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Mexico City (mexico + city)
Selected AbstractsInelastic displacement ratios for evaluation of structures built on soft soil sitesEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 6 2006Jorge Ruiz-García Abstract This paper summarizes the results of a comprehensive statistical study aimed at evaluating peak lateral inelastic displacement demands of structures with known lateral strength and stiffness built on soft soil site conditions. For that purpose, empirical information on inelastic displacement ratios which are defined as the ratio of peak lateral inelastic displacement demands to peak elastic displacement demands are investigated. Inelastic displacement ratios were computed from the response of single-degree-of-freedom systems having 6 levels of relative lateral strength when subjected to 118 earthquake ground motions recorded on bay-mud sites of the San Francisco Bay Area and on soft soil sites located in the former lake-bed zone of Mexico City. Mean inelastic displacement ratios and their corresponding scatter are presented for both ground motion ensembles. The influence of period of vibration normalized by the predominant period of the ground motion, the level of lateral strength, earthquake magnitude, and distance to the source are evaluated and discussed. In addition, the effects of post-yield stiffness and of stiffness and strength degradation on inelastic displacement ratios are also investigated. It is concluded that magnitude and distance to the source have negligible effects on constant-strength inelastic displacement ratios. Results also indicate that weak and stiffness-degrading structures in the short spectral region could experience inelastic displacement demands larger than those corresponding to non-degrading structures. Finally, a simplified equation obtained using regression analyses aimed at estimating mean inelastic displacement ratios is proposed for assisting structural engineers in performance-based assessment of structures built on soft soil sites. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Torsional response of symmetric buildings to incoherent and phase-delayed earthquake ground motionEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 7 2003Ernesto Heredia-Zavoni Abstract This paper studies the effect of coherency loss and wave passage on the seismic torsional response of three-dimensional, multi-storey, multi-span, symmetric, linear elastic buildings. A model calibrated against statistical analyses of ground motion records in Mexico City is used for the coherency function. The structural response is assessed in terms of shear forces in structural elements. Incoherence and wave passage effects are found to be significant only for columns in the ground level of stiff systems. The increase of column shears in the ground level is much higher for soft than for firm soil conditions. For the torsionally stiff systems considered, it is found that incoherent and phase-delayed ground motions do not induce a significant rotational response of the structure. The use of a code eccentricity to account for torsion due to ground motion spatial variation is assessed. On firm soil, the use of a base shear along with an accidental eccentricity results in highly overestimated shear forces; however, for soft soil conditions, code formulations may result in underestimated shear forces. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Estimation of trends in high urban ozone levels using the quantiles of (GEV)ENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 5 2010Hortensia J. Reyes Abstract In this paper we propose a statistical methodology to analyze the trends of very high values of tropospheric ozone. The methodology is based on the estimation of percentiles of the distribution of extreme values. The asymptotic distribution of the estimated percentiles is obtained with a normal result. This allows us to use a linear regression to investigate linear and non-linear trends. To illustrate the proposed methodology we use the information on ozone levels from some monitoring stations in Mexico City during the period from 1986 to 2005. The analysis of the information indicates a decrease in the very high ozone levels in the later years. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Estimating the number of ozone peaks in Mexico City using a non-homogeneous Poisson modelENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 5 2008Jorge A. Achcar Abstract In this paper, we consider the problem of estimating the number of times an air quality standard is exceeded in a given period of time. A non-homogeneous Poisson model is proposed to analyse this issue. The rate at which the Poisson events occur is given by a rate function ,(t), t,,,0. This rate function also depends on some parameters that need to be estimated. Two forms of ,(t), t,,,0 are considered. One of them is of the Weibull form and the other is of the exponentiated-Weibull form. The parameters estimation is made using a Bayesian formulation based on the Gibbs sampling algorithm. The assignation of the prior distributions for the parameters is made in two stages. In the first stage, non-informative prior distributions are considered. Using the information provided by the first stage, more informative prior distributions are used in the second one. The theoretical development is applied to data provided by the monitoring network of Mexico City. The rate function that best fit the data varies according to the region of the city and/or threshold that is considered. In some cases the best fit is the Weibull form and in other cases the best option is the exponentiated-Weibull. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Violent victimization and drug involvement among Mexican middle school studentsADDICTION, Issue 6 2006Luciana Ramos-Lira ABSTRACT Aims To answer the following research questions: (a) is there an association between violent victimization and exposure to opportunities to use marijuana, inhalants and cocaine and (b) is there an association between violent victimization and actual drug use among youth with drug-using opportunities? Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Two middle schools located in the Historic Downtown area of Mexico City. Participants The entire body of students (n = 767; mean age 13.8 years, 52% males). Measurements Qualitative research was used to develop questions on drug exposure opportunities and violent victimization. Standardized questions on life-time alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalant drugs and cocaine use were also included, as well as questions on violent victimization and other covariates. Findings One-quarter (25%) of students had an opportunity to try marijuana, inhalant drugs or cocaine; 35% who had an opportunity actually used at least one drug. In this sample, 59% had been victimized violently. Youth who had been victimized had greater odds of opportunities to use drugs compared to those who had not been victimized [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.4, 6.1]. Once exposure opportunity is taken into consideration, no association was evident between violent victimization and actual drug use (adjusted OR = 0.9; 95% CI, 0.4, 2.1). Conclusions It is possible to trace back the association between violent victimization and drug use to differences in exposure to opportunities. Limitations considered, this study suggests interventions to improve micro and macro contexts, such as families, schools and communities, so young people can have better places to live and develop. [source] Seasonal confounding and residual correlation in analyses of health effects of air pollutionENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 4 2007Isabella R. Ghement Abstract To investigate the health effects of air pollution via a partially linear model, one must choose an appropriate amount of smoothing for accurate estimation of the linear pollution effects. This choice is complicated by the dependencies between the various covariates and by the potential residual correlation. Most existing approaches to making this choice are inadequate, as they neither target accurate estimation of the linear pollutant effects nor handle residual correlation. In this paper, we illustrate two new adaptive and objective methods for determining an appropriate amount of smoothing. We construct valid confidence intervals for the linear pollutant effects, intervals that account for residual correlation. We use our inferential methods to investigate the same-day effects of PM10 on daily mortality in two data sets for the period 1994 to 1996: one collected in Mexico City, an urban area with high levels of air pollution, and the other collected in Vancouver, British Columbia, an urban area with low levels of air pollution. For Mexico City, our methodology does not detect a PM10 effect. In contrast, for Vancouver, a PM10 effect corresponding to an expected 2.4% increase (95% confidence interval ranging from 0.0% to 4.7%) in daily mortality for every 10,µg/m3 increase in PM10 is identified. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Family members of relatives with alcohol, drug and gambling problems: a set of standardized questionnaires for assessing stress, coping and strainADDICTION, Issue 11 2005Jim Orford ABSTRACT Aims To describe a set of standard questionnaire measures for the assessment of the needs of family members of relatives with alcohol, drug or gambling problems, and to present evidence of their reliability and validity from a series of related studies. Design Includes cross-sectional and repeated-measurement studies. Setting and participants Family members affected by and concerned about the problem drinking or drug-taking of close relatives in treatment and non-treatment samples in the United Kingdom (white and Sikh) and Mexico City; family members of untreated heavy drinkers; and family members of problem gamblers. Measurements Four measures derived from a stress,strain,coping,support model of alcohol, drugs and gambling problems and the family: Family Member Impact scale (FMI), Symptom Rating Test (SRT), Coping Questionnaire (CQ), and Hopefulness,Hopelessness scale (HOPE). FMI, SRT and CQ assess stress, strain and coping, respectively. The exact role of HOPE in the model remains to be determined. The support component remains unmeasured. Findings Results from a number of studies support the internal reliability, discriminant and construct validity and sensitivity to change of the SRT and its two constituent scales (psychological and physical symptoms) and at least two subscales of the CQ (engaged and tolerant,inactive coping). Although showing evidence of satisfactory reliability and some evidence of discriminant validity, further work may be required on the CQ withdrawal coping subscale. Evidence suggests that the FMI is reliable and valid and may have a factor structure that will support future research (distinguishing worrying behaviour from active disturbance). HOPE is a new measure showing promising characteristics. Conclusions A set of standard measures is available for helping to assess the needs of concerned and affected family members, derived from an explicit model of the family in relation to excessive drinking, drug taking or gambling. It may have a role to play in correcting the current neglect of the needs of such family members, estimated to