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Basic freedoms that include human rights are the principles of social justice and politics in modern states, these goods are the product of historical, political, cultural and philosophical modernity. For this reason, carry within them a conceptualization of what is and should be human existence, and consequently it would be fair to everyone in a society, is in possession of such property and liberties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a meta-analysis of the history and the literature on the current state of political science in Mexico with the aim of obtaining an overall picture of the characteristics and profiles of political scientists and political science. It notes that there has been a process of change in the profiles of authors and the foci of texts, with a tendency to formalize analysis and a growing influence of the American tradition, along with a process of professional academic specialization and the growth of academic entities offering academic and research programs in political science.

Objetivo: examinar las causas estructurales de la precariedad laboral de los trabajadores jornaleros agrícolas de México. Metodología: investigación cualitativa, histórico-sociológica a partir de la cual se identifican inercias históricas, institucionales y sociales que se convierten en condiciones determinantes de la estructura que produce la precariedad laboral de los jornaleros a pesar de las normas que deberían protegerlos. Resultados: se afirma que la desposesión agraria derivada de los procesos de colonización, la persistencia de una cultura económica de la explotación de los trabajadores, la marginalización política y la débil sindicalización de los jornaleros durante el periodo posrevolucionario en México, crearon las condiciones de precariedad de la ocupación. Valor: se subraya la importancia de descubrir herencias históricas como determinantes de las estructuras institucionales vigentes que afectan la calidad de vida de los trabajadores precarizados. Conclusiones: la revisión histórica sustenta el argumento de que para mejorar las condiciones laborales de los jornaleros agrícolas deben cambiarse ciertas instituciones políticas para que éstos obtengan representación política y normativas laborales específicas que modifiquen la concepción del trabajo agrícola manual, de forma tal que no sea considerado un segmento de disminución de costos de producción en detrimento de dichos trabajadores.

Introduction Social housing programmes have been shown to influence health, but their effects on cardiovascular mortality and incidence of infectious diseases, such as leprosy and tuberculosis, are unknown. We will use individual administrative data to evaluate the effect of the Brazilian housing programme Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and incidence of leprosy and tuberculosis.Methods and analysis We will link the baseline of the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort (2001–2015), which includes information on socioeconomic and demographic variables, to the MCMV (2009–2015), CVD mortality (2007–2015), leprosy (2007–2015) and tuberculosis (2007–2015) registries. We will define our exposed population as individuals who signed the contract to receive a house from MCMV, and our non-exposed group will be comparable individuals within the cohort who have not signed a contract for a house at that time. We will estimate the effect of MCMV on health outcomes using different propensity score approaches to control for observed confounders. Follow-up time of individuals will begin at the date of exposure ascertainment and will end at the time a specific outcome occurs, date of death or end of follow-up (31 December 2015). In addition, we will conduct stratified analyses by the follow-up time, age group, race/ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic position.Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the ethic committees from Instituto Gonçalo Muniz-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and University of Glasgow Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences College. Data analysis will be carried out using an anonymised dataset, accessed by researchers in a secure computational environment according to the Centre for Integration of Data and Health Knowledge procedures. Study findings will be published in high quality peer-reviewed research journals and will also be disseminated to policy makers through stakeholder events and policy briefs.

Objective: To estimate the association between maternal socioeconomic factors and the occurrence of nutritional outcomes in children under five years of age in a representative sample of the Brazilian population. Methods: This was a cross‐sectional study that evaluated data from the latest National Survey of Children and Women's Demographics and Health, carried out in Brazil in 2006–2007. Maternal employment and maternal level of schooling were the main exposures. The following nutritional outcomes in children were considered: height/age 2SD for overweight. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were utilized as the regression method. Results: After adjustments, it was observed that children whose mothers had low level of schooling had a higher chance of having short stature (OR = 3.97, 95% CI, 1.23–12.80) and children whose mothers worked outside the home were more likely to have excess weight (OR = 1.57, 95% CI, 1.02–2.42). Maternal employment was not associated with short stature in children (OR = 1.09, 95% CI, 0.67–1.77). Conclusion: Maternal level of schooling was associated with short stature in children and maternal employment with overweight, indicating the need to take into account the socioeconomic factors when proposing programs and strategies aimed at health and nutrition improvement of children, considering inter‐sectoral interventions.

