Another America is Possible: The Impact of NAFTA on the U.S. Latino Community and Lessons for Future Trade Agreements

A joint report by Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) and Public Citizen celebrate the promise of increased interaction and cross-border cooperation among different nationalities on pressing global concerns. This is why we are concerned about the current model of corporate globalization being fostered by "free trade" agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Negotiated behind closed doors by unelected and largely unaccountable bureaucrats who represent mainly business interests, these trade agreements invariably fail to promote equitable regional integration and cooperation. Instead, this model of corporate globalization explicitly benefits large multinational corporations at the expense of workers, farmers, immigrants, women, people of color, the environment and democratic governance. As the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. population, Latinos are and will continue to be among the groups most affected by this model of corporate globalization. Whether newcomers from El Salvador or fifth-generation Mexican-Americans, U.S. Latinos are seeing adverse effects on their job security, health and environment. Many are immigrants who left their homelands due to the economic and social devastation caused by the current globalization model. In both the United States and in their countries of origin, Latinos have seen their environment and their livelihoods harmed by the status quo globalization package of free trade, investment and finance liberalization, new protections for foreign investors and intellectual property, and new powers that enable multinational corporations to attack state, local and federal public interest laws. In this report, we examine the impact of NAFTA on Latino communities throughout the United States. Implemented in 1994, NAFTA is the most fully realized version of the corporate globalization model. It is currently being used as the blueprint for other trade and investment agreements that the Bush Administration is pushing in the hemisphere, such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and an array of bilateral free trade agreements with the Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) and Panama. Although we support trade, we feel that NAFTA is not the model to follow and should not be copied in these agreements

La bifurcación pseudo-Hopf en una clase de sistemas Filippov en ℝ³ y aplicaciones en sistemas de control

En el estudio de los sistemas lineales Filippov en tres dimensiones, se tienen muchos trabajos en el escenario genérico donde la variedad de conmutación contiene dos líneas de tangencia, las cuales se cruzan transversalmente en un punto llamado singularidad de doble tangencia. En este trabajo de tesis, estamos interesados en estudiar el caso no genérico en el cual las líneas de tangencia son paralelas, tales que la región limitada por ellas es la región de deslizamiento. En primer lugar, encontramos, para este escenario, una forma normal dependiente de un parámetro que nos permite manipular la posición de dichas rectas para lograr que colapsen en una línea de singularidades de doble tangencia, en la cual exista un segmento de Teixeira. Con base en la forma normal, estableceremos las condiciones necesarias para que después de la colisión de las líneas de tangencia nazca un ciclo límite de cruce asociado a un pseudo-equilibrio que se encuentra sobre la región de deslizamiento. Este fenómeno es conocido como la bifurcación pseudo-Hopf. Más aún, nuestros resultados nos muestran que para algunas configuraciones es posible encontrar hasta dos de estos ciclos. Finalmente, presentamos algunos ejemplos en los que se lleva a cabo la bifurcación pseudo-Hopf, principalmente dentro de la teoría de control, donde, a pesar de que existen algunos trabajos que se enfocan en el escenario descrito anteriormente, ninguno ha propuesto una herramienta para encontrar órbitas periódicas como se hace en esta tesis

Bifurcación tipo HOPF en sistemas suaves por pedazos continuos en el plano

En el siguiente trabajo se considera un sistema suave por pedazos en el plano, el cual esta particionado en dos regiones por un variedad de conmutación, específicamente el eje vertical, además de ser continúo en todo el plano; inclusive sobre dicha variedad. Ambas regiones tendrán un comportamiento de espirales, es decir que tienen un foco como punto de equilibrio pero con estabilidad contraria. Se analizará el comportamiento del retrato fase cuando uno de estos focos se acerca a la variedad de conmutación, la cruza de manera transversal y, cuando pasa a la región adyacente, cambia de estabilidad y además se encuentra rodeado por un ciclo límite. Se mostraran las condiciones necesarias para cuando los sistemas son lineales y cuando sean no lineales, a partir del estudio de las soluciones de dichos sistemas usando mapeos de Poincaré para hallar los ciclos límite

Evaluación económica de la transición de la producción convencional hacia la producción orgánica de durazno

Capítulo de libroAnálisis sobre opciones de conversión de la producción convencional a la producción orgánica de durazno

