Transnational audiences and the reception of television news: a study of Mexicans in Los Angeles

This doctoral contribution borrows from the discursive practices of transnationalism and diaspora in order to articulate the concept of "transnational audiences" in the United States. The project identifies transnational audiences as formed by individuals and families whose lives straddle two national territories. It draws on the traditions of cultural studies and reception analysis as a strategy to explore the relation between media use and novel experiences of migration in a context of contemporary globalization. This conceptual background is the result of empirical research conducted in Los Angeles which investigated the television news reception of 67 informants of Mexican origin during three months in 2006. Relying on a range of qualitative research methods based in the domestic settings of the participants, the project found high levels of interests across a variety of news occurring in Los Angeles, the US, Mexico and further afield. During interviews, television news-viewing sessions and in daily written accounts, respondents constantly conveyed the idea of being directly impacted by a wide variety of events and developments in the news, regardless of geographic proximity. Heightened sensitivity to realities unfolding in nearby and distant places, it will be argued, would be a result of transnational communities’ connections with different social, cultural, economic and political contexts. These links emerged in a variety of ways throughout the research activities. Notably, the interactions in which members of families engaged when discussing the news, revealed the re-articulation – and possible subversion – of patriarchal structures regulating relationships between males and females. At the same time, the research provides hints of a possible intertwining between the mediated and unmediated experiences of contributors to the study, who constantly informed their understanding of the news on the basis of interpersonal and mediated communication, knowledge of places and locations, and circumstances attached to opportunities and constraints related to aspects such as migration and citizen status. While in need of further systematization, this thesis’ findings are relevant for they highlight the need to operationalize the transnational audience in ways which differentiate it from those media publics who are based in their countries of origin. At the same time, this intervention highlights the need to question or move forward from established forms of thinking about the media use of non-native peoples in the developed world. The project as a whole opens a window to explore an alternative academic vocabulary to the notions of "ethnic" and "minority" audiences, privileged in US scholarly endeavour

Casimir effect in 2+1 dimensional noncommutative theories

We study the Dirichlet Casimir effect for a complex scalar field on two noncommutative spatial coordinates plus a commutative time. To that end, we introduce Dirichlet-like boundary conditions on a curve contained in the spatial plane, in such a way that the correct commutative limit can be reached. We evaluate the resulting Casimir energy for two different curves: (a) Two parallel lines separated by a distance $L$, and (b) a circle of radius $R$. In the first case, the resulting Casimir energy agrees exactly with the one corresponding to the commutative case, regardless of the values of $L$ and of the noncommutativity scale $\theta$, while for the latter the commutative behaviour is only recovered when $R >> \sqrt{\theta}$. Outside of that regime, the dependence of the energy with $R$ is substantially changed due to noncommutative corrections, becoming regular for $R \to 0$.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Caracterización morfoagronómica de cultivares de ajo mediante análisis de componentes principales.

"Con el propósito de conocer la variabilidad genética de una colección colombiana de ajo, se llevó a cabo el presente trabajo. En efecto, en el segundo semestre de 1990 y primero de 1991 en el C.I. Tibaitatá, se sembraron 14 cultivares de ajo. Con base en el coeficiente de repetibilidad ""r"" se encontró que hay alto efecto ambiental para algunos caracteres tanto vegetativos como reproductivos. El análisis de componentes principales mostró que los primeros 4 factores explican el 81 por ciento de la variación total. Los factores primero, tercero y cuarto están relacionados con el rendimiento, representados por el número y peso de los dientes tamaño A (8x17 mm) y el segundo vector estuvo asociado con caracteres vegetativos como altura de planta, reacción a enfermedades y uniformidad del cultivo. El estudio permitió establecer que existe variabilidad genética entre los materiales de ajo evaluados"Ajo-Allium sativu

The meaning of maxima and minima in first order reversal curves: Determining the interaction between species in a sample

