Estrategia de desarrollo sustentable para generar alimento y empleo: El gusano cuchamá en Zapotitlán Salinas, Puebla, México

During the past 25 years, the building of sustainable productive alternatives has been led by indigenous and peasants communities. The project “Sustainable development strategy to generate food and employment: The cuchamá worm in Zapotitlán Salinas, Puebla, Mexico”. is an other example of how the combination of self-management, sustainability, technological synergy and autonomy can result in a high nutritional value product able to integrate the market at an attractive price. The project offers a good experience of new initiatives that contribute to improve the socioeconomic and ecological conditions of these communities that try to find alternatives due to the globalization whose international economic integration pattern impoverishes the country. The analysis uses the fundamental elements of the ecological economy, i.e. multidisciplinarity, methodological plurality and historical openness, to explain the process by which this productive alternative raises the quality of life of the community in ecological, social and economical terms. Key words: ecological economy, self-management, sustainable alternative.La construcción de alternativas productivas sustentables durante los últimos 25 años ha estado encabezada por comunidades indígenas y campesinas. El proyecto “Estrategia de desarrollo sustentable para generar alimento y empleo: el gusano cuchamá en Zapotitlán Salinas, Puebla, México” es un ejemplo más de que el vínculo entre autogestión, ustentabilidad, sinergias tecnológicas y autonomía puede dar como resultado productos de alta calidad nutricional susceptibles de colocarse en el mercado con un precio atractivo. El proyecto ofrece una buena experiencia de nuevas iniciativas que contribuyen a mejorar las condiciones socioeconómicas y ecológicas en aquellas comunidades rurales que están tratando de generar alternativas frente a la globalización, cuyo patrón de integración económica internacional está empobreciendo al país. El análisis aplica los elementos fundamentales de la economía ecológica –multidisciplinariedad, pluralismo metodológico y apertura histórica– para explicar el proceso por el cual esta alternativa productiva eleva la calidad de vida de la comunidad en términos ecológicos, sociales y económicos. Palabras clave: economía ecológica, autogestión, alternativa sustentable

Management and Organization Review Special Issue "Social Networks The Dark and Bright Sides of Informal Networks'

Research on the mechanisms of organizing and managing via interpersonal relations has a rich history in the management and organization-oriented literature. So far, however, the informal dimension of managing and organizing by drawing on informal networks in an international context has received comparably less attention. Recent research has pointed out that social capital and network theories have largely been developed by Western scholars based on circumstances and social structures that are typical of Western societies. Thus, current theory takes into account to a lesser extent their character and nature and the way in which informal ties and networks are formed in other parts of the world (Ledeneva, 2018; Li, 2007b; Qi, 2013; Sato, 2010). Besides the growing body of literature concerned with informal ties and networks in emerging and transitioning countries, for example guanxi (China), blat/svyazi (Russia), and wasta (Arab World), a trend for analyzing pervasive informal networks in advanced and industrialized economies, such as yongo (Korea), has arisen. While insights from the latter research stream indicate that informal networks persist, the results generated in both research streams will help in developing the extant informal network theories further

The Effect of Mindfulness-based Programs on Cognitive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) are increasingly utilized to improve mental health. Interest in the putative effects of MBPs on cognitive function is also growing. This is the first meta-analysis of objective cognitive outcomes across multiple domains from randomized MBP studies of adults. Seven databases were systematically searched to January 2020. Fifty-six unique studies (n = 2,931) were included, of which 45 (n = 2,238) were synthesized using robust variance estimation meta-analysis. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses evaluated moderators. Pooling data across cognitive domains, the summary effect size for all studies favored MBPs over comparators and was small in magnitude (g = 0.15; [0.05, 0.24]). Across subgroup analyses of individual cognitive domains/subdomains, MBPs outperformed comparators for executive function (g = 0.15; [0.02, 0.27]) and working memory outcomes (g = 0.23; [0.11, 0.36]) only. Subgroup analyses identified significant effects for studies of non-clinical samples, as well as for adults aged over 60. Across all studies, MBPs outperformed inactive, but not active comparators. Limitations include the primarily unclear within-study risk of bias (only a minority of studies were considered low risk), and that statistical constraints rendered some p-values unreliable. Together, results partially corroborate the hypothesized link between mindfulness practices and cognitive performance. This review was registered with PROSPERO [CRD42018100904]

Association of critically short telomeres with brain and blood markers of ageing and Alzheimer’s disease in older adults

