The Cavalry of Christ: The Catholic Church and South Texas (1821-1882)

The article reflects on the cavalry of Christ, Catholic Church and South Texas from 1821-1882. It mentions that Mexican Catholics upheld certain religious traditions such as family altars within the home in the light of the shortage of priests and places of worship. It also mentions about a petition that was presented to U.S. Bishops by a group of Catholics in 1837 and requested English speaking priests and help in confronting anti-Catholic sentiment that had become much more prominent

Mexicanismo: Francisco Javier Clavigero and the Jesuit expulsion of 1767

This study will ask if the expulsion of the Jesuits played a part in the formation of this national spirit. In no way will this try to give a complete explanation of the events which led to the Jesuit expulsion, nor to explain the inner workings of Jesuit society and its influences. The focus will concentrate on the effect that the expulsion of Jesuits from New Spain, which was done by secret order and simultaneously across New Spain, may have had. Most of the Mexican Jesuits which were expelled eventually ended up in Bologna, Italy. Some of these individuals, notably Francisco Javier Clavigero, wrote books and dissertations concerning Mexico and its culture. Did these events and the subsequent writings play a role in forming the cultural sense of Mexicanismo

Are the Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gangs a Threat to Our National Security

This study focuses on the two predominantly Latino gangs, Mara Salvatrucha (aka MS-13), and the 18th Street Gang, operating on the streets of communities across America. This study is significant because it will provide information about how these violent gangs operate in ways that can inform and alert both civilian society and government agencies concerning optimal responses to the problems created by these gangs. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of documentary evidence and governmental statistics about the Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang, this study developed several conclusive findings on the negative effects of these groups in the United States. The Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang are becoming transnational criminal organizations, given the fact that they originated in Central America and Mexico and have since expanded their operations abroad. Despite efforts by national and international law enforcement to curtail these gangs’ criminal behaviors, they maintain their ties with their gang associates in these countries. Moreover, gang members engage in criminal activities that were highly organized. They also moved through networks that continued to gain sophistication. Drug trafficking, gun running, violence, robbery, extortion are some of the heinous crimes committed by these groups. These gangs disturb peace and order in the community, destroy personal property and endanger the lives of citizens. These two gangs may establish an organized criminal enterprise capable of coordinating illegal activities across national borders. Nonetheless, with complete disregard to the laws of this land, including immigration laws, these groups are considered a threat to the security of the country, but this level is considered comparable to any highly organized street gang that supports its activities with criminal enterprises. In sum, the dangers posed by Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street Gang, as well as other comparable criminal organizations should not be underestimated.José A. Ortiz Jr.Skelton, David TGrosskopf, Edmund WDeVere D. WoodsMaster of ScienceDepartment of Criminology and Criminal JusticeCunningham Memorial library, Terre Haute, Indiana State University.201205MastersTitle from document title page. Document formatted into pages: contains 74p. : ill. Includes reference page

La Presidencia de los Estados Unidos : ¿un modelo de poder ejecutivo?

Este articulo identifica, en seis secciones, ios estructuras fundamentales del sistema presidencial de ios Estados Unidos y sostiene que la esencia de la posición del presidente en el sistema político, le viene de las variadas atribuciones establecidas constitucional mente y la práctica creada históricamente por el ejercicio de los diferentes presidentes. Atribuye mucho del poder y la autoridad presidencial al contexto histórico en que los fundadores de la Constitución Americana crearon la institución, incluyendo sus poderes y límites. La primera sección discurre sobre las numerosas atribuciones del presidente y el ejercicio práctico de las mismas para llevar a cabo la política del Ejecutivo con éxito. La sección segunda examina el proceso histórico de la creación de la Presidencia norteamericaria y subraya la íntima relación entre el nuevo sistema de gobierno, la nueva nación surgida tras la independencia, y las circunstancias que rodean su nacimiento.This article identifies, in six sections, the basic structures of the American Presidential system of government and asserts that the nature of the office springs from the various roles the president is called upon to play in the execution of the duties of office and the historical record of the previous office holders. It attríbutes much of the president's power and authority to the historical context in which the framers of the American Constitution created the position, including its powers and limits. The first section discusses the múltiple roles the president plays while in office and notes that these roles must be performed seamlessly in order for America's chief executive to be successful. Section two examines the historical background of the creation of the position and emphasizes the connection between the fledgling government, the new nation, and the historical circumstances surrounding its birth

