Gobernanza de las políticas de proximidad: análisis de calidad y rendimiento democrático de los Consejos Locales Bienestar (Murcia, Espana)

El artículo presenta un análisis y evaluación de las oportunidades, contribuciones y limitaciones que presentan los órganos de participación institucionalizada en materia de servicios sociales municipales para profundizar en los procesos democratizadores de las políticas sociales públicas gestionadas por las administraciones locales, así como las propuestas y alternativas que desde sus actores participantes supondría su intensificación para la gobernanza local y la eficacia de centros, organizaciones y profesionales de la intervención social. Para su adecuada ilustración y contextualización se alude a la línea de reformas que introducen las recomendaciones y normas de carácter internacional, nacional, así como las nuevas leyes de servicios sociales autonómicas y los hallazgos y conclusiones obtenidos en una investigación empírica sobre participación ciudadana en las políticas sociales de la región de Murcia, contrastando y comparando sus resultados con realidades y tendencias observadas en otros estudios y experiencias.

La reagrupación familiar en el ámbito municipal en España. Análisis comparado en región mediterrânea

Resumen:En el artículo se presentan los resultados de una investigación comparativa de la evolución del proceso de reagrupación familiar de extranjeros no comunitarios en España, la Región de Murcia y el municipio de Molina de Segura en el período 2007-2014. Se analiza la evolución de la reagrupación familiar, mediante el acceso a fuentes secundarias. Para caracterizar el perfil del reagrupante se realizan entrevistas estructuradas al universo de solicitantes de informe de adecuación de vivienda para reagrupación familiar en Molina de Segura. Se aplica un cuestionario a extranjeros no comunitarios para describir las tendencias en reagrupación familiar en Molina de Segura y para conocer los conflictos surgidos en las familias reagrupadas se llevan a cabo entrevistas en profundidad a actores expertos y estratégicos. Los resultados evidencian que los cambios normativos y la actual crisis económica inciden, entre otros factores, a los procesos de reagrupación familiar. En este contexto es necesario incrementar los recursos destinados a los Servicios de Bienestar local para favorecer la integración real de las personas inmigrantes y mantener los niveles de cohesión social.

Liver abscess caused by Ascaris lumbricoides: case report

A case is reported of a woman who lived in a rural area with a chronic illness that consisted of weight loss and abdominal pain in the epigastrium and upper right quadrant. The initial diagnosis was a mass in the liver, which was later, demonstrated, both by direct and histological examination, to be an abscess caused by Ascaris lumbricoides. Eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides and abundant Charcot-Leyden Crystals were found.

BODY WEIGHT AS A DETERMINANT OF CLINICAL EVOLUTION IN HAMSTERS (Mesocricetus auratus) INFECTED WITH Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis

SUMMARY The clinical outcome of infection with Leishmania species of the subgenus Viannia in hamster model (Mesocricetus auratus) has shown to be different depending on experimental protocol. Body weight has been a relevant determinant of the clinical outcome of the infection in hamsters with visceral leishmaniasis but its importance as a clinical parameter in hamsters with cutaneous leishmaniasis is not known. In this study, the clinical evolution of infection with L. (V) panamensis was evaluated in juvenile and adult male hamsters during 11 weeks by comparing clinical parameters such as attitude, temperature, respiratory rate, appearance of the stool, and body weight between infected and non-infected groups. Results showed that body weight decreased in adult hamsters after infection by L. (V) panamensis; this observation supports the use of body weight as an additional parameter to define the management or treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis in infected adult hamsters used as an animal experimental model for leishmaniasis.

Sentinel network for monitoring in vitro susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum to antimalarial drugs in Colombia: a proof of concept

Drug resistance is one of the principal obstacles blocking worldwide malaria control. In Colombia, malaria remains a major public health concern and drug-resistant parasites have been reported. In vitro drug susceptibility assays are a useful tool for monitoring the emergence and spread of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. The present study was conducted as a proof of concept for an antimalarial drug resistance surveillance network based on in vitro susceptibility testing in Colombia. Sentinel laboratories were set up in three malaria endemic areas. The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay-histidine rich protein 2 and schizont maturation methods were used to assess the susceptibility of fresh P. falciparum isolates to six antimalarial drugs. This study demonstrates that an antimalarial drug resistance surveillance network based on in vitro methods is feasible in the field with the participation of a research institute, local health institutions and universities. It could also serve as a model for a regional surveillance network. Preliminary susceptibility results showed widespread chloroquine resistance, which was consistent with previous reports for the Pacific region. However, high susceptibility to dihydroartemisinin and lumefantrine compounds, currently used for treatment in the country, was also reported. The implementation process identified critical points and opportunities for the improvement of network sustainability strategies.

Updated distribution of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Spain: new findings in the mainland Spanish Levante, 2013

In 2004, Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse, 1894) was observed for the first time in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. A decade later, it has spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean region of the country and the Balearic Islands. Framed within a national surveillance project, we present the results of monitoring in 2013 in the autonomous communities of the mainland Levante. The current study reveals a remarkable increase in the spread of the invasive mosquito in relation to results from 2012; the species was present and well-established in 48 municipalities, most of which were along the Mediterranean coastline from the Valencian Community to the Region of Murcia.

Explicações para a divulgação voluntária ambiental no Brasil utilizando a análise de regressão em painel

O objetivo no estudo aqui apresentado foi identificar os fatores que determinam a divulgação voluntária ambiental pelas empresas brasileiras potencialmente poluidoras. Para tanto, foram analisa- das as Demonstrações Financeiras Padronizadas (DFPs) e os Relató- rios de Sustentabilidade (RS) do período de 2005 a 2007 das empresas abertas com ações listadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (Bovespa) e pertencentes a setores de alto impacto ambiental, que compreendem extração e tratamento de minerais; metalúrgico; químico; papel e celulose; indústria de couros e peles; transporte, terminais, depósitos e comércio (de combustíveis, derivados de petróleo e produtos químicos). Com o intuito de explicar a evidenciação ambiental divulgada pelas empresas investigadas, foram formuladas sete hipóteses testadas a partir de instrumentos de análise estatística. Essas hipóteses referem-se a fatores individuais das empresas, que englobam tamanho, rentabilidade, endividamento, empresa de auditoria, sustentabilidade, internacionalização e publicação do RS. Os resultados mostram que, nos três anos analisados, as 57 empresas que compõem a amostra do estudo evidenciaram um total de 6.182 sentenças ambientais, 73% delas divulgadas nos RS e 27% nas DFPs. A análise de regressão em painel demonstrou que as variáveis tamanho da empresa, empresa de auditoria, sustentabilidade e publicação do RS são relevantes a um nível de significância de 5% para a explicação do disclosure voluntário de informações ambientais. Concluiu-se que os achados da pesquisa corroboram a teoria positiva da contabilidade, e parcialmente a teoria da legitimidade.

Selective hydrogenation of furfural on Ir/TiO2 catalysts

Titania-supported Ir catalysts were used in the hydrogenation of furfural. Reactions were carried out in a stirred batch type reactor at 0.62MPa and 363K using a 0.10M solution of furfural in a 1:1 mixture n-heptane -ethanol as solvent. Catalysts containing 2 wt% of Ir were reduced in H2 flow at different temperatures in the range 473-773K. The catalysts were characterized by H2 chemisorption, TEM, TPR, TPD of NH3 and XPS. Conversion of furfural is higher at lower reduction temperatures, but leads to byproducts whereas reduction at higher temperatures shows selectivity to furfuryl alcohol close to 100%.

Large-scale production and purification of recombinant protein from an insect cell/baculovirus system in Erlenmeyer flasks: application to the chicken poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase catalytic domain

A simple and inexpensive shaker/Erlenmeyer flask system for large-scale cultivation of insect cells is described and compared to a commercial spinner system. On the basis of maximum cell density, average population doubling time and overproduction of recombinant protein, a better result was obtained with a simpler and less expensive bioreactor consisting of Erlenmeyer flasks and an ordinary shaker waterbath. Routinely, about 90 mg of pure poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase catalytic domain was obtained for a total of 3 x 109 infected cells in three liters of culture

Vigor and field emergence in "high oleic" sunflower seeds, in southeast of Buenos Aires province

Sunflower crop was based, as yet, on high linoleic cultivars, but in the last years request for oil with higher content of oleic acid has increased, due to their dietary characteristics. At the beginning, high oleic cultivars were used to be sown in warm regions, but then the concern about growing it in temperate areas, as the south-east of Buenos Aires Province, was posed. In this region, early sowings are recommended, so that grain filling matches with a period of appropriate hydric and light conditions, as to result in greater yields. However, early sowings are limited by low soil temperature, that delays seedling emergence, resulting in heterogeneous stand establishment. The aim of this work was to evaluate seed performance of four high oleic cultivars in the southern area of Buenos Aires Province, by means of vigor tests and field trials. Germination, cold, tetrazolium viability, tetrazolium viability with cold, accelerated ageing tests and three field sowings at different soil temperatures were performed. Data were analyzed by Anova using generalised linear models, and tests and cultivars were contrasted among themselves. Similar seedling emergence under optimal and suboptimal temperatures for high oleic and high linoleic cultivars was recorded. The success of seedling establishment does not appear to be related to the acidic composition of seeds.

Evaluacion del crecimiento de plántulas de cultivares de girasol con diferentes proporciones de acidos oleico/linoleico en respuesta a la baja temperatura

El objetivo de este trabajo fue estudiar el vigor a baja temperatura de semillas de girasol con diferente proporción de los ácidos oleico/linoleico, a través de la evaluación del crecimiento de plántulas (pesos secos aéreo y radicular y indice raíz/aéreo) y el tiempo medio de germinación. La proporción oleico/ linoleico de las semillas no se relacionó con el tiempo medio de germinación ni con las variables de crecimiento medidas, ni a temperatura óptima ni a baja temperatura. Los pesos secos aéreo y radicular fueron mayores, en general, en el grupo Alto Linoleico. Sin embargo la variación dentro de cada grupo no permitió asociar la respuesta a la baja temperatura con la composición acídica de los cultivares. Dichas variables se relacionaron con el peso seco de las semillas. Se evidenció respuesta diferencial a la bajas temperatura de las porciones aérea y radicular, con la consiguiente modificación del indice raíz aéreo, variable que tampoco mostró asociación con la composición acídica de los cultivares.