“Tocar puertas”: Potere indigeno, ONG e sviluppo nel Guatemala post-guerra

The ethnographic case upon which this article is based concerns a project of “governability strengthening” implemented in the indigenous municipality of Todos Santos Cuchumatán by an international NGO. Throughout the voices of the NGO functionaries as well as those of the local authorities, I want to bring to surface the implications of a misunderstanding concerning hegemonic ways of perceiving Maya’s otherness that are implied in multicultural neoliberalism, the new form of governance adopted by post-war Guatemala. The article focuses particularly on a performance of democratic skills that highlights an indigenous ritual appropriation of the development discourse, resulting in a process of acculturation/resistance. The article explores the ways local indigenous leadership is redefined as the capacity of mediating between the humanitarian reason of the International Cooperation, where the majority of the resources lies, and community rules of prestige and power, which is ultimately where their legitimacy comes

“En la pampa todos somos gauchos...”. Etnografía del arreo en la frontera de la Norpatagonia

The Andean communities of Chilean Northern Patagonia preexisted the establishment of the Chile-Argentina border and their cattle-drive practices defies the rigidity of Nation-State limits and its north/south geographical vocation. Using an ethnographic and participative perspective, this article aims to describe the experience of a cattle-drive journey from the border village of Paso El León to Cochamó, on the Pacific coast. The paper shows how arrieros from Paso El León appropriate and inhabit a space that was shaped to divide nations and exploit its resources. Every year, the cattle-drive ritual renews the constitutive elements of a deeply territorialized border experience: it shows the fluid character of national identity and highlights a peculiar way of inhabiting the territory (based on a social order that involves the interdependency between humans and other-than-humans). This article also shows the relation between the origins of cattle-drive practices and the colonization of Patagonia in the XIX century and how, in recent years, the possibilities to maintain the gaucho culture are related to limits defined by some of the key actors of the “post-frontier” actors: tourism, conservationism and extractivism.Las comunidades cordilleranas de la Norpatagonia chilena preexisten al trazado de las fronteras Chile-Argentina y sus prácticas de arreo de ganado pueden ser consideradas trayectorias que desestabilizan la rigidez de los límites del Estado-nación y de su vocación geográfica norte-sur. Este artículo pretende relatar desde una perspectiva etnográfica y participativa la experiencia de trashumancia de un grupo de arrieros desde la zona fronteriza de Paso El León hasta Cochamó, en la costa del Pacífico. A través del relato etnográfico se muestra cómo los arrieros de Paso El León se apropian y vuelven habitable un espacio pensado para la división de naciones y explotación de recursos. El  ritual de la trashumancia arriera renueva anualmente los elementos constitutivos de una experiencia (trans)fronteriza y a la vez profundamente territorializada: pone en evidencia el carácter fluido de la identidad nacional y revela una forma de habitar el territorio basada en un orden social que contempla la interdependencia entre humanos y no-humanos. Se muestra, además, la relación entre el surgimiento de la trashumancia y la colonización de la Patagonia en el siglo XIX y cómo, en la actualidad, la posibilidad de revivir la cultura gaucha tiene que ver con los límites definidos por algunos actores claves de la “posfrontera”: el turismo, el conservacionismo y el extractivismo

Comunidad, alcaldía y radio. Cambio y conservación del liderazgo indígena en el Guatemala posguerra

Este artículo pretende reflexionar sobre los espacios de liderazgo que se afirman en las comunidades indígenas de Guatemala a partir del proceso de paz. Se evidencia cómo las lógicas de autoridad y prestigio y con éstas la idea misma de comunidad, van cambiando frente a las políticas de desarrollo de las instituciones democráticas neoliberales. El análisis se desarrolla a través de dos casos etnográficos referentes a la vida política de Todos Santos Cuchumatám, municipio maya-mam. En primer lugar, se muestra el complejo proceso de elección de un candidato alcalde, que surge de negociaciones clientelares de distintos niveles: desde la esfera de la política nacional, hasta las lógicas de poder que rigen las comunidades de base del municipio. En segundo lugar, se toma en consideración un camino al liderazgo alternativo: la fundación de una radio comunitaria por un joven migrante retornado. Estos casos permiten evidenciar cómo los líderes indígenas tienen la difícil tarea de mantener un delicado equilibrio entre cambio y conservación. De ello surgen los mecanismos que, si bien en movimiento perpetuo, mantienen el orden comunal de la comunidad.

