Las políticas culturales en los procesos de cambio: apuntes sobre la República Checa

El derrumbe del llamado "sistema comunista" en los paises del Este es uno de los acontecimientos culturales más importantes del siglo xx, quizás el más significativo de esta centuria. En un sentido ha sido un cataclismo económico, social, politico y cultural del que será un largo proceso salir exitosos, ya que no es posible "llegar al paraiso de la noche a la mañana. La velocidad de las transformaciones en el Este, la conocida crisis de la economia del mercado y su actual e incipiente recuperación, pareciera que no dan tiempo de reflexionar, por ejemplo, sobre fenómenos como la cultura y sus politicas y eso que nos encontramos en el decenio mundial del desarrollo cultural (1988-1997) decretado por la UNESCO. Por ello he considerado interesante desarrollar un tema como el del presente articulo que, desde una mirada de la economia de la cultura pretende mostrar varios aspectos económicos y sociales de las politicas culturales en estos tiempos de cambio, teniendo como referente la República Checa y elaborando una comparación con las politicas culturales en condiciones de economia de mercado.The fall of the so-called "communist sistem" in countries East European is one of the most important cultural events of the 20th century, probably the most important one of this century. It has been an economical, social, political and cultural cataclysm. Overcoming it successfully will be a long process since it is not possible to "enter the paradisen" overnight. It may seem that the speed of transformations in the East and the well-known crisis of market oriented economy which is at present incipiently recovering do not give us enough time to reflect on, for example, phenomena such as Culture and culturalpolicies, although UNESCO declared this decade World-Wide decade of cultural development (1988-1997). Therefore, I tackle the subject of this article trying -from a point of view of cultural economy- to point out different economic and social aspects of cultural policies in the present changing times. The point of reference is the Czech Republic, on whichcase I have elaborated a comparison of cultural policies in conditions of market oriented economy

Using Ungulate Occupancy to Evaluate a Biosphere Reserve Design in Tambopata, Peru

Conservation areas in tropical forests protect the most diverse and threatened ecosystems on the planet. In the Amazon, ungulates are important to forest structure and diversity, but are also food for rural people. I estimated occupancy of white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), collared peccary (T. tajacu), lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), and red brocket deer (Mazama americana) in Tambopata, Peru to evaluate how different management designations along with anthropogenic and habitat factors influenced the distribution of these species. I used track surveys (n = 258) and camera surveys (n = 256) to estimate ungulate occupancy and detection at 55 sites in a national reserve, a native community, and adjacent buffer areas from May 2008 to March 2009. The best approximating model for white-lipped peccary, lowland tapir, and red brocket deer included only a variable of travel time from the nearest city (a measure of an area's accessibility). Management designation also had some influence on occupancy. I found significantly higher occupancy for collared peccary and red brocket deer in reserve and buffer areas than in the native community but there was no significant difference in occupancy between the reserve and buffer. These results indicate that passive protection might be an adequate management strategy for inaccessible areas of this region. However, as the Amazon continues to be developed, more active enforcement of park boundaries and regulations should be enacted if wildlife conservation is to be effective

Comparative Economic Analysis Between Endogenous and Recombinant Production of Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a biopolymer with a wide range of applications, mainly in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors. Typical industrial-scale production utilizes organisms that generate HA during their developmental cycle, such as Streptococcus equi sub. zooepidemicus. However, a significant disadvantage of using Streptococcus equi sub. zooepidemicus is that it is a zoonotic pathogen, which use at industrial scale can create several risks. This creates opportunities for heterologous, or recombinant, production of HA. At an industrial scale, the recovery and purification of HA follow a series of precipitation and filtration steps. Current recombinant approaches are developing promising alternatives, although their industrial implementation has yet to be adequately assessed. The present study aims to create a theoretical framework to forecast the advantages and disadvantages of endogenous and recombinant strains in production with the same downstream strategy. The analyses included a selection of the best cost-related recombinant and endogenous production strategies, followed by a sensitivity analysis of different production variables in order to identify the three most critical parameters. Then, all variables were analyzed by varying them simultaneously and employing multiple linear regression. Results indicate that, regardless of HA source, production titer, recovery yield and bioreactor scale are the parameters that affect production costs the most. Current results indicate that recombinant production needs to improve current titer at least 2-fold in order to compete with costs of endogenous production. This study serves as a platform to inform decision-making for future developments and improvements in the recombinant production of HA

Mild hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE): Timing and pattern of MRI brain injury

