CRIAÇÃO E RECRIAÇÕES COSMOGÔNICAS EM ISAÍAS 51, 9-11: Um estudo do uso do mito cosmogônico pelo Dêutero-Isaías para o entendimento da comunidade dos cativos judaítas em Babilônia

Como estudar uma cultura ou uma comunidade perdida nos tempos bíblicos? Esta é um questão motriz para o autor. Foi dessa maneira que surgiu o seu interesse em discutir a possibilidade do uso do mito cosmogônico para o entendimento da comunidade dos cativos judaítas em Babilônia. É uma iniciativa, que precisava ser trilhada pelos pesquisadores que se dispusessem ao estudo das culturas do mundo bíblico. Assim se elegeu o tema Mito Cosmogônico no Primeiro Testamento como instrumento de aprofundamento da pesquisa bíblica. O mito é uma escolha mais ou menos óbvia, pela sua capacidade de funcionar como paradigma, pragmática e traditiva contra-hegemônica dentro de um contexto social interétnico. Estas eram ponderações vindas de matrizes como a do fenomenólogo Mircea Eliade, do Antropólogo Roger Bastide e do teólogo e fenomenólogo José Severino Croatto. É por isto que um paralelo é traçado entre o mito de Marduk e o texto de Isaías 51, 9-11, que fala de Javé como sendo criador do mundo e que luta contra as forças do caos. Isto é feito, com vistas à percepção da profecia do Isaías do exílio, como parentesco e sua justaposição com a mitologia babilônica, e ambos se aproximam bastante de forma sintagmática e histórico-social. Coube ainda saber se a profecia do Dêutero-Isaías atuava da mesma maneira que o poema Enuma elish funcionava para os babilônicos. Ou seja, fazia-se surgir modelos sociais às comunidades de escravos dentro do Império Neobabilônico; se com base nestes cânticos, os cativos conseguiam construir um ordenamento para as suas comunidades, que gozavam de uma relativa autonomia, tais como colônias e guetos ; se de posse dessa ousada profecia, os judeus da golah eram capazes de elaborar uma desobediência cívil nos termos de um nutrir nos corações, uma utopia que rompesse com o status quo do passado, comprometendo-os com a esperança no Javé criador.(AU)

Different response to Plasmodium falciparum malaria in West African sympatric ethnic groups

The comparison of malaria indicators among populations that have different genetic backgrounds and are uniformly exposed to the same parasite strains is one approach to the study of human heterogeneities in the response to the infection. We report the results of comparative surveys on three sympatric West African ethnic groups, Fulani, Mossi, and Rimaibé, living in the same conditions of hyperendemic transmission in a Sudan savanna area northeast of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The Mossi and Rimaibé are Sudanese negroid populations with a long tradition of sedentary farming, while the Fulani are nomadic pastoralists, partly settled and characterized by non-negroid features of possible caucasoid origin. Parasitological, clinical, and immunological investigations showed consistent interethnic differences in Plasmodium falciparum infection rates, malaria morbidity, and prevalence and levels of antibodies to various P. falciparum antigens. The data point to a remarkably similar response to malaria in the Mossi and Rimaibé, while the Fulani are clearly less parasitized, less affected by the disease, and more responsive to all antigens tested. No difference in the use of malaria protective measures was demonstrated that could account for these findings, and sociocultural or environmental factors do not seem to be involved. Known genetic factors of resistance to malaria did not show higher frequencies in the Fulani. The differences in the immune response were not explained by the entomological observations, which indicated substantially uniform exposure to infective bites. The available data support the existence of unknown genetic factors, possibly related to humoral immune responses, determining interethnic differences in the susceptibility to malaria.

Kyrgyzstan: Balancing on the Verge of Stability. EUCAM Policy Brief No. 19, July 2011

Following the ‘revolution’ in April 2010, the subsequent interethnic violence in June and the recent international inquiry into these events, Kyrgyzstan is not in safe waters yet. The coming period leading up to the Presidential elections will be important for the country’s stability. What is the current situation in the South of the country, which saw clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, and what are the expectations for the presidential elections? Is Kyrgyzstan on the road to democracy, and what role can external actors play?

