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Analysing data from educational tests allows governments to make decisions for improving the quality of life of individuals in a society. One of the key responsibilities of statisticians is to develop models that provide decision‐makers with pertinent information about the latent process that educational tests seek to represent. Mixtures of t$$ t $$ factor analysers (MtFA) have emerged as a powerful device for model‐based clustering and classification of high‐dimensional data containing one or several groups of observations with fatter tails or anomalous outliers. This paper considers an extension of MtFA for robust clustering of censored data, referred to as the MtFAC model, by incorporating external covariates. The enhanced flexibility of including covariates in MtFAC enables cluster‐specific multivariate regression analysis of dependent variables with censored responses arising from upper and/or lower detection limits of experimental equipment. An alternating expectation conditional maximization (AECM) algorithm is developed for maximum likelihood estimation of the proposed model. Two simulation experiments are conducted to examine the effectiveness of the techniques presented. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is applied to Peruvian data from the 2007 Early Grade Reading Assessment, and the results obtained from the analysis provide new insights regarding the reading skills of Peruvian students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replacement Style Mineralizations. The paper presents occurrence and chemistry of ore and gangue minerals, results of fluid inclusion microthermometry and sulfur isotopes, and discussed the evolution of mineralizing fluids. The polymetallic mineralization was divided into two stages; the early Cu-Zn-(Pb) and late Cu-Zn-Pb-(Mn) mineralization stages, which are associated with a granodioritic porphyry stock and quartz porphyry sills, respectively. [Extracted from the article]

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is the intentional intervention in the forest landscape to recover biological diversity and ecosystem functions, improving human well‐being in altered landscapes. The general objective of the present study was to understand the state of the art of research that potentially contributes to FLR practices in the Amazon. We carried out a comprehensive literature review using the Web of Science platform, considering papers published between 2000 and 2020 to understand the state of knowledge on restoration strategies that support FLR in the nine Amazonian countries and the nine states of the Brazilian Amazon. We selected 362 articles that met our inclusion criteria after analyzing 1,205 articles. We found that Brazil, followed by Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, has the largest number of published articles on FLR. Agroforestry (37.88%) and natural regeneration (30.35%) were the most common FLR strategies across all countries and Brazilian states. Most studies investigated ecological functioning (33%), vegetation structure (31%), and tree diversity (15.5%). Forest restoration strategies (forest plantation, natural regeneration, or silviculture) are reported in most studies (57.23%), in comparison to restoration strategies of agricultural lands (agroforestry systems or improved fallow; 42.77%). We found an increase in publications describing restoration strategies over time in the Amazon, especially from 2012 onwards, with a peak in 2018. Future studies in the Amazon region should address socioeconomic issues and expand the geographic scope within the Amazon, as well as the FLR strategies and the ecosystem attributes investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing choreography of extractive industries asks for a deeper appraisal about the processes and scales underpinning resource extraction. This paper unpacks how the assembly between natural gas production networks, extractivist states and local politics is anchored in resource peripheries in Peru and Bolivia through contingent schemes of value distribution. From a critical production network approach, the paper examines the transformation of resource peripheries through the transfer of natural gas rents to sub‐national governments and, more specifically, through investments in public infrastructure. Such investments embed natural gas production networks to local politics through three processes: providing an image of modernisation and progress; coopting local elites through corruption; and mobilising local labour. In conclusion, the articulation between production networks and extractivist states involves an entangled scheme of rent distribution that flows at very local levels and consolidates multi‐scalar arrangements for resource extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New World households engaged in multiple forms of exchange: markets, redistribution, gifting, debt, reciprocity, and more. Determining the degree of prominence of each of these forms in ancient economies gives clues to the economic basis of leadership and the daily lives of households. A major method for inferring forms of exchange from household assemblages is Hirth's distributional approach. This paper applies the distributional approach to domestic inventories in two places where markets are unlikely: the Preclassic Maya in and around Ucí, Yucatan, Mexico; and Inka‐period settlements in the Upper Mantaro Valley, Peru. The data presented in this paper show an equitable distribution of fancy pottery among households of both high and low socio‐economic status in both areas. These somewhat unanticipated results could provoke several interpretations. At one extreme we could posit an important role for market exchange. At the other extreme, we could reject the logic of the distributional approach. This paper argues for a more circumspect track that uses additional lines of evidence to make inferences about incipient market exchange coincident with the rise of centralized leadership in the Maya area and poorly documented, possibly concealed market exchange nestled within Inka command economies. [Preclassic Maya, Inka economies, market exchange, households] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A by‐product of energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF)‐analysis consists of using the ratios of selected X‐ray peaks to determine the thickness of multilayered objects. Three different methods were developed in the past, all because the two main K or L X‐lines from an EDXRF spectrum emitted by a chemical element have a distinct energy and are differently attenuated by an overlying layer. This specific subject has many papers dedicated, but only a few considerations were devoted to the limits of these methods, that is, the range, for example, of gold thickness that can be usefully determined by each method. This paper defines these limits in the specific case of thin gilding (with d < 1 μm). Three typical situations were considered, and the following artefacts were studied: two artefacts on gilded lead, where the gold leaf is superimposed to a white lead pigment, both in the painting "La Fornarina" of Raphael, dated 1520 AD, and in the imperial carriage of Dom Pedro II emperor of Brazil. In this last case, the white lead pigment was painted over the wood structure of the carriage; four artefacts on gilded copper, three crowns and a pendant, from the tomb of the Lady of Cao, from the Moche civilization of the North of Peru, dated around 350 AD; finally, an artefact on gilded silver, a vase from the Chavín civilization of the North of Peru, dated around 1000‐200 BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate is a powerful driver of agricultural and natural systems, and spatial climate datasets are currently in great demand. This is especially true in the Arequipa Department of Peru, a region with low seasonal precipitation, remarkable topographic variability, and significant water demand in a highly managed water system. This paper presents the Arequipa Climate Maps (ACM) datasets, a high resolution (1 km) spatial 30‐year (1988–2017) climate dataset for the Arequipa Region, in Peru. Four interpolation methods, and combinations of those methods, were tested to produce 30 years of daily precipitation, maximum and minimum air temperature: Ordinary Kriging (OK), Thin Plate Splines (TPS), Regression Kriging (RK), and Regression Thin Plate Splines (RTPS). The mixed method RTPS‐TPS and