Habitar en el viaje: una aproximación antropológica a la Norpatagonia chilena

O artigo tem como objetivo apresentar alguns traços históricos e sociais das sociedades de colonos marginais na Patagônia Norte chilena, assim como propor ferramentas conceituais da antropologia que possam guiar a compreensão etnográfica destes contextos. Mencionam-se as histórias de colonização, a transumância dos bovinos, a fabricação de tejuelas de alerce e as migrações da Patagônia Austral como características que criam um sentimento de pertencimento territorializado.  Estes aspectos se interpretam à luz das teorias de Tim Ingold e James Clifford, ressaltando peculiaridades e pontos comuns de dois enforques aparentemente antitéticos que, não obstante, coincidem em uma crítica ao conceito genealógico e essencialista de cultura, e na valorização do movimento como elemento essencial na geração da vida e das culturas. Estas noções parecem particularmente apropriadas para analisar um território fronteiriço com uma história de intensos deslocamentos que desconfiguram identidades étnicas e nacionais.This paper aims at presenting some relevant historical and social features of the marginalized colonial settlers of Chilean Northern Patagonia, while at the same time proposing anthropological conceptual tools that could guide the ethnographic comprehension of this social context. Drawing on ethnographic material, the paper analyses the histories of colonization, the practice of cattle driving, the fabrication of tiles made of alerce wood and the work-migrations to Southern Patagonia as features that shape a territorialized sense of belonging. These aspects are interpreted at the light of the theories of Tim Ingold and James Clifford, highlighting peculiarities as well as common grounds of the two apparently antithetic perspectives. The two authors coincide in criticizing genealogical and essentialists’ concepts of culture while emphasising movement as the crucial element in the generation of life and cultures. These notions appear as particularly fitting for analysing a frontier territory with a history of intense displacements that blur ethnic and national identities.El artículo tiene como objetivo presentar algunos rasgos históricos y sociales de las sociedades de colonos marginales de la Norpatagonia chilena, así como proponer herramientas conceptuales de la antropología, que puedan guiar la comprensión etnográfica de estos contextos. Se mencionan las historias de colonización, la trashumancia de bovinos, la fabricación de tejuelas de alerce y las migraciones a la Patagonia austral, como características que conforman un sentido de pertenencia territorializado. Estos aspectos se interpretan a la luz de las teorías de Tim Ingold y James Clifford, resaltando peculiaridades y puntos comunes de dos enfoques aparentemente antitéticos que, sin embargo, coinciden en una crítica a un concepto genealógico y esencialista de cultura, y en la valoración del movimiento como elemento cardinal en la generación de la vida y las culturas. Estas nociones parecen particularmente apropiadas para analizar un territorio fronterizo con una historia de intensos desplazamientos que desdibujan identidades étnicas y nacionales

Redundancy analysis of cooperative dual-arm manipulators

This paper presents the redundancy analysis of two cooperative manipulators, showing how they can be considered as a single redundant manipulator through the use of the relative Jacobian matrix. In this way, the kinematic redundancy can be resolved by applying the principal local optimization techniques used in the single manipulator case. We resolve the redundancy by using the Jacobian null space technique, which permits us to perform several tasks with different execution priority levels at the same time; this is a useful feature, especially when the manipulators are to be mounted on and cooperate with a mobile platform. As an illustrative example, we present a case study consisting of two planar manipulators mounted on a smart wheelchair, whose degrees of redundancy are employed to move an object along a pre-defined path, while avoiding an obstacle in the manipulator's workspace at the same time

