This research analyses the long run and short run relationships among economic growth, poverty and energy using the Colombian case. In this study, we use the time-series methodologies. The results regarding the relationship among economic growth, poverty and energy show that increases in gross domestic product and energy supply per capita should lead a decrease of poverty, which should demonstrate that access to modern and adequate energy services help to decrease poverty and to increase economic growth. Moreover, the improvements in energy efficiency have contributed to increase economic growth from an approach of sustainable development. These results are important for the adequate design, formulation and application of policies and strategies that encourage a better energy use to improve economic growth and decrease poverty, especially in developing countries.

Mit seinem Buch A Secular Age hat der Sozialphilosoph Charles Taylor einen aufsehenerregenden Alternativentwurf zum klassischen Säkularisierungsparadigma vorgelegt. Das Ziel dieses Artikels ist es, ihn auf die religionssoziologische Diskussion um Säkularisierung und deren verschiedenen Teilprozesse zu beziehen. Es werden drei Ansprüche formuliert, an denen Alternativentwürfe zu messen sind. Erstens müssen sie verständlich machen, warum „Säkularität“ zu einer so wichtigen Selbstbeschreibungskategorie moderner Gesellschaften werden konnte. Zweitens müssen sie das in Jahrzenten religionssoziologischer Forschung akkumulierte Wissen über Entkirchlichung mit den von Kritikern hervorgehobenen Befunden genuin moderner religiöser Vitalität integrieren. Und drittens müssen sie die vielfältigen Muster der Differenzierung religiöser und politischer Ordnung im Gesellschafts- und Kulturvergleich beschreiben und erklären können. In kritischer Auseinandersetzung mit Taylor werden Grenzen kulturalistischer Theorien moderner Säkularität und bleibende Aufgaben historisch-soziologischer Forschung zu Religion in der Moderne identifiziert.

In local helioseismology, numerical simulations of wave propagation are useful to model the interaction of solar waves with perturbations to a background solar model. However, the solution to the linearised equations of motion include convective modes that can swamp the helioseismic waves that we are interested in. In this article, we construct background solar models that are stable against convection, by modifying the vertical pressure gradient of Model S (Christensen-Dalsgaard et al., 1996, Science272, 1286) relinquishing hydrostatic equilibrium. However, the stabilisation affects the eigenmodes that we wish to remain as close to Model S as possible. In a bid to recover the Model S eigenmodes, we choose to make additional corrections to the sound speed of Model S before stabilisation. No stabilised model can be perfectly solar-like, so we present three stabilised models with slightly different eigenmodes. The models are appropriate to study the f and p1 to p4 modes with spherical harmonic degrees in the range from 400 to 900. Background model CSM has a modified pressure gradient for stabilisation and has eigenfrequencies within 2% of Model S. Model CSM_A has an additional 10% increase in sound speed in the top 1 Mm resulting in eigenfrequencies within 2% of Model S and eigenfunctions that are, in comparison with CSM, closest to those of Model S. Model CSM_B has a 3% decrease in sound speed in the top 5 Mm resulting in eigenfrequencies within 1% of Model S and eigenfunctions that are only marginally adversely affected. These models are useful to study the interaction of solar waves with embedded three-dimensional heterogeneities, such as convective flows and model sunspots. We have also calculated the response of the stabilised models to excitation by random near-surface sources, using simulations of the propagation of linear waves. We find that the simulated power spectra of wave motion are in good agreement with an observed SOHO/MDI power spectrum. Overall, our convectively stabilised background models provide a good basis for quantitative numerical local helioseismology. The models are available for download from http://www.mps.mpg.de/projects/seismo/NA4/.