The European System of Governance and the Eastern Enlargement

Although it is important to eliminate the illegitimatizing undemocratic heritage of the European institutional framework, any attempt to use the institutional reformist process as a means to delay the eastern widening of the European Union could endanger not only the democratic consolidation of the Central & Eastern European societies, but also the security & stability of the continent. Even more worrisome is that it could jeopardize the unity of the European integrationist project, as countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark, & Finland lose interest in building Europe in favor of a greater bilateralism in their relationships with their Eastern European neighbors

Wonderful models for toric arrangements

We build a wonderful model for toric arrangements. We develop the "toric analog" of the combinatorics of nested sets, which allows to define a family of smooth open sets covering the model. In this way we prove that the model is smooth, and we give a precise geometric and combinatorial description of the normal crossing divisor.Comment: Final version, to appear on IMRN. 23 pages, 1 pictur

Bell-Beaker relationships in the central Cantabrian region and the prehistoric copper mines of sierra del Aramo

Las excavaciones en el exterior de las minas de cobre del Aramo (Asturias) permitieron localizar los vestigios de una de las zonas de asentamiento temporal de los mineros. El hallazgo allí de los primeros testimonios campaniformes, ausentes hasta entonces en un extenso sector de la región cantábrica, da pie a la consideración del porqué de su rareza. Entre los factores considerados se atienden rasgos culturales específicos de la región, el papel de la exportación del cobre y de los retornos de la misma, además de consideraciones sobre un discreto desnivel social acaso limitador de la ostentación campaniformeExcavations outside the copper mines of El Aramo (Asturias) allowed to locate the remains of one of the miners’ temporary settlement areas. There, the discovery of the first Beaker testimonies, absent in a large sector of the Cantabrian region until then, leads to wonder the reason for its rarity. Among the considered factors in accordance with the specific cultural features of the region, the role of copper’s exports and returns of it, besides consideration on a discreet social gap perhaps a limiter of the Beaker ostentation

Educación ciudadana, democracia y participación

Este libro contiene las mimeos presentadas en el seminario que, con el mismo título, se realizara en agosto de 1997 en la ciudad de Lima. El lector involucrado en los retos de la educación ciudadana encontrará aquí un conjunto de reflexiones que profundizan en el quehacer de intelectuales, funcionarios públicos y promotores sociales nacionales y extranjeros

Educación ciudadana, democracia y participación

Este libro contiene las mimeos presentadas en el seminario que, con el mismo título, se realizara en agosto de 1997 en la ciudad de Lima. El lector involucrado en los retos de la educación ciudadana encontrará aquí un conjunto de reflexiones que profundizan en el quehacer de intelectuales, funcionarios públicos y promotores sociales nacionales y extranjeros

Are all patches worth exploring? Foraging desert birds do not rely on environmental indicators of seed abundance at small scales

Background: Consumers should show strong spatial preferences when foraging in environments where food availability is highly heterogeneous and predictable. Postdispersal granivores face this scenario in most arid areas, where soil seed bank abundance and composition associates persistently with vegetation structure at small scales (decimetres to metres). Those environmental features should be exploited as useful pre-harvest information, at least to avoid patches predicted to be poor. However, we did not find the expected spatial association in the algarrobal of the central Monte desert by observing foraging seed-eating birds, a field technique influenced by how much they exploit visited patches. In this work we tested if the first stage of foraging by granivorous birds (patch visit, encounter or exploration) is positively associated with environmental indicators of patch quality by recording the removal of single seeds from 300 scattered experimental devices during seasonal trials. Spatial selectivity was analysed by comparing the structural characteristics of used vs. available microhabitats, and evaluated against bottom-up and top-down hypotheses based on our previous knowledge on local seed bank abundance, composition and dynamics. Their foraging activity was also explored for spatial autocorrelation and environmental correlates at bigger scales. Results: Postdispersal granivorous birds were less selective in their use of foraging space than expected if microhabitat appearance were providing them relevant information to guide their search for profitable foraging patches. No microhabitat type, as defined by their vegetation structure and soil cover, remained safe from bird exploration. Analyses at bigger temporal and spatial scales proved more important to describe heterogeneity in seed removal. Conclusions: Closeness to tall trees, probably related to bird territoriality and reproduction or to their perception of predation risk, seemed to determine a first level of habitat selection, constraining explorable space. Then, microhabitat openness (rather than seed abundance) exerted some positive influence on which patches were more frequently visited among those accessible. Selective patterns by birds at small scales were closer to our predictions of a top-down spatial effect, with seed consumption creating or strengthening (and not responding to) the spatial pattern and dynamics of the seed bank.Fil: Milesi, Fernando Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología de Comunidades del Desierto; ArgentinaFil: Lopez de Casenave, Javier Nestor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología de Comunidades del Desierto; ArgentinaFil: Cueto, Víctor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología de Comunidades del Desierto; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; Argentin