RTPS using locally fitted polynomial and potential regressions were found to best represent the spatial variability of precipitation and daily extreme temperatures, respectively, and helped compensate the bias resulting from the lack of weather stations at higher elevations. These methods were then selected to create the ACM dataset, which contains climate maps of 30‐year annual and monthly climate normals (ACM–Normals) and 30 years of annual, monthly, and daily climate maps (ACM–YMD). In addition, insights on weather station gap filling in mountainous areas and bias corrections for avoidance of anomalous precipitation and to assure consistency between annual, monthly and daily data are presented, together with discussion about the quality and limitations of the dataset, and its comparison with other datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Motivation: Latin America has witnessed massive increases in production and consumption of chicken meat over the last 60 years and well beyond its share of the developing world's population. Chicken is now a major source of livestock protein in regional diets; leads livestock production in 25 out of the region's 33 countries; production, slaughtering, and sales provide millions of jobs. Purpose: To analyse growth rates for chicken meat in Latin America, why they have differed, how the role of innovation and development policies contributed to bringing about this growth, in turn leading to the patterns of governance of these activities today. Methods and approach: This study used a modified value chain framework along with FAO statistics, national data, published and unpublished studies to analyse macro‐level developments and their linkages to shifts in the organization of activities in the value chain for chicken from pre‐production through to consumption and trade from past to present. Findings Different natural resource endowments, demographics, and dietary preferences combined with frequent innovations and an array of policy measures led to a spectacular surge in output and productivity, lower costs, and facilitated a steady rise in consumption. As part of that growth, these activities became increasingly concentrated in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru and within those countries in a few very large firms. Their operations expanded in the value chain beyond the farm gate, across the region, and in some cases around the world. Policy implications: This paper has implications for greater transparency in grower contracts, better working conditions for slaughterhouse workers and bird catchers, more environmentally and bird‐friendly chicken production, accelerated adoption of practices as per Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems in the value chain for broilers in Latin America and the Caribbean, and improved enforcement of laws and regulations governing the technical and financial operations of value chains for chicken, along with renewed collaboration among government authorities to that effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Probiotics in allergic rhinitis (AR) have shown improvement in clinical and quality of life scores, whereas the role of synbiotics in the treatment of AR has been poorly investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of synbiotics in children with AR. Methods: An observational, prospective cohort study of pediatric outpatients with AR from a private medical center in Peru (2021) was conducted. At baseline, patients who were prescribed synbiotics during routine and those who were not (controls) recruited and followed up on Days 30, 60, and 90 of follow‐up. Clinical efficacy was assessed with differences in Visual Analogous Scale (VAS), Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS), Rhinitis Control Assessment Test (RCAT), and the Pediatric Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (PRQLQ) scores between groups at follow‐up. Mean differences ± standard deviation (SD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) are reported. Results: Two hundred and fifteen participants were analyzed. Compared to controls (n = 115), those who used synbiotics (n = 100) had significantly lower VAS (mean difference 1.3; 95% CI: 0.8–1.8), TNSS (mean difference 1.1; 95% CI: 0.5–1.7) and higher RCAT scores and PRQLQ scores (mean difference 2.2; 95% CI: −3.3 to −1.2) and (mean difference 7.0; 95% CI: 3.1–10.9), respectively, at Day 90 of follow‐up Conclusions: This paper reports significant improvement in clinical (VAS, RCAT, TNSS) and quality of life (PRQLQ) scores of small and large sizes, respectively. These preliminary findings support the need of future trials to assess the role of synbiotics in children with AR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents Ag, Cu, and Pb isotopes for five silver and 10 copper artefacts found in the first intact pre‐Columbian tomb of the Wari culture female elite at Castillo de Huarmey, Peru. Ag and Cu isotope data indicate that the metals were extracted from primary, hypogene ore deposits. Most of the Pb isotope data for the Castillo de Huarmey artefacts correlate with the core Wari site of Conchopata, suggesting utilization of ores from similar deposits. The observed spread in Pb isotopes can be explained by the utilization of regional ores with highly variable Pb isotopes, such as the Julcani deposit. Alternatively, the linear nature of the Pb isotope results obtained for these samples may also be a result of the mixing of ores from different deposits or the re‐smelting of metals. Some of the Pb isotope results also indicate imports from other remote regions, providing evidence for long‐distance interactions on a vast regional scale, in the northern (North Coast of Peru) and southern (Southern Peru and Potosi region in Bolivia) spheres of influence of the Wari Empire and the Tiwanaku state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption of appliances in the residential sector in Peru has been growing continuously during the last 20 years. Although social benefits due to this growth are evident, there are also some related environmental impacts in the use and end‐of‐life (EoL) phases (e.g., inadequate handling or disposal at the EoL stage). Nevertheless, there is also a hidden potential in the growing stock of household appliances, such as their potential exploitation as resources of industrial materials found in urban areas. Thus, the aim of this research paper is to analyze the evolution of the adoption of electronics in Peruvian households and estimate the stock of electrical and electronic equipment and related materials in the residential sector from 2001 to 2019, and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions due to its use. Material flow analysis is the main methodology used in this research and its application relies on different strategies and the integrated use of official sources. Moreover, a Peruvian input–output table and associated environmental matrices were used to calculate GHG emissions. Results indicate that, in 2019, an average household possessed between 86 and 121 kg of appliances, which means the total stock of household appliances in Peru was in the range of 805,000 to 1,134,000 metric tons, an increase in mass of 70–95% by 2019 compared to 2001. These results will be useful to estimate the urban stock of appliances in the residential sector to help policy‐makers design and implement an adequate e‐waste management system that comprehends the potential of secondary materials embedded in these products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mexican hogfish (Osteichthyes: Labridae, Bodianus diplotaenia Gill, 1862) is widely distributed throughout the tropical eastern Pacific from the Gulf of California to northern Peru, including all oceanic islands. Artisanal fishers occasionally capture it today and its remains are recovered at pre‐Columbian dwelling sites along the Pacific Coast of America. This paper addresses the advantages of using allometry to estimate size ranges of Mexican hogfish in pre‐Hispanic archeological samples from two ancient settlements in the Pearl Island archipelago of Panama: (1) Playa Don Bernardo (PdB), a preceramic site (6.2–5.6 kya), and (2) Bayoneta Island (BY‐10), a ceramic site (~1 kya). For creating the allometric model, a modern collection composed of 39 individuals covering a wide range of sizes and weights was used. All individuals have complete information about their total length (TL) and standard length (SL), which were