Unemployment, poverty and social protection strategies: Peru 1998-2005

This paper uses information from a panel based on Peruvian National Household Surveys between 1998 and 2005 to quantitatively estimate the impacts that the loss of a job from a household member has. We find the following effects in the short run: a) reduces family income by 27%, b) reduces household’s real expenditures by 7%, c) diminishes the digested calories by 13%, and d) increases the probability of poverty by 44%. According to our results, the most effective strategy to mitigate these negative impacts on welfare would be an increase in the number of hours worked at the family level. Internal family transfers, receiving remittances from relatives abroad, and access to state social programs would be less effective. Finally, the benefit of the compensation for length of service (CTS) in the previous job would have no impact on halting the loss of welfare.Unemployment, poverty, social protection, caloric intake.

Raza, corrupción y acceso a servicios públicos en el Perú: ¿Exclusión o discriminación?

"Este estudio evalúa desde el punto de vista cuantitativo la posible existencia de discriminación contra los ciudadanos de origen indígena en el uso de los servicios públicos, con información de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares de Perú entre los años 2004 y 2006. Dichas versiones de la ENAHO recogen información sobre la realización de trámites en un grupo de instituciones del Estado, así como sobre los episodios de coima en dichos trámites. Se encuentra que los hogares con características indígenas alcanzan niveles más bajos de acceso a servicios públicos así como menores tasas de conclusión exitosa de trámites. El análisis econométrico sugiere que mientras que la menor tasa de acceso puede explicarse por las más elevadas incidencias de pobreza y menores niveles de educación de los hogares indígenas (lo que lo convierte en un problema de exclusión más que de discriminación), la menor tasa de conclusión sí parece representar un problema adicional de discriminación al interior de las entidades del Estado. No se hallan efectos de un trato diferenciado a la población indígena en los casos de coima. El análisis desagregado por tipo de institución proveedora de servicios muestra que la situación es particularmente grave en el caso de servicios básicos, tales como agua potable y saneamiento, donde sí se encuentra evidencia de discriminación en los tres niveles analizados. Por último, no se halla evidencia de discriminación racial específica en la policía, el sistema judicial ni en los servicios de aduanas y migraciones."Burocracia, Corrupción, Discriminación, Servicios públicos

Corrupción e inequidad en los servicios públicos en el Perú

Cada ciudadano peruano que tiene que realizar algún trámite en una dependencia estatal, sea nacional, regional o local, termina usualmente mortificado por las largas colas y tiempos de espera que hay que soportar, por las veces que hay que regresar a la misma institución para terminar con el trámite, por el trato descortés o simple maltrato de los funcionarios públicos y, en muchos casos, por el requerimiento de coimas para «agilizar» o hacer efectivo el servicio. El Perú está viviendo una bonanza económica sin precedentes en su historia contemporánea, con tasas de crecimiento promedio anual superiores al 6% durante más de una década. En este contexto, los problemas que más preocupan a la ciudadanía son la persistente desigualdad y pobreza, la corrupción en el Estado y la inseguridad ciudadana. Este estudio se ha concentrado en explorar la relación entre los dos primeros temas, empleando el uso de servicios públicos como eje central del análisis

Desempleo, pobreza y estrategias de protección social: Perú 1998-2005

This paper uses information from a panel based on Peruvian National Household Surveys between 1998 and 2005 to quantitatively estimate the impacts that the loss of a job from a household member has. We find the following effects in the short run: a) reduces family income by 27%, b) reduces household’s real expenditures by 7%, c) diminishes the digested calories by 13%, and d) increases the probability of poverty by 44%. According to our results, the most effective strategy to mitigate these negative impacts on welfare would be an increase in the number of hours worked at the family level. Internal family transfers, receiving remittances from relatives abroad, and access to state social programs would be less effective. Finally, the benefit of the compensation for length of service (CTS) in the previous job would have no impact on halting the loss of welfare

Metazoan parasite fauna of two peacock-bass cichlid fish in Brazil

A parasitological study of two freshwater cichlid fish of the genus Cichla (C. kelberi and C. piquiti) from six different aquatic ecosystems in Brazil was performed. Based on the survey, a checklist of the component community of the metazoan parasites of each of the two peacock-bass fish species was produced. Fish were collected from May 2009 to April 2011 in six Brazilian aquatic ecosystems using gillnets of different mesh sizes or angling using standardized effort. In total, six groups of parasites were collected: Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda, Nematoda, Copepoda and Branchiura. Among the groups of parasites found, nematodes presented the greatest number of species, with seven. The study lists new records of parasites in C. kelberi and C. piquiti, and new biogeography records of parasites in six different aquatic ecosystems in Brazil. The present paper collaborates with the study of conservation biology by adding new records of parasite species

Radial Age and Metal Abundance Gradients in the Stellar Content of M32

We present long-slit spectroscopy of the elliptical galaxy M32, obtained with the 8-m Subaru telescope at Mauna Kea, the 1.5-m Tillinghast telescope at the F. L. Whipple Observatory, and the 4-m Mayall telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The spectra cover the Lick index red spectral region as well as higher order Balmer lines in the blue. Spectra have been taken with the slit off-set from the nucleus to avoid scattered light contamination from the bright nucleus of M32. An analysis of numerous absorption features, particularly involving the H$\gamma$ and H$\beta$ Balmer lines, reveals that systematic radial trends are evident in the integrated spectrum of M32. Population synthesis models indicate a radial change in both the age and chemical composition of the light-weighted mean stellar population in M32, from the nucleus out to 33", i.e., approximately 1.0 effective radius, R_e. Specifically, the light-weighted mean stellar population at 1 R_e is older, by \~3 Gyr, and more metal-poor, by ~-0.25 dex in [Fe/H], t han the central value of ~4 Gyr and [Fe/H]~0.0. We show that this apparent population trend cannot be attributed to a varying contribution from either hot stars or emission line contamination. The increase in age and decrease in metal-abundance with radius are sufficiently well-matched to explain the flat radial color profiles previously observed in M32. In addition, the ratio of Mg to Fe abundance, [Mg/Fe], increases from ~-0.25 in the nucleus to ~-0.08 at 1 R_e. Finally, we find spuriously pronounced line strength gradients in the Mayall data that are an artifact of scattered light from the bright nucleus. Scattered light issues may explain the lack of consistency among previously published studies of radial line strength gradients in M32.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Adaptation and therapeutic exploitation of the plasma membrane of African trypanosomes

African trypanosomes are highly divergent from their metazoan hosts, and as part of adaptation to a parasitic life style have developed a unique endomembrane system. The key virulence mechanism of many pathogens is successful immune evasion, to enable survival within a host, a feature that requires both genetic events and membrane transport mechanisms in African trypanosomes. Intracellular trafficking not only plays a role in immune evasion, but also in homeostasis of intracellular and extracellular compartments and interactions with the environment. Significantly, historical and recent work has unraveled some of the connections between these processes and highlighted how immune evasion mechanisms that are associated with adaptations to membrane trafficking may have, paradoxically, provided specific sensitivity to drugs. Here, we explore these advances in understanding the membrane composition of the trypanosome plasma membrane and organelles and provide a perspective for how transport could be exploited for therapeutic purposes

Early osteoarthritis and reduced quality of life after retirement in former professional soccer players

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to compare the prevalence of osteoarthritis in two groups: one comprising former professional soccer players and the other comprising non-professional-athlete participants. METHODS: Twenty-seven male former professional soccer players and 30 male volunteers from different non-sports professional areas participated in the study. All participants underwent bilateral knee radiography and magnetic resonance imaging. In addition, the quality of life, knee pain and joint function were evaluated and compared using questionnaires given to all participants in both groups. Specific knee evaluations, with regard to osteoarthritis and quality of life, were performed in both groups using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score subjective questionnaires and the Short-form 36. The chi-squared test, Fisher's exact test, the Mann-Whitney U test and Student's t-test were used for group comparisons. RESULTS: The between-groups comparison revealed significant differences in the following: pain, symptoms and quality of life related to the knee in the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score subscales; the physical aspects subscale of the SF-36; total whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging scores with regard to the dominant and non-dominant knees. Former soccer players had worse scores than the controls in all comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: Both the clinical and magnetic resonance evaluations and the group comparisons performed in this study revealed that former soccer players have a worse quality of life than that of a control group with regard to physical aspects related to the knee; these aspects include greater pain, increased symptoms and substantial changes in radiographic and magnetic resonance images of the knee

Disseminated toxoplasmosis in a patient with advanced acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Extracerebral toxoplasmosis, with pulmonary involvement and shock, is a rare form of toxoplasmosis in patients with advanced AIDS. It can mimic pneumocystosis, histoplasmosis, and disseminated tuberculosis, and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of causes of respiratory failure and fulminant disease in this group of individuals, especially in areas where the Toxoplasma gondii infection is highly prevalent and in those without proper use of antimicrobial prophylaxis. We report the case of a 46-year-old male patient who presented to the emergency department with uremia, requiring urgent dialysis. During the laboratorial investigation, the patient had confirmed HIV infection, with a low CD4+ peripheral T-cell count (74 cells/µL). During hospitalization, the patient presented drug-induced hepatitis due to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole in a prophylactic dose, requiring interruption of this medication. On the 55th day of hospitalization, the patient developed refractory shock and died. At the autopsy, disseminated toxoplasmosis with encephalitis and severe necrotizing pneumonia were diagnosed, with numerous tachyzoites in the areas of pulmonary necrosis