Local Government, Taxes, and Guns: Successful Policy Innovation in Three Colombian Cities

This paper evaluates transformative policy innovations with respect to security and taxation in the three main Colombian cities: Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali. In the first two, such policies were associated with huge success. Elsewhere we (Gutiérrez et al. 2009) have tagged these transformation processes as ‘urban/metropolitan miracles’. The term comes from the fact that both common citizens and pundits considered these to be extremely unlikely, that they were fast, and that they were large-scale. We argue, that the success of Bogotá and Medellín was the result of a set of institutional underpinnings basically related to the 1991 constitution; the opening of a window of opportunity for new political actors; and, as a result, the formation of a new government coalition and ‘governance formula’. Anti-particularism was a language related to political demands— linked organically with the pro-1991 constitution movement—which became effective .../urban security, state building, public policies

Politics and security in three colombian cities

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the “metropolitan miracle” that has taken place in Colombia since the early 1990s and which consists of the radical improvement of security in two of Colombia’s three major cities (Bogotá and Medellín) - an improvement that experts considered highly unlikely. This phenomenon has been described, but not explained, and this is the purpose of our paper: to provide a political explanation of the miracle. We suggest here that the explanation lies in politics: coalitions, organisation, and state building. We claim that: a) the metropolitan miracle happened because a new, heterogeneous, governing coalition came to power which had strong enough incentives to disentangle itself from the dynamics of private provision of security; and b) the miracle was more likely to occur in very large cities. In contrast to Europe, where relatively small size can coexist with prosperity, for example via conurbations, in Latin America in general - and in Colombia in particular - only in the metropolis does the middle class have substantial power

Local Government, Taxes, and Guns

ABSTRACT: This paper evaluates transformative policy innovations with respect to security and taxation in the three main Colombian cities: Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali. In the first two, such policies were associated with huge success. Elsewhere we (Gutiérrez et al. 2009) have tagged these transformation processes as ‘urban/metropolitan miracles’. The term comes from the fact that both common citizens and pundits considered these to be extremely unlikely, that they were fast, and that they were large-scale. We argue, that the success of Bogotá and Medellín was the result of a set of institutional underpinnings basically related to the 1991 constitution; the opening of a window of opportunity for new political actors; and, as a result, the formation of a new government coalition and ‘governance formula’. Anti-particularism was a language related to political demands— linked organically with the pro-1991 constitution movement—which became effectiv

CRISPR Content Correlates with the Pathogenic Potential of Escherichia coli

Guide RNA molecules (crRNA) produced from clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) arrays, altogether with effector proteins (Cas) encoded by cognate cas (CRISPR associated) genes, mount an interference mechanism (CRISPR-Cas) that limits acquisition of foreign DNA in Bacteria and Archaea. The specificity of this action is provided by the repeat intervening spacer carried in the crRNA, which upon hybridization with complementary sequences enables their degradation by a Cas endonuclease. Moreover, CRISPR arrays are dynamic landscapes that may gain new spacers from infecting elements or lose them for example during genome replication. Thus, the spacer content of a strain determines the diversity of sequences that can be targeted by the corresponding CRISPR-Cas system reflecting its functionality. Most Escherichia coli strains possess either type I-E or I-F CRISPR-Cas systems. To evaluate their impact on the pathogenicity of the species, we inferred the pathotype and pathogenic potential of 126 strains of this and other closely related species and analyzed their repeat content. Our results revealed a negative correlation between the number of I-E CRISPR units in this system and the presence of pathogenicity traits: the median number of repeats was 2.5-fold higher for commensal isolates (with 29.5 units, range 0–53) than for pathogenic ones (12.0, range 0–42). Moreover, the higher the number of virulence factors within a strain, the lower the repeat content. Additionally, pathogenic strains of distinct ecological niches (i.e., intestinal or extraintestinal) differ in repeat counts. Altogether, these findings support an evolutionary connection between CRISPR and pathogenicity in E. coli.This work was supported by Grant BIO2011-24417 from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/min​eco/idi), and Grant ACOMP/2014/135 from the Conselleria D'Educació, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana (http://www.cece.gva.es/es/)

Antibodies to West Nile virus and related flaviviruses in wild boar, red foxes and other mesomammals from Spain

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), wild boar (Sus scrofa) and Iberian pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) that are raised extensively outdoors, as well as other wild mesomammals from south central Spain and wild boar from Doñana National Park (DNP), were tested for antibodies against related flaviviruses by ELISA and for antibodies against WNV by VNT. Mean flavivirus seroprevalence according to ELISA was 20.4 ± 7.8% (21 out of 103) in red foxes, 12.6 ± 2.8% (69 out of 545) in wild boars, and 3.3 ± 2.7% (6 out of 177) in Iberian pigs. A stone marten (Martes foina) also tested positive. Flavivirus seroprevalence in wild boar was significantly higher in DNP, and increased with age. Haemolysis of the serum samples limited interpretation of VNT to 28 samples, confirming WNV seroprevalence in one red fox, four Iberian pigs and nine wild boars. ELISA positive, microVNT negative samples suggest presence of non-neutralizing antibodies against WNV or antibodies to other antigenically related flaviviruses. Despite the importance of wetlands for flavivirus maintenance and amplification, WNV/flavivirus seroprevalence in wild boar and red foxes was not associated to wetland habitats. This is the first report of exposure of red foxes to WNV. With view to use of the tested species as sentinels for flavivirus activity, limited exposure of Iberian pigs that would be available for regular sampling, low numbers of foxes collected and concentration of wild boar harvest in the winter season are major drawbacks.This study has been supported by projects PAC08-0296-7771 (JCCM), and AG2008-02504GAN. A.V. Gutierrez-Guzman is a JCCM fellow (PAC08-029).Peer Reviewe

Desarrollo de una práctica de Estadística Descriptiva con GeoGebra

El presente trabajo pretende dar una pauta para emplear el potencial de las herramientas TIC con el propósito de facilitar en el aula y fuera de ella, el aprendizaje de conceptos propios de la estadística a un nivel universitario. Existen diversos programas computacionales capaces de realizar análisis estadísticos de alto nivel: SPSS, Minitab, Matlab, por mencionar algunos; estos programas funcionan muy bien cuando se trata de encontrar respuestas a planteamientos complicados o cuando se tiene un enorme banco de datos. Para emplear de la forma correcta este tipo de software y no malinterpretar sus resultados, es necesario en primer lugar, que el usuario entienda perfectamente los conceptos básicos de la estadística descriptiva, como son el análisis para datos agrupados y no agrupados, medidas de tendencia central y de dispersión, así como los diversos gráficos y tablas de datos que describen la frecuencia con la cual sucede un evento; para lo cual es necesario el uso de un software dinámico y en este caso diseñado específicamente para el aprendizaje didáctico de las matemáticas como lo es GeoGebra

Electrical Bearing Damage, A Problem in the Nano- and Macro-Range

Rolling bearings face different damaging effects: Besides mechanical effects, current-induced bearing damage occurs in electrical drive systems. Therefore, it is of increasing interest to understand the differences leading to known electrical damage patterns. It is of utmost importance not to consider the harmful current passage in the machine element as an isolated phenomenon but to take into account the whole drive system consisting of the machine elements, the electric motor and the connected power electronics. This publication works toward providing an overview of the state-of-the-art of research regarding electrical bearing currents

Dynamic computerized-adaptive assessment of reading processes: Incremental validity on text comprehension

This study explores the predictive and incremental validity of the Dynamic Computerized Adaptive Reading Processes Assessment Device (EDPL-BAI). This battery has 38 tasks organized in 6 modules to assess different processes related to reading comprehension (e.g. phoneme-grapheme association, executive functions, metacognitive processes). Method: A total of 1336 Chilean students from 3rd to 6th grade (45% females) from 12 public urban and rural schools participated in a longitudinal study consisting of three assessment cycles. On the first cycle, the students were assessed with a standardized reading comprehension test (CL-PT), the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (PMR), and the complete poll of items were calibrated in a non-dynamic version of EDPL-BAI. On the second cycle, seven months after, a sub sample of 1068 students were administered the adaptive and dynamic version of the EDPL-BAI (graduated prompts were displayed after wrong responses), while the remainder 268 students were assessed with the non-dynamic version of EDPL-BAI, and for all the students a pre and post-test (using selected items from EDPL-BAI), CL-PT and PMR were administered. Finally, at the third cycle, four month after, the non-dynamic version of EDPL-BAI and CL-PT were administered to the complete sample. Results and Conclusions: Multiple CFAs were conducted to determine the factorial structure of the EDPL-BAI, and a final model of 6 factors was retained. Predictive and incremental validity of the EDPL-BAI was explored with SEM analysis. The dynamic and non-dynamic versions of the EDPL-BAI were good predictors of reading comprehension. The dynamic version showed incremental validity over the non-dynamic version. Furthermore, graduated prompts predicted reading comprehension performanc

Oil-In-Water Microemulsions for Thymol Solubilization

Essential oil compounds (EOCs) are molecules with well-known antimicrobial and antipest activity. However, such molecules possess limited solubility in water, making their handling difficult. This work aimed to enhance the distribution of a solid essential oil compound, thymol, using oil-in-water (o/w) microemulsions for its solubilization. The use of mixtures formed by an alkyl polyglucoside (APG) and soybean lecithin (SL) allowed for stabilization of the o/w microemulsions in a broad range of compositions, with the total concentration of the mixture of the two surfactants (APG+SL) and the APG:SL ratio both being essential for controlling the nature of the obtained dispersions. The microemulsions obtained using oleic acid as the oil phase and with compositions far from those corresponding to the onset of the emulsion region showed a good efficiency for thymol solubilization. This is an advantage from a stability point of view, as well as for ease of thymol preparation. The present work opens new alternatives for designing eco-sustainable formulations for EOC solubilization, with the possibility of preparing the formulations at the place of use, thereby saving transport costs and reducing the emission of pollutants.Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Vegeta

Enteritis Hemocítica en Litopenaeus vannamei (Crustácea Decápoda) en cultivo de baja salinidad en Tamaulipas, México

The present study assessed the presence of hemocytic enteritis in Litopenaeus vannamei from a shrimp farm which uses semi-intensive culture with underground low salinity water, located at an urban zoneof Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Histopathological analyses showed characteristic lesions of hemocytic enteritis with a prevalence of 4.0% (12/300). Lesions were observed in midgut epithelium, showing accumulation of hemocytic cells, causing diffuse hemocytic infiltration throughout the gut wall, and were associated with epithelial necrosis and inflammation. The hepatopancreas was also affected, displayingfocal pyknotic nuclei with quasi-geometric shape in hepatopancreas tubules. These clinical signs were present in all affected organisms and suggest toxicity resulting from Benomyl® with contamination occurring either directly and/or indirectly via the water source for the shrimp farm which is located in the most important and productive zone of sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) in the northeast of Mexico. This constitutes the first report of hemocytic enteritis in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico.El presente estudio evalúa la presencia de la Enteritis Hemocítica en Litopenaeus vannamei provenientes de un cultivo semi-intensivo con baja salinidad, alimentado con agua de pozo profundo, localizada en lazona urbana de Reynosa, Tamaulipas, México. Los análisis histopatológicos mostraron lesiones características de enteritis hemocítica con una prevalencia del 4.0% (12/300). Las lesiones se observaron en el epitelio del intestino medio, presentando acumulaciones de células hemocíticas, lo cual provoca infiltración hemocítica difusa extendida a lo largo de la pared intestinal, asociada a necrosis e inflamación epitelial. El hepatopáncreas también se encontró afectado, mostrando núcleos picnóticos focalizados de forma casi geométrica en túbulos hepatopancreáticos, estos casos se presentaron en todas las muestras de los organismos afectados. De acuerdo al cuadro clínico, se considera que las lesiones fueron causadas por intoxicación con Benomyl ® por la contaminación de forma directa y/o indirecta al sistema de cultivo que usó agua de pozo profundo ubicado en la zona de agricultura más importante y productiva de sorgo (Sorghum vulgare) en el noreste del país. Estos resultados constituyen el primer reporte de enteritis hemocítica en las costas del Golfo de México