The buccal mucosa fenestrated graft for Bracka first stage urethroplasty: experimental study in rabbits

Objective To histologically evaluate, in an experimental study in rabbits, the integration process of the buccal mucosa fenestrated graft applied in the corpora cavernosa for Bracka first stage urethroplasty. Materials and Methods A urethral defect was surgically created in 16 male rabbits of the New Zealand breed through the excision of the penile urethra. The urethral defect was corrected by applying buccal mucosa fenestrated graft through two cruciform incisions in the distal portions of its longitudinal axis. The animals were sacrificed at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks post surgery and their genitals were subjected to clinical and histological assessment. Results The buccal mucosa fenestrated graft showed complete uptake in all groups, with keratinization squamous metaplasia and mucosal proliferation of the fenestrated areas. The fenestrated graft area represented an increase in length of 25% in length in relation to the original standard graft. Conclusions The fenestrated buccal mucosa graft presented total integration to the adjacent epithelia with re-epithelization of the incision areas of the graft (fenestrations) and no significant inflammatory or scarring reactions when compared to other mucosa transplanted areas; therefore its application is viable in cases of extensive urethral defect whenever the donating area might be insufficient.Federal University of São Paulo Departament of Urology (PO, HB, AR, UBjr, VO, AMjr) Department of Pathology (RD)UNIFESP, Departament of Urology (PO, HB, AR, UBjr, VO, AMjr) Department of Pathology (RD)SciEL

Using Cooperative Game Theory to Prune Neural Networks

We show how solution concepts from cooperative game theory can be used to tackle the problem of pruning neural networks. The ever-growing size of deep neural networks (DNNs) increases their performance, but also their computational requirements. We introduce a method called Game Theory Assisted Pruning (GTAP), which reduces the neural network's size while preserving its predictive accuracy. GTAP is based on eliminating neurons in the network based on an estimation of their joint impact on the prediction quality through game theoretic solutions. Specifically, we use a power index akin to the Shapley value or Banzhaf index, tailored using a procedure similar to Dropout (commonly used to tackle overfitting problems in machine learning). Empirical evaluation of both feedforward networks and convolutional neural networks shows that this method outperforms existing approaches in the achieved tradeoff between the number of parameters and model accuracy

Metabolism of a tropical rainforest stream

Gradients in photosynthesis (P) and respiration (R) were measured on an unperturbed portion of the Rio Mameyes, a tropical stream in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, northeastern Puerto Rico. Rates of P, which were similar to those of streams in temperate-deciduous forests, were low in the heavily canopied headwaters (\u3c70 g O2 m−2 y−1) and were higher (453–634 g O2 m−2 y−1) in middle and lower reaches. Periphyton biomass did not show the expected increase as the canopy opened downstream, probably because of increasing herbivory in downstream reaches. Rates of R, which were much higher than in most temperate streams, also were lower in the headwaters (767 g O2 m−2 y−1) than in the middle and lower reaches (1550–1660 g O2 m−2 y−1). High rates of R and suppressed periphyton abundance caused annual P/R to be \u3c\u3c1 from headwaters to lower reaches. Results for the Rio Mameyes suggest that intense herbivory, which is favored by the presence of large herbivores and consistently high temperatures, may be more typical of tropical than temperate streams. Results also show that the tropical rainforest provides the stream with sufficient amounts of labile organic C to support high rates of respiration over long distances across the basin

Global Perspectives and Experiences of Community Psychologists for the Promotion of Social Change and the Construction of Radical Solidarities

In this special issue we seek to document and learn from exemplars from around the world of interventions and other forms of applied work in organisational, community, and everyday social settings that are aimed at producing social change and changing oppressive social and cultural realities. This introduction presents the colonial origins of oppression and strategies for building social change based on radical solidarity. Colonialism, violence, and social inequality are interconnected. We realize that it is urgent to generate solitarily social change to transform these historical and transnational realities of oppression. Social change is realized through the praxis developed in historically deprived community contexts, respecting individuals' cultural and identity characteristics. Radical solidarity is necessary to question possible practices of colonial tutelage of communities. Likewise, praxis for social change must be developed creatively at the various levels of action and respect the intersectional trajectories of groups and individuals. We present diverse praxis experiences for social change in different contexts and levels of action developed by community psychologists, seeking to build a network of radical solidarity focused on dismantling colonial power