The Building Blocks of International Ecological Footprint inequality: A Regression-Base Decomposition

This paper performs an empirical Decomposition of International Inequality in Ecological Footprint in order to quantify to what extent explanatory variables such as a country’s affluence, economic structure, demographic characteristics, climate and technology contributed to international differences in terms of natural resource consumption during the period 1993-2007. We use a Regression- Based Inequality Decomposition approach. As a result, the methodology extends qualitatively the results obtained in standard environmental impact regressions as it comprehends further social dimensions of the Sustainable Development concept, i.e. equity within generations. The results obtained point to prioritizing policies that take into account both future and present generations. Keywords: Ecological Footprint Inequality, Regression-Based Inequality Decomposition, Intragenerational equity, Sustainable development.

The evolutionary history of the CD209 (DC-SIGN) family in humans and non-human primates

The CD209 gene family that encodes C-type lectins in primates includes CD209 (DC-SIGN), CD209L (L-SIGN) and CD209L2. Understanding the evolution of these genes can help understand the duplication events generating this family, the process leading to the repeated neck region and identify protein domains under selective pressure. We compiled sequences from 14 primates representing 40 million years of evolution and from three non-primate mammal species. Phylogenetic analyses used Bayesian inference, and nucleotide substitutional patterns were assessed by codon-based maximum likelihood. Analyses suggest that CD209 genes emerged from a first duplication event in the common ancestor of anthropoids, yielding CD209L2 and an ancestral CD209 gene, which, in turn, duplicated in the common Old World primate ancestor, giving rise to CD209L and CD209. K(A)/K(S) values averaged over the entire tree were 0.43 (CD209), 0.52 (CD209L) and 0.35 (CD209L2), consistent with overall signatures of purifying selection. We also assessed the Toll-like receptor (TLR) gene family, which shares with CD209 genes a common profile of evolutionary constraint. The general feature of purifying selection of CD209 genes, despite an apparent redundancy (gene absence and gene loss), may reflect the need to faithfully recognize a multiplicity of pathogen motifs, commensals and a number of self-antigens

Origin and genetic differentiation of Three Mexican Native Groups (Purépechas, Triquis and Mayas): contribution of CODIS-STRs to the history of human populations of Mesoamerica

BACKGROUND: CODIS-STRs in Native Mexican groups have rarely been analysed for human identification and anthropological purposes. AIM:To analyse the genetic relationships and population structure among three Native Mexican groups from Mesoamerica.SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 531 unrelated Native individuals from Mexico were PCR-typed for 15 and 9 autosomal STRs (Identifiler™ and Profiler™ kits, respectively), including five population samples: Purépechas (Mountain, Valley and Lake), Triquis and Yucatec Mayas. Previously published STR data were included in the analyses. RESULTS:Allele frequencies and statistical parameters of forensic importance were estimated by population. The majority of Native groups were not differentiated pairwise, excepting Triquis and Purépechas, which was attributable to their relative geographic and cultural isolation. Although Mayas, Triquis and Purépechas-Mountain presented the highest number of private alleles, suggesting recurrent gene flow, the elevated differentiation of Triquis indicates a different origin of this gene flow. Interestingly, Huastecos and Mayas were not differentiated, which is in agreement with the archaeological hypothesis that Huastecos represent an ancestral Maya group. Interpopulation variability was greater in Natives than in Mestizos, both significant.CONCLUSION: Although results suggest that European admixture has increased the similarity between Native Mexican groups, the differentiation and inconsistent clustering by language or geography stresses the importance of serial founder effect and/or genetic drift in showing their present genetic relationships.

Overcoming the ethical dilemmas of skilled migration? An analysis of international narratives on the “brain drain”

Migration-related issues have, since approximately 2000, been the object of increased attention at the international level. This has led, among other things, to the production of international narratives, which aim both at understanding migration and at proposing policy recommendations on how to address it, with the objective of improving the governance of migration at the global level. But this implies overcoming dilemmas stemming from the diverging interests of states and other actors (like NGOs and the private sector). This article examines the way in which international migration narratives address skilled migration, which is characterised by some of the clearest political trade-offs between stakeholders. It argues that these narratives attempt to speak to all parties and conciliate contradictory arguments about what should be done, in order to discursively overcome policy dilemmas and create a consensus. While this is line with the mandate of international organizations, it depoliticises migration issues.

Exhumation history of the NW Indian Himalaya revealed by fission track and 40Ar/39Ar ages

New fission track and Ar/Ar geochronological data provide time constraints on the exhumation history of the Himalayan nappes in the Mandi (Beas valley) - Tso Monad transect of the NW Indian Himalaya. Results from this and previous studies suggest that the SW-directed North Himalayan nappes were emplaced by detachment from the underthrusted upper Indian crust by 55 Ma and metamorphosed by ca. 48-40 Ma. The nappe stack was subsequently exhumed to shallow upper crustal depths (<10 km) by 40-30 Ma in the Tso Monad dome (northern section of the transect) and by 30-20 Ma close to frontal thrusts in the Baralacha La region. From the Oligocene to the present, exhumation continued slowly.

