La Ciudad Research Articles

Screening Older Men: Aging Men’s Sexualities in Contemporary Spanish Cinema and TV Series

Older men’s sexualities have recurrently been defined as either “asexual” or “in decline.” Their sexualities, when/if represented at all, have also been associated with the “dirty old man” stereotype, which has depicted sex in old age as both unpalatable and grotesque. Delving into these (mis)representations, this article offers an overview of representations of older men’s sexual lives in contemporary Spanish cinema and TV series, which seem to reify but also challenge such stereotypes. Thus, for example, both the classic film El abuelo by José Luis Garci and the highly acclaimed animation movie Arrugas by Ignacio Ferreras, based on Paco Plaza’s graphic novel of the same title, present the older men in an old people’s home as eminently asexual, while the TV series Crematorio, based on Rafael Chirbes’ homonymous novel, focuses on the relationship between an aging (heterosexual) man and a younger woman, which thus seems to reinforce the traditional “dirty old man” stereotype. Yet Salvador Calvo’s “El trasplante,” one of the episodes of the recent remake of Chicho Ibáñez-Serrador’s well-known horror TV series Historias para no dormir, appears to turn the stereotype upside down, featuring a dystopian story of an older woman who grows increasingly apart from her suddenly rejuvenated lifelong husband. Movies such as En la ciudad sin límites, on the other hand, question rigid (hetero)sexual binaries as the dying older male protagonist, a supposedly straight husband and father, is finally revealed as bisexual, while Eloy de la Iglesia’s Los novios búlgaros depicts a middle-aged man’s attachment to a younger boy, who ends up marrying his girlfriend. Using the character of Salvador Mallo as his alter-ego, Pedro Almodóvar’s (semi-)autobiographical Pain and Glory also focuses on gay aging, redefining it as a queer” rather than linear or “straight” temporal experience (Halberstam), while one of the latest Spanish horror films, Malasaña 32, revolves around a house inhabited by a ghost whose traumatic past as a transgender person living under the Francoist regime comes back to haunt the present. Whilst exploring a number of selected films and TV series that seem to conform to conventional images of older men’s sexual lives, this article will thus include alternative film representations that also undermine such limited and limiting images, thereby redefining aging men’s sexualities on the contemporary Spanish screen as much more complex and plural than has been acknowledged.

From Quiet Life to Political Activism: Memories of tenants rebellions in Mexico

The Red de Desalojados de la Ciudad de México is a group led by people affected by forced evictions, that has been resisting evictions and revealing ways in which different real estate groups, in collaboration with the authorities, prioritize economic interests over the rights of the inhabitants. In conversation with Rufina Galindo a member of the Network of Evicted in Mexico City, we talked about the effects of the earthquake on the living conditions of people, frauds and corruption that make the complex struggles of people for life and home even herder, organizing against eviction violence, including networking and coalition building.

Sensory activities as part of a cultural tourism route for the Festival de Artes Vivas de la Ciudad de Loja (Living Arts Festival of the City of Loja)

This work was carried out with the objective of elaborating a proposal for a sensory tourism route of art and culture for the FIAVL, based on a selection of attractions under specific criteria of: availability, accessibility, safety, in addition to their relationship with the senses and how these senses are perceived in an attraction by the tourist; this is how the attractions that will act as the basis of this route were chosen. Based on these, together with the bibliographic review and the visitor's opinion or demand, the sensory tourism activities were defined; the second important factor for the route.  With these two factors, we proceeded to design the "Sensory Route: Feel Loja", a cultural tourism route that involves the five senses: sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing. The attractions are related to activities that stimulate these senses, and at the same time allow the visitor to learn more about the history and culture of the city of Loja. The methodology proposed for this research work was of the exploratory type, since no route of this type has been carried out in the city, and it also has a quantitative and qualitative approach. Bibliographic consultations were carried out, survey of tourist attractions: data sheet adapted to the methodology of the MINTUR and technical data sheets of the INPC, data collection through survey technique and Focus Group, among others.

