Chakas, fronteras y jóvenes en un barrio criminalizado de la Ciudad de México

Este artículo responde a un análisis etnográfico sobre los diferentes modos en que los varones jóvenes de un barrio criminalizado encuentran “su lugar” en una geografía moral en la que se valoran y jerarquizan sus calles, formas de vivir y cuerpos. Esta  nterpretación se aleja así de aquellas lecturas romantizadas de ‘lo barrial’ y destaca cómo en las sociabilidades juveniles del espacio local se van imponiendo divisiones, estereotipos y miedos sociales. Ello deriva en la construcción del chaka, un fantasma que corresponde a la narrativa pública sobre los ‘jóvenes pobres’ y la ‘otredad’ siempre sospechosa de la violencia y todos los malestares sociales en la comunidad. La presente investigación de campo abarca dos años (2018-2020) en compañía de los jóvenes que residen en una colonia popular en el oriente de la Ciudad de México

Ciudades en construcción permanente: ¿Destino de casas para todos?

La presente colección Ciudades de la Gente representa a hombres y mujeres cuya cultura popular, producto de las mezclas de todos aquellos que vivían y otros que han llegado a nuestros territorios, han hecho de lugares declarados como no aptos, lugares donde vivir, y han creado dentro de nuestras ciudades, la extensión de lo distinto. Son hombres y mujeres cuyo trabajo, el que tienen para aportar, junto al de otros y otras de su misma condición, les ha permitido autoproducir interesantes y sin duda bellos espacios donde convivir. Los profesores e investigadores miembros del Grupo de Trabajo Habitat Popular e Inclusión Social de CLACSO, nos unimos a todos aquellos hacedores que, superando los miedos y con deseos de avanzar, se atreven a caminar por lo desconocido y a no conformarse con lo conocido de otras realidades, buscando en conjunto afirmar, como derechos universales, las posibilidades de vidas dignas y de construcciones colectivas dentro de nuestras ciudades. Emprendemos la tarea de describir e interpretar el habitat popular y la inclusión social, abriendo posibilidades para que, experimentados y debutantes líderes populares e investigadores, hablen sobre "las ciudades de la gente" de muy diversos modos

Testing the generality of above-ground biomass allometry across plant functional types at the continent scale

Accurate ground-based estimation of the carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems is critical to quantifying the global carbon budget. Allometric models provide cost-effective methods for biomass prediction. But do such models vary with ecoregion or plant functional type? We compiled 15,054 measurements of individual tree or shrub biomass from across Australia to examine the generality of allometric models for prediction above-ground biomass. This provided a robust case study because Australia includes ecoregions ranging from arid shrublands to tropical rainforests, and has a rich history of biomass research, particularly in planted forests. Regardless of ecoregion, for five broad categories of plant functional type (shrubs; multi-stemmed trees; trees of the genus Eucalyptus and closely related genera; other trees of high wood density; and other trees of low wood density), relationships between biomass and stem diameter were generic. Simple power-law models explained 84-95% of the variation in biomass, with little improvement in model performance when other plant variables (height, bole wood density), or site characteristics (climate, age, management) were included. Predictions of stand-based biomass from allometric models of varying levels of generalisation (species-specific, plant functional type) were validated using whole-plot harvest data from 17 contrasting stands (range: 9 to 356 Mg ha(-1) ). Losses in efficiency of prediction were < 1% if generalised models were used in place of species-specific models. Furthermore, application of generalised multi-species models did not introduce significant bias in biomass prediction in 92% of the 53 species tested. Further, overall efficiency of stand-level biomass prediction was 99%, with a mean absolute prediction error of only 13%. Hence, for cost-effective prediction of biomass across a wide range of stands, we recommend use of generic allometric models based on plant functional types. Development of new species-specific models is only warranted when gains in accuracy of stand-based predictions are relatively high (e.g. high-value monocultures). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Reporting bias in medical research - a narrative review

Reporting bias represents a major problem in the assessment of health care interventions. Several prominent cases have been described in the literature, for example, in the reporting of trials of antidepressants, Class I anti-arrhythmic drugs, and selective COX-2 inhibitors. The aim of this narrative review is to gain an overview of reporting bias in the medical literature, focussing on publication bias and selective outcome reporting. We explore whether these types of bias have been shown in areas beyond the well-known cases noted above, in order to gain an impression of how widespread the problem is. For this purpose, we screened relevant articles on reporting bias that had previously been obtained by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care in the context of its health technology assessment reports and other research work, together with the reference lists of these articles

LA HOMBRÍA DEL CUERPO1 MASCULINIDAD Y RESPETO DESDE LOS GIMNASIOS CALLEJEROS DE CARACAS

Del contexto venezolano se ha señalado latransgresión de lo normativo y la imposiciónsobre el otro, prácticas que comprometena los hombres en la reproducción desistemas de poder, experiencias personalesy estrategias que responden a una visiónde la hombría. Estos elementos sonreflejados en un ideal de masculinidadapreciado en Caracas, ciudad donde poseerseguridad deviene en rasgo diferencial,donde las cuotas de respeto funcionancomo identidad prestigiosa y donde el éxitomaterial es una imagen compulsiva devirilidad. Este modelo no es único yunánime; existen espacios para modelosalternativos. En este estudio, se analiza unode estos modelos, el de una masculinidadrepresentada y construida desde locorporal, por lo cual, se estudian lasvivencias y subjetividades de los gruposmasculinos que concurren los gimnasioscallejeros de una ciudad que no celebra suscaracterísticas sociales, psicológicas ycorporales

LA HOMBRÍA DEL CUERPO1 MASCULINIDAD Y RESPETO DESDE LOS GIMNASIOS CALLEJEROS DE CARACAS

Del contexto venezolano se ha señalado latransgresión de lo normativo y la imposiciónsobre el otro, prácticas que comprometena los hombres en la reproducción desistemas de poder, experiencias personalesy estrategias que responden a una visiónde la hombría. Estos elementos sonreflejados en un ideal de masculinidadapreciado en Caracas, ciudad donde poseerseguridad deviene en rasgo diferencial,donde las cuotas de respeto funcionancomo identidad prestigiosa y donde el éxitomaterial es una imagen compulsiva devirilidad. Este modelo no es único yunánime; existen espacios para modelosalternativos. En este estudio, se analiza unode estos modelos, el de una masculinidadrepresentada y construida desde locorporal, por lo cual, se estudian lasvivencias y subjetividades de los gruposmasculinos que concurren los gimnasioscallejeros de una ciudad que no celebra suscaracterísticas sociales, psicológicas ycorporales

Cockfighting in Venezuela: Capitalist Paroxysm within a State Controlled Economy

 In 2014 in Guasipati, an agricultural and cattle town in Southeastern Venezuela, I witnessed a group of men of all generations who staged themselves through the orgasmic rite of cockfights. In Geertz's famous ethnography of cockfighting in Bali, the ‘irrationality’ of betting appears at first as surprising. But cockfighting is a game that dramatizes status and tests group solidarity, it is a measure of moral import and of meaning. This photographic record of masculinities at play in cockfighting builds on Geertz’ interpretation. The images were taken in the gallera (cockpit) of Guasipati during a clandestine night. It is here that the participating men engage in a form of capitalist communication that directly questions the Bolivarian Revolution. Many are workers within socialist enterprises, and they tremendously enjoy this illegal and transgressive activity. Within this space, the patterns of exchange become competitive and inscribed in subterranean capitalist circuits, evoking a symbolism of masculine power disputes (who is a man and who not) vis-à-vis the prohibitions of socialism. It is here that illegal enrichment that serves as a source and mark of status within the state controlled economy is effectively played out. Behind the  individual and collective euphoria seen in the photographs, there are even more euphoric social tensions of betting and status at work

Adjustment of the adolescent in rural foster homes : a pioneer study of the problems in giving service to adolescent boys and girsl, and the difficulties this age group has in adjustment to foster homes in the rural community

This is the first study of the adjustment of adolescent children placed in foster homes in the rural community in British Columbia. As the writer is familiar with Kamloops district, this area is used to show an average rural community in British Columbia. The services given children by the Social Welfare Branch have been described as well as the development of present child welfare services. In the children studied, some of the fifty-two have now been discharged from care, while others are still in foster homes. Twelve illustrations have been selected to show the problems the adolescent has in adjustment in a foster home, as well as the problems the social workers may have in giving service. There are both failures and successes in the adjustment of the children studied. There is evidence that further evaluation of the present services to adolescent children in foster care is needed. There seems to be a need as well to review the type of care most suited to this age group. Children who have been in care for a long period before they have reached the transition from childhood to adulthood seem to adjust easier. However, there appears to be need to re-evaluate these placements periodically, as there is evidence that problems often arise during this time. The child who comes into care either just before the period of transition or during it, is the one who most often shows that he cannot relate to adults. There is real necessity for further study of this group of children. Although there are definite problems in the adjustment of the adolescent, it is gratifying to note that the number of replacements in the rural community is small. It is speculated that the frequency with which a child is moved is much less than in urban centres. In conclusion, it is felt that there is a need for review of services given this age group by district offices. This study only touches on the multitude of problems involved in foster placement of adolescent boys and girls. It is hoped that the study may act as an incentive to others interested in this problem to evaluate further the adjustment of this age group in foster homes and the present program in operation.Arts, Faculty ofSocial Work, School ofGraduat

Manifestations of Sovereignty in Venezuela and the Spirit of Bolivarian Revolution

On December 8, 2012, in the last speech of the late Comandante Hugo Chávez, the issue of Venezuelan sovereignty reached its climax with the succinct phrase – ‘Today we have Homeland! (Patria)’. Currently, Venezuela is going through a large-scale political conflict, trying to make sense of a pressing economic and humanitarian crisis. The so-called Bolivarian Revolution that began in 1999 as a project of revolutionary and anti-imperialist democracy, plays out today at an unprecedented geopolitical scale, increasingly appearing in international media, a media that distorts the many points of tension between the war and the resistance that Venezuelans experience in their daily lives. The slogan ‘We have Homeland! (Patria)’ has become the center of discord, splitting this nation: while some defend Venezuelan nationalist socialism, others oppose the system that has ‘ruined’ the country’s economy. This photographic essay, produced between 2012 and 2016, as a part of the author’s ethnographic work on geographies and socialist societies in Venezuela, shows the complex ways in which the discourse of national and territorial sovereignty materializes in the state, in the body, in the ways of life, in the city, in the neighborhoods and in the deserters of the Venezuelan socialist regime that faces neoliberal globalization.  Living between the borders of two economies articulated by the state, one socialist and the other capitalist, renders the Venezuelan spirit a subject that is both challenging and contradictory, something that manifests itself in Bolivarianism, the cult of Chávez, the attachment to consumer goods, the ‘escape’ from the system (even in the Caribbean Sea) and the anguish over the economic and political confinement of lives