The short arm of the law: judicial institutions and local governance in Brazil

This paper estimates the effect of judicial institutions on governance at the local level in Brazil. Our estimation strategy exploits a unique institutional feature of state judiciary branches which assigns prosecutors and judges to the most populous among contiguous counties forming a judiciary district. As a result of this assignment mechanism there are counties with nearly identical populations, some with and some without local judicial presence, which we exploit to impute counterfactual outcomes. Conditional on observable county characteristics, offenses per civil servant are about 35% lower in counties that have a local seat of the state judiciary. The lower incidence of infractions stems mostly from fewer violations of financial management regulations by local administrators, fewer instances of problems in project execution and project managment, fewer cases of non-existent or ineffective civil society oversight and fewer cases of improper handling of remittances to local residents.

Leading Double Lives: The History of the Double House in Des Moines, 2005

How people choose to live depends on a variety of social and economic circumstances. Single family dwellings, extended family compounds, and communal apartment blocks are all forms of residential architecture that have ancient roots and occur in every culture. Each form both reflects and affects the living styles of the people who reside there. The double house, which shelters two families in units separated by a wall or floor, balances the convenience of an apartment with the psychological comforts of a home. During the mid to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States, the double house was hugely popular in some cities, such as Minneapolis and Milwaukee, but only a minimal presence in Des Moines

Terms of international classification for Nursing Practice in motor and physical rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE To validate terms of nursing language especially for physical-motor rehabilitation and map them to the terms of ICNP® 2.0. METHOD A methodology research based on document analysis, with collection and analysis of terms from 1,425 records. RESULTS 825 terms were obtained after the methodological procedure, of which 226 had still not been included in the ICNP® 2.0. These terms were distributed as follows: 47 on the Focus axis; 15 on the Judgment axis; 31 on the Action axis; 25 on the Location axis; 102 on the Means axis; three on the Time axis; and three on the Client axis. All non-constant terms in ICNP® have been validated by experts, having reached an agreement index ≥0.80. CONCLUSION The ICNP® is applicable and used in nursing care for physical-motor rehabilitation.

Lost in translation : euro-compatibility, legal security, and the autonomous implementation of EU law in Switzerland

This article presents the legislative and judicial practice relating to the "autonomous implementation" of EU law in Switzerland. Given that "euro-compatibility" is the central consideration behind this legislative policy, one would expect Swiss authorities to have devised legislative and hermeneutical techniques guaranteeing high fidelity to EU "mother law". That is not the case, however, and as this article shows much is lost in the translation from EU to Swiss Law

Diversity and regional inequalities: Assessing the outcomes of the Spanish 'System of Health Care Services'

The consolidation of a universal health system coupled with a process of regionaldevolution characterise the institutional reforms of the National Health System(NHS) in Spain in the last two decades. However, scarce empirical evidence hasbeen reported on the effects of both changes in health inputs, outputs andoutcomes, both at the country and at the regional level. This paper examinesthe empirical evidence on regional diversity, efficiency and inequality ofthese changes in the Spanish NHS using cross-correlation, panel data andexpenditure decomposition analysis. Results suggest that besides significantheterogeneity, once we take into account region-specific needs there is evidenceof efficiency improvements whilst inequalities in inputs and outcomes, althoughmore visible , do not appear to have increased in the last decade. Therefore,the devolution process in the Spanish Health System offers an interesting casefor the experimentation of health reforms related to regional diversity butcompatible with the nature of a public NHS, with no sizeable regionalinequalitiest.

Le juge en droit européen et international = The Judge in European and International Law

Le juge et son rôle ont été thématisés abondamment en théorie du droit, mais toujours sous l'angle du droit et du juge internes. On pensera ainsi aux questions des rapports entre justice et politique ou démocratie, ou encore au rôle créateur de droit du juge en cas de lacune juridique et à la légitimité du droit dit prétorien. Pour autant que l'on considère qu'il s'agisse bien d'un juge, le juge international ou européen et sa fonction judiciaire posent des problèmes de même type certes bien que plus aigus, mais aussi des difficultés nouvelles auxquelles la théorie du droit n'a pas encore donné de réponses. Le présent ouvrage tente d'identifier ces difficultés théoriques propres au juge international ou européen et d'apporter des débuts de réponse. Fruit du sixième colloque doctoral de l'Ecole doctorale Fondements du droit européen et international et quatrième volume de la collection du même nom, il réunit des contributions en anglais et en français rédigées par des doctorants des universités suisses romandes et alémaniques et d'universités européennes partenaires, mais aussi d'intervenants externes invités aux différentes sessions du colloque.