Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco: historia, identidad nacional y democracia (Del Historiador y el Ensayista)

El autor comenta la vocaci��n de historiador de Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco, resaltando sus fortalezas: la narratividad de los textos y la presentaci��n humana de los personajes. Menciona, asimismo, que su l��mite radica en haber renunciado expresamente a los instrumentos metodol��gicos de an��lisis, lo que conduce a una interpretaci��n maniquea sobre un tema central de la historia reciente del pa��s, la pol��mica liberal-conservadora. Por otro lado, el autor resalta la vocaci��n democr��tica de Pareja Diezcanseco. Su defensa de la soberan��a nacional y la democracia lo ubican entre los forjadores de la naci��n ecuatoriana, por su preocupaci��n en reflexionar sobre la identidad, sobre el mestizaje y su funci��n en la construcci��n del pa��s, su insistencia en la defensa y consolidaci��n de la democracia se radicalizaron con el tiempo, como lo muestran su cr��tica de las dictaduras, su defensa de las garant��as pol��ticas, y sus postulados de cierta reforma social.

Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco: escribir es un acto de pavor (Testimonios)

La reconstrucci��n de una entrevista realizada en 1988 permite al autor hacer un l��cido recorrido sobre el valor de la obra cr��tica, narrativa e hist��rico-biogr��fica de Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco, y establecer un balance del aporte de la misma en varios momentos de la narrativa ecuatoriana del siglo XX: los a��os de las vanguardias, la d��cada de 1950 y el per��odo posterior al boom latinoamericano. El texto pone en relieve la talla humana de Pareja, y ofrece una muestra de esa extra��a sinton��a que los grandes narradores ��nicamente son capaces de establecer con el lector, provocando en ��ste la sensaci��n de sentirse ��tocado y transformado por el encanto de su palabra��.

Jorge Carrera Andrade, poeta del hombre (Estudios)

El autor lee a Carrera Andrade como un creador surgido en el quiebre de los presupuestos, ideolog��as y esperanzas del siglo XIX e inicios del XX, m��s plagado de incertidumbres que de certezas. Acaso el rasgo autobiogr��fico de su poes��a, y su apego a una tem��tica m��ltiple ���no apartada nunca del desciframiento de los sentidos de lo peque��o��� han oscurecido la intenci��n del autor de reflexionar sobre la condici��n y el destino del hombre moderno. Cercano al existencialismo, en tanto filosof��a develadora de la fragilidad y soledad humanas, de la futilidad de sus construcciones intelectuales, Carrera fue testigo ���en un siglo de confrontaciones��� ��de la fealdad triunfante y la libertad encadenada��. El poeta describe tres atributos definitorios del hombre moderno: soledad, imposibilidad de ser libre, y su condici��n de desterrado. Plantea Carrera que estas condiciones ontol��gicas de soledad y de ser prisionero no se agotar��an en el hombre, sino que conformar��an tambi��n a otros seres y objetos del universo. El destierro aludir��a no solo a la condici��n literal del exiliado, sino tambi��n a la ausencia de un hogar espiritual, aunque, en relaci��n a este punto, parece arribar a una cierta conciliaci��n mediante la idea de que es posible trascender la finitud del individuo en la pervivencia de la humanidad entera ���destino com��n el del ��hombre planetario��, cantado por el poeta a pesar de su soledad y sus prisiones.

Las huellas de la oralidad en siete cuentos del 30 (Dossier: Cuatro narradores del 30, relecturas en su centenario)

El autor revisa la manera en que se representa el discurso narrativo ��a la manera del habla�� en cuentos de Aguilera-Malta, Gallegos Lara, Gil Gilbert y De la Cuadra. Este ��efecto de oralidad�� se realiza mediante recursos diversos: con descripciones que apelan a mitos, o la presencia de refranes que transmiten la experiencia colectiva, con el uso de f��rmulas del relato oral, como las equivalentes a aquella de ��hab��a una vez��, a trav��s de la prosopopeya (personificaci��n, animaci��n, met��fora sensibilizadora) y de la hip��rbole, de la alternancia entre un narrador testigo y otro de car��cter letrado, o la alternancia narrativo-conversacional en un mismo narrador. Por otro lado, tambi��n en ciertos motivos tem��ticos se encuentran rasgos de oralidad: en la recuperaci��n del universo primigenio, en el que hombre y naturaleza eran uno solo, en el rol de los supuestos, sobreentendidos, habladur��as o creencias (experiencia colectiva transmitida que, una vez que circula en la comunidad oral, adquiere el car��cter de verdad). Todos estos recursos apuntan a redescubrir la riqueza expresiva del imaginario y los valores del mundo montuvio, en convivencia o disputa con aquellos de la cultura cristiana y de los entornos urbanos.

