Online communities of Spanish Migrants in times of austerity

This article examines the perceptions, held by Spanish migrants, of the extent to which social media facilitate the development of a sense of community within their host towns and cities. Focusing particularly on the creation of Facebook groups called ‘Españoles en…’ (‘Spaniards in…’), the study explores the role that these online tools play in the development of connections between Spanish citizens who reside in the same locality. The aim, therefore, is to ask how they try to maintain their socio-cultural identities within a diasporic community, especially one that has suffered the effects of economic austerity. Based on the results of a qualitative survey answered by Spanish migrants living in Britain, France and Germany, the article sheds light on the relative usefulness - as perceived by the migrants themselves - of online engagement in the maintenance and development of a communal mind-set. The piece suggests that the migrants’ individual backgrounds and experiences, including their individual political stances, skills, socio-economic circumstances, and regional affiliations, seem to play a more important role in shaping their conceptions of the online ‘community’, than any broader assumptions made about unitary national identity or the role of technology

Local memories: conflict and lived experience in the Spanish Civil War

The winners of any conflict often try to impose their views on the defeated. Through official and unofficial mechanisms, most of which operate under the aegis of the state and other agents that work on its behalf, the voices of the defeated are silenced. One important counter-mechanism that is available, the one that may serve to resist the imposition of the victors’ History, is frequently found in the collection, analysis and publication of oral testimonies, which give expression to, and magnify, silenced and oppressed memories. Orality therefore provides us with a window into past events or, rather, with multiple windows that allow us to see and take account of the myriad histories of which the past is actually composed, according not to the state-imposed version, but to the ways in which people remember it. Through an ethnographic study of local memories in one southern Spanish village, this article examines some of the ways in which the Spanish Civil War is remembered, focusing particularly on the lived experience of repression and hunger, and the memories of ideological clashes, class struggles and conflicts over land ownership

Palestine in the British press: a postcolonial critical discourse analysis

This article examines the representations of the Israeli Palestinian conflict in the British press, starting from the premise that media representations in Britain should be analysed in relation to Britain’s role as a postcolonial power. Focusing on Britain’s colonial and postcolonial connection to this conflict, this study is based on the findings of a Postcolonial Critical Discourse Analysis of four British national newspapers (the Guardian, or Manchester Guardian; The Times; the Daily Herald, or the Sun; and the Daily Mirror) at four different points during the history of the conflict. The findings indicate that the classification of Palestine, Palestinians, Israel, Israelis, Jews, Zionists and Arabs as agents of political violence evolved over time, as violent acts and agents were perceived differently according to the dominant political discourse during each period. The contextualization of the conflict also provides insights into how the British press constructed its various ideological positions in relation to this conflict, and the extent to which the British Mandate remained visible in the later coverage of the conflict. The postcolonial approach adopted in this study indicates that the generalized lack of references to the historical facts that underpin Britain’s role in the development of the conflict represents an attempt to move away from the historical responsibilities derived from colonial encounters. This framework therefore helps to restore the largely neglected historical connection of the British Mandate to its proper place in the analysis of these mediated events

The Ladders Revolution: material struggle, social media and news coverage

This article, which focuses on a strike and ocupation that took place in Barcelona in May 2015, is part of a larger enquiry that attempts to locate public expressions of dissent in their sociopolitical, discursive and spatiotemporal context. The methods used to conduct this study include the standard collection of observational and media data, but also encompass an attempt to investigate the control of space by public and private authorities. Discursive manifestations of dissent and the arguments posed by social actors are therefore considered in conjunction with the physical impact and material setting within which goals are pursued. The case study used in this article is the workers’ occupation, in 2015, of the Telefónica building, the famous landmark identified in George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia as the epicentre of the internecine struggle that took place within the Republican camp in 1937

Effects of 4-Week training intervention with unknown loads on power output performance and throwing velocity in junior team handball players

PURPOSE:To compare the effect of 4-week unknown vs known loads strength training intervention on power output performance and throwing velocity in junior team handball players. METHODS:Twenty-eight junior team-handball players (17.2 ± 0.6 years, 1.79 ± 0.07 m, 75.6 ± 9.4 kg)were divided into two groups (unknown loads: UL; known loads: KL). Both groups performed two sessions weekly consisting of four sets of six repetitions of the bench press throw exercise, using the 30%, 50% and 70% of subjects' individual 1 repetition maximum (1RM). In each set, two repetitions with each load were performed, but the order of the loads was randomised. In the KL group, researchers told the subjects the load to mobilise prior each repetition, while in the UL group, researchers did not provide any information. Maximal dynamic strength (1RM bench press), power output (with 30, 50 and 70% of 1RM) and throwing velocity (7 m standing throw and 9 m jumping throw) were assessed pre- and post-training intervention. RESULTS:Both UL and KL group improved similarly their 1RM bench press as well as mean and peak power with all loads. There were significant improvements in power developed in all the early time intervals measured (150 ms) with the three loads (30, 50, 70% 1RM) in the UL group, while KL only improved with 30% 1RM (all the time intervals) and with 70% 1RM (at certain time intervals). Only the UL group improved throwing velocity in both standing (4.7%) and jumping (5.3%) throw (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:The use of unknown loads has led to greater gains in power output in the early time intervals as well as to increases in throwing velocity compared with known loads. Therefore unknown loads are of significant practical use to increase both strength and in-field performance in a short period of training

The effects of training with loads that maximise power output and individualised repetitions vs. traditional power training

Background: It has been suggested that strength training effects (i.e. neural or structural) vary, depending on the total repetitions performed and velocity loss in each training set. Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the effects of two training programmes (i.e. one with loads that maximise power output and individualised repetitions, and the other following traditional power training). Methods: Twenty-five males were divided into three groups (optimum power [OP = 10], traditional training [TT = 9] and control group [CG = 6]). The training load used for OP was individualised using loads that maximised power output (41.7% ± 5.8 of one repetition maximum [1RM]) and repetitions at maximum power (4 to 9 repetitions, or ‘reps’). Volume (sets x repetitions) was the same for both experimental groups, while intensity for TT was that needed to perform only 50% of the maximum number of possible repetitions (i.e. 61.1%–66.6% of 1RM). The training programme ran over 11 weeks (2 sessions per week; 4–5 sets per session; 3-minute rests between sets), with pre-, intermediate and post-tests which included: anthropometry, 1RM, peak power output (PPO) with 30%, 40% and 50% of 1RM in the bench press throw, and salivary testosterone (ST) and cortisol (SC) concentrations. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and power output were recorded in all sessions. Results Following the intermediate test, PPO was increased in the OP group for each load (10.9%–13.2%). Following the post-test, both experimental groups had increased 1RM (11.8%–13.8%) and PPO for each load (14.1%–19.6%). Significant decreases in PPO were found for the TT group during all sets (4.9%–15.4%), along with significantly higher RPE (37%). Conclusion: OP appears to be a more efficient method of training, with less neuromuscular fatigue and lower RPE.SIThe authors received no specific funding for this wor

Proteomic profiling reveals mitochondrial dysfunction in the cerebellum of transgenic mice overexpressing DYRK1A, a Down syndrome candidate gene

DYRK1A is a dual-specificity kinase that is overexpressed in Down syndrome (DS) and plays a key role in neurogenesis, neuronal differentiation and function, cognitive phenotypes, and aging. Dyrk1A has also been implicated in cerebellar abnormalities observed in association with DS, and normalization of Dyrk1A dosage rescues granular and Purkinje cell densities in a trisomic DS mouse model. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms governing these processes are unknown.To shed light on the effects of Dyrk1A overexpression in the cerebellum, here we investigated the cerebellar proteome in transgenic Dyrk1A overexpressing mice in basal conditions and after treatment with green tea extract containing epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a DYRK1A inhibitor.Our results showed that Dyrk1A overexpression alters oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial function in the cerebellum of transgenic mice. These alterations are significantly rescued upon EGCG-containing green tea extract treatment, suggesting that its effects in DS could depend in part on targeting mitochondria, as shown by the partially restoration by the treatment of the increased mtDNA copy number in TG non-treated mice.Copyright © 2022 De Toma, Ortega, Fernández-Blanco, Calderón, Barahona, Trullàs, Sabidó and Dierssen

Iso-spectral potential and inflationary quantum cosmology

Using the factorization approach of quantum mechanics, we obtain a family of isospectral scalar potentials for power law inflationary cosmology. The construction is based on a scattering Wheeler-DeWitt solution. These iso-spectrals have new features, they give a mechanism to end inflation, as well as the possibility to have new inflationary epochs. The procedure can be extended to other cosmological models.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure