European Politics of Citizenship

During the past five years, the European Union has been trying to sponsor a coming of age of European Identity awareness across national borders. In doing so, EU administration intends to square the circle of European Union as the super nation-state of the nation states of Europe. However prompted or justified by the political or economic context, it is noteworthy to what extent the texts of European statutes and policies lack theoretical alternatives to the territorial and relatively homogeneous state. In order for it not to become a threat perceived by the population in identity terms, the apparently forthcoming idea of European citizenship needs to address the concerns of both traditional and new ethnonational minorities at the state level and underneath. In the light of a global context, the tide of Europeanization is but a particular case of the worldwide extended tension between the two increasing and opposing processes of globalization and particularization. Drawing on methodological and theoretical considerations I explore the conflictive and tangled hierarchies of identity and citizenship. Finally, in regard to the problem of how diverse cultures and identities could relate to the universal idea of democratic citizenship, a proposal that attempts to mediate multiculturalism and Eurocentrism will be drafted

Desempeño académico de alumnos de educación para adultos en prisión

Education in prison helps to reduce recidivism, but the relationship between academic performance and recidivism is spurious, as most prisoners belong to more vulnerable and deprived social groups with deficits that not only influence lower academic standards but also have a direct impact on fewer opportunities once released. The objective of this study       is to analyze the relationship of cognitive-motivational variables such as academic self-concept, academic self-efficacy, learning orientation and school climate, with the academic achievement of inmates, as well as with other measures of their academic performance, such as satisfaction with  the subject, perceived learning and expected grade. To this end, a group of students in Section I and II of the Education for Adults who were studying in prison was compared with another group of students of the same level who were attending adult education centers in the community. The total sample consisted of 233 participants between the ages of 18 and 64, of whom 124 were in prison. Participants answered a questionnaire including 11 scales that had previously obtained the necessary evidence of reliability and validity. The analysis of the data indicated that the academic performance and academic achievement of students in prison were better than those of students outside prison, that the cognitive-motivational variables were related in both groups only to academic performance and not to academic achievement and that this relationship varied within each group. The results are discussed focusing on the fact that imprisonment makes the teaching/ learning process harder, but that the difficulties should be solved taking into account, not so much that students are people who have committed a crime for which they are serving a sentence, but that they are adults who have not completed compulsory education and are motivated to do so.La educación en prisión contribuye a reducir la reincidencia, pero la relación entre rendimiento académico y reincidencia es espuria, ya que la mayoría de los/las reclusos/as pertenecen a grupos sociales más vulnerables y con más carencias que, no solo influyen en un menor nivel académico, sino que repercuten en menos oportunidades una vez en libertad. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la relación de variables cognitivo-motivacionales como el autoconcepto académico, la autoeficacia académica, la orientación al aprendizaje y el clima escolar, con el rendimiento académico de reclusos/ as, así como con otras medidas de su desempeño académico, como son la satisfacción con la asignatura, el aprendizaje percibido y la nota esperada. Para ello se comparó a un grupo de alumnos/as de Tramo I y II de educación para personas adultas que cursaban sus estudios en prisión con otro grupo de estudiantes del mismo nivel que asistían a centros educativos para adultos en la comunidad. La muestra total estuvo compuesta por 233 participantes de entre 18 y 64 años, de los cuales 124 estaban presos. Los/las participantes contestaron a un cuestionario que incluía 11 pruebas que habían obtenido previamente las necesarias evidencias de fiabilidad y validez. El análisis de los datos indicó que el rendimiento y el desempeño académicos del alumnado en prisión fueron mejores que los del alumnado de fuera de prisión, que las variables cognitivo-motivacionales se relacionaron en ambos grupos solo con el desempeño y no con el rendimiento académico y que dicha relación varía dentro de cada grupo. Los resultados se discuten poniendo el foco de atención en que la prisión complejiza el proceso de enseñanza/aprendizaje, pero que habría que solventar las dificultades teniendo en cuenta, no tanto que se trata de personas que han cometido un delito por el que cumplen una sentencia, sino en que son adultos que no han completado la educación obligatoria y están motivados para hacerlo

Conjugated Porphyrin Dimers: Cooperative Effects and Electronic Communication in Supramolecular Ensembles with C60

Two new conjugated porphyrin-based systems (dimers 3 and 4) endowed with suitable crown ethers have been synthesized as receptors for a fullerene-ammonium salt derivative (1). Association constants in solution have been determined by UVvis titration experiments in CH2Cl2 at room temperature. The designed hosts are able to associate up to two fullerene-based guest molecules and present association constants as high as 5 × 108 M‒1 . Calculation of the allosteric cooperative factor for supramolecular complexes [3·12] and [4·12] showed a negative cooperative effect in both cases. The interactions accounting for the formation of the associates are based, firstly, on the complementary ammonium-crown ether interaction and, secondly, on the π−π interactions between the porphyrin rings and the C60 moieties. Theoretical calculations have evidenced a significant decrease of the electron density in the porphyrin dimers 3 and 4 upon complexation of the first C60 molecule, in good agreement with the negative cooperativity found in these systems. This negative effect is partially compensated by the stabilizing C60-C60 interactions that take place in the more stable syn-disposition of [4·12]

Multiple Sporadic Colorectal Cancers Display a Unique Methylation Phenotype

The members of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Group of the Spanish Gastroenterological Association are: Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid: Juan Diego Morillas (local coordinator), Raquel Muñoz, Marisa Manzano, Francisco Colina, Jose Díaz, Carolina Ibarrola, Guadalupe López, Alberto Ibáñez; Hospital Clínic, Barcelona: Antoni Castells (local coordinator), Virgínia Piñol, Sergi Castellví-Bel, Francesc Balaguer, Victoria Gonzalo, Teresa Ocaña, María Dolores Giráldez, Maria Pellisé, Anna Serradesanferm, Leticia Moreira, Miriam Cuatrecasas, Josep M. Piqué; Hospital Clínico Universitario, Zaragoza: Ángel Lanas (local coordinator), Javier Alcedo, Javier Ortego; Hospital Cristal-Piñor, Complexo Hospitalario de Ourense: Joaquin Cubiella (local coordinator), Ma Soledad Díez, Mercedes Salgado, Eloy Sánchez, Mariano Vega; Hospital del Mar, Barcelona: Montserrat Andreu (local coordinator), Anna Abuli, Xavier Bessa, Mar Iglesias, Agustín Seoane, Felipe Bory, Gemma Navarro, Beatriz Bellosillo, Josep Ma Dedeu, Cristina Álvarez, Begoña Gonzalez; Hospital San Eloy, Baracaldo and Hospital Donostia, CIBERehd, University of Country Basque, San Sebastián: Luis Bujanda (local coordinator) Ángel Cosme, Inés Gil, Mikel Larzabal, Carlos Placer, María del Mar Ramírez, Elisabeth Hijona, Jose M. Enríquez-Navascués, Jose L. Elosegui; Hospital General Universitario de Alicante: Artemio Payá (EPICOLON I local coordinator), Rodrigo Jover (EPICOLON II local coordinator), Cristina Alenda, Laura Sempere, Nuria Acame, Estefanía Rojas, Lucía Pérez-Carbonell; Hospital General de Granollers: Joaquim Rigau (local coordinator), Ángel Serrano, Anna Giménez; Hospital General de Vic: Joan Saló (local coordinator), Eduard Batiste-Alentorn, Josefina Autonell, Ramon Barniol; Hospital General Universitario de Guadalajara and Fundación para la Formación e Investigación Sanitarias Murcia: Ana María García (local coordinator), Fernando Carballo, Antonio Bienvenido, Eduardo Sanz, Fernando González, Jaime Sánchez, Akiko Ono; Hospital General Universitario de Valencia: Mercedes Latorre (local coordinator), Enrique Medina, Jaime Cuquerella, Pilar Canelles, Miguel Martorell, José Ángel García, Francisco Quiles, Elisa Orti; CHUVI-Hospital Meixoeiro, Vigo: EPICOLON I: Juan Clofent (local coordinator), Jaime Seoane, Antoni Tardío, Eugenia Sanchez; EPICOLON II: Ma Luisa de Castro (local coordinator), Antoni Tardío, Juan Clofent, Vicent Hernández; Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona and Section of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL: Xavier Llor (local coordinator), Rosa M. Xicola, Marta Piñol, Mercè Rosinach, Anna Roca, Elisenda Pons, José M. Hernández, Miquel A. Gassull; Hospital Universitari Mútua de Terrassa: Fernando Fernández-Bañares (local coordinator), Josep M. Viver, Antonio Salas, Jorge Espinós, Montserrat Forné, Maria Esteve; Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova, Lleida: Josep M. Reñé (local coordinator), Carmen Piñol, Juan Buenestado, Joan Viñas; Hospital Universitario de Canarias: Enrique Quintero (local coordinator), David Nicolás, Adolfo Parra, Antonio Martín; Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia: Lidia Argüello (local coordinator), Vicente Pons, Virginia Pertejo, Teresa Sala; Hospital Sant Pau, Barcelona: Dolors Gonzalez (local coordinator), Eva Roman, Teresa Ramon, Maria Poca, Ma Mar Concepción, Marta Martin, Lourdes Pétriz; Hospital Xeral Cies, Vigo: Daniel Martinez (local coordinator); Fundacion Publica Galega de Medicina Xenomica (FPGMX), CIBERER, Genomic Medicine Group-University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain: Ángel Carracedo (local coordinator), Clara Ruiz-Ponte, Ceres Fernández-Rozadilla, Ma Magdalena Castro; Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias: Sabino Riestra (local coordinator), Luis Rodrigo; Hospital de Galdácano, Vizcaya: Javier Fernández (local coordinator), Jose Luis Cabriada; Fundación Hospital de Calahorra (La Rioja) La Rioja: Luis Carreño (local coordinator), Susana Oquiñena, Federico Bolado; Hospital Royo Villanova, Zaragoza: Elena Peña (local coordinator), José Manuel Blas, Gloria Ceña, Juan José Sebastián; Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Córdoba: Antonio Naranjo (local coordinator).Epigenetics are thought to play a major role in the carcinogenesis of multiple sporadic colorectal cancers (CRC). Previous studies have suggested concordant DNA hypermethylation between tumor pairs. However, only a few methylation markers have been analyzed. This study was aimed at describing the epigenetic signature of multiple CRC using a genome-scale DNA methylation profiling. We analyzed 12 patients with synchronous CRC and 29 age-, sex-, and tumor location-paired patients with solitary tumors from the EPICOLON II cohort. DNA methylation profiling was performed using the Illumina Infinium HM27 DNA methylation assay. The most significant results were validated by Methylight. Tumors samples were also analyzed for the CpG Island Methylator Phenotype (CIMP); KRAS and BRAF mutations and mismatch repair deficiency status. Functional annotation clustering was performed. We identified 102 CpG sites that showed significant DNA hypermethylation in multiple tumors with respect to the solitary counterparts (difference in β value ≥0.1). Methylight assays validated the results for 4 selected genes (p = 0.0002). Eight out of 12(66.6%) multiple tumors were classified as CIMP-high, as compared to 5 out of 29(17.2%) solitary tumors (p = 0.004). Interestingly, 76 out of the 102 (74.5%) hypermethylated CpG sites found in multiple tumors were also seen in CIMP-high tumors. Functional analysis of hypermethylated genes found in multiple tumors showed enrichment of genes involved in different tumorigenic functions. In conclusion, multiple CRC are associated with a distinct methylation phenotype, with a close association between tumor multiplicity and CIMP-high. Our results may be important to unravel the underlying mechanism of tumor multiplicity.This work was supported by grants from the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona (Josep Font grant), Ministerio de Economí­a y Competitividad (SAF 2007-64873 and SAF2010-19273), Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española contra el Cáncer, and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI10/00384). “Cofinanciado por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). Unión Europea. Una manera de hacer Europa”. CIBEREHD is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Temperature-Frequency Converter Using a Liquid Crystal Cell as a Sensing Element

A new temperature-frequency converter based on the variation of the dielectric permittivity of the Liquid Crystal (LC) material with temperature has been demonstrated. Unlike other temperature sensors based on liquid crystal processing optical signals for determining the temperature, this work presents a system that is able to sense temperature by using only electrical signals. The variation of the dielectric permittivity with temperature is used to modify the capacitance of a plain capacitor using a LC material as non-ideal dielectric. An electric oscillator with an output frequency depending on variable capacitance made of a twisted-nematic (TN) liquid crystal (LC) cell has been built. The output frequency is related to the temperature of LC cell through the equations associated to the oscillator circuit. The experimental results show excellent temperature sensitivity, with a variation of 0.40% of the initial frequency per degree Celsius in the temperature range from −6 °C to 110 °C

Las representaciones acerca de la desigualdad social de pobres urbanos residentes en un barrio de emergencia habitacional de la ciudad de Buenos Aires

En la ponencia se presentan los resultados de un estudio de caso de poblaciones residentes en uno de los lugares arquetípicos de la extrema pobreza urbana: los barrios en emergencia habitacional. Contamos con una fuente de datos propia: una encuesta estadísticamente representativa de la población de una de las modalidades del hábitat popular, ubicada en el cordón sur de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, una de las zonas más pobres y donde se concentran la mayoría de villas de emergencia y asentamientos. Según un informe de la Dirección General de Estadística y Censos (G.C.B.A., 2008), para la misma fecha del relevamiento, la situación de las Comunas 4 (Barracas, La Boca, Pompeya y Parque Patricios) y 8 (Villa Lugano, Villa Riachuelo, Villa Soldati) se destacan por el alto grado de incidencia de la pobreza, alcanzando el 19,2% y el 22,9% de los hogares, respectivamente. Una de las hipótesis directrices del trabajo sostiene que de las diversas concepciones del mundo (entendida como un sistema representativo y explicativo de lo real) operantes en los grupos humanos en cada formación histórico social, depende la capacidad y potencialidad humana de transformación. En otras palabras, aquello que los seres humanos somos capaces de realizar, estaría en correspondencia con lo que somos capaces de conocer y pensar, reflexionando a partir del uso de esos conocimientos. Por tanto, desde esa perspectiva, nos resulta de interés algunos de los siguientes interrogantes que orientan la ponencia: ¿Cómo perciben sus propias condiciones de vida? ¿Cuáles son las concepciones para explicar el origen de la pobreza y riqueza? ¿A qué factores atribuyen las causas de las desigualdades sociales? ¿Cuáles son las creencias y prácticas sustentadoras de la desigualdad, aquellas que promueven su justificación y reproducción? En primer lugar, se expondrán los resultados de sus percepciones acerca de sí mismos y del grado de conformidad con sus condiciones de vida. En segundo lugar, presentaremos sus representaciones y atribuciones de causalidad de la existencia de desigualdad, a fin de vislumbrar en qué medida se corresponde la percepción de su situación actual con sus concepciones acerca de las causas de la desigualdad –entendidas como sistemas representativos y explicativos de la realidad. Finalmente, presentaremos en qué medida su visión respecto a su situación y los esquemas causales de la desigualdad la legitiman, inhibiendo a su vez, su capacidad de transformar sus condiciones adversas de vida.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Eutrophication, Research and Management History of the Shallow Ypacaraí Lake (Paraguay)

Ypacaraí Lake is the most renowned lake in landlocked Paraguay and a major source of drinking and irrigation water for neighbouring towns. Beyond its socioeconomic and cultural significance, it has great ecological importance, supporting a rich biodiversity. Rapid growth of human presence and activities within its basin has led to its environmental degradation, a heartfelt matter of high political concern that compels intervention. Here, by reconstructing the history of scientific and management-oriented research on this system, we provide a comprehensive assessment of current knowledge and practice to which we contribute our recent, novel findings. An upward trend in total phosphorus concentration confirms ongoing eutrophication of an already eutrophic system, evidenced by consistently high values of trophic state indices. Downward trends in water transparency and chlorophyll-a concentration support the hypothesis that primary production in this lake is fundamentally light limited. Statistical and other analyses suggest high sensitivity of the system to hydraulic, hydro-morphological and hydro-meteorological alterations arising, respectively, from engineering interventions, land use and climate change. By discussing knowledge gaps, opportunities for research and challenges for management and restoration, we argue that this case is of high scientific value and that its study can advance theoretical understanding of shallow subtropical lakes. View Full-Tex