be in the region of nearly a million adults in Britain alone. [source] Psychometric properties of the Attitudes Towards Body Figure Questionnaire in Mexican female students and patients with eating disordersEUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW, Issue 6 2006Claudia Unikel Santoncini Abstract The aim of this article was to determine the psychometric characteristics of the Attitudes Towards Body Figure Questionnaire in a sample of Mexican female students and to compare them with a sample of patients with eating disorders. A self-applicable questionnaire with 15 questions on the importance of one's weight, and figure was given to a sample of students with an average age of 18 years in Mexico City (N,=,408) and a sample of patients under treatment (N,=,87). The results showed adequate values of internal consistency and a factorial structure in two highly correlated factors that was corroborated in a confirmatory factorial analysis. The questionnaire yielded data with adequate concurrent and predictive validity as well as appropriate values of sensitivity and specificity. This questionnaire constitutes a significant contribution to the field of research on eating disorders and body image in adolescents in Mexico that is why its use is recommended for research and prevention work in the area. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. [source] World City Networks and Global Commodity Chains: towards a world-systems' integrationGLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 1 2010ED BROWN Abstract There are two literatures that explicitly describe the spaces of flows that constitute contemporary globalization , World City Network analysis and Global Commodity Chain analysis. We explore the possibilities of their integration by returning to their common origins in world-systems analysis. Each model is described and critiqued and it is argued that each can be used to address some of the other's limitations. This is illustrated through world city process additions to understanding the coffee commodity chain and commodity chain additions to understanding Mexico City and Santiago's positioning in the World City Network. This complementarity is just a first step towards a more complete integration; the conclusion describes the next steps towards just such a research agenda. [source] The emergence of mucormycosis as an important opportunistic fungal infection: five cases presenting to a tertiary referral center for mycologyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2007Mahreen Ameen MRCP Background, Mucormycosis, a rare opportunistic fungal infection, is re-emerging in importance with the increase in prevalence of immunosuppressive states, both as a result of therapy and disease. Methods, We report five cases of mucormycosis diagnosed by the Dermatology Department and managed jointly with the Medical and Surgical Services of "Dr Manuel Gea Gonzalez" General Hospital in Mexico City, a tertiary referral center for mycology. We also review the current literature including recent advances in medical therapy. Results, Four of the five cases were of the rhino-orbital-cerebral variant, commonly associated with significant mortality, and one of these patients died despite early diagnosis and aggressive management. The fifth case was primary cutaneous mucormycosis and this patient survived infection without relapse. Diabetic ketoacidosis predisposed to infection in four cases and the other was associated with advanced human immunodeficiency virus infection. Radiologic imaging was important in cases of facial involvement in order to evaluate the extent of disease and possible intracranial involvement. All cases were managed with systemic antifungals and surgical debridement, together with the treatment of predisposing factors. Conclusions, These cases illustrate the need for early clinical recognition and prompt therapy, as well as the requirement for tissue biopsy in order to demonstrate the characteristic morphologic features of this fungal agent in the absence of positive mycology culture results. This report also highlights that, although rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis requires effective multidisciplinary management, the disease not uncommonly presents to dermatologists for diagnosis. [source] Diabetes Mellitus in a Subgroup of Older Mexicans: Prevalence, Association with Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Functional and Cognitive Impairment, and MortalityJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 1 2002Joel Rodríguez-Saldaña MD OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence and effects of diabetes mellitus in a subgroup of older Mexicans to allow comparisons to older persons of Mexican origin living in the United States. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: High-rise retirement housing in Mexico City. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred eighty-five public servants and their family members aged 65 and older. MEASUREMENTS: Geriatric survey of function; mental status and depression; a physical examination; and blood samples for glucose and cholesterol. RESULTS: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in this population was 15.1%, substantially lower than the prevalence reported in people of Mexican origin living in the United States. Nondiabetics were more obese than diabetics. Diabetes mellitus was more common in men than women. The mortality rate was greater in diabetics than nondiabetics (relative risk = 1.73, P < .05). Diabetics had more coronary artery disease and were more likely to die from myocardial infarction and neoplasms than nondiabetics. Diabetics were more likely to be functionally impaired (P < .0001) but no more likely to fall or to have fractures. Diabetics did not differ from nondiabetics in cognitive impairment or level of dysphoria. CONCLUSION: These studies highlight some important similarities and differences in comparing a middle class subgroup of older diabetics in Mexico City with diabetics of Mexican origin living in the United States. [source] Thiopurine S -methyltransferase (TPMT) genetic polymorphisms in Mexican newbornsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 6 2009A. González-del Angel MD Abstract Background:, Thiopurine S -methyltransferase (TPMT) is involved in the toxicity and therapeutic efficacy of thiopurine drugs, and its gene exhibits genetic polymorphisms that differ across diverse populations. Four TPMT polymorphisms (TPMT*2, *3A, *3B and *3C) account for 80,95% of alleles that cause reduced enzyme activity. To date, only a single study in the Mexican population involving 108 individuals has been performed, but the regional and ethnic origin of this population was not described. Accordingly, information about the TPMT polymorphism in the Mexican population is limited. Objective:, To determine the TPMT allele and genotype frequencies in a sample of newborns from Mexico City. Methods:, Three hundred and sixty DNA samples from unrelated, anonymous individuals were obtained from dried blood spots collected on filter paper as part of the Newborn Screening National Program. Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction for the TPMT*2 allele and PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism for TPMT*3A, TPMT*3B, TPMT*3C alleles were used to determine the respective allelic and genotypic frequencies. Results and Discussion:, Of 720 TPMT alleles analysed, 49 (6·81%) were deficiency alleles. The most common deficiency allele was TPMT*3A (5·69%), followed by TPMT*3C (0·56%), TPMT*3B (0·28%) and TPMT*2 (0·28%). Fourty-five newborns were heterozygous for one mutant allele (12·5%) and two showed a genotype with two deficiency alleles (0·56%). Despite its unique ethnic composition, our Mexican population exhibited variant allele frequencies that were similar to some Caucasian populations. Conclusion:, Our data suggest that approximately 1 in 180 persons born in Mexico City might have low or undetectable TPMT enzyme activity, a frequency that, overall, is somewhat higher than that reported for Caucasian populations generally (1 in 300). [source] Musical Ritual in Mexico City: From Aztec to NAFTAJOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2005Mark Pedelty [source] "You Can Buy a Player's Legs, But Not His Heart": A Critique of Clientelism and Modernity among Soccer Fans in Mexico CityJOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2004Roger Magazine RESUMEN Este artículo presenta una crítica local del clientelismo en México, expresada en el lenguaje de jugar al fútbol y la forma de animar. Los miembros jóvenes y varones de un club de aficionados al fútbol, que apoyan a un equipo conocido por la juventud de sus jugadores, conceptualizan la durabilidad, la rigidez y la extensión del clientelismo a través de una analogía con la manera aburrida y cautelosa de jugar y animar que tienen los jugadores y aficionados de los equipos rivales. Los miembros del club aseguran que ellos y los jugadores de su equipo, a diferencia de la mayoría de los miembros de la sociedad mexicana, viven fuera de la influencia del clientelismo, puesto que aún no se han transformado en clientes gracias a su juventud. Su alternativa al clientelismo no es la democracia moderna o la racionalidad burocrática, sino más bien, un juego de fútbol, la animación u otra actividad inspirada en el ferviente amor y caracterizado por la espontaneidad, pasión y creatividad. Esta crítica local sirve como un recordatorio de un comentario social serio que no sigue la forma de una ideología política y que es encontrado en otros contextos, como por ejemplo, en el estadio de fútbol, frecuentemente no tenido en cuenta por los científicos sociales. [source] Human caliciviruses detected in Mexican children admitted to hospital during 1998,2000, with severe acute gastroenteritis not due to other enteropathogensJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 4 2010Ana Lorena Gutiérrez-Escolano Abstract Few studies exist regarding the frequency of human caliciviruses as single etiologic agents in sporadic cases, or in outbreaks occurring in children hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis. In this study, a total of 1,129 children of <5 years of age and hospitalized due to acute diarrhea were enrolled from three main hospitals in Mexico City during a period of 3 years (March 1998 to December 2000). After analyzing all fecal samples for several enteropathogens, 396 stools that remained negative were further screened for human caliciviruses by RT-PCR using a primer set specific to norovirus and sapovirus. Human caliciviruses were detected in 5.6% (22/396) of the children. The minimum incidence rate for 1999 were 5.3% (7/132) for 1999 and 7.8% (13/167) for 2000, since only fecal specimens that tested negative to other enteric pathogens were examined. Positive samples were further characterized using specific GI and GII primers and sequencing. Norovirus GII was detected in 19/22 samples, most of them were GII/4, while sapovirus GI/2 was detected in one sample. Associations between the presence of human calicivirus and clinical and epidemiological data revealed that diarrhea occurred with a seasonal pattern, and that children hospitalized due to human calicivirus disease scored an average of 13,±,3.2 (SD) points on the Vesikari scale, which corresponded to severe episodes. These results highlight that human caliciviruses, by themselves, are enteropathogens of acute severe diarrhea among young Mexican children requiring hospitalization and that their detection is important in order to reduce the diagnosis gap. J. Med. Virol. 82:632,637, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Factor Structure and Concurrent Validity of the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale in a Group of Alcohol-Dependent Subjects of Mexico CityALCOHOLISM, Issue 7 2009Marta Cordero Background:, Obsessive thoughts and compulsive drinking behaviors have been proposed as key factors associated with the loss of control over alcohol consumption experienced by alcohol-dependent patients. The self-report 14-item Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS; Anton et al., 1995) was designed in order to rate these features. Methods:, A Spanish-translated version of the OCDS was applied to a group of 159 alcohol-dependent subjects while in abstinence, and data were analyzed in order to evaluate the factor structure and concurrent validity of the scale. Results:, Several solutions were explored after applying the principal factor analysis to the data. The most plausible result was obtained after excluding the items on quantity and frequency of drinking. This model explaining 56.9% of the variance included 2 factors: obsessive thoughts related to drinking and interference/behaviors related to drinking. Additionally, OCDS scores were significantly correlated with measures for the Alcohol Dependence Scale, number of DSM-IV criteria met for alcohol dependence as well as the number of days in a week engaged in heavy drinking, indicating concurrent validity. Conclusions:, Our results support the use of OCDS as a valid self-rated instrument that can be broadly applied in research and treatment settings. However, its current version includes questions that may not represent the core concept of craving. The abridged 12-item version of the scale (excluding the items on drinking habits) maintains good psychometrics features and seems to be adequate when different cognitive and behavioral dimensions are explored. [source] Evolution of the Labor Market in a Regional City: The Changing Economic Performance of Emigrants from Mexico City,JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2005Ricardo Sabates Using labor-income trajectories of emigrants from Mexico City, the paper analyzes how the labor market in a regional city, Leon, evolves. Results from the econometric model suggest that migrants' labor-income trajectories differ between the large agglomeration and the regional city in an early stage of the evolution of the labor market, but converge in a later stage. Specifically, the slope of the earning function for recent migrants is steeper and statistically different from the slope for early migrants. The findings presented in this paper enrich the existing theory by providing microfoundations to a typically macroeconomic area of research and enable policy makers to better understand the processes underpinning the evolution of regional labor markets. [source] Scleroderma ,en coup de sabre' and progressive facial hemiatrophy.JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 4 2002Is it possible to differentiate them? Abstract The aim was to be able to evaluate the diagnosis of two diseases by a consensus of clinical opinion used in the Department of Dermatology of the National Institute of Paediatrics in Mexico City. To differentiate between scleroderma ,en coup de sabre' (SCS) and progressive facial hemiatrophy (PFH), colour slides of 13 patients diagnosed as SCS and nine as PFH were examined by two dermatologists and microscopic slides by two pathologists. In both cases, the slides were randomly presented and no clinical information was given. The clinical and histopathological findings were statistically compared with two-tailed tests and , = 0.05. , coefficients were obtained to evaluate the concordance between dermatologists, pathologists, and in terms of the consensus diagnosis. The usefulness of photographic assessment is limited by the inability to palpate the consistency of lesions. The most important clinical feature that differentiated both conditions was cutaneous sclerosis present in eight of 13 patients with SCS and in none of the PFH patients (P < 0.005). Other clinical features more frequently found in SCS were cutaneous hyperpigmentation and alopecia. The more frequent clinical features in PFH were total hemifacial involvement and ocular changes. Statistically significant histopathological features were: connective tissue fibrosis present in all cases with SCS and two of nine patients with PFH (P < 0.0002); adnexal atrophy present in 11 of 13 patients with SCS, and in three of nine with PFH (P < 0.02), and mononuclear cell infiltrates in all patients with SCS cf. six with PFH (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that in most cases it is possible to differentiate SCS from PFH based on clinicopathological findings. [source] A spatiotemporal model for Mexico City ozone levelsJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 2 2004Gabriel Huerta Summary., We consider hourly readings of concentrations of ozone over Mexico City and propose a model for spatial as well as temporal interpolation and prediction. The model is based on a time-varying regression of the observed readings on air temperature. Such a regression requires interpolated values of temperature at locations and times where readings are not available. These are obtained from a time-varying spatiotemporal model that is coupled to the model for the ozone readings. Two location-dependent harmonic components are added to account for the main periodicities that ozone