Assessing the Third Transition in Latin American Democratization: Representational Regimes and Civil Society in Argentina and Brazil

Recent political and economic transitions in Latin America have shaped a third transition in the nature of civil society and democratic representation. The conceptual territory of democratic representational regimes can be mapped out in four theoretical patterns of state-society relations: adversarial, delegative, deliberative, and cooptive. A comparison of representational regimes in state-society relations in Argentina and Brazil shows a shift in civil society towards organization in nongovernmental organizations, in addition to social movements. Despite this common characteristic, the different emerging representational regimes in these two countries carry different implications for the quality of democracy

#NiUnaMenos: Not One Woman Less, Not One More Death!

On October 19, hundreds of thousands of women across Argentina [3] braved a torrential downpour to participate in two extraordinary protests: an unprecedented women’s strike and a massive demonstration against femicide (femicidio)—that is, the killing of cis-gender and transwomen because of their gender. Reacting in rage and sorrow to the October 9, 2016, murder of Lucía Pérez [4], a 16-year-old high school student from the city of Mar de Plata who had been abducted, drugged, and gang-raped so viciously that she died of her injuries, Argentine feminist organizers relied on social media to organize the strike and orchestrate the protest in less than a week. Dubbing the demonstrations “Black Wednesday,” the protests were notable not only for their rapid organization and widespread diffusion, but also for their framing of gendered violence as inextricably linked to gendered structures of power— a point that was exemplified in the signs, slogans, and speeches that accompanied the demonstrators on city streets across Argentina. “Not even one woman less! We want us all alive!,” thousands marched and sang, drummed and yelled.Fil: Friedman, Elisabeth Jay. University of San Francisco; Estados UnidosFil: Tabbush, Constanza. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Estudios de Género; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Sovereign Limits and Regional Opportunities for Global Civil Society in Latin America

In this article, we evaluate whether Latin American participation in international arenas reinforces traditional divides between state and society in global politics or transforms state-society relations in ways compatible with the concept of global civil society. We examine the participation and interaction of Latin American nongovernmental organizations and states at three recent United Nations conferences: the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. We conclude that Latin Americans are full participants in any emerging global civil society. Their experiences at the 1990s issue conferences closely track those of NGOs of the Northern Hemisphere, notwithstanding the much more recent appearance of NGOs in Latin America. At the same time, Latin Americans bring a regional sensibility to their participation in global processes that reflects recent political developments and debates in the region

FIND, INFORM, AND TEST (FIT): A SPATIAL MODELING FRAMEWORK TO ESTIMATE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED SOURCES TO MICROBIAL CONTAMINANTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

The dissemination of fecal contamination and antibiotic-resistant bacteria from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) is a major public health concern. There is a need for modeling the dissemination of microbial contamination from sources to be able to link public health risks to sources such as CAFOs, especially in aquatic environments, such as rivers and streams. Host-associated microbial source tracking markers are a major advancement to quantifying risks associated with water use but fall short of relating microbial contamination with source locations. Using host-associated markers in conjunction with water quality modeling can help to establish strong linkages between spatial features and fecal contamination. However, existing water quality models do not have desirable qualities. They are often developed to model nutrient pollution, rely on a priori knowledge of delivery parameters, require information about the contaminants at sources, and most often model at the watershed level (i.e., sub-watershed or point-level resolution is preferred). Land-use regression (LUR) models address some of these concerns and have been previously implemented to associate sources and land cover with microbial contamination responses measured in the environment. Few of these microbial land-use regression studies have modeled quantified genes corresponding to the influence of specific hosts or genes encoding antibiotic resistance. Additionally, these land-use regression studies have primarily focused on human sources of microbial contamination and microbial contamination in surface water. This body of work advances previous microbial land-use regression approaches by developing a microbial land-use regression model and new spatial predictor models to characterize source contributions to river networks. This novel microbial modeling framework is applied to host-associated fecal contamination responses and antibiotic resistance responses in surface water and sediment in a Wisconsin spatial stream network for a CAFO-dense region, with many other potential sources. From these applications, this work contributes to the literature on offsite migration of microbial contamination from CAFOs, advances knowledge about other sources of host-associated and antibiotic resistance gene responses in riverbed sediment and surface water, and contributes insights into how the characteristics of molecular targets can influence the characterization of source impacts on the environment and microbial risks. This research advances the field of microbial water quality modeling and provides quantifiable associations between sources and microbial contamination responses that can be considered for assessing current regulatory standards for different sources and investing in future wastewater treatment infrastructure in livestock-dense areas.Doctor of Philosoph

“El viento arrollador”: la irrupción de las jóvenes en la protesta del Ni Una Menos de Argentina

En 2015, el activismo feminista de Argentina alcanzó una escala sin precedentes con la marcha Ni Una Menos. Tomando esta protesta como terreno empírico, en este artículo se indaga en los factores que explican por qué las mujeres jóvenes se unen a los movimientos feministas. En particular, por qué se volcaron a las calles para protestar y denunciar los feminicidios y la violencia de género. Mediante entrevistas a jóvenes, a organizadoras de la marcha y a activistas feministas de larga trayectoria, se muestra cómo una convocatoria novedosa en términos prefigurativos y performativos, más la trama organizativa feminista preexistente, fueron condiciones que canalizaron una sensibilidad joven a la protesta callejera. El trabajo destaca las unidades generacionales, la disponibilidad estructural de la juventud y la política expresiva de los movimientos como condiciones para la protesta feminista juvenil

