

SMIT: diseño e implementación de un agente sintético de presentación para las Unidades de Soporte a la Docencia del PLAN-G

Los agentes de presentación, o agentes sintéticos, son una herramienta muy potente para guiar y ayudar a los usuarios en su interacción con plataformas informáticas de gran tamaño o complicadas. En este artículo se presenta el agente SMIT (Synthetic Multimedia Interactive Tutor), un agente sintético que representa los mensajes dirigidos al estudiante en un sistema de tutoría inteligente, adoptando diferentes estilos antropomórficos. Este agente forma parte de los agentes de interfaz del sistema multiagente MAS-PLANG (MultiAgent System PLANG) diseñado para ofrecer características de adaptatividad a la plataforma USD (Unitats de Suport a la Docència) utilizada para dar soporte a la enseñanza-aprendizaje a través del web.Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por la CICYT TEL-99-0976

Rapid screening of arsenic species in urine from exposed human by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with germanium as internal standard

In the present work, internal standardization based on species-unspecific isotope dilution analysis technique is proposed in order to overcome the matrix effects and signal drift originated in the speciation of As in urine by HPLC-ICP-MS. To this end, 72Ge has been selected as a pseudo-isotope of As. The resulting mass flow chromatogram of the element allows the calculation of the corrected overall species concentrations without requiring any methodological calibration, providing high-throughput sample processing. The validation was carried out by analyzing a blank human urine fortified at three concentration levels and an unspiked human urine sample containing different species of arsenic. In all cases, recoveries ranging from 90 to 115% and RSD below 10% were attained with this approach. Furthermore, the proposed method provided results in excellent agreement with those obtained using standard additions and internal standard calibration, allowing a fast way to assess human exposure to arsenic species

Analytical methodologies based on LC–MS/MS for monitoring selected emerging compounds in liquid and solid phases of the sewage sludge

In this work, two analytical methodologies based on liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) were developed for quantification of emerging pollutants identified in sewage sludge after a previous wide-scope screening. The target list included 13 emerging contaminants (EC): thiabendazole, acesulfame, fenofibric acid, valsartan, irbesartan, salicylic acid, diclofenac, carbamazepine, 4-aminoantipyrine (4- AA), 4-acetyl aminoantipyrine (4-AAA), 4-formyl aminoantipyrine (4-FAA), venlafaxine and benzoylecgonine. The aqueous and solid phases of the sewage sludge were analyzed making use of Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) and UltraSonic Extraction (USE) for sample treatment, respectively. The methods were validated at three concentration levels: 0.2, 2 and 20mg L 1 for the aqueous phase, and 50, 500 and 2000mg kg 1 for the solid phase of the sludge. In general, the method was satisfactorily validated, showing good recoveries (70–120%) and precision (RSD < 20%). Regarding the limit of quantification (LOQ), it was below 0.1mg L 1 in the aqueous phase and below 50mg kg 1 in the solid phase for the majority of the analytes. The method applicability was tested by analysis of samples from a wider study on degradation of emerging pollutants in sewage sludge under anaerobic digestion. The key benefits of these methodologies are: SPE and USE are appropriate sample procedures to extract selected emerging contaminants from the aqueous phase of the sewage sludge and the solid residue. LC–MS/MS is highly suitable for determining emerging contaminants in both sludge phases. Up to our knowledge, the main metabolites of dipyrone had not been studied before in sewage sludge. ãFinancial support of Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo II/2014/023,ISIC/2014/016

