E-commerce and export promotion policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises: East Asian and Latin American experiences

Includes bibliography

Towards a theory of the small firm: theoretical aspects and some policy implications

Includes bibliography

The millennium development goals: strategic implications for the Latin American and Caribbean statistical systems

Includes bibliography

The gender perspective in economic and labour policies: state of the art in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Anatomical features of the urethra and urinary bladder catheterization in female mice and rats. An essential translational tool

PURPOSE: To present fundamental anatomical aspects and technical skills necessary to urethra and urinary bladder catheterization in female mice and rats. METHODS: Urethral and bladder catheterization has been widely utilized for carcinogenesis and cancer research and still remains very useful in several applications: from toxicological purposes as well as inflammatory and infectious conditions to functional aspects as bladder dynamics and vesicoureteral reflux, among many others. RESULTS: Animal models are in the center of translational research and those involving rodents are the most important nowadays due to several advantages including human reproducibility, easy handling and low cost. CONCLUSIONS: Although technical and anatomical pearls for rodent urethral and bladder access are presented as tackles to the advancement of lower urinary tract preclinical investigation in a broaden sight, restriction to female animals hampers the male microenvironment, demanding future advances.

Trade and growth in Chile

Includes bibliography

Socio-demographic vulnerability: old and new risks for communities, households and individuals

Includes bibliography

Draft biennial programme of regional and international cooperation activities of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC, 2007-2009

Includes bibliography

Comparative analysis of strut-and-tie models using Smooth Evolutionary Structural Optimization

The strut-and-tie models are widely used in certain types of structural elements in reinforced concrete and in regions with complexity of the stress state, called regions D, where the distribution of deformations in the cross section is not linear. This paper introduces a numerical technique to determine the strut-and-tie models using a variant of the classical Evolutionary Structural Optimization, which is called Smooth Evolutionary Structural Optimization. The basic idea of this technique is to identify the numerical flow of stresses generated in the structure, setting out in more technical and rational members of strut-and-tie, and to quantify their value for future structural design. This paper presents an index performance based on the evolutionary topology optimization method for automatically generating optimal strut-and-tie models in reinforced concrete structures with stress constraints. In the proposed approach, the element with the lowest Von Mises stress is calculated for element removal, while a performance index is used to monitor the evolutionary optimization process. Thus, a comparative analysis of the strut-and-tie models for beams is proposed with the presentation of examples from the literature that demonstrates the efficiency of this formulation. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Antigua and Barbuda: the yachting sector

Includes bibliography

Global integration, disarticulation and competitiveness in Mexico’s electromechanical sector: A structural analysis

This article analyses the dual functioning of the Mexican electromechanical sector between 1994 and 2008, as distinct from other globalized activities. An estimation of labour productivity in 52 industrial classes finds that structural heterogeneity increased particularly in the 1994-2001 subperiod, alongside technical and organizational improvements that were increasingly concentrated in a small number of subsidiary companies of transnational automotive-assembly enterprises. The application of a shift-share technique also revealed the absence of any significant structural change. Lastly, an extension of the methodology to evaluate competitiveness —developed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (eclac)— and its application to a second database that reclassifies 1,345 foreign trade products, makes it possible to contrast these changes with the dynamism of the global production networks in which the leading firms of the sector in Mexico are engaged.

Towards universal social protection: Latin American pathways and policy tools

This book reflects on the public policies, programmes and regulatory frameworks that are taking a rights-based approach to expanding social protection coverage and benefits in Latin America, with a view to achieving universal coverage. The book’s discussion of the policy tools and programmes pursued in the region aims to provide the reader with technical and programmatic insights for assembling and coordinating public policies within consistent and sustainable social protection systems. The combination of normative orientations and stock of technical knowledge, together with advances regarding the rights-based approach to social protection within a life cycle framework, afford the reader not only a tool box of specific social protection instruments, but also an in-depth examination of related political economy aspects.

Thermodynamic and economic analysis of hydrogen production integration in the Brazilian sugar and alcohol industry

One of the biggest challenges today is to develop clean fuels, which do not emit pollutant and with viable implementation. One of the options currently under study is the hydrogen production process. In this context, this work aims to study the technical and economical aspects of the incorporation process of hydrogen producing by ethanol steam reforming in the sugar cane industry and MCFC (molten carbonate fuel cell) application on it to generate electric power. Therefore, it has been proposed a modification in the traditional process of sugar cane industry, in order to incorporate hydrogen production, besides the traditional products (sugar, ethylic, hydrated and anhydric alcohol). For this purpose, a detailed theoretical study of the ethanol production process, describing the considerations to incorporate the hydrogen production will be performed. After that, there will be a thermodynamic study for analysing the innovation of this production chain, as well as a study of economic engineering to allocate the costs of products of the new process, optimising it and considering the thermoeconomics as being as an analysis tool. This proposal aims to improve Brazil's position in the ranking of international biofuels, corroborating the nation to be a power in the hydrogen era. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How do laryngeal and respiratory functions contribute to differentiate actors/actresses and untrained voices?

Purpose. The present study aimed to compare actors/actresses's voices and vocally trained subjects through aerodynamic and electroglottographic (EGG) analyses. We hypothesized that glottal and breathing functions would reflect technical and physiological differences between vocally trained and untrained subjects.Methods. Forty participants with normal voices participated in this study (20 professional theater actors and 20 untrained participants). In each group, 10 male and 10 female subjects were assessed. All participants underwent aerodynamic and EGG assessment of voice. From the Phonatory Aerodynamic System, three protocols were used: comfortable sustained phonation with EGG, voice efficiency with EGG, and running speech. Contact quotient was calculated from EGG. All phonatory tasks were produced at three different loudness levels. Mean sound pressure level and fundamental frequency were also assessed. Univariate, multivariate, and correlation statistical analyses were performed.Results. Main differences between vocally trained and untrained participants were found in the following variables: mean sound pressure level, phonatory airflow, subglottic pressure, inspiratory airflow duration, inspiratory airflow, and inspiratory volume. These variables were greater for trained participants. Mean pitch was found to be lower for trained voices.Conclusions. The glottal source seemed to have a weak contribution when differentiating the training status in speaking voice. More prominent changes between vocally trained and untrained participants are demonstrated in respiratory-related variables. These findings may be related to better management of breathing function (better breath support).

Contesting Sphere Boundaries Online: Private/Technical/Public Discourses in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Discussion Groups

The internet is fast becoming a means for people to obtain information, creating a unique forum for the intersection of the public, technical, and private spheres. To ground my research theoretically, I used Jürgen Habermas’s sphere theory. Habermas (1987) explains that the technical sphere colonizes the private sphere, which decreases democratic potential. In particular, the internet is a place for altering technical colonization of the private and public spheres. My research focuses on women’s health because it is a particularly useful case study for examining sphere tensions. Historically, the biomedical health establishment has been a powerful agent of colonization, resulting in detrimental effects for women and their health. The purpose of this study is to examine how the internet encourages expert and female patient deliberation, which empowers women to challenge the experts and, thus, make conversations between the private/technical spheres more democratic. I used PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) as a case to observe the changing sphere boundaries by studying the discourse that took place on multiple patient and doctor websites over a four-year period. Through my research, I found that the PCOS women challenge the biomedical model by appropriating medical language. By understanding the medical talk, the women are able to feel confident when discussing their health conditions with the doctor and with each other. The PCOS women also become lay-experts who have personal and medical experience with PCOS, reducing private sphere colonization. This case study exemplifies how female empowerment can influence expert culture, challenging our conventional understanding of democracy.