recorded in millimeters (mm), and their total fresh weight (W) in grams (g). The TL of the sample ranged between 265 and 750 mm, and the SL between 210 and 487 mm. The W ranged between 273 and 3450 g. The most frequent bones (11) and otoliths were selected and 29 measurements were taken. The total length–weight relationship was W = 2E−05 TL3.0857 with R2 = 0.984. In general, it was observed that the relationships between the TL and the bone measurements had a strong correlation (R2 > 0.95). At PdB, the mean reconstructed length was 289.6 mm (TL), and at BY‐10, it was 283.6 mm (TL). The study of the archeological samples of B. diplotaenia could be used as a point of reference in modern ecological studies and fisheries management particularly in the Pearl Island archipelago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically engages with the implications of the "affect turn" in the geographies of development and volunteering. By way of considering "affective life" at a residential youth care centre in Peru through an ethnographic study, we aim to contribute to current discussions of "(self‐)transformation" taking place through affectivity in the experience of volunteering. Conceptually, our approach to investigating "affective life" and volunteering involves two steps. First, we critically review this body of work's recent focus on the individualistic mode of volunteer self‐transformation in encountering "vulnerable others." We identify the need to think about affect and embodiment also from the perspectives of the "vulnerable" groups whose lives are entangled with the presence of international volunteering. Second, we argue for an affect‐informed approach to socio‐politically shaped vulnerability, with a particular emphasis on lived experiences and affective capacities related to enduring social and material conditions. Against the backdrop of marginalisation of adolescent mothers from rural and indigenous backgrounds, many of whom are survivors of sexual abuse, we analyse the experiences of these youths living at a specific residential care centre and interacting with volunteers on a daily basis. In doing so, we employ a series of perspectives from the residents, while taking into account the organisational environment. We also show the complex ways in which resident–volunteer encounters are at play in life‐enhancing affective states, capacities, and relations emerging among the residents. Our findings on the residents' self‐ and shared capacity of transformation highlights the importance of attending to the spatialities of affective life in academic work focused on the contemporary geographies of international volunteering. This paper critically engages with the implications of the "affect turn" in the geographies of development and volunteering. By way of considering "affective life" at a residential youth care centre in Peru through an ethnographic study, it also aims to contribute to current discussions of vulnerability and "(self‐)transformation" taking place through affectivity in the experience of volunteering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peru is the second most important destination country for Venezuelan emigration. The country's policy response can be separated into two distinct phases: the first one, under former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (July 2016–March 2018), is characterized by relative openness; the second one, under incumbent president Martín Vizcarra (in office since March 2018), is characterized by policy closure and a shift towards securitization. In this paper, we apply the concept of adaptive leadership to explain the stark difference in the migration‐related governance of both presidents. We find that the policy shift can be explained by an interplay between three factors: an internal political crisis due to conflict between the executive and legislative branches of government; the change in number and social profiles of Venezuelan migrants, with a tendency towards lower social, economic and educational statuses; and the rise in xenophobic attitudes among the Peruvian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the utilization of Banisteriopsis caapi in drug addiction treatment. The primary research was carried out in Takiwasi Center for the Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts and Research on Traditional Medicines. A preparation from B. caapi, also known as purgahuasca, that is being used in the center was initially administered during initiation rituals by the Awajún (Aguaruna) people in northern Peru. This paper describes the purgahuasca ritual and its distribution among the Awajún people. Our findings reveal that between 68.2% and 86.5% of respondents recognize the importance of the purgahuasca ritual to their recovery. Appropriate conservation tools must be created to preserve the purgahuasca ritual for future generations, as it represents a useful therapeutic tool and an important part of the intangible cultural heritage of Peru. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing participation in family decision making is an integral part of adolescent development. This paper uses longitudinal data from four low and middle income countries—Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam—to assess the relationship between young people's involvement in schooling decision making and schooling outcomes. In the pooled sample, compared to young adults who indicate to have no say in educational choices at age 19, adolescents who make these decisions unilaterally or jointly with parents are on average 17%–23% more likely to drop out by age 22. The effects are, however, heterogenous across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obsidian was broadly used along the Andean Cordillera in South America. Particularly in Peru, its use can be traced to the earliest human occupations, continuously through pre‐Columbian times to contemporary Andean agro‐pastoralist societies. In order to distinguish the provenance of obsidians from Peru, this paper reports a new X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis on several obsidians obtained in surface collections of the Ayacucho region. The analysis and source determination were made by XRF on 52 specimens. The source assignments involved comparisons between the compositional data for the specimens and the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) XRF obsidian database for sources in Peru. After analysing the samples, obsidian sources were recognized and documented. All had small nodules not larger than about 4 cm. They were recovered from Ñahuinpuquio and Marcahuilca hill which belonged to the previously identified Puzolana source. Another identified source was the well‐known Quispisisa, located 120 km south of the city of Ayacucho, and distributed through a vast region in central Peru. The results expand previous observations made on the obsidian provenance at Ayacucho Basin, as well as the extension of the Puzolana source between Yanama and Huarpa hills, south of Ayacucho city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019 the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) embarked on an initiative that aims to strengthen the capacity of 10 national societies of obstetrics and gynecology (ObGyn) in advocacy for safe abortion. In 2018 needs assessments that entailed a desk study, interviews, and stakeholder workshops were conducted in Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Panama, Peru, Uganda, and Zambia. The general aim of the needs assessments was to gain a deeper understanding of the contextual situation and identify the needs of ObGyn societies in relation to safe abortion advocacy. This paper provides a cross-country analysis of the outcomes of the needs assessments and reflects on the capabilities, barriers, and opportunities to strengthen this role of ObGyn societies. Common barriers, such as unavailability of services, lack of technical guidance, unawareness and ambiguity about the legal framework, provider attitudes, and abortion stigma, pose challenges for ObGyn societies to work constructively on safe abortion advocacy. However, ObGyn societies have a strong position due to their strategic networks and technical credibility and can be a facilitator in healthcare providers' advocacy role. Five strategies were developed to strengthen the capacity of ObGyn societies in safe abortion advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Nazca‐South American subduction zone, the subducted