Recursos naturales y económicos en disputa. Bosques nativos y fondo compensatorio en la provincia de Salta, Argentina

In November 2007 in Argentina, National Law No. 26,331 (“Forests Act”) was passed, urging each province to carry out a Territorial Planning of Native Forests. Salta was one of the firsts provinces to comply by enacting law No. 7,543 in December 2008. In this article, through an analysis of documental, legal and newspaper material, as well as interviews carried out in the framework of our doctoral research, we make use of the contributions made by political ecology and the project modernity/coloniality to shed light on the processes of commodification and colonization of nature, so as to then propose an analysis of the case of Salta. In particular, we track down the characteristics of the National Fund for the Enrichment and Conservation of Native Forests established to economically reward those who preserve areas of native forests for the environmental services they provide. This lets us put into tension the different ways of appraising nature in the framework of the dramatic advance of the agricultural frontier that has been taking place in the North of Argentina since the late 20th century, and at the same time, make progress in the analysis of the first steps in the effective implementation of forests conservation policies at a national level.En noviembre de 2007 fue sancionada en Argentina la Ley Nacional Nº 26.331 (“ley de bosques”), instando a cada provincia a realizar un Ordenamiento Territorial de Bosques Nativos. Salta fue una de las primeras jurisdicciones en llevarlo adelante, a través de la Ley Nº 7.543 sancionada en diciembre de 2008. En este artículo, a partir de análisis documental, legal, hemerográfico y de entrevistas realizadas en el marco de nuestra investigación doctoral, recuperamos las contribuciones de la ecología política y de los aportes del proyecto modernidad/colonialidad para pensar los procesos de mercantilización y colonialización de la naturaleza, para luego proponer un análisis en torno al caso salteño. En particular, rastreamos las características del Fondo Nacional para el Enriquecimiento y la Conservación de los Bosques Nativos previsto para compensar económicamente a quienes conserven superficies de bosques nativos por los servicios ambientales que éstos brindan. Esto nos permitirá poner en tensión los distintos modos de valorizar la naturaleza en el contexto del vertiginoso avance de la frontera agropecuaria ocurrido en el norte argentino desde fines del siglo XX, a la vez que avanzar en el análisis de los primeros pasos en la implementación efectiva de la política de conservación de bosques a nivel nacional

Measuring the vulnerability of the Uruguayan population to vector-borne diseases via spatially hierarchical factor models

We propose a model-based vulnerability index of the population from Uruguay to vector-borne diseases. We have available measurements of a set of variables in the census tract level of the 19 Departmental capitals of Uruguay. In particular, we propose an index that combines different sources of information via a set of micro-environmental indicators and geographical location in the country. Our index is based on a new class of spatially hierarchical factor models that explicitly account for the different levels of hierarchy in the country, such as census tracts within the city level, and cities in the country level. We compare our approach with that obtained when data are aggregated in the city level. We show that our proposal outperforms current and standard approaches, which fail to properly account for discrepancies in the region sizes, for example, number of census tracts. We also show that data aggregation can seriously affect the estimation of the cities vulnerability rankings under benchmark models.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOAS497 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Are Low Interest Rates Deflationary? A Paradox of Perfect-Foresight Analysis

A prolonged period of extremely low nominal interest rates has not resulted in high inflation. This has led to increased interest in the “Neo-Fisherian” proposition according to which low nominal interest rates may themselves cause inflation to be lower. The fact that standard models of the effects of monetary policy have the property that perfect foresight equilibria in which the nominal interest rate remains low forever necessarily involve low inflation (at least eventually) might seem to support such a view. Here, however, we argue that such a conclusion depends on a misunderstanding of the circumstances under which it makes sense to predict the effects of a monetary policy commitment by calculating the perfect foresight equilibrium consistent with the policy. We propose an explicit cognitive process by which agents may form their expectations of future endogenous variables. Under some circumstances, such as a commitment to follow a Taylor rule, a perfect foresight equilibrium (PFE) can arise as a limiting case of our more general concept of reflective equilibrium, when the process of reflection is pursued sufficiently far. But we show that an announced intention to fix the nominal interest rate for a long enough period of time creates a situation in which reflective equilibrium need not resemble any PFE. In our view, this makes PFE predictions not plausible outcomes in the case of policies of the latter sort. According to the alternative approach that we recommend, a commitment to maintain a low nominal interest rate for longer should always be expansionary and inflationary, rather than causing deflation; but the effects of such “forward guidance” are likely, in the case of a long-horizon commitment, to be much less expansionary or inflationary than the usual PFE analysis would imply