Behaviour of emerging contaminants in sewage sludge after anaerobic digestion

Nowadays, there is an increasing concern over the presence of contaminants in the aquatic environment, where they can be introduced from wastewater after their incomplete removal in the treatment plants. In this work, degradation of selected emerging pollutants in the aqueous and solid phases of sewage sludge has been investigated after anaerobic digestion using two different digesters: mesophilic and thermophilic. Initially, sludge samples were screened by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF MS) for identification of emerging contaminants in the samples. In a second step, a target quantitative method based on LC coupled to tandem MS was applied for selected pollutants identified in the previous screening. The behaviour of the compounds under anaerobic conditions was studied estimating the degradation efficiency and distribution of compounds between both sludge phases. Irbesartan and benzoylecgonine seemed to be notably degraded in both phases of the sludge. Venlafaxine showed a significant concentration decrease in the aqueous phase in parallel to an increase in the solid phase. The majority of the compounds showed an increase of their concentrations in both phases after the digestion. Concentrations in the solid phase were commonly higher than in the aqueous for most contaminants, indicating that they were preferentially adsorbed onto the solid particles.The authors are very grateful to the Ecophysiology and Biotechnology group (University Jaume I) and to The Institute of Aquaculture “Torre de la Sal” (IATS) (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC) for using their lyophilizer systems. The financial support of Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo II/2014/023, ISIC/2014/016) is also acknowledged

A smart adaptive tutoring system considering learning styles

This document presents the multi-agent system (PLANG) developed to transform the virtual educational environment of the USD ("Unit of Support to Teaching") in an adaptive hypermedia system taking into account learning styles The techniques of adaptation are directed to the personalized selection of teaching materials, navigation tools and navigation strategies of the educational environment according to the learning style of the student.For the modeling of the student we use techniques of Artificial Intelligence as Reasoning Based on Cases and Fuzzy Logic, the system is able to categorize students according to their ability to process, perceive, receive, organize and understand information.We use intelligent agents to examine opportunities for improvement in teaching and to motivate students to Learn according to your preferences in a friendly and bad environment S close to your learning style. The MASPLANG has been built under the central concept of an intelligent agent known as a software entity that acts intelligently and semiautonomously in representation and benefit of the student.En este documento sepresenta el sistema multiagenteMAS-PLANG (MultiAgent System - PLANG)desarrollado para transformar el entorno educativo virtual de las USD ("Unitats de Suport a laDocencia '') en un sistema hipermedia adaptativo teniendo en cuenta estilos de aprendizaje. Lastécnicas de adaptación están dirigidas a la selección personalizada de los materiales didácticos,las herramientas de navegación y las estrategias de navegación del entorno educativo de acuerdoal estilo de aprendizaje del estudiante. Para el modelado del estudiante utilizamos técnicas deInteligencia Artificial COmo el Razonamiento Basado en Casos y la Lógica Difusa. El sistema estáen capacidad de categorizar estudiantes de acuerdo a su habilidad para procesar, percibir,recibir organizar y entender la información. Utilizamos agentes inteligentes para examinar oportunidades de mejora de la enseñanza y para motivar los estudiantes a aprender según suspreferencias en un entorno amigable y lo más cercano posible a su estilo de aprendizaje. El MASPLANGse ha construido bajo el concepto central de un agente inteligente conocido como unaentidad software que actúa en forma inteligente y semiautónoma en representación y beneficiodel estudiante

Juan Carlos Garavaglia. Historiador y maestro. Semblanzas

Algunas palabras en recuerdo del historiador y maestro Juan Carlos Garavaglia, expresadas por quienes fueron sus colegas, estudiantes, amigos

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the self-care and health condition of the older adults. CUIDAMOS+75. A mixed methods study protocol

Aims: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health condition of people >= 75 years of age and on their family caregivers in Spain. Design: Multicentric, mixed method concurrent study. Methods: This work, which will be conducted within the primary care setting in 11 administrative regions of Spain, will include three coordinated studies with different methodologies. The first is a population-based cohort study that will use real-life data to analyze the rates and evolution of health needs, care provision, and services utilization before, during, and after the pandemic. The second is a prospective cohort study with 18 months of follow-up that will evaluate the impact of COVID-19 disease on mortality, frailty, functional and cognitive capacity, and quality of life of the participants. Finally, the third will be a qualitative study with a critical social approach to understand and interpret the social, political, and economic dimensions associated with the use of health services during the pandemic. We have followed the SPIRIT Checklist to address trial protocol and related documents. This research is being funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III since 2021 and was approved by its ethics committee (June 2022). Discussion: The study findings will reveal the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the older adults and their caregivers. This information will serve policymakers to adapt health policies to the needs of this population in situations of maximum stress, such as that produced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Trial Registration: Identifier: NCT05249868 [ClinicalTrials.gov]