Recorriendo las Tolderías de Valentín Sayhueque : Reminiscencias de Francisco Moreno 1870-1880

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo mostrar y analizar las relaciones fronterizas entre indígenas, cronistas, viajeros y agentes del gobierno de Buenos Aires en el período de 1870 a 1880. Se prestará especial atención a las vinculaciones entre estos "mundos" a partir de los viajes que realizó Moreno a los toldos del cacique Valentín Sayhueque y su comunidad en las regiones aledañas al Lago Nahuel Huapi. No se descarta la influencia de otros cronistas de época (Cox y Musters) como tampoco la impronta de personajes centrales en el contexto (Zeballos y Roca). Los viajeros que recorrieron la Patagonia dejaron testimonios claves para comprender el proceso que se dio entre las sociedades indígenas y el Estado nacional argentino a fines del siglo XIX. Su análisis a través de una mirada crítica da la pauta de cómo las sociedades nativas fueron observadas y estudiadas desde el gobierno de Buenos Aires y países extranjeros. La actual Patagonia fue un punto de atracción (y lo sigue siendo), para muchos individuos que no conocen el lugar. Su naturaleza, paisaje, vegetación eran únicos y muy atractivos. Sus tierras eran habitadas por sujetos que no tenían las mismas formas de vida que el resto de las regiones del momento. Habían desarrollado costumbres, formas de comunicación, comercio e intercambio, relaciones sociales, festividades. Cronistas como Francisco Moreno son nodales para adentrarnos al mundo nativo desde otro ángulo, ya que nos muestra las relaciones en el espacio de frontera y los propósitos del gobierno de Buenos Aires en el momento de las campañas militares. Desde el punto de vista metodológico se ha recurrido a la Etnohistoria para abordar nuestro problema desde una óptica diferente y alimentando la investigación en curso

Reconciliation through communication in intercultural encounters: potential or peril?

As we reflect on the events of September 11th and their aftermath, there is strong motivation in many places to improve intercultural and international relations through communication. This laudable aim implicates the long history of research into intercultural encounters, which has always bad this goal. To achieve it, researchers and trainers must go beyond conceptualizing intercultural encounters as like interpersonal ones, except that participants have different and sometimes conflicting cultural rules and values. We must develop programs to train metaskills in analyzing miscommunication and its negative consequences. This requires the recognition that, in many interethnic and intercultural contexts, participants are not. motivated to communicate well. In such cases, the larger sociopolitical situation must be addressed, or skills training may even exacerbate the conflict. It is also crucial to understand intercultural communication as simultaneously intergroup and interpersonal, to incorporate both aspects into interventions, and to advocate for such training to improve intercultural relations.

An examination of the effects of print media exposure and contact on subjective social reality and acculturation attitudes

This study draws upon cultivation theory, acculturation theory, and works on intergroup relations to examine the effects of print media exposure and contact on subjective social reality and acculturation attitudes of Chinese immigrants in Australia. Data was gathered via a survey administered to 265 respondents with Chinese origin. Results indicate that exposure to mainstream newspapers is only positively related to one indicator of subjective reality, namely, outgroup perception whereas exposure to ethnic newspapers was not significantly related to any of the indicators of subjective reality. Acculturation attitudes, on the other hand, are more closely related to group perception and contact but not closely associated with exposure to print media. These findings have again challenged the direct effect assumption of cultivation theory, paved the ground for combining mediated communication variables with interpersonal communication variables in acculturation research and suggested policy implications for interethnic coexistence. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CRIAÇÃO E RECRIAÇÕES COSMOGÔNICAS EM ISAÍAS 51, 9-11: Um estudo do uso do mito cosmogônico pelo Dêutero-Isaías para o entendimento da comunidade dos cativos judaítas em Babilônia

