Gender, family and work in the European cultural and social model: some critical aspects

The Lisbon Council invited the Commission and Member States to promote all aspects concerning equal opportunities in the field of employment policies, including the reduction of occupational segregation and the possibility to balance work and family life and to solve some of the increasing problems affecting several countries, such as lower and later fertility and the ensuing ageing of the population. Further, The basic idea of the ESM is that economic and social progress must go hand in hand; economic growth, in other words, is to be combined with social cohesion. Although some significant improvements have certainly been made \u2013 especially in terms of women\u2019s emancipation, gender equity and maternity policies \u2013 it should however be noticed that some fundamental issues still remain unresolved and continue to cause problems. Such framework \u2013 equal opportunities on the one hand and female emancipation on the other, in a competitive and little-regulated market \u2013 seems to lead to a potential contraposition, or trade-off, between equal opportunity and family (or family-friendly) policies

Families and Intergenerational Relations in Migration: Challenges and Opportunities

In a worldwide context of growing migration processes, international research confirms the central role that families play in the migration plans and strategies of individuals, including the decision to emigrate and which family members must or can do so. The family also takes on considerable importance in defining subsequent modifications, such as the length and development of migratory projects. The \u201cmigrant family\u201d is located in a social system where roles and relationships can be partially or completely different. The settlement of individuals in the receiving country, and their changing migration plans and strategies follow multiple pathways. The experience of migration, with its cultural and emotional break-ups can redefine and reorganise networks and relational dynamics, particularly between men and women, parents, grandparents and children. In particular, transnational families designate family networks composed of members who live in two or more countries, but maintain a sense of \u2018familyhood\u2019 across distance, time, and exchange, to various degrees, care and support. Relevant are the various ways in which they maintain family ties and connections across national borders and across generations and the pressures and transformations that may arise within and across the generations because of their embeddedness in different socio-cultural contexts

Families and Generations in Migration Processes

In recent years, the issue of international migration is very topical and present in the global public debate, where the countries bordering the Mediterranean area are often protagonists, as places of departure, transit and destination of the migration flow. In particular, many scholars addressed the transnational experience of families and conceptualized international migrants and their kin as transnational families with increased mobility and improvements in both travel and communication technologies, more and more people are in fact experiencing transnational family lives. The main purpose of the issue is to provide an overview of different viewpoints on the relationships between migration processes and the ties among generations in migrant families. More specifically, the issue will try to offer innovative perspectives on how these specific relations are maintained, changed, reconstructed across time and space in the experiences of generations in migration. The analysis of specific intergenerational relationships within the same family is important to look for different strategies that people use to keep and develop a cultural identity that is in the middle of at least two different cultures. Examples of these are values and family traditions, food and language and so on, the could be very different from the country of destination. Another important issue is the differences among generations (first, second third and so on) in the migration flow. What about those who firstly migrate and those born in the new country? Is there the same perception of family\u2019s ties with those living in the country of origin? This special issue includes studies across countries or regions of the world, that specifically focus on the strategies of different generations within the same families to continue \u201ca sense of family\u201d even after physical separation due to migration. We welcome a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities and social sciences, as well as in interdisciplinary, intersectional and critical approaches. Some questions are: what the main strategies for intergenerational relationships in migrant families? How are cultural values, identity belongings and family stories transmitted, created or forgotten in the migration processes? Which paths of migration reinforce/destroy the family intergenerational chain more than other

Computational toolbox towards evolutionary domain mapping of membrane proteins

Curs 2012-2013Membrane proteins account for about 20% to 30% of all proteins encoded in a typical genome. They play central roles in multiple cellular processes mediating the interaction of the cell with its surrounding. Over 60% of all drug targets contain a membrane domain. The experimental difficulties of obtaining a crystal structural severely limits our ability or understanding of membrane protein function. Computational evolutionary studies of proteins are crucial for the prediction of 3D structures. In this project, we construct a tool able to quantify the evolutionary positive selective pressure on each residue of membrane proteins through maximum likelihood phylogeny reconstruction. The conservation plot combined with a structural homology model is also a potent tool to predict those residues that have essentials roles in the structure and function of a membrane protein and can be very useful in the design of validation experiments.Director/a: Mireia Olivella i Alex Peràlvare

Sustainability and Hospitality in Tourism Experiences

Concepts of sustainability have been prominent in international discourse and development policy for at least 35 years. According to the Brundtland Commission: \u201cSustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs\u201d (1, p. 43). Sustainability in tourism is a continuous process of making a positive impact on the environment, economy, and society. It is a concept of visiting a place with great respect for the inhabitants of the area and their cultures, customs, and socio-economic systems. At the same time, "Tourism for All" is a concept that addresses a growing segment of travelers with a diverse range of needs and requirements. That is why becoming more inclusive is a more appropriate goal for the tourism industry than focusing just on "accessible tourism". Sustainability in tourism activities cannot be secured unless researchers and policy-makers pay attention to the different needs of tourists. In particular, such considerations include changes in access to resources when the tourist is a man or a woman, is a young or an old person, or has or does not have a disability. Social equality must logically be extended to old and new generations. Inclusion and equality are influenced not only by gender and age but also by other factors, including the local and cultural context, that affect incentives and the ability to adopt sustainable provision practices. This Special Issue intends to cover aspects related to the measurement of tourists\u2019 preferences (case studies, surveys, instruments, etc.) regarding the degree to which they accept (or prefer) experiences in tourism facilities or cultural programmes with sustainable characteristics. We aim to gather papers related to psycho-social and/or environmental sustainability with a particular focus on gender, age, and physical differences in tourists

Doping effects on the electronic and structural properties of CoO2: An LSDA+U study

A systematic LSDA+U study of doping effects on the electronic and structural properties of single layer CoO2 is presented. Undoped CoO2 is a charge transfer insulator within LSDA+U and a metal with a high density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level within LSDA. (CoO2)$^{1.0-}$, on the other hand, is a band insulator with a gap of 2.2 eV. Systems with fractional doping are metals if no charge orderings are present. Due to the strong interaction between the doped electron and other correlated Co d electrons, the calculated electronic structure of (CoO2)$^{x-}$ depends sensitively on the doping level x. Zone center optical phonon energies are calculated under the frozen phonon approximation and are in good agreement with measured values. Softening of the $E_g$ phonon at doping x ~0.25 seems to indicate a strong electron-phonon coupling in this system. Possible intemediate spin states of Co ions, Na ordering, as well as magnetic and charge orderings in this system are also discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

Job satisfaction. The case of information technology (IT) professionals in Spain

Employee dissatisfaction has a lot of impact on organizations: turnover, absenteeism, job stress, sick leave, humiliation, burnout, unproductiveness, and lack of commitment. Furthermore, the dissatisfaction of individuals has a direct effect on the profitability and quality of the product or service provided. The presence of unfair treatment among workers, the absence of training plans, the lack of recognition and incentives, the mismatch of tasks and functions among staff, different wages within the same employee categories, the disinterest in employees' health benefits, etc. yield labor environments without personal and organizational well-being. Therefore, there is no doubt that companies have to pay attention to employee satisfaction. (...

Innovación en el mercado turístico: experiencias en arte urbano

El turismo es una de las actividades que más encarecidamente precisa de la innovación y la creatividad para mantenerse constantemente en auge. Las tendencias actuales de la demanda exigen experiencias activas, que generen emociones, esten repletas de contenido, tengan dosis de placer. El arte urbano siempre presente en los espacios públicos de las ciudades, emerge como una propuesta innovadora, atendiendo a su capacidad de provocación e interacción con el peatón espectador. Barcelona es el actual laboratorio turístico en el que se lleva a cabo la denominada Pinacoteca a Cel Obert, una galeria de arte abierta que ocupa el espacio público de la ciudad, con 24 obras pictóricas clásicas en el sí de calles comerciales, en las puertas de sus establecimientos. El análisis cualitativo de la información recopilada en la encuesta a 150 visitantes y las entrevistas a los stakeholders del proyecto, conduce a determinar que esta galeria de arte urbano y su itinerario ofrecen una satisfactoria experiencia turística, repleta de emociones y vivencias

Famiglie nella migrazione. Dinamiche intergenerazionali e inclusione nei contesti socioeducativi

The monographic section of this volume investigates the theme of the family in migration. The research contributions, in presenting various examples of projects and/or interventions implemented in the socio-educational and school contexts in favour of families and children with migrant backgrounds, provide a rich and interesting picture of the main issues regarding families, education and migration. In its own concept, the monographic issue aimed to welcome contributions of both theoretical and applied nature, capable of highlighting innovative and multidisciplinary elements of reflection on these issues, also at the international level