Trans-Pacific relations of Latin America : an introductory essay and selected bibliography /

Bibliography: p. 83-108.

The present state and future prospects of the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

The impact of the global financial crisis on Latin America

Includes bibliography

Musculoskeletal Evaluation In Severe Haemophilia A Patients From Latin America.

There is a paucity of literature on haemophilia treatment in Latin American countries, a region characterized by rapidly improving systems of care, but with substantial disparities in treatment between countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the musculoskeletal status of haemophilia patients from Latin America and to examine the relationship between musculoskeletal status and treatment practices across countries. The Committee of Latin America on the Therapeutics of Inhibitor Groups conducted a survey of its member country representatives on key aspects of haemophilia treatment in 10 countries. Musculoskeletal status of patients was obtained during routine comprehensive evaluations between March 2009 and March 2011. Eligible patients had severe haemophilia A (factor VIII <1%) without inhibitors (<0.6 BU mL(-1) ) and were ≥5 years of age. Musculoskeletal status was compared between three groups of countries, based primarily on differences in the availability of long-term prophylaxis. Overall, 143 patients (5-66 years of age) were enrolled from nine countries. In countries where long-term prophylaxis had been available for at least 10 years (Group A), patients aged 5-10 years had significantly better mean World Federation of Hemophilia clinical scores, fewer target joints and fewer affected joints than patients from countries where long-term prophylaxis has been available for about 5 years (Group B) or was not available (Group C). In Latin America, the musculoskeletal status of patients with severe haemophilia without inhibitors has improved significantly in association with the provision of long-term prophylaxis. As more countries in Latin America institute this practice, further improvements are anticipated.

Is Misión Milagro an effective program to prevent blindness in Latin America?

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Rates of antimicrobial resistance in latin america (2004-2007) and in vitro activity of the glycylcycline tigecycline and of other antibiotics

As a part of the Tigecycline Evaluation and Surveillance Trial (T.E.S.T.), Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial isolates were collected from 33 centers in Latin America (centers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela) from January 2004 to September 2007. Argentina and Mexico were the greatest contributors of isolates to this study. Susceptibilities were determined according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Resistance levels were high for most key organisms across Latin America: 48.3% of Staphylococcus aureus isolates were methicillin-resistant while 21.4% of Acinetobacter spp. isolates were imipenem-resistant. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase were reported in 36.7% of Klebsiella pneumoniae and 20.8% of E. coli isolates. Tigecycline was the most active agent against Gram-positive isolates. Tigecycline was also highly active against all Gram-negative organisms, with the exception of Pseuodomonas aeruginosa, against which piperacillin-tazobactam was the most active agent tested (79.3% of isolates susceptible). The in vitro activity of tigecycline against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates indicates that it may be an useful tool for the treatment of nosocomial infections, even those caused by organisms that are resistant to other antibacterial agents.

Clinical outcomes of long-acting injectable risperidone in patients with schizophrenia: six-month follow-up from the Electronic Schizophrenia Treatment Adherence Registry in Latin America

Background: Risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) has been shown to be efficacious, improve compliance, and increase long-term retention rate on therapy. The aim of this work was to determine the effect of RLAI on clinical outcome and hospitalization rate in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder enrolled in the electronic Schizophrenia Treatment Adherence Registry in Latin America. Methods: Data were collected at baseline, retrospectively for the 12 months prior to baseline, and prospectively every three months for 24 months. Hospitalization prior to therapy was assessed by a retrospective chart review. Efficacy and functioning were evaluated using Clinical Global Impression of Illness Severity (CGI-S), Personal and Social Performance (PSP), and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores. Relapse and treatment were also registered. Results: Patients were recruited in Mexico (n = 53), Brazil (n = 11), and Colombia (n = 15). Sixty-five percent (n = 52) were male, and mean age was 32.9 years. Patients were classified as having schizophrenia (n = 73) or schizoaffective disorder (n = 6). The mean dose of RLAI at six months was 34.1 mg (standard deviation = 10.2 mg). The percentage of hospitalized patients before treatment was 28.2% and 5.1% at six months after initiating RLAI (P < 0.001). Significant changes were registered on CGI-S, GAF, and PSP scores. Conclusions: RLAI was associated with an improvement in clinical symptoms and functioning, and a greater reduction in hospitalization.

Gastroenterology training in Latin America

Latin America is characterized by ethnic, geographical, cultural, and economic diversity; therefore, training in gastroenterology in the region must be considered in this context. The continent's medical education is characterized by a lack of standards and the volume of research continues to be relatively small. There is a multiplicity of events in general gastroenterology and in sub-disciplines, both at regional and local levels, which ensure that many colleagues have access to information. Medical education programs must be based on a clinical vision and be considered in close contact with the patients. The programs should be properly supervised, appropriately defined, and evaluated on a regular basis. The disparity between the patients' needs, the scarce resources available, and the pressures exerted by the health systems on doctors are frequent cited by those complaining of poor professionalism. Teaching development can play a critical role in ensuring the quality of teaching and learning in universities. Continuing professional development programs activities must be planned on the basis of the doctors' needs, with clearly defined objectives and using proper learning methodologies designed for adults. They must be evaluated and accredited by a competent body, so that they may become the basis of a professional regulatory system. The specialty has made progress in the last decades, offering doctors various possibilities for professional development. The world gastroenterology organization has contributed to the speciality through three distinctive, but closely inter-related, programs: Training Centers, Train-the-Trainers, and Global Guidelines, in which Latin America is deeply involved. (C) 2011 Baishideng. All rights reserved.

Heterogeneity, saving-investment dynamics and capital mobility in Latin America

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of national saving-investment relationship in order to determine the degree of capital mobility in 12 Latin American countries. The analytically relevant correlation is the short-term one, defined as that between changes in saving and investment. Of special interest is the speed at which variables return to the long run equilibrium relationship, which is interpreted as being negatively related to the degree of capital mobility. The long run correlation, in turn, captures the coefficient implied by the solvency constraint. We find that heterogeneity and cross-section dependence completely change the estimation of the long run coefficient. Besides we obtain a more precise short run coefficient estimate compared to the existent estimates in the literature. There is evidence of an intermediate degree of capital mobility, and the coefficients are extremely stable over time.

Social Movements and the Dynamics of Rural Territorial Development in Latin America

This special section brings together 4 of the 12 studies conducted within a research program analyzing the relationships among social mobilization, governance. and rural development in contemporary Latin America. The introduction Lives an overview of the contemporary significance of social movements For rural development dynamics in the region, and of the principal insights of the section papers and the broader research program of which they were a part. This significance varies Lis an effect of two distinct and uneven geographics: the geography of social movements themselves and the geography of the rural political economy. The effects that movements have oil the political economy of rural development also depend significantly oil internal characteristics of these movements. The paper identifies several such characteristics. The general pattern is that movements have had far more effect oil widening the political inclusiveness of rural development than they have oil improving its economic inclusiveness and dynamism. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Religions and cultures: Religious dynamics in Latin America

The author seeks to analyse the relationships between religion and culture in Latin America, especially in Brazil, highlighting the fact that the different religions enjoy diverse relationships with culture in a single location. He also addresses the fact that religions interpret culture in different ways and these interpretations help define their conversion strategies and how best to confront opposing religions. For the sake of discussion, the author considers, hypothetically, a not-so-distant future in which Latin America becomes predominantly evangelical, and asks what will happen to Latin America`s supposed Catholic culture if the evangelical religions do indeed take over.

Waves of Change Within Civil Society in Latin America: Mexico City and Sao Paulo

For the past half a century, Latin American scholars have been pointing toward the emergence of new social actors as agents of social and political democratization. The first wave of actors was characterized by the emergence of novel agents-mainly, new popular movements-of social transformation. At first, the second wave, epitomized by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), was celebrated as the upsurge of a new civil society, but later on, it was the target of harsh criticism. The literature often portrays this development in Latin American civil society as a displacement trend of actors of the first wave by the second wave-""NGOization""-""and even denounces new civil society as rootless, depoliticized, and functional to retrenchment. Thus, supposedly, NGOization encumbers social change. The authors argue that NGOization diagnosis is a flawed depiction of change within civil society. Rather than NGOization related to the depoliticization and neoliberalization of civil society, in Mexico City and Sao Paulo, there has been modernization of organizational ecologies, changes in the functional status of civil society, and interestingly, specialization aimed at shaping public agenda. The authors argue that such specialization, instead of encumbering social change, brings about different repertoires of strategies and skills purposively developed for influencing policy and politics. Their argument relies on comparative systematic evidence. Through network analysis, they examine the organizational ecology of civil society in Mexico City and Sao Paulo.

Doing Courts Justice? Studying Judicial Politics in Latin America

The past decade has brought an unprecedented boom in the study of courts as political actors in Latin America. We examine the extraordinary diversity of academic research on judicial politics in the region, identifying the key questions, findings, and theoretical debates in the literature, highlighting important conceptual disjunctions, and critiquing the research methods scholars of judicial politics in Latin America have employed in their work. We close by suggesting new avenues of inquiry to help advance the collective effort to understand the roles courts play in Latin American politics.