El rompecabezas boliviano, visto en perspectiva: cambios institucionales, relaciones regionales y estrategias energéticas en la última década (2000-2010)

Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

¿De movimientos religiosos a organizaciones políticas?. La relevancia política del evangelismo en América Latina

Los movimientos evangélicos adquieren protagonismo en América Latina desde mediados de los años ochenta. El importante crecimiento de iglesias y su relevancia social ha hecho que estos movimientos, especialmente los neopentecostales, hayan sido objeto de estudio frecuente desde diferentes enfoques: antropológico, cultural y sociológico. Sin embargo, no existen apenas análisis de su papel político, de su presencia en las instituciones de la región o de su transformación en organizaciones políticas. El objetivo de este documento de trabajo es cubrir esta brecha y abordar el auge de los movimientos evangélicos desde una perspectiva politológica, a partir de las siguientes hipótesis: 1) la identidad religiosa no genera automáticamente identidad política; 2) la propuesta de alternativas políticas evangélicas depende tanto del peso demográfico de estas iglesias en algunos países (caso centroamericano), como del debilitamiento progresivo de los partidos políticos tradicionales, envueltos en casos de corrupción, de forma que la crisis institucional abre el espacio político a estas organizaciones, que solidifican nuevos principios de agregación, y 3) el evangelismo ha mostrado un elevado pragmatismo y desarrollado nuevas estrategias políticas, aliándose con fuerzas conservadoras, en defensa de lo que denominamos “una nueva agenda moral”, extremadamente tradicionalista y reaccionaria. En torno a esta agenda, se estaría conformando en la región una triple alianza conservadora, entre el evangelismo neopentecostal, el catolicismo más ortodoxo y la derecha neoliberal, que adquiere un renovado interés en el contexto de lucha contra la COVID-19

Electromyographic biofeedback training for reducing muscle pain and tension on masseter and temporal muscles: A pilot study

Due to the absence of agreement about an effective unified treatment for temporomandibular disorders, non-invasive therapies such as EMG-biofeedback generate a greater interest. Furthermore, most studies to the present show methodological deficiencies that must be solved in the future, which makes important to emphasize this line of studies. Fourteen patients were selected for this case series study, and replied to a questionnaire concerning awareness of bruxism, painful muscles, and muscle tension. They also practiced an intraoral exploration (occlusal analysis and mandibular dynamics), and an extraoral exploration of the head and neck muscles and the temporomandibular joint. Before each session, patients responded to a questionnaire about the subjective perceived improvement. In each session, a period of three minutes of pre-biofeedback EMG activity of right masseter and temporal muscles was registered, then patients performed 30 iterations of visual EMG-biofeedback training and finally, a period of three minutes of post-EMG activity was also registered for those muscles. Patients performed four sessions. A decrease in painful symptoms was found for all patients since the first session. EMG activity decreases (p<0,05) in both muscles during the biofeedback training stage, in the four sessions. It is also observed a decrease (p<0,05) in EMG activity in the masseter muscle at the post-biofeedback stage, in the second and third sessions. There is likewise a decrease in EMG post-biofeedback activity of the temporal muscle (p<0,05) in sessions two, three, and four. EMG-biofeedback training produces a decrease in EMG activity in both masseter and temporal muscles during the session. This decrease persists during the post-biofeedback period since the second session. Also there is a decrease in painful symptoms for all patients

Heavy metals in soil treated with sewage sludge composting, their effects on yield and uptake of broad bean seeds (Vicia faba, L.)

The final use that may be given to biosolids that result from the treatment of residual municipal waters depends on their physicochemical and microbiological characteristics. Their organic matter content and wealth of essential elements may allow their use for agricultural fertilization purposes. The objective of this research project was to evaluate the physicochemical interactions between soil treated with biosolids and compost from municipal residual waters, and the nutritional parameters of broad bean seeds (Vicia faba L.). The studied area is located in the central region of the Mexican Republic. The biosolids were treated with aerated static pile composting. The experimental work was performed in the area surrounding the East Toluca Macroplant, where nine 2 × 3m plots were defined and distributed in a Latin square; 3 plots were used as controls (without conditioning), 3 were conditioned with 4.5Mgha−1 of biosolids on a dry base, and 3 were conditioned with the same amount of compost. The parameters determined for biosolids, compost, and soil were: pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter (OM), total nitrogen, available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, Na and K), total and available heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn); for the plant: height reached, green seeds productivity and yield per treatment (ton ha−1); for the seeds: humidity, ashes, fiber, fats, protein, starch and total and available heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn). pH was slightly acid in soil treated with biosolids (6.71). OM and CEC did not represent significant differences. Total concentrations of Cr, Zn, Ni and Cu in soil presented significant differences (p < 0.05) between treated soil and the control, Cd was not detected. Cu was the most available metal in soil treated with compost (15.31%), Cd and Cr were not detected. The plants had higher growth rates with biosolids (112.22 cm) and compost (103.73 cm); higher Green broad bean productivity and higher seed yield, especially in plots containing biosolids, which had rates three times higher than the control. In regards to broad bean seeds, content of ashes, fiber, fats, protein, starch and heavy metals (Cu, Ni and Zn), there were no significant differences between the treatments. Cd and Cr were not detected. In conclusion, it has been proven that the use of biosolids and compost studied in this broad bean crop do not involve an environmental risk, and thus give way to a solution to the problem of final disposition of biosolids in the region

Mid-infrared optical properties of pyrolytic boron nitride in the 390 to 1050 ∘^{\circ}C temperature range using spectral emissivity measurements

This paper shows a systematic experimental and theoretical study on the temperature dependence of the infrared optical properties of pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN), from 390 to 1050 $^{\circ}$CC for wavelengths between 4 and 16 {\mu}m. The temperature dependence of these properties has never been analyzed before. The measured emissivity spectra were fitted to a dielectric function model and an effective medium approximation. The phonon frequencies and dielectric constants agreed well with room temperature experimental values from the literature, as well as with ab initio and first principles calculations. In addition, the phonon frequencies of the perpendicular mode and the dielectric constants of the parallel mode showed an appreciable parabolic temperature dependence, which justifies the interest of more theoretical efforts in order to explain this behavior. Finally, the results of this work demonstrate that thermal emission spectroscopy allows obtaining the values of the optical and dielectric parameters of impure ceramic materials in a simple manner as a function of temperature.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Microfluidic fuel cells on paper: Meeting the power needs of next generation lateral flow devices

Lateral flow test strips have dominated the rapid diagnostics landscape for decades. Recently, the emergence of paper microfluidics has brought new functionalities to these porous materials, and the search for instrument-free point-of-care devices has driven the development of different types of energy sources to fulfill their power needs. This work presents the development of microfluidic fuel cells as paper-based power sources in a standard lateral flow test format. These fuel cells benefit from the laminar flow occurring in a porous material by capillarity to separately react with two parallel streams, anolyte and catholyte, without an ionic exchange membrane or external pumps. It has been shown that the devices are capable of delivering power densities in the range of 1-5 mW cm-2 using solutions of methanol and KOH. The incorporation of a conjugate pad to store the KOH electrolyte in a solid form and a methanol-rich agar gel on top of the reaction membrane allows the fuel cell to function soaking a single sample pad with just water. The presented microfluidic fuel cell approach would enable a more straightforward integration with typical lateral flow test strips and a cost-effective manufacturing. This work represents the starting point in the development of a power source for capillary-based autonomous sensing systems capable of harvesting the energy needed for the measurement from the biological sample to be analyzed. This journal is © 2014 the Partner Organisations.This research was partially supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme and DURSI of the Generalitat de Catalunya under contract 2009SGR00228. N. S. would like to thank the financial support received from her postdoctoral program Ram´on y Cajal. S. R. acknowledges project ENE2010-15381 for financial support. The authors acknowledge the support for the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer Reviewe