Four keys to Chilean culture : authoritarianism, legalism, fatalism and compadrazgo

Chilean culture is said to be part of a wider Hispanic American culture that shares many traits (see Godoy et al. 1986; Subercaseaux 1999; Valdivieso and which could be identified as an identity with a Latin American sense (see Rodríguez et al. 2001). In this sense, though it may seem as if any attempt to describe or analyse particular operating elements, processes, systems and structures were a useless task, the nature of identity makes it a multiple and symbolically contradictory phenomenon, with relevant contextual 'consequences' and particularities that help identify a collective imaginary that can be associated with what means to be Chilean. As such, the importance of meaning lies not on its production but rather on its reception; therefore, we aim to address some elements of the reception that we have identified as 'critical' or 'diagnostic'. By 'critical', we mean those elements, which absence would substantively modify what is collectively associated with Chilean culture and by 'diagnostic', we suggest the possibility they offer of exploring meaningful contextual traits. In order to contextualise our analysis, we will focus on three discursive levels, namely organisational/structural, cultural/ideological and identity. At the organisational/structural level, we will make reference to structure and aesthetics in the broader sense of social context as well as in public and private organisations; at cultural/ideological level, we will make reference to practices, rituals, values and behaviours; and at the identity level we will make reference to strategies individuals use to manage their social identities

Gestion escolar y comunidades de aprendizajes, nuevos desafios para una educacion de calidad

58 p.Es cada vez mas preocupante para la sociedad chilena, los bajos rendimientos escolares que logran nuestros niños y niñas. Basta ver las ultimas evaluaciones y los informes mundiales donde somos comparados con otras naciones. La Región del Maule, especialmente la comuna de Talca, si tomamos los últimos resultados del SIMCE no esta ubicada entre los rendimientos escolares mas exitosos (anexo N° 1). Talca debe mejorar y este desafío debe ser enfrentado por todos los sectores involucrados. Esta investigación esta orientada a indagar sobre los rasgos mas destacados que debe tener el docente directivo para crear ambientes favorables para el logro de buenos rendimientos escolares. Para ello se ha establecido una metodología de trabajo donde, en primer lugar, se recogerán los resultados de las pruebas SIMCE y rendimiento escolar de los anos 2001 y 2002 de las escuelas urbanas y municipalizadas de la comuna de Talca, con el fin de seleccionar por rendimiento, las escuelas que servirán de muestra en esta investigación El universo total es de 25 escuelas, de las cuales se trabajara con una muestra de seis colegios. Estos seis colegios serán seleccionados por sus rendimientos escolares, tres con los mas altos y los otros tres con resultados deficitarios. La parte fundamental de esta investigación consiste en llegar a determinar los rasgos mas significativos de la gestión que ejerce el docente directivo en estos colegios y las acciones que realiza para crear condiciones favorables para el aprendizaje. Para logra esto se aplicara un cuestionario a 18 personas en cada uno de los colegios seleccionado

Woolliness assessment in peaches (Cv. Springcrest) by sensory and instrumental means.

Mealiness is a negative attribute of sensory texture, characterised by the lack of juiciness without variation of total water content in the tissues. In peaches, mealiness is also known as "woolliness" and "leatheriness". This internal disorder is characterised by the lack of juiciness and flavour. In peaches, it is associated with interna browning near the stone and the incapacity of ripening although there is externa ripe appearance. Woolliness is associated with inadequate cold storage and is considered as a physiological disorder that appears in stone fruits when an unbalanced pectolitic enzyme activity during storage occurs (Kailasapathy and Melton, 1992). Many attempts have been carried out to identify and measure mealiness and woolliness in fruits. The texture of a food product is composed by a wide spectrum of sensory attributes. Consumer defines the texture integrating simultaneously all the sensory attributes. However, an instrument assesses one or several parameters related to a fraction of the texture spectrum (Kramer, 1973). The complexity of sensory analysis by means of trained panels to assess the quality of some producing processes, supports the attempt to estimate texture characteristics by instrumental means. Some studies have been carried out comparing sensory and instrumental methods to assess mealiness and woolliness. The current study is centered on analysis and evaluation of woolliness in peaches and is part of the European project FAIR CT95 0302 "Mealiness in fruits: consumer perception and means for detection". The main objective of this study was to develop procedures to detect woolly peaches by sensory and by instrumental means, as well as to compare both measuring procedures

Serum levels and removal by haemodialysis and haemodiafiltration of tryptophan-derived uremic toxins in ESKD patients

Tryptophan is an essential dietary amino acid that originates uremic toxins that contribute to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patient outcomes. We evaluated serum levels and removal during haemodialysis and haemodiafiltration of tryptophan and tryptophan-derived uremic toxins, indoxyl sulfate (IS) and indole acetic acid (IAA), in ESKD patients in different dialysis treatment settings. This prospective multicentre study in four European dialysis centres enrolled 78 patients with ESKD. Blood and spent dialysate samples obtained during dialysis were analysed with high-performance liquid chromatography to assess uremic solutes, their reduction ratio (RR) and total removed solute (TRS). Mean free serum tryptophan and IS concentrations increased, and concentration of IAA decreased over pre-dialysis levels (67%, 49%, -0.8%, respectively) during the first hour of dialysis. While mean serum total urea, IS and IAA concentrations decreased during dialysis (-72%, -39%, -43%, respectively), serum tryptophan levels increased, resulting in negative RR (-8%) towards the end of the dialysis session (p < 0.001), despite remarkable Trp losses in dialysate. RR and TRS values based on serum (total, free) and dialysate solute concentrations were lower for conventional low-flux dialysis (p < 0.001). High-efficiency haemodiafiltration resulted in 80% higher Trp losses than conventional low-flux dialysis, despite similar neutral Trp RR values. In conclusion, serum Trp concentrations and RR behave differently from uremic solutes IS, IAA and urea and Trp RR did not reflect dialysis Trp losses. Conventional low-flux dialysis may not adequately clear Trp-related uremic toxins while high efficiency haemodiafiltration increased Trp losses

Fear of non-employability and of economic crisis increaseworkplace harassment through lower organizational welfare orientation

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that economic crisis is a preeminent stressor (i.e., economic stress) that may worsen working conditions and expose individuals to negative acts at work (i.e., workplace bullying). Following an occupational health perspective that considers contextual factors as risk factors for workplace bullying, this study aims to examine the mediation effects of organizational orientation to employee welfare in the economic stress-workplace bullying relationship. A cross-sectional study with the participation of 1004 Italian workers from several organizations was conducted. Our results indicate that economic stress (composed of two dimensions: fear of the economic crisis and perceived non-employability) is associated with workplace bullying through the total mediation of organizational orientation to employee welfare. These results have relevant implications for psychosocial risk assessment in turbulent times

Obesogenic Lifestyle and Its Influence on Adiposity in Children and Adolescents, Evidence from Mexico

Overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) during childhood/adolescence are major public health problems in Mexico. Several obesogenic lifestyle (OL) risk factors have been identified, but the burden and consequences of them in Mexican children/adolescents remain unclear. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of OL components and describe their relationships with adiposity, and OW/OB. A population-based cross-sectional study of Mexican children/adolescents with nutritional assessment, data collection on daily habits and adiposity as fat-mass index (FMI) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed. Individual OL-components: "inactivity," "excessive screen time," "insufficient sleep," "unhealthy-diet", were defined according to non-adherence to previously published healthy recommendations. RESULTS: 1449 subjects were assessed between March 2015 to April 2018. Sixteen percent of subjects had all four OL-components, 40% had three, 35% had two, 9% had one, and 0.5% had none. A cumulative OL score showed a significant dose-response effect with FMI. The combination of inactivity, excessive screen time, and insufficient sleep showed the highest risk association to OW/OB and higher values of FMI. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of OL-components was extremely high and associated with increased adiposity and OW/OB. Several interventions are needed to revert this major public health threat

A global transcriptional network connecting noncoding mutations to changes in tumor gene expression.

Although cancer genomes are replete with noncoding mutations, the effects of these mutations remain poorly characterized. Here we perform an integrative analysis of 930 tumor whole genomes and matched transcriptomes, identifying a network of 193 noncoding loci in which mutations disrupt target gene expression. These 'somatic eQTLs' (expression quantitative trait loci) are frequently mutated in specific cancer tissues, and the majority can be validated in an independent cohort of 3,382 tumors. Among these, we find that the effects of noncoding mutations on DAAM1, MTG2 and HYI transcription are recapitulated in multiple cancer cell lines and that increasing DAAM1 expression leads to invasive cell migration. Collectively, the noncoding loci converge on a set of core pathways, permitting a classification of tumors into pathway-based subtypes. The somatic eQTL network is disrupted in 88% of tumors, suggesting widespread impact of noncoding mutations in cancer

Endometrial area of the blood flow as a marker of endometritis in equine

In this study, uterine blood flow area (BFA) has been evaluated for the first time using power Doppler ultrasound (PD) as a marker of endometritis in mares and jennies. The uterine BFA in healthy mares was greater in oestrus than in diestrus (p&nbsp;&lt;.001). However, differences in endometrial blood flow between oestrus and diestrus were not observed in mares with endometritis. The uterine blood flow in healthy jennies is not affected by the oestrus cycle. Both species showed an increase in endometrial BFA in pathological uterine conditions compared to controls. BFA was a good marker of endometritis with an area under curve (AUC) (estrus:0.94 (p&nbsp;&lt;.001) diestrus:0.98 (p&nbsp;&lt;.001) in mares and AUC (0.91 (p&nbsp;&lt;.0001) in jennies. The results of this preliminary study suggest that PD ultrasound in combination with computerized image analysis has the potential to be a very useful tool in the diagnosis of endometritis