Regulation of transmission expansion in Argentina Part I: State ownership, reform and the Fourth Line

From 1992 to 2002, major expansions of the Argentine electricity transmission sector depended on users proposing, voting and paying for such expansions, which were then put out to competitive tender. Commentators hold this novel policy to have been unsuccessful, mainly on the ground that it substantially delayed investment in a much needed “Fourth Line” to Buenos Aire. This paper challenges this interpretation. The policy was chosen because the conventional regulatory framework could not be trusted to deliver more efficient transmission investment decisions. The delay to the Fourth Line was short. Most importantly, the Fourth Line was not economic. Hence the delay was beneficial both in deferring and in reducing costs. It indicated a need to reappraise transmission investment policy because the availability of gas had made it more economic to generate electricity near Buenos Aires than to transmit it a long distance.Argentina, electricity, transmission, regulation

Regulation of transmission expansion in Argentina Part II: Developments since the Fourth Line

Argentina’s 1992 transmission expansion policy was subsequently modified by, for example, including provision for transmission companies and proposing quality and substation expansions. There have been several such expansions, and no lack of investment in quality and reliability of supply. In 1999, reflecting a decision to give greater weight to political considerations, a Federal Transmission Plan was introduced to build lines designated by the federal and provincial governments. The original reform led to less investment in major transmission lines but more intensive use of existing lines. Competition to construct expansions developed, leading to lower construction costs. Thus the Argentine transmission expansion mechanism was a considerable success in terms of meeting the requirements of users efficiently. This experience suggests that involving users in the regulation of monopoly networks is feasible, and the scope for it may be greater than generally appreciated. However, the reconciliation of economic and political considerations needs further consideration.Argentina, electricity, transmission, regulation

A plea for (purely) singular propositions: The cases of belief correction and de re attitude reports

In this paper I assume that it is reasonable to claim, as Michael Devitt does, that a definite description can express, in certain contexts, a genuinely referential meaning, but I discuss the requisite, also defended by Devitt, that the predicates involved in the description at stake should apply to the referred object. In so doing, I consider some cases of sentences containing definite descriptions constituted by general terms that, strictly speaking, don't apply to the intended object but are nonetheless intuitively true. Along these lines, in the last paragraphs, I suggest that the role of the predicative material of a referential definite description can be regarded as secondary or instrumental, a mere guide to the identification of the object referred to.En el presente trabajo parto de asumir que es razonable sostener, como propone Michael Devitt, que una descripción definida puede expresar, en ciertos contextos, un significado genuinamente referencial para luego discutir el requisito, también defendido por Devitt, de que los predicados que constituyen la descripción en cuestión deban aplicarse al objeto referido. Para hacerlo, considero ejemplos de oraciones que contienen descripciones definidas constituidas por términos generales que, en sentido estricto, no se aplican al objeto pretendido, pero que pueden ser consideradas intuitivamente verdaderas. Siguiendo este enfoque, en los párrafos finales, sugiero que el papel del material predicativo que constituye una descripción definida referencial debe ser considerado secundario e instrumental, una mera guía para la identificación del objeto referido

Lo expresado, lo transmitido y lo afirmado : Proposiciones singulares; semántica y pragmática

No parece excesivamente osado afirmar que hay cierto consenso relativo acerca de considerar que una proposición singular es aquella que contiene un término de ese tipo como sujeto lógico. No obstante ello, el debate respecto de qué expresiones del lenguaje natural debe estimarse que aportan a la estructura proposicional un término singular es, a la fecha, una cuestión abierta. La discusión se ha tornado particularmente intensa en lo que hace al caso de las descripciones definidas. O sea de expresiones de la forma el tal y tal; esto es, estructuras que combinan un artículo determinante con cierto material predicativo. La lectura cuantificacional russelliana de las descripciones, expuesta en el artículo ya clásico “On Denoting”, afirma que la proposición expresada por una oración que contiene una descripción definida como sujeto gramatical, es de tipo existencial general y no singular. Sin embargo, críticas posteriores han cuestionado que tal enfoque constituya, sin más, un análisis adecuado para toda oración que incluya en el rol de sujeto gramatical una descripción definida.Ponencia presentada en la Mesa Redonda XIV - Proposiciones singulares y descripciones definidas: herramientas para un debate.Departamento de Filosofí

Tri talijanske knjige o raspadu Jugoslavije

Cristiano Diddi & Valentina Piatelli: Dal Mito alla pulizia etnica. La guerra contro i civili nei Balcani [Od mita do etničkog čišćenja. Rat protiv civila na Balkanu]. Edizioni cultura della pace, Firenca 1995. Fabio Martelli: La guerra di Bosnia. Violenza dei miti, [Bosanski rat. Nasilje mitova]. II Mulino/ Alfa Tape, Bologna 1997. Adriano Sofri: Lo specchio di Sarajevo [Sarajevsko zrcalo], Sellerio, Palermo 1997

Meconium-stained amniotic fluid: a risk factor for postpartum hemorrhage

Background/aim Clinical data with respect to the impact of meconium on the risk of maternal hemorrhage are scarce. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to determine whether meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) represents a risk factor for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) after vaginal delivery in a large unselected population. Patients and methods A retrospective cohort study evaluated 78,542 consecutive women who had a vaginal delivery between 24th and 44th weeks of gestation. The women who had undergone cesarean section were excluded to avoid possible bias. Postpartum blood loss was measured with graduated blood sack. Postpartum blood loss between 1,000 and 2,000 mL and >2,000 mL were classified as moderate and severe PPH, respectively. Results A total of 74,144 patients were available for analysis. According to the color of amniotic fluid (AF), two groups of patients were identified: MSAF (n=10,997) and clear AF (n=63,147). The rates of severe and massive PPH were found to be significantly higher in the MSAF group than that of clear AF group (OR=1.3, 95% CI: 1.2\u20131.5, p<0.001 and OR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.5\u20134.2, p<0.001). Operative vaginal delivery rate was found to be higher in the MSAF group than that of clear AF group, but the difference was only borderline significant (OR=1.5, 95% CI: 1.0\u20132.2, p=0.05). There were no significant differences between the MSAF and the clear AF groups with respect to episiotomies, second- or third-degree perineal tears, vaginal\u2013perineal thrombus, cervical lacerations, vaginal births after cesarean section, twin deliveries, and placental retention rates. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clinical study that has investigated the role of MSAF as a risk factor for PPH after vaginal delivery in an unselected population. Our results suggest that MSAF is significantly associated with higher risk of moderate and severe PPH than clear AF

Platelet satellitism in infectious disease?

Background: Platelet satellitism is a phenomenon of unknown etiology of aggregating platelets around polymorphonuclear neutrophils and other blood cells which causes pseudothrombocytopenia, visible by microscopic examination of blood smears. It has been observed so far in about a hundred cases in the world. Case subject and methods: Our case involves a 73-year-old female patient with a urinary infection. Biochemical serum analysis (CRP, glucose, AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, bilirubin, sodium, potassium, chloride, urea, creatinine) and blood cell count were performed with standard methods on autoanalyzers. Serum protein fractions were examined by electrophoresis and urinalysis with standard methods on autoanalyzer together with microscopic examination of urine sediment. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, blood culture and urine culture tests were performed with standard methods. Results: Due to typical pathological values for bacterial urinary infection, the patient was admitted to the hospital. Blood smear examination revealed phenomenon, which has persisted for three weeks after the disease has been cured. Blood smears with EDTA as an anticoagulant had platelet satellitism whereas the phenomenon was not observed in tubes with different anticoagulants (Na, Li-heparin) and capillary blood. Discussion: We hypothesize that satellitism was induced by some immunological mechanism through formation of antibodies which have mediated platelets binding to neutrophil membranes and vice versa. Unfortunately we were unable to determine the putative trigger for this phenomenon. To our knowledge this is the second case of platelet satellitism ever described in Croati