Venezuelan National Research Articles

A Large‐Area CCD Camera for the Schmidt Telescope at the Venezuelan National Astronomical Observatory

ABSTRACTWe have designed, constructed, and put into operation a large‐area CCD camera that covers a large fraction of the image plane of the 1 m Schmidt telescope at Llano del Hato in Venezuela. The camera consists of 16 CCD devices arranged in a 4 × 4 mosaic covering 2.°3 × 3.°5 of sky. The CCDs are 2048 × 2048 LORAL devices with 15 μm pixels. The camera is optimized for drift‐scan photometry and objective‐prism spectroscopy. The design considerations, construction features, and performance parameters are described in the following paper.

CCD and micrometric observations of visual double stars

Relative positions and separations for 65 visual binaries are given. CCD frames were taken at the 1-m coud e telescope and micrometric observations were car- ried out at the 65-cm refractor, both at the Venezuelan National Observatory. The visual double stars observed were selected from the Ram on Mar a Aller Observatory program list. In addition, we also observed several long period double stars with poorly determined orbital elements.

Trapped Between Civilization and Barbarism

In 1990, Camilo Luzuriaga took to the big screen his adaptation of Tigress, a 1935 story by the Ecuadorian writer Jose de la Cuadra (19051941).1 is one of the most representative texts of Cuadra's period of artistic maturity, and it is no wonder that Luzuriaga chose it as subject matter for a project intended to lay the groundwork for the continued development of a national cinema. Of all the members of the Guayaquil Group, it was Jose de la Cuadra who best captured the mythopoetic world of the montuvio, the rural people of the Ecuadorian coast.2 Almost all of the numerous critics who have commented on TigressS have felt compelled to acknowledge the parallels between it and Dofia Barbara (1929), by the Venezuelan Romulo Gallegos. Not surprisingly, the characterization of the despotic woman within the conceptual context of civilization and barbarism also serves as the starting point for the reading of that follows. This study will show, however, that, in contrast to Gallegos's interpretation of Venezuelan nationality, Cuadra's view in the 1930s was never a matter of simplistic dualisms mechanically applied to sociohistoric conditions that are both complex and contradictory. In fact, it is no coincidence that Ecuadorian modernity dates to the time when writers such as Jose de la Cuadra reached the height of their artistic production. The filmmaker Luzuriaga has placed in a tradition inconsistent with Cuadra's way of thinking. For example, in the last scene of the movie the Tigress dies in a shooting skirmish with a group of gendarmes (supposedly representative of the forces of order and modernity) and her spirit returns to Nature.3 This is more than a simple matter of interpretation, for it fundamentally misrepresents the author's position. Although Luzuriaga has

Establishment of a clinical engineering department in a Venezuelan national reference hospital.

Since 1976, Clinical Engineering (CE) has been studied at the Simón Bolívar University (USB) as part of the Bioengineering Studies program developed at that University. However, it was not until 1996 that Clinical Engineering activities were established in a Venezuelan hospital. This paper describes how the USB, using its own human resources, has achieved the establishment of a Clinical Engineering Department in a national reference hospital for the first time.

International Migration Data: Their Problems and Usefulness in Venezuela

During the 1940s and 1950s Venezuela was an important destination for migrants from Southern Europe, a flow that disappeared almost entirely during the 1960s, to be replaced by border movements and the largely illegal migration of Colombians. The oil boom of the 1970s saw an increase of the latter, which may have subsided during the 1980s due to the more difficult economic conditions that have also led to significant emigration levels of Venezuelans and former immigrants. Methods of data collection systems that provide information on migrants include the National Population and Housing Census, the National Household Survey, migration surveys, arrival and departure statistics, registration systems operated by the Direccion General Sectorial de identificacion y Control de Extranjeros, the 1980 regularization drive, statistics gathered by the Ministry of Labor, and vital and civil registration statistics. The lack of effective coordination among the different government agencies gathering information and the administrative nature of the data collected give rise to problems of comparability. Mechanisms to publish and disseminate the data available are not well developed, so that researchers often have no access to potentially useful sources of information. Problems of timeliness in the publication of the most widely used information are also present, as is the large gap existing in data pertaining to emigration, be it of Venezuelan nationals or of immigrants leaving the country.

Essay on Aspects of the Venezuelan National Script

The authors describe the historical and cultural antecedents which helped shape the scripty behavior of a Venezuelan personality type called the Climber. TA tools are used to analyze Climber behavior.

VENEZUELAN NATIONAL OIL SPILL TRAINING PROGRAM

ABSTRACT This paper describes the development of an oil spill training program for the Venezuelan National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. The courses in the program will be offered to the different personnel levels of the Venezuelan oil industry which will be assigned to the national, regional, and local response teams. Training details will vary with the type of oil installation (drilling platform, refinery, terminal, etc.), the geographical location (Lake Maracaibo, mangroves, coral islands, etc.), the type of organization (regional, local, etc.), and the level of the personnel involved (supervisory, operational, etc.). The course objective will be to train 200 individuals a year from the Venezuelan oil industry, and will be open to other non-industry organizations with involvement in the National Contingency Plan (such as the armed forces, and transportation and environmental agencies). The program emphasizes practical hands-on training using the containment, cleanup, and dispersant applications equipment acquired for the national plan. The courses also will give the participants practical experience in other pertinent aspects such as: legal, organizational, reporting, and use of decision support aids available to the plan. The program also includes at the end of the year an exercise/drill which will be hosted by the regional areas in order to review the previous instructions and/or detect operational problems in the current national plan.

