Cultivating a Global Identity

Increasing economic globalization creates conflicts that can only be constructively managed if individuals and groups realize they now belong to a single people. The required sense of such a community does not involve a social group identity—as though being human consisted of being categorized as a member of a superordinate group. Rather, it involves the realization that personal identity depends on the socio-emotional relations involved in community and that the current situation requires a community that is global rather than local or national. The nature of this personal global identity and the sort of global community that is needed is explored in this article. Developing a sense of unity amongst people has always required ritual celebration, and achieving the consciousness that persons worldwide now form a global community will require a particular type of ritual whose nature is described. The authors report on some pilot studies which demonstrate that it is possible to present the idea of global identity in a way that emphasizes personal active relationships rather than group belonging, that this may increase a sense of global identification, and that one can create a celebration that may enhance the sense of personal identity in a global community. We conclude by exploring the ways in which conceiving personal identity in communal terms has implications for research on global identity and conflict. And, finally, we report on present day initiatives that may develop a global communal consciousness, and identify and describe celebrations of community that may advance a sense of global community

BUILDING CULTURES OF PEACE THAT PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS

The protection of vulnerable groups is a crucial aspect of the defense of the human rights so admirably described in the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights and its subsequent conventions. Although governmental structures and policies are indispensable for the defense of these rights, we cannot rely on states to secure them. They ultimately depend on the solidarity of societies and how persons act and communities behave. Thus, the protection of human rights depends upon our building cultures of peace that resolve conflicts nonviolently and link governments with the affective ties and human relations that constitute civil society. To construct cultures of peace, the UN General Assembly advocated working on eight bases. This paper reviews these bases, their interdependency, and their reliance on both state systems and community solidarity. It suggests specific actions that may promote human rights

Salvador (1954-1991) : évolution du pouvoir d'achat des salaires minimums affecté par la guerre

Cette étude, faite à partir de données disponibles au Salvador (salaires, prix au détail, indices de prix), couvre la période 1954-1991. Y sont analysées : l'évolution comparative des salaires minimums urbains et agricoles, la durée hebdomadaire moyenne de travail et des salaires moyens des ouvriers et ouvrières du département de San Salvador; l'évolution du pouvoir d'achat, général et alimentaire, d'un salaire de référence, le salaire minimum urbain de San Salvador; la variation des prix au détail de 47 aliments à San Salvador. Les prix sont exprimés, premièrement en colons courants, puis en heures de travail, payées au salaire minimum urbain, nécessaires pour obtenir des quantités physiques (kg, litre, etc.), 1000 kilocalories et 100 grammes de protéines des aliments. Les principaux résultats sont les suivants : les salaires minimums agricoles sont toujours inférieurs aux salaires minimums urbains, les salaires moyens des ouvrières sont environ 20% inférieurs à ceux des ouvriers dans le département de San Salvador. Entre 1954 et 1991, à San Salvador, les prix de détail des aliments augmentent plus vite que l'ensemble des prix. Entre 1961 et 1980, le pouvoir d'achat du salaire minimum urbain se maintient et présente même une légère tendance à la hausse. Entre 1980 et 1991, tout au long de la guerre civile, le pouvoir d'achat du salaire minimum urbain se dégrade peu à peu. Le rapport se termine par quelques recommandations susceptibles d'améliorer les conditions de vie et d'alimentation des salariés payés au salaire minimum et de leur famille. (D'après résumé d'auteur

Diffusion and wave behaviour in linear Voigt model

A boundary value problem related to a third- order parabolic equation with a small parameter is analized. This equation models the one-dimensional evolution of many dissipative media as viscoelastic fluids or solids, viscous gases, superconducting materials, incompressible and electrically conducting fluids. Moreover, the third-order parabolic operator regularizes various non linear second order wave equations. In this paper, the hyperbolic and parabolic behaviour of the solution is estimated by means of slow time and fast time. As consequence, a rigorous asymptotic approximation for the solution is established

Salvador (1954-1991) : pouvoir d'achat des salaires minimums avant et pendant la guerre civile

Summaries (En, Es, Fr)tables, graph

Molecular genetic analysis of two native desert palm genera, Washingtonia and Brahea, from the Baja California Peninsula and Guadalupe Island

Klimova A, Hoffman J, Gutierrez-Rivera JN, Leon de la Luz J, Ortega-Rubio A. Molecular genetic analysis of two native desert palm genera, Washingtonia and Brahea, from the Baja California Peninsula and Guadalupe Island. Ecology and Evolution. 2017;7(13):1-17.The complex geological and ecological processes that have generated high levels of biodiversity and endemism in the Baja California Peninsula have been the subject of intensive study. However, relatively little is known about phylogeography of the iconic endemic palm species of this region. We therefore analyzed a total of 2,294 bp of chloroplast and 738 bp of nuclear sequence data in 169 samples of five native palm species from Baja California, Sonora and Guadalupe Island. We found that Washingtonia and Brahea palms had low levels of genetic diversity and were highly structured, with the majority of species and major geographic regions being characterized by distinct haplotypes. We also found strong support for currently recognized species in Washingtonia, but our results were less clear cut for Brahea due to haplotype sharing. Furthermore, patterns of population structure were broadly consistent with historical vicariant events such as the inundation of the Isthmus of La Paz, the formation of the Sea of Cortez, and the more recent colonization and isolation of Guadalupe Island's palms. Our findings contribute toward a growing appreciation of the complexity of plant responses to past geological changes and also provide valuable baseline genetic data on relict American palm species

Social Network–Based Recruitment Successfully Reveals HIV-1 Transmission Networks Among High-Risk Individuals in El Salvador

HIV in Central America is concentrated among certain groups such as men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW). We compared social recruitment chains and HIV transmission clusters from 699 MSM and 757 FSW to better understand factors contributing to ongoing HIV transmission in El Salvador

Immunomics-guided antigen discovery for praziquantel-induced vaccination inurogenital human schistosomiasis

Despite the enormous morbidity attributed to schistosomiasis, there is still no vaccine to combat the disease for the hundreds of millions of infected people. The anthelmintic drug, praziquantel, is the mainstay treatment option, although its molecular mechanism of action remains poorly defined. Praziquantel treatment damages the outermost surface of the parasite, the tegument, liberating surface antigens from dying worms that invoke a robust immune response which in some subjects results in immunologic resistance to reinfection. Herein we term this phenomenon Drug-Induced Vaccination (DIV). To identify the antigenic targets of DIV antibodies in urogenital schistosomiasis, we constructed a recombinant proteome array consisting of approximately 1,000 proteins informed by various secretome datasets including validated proteomes and bioinformatic predictions. Arrays were screened with sera from human subjects treated with praziquantel and shown 18 months later to be either reinfected (chronically infected subjects, CI) or resistant to reinfection (DIV). IgG responses to numerous antigens were significantly elevated in DIV compared to CI subjects, and indeed IgG responses to some antigens were completely undetectable in CI subjects but robustly recognized by DIV subjects. One antigen in particular, a cystatin cysteine protease inhibitor stood out as a unique target of DIV IgG, so recombinant cystatin was produced, and its vaccine efficacy assessed in a heterologous Schistosoma mansoni mouse challenge model. While there was no significant impact of vaccination with adjuvanted cystatin on adult worm numbers, highly significant reductions in liver egg burdens (45-55%, P<0.0001) and intestinal egg burdens (50-54%, P<0.0003) were achieved in mice vaccinated with cystatin in two independent trials. This study has revealed numerous antigens that are targets of DIV antibodies in urogenital schistosomiasis and offer promise as subunit vaccine targets for a drug-linked vaccination approach to controlling schistosomiasis