The Historical Role of the European Shadow Banking System in the Development and Evolution of Our Monetary Institutions

When we hear about the 2008 Lehman Brothers crisis, immediately we relate it to the concept of "shadow banking system"; however, the credit intermediation involving lightly regulated entities and activities outside the traditional banking system are not new for the European Financial Systems, after all, many innovations developed in the past, were adopted by European nations and exported to the rest of the world (i.e. coinage and central banking), and European innovators unleashed several financial crises related to "shadowy" financial intermediaries (i.e. the Gebroeders de Neufville crisis of 1763). However, despite not many academics, legislators and regulators even agree on what "shadow banking" is, this latter does not refer exclusively to the functions of credit intermediation and maturity transformation. This concept also refers to the creation of assets such as digital media of exchange which are designed under the influence of Friedrich Hayek and the Austrian School of Economics. This lack of a uniform definition of "shadow banking" has limited our regulatory efforts on key issues like the private money creation, a source of vulnerability in the financial system that, paradoxically, at the same time could result in an opportunity to renovate European institutions, heirs of the tradition of the Wisselbank and the Bank of England which, during the seventeenth century, faced monetary innovations and led the European monetary revolution that originated the current monetary and regulatory practices implemented around the world

Bioinformatic Analyses of Unique (Orphan) Core Genes of the Genus Acidithiobacillus: Functional Inferences and Use As Molecular Probes for Genomic and Metagenomic/Transcriptomic Interrogation

Indexación: Web of Science.Using phylogenomic and gene compositional analyses, five highly conserved gene families have been detected in the core genome of the phylogenetically coherent genus Acidithiobacillus of the class Acidithiobacillia. These core gene families are absent in the closest extant genus Thermithiobacillus tepidarius that subtends the Acidithiobacillus genus and roots the deepest in this class. The predicted proteins encoded by these core gene families are not detected by a BLAST search in the NCBI non-redundant database of more than 90 million proteins using a relaxed cut-off of 1.0e(-5). None of the five families has a clear functional prediction. However, bioinformatic scrutiny, using pI prediction, motif/domain searches, cellular location predictions, genomic context analyses, and chromosome topology studies together with previously published transcriptomic and proteomic data, suggests that some may have functions associated with membrane remodeling during cell division perhaps in response to pH stress. Despite the high level of amino acid sequence conservation within each family, there is sufficient nucleotide variation of the respective genes to permit the use of the DNA sequences to distinguish different species of Acidithiobacillus, making them useful additions to the armamentarium of tools for phylogenetic analysis. Since the protein families are unique to the Acidithiobacillus genus, they can also be leveraged as probes to detect the genus in environmental metagenomes and metatranscriptomes, including industrial biomining operations, and acid mine drainage (AMD).http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.02035/ful

On the Theory of Evolution Versus the Concept of Evolution: Three Observations

Here we address three misconceptions stated by Rice et al. in their observations of our article Paz-y-Miño and Espinosa (Evo Edu Outreach 2:655–675, 2009), published in this journal. The five authors titled their note “The Theory of Evolution is Not an Explanation for the Origin of Life.” First, we argue that it is fallacious to believe that because the formulation of the theory of evolution, as conceived in the 1800s, did not include an explanation for the origin of life, nor of the universe, the concept of evolution would not allow us to hypothesize the possible beginnings of life and its connections to the cosmos. Not only Stanley Miller’s experiments of 1953 led scientists to envision a continuum from the inorganic world to the origin and diversification of life, but also Darwin’s own writings of 1871. Second, to dismiss the notion of Rice et al. that evolution does not provide explanations concerning the universe or the cosmos, we identify compelling scientific discussions on the topics: Zaikowski et al. (Evo Edu Outreach 1:65–73, 2008), Krauss (Evo Edu Outreach 3:193–197, 2010), Peretó et al. (Orig Life Evol Biosph 39:395–406, 2009) and Follmann and Brownson (Naturwissenschaften 96:1265–1292, 2009). Third, although we acknowledge that the term Darwinism may not be inclusive of all new discoveries in evolution, and also that creationists and Intelligent Designers hijack the term to portray evolution as ideology, we demonstrate that there is no statistical evidence suggesting that the word Darwinism interferes with public acceptance of evolution, nor does the inclusion of the origin of life or the universe within the concept of evolution. We examine the epistemological and empirical distinction between the theory of evolution and the concept of evolution and conclude that, although the distinction is important, it should not compromise scientific logic

Susceptibility to Smoking among Adolescents and Its Implications for Mexico’s Tobacco Control Programs. Analysis of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2003–2004 and 2006–2007

Smoking prevention efforts should either prevent target groups from becoming susceptible to smoking or prevent susceptible adolescents from progressing to becoming regular smokers. To describe the prevalence of susceptibility to smoking among never smoker students from cities that applied the GYTS in 2003 and 2006. The GYTS uses a two-stage cluster sample survey design that produces representative samples of students aged 12–15 years enrolled in public, private, and technical schools. The survey was undertaken at 399 schools in 9 cities. The GYTS surveyed 33,297 students during the academic years 2003–04 and 2006–07. Among never smokers, about 25% are likely to initiate smoking in the next 12 months. There are no differences in susceptibility to smoking by gender. When comparing results from 2003 and 2006, the susceptibility index has not changed, but for one city. The GYTS results are useful for monitoring susceptibility to smoking among adolescents and provide evidence for strengthening the efforts of tobacco control programs in Mexico

Should the teaching of biological evolution include the origin of life?

