Metaphors in Hugo Chávez's political discourse:conceptualizing nation, revolution and opposition

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of metaphors used by Hugo Chávez in his efforts to construct and legitimize his Bolivarian Revolution. It focuses on metaphors drawn from three of his most frequent target domains: the nation, his revolution, and the opposition. The author argues that behind an official discourse of inclusion, Chávez's choice of metaphors contributes to the construction of a polarizing discourse of exclusion in which his political opponents are represented as enemies of the nation. Chávez constructs this polarizing discourse of exclusion by combining metaphors that conceptualize: (a) the nation as a person who has been resurrected by his government, as a person ready to fight for his revolution, or as Chávez himself; (b) the revolution as war; and (c) members of the opposition as war combatants or criminals. At the same time, by making explicit references in his discourse about the revolution as the continuation of Simón Bolívar's wars of independence, Chávez contributes to represent opponents as enemies of the nation, given that in the Venezuelan collective imaginary Bolívar is the symbol of the nation's emancipation.

Metaphors in Hugo Chávez's political discourse:conceptualizing nation, revolution and opposition

This dissertation examines Hugo Chávez's choice of metaphors in his efforts to construct and legitimize his Bolivarian Revolution. It focuses on metaphors drawn from three of the most frequent target domains present in his discourse: the nation, his revolution, and the opposition. The study argues that behind an official discourse of inclusion, Chávez's choice of metaphors contributes to the construction of a polarizing discourse of exclusion in which his political opponents are represented as enemies of the nation.The study shows that Chávez constructs this polarizing discourse of exclusion by combining metaphors that conceptualize: (a) the nation as a person who has been resurrected by his government, as a person ready to fight for his revolution, or as Chávez himself; (b) the revolution as war; and (c) members of the opposition as war combatants or criminals. At the same time, the study shows that by making explicit references in his discourse about the revolution as the continuation of Bolívar's wars of independence, Chávez contributes to represent opponents as enemies of the nation, given that in the Venezuelan collective imaginary Simón Bolívar is the symbol of the nation's emancipation.This research, which covers a period of nine years (from Chávez's first year in office in 1999 through 2007), is part of the discipline of Political Discourse Analysis (PDA). It is anchored both in the theoretical framework provided by the cognitive linguistic metaphor theory developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson described in their book Metaphors We Live By, and in Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) as defined by Jonathan Charteris-Black in his book Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis.The study provides the first comprehensive analysis of metaphors used by Chávez in his political discourse. It builds upon the findings of previous studies on political discourse analysis in Venezuela by showing that Chávez's discourse not only polarizes the country and represents opponents as detractors of national symbols such as Bolívar or his wars of independence (which have been clearly established in previous studies), but also represents political opponents as enemies of the nation.

The United States Congress and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez

The Soviet Union's dissolution in December 1991 marks the end of the Cold War and the elimination of the United States' main rival for global political-economic leadership. For decades U.S. foreign policymakers had formulated policies aimed at containing the spread of Soviet communism and Moscow's interventionist policies in the Americas. They now assumed that Latin American leftist revolutionary upheavals could also be committed to history. This study explores how Congress takes an active role in U.S. foreign policymaking when dealing with revolutionary changes in Latin America. This study finds that despite Chávez's vitriolic statements and U.S. economic vulnerability due to its dependence on foreign oil sources, Congress today sees Chávez as a nuisance and not a threat to U.S. vital interests. Devoid of an extra-hemispheric, anti-American patron intent on challenging the United States for regional leadership, Chávez is seen by Congress largely as a threat to the stability of Venezuela's institutions and political-economic stability. Today both the U.S. executive and the legislative branches largely see Bolivarianism a distraction and not an existential threat. The research is based on an examination of Bolivarian Venezuela compared to revolutionary upheaval and governance in Nicaragua over the course of the twentieth century. This project is largely descriptive, qualitative in approach, but quantitative data are used when appropriate. To analyze both the U.S. executive and legislative branches' reaction to revolutionary change, Cole Blasier's theoretical propositions as developed in the Hovering Giant: U.S. Responses to Revolutionary Change in Latin America 1910-1985 are utilized. The present study highlights the fact that Blasier's propositions remain a relevant means for analyzing U.S. foreign policymaking.

