Partial Verification as a Substitute for Money

Recent work shows that we can use partial verification instead of money to implement truthful mechanisms. In this paper we develop tools to answer the following question. Given an allocation rule that can be made truthful with payments, what is the minimal verification needed to make it truthful without them? Our techniques leverage the geometric relationship between the type space and the set of possible allocations.Comment: Extended Version of 'Partial Verification as a Substitute for Money', AAAI 201

Cytogenetic characterisation of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Nicaragua

BACKGROUND: Within the frame of a twinning programme with Nicaragua, The La Mascota project, we evaluated in our study the contribution of cytogenetic characterization of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as prognostic factor compared to clinical, morphological, and immunohistochemical parameters. METHODS: All patients with ALL treated at the only cancer pediatric hospital in Nicaragua during 2006 were studied prospectively. Diagnostic immunophenotyping was performed locally and bone marrow or blood samples were sent to the cytogenetic laboratory of Zurich for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis and G-banding. RESULTS: Sixty-six patients with ALL were evaluated. Their mean age at diagnosis was 7.3 years, 31.8% were >or=10 years. Thirty-four patients (51.5%) presented with hyperleucocytosis >or=50 x 10(9)/L, 45 (68.2%) had hepatosplenomegaly. Immunophenotypically 63/66 patients (95%) had a B-precursor, 2 (3%) a T- and 1 (1.5%) a B-mature ALL. FISH analysis demonstrated a TEL/AML1 fusion in 9/66 (14%), BCR/ABL fusion in 1 (1.5%), MLL rearrangement in 2 (3.1%), iAMP21 in 2 (3.1%), MYC rearrangement in 1 (1.5%), and high-hyperdiploidy in 16 (24%). All patients but two with TEL/AML1 fusion and high-hyperdiploidy were clinically and hematologically in the standard risk group whereas those with poor cytogenetic factors had clinical high-risk features and were treated intensively. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to Europe, the ALL population in Nicaragua is older, has a higher proportion of poor prognostic clinical and hematological features and receives more intensive treatment, while patients with TEL/AML1 translocations and high-hyperdiploidy are clinically in the standard risk group. Cytogenetics did not contribute as an additional prognostic factor in this setting

Slow+Design as sustainable sensoriality: an innovative approch aimed to explore the new relationships among design, innovation and sustainability

A partir de la experiencia de Slow Food y su éxito internacional, el autor, junto con Giacomo Mojoli (ex vicepresidente de Slow Food) comienza a cuestionar el transferimento del enfoque slow en la práctica del diseño. Esto significa discutir si puede y cómo puede el diseño contribuir al campo de los sistemas y dirigir las transformaciones en curso hacia formas sostenibles de vivir y producir. La expresión Sensorialidad Sostenible quiere combinar ambos mundos de sensorialidad y sostenibilidad, dimensiones conceptuales y operacionales del diseño, pero profundamente practicadas en las actividades de los autores como arquitecto y diseñador, y explicitada en muchas prácticas de enseñanza y en muchos casos de estudio de diseño. Starting from the Slow Food experience and its international success, the author, together with Giacomo Mojoli (former vicepresident of Slow Food) starts to question about the trasfer of the slow approach into design practice.  This means discussing whether and how design can contribute in the field of systems and steer the transformations underway towards sustainable ways of living and producing. The Sustainable Sensoriality expression wants to combine both worlds of sensoriality and sustainability, conceptual and operational dimensions of design, but deeply practiced into the authors’s activities as architect and designer and explicited in many teaching practices and design case histories.A partir da experiência do Slow Food e seu sucesso internacional, o autor, juntamente com Giacomo Mojoli (ex-vice-presidente do Slow Food) começa a questionar a abordagem slow na prática do design. Isto significa que discutir se o design pode e como pode contribuir para a área de sistemas e direcionar as transformações em curso produzindo modos de vida sustentáveis. O termo Sensorialidade Sustentável quer combinar os mundos da sensualidade e da sustentabilidade, dimensões conceptuais e operacionais do design, mas profundamente praticada nas atividades dos autores como arquiteto e designer, e explicitada em muitas práticas de ensino e em muitos casos estúdio de design

The directions of movement for socialism (mas) in Bolivia: the dialogue between foreign policy and diplomacy

Foreign policy and diplomacy are, within the framework of International Relations studies in general, two categories that enjoy great prominence. In practical terms, they have a close, symbiotic bond and even the idea persists that both mean the same thing. However, from a theoretical-conceptual perspective, foreign policy broadly implies the objectives of the state at the international level, while diplomacy reflects the means to achieve them. Based on this, this paper seeks to identify and reflect on the central axes that crossed the dynamics of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy of Bolivia during the three governments of Evo Morales (2006-2019). Likewise, a brief projection is made on this very particular binomial after the return of MAS to power, following the triumph of Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca on October 18, 2020