Consumo de marca y capital social. Nuevas formas de solidaridad en el ámbito del consumo

En el ámbito del consumo están surgiendo formas específicas de capital social, es decir, relaciones de reciprocidad en redes, asociaciones y grupos de consumidores, con consecuencias instrumentales y expresivas. Se muestran diversos ejemplos que manifiestan esta tendencia. Entre ellos destacan las comunidades de usuarios de determinadas marcas comerciales, cuyos miembros comparten compromisos específicos con valores y significados, encarnados en tales marcas de su elección, que dan contenido a los lazos que les unen. Se exploran también algunas consecuencias de la emergencia de estos vínculos entre consumidores

Consumo e identidad: un enfoque relacional

Rational choice theory and structuralist theories build their arguments on deterministic presuppositions on the consumerist society. As a consequence, their explanation of the relationship between consumption and identity depends on either an abstract rationality or on structures of power and control. In so doing, both theories neglect the role of real people in the processes of identity construction. On the contrary, relational critical realism stands as a more receptive perspective toward the ability of human beings in their social and personal development

Statistical Complexity and Nontrivial Collective Behavior in Electroencephalografic Signals

We calculate a measure of statistical complexity from the global dynamics of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals from healthy subjects and epileptic patients, and are able to stablish a criterion to characterize the collective behavior in both groups of individuals. It is found that the collective dynamics of EEG signals possess relative higher values of complexity for healthy subjects in comparison to that for epileptic patients. To interpret these results, we propose a model of a network of coupled chaotic maps where we calculate the complexity as a function of a parameter and relate this measure with the emergence of nontrivial collective behavior in the system. Our results show that the presence of nontrivial collective behavior is associated to high values of complexity; thus suggesting that similar dynamical collective process may take place in the human brain. Our findings also suggest that epilepsy is a degenerative illness related to the loss of complexity in the brain.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Transcultural study of perceived competence in physical education and leisure time

El objetivo fue analizar la influencia de la competencia percibida en el sexo, el patrón de actividad físico-deportiva y las etapas de cambio en la práctica de actividad físico-deportiva de tiempo libre. La muestra fue de 2168 estudiantes del primer curso de Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria, de Costa Rica (423), México (408) y España (1337). Se realizaron análisis de Chi-cuadrado (x2), tstudent, ANOVA y modelo lineal univariante. Los alumnos con mayor índice de práctica y en etapas activas presentaron una mayor competencia percibida, siendo superior también en los chicos que en las chicas. Por los resultados de esta investigación, hay pocas posibilidades de que la mayoría de los escolares lleguen a ser físicamente activos. Por tanto, en los tres países existe un nivel bajo de actividad físico-deportiva que podría mejorar a través de diseños metodológicos en la Educación Física escolar orientados a la mejora de competenciaThe objective was to analyze the influence of perceived competence on gender, the pattern of physical-sport activity and the stages of change in the practice of physical activity in leisure. The sample was of 2168 students of the first course of Compulsory Secondary Education, of Costa Rica (423), Mexico (408) and Spain (1337). Chi-square (x2), t-student, ANOVA and univariate linear model analyzes were performed. The students with the highest index of practice and in active stages presented a greater perceived competence, also being superior in the boys than in the girls. From the results of this research, it is very probably that most schoolchildren will not become physically active. Therefore, in the three countries there is a low level of physical-sport activity that could be improved through methodological designs in Physical Education aimed at improving perceived competenc

The digital transformation of work: a relational view

Conversation about the current and potential effects of digital technologies on the nature of work is raging within scholarly and practitioner communities. Artificial intelligence, robotics, data analytics, digital platforms, and automation, among other technologies, are prompting a swift and profound transformation of work. Building on Pierpaolo Donati''s relational sociology, we examine the changes these technologies are likely to bring about in work as a human relation. Despite the very real threats of unemployment, job insecurity, precariousness, and surveillance, technology may also encourage the emergence of a work culture that shifts the scales toward a relational realm rather than a transactional one. To this end, we argue that work should be understood as a social relation with four dimensions: exchange value, intrinsic extra-economic purpose, communication for reciprocal services, and correspondence with primary human needs according to use values. Understanding the digital transformation of work from this point of view requires comprehending the differentiation and integration of these four dimensions

High pressure ammonia oxidation in a flow reactor

The present work deals with an experimental and modeling analysis of ammonia oxidation at high pressure (up to 40 bar), in the 600–1275 K temperature range using a quartz tubular reactor and argon as diluent. The impact of temperature, pressure, oxygen stoichiometry and presence of NO has been analyzed on the concentrations of NH3 and N2 obtained as main products of ammonia oxidation. The main results obtained indicate that increasing either pressure or stoichiometry results in a shift of NH3 conversion to lower temperatures. The effect of pressure is particularly significant in the low range of pressures studied. The main product of ammonia oxidation is N2, while NO, NO2 and N2O concentrations are below the detection limit for all the conditions considered. The experimental results are simulated and interpreted in terms of a literature detailed chemical kinetic mechanism, which, in general, predicts satisfactorily the experimental results

Scaling and universality of critical fluctuations in granular gases

The global energy fluctuations of a low density gas granular gas in the homogeneous cooling state near its clustering instability are studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The relative dispersion of the fluctuations is shown to exhibit a power-law divergent behavior. Moreover, the probability distribution of the fluctuations presents data collapse as the system approaches the instability, for different values of the inelasticity. The function describing the collapse turns out to be the same as the one found in several molecular equilibrium and non-equilibrium systems, except for the change in the sign of the fluctuations