Agri-Food Land Transformations and Immigrant Farm Workers in Peri-Urban Areas of Spain and the Mediterranean

Spain is a global hotspot of transformations of agri-food land systems due to changing production intensity, diets, urbanization, market integration, and climate change. Characteristic of the Mediterranean, these expanding intersections with the migration, livelihoods, and food security strategies of immigrant farm workers urge new research into the “who,” “how,” and “why” questions of the transformation of agri-food land systems. Addressing this gap, we communicate preliminary results from field research in the Granada and Madrid areas. We use a novel conceptual framework of linkages among distinct agri-food land systems and the roles and agency of immigrant farm workers. Preliminary results integrating a combined land- and labor-centric approach address: (1) how the recent and ongoing transformations of specific agri-food land systems are indicative of close links to inexpensive, flexible labor of immigrant farm workers; (2) how the connectivity among transformations of multiple distinct agri-food land systems can be related to the geographic mobility of immigrant farm workers and livelihoods (non-farm work, gendered employment, peri-urban residential location, labor recruitment); and (3) how the struggles for food and nutrition security among immigrant farm workers are indicative of links to local sites and networked agrobiodiversity. This study can help advance the nexus of migration-land research with expanding ethical, justice, and policy concerns of land system sciences in relation to the new suite of agri-food interest and initiatives.Fulbright Scholarship BoardBureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in Spain and the U.S

Meloe (Mesomeloe) coelatus Reiche, 1857 (Coleoptera: Meloidae): first record for the fauna of Qatar and COI mtDNA data

We report the discovery of the blister beetle, Meloe coelatus Reiche, 1957, in Qatar. According to the Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera there is no record for the genus Meloe in Qatar, although the genus is well represented in other areas of the Arabian Peninsula. M. coelatus is a rare species, that is present along a wide area of Northern Africa and Western Asia. Our findings bridge the current geographic gap in the known distribution of the species from Saudi Arabia to Iran. We believe the Coleoptera fauna of Qatar might be underestimated. A thorough field survey is recommended in order to document the presence of other species of this family, and also to complete the catalogue of Coleoptera for the State of Qatar.We also thank the constructive comments of the reviewers. Project CGL2010-15786 of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio´n of Spain (awarded to Dr M. Garcı´a-París) made possible the collaborative research between MGP, JLR and YJR.Peer reviewe

Media consumption by adolescents and young people. News, audiovisual contents and audience measurement

El presente trabajo pretende, por un lado, analizar la situación del consumo de noticias y contenidos audiovisuales de adolescentes y jóvenes a través de internet. En segundo lugar, también tiene como objetivo delimitar los métodos de medición de esos consumos, tanto desde el ámbito profesional como académico. Los jóvenes se mantienen interesados por la información de actualidad, aunque se está produciendo cambios en su patrón de consumo, caracterizado por el acceso casual a la noticia desde las redes sociales, la vigilancia o monitoreo rápido en internet y el acceso a medios tradicionales para ampliar información. Los jóvenes acceden a la programación televisiva a través de diferentes dispositivos, siendo sus principales intereses las series de ficción, el cine y los programas de entretenimiento. Finalmente, se describen los métodos de medición de audiencias digitales en la actualidad y se constata su bajo impacto en la investigación académica.Firstly, this paper aims to analyze the situation of the consumption of news and audiovisual contents by adolescents and young people through Internet. Secondly, it also tries to delimit the methods of consumption measurement, both from the professional and academic area. The expertise research shows that young people are still interested in news, although some changes are taking place in their pattern of consumption, characterized by casual access to the news in social networks, monitoring internet and access to traditional media to get further information only when a new especially attracts the attention. Cyberspace is presented as an essential tool for entertainment, supplementary to television. Young people access broadcast scheduling through different devices, and their main interests are fiction television series, movies and entertainment programs. Finally, methods of digital audience measurement are described and their low impact on academic research is confirmed.Este artículo está vinculado al proyecto nacional I+D+I “Redes sociales, adolescentes y jóvenes: convergencia de medios y cultura digital” (CSO2016-74980-C2-2-R) financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad para los años 2017-2020

