Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Lakes are excellent sensors of climate changes because their thermal behavior is controlled by the annual temperature patterns. Deep tropical lakes stratify during the warm part of the year, mixing during winter. This mixing pattern can be altered by warmer climatic conditions such as global warming and/or “El Niño”. In this article we aim to correlate climate variability with changes in the mixing pattern of lake Alberca de Tacámbaro, Michoacán, México during an interval that involved two “El Niño” events (2009-2010 and 2015-2016) and with changes in the diatom assemblages preserved in the sediments between 1988 to 2015. The lake showed a winter mixing pattern, with a shallower thermocline in spring that deepened towards the autumn. Temperature data show a warming trend since AD 2000 and the impact “El Niño” years is associated to nutrient limitation (phosphorus and nitrogen), that we associate to a reduced vertical mixing. These changes are linked with an increase in hypolimnion temperature in 2015 compared to 2019 and modifications in the diversity and species composition of the diatom community of this lake between 1988 to 2015. This study allowed to identify recent changes in the lake and its diatom assemblages that are linked with global warming trends and “El Niño” events.

The human placenta requires cholesterol to synthesize the progesterone that maintains the relationship between the fetus and the mother, which allows it to successfully conclude pregnancy. The placenta incorporates cholesterol through the LDL obtained from the maternal blood stream by a mechanism of endocytosis. Endosomes formed by this process degrade the LDL, bind several proteins forming the late endosomes and releasing the cholesterol to syncytiotrophoblast mitochondria to transform it into pregnenolone and then, into progesterone. The soluble attachment proteins denominated SNARE participates in the transport of cholesterol in specific contact sites where the mitochondrial proteins responsible for steroidogenesis are located. 

Chitosan (CS) is a versatile raw material for the production of fibers and biomaterials. As antifungal compound, it has an interesting mechanism related to interactions with the cell membranes, being effective against various fungi. Likewise, Opuntia mucilage (OM) is a polymeric matrix with interesting applications in the agricultural and food field. An edible film based on these materials was designed in this work, as an alternative to defend crops against fungi infections. Various tests of homogeneity and resistance were performed by varying the concentration of chitosan, glycerol and mucilage to select the best composition for the film. Subsequently, structural and rheological studies were carried out as elements for the characterization of the chosen formulation. Finally, in vitro and in situ tests were performed to evaluate the antifungal potential in the protecting the crops of interest. Based on the qualitative and physicochemical characterization, it was determined that the film with better integrity in its structure was obtained at concentrations of 3% glycerol, 2% chitosan and 20% mucilage. The resulting film was homogenous, flexible, luminous, slightly dark, with cumulative viscosity, that means that total viscosity is the result of each component viscosity. The CS-OM film demonstrated a strong antifungal effect against Rhizopus stolonifer in vitro and in situ conditions and increased the shelf-life of tomatoes. The results showed the potential of the use of this biodegradable film in protecting the crops of interest, making it an attractive polymeric product for field application.

It is a discussion about the plurality of violence, understood as a cultural construct. We are mainly talking about two dimensions of violence: direct and structural. The first dimension is usually the most notorious, because it implies the intentional action of harm between two or more subjects, while the second is more silent and invisible, because it has been standardized and preserved in economic, political and cultural systems, as in the case of inequality with effects on the inherited disadvantages of certain sections of the population. Both dimensions are usually treated independently, but are indissoluble, intersect and generate a plurality of forms and effects that public policies have failed to mitigate; consequently, social degradation is progressive in the territories. In Mexico, direct violence and its manifestation in crime has been a justification for the political use of fear, in order to impose political agendas, persuade citizens and legitimize security actions; all this, without being able to compensate the manifestations of the violence, not the delinquency.

In October 2018, Romania held a referendum on the ban of same-sex marriages, which indeed had got the support of a wide majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The call for this referendum generated the usual criticism towards the institution of the referendum itself, that points out its inconvenience when it comes to dealing with issues regarding minorities’ rights. Drawing on the Romanian experience, this paper analyses that criticism by going through the contradictions and questions that arise when it is vaguely expressed. The purpose is to compare the advantages of a parliamentary forum and referendums as decision-making tools and to insist in the need of clarifying the specific kind of popular consultation that is to be used. Finally, the writer argues in favor of preserving referendums as decisive means in the process of constitutional reform, stressing however the drawbacks that may eventually arise in case of a judicial review.

Guerra y paz pueden ser pensadas como dos momentos que están destinados a sucederse alternativamente dentro la historia de las relaciones internacionales. Pero también cabe la esperanza de que a través del desarrollo de un orden internacional fuerte pueda conseguirse una paz perpetua o, cuanto menos, duradera. A ese fin han destinado sus esfuerzos numerosos juristas cuyas obras pueden ser enmarcadas dentro del pacifismo jurídico. En este texto se tratará de ordenar los rasgos característicos de esta posición, tomando como división central aquella que separa los autores que han apostado por la prohibición de la guerra de aquellos que han apostado por su progresiva superación. Ambas posiciones compartirán su preferencia por el fortalecimiento de las instituciones internacionales, además de una cierta vocación cosmopolita.

En este artículo se realiza un breve recorrido por las teorías de la justicia distributiva más influyentes, partiendo de John Rawls y terminando con los principios propuestos por Martha Nussbaum para el desarrollo de una justicia global. En ese recorrido veremos cómo responden esas teorías a tres preguntas: qué se distribuye, cómo se distribuye y entre quiénes se distribuye. Esto nos permitirá comparar sus fundamentos y sus principios de distribución justa, así como comprender mejor sus límites.

Este artículo reseña: Kai Ambos, Derecho Penal Internacional Económico. Fundamentos de la responsabilidad penal internacional de las empresas. Madrid. Editorial Civitas, 2018, 167 pp.

Reflexiones sobre la propuesta de reforma constitucional "En perspectiva de género" de Itziar Gómez Fernández

El original de este texto está publicado en Weber, M. (2001). Machtprestige und Nationalprestige. En Max Weber Gesemtausgabe Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Die Wirtschaft und die gesellschaftlichen Ordnungen und Mächte. Nahlass. Teilband I: Gemeinschaften. Edición de Wolfgang J. Mommsen. Tübingen: Mohr, pp. 222-47; las seleccionadas aquí: pp. 240-247.  Traducción de Joaquín Abellán García.