La transnacionalización de los grupos empresariales diversificados y el rostro cambiante de las élites económicas centroamericanas

Este artículo presenta resultados de un estudio sobre las estrategias de los Grupos Empresariales Diversificados (GED) centroamericanos en frente a la globalización. Busca comprender cómo estos han cambiado en el proceso de integración económica en términos de su expansión al exterior, los sectores enfocados y su integración con las compañías transnacionales. Se plantea que, en general, los GED han cedido espacio para las grandes Compañías Transnacionales, a despecho de importantes excepciones y surgimiento de nuevos grupos. Sin embargo, mantienen su influenza por medio de sus redes de contactos nacionales e internacionales

THE LOCAL DIMENSION IN WATER RESOURCES GOVERNANCE: THE EXPERIENCE OF INTER-MUNICIPAL CONSORTIA AND COMMITTEES ON RIVER BASINS

A gestão integrada de recursos hídricos no Brasil tem avançado à medida que se amplia a governança descentralizada e participativa. Contudo, há uma necessidade de melhor entendimento sobre a atuação do nível local, tendo em vista que é nesse nível que diversas políticas públicas são efetivamente implementadas. Nesse sentido, este artigo teve por objetivo apresentar o debate contemporâneo sobre o nível local em relação à governança de recursos hídricos no Brasil semiárido, com base no desempenho de consórcios intermunicipais e do comitê de bacia hidrográfica do rio São Francisco. A pesquisa demonstrou que os municípios não ignoram a necessidade de adotar novos modelos de gestão como resposta às suas conhecidas limitações financeiras e técnicas. Os casos dos consórcios intermunicipais e dos comitês de bacia têm se apresentado como oportunidades para maior visibilidade e atuação dos atores locais. Os consórcios intermunicipais têm auxiliado na gestão do saneamento conforme ampliam o acesso de municípios aos serviços prestados. Já a dinâmica do comitê de bacia hidrográfica tem aumentado as possibilidades de participação de atores que atuam em nível local na mesma arena, possibilitando o debate e a tomada de decisão compartilhada. Porém, evidencia-se uma clara necessidade de identificar fatores e estratégias que possibilitem uma organização bem-sucedida de participação e cooperação de níveis locais nesses novos arranjos de governança.Integrated water resources management is advancing in Brazil as decentralized and participatory governance gains more prominence. However, local actions need to be better understood since several public policies are effectively implemented at this level. The present article aims to present the current debate about the local dimension in water resources governance. The paper analyzes empirical cases of water resources management in semi-arid Brazil, based on the performance of inter-municipal consortia and São Francisco’s River Basin Committee. Research shows that municipalities do not ignore the need to adopt new management models in response to their known financial and technical limitations. Cases of inter-municipal consortia and river basin committees have proven to be opportunities for greater visibility and action of local participants. Inter-municipal consortia assist in sanitation management, because they increase the access of municipalities to the services provided. On the other hand, dynamics of the river basin committee expanded the possibilities of participation of local actors, allowing the debate and shared decision-making. Nevertheless, identifying factors and strategies for the successful organization of local participation and cooperation in these new governance arrangements is needed

Dysconnectivity of the Agency Network in Schizophrenia: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Background: Self-disturbances in schizophrenia have recently been explained by an abnormality in the sense of agency (SoA). The cerebral structures of SoA in healthy people are considered to mainly include the insula and inferior parietal lobule. In contrast, the functional lesion of aberrant SoA in schizophrenia is not yet fully understood. Considering the recent explanation of establishing SoA from the standpoint of associative learning, the “agency network” may include not only the insula and inferior parietal lobule but also the striatum. We hypothesized that aberrant SoA in schizophrenia is based on a deficit in the “agency network.”Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while patients with schizophrenia (n = 15) and matched controls (n = 15) performed our adaptation method of agency attribution task on a trial-by-trial basis to assess participants' explicit experience of the temporal causal relationship between an action and an external event with temporal biases. Analysis of functional connectivity was done using the right supramarginal gyrus and the right middle frontal gyrus as seed regions.Results: In healthy controls, analyses revealed increased activation of the right inferior parietal lobule (mainly the supramarginal gyrus), right insula, and right middle frontal gyrus as an activation of the agency condition. We defined activated Brodmann areas shown in the agency condition of healthy controls as the seed region for connectivity analysis. The connectivity analysis revealed lower connectivity between the head of the left caudate nucleus and right supramarginal gyrus in the patients compared to healthy controls.Conclusions: This dysconnectivity of the agency network in schizophrenia may lead to self-disturbance through deficits in associative learning of SoA. These findings may explain why pathological function of the striatum in schizophrenia leads to self-disturbance

A New Technique for the Calculation and 3D Visualisation of Magnetic Complexities on Solar Satellite Images

YesIn this paper, we introduce two novel models for processing real-life satellite images to quantify and then visualise their magnetic structures in 3D. We believe this multidisciplinary work is a real convergence between image processing, 3D visualization and solar physics. The first model aims to calculate the value of the magnetic complexity in active regions and the solar disk. A series of experiments are carried out using this model and a relationship has been indentified between the calculated magnetic complexity values and solar flare events. The second model aims to visualise the calculated magnetic complexities in 3D colour maps in order to identify the locations of eruptive regions on the Sun. Both models demonstrate promising results and they can be potentially used in the fields of solar imaging, space weather and solar flare prediction and forecasting

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements