Ciberpolítica, redes sociales y nuevas movilizaciones en España: el impacto digital en los procesos de deliberación y participación ciudadana

New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) are causing noticeable changes in the nature of classical concepts such as public opinion, public sphere or deliberative democracy. Online media have since become an important area of socialization of the citizenship. Internet has created a new form of politicization of the demands, to enable interconnection between individuals and groups through various links, portals of information and personal blogs. Besides, these networks have facilitated the a ticulation of political mobilizations. For the Spanish case, although not yet widespread, the political use of the Internet is a growing phenomenon, driven by young people and used by both the right and the left.Cyberpolitics ; Deliberative democracy ; Social networks ; Political participation ; Mobilization

La experiencia desagradable como determinante de las respuestas cognitivas, conductuales y fisiológicas de estrés académico en universitarios opositores

This investigation established unpleasant past experience in interdependent and predictive relations with irrational beliefs, test anxiety, self-regulated study and academic stress, variables belonging to the competency for performing in highly demanding contexts. Participants were 221 candidates from preparatory academies who were competing for posts as public elementary school teachers. The variables were measured using validated self-reports. A linear, ex post-facto design was used, with inferential and structural analyses. Unpleasant experience was shown to have significant, positive, interdependent relations with irrational beliefs and physiological stress responses, as well as negative relations with self-regulated study. Significant, predictive, structural relations were found between unpleasant experience and cognitive, behavioral, and physiological stress responses. These results partially validate the relationships of the SLPS Competency model, explaining learning in stressful contexts, and offer evidence of the need to train students in these situations.Esta investigación estableció relaciones de interdependencia y predicción entre experiencia desagradable y creencias irracionales, ansiedad evaluativa, autorregulación en el estudio y estrés académico, variables de la competencia para rendir en contextos de alta exigencia. Participaron 221 aspirantes de academias preparatorias a la función pública del cuerpo de Maestros. Las variables fueron medidas mediante autoinformes validados. El diseño fue ex post-facto lineal, con análisis inferenciales y estructurales. Los resultados mostraron relaciones significativas positivas de interdependencia de la experiencia desagradable con las creencias irracionales y respuestas fisiológicas de estrés, así como negativas con la autorregulación en el estudio. Además encontraron una relación estructural predictiva significativa entre experiencia desagradable y respuestas cognitivas, conductuales y fisiológicas de estrés. Estos resultados validan parcialmente las relaciones del modelo CAERE, explicando el aprendizaje en contextos estresantes, y evidencian la necesidad de entrenar a los estudiantes ante estas situaciones

Relaciones entre ansiedad evaluativa, autorregulación y estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés en universitarios opositores

The research objective was to establish relationships of association, interdependence and structural prediction between the variables of test anxiety, self-regulation and stress coping strategies. The theoretical framework of reference was the Studying, Learning and Performing under Stress (SLPS) Competency Model. Participating were 142 students who were preparing for professional examinations to attain a post as public school teacher (primary education), enrolled at academies in Almería (Spain) for this purpose. Previously validated questionnaires were administered for data collection. The study design was linear ex post-facto, with bivariate, inferential analyses of association (ANOVAs and MANOVAs) and of structural prediction. Results showed a negative relationship between test anxiety self-regulation, especially in students with high emotionality, and a negative impact on decision making. Positive relationships were found between test anxiety and strategies for coping with stress. Finally, a positive predictive relationship was verified between self-regulation and coping strategies, while associative and inferential analyses highlighted the role of goals as determining factors in strategies used for coping with stress, especially strategies that focus on problem solving. Results are discussed and implications for improving these processes in professional examination candidates are established.El objetivo de la investigación fue establecer relaciones de asociación, interdependencia y predicción estructural entre las variables ansiedad evaluativa, authorregulación y estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés. El marco teórico de referencia fue el modelo de la competencia de Studying, Learning, and Performing under Stress (SLPS). Participaron 142 estudiantes, que se estaban preparando en academias de Almería (España) para obtener plaza como maestros en centros públicos. Para la recogida de datos se administraron cuestionarios escritos previamente validados. El diseño fue ex post-facto lineal, con análisis de asociación bivariada, inferenciales (ANOVAs y MANOVAs) y de predicción estructural. Los resultados mostraron una relación negativa entre la ansiedad evaluativa y la autorregulación, especialmente en los estudiantes con alta emocionalidad, con un impacto negativo para la toma de decisiones. También se encontraron relaciones positivas entre la ansiedad evaluativa y las estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés. Por último, se constató la relación de predicción positiva entre la autorregulación y las estrategias de afrontamiento, a la vez que los análisis asociativos e inferenciales destacaron el papel de las metas como determinantes de las estrategias usadas para afrontar el estrés, especialmente, las referidas a la focalización en la resolución de problemas. Se discuten los resultados y se establecen implicaciones para las mejoras de estos procesos en los estudiantes opositores

Del consenso al "tiki-taka": redefiniendo el nacionalismo español desde la prensa escrita a través del fútbol

To what extent football might be useful as an element which articulates national identity? This question constitutes the background on which this paper aims to provide an analysis of the relationship between the Spanish football national team and the idea of nation, within a context characterized by the increasing territorial and identity tension that affects the country, after the outbreak of a profound political, economic and social crisis that begun to give signs of a considerable importance during 2008. In order to fulfill this task, the victories of the Spanish national team in the Euro cup 2008 and in the World cup 2010 –without precedents in the Spanish history of the national team- have been chosen as case studies. Methodologically, the analysis is carried out by studying the frames employed in the coverage of two of the main Spanish newspapers: El País and El Mundo.¿Hasta qué punto el fútbol puede servir de elemento articulador de la identidad nacional? Con esa pregunta de fondo, este artículo se propone investigar la relación establecida entre la selección nacional de fútbol y la idea de nación en España, en un contexto caracterizado por la creciente tensión territorial e identitaria que sufre el país tras el estallido de una profunda crisis política, económica y social que comenzó a dar muestras de una considerable gravedad durante el año 2008. Para ello, se ha tomado como caso de estudio las victorias del equipo español en la Eurocopa de Austria y Suiza de 2008 y en el Mundial de Sudáfrica de 2010, un triunfo sin precedentes en la historia del país en el fútbol de selecciones. Metodológicamente, el estudio se aborda mediante el análisis de marcos de la cobertura ofrecida por dos de los principales diarios de referencia de la prensa española, El País y El Mundo

Relationships between cognitive strategies, motivational strategies and academic stress in professional examination candidates

Introduction. The objective of this research study was to establish interdependence relationships between cognitive learning strategies, motivational strategies toward study and academic stress, as variables of the Competency Model for Studying, Learning and Performing under Stress (SLPS), in a group of professional examination candidates. Method. Participating were a total of 179 candidates who sought to obtain posts as primary school teachers. The variables were measured using previously validated self-reports. The study design was linear ex post-facto, with inferential analyses (ANOVAs and MANOVAs). Results. The results showed very significant, positive interdependence relationships between cognitive learning strategies and motivational strategies toward study. In addition, very significant, negative relationships were found between motivational strategies toward study and academic stress. However, direct interdependence relationships did not appear between cognitive learning strategies and academic stress. Discussion. These results show that subjects with a high level of cognitive learning strategies used more motivational strategies toward study than subjects with a medium level, and these in turn used more motivational strategies than subjects with a low level. Moreover, they also show that subjects high in motivational strategies toward study suffered less academic stress than the medium and low subjects in this variable. Consequently, the results suggest that these variables are interrelated, and that both cognitive and motivational strategies can be worked on, not only as support for study, but also as prevention of academic stress and its negative effects, especially in highly stress-prone contexts

The recent application of negative policy interest rates in the euro area and in other economies : rationale and preliminary evidence on their effects

Artículo de revist

Desarrollo de un bioplástico comestible y compostable a partir de residuos de la industria alimentaria

The project pursues the use of waste from the Cantabrian food sector (cereal waste from the spirits industry and whey), in order to manufacture an edible, biodegradable and compostable plastic substrate, as an alternative to current plastic production, providing a solution in favor of the recovery of industrial waste. For the development of the edible plastic substrate, arabinoxylan and kefiran compounds were used, from cereal residues and milk whey, respectively. Several formulations were developed to create a pre-industrial prototype of the biocomposite for the edible plastic substrate, likewise, a search was made on the use of whey to obtain biofilm.An exploitation plan was drawn up that evidenced the need to sell 1,900 kg of bioplastic pellets per month to ensure the economic viability of the process. This production would have a unit cost of €15/kg, lower than the estimated sale price of €20/kg. Although it is estimated that the business profit margin would not be very high, the positive environmental impacts are good enough to consider the implementation of the developed solution.El proyecto persigue el aprovechamiento de los residuos del sector alimentario cántabro (residuos cereales de la industria de bebidas espirituosas y el suero de leche), con el objeto de fabricar un sustrato plástico comestible, biodegradable y compostable, como alternativa a la producción de plásticos actual, aportando una solución a favor de la valorización de residuos industriales. Para el desarrollo del sustrato plástico comestible, se partió de los compuestos arabinoxilanos y kefirán, provenientes de residuos cereales y del suero lácteo respectivamente. Se desarrollaron varias formulaciones para crear un prototipo pre-industrial del biocompuesto para el sustrato plástico comestible, asimismo, se realizó una búsqueda sobre el uso del lactosuero para la obtención de biofilm. Se elaboró un plan de explotación que evidenció la necesidad de vender 1900 kg de pellets de bioplástico al mes para asegurar la viabilidad económica del proceso. Esta producción tendría un coste unitario de 15 €/kg, inferior al precio de venta estimado de 20€/kg. Aunque se estima que el margen de beneficio empresarial no sería muy alto, los impactos ambientales positivos son suficientemente buenos como para considerar la implantación de la solución desarrollada