Alexander’s Dictum and the Reality of Familiar Objects

Alexander's Dictum--"to be is to have causal powers"--appears to furnish an argument against the reality of familiar medium-sized objects. For every time a familiar object appears to cause a familiar macro-event, it sets up a rival claim by its component microparticles to have caused the complex swarm of microphysical events that composes into that macro-event. But this argument, argues this paper, wrongly assumes that even after familiar objects are removed from the picture, there is a phenomenon of joint causation which unites all and only the microparticles within each familiar object.

Charity care and community benefits by hospital type in Texas

Hospital care is the largest component of the health care sector. This industry is made up of for profit hospital (FPH) organizations, not for profit (NFP) hospitals, and government (GOV) run hospital facilities. Objectives of this analysis were: (a) to conduct a literature review on NFP hospital legislation at the state level in Texas and at the federal level in the broader U.S.; and (b) to describe the types of charity care and community benefits currently being provided: by NFP hospitals compared to FPH hospitals and GOV hospitals; by hospitals geographic proximity to the Texas-Mexico border; and by hospital community type (rural, suburban, and urban); and (c) propose specific policy changes that may be needed to improve the current Texas State statute. Methods. In describing the historical and current policy context of NFP hospital legislation in the United States, federal legislation was reviewed from 1913 to the present and Texas State legislation was reviewed from 1980 to the present. In describing the provision of charity care, data from the 2008 Annual Cooperative Hospital Survey were examined by hospital organizational type, size, proximity to the border, and community type using linear regression and chi-squared tests to assess differences in charity care and community benefits. Results. The data included 123 NFP hospitals, 114 GOV hospitals, and 123 FPH. Results. Small sized (p<0.001) and medium sized (p<0.001) NFP hospitals provide a greater percent of total charity care when compared to FPH hospitals and to both GOV and FPH hospitals respectively; however, no significant difference in total charity care was found among large sized NFP hospitals when compared to FPH hospitals alone (p=.345) and both GOV and FPH facilities (p=.214). The amount of charity care provided was not found to be different based on proximity to the border or community type. Community benefit planning and budgeting was found to be similar regardless of community type and proximity to the border. Conclusion. No differences in charity care in Texas were found for large sized NFP hospitals compared to FPH and GOV hospitals. Contrary to widely held beliefs, this study did not find the border region to provide a greater amount of charity care or bad debt. Charity care also did not vary by community type. These findings underscore the need for continued collection of transparent data from all hospitals in order to provide policy makers and consumers with information on utilization trends to ensure benefits are being provided to the community. Policy changes or revoking tax-benefits may occur as charity care utilization declines with the implementation of health reform in the next few years.^

Delayed Thrombus Resolution and Fibroproliferative Vascular Wound Healing From Deficiency of Type III Collagen: a Paradoxical Mechanism for Tissue Fragility

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a heritable disease of connective tissue caused by mutations in COL3A1, conferring a tissue deficiency of type III collagen. Cutaneous wounds heal poorly in these patients, and they are susceptible to spontaneous and catastrophic rupture of expansible hollow organs like the gut, uterus, and medium-sized to large arteries, which leads to premature death. Although the predisposition for organ rupture is often attributed to inherent tissue fragility, investigation of arteries from a haploinsufficient Col3a1 mouse model (Col3a1+/-) demonstrates that mutant arteries withstand even supraphysiologic pressures comparably to wild-type vessels. We hypothesize that injury that elicits occlusive thrombi instead unmasks defective thrombus resolution resulting from impaired production of type III collagen, which causes deranged remodeling of matrix, persistent inflammation, and dysregulated behavior by resident myofibroblasts, culminating in the development of penetrating neovascular channels that disrupt the mechanical integrity of the arterial wall. Vascular injury and thrombus formation following ligation of the carotid artery reveals an abnormal persistence and elevated burden of occlusive thrombi at 21 post-operative days in vessels from Col3a1+/- mice, as opposed to near complete resolution and formation of a patent and mature neointima in wild-type mice. At only 14 days, both groups harbor comparable burdens of resolving thrombi, but wild-type mice increase production of type III collagen in actively resolving tissues, while mutant mice do not. Rather, thrombi in mutant mice contain higher burdens of macrophages and proliferative myofibroblasts, which persist through 21 days while wild-type thrombi, inflammatory cells, and proliferation all regress. At the same time that increased macrophage burdens were observed at 14 and 21 days post ligation, the medial layer of mutant arterial walls concurrently harbored a significantly higher incidence of penetrating neovessels compared with those in wild-type mice. To assess whether limited type III collagen production alters myofibroblast behavior, fibroblasts from vEDS patients with COL3A1 missense mutations were seeded into three-dimensional fibrin gel constructs and stimulated with transforming growth factor-β1 to initiate myofibroblast differentiation. Although early signaling events occur similarly in all cell lines, late extracellular matrix- and mechanically-regulated events like transcriptional upregulation of type I and type III collagen secretion are delayed in mutant cultures, while transcription of genes encoding intracellular contractile machinery is increased. Sophisticated imaging of collagen synthesized de novo by resident myofibroblasts visualizes complex matrix reorganization by control cells but only meager remodeling by COL3A1 mutant cells, concordant with their compensatory contraction to maintain tension in the matrix. Finally, administration of immunosuppressive rapamycin to mice following carotid ligation sufficiently halts the initial inflammatory phase of thrombus resolution and fully prevents both myofibroblast migration into the thrombus and the differential development of neovessels between mutant and wild-type mice, suggesting that pathological defects in mutant arteries develop secondarily to myofibroblast dysfunction and chronic inflammatory stimulation, rather than as a manifestation of tissue fragility. Together these data establish evidence that pathological defects in the vessel wall architecture develop in mutant arteries as sequelae to abnormal healing and remodeling responses activated by arterial injury. Thus, these data support the hypothesis that events threatening the integrity of type III collagen-deficient vessels develop not as a result of inherent tissue weakness and fragility at baseline but instead as an episodic byproduct of abnormally persistent granulation tissue and fibroproliferative intravascular remodeling.