The Basis of Support for Hugo Chávez: Measuring the Determinants of Presidential Job Approval in Venezuela

Since 1999, Venezuela has experienced a dramatic transformation of its political system with the coming to power of Hugo Chávez and his movement, known in Venezuela as Chavismo. Chávez has dismantled the previous political system and established neo-populist structures that rely on his personal appeal and the close collaboration of the armed forces. Chávez has relied heavily on significant support from the poor and those who felt economically and politically excluded by the “Punto Fijo system.” President Chávez has built an impressive record of electoral victories; winning every electoral contest except one since coming to power in 1999. He continues to receive relatively high levels of support among sectors of Venezuelan society. However, there is evidence of growing discontent with high crime rates, high levels of inflation, and significant corruption in the public administration. Using data from the AmericasBarometer surveys conducted in 2007, 2008 and 2010, this paper seeks to examine the basis of Chávez’s popular support. In general, the AmericasBarometer findings suggest that Venezuelans support for President Chávez is closely linked to the access to social programs and that as long as the government is able to fund these social programs or missions, particularly MERCAL and Barrio Adentro, it will possess an important tool to garner and sustain support for President Chávez. Our analysis, however, also indicates that evaluations of the national economic situation, more than crime or insecurity, are a key factor that could undermine support for the regime.

The United States Congress and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez

The Soviet Union's dissolution in December 1991 marks the end of the Cold War and the elimination of the United States' main rival for global political-economic leadership. For decades U.S. foreign policymakers had formulated policies aimed at containing the spread of Soviet communism and Moscow's interventionist policies in the Americas. They now assumed that Latin American leftist revolutionary upheavals could also be committed to history. This study explores how Congress takes an active role in U.S. foreign policymaking when dealing with revolutionary changes in Latin America. This study finds that despite Chavez's vitriolic statements and U.S. economic vulnerability due to its dependence on foreign oil sources, Congress today sees Chavez as a nuisance and not a threat to U.S. vital interests. Devoid of an extra-hemispheric, anti-American patron intent on challenging the United States for regional leadership, Chavez is seen by Congress largely as a threat to the stability of Venezuela's institutions and political-economic stability. Today both the U.S. executive and the legislative branches largely see Bolivarianism a distraction and not an existential threat. The research is based on an examination of Bolivarian Venezuela compared to revolutionary upheaval and governance in Nicaragua over the course of the twentieth century. This project is largely descriptive, qualitative in approach, but quantitative data are used when appropriate. To analyze both the U.S. executive and legislative branches' reaction to revolutionary change, Cole Blasier's theoretical propositions as developed in the Hovering Giant: U.S. Responses to Revolutionary Change in Latin America 1910- 1985 are utilized. The present study highlights the fact that Blasier's propositions remain a relevant means for analyzing U.S. foreign policymaking.

Evaluación de las causas de los eventos adversos o incidentes que afectan la seguridad del paciente, en el hospital central de la policía de enero 2012 a diciembre 2013

TITULO DEL TRABAJO: Evaluación de las causas de los eventos adversos o incidentes que afectan la seguridad del paciente, en el hospital central de la policía de enero 2012 a diciembre 2013. OBJETIVO: Determinar y analizar la causa raíz de los principales factores de riesgo que afectan la seguridad del paciente que puedan ocasionar eventos adversos en la atención de los pacientes, con el uso de la teoría de restricciones TOC en el Hospital Central de la Policía HOCEN. MATERIALES Y METODO: Se realizó una investigación descriptiva de naturaleza mixta – cuantitativa de tipo correlacional, la población es la totalidad de pacientes atendidos en el hospital de la policía entre enero de 2012 a diciembre de 2013, en el cual se presentaron un total de 189 eventos adversos los cuales sirvieron de objeto a esta investigación, la recolección de datos se realizó por medio de tablas de Excel 2010, posterior a esto se exporto la información al software de IBM SPSS Statistics 19 donde se analiza la información arrojando datos descriptivos y tablas de frecuencia. Finalmente haciendo uso de la Teoría de restricciones TOC se identificó la causa raíz para la ocurrencia de eventos adversos y plantear una intervención estratégica que promueva un sistema efectivo de seguridad del paciente en pro de la búsqueda de la mejora continua. RESULTADOS: Se analizaron 189 eventos adversos, de los cuales 89 fueron reportados en el turno de la noche, seguido por el turno de la mañana con 57, el turno tarde con 27, 28 eventos que no registraron horario, el servicio con mayor ocurrencia es el de medicina interna con 25 eventos, y finalmente la caída de pacientes, lo relacionado con medicamentos, nutriciones y accesos vasculares son los eventos con mayor incidencia. CONCLUSIONES: Se pudo concluir que es necesario que los procesos de seguridad del paciente deben tener un lineamiento directo desde la dirección de la organización permitiendo que las mejoras sean de inmediata aplicación, también es importante generar en el personal una actitud de compromiso frente al proceso de mejora, hay que redefinir las políticas institucionales ya que se concluyó por medio de la teoría de restricciones TOC que el principal factor para la ocurrencia de eventos adversos son las multitareas que el personal tiene que realizar en el proceso de atención.

Bile And Liver Metallothionein Behavior In Copper-exposed Fish.

The present study analyzed metallothionein (MT) excretion from liver to bile in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) exposed to sub-lethal copper concentrations (2mgL(-1)) in a laboratory setting. MTs in liver and bile were quantified by spectrophotometry after thermal incubation and MT metal-binding profiles were characterized by size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography coupled to ICP-MS (SEC-HPLC-ICP-MS). Results show that liver MT is present in approximately 250-fold higher concentrations than bile MT in non-exposed fish. Differences between the MT profiles from the control and exposed group were observed for both matrices, indicating differential metal-binding behavior when comparing liver and bile MT. This is novel data regarding intra-organ MT comparisons, since differences between organs are usually present only with regard to quantification, not metal-binding behavior. Bile MT showed statistically significant differences between the control and exposed group, while the same did not occur with liver MT. This indicates that MTs synthesized in the liver accumulate more slowly than MTs excreted from liver to bile, since the same fish presented significantly higher MT levels in liver when compared to bile. We postulate that bile, although excreted in the intestine and partially reabsorbed by the same returning to the liver, may also release MT-bound metals more rapidly and efficiently, which may indicate an efficient detoxification route. Thus, we propose that the analysis of bile MTs to observe recent metal exposure may be more adequate than the analysis of liver MTs, since organism responses to metals are more quickly observed in bile, although further studies are necessary.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages, driving vehicles, a balance of dry law, Brazil 2007-2013

The study analyzes the trend in frequency of adults who drive under the influence of alcohol in major Brazilian cities after the passing of laws, which prohibit drunk driving. Data from the Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (VIGITEL) between 2007 and 2013 were analyzed. The frequency of adults who drove after abusive alcohol consumption was reduced by 45.0% during this period (2.0% in 2007 to 1.1% in 2013). Between 2007 and 2008 (-0.5%) and between 2012 and 2013 (-0.5%), significant reductions were observed in the years immediately after the publication of these laws that prohibit drunk driving. These improvements towards the control of drunk driving show a change in the Brazilian population’s lifestyle.