presents during a given day and that are not explained through the covariate. The model incorporates spatial covariance structure for the observations and the parameters that define the harmonic components. Using the dynamic linear model framework, we show how to compute smoothed means and predictive values for ozone. We illustrate the methodology on data from September 1997. [source] Critical Therapeutics: Cultural Politics and Clinical Reality in Two Eating Disorder Treatment CentersMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2007Rebecca J. Lester Recent studies suggest that eating disorders are increasing in Mexico and that this seems to correspond with Mexico's push to modernization. In this respect, Mexico exemplifies the acculturation hypothesis of eating disorders, namely, that anorexia and bulimia are culture-bound syndromes tied to postindustrial capitalist development and neoliberalist values, and that their appearance elsewhere is indicative of acculturation to those values. Available evidence for this claim, however, is often problematic. On the basis of five years of comparative fieldwork in eating disorder clinics in Mexico City and a small Midwestern city in the United States, I reframe this as an ethnographic question by examining how specific clinical practices at each site entangle global diagnostic categories with local social realities in ways that problematize existing epistemologies about culture and illness. In this regard, debates about acculturation and the global rise of eating disorders foreground issues of central epistemological and practical importance to contemporary medical anthropology more generally. [source] Against Machismo: Young Adult Voices in Mexico City by Josué RamirezAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 2 2010HÉCTOR CARRILLO No abstract is available for this article. [source] West Turns East at the End of HistoryNEW PERSPECTIVES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009Octavio Paz Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990, Octavio Paz was Latin America's great poet, essayist and critic whose most enduring work was The Labyrinth of Solitude. We would often meet in the late afternoon over scotch on ice at his apartment on Reforma in Mexico City, the warm afternoon rain pounding against the windows of his book-lined study, gazing out toward the Angel of Independence column in the center of that daunting megalopolis. Over the years, we collaborated on several issues of Vuelta, a small but influential journal like NPQ. Paz believed that "the most important things can be said at the margins beyond the entertainment and commercial imperatives of the mass media." Though petty literary politics sometimes intruded, Paz was a truly magnanimous soul whose entire life was an exploration. Everything interested him, from Surrealism to the Indian caste system (he was the Mexican ambassador to India before resigning in 1968 to protest the student massacre at Tlatelolco). He liked to quote Baudelaire, saying that poets were universal translators because they translate the language of the universe,stars, water, trees,into the language of man. Paz died in 1998. We held this conversation in 1992. It also appeared in Vuelta as "La Transformacion del Tiempo: El Encuentro de Oriente y Occidente." [source] Latin America: Looking North or South?: Mexico's Future,So Close to God, So Close to the United StatesNEW PERSPECTIVES QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2001Article first published online: 28 JUN 200 Vincente Fox, the new president of Mexico, was inaugurated on Dec. 1. He spoke with NPQ Editor Nathan Gardels in Mexico City [source] Epidemiological characteristics of retinoblastoma in children attending the Mexican Social Security Institute in Mexico City, 1990,94PAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002Víctor Amozorrutia-Alegría Summary The object of this study is to present descriptive epidemiological characteristics of retinoblastoma (Rb) in children aged 0,14 years, seen at the Mexican Social Security Institute hospitals in Mexico City (MC) from 1990 to 1994. This is a retrospective, observational hospital survey. Clinical records of 52 Rb cases were reviewed; 39 were patients who did not reside in MC (non-residents), and 13 were MC residents. The study period was 1990,94. The male/female ratio (M/F) was 1.6. Average annual incidence (AAI) was estimated by age and sex (rates per 1 000 000). Annual average percentage change (AAPC) in incidence rates was estimated in children from 0 to 14 years. The AAI for MC residents was 3.2; the highest rate being for those <1 year olds (rate of 20.8); AAPC was 6.9% [95% CI ,27.5, 57.4]; the highest incidence was for the south-eastern region of MC residents (rate of 5.9); 13 cases (25%) were diagnosed at stage III or IV, and 11 cases (21.2%) were bilateral. Incidence of Rb is similar to that in developed countries and shows no increasing trend. Patients from communities outside MC are more frequently diagnosed at stages III and IV. [source] Epidermal Nevus Syndromes: Clinical Findings in 35 PatientsPEDIATRIC DERMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2004Helena Vidaurri-de la Cruz M.D. A predisposition to malignant neoplasms in ectodermal and mesodermal structures may also be found. There are six different epidermal nevus syndromes described so far: Proteus, congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform nevus and limb defect syndrome, phakomatosis pigmentokeratotica, sebaceous nevus, Becker nevus, and nevus comedonicus. Thirty-five patients with epidermal nevus syndrome seen at the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico City during a 31-year period are