Aislamiento de bacterias resistentes y transformadoras de Cr(VI) y Metil Paratión

El río Lerma está poblado por diversas bacterias que se han vuelto resistentes a los contaminantes presentes. Algunas de estas bacterias son capaces de transformar algunos contaminantes a sustancias menos tóxicas. Tres cepas aisladas de sedimentos del Río Lerma resistieron concentraciones superiores a 207 mg L-1 de Cr(VI) y lo transformaron. La capacidad de transformación del Cr(VI) en orden descendente fue: Pseudomonas entomophila L48 > Pseudomonas cedrina CFML 96- 198 > Pseudomonas graminis DSM 11363. Por otro lado, ocho cepas con diferentes porcentajes de transformación de metil paratión (PM) fueron aisladas. Las cepas resistieron concentraciones superiores a 1,052 mg L-1. La capacidad de trasformación del PM en orden descendente fue: Comamonas testosteroni KS 0043 > Achromobacter denitrifi cans DSM 30026> Rhodococcus qingshengii djl-6 >Achromobacter spanius LMG 5911 > Pseudomonas meridiana CMS 38 > Pseudomonas veronii CIP 104663 > Pseudomonas nitroreducens IAM 1439 > Microbacterium esteraromaticum DSM 8609. Estas bacterias presentan un potencial biotecnológico en la remediación de cuerpos de agua o en tratamientos de agua para uso industrial

TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC OPTIONS TO IMPROVE THE INCOME OF PEACH [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] PRODUCERS IN THE STATE OF MEXICO

articulo cientificoEl objetivo del estudio fue evaluar si la producción orgánica de durazno contribuiría a mejorar los ingresos de los productores en el Estado de México. La viabilidad económica de convertir el sistema de producción convencional al sistema de producción orgánica se evaluó mediante la teoría de las opciones reales y a través del método de los árboles binomiales se valoró la opción de abandono

Type 2 Diabetes Variants Disrupt Function of SLC16A11 through Two Distinct Mechanisms

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) affects Latinos at twice the rate seen in populations of European descent. We recently identified a risk haplotype spanning SLC16A11 that explains ∼20% of the increased T2D prevalence in Mexico. Here, through genetic fine-mapping, we define a set of tightly linked variants likely to contain the causal allele(s). We show that variants on the T2D-associated haplotype have two distinct effects: (1) decreasing SLC16A11 expression in liver and (2) disrupting a key interaction with basigin, thereby reducing cell-surface localization. Both independent mechanisms reduce SLC16A11 function and suggest SLC16A11 is the causal gene at this locus. To gain insight into how SLC16A11 disruption impacts T2D risk, we demonstrate that SLC16A11 is a proton-coupled monocarboxylate transporter and that genetic perturbation of SLC16A11 induces changes in fatty acid and lipid metabolism that are associated with increased T2D risk. Our findings suggest that increasing SLC16A11 function could be therapeutically beneficial for T2D. Video Abstract [Figure presented] Keywords: type 2 diabetes (T2D); genetics; disease mechanism; SLC16A11; MCT11; solute carrier (SLC); monocarboxylates; fatty acid metabolism; lipid metabolism; precision medicin

Determinants of penetrance and variable expressivity in monogenic metabolic conditions across 77,184 exomes

Penetrance of variants in monogenic disease and clinical utility of common polygenic variation has not been well explored on a large-scale. Here, the authors use exome sequencing data from 77,184 individuals to generate penetrance estimates and assess the utility of polygenic variation in risk prediction of monogenic variants