Effect of storage temperature and produce type on the survival or growth of Listeria monocytogenes on peeled rinds and fresh-cut produce

Whole and fresh-cut produce are minimally processed and susceptible to microbial contamination. This study evaluated the survival or growth of L. monocytogenes on peeled rinds, and fresh-cut produce at different storage temperatures. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, including cantaloupe, watermelon, pear, papaya, pineapple, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, bell pepper, and kale (25 g pieces) were spot inoculated with 4 log CFU/g of L. monocytogenes and stored at 4 or 13°C for 6  days. Cantaloupe and bell pepper rind disks (20 cm2), mimicking whole produce were inoculated with low inoculum level (4 log CFU/mL) and high inoculum level (6 log CFU/mL) and stored at 24°C up to 8  days and 4°C up to 14  days, respectively. L. monocytogenes counts on fresh-cut pear samples stored at 4°C increased significantly by 0.27 log CFU/g. However, Listeria levels on kale (day 4), cauliflower (day 6), and broccoli (day 2) were significantly reduced by 0.73, 1.18, and 0.80 log CFU/g, respectively, at 4°C. At 13°C, the bacterial counts increased significantly after a day of storage on fresh-cut watermelons (increasing by 1.10 log CFU/g) and cantaloupes (increasing by 1.52 log CFU/g). Similar increases were observed on pears (1.00 log CFU/g), papayas (1.65 log CFU/g), and green bell peppers (1.72 log CFU/g). Pineapple samples did not support the growth of L. monocytogenes at 13°C with a significant reduction of 1.80 log CFU/g by day 6. L. monocytogenes levels significantly increased in fresh-cut lettuce at 13°C but remained stable on kale, cauliflower, and broccoli after 6  days of storage. Stable population was observed also on cantaloupe rinds up to 8  days at 24°C. While on the outer surface of bell peppers, the population level decreased below the detectable limit of the test (10 CFU/20 cm2) after 14  days of storage at 4°C. The results demonstrated variable survival behavior of L. monocytogenes on fresh-cut produce with produce type and storage temperature

Ecological quality assessement of marinas: An integrative approach combining biological and environmental data

The importance of marinas as infrastructures for recreational boating is increasing substantially. However, information on their soft-bottom benthic communities, a key tool for managing programmes, is still scarce. We combined environment features with macro- and meiofaunal soft-bottom community information for assessing the ecological status of marinas with an integrative approach. To address this issue, we focused on eight marinas of the Southern Iberian Peninsula. Macro- and meiofauna data revealed high benthic heterogeneity at a spatial scale. The environmental variables which correlated best with macrofauna were mainly phosphorus, granulometry, and total organic carbon, and secondarily important variables were faecal coliforms, the biocide Irgarol, and heavy metals; total hydrocarbon concentration was also significant for meiofauna. Annelida was the dominant phylum in terms of number of species (37%) and abundance (66%) and were better descriptors of the environmental conditions than Arthropoda and Mollusca. Although identification to the species level is desirable and mandatory for assessing biological pollution, significant differences among marinas and correlations between fauna and abiotic variables were already detected at the level of family and order. This implies that biota assessment at higher levels may still be useful in monitoring programmes limited by time and budget constraints. The major novelty of this study lies in the development of an integrative assessment method based on the following selected ecological indicators: Marinas Environmental Pollution Index (MEPI), Biocontamination Index (BCI), macrofaunal biotic indices (AMBI, M-AMBI, BENTIX, MEDOCC and BENFES), macrofaunal taxa richness and Shannon-Wiener's diversity, and nematode:copepod index. This approach was able to discriminate marinas of the Southern Iberian Peninsula based on their ecological status, which ranged from poor to good. The method can be useful to design standards for assigning “sustainable quality seals” to those marinas with better values of ecological indicators.Financial support for this study was provided by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Project CGL 2017-82739-P co-financed by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación -AEI- and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional - FEDER-)