First-order reversal curves (FORCs) are a characterization technique for magnetic materials used in a wide range of research fields. Since their first application in the Earth Sciences two decades ago, their importance in science has been continuously growing and new experimental techniques have been subsequently designed based on the original idea of FORCs. Nonetheless, very recent experimental works on very well designed and simple magnetic structures demonstrate that even for the most simple cases the interpretation of FORC data lacks understanding. In this work, we address this problem analytically, explaining the meaning of maxima, minima and noisy tails and set a strategy to extract the interaction field between magnetic structures. The origin of this interaction field is often the magnetostatic energy, however, we propose that this strategy could be applied for estimating exchange interactions too

Daily rhythms of body temperature around lambing in sheep measured non-invasively

Fifteen ewes had data-loggers affixed under the tail, programmed to record temperature (T) every 5 min, storing up to 72 h of data. Ewes were monitored to identify time of lambing (time 0). Lambing period lasted 5 d; thereafter seven ewes which yielded data for 24 h before and after lambing were selected. Mean T (±S.E.M.) was 39.03±0.02°C. Mean T in the 24 h preceding lambing (38.68±0.02°C) was lower than it was in the 24 h following parturition (39.38±0.03°C) (P< 0.0001). T was lower in the 12 h preceding lamb birth (38.56±0.10°C) than it was in the previous 12 h (-24 to -12, 38.76±0.02°C) (P<0.0001); thereafter, T was lowest precisely at parturition (mean T = 38.18±0.03°C) and increases rapidly and peaked (mean T = 39.70±0.04°C) 2 h after lambing. In the 12 h following delivery (39.28±0.02°C), T increased, especially in the window +12 to +24 h (39.51±0.03°C). In conclusion, T of ewes changed around parturition, with a reduction 12 h before lambing, followed by a rapid increase in the hours following parturition. The data-loggers used proved a high degree of sensitivity to detect physiological T changes, which confirmed that they are appropriate for use in sheep studies

Identificación y análisis de la variabilidad morfológica de 59 cultivares de papa criolla (Solanum phureja Juz. et Buk.).

Papa criolla-Solanum phurej

Desarrollo de técnicas electroforéticas de proteínas e isoenzimas para la caracterización de germoplasma de ajo (Allium sativum L.).

Debido a ciertas limitaciones que presentan los marcadores morfológicos para la identificación de materiales cercanos genéticamente (en colecciones de germoplasma), se hace necesario recurrir a métodos más confiables tales como los marcadores bioquímicos (proteínas e isoenzimas) que discriminan cultivares comparando los productos de la actividad génica. En este trabajo la electroforésis en gel de polyacrilamida fue desarrollada para determinar electroforegramas de proteínas e isoenzimas esterasas en cultivares de ajo (Allium sativum L.) como marcadores potenciales de genotipos. Extractos de diferentes tejidos (hoja, raíz y bulbillos) fueron probados. En general, los extractos de bulbillos dan patrones de proteínas con mayor número de bandas, en relación con los de raíz y hojas; en el caso de isoenzimas los mejores patrones se presentaron con extractos de hojas. Los electroforegramas de proteínas e isoenzimas permitieron detectar variación intervarietal entre los 14 cultivares estudiados; se encontró que hay 2 grupos de variedades que difieren en la morfología de la planta, un grupo representando por los ajos sin túnica envolvente de los bulbos y el otro por los genotipos de bulbo cubierto por túnicas, a la vez, conformado por los subgrupos ajos Peruanos pequeños, Chilenos, y ajos de bulbo grande GigantesInstituto Colombiano Agropecuario - IC

Comportamiento agronómico de 175 genotipos de lenteja (Lens culinaris Medic) en el departamento de Boyacá.

