Public Policies to Promote Productive Occupation and Increase Formality among the Moderately Poor: The Mexican Agenda

inequality, poverty, income, education, gender, employment

Los sujetos de la transición : notas sobre la dinámica de los actores y la transición democrática en Centroamérical

El objetivo del articulo es discutir algunos de los trabajos del grupo de investigación de la UAB, en el contexto de las transiciones democráticas en América Central. En primer lugar, se rechazan dos interpretaciones corrientes: "nada ha cambiado" y "el área está formada por democracias ya completas", y subraya algunas de las características básicas de aquellos procesos de cambio política. En segundo lugar, el autor discute algunos problemas metodológicos en la investigación sobre los actores políticos centroamericanos. Finalmente, se analizan las consecuencias de politicas socioeconómicas y de cambios en las relaciones civil-militar.The main goal of the article is to discuss some of the Papers produced by the UAB research group in the broader context of Central American democratic transitions. First, the article refuses two basic descriptions of Central American politics: "nothing has changed" or "there are full democracies in all the areas" and highlights some of the basic characteristics of these processes of political change. Second, the article discusses some methodological problems in doing research about Central American political actors. Findy, the implications of socioeconomic policies and the changes in civic-military relations are analyzed

Public policies to promote productive occupation and increase formality among the moderately poor: the Mexican agenda

Public policy aimed at building capacity among the extremely poor (support for food and nutrition; health; education and, more recently, financial services), combined with a stable macroeconomic environment, has proved to be successful for poverty alleviation in Mexico. Even though overall poverty is still very pronounced, about four million people originally in extreme or intermediate poverty registered real income gains during 2000-02 and entered moderate poverty, concentrated mostly in urban areas, where it exceeds extreme and intermediate poverty. Thus, the emerging challenge consists of defining and coordinating specific policies for the moderately poor, whose social and demographic characteristics and economic needs differ from those at deeper levels of poverty. At present, income generation among the moderately poor depends on informal employment, because structural factors impede these workers from participating in the formal sector. To foster social and economic development of this group, employment policies in general and policies to facilitate formal activities in particular, stand out as the key elements. Promoting greater formality among the moderately poor requires updating laws and regulations, but equally important, education, training, financial services, technical and administrative assistance for entrepreneurs, etc., must be applied for a sustainable increase in income. The policies should increase formality, which is important for improving income and social protection for the moderately poor; for integrating activities that can benefit from trading with each other, for increasing the competitiveness of the Mexican economy as a whole; for improving political governance and consolidating the rule of law. An integral support programme to raise productivity and income of the moderately poor and to promote their participation in the formal sector activities is outlined in this study. – inequality ; poverty ; income ; education ; gender ; employmen

Cohesión social y exclusión. Una mirada desde Centroamérica

El concepto de cohesión social, emparentado con la definición sociológica\ud de integración social, señala problemas de relación entre\ud Estado y Sociedad cuya síntesis conduce a la respuesta de una sola\ud interrogante: ¿Son viables nuestras sociedades? Examinando la situación\ud de Centroamérica, la combinación compleja de modernización\ud política con estancamiento social, lo que puede advertirse es una\ud problemática teórica y a la vez política: determinada interacción de\ud capacidades produce integración social, pero ésta no deja de ser excluyente.\ud Dado que hay avances políticos, normativos, institucionales\ud y de cultura democrática, respecto de los oscuros momentos de\ud la lucha armada y el autoritarismo político, no se puede desconocer\ud la existencia de niveles de integración o cohesión social que en\ud ese sentido son precarios en sus efectos. Por esa razón, la situación\ud de Centroamérica puede bien calificarse paradójicamente como\ud nuestra excluyeme cohesión social.The concept of social cohesion, related to the sociological definition\ud of social integration, indicates problems of relation between State and\ud Society whose synthesis drives to the response of only one question:\ud are our societies viable? Examining the situation of Central America,\ud the complex combination of political modernization with social stagnation,\ud is both a theoretical and political dilemma: certain interaction\ud of capacities produces social integration, but this one does not stop\ud being exclusionary. Since there are political, normative and institutional\ud advances in the democratic culture, with regard to the dark moments\ud of the armed struggle and the political authoritarianism, is more than evident the existence of integration or social cohesion that are precarious\ud in his objective effects on the peoples quality of life. For this\ud reason, the situation of Central America can be paradoxically defined\ud as the social cohesion of the excluded

A new Variable Curvature concept for Linear Fresnel Reflectors Solar Concentrating Systems

In a Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) solar concentrating system [1] a series of single axis linear reflectors target the sunrays to a longitudinal facedown receiver on top of a fixed structure. The LFR technology offers simplicity and reduced costs when compared with the standard Parabolic Trough technology, but it also suffers from reduced optical performance, especially with large incidence angles. The present preliminary study explores the possibilities of a variable curvature geometrical concept for a LFR that would achieve a more focused solar print over the receptor than in a traditional fixed geometry system.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

EUropean prospective cohort study on Enterobacteriaceae showing REsistance to CArbapenems (EURECA): a protocol of a European multicentre observational study

Introduction: The rapid worldwide spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) constitutes a major challenge. The aim of the EUropean prospective cohort study on Enterobacteriaceae showing REsistance to CArbapenems (EURECA), which is part of the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI JU) funded COMBACTE-CARE project, is to investigate risk factors for and outcome determinants of CRE infections to inform randomised clinical trial designs and to provide a historical cohort that could eventually be used for future comparisons with new drugs targeting CRE. Methods: A multicentre (50 sites), multinational (11 European countries), analytical observational project was designed, comprising 3 studies. The aims of study 1 (a prospective cohort study) include characterising the features, clinical management and outcomes of hospitalised patients with intra-abdominal infection, pneumonia, complicated urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections caused by CRE (202 patients in each group). The main outcomes will be 30-day all-cause mortality and clinical response. Study 2 (a nested case–control study) will identify the risk factors for target infections caused by CRE; 248 selected patients from study 1 will be matched with patients with carbapenem-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae (1:1) and with hospitalised patients (1:3) and will provide a historical cohort of patients with CRE infections. Study 3 (a matched cohort study) will follow patients in study 2 in order to assess mortality, length of stay and hospital costs associated with CRE. All patients will be followed for 30 days. Different, up-to-date statistical methods will be applied to come to unbiased estimates for all 3 studies. Ethics and dissemination: Before-study sites will be initiated, approval will be sought from appropriate regulatory agencies and local Ethics Committees of Research or Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to conduct the study in accordance with regulatory requirements. This is an observational study and therefore no intervention in the diagnosis, management or treatment of the patients will be required on behalf of the investigation. Any formal presentation or publication of data collected from this study will be considered as a joint publication by the participating physician(s) and will follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for authorship.Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI)European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases [REIPI RD12/0015, RD16/2016