(Table 1) Iceberg characteristics and start and end date and location of iceberg buoys in the Weddell Sea

The drift of 52 icebergs tagged with GPS buoys in the Weddell Sea since 1999 has been investigated with respect to prevalent drift tracks, sea ice/iceberg interaction, and freshwater fluxes. Buoys were deployed on small- to medium-sized icebergs (edge lengths ? 5 km) in the southwestern and eastern Weddell Sea. The basin-scale iceberg drift of this size class was established. In the western Weddell Sea, icebergs followed a northward course with little deviation and mean daily drift rates up to 9.5 ± 7.3 km/d. To the west of 40°W the drift of iceberg and sea ice was coherent. In the highly consolidated perennial sea ice cover of 95% the sea ice exerted a steering influence on the icebergs and was thus responsible for the coherence of the drift tracks. The northward drift of buoys to the east of 40°W was interrupted by large deviations due to the passage of low-pressure systems. Mean daily drift rates in this area were 11.5 ± 7.2 km/d. A lower threshold of 86% sea ice concentration for coherent sea ice/iceberg movement was determined by examining the sea ice concentration derived from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) satellite data. The length scale of coherent movement was estimated to be at least 200 km, about half the value found for the Arctic Ocean but twice as large as previously suggested. The freshwater fluxes estimated from three iceberg export scenarios deduced from the iceberg drift pattern were highly variable. Assuming a transit time in the Weddell Sea of 1 year, the iceberg meltwater input of 31 Gt which is about a third of the basal meltwater input from the Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf but spreads across the entire Weddell Sea. Iceberg meltwater export of 14.2 × 103 m3 s?1, if all icebergs are exported, is in the lower range of freshwater export by sea ice.

Avances metodológicos del proceso de adopción de los Planes de Ordenamiento de segunda generación frente a los vacios jurídicos de la Legislación Colombiana en materia de Ordenamiento Territorial a la luz del P.O.T. Armenia 2007/2019 “Una Ciudad para la Vida"