slab is flattened beneath northern Andes, called the Peruvian flat slab. The 2019 Mw 8.0 northern Peru intermediate‐depth normal‐faulting earthquake occurred at the leading edge of the Peruvian flat slab, where the slab rebends and sinks into greater depths. Here we investigate this earthquake by back projection analysis and finite fault inversion using seismic waveforms at teleseismic distances. The rupture process indicates that this earthquake ruptured mainly along strike (353°) ~150 km north‐northwestward within ~55 s (average rupture velocity ~2.7 km/s), resulting in two major slip areas with three high slip rate areas, which are consistent with three high‐frequency energy radiation subevents. Our study suggests that such a heterogeneous rupture may be caused by slab bending forces and dehydration embrittlement associated with morphology of the slab. Plain Language Summary: In the subduction zone, the oceanic plate and the continental plate converge, and then the oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate and sinks into great depths. In South America, the subducted oceanic plate is flattened beneath northern Peru instead of steeply sinking, called the Peruvian flat slab. After flattened, the oceanic plate starts to sink again. In the region where the oceanic plate starts to sink again, an earthquake with magnitude of 8.0 occurred at a depth of ~120 km on 26 May 2019. How and why this earthquake occurred at such a depth? Does the occurrence of this earthquake is related to the subducted oceanic plate? We try to answer these questions in this paper. By using two techniques, we obtained a scenario about this earthquake: In the region where the oceanic plate starts to sink again, the water in the oceanic plate releases, along with the effect of sinking to cause this earthquake. After this earthquake initiated, it ruptured mainly unilaterally north‐northwestward ~150 km with a speed of ~2.7 km/s, resulting in two large slip areas with three high slip rate areas. Such an uneven rupture may be produced by the heterogeneous structure of the slab. Key Points: Rupture process of the 26 May 2019 northern Peru earthquake is obtained from back projection analysis and finite fault inversionThe effects of slab bending forces and dehydration embrittlement together may cause this earthquake at an intermediate depthThis intermediate‐depth earthquake is probably associated with morphology of the Peruvian flat slab [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Nazca‐South American subduction zone, the subducted slab is flattened beneath northern Andes, called the Peruvian flat slab. The 2019 Mw 8.0 northern Peru intermediate‐depth normal‐faulting earthquake occurred at the leading edge of the Peruvian flat slab, where the slab rebends and sinks into greater depths. Here we investigate this earthquake by back projection analysis and finite fault inversion using seismic waveforms at teleseismic distances. The rupture process indicates that this earthquake ruptured mainly along strike (353°) ~150 km north‐northwestward within ~55 s (average rupture velocity ~2.7 km/s), resulting in two major slip areas with three high slip rate areas, which are consistent with three high‐frequency energy radiation subevents. Our study suggests that such a heterogeneous rupture may be caused by slab bending forces and dehydration embrittlement associated with morphology of the slab. Plain Language Summary: In the subduction zone, the oceanic plate and the continental plate converge, and then the oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate and sinks into great depths. In South America, the subducted oceanic plate is flattened beneath northern Peru instead of steeply sinking, called the Peruvian flat slab. After flattened, the oceanic plate starts to sink again. In the region where the oceanic plate starts to sink again, an earthquake with magnitude of 8.0 occurred at a depth of ~120 km on 26 May 2019. How and why this earthquake occurred at such a depth? Does the occurrence of this earthquake is related to the subducted oceanic plate? We try to answer these questions in this paper. By using two techniques, we obtained a scenario about this earthquake: In the region where the oceanic plate starts to sink again, the water in the oceanic plate releases, along with the effect of sinking to cause this earthquake. After this earthquake initiated, it ruptured mainly unilaterally north‐northwestward ~150 km with a speed of ~2.7 km/s, resulting in two large slip areas with three high slip rate areas. Such an uneven rupture may be produced by the heterogeneous structure of the slab. Key Points: Rupture process of the 26 May 2019 northern Peru earthquake is obtained from back projection analysis and finite fault inversionThe effects of slab bending forces and dehydration embrittlement together may cause this earthquake at an intermediate depthThis intermediate‐depth earthquake is probably associated with morphology of the Peruvian flat slab [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the global South, conditional cash transfer programmes (CCTs) are used to promote socially inclusive development. CCTs are widely evaluated for their capacity to build children's human capital. In contrast, this paper aims to hold 'social inclusion' to account by elucidating the impacts of Peru's CCT 'Juntos' on the poor, rural mothers who are expected to meet programme conditions. Grounded in extensive ethnographic research in households, clinics, schools, and village halls, the paper interrogates the work of social inclusion in spaces where uneven development manifests itself in privation. Considered in light of critical feminist theories of performativity and social reproduction, the findings shed light on a far less optimistic reality for the work of social inclusion. This paper contributes a rich empirical account to critical literature on cash transfers and the discourses that drive them, and suggests that the circumstances under which women are required to fulfil programme conditions challenge the substance of contemporary 'inclusive' development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Changing economic activities bring significant cultural, epidemiological, and nutritional transitions. Infancy represents a critical period when rapid growth and metabolic programming occur, making infants particularly vulnerable to long-lasting biological changes due to such transitions. This paper examines the relationship between residence in distinct economic production zones (urban, herding, and dairy) and early growth in a highland district of Peru. Methods The length, weight, body mass index, and triceps skinfold of 93 infants (55 boys and 38 girls, aged 2 to 24 months) from 3 economic zones were measured at two time points 6 months apart. Z-scores were calculated based on the WHO Growth Reference for children under 5 years of age. Comparisons were made to the reference group and between economic zones to examine the impacts of different economic activities on infant growth. Results Female infants had significantly higher height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) than males ( P < 0.05). Across zones, dairying infants had the highest HAZ scores and the lowest prevalence of stunting. There was a significant association between zone and HAZ at baseline. While these associations were attenuated in measurements, taken 6 months later, longitudinal growth monitoring revealed differential patterns of weight gain and adiposity deposition across the zones with herding infants showing consistent high adiposity and urban infants gaining both weight and adiposity between rounds. Discussion Changes in economic activity are bringing about nutritional and epidemiological transitions in the Nuñoa district. Economic activity is a key factor influencing early growth with distinct longitudinal growth patterns in each economic zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies an implementation framework, based on a behavior change model, to compare four case studies of complementary feeding programs. It aims to expand our understanding of how to design and implement behavior change interventions aimed at improving complementary feeding practices. Four programs met the selection criteria of scale and documented improvements: Bangladesh, Malawi, Peru, and Zambia. We examined commonalities and differences in the design and implementation of social and behavior change approaches, use of program delivery platforms, challenges encountered, and lessons learned. We conclude that complementary feeding practices, in particular dietary diversity, can be improved rapidly in a variety of settings using available program platforms if interventions focus on specific constraints to food access and use effective strategies to encourage caregivers to prepare and feed appropriate foods. A five-step process is presented that can be applied across a range of complementary feeding programs to strengthen their impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal and small‐scale gold mining (ASGM) is the primary global source of anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions and a large source of landscape change. ASGM occurs throughout the world, including in the Peruvian Amazon. This data set contains measurements of surface water, precipitation, throughfall, leaves, sediment, soil, and air samples from across the Madre de Dios region of Peru, in locations near and remote from ASGM. These data were collected to determine the fate and transport of Hg across the landscape. Samples were collected in 2018 and 2019. Data predominantly included total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations in surface water, precipitation, throughfall, leaves, sediment, soil, and air. Additional water and soil parameters were also measured to better characterize their chemistry. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are some examples of successful complementary feeding programmes to promote healthy growth and prevent stunting at the community level, to date there are few, if any, examples of successful programmes at scale. A lack of systematic process and impact evaluations on pilot projects to generate lessons learned has precluded scaling up of effective programmes. Programmes to effect positive change in nutrition rarely follow systematic planning, implementation, and evaluation (PIE) processes to enhance effectiveness over the long term. As a result a set of programme-oriented key principles to promote healthy growth remains elusive. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by proposing a set of principles to improve programmes and interventions to promote healthy growth and development. Identifying such principles for programme success has three requirements: rethinking traditional paradigms used to promote improved infant and young child feeding; ensuring better linkages to delivery platforms; and, improving programming. Following the PIE model for programmes and learning from experiences from four relatively large-scale programmes described in this paper, 10 key principles are identified in the areas of programme planning, programme implementation, programme evaluation, and dissemination, replication, and scaling up. Nonetheless, numerous operational research questions remain, some of which are highlighted in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing rates of school enrolment have changed childhoods in the global South, so that it is now the norm for children to attend at least some years of primary school. This paper explores the extent to which valuing of children as educational projects and outcomes may be displacing previous valuations of children as contributors to the domestic economy. The paper draws on qualitative interview data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of children growing up in four developing countries, using a case study approach to explore the experiences of four children in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. The paper suggests that children are balancing expectations for the future with responsibilities to their families in the present, and concludes that the over-valuing of formal qualifications and the under-valuing of forms of work such as agriculture risk being internalised by children, leaving those who do not succeed feeling they are 'a waste'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that development, understood as the set of economic, social, cultural and political processes oriented towards improving people's lives, is a normative project which rests on ethical foundations. Working in international development requires therefore an ethical reflection. The paper discusses development ethics as an inter-disciplinary field of study. It describes one leading contemporary ethical perspective in development studies, the capability approach, and examines how it can be used to analyse concrete cases of development. It argues that the capability approach presents aspects of different ethical frameworks, each of which provides a distinctive angle to the ethical analysis of development processes. The paper concludes with analysing a development case in Peru using the capability approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic plant mixture used in a ceremonial context throughout western Amazonia, and its use has expanded globally in recent decades. As part of this expansion, ayahuasca has become popular among westerners who travel to the Peruvian Amazon in increasing numbers to experience its reportedly healing and transformative effects. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in and around the area of Iquitos, Peru, the epicenter of ayahuasca tourism, this paper focuses on some of the problematic aspects of western engagement with indigenous spiritual traditions. This engagement is usually based on idealized and romanticized notions of indigenous shamanism and an inability to digest its less palatable aspects, such as sorcery. Through ethnographic examples and ethnohistorical evidence, I show that the romanticization indigenous peoples is not benign. In fact, this one-sided romantic image hides the complexity of indigenous peoples' situations by erasing the injustices that they have experienced and continue to experience. I propose a more holistic approach to ayahuasca shamanism that views indigenous peoples not living in a fictitious harmony with nature but as people embedded in larger struggles and facing important challenges not the least of which is the recent commercialization of indigenous spirituality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effect of a set of irrigation rehabilitation projects conducted over the last 10 years in Peru. The projects were conducted without the aim or the tools for a full-fledged impact evaluation. Nevertheless, this paper attempts an evaluation through the use of alternative data sources such as household surveys and geographic information, a strategy of identification of beneficiaries and control households based on spatial proximity to the projects' sites, and an econometric approach consisting of a double-differencing technique. The empirical analysis is guided and interpreted with the help of a theoretical model that considers the effects of an irrigation project on the distribution of production, employment and income for different types of landowners. The paper concludes that the irrigation projects implemented in Peru had a positive impact on intended beneficiary households, but not in the way it could have been simplistically expected. The project did benefit the poor but not by increasing production in their own small plots but by providing them with better employment opportunities in larger farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnographic ''New Literacy Studies'' question the idea that literacy as such has any uniform effects, arguing instead that effects of literacy inhere in the social practices that impart it. What change, then, does literacy produce where it arrived from two opposed sets of practices? In Quechua- and Aymara-speaking villages on the high plains of Lake Titicaca, universal public schooling is a relatively recent innovation. It overlays an unofficial literacy that racially and linguistically stigmatized peasants acquired up to a century ago as cultural contraband and as a tool of conflict. Field research in 2000-2002 in Azángaro province focuses on Quechua households' memories of acquiring literacy and their ways of reading, making, using, and curating the documents resulting from it. A team of locally rooted researchers interviewed rural herder-farmers about past and present literacy practices. The papers in their household archives, almost all in Spanish, stand poles apart from indigenous Quechua speech. Moreover, the Spanish household papers' use is diglossic as compared to rural Spanish. Yet despite this double dissociation from speech, writing has become deeply involved in traditional