Evaluation of the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry technique for the identification of dermatophytes: Use of an extended database

BackgroundIdentification of dermatophytes is usually performed through morphological analyses. However, it may be hindered due to the discovery of new species and complexes and, with some isolates, by the absence of fructification. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) seems to be an option for improving identification. AimsTo develop a database (DB) for the identification of dermatophytes with MALDI-TOF MS, including 32 isolates from the Red de Micología de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires [Mycology Network of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires] (RMCABA) and one reference isolate (RMCABA DB), and evaluate its performance when added to the DB from the supplier, Bruker (Bruker DB). MethodsAll the isolates in the RMCABA DB were identified based on morphology and sequencing. To evaluate the performance of the extended DB (Bruker DB plus RMCABA DB), 136 clinical isolates were included. ResultsThe percentages of identification at the species level increased from 45% to 88%, but the identification at the genus level decreased from 23% to 7%. ConclusionsMALDI-TOF MS yielded better performance in the identification of dermatophytes after including the RMCABA DB, which encompassed local isolates.

Text prediction recurrent neural networks using long short-term memory-dropout

<span lang="EN-US">Unit short-term memory (LSTM) is a type of recurrent neural network (RNN) whose sequence-based models are being used in text generation and/or prediction tasks, question answering, and classification systems due to their ability to learn long-term dependencies. The present research integrates the LSTM network and dropout technique to generate a text from a corpus as input, a model is developed to find the best way to extract the words from the context. For training the model, the poem "</span><em><span lang="EN-US">La Ciudad y los perros</span></em><span lang="EN-US">" which is composed of 128,600 words is used as input data. The poem was divided into two data sets, 38.88% for training and the remaining 61.12% for testing the model. The proposed model was tested in two variants: word importance and context. The results were evaluated in terms of the semantic proximity of the generated text to the given context.</span>

Imagen y grafía: Una lectura de los documentales "Donde" y "La ciudad perdida" de Eduardo Lalo

Este ensayo es un análisis de Donde y La ciudad perdida dos videometrajes del escritor puertorriqueñoEduardo Lalo (1960) y el tema de la ciudad-global, o más bien de las ciudades globales quehabitan el archipiélago "Puerto Rico". Mientras Donde mantiene un carácter autobiográfico y máspersonal, en el que se le da un vistazo a la experiencia cíclica e imposible del regreso, en La ciudadperdida Lalo produce un homenaje a los diversos espacios de la ciudad de San Juan. El "videometraje", un término acuñado por Lalo, revela de cierta forma un modo complejo de mirar. En ambasproducciones, el exilio del escritor, el "insilio" de la práctica literaria y creativa y la condición de laruina del presente global, unen las distintas geografías íntimas y citadinas del espacio.

Fast-track institutionalization: The opening of urban planning best practice agencies in Mexico City

The article explores the related concepts of best practice agencies (BPAs) and fast-track institutionalization. We define BPAs as agencies that have been inspired by international trends in urban governance, often opened within local urban contexts to implement urban planning best practice policies and programs. Importantly, we argue that BPAs often go through processes of “fast-track institutionalization”, meaning that in an attempt by mayors to showcase their effectiveness to their constituents, the institutionalization of BPAs is deemphasized. Through exploring two BPAs in Mexico City, namely the Laboratorio para la Ciudad (LabCDMX) and the Autoridad del Espacio Público (AEP), we illustrate how each BPA bypassed the capacity-building and public action processes required to build consensus on their importance within city government. We then suggest that fast-track institutionalization is one aspect that can eventually contribute to the closure of BPAs. We conclude by exploring how BPAs have created a site of contention between best practice adoption and local processes of institutionalization, eroding their ability to implement their mandates over the short and long-term.

El General Francisco Franco’s “The Power of Beliefs”

This study analyzes and shows the elements of Francisco Francos’ various speeches and manner in which he targeted people's beliefs and conduct. His prime targets were the higher education organizations, educators and college students. Franco believed they needed to be indoctrinated in order to eradicate the republican beliefs from the previous Spanish administration. Thus he directed his propaganda towards them. His yearning to reach out to teachers and students was evident in Discurso pronunciado por S.E. El Generalísimo Franco, Jefe del Estado Español con motivo de la inauguración del presente curso escolar y de la Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid. The totalitarian vocabulary of the text comprises a utopian vision of reality and covert techniques of persuasion as well as control that, when combined, provided a potent weapon of manipulation. Taking into account both the era’s historical setting and the current political climate, this critical discourse analysis of the speech selected incorporates Wodak’s historical discourse approach with other approaches to analyze topoi in critical discourse. We see in the findings of this article how the combinations of a charismatic leader and power of speech play an important role in obtaining support of the population, even when it is against their own personal interest and well-being.

