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This paper compares the status of women in Chile and Taiwan in order to examine two research questions: First, what can explain Taiwan's considerably better record in enhancing the status of women? Second, what are the implications for the ongoing debate among global feminists about the effects of globalization on the status of women? Case studies of the two countries suggest that they are fairly similar in terms of progress on women's education and health, but that Taiwan has a very significant advantage in terms of women's employment status and political representation. Taiwan's better performance in these areas reflects its distinctive development pattern and electoral institutions, while the implications of the case studies for the nature of globalization's effects on the status of women are more complex and nuanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionospheric variability observed prior to mayor earthquakes has been studied for decades. In particular, in many such studies the identification of ionospheric precursors of large earthquakes has been regarded as a specific goal. This paper analyses the observations of the maximum electron concentration (NmF2) over Concepción (36.8°S;73.0°W) and of the total electron content (TEC) for an area covering the rupture zone corresponding to the very large Chile earthquake of 27 February 2010. The analyses used here are similar to those published before for many earthquakes in Taiwan, Japan and Russia. Possible NmF2 and TEC precursors are compared with other precursors proposed for the same earthquake using different TEC determinations and satellite observations of electron/ion concentration, energetic particle bursts and electromagnetic emissions. Some possible precursors derived from the various observations are consistent with each other. However, none can be unambiguously associated to the Chilean earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]