De ICARDA, en Siria, se recibieron 175 genotipos de lenteja y se evaluaron por su comportamiento agronómico en al Estación Experimental Surbatá del ICA, en el municipio de Duitama, localizada a 2550 m.s.n.m., con una temperatura promedio de 13 gredos centígrados y 800 mm de precipitación anual, y en el municipio de Jenesano a 2160 m.s.n.m., 18 grados centígrados y 1200 mm. En Surbatá, los ensayos se realizaron en 1986B y 1987A, y en Jenesamo en 1986B. En las pruebas se utilizó como testigo el material regional lenteja común. El trabajo tuvo como objetivo la selección de materiales de lenteja por precocidad, rendimiento y resistencia a enfermedades. De los materiales de lenteja evaluados, se determinó que el genotipo ILL 4605 procedente de Argentina y denominado precoz fué el de menos ciclo de vida con 140 dias a cosecha. También, sobresalieron los materiales ILL 5426, ILL 707 Y Flip 84-100L con ciclos de vida entre 160 a 168 días. El potencial de rendimiento fué de 2209.5, 1662.0, 1753.0, 2151.5 kg de grano seco/ha respectivamente, superando en el mejor de los casos hasta en 75 por ciento al testigo que rindió 1260 kg/ha. El peso promedio de 100 semillas varió entre 5.0 y 6.5 g, estos genotipos y el testigo mostraron tolerancia a la pudrición de raíces causada por Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis, al ataque de roya Uromyces fabae y a Botrytis sp. Los resultados preliminares permiten concluir que la lenteja podría volverse a cultivar con buenas perspectivas en el departamento de Boyacá, tanto en zonas tradicionales del cultivo como en nuevas áreas de producciónLenteja- Lens culinari

One-loop effects in a self-dual planar noncommutative theory

We study the UV properties, and derive the explicit form of the one-loop effective action, for a noncommutative complex scalar field theory in 2+1 dimensions with a Grosse-Wulkenhaar term, at the self-dual point. We also consider quantum effects around non-trivial minima of the classical action which appear when the potential allows for the spontaneous breaking of the U(1) symmetry. For those solutions, we show that the one-loop correction to the vacuum energy is a function of a special combination of the amplitude of the classical solution and the coupling constant.Comment: Version to appear in JHE

Welfare of horses from Mexico and the United States of America transported for slaughter in Mexico: Fitness profiles for transport and pre-slaughter logistics

Every year thousands of horses from Mexico and the United States of America (USA) are transported to slaughter in Mexico, but little is known about their welfare or pre-slaughter logistics. In this study, we recorded the origin, sex, age and condition of horses (121 journeys, 2648 animals) upon arrival to an abattoir in northern Mexico, including transport details. Horse welfare was measured indirectly via individual scores for body condition, coat quality, lameness, ocular and nasal discharge, as well as reactivity to a chute restraint test, all performed shortly after unloading. The average journey duration was 9.69 (±7.6) hours for horses from Mexico and 16.77 (±4.51) hours for horses from the USA (77 % of all journeys). The prevalence of ocular discharge, nasal discharge, skin wounds, lameness and diarrhoea, were 23 %, 12 %, 11 %, 9 %, 1 % (respectively) of all the horses observed, with no significant differences between Mexican and American horses (P = 0.05). During the chute test the American horses were calmer than the Mexican ones (P < 0.001), who were more restless and aggressive (P = 0.001). Likewise, vocalizations in their three variants during the restraint, neigh/whinny (P = 0.018), nicker (P < 0.001), and snort (P = 0.018), were more common in horses from Mexico. In order to help characterize fitness for transport, a two-step cluster analysis was applied using the welfare indicators, suggesting the existence of four clusters (C) evaluated on arrival at the abattoir (from good to very poor fitness): good (profile C4, n = 769, 29.1 %), average (profile C1, n = 799 horses, 30.2 %), poor (profile C3, n = 586, 22.1 %) and very poor (profile C2, n = 494, 18.6 %). In fact, the C4 best welfare group had 0% lame, 0% nasal discharge, 16.4 % ocular discharge, 7.9 % skin wounds. Instead, the C2 poorest welfare group had 45.8 % lame, 61.1 % nasal discharge, 42.8 % ocular discharge, and 19.9 % skin wounds. Results show potential for using nasal discharge, lameness and ocular discharge as key indicators of horse fitness and welfare on abattoir. The study provides detailed scientific data to help establish strategies regarding optimal days of recovery post-transport and fattening for homogenization of weights between animals of different origins, logistic planning, and optimization of logistic resources to minimize the biological cost of long-distance transport