bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Norfloxacin and cisapride combination decreases the incidence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhotic ascites
Authors: SANDHU BIMALJIT S , GUPTA RAJESH , SHARMA JAYANT , SINGH JAGDEEP , MURTHY NANDAGUDI S , SARIN SHIV K
Published: April 2005

Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a serious complication of cirrhosis with ascites, having high recurrence despite antibiotic prophylaxis. Small bowel dysmotility and bacterial overgrowth have been documented to be related to SBP. The purpose of the present paper was (i) to study whether addition of a prokinetic agent to norfloxacin ameliorates the development of SBP in high‐risk patients; and (ii) to identify risk factors for SBP development.

Methods: A prospective, single blinded, randomized controlled trial was conducted in high‐risk cirrhotic patients with ascites who had either recovered from an episode of SBP or who had low ascitic fluid protein. Norfloxacin 400 mg once daily (group I) or norfloxacin 400 mg once daily with cisapride 20 mg twice a day (group II) was given and occurrence of side‐effects of therapy and mortality were recorded.

Results: Of the 94 patients, 48 (51%) were in group I, and 46 (49%) in group II. The actuarial probability of developing SBP at 12 month in group I was 56.8% and in group II, 21.7% (P = 0.026). Treatment failure was observed in five patients (10%) in group I and none in group II (P = 0.003). The actuarial probability of death at 18 months was 20.6% in group I and 6.2% in group II (P = 0.1). Low serum albumin, low ascitic fluid protein and alcoholic cirrhosis were related to development of SBP (P < 0.05). Additionally, low serum albumin (2.8 g/dL), gastrointestinal bleeding, alcoholic cirrhosis and low ascitic fluid protein were significantly associated with multiple occurrences of SBP.

Conclusions: Prophylaxis with norfloxacin and cisapride significantly reduces the incidence of SBP in high‐risk cirrhosis patients; low serum albumin, low ascitic fluid protein and alcoholic cirrhosis predispose to the development of SBP in high‐risk cirrhosis patients; and low ascitic fluid protein should also be considered as a risk factor for the development of SBP requiring prophylaxis.
Virological differences between patients infected with subtypes Ba and Bj of hepatitis B virus genotype B
Authors: KOBAYASHI MARIKO , SUZUKI FUMITAKA , AKUTA NORIO , TSUBOTA AKIHITO , IKEDA KENJI , ARASE YASUJI , SUZUKI YOSHIYUKI , SAITOH SATOSHI , KOBAYASHI MASAHIRO , HOSAKA TETSUYA , SOMEYA TAKASHI , MATSUDA MARIE , SATO JUNKO , MIYAKAWA YUZO , KUMADA HIROMITSU
Published: April 2005

Background:  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype B is classified into subtype Ba with the recombination with genotype C in the precore region plus core gene and subtype Bj without recombination. Virological and clinical differences between infections with subtypes Ba and Bj, however, are yet to be determined.

Methods:  During 1976 through 2001, 224 patients visited Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo, Japan who were infected with HBV genotype B. Subtypes of genotype B were determined by sequencing HBV‐DNA recovered from sera for detecting recombination with genotype C.

Results:  Subtype Ba was detected in 53 patients (24%) and Bj in 167 (75%); subtypes were not able to be determined in the remaining four (1%). The only virological difference was that detection of hepatitis B e antigen at the presentation was more frequent in the patients infected with subtype Ba than those with Bj (63% vs 33%, P = 0.016). There were no differences in the distribution of liver disease of various forms between the patients infected with subtypes Ba and Bj at presentation. No differences were noted, either, in the development of liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, or the loss of hepatitis B surface antigen from serum, between the patients infected with subtypes Ba and Bj during follow up of up to 26 years.

Conclusions:  Although there were some virological differences between the patients infected with subtypes Ba and Bj of HBV genotype B, they do not seem to influence the long‐term clinical outcome.
Ranitidine bismuth citrate‐based triple therapies as a second‐line therapy for Helicobacter pylori in Turkish patients
Authors: KÖKSAL AYDIN Ş , PARLAK ERKAN , FILIK LEVENT , YOLCU ÖMER F , ÖDEMIŞ BÜLENT , ÜLKER AYSEL , ŞAŞMAZ NURGÜL , ÖZDEN ALI , ŞAHIN BURHAN
Published: April 2005

Background: Quadruple therapy with a proton pump inhibitor, bismuth, metronidazole and tetracycline is recommended as the optimal second‐line therapy of Helicobacter pylori infection in the Maastricht Consensus Report. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the efficacy of ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC)‐based regimens as second‐line therapies after failure of the standard Maastricht triple therapy.

Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixteen H. pylori‐positive patients were given omeprazole 20 mg b.d., clarithromycin 500 mg b.d., and amoxicillin 1 g b.d for 10 days. Patients remaining H. pylori‐positive (n = 29) were combined with 27 patients enrolled after an initial eradication failure from proton‐pump inhibitor (PPI), amoxicillin and clarithromycin therapy for at least 7 days and were randomly given one of the following second‐line 10‐day treatments: RBC 400 mg b.d., amoxicillin 1 g b.d and clarithromycin 500 mg b.d. (RAC group, n = 28) and RBC 400 mg b.d., metronidazole 500 mg b.d and tetracycline 500 mg b.d. (RMT group, n = 28). Eradication was assessed by either histology and rapid urease test or 13C urea breath test 8 weeks after therapy.

Results: The eradication rate of first‐line Maastricht therapy was 67% for intention‐to‐treat analysis (95% confidence interval [CI]: 58–75). Per‐protocol and intention‐to‐treat eradication was achieved in 60.7% of patients (95%CI: 42–79) in the RAC group and in 85.7% of patients (95%CI: 73–98) in the RMT group (P = 0.03). Fifty‐three percent of patients in the RAC and 50% of patients in the RMT group experienced at least one slight side‐effect (P = 0.6).

Conclusions: RMT is an effective and well‐tolerated second‐line therapy after H. pylori eradication failure from PPI, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin.
New guide wire technique for stent placement through an occluded self‐expandable metal stent: The hairpin technique
Authors: YAMAGUCHI YASUHARU , MOROZUMI KATSUROU , YAMATO TARO , KATSUMI NAOYA , ABE NOBUTSUGU , SUGIYAMA MASANORI , ISHIDA HITOSHI , TAKAHASHI SHIN‐ICHI
Published: April 2005

Background and Aims:  Self‐expandable metal stents (SEMS) for malignant biliary strictures sometimes occlude, requiring the insertion of another stent. When a guide wire is advanced conventionally through the proximal portion of an occluded SEMS, the guide wire sometimes penetrates the stent mesh. The present study reports a new guide wire insertion technique that prevents this problem from occurring.

Methods:  In this new method of advancing a guide wire, the tip is not straight but bent into a curve. Because the advancing end of the guidewire is rounded like a hairpin, it cannot penetrate the stent mesh. Before cannulation, the flexible tip of the guide wire is extended out of the tip of the cannula in the descending duodenum and then cannulation is carried out as the flexible tip makes a hairpin curve. The guide wire with a maintained hairpin curve is advanced through the proximal end of the SEMS. The hairpin curve pops open and the guide wire straightens out when the guide wire has passed through the SEMS. After that, a second stent can be inserted over the guide wire. This technique has been utilized 14 times for occluded SEMS in 10 patients between June 2001 and September 2003.

Results:  In all patients the technique served to ensure access to the biliary tree and successful placement of a second stent.

Conclusions:  This new hairpin guide wire technique was effective in preventing the guide wire from penetrating the stent mesh and, therefore contributed to successful stent placement within occluded SEMS.
Budd–Chiari‐like presentation of hepatic adenoma
Authors: SOBHONSLIDSUK ABHASNEE , JEFFERS LENNOX J , ACOSTA RITA C , MADARIAGA JUAN R , BEJARANO PABLO A , GUERRA JORGE J , TZAKIS ANDREAS G , SCHIFF EUGENE R
Published: April 2005

Abstract  Hepatic adenoma is a benign tumor characterized by its hypervascularity. Hepatic adenoma tends to occur more frequently in women and is related to the use of contraceptive hormones, androgenic/anabolic steroids, pregnancy, glycogen storage diseases and hemochromatosis. Hepatic venous obstruction, or Budd–Chiari syndrome, is a condition of hepatic vein occlusion that has many causes. A 35‐year‐old woman presented shortly after pregnancy with a huge cystic lesion in the liver. The lesion compressed the hepatic vein and created an early stage of Budd–Chiari syndrome. Tumor resection was carried out successfully. The final diagnosis of this case was multiple hepatic adenomas.
Primary carcinoid tumor of the testis with teratoma metastatic to the para‐aortic lymph node
Authors: FUJITA KAZUHIKO , WADA RYO , SAKURAI TOHRU , SASHIDE KAZUHIKO , FUJIME MAKOTO
Published: April 2005

Abstract  A primary testicular carcinoid tumor with teratoma metastasized to the para‐aortic lymph node. After inguinal orchiectomy, serum and urinary levels of 5‐hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5‐HIAA) were found to be elevated. Chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, etoposide and bleomycin was not effective on the metastatic lesions. Retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy normalized the levels of 5‐HIAA. The patient is alive without recurrence 25 months after the retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy.
Diazoxide‐mediated insulin suppression in obese men: a dose‐response study*
Authors: Schreuder T. , Karreman M. , Rennings A. , Ruinemans‐Koerts J. , Jansen M. , De Boer H.
Published: April 2005

Background:  It has been suggested that diazoxide (DZX)‐mediated insulin suppression may be useful to promote weight loss in obese subjects.

Aim:  To assess the DZX‐dose range that is safe to use in obese hyperinsulinaemic men.

Methods:  Assessment of DZX efficacy and safety was based on plasma glucose and insulin responses to a standardized 500‐kcal breakfast, taken on the sixth day of treatment. Basic information regarding the potential efficacy of DZX treatment was first evaluated in an open‐label study in five non‐obese men. Subsequently, a double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled study was performed in 12 obese but otherwise healthy men, comparing placebo treatment with DZX in doses of 50, 75 and 100 mg three times daily for 6 days.

Results:  In non‐obese subjects, DZX 50 mg decreased peak insulin levels by ±28% and raised peak glucose concentration from 7.1 ± 0.6 to 7.8 ± 0.6 mmol/l (p < 0.05). DZX 100 mg reduced peak insulin levels by 45% and caused a rise in peak glucose levels from 7.1 ± 0.6 to 9.0 ± 0.9 mmol/l (p < 0.05). In obese men, the 50 and 75 mg doses had no significant effects on glucose or insulin levels. DZX 100 mg reduced the peak insulin levels and insulin area under the curve by ±20% (p < 0.05) but did not affect fasting or postprandial glucose levels. The relatively limited insulin‐suppressive effects in obese subjects were attributed to the low plasma DZX levels that were achieved in this group. For comparable doses, plasma DZX levels were about 30% lower in obese than in non‐obese men. Plasma DZX levels were highly dependent on dose (p < 0.001) and body weight (p < 0.001). Ninety‐two percent of the total variability in DZX levels was explained by these two parameters.

Conclusion:  DZX‐mediated insulin suppression is dose dependent in normal and in obese men. However, the efficacy of DZX is much less in obese than in non‐obese subjects. This is attributed to weight‐dependent differences in distribution volume that lead to markedly lower plasma DZX levels in obese subjects. Weight‐adjusted doses will be needed to achieve biologically effective plasma DZX levels. Extrapolation of the data suggests that effective insulin suppression in obese men will at least require a daily dose of 3.2–4.2 mg/kg.
We Can Still Learn About Probability by Rolling Dice and Tossing Coins
Authors: Dunn Peter K.
Published: April 2005

Rolling dice and tossing coins can still be used to teach probability even if students know (or think they know) what happens in these experiments. This article considers many simple variations of these experiments which are interesting, potentially enjoyable and challenging. Using these variations can cause students (and teachers) to think again about the statistical issues involved – and learn in the process.
An Upper Bound on Standard Deviation as a Function of Range
Authors: Petocz Peter
Published: April 2005

This article disproves a conjecture that the ratio of the maximum standard deviation to the range of a set of data decreases as the number of data points increases. It also provides an alternative and more general approach for examining the standard deviation as a function of the range.
Using Microsoft Office to Generate Individualized Tasks for Students
Authors: Hunt Neville
Published: April 2005

This article describes how the mail merge facility within Microsoft Word can be used in conjunction with Microsoft Excel to generate personalized assignments for students at all levels.
Mean and Variance through Factorial Moments
Authors: Broca D. S.
Published: April 2005

This article shows how the use of factorial moments provides a simple, consistent yet elegant approach to finding the mean and variance of standard discrete probability distributions.
Transgenic studies in rats and mice on the osmotic regulation of vasopressin gene expression
Authors: Murphy David , Xu Jing , Waller Sarah
Published: April 2005

Over the past 10–15 years, profoundly important transgenic techniques have been developed that enable new genes to be introduced into whole mammalian organisms. This review describes the ways in which transgenic animals, both rats and mice, have been used to study the mechanisms by which the expression of the vasopressin gene is confined to specific neurones in the hypothalamus, and how the pattern of that expression is altered following an osmotic challenge to the organism.
Consumer motivations and concerns in online auctions: an exploratory study
Authors: Cameron Dylan D. , Galloway Alison
Published: April 2005

This investigates the reasons behind the dramatic growth of Internet auction companies such as eBay, exploring into why so many consumers have been motivated to turn to online auctions to purchase and sell goods. It is found that the ability to purchase items at lower prices than from retail stores is the primary motivation, along with having access to previously unobtainable items. Concerns mainly relate to potential fraudulent transactions, although the negative feedback system is found to be vital in the reduction of fears over fraud. Interaction with other auction users is found to be important for practical reasons such as information seeking, rather than for enjoyment. The main conclusion is that the benefits of using Internet auctions far outweigh the risks involved.
Modernity and the Politics of Identity in an Amazonian Society
Authors: RIVAL LAURA
Published: April 2005

Abstract— Recent work in the anthropology of practice shows that cultural transmission is a complex and active process rooted in everyday activity. It follows that cultural continuity depends more on understanding in practice than on the internalisation of collective representations. These insights are used to examine critically the provision of state bilingual education to the Huaorani, a small group of Amazonian hunter‐gatherers. It is generally hoped that bilingual programmes for indigenous minorities will protect their linguistic and cultural rights. However, by neglecting ‘culture in practice’ and reducing culture to language, these programmes foster the emergence of a discursive identity at odds with the cultural continuity of nomadic and egalitarian indigenous groups. This case study is used to discuss some recent analyses of the politics of cultural identity and difference. It is argued that current thinking fails to recognise that culture is acquired and transmitted within communities of practice. 01997 Society for Latin American Studies.
Making Space: Social Change, Identity and the Creation of Boundaries in the Central Ecuadorian Andes
Authors: BOURQUE L. NICOLE
Published: April 2005

Abstract— In rural Latin America, communities and their boundaries are changing due to government intervention, immigration, temporary migration and changing patterns of consumption. This article investigates the conflicts that arise from these changes and the impact they have on the creation of boundaries in a peasant community in the Ecuadorian Andes. It also discusses how the creation of community and household boundaries are linked to ethnic identification during rituals and daily life.
Cocoa, Finance and the State in Ecuador, 1895–1925
Authors: HENDERSON PAUL
Published: April 2005

Abstract— In 1895 liberal forces, dedicated to the modernisation of their country's economic, social and political structures, came to power in Ecuador. The transformation was to be brought about on the basis of income from the profitable cocoa trade. Closely linked to the agro‐mercantile élite of Guayaquil, the liberals embarked upon an ambitious programme of reform. By the early 1920s, however, their hopes had been shattered by the decline of the cocoa trade and the impact of the First World War. Heavily indebted to Guayaquil banks and facing mounting domestic opposition, the liberals were overthrown by the military in July 1925.
Trade Liberalisation in Latin America: the Bolivian Case1
Authors: JENKINS RHYS
Published: April 2005

Abstract— Bolivia adopted a drastic trade liberalisation in 1985 as part of its neo‐ liberal New Economic Policy. The paper discusses the theoretical arguments which underlie such a policy and the main neo‐structuralist criticisms. It then looks at the effects of liberalisation on resource allocation, productivity growth and export performance. It concludes that the results have been disappointing which gives rise to some scepticism concerning the advantages of a wholesale policy of trade liberalisation in a low income country such as Bolivia.
Institutional Design, Military Rule, and Regime Transition in Argentina (1976–1983): an Extension of the Remmer Thesis1
Authors: Arceneaux C. L.
Published: April 2005

Abstract— In this essay, I argue that institutions in military regimes have a significant impact not only on regime durability, but also on the level of control the military is likely to exert when it withdraws from rule. Borrowing from a typology of military regimes developed by Karen Remmer, I note how the feudal regime engenders a level of investment that drives it to remain in office despite the inability of this institutional arrangement to contain politicisation in the armed forces. The obstinacy of the feudal regime thus inevitably leads it toward collapse. The argument is tested with a detailed case study of the Proceso regime in Argentina.
Back to Basics Mexican Style: Radical Catholicism and Survival on the Margins1
Authors: GUZMÁN ELSA , MARTIN CHRISTOPHER
Published: April 2005

Abstract— The significance of radical Catholic movements among the urban poor in Latin American cities has been the subject of much debate over recent years, though Mexican cases have received less attention. This paper argues that their practical, material objectives cannot be understood in isolation from the holistic religious and moral community in which participants project for themselves. It is also argued that the social justice sought within the base communities is as much a product of a long, if varied, radical, Christian tradition as it is of the particular circumstances of political and economic marginalisation in contemporary Mexican cities.
Motherhood and Extradomestic Work in Urban Mexico
Authors: GARCíA BRíGIDA , DE OLIVEIRA ORLANDINA
Published: April 2005

Abstract— This article analyses the meanings attributed by Mexican women of different social classes to motherhood and extradomestic work, as well as life experiences of family planning and child care. Information for the study was provided by 79 in‐depth interviews with women who were either married or living with a partner who contributed regularly to the family income. The findings suggest that cultural norms regarding motherhood change far more slowly in urban Mexico than child‐rearing or fertility control practices. Many women from different social classes still consider motherhood as their main source of identity and only a very educated and privileged group speaks with ambivalence regarding their mother's role. In contrast, more women are ready to accept child‐care substitutes, especially if they find satisfaction in extradomestic activities, or carry them out because of personal or family necessities. Finally, the analysis points out that most urban women in Mexico, particularly the younger and more educated cohorts, are very much aware of the costs involved in children's education and rearing, and have acted accordingly, using contraceptives and limiting their family sizes. 0 1997 Society for Latin American Studies
Agrarian Change and the Democratic Transition in Chile: an Introduction
Authors: GWYNNE ROBERT N. , KAY CRISTÓBAL
Published: April 2005

Abstract
—
The aim of this overview article is to sketch out the broad path of agrarian transformation in Chile since 1973 in order to better contextualise agrarian change and the democratic transition in Chile, the main theme that links the papers in this Special Issue. The legacy of the military government's neoliberal policies on the agricultural sector is analysed before the key themes of agrarian policy during the democratic transition are introduced. The themes of productive transformation and greater equity are focused upon and the articles in this volume put into this context.
Globalisation, Peasant Agriculture and Reconversion
Authors: KAY CRISTÓBAL
Published: April 2005

Abstract
—
The agrarian issue in Chile is largely defined by the problematic impact, particularly on the peasantry, of the country's continuing integration into the world market. This paper focuses on the shift from a market‐led to a state‐mediated process of ‘reconversion’ of agriculture's pattern of production and land use. Although the ‘Concertación’ governments have designed specific and novel policies aimed at enhancing the productive and transformative capacity of peasant farmers these have not yet been able to reduce the widening technological and economic disparity between capitalist and peasant farming. Thus the future of the peasant economy is far from being assured in an increasingly globalised and competitive environment.
Competitive Global Fruit Export Markets: Marketing Intermediaries and Impacts on Small‐Scale Growers in Chile
Authors: MURRAY WARWICK E.
Published: April 2005

Abstract
—
This paper explores the implications of increased competition in global fruit markets for the Chilean small‐grower sector. Stagnation in the growth trajectory of such exports has precipitated significant changes in the structure and strategy of the private fruit export company sector. It is proposed that this restructuring discriminates against small growers, whose position within the market has become increasingly vulnerable. To support this idea, evidence obtained from a field study of small‐scale grape growers operating in the locality of El Palqui, Region IV is presented. It is argued that increased vulnerability is not simply a function of the inefficiency of diminutive scale per se. Rather, the nature of economic power relations, which tilt heavily in the favour of export companies, form an important explanatory factor in the increasing rate of failure among the fruit growing parceleros. It is argued that the implications of the failure among small growers who have already ‘reconverted’ is of particular importance. It is proposed that steps re‐dress structural imbalances in the market could precipitate productive gains, increase the potential success of small growers attempting to ‘reconvert’ to fruit production and improve rural equity. If applied to the small scale fruit sector as a whole such moves could help sustain Chile's fruit export sector — an objective which can be seen as crucial to Chile's economic well‐being. In this way the argument of free‐market purists — that rural economic differentiation which has taken place to date is inevitable and desirable — is challenged.
Poverty Among Small Farmers Under Frei and Pinochet, 1968–1986
Authors: SCOTT C. D.
Published: April 2005

Abstract
—
This paper draws on the results of a nation‐wide panel study of small farm households interviewed in 1968 and 1986 to complement accounts of Chile's economic performance under the governments of President Frei (1964–1970) and General Pinochet (1973–1989). It is shown that in contrast to macroeconomic trends of increased inequality and impoverishment after 1973, the incidence of poverty in the sample declined slightly but significantly over the period. The result is robust both to the choice of poverty index and poverty line. It is all the more striking because the sample represented the poorest group in Chile during the 1960s. Nevertheless, the incidence of poverty in the sample remained extremely high. In 1967–1968, more than three‐quarters of households could not meet their basic needs, while in 1985–1986 this proportion reached nearly two thirds. The fall in poverty may be attributed to a combination of increased coverage of the rural areas by targeted welfare programmes and the effects of the life cycle in increasing the proportion of panel household members eligible for, and dependent on public transfers between 1968 and 1986.
The Hidden Ingredient: Female Labour in Chilean Fruit Exports
Authors: BARRIENTOS STEPHANIE
Published: April 2005

Abstract
—
The Chilean fruit export sector has expanded rapidly over the past decade. A large army of female temporary workers is recruited annually to work in the fruit export sector, playing a key role in the preparation of high quality off‐season fruit for northern markets. Despite their annual employment in a modern export sector, these temporary workers remain a marginalised force in Chile, reflected in the significant underestimation of the female agricultural labour force. This paper examines the reasons for their marginalisation. the gender segmentation of the temporary fruit labour market, and considers the potential effect of increased international competition on the employment of female temporary labour.
Temporeras and Household Relations: Seasonal Employment in Chile's Agro‐Export Sector
Authors: BEE ANNA , VOGEL ISABEL
Published: April 2005

