Chavismo: 21st Century Bolivarian Revolution

An analysis of the domestic and foreign policies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The essay examines the leader\u27s rhetoric and the rationalization behind his opposition. [It]also looks at the regional relations between Latin American countries and Hugo Chavez

Asymmetric Social Interaction in Economics: Cigarette Smoking Among Young People in the United States, 1992-1999

We analyzed cigarette smoking among people aged 15 - 24 in approximately 90,000 households in the 1992 - 1999 U.S. Current Population Surveys. We modeled social influence as an informational externality, in which each young person's smoking informs her peers about its coolness.' The resulting family smoking game,' with each sibling's smoking endogenous, may have multiple equilibria. We found that the pro-smoking influence of a fellow smoker markedly exceeded the deterrent effect of a non-smoking peer. The phenomenon of asymmetric social influence has implications for financial markets, educational performance, criminal behavior, and other areas of inquiry where peer influence is important.

Changing the game:exploring infants' participation in early play routines

Play has proved to have a central role in children’s development, most notably in rule learning (Piaget, 1965; Sutton-Smith, 1979) and negotiation of roles and goals (Garvey, 1972; Bruner et al., 1976). Yet very little research has been done on early play. The present study focuses on early social games, i.e. vocal-kinetic play routines that mothers use to interact with infants from very early on. We explored 3-month-old infants and their mothers performing a routine game first in the usual way, then in two violated conditions: without gestures and without sound. The aim of the study is to investigate infants’ participation and expectations in the game and whether this participation is affected by changes in the multimodal format of the game. Infants’ facial expressions, gaze and body movements were coded to measure levels of engagement and affective state across the three conditions. Results showed a significant decrease in Limbs Movements and expressions of Positive Affect, an increase in Gaze Away and in Stunned Expression when the game structure was violated. These results indicate that the violated game conditions were experienced as less engaging, either because of an unexpected break in the established joint routine, or simply because they were weaker versions of the same game. Overall, our results suggest that structured, multimodal play routines may constitute interactional contexts that only work as integrated units of auditory and motor resources, representing early communicative contexts which prepare the ground for later, more complex multimodal interactions, such as verbal exchanges

Epidemiological evaluation of cat health at a first-response animal shelter in Fukushima, following the Great East Japan Earthquakes of 2011.

The Great East Japan Earthquakes of March 11, 2011 caused immense harm to the community and subsequent nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture extended the damage. Local residents were forced to evacuated without pets and the left behind animals were rescued from the restricted zone one month later. Unplanned animal rescue and unregulated sheltering caused secondary damage to animals such as disease epidemics at impounded animal shelter. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the incidence of upper respiratory infection (URI) and diarrhea in cats at the first response animal shelter in Fukushima, and investigate factors affecting the duration of disease and determinants of treatments performed. Eighty percent and 59% of impounded cats developed URI, 71% and 54% of cats developed diarrhea, and 91% and 83% of cats had at least one disease in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Uses of multiple drug administration (more than five drugs) was associated with prolonged URI and diarrhea. Multiple antibiotics, antihistamines, interferon, and steroids were associated with relapse of and prolonged URI. Developing a standardized treatment protocol for commonly observed diseases at Japanese animal shelters to prevent and control diseases, to promote animal welfare, and protect public health in the face of future disasters is overdue

Do business games foster skills? A cross-cultural study from learners’ views

Purpose: This study seeks to analyse students’ perception of the effectiveness of business games as an e-learning method in management training. This analysis of games’ effectiveness is centred in the generic and managerial skills acquired, through the comparison of students’ opinions in different cultural contexts within Europe. Design/methodology: The analysis focuses on 120 management students at postgraduate level who use the same business game at different universities in five European countries: Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Findings: The results indicate that students positively assessed the generic and specific managerial skills fostered by the business game. The generic skills most valued were information and decision-making, and leadership. Regarding the specific skills, the most valued were management skills and the least valued, skills related to planning and the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. However, significant differences were found between students in different cultural contexts and education systems in the case of certain specific managerial skills. Practical implications: This finding suggests that the students’ perception of how a business game helps them acquire specific managerial skills is influenced by cultural aspects and previous exposure to experiential learning, which determine that the teachers’ role and the teaching process should be adapted to the students’ learning model. Originality/value: With this study, a better knowledge about the students’ perception of this e-learning method is obtained, not just considering a specific educational environment, but comparing opinions of students from different cultural contexts, which adds value to the analyses developed.Peer Reviewe

