Participatory Budgeting and Placemaking: Concepts, Methods, and Practices

Participatory budgeting has arisen as an interesting form of citizen participation in urban development and, thus, as a new way of exercising placemaking and grassroots democracy. In this article, we provide an analysis of projects in Lisbon (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), and Warsaw (Poland) with a focus on three key projects concerned with improving the public realm and their contribution to enhancing the network of public open spaces. Our guiding question is: What are the potential benefits of participatory budgeting to increase green spaces and urban governance? A comparison of the three cities’ participatory budgeting programmes provides an overview of their social and political goals and the contents that provide opportunities for citizens’ participation in decision-making. The cases of Jardim do Caracol da Penha (Lisbon), the Green Street Świętokrzyska (Warsaw), and the Green Plan for the Poblats Marítims District (Valencia) pave the way for a discussion on engagement, empowerment, and connectivity with the local communities through public spaces. Using participatory budgeting as a planning and political instrument at the municipal level, as the three cases show, can be a useful way to enhance and enrich the communities’ engagement with their environments. One aspect that emerged is the communication strategies implemented in the three cases. The analysis shows that the use of media and social networks to disseminate information and gather supporters for their ideas and this growth in political influence seems to be essential for participatory budgeting. The study is backed by desk work (comprehensive understanding of the local programmes) and field work to better identify the changes in loco

Espacialidad de las memorias sociales asociadas a la dictadura (1973 - 1990) en el Área Metropolitana de Concepción (ÁMC), Chile

El Área Metropolitana de Concepción (ÁMC) fue una de las zonas más golpeadas por la represión política y las violaciones de derechos humanos durante la dictadura. No obstante, el impacto de ésta, el desarrollo urbano de las últimas décadas ha ido borrando la materialidad de las memorias vinculadas al periodo, emergiendo la necesidad de cartografiar los lugares de memoria para dimensionar y comprenderlos territorialmente, por medio de la geolocalización y del análisis de su espacialidad, emplazamiento y distribución territorial. Al respecto, se identifican una amplia distribución de espacios que pueden ser definidos como “lugares enmudecidos” y “lugares invisibilizados”. De hecho, se observa una desproporción entre la cantidad de eventos de violencia política y violaciones de los derechos humanos y la escasez de espacios públicos que den cuenta de estos acontecimientos. También, es relevante constatar cierta inadecuación de los espacios existentes para el desarrollo contemporáneo de prácticas de memoria, tanto en términos urbanos como arquitectónicos, abriendo interrogantes respecto de cómo se cristalizan actualmente las memorias sociales vinculadas a la dictadura.The Metropolitan Area of ​​Concepción (MAC) was one of the hardest hit areas by political represión and human right violations during the dictatorship. Despite the impact of it, the urban development of las decades has been erasing the materialness of memories linked with the period. Emerging the neediness to map places of memory to dimension and territorially understand them, through geolocation and analysis of its spatiality and territorial distribution. In this regard, a wide distribution of spaces is identified that can be defined as "silenced places" and "places made invisible by daily life". In fact, a disproportion is observed between the quantity of events of political violence and violations of human rights and the scarcity of public spaces that account for these events. Also, it is relevant to verify a certain inadequacy of the existing spaces for contemporary development of memory practices, both in urban and architectural terms, raising questions about how social memories linked to the dictatorship are currently crystallized

El uso de la investigación en la política educativa: el caso del estado de Chihuahua

La elaboración de los Estados de Conocimiento en el 2010 y el Diagnóstico de la investigación educativa realizado por la Red de Investigadores del estado de Chihuahua (Rediech) y la Secretaría de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (SECyD) en 2012, permitieron describir la situación de la investigación en la entidad con respecto a su producción, diseminación y uso. Estos estudios muestran que existe un distanciamiento entre la investigación y las decisiones de la política educativa, así como discrepancias entre las demandas de la SECyD y la producción científica. En el presente estudio se documenta un proyecto de investigación-acción realizado por el Departamento de Investigación de la Dirección de Desarrollo Educativo, que tiene como propósitos: fomentar el uso de aportes de la investigación educativa en la política educativa y acercar las demandas de investigación educativa a quienes producen conocimiento científico. En los hallazgos se identifica una enorme brecha en las condiciones que existen entre las instituciones que realizan investigación educativa y los diferentes niveles de acercamiento que las autoridades educativas han tenido hacia la investigación, además de conceptos y expectativas de investigadores y autoridades hacia la investigación educativa. También se establece una agenda de investigación educativa y la identificación de algunos núcleos en germinación que comienzan a gestar espacios de vinculación

Structural and functional integrity of endocrine pancreas post administration of Karwinskia humboldtiana fruit to Wistar rats: a possible therapeutic application for cancer of exocrine origin

Aims. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma represents a therapeutic challenge due to the high toxicity of antineoplastic treatments and secondary effects of pancreatectomy. T-514, a toxin isolated from Karwinskia humboldtiana (Kh) has shown antineoplastic activity on cell lines. In acute intoxication with Kh, we reported apoptosis on the exocrine portion of pancreas. One of the mechanisms of antineoplastic agents is the induction of apoptosis, therefore our main objective was to evidence structural and functional integrity of the islets of Langerhans after the administration of Kh fruit in Wistar rats. Methods. TUNEL assay and immunolabelling against activated caspase-3 were used to detect apoptosis. Also, immunohistochemical tests were performed to search for glucagon and insulin. Serum amylase enzyme activity was also quantified as a molecular marker of pancreatic damage. Results. Evidence of toxicity on the exocrine portion, by positivity in the TUNEL assay and activated caspase-3, was found. On the contrary, the endocrine portion remained structurally and functionally intact, without apoptosis, and presenting positivity in the identification of glucagon and insulin. Conclusions. These results demonstrated that Kh fruit induces selective toxicity on the exocrine portion and establish a precedent to evaluate T-514 as a potential treatment against pancreatic adenocarcinoma without affecting the islets of Langerhans

Atomic surface segregation and structural characterization of PdPt bimetallic nanoparticles

"Bimetallic nanoparticles are of interest since they lead to many interesting electrical, chemical, catalytic, and optical properties. They are particularly important in the field of catalysis since they show superior catalytic properties than their monometallic counterparts. The structures of bimetallic nanoparticles depend mainly on the synthesis conditions and the miscibility of the two components. In this work, PdPt alloyed-bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through the polyol method, and characterized using spherical aberration (Cs) corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). High-angle annular dark-field (HAADF)-STEM images of bimetallic nanoparticles were obtained. The contrast of images shows that nanoparticles have an alloy structure with an average size of 8.2 nm. Together with the characterization of nanoparticles, a systematic molecular dynamics simulations study focused on the structural stability and atomic surface segregation trends in 923-atom PdPt alloyed-bimetallic NPs was carried out.

Pileta Integral. Miradas desde el siglo XXI. Nuevas Tecnologías para una cueva excepcional

La primera presentación, la más exhaustiva y completa del arte prehistórico de La Pileta se debe a Henri Breuil (Breuil et al., 1915). Este autor propone dos grandes fases, una paleolítica, distribuidas en tres ciclos artísticos paleolíticos y una segunda postpaleolítica. A mediados del siglo XX diversos autores realizaron revisiones parciales de algunos paneles (p.ej. F. Jordá o E. Ripoll). Más tarde, y en la década de 1970, Lya y Marcel Dams trabajan durante varios años en La Pileta pero sus calcos son poco fidedignos. Por último, en noviembre de 1985 y en el marco de su tesis doctoral, J.L. Sanchidrián Torti realiza una revisión del arte de La Pileta. Este autor ha publicado diversos trabajos sobre La Pileta (p.ej. Sanchidrián, 1997). La Pileta ha sido objeto de diversas campaña de excavación en la sala de Vacas y de los Murciélagos en 1912 y 1942. No obstante, ninguno de estas excavaciones ha sido presentada en detalle y de los materiales obtenidos no se conservan más que algunos de selección (vid. Cortés y Simón 2007, Cortes et al., 2016). En otro orden de cosas, el primer plano topográfico de la Cueva de la Pileta fue realizado por el cartógrafo Willoughby Verner en 1912 (Breuil et al., 1915). En 1932 se realiza una nueva topografía, probablemente basada en otra muy similar que se encuentra en el Archivo Temboury. Posteriormente, se realiza una topografía por parte de grupos espeleológicos y, años más tarde, se publica el realizado por el Grupo de Espeleólogos Marbellíes. No obstante, los planos topográficos levantados hasta el momento tenían un fin meramente espeleológico y carecían de la resolución y precisión necesarias para un uso arqueológico. A comienzos del siglo XXI, pusimos en marcha una investigación integral de La Pileta de la cual hemos ido avanzando algunas novedades (Cortés y Simón 2007, Cortes et al., 2016, 2019) y que pretendía abordar desde una perspectiva holística la complejidad del yacimiento.Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía (España) HAR2013-44269-PConsejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía (España) HAR2016-77789-

Thymidylate synthase gene variants as predictors of clinical response and toxicity to fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for colorectal cancer

Abstract Background: Fluoropyrimidines form the chemotherapy backbone of advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). These drugs are frequently associated with toxicity events that result in dose adjustments and even suspension of the treatment. The thymidylate synthase (TYMS) gene is a potential marker of response and toxicity to fluoropyirimidines as this enzyme is the molecular target of these drugs. Our aim was to assess the association between variants of TYMS with response and toxicity to fluoropyrimidines in patients with CRC in independent retrospective and prospective studies. Methods: Variants namely rs45445694, rs183205964, rs2853542 and rs151264360 of TYMS were genotyped in 105 CRC patients and were evaluated to define their association with clinical response and toxicity to fluoropyrimidines. Additionally, the relationship between genotypes and tumor gene expression was analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: The 2R/2R (rs45445694) was associated with clinical response (p = 0.05, odds ratio (OR) = 3.45) and severe toxicity (p = 0.0014, OR = 5.21, from pooled data). Expression analysis in tumor tissues suggested a correlation between the 2R/2R genotype and low TYMS expression. Conclusions: The allele 2R (rs45445694) predicts severe toxicity and objective response in advanced CRC patients. In addition, the alleles G(rs2853542) and 6bp-(rs151264360) are independent predictors of response failure to chemotherapy. This is the first study made on a Latin American population that points out TYMS gene variants have predictive values for response and toxicity in patients with CRC treated with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy

Abrasive Wear Behavior of Al–4Cu–1.5Mg–WC Composites Synthesized through Powder Metallurgy

Different Al–4Cu–1.5Mg/WC composites were synthesized through powder metallurgy to establish the effect of WC particle addition on the abrasive wear behavior of an Al–4Cu–1.5Mg (wt. %) alloy. The wear tests were performed using a pin-on-disc tribometer at room temperature in dry conditions using SiC abrasive sandpaper as a counterbody and tribometer of linear configuration. The results showed that WC additions increase the hardness of the Al–4Cu–1.5Mg alloy due to the strengthening effect of particle dispersion in the aluminum matrix, which generates an improvement in the wear resistance of the composites by preventing direct contact of the sample with the counterbody, in turn delaying the plastic deformation phenomena responsible for the degradation sequence. In addition, the dominant wear mechanism was abrasive wear, and the increased friction coefficient did not bring a rapid wear rate, which was related to the enhanced deformation resistance due to the high hardness