[Gestational diabetes mellitus in a hospital in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina: incidence, treatment, and frequency of screening for reclassification after childbirth]

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as glucose intolerance diagnosed during pregnancy. This pathology can be associated with maternal and feto-neonatal complications, both in the short and long term. The prevalence of GDM in Argentina (based on the diagnostic criteria of the Latin American Diabetes Association (ALAD), is estimated between 7.5-10% of pregnant women. Information in Argentina on the incidence of GDM is scarce. The objective of this work was to estimate the incidence of GDM, evaluate its treatment and the frequency of screening for postpartum reclassification of diabetes in a population of pregnant women treated at a private hospital in the city of Buenos Aires. Retrospective cohort of pregnant women evaluated at the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina between 2015 and 2018. The cumulative incidence of GDM was 7.6% (95% CI 7.0-8, two). All patients received nutritional advice (food plan). Of the total number of pregnant women studied 229 (39.3%) required pharmacological treatment; Of these, 97 patients received insulin (16.7%) and 132 metformin (22.7%). Regarding the follow-up of the pathology, between six weeks and one year postpartum, 267 women (45.9%) underwent diabetes screening for reclassification. Screening frequency was higher in the insulin-treated group. Of the patients who underwent screening, 36 women (13.5%) had impaired fasting blood glucose, 16 women (6.0%) had impaired glucose tolerance, and 3 women (1.1%) were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. two.Of these, 36 women (13.5%) had impaired fasting blood glucose, 16 women (6.0%) had impaired glucose tolerance, and 3 women (1.1%) were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. GDM incidence was 7.6%. Less than half of the women diagnosed with GDM required pharmacological treatment. The frequency of diabetes screening up to one year postpartum for reclassification was similar to that reported.

Cáncer de pene en un hospital de tercer nivel de la Ciudad de México: Descripción de factores de riesgo y frecuencias en población mexicana

Objective: To determine and analyze the prevalence of the principal risk factors in patients with penile cancer in General Hospital “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga” and their survival rate at 24 months. Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. The population (n=93) are hispanic, adult male residents of Mexico City with penile cancer diagnosed. The variables analyzed are: Age, smoking status, HPV status, presence of vascular invasion, treatment and survival status after 24 months. Results: Mean age (n=93) was 57.87. 55.9% were active smokers. 100% were uncircumcised. Only 17.2% were HPV +. Squamous Cell Carcinoma was the predominant type with 86%. 18.3% had vascular invasion. At 24 months after diagnosis with treatment 84.9% patients were alive, 6.5% died of cancer related causes, 6.5% of other causes and (2.2%) of chemotherapy toxicity. Conclusion: This infrequent disease requires a high quality multidisciplinary treatment. Squamous cell carcinomas are the predominant type in Mexico City, risk factors such as smoking, uncircumcised, age and HPV infection were present. HPV vaccines in men could help reduce a proportion of malignancies but there is no data related. Adjuvant therapy should be considered since the survival rate at 24 months of study was lower than first world countries. Periodic evaluation of chemotherapy adverse effects should be considered since a significant proportion died because of toxicity.

Long-Term Exposure to Ozone and Fine Particulate Matter and Risk of Premature Coronary Artery Disease: Results from Genetics of Atherosclerotic Disease Mexican Study.

Simple SummaryEpidemiological studies have identified associations between fine particulate matter (with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5)) and ozone exposure with cardiovascular disease; however, studies linking ambient air pollution and premature coronary artery disease (pCAD) in Latin America are nonexistent. We leveraged data from the Genetics of Atherosclerotic Disease (GEA) Mexican study to address the question of the extent to which long-term exposure to ozone and PM2.5 exposure was associated with the risk of pCAD. We showed for the first time a higher risk of pCAD associated with 1 ppb increase in ozone (1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year) and 5μg/m3 of PM2.5 (5-year) compared to controls. This study provides evidence that ozone and PM2.5 may be a modifiable risk factor for pCAD.(1) Background: Epidemiological studies have identified associations between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone exposure with cardiovascular disease; however, studies linking ambient air pollution and premature coronary artery disease (pCAD) in Latin America are non-existing. (2) Methods: Our study was a case–control analysis nested in the Genetics of Atherosclerotic Disease (GEA) Mexican study. We included 1615 participants (869 controls and 746 patients with pCAD), recruited at the Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez from June 2008 to January 2013. We defined pCAD as history of myocardial infarction, angioplasty, revascularization surgery or coronary stenosis > 50% diagnosed before age 55 in men and age 65 in women. Controls were healthy individuals without personal or family history of pCAD and with coronary artery calcification equal to zero. Hourly measurements of ozone and PM2.5 from the Atmospheric Monitoring System in Mexico City (SIMAT in Spanish; Sistema de Monitero Atmosférico de la Ciudad de México) were used to calculate annual exposure to ozone and PM2.5 in the study participants. (3) Results: Each ppb increase in ozone at 1-year, 2-year, 3-year and 5-year averages was significantly associated with increased odds (OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 1.03–1.18; OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.05–1.30; OR = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.05–1.33, and OR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.04–1.23, respectively) of pCAD. We observed higher risk of pCAD for each 5 µg/m3 increase only for the 5-year average of PM2.5 exposure (OR = 2.75; 95% CI: 1.47–5.16), compared to controls. (4) Conclusions: Ozone exposure at different time points and PM2.5 exposure at 5 years were associated with increased odds of pCAD. Our results highlight the importance of reducing long-term exposure to ambient air pollution levels to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Mexico City and other metropolitan areas.

