Using Lenses to Understand Policy Failures: The Case of the 2012 Census in Chile

Policy failures are controversial, costly, and above all, messy. More often than we wish, what begins as a well-intentioned policy becomes a failure. In all countries and policy areas, some initiatives end up failing miserably, wasting resources, creating endless political struggles, and even affecting countries\u27 governance. However, the perceptions and understanding of failure are dissimilar. Different actors, including researchers, have diverse and indeed conflicting viewpoints of what constitutes failure, its characteristics and avenues of resolution. The growing policy failure literature offers concepts and models to approach this elusive phenomenon, emphasizing the critical role of social perceptions, characteristics of failure episodes, multiple dimensions, and the wide and complex spectrum between failure and success. This study recognizes the multifaceted nature of policy failure as a starting point. Based on the existing literature, and assuming there are always different perspectives or lenses involved, this dissertation proposes the Lenses Framework as a novel approach to explore the understanding of policy failure, by analyzing the case of the 2012 census in Chile. In 2012, the National Statistics Institute (INE) conducted the census under a new methodology, and what could have been a significant advance on data quality and efficiency became a huge controversy. The census had significant implementation problems, low coverage, accusations of data mishandling, several investigations to assess the errors, and endless political and technical disputes, all of which ended with discarding the census and conducting a new census in 2017. By using the policy, organizational, and societal lenses, the analysis reveals the different angles of understanding the causes, characteristics and interpretations of the census failure. The policy lens emphasizes the abrupt change of census strategy, the troubled implementation, and differing evaluation criteria. Instead, the organizational lens exposes difficulties in INE\u27s structure, leadership weakness, internal disagreements, and other escalating struggles. In turn, the societal lens unveils the institutional context, political turmoil, the rising power of social media, and the student movement\u27s strength with the profound clash of ideas at stake. Like this, the Lenses Framework tackles the policy failure\u27s messy character, providing new insights for a meaningful, but also helpful, understanding of this complex phenomenon

EVIDENCE OF HIGH CONSUMPTION OF WASTE BY THE ANDEAN CONDOR (VULTUR GRYPHUS) IN AN ANTHROPIZED ENVIRONMENT OF CHILE

Abstract · Anthropogenic food subsidies and waste disposals have become a new food resource for wildlife, including the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), a situation that implies benefits and health risks. To increase understanding of Andean Condor feeding habits in the most anthropized area in Chile, we analyzed 280 pellets collected during 2016 from one roost in the Metropolitan Region, central Chile. We identified the main diagnostic elements microscopically and expressed them as percentage of occurrence (percentage of each item in relation to all pellets). We found 12 prey categories (including mammals, birds, and plant material) and 9 waste categories. Condors fed mainly on mammals (99%); livestock was their main feeding source (52%), followed by native (22%) and exotic wild species (19%). Birds were detected less frequently (8%). We found a high occurrence of waste (31%), of which plastic remains were the main item (27%). According to our results, landfills serve as a complementary food source for condors, probably a low-quality but easily accessible, and which exposes them to a variety of health and mortality risks. Despite the fact that Andean Condors can reach distant places in foraging flights to find food resources, a high proportion of the population is attracted to rubbish dumps and landfills. Despite the spatio-temporal limitations of our results, this is the first record that describes and quantifies a high presence of waste as a component of the Andean Condor diet. We recommend a more comprehensive study to assess their feeding habits and habitat preferences in a broader spatio-temporal context, and to determine the possible impact of the use of waste disposals on Andean Condor populations.Resumen · Evidencia de alto consumo de basura por el Cóndor Andino (Vultur gryphus) en un ambiente antropizado de Chile Los subsidios antropogénicos y sitios de disposición de basura se han convertido en una nueva fuente de alimentación para la fauna, incluido el Cóndor Andino (Vultur gryphus), lo que implica beneficios y riesgos. Con el fin de estudiar los hábitos alimenticios del cóndor andino en un área altamente antropizada, analizamos 280 egagrópilas colectadas durante 2016 en un dormidero de la Región Metropolitana, en Chile central. Identificamos microscópicamente los principales elementos diagnósticos y los expresamos como porcentaje de ocurrencia (porcentaje de cada ítem respecto del total de pellet). Encontramos 12 ítems dietarios (incluyendo mamíferos, aves y materia vegetal) y 9 ítems de basura. Los cóndores se alimentaron principalmente de mamíferos (99%); el ganado fue la principal fuente de alimento (52%), seguido por especies silvestres nativas (22%) y exóticas (19%), mientras que las aves estuvieron escasamente representadas (8%). Encontramos una alta ocurrencia de basura (31%), de la cual los restos de plástico fueron el principal ítem (27%). De acuerdo a nuestros resultados, los basurales sirven como una fuente complementaria de alimentación para los cóndores, probablemente de baja calidad, pero de fácil acceso, y que los expone a una variedad de riesgos de mortalidad y para su salud. Aunque el Cóndor Andino puede alcanzar lugares distantes en sus vuelos de forrajeo, una alta proporción de su población es atraída a vertederos y rellenos sanitarios. A pesar de las limitaciones espaciotemporales de nuestros resultados, este es el primer registro que describe y cuantifica la alta presencia de basura como componente de la dieta del Cóndor Andino. Recomendamos ampliar el estudio para evaluar sus hábitos alimentarios y preferencias de hábitat en un contexto espacial y temporal amplio y poder determinar el posible impacto del uso de basurales en poblaciones de Cóndor Andino