THE VENEZUELAN NATIONAL OIL SPILL CONTINGENCY PLAN

ABSTRACT A national contingency plan has been developed to contend with oil spills which may originate from offshore operations and tanker traffic in the waters off Venezuela from the Gulf of Venezuela to the Orinoco Delta. The plan was prepared for the Venezuelan oil industry which is made up of Petroleos de Venezuela, a holding company of the nationalized Venezuelan oil industry, and its affiliated companies, Lagoven S.A., Maraven S.A., Corpoven S.A., and Meneven S.A. The plan is based on an assessment of existing human and environmental material resources, the establishment of the operational capabilities of these resources, an overview of existing environmental data, and field programs which identified areas of special concern and filled environmental data gaps. Ideas and information were exchanged frequently between the contractors and representatives of the affiliated companies of Petroleos de Venezuela during the formulation of the plan. In the process of developing the national plan, an interim plan was prepared. The resulting final plan consists of a set of manuals with precise and detailed procedures to follow in case of a spill, an auxiliary set of manuals containing technical information to support the detailed instructions, and instructions on the implementation of the plan and training of personnel. An essential part is the production of 60 sensitivity charts describing the Venezuelan coast. The Venezuelan oil industry is in the privileged position of not only having a master national oil spill contingency plan but also having available the experience to carry out the plan due to everyday experience accumulated in cleanup operations on Lake Maracaibo. The Venezuelan National Oil Spill Contingency Plan is expected to serve as a model for future Caribbean plans.

474 MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE SECRETORY DIARRHEA SYNDROME

ASDS is a clinical syndrome characterized by frequent, watery stools, rapid onset of dehydration, and lack of response to dietary restriction. The stools are mainly yellowish water and are produced almost continuously. Stool electrolytes show sodium above 70 mEq/L, chloride above 60 mEq/L, and potassium below 30 mEq/L. Diarrhea responsive to dietary restriction usually has sodium, potassium and chloride under 40 mEq/L. Stool volumes in ASDA are over 60 cc/kg/day leading to rapid onset of dehydration, hyponatremia, and shock. Treatment with exclusively I.V. fluids for as long as 8 days has no effect on fecal losses in ASDS. In 1977, 28 cases of ASDS were recognized at Texas Children's Hospital. Oral colistin was of no value in ASDS. Parenteral aminoglycoside therapy was associated with recovery of normal stool patterns in 4 to 5 days. Oral gentamicin was associated with recovery of normal consistency, frequency, and electrolyte concentrations in 24 to 36 hours. Thus, ASDS is characterized by cholera-like stooling, dehydration during the first days of illness, and an elevated stool sodium. This syndrome responds rapidly to oral gentamicin therapy. Supported by Children's Clinical Research Center NIH RR-00188, Kelsey-Seybold Fellowship Fund and Venezuelan National Academy of Sciences.

Venezuelan Institute Of Oil Technology (Intevep): Its Mission And Objectives

Abstract The Industria Petrolera Venezolana [Venezuelan National Oil Corporation], represented and directed by its parent company, petroleos de Venezuela, S. A. [Venezuelan Petroleum, Ltd.] (PDVSA), in 1976 established an applied Research and Development Centre for hydrocarbons and petrochemicals. This Centre is known as the Institute Tecno1ogico Venezolano del paroleo [Venezuelan Institute of Petroleum Technology] (INTEVEP), and constitutes the fifteenth affiliate of the PDVSA. The mission of the Institute is: "to provide technological support for the national oil and petrochemicals industries and thus bring about a reasonable reduction in their dependence on foreign sources of technology." Objectives over the next ten years have been divided into two phases of five years each. During Phase I, INTEVEP will:Consolidate its own structure by building up its scientific, professional and technical staff, and setting up research laboratories, workshops, offices, etc.Initiate research and offer technical support to the petroleum industry by defining and implementing priority projects in areas such as: recovery techniques for heavy and extra-heavy oils; off-shore development of the Venezuelan continental shelf; the enhanced recovery of deposits of light and medium oils in an advanced state of depletion; seismic data processing applied to local conditions; the formulation of lubricants and fuels; drilling deep oil deposits; the processing, desulphuration and demetalization of heavy oils; etc.Maintain access to foreign technology, but at the same time diversify its sources to increase the autonomy of the national industry. At the end of 1976, INTEVEP started construction of its main laboratories by remodelling 10,000 m2 of an existing building on an 80-ha parcel of land Some 30 km south of Caracas. INTEVEP's staff currently numbers 70 people, of whom 45 are researchers and professionals working in six different scientific: disciplines: earth sciences, petroleum engineering, general engineering, process engineering, basic sciences, and computer and systems engineering. INTEVEP The Institute Termologico Venezolano del Petroleo [Venezuelan Institute of Oil Technology] (INTEVEP) was created on January 1st, 1976 by the Government of the Republic of Venezuela to provide technological support for the national oil and petrochemicals industries and thus bring about a reasonable reduction in their dependence on foreign sources of technology. The Institute had its origins in the Fundacion para la Investigacion en Hidrocarburos y Petroquimica [Hydrocarbons and Petrochemical Research Foundation] (INTEVEP) created by Executive Decree 1385 of August 29th, 1973. This was later amended by the decree setting up INTEVEP, in which the legal status of the Foundation was maintained but with the scope of its operations extended to the entire petroleum industry. By placing INTEVEP under Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. [Venezuelan Petroleum, Ltd.] (PDVSA), the parent company of the Industria Petrolera Venezoelan [Venezuelan National Oil Corporation], the Institute became the Corporation's Research and Development Centre. BACKGROUND Prior to the creation of INTEVEP, there was only one centre in the country devoted exclusively to research: IVIC. This governmental institution had a working staff of some 10 researchers, plus another 35 professionals and technicians engaged in oil chemistry research, specializing in the processing and upgrading of heavy crudes.