La masculinidad hegemónica dentro de un ambiente represivo: La ciudad y los perros de Mario Vargas Llosa

This article analyzes the construction of the male characters in La ciudad y los perros by Mario Vargas Llosa, a canonical text of Latin American literature, to provide a new reading focused on the discourses of power and sexuality. Thus, it is examined whether the repressive environment of the military school in which the cadets are immersed serves to reinforce gender codes or, on the contrary, to show multiple ways of “being a man”.

FROM HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE: English‐language Media Outlets and Urban Planning Best Practices in the Global South

AbstractThis article explores the referencing of urban planning best practices focused on fostering more ‘sustainable’ and ‘livable’ cities by decision makers within the global South. Specifically, I illustrate the role of English‐language media outlets in influencing the policy‐making process, thereby encouraging local decision makers to adopt some urban planning best practice policies and programs over others. I argue that the media outlets that are commonly drawn on to identify best practices remain located within the global North, obscuring opportunities to conceptualize urban planning from within the context of the South. To theorize my arguments, I position myself within the government department of the Laboratorio para la Ciudad (Laboratory for the City, or LabCDMX) in Mexico City, a local nexus for best practice adoption. I make the case that decision makers frequently use best practices reported on in the English‐language media, such as blogs and newspapers, including The New York Times and CityLab. I conclude by suggesting that the North continues to influence Southern decision makers during the policy‐making process, regardless of whether these best practices originated in cities within the North or the South.

FILLING THE GAP: MOLTING BEHAVIOR OF COLIMA WARBLERS AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERSTUDIED NORTH AMERICAN SONGBIRDS

We implemented stable isotope analysis to evaluate the molt behavior of the Colima warbler (Leiothlypis crissalis), an understudied migratory songbird occurring in Mexico and recently discovered breeding in the southern part of Texas, USA. We built a geostatistical model showing variation in deuterium precipitation values (d2Hp) across a latitudinal gradient within the Colima warbler breeding range in northeastern Mexico. Then, based on stable isotope ratios of deuterium in feathers (d2Hf), we assigned wintering Colima warblers captured in Central Mexico to possible molting areas near the southwestern portion of the species' breeding range. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first field study documenting Colima warbler captures and recaptures within the Parque Ecológico de la Ciudad de México, near the mountain ranges surrounding the Basin of Mexico. Overall, our study demonstrates the potential of winter ecology fieldwork in conjunction with molecular study techniques, such as stable isotope analysis, for revealing the migratory and molting behavior of warblers with restricted distribution ranges.

COVID-19 in real time: comparing the struggle of three low-income neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires

This article seeks to explain why some popular neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires have responded more effectively than others to COVID-19. It compares actions that took place between March and October 2020 in the neighbourhoods of Villa 20, Villa 15 and Villa 1-11-14. We analyse public policies carried out by government agencies, especially the Instituto de Vivienda de la Ciudad (IVC) and the Ministerio de Desarrollo Humano y Hábitat (MDHyH), and the active collaboration of local organisations. While significant scholarship has focused on COVID-19 effects and coping strategies in Latin American neighbourhoods, there is limited analysis of how pre-existing relationships between local actors and government agencies have shaped neighbourhood responses. This comparative analysis shows that in fact the consolidation and depth of historical working relations between local government and local organisations determined the response capacity of each informal neighbourhood.

El estudio de la ciudad informal a partir de las fuentes disponibles: el caso de las urbanizaciones ilegales en Andalucía.