Abstract
—
This paper considers how the growth in non‐traditional fruit and vegetable exports has affected female employment patterns and the consequences this may have for household and gender relations. Within export agriculture, there has emerged a demand for specifically female labour, providing rural women with employment opportunities that had not previously existed. The majority of the female workers have only seasonal work and this has led to their designation as temporeras. Through a variety of interview material drawn from the experiences of women living and working in Region IV and VI, the paper seeks to reveal the complexities involved in attempting to conceptualise women's involvement in this emergent labour market. The composition of the household and the level of household income are important factors in determining women's labour force participation. The case studies appear to show that in spite of the hard work and unprotected conditions, working as a temporera is a desirable employment for women. The paper argues that the sweeping changes in the agricultural sector, in which women had previously been marginalised as‘unpaid family labour’, have created opportunities for them to rework household relations.
Gender and the State in Rural Chile
Authors: MATEAR ANN
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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This paper focuses on SERNAM, the state institution responsible for the incorporation of gender into public policy in Chile, and the actions taken by the state to benefit women employed in the modern agricultural sector. It charts the emergence of the demands for such an institution by the women's movement, and the creation of SERNAM as an integral part of the transition to democracy. In particular, the paper analyses the Programme for the Children of the Temporeras, which is a unique state‐led initiative to provide childcare facilities to enable women to enter the seasonal labour market during the summer months. The paper explores the complex relations between gender, the state, capitalist agriculture and patriarchal structures, with the aim of highlighting the sometimes unexpected convergence of interests, and the points of conflict.
The Changing Role of NGOs in Rural Chile After Democracy
Authors: LAMBROU YIANNA
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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The article examines how NGOs in rural Chile operated during the dictatorship and how their role changed after the return of democracy. An NGO (OPDECH) in Southern Chile is used as a case study. During the Pinochet regime, NGOs maintained a critical distance from the government by creating a niche for opposition researchers and activists. They provided a possibility of economic survival for professionals whilst working on alternative proposals to address the socio‐economic needs of the poor majority. External funding from international agencies provided much needed resources but created as well a culture of reliance and a clientelistic middle class of professionals. The NGO in Southern Chile became a nucleus of resistance and expertise on regional development by safekeeping democratic tradition and providing a range of solutions to local development problems. After the restoration of democratic government many professionals joined the government. NGOs exchanged their altruism for a more pragmatic, opportunistic and, in some cases, more efficient role as executors of government programmes. The case study in Southern Chile illustrates this trajectory well. After municipal elections a collaborative role with local government was sought by OPDECH that aimed to implement local initiatives as well as advise local and regional governments on environmental and developmental issues. Given the NGOs historical commitment to grassroots development, it remains to be seen what role they can play in supporting local government while forging a new role for themselves in a democratic context.
Gabriel Barrios Cabrera: The anti‐agrarian friend of the Campesino1
Authors: BREWSTER KEITH
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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This article considers the cacicazgo of Gabriel Barrios Cabrera in the Sierra de Puebla, Mexico during the 1920s. It analyses the ways in which he introduced social and economic development, and clarifies the apparent contradiction in his hostile response to agrarismo yet benevolence towards the region's campesinos. A picture emerges of a regional leader whose own philosophy and actions were fashioned by distinctly local views on land, autonomy and patronage. As such, his style of leadership defies neat categorisation and suggests that rural leaders could not help but reflect the characteristics and interests of the region in which they operated.
What Indians say aboutMestizos: A critical view of a cultural archetype of Mexican nationalism
Authors: GUTIÉRREZ NATIVIDAD
Published: April 2005

Abstract —This article seeks to analyse the views held by indigenous people of one of the main symbols of national identity in Mexico: themestizo.While great importance has been attached to the archetype of themestizo, the opinions of indian peoples with regard to its appropriateness as a formula for integration have not been explored. The views collected and analysed in this article were provided by members of ethnic groups who have received a modern education. The article seeks to explore these responses in the context of the different theoretical approaches of modernisation and ethnicity as components in the contruction of nationhood.
The politics of social service provision through NGOs: A study of Latin America
Authors: GIDEON JASMINE
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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This article looks at the role of NGOs in social service delivery in Latin America and questions some of the assumptions which are often made about their abilities. Following the implementation of the neo‐liberal model, increased conditionality has been placed on economic assistance. This has created a new role for NGOs, whereby they are harnessed by states in order to secure effective implementation of reform packages. In the process many NGOs and their own agendas become distorted. The paper discusses the political implications of this new role for NGOs and goes on to conclude that, given the nature of the democratisation process in Latin America, and the accompanying economic model, expectations regarding NGO potential for grassroots empowerment have been over‐optimistic.
Between ‘traditional’ and ‘new’ Catholic church religious discourses in urban, Western Mexico
Authors: NAPOLITANO VALENTINA
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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This paper analyses processes of belonging, identity formation and construction of knowledge within and between ‘new’ and ‘traditional’ Catholic groups in a low‐income neighbourhood of Guadalajara. It argues that these two expressions of the Church carry through distinctive ‘progressive’ and ‘conservative’ messages in matter of engagement with, and empowerment in social reality, notions of personal responsibility, relation to non‐human agents and embodiment of experience. However, those groups are not internally homogeneous and to a certain extent the ‘new’ Church–the CEBs–is similar to the ‘traditional’ Church in terms of subtle hierarchical control of production, transmission and withholding of knowledge.
From Machine Politics to the Politics of Technocracy: Charting Changes in Governance in the Mexican Municipality1
Authors: WARD PETER M.
Published: April 2005

