The convergence between internationalisation and language policy in higher education: a discursive analysis of language implications for internationally engaged universities

Enmarcada en el contexto de la globalización y motivada por comprender el impacto de las actuales políticas educativas de corte neoliberal, esta tesis doctoral busca examinar cómo el discurso de la internacionalización, la cual se considera un efecto directo de la globalización, se construye a nivel nacional en las universidades españolas. También busca identificar y analizar de forma crítica los retos que el inglés y otras lenguas plantean en dicho proceso, y en particular, las implicaciones que de ello se derivan en contextos de instituciones monolingües. La metodología de trabajo empleada se basó en un enfoque mixto que combinó técnicas cuantitativas propias de la lingüística de corpus con técnicas cualitativas propias del análisis crítico del discurso. Estas técnicas se aplicaron a un corpus de documentos sobre estrategias de internacionalización y política lingüística organizados en tres niveles: el supranacional, con documentos europeos y nacionales, el nacional, que incluye documentos estratégicos de universidades españolas,y el local, que examina la presencia de la internacionalización y las lenguas en un estudio de caso concreto, el de la Universidad de Zaragoza.Los resultados principales muestran que la internacionalización se lleva a cabo a través de estrategias en el extranjero, como la movilidad, y estrategias en el campus local, especialmente en el área de la educación y la enseñanza. Tanto el inglés como los idiomas aparecieron como elementos protagonistas de la internacionalización de las universidades, lo que apoya las reivindicaciones previas de la literatura científica sobre el papel predominante del inglés como la lengua de internacionalización en la educación superior.En lo relativo a la política lingüística, los datos revelan dos ideologías principales en los documentos. Por un lado, el inglés se asocia con la visibilidad internacional y como herramienta para atraer audiencias internacionales. Por otro lado, se observa un discurso proteccionista con respecto a las lenguas locales y un compromiso hacia la adquisición de la competencia plurilingüe, acciones que recaen en la regulación y planificación lingüística. Avalando los resultados de estudios previos sobre el tema, se puede concluir que el apoyo institucional y la existencia de documentos escritos son clave para el éxito de los objetivos de internacionalización de las universidades. Como demuestran los resultados de esta tesis, una estrategia claramente articulada y una red fuerte de servicios de apoyo son esenciales para incentivar a la comunidad universitaria a participar en talesiniciativas de internacionalización y lenguas.In delving into the context of globalising trends and neoliberal educational policies, this PhD thesis aims to explore how the discourse of internationalisation, which is considered to be a direct consequence of globalisation, is constructed in top-down policies of universities. In particular, this study sought to identify and critically discuss the challenges and implications that English and other languages bring to the internationalisation process of predominantly monolingual institutions. The methodology used in the study drew on a mixed methods approach that combined quantitative corpus linguistics techniques with qualitative enquiry, namely, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Both approaches were applied to a corpus of internationalisation and language policy documents organised into three main layers: the macro-level of European and national policies, the meso-level of institutional strategic documents from Spanish universities, and the micro-level, encompassing the internationalisation plan and language policy documents of a case study, the University of Zaragoza, a medium-sized primarily monolingual university in Spain. In general, the main findings of this study showed that the implementation of internationalisation is done through a combination of internationalisation abroad strategies, namely, mobility, as well as an approach to internationalisation at home in teaching activities in English. The findings showed that languages lie at the core of the internationalisation agenda of universities, thus supporting the previous claims of the literature on the ‘Englishisation’ of higher education. Turning to language policy, a two-fold mission was encountered in the documents. On the one hand, English was associated with international visibility and considered a tool to attract international audiences. On the other hand, there was a maintenance stance for the local languages and commitment towards the acquisition of multilingual language competence, which calls for language management and language planning. Supporting the existing literature on internationalisation studies and language policy in Higher Education, it is concluded that top-down support and written plans are crucial for the success of institutional objectives. According to this PhD study findings, a well-articulated strategy and strong support services are essential to foster all stakeholders’ engagement in internationalisation and language-related initiatives.<br /

Bioética en donación y trasplante de órganos

Los intensivistas constituyen la columna vertebral del modelo español de donación y trasplantes. En el proceso de información a familiares en la donación en asistolia no controlada hay que respetar la autonomía, no hacer maleficencia y velar por la justicia. Este procedimiento solo se activará una vez que todas las opciones de tratamientos posibles, incluida la E-CPR donde se disponga de ella, se hayan descartado por no indicación o se hayan demostrado inútiles. El uso de catéter para bloqueo aórtico con monitorización de presión arterial radial izquierda evita el problema ético de la reanimación indeseada en la donación en asistolia controlada, al garantizar que la circulación al corazón y al cerebro no se restaure después del inicio de la ECMO tras el fallecimiento. Los intensivistas deben recordar que, para los profesionales que atienden a pacientes en los escenarios del final de la vida, ofrecer la opción de la donación de órganos y tejidos, es una obligación para respetar la autonomía de nuestros pacientes