Evaluation of the diagnostic value of the tourniquet test in predicting severe dengue cases in a population from Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Introduction Dengue is prevalent in many tropical and sub-tropical regions. The clinical diagnosis of dengue is still complex, and not much data are available. This work aimed at assessing the diagnostic accuracy of the tourniquet test in patients with suspected dengue infection and its positivity in different classifications of this disease as reported to the Information System for Notifiable Disease in Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil between 2001 and 2006. Methods Cross-section analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of the tourniquet test for dengue, using IgM-anti-DENV ELISA as a gold standard. Results We selected 9,836 suspected cases, of which 41.1% were confirmed to be dengue. Classic dengue was present in 95.8%, dengue with complications in 2.5% and dengue hemorrhagic fever in 1.7%. The tourniquet test was positive in 16.9% of classic dengue cases, 61.7% of dengue cases with complications and 82.9% of cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever. The sensitivity and specificity of the tourniquet test were 19.1% and 86.4%, respectively. Conclusions A positive tourniquet test can be a valuable tool to support diagnosis of dengue where laboratory tests are not available. However, the absence of a positive test should not be read as the absence of infection. In addition, the tourniquet test was demonstrated to be an indicator of dengue severity.

Caso 1/2013: homem de 69 anos com dor súbita em dorso e membro inferior direito e choque

MSM, homem, 69 anos, procurou atendimento médico por dor em dorso esquerdo e membro inferior direito. A radiografia de tórax revelou alargamento do mediastino. Estava em observação quando apresentou rebaixamento da consciência e choque. Foi observado enfisema subcutâneo em hemitórax esquerdo e abolição do murmúrio vesicular em base do mesmo pulmão. Foi feita a intubação orotraqueal e realizada drenagem de hemitórax esquerdo, com saída de líquido serossanguinolento. O ecocardiograma revelou ventrículo esquerdo (D/S): 44/29 mm; septo 12 mm; parede posterior 13 mm; discreta dilatação em raiz da aorta, presença de lâmina de dissecção e hematoma periaórtico. As valvas e pericárdio eram normais. O paciente foi transferido para o InCor. O exame físico (21 out 2004: 10h45) revelou paciente sedado, com intubação orotraqueal, com palidez cutânea, frequência cardíaca 90 bpm, pressão arterial 130 x 80 mmHg, drenagem torácica sanguinolenta do dreno tórax. Eletrocardiograma - frequência 90 bpm, ritmo sinusal, baixa voltagem no plano frontal e diminuição de voltagem em derivações esquerdas (fig. 1). A tomografia revelou enfisema subcutâneo bilateral, aorta torácica com contornos imprecisos na sua porção descendente (da artéria subclávia até porção média), colapso do pulmão esquerdo e grande coleção de características hemáticas em mesmo hemitórax e no mediastino médio e posterior. Pequeno pneumotórax à direita; pequeno derrame pleural à direita com alterações do parênquima subjacente. A análise do coração foi prejudicada pela presença do hemotórax. Durante a realização de tomografia apresentou ausência de pulsos, midríase, com assistolia, sem resposta às manobras de ressuscitação e faleceu (21 out 2011; 15h).

Lean Management (LM): Bases, eines i avantatges de la seva utilització al Sector Sanitari. Aplicació del LM a l’hospital St. Rafael de Barcelona per optimitzar el flux de pacients a la consulta externa de Traumatología.

Aquest projecte presenta, per una banda, una revisió del Lean Management i de l'estat actual de la seva aplicació al sector sanitari. Es descriuen els principis i la filosofia en què es basa aquest sistema, les eines i tècniques que li són pròpies, així com les avantatges que aporta cadascuna d’elles a l'empresa en general i, més concretament, al sector sanitari. D'altra banda, també descriu una petita aplicació pràctica de la metodologia Lean per al control de fluxos de pacients al servei d’atenció ambulatòria de l’Hospital Sant Rafael de Barcelona, amb l’objectiu de disminuir el temps total que els pacients tarden en ser atesos pel metge, a través d’eines que alhora aporten valor afegit a tant a pacients com a professionals.

“All we want in Laos is peace, not war": Intervención de Estados Unidos en Laos, 1954-1961

La guerra de Laos es probablemente uno de los episodios de la Guerra Fría más desconocidos e ignorados por la historiografía a pesar de las terribles consecuencias que tuvo. El hecho de que frecuentemente se considere como un conflicto periférico y ligado a la Guerra de Vietnam no contribuye tampoco a mejorar esta imagen.