Virgin of Guadalupe: The Evolution of Mexico\u27s Mother Image Into a Cultural Icon

Since its time of creation, the Virgin of Guadalupe image has been used in various political, social, and humanitarian struggles throughout Mexico and the United States. This remarkable image is responsible for unifying the people during post-conquest Mexico when discriminatory treatment and slavery of the indigenous people was common. The image is a symbol of Mexican nationalism embedded with Catholic and Aztec religious beliefs that has evolved into a popular cultural icon. This progression of her popularity can be seen in artistic expression from Mexican artists in the sixteenth century to the Chicano art movement in the twentieth century United States. This thesis is an analysis of the evolution of the Virgin of Guadalupe image through visual art

Dynamic panel data: A useful technique in experiments

Numerous experimental studies use a panel approach to analyze repeated experiments involving a large number of periods. They use “static” panel techniques and do not incorporate any temporal dependency (lags) of the dependent variable. This paper introduces dynamic panel data techniques to experimental economists. This is a standard tool in many other fields of economics and might also be useful in our discipline. It uses the lags of the dependent variable as explanatory variables. Although the coefficients on lagged dependent variables might be far from our interest, the introduction of these lags becomes crucial to control for the dynamics of the process. To show the advantages of this technique, we have compared two datasets using static and dynamic panel data. We conclude that the use of dynamic panel data models in the context of experiments allows to unravel new relationships between experimental variables and highlighting new paths in behaviors

Banking Sector Performance in Latin America: Market Power versus Efficiency

TSince the mid-1990s the banking sector in the Latin American emerging markets has experienced profound changes due to financial liberalisation, a significant increase in foreign investments and greater mergers activities often occurring following financial crises. The wave of consolidation and the rapid increase in market concentration that took place in most countries has generated concerns about the rise in banks’ market power and its potential effects on consumers. This paper advances the existing literature by testing the market power (Structure-Conduct-Performance and Relative Market Power) and efficient structure (X- and scale efficiency) hypotheses for a sample of over 2,500 bank observations in nine Latin American countries over 1997-2005. We use the Data Envelopment Analysis technique to obtain reliable efficiency measures. We produce evidence supporting the efficient structure hypotheses. The findings are particularly robust for the largest banking markets in the region, namely Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Finally, capital ratios and bank size seem to be among the most important factors in explaining higher than normal profits for Latin American banks.Structure-Conduct-Performance; Efficient Structure; Latin American banking; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).

Banking Sector Performance in Some Latin American Countries: Market Power versus Efficiency

The wave of consolidation and the rapid increase in market concentration that took place in most Latin American countries has generated concerns about the rise in banks' market power and its potential effects on consumers. This paper advances the existing literature by testing the market power (Structure-Conduct-Performance and Relative Market Power) and efficient structure (X- and scale efficiency) hypotheses for a sample of over 2,500 bank observations in nine Latin American countries over 1997-2005. We use the Data Envelopment Analysis technique to obtain reliable efficiency measures. We produce evidence supporting the efficient structure hypotheses. Finally, capital ratios and bank size seem to be among the most important factors in explaining profits for these Latin American banks.Structure-Conduct-Performance, Efficient Structure, Banking System in Some Latin American Countries, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

A study of teacher solicitations and student responses during read-alouds with kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students

Read-alouds can be very useful in the classroom to assist students in gaining knowledge and improving reading skills. Educational research documents that there is a link between reading aloud to children and successful beginning reading experiences. Furthermore, the reading research community has established a link between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. However, the value of “talk” or interaction prompted by read-alouds is an area in need of investigation given, what we know about emergent literacy instruction in the context of school reform mandates. The purpose of this investigation was to provide a baseline description of the nature of reading instruction with regard to teachers’ solicitation practices and congruence of student responses as these interactions occur during read-alouds with Kindergarten, first, and second grade students. The significance of this study was to advance the knowledge base of the nature of read-alouds within the context of teacher solicitations and student responses accounting for the value of interaction in the classroom as a means to enhance the literary experience

Identification of the orphan gene Prod 1 in basal and other salamander families.

