Lobbies: The Hidden Side of Digital Politics

In recent years, lobbies have been one of the least transparent and most influential political players. Given the concealed nature of their activities and, until 2008, the nearly complete lack of EU legislation regulating their transparency, very few scientific studies have addressed these influential organizations. Though not well-known, their significance and relevance have become increasingly important in the development, introduction, and implementation of public policies. There are thousands of registered lobby groups in Brussels, ranging from private sector groups, environmental advocates, and foreign foundations to so-called paradiplomatic groups that represent regions and factions of territorial entities of Member States. Lobby groups attempt to draw the contours around social problems and solutions, suggesting issues for public debate and defining the conceptual limits of an issue based on their own ideologies, all of which leads them to seek media presence. This chapter will address lobbies in two ways: in political media channels and organizational political communication, especially during the pre-campaign and campaign season. In it, we provide an overview of the trends, challenges, and dangers that lobbies present. Likewise, we will analyze the major trends in their strategies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evolución del activismo digital en los medios sociales: oportunidades y retos

The social media revolution has affected all areas, including activism. However, there is scepticism about its emancipatory capacity, and it is considered by some to be a distorted form of activism. This article presents a review of the existing literature on digital activism, starting with the concept itself, and examines its impact on the organisation of activists and citizen participation. Likewise, based on the platformisation of these spaces and the evolution of their affordances, we observe growth in individual, strategic and low-commitment participation, the accentuation of the role of emotions in media that promote virality, and the assumption of playful forms of politainment by activists –especially on TikTok–. On the other hand, the strategies carried out by organisations to promote activism in relation to their causes are investigated, such as the generation of arguments provided by the interest group and the involvement in an action of dissemination, co-creation and replication of activists. Finally, the main challenges of digital activism are indicated: the growing inequality in terms of access to algorithmic visibility between activists and brands, influencers and interest groups; the desirability of complementing playful activism with work in alternative digital media that allows for more stable forms of collaboration; and the need to protect activists against the growth of hate speech on these platforms.Este estudio es resultado del proyecto “Lobby y comunicación en la Unión Europea. Análisis de sus estrategias de comunicación”, financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España. Programa Nacional de I+D+I, 2020. Código de proyecto: PID2020-118584RB-I00.16 página

Oral lichenoid lesions related to contact with dental materials: A literature review

Oral lichenoid lesions related to contact are defined as oral-cavity eruptions with an identifiable etiology, and are clinically and histologically similar to oral lichen planus. Within this group are found oral lichenoid lesions related to contact with dental materials (OLLC), the most common being those related to silver amalgam. Currently, it remains difficult to diagnose these lesions due to the clinical and histopathological similarity with oral lichen planus and other oral mucosa lesions of lichenoid characteristics. In the present paper, we carry out an updated review of the tests for, and the different characteristics of OLLC, which may aid the diagnosis. For this review, we made searches in the Pubmed® and Cochrane® databases. Among the literature we found several published papers, from which we have used review papers, case papers, cohort studies, case and control studies, and a meta-analysis study. After carrying out this review, we can conclude that the diagnosis of these lesions is still difficult and controversial. However, there are different aspects in the clinical presentation, pathological study and results obtained when replacing suspect materials, which, when taken together, may be useful when establishing the final diagnosis of OLLC

Evaluation of the anti-angiogenic potential of hydroxytyrosol derivatives

Angiogenesis, a process which allows the formation of new vessels from pre-existing ones, is an essential phenomenon for tumor survival since it allows cancer cells to obtain nutrients and oxygen. This explains the increasing interest showed by many groups of research and pharmaceutical companies to find compounds with potential to disrupt at least one of the steps within the angiogenic process. Hydroxytyrosol (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl ethanol) has been identified as the most important health-related phenolic compound of virgin olive oil because of its pleiotropic effects on multiple targets. In 2012, our group identified hydroxytyrosol as an anti-angiogenic compound able to inhibit several key steps in the angiogenic process. In the present study, the potential effects of six hydroxytyrosol derivatives are tested and compared with those exhibited by hydroxytyrosol by making use of several in vitro and in vivo assays. Results indicate that these are candidate new anti-angiogenic compounds with potential utility in anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic therapies.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech [Our experimental work is supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) and P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain)]. This communication has the support of a travel grant

East European think tanks in social media–towards the model of evaluation of effective communication/PR strategies: Case study analysis.

https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/11005Taking into account the recent development of social media and its impact on PR practice among different organizations, this study aims to examine and assess the performance of PR practice think tanks in social media. The major focus is on social media application to their PR strategies and general output and outcomes of this implementation. The study is based on a case study method combined with triangulated techniques of data analysis and collection. The sample is formed by the selected East European think tanks. The study applies free of charge eTools for digital communication measurement in order to detect the value of the presence and activity in various social networks. The objective of the study is to examine whether East European think tanks apply 2.0 communication and to determine the best practices with their corresponding values in order to present a benchmark for such organizations in this area of digital space

Climate change literacy and commitment in Spanish university students.

Purpose – This paper aims to find out if there is a relationship between access to climate change information and student activism. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory study focused on the survey of 400 [n 5 400] students from 10 universities in Spain from April to May 2022. A questionnaire with 19 questions was divided into blocks of knowledge, awareness, and action and bivariate analysis with a margin of error of ±5% and a confidence level of 95%. Findings –The greater the degree of information received, the greater the activism of university students, who tend to use digital media and social networks to get informed. However, they perceive that the university generates little information and a low number of activities related to climate change. Students demand that universities implement informal, formal, and service-learning environmental education strategies on sustainable consumption. Research limitations/implications – Given the results of previous studies showing the variable “type of degree” does not show differences at the beginning and end of studies, it has not been considered in this research. Nevertheless, it would be convenient to introduce it in future investigations to confirm if this may have an impact on informational habits. Practical implications – This paper urges universities to act as sources of environmental education, given the relationship between the information received and the pro-environmental attitudes of students. Social implications – The universities are powerful social actors that can shape public and political discourses for eco-social transition. Originality/value – This research adds the variable access to information in studies on pro-environmental attitudes. Furthermore, this research provides data about student perceptions of the university, government, industry, and NGO climate actions.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

Proposal for a maintenance management system in industrial environments based on ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards

This paper presents an effort to improve the quality of processes and products by the definition of the foundations of Maintenance Management Systems based on ISO standards that could help companies to strength the organization of work. We applied the Design Science Research methodology. Finally developing two prototypes which were implanted in different companies. With information gathered along the process, we can offer a system's design which can be adopted by companies to help om maintenance management tasks and serves as a base to carry out internal audit task

Actitudes del profesorado de conservatorio sobre la integración educativa: un análisis exploratorio

ABSTRACTWe think it is essential to bf the attitudes of teaching staff towards students with special educational needs and their integration in musical education, and how to establish parameters in which we can base those attitudes. 42 teaching staff of the Conservatory (n = 42) with an average age of 34,7 years old (σ = 7,24), answer an attitudes questionnaire (Mula et al., 2002) abbreviated and reformulated according to the goals pursved. Factorial analyses are carried out with results that show 3 factors of second order related to the attitudes of the teachers which imply a positive position about the integration, and a negative position towards it.RESUMENLos objetivos de este estudio son conocer las actitudes del profesorado de Conservatorio ante los Alumnos con Necesidades Educativas Especiales (a.c.n.e.e.) y ante la integración, así como establecer posibles parámetros que fundamenten tales actitudes. Docentes de Conservatorio (n = 42) con una edad media de 34,7 años (σ = 7,24), responden a un cuestionario de actitudes (Mula et al., 2002) abreviado y reformulado según los fines perseguidos. Se realizan análisis factoriales cuyos resultados muestran que hay 3 factores de segundo orden subyacentes a las actitudes de los profesores y que suponen una polarización de las actitudes ante la integración (actitud negativa y posición positiva).ABSTRACTWe think it is essential to bf the attitudes of teaching staff towards students with special educational needs and their integration in musical education, and how to establish parameters in which we can base those attitudes. 42 teaching staff of the Conservatory (n = 42) with an average age of 34,7 years old (σ = 7,24), answer an attitudes questionnaire (Mula et al., 2002) abbreviated and reformulated according to the goals pursved. Factorial analyses are carried out with results that show 3 factors of second order related to the attitudes of the teachers which imply a positive position about the integration, and a negative position towards it

Attention to space and time: Independent or interactive systems? A narrative review

While there is ample evidence for the ability to selectively attend to where in space and when in time a relevant event might occur, it remains poorly understood whether spatial and temporal attention operate independently or interactively to optimize behavior. To elucidate this important issue, we provide a narrative review of the literature investigating the relationship between the two. The studies were organized based on the attentional manipulation employed (endogenous vs. exogenous) and the type of task (detection vs. discrimination). Although the reviewed findings depict a complex scenario, three aspects appear particularly important in promoting independent or interactive effects of spatial and temporal attention: task demands, attentional manipulation, and their combination. Overall, the present review provides key insights into the relationship between spatial and temporal attention and identifies some critical gaps that need to be addressed by future research.Universidad de Granada/ CBU