Background: Accumulation of critically short telomeres (CST) is implicated in decreased tissular regenerative capacity and increased susceptibility to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Telomere shortening has also been associated with age-related brain changes. However, it remains unclear whether CST accumulation is directly associated with AD markers or instead amplifies age-related effects, potentially increasing susceptibility of developing AD in cognitively healthy older adults. // Methods: This cross-sectional study used baseline data of 129 community-dwelling cognitively healthy older adults from the Age-Well trial (NCT02977819), aged 65 years and older enrolled between 2016 and 2018, in France. Using linear regressions, we analyzed the relationship between an innovative marker of telomere shortening, the percentage of CST (%CST), structural, functional and molecular neuroimaging outcomes, and multiple blood-based biomarkers related to AD pathophysiology. The effect of apolipoprotein E ε4 genotype (APOE4) was assessed on these relationships using interaction analysis. // Results: A higher %CST was associated with lower global kurtosis fractional anisotropy (β = -.230; P = .010), particularly in frontal and temporal regions. A higher %CST was also related to higher plasma levels of Neurofilament light chain (β = .195; P = .020) and a lower subiculum volume (β = -.206; P = .020), although these associations did not meet the threshold for multiple comparisons. %CST was not associated with AD-related neuroimaging markers, including the AD-sensitive gray matter pattern (β = -.060; P = .441), glucose metabolism pattern (β = -.099; P = .372), brain perfusion pattern (β = -.106; P = .694) or hippocampus volume (β = -.106; P = .194). In APOE4 carriers, higher %CST was associated with lower subiculum (β = -.423; P = 0.003), DG (β = -.410; P = 0.018) and CA1 volumes (β = -.373; P = 0.024), even though associations with DG and CA1 volumes did not survive multiple comparison. // Conclusions: Although an increase in %CST does not appear to be directly linked to the pathophysiology of AD in cognitively healthy older adults, it could heighten the susceptibility of APOE4 carriers to develop AD plausibly due to greater vulnerability to age-related effects. However, longitudinal studies would be necessary to determine whether %CST influences the development and progression of AD later in life

Decoding meditation mechanisms underlying brain preservation and psycho-affective health in older expert meditators and older meditation-naive participants

Meditation is a mental training approach that can improve mental health and well-being in aging. Yet the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The Medit-Ageing model stipulates that three mechanisms — attentional, constructive, and deconstructive — upregulate positive psycho-affective factors and downregulate negative ones. To test this hypothesis, we measured brain structural MRI and perfusion, negative and positive psycho-affective composite scores, and meditation mechanisms in 27 older expert meditators and 135 meditation-naive older controls. We identified brain and psycho-affective differences and performed mediation analyses to assess whether and which meditation mechanisms mediate their links. Meditators showed significantly higher volume in fronto-parietal areas and perfusion in temporo-occipito-parietal areas. They also had higher positive and lower negative psycho-affective scores. Attentional and constructive mechanisms both mediated the links between brain differences and the positive psycho-affective score whereas the deconstructive mechanism mediated the links between brain differences and the negative psycho-affective score. Our results corroborate the Medit-Ageing model, indicating that, in aging, meditation leads to brain changes that decrease negative psycho-affective factors and increase positive ones through relatively specific mechanisms. Shedding light on the neurobiological and psycho-affective mechanisms of meditation in aging, these findings provide insights to refine future interventions

Adaptation of sea turtles to climate warming: Will phenological responses be sufficient to counteract changes in reproductive output?

Sea turtles are vulnerable to climate change since their reproductive output is influenced by incubating temperatures, with warmer temperatures causing lower hatching success and increased feminization of embryos. Their ability to cope with projected increases in ambient temperatures will depend on their capacity to adapt to shifts in climatic regimes. Here, we assessed the extent to which phenological shifts could mitigate impacts from increases in ambient temperatures (from 1.5 to 3°C in air temperatures and from 1.4 to 2.3°C in sea surface temperatures by 2100 at our sites) on four species of sea turtles, under a “middle of the road” scenario (SSP2-4.5). Sand temperatures at sea turtle nesting sites are projected to increase from 0.58 to 4.17°C by 2100 and expected shifts in nesting of 26–43 days earlier will not be sufficient to maintain current incubation temperatures at 7 (29%) of our sites, hatching success rates at 10 (42%) of our sites, with current trends in hatchling sex ratio being able to be maintained at half of the sites. We also calculated the phenological shifts that would be required (both backward for an earlier shift in nesting and forward for a later shift) to keep up with present-day incubation temperatures, hatching success rates, and sex ratios. The required shifts backward in nesting for incubation temperatures ranged from −20 to −191 days, whereas the required shifts forward ranged from +54 to +180 days. However, for half of the sites, no matter the shift the median incubation temperature will always be warmer than the 75th percentile of current ranges. Given that phenological shifts will not be able to ameliorate predicted changes in temperature, hatching success and sex ratio at most sites, turtles may need to use other adaptive responses and/or there is the need to enhance sea turtle resilience to climate warming.18 página