practices of social reciprocity, ritual, and song. Writing has somewhat the status of a "parallel language," useful precisely because of its separateness from the hazards of unequal bilingualism. Schools take little notice of these informal traditions. Attention to them might work in favor of improved classroom achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 15 years there have been dramatic shifts in the consensus over how best to cope with natural hazards in economically developing regions such as South America. One very positive outcome of the United Nations sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR 1990–2000) has been that there is now greater interchange between the work of earth scientists examining the processes and mechanics of hazard occurrence and impact, and social scientists exploring the causes of human vulnerability to hazard – and thereby disaster. This paper traces the development of this new understanding with reference to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Peru, one of the most hazardous countries in South America. Particular focus is placed on the excellent progress currently being made by scientists in better understanding the physical dimensions of natural hazard exposure, and the ground-breaking work by social scientists in promoting new approaches to understanding and mitigating human vulnerability to disaster. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need to build on this research to produce more inclusive, incultured and unified strategies of disaster mitigation at the local, national and international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how transnational gold mining operations are transforming rural household livelihoods in the Cajamarca region of Peru. In particular, this paper evaluates how Newmont Mining Corporation's Minera Yanacocha (MYSA) mining operations are altering access to the produced, human, natural and social capital resources that households utilize to produce their livelihoods. The paper argues that while access to produced and human capital resources has increased in the past decade, albeit unevenly, access to natural and social capital resources has declined. The paper begins with a discussion of new frameworks for evaluating local livelihood change and household access to resources. Subsequently, the paper describes Peru's new transnational mining sector, livelihoods and livelihood change in the Cajamarca region. The paper then presents the results of case study field research evaluating the impacts of MYSA on household access to resources in three communities. Finally, the paper concludes with a critical discussion of livelihoods frameworks and how they can contribute to geographic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the field of community participation in health promotion as understood from the viewpoint of social psychology. It discusses ongoing dialogues between health promotion policy discourses in relation to community involvement in development, and theoretical and practical contributions of social psychology in this respect. In particular, it introduces a social psychological framework for understanding and aiding community participation, grounded in the works of Jürgen Habermas and Paulo Freire. A community-based adolescent sexual health promotion initiative taking place in highly deprived communities in Peru serves as a case study to illustrate the approach. Findings are discussed with respect to the outcomes achieved, the light shed on the understanding of sexual health, and the impact on the adolescents partaking of the project. In the light of the results of the practical implementation of the theoretical approach outlined, the paper argues that social psychology is well positioned to contribute to community development, in particular to improving understanding and aiding of social processes of participation and change. Areas that require further research both at theoretical and at practical levels are identified and discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive substance from the Amazon rainforest regions of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. Although its use originated among indigenous tribes in the Amazon basin, it has become increasingly popularized in Western society through the transnational markets of spirituality and religiosity driven by globalization, Postmodernity, and new forms of religious practice. In this paper, we will overview the arrival of ayahuasca in Uruguay by way of four different groups. We will then focus on one of these groups, a holistic alternative therapies center, influenced by Peruvian shamanic traditions in the design of its ceremonies. Last we will introduce a 'distributed cognition' model to explain ayahuasca rituals as a system of activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how a cluster of clothing firms in Peru fared over a 15 year period. The question is how and why this cluster has changed. We collected data for 1993 and 2007, comparing clustered and dispersed firms. The cluster grew significantly in terms of the number of firms and employment, due to the attraction of trade activities towards the cluster. The productivity of clustered producers fell somewhat, although they maintain an advantage over dispersed firms. This is due to static advantages falling into a producer's lap once located in the area and developing at the level of transacting inputs and output. Clustered producers do not use profits to upgrade businesses but rather invest in real estate. On the whole, they are struggling. Enhancing the quality of cluster governance is critical to prevent a further decline of the production part of the cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peruvian development and government analysts criticize communities for irrationally using local development funds deriving from recently instituted political decentralization to beautify their villages rather than to improve infrastructural services, education and health, or to alleviate poverty. This paper challenges this critique by explaining why such cosmetic improvements are of interest to rural people. Using a case study of the peasant community of Allpachico, I argue that these projects encourage the return of pensioners and visits from migrants. Residents and migrants are mutually dependent as a result of livelihood strategies based on agriculture and the foreign-controlled resource extraction sector over the past 80 years. The relative position of these two groups in the social reproduction of the vernacular community has changed with the Peruvian political economy. Currently, in the neoliberal resource extraction economy, residents pragmatically opt to maintain relations with those who have stable wage or pension incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the new forms of regulation and resistance accompanying the expanding extractive frontier in Andean Peru. It does so through an analysis of a process of community mobilization at the Pierina gold mine in the region of Ancash that was aimed at transforming the conditions under which area residents labored at the mine. The article documents the complex ways in which the emergence of neoliberalized forms of resource governance has affected the terrain of mining-related sociopolitical struggle at Pierina, both allowing the mining firm to consolidate authority in the arena of mine-community relations, while also establishing certain conditions for residents to pursue their interests collectively. An analysis of the Pierina case suggests that efforts to forge more just and equitable political economies of mineral development must not only challenge the neoliberalization of resource governance, but also confront the underlying socio-ecological contradictions of contemporary capitalist resource development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The explosive growth of so-called marginal settlements in Latin America's cities has received considerable academic attention in past decades. The inability of the state to adequately provide affordable housing for a rapidly growing urban population has meant that these neighbourhoods relied on community mobilization to achieve common objectives of basic infrastructure and legal recognition. With increasing consolidation and less need for coordinated action, many local organizations lost their rationale. Fear of crime and violence, a major concern in Latin American metropolises, is inscribed on the urban landscape by a growing number of gated and fortified residential enclaves for the better-off. Marginal neighbourhoods, however, experience a 'security gap' as they receive insufficient police protection and lack the financial resources to employ private guards. In many cases, the real or perceived insecurities of inner-city life have prompted organized bottom-up, mostly informal and sometimes vigilante, responses. Drawing on research on the rise of informal security-related interventions in the neighbourhoods of Lima Metropolitana, Peru, this paper explores the rationales underlying the different approaches and adoptions, including the involvement of the main actors, community associations and other local interest groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Carnero AM, Mejía CR, García PJ. Rate of gestational weight gain, pre-pregnancy body mass index and preterm birth subtypes: a retrospective cohort study from Peru. BJOG 2012;119:924-935. Objective To examine the shape (functional form) of the association between the rate of gestational weight gain, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), and preterm birth and its subtypes. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting National reference obstetric centre in Lima, Peru. Population Pregnant women who delivered singleton babies during the period 2006-2009, resident in Lima, and beginning prenatal care at ≤12 weeks of gestation ( n = 8964). Methods Data were collected from the centre database. The main analyses consisted of logistic regression with fractional polynomial modelling. Main outcome measures Preterm birth and its subtypes. Results Preterm birth occurred in 12.2% of women, being mostly idiopathic (85.7%). The rate of gestational weight gain was independently associated with preterm birth, and the shape of this association varied by pre-pregnancy BMI. In women who were underweight, the association was linear (per 0.1 kg/week increase) and protective (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.82-1.00). In women of normal weight or who were overweight, the association was U-shaped: the odds of delivering preterm increased exponentially with rates <0.10 or >0.66 kg/week, and <0.04 or >0.50 kg/week, respectively. In women who were obese, the association was linear, but non-significant (OR 1.01; 95% CI 0.95-1.06). The association described for preterm birth closely resembled that of idiopathic preterm birth, although the latter was stronger. The rate of gestational weight gain was not associated with indicated preterm birth or preterm prelabour rupture of membranes. Conclusions In Peruvian pregnant women starting prenatal care at ≤12 weeks of gestation, the rate of gestational weight gain is independently associated with preterm birth, mainly because of its association with idiopathic preterm birth, and the shape of both associations varies by pre-pregnancy BMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Salmón-Mulanovich et al. (2010) Frequency of human bocavirus (HBoV) infection among children with febrile respiratory symptoms in Argentina, Nicaragua and Peru. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 5(1), 1-5. Globally, respiratory infections are the primary cause of illness in developing countries, specifically among children; however, an etiological agent for many of these illnesses is rarely identified. Our study aimed to estimate the frequency of human bocavirus (HBoV) infection among pediatric populations in Argentina, Nicaragua and Peru. We conducted a cross-sectional study using stored samples of an influenza-like illness surveillance program. Irrespective of previous diagnosis, nasopharyngeal or nasal swab specimens were randomly selected and tested using real-time PCR from three sites during 2007 from patients younger than 6 years old. A total of 568 specimens from Argentina (185), Nicaragua (192) and Peru (191) were tested. The prevalence of HBoV was 10·8% (95% CI: 6·3; 15·3) in Argentina, 33·3% in Nicaragua (95% CI: 26·6; 40·1) and 25·1% in Peru (95% CI: 18·9; 31·3). These findings demonstrate circulation of HBoV in Argentina, Nicaragua and Peru among children with influenza-like symptoms enrolled in a sentinel surveillance program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-Andean genus Jivarus Giglio-Tos from Ecuador, Colombia and Peru is revised. Morphological cladistic analysis indicated that Jivarus montanus and the new species digiticercus sp.n. and rugosus sp.n. must be treated as a separate genus, Maylasacris gen.n. The remaining species included in the analysis are assigned to the genus Jivarus, for which the following six species groups are identified: americanus group, antisanae group, carbonelli group, cohni group, pictifrons group and jagoi group. Twenty-nine species are recognized for Jivarus, with ten described as new: J. rectus sp.n., J. megacercus sp.n., J. spatulus sp. n., J. auriculus sp.n., J. riveti sp.n., J. sphaericus sp.n., J. discoloris sp. n., J. profundus sp.n., J. ronderosi sp.n. and J. guarandaensis sp.n. The following new synonymies are proposed: Jivarus albolineatus Ronderos with J. antisanae (Bolivar) syn.n., J. cerdai Ronderos and J. osunai Ronderos with J. alienus (Walker) syn.n., and J. rubriventris Ronderos with J. ecuadorica (Hebard) syn.n.; the new combinations Jivarus ecuadorica (Ronderos) comb.n. and Maylasacris montanus (Ronderos) comb.n. are proposed. Keys to the species of the genera and a review of the morphological characters defining the taxa are provided. Patterns of distribution of the clades coincide with the geography of the northern Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. Areas of endemism of the Jivarus species groups and Maylasacris are delimited by both the high-altitude curves, including transverse zones, and the drier climates of the intra-Andean valleys, clearly indicating recent, post-glacial palaeogeography, as shown also in vegetation distributions. This paper has been formatted with many embedded links to images of type and paratype specimens, maps based on geo-referenced specimen data and species keys available on the Orthoptera Species file online ( ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sometime in the early 17th century, at Magdalena de Cao, a community of resettled native peoples in the Chicama Valley on the North Coast of Peru, a Spaniard used the back of a letter to jot down the terms for numbers in a local language. Four hundred years later, the authors of this article were able to recover and study this piece of paper. We present information on this otherwise unknown language, on numeracy, and on cultural relations of ethnolinguistic groups in pre- and early-post-Conquest northern Peru. Our investigations have determined that, while several of the Magadalena number terms were likely borrowed from a Quechuan language, the remainder record a decimal number system in an otherwise unknown language. Historical sources of the region mention at least two potential candidate languages, Pescadora and Quingnam; however, because neither is documented beyond its name, a definite connection remains impossible to establish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Forshey et al. (2010) Epidemiology of influenza-like illness in the Amazon Basin of Peru, 2008–2009. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 4(4), 235–243. Background Data addressing the incidence and epidemiology of influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) in tropical regions of the world is scarce, particularly for the neotropics of South America. Methods We conducted active, population-based surveillance for ILI across 45 city blocks within the Amazon Basin city of Iquitos, Peru. Demographic data and household characteristics were collected for all participants, and participating households were visited three times weekly to inquire about ILI (fever plus cough or sore throat) among household residents. Nasal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from participants with ILI and tested for influenza virus infection. Results Between May 1, 2008 and July 8, 2009, we monitored 10,341 participants for ILI for a total of 11 569·5 person-years. We detected 459 ILI episodes, with 252 (54·9%) of the participants providing specimens. Age-adjusted incidence of ILI was estimated to be 46·7 episodes/1000 person-years. Influenza A and B viruses were detected in 25 (9·9%) and 62 (24·6%) specimens of ILI patients, respectively, for an estimated age-adjusted incidence rate of 16·5 symptomatic influenza virus infections/1000 person-years. Risk factors for ILI included age, household crowding, and use of wood as cooking fuel. For influenza virus infection specifically, age and use of wood as a cooking fuel were also identified as risk factors, but no effect of household crowding was observed. Conclusions Our results represent the initial population-based description of the epidemiology of ILI in the Amazon region of Peru, which will be useful for developing region-specific strategies for reducing the burden of respiratory disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cartoneras projects aim to promote the celebration of language, culture, and creativity through a collaboration between top literary minds and cardboard collectors in Buenos Aires and Lima. They produce and publish beautiful books with hand-painted cardboard covers that speak of the wonderful literature inside. Inspired by those projects, the Paper Picker Press (PPP) program in Boston aims to engage higher-order thinking through an arts-based approach to rediscovering literature through play. PPP starts with the premise that a student who is thinking creatively is also thinking critically. Creative play is critical thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses archaeological, historical, and contemporary ethnographic evidence for the use of the San Pedro cactus in northern Peru as a vehicle for traveling between worlds and for imparting the “vista” (magical sight) necessary for shamanic healers to divine the cause of their patients' ailments. Using iconographic, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic evidence for the uninterrupted use of this sacred plant as a means of access to the Divine and as a tool for healing, it describes the relationship between San Pedro, ancestor worship, water/fertility cults and also the common symbolic associations between San Pedro and wind-spirits. It closes by suggesting that the more than 2000 year time-depth of using this plant as a means for accessing the realms of Spirit and as a tool for healing should serve to challenge the unfortunate tendency in the contemporary United States to consider this plant as a “recreational drug.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of gender, cultural change, and market dynamics affecting the resilience of adaptive livelihoods in arid landscapes in Northern Peru for families who lack access to irrigation and rely on goat herding in a context of cyclical droughts. Based on interviews conducted in the community of Salas in 1982, 1983, and 2007, the analysis shows that better access to formal education and/or migratory experience can facilitate cultural change that supports economic diversification and larger herds. However, market dynamics keeps “traditional” ways instrumental to reduce costs of goat herding and livelihoods, therefore it reinforces the persistence of “traditional” cultural elements in daily life. The article shows the structural limits of adaptation for established families and how access to high school for younger generations of men and women seem to accelerate their emigration as they cannot find stable employment in Salas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, an increasing number of development agencies have attempted to incorporate faith-based development organisations into mainstream ‘secular’ partnerships. Development scholars have responded to these trends by seeking to understand the range of ways that faith might matter in development. Far less emphasis has been placed on how development itself might be influencing faith organisations or their values of development. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between organisational culture and development within a Catholic prelature in the southern Andes of Peru. By examining changes in development practice and perspective over time and tracing the relationship between development values across scales of organisation, I analyse the various ways that religiously-inspired development values are navigated, integrated and contested in the formulation and funding of development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This exploratory and descriptive study explored the relationship between workplace violence and drug use in women. It also explored the perception of women workers on the relationship between workplace violence and drug use. Background: The World Health Organization and the United Nations recognize violence against women and have adopted a definition of it. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reports that violence in the workplace has increased 300% over the last decade. Alcohol misuse, occupation and gender are associated with aggression in the workplace. Estimations of the incidence of non-fatal injuries sustained because of workplace violence and evaluations of the associated risk factors have rarely been documented. Methods: 125 women workers between the ages of 18 and 60 years were surveyed in four suburbs of Zapallal, Lima. Of the 125 women, 28.8% experienced violence in the workplace. Of the 36 women who had experienced violence in the workplace, 16 agreed to participate in interviews to explore their perceptions. The data were saturated with the 16 interviews. Findings: Of the 125 workers surveyed 17.6% experienced verbal violence, 9.6%% experienced physical violence, and 1.6% were sexually harassed in their workplace. Women who were verbally abused demonstrated eight times greater risk of drug use than those who did not experience this type of violence in their workplace. Conclusion: This paper contributes to an understanding of the relationships among drug abuse, gender and the incidence of violence in the workplace; it documents the perception women have of these relationships; and it supports the development of programmes and strategies related to the prevention of workplace violence and drug consumption by women workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the relationship between political violence and ‘horizontal’ inequality in ethnically-divided countries in Latin America. The cases studied are Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru. Preliminary results are reported on the measurement of horizontal inequality, or that between groups, defined in cultural, ethnic and/or religious terms. The Latin American cases are shown to be often more unequal than the cases from Africa and Asia included in the wider study of which the work forms a part. The complex relationship between such inequality, ethnicity and political violence is explored historically. Ethnicity is today rarely a mobilising factor in violence in the Latin American cases, but the degree of inequality based on ethnicity is shown to be highly relevant to the degree of violence which results once conflict is instigated. History explains why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents proxies from an interdisciplinary geoarchaeological working group. Sediment analyses and geomorphological studies, radiocarbon ages of snail shells and luminescence dating of loess allow a preliminary chronology of the environmental evolution of the eastern Atacama desert, Nazca–Palpa region (southern Peru). Until now, typical desert loess was unknown from the arid western flank of the Andes (southern Peru). The loess points to periods of more humid conditions with open grasslands at the eastern Atacama desert margin in the early and middle Holocene. In the footzone of the Andes, aridification set in before the Paracas Culture (c. 800–200bc) evolved, but the Cordillera Occidental remained semi-arid. A second push of increasing aridity started at the latest in the Middle Nazca Period (afterad250). During this time, the Nazca settlement centres moved upstream through the river oasis, following the eastward-shifting desert margin. It is possible that culminating aridity afterad600 caused the collapse of the Nazca civilization. During the Late Intermediate Period (ad1000–1400), more humid conditions favoured the massive reoccupation of the eastern Atacama up to a distance of about 40 km from the Pacific coast. Since the 14th and 15th centuries, the Palpa region has again been part of the hyper-arid Atacama. The study shows that in the Nazca–Ica region, the deep cultural changes of Pre-Columbian civilizations were not caused by catastrophic run-off of El Niño events, but by a shifting eastern desert margin due to the changing monsoonal influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]