Determinación de los índices de salud nutricional de la leche fresca de bovino mediante espectroscopía de infrarrojo cercano

Bovine milk is one of the most complete foods that exist. During the last decades, milk FA have shown to improve human health due to the reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease and related pathologies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) reflectance analysis to predict the nutritional value, fatty acid (FA) composition, and health index of fresh milk from dairy cows of pastoral systems. The prediction of Atherogenicity and Thrombogenicity indexes, along with other FA ratios in fresh milk samples by NIRS were precise and accurate. In addition, the calibration model obtained by NIRS provides an opportunity for the routine quantification of milk’s healthy FA such as omega-3 and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), with applications in the dairy industry for food labeling, and at the farm level for management of the dairy cow’s diet.La leche bovina es uno de los alimentos más completos que existe. Durante la última década, se ha demostrado que los ácidos grasos de la leche pueden mejorar la salud humana, a través de la reducción del riesgo de enfermedades cardiovasculares y patologías asociadas. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la factibilidad del análisis de reflectancia NIRS para predecir valor nutricional, composición de ácidos grasos e índices de salud de leche fresca de vacas de sistemas lecheros pastoriles. La predicción por NIRS del índice aterogénico y trombogénico, de ácidos grasos en muestras de leche fresca, fueron precisos. Por tanto, el modelo de calibración obtenido por NIRS representa una oportunidad para la cuantificación rutinaria de los ácidos grasos saludables de la leche como omega-3 y CLA, con aplicaciones en la industria lechera para el etiquetado nutricional y a nivel de lechería para el manejo de la alimentación de las vacas

Linezolid Resistance in Brazilian Staphylococcus hominis Strains Is Associated with L3 and 23S rRNA Ribosomal Mutations

Univ São Paulo, Sch Pharm, Dept Clin Anal, BR-05508 São Paulo, BrazilHosp Beneficencia Portuguesa, Lab Clin Microbiol, São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Lab Alerta, São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Microbiol, BR-05508 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Lab Alerta, São Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

SK channel activation potentiates auranofin-induced cell death in glio- and neuroblastoma cells

Brain tumours are among the deadliest tumours being highly resistant to currently available therapies. The proliferative behaviour of gliomas is strongly influenced by ion channel activity. Small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK/KCa) channels are a family of ion channels that are associated with cell proliferation and cell survival. A combined treatment of classical anti-cancer agents and pharmacological SK channel modulators has not been addressed yet. We used the gold-derivative auranofin to induce cancer cell death by targeting thioredoxin reductases in combination with CyPPA to activate SK channels in neuro- and glioblastoma cells. Combined treatment with auranofin and CyPPA induced massive mitochondrial damage and potentiated auranofin-induced toxicity in neuroblastoma cells in vitro. In particular, mitochondrial integrity, respiration and associated energy generation were impaired. These findings were recapitulated in patient-derived glioblastoma neurospheres yet not observed in non-cancerous HT22 cells. Taken together, integrating auranofin and SK channel openers to affect mitochondrial health was identified as a promising strategy to increase the effectiveness of anti-cancer agents and potentially overcome resistance