Open Access (OA) initiatives and knowledge infrastructure represent vital elements for both producing significant changes in scholarly communication and reducing limitations of access to the ...circulation of scientific knowledge in developing countries. The spreading of the OA movement in Latin America and Caribbean (LA&C) countries, exemplified by the growth of regional and national initiatives, such as the creation of OA digital journal libraries and the establishment of supportive governmental policies, provides evidence of the significant role OA is playing in improving the participation of LA&C countries in the so-called “global knowledge commons”. In this paper, we map OA publications in LA&C countries through a bibliometric analysis of OA publications indexed by the Web of Science Core Collection and SciELO Citation Index during the period 2005–2017. Searches were done in the fields “Country”, “Publication Year”, “Language”, and “Research Area” using WoS analytical tools, in order to map the evolution, distribution, and characteristics of OA publications in the LA&C region. The analysis is conducted on both the sub-regional and national levels. On the sub-regional level, trends in the four LA&C sub-regions (Southern Cone, Central America and Mexico, Andes, and the Caribbean) are identified and compared. On the national level, the analysis identifies as most representative and focuses on nine countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. By doing so, it enriches the existing literature on the subject, where the prominent role played by some of these countries in supporting OA has been already underlined.
The continuing inflow of hundreds of thousands of refugees into many European countries has ignited much political controversy and raised questions that require a fuller understanding of the ...determinants and consequences of refugee supply shocks. This paper revisits four historical refugee shocks to document their labour market impact. Specifically, we examine: The influx of Marielitos into Miami in 1980; the influx of French repatriates and Algerian nationals into France at the end of the Algerian Independence War in 1962; the influx of Jewish émigrés into Israel after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s; and the exodus of refugees from the former Yugoslavia during the long series of Balkan wars between 1991 and 2001. We use a common empirical approach, derived from factor demand theory, and publicly available data to measure the impact of these shocks. Despite the differences in the political forces that motivated the various flows, and in economic conditions across receiving countries, the evidence reveals a common thread that confirms key insights of the canonical model of a competitive labour market: Exogenous supply shocks adversely affect the labour market opportunities of competing natives in the receiving countries, and often have a favorable impact on complementary workers. In short, refugee flows can have large distributional consequences.
There has been increasing interest in new economic models that aim to improve quality of life without increasing consumption. This article provides the first empirical analysis of how close ...modern-day economies are to the concept of a “steady-state economy”, and explores whether there is any relationship between a country's proximity to such an economy and its social performance. The analysis is carried out using the Degrowth Accounts, a set of 16 biophysical and social indicators that are derived from Herman Daly's definition of a steady-state economy and the social goals of the degrowth movement. These indicators are applied to ∼180 countries over a 10-year period. The analysis reveals that the majority of countries in the world are biophysical growth economies. There are only a small number of countries where resource use is relatively constant from year to year (e.g. Denmark, France, Japan, Poland, Romania, and the US), and only four countries experiencing biophysical degrowth (Germany, Guyana, Moldova, and Zimbabwe). There are no countries that achieve a true steady-state economy, defined as an economy with a stable level of resource use maintained within ecological limits. However, a few countries come relatively close, including Colombia, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, and South Africa. In general, countries with stable resource use perform better on many social indicators than countries with either increasing or decreasing resource use. This finding runs contrary to conventional economic thought. However, social performance is also higher in countries with greater per capita resource use. Overall, these findings suggest that a steady-state economy can be socially sustainable, but countries need to become much more efficient at transforming natural resources into human well-being if all seven billion people on Earth are to lead a good life within ecological limits.
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•Indicators are developed to show how close countries are to a steady-state economy.•These are used to test the relationship between resource use and social performance.•Social performance is highest in countries with large but stable resource use.•There are no countries that achieve a true steady-state economy.•A steady-state economy can be socially sustainable but resource use must be reduced.
Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity research in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) is limited. We investigated sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity prevalence and sociodemographic, bio-clinical and ...lifestyle factors in LMICs settings. For the purposes of this study, the 10/66 Dementia Research Group follow-up wave information from individuals aged 65 and over in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, was employed and analysed (n = 8.694). Based on indirect population formulas, we calculated body fat percentage (%BF) and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI). Sarcopenia prevalence ranged from 12.4% (Dominican Republic) to 24.6% (rural Peru); sarcopenic obesity prevalence ranged from 3.0% (rural China) to 10.2% (rural Peru). Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for sarcopenia were higher for men 2.82 (2.22-3.57) and those with higher %BF 1.08 (1.07-1.09), whereas higher number of assets was associated with a decreased likelihood 0.93 (0.87-1.00). OR of sarcopenic obesity were higher for men 2.17 (1.70-2.76), those reporting moderate alcohol drinking 1.76 (1.21-2.57), and those with increased number of limiting impairments 1.54 (1.11-2.14). We observed heterogeneity in the prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in the 10/66 settings. We also found a variety of factors to be associated with those. Our results reveal the need for more research among the older population of LMICs.
PurposeTo better understand the emergence of small-scale entrepreneurial firms in the under-researched transition economy of Cuba.Design/methodology/approachGiven the scarcity of reliable publicly ...available information and restrictions on private data collection in Cuba, in-depth interviews were conducted with a panel of small-scale entrepreneurs at three different points in time. Evolutions are analyzed over this period.FindingsFamily can overcome institutional constraints by helping the entrepreneur deal with market and social obstacles. Despite the absence of a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem, these new entrepreneurs and their families have been able to transform longstanding passive attitudes into positive steps to set up new small-scale ventures in a country facing unprecedented internal and external challenges.Originality/valueA new conceptual model of family support for entrepreneurship in transition economies is presented. The findings lend weight to institutional theory on overcoming constraints in emerging markets and extend the theory of family entrepreneurship to new transition economies.
Despite 128 years, the case of Jack the Ripper’s murders is still fascinating and tempting new generations of investigators willing to solve its mystery. However, from practical point of view it ...seems to be more important not to find a real Ripper, but rather take a glimpse into what the investigation looked like and where the mistakes were made. A brief review of the investigation leads to a conclusion that many of the mistakes made over 100 years ago still appear when it comes to an investigative process, such as improper selection of evidence at the crime scene or taking political tendencies under consideration rather than searching for the truth. The case shows that a man is the most important part of the investigation, and modern technology can only suport it, but it will never replace a human intellect and its ability to think in a logic way.
Florida Book Awards, Bronze Medal for General Nonfiction
International Latino Book Awards, First Place, Best History Book (English) "A splendid work of historical craftsmanship. In tone and content ...it offers a generally balanced survey of Cuban history through the end of the seventeenth century and in this regard it promises to offer a very usable introductory text. The writing is accessible and thoughtful, organized around an informative and engaging narrative."-Louis A. Pérez Jr., author ofOn Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture "A commendable and important achievement."-Jason M. Yaremko, author ofIndigenous Passages to Cuba, 1515-1900 Scholarly and popular attention tends to focus heavily on Cuba's recent history: its notoriety as the world's largest exporter of sugar and the Western hemisphere's first socialist nation. Key to the New World fills the gap in our knowledge of the island before 1700, examining Cuba's formative centuries in depth. Luis Martínez-Fernández presents a holistic portrait of the island nation, interrelating its geography, economy, society, politics, and culture. He weaves these threads into a narrative that begins with the first arrival of indigenous people 10,000 years ago. He explores the conquest and establishment of colonial rule and how the island's geographic uniqueness made it an ideal launching pad for Spanish conquests into Central America, Mexico, and Florida. While considering the role of Cuba and the Caribbean as a theater for European power struggles, Martínez-Fernández also focuses intimately on the people who both influenced and were influenced by these larger, impersonal forces. In these often-overlooked centuries, Martínez-Fernández finds the roots of many of Cuba's enduring economic, political, social, and cultural complexities. The result is a sweeping history, a seminal text that makes clear that to fully grasp revolutionary or contemporary Cuba we must first understand what came before.
The global network of scientific collaboration created by researchers opens new opportunities for developing countries to engage in the process of knowledge creation historically lead by institutions ...in the developed world. The results discussed here explore how Cubans working in European science and technology might contribute to extending the scientific collaboration of the country through their ties with Cuban institutions mainly in the academic sector. A bibliometric method was used to explore the pattern of collaboration of Cuban researchers in Europe using the institutional affiliation of authors and collaborators. The records of scientific publications of the defined sample were obtained from
Scopus
database for the period between 1995 and 2014. The network of collaboration was generated using the affiliations of Cuban authors in Europe and co-authors with worldwide affiliations shown in the records of publications of each Cuban researcher of the study. The analysis of aggregate values of the output of Cuban researchers in Europe (1995–2014) reveals that their collaboration with Cuba correlates moderately with their performance in Europe. However, when taking into account their time publishing in Europe, the collaboration with Cuba decreases the longer they remain away from home. The network of collaborating Cuban researchers in Europe comprises 991 different affiliations from 58 countries: 698 from Europe, 118 from North America, 96 from Latin America and 79 from the rest of the world.
K
-core analysis of centrality shows two Cuban universities sharing the central position with another 24 institutions worldwide of which 18 belong to higher education.
The Kuba coalfield in Xinjiang Province is a new block for the development of coalbed methane in China, and in order to explore the resource potential the coal reservoir pore-fracture system ...characteristics need to be researched, and favorable reservoir selection needs to be carried out. To characterize the physical properties and the pore-fracture system of coal 4 sets of experiments and 2 technologies were performed. The results obtained in this study demonstrated that two coal seams in the Kuba coalfield, namely A
5
and A
7
, are more favorable reservoirs compared with the other coal seams based on the perspective of pore-fractures, and these results provide a theoretical basis for coalbed methane development.
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•g-C3N4 nanosheets and TiO2 nanosheets doped with Cu diphenylamine complexes (x-CNS/TNS/CuBA).•Degradation of trans-resveratrol, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus ...aureus.•Degradation mechanism analysis through ESR, EIS and scavenging tests.•Kinetics studies of the degradation reaction.
Graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (CNS) and TiO2 nanosheets (TNS) doped with Cu biphenylamine (CuBA) complexes (x-CNS/TNS/CuBA). x-CNS/TNS/CuBA ternary heterostructures were successfully synthesized and applied to pollutants. The SEM, EDS and TEM images clearly reflect the sheetlike morphology of CNS and TNS, this morphology is also maintained in finally sensitized samples and sensitized overlapped nanosheets are very obvious in ternary heterostructures. The main peaks of CNS and TNS are also appearing in adopted samples CNS/TNS/Cu-Complex, but these peaks were suppressed by the adsorption of CuBA complex. The altered band gap positions, prolonged charge recombination rate, better surface area, enhance photo-electrochemical results strongly recommended the visible light absorption and definite performance of the samples. The photocatalytic degradation of trans-resveratrol, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, evaluations suggested that 1/0.3-CNS/TNS/CuBA is the best heterostructure with better morphology and the low band gap of 2.615 eV. 1/0.3 CNS/TNS/CuBA showed prominent apparent rate constant amongst all pure and modified photocatalysts, for trans-resveratrol the amount of Kapp is 2.49 × 10−2 min−1, the equivalent half-life value is 27.8 min. 1/0.3-CNS/TNS/CuBA was also applied to real lake water for biological species and in 90 min, it cleared all biological species from the lake water and made it highly suitable for aquatic life.
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