Las nuevas realidades territoriales, bajo el innovador panorama constitucional colombiano, requieren de procesos de planificación coherentes, ajustados a las necesidades reales de desarrollo de nuestras sociedades en constante crecimiento. Se requieren acciones inmediatas y contundentes de fortalecimiento, asistencia técnica, desarrollo institucional e implementación de instrumentos de Gestión y financiación del suelo, para responder a la insuficiente capacidad de los entes territoriales para asumir con responsabilidad la formulación e implementación de los instrumentos de planificación y ordenamiento territorial planteados por la ley y la normatividad urbanística vigente. Dicha normatividad, dada su falta de reglamentación y regulación, hace compleja su aplicación en pequeñas y medianas ciudades, debido a la deficiente capacidad operativa y ejecutoria que tienen sus administraciones. El 24 de enero de 1999 el Concejo Municipal de Armenia aprobaba el primer plan de ordenamiento territorial para un municipio Colombiano bajo el marco de la Ley de Desarrollo Territorial 388 de 1997. Veinticuatro horas después se produce un sismo de 6.4 grados (Richter) con epicentro a 24 kilómetros de distancia, generando devastadoras consecuencias en toda la región del eje cafetero, tanto en lo físico como en lo social: “Cuando teníamos las respuestas… cambiaron las preguntas". Las nuevas determinantes territoriales generadas como efecto de la tragedia pondrían el proceso de implementación del plan en un escenario complejo y contradictorio. A pesar de que el concepto de gestión del riesgo había sido abordado por el P.O.T., las realidades del desastre superaban la expectativa planificadora, desbordando cualquier escala de ejecutabilidad de la norma recientemente aprobada. El equipo de formulación del nuevo plan, bajo la coordinación del D.A.P.M. y con apoyo de la academia identificó de manera inmediata la complejidad del proceso. Además, realizó aportes que permitieran a los demás municipios Colombianos evitar cometer los mismos errores, superar los obstáculos, agilizar procesos particulares de planificación territorial y dotar así a sus municipios de unos Planes de Ordenamiento mas aterrizados, realizables y sobretodo mas consecuentes con las necesidades particulares de sus municipios.

Calcareous nannofossil bioevents of early-middle Pleistocene sediments from the Mediterranean Sea and the Noth Atlantic

Quantitative distributions of calcareous nannofossils are analysed in the early-middle Pleistocene at the small Gephyrocapsa and Pseudoemiliania lacunosa zone transition in deep-sea cores from the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean (Ocean Drilling Program [ODP] Sites 977, 964 and 967, Deep Sea Drilling Project [DSDP] Site 607). The temporal and spatial mode of occurrence of medium-sized gephyrocapsids and reticulofenestrids has been examined to refine biostratigraphic constraints and evaluate possible relationships of stratigraphic patterns to environmental changes during a period of global climatic deterioration. The timing of bioevents has been calibrated using high-resolution sampling and correlation to the delta18O record in chronologically well-constrained sections. Newly identified events and ecostratigraphical signals enhance the stratigraphic resolution at the early-middle Pleistocene. The first occurrence (FO) of intermediate morphotypes between Pseudoemiliania and Reticulofenestra (Reticulofenestra sp.) is proposed as a reliable event within marine isotope stage (MIS) 35 or at the MIS 35/34 transition. The distribution of Reticulofenestra asanoi is characterized by rare and scattered occurrences in its lowest range, but the first common occurrence (FCO) is consistently identified at MIS 32 or 32/31; the last common occurrence (LCO) of the species is a distinctive event at MIS 23. In the studied interval, Gephyrocapsa omega dominates among medium-sized Gephyrocapsa. The FO of G. omega and contemporaneous re-entry of medium-sized gephyrocapsids at the lower-middle Pleistocene transition are diachronous between the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and from the western to eastern Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean, the LO of G. omega falls at MIS 15, insolation cycle 54 and is isochronous among the sites. Abundance fluctuations of G. omega show notable relations to early-middle Pleistocene climate changes; they considerably increase in abundance at the interglacial stages, suggesting warm water preferences. Gephyrocapsa omega temporarily disappears during the glacial MIS 22 and MIS 20. Above MIS 20, an impoverishment in G. omega and in the total abundance of medium-sized gephyrocapsids occurs. A decrease in abundance of G. omega is observed between the western Site 977 and the easternmost Site 967 in the Mediterranean Sea, as a possible response to high salinity and/or low nutrient content. Possible environmental influences on the distribution of R. asanoi and of Reticulofenestra sp. are discussed.

Nannofossil datums and abundance in sediments from ODP Leg 164 sites

Twenty routinely used nannofossil datums in the late Neogene and Quaternary were identified at three Blake Ridge sites drilled during Leg 164. The quantitative investigation of the nannofossil assemblages in 236 samples selected from Hole 994C provide new biostratigraphic and paleoceanographic information. Although mostly overlooked previously, Umbilicosphaera aequiscutum is an abundant component of the late Neogene flora, and its last occurrence at ~2.3 Ma is a useful new biostratigraphic event. Small Gephyrocapsa evolved within the upper part of Subzone CN11a (~4.3 Ma), and after an initial acme, it temporarily disappeared for 400 k.y., between 2.9 and 2.5 Ma. Medium-sized Gephyrocapsa evolved in the latest Pliocene ~2.2 Ma), and after two short temporary disappearances, common specimens occurred continuously just above the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. The base of Subzone CN13b should be recognized as the beginning of the continuous occurrence of medium-sized (>4 µm) Gephyrocapsa. Stratigraphic variation in abundance of the very small placoliths and Florisphaera profunda alternated, indicating potential of the former as a proxy for the paleoproductivity. At this site, it is likely that upwelling took place during three time periods in the late Neogene (6.0-4.6 Ma, 2.3-2.1 Ma, and 2.0-1.8 Ma) and also in the early Pleistocene (1.4-0.9 Ma). Weak upwelling is also likely to have occurred intermittently through the late Pliocene. Due to the sharp and abrupt turnover of the nannofossils, which resulted from an evolution of very competitive species, the paleoproductivity of the late Pleistocene is not clear. The site was mostly in an oligotrophic central gyre setting during the 4.6- to 2.3-Ma interval, intermittently between 2.1 and 1.4 Ma, and continuously for the last several tens of thousand years.

Córdoba ¿capital nacional de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación o paraíso fiscal y de mano de obra calificada barata?

El discurso del gobierno de la provincia de Córdoba apuesta a una ciudad de las tecnologías. El modelo elegido privilegia el lugar de las empresas de software y los call centers, especialmente aquellos liderados por capitales extranjeros. A los fines de presentar algunos interrogantes sobre las políticas de promoción industrial, se tomarán como punto de partida los recientes anuncios del desembarco de Intel en Córdoba y se analizarán los beneficios ofrecidos por el gobierno. Además se indagará acerca de las ventajas y desventajas de favorecer la localización de estas empresas, y se ampliará el campo de estudio para incluir las empresas de capitales locales que participan en estas ramas productivas. De esta forma se busca iniciar un debate y reflexionar acerca del impacto del modelo adoptado por el gobierno provincial.

Rupturas y continuidades en el mundo del trabajo : Trayectorias laborales y valoraciones subjetivas en un estudio de caso

En las últimas décadas, el mundo del trabajo se ha modificado drásticamente. Considerando que dichos cambios no sólo modificaron las estrategias materiales de vida de los trabajadores, sino también sus valoraciones y percepciones con respecto al trabajo y a sí mismos, en este estudio pretendemos indagar sobre la forma en que los sujetos enfrentaron tales fenómenos y las consecuencias que los mismos produjeron en sus subjetividades. Presentamos aquí un estudio de caso que se propone describir y analizar las trayectorias laborales, a lo largo de los últimos quince años, de los ex trabajadores de la empresa O.F.A., una mediana fábrica metalúrgica del Gran La Plata que cerró por quiebra en el año 1993. Dados los objetivos de investigación, hemos adoptado una perspectiva metodológica cualitativa utilizando el concepto de trayectoria laboral, que intenta poner de manifiesto la relación dinámica que se establece entre las condiciones estructurales y las estrategias que ponen en juego los sujetos. En primer lugar, planteamos la descripción de las trayectorias laborales analizadas, dando cuenta del trabajo en la empresa, las búsquedas laborales emprendidas y las inserciones laborales actuales. En segundo lugar, nos centramos en el análisis de las valoraciones y percepciones que tienen los trabajadores con respecto al trabajo pasado, al actual y a las transformaciones ocurridas a lo largo de sus trayectorias. Finalmente señalamos los principales resultados, concluyendo que a pesar de producirse el quiebre de las trayectorias, el trabajo sigue siendo un eje identitario estructurante en la vida de los trabajadores estudiados

Pressoes e oposiçoes contra pequenos criadores familiares de gado bovino leiteiro da zona periurbana do Município de Castanhal (Pará, Brasil - Amazônia Oriental)

It is analyzed, in this paper, the conflicts involving a family of small dairy cattle breeders, faced with the opposition of society and restrictions imposed by the local authorities, against the livestock grazing on public lands in peri-urban zone of a medium-sized Amazonian city. The case study employed participant observation, interviews and document research. Despite the subordinate position occupied by the focused group in the credibility hierarchy of versions issued on the conflict, the group maintains a resistance conduct, based both in the need for sustenance, and in an attempt to preserve a way of life cherished by its members

Estrategias de la anchoíta en un mar de tiburones : Las pymes conserveras marplatenses durante la valoración financiera (1975-2006)