En este artículo se analiza el Fondo de Aportaciones para la Infraestructura Social, en San Pedro Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, el cual dota de servicios básicos a la población más necesitada. Para ello se empleó un enfoque cualitativo, también se realizó una revisión exhaustiva de todos los documentos relacionados con el Fondo y seis entrevistas semiestructuradas a los funcionarios implicados en su implementación. Se concluye que el Fondo tiene partes positivas: productividad y obras ejercidas, satisfacción de los beneficiarios y eficiencia y reinversión de recursos; pero también están las negativas: deficiencias en la capacitación de los colaboradores, insuficiencia de materiales, canales de comunicación intermitentes, desconocimiento de la normatividad y falta de indicadores de medición. El aporte de este artículo es que se analiza una política sectorial y nacional, pero considerando la dimensión territorial, para comprender su implementación en un lugar específico, y así brindar mejores resultados para los beneficiarios.

Exotic African grasses have been introduced into deteriorated semiarid grasslands in northern Mexico to stop soil erosion and improve land productivity. These species are characterized by larger size and greater seed productivity than natives, traits which may contribute to eventual displacement of native grasses. Invasion of natural ecosystems alters species composition and ecosystem functioning, making identification of the traits and mechanisms used by successful invaders vital to controlling this problem. A comparison was done of seed germination potential and seedling biomass allocation in two native grasses (Bouteloua gracilis and B. curtipendula) and five exotic African grasses (Eragrostis curvula, E. lehmanniana, E. superba, Melinum repens and Panicum coloratum). Treatments consisted of washed and unwashed seeds and sterilized and unsterilized soils. Only E. superba exhibited higher (P<0.05) germination rates than the native species. Due to their overall higher seed production, potential propagule production was highest in two of the exotic grasses (E. superba and E. curvula). Seed washing favored higher germination in the three Eragrostis grasses, whereas soil sterilization inhibited germination in B. curtipendula and E. curvula (P<0.05). Seedling growth variables indicated similar effects in biomass allocation. Propagule production is not necessarily the factor that most facilitates invasive success by an exotic grass species, while the lack of pathogenic microorganisms and/or presence of growth promoting microorganisms may play a vital role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germination and growth of four plant species were evaluated from 90 to 1960 m above sea level, with the aim to determine whether global warming could influence growth at higher elevations in northeastern Mexico. Three native species (Cordia boissieri, Ebenopsis ebano and Caesalpinia mexicana) and a naturalized species (Melia azederach) were tested. Seeds were set to germinate in containers four times (Spring 2003, 2004, Autumn 2003 and 2004) at five elevations (90, 350, 520, 1600 and 1960 m above sea level). The lowest three elevations encompass the current distribution range of the species, and it was in these elevations that in general germination percentage was higher across species. The highest germination for C. boissieri occurred at 350, 520 and 1600 m above sea level. Highest germination for E. ebano and C. mexicana occurred at 90, 350, 520 and 1600 m above sea level. The highest germination for M. azederach occurred at 90, 350 and 520 m above sea level. In addition, seedling growth and number of leaves produced by seedlings were, in general higher at elevations with highest germination percentages. Results presented here suggest that plant species studied have the capacity to germinate and grow at higher elevations from their current distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective: To estimate the association between maternal socioeconomic factors and the occurrence of nutritional outcomes in children under five years of age in a representative sample of the Brazilian population. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that evaluated data from the latest National Survey of Children and Women's Demographics and Health, carried out in Brazil in 2006-2007. Maternal employment and maternal level of schooling were the main exposures. The following nutritional outcomes in children were considered: height/age 2SD for overweight. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were utilized as the regression method. Results: After adjustments, it was observed that children whose mothers had low level of schooling had a higher chance of having short stature (OR = 3.97, 95% CI, 1.23-12.80) and children whose mothers worked outside the home were more likely to have excess weight (OR = 1.57, 95% CI, 1.02-2.42). Maternal employment was not associated with short stature in children (OR = 1.09, 95% CI, 0.67-1.77). Conclusion: Maternal level of schooling was associated with short stature in children and maternal employment with overweight, indicating the need to take into account the socioeconomic factors when proposing programs and strategies aimed at health and nutrition improvement of children, considering inter-sectoral interventions.

Abstract: This study aims to examine the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and the functional performance of elderly people living in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Data of a representative sample of 2,033 elderly were analyzed using quantile regression. Functional performance was measured by the number of activities of daily living (ADL) the elderly had difficulty to perform. The neighborhood characteristics evaluated were: maintenance, trust, insecurity and defective sidewalks. Functional performance was found positively associated with the characteristic defective sidewalks, whose effect increased as the number of ADL the elderly had difficulty to perform increased. The results suggest that inadequate sidewalk conditions can contribute to functional losses in elderly people, especially among those who are functionally more compromised.