Sustainability analysis of small ruminant farms involved in the conservation of natural resources

pendiente autorización de la revistaThe Environment Department of the Government of Andalusia (Spain) has recently assumed the responsibility of integrating extensive livestock grazing as a tool for fire prevention. The present study aims to analyse the sustainability of 60 farms (mainly small ruminant farms) belonging to the Andalusian Network of Grazed Fuel breaks. Farms are located mainly in Natural Areas of Eastern Andalusia. 9291 goats, 24491 ewes and 170 cows grazed in 260 km of fuel breaks. 27 farms have only sheep (mainly meat purpose), 18 only goats (mainly dairy purpose), 10 goat and sheep, 3 small ruminants and suckling cows and 2 small ruminants, suckling cows and Iberian pigs; only 4 goat farms produce cheese. Meat and milk production has a marked seasonal variation. The feed supplied in the manger is relatively high, especially in goat herds. Hard work, small farm profitability and lack of assurance of farm continuity are the most important aspects that negatively affect the sustainability of these farms. For improving sustainability, farmers are to be able to exploit strengths, absorb shocks, adjust following a disturbance and transform their farm to take advantage of new opportunities.Le Département de l’Environnement du Gouvernement de l'Andalousie (Espagne) a récemment pris la responsabilité d’intégrer le pâturage extensif dans la prévention des incendies. La présente étude analyse la viabilité de 60 exploitations (surtout des petites exploitations de ruminants) qui appartiennent au Réseau Andalou des Exploitations Collaboratrices au Pâturage des Coupe-feux. Les fermes sont situées principalement dans les Parcs Naturels de l'Est de l'Andalousie. 9291 chèvres, 24491 brebis et 170 vaches sont en pâturage dans 260 km de coupe-feux. 27 exploitations ont seulement des ovins (surtout d’aptitude viande), 18 ont seulement des caprins (surtout d’aptitude laitière), 10 ont des ovins et caprins, 3 ont des petits ruminants et des bovins et 2 ont des petits ruminants, des bovins et des porcins de la race Ibérique ; il n’y a que 4 fermes qui fabriquent du fromage. La production de viande et de lait sont très saisonnières. Les apports d'aliments à l’auge sont relativement élevés, en particulier dans le cas des chèvres. Les aspects plus négativement influents sur la durabilité des exploitations sont: la pénibilité du travail, la faible rentabilité des petites exploitations et le manque d'assurance de la continuité des exploitations. Pour améliorer la durabilité des ces exploitations, les éleveurs devraient valoriser les points forts des systèmes d’exploitation, résister aux difficultés, faire des ajustements après une perturbation du système et faire des changements dans les exploitations afin de profiter des opportunités

Parental competences in fathers and mothers of very-low-birth-weight preterm infants

Objective: The goal was to analyze parental competences in Spanish families with very-low-birth-weight infants (≤32 weeks and/or less 1500 g) over 18 months of corrected age. Background: Parenting in families of very preterm infants is an interesting focus of research as we advance in the knowledge of how parental competences can have an important impact on child development. Method: Sixty-eight mothers and 56 fathers completed measures of parental competences, sociofamily risk, parental stress, social support, and emotional symptoms. Clinical characteristics and neonatal medical risk data were collected after birth. Statistical analyses were performed to compare parental competences with those of mothers and fathers of non-preterm infants. Generalized estimating equations were used for analysis, adjusted by family unit. Results: Mothers and fathers of preterm infants score higher in most dimensions of parental competences compared to a control group. Focusing on the preterm population, mothers score higher than fathers in daily involvement and mentalization and lower in parental self-care. When studied separately, we found different scores for fathers and mothers in parental competences (sociofamily risk, parental stress, social support, and emotional symptoms). Conclusion: Parents of preterm infants present better parental competences than parents of non-preterm infants when their children reach 18 months of age. It is important to consider the differences in parental competences between the mothers and fathers of these children. Implications: Our findings suggest the need to address parental competences to develop preventive and adaptive strategies in parents of preterm infants to promote positive parenting.This paper is part of the project PID2019‐110484RB‐I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 0.13039/501100011033. It was also funded by the 2017 (PI0052/2017) and 2019 (ITI‐0019‐2019) Cadiz‐integrated territorial initiative for biomedical research and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2014–2020, Andalusian Ministry of Health and Families, Spain. Funding informatio

