Los sentidos en disputa en el conflicto socio ambiental : caso de la Audiencia Pública de San Jorge, Uspallata, Mendoza

La propuesta que se presenta a continuación se enmarca en trabajo de tesis realizado para la Lic. en Sociología, orientada a conocer la dinámica que adquiere el conflicto socio ambiental en relación al calor de la emergencia de sujetos colectivos que disputan los sentidos de lastransformaciones en ciernes en nuestra provincia. Para ello se analizó el conflicto socio ambiental en relación a los procesos de resistencia social que emergen a partir del impulso de proyectos mega-mineros en MendozaFil: Barrientos Puliti, María Julia. Universidad Nacional de Cuy

IL-4 Deficiency Decreases Mortality but Increases Severity of Arthritis in Experimental Group B Streptococcus Infection

IL-4 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that inhibits the onset and severity in different experimental arthritis models. Group B streptococci (GBS) have been recognized as an ever-growing cause of serious invasive infections in nonpregnant adults. Septic arthritis is a clinical manifestation of GBS infection. To investigate the role of IL-4 in experimental GBS infection, IL-4 deficient or competent mice were inoculated with 1 × 107 GBS/mouse. Mortality, appearance of arthritis, GBS growth in the organs, and local and systemic cytokine and chemokine production were examined. IL-4−/− mice showed lower mortality rates but increased severity of arthritis and exhibited a lower microbial load in blood, kidneys, and joints than wt mice. Increased local levels of IL-1 β, IL-6, TNF-α, MIP-1α, and MIP-2 accompanied the more severe arthritis in IL-4−/− mice. Our results suggest a detrimental role of IL-4 in GBS sepsis, whereas it plays a beneficial effect on GBS-induced arthritis

Producer's vulnerabilities to global environmental change: climate, water, economy and society

Este artículo aborda la vulnerabilidad a los fenómenos asociados al Cambio Ambiental Global de los productores agrícolas de la Cuenca Río Mendoza en Argentina. La vulnerabilidad es entendida como un fenómeno complejo que se genera en el cruce de las dimensiones ambientales, sociales y económicas. A partir de un estudio cualitativo basado en entrevistas en profundidad a productores del área de estudio se reconstruyen los procesos que afectan a los actores (exposiciones/sensibilidades) y las prácticas (adaptaciones) que ellos desarrollan para hacer frente a esos fenómenos. El argumento sostiene que los eventos hidrometeorológicos actúan sobre una serie de vulnerabilidades previas y de largo plazo definidas por el acceso a los recursos. Muestra también, que los recursos son fundamentales para el desarrollo de capacidades adaptativas, pero encuentra que la ?disponibilidad de recursos? y la ?construcción de capacidades? no son fenómenos que expresan relaciones lineales y directas de causalidad. Es decir, la mera existencia de los recursos no es suficiente para promover capacidades de adaptación. Señalando algunas brechas en los determinantes de las capacidades, el artículo identifica factores críticos para mejorar el entorno de los actores rurales y contribuir a fortalecerlos para enfrentar futuras contingencias climáticas y otros eventos globales que afectan sus condiciones de vida.The paper addresses vulnerability to Global Environmental Change of rural producers of Mendoza River basin, in Argentina. Vulnerability is a complex phenomenon that is generated at the intersection of environmental, social and economic dimensions. From a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with producers of the study area, the paper explain the processes affecting actors (exposures / sensitivities) and the practices (adaptations) they develop to address these phenomena. The main idea is that hydroclimatological events act on a number of previous, long-term vulnerabilities defined by access to resources. Also it shows that resources are critical to the development of adaptive capacities, but finds that "availability of resources" and "capacity building" are not phenomena always related by a linear and direct causality. That is, sometimes the mere existence of resources is not enough to foster adaptive capacities. Noting some capacities gaps, the article identifies critical factors that could improve rural actors' capacities and could strengthen them to cope with future global climate events and other factors that affect their living conditions.Fil: Mussetta, Paula Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Barrientos Puliti, María Julia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentin

Community and union-led living wage campaigns

Trade unions in Britain, as elsewhere, have faced a sustained challenge to their role and there has been extensive debate, analysis (and practical action) over the most appropriate way for the union movement to respond to these challenges (Kelly, 1998; Heery, Kelly and Waddington, 2003). At the forefront of this debate has been the notion of social movement unionism whereby unions engage with other community groups in pursuit of broader societal issues, not just workplace ones (Fairbrother and Webster 2008; Parker 2011). A unionstrategy of broader community engagement can be contrasted with more traditional forms of union activities, most particularly the pursuit of improved pay and conditions for members through industrial campaigns. Community engagement envisaged in social movement unionism and industrial campaigning are not mutually exclusive and both can take many forms

Las y los jóvenes latinoamericanos como actores sociales de la integración

En el presente trabajo no consideramos que se pueda hablar de apatía y por este motivo, desde el supuesto de la participación de los jóvenes nos planteamos dos preguntas ¿Cuál es el rol de los jóvenes latinoamericanos en los procesos la integración? y si son los jóvenes latinoamericanos actores sociales de la integración. Consideramos que las y los jóvenes latinoamericanos cumplen un rol importante en los procesos de integración por su adaptabilidad al cambio, su acceso a las nuevas tecnologías, su apertura a las diferencias, por las nuevas formas de ver a un mundo unipolar, globalizado y con nuevos paradigmas de desarrollo, sin embargo en la práctica son coartados por un modelo adulto centrista que los considera solamente como actores sociales pasivos. En este sentido, no son los propios jóvenes quienes proyectan su identidad y sus anhelos al resto de la sociedad sino que ellos se ven proyectados en la opinión pública por prejuicios que los muestran. “… definidos como “carentes", “vulnerables",… población a proteger o racionalizar, a empoderar o controlar…". Las juventudes latinoamericanas son heterogéneas. Sus realidades son muy diversas y no todas acceden a las mismas oportunidades económicas, sociales y culturales, sin embargo el punto de encuentro lo ubicamos en la exclusión de los ámbitos de toma de decisiones políticas, buscando espacios donde participar, donde incluirse y presionar para que sus intereses sean tomados en cuenta. A partir de lo expuesto nuestros objetivos para este trabajo son: conocer el contexto de participación de la juventud latinoamericana, identificar distintas iniciativas y trabajos que los jóvenes realizan a partir de movimientos y organizaciones de la sociedad civil en las que se pueda visualizar la participación de la juventud y otras en las que se establezcan lazos y trabajos conjuntos entre los distintos países, orientados a la integración y que sirven como iniciativas de abajo hacia arriba para empezar a desterrar la imagen del joven desinteresado, apático y para que los tomadores de decisiones tengan en cuenta a la hora de plantear políticas orientadas a la juventud

Diritto a non nascere?

La tesi si prefigge lo scopo di rispondere all'interrogativo: esiste il diritto a non nascere? Ovvero, le azioni di wrongful birth e wrongful life, di derivazione anglosassone, che incidenza e riconoscimento hanno nell'ordinamento italiano? Un'analisi delle origini e degli sviluppi, che attraverso la comparazione, la giurisprudenza e la dottrina, ci aiuterà a capire se e in quale modo tale ipotetico diritto può essere vantato da chi nasce affetto da gravi handicap psico-fisici. Un'analisi sì giuridica, ma anche etica e morale di un aspetto molto attuale e delicato

Modellazione e simulazione di sistemi propulsivi basati su fuel cell a idrogeno

La presente tesi è stata svolta utilizzando un modello matlab-simulink,rappresentante un veicolo ibrido a cella a combustibile e batteria al litio. Il lavoro si è svolto in quattro parti:1)dimensionamento di una nuova configurazione di cella a combustibile e sistema di accumulo,2)cambiamento della gestione energetica,3)cambiamento del sottosistema rappresentante il motore elettrico,all'interno del modello del veicolo,4)confronto tra il modello di stack utilizzata e quello pre-esistente della versione di Matlab 7.6.0 R2008a

Analyses of the feasibility of participatory REDD+ MRV approaches to Lidar assisted carbon inventories in Nepal

Forests are estimated to sequester and emit respectively 15% and 20% of the CO2 emissions. REDD+ aims at establishing a financial framework to compensate developing countries for reducing Green House Gasses emissions due to decreased deforestation and land degradation. An accurate Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of the forest carbon pools is needed. The adoption of State-Of-The-Art remote sensing technologies, such as Lidar in combination with participatory approaches can potentially produce an accurate assessment of the forest resources, ensuring the sustainability of the process. The study aims at defining the feasibility of Lidar assisted Above Ground Biomass (AGB) assessment with a participatory approach. The study compares AGB regression models built with wall-to-wall, low density (0.8 points m-2) laser scanning data and two field datasets collected by professionals and Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) teams. The models were built using ArboLiDAR©, a tool-box developed in ESRI environment by Arbonaut Oy, that uses a Sparse Bayesian approach to define a set of weights for each independent variable based on the variance of the field measured AGB and the Lidar metrics. Finally the models were validated with Leave-One-Out Cross Validation (LOOCV). The adjusted R2, relative RMSE and BIAS as well as the analyses of the residuals were used to compare the models. In addition the study also analyzed the reliability of the models across different forest structures. The professional model described a greater part of the variability of the AGB (adj.R2=0.75) compared the CFUG model (adj. R2=0.55), moreover the first was slightly more accurate (professional: rel. RMSE= 45.6 %; CFUG: rel. RMSE= 47.2 %). Although both of the models proved to have the mean of the error term not equal to zero and did not follow a normal distribution, the CUFG model showed heteroschedastic residuals. The accuracy improved when applying the models to forests characterized by a more uniform height distribution (rel. RMSE= 32.1 – 45.2 %), whereas it drastically decreased for sparse forests (rel. RMSE= 91.4 -130.5 %). The study concludes that with the limitation of having different sampling designs and measuring techniques the CFUGs models were slightly worst than the professional ones. However, it is likely that with a more accurate retrieval of the GPS plot center and increase of plot size the results can be as good as the ones obtained with professionally collected data