The development of mainstream research on the origin of life as an outcome of Darwinian evolution is discussed. It is argued that prebiotic evolution and the origin of life should not be excluded from the syllabus and should be part of classes on biological evolution, and that the transition from non-living to living matter is best understood when seen as part of evolutionary biology. The wide acceptance of evolutionary approaches to the study of the emergence of life in European and Latin American countries is discussed

Violência física intra-familiar entre jovens mexicanos e egípcios

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of experiencing intra-familial violence among Mexican and Egyptian youth and to describe its associated risk factors. METHODS: Data from questionnaires applied to 12,862 Mexican and 5,662 Egyptian youth, aged 10 to 19, who attended public schools were analyzed. Biviarate and logistic regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between socio-demographics, the experience of intra-familial violence and violence perpetration. RESULTS: The prevalence of having experienced intra-familial violence was comparable across the Mexican and Egyptian populations (14% and 17%, respectively). In Mexico, young men were more likely to have experienced such violence (OR=2.36) than women, whereas in Egypt, young women were at slightly greater risk than young men (OR=1.25). Older age, male gender and urban residence were independent correlates of experiencing intra-familial violence among Mexican youth. For Egyptian adolescents, in contrast, younger age, female gender and having non-married parents were independent correlates of victimization. Intra-familial violence victims were also more likely than non-victims to perpetrate violence (Mexico: OR=13.13; Egypt: OR=6.58). CONCLUSIONS: Mexican and Egyptian youth experienced intra-familial violence at a relatively low prevalence when compared with youth of other countries. A strong association was found between experiencing intra-familial violence and perpetrating violence.OBJETIVO: Determinar a prevalência da violência intra-familiar sofrida por jovens mexicanos e egípcios, e descrever os fatores de risco associados. MÉTODOS: Os dados analisados foram obtidos de questionários aplicados a 12.862 mexicanos e 5.662 egípcios, jovens de 10 a 19 anos, que freqüentam escolas públicas. O relacionamento entre fatores sociodemográficos, a violência sofrida e sua perpetração foram investigados por meio de análise bivariada e regressão logística. RESULTADOS: A prevalência de violência intra-familiar foi comparável entre as populações mexicana e egípcia (14% e 17%, respectivamente). No México, essa violência foi muito mais provável entre os homens jovens do que entre mulheres (OR=2,36), enquanto que no Egito era mais provável entre as mulheres jovens do que homens (OR=1,25). Idade mais elevada, gênero masculino e residência urbana são fatores associados a violência intra-familiar entre jovens mexicanos. Entre jovens egípcios, a idade mais baixa,o gênero feminino e pais não casados foram fatores associados a essa violência. Foi mais provável a repetição da violência pelos jovens que eram vítimas da violência intra-familiar (México: OR=13,13; Egito: OR=6,58). CONCLUSÕES: A prevalência de experimentar a violência intra-familiar de jovens mexicanos e egípcios foi baixa em comparação com jovens em outros países. Houve forte associação entre vítimas de violência intra-familiar e a repetição da violência

Alternativa de diversificación del cultivo de banano (Musa AAA, L) Por Mango (Manclifero Indica, Linn) En La Zona Bananera Del Magdalena.

El principal objetivo de la presente investigación fue brindar una alternativa de inversión a los empresarios bananeros del Magdalena, ante una eventual agudización de la crisis del sector. Específicamente la propuesta contemple la diversificación del cultivo de Banano por una fruta tropical, de muchas expectativas en el mercado internacional la cual es el mango (Manguifera indica, Linn), fruta esta, que se adapta perfectamente a las condiciones agroecológicas de la zona. La viabilidad de un proyecto de Ésta índole consistió en diseñar un análisis profundo en materia de beneficio, costos de producción de ambos cultivos, que posibilitaron hacer una comparación directa de las ventajas limitaciones que implicaría la escogencia de una u otra alternativ

Escribir papers bajo el régimen del management académico: Cuerpo, afectos y estrategias

Indexación: Scopus.Chile is a landmark case in opening up higher education to the free market and in the reformulation of the logics that regulate scientific production in universities. This translates into a management system for academic staff oriented by productivity bonuses associated with high-impact publications, by the distribution of research funds conditional on the productivity of researchers and by the rank of academic tasks. In this article, we present the results of a study that sought to explore and understand how highly productive social science academics describe scientific writing from everyday labor practice framed in new regulations of scientific production. Through the analysis of 20 interviews, we propose 3 categories: affectivity, fragility and strategy. These give an account of everyday aspects, as well as tensions and conflicts present in the process of scientific writing.https://atheneadigital.net/article/view/v20-1-fardela-carriel-lazcano-et-a