Isotopic dietary analysis and molecular sex identification of adults and juveniles from medieval Great Moravia

Like many complex agricultural societies, medieval European society was strongly patriarchal, with men favored in terms of property rights, political status, and household authority. However, it is unclear whether male dominance in medieval society was manifested in unequal access to food resources between the sexes. In this pilot study, we examine the pattern of sex-related differences in diet through biomolecular analyses of skeletal remains from Kostelisko, a suburban area within the early medieval Great Moravian site of Mikulčice. Mikulčice was a prominent center of Great Moravia, an early Slavic state that existed in the 9th and early 10th centuries AD, and was situated on the lower Morava River valley in the south-eastern corner of what is today the Czech Republic . Previous bioarchaeological studies of skeletal material from Mikulčice have revealed activity differences between males and females (Havelková et al., 2010), as well as health differences according to socioeconomic status (Velemínský et al., 2009). Here we present dietary reconstructions based on bone collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses, and we evaluate a new method of molecular sex identification using high resolution melting analysis of ancient DNA

Provider payments and patient charges as policy tools for cost-containment: How successful are they in high-income countries?

In this paper, we focus on those policy instruments with monetary incentives that are used to contain public health expenditure in high-income countries. First, a schematic view of the main cost-containment methods and the variables in the health system they intend to influence is presented. Two types of instruments to control the level and growth of public health expenditure are considered: (i) provider payment methods that influence the price and quantity of health care, and (ii) cost-containment measures that influence the behaviour of patients. Belonging to the first type of instruments, we have: fee-for-service, per diem payment, case payment, capitation, salaries and budgets. The second type of instruments consists of patient charges and reference price systems for pharmaceuticals. Secondly, we provide an overview of experience in high-income countries that use or have used these particular instruments. Finally, the paper assesses the overall potential of these instruments in cost-containment policies

Ultrafiltration Fibers like Bioreactors

A polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane with pectinase physically immobilized on it by a dynamic formation method was used to examine the potential of these reactive membranes in applications involving solutions containing pectin. The effect of various operational parameters such as: pH of enzyme and pectin solutions, NaCl, retentate flow rate, and enzyme (Ce) and substrate (Cp) concentrations on the production of reducing compounds expressed as galacturonic acid (Ca), was investigated. It was found that the maximum Ca values were obtained when: (i) enzyme solution to immobilize, without NaCl, had pH values between 4.2 and 4.6 and enzyme concentration from 5.0 to 7.5 mg/mL; (ii) pectin solution had initial pH values between 4.2 and 5.0 and a concentration of 3 mg/mL; and (iii) retentate flow rate was 0.025 L/minFil: Carrin, Maria Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Ceci, Liliana Noemí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Lozano, Jorge Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentin

The impact of cultural diversity and globalization in developing a Santal peer culture in Middle India

Este texto se presentó como comunicación al II Congreso Internacional de Etnografía y Educación: Migraciones y Ciudadanías. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, 5-8 Septiembre 2008.How it is to be an adolescent among the Santals, in a world still shaped by tradition but where local knowledge has been pervaded by political awareness and modernity.? The Santals, who number more than five millions, consider themselves as a «tribal» people speaking a different language (austro-asiatic) and sharing a way of life which implies values different from those of the Hindus. A central question , here, concerns the transmission of knowledge. In a tribal context, traditional knowledge is to a large extent endogenously determined. Differences in knowledge are no longer controlled by the elders, but still provide much of the momentum for social interaction. Since the colonial period schooling has been important but it has not succeeded to bring an equal opportunity of chances for all children. In brief, I will analyze how the traditional model of transmission is influenced by exogenous factors, such as schooling or politics, and events which allow children to emerge as new agents, developing a peer culture (W. Corsaro & D. Eder 1990). In the context of tribal India, where educational rights are granted by the Constitution, schooling often implies the dominance of Hindu culture on tribal children who feel stigmatized. Discussing the system of education, we shall se how teaching in the mother tongue or using a Santal script have been a crucial issue. The high percentage of dropout at the primary level shows that the system of education is not well adapted to tribal children who, however, are often pushed into the labour market to help their families. Consequently, other social factors such as religious movements or, migrations towards the town provide children and youth with new arenas to develop a peer culture which formerly was institutionalized in the village. We shall see that social mobility, as well as the emergence of a tribal elite, are exogenous factors which impinge on the structuration of a tribal peer culture. I shall finally examine how Santal youth participate to the reinvention of Tradition through village theatre and militant activities I argue that Santal youth peer culture develops its shared meaning towards two opposite directions: the assertion of ethnic identity and the development of a Santal literacy outside «official schooling» as well as the opening towards globalization through education, social mobility and elite formation

Guía práctica para profesionales de ciencias económicas sobre fideicomisos

Este trabajo es una guía práctica para profesionales sobre los aspectos jurídicos, tributarios y contables que tiene la figura del fideicomiso.Fil: Aldunate, Emmanuel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Carrin, Iván. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Juri, Ramón. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Ríos, Mauricio. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

Effectiveness of community health financing in meeting the cost of illness.