Como estudar uma cultura ou uma comunidade perdida nos tempos bíblicos? Esta é um questão motriz para o autor. Foi dessa maneira que surgiu o seu interesse em discutir a possibilidade do uso do mito cosmogônico para o entendimento da comunidade dos cativos judaítas em Babilônia. É uma iniciativa, que precisava ser trilhada pelos pesquisadores que se dispusessem ao estudo das culturas do mundo bíblico. Assim se elegeu o tema Mito Cosmogônico no Primeiro Testamento como instrumento de aprofundamento da pesquisa bíblica. O mito é uma escolha mais ou menos óbvia, pela sua capacidade de funcionar como paradigma, pragmática e traditiva contra-hegemônica dentro de um contexto social interétnico. Estas eram ponderações vindas de matrizes como a do fenomenólogo Mircea Eliade, do Antropólogo Roger Bastide e do teólogo e fenomenólogo José Severino Croatto. É por isto que um paralelo é traçado entre o mito de Marduk e o texto de Isaías 51, 9-11, que fala de Javé como sendo criador do mundo e que luta contra as forças do caos. Isto é feito, com vistas à percepção da profecia do Isaías do exílio, como parentesco e sua justaposição com a mitologia babilônica, e ambos se aproximam bastante de forma sintagmática e histórico-social. Coube ainda saber se a profecia do Dêutero-Isaías atuava da mesma maneira que o poema Enuma elish funcionava para os babilônicos. Ou seja, fazia-se surgir modelos sociais às comunidades de escravos dentro do Império Neobabilônico; se com base nestes cânticos, os cativos conseguiam construir um ordenamento para as suas comunidades, que gozavam de uma relativa autonomia, tais como colônias e guetos ; se de posse dessa ousada profecia, os judeus da golah eram capazes de elaborar uma desobediência cívil nos termos de um nutrir nos corações, uma utopia que rompesse com o status quo do passado, comprometendo-os com a esperança no Javé criador.(AU)

Quantitative assessment of the pharmacotherapy of biopolar disorder and schizophrenia

