Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF): History and legacy

This paper aims at providing an overview of Argentine National Oil Company (NOC) “Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales” (YPF) role in Argentina's energy policy. In order to do it, the work takes off from NOCs roles vis‐à‐vis private oil and gas corporations, moving to YPF's history, and its energy socioeconomic effects.     

China and Asia： Prospects for Common Development

Asia’s rise has caused waves in terms of both geopolitics and the global economy in the 21st Century. Its rise is also poised to heavily influence future global growth. Many scholars are talking about the eastwards migration of global power and debating who will emerge as a leading power in Asia. While the rise has caused rifts in regional cooperation mechanisms it has also created many channels for Asia’s development path. How should we look at Asia’s rise? How can we ride these changes and how can we create a win-win situation for all Asian countries? How do we ensure that Asia has a bright future? These questions merit the careful attention of academics in political and economic fields in China, Asia and the rest of the world.     

Forensic Use of A Subtropical Blowfly: The First Case Indicating Minimum Postmortem Interval (mPMI) in Southern Brazil and First Record of Sarconesia Chlorogaster from a Human Corpse

Southern Brazil is unique due to its subtropical climate. Here, we report on the first forensic entomology case and the first record of Sarconesia chlorogaster (Wiedemann) in a human corpse in this region. Flies' samples were collected from a body indoors at 20°C. Four species were found, but only Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) and S. chlorogaster were used to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (mPMI). The mPMI was calculated using accumulated degree hour (ADH) and developmental time. The S. chlorogaster puparium collected was light in color, so we used an experiment to establish a more accurate estimate for time since initiation of pupation where we found full tanning after 3 h. Development of C. albiceps at 20°C to the end of the third instar is 7.4 days. The mPMI based on S. chlorogaster (developmental time until the third instar with no more than 3 h of pupae development) was 7.6 days.     

Incarcerated youths with high or low callous–unemotional traits: a comparison controlling for age of crime onset

The aim of this study was to analyze the relevance of callous–unemotional (CU) traits in incarcerated juvenile delinquents. A sample of 160 incarcerated male youths was used. Results showed that youths with high CU traits had an earlier age of crime onset and of trouble with the law, and also had higher levels of conduct disorder. When controlling for age of crime onset, youths with high CU traits showed higher levels of general psychopathic traits and of psychopathy taxon membership as well as lower levels of prosocial behavior, but no differences were found for self-reported delinquency, crime seriousness, impulsivity-conduct problems, and general conduct problems. Also, no significant associations of CU traits with self-reported delinquency and crime seriousness were found when controlling for age of crime onset. Future studies of CU traits should take into account the specific importance of age of onset.     

The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade — How lasting were its benefits?

In 1981, Nicaragua was awarded a UNESCO prize in recognition of the success of the 1980 National Literacy Crusade (CNA) through which, it was claimed, three quarters of the country's illiterate had been taught to read and write. This article reports the follow-up of several women graduates of the CNA. It finds that, a decade later, a significant proportion of them are no longer able to read or write; and that of those who can, many had previously attended formal schooling as children for several years. An assessment of national census and survey figures suggests that about 9 per cent of the population became literate solely as a consequence of Nicaragua's ambitious adult-education interventions in the 1980s. Other benefits, such as the impact on child health and survival, have yet to be quantified.     

Argentina: Up a Blind Alley Once Again

This article attempts to respond to a simple question: What are the factors which caused the December crisis and whether or not they have been defused since president Duhalde came to power? The answer, by contrast, does not appear to be so straightforward. After analyzing a broad range of causes, some of which were thought of as harbingers of democratic breakdown and some which are considered driving forces of the current instability, this article points out two combined causes in the Argentinean crisis: the fragmentation of the politico–institutional system and the extreme dependency of its economy on foreign credit. Given the fact that both reasons cannot be fully understood simply in terms of historical precedent, the article also looks at what is new in this case.     

Social Struggles in Present Day Argentina

Since the mid 1970s, Argentine society has gone through a period characterised as counterrevolutionary. The conservative social forces, led by the financial oligarchy, seized power and government by means of the coup d'état of 1976, and imposed an economic and social policy towards the working class, based on wage cuts and a lengthening of the working day. When the military governments were replaced by civilian ones, physical coercion was replaced by economic coercion, through market laws with unemployment and wage cuts reaching unprecedented levels. Although the popular forces were weakened by the unfavourable development of social struggles since the mid–1970s, during the 1990s government policies were confronted by the people through different forms of struggle.
This article presents the results of research on the different forms of social struggle carried out by the working class and other popular classes since the end of the 1980s until today. It aims to conceptualise the forms of rebellion (foot riot, riot, strikes and roadblocks), to determine the different moments of social struggle and the likely trends of its development.