The phenomenon of illegal urbanisations continues to be one of the great environmental and territorial challenges to be overcome in Andalusia. In spite of this, the process of fully understanding this phenomenon is significantly hindered by the scarcity of easily accessible sources that allow the scientific community to study and analyse them. This article focuses on highlighting, firstly, the scarcity of existing sources for the study of illegal urbanisations on intermediate scales; and, secondly, when they exist, their limitations to allow a diachronic analysis of the process. In addition, the possibilities offered by other cartographic sources available in the region are explored. The results point to the need for the regional administration to update the inventories in order to know the current situation of the process, as well as the limitations and potential of the Spatial Reference Data for this purpose.

The Proletarian Commune in Veracruz: José Mancisidor's La ciudad roja

In La ciudad roja, Mancisidor rewrites the 1922 tenant strikes in the city of Veracruz, a social movement that managed to paralyze the city's economy throughout that year. In this article, we discuss the novel in relation to the larger ambitions and objectives of the collective project of "proletarian literature." The article focuses on three aspects of the novel: first, the process of historical rewriting that frames, selects, and erases different elements of the Veracruz tenant strikes; second, the novel's account of the communal urban space that emerged during the rent strikes; and finally, the relation presented in the novel between the artist-leader of the tenant movement and the proletarian masses. We will suggest that this may be understood as a novelization or a novelized debate of the aesthetic and political program of proletarian literature as a whole.

Motivo migratorio y logro de metas en inmigrantes a la ciudad de Trujillo – Perú, periodo 1952 – 2012

La migración es un componente importante de la naturaleza humana, es un fenómeno que, con el transcurrir de los años, ha ido tomando rumbos altamente complejos. Esto implica un cambio en la subjetividad de los migrantes, por involucrar aspectos demográficos, sociales y culturales. Objetivos: Determinar el perfil sociodemográfico, motivo migratorio y el logro de meta de los inmigrantes a Trujillo, en el período 1952-2012. Método: estudio retrospectivo, descriptivo y analítico. Se entrevistó a 97 personas que hubieran emigrado a la ciudad de Trujillo, durante el periodo de 1952-2012, tanto peruanos como extranjeros, que aceptaron participar. Resultados: El perfil sociodemográfico de los inmigrantes se caracterizó por el predominio de: mujeres (51.5%), la edad al migrar osciló entre 21-30 años (41.2%), con educación superior (53,6%), solteros (55,7%), el 23 % proceder de la Sierra liberteña y el 34% tenían un largo tiempo de permanencia en esta ciudad (51 a 60 años). El motivo predominante fue laboral (33% en peruanos y 40% en extranjeros), y el 66% de los inmigrantes logró sus metas, sintiéndose muy satisfechos. Conclusión: Se encontró una correlación positiva entre el motivo y la meta lograda por los inmigrantes evaluados.

About One Cinema Ekphrasis of Sh. Abdullaev

The results of the study of the genre form of ekphrasis in the context of the “visual turn” in the 1990—2000s are presented in the article. A particular case — Shamshad Abdullaev’s poem “Two Films”, which combines the impressions of two films by Spanish director Jose Luis Guerin “En la ciudad de Sylvia” (2007) and “Tren de sombras” (1997) are examined in the article. It has been established that this text is both a narrative about reception and an experience of “poetological” utterance, in which the poet speaks about his understanding of the essence of art, the nature of the creative act, connections between poetry and visual imagery. This is a “complex ekphrasis”, involving the alignment of motives and plots of different works in a single semantic series. Ekphrastic description includes both the reproduction of plot-significant scenes and the peculiarities of the film language. It is proved that the reception of cinema is mediated by other artistic codes (photography, literature), complicated by reflection on the language of philosophy and aesthetics (“mono no aware”, “nunc stans”). The semiotics of the visual, therefore, arises at the intersection of different cultural codes and contexts.

La cultura financiera del ahorro e inversión en el crecimiento económico en las micro y pequeñas empresas de la ciudad de Trujillo, año 2020

The purpose of the research was to determine the influence of the financial culture of saving and investment on economic growth in micro and small companies in the city of Trujillo, year 2020. The methodology used was a descriptive, explanatory, causal correlational research, historical, non-experimental, and knowledge has been used through principles, norms, historical, economic data, which was applied to financial culture to measure the influence of economic development on MYPES. The population consisted of 20,000 micro and small businesses in the city of Trujillo. The sample consisted of 50 microenterprises at the discretion of the researcher, using random procedures and statistical techniques, through non-parametric sampling. It was concluded that there is a moderate positive correlation between the variables financial culture of savings and investment in the economic development of micro and small companies in the city of Trujillo, year 2020, having obtained a Pearson correlation coefficient of r = 0.692.