How to finance and provide health care for the more than 1.3 billion rural poor and informal sector workers in low- and middle-income countries is one of the greatest challenges facing the international development community. This article presents the main findings from an extensive survey of the literature of community financing arrangements, and selected experiences from the Asia and Africa regions. Most community financing schemes have evolved in the context of severe economic constraints, political instability, and lack of good governance. Micro-level household data analysis indicates that community financing improves access by rural and informal sector workers to needed heath care and provides them with some financial protection against the cost of illness. Macro-level cross-country analysis gives empirical support to the hypothesis that risk-sharing in health financing matters in terms of its impact on both the level and distribution of health, financial fairness and responsiveness indicators. The background research done for this article points to five key policies available to governments to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of existing community financing schemes. This includes: (a) increased and well-targeted subsidies to pay for the premiums of low-income populations; (b) insurance to protect against expenditure fluctuations and re-insurance to enlarge the effective size of small risk pools; (c) effective prevention and case management techniques to limit expenditure fluctuations; (d) technical support to strengthen the management capacity of local schemes; and (e) establishment and strengthening of links with the formal financing and provider networks

When Fearful Ghosts are Married in Tulunadu

In Tulunadu those who meet a violent death fighting for a just cause may become demi-gods, or bhūtas. Here, death is a kind of apotheosis, where those who fought against injustice become divine figures after death, receiving a cult in a shrine. Quite different is the story of those who simply experienced a violent death before they even managed to get married. They return as ghosts, pretas, and their kin suffer from their absence, but still fear the pretas and try to appease them by all available means. The paradox is that when pretas manifest themselves their unwanted presence is frightening, while at the same time their absence is experienced as grief. This creates a kind of double bind, which villagers may try to resolve by celebrating the marriage of ghosts, enabling their deceased siblings to marry. This marriage induces the families of bride and bridegroom to unite in their grief, while trying to appease the young ghosts who torment them. This ritual, often held secretly, was documented by a photographer from the fisherman caste who had himself experienced similar fear when his brother-in-law, still a bachelor, committed suicide. The paper reflects on the fear he experienced, wondering if the ritual could really appease the kin

When Fearful Ghosts are Married in Tulunadu

In Tulunadu those who meet a violent death fighting for a just cause may become demi-gods, or bhūtas. Here, death is a kind of apotheosis, where those who fought against injustice become divine figures after death, receiving a cult in a shrine. Quite different is the story of those who simply experienced a violent death before they even managed to get married. They return as ghosts, pretas, and their kin suffer from their absence, but still fear the pretas and try to appease them by all available means. The paradox is that when pretas manifest themselves their unwanted presence is frightening, while at the same time their absence is experienced as grief. This creates a kind of double bind, which villagers may try to resolve by celebrating the marriage of ghosts, enabling their deceased siblings to marry. This marriage induces the families of bride and bridegroom to unite in their grief, while trying to appease the young ghosts who torment them. This ritual, often held secretly, was documented by a photographer from the fisherman caste who had himself experienced similar fear when his brother-in-law, still a bachelor, committed suicide. The paper reflects on the fear he experienced, wondering if the ritual could really appease the kin

The administrative costs of community-based health insurance: a case study of the community health fund in Tanzania.

Community-based health insurance expansion has been proposed as a financing solution for the sizable informal sector in low-income settings. However, there is limited evidence of the administrative costs of such schemes. We assessed annual facility and district-level costs of running the Community Health Fund (CHF), a voluntary health insurance scheme for the informal sector in a rural and an urban district from the same region in Tanzania. Information on resource use, CHF membership and revenue was obtained from district managers and health workers from two facilities in each district. The administrative cost per CHF member household and the cost to revenue ratio were estimated. Revenue collection was the most costly activity at facility level (78% of total costs), followed by stewardship and management (13%) and pooling of funds (10%). Stewardship and management was the main activity at district level. The administration cost per CHF member household ranged from USD 3.33 to USD 12.12 per year. The cost to revenue ratio ranged from 50% to 364%. The cost of administering the CHF was high relative to revenue generated. Similar studies from other settings should be encouraged