The work present in this thesis was aimed at assessing the efficacy of lithium in the acute treatment of mania and for the prophylaxis of bipolar disorder, and investigating the value of plasma haloperidol concentration for predicting response to treatment in schizophrenia. The pharmacogenetics of psychotropic drugs is critically appraised to provide insights into interindividual variability in response to pharmacotherapy, In clinical trials of acute mania, a number of measures have been used to assess the severity of illness and its response to treatment. Rating instruments need to be validated in order for a clinical study to provide reliable and meaningful estimates of treatment effects, Eight symptom-rating scales were identified and critically assessed, The Mania Rating Scale (MRS) was the most commonly used for assessing treatment response, The advantage of the MRS is that there is a relatively extensive database of studies based on it and this will no doubt ensure that it remains a gold standard for the foreseeable future. Other useful rating scales are available for measuring mania but further cross-validation and validation against clinically meaningful global changes are required. A total of 658 patients from 12 trials were included in an evaluation of the efficacy of lithium in the treatment of acute mania. Treatment periods ranged from 3 to 4 weeks. Efficacy was estimated using (i) the differences in the reduction in mania severity scores, and (ii) the ratio and difference in improvement response rates. The response rate ratio for lithium against placebo was 1.95 (95% CI 1.17 to 3.23). The mean number needed to treat was 5 (95% CI 3 to 20). Patients were twice as likely to obtain remission with lithium than with chlorpromazine (rate ratio = 1.96, 95% CI 1.02 to 3.77). The mean number needed to treat (NNT) was 4 (95% CI 3 to 9). Neither carbamazepine nor valproate was more effective than lithium. The response rate ratios were 1.01 (95% CI 0.54 to 1.88) for lithium compared to carbarnazepine and 1.22 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.64) for lithium against valproate. Haloperidol was no better than lithium on the basis of improvement based on assessment of global severity. The differences in effects between lithium and risperidone were -2.79 (95% CI -4.22 to -1.36) in favour of risperidone with respect to symptom severity improvement and -0.76 (95% CI -1.11 to -0,41) on the basis of reduction in global severity of disease. Symptom and global severity was at least as well controlIed with lithium as with verapamil. Lithium caused more side-effects than placebo and verapamil, but no more than carbamazepine or valproate. A total of 554 patients from 13 trials were included in the statistical analysis of lithium's efficacy in the prophylaxis of bipolar disorder. The mean follow-up period was 5-34 months. The relapse risk ratio for lithium versus placebo was 0.47 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.86) and the NNT was 3 (95% CI 2 to 7). The relapse risk ratio for lithium versus imipramine was 0.62 (95% CI 0.46 to 0.84) and the NNT was 4 (951% Cl 3 to 7), The combination of lithium and imipramine was no more effective than lithium alone. The risk of relapse was greater with lithium alone than with the lithium-divalproate combination. A risk difference of 0.60 (95% CI 0.21 to 0.99) and an NNT of 2 (95% CI 1 to 5) were obtained. Lithium was as effective as carbamazepine. Based on individual data concerning plasma haloperidol concentration and percent improvement in psychotic symptoms, our results suggest an acceptable concentration range of 11.20-30.30 ng/mL A minimum of 2 weeks should be allowed before evaluating therapeutic response. Monitoring of drug plasma levels seems not to be necessary unless behavioural toxicity or noncompliance is suspected. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, which are mainly determined by genetic factors, contribute to interindividual and interethnic variations in clinical response to drugs. These variations are primarily due to differences in drug metabolism. Variability in pharmacokinetics of a number of drugs is associated with oxidation polymorphism. Debrisoquine/sparteine hydroxylase (CYP2D6) and the S-mephenytoin hydroxylase (CYP2C19) are polymorphic P450 enzymes with particular importance in psychopharmacotherapy. The enzymes are responsible for the metabolism of many commonly used antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs. The incidence of poor metabolisers of debrisoquine and S-mephenytoin varies widely among populations. Ethnic variations in polymorphic isoenzymes may, at least in part, explain ethnic differences in response to pharmacotherapy of antipsychotics and antidepressant drugs.

Perspective-taking mediates the imagined contact effect

We investigated the potential for mental imagery to reduce intergroup bias in Cyprus, an island that has suffered from interethnic tension for over 40 years. Seventy-three Turkish Cypriots were asked to imagine a scenario in which they interacted with Greek Cypriots, compared to those imagining an outdoor scene. Subsequently, participants in the imagined contact condition reported more positive outgroup evaluations. Mediational analysis showed this relationship was explained by increased levels of perspective-taking. The findings highlight theoretical and practical possibilities for future imagined contact research.

The quality of inter- and intra-ethnic friendships among roma and non-roma students in Hungary

In this paper I compare the quality of inter- and intra-ethnic friendships. Findings of previous studies suggest that interethnic friendships are less likely to be characterized by closeness and intimacy than friendships among same-ethnic peers. I analyze data of a Hungarian panel study conducted among Roma and non-Roma Hungarian secondary school students. Descriptive analysis of 13 classes shows that interethnic friendships are indeed less often characterized by a co-occurring trust, perceived helpfulness, or jointly spent spare time nomination than intra-ethnic ones. This association holds if I include self-declared ethnicity as well as peer perceptions of ethnicity into the analysis. Analyzing self-declared ethnicity of students I also find that interethnic relations are less often reciprocated than intra-ethnic ones. If I concentrate on ethnic peer perceptions, however, I find that outgoing nominations of non-Roma students are more often reciprocated by classmates perceived as Roma than by classmates perceived as non-Roma.

The health and nutritional status of multiethnic perimenopausal women

An integrated, dual-phase study design assessed the health and nutritional status and practices of African-American (A-A), Caribbean (A-C), and white non-Hispanic (W-A) women during perimenopause (40–55 years). During Phase I, four focus groups (n = 37) of male and female participants discussed the health and social implications of perimenopause. A conceptual framework for the main study (Phase II) was developed from the focus groups' findings, in concert with the main study's specific aims and objectives. ^ The main study, a cross-sectional survey, quantitatively assessed the health and nutritional status of a convenience sample of 109 women (25 A-A, 31 A-C and 53 W-A), who met specific eligibility criteria. Using seven instruments, sociodemographic, dietary, medical, reproductive health, health practice and anthropometric data were collected. ^ The groups were of comparable age, education, and socioeconomic status (SES). Despite these similarities, statistically significant interethnic nutritional status differences were found. Significantly more total energy and energy from fat were consumed by A-A than W-A and A-C women. Also, significantly more A-A and A-C than W-A women were overweight or obese with android-type weight patterning. ^ Overall, iron and calcium Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA's) were not met by 35% and 68% of participants, respectively. Iron deficiency anemia was reported by 29% of participants while 33% reported heavier menstrual bleeding. Coupled with suboptimal iron intakes, this is likely to present a serious public health problem. Similarly, increased bone demineralization characteristic of perimenopause, coupled with suboptimal calcium intakes could precipitate another public health problem, osteoporosis. ^ Participants had different expectations about the role of medical care during perimenopause. Significantly more white (57%) than black (38% [A-A and AC]) women sought medical attention for symptoms. Whereas Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) was prescribed for 25% of them, only 13% were compliant at enrollment. ^ The trends and statistically significant findings of this study have huge public health policy implications. It is imperative that appropriate policies are formulated to ensure that America's ethnically diverse perimenopausal women have ready access to culturally appropriate care. This would optimize their health outcomes, and enhance their quality of life and productive capacities at this critical juncture of their lives. ^

Immigrant-Established Resident Interactions in Miami, Florida

This article examines factors that affect interethnic relations in Miami, Florida. The theoretical frame- work, based on the ‘contact hypothesis’ argues that better interethnic relations stem from not only contact, but also contact in which individuals from opposing groups share equal status and a stake in outcomes, and when contact activities require cooperation. The contact hypothesis, however, does not address the factors that produce inequality in social relations. To address these factors ideas from inter- national migration research are used to argue that those with power must create structures in which other groups feel welcome rather than rejected and that leaders must emphasize similarities rather than differences among groups.

¿Otras independencias? : Los territorios indígenas rioplatenses en la década de 1810

El trabajo reflexiona sobre el impacto del proceso revolucionario rioplatense en los pueblos indígenas que mantenían su soberanía política y territorial en el espacio pampeano y chaqueño. Para ello, es esencial no limitar el estudio al grado de integración o de enfrentamiento de estos pueblos con respecto a los ejércitos patriotas sino intentar una mirada amplia que se inicie con una caracterización de los vínculos interétnicos previos para percibir los cambios y continuidades más generales que pudieran haberse producido.

¿Otras independencias? : Los territorios indígenas rioplatenses en la década de 1810

El trabajo reflexiona sobre el impacto del proceso revolucionario rioplatense en los pueblos indígenas que mantenían su soberanía política y territorial en el espacio pampeano y chaqueño. Para ello, es esencial no limitar el estudio al grado de integración o de enfrentamiento de estos pueblos con respecto a los ejércitos patriotas sino intentar una mirada amplia que se inicie con una caracterización de los vínculos interétnicos previos para percibir los cambios y continuidades más generales que pudieran haberse producido.

¿Otras independencias? : Los territorios indígenas rioplatenses en la década de 1810

El trabajo reflexiona sobre el impacto del proceso revolucionario rioplatense en los pueblos indígenas que mantenían su soberanía política y territorial en el espacio pampeano y chaqueño. Para ello, es esencial no limitar el estudio al grado de integración o de enfrentamiento de estos pueblos con respecto a los ejércitos patriotas sino intentar una mirada amplia que se inicie con una caracterización de los vínculos interétnicos previos para percibir los cambios y continuidades más generales que pudieran haberse producido.