Did population well-being improve during Porfirian Mexico? An approximation using a Quasi-Index of human development

It is argued that economic growth during the Porfiriato did not improve the well-being of Mexican population. One explanation for such result is that economic growth pattern was skewed and benefited more the northern states and less the southern ones. Following the estimation method of the Human Development Index (HDI), we calculate a Human Development Quasi-Index for the Mexican states during the period 1895-1910. Results show that starting the period (1895) the northern states were already the most developed. During the next 15 year this pattern was maintained and the dispersion in human development increased marginally. Finally, it is shown that the true losers of Porfiriato were the states surrounding Mexico City and not the southern ones.human development, well-being, Mexico, Porfiriato

Towards the implementation of a preference-and uncertain-aware solver using answer set programming

Logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction (or LPPODs) are a recently defined logic-programming framework based on logic programs with ordered disjunction and possibilistic logic. The framework inherits the properties of such formalisms and merging them, it supports a reasoning which is nonmonotonic, preference-and uncertain-aware. The LPPODs syntax allows to specify 1) preferences in a qualitative way, and 2) necessity values about the certainty of program clauses. As a result at semantic level, preferences and necessity values can be used to specify an order among program solutions. This class of program therefore fits well in the representation of decision problems where a best option has to be chosen taking into account both preferences and necessity measures about information. In this paper we study the computation and the complexity of the LPPODs semantics and we describe the algorithm for its implementation following on Answer Set Programming approach. We describe some decision scenarios where the solver can be used to choose the best solutions by checking whether an outcome is possibilistically preferred over another considering preferences and uncertainty at the same time.Postprint (published version

Análisis y caracterización de zonas preferenciales en Guadalajara. Estudio exploratorio de la conectividad entre áreas verdes y arbolado

En este proyecto se analizó la cantidad de arbolado que tienen las vialidades de determinadas zonas de Guadalajara por medio de visitas al sitio, reconocimiento vía satelital e información de bases de datos del municipio. El objetivo fue hacer un diagnóstico de la zona en materia de corredores verdes. Se lograron obtener productos gráficos que facilitan la comprensión de la situación actual de la zona respecto a la conectividad de áreas verdes, así como su potencial para implementarlas

Las instituciones en vilo. Derecho y democracia en América Latina

This work constitutes a proposal of analysis of the relation between law and democracy in the Latin American context. Enquire about the role the law plays in the democratization on a regional level and the rule of the law in specific political circumstances, making significant inquisitions in the topic and dealing –starting at a revision of the pertinent theory– with empiric cases that exemplifies the identified problems to make some initial conclusions regarding the matter.Constituye este trabajo una propuesta de análisis de la relación entre derecho y democracia en el contexto latinoamericano. Indaga sobre el papel que juega el derecho en la democratización a nivel de la región y sobre el empleo de la ley en coyunturas políticas específicas, formulando interrogantes significativos en esta materia y abordando, a partir de una revisión de la teoría pertinente, casos empíricos que ejemplifican las problemáticas identificadas, a fin de esbozar algunas conclusiones iniciales sobre el tema

Double censorship: the reception of Elia Kazan and Edward Dmytryk in Spain, 1946-1977

The reception of American cinema in Spain after the Spanish Civil War was largely conditioned by the activity of censorship boards. American films were very popular in Spain in the decades following World War II. Yet they frequently reached the audience with mutilations, or with changes to the script. In fact, some directors who had already experienced problems with censorship in the United States suffered a ?double censorship? when their movies reached Spain. This article explores governmental responses to the cinematic production of Elia Kazan and Edward Dmytryk in Francoist Spain, between 1946, when Kazan?s and Dmytryk?s films were first released in Spain, until 1977, when censorship was abolished. Using the censorship files available at the Spanish General Administration Archive, we discuss how the censors? moral, political and religious views affected the reception of Elia Kazan and Edward Dmytryk in this period. From a comparative perspective, it is interesting to see that, while American and Spanish censors basically agreed on moral issues, they had different views on the threat that racial and political matters entailed for the spectators.Universidad de Alcal

Expanding the enzybiotic toolbox by switching catalytic and cell wall binding domains

Motivation: Bacterial resistance to common antimicrobial therapies (i.e., antibiotics) is reaching alarming levels worldwide [1]. This pushes for the development of alternative antimicrobials, such as bacteriophage-encoded endolysins, also called enzybiotics. This antibacterial approach, rooted in phage therapy, could pose a new and valuable adding to the antimicrobial arsenal, with increased specificity and much lower chances of enabling bacterial escape and resistance mechanisms when compared to antibiotics [2]. Endolysins are usually comprised of a cell wall binding domain (CWBD) and one or several catalytic domains that cleave the bacterial cell wall. Both rational design and domain shuffling have proved to be effective approaches towards the improvement of phage endolysins for therapeutic uses [3]. Thus, the aim of this work is to construct new endolysins active against a range of pathogenic bacteria by switching protein domains.Methods: A new lysin, termed Csl2 was designed by fusing the catalytic lysozyme domain of Cpl-7, encoded by pneumococcal phage Cp-7 [3], and the CWBD from LySMP, encoded by Streptococcus suis phage SMP [4]. The gene encoding the chimeric enzyme was cloned in the expression vector pT7-7, overexpressed in the Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3) and the protein Csl2 purified following a two-step chromatographic procedure. Relevant biochemical properties of Csl2 were studied, and its bacteriolytic activity was tested against several Gram-positive pathogens.Results: Protein Csl2 was efficiently overexpressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) and purified to >90%. Its secondary structure was similar to that of Cpl-7 according to preliminary circular dichroism experiments. Csl2 was found to be active against several streptococci, mainly from mitis group (namely: S. mitis, S. oralis, S. pseudopneumoniae) and Streptococcus suis from serotypes 2 and 9. The bacteriolytic host range of Csl2 differed from that of parental enzymes, with higher activity against S. suis strains.Conclusions: 1) A new bacteriolytic enzyme, Csl2, was constructed by combining Cpl-7 catalytic domain and LySMP putative Cpl-7-like CWBD.2) Csl2 resembles Cpl-7 biochemically and structurally, but has a different bactericidal spectrum.3) Csl2 is specially active against several S. suis strains, so it might be a candidate for therapy in S. suis infections

Persuasive strategies in the SME entrepreneurial pitch: Functional and discursive considerations

This paper aims to determine the efficacy of persuasive strategies in the SME pitch by examining the discursive interaction that takes place in a televised corpus, taken from the Spanish TV programme “Tu Oportunidad” (“Your Chance”), the counterpart of the British Dragon’s Den and the American Shark Tank. Using the information gathered in the discursive analysis of the corpus, we address how the use of rational and emotional factors may influence the decisions taken by the investors and how the entrepreneurs may achieve credibility. The results show the importance of rational argumentation in entrepreneurial and SME pitches, relegating emotional aspects to a secondary role from the persuasive point of view, which should, however, not be disregarded. Entrepreneurs should anchor their discourse firmly in a rational cognitive framework, but without discarding those emotional appeals which may be naturally connected to rational arguments, reinforcing their validity