Abstract
—
A typology comprising technocratic rationality versus political partisanship helps to identify several local government structures found in contemporary Mexico: political machines; autonomous‐indigenous; technocratic; and modernising party governments. Case study research in over a dozen municipalities for three principal parties suggest a trend towards increasing technocratic and more administratively efficient municipal government and changing patterns of partisanship. This arises from new pressures associated with electoral opening, political alternation, new government actors, growing urban development complexity, and from federal reforms offering greater local government autonomy. However, while improved administration and technocratic governance often leads to positive outcomes, they do not necessarily imply ‘good government’.
Governmental Mismanagement and Symbolic Violence: Discourses on Corruption in the Yucatán of the 1990s1
Authors: HANSEN HANS KRAUSE
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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Departing from a conceptualisation of corruption as a form of symbolic violence, this article analyses the character and impact of the discourses about corruption which were produced in Yucatán in the beginning of the 1990s. The discourses produced by official and oppositional forces are scrutinised against the background of the federal government's neoliberal policies and the sociopolitical situation in the region during 1992 and 1993. The analysis gives some insights into the character of Mexican's and Yucatecan's experiences with corruption in their own setting. It explores some of the conflictual processes involved when social forces turn this form of symbolic violence into the object of moral critique in public discourses, drawing in this way also attention to how the state is imagined by those who exercise state power and those who are subject to it.
Resource Base of Peasants in the Brazilian Amazon: Planning Solutions for Current Problems of Sustainability
Authors: EVE EVALDICE , EVE CHRISTOPHER
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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This is the second paper of a series following a study carried out in the Brazilian Amazon region of peasant livelihoods, their current character and problems of sustainability. It analyses how different people might be affected by environmental degradation in the region by looking at their social and economic activities, the degree of dependency on wild resources, land ownership and the social relations underpinning the structure of the labour force. The study covers three districts within the ecological system of terra firme. Extractivist activities generate income and contribute considerably to food supplies throughout the year. Access to these resources is not generally tied to ownership. Environmental degradation may reduce the future availability of resources or, alternatively, attack health directly. Peasants exposure to these risks is assessed and the long‐term sustainability of their livelihoods examined. Possible planning solutions to problems are presented and the more recent debate on the creation of conservation units (SNUC) in Brazil is discussed.
Silent Racism and Intellectual Superiority in Peru
Authors: DE LA CADENA MARISOL
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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Historically, racism as it is understood in South Africa or in parts of the Southern United States has not existed in Peru. The absence or at least the existence to a lesser degree of this type of tension grants us a superiority over our northern neighbours. In Peru, emancipation of slaves was relatively easy. This is not to say that there do not exist prejudices against Indians, cholos, and blacks, however these prejudices have not been sanctioned by the law and they have, more than a profound racial feeling, an economic, social and cultural character. Colour does not prevent an aborigine, mestizo, or Negroid from occupying high positions if they can accumulate wealth or achieve political success. Notwithstanding these fortunate cases, there is an enormous distance between the pongos [serfs] of a highland hacienda … and those highly cultured and refined Limeños, who routinely travel to Europe. This distance is neither racial, nor based on place of origin, rather it corresponds to what can be termed an historical state of things (Jorge Basadre, 1964:4686).
Down to Earth: Race and Substance in the Andes
Authors: ORLOVE BENJAMIN S.
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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The racial identities of Indians and mestizos in a highland Peruvian region are closely associated with their relative positions to the earth. The agricultural Indians are closer to the earth and the town‐dwelling mestizos are further from it. This distinction is maintained and reinforced through the use of material objects in everyday life, especially earthen objects (adobe bricks, clay pots, dirt roads) and to earth‐touching objects (shoes, floors). This distinction accords with the relativity and fluidity of racial identities of individuals. The origins of this notion are traced to political and religious ideology in colonial and post‐colonial Peru.
The Inscription of Masculinity and Whiteness in the Autobiography of Mario Vargas Llosa
Authors: Ellis Robert Richmond
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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This essay examines the interconnectedness of whiteness and heterosexual masculinity in the autobiography of Mario Vargas Llosa, EI pez en el agua [A Fish in the Water]. In this text Vargas Llosa critiques Peruvian racism and machismo, and in his self‐portrait attempts to distance himself from the categories of whiteness and masculinity. But in so doing he in fact obscures the workings of race and gender not only in Peruvian society but in his own writing, where the self is implicitly asserted in opposition to an image of nature as the realm of the indigenous and the feminine.
The Emerging Literature of the Peruvian Educated Underclass
Authors: VILANOVA NÚRIA
Published: April 2005

This article attempts to explore the relationship between social change and literature in present‐day Peru. It argues that the emergence of new fiction‐writers and poets from large social sectors historically marginalised from Peruvian public life is part of a dramatic process of social change by which these sectors are gaining an important role in the transformation of their society. The article concludes that the work of these new writers reflects their search for a distinctive independent expression which mirrors their origins and their attitude towards their surrounding world.
Land conflict and Mayangna territorial rights in Nicaragua's Bosawás reserve
Authors: HOWARD SARAH M.
Published: April 2005

Abstract— This paper examines conflicts over land and resources in Nicaragua's Bosawás rainforest reserve between Mestizos and Mayangna Indian people. Mestizos are people of mixed Indian and European descent who speak Spanish and do not consider themselves to be Indians. Bosawás is one of the last refuges of the Mayangna indigenous group and is also the largest area of protected tropical rainforest in Central America. The Mayangna village of Sikilta, in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, is used to illustrate the nature of land conflicts in the region. Such conflicts–between economic development and conservation, between livelihoods and conservation, and between peasant livelihoods and indigenous territorial rights–are symptomatic of rainforest areas in other parts of the world. Land conflicts in Bosawás are examined within the broader economic, political and institutional context. Potential solutions to land conflict in Sikilta are explored. The paper illustrates the complexities surrounding the demarcation and upholding of indigenous land rights. It highlights the institutional complexities and weaknesses which have allowed Sikilta's land problem to go unresolved. It is argued that until national problems of unequal access to land and unsustainable forms of forest use are addressed, communities like Sikilta will continue to suffer invasion of their land.
Soya, culture and international food aid: The case of a Nicaraguan communal kitchen
Authors: LINKOGLE STEPHANIE
Published: April 2005

Abstract— This article examines changing institutional and grass roots strategies in response to hunger and malnutrition in Nicaragua during the period of revolutionary government and the years subsequent to the Sandinistas' 1990 electoral loss. The 1990 change in government put an end to any cohesive national food policy and initiated significant reversals of the land reform programme. In this context of a move away from state support and in an ever‐worsening economic situation, grassroots organisations at both the local and national level sought to take over these ‘privatised’ functions. The article will examine a particular grassroots project, the San Rafael communal kitchen, in the context of the national and global factors which shape hunger and attempts to remedy it.
Churches, Sects and Communities: Social Cohesion Recovered?1
Authors: BOT YVON LE
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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Should the upsurge of Protestantism be seen as a community movement with a religious dimension, or as the expression of sectarian, inward‐looking behaviour? Does it wipe out Indian specificity or does it rather help to rebuild community and identity? Does it strengthen citizenship or is it the bearer of an obscurantist authoritarianism? In the light of these questions, three waves of Protestant expansion are described in relation to missionary activity from the North. The relationship between Protestantism and modernity both at the level of the larger society and at the level of the local community are explored.
Evangelical Protestantism and Indigenous Populations1
Authors: GROS CHRISTIAN
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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The response of the Indian population to Protestant proselytism is neither passive nor impotent, and far from playing a destructive or reactionary role, Protestantism provides an unsuspected combination of identity markers and modernity, thus occupying a space left open by Catholicism.
Has Basismo Disappeared?1
Authors: D'ARC HÉLÈNE RIVIÈRE
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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In Brazil basismo has evolved from a libertarian discourse encouraged by the Church to a more institutionalised activity centred on local and international NGOs, with their increasingly managerial priorities.
From Utopia to Pragmatism: the Heritage of Basismo in Local Government in the Greater Buenos Aires Region1
Authors: SCHAPIRA MARIE‐FRANCE PRÉVÕ
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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Contemporary municipal politics and administration in the poor outer suburbs of Buenos Aires is heavily influenced on one hand by the heritage of grassroots Peronist activism of the 1970s and on the other by the exigencies of contemporary neo‐liberalism. The paper explores the tensions between these pressures.
At Boiling Point: Like Water for Chocolate and the Boundaries of Mexican Identity
Authors: FINNEGAN N.
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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This article explores the mechanisms of Mexican identity as they are constructed in Alfonso Arau's film Como agua para chocolate (1991) (Like Water for Chocolate). In re‐designing the characters of Laura Esquivel's novel, Arau produces a range of filmic stereotypes drawn from both the Hollywood and the Mexican traditions of film‐making. Through the careful manipulation of filmic devices such as editing, framing and close‐ups, many of the features of Mexican otherness perpetuated by Hollywood throughout the twentieth century are inscribed. I apply the metaphor of boiling, derived from the film's title, to examine certain key concepts of cinematic ‘mexicanness’ including the tropes of ‘revolution’, ‘border’, ‘race’ and ‘sex’. Crucial to this argument is a consideration of the contemporary political climate in which Like Water for Chocolate was both produced and released. In Mexico, it was released halfway through the sexenio (six‐year period of rule) of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's rule and is clearly one of the most succesful cultural products (and exports) of his government's now infamous rule. In the United States, the climate of anti‐immigrant attitudes in 1992 and 1993 and the corresponding political tension provokes new readings of certain stereotypical images of Mexicans and mexicanness. It is the tension that is produced by the collision between these two contexts — cultural, political and ethnic — that forms the principal focus of discussion in this article.
Protecting Human Rights: The Legitimacy of Judicial System Reforms in EL Salvador
Authors: JACKSON D. W. , DODSON J. M. , O'SHAUGHNESSY L. NUZZI
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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Research on democratic transitions in Latin America often ignore the importance of judicial systems — and related institutions — in achieving ‘liberal democracy’ and effectively safeguarding human rights, as contrasted with the restoration of ‘electoral democracy.’ This proves especially problematic in the instances of the former military‐dominated authoritarian regimes of Central America. This article examines the efforts at judicial system and related reforms in EL Salvador since the 1992 Peace Accords, and relates those reforms to popular perceptions, both of previous institutions and of the institutional reforms and new institutions that have been created as part of the peace‐making process. The reported survey research results suggest that the reforms on which liberal democracy in El Salvador depends, while generally viewed positively in the abstract, still rest on shaky foundations.
Jail‐house Rock: Cuba, AIDS, and the Incorporation of Dissent in Bengt Norborg's Socialism or Death
Authors: PROUT RYAN
Published: April 2005

Abstract
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The demerits and merits of Cuba's quarantine facilities for AIDS patients and seropositives have been widely debated. This article expands the debate by referring to the phenomenon of HIV self‐injection in Cuba, as documented in the 1995 film, Socialism or Death. There is an assessment of the economic, medical, and educational context which informed the events depicted by the film. HIV self‐injection is discussed alongside reference to the development in Cuba of a counter‐cultural youth movement based around a common interest in rock music. The testimony of self‐injected patients and their families, and the reactions of Cuban medical officials are summarised. Comparisons are made between Cuban policy and radical queer theory.