Compressive sampling for multispectral imaging in the vis-NIR-TIR: optical design of space telescopes

Micro-satellites equipped with multispectral payloads are now under development to acquire information on the radiation reflected and emitted from the earth in the vis-NIR-TIR bands. In this framework, we are studying different approaches based on the compressive sampling technique supported by innovative multispectral detectors, where the image sampling is performed on the telescope focal plane with a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). We will describe in the paper the possibilities and the constraints given by the use of the DMD in the focal plane. The optical design of the telescope, relay system and detector in two different application cases will be provided

Molecularly Distinct Clathrin-Coated Pits Differentially Impact EGFR Fate and Signaling

International audienc

A tripartite organelle platform links growth factor receptor signaling to mitochondrial metabolism

One open question in the biology of growth factor receptors is how a quantitative input (i.e., ligand concentration) is decoded by the cell to produce specific response(s). Here, we show that an EGFR endocytic mechanism, non-clathrin endocytosis (NCE), which is activated only at high ligand concentrations and targets receptor to degradation, requires a tripartite organelle platform involving the plasma membrane (PM), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria. At these contact sites, EGFR-dependent, ER-generated Ca2+ oscillations are sensed by mitochondria, leading to increased metabolism and ATP production. Locally released ATP is required for cortical actin remodeling and EGFR-NCE vesicle fission. The same biochemical circuitry is also needed for an effector function of EGFR, i.e., collective motility. The multiorganelle signaling platform herein described mediates direct communication between EGFR signaling and mitochondrial metabolism, and is predicted to have a broad impact on cell physiology as it is activated by another growth factor receptor, HGFR/MET.Endocytic control of receptor signaling is emerging as more complex than mere signal attenuation. Here, authors describe an interorganelle platform formed during EGFR endocytosis that allows communication between EGFR and mitochondrial metabolism

EO-ALERT: A Novel Architecture for the Next Generation of Earth Observation Satellites Supporting Rapid Civil Alerts

Satellite Earth Observation (EO) data is ubiquitously used in many applications, providing basic services to society, such as environment monitoring, emergency management and civilian security. Due to the increasing request of EO products by the market, the classical EO data chain generates a severe bottleneck problem, further exacerbated in constellations. A huge amount of EO raw data generated on-board the satellite must be transferred to ground, slowing down the EO product availability, increasing latency, and hampering the growth of applications in accordance with the increased user demand. This paper provides an overview of the results achieved by the EO-ALERT project (http://eo-alert-h2020.eu/), an H2020 European Union research activity led by DEIMOS Space. EO-ALERT proposes the definition and development of the next-generation EO data processing chain, based on a novel flight segment architecture that moves optimised key EO data processing elements from the ground segment to on-board the satellite, with the aim of delivering the EO products to the end user with very low latency (quasi-real-time). EO-ALERT achieves, globally, latencies below five minutes for EO products delivery, reaching latencies below 1 minute in some scenarios. The proposed architecture solves the above challenges through a combination of innovations in the on-board elements of the data chain and the communications. Namely, the architecture introduces innovative technological solutions, including on-board reconfigurable data handling, on-board image generation and processing for the generation of alerts (EO products) using Artificial Intelligence (AI), on-board data compression and encryption using AI, high-speed on-board avionics, and reconfigurable high data rate communication links to ground, including a separate chain for alerts with minimum latency and global coverage. The paper presents the proposed architecture, its performance and hardware, considering two different user scenarios; ship detection and extreme weather observation/nowcasting. The results show that, when implemented using COTS components and available communication links, the proposed architecture can deliver alerts to ground with latency lower than five minutes, for both SAR and Optical missions, demonstrating the viability of the EOALERT concept and architecture. The paper also discusses the implementation on an avionics test bench for testing the architecture with real EO data, with the aim of demonstrating that it can meet the requirements of the considered scenarios in terms of detection performance and provides technologies at a high TRL (4-5). When proven, this will open unprecedented opportunities for the exploitation of civil EO products, especially in latency sensitive scenarios, such as disaster management