Encountering Latin American and Caribbean Feminisms

This article examines the Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encuentros as critical transnational sites for the collective re-imagining of feminist politics in the region. Paying special attention to the most recent regional gathering, held in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic in 1999, we analyze the major political and philosophical debates that have emerged during twenty years of Encuentros: 1) shifting conceptions of movement autonomy and feminisms\u27 relationship to the larger women\u27s movement and to other actors in civil and political society, the State, and international institutions; 2) controversies generated by the movements\u27 recurrent crises of inclusion and crises of expansion ; and 3) debates centered on differences, inequalities, and power imbalances among women, in general, and among feminists, in particular. While this essay explores how the Encuentros have marked feminist debates in the region, it also argues that they are, in themselves, productive transborder sites that not only reflect but also (re)shape Latin American and Caribbean feminist discourses and practices

Randomized Clinical Trial of Distraction for Infant Immunization Pain

Distraction has been shown to be an effective technique for managing pain in children; however, few investigations have examined the utility of this technique with infants. The goal of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of movie distraction in reducing infants’ immunization distress. Participants were 136 infants (range = 1 to 21 months; M = 7.6 months, SD = 5.0 months) and their parents, all of whom were recruited when presenting for routine vaccinations. The parent-child dyads were randomly assigned to either a Distraction or Typical Care control condition. Infant and adult behaviors were assessed using a visual analog scale and a behavioral observation rating scale. Results indicated parents in the Distraction group engaged in higher rates of distraction than those in the Typical Care group, whereas there was no difference in the behavior of nurses in the Distraction and Typical Care groups. In addition, infants in the Distraction group displayed fewer distress behaviors than infants in the Typical Care group both prior to and during recovery from the injection. Findings suggest that a simple and practical distraction intervention can provide some distress relief to infants during routine injections

Impact of metabolic comorbidity on the association between body mass index and heatlh-related quality of life: a Scotland-wide cross-sectional study of 5,608 participants

<p/>Background: The prevalence of obesity is rising in Scotland and globally. Overall, obesity is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and reduced health-related quality of life. Studies suggest that "healthy obesity" (obesity without metabolic comorbidity) may not be associated with morbidity or mortality. Its impact on health-related quality of life is unknown. <p/>Methods: We extracted data from the Scottish Health Survey on self-reported health-related quality of life, body mass index (BMI), demographic information and comorbidity. SF-12 responses were converted into an overall health utility score. Linear regression analyses were used to explore the association between BMI and health utility, stratified by the presence or absence of metabolic comorbidity (diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia or cardiovascular disease), and adjusted for potential confounders (age, sex and deprivation quintile). <p/>Results: Of the 5,608 individuals, 3,744 (66.8%) were either overweight or obese and 921 (16.4%) had metabolic comorbidity. There was an inverted U-shaped relationship whereby health utility was highest among overweight individuals and fell with increasing BMI. There was a significant interaction with metabolic comorbidity (p = 0.007). Individuals with metabolic comorbidty had lower utility scores and a steeper decline in utility with increasing BMI (morbidly obese, adjusted coefficient: -0.064, 95% CI -0.115, -0.012, p = 0.015 for metabolic comorbidity versus -0.042, 95% CI -0.067, -0.018, p = 0.001 for no metabolic comorbidity). <p/>Conclusions: The adverse impact of obesity on health-related quality of life is greater among individuals with metabolic comorbidity. However, increased BMI is associated with reduced health-related quality of life even in the absence of metabolic comorbidity, casting doubt on the notion of "healthy obesity"

A prognostic model for tumor recurrence and progression after meningioma surgery: preselection for further molecular work-up

PURPOSE: The selection of patients for further therapy after meningioma surgery remains a challenge. Progress has been made in this setting in selecting patients that are more likely to have an aggressive disease course by using molecular tests such as gene panel sequencing and DNA methylation profiling. The aim of this study was to create a preselection tool warranting further molecular work-up. METHODS: All patients undergoing surgery for resection or biopsy of a cranial meningioma from January 2013 until December 2018 at the University Hospital Zurich with available tumor histology were included. Various prospectively collected clinical, radiological, histological and immunohistochemical variables were analyzed and used to train a logistic regression model to predict tumor recurrence or progression. Regression coefficients were used to generate a scoring system grading every patient into low, intermediate, and high-risk group for tumor progression or recurrence. RESULTS: Out of a total of 13 variables preselected for this study, previous meningioma surgery, Simpson grade, progesterone receptor staining as well as presence of necrosis and patternless growth on histopathological analysis of 378 patients were included into the final model. Discrimination showed an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI 0.73 - 0.88), the model was well-calibrated. Recurrence-free survival was significantly decreased in patients in intermediate and high-risk score groups (p-value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The proposed prediction model showed good discrimination and calibration. This prediction model is based on easily obtainable information and can be used as an adjunct for patient selection for further molecular work-up in a tertiary hospital setting