Short and long run determinants of private investment in Argentina.

This study provides an empirical analysis of the macroeconomic factors that can potentially affect investment decisions in Argentina in a short, medium and long run perspective. Both the theory and the empirical literature are reviewed in order to identify a private investment function for the last three decades (1970-2000). The results suggest that investment decisions seem to be determined, in the short run, by shocks in returns (exchange rate, trade liberalization) and in aggregate demand. Besides, there is evidence of a “crowding-out” effect of public investment. In the long run, the capital accumulation path seems to be closely dependent on both well-developed financial and credit markets and on perspectives of fiscal sustainability.investment, macroeconomic instability, crowding-out, Argentina

La intervención del Estado en el Desarrollo de las mujeres rurales. Un estudio desde las necesidades

El objetivo general de este trabajo fue explicar la relación Estado- mujeres rurales, a través de la intervención Estatal en la satisfacción de necesidades femeninas, para lo cual se trató de identificar y describir las necesidades expresadas de las mujeres rurales, analizar cómo ellas las redefinen ante las nuevas dinámicas de reconfiguración de sus hogares y conocer cómo se articulan estos cambios con las políticas sociales diseñadas exprofeso para atender las necesidades básicas de los hogares a través de ellas como madres de familia. Para lograrlo, se hizo un estudio exploratorio cuanti- cualitativo desde la hermenéutica feminista en dos comunidades productoras de maíces nativos en el Estado de México: San Jerónimo Mavatí, Municipio de San Felipe del Progreso y Santa María Nativitas, Municipio de Calimaya. Se constató que el Estado define las necesidades femeninas de tal modo que sirven como herramientas para el diseño de su política social que comúnmente se ve traducida en programas de apoyo basado en transferencias monetarias condicionadas. Lo anterior dio pie a cuestionar la capacidad de estos programas para atender las causas subyacentes de las desigualdades de género, por el contrario al parecer éstos sólo sirven para perpetuar los roles femeninos. Por otro lado se propone la analogía de las necesidades con un contenedor, para evidenciar otro tipo de necesidades que, de ser satisfechas, pueden tomarse como una respuesta para disminuir las desigualdades entre hombres y mujeres, el reconocimiento de estas necesidades por parte del Estado, propiciaría cierta negociación con las mujeres rurales e incluiría además, una nueva valoración estratégica del maíz nativo en los modos de vida rural, donde las condiciones para la satisfacción de las necesidades fugitivas puede acercarse al “Florecimiento Humano”

Sex Differences in the Association Between Frailty and Sarcopenia in Patients With Cirrhosis.

ObjectivesFrailty is prevalent in patients with cirrhosis and is hypothesized to result in part from sarcopenia, but the precise contribution of sarcopenia to frailty in this population is poorly understood.MethodsIncluded were patients with cirrhosis from 2011 to 2014 who had an ambulatory frailty assessment and abdominal computed tomography scan within 3 months. Logistic regression assessed the associations between frailty (=Liver Frailty Index ≥4.5), and sarcopenia (=skeletal muscle index of <39 cm/m for women and <50 cm/m for men).ResultsTwo hundred ninety-one participants were included: 33% were female. The median (interquartile range) Liver Frailty Index was 3.7 (3.3-4.2); 19% were frail. The median (interquartile range) skeletal muscle index was 49 cm/m (31-69); 36% had sarcopenia. Among the 54 frail participants, 48% had sarcopenia. In univariable logistic regression, sarcopenia was associated with a 1.86× increased odds of being frail (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-3.38). After adjusting for sex, etiology, hepatocellular carcinoma, MELDNa, ascites, encephalopathy, and hypertension, sarcopenia was associated with a 2.38× increased odds of being frail (95% CI, 1.17-4.85). After stratifying by sex and adjusting for MELDNa, sarcopenia among males was associated with a significantly increased odds of frailty (odds ratio 2.81, 95% CI, 1.19-6.67), whereas sarcopenia among females was not (odds ratio 1.38; 95% CI, 0.45-4.25).DiscussionIn patients with cirrhosis, sarcopenia was associated with a nearly 2-fold increased odds of being frail. Two-thirds of frail men displayed sarcopenia compared with only one-quarter of frail women. Contributors to the frail phenotype may differ by sex and support the need for sex-specific strategies to reduce frailty in this population

Estimating Oceanic Export Production based on 3D coupled physical-biogeochemical modelling

The study addresses various aspects of model-based estimating the oceanic primary production. In particular, we consider existent interpretations of the export fluxes; influence of implied conversions between modelled chlorophyll and biomass, expressed in nitrogen and/or carbon units, and, therefore, impact of decoupling the biogeochemical (N, C) cycles and chlorophyll. The export production is estimated by simulating global ocean biolgeochemical dynamics with the CN regulated model (REcoM) developed by Schartau et al. (2007) and coupled with the MITgcm. The model describes carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fluxes between components of the ocean ecosystem. The nitrogen and carbon cycles as well as phytoplankton chlorophyll (Chl) dynamics are decoupled in accordance with the dynamic regulatory phytoplanktonic acclimation model sugested by Geider et al. (1998). Sensitivity of the primary production estimates to biological model parameters is also discussed

Present subjunctive embedded in focus-on-form activities: a case of formal instruction in the L2 Spanish classroom

Master of ArtsDepartment of Modern LanguagesLaura Valentin RiveraA large corpus of research focused on the acquisition of the subjunctive in the Spanish classroom suggests that this mood possesses a deep inherent complexity. This is mainly the case due to two factors: a) the elaborated syntactic constructions prompted by the subjunctive, and b) the varied interpretations and meanings conveyed by this mood. As such, learners of Spanish as a foreign language (hereafter FL) undergo a lengthy process in order to comprehend, implement and naturally and efficiently employ the subjunctive in their speech at the written and spoken level. Having said that, raising the communicative value of the subjunctive may elevate its noticeability (Collentine, 2010). Activities that support focus-on-form are designed to attract a learner’s attention to a particular form, especially during communication (Ellis, 2016). Moreover, current research supports increased accuracy with pair work, especially when dealing with complex grammatical forms (Baleghizadeh, 2010). For that reason, activities involving collaborative tasks should be implemented into the classroom (Fernández Dobao, 2012). In an effort to equip language instructors with more efficient practices to facilitate and accelerate learners’ comprehension and development of the subjunctive, this study surveys 1) the impact of the design of the task (i.e. focus-on-form) and 2) two different working modes (i.e. individuals and pairs) embedded in the use of the present subjunctive. To this end, 33 participants completed a battery of activities consisting of an individual written activity with two different versions, and a collaborative oral and written assignment. Version A of the individual written activity was at the paragraph level, while version B only required participants to express ideas at the sentence level. Results suggest that the design of version B allowed them to perform better than that of version A. Additionally, working collaboratively seemed to have yielded communicative opportunities that led participants to produce a higher number of accurate sentences