Jointly structuring triadic spaces of meaning and action:book sharing from 3 months on

This study explores the emergence of triadic interactions through the example of book sharing. As part of a naturalistic study, 10 infants were visited in their homes from 3-12 months. We report that (1) book sharing as a form of infant-caregiver-object interaction occurred from as early as 3 months. Using qualitative video analysis at a micro-level adapting methodologies from conversation and interaction analysis, we demonstrate that caregivers and infants practiced book sharing in a highly co-ordinated way, with caregivers carving out interaction units and shaping actions into action arcs and infants actively participating and co-ordinating their attention between mother and object from the beginning. We also (2) sketch a developmental trajectory of book sharing over the first year and show that the quality and dynamics of book sharing interactions underwent considerable change as the ecological situation was transformed in parallel with the infants' development of attention and motor skills. Social book sharing interactions reached an early peak at 6 months with the infants becoming more active in the coordination of attention between caregiver and book. From 7-9 months, the infants shifted their interest largely to solitary object exploration, in parallel with newly emerging postural and object manipulation skills, disrupting the social coordination and the cultural frame of book sharing. In the period from 9-12 months, social book interactions resurfaced, as infants began to effectively integrate object actions within the socially shared activity. In conclusion, to fully understand the development and qualities of triadic cultural activities such as book sharing, we need to look especially at the hitherto overlooked early period from 4-6 months, and investigate how shared spaces of meaning and action are structured together in and through interaction, creating the substrate for continuing cooperation and cultural learning

Protein Ingredients Control in Gluten Free Products Using SDS-PAGE, Developed Competitive Enzyme Immunoassays and Commercial ELISA Kits.

Some protein ingredients declared in the label of gluten free products are allergenic proteins (milk, soy and egg).The proper identification of these proteins in food products is important for consumers who have food allergies. The aim of this study was to control the presence of protein ingredients declared in the label of gluten free products. Samples were analyzed with sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), using an extractive solution of total proteins (Tris-ClH buffer 0.0625 M with 3% sodium dodecylsulfate and 2% 2-mercaptoethanol; pH: 6.8) and a selective solvent for the extraction of caseins (isopropanol 55° + 2-mercaptoethanol / ISO + ME). Developed Competitive enzyme immunoassays were used for the detection / quantification of milk, soy and egg proteins in products elaborated with rice flour. Specific polyclonal rabbit antiserums against milk, soy and egg proteins were used as primary antibodies in these competitive enzyme immunoassays. Commercial ELISA kits from Neogen, R-Biopharm and Romer were used to verify the results. In some samples undeclared allergens were detected. Correct allergens labeling is very important for the safety of allergic consumers. In conclusion, it is possible to identify all the proteins ingredients in these gluten-free foods studied, using a combination of electrophoretic methods and immunochemical methods.Fil: Cellerino, Karina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cagnasso, Carolina Elisa. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Greco, Carola Beatriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Docena, Guillermo H.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Estudios Inmunológicos y Fisiopatológicos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Estudios Inmunológicos y Fisiopatológicos; ArgentinaFil: Polenta, Gustavo Alberto. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ferreyra, Marcela Verónica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Laura Beatriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Empleo del visualizador gráfico Jmol en las clases de simetría molecular

El presente trabajo divulga la innovación educativa que se ha desarrollado en la asignatura Química Inorgánica III (QU0924) del tercer curso del Grado en Química en el curso académico 2013/2014, de la Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, España). El objetivo fundamental de nuestro proyecto era dotar a los estudiantes de material didáctico interactivo y diferente, para un mejor aprendizaje de conceptos fundamentales de simetría molecular. En particular, los estudiantes fueron introducidos en el manejo de la interfaz gráfica Jmol, con la que se pueden construir y visualizar modelos tridimensionales.This article reports the educational innovation that has been implemented in the subject Inorganic Chemistry III (QU0924) of the third year of the Chemistry Degree, during the academic year 2013/2014 at the Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain). The main goal of our project was to provide the students with interactive and new didactic material, for a better understanding of the fundamental concepts of molecular symmetry. In particular, the students were introduced to the use of the Jmol graphic interface, very useful for constructing and visualize three-dimensional models