Inmigrantes extranjeros y retornados en Galicia: la construcción del puente transnacional

La emigración ha marcado la historia y el desarrollo socioeconómico de Galicia; si bien, en la actualidad, ha variado en gran medida la intensidad, así como la dirección y el “color” de los flujos migratorios en esta Comunidad Autónoma. La presencia de población de nacionalidad extranjera y el importante peso del retorno de primeras, segundas y terceras generaciones de gallegos, desde el otro lado del Atlántico y desde países europeos, hacen de Galicia un territorio específico en el estudio del fenómeno de la inmigración. Este artículo se estructura en las siguientes partes. En primer lugar, a través de la explotación de fuentes secundarias (Padrón Municipal de Habitantes, Censos de Población y Viviendas, Encuesta de Población Activa, etc.), se presenta un análisis sociodemográfico de la población inmigrante en Galicia, atendiendo a variables como sexo, edad, país de origen y nacionalidad, inserción laboral y residencial. En segundo lugar, se desarrolla una tipología de la inmigración en Galicia en función del origen y la nacionalidad de los migrantes (retornados, familiares dependientes de retornados de emigrantes gallegos, inmigración extranjera sin lazos con Galicia, inmigración extranjera por lazos con Galicia, descendientes autónomos de emigrantes gallegos y fronterizos). En tercer lugar, se presentan los proyectos migratorios, de cada uno de los tipos de migrantes delimitados, así como sus estrategias de incorporación socio-laboral. Para finalizar se realiza un análisis de la política migratoria que se ha desarrollado en la Comunidad Autónoma gallega.Emigration has marked both the history and socioeconomic development of Galicia. Today however, it has undergone a series of changes in terms of its intensity, direction and “colour”. The presence of foreigners and the considerable numbers of first, second and third generation Galicians who opt to return to the region from America and Europe have turned Galicia into an object of study of the immigration phenomenon. This article is divided into various sections. In the first of these sections, secondary sources (the Municipal Population Census, Population and Housing Censuses, Active Workforce Surveys, etc.) are used to provide a socio-demographic analysis of the immigrant population in Galicia, in accordance with a range of variables including gender, age, country of origin and nationality, as well as labour and residential insertion. The second section describes the typology of immigration in Galicia based on migrants’ origin and nationality (returnees, dependent relatives of Galician emigrant returnees, foreign immigrants with no connections or ties with Galicia, autonomous descendents of Galician emigrants and transborder migrants). The third section describes the migratory projects of each type of migrant defined, as well as their strategies for labour and social incorporation. The final section analyses the migratory policy adopted by the Galician Autonomous Region

Coagular o no coagular. Esa es la cuestión

Decision-making is a complex issue especially in severe multi-pathological patients, whose processes interact with each other and with other treatments, making it impossible to follow regular protocols. In this case, the patient suffered from a cranioencephalic traumatism and a pulmonary thromboembolism. In the case of pulmonary thromboembolism, an anticoagulation prophylaxis is recommended while in the former it is contraindicated. Moreover, complications may appear, apparently related or not to main diseases. In these situations, it is essential to establish priorities and have a vast knowledge of patients' pathologies and the possible complications that may emerge. Firstly, our aim was the resolution of the brain trauma due to the mortal risk of brain herniation. Straightaway we relieved the severe subsequent complications of the main processes, namely, refractory intracranial hypertension, acute respiratory failure and thrombocytopenia. Once the patient was stable, pulmonary thromboembolism treatment could be set and followed after clinical improvement and discharge

QSAR Study for Macromolecular RNA Folded Secondary Structures of Mycobacterial Promoters with Low Sequence Homology

The 9th International Electronic Conference on Synthetic Organic Chemistry session Computational ChemistryThe general belief is that quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) techniques work only for small molecules and, proteins sequences or, more recently, DNA sequences. However, with non-branched graph for proteins and DNA sequences the QSAR often have to be based on powerful non-linear techniques such as support vector machines. In our opinion linear QSAR models based in RNA could be useful to assign biological activity when alignment techniques fail due to low sequence homology. The idea bases in the high level of branching for the RNA graph. This work introduces the so called Markov electrostatic potentials k?M as a new class of RNA 2D-structure descriptors. Subsequently, we validate these molecular descriptors solving a QSAR classification problem for mycobacterial promoter sequences (mps), which constitute a very low sequence homology problem. The model developed (mps = –4.664·0cM + 0.991·1cM – 2.432) was intended to predict whether a naturally occurring sequence is an mps or not on the basis of the calculated kcM value for the corresponding RNA secondary structure. The RNAQSAR approach recognises 115/135 mps (85.2%) and 100% of control sequences. Average predictability and robustness were greater than 95%. A previous non-linear model predicts mps with slightly higher accuracy (97%) but uses a very large parameter space for DNA sequences. Conversely, the kcM-based RNA-QSAR encodes more structural information and needs only two variablesGonzález-Díaz, H. thanks the Xunta de Galicia (BTF20301PR) for partial financial suppor

