La Unión Europea y el mundo “en desarrollo”: ¿dónde encaja Centroamérica?

La tormenta del referéndum del Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Estados Unidos y CAFTA-DR hasta hace poco se empieza a calmar, pero desde ya el siguiente gigante en el mundo del comercio global ya está tocando a la puerta de América Central. La Unión Europea y Centroamérica, como región, han iniciado en octubre de 2007 las negociaciones para firmar un Acuerdo de Asociación (AdA). Este AdA probablemente seguirá los pasos de otros acuerdos, tales como los de la UE y Chile, y la UE y México. Pero, ¿cómo encaja este AdA con la estrategia de comercio de la UE?, y ¿cómo sus condicionalidades se comparan con las de otros acuerdos dentro de las estructuras que la UE tiene establecidas, y que le dan a los países en desarrollo acceso a sus mercados? Este artículo se propone realizar un breve análisis del contexto en el cual el AdA es negociado, y lo compara con otras estructuras por medio de las cuales los países en desarrollo obtienen acceso al mercado de la UE, sobresaliendo los Acuerdos de Asociación Económica (EPAs) que los países en desarrollo de África, el Caribe y el Pacífico están negociando con la UE, y el Sistema Generalizado de Preferencia (SGP), el cual ha gobernado hasta ahora las relaciones comerciales entre el Istmo y la UE

Monitoring of Childhood Asthma

__Abstract__ Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, which is characterized by episodes of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, with reversible airway obstruction and airway hyperresponsiveness. Worldwide asthma affects 5-10% of all schoolchildren and in most countries the prevalence is still increasing. Antiinflammatory drugs, with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) as first choice, are the mainstay of asthma treatment and guidelines recommend a step up-step down scheme when adjusting asthma treatment. The goals of asthma treatment are to reduce symptoms, to allow for a normal and active life, and to reduce future risks to the patient. In this respect ‘asthma control’ has become a central concept in asthma management

Transferencias condicionadas, regímenes de bienestar e igualdad de género: ¿blancos, negros o grises?

Las transferencias monetarias condicionadas, programas “estrella” de la nueva política latinoamericana, ¿favorecen o atentan contra la igualdad de género? ¿Qué tanto los programas de transferencias condicionadas promueven mayores grados de igualdad como lo argumentan sus defensores? ¿Es posible, por el contrario, constatar que promueven mayores grados de desigualdad entre hombres y mujeres, como lo argumentan sus detractores? ¿Y si no fuera ni una cosa ni lo otro sino una combinación de ambos? Este documento de trabajo presenta un instrumento teórico-empírico novedoso para el estudio de la igualdad de género. Su principal fortaleza es que permite analizar empíricamente dicha (des)igualdad, de manera multidimensional y sistemática, y a partir de diversos tipos de fuentes, tanto cualitativas como cuantitativas. Como segundo aporte al debate regional, el análisis se basa en una combinación de fuentes primarias y secundarias, principalmente cualitativas, relativas a tres países claramente contrastantes en términos de su política social, así como de las relaciones entre política social, mercados laborales y familias: Chile, Costa Rica y El Salvador. Nuestro análisis muestra que, desde el punto de vista de la equidad de género, lejos de blancos o negros, estos programas nos confrontan con una tonalidad de grises. En segundo lugar, una relativa homogeneidad entre programas insertos en regímenes de bienestar altamente diferenciados, indicaría que ésta se debe más a aspectos de diseño de los programas, que de articulación de las políticas sociales con los mercados laborales y las familias. En otras palabras, las limitaciones de los programas para promover mayores grados de igualdad de género, estarían más asociados a aspectos de diseño que a factores estructurales

Overexpression of GA20-OXIDASE1 impacts plant height, biomass allocation and saccharification efficiency in maize

Increased biomass yield and quality are of great importance for the improvement of feedstock for the biorefinery. For the production of bioethanol, both stem biomass yield and the conversion efficiency of the polysaccharides in the cell wall to fermentable sugars are of relevance. Increasing the endogenous levels of gibberellic acid (GA) by ectopic expression of GA20-OXIDASE1 (GA20-OX1), the rate-limiting step in GA biosynthesis, is known to affect cell division and cell expansion, resulting in larger plants and organs in several plant species. In this study, we examined biomass yield and quality traits of maize plants overexpressing GA20-OX1 (GA20-OX1). GA20-OX1 plants accumulated more vegetative biomass than control plants in greenhouse experiments, but not consistently over two years of field trials. The stems of these plants were longer but also more slender. Investigation of GA20-OX1 biomass quality using biochemical analyses showed the presence of more cellulose, lignin and cell wall residue. Cell wall analysis as well as expression analysis of lignin biosynthetic genes in developing stems revealed that cellulose and lignin were deposited earlier in development. Pretreatment of GA20-OX1 biomass with NaOH resulted in a higher saccharification efficiency per unit of dry weight, in agreement with the higher cellulose content. On the other hand, the cellulose-to-glucose conversion was slower upon HCl or hot-water pretreatment, presumably due to the higher lignin content. This study showed that biomass yield and quality traits can be interconnected, which is important for the development of future breeding strategies to improve lignocellulosic feedstock for bioethanol production

Maize tricin-oligolignol metabolites and their implications for monocot lignification

Lignin is an abundant aromatic plant cell wall polymer consisting of phenylpropanoid units in which the aromatic rings display various degrees of methoxylation. Tricin [5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one], a flavone, was recently established as a true monomer in grass lignins. To elucidate the incorporation pathways of tricin into grass lignin, the metabolites of maize (Zea mays) were extracted from lignifying tissues and profiled using the recently developed 'candidate substrate product pair' algorithm applied to ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry. Twelve tricin-containing products (each with up to eight isomers), including those derived from the various monolignol acetate and p-coumarate conjugates, were observed and authenticated by comparisons with a set of synthetic tricin-oligolignol dimeric and trimeric compounds. The identification of such compounds helps establish that tricin is an important monomer in the lignification of monocots, acting as a nucleation site for starting lignin chains. The array of tricin-containing products provides further evidence for the combinatorial coupling model of general lignification and supports evolving paradigms for the unique nature of lignification in monocots

Health Indicators of Pregnant Women in Tonkolili District, Rural Sierra Leone

Despite having reported one of the highest maternal mortality ratios and neonatal mortality rates in the world, surprisingly little is known about the general health status of pregnant women in rural parts of Sierra Leone. Malaria, anaemia and malnutrition are known contributors to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Although their prevalence is known to be high, the burden of these conditions in the rural pregnant population remains unknown. Our study aimed to gain more insight into the health status of pregnant women. An observational retrospective descriptive study was conducted at the Lion Heart Medical Centre using antenatal care (ANC) registers. The study revealed high prevalence of malaria (35.2%), maternal undernutrition (10.4%) and anaemia (65.9%). The proportion of teenage pregnancies in the ANC population was 16.4%. Both malaria and anaemia were more prevalent in this group, with odds ratios of 2.1 and 1.7, respectively. The findings reveal alarming high rates of anaemia, acute undernutrition and malaria among pregnant women and high numbers of pregnancy among adolescents, with increased health risks. These results will be used to advocate for a malnutrition program, specifically for pregnant women. Our study further emphasises the importance of preventing malaria and anaemia in pregnant women

Narratives of urban female adolescents in South Africa: dietary and physical activity practices in an obesogenic environment

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the narratives pertaining to dietary and physical activity practices by female adolescents in Soweto.Design: This was exploratory qualitative research, using duo interviews (pairs of best friends) (n = 29) from adolescent females.Setting: The setting was three urban high schools in the township of Soweto, South Africa.Subjects: Subjects were twenty-nine pairs of Grade 12 female adolescents predominantly, with a mean age of 18 years (15.3-21.6, standard deviation 1.1).Outcome measures: The outcome measure was body mass index, interpreted in relation to eating practices and exercise participation.Results: Locally prepared convenience foods were reported to replace home-prepared breakfast. The majority of participants did not prioritise eating breakfast at home, but purchased deep-fried dough balls (“fat” cakes) from vendors before school. Lunch boxes were also not commonly used as participants preferred to use spending money to purchase food from the school tuck shop. Kotas, “fat” cakes and snacks were popular lunch choices because of their affordability, convenience, peer influence and popularity. Respondents engaged in minimal active recreationalactivities. A lack of facilities and concerns about safety were barriers to activity.Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of investigating the immediate social context as a potential intervention point to improve the lifestyle of adolescents, to enable them to make the affordable and convenient choice, the healthier choice. Keywords: adolescent, eating, consumption, nutrition, physical activity, obesity, urban, South Afric