Coeovolutionary Threshold Dynamics

We present a generic threshold model for the co-evolution of the structure of a network and the state of its nodes. We focus on regular directed networks and derive equations for the evolution of the system toward its absorbing state. It is shown that the system displays a transition from a connected phase to a fragmented phase that depends on its initial configuration. Computer simulations are performed and confirm the theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Teaching from a Critical Perspective / Enseñando de Una Perspectiva Crítica: Conceptualization, Reflection, and Application of Chicana/o Pedagogy

This paper addresses the relationship between critical pedagogy and Chicana/o pedagogy to show the need for the use of the latter in academe. The authors present the idea of a “plática” (Spanish for intellectual conversation) as a way to dialogue through literature on Chicana/o pedagogy, and show its defining characteristics. With a biographical placing of the authors/participants and their students in a racially/ethnically hostile academy, plática is used to illustrate examples of Chicana/o pedagogy in practice, and how this is resisted by students on ideological ground. A discussion concludes the paper

Paradoxical images of the student in Spanish educational reforms (1990-2002)

After the Franco dictatorship was over, Spanish education entered into an era of educational reforms that culminated in 1990 with the establishment of a new legal regulation of the system that has a distinctly social democratic nature. This situation has encouraged the proliferation of discourses about education, and especially about its principle actors who identities and functions continue to be discussed. In this paper we study the contradictory images about the student (and about childhood in general) that appear in discourses concerning educational reform. We draw upon data taken from interviews with diverse actors in the politics of Spanish education that were conducted as part of a research project supported by the European Commission. This analysis finally extends to the foreseeable and drastic reorientation of these reforms that is being proposed at present by the new conservative government with the Law of Educational Quality.peer-reviewe

Mass Media and the Ideology of Appropriation in Peru: The Rationalizations and Justifications Used in Peru for the Invasion and Appropriation of the Lands Used by the Mascho Piro Tribe

In Peru today uncontacted tribes are facing racist and culturally engrained biased perceptions that view and present these communities as being primitive and violent beings. These discriminatory, prejudiced and ethno-centric attitudes serve as a normative violence and the backbone of pro-colonization arguments used by governments and agencies to not only establish contact where convenient, but to substantiate the annexing of their lands and resources. Responsible media coverage of these groups is particularly important, in order for human rights, territorial rights, and right to no contact of Amazonian indigenous tribes be recognized and respected both locally and by the international community (Watson, 2013). Recent studies have shown that globally, indigenous people today have poorer indices of health and well-being than most other population groups in the same countries (Stephens et al, 2006). Isolated peoples are particularly vulnerable with extremely high rates of morbidity and mortality related to the introduction of new diseases (Napolitano 2007, Hurtado et al 2001). The impact of contact and of allowing extraction of resources within the lands of Amazonian indigenous tribes has been described by anthropologists and missionaries as genocide (e.g. Shepard 1999, SLOPA 1980-1989). Virgin soil epidemics – epidemics of ‘novel’ diseases introduced by outsiders – have accounted for the deaths of millions of indigenous Americans over the last five hundred years (Dobyns 1993, Myers 1988). First ‘face-to-face’ contacts are estimated to lead to the death of between a third and half of the population within the first five years, and sometimes more (Hill and Hurtado, 1996). The aggressive and rapid “expansion of mega-development and construction projects (oil and gas extraction, mining, hydro-electric dams, railroads and highways), logging and agro-industries (cattle, soya and ethanol)” leaves uncontacted peoples vulnerable to disease and exploitation and the disappearance of their peoples all at the will of large private economic and political interests (Watson, 2013). This research paper will focus on the societal and economic factors leading to forced contact of the isolated Mascho Piro tribe in the Madre de Dios region of Peru and attempts to contribute to this body of work by analyzing media coverage of recent sightings and established contact. This paper presents an in depth review of indigenous human rights through a content analysis of Peruvian newspaper headline coverage during 2007 and 2015 involving the Mascho Piro tribe and surrounding communities through a study of themes, issue attributes, tone, and actors

Respuesta morfofisiológica asociada al gradiente altitudinal en la lagartija sceloporus grammicus

Los ambientes de altas elevaciones proporcionan terreno fértil para el estudio de posibles variaciones morfofisiológicas en vertebrados, esto debido a cambios en parámetros ambientales como bajas temperaturas y una menor disponibilidad de oxígeno, entre otras. En el caso de reptiles resulta especialmente interesante, ya que estos organismos al ser ectotermos no pueden producir calor corporal de forma autónoma, por lo que dependen de la temperatura ambiental en conjunto con estrategias morfológicas y conductuales para mantener su temperatura corporal en un rango funcional. Sceloporus grammicus es una especie de lagartija perteneciente a la familia Phrynosomatidae, presenta una amplia distribución altitudinal que supera los 4000 m. por lo que representa un buen modelo estudio para estudiar potenciales variaciones morfofisiológicas. El objetivo de este trabajo es comparar las características hematológicas y algunos rasgos de termorregulación en la lagartija Sceloporus grammicus en un gradiente altitudinal que abarca poblaciones a 2500, 3400 y 4300 m. En la parte hematológica se evaluó el conteo de eritrocitos, porcentaje de hematocrito, concentración de hemoglobina, área celular, electrolitos, presión de gases, lactato y glucosa; para termorregulación se tomó en cuanta la temperatura de selección, índices de termorregulación de Hertz, temperaturas críticas, velocidad de calentamiento y reflectancia de la coloración dorsal. Los resultados indican que los rasgos sanguíneos se comportan de forma asintótica, mientras que los valores de gasometría no muestran diferencias significativas. Los rasgos de termorregulación muestran que a pesar de los ambientes de alta elevaciones son menos adecuados para las lagartijas no muestran cambios en la temperatura de selección y velocidad de calentamiento, sin embargo la población media muestra mayor resistencia a bajas y altas temperaturas, por otra parte la reflectancia de la coloración dorsal es menor a bajas temperaturas y altas elevaciones, por lo que la población más alta es más oscura. En conclusión Sceloporus grammicus presenta cambios morfofisiológicos para mantener la homeostasis en respuesta a cambios en las condiciones ambientales de altas elevaciones.CONACY

Construction Partnering: Can These Protocols Build a Stronger Labor-Management Community?

In an expansive marketplace where large organizations in the construction, manufacturing, service and union industries are facing increased global competition, collaborative labor relations are essential to maximizing efficiency and productivity. It is for this reason that developing collaboration between labor and management is highly researched and consulted by academics and professionals throughout the world. Although various models of collaboration have been developed, none have been found to clearly overcome that insidious conflict and paradigm of Labor vs. Management. The purpose of this paper is to provide academics and consultants (mediators/facilitators) an additional perspective for designing, developing and implementing the best possible collaborative labor-management relationship model. This paper will provide a model by which the roles in the construction industry parallel and match the roles of management and labor in the manufacturing/service industry. Then five specific protocols in construction partnering will be reviewed and considered for their applicability and potential benefit to the labor-management community. Throughout, the effect upon the role of the mediator/facilitator will be discussed

The evolution of urban projects (up) and contemporary paradigm changes

El tema abordado surge de la línea de investigación en desarrollo vinculada con las Intervenciones Urbanas en la Ciudad Contemporánea, y pone énfasis en la escala intermedia o proyecto urbano (en adelante PU) como instrumento de intervención y transformación de la ciudad. En este sentido, es objetivo de este artículo presentar los cambios sufridos en su conceptualización e implementación identificando distintas familias o generaciones (ejemplificadas con casos), tributarias de cambios contextuales y epistemológicos significativos, que en el marco de la crisis estructural del capitalismo avanzado y otros procesos de cambio e incertidumbre característicos de la inflexión entre los siglos XX y XXI, condujeron a la sociedad a interpelar saberes y prácticas urbanísticas. La estrategia metodológica utilizada para la identificación de la evolución del PU como instrumento de intervención es de naturaleza exploratoria, de alcance explicativo, basada en la identificación de casos y referentes nacionales e internacionales en la temática.This paper’s subject emerges from the line of research in development linked with Urban Innovations in Contemporary Cities. It emphasizes the intermediate scale or urban project (UP) as a tool for transformation of the city. In this sense, it is the aim of this paper to present the changes undergone in the conceptualization and implementation of UPs by identifying different families or generations of them (exemplified with cases). It is considered that these are emerging from significant contextual and epistemological changes within the structural crisis of advanced capitalism and other processes resulting from the uncertainties characteristic of the inflection between the XX and XXI centuries, which have led societies to question past knowledge and urban practices. The methodological strategy used to identify the evolution of UPs as an instrument of urban change is exploratory in nature and scope based on the identification of cases and national and international thematic planes of reference.Fil: Etulain, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo. Centro de Investigaciones Urbanas y Territoriales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Biffis, Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo. Centro de Investigaciones Urbanas y Territoriales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin