Birth weight, current body mass index, and insulin sensitivity and secretion in young adults in two Latin American populations

Background and aims: Although studies have shown association of birth weight (BW) and adult body mass index (BMI) with insulin sensitivity in adults, there is limited evidence that BW is associated with insulin secretion. We assessed the associations between BW and current BMI with insulin sensitivity and secretion in young Latin American adults. Methods and results: Two birth cohorts, one from Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, based on 1984 participants aged 23-25 years, and another from Limache, Chile, based on 965 participants aged 22-28 years were studied. Weight and height at birth, and current fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels were measured. Insulin sensitivity (HOMA%S) and secretion (HOMA%beta) were estimated using the Homeostatic Model Assessment (HOMA2). Multiple linear regression analyses were carried out to test the associations between BW and adult BMI z-scores on log HOMA%S and log HOMA%beta. BW z-score was associated with HOMA%S in the two populations and HOMA%beta in Ribeirao Preto when adult BMI z-score was included in the model. BW z-score was associated with decreasing insulin secretion even without adjusting for adult BMI, but only in Ribeirao Preto. BMI z-score was associated with low HOMA%S and high HOMA%beta. No interactions between BW and BMI z-scores on insulin sensitivity were shown. Conclusions: This study supports the finding that BW may affect insulin sensitivity and secretion in young adults. The effect size of BW on insulin status is small in comparison to current BMI. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lecturas “dirigidas" de la poesía estadounidense : The new american poetry (1960) y Legitimate dangers (2006)

Este artículo estudia dos antologías de poesía estadounidense publicadas en su país de origen en 1960 y en 2006, respectivamente: The New American Poetry, compilada por Donald Allen, y Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century, por Michael Dumanis y Cate Marvin. A cincuenta años de la aparición de la primera, la crítica reconoce la función rupturista, renovadora y, a la vez, seminal de la selección de Allen, quien presentaba su texto como una colección de poetas y poemas opuestos al “verso académico". Del mismo modo, Dumanis y Marvin presentan una antología que busca difundir autores jóvenes cuya poesía propone el riesgo como valor fundamental. Nuestro enfoque compara y contrasta ambas antologías, para señalar los aspectos comunes, las declaraciones de principios y las poéticas subyacentes a ambas, y los procesos de canonización que llevan a cabo.

Latin American women's experiences with medical abortion in settings where abortion is legally restricted.

El aborto está legalmente restringido en la mayoría de América Latina donde 95 % de los 4.4 millones de abortos que se realizan anualmente son inseguros. El aborto con medicamentos es el uso de una droga o una combinación de drogas para interrupir el embarazo. Mifepristona seguida de misoprostol constituye el regimen más efectivo y recomendado. En los lugares donde no está disponible la mifepristona, se utiiza misoprostol solo. El aborto con medicamentos ha transformado radicalmente la práctica del aborto a nivel mundial, y particularmente en los contextos legalmente restrictivos. En América Latina, desde hace más de dos décadas, las mujeres utilizan el misoprostol para autoinducirse abortos. Este artículo resume los hallazgos de una revisión bibliográfica sobre las experiencias de las mujeres con el aborto con medicamentos en países latinoamericanos donde el aborto voluntario es ilegal. Las experiencias personales de las mujeres con el aborto con medicamentos son diversas y varían según el contexto, la edad, la historia reproductiva, el nivel socioeconómico y el conocimiento acerca del aborto con medicamentos así como las circunstancias físicas, emocionales y sociales que rodean el embarazo. Pero fundamentalmente, las experiencias están determinadas por la posibilidad de las mujeres de acceder a: 1) un aborto clandestino realizado bajo supervisión médica, o 2) información completa y precisa acerca del aborto con medicamentos, Otros factores clave incluyen el acceso a recursos económicos y apoyo emocional. Las mujeres valoran la seguridad y efectividad del aborto con medicamentos así como la privacidad que ofrece y la posibilidad de tener cerca a su pareja, amiga/o, o persona de su confianza durante el proceso. Las mujeres perciben al aborto con medicamentos como menos doloroso, más fácil, más seguro, más práctico, menos costoso, más natural y menos traumático que otros métodos abortivos. Que sea auto-inducido y que evite el procedimiento quirúrgico también son señalados como ventajas. Las principales desventajas identificadas son que es doloroso y que lleva tiempo para que se complete. Otros aspectos evaluados negativamente incluyen los efectos secundarios, el sangrado prolongado, la posibilidad de que no sea efectivo, y el hecho de que algunas mujeres eventualmente deban solicitar atención médica en una institución donde sean sancionadas por haberse practicado un aborto y hasta denunciadas a la policía.

JETRO and Japan's Postwar Export Promotion System: Messages for Latin American Export Promotion Agencies

This paper tries to explain how the Japanese postwar export promotion system worked and what kind of roles JETRO played in this system. Two case studies of JETRO's successful export promotion activities were also introduced. The paper also points out the themes to be solved by the TPO (Trade Promotion Organizations). Finally the paper shows four advices for Latin American Export Promotion Agencies, based upon JETRO's postwar experiences.

Latin American Agricultural Trade: The Role of the WTO in Sustainable Virtual Water Flows, European Association of Agricultural Economists

International agricultural trade has been growing significantly during the last decade. Many countries rely on imports to ensure adequate food supplies to the people. A few are becoming food baskets of the world. This process raises issues about the food security in depending countries and potentially unsustainable land and water use in exporting countries. In this paper, we analyse the impacts of amplified farm trade on natural resources, especially water. Farm exports and imports of five Latin America countries (Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Chile) are examined carefully. A preliminary analysis indicates that virtual water imports can save valuable water resources in water-short countries, such as Mexico and Chile. Major exporting countries, including Brazil and Argentina, have become big exporters due to abundant natural resource endowments. The opportunity costs of agricultural production in those countries are identified as being low, because of the predominant green water use. It is concluded that virtual water trade can be a powerful tool to alleviate water stress in semi-arid countries. However, for exporting nations a sustainable water use can only be guaranteed if environmental production costs are fully reflected in the commodity prices. There is no basis for erecting environmental trade tariffs on exporters though. Setting up legal foundations for them in full compliance with WTOs processes would be a daunting task.

The determinants of the quality of Sales-Marketing Interface in a Multinational Customer Brand Focused Company: The Latin American Branches

Customer evolution and changes in consumers, determine the fact that the quality of the interface between marketing and sales may represent a true competitive advantage for the firm. Building on multidimensional theoretical and empirical models developed in Europe and on social network analysis, the organizational interface between the marketing and sales departments of a multinational high-growth company with operations in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is studied. Both, attitudinal and social network measures of information exchange are used to make operational the nature and quality of the interface and its impact on performance. Results show the existence of a positive relationship of formalization, joint planning, teamwork, trust and information transfer on interface quality, as well as a positive relationship between interface quality and business performance. We conclude that efficient design and organizational management of the exchange network are essential for the successful performance of consumer goods companies that seek to develop distinctive capabilities to adapt to markets that experience vertiginous changes

Theoretical and experimental structural studies of historical Latin-American laminated planked timber arches

This article describes a first group of theoretical and experimental works undertaken at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. One major purpose is to obtain a structural model for the assessment of historical Latin-American vertically laminated planked timber arches built by the Spanish, mainly in the XVII and XVIII centuries. Many of those constructions still stand and represent a notable historical heritage. Pedro Hurtado recently presented his Ph. D. thesis on historical and construction topics. A structural study was then undertaken. This step of the structural research focussed on static analysis, most especially the deformation in the connection system. This article describes part of this first structural research. Even though it is still at a basic level, it shows reasonable agreement with the experimental results. Further static analytical models are been now developed and implemented. The next stage will address the dynamic problem, even though improvements will be made also in the constitutive equations.