described. This syndrome represented 7.9% of 443 patients with epidermal nevi; its relative frequency was 1 case per 11,928 pediatric patients and 1 case per 1080 dermatologic patients. Nine epidermal nevus syndrome patients (26%) had Proteus syndrome. Sebaceous nevus syndrome was found in six patients (17%), while the nevus comedonicus syndrome was found in three (8%). Two patients were diagnosed with phakomatosis pigmentokeratotica and one patient with congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform nevus and limb defect syndrome. This is the first report of phakomatosis pigmentokeratotica and congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform nevus and limb defect syndrome in Mexican patients. One patient had an inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus with systemic involvement. Thirteen patients (37%) had keratinocytic nevi with systemic involvement. We propose the keratinocytic nevus syndrome to be defined as the association of a keratinocytic nevus with neuronal migration and/or musculoskeletal disorders in addition to a higher risk for mesodermal neoplasms. [source] MGEA5 -14 polymorphism and type 2 diabetes in Mexico CityAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2007E. A. Cameron A family-based study has recently reported that a variant located in intron 10 of the gene MGEA5 increases susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). We evaluated the distribution of this SNP in a sample of T2D patients (N = 271) and controls (N = 244) from Mexico City. The frequency of the T allele was higher in the cases (2.6%) than in the controls (1.8%). After adjusting for age, sex, BMI, education, and individual ancestry the odds ratio was 1.60 but the 95% confidence interval was wide and overlapped 1 (0.52,4.86, P -value : 0.404). In order to characterize the distribution of the MGEA5 -14 polymorphism in the relevant parental populations, we genotyped this variant in European (and European Americans), West African, and Native American samples. The T-allele was present at a frequency of 2.3% in Spain, 4.2% in European Americans, and 13% in Western Africans, but was absent in two Native American samples from Mexico and Peru. Given the low frequency of the T-allele, further studies using large sample sizes will be required to confirm the role of this variant in T2D. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 19:593,596, 2007. © 2007Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Democratic Deepening in Third Wave Democracies: Experiments with Participation in Mexico CityPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2007Imke Harbers After the initial transition to democratic rule the question of how to improve the quality of democracy has become the key challenge facing Third Wave democracies. In the debate about the promotion of more responsive government, institutional reforms to increase direct participation of citizens in policy-making have been put on the agenda. The Federal District of Mexico City constitutes a particularly intriguing case in this debate. This article explores how political participation developed in Mexico City between 1997 and 2003 and what effects this has had on democratic deepening. It develops an ideal-type conceptual framework of citizen participation that outlines the conditions under which participation contributes to democratic deepening. Overall, the case of Mexico City highlights how the promotion of participation can fail to make the aspired contribution to democratic deepening and might even have negative effects on the quality of democracy. [source] Lead exposure in mexican radiator repair workersAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2002Ronald Dykeman Abstract Background Lead exposure was investigated among 73 Mexican radiator repair workers (RRWs), 12 members of their family (4 children and 8 wives), and 36 working controls. RRWs were employed at 4 radiator repair shops in Mexico City and 27 shops in Cuernavaca and surrounding areas. Methods Exposure was assessed directly through the use of personal air sampling and hand wipe samples. In addition, industrial hygiene inspections were performed and detailed questionnaires were administered. Blood lead levels were measured by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Results The mean (SD) values for blood lead of the RRWs, 35.5 (13.5) ,g/dl, was significantly greater than the same values for the working controls, 13.6 (8.7) ,g/dl; P,<,001. After excluding a single outlier (247 ,g/m3), air lead levels ranged from 0 to 99 ,g/m3 with a mean (SD) value of 19 (23) ,g/m3 (median,=,7.9 ,g/m3). In a final multivariate regression model of elevated blood lead levels, the strongest predictors were smoking (vs. non-smoking), the number of radiators repaired per day on average, and the use (vs. non-use) of a uniform while at work, which were associated with blood lead elevations of 11.4 ,g/dl, 1.95 ,g/dl/radiator/day, and 16.4 ,g/dl, respectively (all P,<,.05). Uniform use was probably a risk factor because they were not laundered regularly and consequently served as reservoir of contamination on which RRWs frequently wiped their hands. Conclusions Lead exposure is a significant problem of radiator repair work, a small industry that is abundant in Mexico and other developing countries. Am. J. Ind. Med. 41:179,187, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] On the Tasks of a Population Commission: A 1971 Statement by Donald RumsfeldPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 3 2003Article first published online: 20 APR 200 In its most familiar form, analytic assessment of the impact of demographic change on human affairs is the product of a decentralized