Is the difference in the volume of the pharyngeal space, as measured by acoustic pharyngometry, before and after tonsillectomy proportional to the volume of the excised tonsils?

OBJECTIVE: Adenotonsillectomy is recognized as an effective therapy for snoring and sleep disorders in children. It is important to understand whether adenotonsillectomy significantly increases the volume of the pharyngeal space. The goal of this study was to evaluate the change in oropharyngeal volume after adenotonsillectomy and the correlation of this change with the objective volume of the tonsils and body mass index. METHODS: We included 27 subjects (14 males) with snoring caused by tonsil and adenoid hypertrophy. The mean age of the subjects was 7.92 (±2.52) years. Children with craniofacial malformations or neuromuscular diseases or syndromes were excluded. The parents/caregivers answered an adapted questionnaire regarding sleep-disordered breathing. All patients were subjected to weight and height measurements and body mass index was calculated. The subjects underwent pharyngometry before and after adenotonsillectomy and the volume of both excised tonsils together was measured in cm3 in the operating room. RESULTS: Pharyngometric analysis showed that the mean pharyngeal volume was 28.63 (±5.57) cm3 before surgery and 31.23 (±6.76) cm3 after surgery; the volume of the oropharynx was significantly increased post-surgery (p=0.015, Wilcoxon test). No correlation was found between the objective tonsil volume and the post-surgical volume increase (p=0.6885). There was a fair correlation between the oropharyngeal volume and body mass index (p=0.0224). CONCLUSION: Adenotonsillectomy increases the volume of the pharyngeal space, but this increase does not correlate with the objective tonsil size. Furthermore, greater BMI was associated with a smaller increase in the pharyngeal volume. Oropharyngeal structures and craniofacial morphology may also play a role in the increase in oropharyngeal volume

Engineering microrobots for targeted cancer therapies from a medical perspective

Systemic chemotherapy remains the backbone of many cancer treatments. Due to its untargeted nature and the severe side effects it can cause, numerous nanomedicine approaches have been developed to overcome these issues. However, targeted delivery of therapeutics remains challenging. Engineering microrobots is increasingly receiving attention in this regard. Their functionalities, particularly their motility, allow microrobots to penetrate tissues and reach cancers more efficiently. Here, we highlight how different microrobots, ranging from tailor-made motile bacteria and tiny bubble-propelled microengines to hybrid spermbots, can be engineered to integrate sophisticated features optimised for precision-targeting of a wide range of cancers. Towards this, we highlight the importance of integrating clinicians, the public and cancer patients early on in the development of these novel technologies

(In)justicias ambientales, territoriales y socio-sanitarias en el Chaco salteño, Argentina

Desde fines del siglo XX, en Argentina se consolidó un modelo de desarrollo agropecuario que ha implicado crecientes impactos ambientales, sociales y sanitarios.A partir de material documental histórico y reciente, y de entrevistas en profundidad, este artículo se proponedesentrañar los avances y desafíos hacia una configuración ambiental, social y territorial más justa en el marco de la implementación de la Ley Nacional N° 26.331 de “Bosques Nativos” sancionada en el año 2007, a la luz del caso de la provincia de Salta. Allí la frontera agropecuaria ha avanzado sobre territorios que se constituyen en espacios de vida de poblaciones indígenas y campesinas, históricamente signadas por procesos de subalternización y situaciones de profunda injusticia ambiental y social

Encontrar-se com o outro

Resenha do livro "Guerra cultural e retórica do ódio: crônicas de um Brasil pós-político", de João Cezar de Castro Rocha

Un abordaje histórico en torno a los discursos y sentidos vinculados al “recurso boscoso” en Argentina

En este artículo, nos detenemos en una descripción y análisis histórico, prolongando la mirada hacia fines de siglo XIX y principios del XX, con el objetivo de detectar ciertos discursos y sentidos asociados a los bosques en Argentina desde el proceso de formación del Estado nacional (y sus reminisencias coloniales). Ponemos especial atención en el estudio de documentos legales, estadísticos y fuentes históricas, de acuerdo con el interés de realizar un abordaje que nos permita rastrear los modos de valorización de la naturaleza y su usufructo en tanto “recurso”, a la vez que dar cuenta del vínculo establecido entre esa naturaleza y las poblaciones a ella asociadas. También avanzamos en torno a los principales antecedentes institucionales y legales en materia de regulación forestal que tuvieron lugar en el país. En particular, tomamos como referencia ineludible a la región chaqueña, uno de los espacios geográficos que más debates han suscitado con relación al manejo de los recursos boscosos

Una década protegiendo los bosques nativos: Claroscuros de una política ambiental en defensa de los bienes comunes

El pasado martes 28 de noviembre de 2017 se cumplieron diez años de la sanción de la Ley Nacional Nº 26.331 de Presupuestos Mínimos de Protección Ambiental de los Bosques Nativos. Pocos días antes, el ministro de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de la Nación había afirmado en la Conferencia Internacional de Cambio Climático (COP23) desarrollada en Bonn que este tipo de leyes son parte de una ?épica legislativa? y que ?requieren revisión porque son grandes ideas irreales que no tienen mecanismos de implementación, fiscalización y de ejecución eficientes para su fin?. Más allá de las posibles y necesarias críticas, este tipo de argumentos no hacen más que abrir la puerta a potenciales flexibilizaciones en materia de protección de los bienes de la naturaleza. Nos proponemos entonces un balance de los avances y desafíos a una década su sanción, en una coyuntura por demás urgente: por el momento histórico, en el que los conflictos territoriales y ambientales se ven cada vez más teñidos de violencia (por no decir asesinato, a juzgar por las noticias de los últimos tiempos), y en el que más allá de las continuidades y rupturas gubernamentales, nos encuentra ante una ofensiva extractivista que bajo sus distintas formas (agronegocio, desarrollos inmobiliarios, minería a cielo abierto) no cesa en su impulso avasallador sobre poblaciones, naturalezas y territorios que son subalternizados y desvalorizados tras un discurso del desarrollo siempre adjetivado como sustentable.Fil: Schmidt, Mariana Andrea. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Environmental, territorial, and socio-sanitary (in)justices in the Chaco region of Salta, Argentina

Desde fines del siglo XX, en Argentina se consolidó un modelo de desarrollo agropecuario que ha implicado crecientes impactos ambientales, sociales y sanitarios.A partir de material documental histórico y reciente, y de entrevistas en profundidad, este artículo se proponedesentrañar los avances y desafíos hacia una configuración ambiental, social y territorial más justa en el marco de la implementación de la Ley Nacional N° 26.331 de "Bosques Nativos" sancionada en el año 2007, a la luz del caso de la provincia de Salta. Allí la frontera agropecuaria ha avanzado sobre territorios que se constituyen en espacios de vida de poblaciones indígenas y campesinas, históricamente signadas por procesos de subalternización y situaciones de profunda injusticia ambiental y social.Since the end of the 20th century in Argentina, a new model of agricultural development has been established, with increasing environmental, social, and sanitary impacts. By examining the case of the Province of Salta, and through the analysis of historical and recent documents, this article tries to unravel the advances and challenges ahead towards an environmental, social, and territorial scenario that is more just in the context of the implementation of the Ley Nacional N° 26.331 about “Native Forests”, enacted in 2007. The agricultural frontier in this region has advanced over territories that constitute living spaces for indigenous and rural populations, which have been historically marked by processes of subalternization and situations of deep environmental and social injustice.Fil: Schmidt, Mariana Andrea. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin