Freight rates, the maritime cycle and transport capacity in late 2006

The previous edition of the FAL bulletin presented the price indices of maritime transport in three main market segments. This edition includes an analysis of the maritime cycle and trends in the transport capacity of the routes that in turn serve the routes of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The maritime cycle and the post-crisis ups and downs

This edition of the FAL Bulletin analyses the maritime cycle and its impact on the overall business cycle. In particular, it considers the financial and economic crisis which shook the world from 2008 onwards, affecting both world trade and levels of economic activity, with serious consequences for maritime transport.

Changes in maritime transport supply and demand

This FAL bulletin reviews changes in water transport supply and demand in three markets: containers, dry bulk and liquid cargo (dirty and clean) over the past several years.

Port throughputs in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2009 and the first half of 2010

This issue of the FAL Bulletin presents primary analytical data on port development in the region and analyses the impact of the economic crisis on port activity in Latin America in 2009. It also provides preliminary data on container port throughput through June 2010, which point to recovering activity at most of the region’s ports.

Search for the Higgs boson H-2(0) at LHC in 3-3-1 model

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Signatures of quantum phase transitions in parallel quantum dots: Crossover from local moment to underscreened spin-1 Kondo physics

We study a strongly interacting "quantum dot 1" and a weakly interacting "dot 2" connected in parallel to metallic leads. Gate voltages can drive the system between Kondo-quenched and non-Kondo free-moment phases separated by Kosterlitz-Thouless quantum phase transitions. Away from the immediate vicinity of the quantum phase transitions, the physical properties retain signatures of first-order transitions found previously to arise when dot 2 is strictly noninteracting. As interactions in dot 2 become stronger relative to the dot-lead coupling, the free moment in the non-Kondo phase evolves smoothly from an isolated spin-one-half in dot 1 to a many-body doublet arising from the incomplete Kondo compensation by the leads of a combined dot spin-one. These limits, which feature very different spin correlations between dot and lead electrons, can be distinguished by weak-bias conductance measurements performed at finite temperatures.

Role of Neutralizing Antibodies in Adults With Community-Acquired Pneumonia by Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Background. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been implicated in the etiology of adult community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We investigated RSV infection in Chilean adults with CAP using direct viral detection, real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rtRT-PCR), and serology (microneutralization assay). Methods. RSV, other respiratory viruses, and bacteria were studied by conventional and molecular techniques in adults aged >= 18 years presenting with CAP to the healthcare facilities in Santiago, Chile from February 2005 through December 2007. Results. All 356 adults with CAP enrolled had an acute blood sample collected at enrollment, and 184 had a convalescent blood sample. RSV was detected in 48 cases (13.4%). Immunofluorescence assay and viral isolation each detected only 1 infection (0.2%), whereas rtRT-PCR was positive in 32 (8.9%) cases and serology was positive in 20 (10.8%) cases. CAP clinical characteristics were similar in RSV-infected and non-RSV-infected cases. RSV-specific geometric mean serum-neutralizing antibody titer (GMST) was significantly lower at admission in the 48 RSV-infected cases compared with 308 non-RSV-infected adults (GMST in log(2): RSV/A 8.1 vs 8.9, and RSV/B 9.3 vs 10.4; P < .02). Conclusions. RSV infection is frequent in Chilean adults with CAP. Microneutralization assay was as sensitive as rtRT-PCR in detecting RSV infection and is a good adjunct assay for diagnostic research. High RSV-specific serum-neutralizing antibody levels were associated with protection against common and severe infection. The development of a vaccine could prevent RSV-related CAP in adults.

Community-acquired pneumonia in Chile: the clinical relevance in the detection of viruses and atypical bacteria

Background Adult community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a relevant worldwide cause of morbidity and mortality, however the aetiology often remains uncertain and the therapy is empirical. We applied conventional and molecular diagnostics to identify viruses and atypical bacteria associated with CAP in Chile. Methods We used sputum and blood cultures, IgG/IgM serology and molecular diagnostic techniques (PCR, reverse transcriptase PCR) for detection of classical and atypical bacteria (Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Legionella pneumoniae) and respiratory viruses (adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus, influenza virus, parainfluenzavirus, rhinovirus, coronavirus) in adults >18 years old presenting with CAP in Santiago from February 2005 to September 2007. Severity was qualified at admission by Fine's pneumonia severity index. Results Overall detection in 356 enrolled adults were 92 (26%) cases of a single bacterial pathogen, 80 (22%) cases of a single viral pathogen, 60 (17%) cases with mixed bacterial and viral infection and 124 (35%) cases with no identified pathogen. Streptococcus pneumoniae and RSV were the most common bacterial and viral pathogens identified. Infectious agent detection by PCR provided greater sensitivity than conventional techniques. To our surprise, no relationship was observed between clinical severity and sole or coinfections. Conclusions The use of molecular diagnostics expanded the detection of viruses and atypical bacteria in adults with CAP, as unique or coinfections. Clinical severity and outcome were independent of the aetiological agents detected.

Book Review of “Indigenous Social Work around the World. Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice”, 2008, edited by Mel Gray, John Coates and Michael Yellow Bird

One could be seduced into a critique of this volume that focuses on its potential to overstate the momentum for a shift in Western social work ideology when faced with the conundrum of cultural difference. One could posit that the discussion is too broad, the topics covered too numerous, the opportunity for detail missed, the urgency of the messages unnecessarily exaggerated, the “proof” not beyond anecdote and so forth. I reject this temptation to conform to the dominant professional dynamic most emphatically and offer that what Gray, Coates and Yellow Bird have presented to the social work field in this volume is the first tangible step towards an alternative paradigm for an occupation afflicted with unsustainable hypocrisy and thus at the brink of irrelevancy.

La crisis del empleo en la Argentina

La importancia de esta problemática radica en que hoy en día vivimos en una sociedad donde la mayoría de la población presenta problemas laborales (subocupación, sobre ocupación , trabajo en negro, etc.) y otra parte importante se encuentra excluida del mercado de trabajo (desempleados). Teniendo en cuenta que el trabajo es el medio principal de integración económico social de los individuos, la falta de éste implica la desintegración social, la exclusión y la pobreza. El desempleo es uno de los problemas más importantes de la Argentina en la actualidad, es el principal obstáculo para el desarrollo social y principal causa de exclusión y pobreza. Es por esto que es necesario analizar estas contradicciones del sistema capitalista para poder transformar esta situación que afecta las condiciones de vida de la mayoría de la población. Este es el desafío para los políticos, sociólogos y demás profesionales interesados en reducir la pobreza y las desigualdades sociales.

Cambio de uso del suelo en los geosistemas de la cuenca costera del río Boroa (Chile) entre 1994 y 2004

Se analizaron los principales cambios de uso del suelo en las unidades de paisaje (geosistemas) de la cuenca hidrográfica del río Boroa entre 1994 y 2004. Para ello se planteó la hipótesis de que los cambios en la estructura del paisaje han sido conducidos fundamentalmente por acción antrópica generando importantes alteraciones en el paisaje ecológico. Se utilizaron mapas categóricos de uso/cobertura de suelo elaborados con material cartográfico y fotografías aéreas con su posterior corrección en terreno, información que fue complementada con el análisis geomorfológico y de unidades ambientales de la cuenca. Se comprobó una fuerte variación en la superficie de plantaciones forestales (principalmente Eucalyptus spp.), con una tasa de incremento anual que varió entre 3,2 y 28%, asociado principalmente a reconversión de uso y ocupación de cordones montañosos metamórficos. A su vez, se constató la expansión de zonas de humedales en terrenos anegadizos de llanuras, todo lo cual ha reducido la superficie total con destino agrícola en 61%, transformando el paisaje en un periodo de sólo diez años. Estos cambios se discuten sobre la base de una combinación de factores económicos, legales y ambientales, concluyendo que el factor humano ha sido el principal responsable de la conducción de los cambios de uso del suelo en la cuenca del río Boroa.

Notas sobre el recorrido de los enfoques institucionales y sus grupos en las universidades argentinas

Se presenta la alocución realizada en ocasión de la inauguración del Centro “Fernando Ulloa" en la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Incluye breves noticias del inicio y el desarrollo de los enfoques institucionales en Argentina, referencias al grupo de profesores que han creado el Centro y una semblanza de Fernando Ulloa, uno de los creadores de la psicología institucional argentina recientemente fallecido.

La crisis de los '90 y su impacto en la familia

El presente trabajo aborda la problemática acerca de la transformación de la estructura familiar durante la década de los ´90. Se propone desarrollar dicha problemática desde una perspectiva histórica, buscando dilucidar distintos aspectos mediante un análisis de información proveniente de diversas fuentes para poder lograr una profunda descripción del tema, tratándolo en toda su complejidad. Se analizan los diferentes tipos de familias y las distintas concepciones respecto al modo de ser familia, que varían en el tiempo debido a que suelen estar relacionadas a los modelos de acumulación. Es decir, se pretende analizar su relación con la estructura económica argentina, país dependiente dentro del sistema económico capitalista mundial. Así mismo, se analizará la incidencia sobre la estructura y dinámica familiar de diversos factores sociales, jurídicos e ideológicos.