Validation of a new proposal to avoid donor resuscitation in controlled donation after circulatory death with normothermic regional perfusion

Aim The use of abdominal normothermic regional perfusion (nRP) and premortem interventions in controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) may represent a significant advance to increase the number and quality of grafts recovered in cDCD. The main limitation for the widespread acceptance of nRP in cDCD is the concerns of restoring circulation to the brain once death has been declared should the thoracic aorta not be adequately blocked. Methods We describe and validate a specific methodology to ensure an appropriate blocking of the thoracic aorta in a multicenter study using this technique. Results A total of 78 procedures with premortem cannulation and abdominal nRP were performed in four different hospitals. No case of heart or brain resuscitation was observed after nRP Conclusion The use of premortem interventions before nRP and the aortic occlusion balloon may increase the number of grafts recovered in cDCD. Our proposed methodology avoids the ethical problem of resuscitation by guaranteeing that circulation to the heart and brain is not restored after nRP

Multipolling and OFDMA Reservation Protocol for IEEE 802.11 Networks

This paper presents an efficient multipolling scheme that improves the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol efficiency and does not suffer from the hidden terminal problem or inefficient channel usage problems. To design an efficient polling scheme, the access point (AP) needs to obtain information about the current transmission status and channel state for each station. In this new scheme, we propose the use of multipolling frames in the downlink and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) for the uplink reservation frames in order to reduce signaling overhead.Postprint (published version

Risk of contagion of SARS-CoV-2 among otorhinolaryngologists in Spain during the 'Two waves'.

Introduction The aim of our study was to obtain data about the contagion rate among Otolaryngologists in Spanish ENT Departments and about the clinical outcomes in positive otolaryngologists. As a secondary objective, we aim to assess the rate of contagion in the first and the second Covid-19 wave in Spain among Otorhinolaryngologists and the regional distribution by ENT-Departments. Methods Study design and population: This is a prospective observational study in a cohort of 975 Otolaryngologists from 87 ENT Departments conducted from March 25 to November 17 in our collaborative group, COVID ORL ESP. COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was the diagnostic standard. Hospitalization and/or intensive care admission and mortality was recorded as non-identified data. Results Data collected from 975 otolaryngologist from 87 Departments resulted in 157 (16.5%) otolaryngologists testing positive for SARS-CoV-19 by RT-PCR. Important geographic differences in contagion are reported. A total of 136 (86.6%) otolaryngologists were tested positive during the first wave and 21 (13.3%) during the second wave. At the last cut-off point of the study only 30/87 ENT Departments (34.5%) remained COVID19-free and 5 Departments reported more than 50% staff members testing positive. The majority of positive tested otolaryngologists (126/157; 80.2%) had only mild or no symptoms, 17 developed moderate symptoms (10.8%) and 3 had pneumonia not requiring hospitalization (2%). Five colleagues were admitted at hospital, 4 required ICU (2.5%) and 2 colleges died from COVID-19. Conclusions During the first wave of the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic otolaryngologists in Spain have been overall the group suffering the highest rate of contagion, particularly during the first month. Subsequently, the Spanish Ministry of Health should include otorhinolaryngologists as a high-risk group in airborne pandemics

Enhanced Hydrogen Production from Sewage Sludge by Cofermentation with Wine Vinasse

The cofermentation of sewage sludge and wine vinasse at different mixing ratios to enhance hydrogen production was investigated. Batch experiments were carried out under thermophilic conditions with thermophilic sludge inoculum obtained from an acidogenic anaerobic reactor. The results showed that the addition of wine vinasse enhances the hydrogen production of sewage sludge fermentation. The highest hydrogen yields, 41.16±3.57 and 43.25±1.52mL H2/g VSadded, were obtained at sludge:vinasse ratios of 50:50 and 25:75, respectively. These yields were 13 and 14 times higher than that obtained in the monofermentation of sludge (3.17±1.28mL H2/g VSadded). The highest VS removal (37%) was obtained at a mixing ratio of 25:75. Cofermentation had a synergistic effect the hydrogen yield obtained at a sludge:vinasse ratio of 50:50 was 40% higher, comparing to the sum of each waste. Furthermore, kinetic analysis showed that Cone and first-order kinetic models fitted hydrogen production better than the modified Gompertz model