Potential of mRNA-based vaccines for the control of tick-borne pathogens in one health perspective

The One Health approach, which integrates the health of humans, animals, plants, and ecosystems at various levels, is crucial for addressing interconnected health threats. This is complemented by the advent of mRNA vaccines, which have revolutionized disease prevention. They offer broad-spectrum effectiveness and can be rapidly customized to target specific pathogens. Their utility extends beyond human medicine, showing potential in veterinary practices to control diseases and reduce the risk of zoonotic transmissions. This review place mRNA vaccines and One Health in the context of tick-borne diseases. The potential of these vaccines to confer cross-species immunity is significant, potentially disrupting zoonotic disease transmission cycles and protecting the health of both humans and animals, while reducing tick populations, infestations and circulation of pathogens. The development and application of mRNA vaccines for tick and tick-borne pathogens represent a comprehensive strategy in global health, fostering a healthier ecosystem for all species in our interconnected world

Education Aspirations among Young People in Peru and their Perceptions of Barriers to Higher Education

Results from the Young Lives survey show the existence of a gap between young people’s aspirations for higher education and their actual chances of accessing this level of education. This paper uses qualitative information from Young Lives in order to gain a deeper understanding of young people’s aspirations as well as their perceptions of the main barriers preventing them from achieving these aspirations. More specifically the researchers analyse how aspirations are formed, to what extent they are related to parents’ educational aspirations for their children, and if they are stable or tend to change over time. The authors find high educational aspirations among low-income young people and their caregivers and they establish that education is highly valued by Peruvian families. The aspirations of young people and their caregivers are influenced by caregivers’ educational history and experiences. The longitudinal nature of the data, both quantitative and qualitative, allowed us to identify that young people’s, and particularly caregivers’, educational aspirations were not static and changed over time, mainly in response to changes in the socio-economic status of the family. The study also identified several barriers preventing low-income youth in urban and rural areas from realising their educational aspirations. Besides economic and psychological barriers (mainly experienced as lack of family support), the results of this paper point out to the existence of additional barriers such as a lack of information available to secondary school seniors (and their parents) about higher education (what and where to study and how to apply) and the fact that schools are not playing an active role in preparing students for a transition to higher education. Based on these results, the study discusses policy recommendations aimed at overcoming those barriers

Influence factors on the success of hospital communication via social networks

Introducción. El objeto de estudio del presente artículo es la comunicación online en corporaciones hospitalarias españolas, en concreto, de los centros más influyentes en Twitter. Hipótesis y objetivos. Partimos de la hipótesis de que existe una baja participación de los hospitales en los medios sociales, a pesar del interés de los usuarios. El objetivo principal es definir las características y la estrategia para proponer ideas para optimizar la relación entre hospitales y ciudadanos a través de las redes sociales. Metodología. La metodología empleada se basa, fundamentalmente, en el análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo de la actividad en Twitter de aquellos centros sanitarios especializados con mayor interacción. Resultados. Se observa el interés de los pacientes por la información y la actividad que los centros sanitarios comparten en las redes sociales, cuyos mensajes se pueden clasificar en: de ámbito no sanitario o relacionados con cuestiones extrínsecas a la actividad asistencial también suscitan un destacado interés, seguidos por aquellos sobre promoción y prevención sanitaria y de reconocimiento a protagonistas de alguna intervención en el entorno hospitalario. En la misma línea, se puede afirmar que se usa, en general, un tono cercano. Conclusiones. A partir de este trabajo, se proponen algunas estrategias encaminadas a mejorar la comunicación entre el hospital y sus diferentes stakeholders y, por ende, situaciones que rodean a los usuarios de los sistemas sanitarios, centradas en la relación entre atención sanitaria y el bienestar de la ciudadanía. [EN] Introduction. The object of study for this article is online communication in Spanish hospital corporations, specifically in those centres that are more influential on Twitter. Hypothesis and objectives. We will be working with the hypothesis that hospitals demonstrate a low level of participation in social media, despite the interest shown by users. The main objective is to define the characteristics and the strategy in order to propose ideas to optimise the relationship between hospitals and citizens, by means of social networks. Methodology. The methodology followed is based, fundamentally, on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the activity on Twitter of the specialised health centres with a greater interaction. Results. Patients demonstrated an interest in the information and the activity that health centres share on their social networks, and these messages can be classified as: non-health related, or related to matters extrinsic to healthcare that also arouse considerable interest, followed by messages about prevention and health promotion, and recognition of the people that play an important role in certain hospital proceedings. Along these lines, we can state that, in general, an intimate tone is adopted. Conclusions. This study serves as a base from which to propose several strategies aimed at improving communication between the hospital and its various stakeholders and, therefore, situations that surround the users of healthcare systems; situations that are focussed on the relationship between medical attention and citizen wellbeing