Language attitudes, family language and generational cohort in Catalonia: new contributions from a multivariate analysis

The effect of the generational cohort on language attitudes has hardly ever been studied. However, especially in the bilingual territories in Spain, the literature stresses the importance of being Spanish-speakers or non-Spanish-speakers in the construction of these attitudes. Focusing on the case of Catalonia (Spain), this paper intends to analyse the impact of the family language and the generational cohort on the language attitudes towards Catalan and Spanish that is built by immigrant children (aged 14-16). The nature of the analysis carried out as a result of an attitude questionnaire answered by 527 young people allows differentiation of the effect of both variables individually when included in the same explanatory model. Results indicate that being Spanish-speaking or non-Spanish-speaking is influential in the construction of attitudes towards Spanish and towards Catalan. Moreover, the generational cohort is only influential for attitudes towards Catalan and when a migratory transit has been experienced or not. Since both variables are included in the same model, it is suggested that the effect of the generational cohort is moderated by being Spanish-speaking or not. The new perspectives opened up by these results are discussed as regards the promotion of intercultural communication and a common project of coexistence.El efecto de la cohorte generacional sobre las actitudes lingüísticas es un aspecto que prácticamente nunca se ha estudiado. Por su parte, especialmente en los territorios bilingües del Estado español, la literatura reitera la importancia del ser Hispanohablante o no Hispanohablante en la construcción de estas actitudes. Situados en Cataluña (España), el objetivo de este artículo es analizar el impacto de la condición lingüística familiar y la cohorte generacional sobre las actitudes lingüísticas hacia el catalán y el castellano que construyen los descendientes de migrados (14–16 años). La naturaleza del análisis realizado, fruto de la aplicación de un cuestionario de actitudes a un total de 527 jóvenes, permite diferenciar el efecto de ambas variables individualmente y si se incluyen en un mismo modelo explicativo. Los resultados indican que el ser Hispanohablante o No Hispanohablante es influyente tanto en la construcción de las actitudes hacia el castellano como hacia el catalán. Por otro lado, la cohorte generacional solamente lo es en el caso del catalán y si se ha vivido o no un tránsito migratorio. Al incluir ambas variables en un mismo modelo, se apunta a que el efecto de la cohorte generacional se encuentra modulado por ser o no Hispanohablante. Se discuten las nuevas perspectivas que estos resultados abren de cara a la potenciación de la comunicación intercultural y un proyecto de convivencia común.This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Government of Spain [grant number EDU2014-54093-R] and Government of Catalonia – Agència de Gestió d’ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) [grant number 2014 SGR 208]

Synthesis of a thermoresponsive crosslinked MEO2MA polymer coating on microclusters of iron oxide nanoparticles

Encapsulation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of iron (II, III) oxide ( Fe3O4) with a thermopolymeric shell of a crosslinked poly(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate) P(MEO2MA) is successfully developed. Magnetic aggregates of large size, around 150–200 nm are obtained during the functionalization of the iron oxide NPs with vinyl groups by using 3-butenoic acid in the presence of a water soluble azo-initiator and a surfactant, at 70 °C. These polymerizable groups provide a covalent attachment of the P(MEO2MA) shell on the surface of the MNPs while a crosslinked network is achieved by including tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the precipitation polymerization synthesis. Temperature control is used to modulate the swelling-to-collapse transition volume until a maximum of around 21:1 ratio between the expanded: shrunk states (from 364 to 144 nm in diameter) between 9 and 49 °C. The hybrid Fe3O4@ P(MEO2MA) microgel exhibits a lower critical solution temperature of 21.9 °C below the corresponding value for P(MEO2MA) (bulk, 26 °C). The MEO2MA coating performance in the hybrid microgel is characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The content of preformed MNPs [up to 30.2 (wt%) vs. microgel] was established by thermogravimetric analysis while magnetic properties by vibrating sample magnetometry.Andalusian Knowledge AgencyEuropean Commission 291780Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment of the Junta de AndalucíaSpanish "Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad" PID2019-103938RB-I00 CTQ2017-86125-PJunta de Andalucía B-FQM-243-UGR18 P18-RT-2961CEI-Biotic CEI2013-MP-1

Chronicle of a Failure Foretold: 2017 Rector Election at Ghent University

Producción CientíficaAfter more than half a year of elections (yielding three voting stages and nine voting rounds), the 2017 Rector election at Ghent University (Belgium) resulted in a victory for the duo leading all nine voting rounds, and in a resounding defeat for the electoral system. Significant regulation changes were needed in order to break the institutional deadlock in which Ghent University found itself. In this paper, we follow the timeline of the election and dissect what went wrong in the election planningMinisterio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project ECO2016-77900-P)European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO17/PDO/160

Microsystem-assisted synthesis of carbon dots with fluorescent and colorimetric properties for pH detection

The present paper describes the use of a microfluidic system to synthesize carbon dots (Cdots) and their use as optical pH sensors. The synthesis is based on the thermal decomposition of ascorbic acid in dimethyl sulfoxide. The proposed microsystem is composed of a fluidic and a thermal platform, which enable proper control of synthesis variables. Uniform and monodispersed 3.3 nm-sized Cdots have been synthesized, the optical characterization of which showed their down/upconversion luminescence and colorimetric properties. The obtained Cdots have been used for pH detection with down and upconverison fluorescent properties as excitation sources. The naked eye or a photographic digital camera has also been implemented as detection systems with the hue parameter showing a linear pH range from 3.5 to 10.2. On the other hand, experiments on the cytotoxicity and permeability of the Cdots on human embryonic kidney cells revealed their adsorption on cells without causing any impact on the cellular morphology.This work was supported by Projects SGR 2009-0323 from Catalonia Government and P10-FQM-5974 from the Junta de Andalucía (Spain). These projects were partially supported by European Regional Development Funds (ERDF). Our thanks to “Reincorporacion de Doctores UGR” programs and Greib startu

Changes in protein expression in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis dietarily exposed to PVP/PEI coated silver nanoparticles at different seasons

Potential toxic effects of Ag NPs ingested through the food web and depending on the season have not been addressed in marine bivalves. This work aimed to assess differences in protein expression in the digestive gland of female mussels after dietary exposure to Ag NPs in autumn and spring. Mussels were fed daily with microalgae previously exposed for 24 hours to 10 µg/L of PVP/PEI coated 5 nm Ag NPs. After 21 days, mussels significantly accumulated Ag in both seasons and Ag NPs were found within digestive gland cells and gills. Two-dimensional electrophoresis distinguished 104 differentially expressed protein spots in autumn and 142 in spring. Among them, chitinase like protein-3, partial and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, that are involved in amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, carbon metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and the biosynthesis of amino acids KEGG pathways, were overexpressed in autumn but underexpressed in spring. In autumn, pyruvate metabolism, citrate cycle, cysteine and methionine metabolism and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism were altered, while in spring, proteins related to the formation of phagosomes and hydrogen peroxide metabolism were differentially expressed. Overall, protein expression signatures depended on season and Ag NPs exposure, suggesting that season significantly influences responses of mussels to NP exposure.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (NanoSilverOmics project MAT2012-39372), Basque Government (SAIOTEK project S-PE13UN142 and Consolidated Research Group GIC IT810-13) and the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFI 11/37 and PhD fellowship to N.D.). This study had also the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) from Portugal through the Strategic Project UID/MAH00350/2013 granted to CIMA. The contribution of K. Mehennaoui was possible within the project NanoGAM (AFR-PhD-9229040) and M. Mikolaczyk was supported by a PhD fellowship from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Behavior and chronic toxicity of two differently stabilized silver nanoparticles to Daphnia magna

While differences in silver nanoparticle (AgNP) colloidal stability, surface potential, or acute aquatic toxicity for differently stabilized AgNP have often been reported, these have rarely been studied in long-term ecotoxicity tests. In the current study, we investigated the chronic toxicity of AgNP to Daphnia magna over a 21-day period with two different stabilizers (citrate and detergent), representative for charge and sterical stabilizers, respectively. This was coupled with a series of short-term experiments, such as mass balance and uptake/depuration testing, to investigate the behavior of both types of AgNP during a typical media exchange period in the D. magna test for chronic toxicity. As expected, the sterically stabilized AgNP were more stable in the test medium, also in the presence of food; however, a higher uptake of silver after 24 h exposure of the charge stabilized AgNP was found compared to the detergent-stabilized AgNP (0.046 ± 0.006 μg Ag μg DW−1 and 0.023 ± 0.005 μg Ag μg DW−1, respectively). In accordance with this, the higher reproductive effects and mortality were found for the charge-stabilized than for the sterically-stabilized silver nanoparticles in 21-d tests for chronic toxicity. LOEC was 19.2 μg Ag L−1 for both endpoints for citrate-coated AgNP and >27.5 μg Ag L−1 (highest tested concentration for detergent-stabilized AgNP). This indicates a link between uptake and toxicity. The inclusion of additional short-term experiments on uptake and depuration is recommended when longer-term chronic experiments with nanoparticles are conducted