A considerable improvement of the traditional FPGA-based digital design methodology by using an Arduino sensor board

[EN] The traditional way to learn and teach Digital Systems has been changing over the last decades by the use of Hardware Description Languages (HDL) and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) evaluation boards. The use of an Arduino development kit with different sensors connected to the FPGA upsizes the students experience in the area of Digital Systems. A temperature and humidity ambience sensor combined with an ultrasound sensor to measure distance can effectively be used by students to implement its first serial data converter that takes the sensor data and shows the obtained values from the Arduino in the seven segment display of the FPGA kit. After three years of experience in the new grade courses at the UPV Telecommunication School the number of students enjoying this new way to learn the subject Fundamentals of Digital Electronics (FSD) has dramatically risen up with an increase of a 20% in the number of students that pass the subject and that select the electronic branch of telecommunication studies in the future semesters.Martínez Peiró, MA.; Larrea Torres, MÁ.; Lidon Roger, J.; Jiménez Jiménez, Y.; Torres Curado, R.; Tébar Ruiz, Á. (2020). A considerable improvement of the traditional FPGA-based digital design methodology by using an Arduino sensor board. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 81-89. https://doi.org/10.4995/INN2019.2019.10091OCS818

Los Procesos de Cambio Recientes en los Espacios Protegidos de Portugal: El Caso del Parque Natural da Arrábida

La proximidad de los espacios protegidos a áreas urbanas con fuerte dinamismo demográfico y socioeconómico puede acelerar ciertos procesos de cambio en el paisaje que intensifiquen las presiones sobre el mantenimiento de determinados valores tanto naturales como histórico-culturales que atesoran. Tal podría ser el caso del Parque Natural da Arrábida, situado en el suroeste de la península de Setúbal (Portugal) y a tan sólo 40 kilómetros de la capital del país. Los estudios más recientes de cambios de usos y coberturas del suelo han identificado las grandes transformaciones que se han producido en este espacio protegido desde mediados del Siglo XX, constatando procesos de abandono agrícola, incremento de usos antrópicos e incidencia de los incendios forestales en el paisaje. Además, en los últimos años se están acentuando la presión demográfica y el crecimiento urbano e industrial de la zona. El objetivo de esta comunicación será estudiar las posibles conexiones que se pueden establecer entre la evolución del paisaje de Serra da Arrábida con las dinámicas socioeconómicas de su entorno más próximo. Esto se llevará a cabo, por un lado, con el estudio de los cambios de usos y coberturas del suelo tanto del Parque Natural de Arrábida como de los municipios que conforman su área de influencia socioeconómica entre los años 1995 y 2015. Por otro lado, se realizará un análisis estadístico de indicadores demográficos y socioeconómicos para estudiar cómo ha sido la evolución del ámbito en los últimos años. Con todo ello se identificarán los principales cambios en el paisaje y se analizará la evolución socioeconómica del área de influencia socioeconómica de la Serra da Arrábida, en el periodo temporal más reciente, para poder establecer qué procesos transformadores están ejerciendo presión y/o amenazan los valores tanto naturales como histórico-culturales de este espacio protegido.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Le secteur caprin laitier andalou : Stratégies de recherche, développement et formation afin d’augmenter la valeur ajoutée des fromages artisanaux

Résumé. Le secteur caprin laitier andalou produit 50% du lait de l’Espagne et possède des opportunités de développement très claires utilisant des races autochtones et des grandes surfaces de pâturages disponibles. La production de fromages de chèvre en Andalousie peut être considérée comme un modèle de développement rural durable. Différents organismes publics et privés ont créé récemment un réseau de travail multidisciplinaire pour travailler sur la promotion et le développement des fromages artisanaux andalous, en établissant des stratégies de recherche, de développement et de formation destinées à la valorisation de ces fromages, spécialement ceux de chèvre. A partir des résultats d’une analyse stratégique, le présent travail propose des activités de recherche, de développement et de formation consacrées à la caractérisation de la qualité des fromages artisanaux, aux études de marché sur la connaissance et la perception de la qualité, aux activités de formation spécialisée dans la fromagerie et aux activités de promotion.Abstract. The Andalusian dairy goat sector (representing 50% of the national goat milk production) has potential opportunities for development using autochthonous breeds and semi-extensive production systems. Goat cheese production in Andalusia can be considered as a model for a sustainable rural development. Public institutions of research, development, and training as well as private ones have recently created a multidisciplinary and multinstitutional network to perform actions in favour of the marketing and promotion of the andalusian goat cheeses. In this paper, through the results of a strategic analysis, some research, development, and training actions were proposed. These actions are related with the improvement of quality, and the definition of the hand made cheese attributes; studies on the demand side, and consumer perception of quality; and those related to training and promotion

Aproximación a la tipología del "turismo paisano" en las comarcas rurales de procedencia : el caso de Extremadura

El "turistas paisanos" es una categoría que ha sido consideradas de poca entidad por estudiosos y responsables de las políticas de desarrollo rural, sin embargo, en el proceso de identificación de los actores en la escena del modelo de ¿ruralidad móvil¿ se hace necesario su identificación y la especificación de las funciones que desempeñan. Últimamente, han tomado gran importancia los estudios sobre la movilidad laboral (el fenómeno del ¿commuting¿), los procesos de instalación en el medio rural de inmigrantes de origen urbano (el fenómeno de la contraurbanización, los neorrurales emprendedores), el fenómeno de la ¿gentrificación¿ de los espacios rurales cercanos o alejados de las grandes metrópolis. En el caso de estos últimos, la explicación de los motivos ha girado entorno al atractivo ambiental y a la calidad de vida como palancas que han determinado la estrategia residencial recurriendo a variables como el nivel de estudios y estatus social (por aquello de que la contraurbanización es esencialmente un fenómeno relacionado con las clases medias urbanas). Ahora bien, tanto la experiencia residencial de los retornados como la visita de los turistas paisanos tienen que ver más con la ¿lógica de los sentimientos¿ y la ¿llamada de la tierra¿. Ambos buscan el hábitat imaginado a partir de la experiencia personal vivida y donde la convivencia familiar es esencial para la repetición de la visita o la continuidad de la residencia en el medio rural. De otra parte, la estancia en las comarcas rurales de las que son originarios está caracterizada por una práctica de consumo que, de un lado, ayuda al mantenimiento de la economía rural; de otro lado, presenta matices diferentes en cuanto a pautas de consumo, de otros tipos de turismo, que que el turismo paisano lleva a cabo la mayor parte de su gasto (alojamiento, compras,restauración y diversión) en los rublos y comarcas donde se asienta."Countryman tourist" is a tourist category that was considered insignificant by researchers and heads of rural development policies in the past. However, identification and specification of their roles in the process of identifying the actors on the stage of the "mobile rurality" model is necessary. Lately, studies on job mobility ("commuting" phenomenon), the process of installation in the rural of immigrants of urban origin (counter-urbanization phenomenon, the entrepreneur neo-rural men), and on the gentrification phenomenon of rural areas near or far from major cities, have become very important. In this case, the explanation of the reasons has revolved around the environmental attractiveness and quality of life as levers that have determined the residential strategy, using variables such as education level and social status (counter-urbanization is, essentially, a phenomenon related to the urban middle classes). However, both the residential experience of returnees as the visit of “countrymen tourists” is more related to "the logic of the feelings" and "the call of the earth." Both, the returnees and the “countryman tourist” seek the imagined habitat from personal experience. So, family life is essential to repeat the visit or to continue living in rural areas. On the other hand, their stay in the rural native areas is characterized by a consumer practice that: a) helps to the support of rural economy; b) has different meanings in terms of consumption patterns than the other types of tourism, because “countryman tourist” make most of their spending (accommodation, shopping, restaurants and entertainment) in rubles and counties where he sits. The subject of this communication is to describe the role of this type of tourist in rural communities, to identify and to define their motivations, expectations and idiosyncrasies