The urodele amphibians (salamanders) are the only adult tetrapods able to regenerate the limb. It is unclear if this is an ancestral property that is retained in salamanders but lost in other tetrapods or if it evolved in salamanders. The three-finger protein Prod 1 is implicated in the mechanism of newt limb regeneration, and no orthologs have been found in other vertebrates, thus providing evidence for the second viewpoint. It has also been suggested that this protein could play a role in salamander-specific aspects of limb development. There are ten families of extant salamanders, and Prod 1 has only been identified in two of them to date. It is important to determine if it is present in other families and, particularly, the basal group of two families which diverged approximately 200 MYA

Analysis of regularities in the publication of environmental issues: the case of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico

El Estado de Chihuahua, México hace frontera con Estados Unidos de América con quien comparte fuentes de agua y cuencas atmosféricas. Como cualquier región cuenta con situaciones particulares en cuestiones de medio ambiente. En este estudio se identificaron las publicaciones realizadas sobre temáticas de medio ambiente del Estado de Chihuahua por medio del análisis en Scimago Journal Ranking (SJR), el Atlas de la Ciencia Mexicana (ACM), el software Publish or Perish y en la Biblioteca Virtual Ambiental del Estado de Chihuahua (BVA), la cual contiene información especializada de medio ambiente del Estado de Chihuahua y que se encuentra clasificada en las temáticas de Agua, Aire, Suelo, Biodiversidad, Energía, Residuos, Salud Ambiental y Otros. Se encontró que en el país de México como en el Estado de Chihuahua el mayor interés es sobre estudios del Agua. Observando además la importancia de utilizar herramientas como la BVA, que contienen información especializada en una región para un análisis de publicaciones de un área en concreto como el Estado de Chihuahua.The State of Chihuahua, Mexico shares a border with the United States of America who shares water sources and air basins. Like any region has a particular situations in environmental issues. In this study we identified publications on environmental themes in the State of Chihuahua by analyzing in Scimago Journal Ranking (SJR), the Atlas of Mexican Science (ACM), the software Publish or Perish and the Environmental Virtual Library of Chihuahua State (BVA), which contains specialized information on environment issues of the state of Chihuahua and is classified in the themes of Water, Air, Land, Biodiversity, Energy, Waste, Environmental Health and Other. Was found in the country of Mexico and the State of Chihuahua the most interest is on Water studies. It was also noted the importance of using tools like BVA, providing specialized information on a region to an analysis of publications of a specific area as the state of Chihuahua

La alimentación: cuestiones teóricas y empíricas en las Américas

La alimentación se ha tratado de forma marginal en los estudios sobre las sociedades de América del Sur. Por el contrario, en Estados Unidos y Canadá, así como en Europa, la investigación sobre la alimentación ha tenido mayor desarrollo. Este tercer número temático de la revista IdeAs pretende colmar estas lagunas y relanzar una reflexión olvidada por mucho tiempo o abandonada por las ciencias sociales, pero que sigue formando parte del imaginario y de la realidad a ambos lados del Atlántico...

A alimentação: questões teóricas e empíricas nas Américas

A alimentação foi um motivo de interesse apenas marginal nos estudos sobre as sociedades da América do Sul, ao passo que nos Estados Unidos e no Canadá, a pesquisa sobre a alimentação experimentou, como na Europa, um maior desenvolvimento. Este terceiro número temático da revista IdeAs tem como objetivo preencher essa lacuna e relançar uma reflexão há muito tempo esquecida ou negligenciada pelas ciências sociais, mas sempre presente tanto na imaginação quanto no senso comum, nos dois lados do..

L’alimentation : enjeux théoriques et empiriques dans les Amériques

L’alimentation n’a été retenue que marginalement pour étudier les sociétés de l’Amérique du Sud. Inversement, aux États-Unis et au Canada, la recherche sur l’alimentation a connu, comme en Europe, un développement plus important. Ce troisième numéro thématique de la revue IdeAs entend combler cet écart et relancer une réflexion longtemps oubliée ou délaissée par les sciences sociales, mais toujours présente aussi bien dans l’imaginaire que dans le sens commun des deux côtés de l’Atlantique. L..