Desde los años 70' Argentina se consolidó como un país pesquero, siendo la merluza hubbsi la principal especie capturada y exportada. Desde fines de la década de 1990 pequeñas y medianas empresas supieron conciliar extracción, manufactura y mercados explotando especies costeras, entre las cuales se destaca la anchoíta. El presente trabajo se centra en las estrategias de gestión, organización e innovación de Coomarpes e Indupesa, empresas que han subsistido en un mercado dominado por un poderoso oligopolio interno y por capitales foráneos que depredan el mar argentino y exportan productos con escaso agregado de valor hacia mercados europeos y asiáticos

La escala local, desde la periferia. Análisis de la industria de maquinaria agrícola en Las Parejas (provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina) relacionada con su contexto dentro de la economía argentina

El trabajo analiza las posibilidades que tienen las estrategias de desarrollo local, inspiradas en realidades como la europea, de ser aplicadas del mismo modo en países de la periferia como la Argentina. En esta descripción se diferencian el contexto global-nacional y local. Se realiza el análisis a partir de los discursos geográficos y también sociológicos y económicos que, a partir de la experiencia italiana, francesa, etc., relativizan la escala nacional como eje del análisis y se enfocan en el surgimiento de lo local como escala de referencia. Se utiliza el ejemplo de las empresas de maquinaria agrícola de la ciudad argentina de Las Parejas, provincia de Santa Fe, para graficar cómo una ciudad intermedia puede generar proyectos asociativos que ayudan a los actores a enfrentar el contexto, pero que éste sigue siendo una variable determinante de la performance empresaria y de la vida de los tejidos productivos locales.

Pressoes e oposiçoes contra pequenos criadores familiares de gado bovino leiteiro da zona periurbana do Município de Castanhal (Pará, Brasil - Amazônia Oriental)

It is analyzed, in this paper, the conflicts involving a family of small dairy cattle breeders, faced with the opposition of society and restrictions imposed by the local authorities, against the livestock grazing on public lands in peri-urban zone of a medium-sized Amazonian city. The case study employed participant observation, interviews and document research. Despite the subordinate position occupied by the focused group in the credibility hierarchy of versions issued on the conflict, the group maintains a resistance conduct, based both in the need for sustenance, and in an attempt to preserve a way of life cherished by its members

Córdoba ¿capital nacional de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación o paraíso fiscal y de mano de obra calificada barata?

El discurso del gobierno de la provincia de Córdoba apuesta a una ciudad de las tecnologías. El modelo elegido privilegia el lugar de las empresas de software y los call centers, especialmente aquellos liderados por capitales extranjeros. A los fines de presentar algunos interrogantes sobre las políticas de promoción industrial, se tomarán como punto de partida los recientes anuncios del desembarco de Intel en Córdoba y se analizarán los beneficios ofrecidos por el gobierno. Además se indagará acerca de las ventajas y desventajas de favorecer la localización de estas empresas, y se ampliará el campo de estudio para incluir las empresas de capitales locales que participan en estas ramas productivas. De esta forma se busca iniciar un debate y reflexionar acerca del impacto del modelo adoptado por el gobierno provincial.

Rupturas y continuidades en el mundo del trabajo : Trayectorias laborales y valoraciones subjetivas en un estudio de caso

En las últimas décadas, el mundo del trabajo se ha modificado drásticamente. Considerando que dichos cambios no sólo modificaron las estrategias materiales de vida de los trabajadores, sino también sus valoraciones y percepciones con respecto al trabajo y a sí mismos, en este estudio pretendemos indagar sobre la forma en que los sujetos enfrentaron tales fenómenos y las consecuencias que los mismos produjeron en sus subjetividades. Presentamos aquí un estudio de caso que se propone describir y analizar las trayectorias laborales, a lo largo de los últimos quince años, de los ex trabajadores de la empresa O.F.A., una mediana fábrica metalúrgica del Gran La Plata que cerró por quiebra en el año 1993. Dados los objetivos de investigación, hemos adoptado una perspectiva metodológica cualitativa utilizando el concepto de trayectoria laboral, que intenta poner de manifiesto la relación dinámica que se establece entre las condiciones estructurales y las estrategias que ponen en juego los sujetos. En primer lugar, planteamos la descripción de las trayectorias laborales analizadas, dando cuenta del trabajo en la empresa, las búsquedas laborales emprendidas y las inserciones laborales actuales. En segundo lugar, nos centramos en el análisis de las valoraciones y percepciones que tienen los trabajadores con respecto al trabajo pasado, al actual y a las transformaciones ocurridas a lo largo de sus trayectorias. Finalmente señalamos los principales resultados, concluyendo que a pesar de producirse el quiebre de las trayectorias, el trabajo sigue siendo un eje identitario estructurante en la vida de los trabajadores estudiados