cottage industry: individual scholars collecting information, thinking about its meaning, testing hypotheses, and publishing their findings. Guidance through the power of the purse and through institutional design that creates and sustains cooperating groups of researchers can impose some order and coherence on such spontaneous activity. But the sum total of the result may lack balance and leave important aspects of relevant issues inadequately explored. Even when research findings are picked up by the media and reach a broader public, the haphazardness of that process helps further to explain why the salience of population change to human welfare and its importance in public policymaking are poorly understood. The syndrome is not unique to the field of population, but the typically long time-lags with which aggregate population change affects economic and social phenomena make it particularly difficult for the topic to claim public attention. A time-tested, if less than fool-proof remedy is the periodic effort to orchestrate a systematic and thorough examination of the causes, consequences, and policy implications of demographic processes. Because the most potent frame for policymaking is the state, the logical primary locus for such stocktaking is at the country level. The Commission on Population Growth and the American Future was a uniquely ambitious enterprise of this sort. The Commission was established by the US Congress in 1970 as a result of a presidential initiative. Along with the work of two earlier British Royal Commissions on population, this US effort, mutatis mutandis, can serve as a model for in-depth examinations conducted at the national level anywhere. Chaired by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, the Commission submitted its final report to President Richard M. Nixon in March 1972. The background studies to the report were published in seven hefty volumes; an index to these volumes was published in 1975. Reproduced below is a statement to the Commission delivered on April 14, 1971 by Donald Rumsfeld, then Counsellor to President Nixon and in charge of the Office of Economic Opportunity. (Currently, Mr. Rumsfeld serves as US Secretary of Defense.) The brief statement articulates with great clarity the objectives of the Commission and the considerations that prompted them. The text originally appeared in Vol. 7 (pp. 1-3) of the Commission's background reports, which contains the statements at public hearings conducted by the Commission. National efforts toward comprehensive scientific reviews of population issues have their analogs at the international level. Especially notable on that score were the preparatory studies presented at the 1954 Rome and 1965 Belgrade world population conferences. The world population conferences that took place in Bucharest in 1974, in Mexico City in 1984, and in Cairo in 1994 were intergovernmental and political rather than scientific and technical meetings, but they also generated a fair amount of prior research. The year 2004 will break the decadal sequence of large-scale international meetings on population, and apart from the quadrennial congresses of the IUSSP, which showcase the voluntary research offerings of its members, none is being planned for the coming years. A partial substitute will be meetings organized by the UN's regional economic and social commissions. The first of these took place in 2002 for the Asia-Pacific region; the meetings for the other regions will be held in 2003-04. The analytic and technical contribution of these meetings, however, is expected to be at best modest. National efforts of the type carried out 30 years ago by the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future would be all the more salutary. [source] Radioguided Localization of Clinically Occult Breast Lesions (ROLL): A Pilot StudyTHE BREAST JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Heriberto Medina-Franco MD Abstract:, Management of nonpalpable breast lesions requiring pathologic diagnosis has been with wire localization during the last few decades. Recently, radioguided localization (ROLL) became an alternative for this type of lesions. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of this technique in a tertiary referral center in Mexico City. Consecutive patients requiring pathologic diagnosis from a nonpalpable breast lesion were included in the present study. On the same day of operation, all patients were injected with particles of human serum albumin. Localization of the lesion was performed in the operation theater with the aid of a hand-held gamma-probe. All lesions were identified in a control x-ray of the surgical specimen. Demographic, clinical, surgical and pathologic data were recorded. Forty patients with a mean age of 56.8 ± 7.8 years were included. In 39 of the 40 patients (97.5%) the "hot spot" was identified easily. In all patients, the area of maximum radioactivity corresponded to the site of the lesion. Imaging confirmation of the lesion in the surgical specimen was done during the first excision in 37 patients (92.5%). In the remaining cases (7.5%), a wider excision was performed during the same procedure, finding the suspected lesion in all cases. Diagnosis of cancer was made in seven patients, (17.5%). There were no significant surgical complications. Our data suggest that ROLL offer a simple and reliable method to localize occult breast lesions, allowing complete removal of the lesion in 100% of the patients. Because of the small quantity of radioactivity, the procedure is safe for both patients and the medical staff, producing less discomfort in patients than wire localization. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||