Measuring early childhood health : a composite index comparing Colombian departments

This paper presents a composite index of early childhood health using a multivariate statistical approach. The index shows how child health varies across Colombian departments, -administrative subdivisions-. In recent years there has been growing interest in composite indicators as an efficient analysis tool and a way of prioritizing policies. These indicators not only enable multi-dimensional phenomena to be simplified but also make it easier to measure, visualize, monitor and compare a country’s performance in particular issues. We used data collected from the Colombian Demographic and Health Survey, DHS, for 32 departments and the capital city, Bogotá, in 2005 and 2010. The variables included in the index provide a measure of three dimensions related to child health: health status, health determinants and the health system. In order to generate the weight of the variables and take into account the discrete nature of the data, we employed a principal component analysis, PCA, using polychoric correlation. From this method, five principal components were selected. The index was estimated using a weighted average of the components retained. A hierarchical cluster analysis was also carried out. We observed that the departments ranking in the lowest positions are located on the Colombian periphery. They are departments with low per capita incomes and they present critical social indicators. The results suggest that the regional disparities in child health may be associated with differences in parental characteristics, household conditions and economic development levels, which makes clear the importance of context in the study of child health in Colombia.

Economic and social convergence in Colombia

GDP has usually been used as a proxy for human well-being. Nevertheless, other social aspects should also be considered, such as life expectancy, infant mortality, educational enrolment and crime issues. With this paper we investigate not only economic convergence but also social convergence between regions in a developing country, Colombia, in the period 1975-2005. We consider several techniques in our analysis: sigma convergence, stochastic kernel estimations, and also several empirical models to find out the beta convergence parameter (cross section and panel estimates, with and without spatial dependence). The main results confirm that we can talk about convergence in Colombia in key social variables, although not in the classic economic variable, GDP per capita. We have also found that spatial autocorrelation reinforces convergence processes through deepening market and social factors, while isolation condemns regions to nonconvergence.

El humor como trampantojo en el teatro de Miguel Mihura

Tras el humor de las comedias de Mihura hay una crítica a las normas que rigen la vida de las personas. Con el sutil juego literario, lleno de ingenio y humor, Miguel Mihura pone de manifiesto lo inamovibles que son los convencionalismos que condicionan nuestra existencia y en los que basamos a menudo nuestros juicios.

Is the wage curve formal or informal? Evidence for Colombia

Using microdata from the 2002-2006 Colombian Continuous Household Survey, we find an elasticity of individual wages to local unemployment rates of -0.07. However, the elasticity for informal workers is significantly higher, a result which is consistent with efficiency wage theoretical models and relevant for regional labour markets analysis in developing countries.

La visita de Piscator a Barcelona en diciembre de 1936

Erwin Piscator (1893-1966), one of the most important theatre"s men of this century, visited Barcelona in 1936, invited by the Generalitat de Catalunya. This article analyses this visit, its antecendents and consequences over the Catalan theater during the Spanish civil war.

Talent, expert o les dues coses

De vegades és difícil distingir els conceptes d’individu amb talent i individu expert. Sens dubte, això és degut a que els individus que assoleixen l’èxit en l’esport, la música, el teatre, la literatura, etc. mostren ambdues condicions: una si es vol innata, el talent, i una altra adquirida, la de ser expert. També, de vegades, desitjaríem que els talents treballessin per a ser experts, aspecte que els elevaria a un grau superior d’excel·lència. En el present article es realitza una posada al dia d’ambdós conceptes amb l’objectiu d’establir una base adequada sobre la que sostenir amb més solidesa les decisions i actuacions del formador. També es presenten algunes nocions sobre el seguiment i control dels nois que gaudeixen en les canteres esportives sempre amb l’orientació bàsica de formar individus complerts amb un rendiment òptim.

Contribución de la Tecnología en la Gestión del Conocimiento entre los grupos de investigación del área de Informática

Una de las bases de la innovación es elconocimiento. Éste se genera mediante una serie deprocesos que conforman el denominado ciclo delconocimiento. Para soportar la Gestión del Conocimientohan surgido diferentes herramientas y plataformastecnológicas. En este contexto surge el actual trabajofocalizado en los grupos de investigación en el área deInformática en la Ciudad de Montería (Colombia). Laparte empírica está basada en metodologías cualitativas, yla recogida de datos se ha efectuado mediante entrevistasen profundidad realizadas a ocho personas, representantesde los grupos de investigación. El objetivo es doble: a)presentar el mapa del conocimiento de los grupos deinvestigación, identificando las Áreas de Conocimiento deestos grupos y la terminología asociada; b) obtenerelementos para el diseño de una plataforma tecnológicaque soporte la Gestión del Conocimiento entre los grupos.Por último se señalan líneas futuras de investigación paracontribuir al desarrollo regional.

Condiciones de trabajo psicosociales y desgaste psíquico en trabajadores de diversos sectores empresariales de Centro Oriente, Suroccidente y región Caribe en Colombia

Peer-reviewed

Greek by Steven Berkoff (1980): The Risky Transformation of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex into a Love Story

[eng] Can Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex really be transformed into a love story, as in Steven Berkoff’s drama entitled Greek? This article will show that, although Greek may be viewed by some critics as simply a provocative drama by no means intended to justify incest, directors, actors and critics in the end become enthralled by the powerful love story that ensues between Eddy and his wife and mother. This perspective reveals that Berkoff’s adaptation, intended to portray the social degradation of 1980s Great Britain, is in reality a quite risky proposition since it represents a flat denial of the tragic awareness of contemporary men and women. However, if this is the case, the audience, apart from enjoying the performance of Berkoff’s drama, might question, even from a non-fundamentalist perspective within the classical tradition, to what degree it makes sense to take inspiration from a text by Sophocles that precisely illustrates the great tragic awareness of the ancient Greeks.

Greek de Steven Berkoff (1980): L’arriscada conversió de l’Èdip rei de Sòfocles en una love story

[cat] ¿Podem convertir l’Èdip rei de Sòfocles en una història d’amor com ho fa Berkoff a Greek?. Tot i que alguns crítics llegeixen Greek només com un drama provocador que de cap manera intenta justificar l’incest, directors, actors i crítics resten finalment captivats per la impactant història d’amor entre Eddy i la seva esposa-mare. Això demostraria que l’adaptació de Berkoff, pensada per a il·lustrar la degradació social de la Gran Bretanya dels 80s, esdevé una proposta arriscada, car significa negar de fet la consciència tràgica dels homes i dones contemporanis. Tanmateix, si aquest és el cas, lectors i espectadors, a banda de l’indubtable plaer d’assistir a la representació de Greek, poden preguntar-se, fins i tot des d’una perspectiva no fonamentalista de la tradició clàssica, si té sentit inspirar-se en el text de Sòfocles, el qual mostra precisament la gran consciència tràgica dels grecs.

Sevillian transport jars in early colonial America: the case of Santa María La Antigua del Darién (Colombia)

Within the scope of the TECNOLONIAL (HAR2008-02834/HIST) project, an archaeologi- cal and archaeometric research is being conduct- ed in order to clarify and systematize transport jars production in the Iberian peninsula and their distribution abroad, especially to the Americas, from the 15th to the 17th century. The production centre of Seville, in the Crown of Castile, produced large glazed and unglazed transport jars, called botijas, which were mainly devoted to the Atlantic trade network. The pres- ent study accounts for the first results obtained from an initial sample of 34 transport jars dated around the 15th-16th centuries from the produc- tion centre of Seville and the reception site of Santa María de la Antigua del Darién (gulf of Urabá, Colombia). This latter site is especially significant since it was the first Spanish founda- tion (1510) in continental America that obtained the title of town, and was the seat for the Governor of the new region called Castilla de Oro, as well as for the first diocese. All individuals were analyzed by means of x-ray fluorescence and diffraction analyses and then compared with the majolica production database from Seville. The results enabled us to define the first refer- ence groups for such modern transport jars, and to get a first insight into the jars coming to the Americas in the early 16th century whose prove- nance can be linked to Seville, but not Triana.

Els estudiants estrangers volen venir a Barcelona

La valoració global de Barcelona que fan en el document és que les universitats de renom de la nostra ciutat estan a disposició dels estudiants internacionals a un cost molt més baix que les universitats dels Estats Units o el Regne Unit. Barcelona està en el cor cultural d'Europa i aconsegueix la màxima puntuació en qualitat de teatre i produccions musicals. La diversitat se celebra en aquesta ciutat ben comunicada. Barcelona no és, però, la destinació ideal per a inversors o persones que busquen feina. Malgrat un entorn polític obert, la ciutat està castigada per un baix creixement econòmic, alts impostos i l'escalada de l'atur. Objectiva valoració

Is the wage curve formal or informal? Evidence for Colombia

The objective of this paper is to analyse the existente or not of a wage curve in Colombia, paying special attention to the differences between formal and informal workers, an issue that has been systematically ignored in the wage curve literature. The obtained results using microdata from the Colombian Continuous Household Survey (CHS) between 2002 and 2006 show the existence of a wage curve with a negative slope for the Colombian economy. Using information on metropolitan areas, the estimates of the elasticity of individual wages to local unemployment rates was -0.07, a value that is very close to those obtained for other countries. However, the disaggregation of statistical information for formal and informal workers has shown significant differences among both groups of workers. In particular, for the less protected groups of the labour market, informal workers (both men and women), a high negatively sloped wage curve was found. This result is consistent with the conclusions from efficiency wage theoretical models and should be taken into account when analysing the functioning of regional labour markets in developing countries.

Caracterización morfológica, textural y composicional de las partículas de oro reveladas en placeres marinos de las playas Mejías y Jiguaní (NE de Cuba Oriental)

En este trabajo se describen los principales rasgos morfológicos, texturales y composicionales de las partículas de oro presentes en los placeres marinos costeros de las playas Mejías y Jiguaní, Cuba. Las partículas de oro estudiadas en ambos depósitos, son muy finas, mostrando formas tabulares predominantes; en ocasiones aparecen muy aplastadas, formando especies de laminillas o hojuelas, observándose, a través de las imágenes de electrones etrodispersados,partículas con texturas internas muy complejas , así como cariado de los granos. Las partículas están compuestas por subgranos de composición diferente,correspondientes a aleaciones naturales de Electrum, oro nativo y oro mercurial en ambos placeres y aleaciones de Au-Cu (tetraauricuprido) en el Placer Jiguaní. Estos subgranos frecuentemente se encuentran alterados en sus bordes. Esta alteración consiste predominantemente en un enriquecimiento en oro con relación a la plata.