BACKGROUND: Mild hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for neonatal brain injury. We examined the timing and pattern of brain injury in mild HIE. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study includes infants with mild HIE treated at 9 hospitals. Neonatal brain MRIs were scored by 2 reviewers using a validated classification system, with discrepancies resolved by consensus. Severity and timing of MRI brain injury (i.e., acute, subacute, chronic) was scored on the subset of MRIs that were performed at or before 8 days of age. RESULTS: Of 142 infants with mild HIE, 87 (61%) had injury on MRI at median age 5 (IQR 4-6) days. Watershed (23%), deep gray (20%) and punctate white matter (18%) injury were most common. Among the 125 (88%) infants who received a brain MRI at ≤8 days, mild (44%) injury was more common than moderate (11%) or severe (4%) injury. Subacute (37%) lesions were more commonly observed than acute (32%) or chronic lesions (1%). CONCLUSION: Subacute brain injury is common in newborn infants with mild HIE. Novel neuroprotective treatments for mild HIE will ideally target both subacute and acute injury mechanisms. IMPACT: Almost two-thirds of infants with mild HIE have evidence of brain injury on MRI obtained in the early neonatal period. Subacute brain injury was seen in 37% of infants with mild HIE. Neuroprotective treatments for mild HIE will ideally target both acute and subacute injury mechanisms

Nut production in Bertholletia excelsa across a logged forest mosaic: implications for multiple forest use

Although many examples of multiple-use forest management may be found in tropical smallholder systems, few studies provide empirical support for the integration of selective timber harvesting with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) is one of the world’s most economically-important NTFP species extracted almost entirely from natural forests across the Amazon Basin. An obligate out-crosser, Brazil nut flowers are pollinated by large-bodied bees, a process resulting in a hard round fruit that takes up to 14 months to mature. As many smallholders turn to the financial security provided by timber, Brazil nut fruits are increasingly being harvested in logged forests. We tested the influence of tree and stand-level covariates (distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity) on total nut production at the individual tree level in five recently logged Brazil nut concessions covering about 4000 ha of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru. Our field team accompanied Brazil nut harvesters during the traditional harvest period (January-April 2012 and January-April 2013) in order to collect data on fruit production. Three hundred and ninety-nine (approximately 80%) of the 499 trees included in this study were at least 100 m from the nearest cut stump, suggesting that concessionaires avoid logging near adult Brazil nut trees. Yet even for those trees on the edge of logging gaps, distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity did not have a statistically significant influence on Brazil nut production at the applied logging intensities (typically 1–2 timber trees removed per ha). In one concession where at least 4 trees ha-1 were removed, however, the logging intensity covariate resulted in a marginally significant (0.09) P value, highlighting a potential risk for a drop in nut production at higher intensities. While we do not suggest that logging activities should be completely avoided in Brazil nut rich forests, when a buffer zone cannot be observed, low logging intensities should be implemented. The sustainability of this integrated management system will ultimately depend on a complex series of socioeconomic and ecological interactions. Yet we submit that our study provides an important initial step in understanding the compatibility of timber harvesting with a high value NTFP, potentially allowing for diversification of forest use strategies in Amazonian Perù

Pulmonary epithelial cell-derived cytokine TGF-β1 Is a critical cofactor for enhanced innate lymphoid cell function

SummaryEpithelial cells orchestrate pulmonary homeostasis and pathogen defense and play a crucial role in the initiation of allergic immune responses. Maintaining the balance between homeostasis and inappropriate immune activation and associated pathology is particularly complex at mucosal sites that are exposed to billions of potentially antigenic particles daily. We demonstrated that epithelial cell-derived cytokine TGF-β had a central role in the generation of the pulmonary immune response. Mice that specifically lacked epithelial cell-derived TGF-β1 displayed a reduction in type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), resulting in suppression of interleukin-13 and hallmark features of the allergic response including airway hyperreactivity. ILCs in the airway lumen were primed to respond to TGF-β by expressing the receptor TGF-βRII and ILC chemoactivity was enhanced by TGF-β. These data demonstrate that resident epithelial cells instruct immune cells, highlighting the central role of the local environmental niche in defining the nature and magnitude of immune reactions

Pulmonary Epithelial Cell-Derived Cytokine TGF-β1 Is a Critical Cofactor for Enhanced Innate Lymphoid Cell Function.

Epithelial cells orchestrate pulmonary homeostasis and pathogen defense and play a crucial role in the initiation of allergic immune responses. Maintaining the balance between homeostasis and inappropriate immune activation and associated pathology is particularly complex at mucosal sites that are exposed to billions of potentially antigenic particles daily. We demonstrated that epithelial cell-derived cytokine TGF-β had a central role in the generation of the pulmonary immune response. Mice that specifically lacked epithelial cell-derived TGF-β1 displayed a reduction in type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), resulting in suppression of interleukin-13 and hallmark features of the allergic response including airway hyperreactivity. ILCs in the airway lumen were primed to respond to TGF-β by expressing the receptor TGF-βRII and ILC chemoactivity was enhanced by TGF-β. These data demonstrate that resident epithelial cells instruct immune cells, highlighting the central role of the local environmental niche in defining the nature and magnitude of immune reactions