Honorarios [adaptaciones y refundiciones en De la Cuadra y Aguilera-Malta] (Dossier: Cuatro narradores del 30, relecturas en su centenario)

Se contrasta Honorarios, obra dram��tica de Aguilera-Malta, y ��Honorarios��, el cuento de Jos�� de la Cuadra que la inspir��. El di��logo entre los dos autores fue expl��cito en diversos textos, as�� como en sus respectivos mundos literarios: nombres de personajes, motivos, leyendas, mitos, formas, ideolog��a y demandas, actitudes e intereses. De la Cuadra dialog�� a su vez con otros creadores. ��Honorarios��, e.g., recrea y reinterpreta la figura del m��tico fetiche Moloch, seg��n lo representan Metr��polis, del cineasta Fritz Lang, y Salamb��, de Gustave Flaubert, la narraci��n aludida es tambi��n una refundici��n en torno al tema del poder omnipresente y cruel, que requiere insaciablemente de v��ctimas propiciatorias. De igual manera, en su proceso creativo y de b��squeda expresiva, Aguilera-Malta acostumbr�� remozar y reformular temas en diferentes g��neros literarios ���como el de la lucha del ser humano frente a las fuerzas hostiles de la naturaleza y la sociedad, interpretado en La isla virgen, El tigre y Jaguar���. En Honorarios, Aguilera-Malta se concentr�� en hallar la manera de transferir la trama del relato ��Honorarios�� al g��nero dram��tico. El resultado es una eficaz refundici��n, en t��rminos de la perspectiva hist��rico-pol��tica y de reflexiones sobre la funci��n de la literatura.

Epidemiology's Role in the Creation of a Humane World: Convergences and Divergences Among the Schools: Editorial

This plea for changes in the way epidemiology is practiced presumes a progressive spirit among many readers, sharing a desire and in a position to serve humanity. The criteria used to begin this study of our role in the development of epidemiology is not simply a matter of technocratic formulae, but is based, rather on a committed point of view about the human dimension in the development of epidemiology. The aim is to generate propositions that will eliminate processes that destroy and threaten human life, promoting, instead, supportive measures and processes to protect society, the family and the individual.

La seguridad alimentaria como bien p��blico global (Otros Temas)

La erradicaci��n del hambre es hoy una asignatura pendiente pese a su devastador impacto directo e indirecto. Entre los factores que influyen en la alimentaci��n de la humanidad tienen cada vez mayor importancia los vinculados al extraordinario proceso de globalizaci��n que vive la humanidad. Es preciso entonces plantearse si la seguridad alimentaria se trata desde una perspectiva global, o todav��a se sigue considerando una cuesti��n nacional.

Trophic interactions in a changing world: modelling aboveground-belowground interactions

The rate and scale of human-driven changes can exert profound impacts on ecosystems, the species that make them up and the services they provide that sustain humanity. Given the speed at which these changes are occurring, one of society's major challenges is to coexist within ecosystems and to manage ecosystem services in a sustainable way. The effect of possible scenarios of global change on ecosystem services can be explored using ecosystem models. Such models should adequately represent ecosystem processes above and below the soil surface (aboveground and belowground) and the interactions between them. We explore possibilities to include such interactions into ecosystem models at scales that range from global to local. At the regional to global scale we suggest to expand the plant functional type concept (aggregating plants into groups according to their physiological attributes) to include functional types of aboveground-belowground interactions. At the scale of discrete plant communities, process-based and organism-oriented models could be combined into "hybrid approaches" that include organism-oriented mechanistic representation of a limited number of trophic interactions in an otherwise process - oriented approach. Under global change the density and activity of organisms determining the processes may change non-linearly and therefore explicit knowledge of the organisms and their responses should ideally be included. At the individual plant scale a common organism-based conceptual model of aboveground-belowground interactions has emerged. This conceptual model facilitates the formulation of research questions to guide experiments aiming to identify patterns that are common within, but differ between, ecosystem types and biomes. Such experiments inform modelling approaches at larger scales. Future ecosystem models should better include this evolving knowledge of common patterns of aboveground-belowground interactions. Improved ecosystem models are necessary toots to reduce the uncertainty in the information that assists us in the sustainable management of our environment in a changing world. (C) 2004 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

The need for sustainable remediation

Humanity requires healthy soil in order to flourish. Soil is central to food production, the regulation of greenhouse gases, recreational areas such as parks and sports fields and the creation of an environment pleasing to the eye. But soil is fragile and easily damaged by uninformed management or accidents. One type of damage is contamination by chemicals that provide the lifestyles to which the developed world has become accustomed. Traditional soil "clean-up" has entailed either simple disposal or isolation of contaminated soil. Clearly this is not sustainable. Modern remedial techniques apply mineralogical and geochemical knowledge to clean up contaminated soil and make it good for reuse, rather than simply discarding this precious and finite resource.

Performance analysis of near-far resistant CDMA detectors-influence of system parameter estimation errors

Little has been reported on the performance of near-far resistant CDMA detectors in the presence of system parameter estimation errors (SPEEs). Starting with the general mathematical model of matched filters, the paper examines the effects of three classes of SPEEs, i.e., time-delay, carrier phase, and carrier frequency errors, on the performance (BER) of an emerging type of near-far resistant coherent DS/SSMA detector, i.e., the linear decorrelating detector. For comparison, the corresponding results for the conventional detector are also presented. It is shown that the linear decorrelating detector can still maintain a considerable performance advantage over the conventional detector even when some SPEEs exist.

In the intersection of the angles of a table, there is more truth than in all the tangle of muscles: Futurism as anti-humanist critique

The recent celebrations of the centenary of the publication of the Futurist manifesto led to a renewed discussion of the ideas and artworks of the Italian artists��� group. Jacques Ranci��re related the Futurist ethos with the modernist project of liberating art from representation. Franco ���Bifo��� Berardi, in his post-Futurist manifesto, also identified a historical irony at play in the emptying out of Futurism���s promise: a liberated mechanical humanity did indeed materialize, in a global economic system premised on financial servitude to the future via debt. However, these models continue to assess Futurism against an unchallenged humanism, finding it either supporting ideals of freedom and human rights despite itself, or else lacking in these areas. But Futurism is potentially more relevant than ever not in spite of its anti-humanist agenda, precisely because of it. Tom McCarthy annexes not Futurist art but Futurist writing to an emerging object oriented ontology that seeks to challenge the primacy of the human. If Futurism is to be repurposed as a critical concept, it can only do so by countering the humanist myth the liberal subject that underlies the current cultural and political hegemony of neo-liberalism.

The child in wolf���s clothing: the meanings of the ���wolf��� and questions of identity in Jack London���s White Fang

The criticism of Jack London���s work has been dominated by a reliance upon ideas of the ���real���, the ���authentic��� and the ���archetypal���. One of the figures in London���s work around which these ideas crystallize is that of the ���wolf���. This article will examine the way the wolf is mobilized both in the criticism of Jack London���s work and in an example of the work: the novel White Fang (1906). This novel, though it has often been read as clearly delimiting and demarcating the realms of nature and culture, can be read conversely as unpicking the deceptive simplicity of such categories, as troubling essentialist notions of identity (human/animal, male/female, white/Indian) and as engaging with the complexity of the journey in which a ���small animal ��� becomes human-sexual by crossing the infinite divide that separates life from humanity, the biological from the historical, ���nature��� from ���culture��� ��� (Althusser 1971: 206).

Priority setting in healthcare: from arbitrariness to societal values

This paper develops an account of the normative basis of priority setting in health care as combining the values which a given society holds for the common good of its members, with the universal provided by a principle of common humanity. We discuss national differences in health basket in Europe and argue that health care decision-making in complex social and moral frameworks is best thought of as anchored in such a principle by drawing on the philosophy of need. We show that health care needs are ethically ���thick��� needs whose psychological and social construction can best be understood in terms of David Wiggins's notion of vital need: a person's need is vital when failure to meet it leads to their harm and suffering. The moral dimension of priority setting which operates across different societies��� health care systems is located in the demands both of and on any society to avoid harm to its members.

Strategies: Revolution in climate prediction is both necessary and possible: A declaration at the World Modelling Summit for Climate Prediction

The impending threat of global climate change and its regional manifestations is among the most important and urgent problems facing humanity. Society needs accurate and reliable estimates of changes in the probability of regional weather variations to develop science-based adaptation and mitigation strategies. Recent advances in weather prediction and in our understanding and ability to model the climate system suggest that it is both necessary and possible to revolutionize climate prediction to meet these societal needs. However, the scientific workforce and the computational capability required to bring about such a revolution is not available in any single nation. Motivated by the success of internationally funded infrastructure in other areas of science, this paper argues that, because of the complexity of the climate system, and because the regional manifestations of climate change are mainly through changes in the statistics of regional weather variations, the scientific and computational requirements to predict its behavior reliably are so enormous that the nations of the world should create a small number of multinational high-performance computing facilities dedicated to the grand challenges of developing the capabilities to predict climate variability and change on both global and regional scales over the coming decades. Such facilities will play a key role in the development of next-generation climate models, build global capacity in climate research, nurture a highly trained workforce, and engage the global user community, policy-makers, and stakeholders. We recommend the creation of a small number of multinational facilities with computer capability at each facility of about 20 peta-flops in the near term, about 200 petaflops within five years, and 1 exaflop by the end of the next decade. Each facility should have sufficient scientific workforce to develop and maintain the software and data analysis infrastructure. Such facilities will enable questions of what resolution, both horizontal and vertical, in atmospheric and ocean models, is necessary for more confident predictions at the regional and local level. Current limitations in computing power have placed severe limitations on such an investigation, which is now badly needed. These facilities will also provide the world's scientists with the computational laboratories for fundamental research on weather���climate interactions using 1-km resolution models and on atmospheric, terrestrial, cryospheric, and oceanic processes at even finer scales. Each facility should have enabling infrastructure including hardware, software, and data analysis support, and scientific capacity to interact with the national centers and other visitors. This will accelerate our understanding of how the climate system works and how to model it. It will ultimately enable the climate community to provide society with climate predictions, which are based on our best knowledge of science and the most advanced technology.