An examination of selected trace elements in modern and ancient samples of triticum spelta

Analyses were made of concentrations of six elements ( the micronutrients copper, iron, manganese and zinc, and the macronutrients calcium and magnesium ) in samples of Triticum spetta and the soil they were grown on to investigate relationships between the two, and the possibility of sourcing material found in the archaeological record. Charred and fresh grains of geographically and geologically diverse locations were broken down in nitric acid using a microwave digestion technique. The resultant solutions were analysed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Soil extractions using nitric acid and diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid allowed analyses of total and available elements. The results of soil / grain digests were investigated but no consistently significant relationships could be discerned. Growth experiments were performed by growing grain samples from various locations on one soil type to assess which factors were primarily important in elemental uptake. Calcium and magnesium uptake appears strongly influenced by the growing environment, but that of the micronutrients is additionally affected by genetic factors. In order to assess changes in elemental concentration due to burial, diagenetic experiments were carried out using grain from various locations and a series of differing burial periods. It was found that there was a trend for concentrations of the micronutrients and magnesium to decrease, whilst calcium concentrations increased substantially. On completion of work with modem grain, samples from the archaeological record were analysed. Elemental concentrations were found to be very different in ancient material and more significantly related to the burial environment. It appears possible to differentiate between leached, rural and waterlogged / urban sites

Selección de candidatos legislativos y renominación de incumbentes en México

Despite the abundant literature on consecutive reelection, few works examine how party leaders’ preferences over incumbent traits can affect the future positions of sitting legislators. This paper examines how consecutive reelection and strong party leader control over candidate selection combine to promote certain types of politicians for renominations for reelection, while others are consigned to candidacies for lower posts or left out of the selection process. We use Mexico’s first experience with consecutive reelection since 1932 to better understand how incumbents’ interests and the demands of party leaders shape candidacy outcomes by examining whether the incumbents from the 2018-2021 term were able to win a renomination bid or were sent to a higher or lower post.A pesar de la gran cantidad de trabajo que existe sobre la reelección consecutiva, pocos han estudiado cómo las preferencias de los dirigentes partidistas por ciertas características de sus legisladores pueden afectar la probabilidad de ganar o no la nominación la reelección o un puesto más alto. La mayoría de los diputados federales quieren mantener sus puestos en la Cámara Baja; sin embargo, este resultado depende de las preferencias de los líderes de los partidos, porque ellos deciden si los diputados de su bancada merecen la oportunidad de competir para ganar otra vez un curul (la re-nominación para competir). Usamos los 500 diputados federales en México que entraron en 2018 y salieron en 2021 y estuvieron posibilitados para competir para el puesto otra vez para entender interacción entre las preferencias de los líderes partidistas y los políticos ambiciosos

Atitudes antidemocráticas, a lacuna entre vencedores e perdedores e a ascensão da esquerda no México

Weak support for democratic norms and institutions poses a serious challenge to the survival of democracy. Studies of public opinion often assume that citizens hold politicians accountable for respecting democratic norms. This study examines citizens' attitudes toward democracy in Mexico. It focuses on the 2018 election as a critical juncture when Andrés Manuel López Obrador (MORENA) won the presidential election on his third attempt. Data from the LAPOP's Americas Barometer (2012-2019) show that—consistent with the loser-winner gap literature —President López Obrador's supporters increased their satisfaction with democracy after the 2018 election. However, unlike most voters who elected winners of elections, they did not become more committed to democracy. Even in some cases, after 2018, AMLO voters are more likely than other partisan groups to suppor t anti-democratic interventions, particularly support for a coup when crime is high. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the winner-loser gap in the context of Mexico's democratic erosion. Although the results of this paper are based/non exploratory evidence, they highlight that an important portion of voters is willing to sacrifice democracy and support their co-partisans' actions that undermine democracy.El débil apoyo a las normas e instituciones democráticas plantea desafíos importantes para la sobrevivencia de las democracias. Un supuesto clave en los estudios de opinión pública es que los ciudadanos rinden cuentas a los políticos cuando no respetan las normas democráticas. El presente estudio examina las actitudes de los ciudadanos hacia la democracia en México. Se centra en las elecciones de 2018 como un momento crítico cuando Andrés Manuel López Obrador (MORENA) ganó las elecciones presidenciales en su tercer intento. El presente artículo se basa en datos del Barómetro de las Américas de LAPOP (2012-2019) y, consistente con la literatura sobre la brecha entre perdedores y ganadores, encontramos que después de las elecciones de 2018, los partidarios del presidente López Obrador aumentaron su satisfacción con la democracia. Sin embargo, a diferencia de la mayoría de los votantes que eligen a los ganadores de las elecciones, los votantes de AMLO aumentaron su compromiso normativo con la democracia. Incluso, en algunos casos, después de 2018, los votantes de AMLO tienen más probabilidades que otros grupos partidistas de apoyar intervenciones antidemocráticas, en particular el apoyo a un golpe de estado cuando la criminalidad es alta. Los hallazgos de este estudio contribuyen a nuestra comprensión de la brecha entre ganadores y perdedores en el contexto de la erosión democrática en México. Si bien los resultados de este artículo se basan en evidencia exploratoria, resaltan que una porción importante de votantes está dispuesta a sacrificar la democracia en beneficio de sus intereses partidistas y apoyar acciones iliberales que socavan la democracia.O fraco apoio às normas e instituições democráticas representa desafios significativos para a sobrevivência democrática. Uma premissa fundamental em estudos de opinião pública é que os cidadãos responsabilizam os políticos pelo respeito às normas democráticas. O presente estudo examina as atitudes dos cidadãos em relação à democracia no México, com foco nas eleições de 2018 como um momento crítico, quando Andrés Manuel López Obrador (MORENA) venceu a eleição presidencial em sua terceira tentativa. Com base em dados do Barômetro das Américas da LAPOP (2012-2019), descobrimos que, em consonância com a literatura sobre a lacuna entre perdedores e vencedores, os apoiadores do Presidente López Obrador aumentaram sua satisfação com a democracia após as eleições de 2018. No entanto, ao contrário da maioria dos eleitores que escolheram os vencedores das eleições, eles não se tornaram mais comprometidos com a democracia. Em alguns casos, após 2018, os eleitores de AMLO são mais propensos do que outros grupos partidários a apoiar intervenções antidemocráticas, especialmente o apoio a um golpe em momentos de alta criminalidade. Os resultados deste estudo contribuem para nossa compreensão da lacuna entre vencedores e perdedores no contexto da erosão democrática no México. Embora os resultados deste artigo se baseiem em evidências exploratórias, eles destacam que uma parte importante dos eleitores está disposta a sacrificar a democracia e apoiar ações iliberais e partidárias que minam a democracia

México 2008: el año en que se vivió en peligro

This article explains how the fight against narco-trafficking and the economic crisis has affected the PAN’s popularity at the polls, and the voters’ image of the president’s leadership ability. It also reviews the central reforms undertaken by president Calderón in 2008, including the overhaul of the judicial system, a minor reform of the public energy sector, and a new set of rules to modernize public education. It then examines internal dynamics of the divided PRD and resurging electoral fortunes of the PRI in many states.El trabajo muestra los obstáculos que tendrá que librar la administración si acaso quiere seguir contando con el apoyo de los votantes, como el combate al narcotráfico y los efectos de la crisis financiera de EUA en la economía nacional. También analiza el paquete de reformas con las que el Presidente Calderón pretende darle continuidad a sus políticas en el 2008: la judicial, que modernizaría el sistema de impartición de justicia; la energética, que modificaría el régimen de la empresa más importante del Estado, y la educativa, que reduciría los rezagos educativos mediante maestros mejor capacitados. También discute las características del Congreso que las aprueba, entre ellas un PRD dividido, un PRI cada vez más fuerte en los estados y unas elecciones intermedias cada vez más cercanas

Rethinking Measures of Democracy and Welfare State Universalism: Lessons from Subnational Research

Democracy and the welfare state are two of the most extensively studied concepts and themes in the field of comparative politics. Debate about how to best measure the two concepts has failed to contemplate the extent to which political and social rights are uniformly present across distinct regions of the national territory, despite the presence of substantial subnational research that underscores wide variation inside countries. We argue that this omission hampers our understanding of the two phenomena and we propose a new measure of democracy and healthcare unversalism, which we call the Adjusted Measures of Democracy and Welfare Universalism. The new measures integrate territorial inequality into existing national-level indicators, providing a more accurate picture of country performance and opening the door to new, multi-level theory building

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

Three exits from the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party: internal ruptures and political stability

In the first section of the paper, the three ruptures will be examined. Within this section, I will examine why no ruptures occurred from 1952 to 1986. Then, to complete the comparative analysis, I will also concentrate on a non-case, or a presidential succession in which a dissatisfied, or rejected pre-candidate for the nomination, did not leave the regime's boundaries and run against the official Party's candidate. This way, it will be easier to identify the reasons which led to the decisions of those who did exit. The case chosen is the presidential succession of 1976, primarily to test for the importance of economic crises and support from powerful political outsiders, mainly the large-scale capitalists of the North. Finally, in the conclusion I will return to the question of political stabilit

An empirical view of the political groups in Mexico: the camarillas

This paper has several aims The first is to give an empirical overview of the shape of the camarillas or political groups in the Mexican political system. The second is to explain the role of the individual within them. As is apparent from the bibliography, the bulk of this information comes from interviews with public officials working within the government, political columnists and academics, as well as information gleaned from newspapers. The type of chisme politico or political gossip is important for grounding the theoretical ideas presented in my doctoral thesis, as well as for discovering new questions. One important point which is not studied in this paper is the role of the camarillas in the succession process

The PRI governors

At present, very little is known about the governors in Mexico, either those of the PRI or their opposition breathren. The purpose of this paper is to partially rectify this situation, at least for the PRI governors, by presenting a study of the PRI state executives that examines what kind of careers they have had, whether they were primarily political actors in the national arena, or state level politicians prior to reaching the Governor's mansion, what kind of experience they have had in the Party, or in the legislative branch, and finally, what kinds of states have had which types of governors. With this empirical "picture" of the PRI governors (and PRI candidates for governor who lost out to the opposition), some basic hypotheses about how governors are chosen will be tested

The camarillas: a theoretical and comparative examination of why they exist and why take the specific form they do

The purpose of this paper is to answer two related questions: one, why do factions exist in the Mexican political system, and two, why are they structured in their present form, rather than in an alternative manner. Using a combination of the individual-centered approach and the comparative method, I will attempt to explain why individuals working in a system of high turnover in positions within the bureaucracy and dominant party form hierarchical-cooperative groups which last more than one presidential term. In the comparative section, the problema will be examined from a different angle: the Mexican political groups will be compared to Japanese factions and Brazilian friendship networks (during the authoritarian era) to understand why Mexican factions are not as institutionalized as the Japanese factional entities and why they are more long lasting and stable than the Brazilian bureaucratic networks