Insect pathogens as biological control agents: back to the future

The development and use of entomopathogens as classical, conservation and augmentative biological control agents have included a number of successes and some setbacks in the past 15 years. In this forum paper we present current information on development, use and future directions of insect-specific viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes as components of integrated pest management strategies for control of arthropod pests of crops, forests, urban habitats, and insects of medical and veterinary importance. Insect pathogenic viruses are a fruitful source of MCAs, particularly for the control of lepidopteran pests. Most research is focused on the baculoviruses, important pathogens of some globally important pests for which control has become difficult due to either pesticide resistance or pressure to reduce pesticide residues. Baculoviruses are accepted as safe, readily mass produced, highly pathogenic and easily formulated and applied control agents. New baculovirus products are appearing in many countries and gaining an increased market share. However, the absence of a practical in vitro mass production system, generally higher production costs, limited post application persistence, slow rate of kill and high host specificity currently contribute to restricted use in pest control. Overcoming these limitations are key research areas for which progress could open up use of insect viruses to much larger markets. A small number of entomopathogenic bacteria have been commercially developed for control of insect pests. These include several Bacillus thuringiensis sub-species, Lysinibacillus (Bacillus) sphaericus, Paenibacillus spp. and Serratia entomophila. B. thuringiensis sub-species kurstaki is the most widely used for control of pest insects of crops and forests, and B. thuringiensis sub-species israelensis and L. sphaericus are the primary pathogens used for medically important pests including dipteran vectors,. These pathogens combine the advantages of chemical pesticides and microbial control agents (MCAs): they are fast acting, easy to produce at a relatively low cost, easy to formulate, have a long shelf life and allow delivery using conventional application equipment and systemics (i.e. in transgenic plants). Unlike broad spectrum chemical pesticides, B. thuringiensis toxins are selective and negative environmental impact is very limited. Of the several commercially produced MCAs, B. thuringiensis (Bt) has more than 50% of market share. Extensive research, particularly on the molecular mode of action of Bt toxins, has been conducted over the past two decades. The Bt genes used in insect-resistant transgenic crops belong to the Cry and vegetative insecticidal protein families of toxins. Bt has been highly efficacious in pest management of corn and cotton, drastically reducing the amount of broad spectrum chemical insecticides used while being safe for consumers and non-target organisms. Despite successes, the adoption of Bt crops has not been without controversy. Although there is a lack of scientific evidence regarding their detrimental effects, this controversy has created the widespread perception in some quarters that Bt crops are dangerous for the environment. In addition to discovery of more efficacious isolates and toxins, an increase in the use of Bt products and transgenes will rely on innovations in formulation, better delivery systems and ultimately, wider public acceptance of transgenic plants expressing insect-specific Bt toxins. Fungi are ubiquitous natural entomopathogens that often cause epizootics in host insects and possess many desirable traits that favor their development as MCAs. Presently, commercialized microbial pesticides based on entomopathogenic fungi largely occupy niche markets. A variety of molecular tools and technologies have recently allowed reclassification of numerous species based on phylogeny, as well as matching anamorphs (asexual forms) and teleomorphs (sexual forms) of several entomopathogenic taxa in the Phylum Ascomycota. Although these fungi have been traditionally regarded exclusively as pathogens of arthropods, recent studies have demonstrated that they occupy a great diversity of ecological niches. Entomopathogenic fungi are now known to be plant endophytes, plant disease antagonists, rhizosphere colonizers, and plant growth promoters. These newly understood attributes provide possibilities to use fungi in multiple roles. In addition to arthropod pest control, some fungal species could simultaneously suppress plant pathogens and plant parasitic nematodes as well as promote plant growth. A greater understanding of fungal ecology is needed to define their roles in nature and evaluate their limitations in biological control. More efficient mass production, formulation and delivery systems must be devised to supply an ever increasing market. More testing under field conditions is required to identify effects of biotic and abiotic factors on efficacy and persistence. Lastly, greater attention must be paid to their use within integrated pest management programs; in particular, strategies that incorporate fungi in combination with arthropod predators and parasitoids need to be defined to ensure compatibility and maximize efficacy. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) in the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis are potent MCAs. Substantial progress in research and application of EPNs has been made in the past decade. The number of target pests shown to be susceptible to EPNs has continued to increase. Advancements in this regard primarily have been made in soil habitats where EPNs are shielded from environmental extremes, but progress has also been made in use of nematodes in above-ground habitats owing to the development of improved protective formulations. Progress has also resulted from advancements in nematode production technology using both in vivo and in vitro systems; novel application methods such as distribution of infected host cadavers; and nematode strain improvement via enhancement and stabilization of beneficial traits. Innovative research has also yielded insights into the fundamentals of EPN biology including major advances in genomics, nematode-bacterial symbiont interactions, ecological relationships, and foraging behavior. Additional research is needed to leverage these basic findings toward direct improvements in microbial control