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"Contested Concepts in Migration Studies" is a book edited by Ricard Zapata-Barrero, Dirk Jacobs, and Riva Kastoryano that aims to clarify key concepts in the field of migration studies. The book explores concepts that are often misunderstood or have different meanings, providing thought-provoking insights on the multiple facets of the migratory experience. The editors emphasize that concepts are not neutral and are often contested due to differing interpretations and ideologies. The book covers a range of topics, including borders, integration, diversity, discrimination, secularism, and tolerance, offering diverse perspectives and challenging conventional ideas. It is a valuable resource for scholars, journalists, policymakers, students, and the general public interested in deepening their understanding of migration concepts. [Extracted from the article]

The aim of this review was to provide a qualitative and quantitative overview of the effects of exercise on pain, physical function, and quality of life for patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis. This study was an umbrella and mapping review with meta-meta-analysis. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials were included. The methodological quality and risk of bias were evaluated using the Modified Quality Assessment Scale for Systematic Reviews and the Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews tool. The quality of evidence was evaluated using the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Grading Criteria. 41 meta-analyses were included, 43.9% of the studies had adequate methodological quality, and 56.1% of the studies had a low risk of bias. Moderate evidence was found that exercise decreases pain intensity (33 meta-analyses; SMD = −0.49; 95% CI −0.56 to −0.42), improves function (19 meta-analyses; SMD = −0.50; 95% CI −0.58 to −0.41), strength (6 meta-analyses; SMD = −0.57; 95% CI −0.70 to −0.44) and quality of life (SMD = −0.36; 95% CI −0.46 to −0.27) for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis. Exercise is an effective intervention to decrease pain intensity and improve function in patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis. (PROSPERO, CRD42020221987) Exercise in hip and knee osteoarthritis has shown improvement in pain, function, strength, and quality of life in different studies, but no differences have been observed in others. The meta-meta-analysis of the present article find that exercise produces significant improvements in pain, function, strength, and quality of life of patients with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis with a small effect size and significant heterogeneity. There is moderate evidence that exercise is effective in reducing pain and increasing function, strength, and quality of life of patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically examines how ideology permeates the politics of diversity today and is forcing us to clarify political positions towards a much more intercultural approach to diversity. At a time when the demographic argument is gaining momentum in the US, Europe, and other continents, with neo-colonial beliefs of white supremacy and irrational fears of the 'Great replacement' movement, the diversity politics debate is becoming strongly polarized. In this 'ideological turn' diversity emerges as a political option rather than a by-product of the globalization processes. Going beyond the multicultural/intercultural debate, this article represents a step forward by highlighting the specificities of interculturalism and how these distinctive features can be considered today as strategic resources for revitalizing the left's position on diversity politics. As a normative and political ideology, interculturalism may have the potential to shape diversity as a new public culture and implement the scale shift of citizenship from a state to a more urban intercultural citizenship. Theorizing these features from the left would certainly help to reduce right-wing ideologies that foster a strong reluctance to diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) is characterized by acute-onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or disordered eating, as well as anxiety, tics, and developmental regressions, among other neuropsychiatric symptoms, after an infection or exposure to environmental triggers. PANS symptoms, which can be chronic and fluctuate in severity for several years, develop because of an aggressive autoimmune reaction to brain structures. Studies suggest that dietary changes, such as replacing industrialized foods with organic or eliminating gluten or dairy, can be important for autoimmune conditions. This mixed-method study examines dietary changes implemented as part of treatment for PANS and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Associated with Streptococcus), which is a subset of PANS, through in-depth interviews with families and clinicians and a caregiver survey. 64.7% of the 467 survey participants indicated that a healthcare provider recommended dietary changes as part of PANS/PANDAS treatment. 55.7% of the families did implement dietary changes and 69.6% reported at least one diet to be somewhat effective in helping with PANS/PANDAS symptoms, with 36% reporting dietary changes to be very effective, particularly gluten-free and sugar-free diets. However, some parents and clinicians highlighted children’s resistance to new diets and concerns about worsening OCD and food restrictive disorders as barriers to implementing dietary changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the recent literature in migration and ethnic studies, and particularly the debate on the "local turn", mention multi-layered pressures that cities must address to develop their governance capacities, but few theorize an approach to better grasp these challenges. As cities move from state loyalty to empowerment, we enter the puzzle of urban resilience. This article argues that urban resilience is becoming a principle that regulates innovative political strategies to maintain cohesion and urban justice. After reviewing its application, and following an ideal-type Weberian methodology, this article presents initial findings from fieldwork in three different urban regimes, Barcelona, Marseille, and Tunisian cities. The main objective is to provide conceptual and empirical insights that can test the relevance of the use of urban resilience as a category of analysis and practice, and how this can help to articulate a future research program on urban migration governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Touristification refers to the multi-dimensional transformation of an area due to severe and rapid tourism intensification, which can harm that place's inhabitants in different ways. The activity's boom in the 2010s brought about an exponential increase in short-term tourist rentals (STRs) in traditionally non-tourist areas across cities worldwide, triggering or expanding displacement dynamics. The study delves into the connections between touristification and displacement and how the latter has conditioned neighbors' lives. As the health crisis abruptly stopped tourist hypermobility, we also question how displacement has been affected and the ways in which it might evolve in the post-pandemic city. We focus on Seville, the capital of Andalusia in southern Spain, a region highly dependent on the tourism and real estate sectors that has annually broken its visitors' records until the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. We reflect upon how local populations in central and increasingly tourist neighborhoods have experienced expulsion before and amidst the pandemic through thirty interviews with residents and displacees from different socio-economic backgrounds in Seville's historic district. We conclude that the reconversion of STRs into long-term leases during and after the pandemic has resolved little compared with the damage already done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This brief note deals directly with what is interpreted as John Mollenkorpf's epistemological, comparative and regional critique to conceptual thinking in migration studies. The paper is devoted to meta-conceptual thinking. From an analytical point of view, there are three main lines of thought that inspired the author to define a geography of concepts and the need of Weberian approach. First, the distinction between the discussion of a conceptual agenda and the meanings of concepts; second, the definition of what the contextual dependence of concepts may entail; and third, the introduction of a multiscale approach. This conceptual talk is today more necessary than ever, even more so considering the era of great semantic confusion in which we live, where realities and virtuality merge, where evidence sometimes loses its function as an indicator of reality, with so many strategic narratives full of intentions and emotions in migration debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunisia is discovering a new migration pattern, with new arrivals staying rather than transiting, given the agreements between the EU and Tunisia to secure their borders. And this is happening in an extremely unstable environment that oscillates between democracy and autocracy. In this scenario, Tunisian cities are becoming catalysts for migration governance resilience. Drawing on the extensive literature on urban resilience but applied to pressures caused by human factors, this article proposes in the first section to use this category of analysis in the under-researched field of urban migration governance. In the second section, the main sources and methodology of the fieldwork conducted in July 2021 will be briefly presented before reviewing the Tunisian context from a city perspective. Then, in a third section, we will turn to the main findings that establish that migration governance and urban resilience go hand in hand for the ongoing transformative democratic process in Tunisia, or its stagnation. Concluding remarks will assess the empirical potential of the urban resilience approach for the analysis of similar processes in this Mediterranean sub-region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to describe the actions carried out by school management to promote inclusion and the learning of all students, from the perspective of teaching staff (members of management teams and teachers), and to find out whether these initiatives are determined by the school environment, the educational stages taught, and the positions held by the members of the management teams. The questionnaire, 'Liderando la Educación Inclusiva en Centros de Educación Obligatoria (LEI-Q)-Equipo Docente' ('Leading Inclusive Education in Compulsory Education Schools – Teaching Staff') was answered by 420 teaching-staff members. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire have been confirmed using exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis. Descriptive analysis and nonparametric regression have also been carried out. The results show that in the schools analysed, the management teams are undertaking actions in favour of educational inclusion, with the most implemented being those aimed at managing the teaching-learning processes and professional development, and the least implemented being those that aim to make the school an inclusive community. These actions are influenced by the educational stages taught in the school, the district where they are located, and the position held by the school leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the feasibility of a home-based hybrid Bimanual-Intensive-Therapy combined with modified Constraint-Induced-Movement-Therapy (h-BITmCI) in children with spastic unilateral cerebral palsy (SUCP) with low and very low bimanual functional level. A single-group of 10 children aged 5–8 years old, performed the hybrid home Bimanual-Intensive-Therapy (BIT, 80 hours) combined with modified Constraint-Induced-Movement-Therapy (mCIMT, 20 hours): h-BITmCI. Thus, Bimanual Functional Performance (BFP), Quality of Life (QoL) and expectations from families were measured through the Assisting Hand Assessment, (AHA), Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, for Cerebral Palsy, (PedsQLTM v. 3.0, CP) and a specific questionnaire for families for baseline period (week 0), during the treatment phase (week 4 and week 8) and after the intervention (week 10). Repeated measures ANOVA analysis (with post hoc test correction) was used for the BFP and QoL, with a confidence interval (CI) of 95% and with p value <.008 considered statistically significant. Ten children completed the study with an average of 77-hours-BIT and 17-hours-mCIMT. None of the participants dropped out of the study during the follow-up process, and the parents' expectations were fulfilled, indicating high caregiver compliance. During the first 80 hours of BIT, a mean increase of 3.7 AHA units was obtained for the BFP (p = 1.00) and 1.64 points in the QoL (p = 1.00). Clinically relevant changes were observed in the last two weeks (20 hours mCIMT) with a mean increase of 10.6 AHA units in BFP and 6.29 points in QoL (p <.001). h-BITmCI protocol is feasible to be performed at home with the family's involvement, obtaining the greatest improvements after 100 hours of both therapies. Thus, mCIMT would be a relevant condition to increase the affected upper limb functionality, rather than the dosage used to obtain clinically relevant changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puberty onset is tightly regulated by a broad spectrum of neuroendocrine signals and peripheral stimuli which coordinate the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis activation. Numerous studies suggest that light stimulation influences HPG axis function; however, the effect of blindness on puberty timing remains controversial. Given that menarche is a suitable marker for sexual development initiation, the evaluation of the age at which blind girls attain it allows to indirectly assess the effect of light-dark cycle disruption on pubertal development. The present investigation aimed to review the evidence regarding menarcheal age drift in visually impaired girls, as well as to discuss the findings based on the existing hypotheses of the physiological mechanisms linking the light-dark cycle and photic sensitivity loss to the onset of puberty. Eleven studies were retrieved from a literature search conducted in PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Google Scholar databases. Eight studies concluded that light perception impairment is related to a moderately earlier age at menarche. Moreover, the evidence gathered in this review suggests a positive association between the degree of light perception loss and precocious menarcheal onset; yet, no conclusive outcomes were found regarding menarche advancement in acquired versus congenital blindness. We encourage further research aiming to elucidate the physiological mechanism underlying photosensitive regulation and blindness effect on the neuroendocrine pathways involved in human sexual maturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cycling is a desirable mode of transportation in urban areas due to its environmental, social, and economic benefits. Design manuals are used as standardized references and guides to provide safe, functional, and convenient bicycle infrastructure. These guidelines usually provide best practice recommendations and refer to minimum requirements for dimensions (geometry) and materials. However, these documents rarely include input from cyclists. Unlike the infrastructure service perceived by motorists, which is related to performance measurements such as speed or travel time, the quality of service (QoS) experienced by pedestrians and cyclists is strongly influenced by perceptions (e.g., safety) owing to the fact that they are directly exposed to the environment. Beyond the performance-related indicators (e.g., Level of Service), when cyclists assess QoS, their cognitive process incorporates their perceptions of the surroundings. We present a user-oriented perspective in this paper, since supply-oriented evaluation and design has been carried out for decades without giving a relevant role to user perceptions. Our objective is to uncover factors explaining QoS perceived by cyclists from users' perceptions and to analyze new contributions to existing bicycle infrastructure design practices. By means of stepwise models from cyclist perception intercept surveys in Bogotá, Colombia, we uncovered factors that explain QoS. Model testing and site visits enrich the analysis of the six statistically significant variables that explain QoS. This research raises an interesting discussion on the general approach and philosophy of the bicycle infrastructure design guidelines and evidences that cyclists' perceptions have substantial potential for future research and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its development as a way to understand what teachers know and how it informs what they do, the concept of teachers' practical knowledge has had a significant influence on curriculum studies and teacher development in particular. In this case, Sharma refers to the characterization of some teachers as "good", where teacher quality is linked to performance standards and indicators such as certification programs and teacher evaluation policies. [Extracted from the article]

Lee seeks to unsettle the taken-for-granted practices of observation in teacher education, for the imperative of racial justice. In critiquing these "double gestures" of seeing the difference, Lee concludes with an invitation to re-think observation practices in teacher education, through a cultural and historical sensibility approach. In the first article of this issue, Sun Young Lee makes an important intervention into the taken-for-granted practices of observation in the context of teacher education. [Extracted from the article]

This article seeks to contribute to the debate on contemporary political theory, a baseline for how to live together within diversity settings, by incorporating interculturalism into the normative theorizing of citizenship. Interculturalism's nuclear philosophy lies in privileging people-to-people relations, and hence for a micro-identity politics. I will focus interculturalism as a strategy for citizenship-making and place-making policy with a pro-active defining feature, which transforms diversity into a public good. Following the identity citizenship politics, I will defend that conceptually it is better grounded within the republican normative tradition. After reviewing the intersection of interculturalism and citizenship, I will dig into republicanism, and especially its involvement in turning public spaces into public diversity-contact settings. My final intention is to exentuate the potential these public spaces have to become hubs for the promotion of intercultural citizenship. At the end this will help me to argue for a republican normativity of intercultural citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I will defend interculturalism as a main methodology to reboot the same European identity. My focus will combine normative, epistemological and policy-oriented scholarship and documentary analysis. After contextualizing the terms of the debate within the on-going project of Europe, I will follow six main streams. First, as a matter of Diagnosis, I underline that the current European identity crisis is related to the core ontological values that make Europe a collective project. Second, I will highlight as a Premise 1 the main features of the intercultural policy paradigm. Thirdly, Premise 2 is on how interculturalism basically penetrated Europe during the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Then in the fourth stream, I will defend Argument 1, the need to open a reflection on how the EU building process is missing the historical opportunity to include migrants within its own identity building process. The fifth stream will signal, as Argument 2, the danger that if things remain the same, the EU could become a machinery generating frustrated second-generation migrants. Then I will conclude, as a sixth stream, on the need to incorporate interculturalism as one of the distinctive diversity-management approaches that can drive European identity towards the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of the emerging field of research on transnational migrant entrepreneurship at the crossroads of business and migration studies, the main purpose of this article is to assess the change of the Moroccan policy paradigm concerning their diaspora engagement policy, which has shifted from a guest-workers policy narrative (remittances based approach) to a transnational policy narrative (skills-mobilisation based approach) during the last decade. Once we have framed this process, we proceed to analyse the factors of success and failure of this new structure of opportunities for Moroccan transnational entrepreneurs. We have interviewed Moroccan migrant entrepreneurs in Morocco and Spain and stakeholders from different Moroccan institutions, and our findings indicate that there is a gap between the aims of the Moroccan engagement policy and the experiences of these Moroccan entrepreneurs. We argue that the Moroccan government has a too narrow view of transnationalism (only focused on return), a false identity premise (assuming that attraction towards Morocco can only be achieved by fostering a sense of 'Moroccanness' that appears to be far from reality), and a false socioeconomic premise that those that take this entrepreneurial route are motivated by opportunity rather than necessity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the authors discuss various articles published within the issue on topics like transnational entrepreneurship (TE), diaspora, and business development.

Similarly, in the fourth article, titled "Identifying Your Skin is too Dark as a Put-Down: Enacting Whiteness as Hidden Curriculum through a Bullying Prevention Program", Rhianna Thomas attunes to her own positionality, showing how it shaped the way she implemented her school's bullying prevention program as a new teacher. As a white female teacher socialized into a "white culture of colour evasiveness" (p. 584), Thomas argues that deferring to the procedures outlined by her school's bullying prevention program resulted in her upholding a white supremacist curriculum. Examining students' impressions of the Privilege Walk, Tien shows how the activity allowed students to "visualize" their own social positions in relation to other students in the classroom (p. 539). [Extracted from the article]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses the topics within the issue, including conceptual thinking, migration studies, and the book "Contested Concepts in Migration Studies."

Forty years after the Alma-Ata declaration, the WHO has reaffirmed its commitment to Primary Health Care (PHC). We argue that this renewed interest in PHC is being coopted by the neoliberal agenda on health via its application to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) reforms as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We offer an overview of classic anthropological studies on PHC, and more recent ones on UHC, as a way to propose some research foci and a set of questions for emerging critical anthropological research. Lastly, we suggest the careful reading of five recently published articles in Medical Anthropology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social Determination of Health (SDH)/Collective Health is a Latin American framework that sees the Marxist core concept of social class as fundamental for understanding health inequalities. In contrast to social stratification approaches, Marxist proposals seek to understand health as part of the historical transformations of capitalism's mode of production. In this article we aim to analyze the relationship between social class and health inequalities using data from the IV Oral Health National Study in Colombia. We conducted hierarchical cluster analyses to classify the population in five class positions and three living conditions clusters, which reflect how the spheres of production and social reproduction relate to social classes in Colombia. To measure oral health we use DMFT, as well as care and treatment needs indexes. Through variance analysis models we found that people from more exploited class positions and worse living conditions have more active disease and higher treatment needs. Despite technical and conceptual challenges, we conclude that a social class analytical framework can be operationalised via the interrelated spheres of production and social reproduction, which sheds light on the relationship between health inequalities and the class structure of the capitalist system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the post-multicultural era, transnationalism, super-diversity, cosmopolitanism and solidarity develop a sense of awareness to live in a complex society. This requests us to identify the epistemological barriers preventing us to produce new knowledge, since there is a raising consciousness that these new frameworks cannot be addressed with old policy maps. All share the need to go beyond methodological nationalism, and one of its by-products: multiculturalism. Methodological interculturalism is a promising epistemological lens through which to cluster this new diversity geography. It is a direct answer to the key question, what happens when the unit of analysis from which we argue about "how to live together" is diversity itself rather than a supposed us/we/unity/ majority/state/nation lens. The outcome is the recognition that super-diversity and transnationalism is a fact that we need to incorporate into our public culture, together with new normative claims of justice related to cosmopolitanism and solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of Andalusian schools as professional learning communities. The PLCA-R questionnaire, in its Spanish adaptation, was used. A sample was selected of 814 public school teachers. The results show a low level of development in the PLC model. Teachers have a good perception of school management, autonomy, and professional collaboration. But it also shows a weak development of professional collaboration in practice. There is a need to deepen the middle leadership and the collective sense-making in the school. This overview can serve to locate and implement educational policies for schools’ improvement, according to this reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Manual flower cutting imposes large biomechanical demands on workers’ upper extremities. Solutions are required to reduce these demands. This study investigated the effect of time elapsed since the last pruner maintenance on the biomechanical demands of the upper extremities during flower-cutting operations. Methods: Sixteen experienced workers were recruited. All workers performed flower cutting 1, 15, and 30 days after standard pruner maintenance, including cleaning, adjustment, and sharpening. The outcomes included kinematics of the wrist, elbow, and forearm; muscular activity of the extensor carpi radialis, extensor carpi ulnaris, flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, biceps and medium deltoids of the dominant arm; and self-reported effort. Results: On average across muscles, a 15-day delay (from 1 to 15 and from 15 to 30 days) in the execution of pruner maintenance increased over 8% the median recorded muscular activity as measured by the percentage of the maximum voluntary contraction of the root mean square signal. An increase in time since last pruner maintenance resulted in an increase in the 90th percentile pronation-supination posture (larger excursion toward pronation); the median and the 90th percentile velocity of the wrist and elbow; and the 90th percentile acceleration in the pronation-supination direction. There was an increase in perceived effort as measured by a Borg scale as time since last maintenance increased from 1 to 15 days. Conclusion: Increasing the frequency of pruner maintenance procedures can effectively reduce workers’ mechanical exposures during manual flower-cutting operations. Companies should implement daily maintenance programs considering their implementation capacity and expected benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a conceptual framework that arises out of the Latin American Social Medicine/Collective Health (LASM/CH) tradition to comprehend inequalities in oral health. We conducted a dialogue between the LASM/CH proposal called socialdeterminationof health (in particular one of its nuclear categories ‘ways of living together’) and studies that address social inequalities and oral health. This dialogue allowed us to redefine oral health–disease–treatment as a process that either promotes or harms well-being and is modulated by different ways of living together where not only patients and professionals, but also governments, supranational bodies, and national and international markets represented by food, pharmaceutical, insurance, personal care, and cosmetic companies interact. The article proposes the cycle particular–consumption care/institutional–consumption care as the construct that allows investigators to think about how ways of living together relate to oral health inequalities. ‘Particular–consumption care’ includes ways and possibilities to access healthy foods and practice protective hygienic measures. ‘Institutional–consumption care’ refers to institutional responses related to supply, access to services, capabilities for resolution, and pedagogical practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complexity of theoretical approaches in evolutionary computation (EC), research has being largely performed on experimental basis. One popular measure used by the EC community is the success rate (SR), which is used alone or as part of more complex measures such as Koza’s computational effort in genetic programming. A common practice in EC is to report just a punctual estimation of the SR, without additional information about its associated uncertainty. We aim to motivate EC researchers to adopt more rigorous practices when working with SRs. In particular, we introduce the importance of correctly reporting this measure and highlight its binomial nature. Unfortunately, this fact is usually overlooked in the literature. Considering the binomiality of the SR opens the whole corpus of binomial statistics to EA research and practice. In particular, we focus on studying several methods to compute SR confidence intervals, the factors that determine their quality in terms of coverage probability and interval length. Due to its practical interest, we also briefly discuss the number of required runs to build confidence intervals with a certain quality, providing a sound method to set the number of runs, one of the most important experimental settings in EC. Evidence suggests that Wilson is, on average, a reliable and simple method to bound an estimation of SR with confidence intervals, while the standard method, which is quite popular because of its conceptual simplicity, should be avoided in any case. However, other methods can also be of interest under certain circumstances. We encourage to report the number of trials and successes, as well as the interval, to ease further comparability of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is a theoretically oriented contribution seeking to review the existing literature directly or indirectly addressing the “diversity gap” in political parties. Within this particular field I identify two main areas to conduct research: participation and representation. The premise is that the particular features of political parties, given their role in the democratic system, implies that they cannot be neutral when they identify the diversity gap as a problem, and therefore have to follow some strategies to deal with it. Based on the literature review and by preparing the theoretical framework of the different case studies for this Special Issue, I propose an interpretative framework comprising four main channels of potential analysis. I will end by arguing that what all these studies highlight is that in dealing with the incorporation of immigrants into political parties, the utilitarian logic prevails over any argument based on equality and power sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of the democratic participation of immigrants has been the object of an extensive, theoretical and empirical literature. Nevertheless, we still lack detailed information on those internal dynamics of political parties which shape patterns of participation and representation of immigrants and their descendants, especially in Spain. We focus on how immigrants incorporate political parties in Spain and how this mode of incorporation influences the opportunities for immigrants to access elite positions and candidacies. On the one hand we examine individual trajectories in accessing and evolving in parties and, on the other hand, party strategies to reach out and include immigrants. We acknowledge a persisting gap between the access and participation in political parties, which has been facilitated over recent years, and the many obstacles in accessing elite and candidate positions in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue seeks to explore the potentialities of strengthening a new field of research within migration and diversity studies: Immigrant incorporation in political parties. The point of departure of all contributions is that there is what we call a “diversity gap” between political parties as public representative organisations and diversity dynamics in democratic societies. This Special Issue seeks to explore the current strategies of political parties developing first conceptual frameworks, theoretical foundations and empirical hypothesis and approaches. The case studies come from four European countries, two from the North and two from the South of Europe: Germany, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of Interactive Digital Television (IDTV) applications has grown in recent years, playing a significant role in today's society. This new type of television allows users to access interactive applications in order to look for information, for communication or educational purposes, or just for fun. Most of these applications require text entry and many users expect a user experience similar to that of computers. Although the most common device to interact with television is the conventional remote control, other devices available on the market may be used in this context. Thus, in this article we aim to evaluate and compare different text input methods for IDTV applications using devices alternative to conventional remote controls. We have carried out an empirical study with 52 participants. We analyze entry speeds, error rates, and subjective impressions for six different entry methods, taking into account the particular characteristics of the users. As devices we have used a full-sized keyboard, a palm-sized keyboard, a gyroscopic remote point-select, and a modified touchpad. The fastest method is the standard keyboard, but in an IDTV context many users report discomfort and problems under low lighting conditions. Also, error rates are considerably higher with both keyboards when modifier keys need to be used. The results obtained with the gyroscopic remote and the touchpad are similar. Nevertheless, while users complain about fatigue problems with the former, their feedback about the latter is very positive. We have also observed that age is a major factor affecting the performance of the users. We expect our results to contribute to the design of new text entry methods for IDTV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the crossroads of citizenship, cultural and diversity studies, I enter in the emerging debate on cultural citizenship. Culture is seen as a channel for diversity inclusion, and cultural policy carries the function of enhancing citizenship. My reasoning will follow two steps. First, in overviewing the recent literature, I identify two main drivers making cultural citizenship: the democratic/equality and the identity/national drivers. However, I will note that the debate is concentrated in the plurality of meanings of 'culture', and not, as I will argue as a second step, in the plurality of citizenship traditions: a liberal, a communitarian and a republican one. This view is at the basis of different approaches of cultural policies when we focus on them as enhancing cultural citizenship in diversity contexts. At the end, I will also contend that this can ground an interpretative framework capable of distinguishing current social practices and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this second decade of the twenty-first century, interculturalism is emerging as a new policy paradigm to deal with diversity dynamics. It is basically viewed as a set of policies sharing one basic idea: that the interaction among people from different backgrounds matters. Its concerns are to intervene politically and to propose a way to manage the dynamics of diversity, based on exchange and interpersonal relations. I propose exploring a foundational internal debate, based on the premise there are at least three different, but complementary, normative strands: contractual, cohesion and constructivist strands. My ultimate purpose is to defend a comprehensive view, grounded on the argument that no one can have the sole authority to define intercultural policy, since the three strands can be applied at different moments, according to different purposes. The challenge is for policy managers to be able to achieve a balance between the three policy drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Workers at the oldest maternity hospital in Colombia experienced the privatization of health care and the flexibilization of their labor. Drawing on their experience, I illustrate how neoliberalism transforms the value of life. This transformation occurs first in terms of its moral worth: the worth of life changes over time, as people and public hospitals are stigmatized as the ‘living memory’ of the old. Second, the hospital buildings, the land on which they sit, and the roles of workers within the hospital are all transformed. Both similarities and differences emerge between a type of systemic or chronic violence that is inherent to the capitalist system and modern practices of torture. Examining how capitalist forces transform the value of life opens up new fields of inquiry to study links between critical political economy and subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote controls are especially problematic for writing text, something necessary in many interactive digital TV applications (IDTV). In the context of research aimed at finding effective entry methods for IDTV applications, an empirical investigation was carried out and is presented in this article. The study analyzed the errors committed by 82 users in an experiment in which they wrote 7,395 sentences. Several typing methods suitable for IDTV contexts were used for experimentation. There were 3,562 of the sentences that registered at least one error. These errors were classified and their main causes analyzed, the particular characteristics of the users taken into account. The results show that the most frequent errors are proximity mistakes in all the evaluated methods. They appear in between 13.75% and 32.31% of the sentences, depending on the input method. Also, age and background are major aspects affecting the number and type of mistakes. The results could be the basis of changes in the design of conventional remote controls or in the design of advanced techniques for error recognition and correction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite the reduced presence of the far-right in Catalonia, anti-immigrant stances and discourses have occupied a central position during political campaigns for local, autonomous, and national elections in 2010–2011. The Catalan case is based on the analysis of three case studies: the local exclusion from the census of undocumented immigrants by the city of Vic, the campaign of the People's Party candidate in Badalona containing hate speech against Roma, and the burqa bans issued by the city of Lleida. Representatives of mainstream political parties, mainly right wing, became the main exponents of intolerance in Catalonia by putting forward that cultural pluralism and diversity challenge the possibility of living together in society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The search for COPD biomarkers has largely employed a targeted approach that focuses on plasma proteins involved in the systemic inflammatory response and in lung injury and repair. This proof of concept study was designed to test the idea that an open, unbiased, in-depth proteomics approach could identify novel, low abundance plasma proteins i.e., ng/mL concentration, which could serve as potential biomarkers. Differentially expressed proteins were identified in a discovery group with severe COPD (FEV1 <45% predicted; n = 10). Subjects with normal lung function matched for age, sex, ethnicity and smoking history served as controls (n = 10). Pooled plasma from each group was exhaustively immunodepleted of abundant proteins, d separated by 1-D gel electrophoresis and extensively fractionated prior to LC-tandem mass spectroscopy (GeLC-MS). Thirty one differentially expressed proteins were identified in the discovery group including markers of lung defense against oxidant stress, alveolar macrophage activation, and lung tissue injury and repair. Four of the 31 proteins (i.e., GRP78, soluble CD163, IL1AP and MSPT9) were measured in a separate verification group of 80 subjects with varying COPD severity by immunoassay. All 4 were significantly altered in COPD and 2 (GRP78 and soluble CD163) correlated with both FEV1 and the extent of emphysema. In-depth, plasma proteomic analysis identified a group of novel, differentially expressed, low abundance proteins that reflect known pathogenic mechanisms and the severity of lung remodeling in COPD. These proteins may also prove useful as COPD biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays there is a huge market emerging in the interactive digital TV realm. In this context, we need new and effective methods of user interaction, as the main interaction device is still the classical remote control. Remote controls are especially problematic when it comes to writing text, something needed in most applications. Thus, we have carried out an empirical investigation to find effective methods of text entry with remote controls. We analyze several methods by performing experiments based on a methodology in which a heterogeneous set of real users carries out several sequential tasks in an incremental process. We analyze entry speeds, error rates, learning profiles, and subjective impressions, taking into account the particular characteristics of the users. Our results show, for instance, that Multitap is a good method for simple texts. It is between 12% and 34% faster than the fastest virtual keyboard, depending on the age of the user. Nevertheless, when complex texts need to be written, virtual keyboards present the same or even better writing speeds (QWERTY is 13% faster) and with significant lower error rates (Multitap is 347% worse than QWERTY). We consider that our results are very interesting for researchers, designers of TV applications, and hardware vendors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the efforts of the Colombian government to save the San Juan de Dios hospitals in Bogota by transforming them into a medical complex to be called Health City. It cites the aim of the Health City to reach the growing sector of medical tourism through offering specialized medical services at competitive prices. It also mentions the resistance of the Mother and Child Institute, which is part of the San Juan de Dios medical complex, to privatization of health care system.

Rapid synthesis of the polyamine catabolic enzyme spermidine/spermine-N¹-acetyltransferase (SSAT) in response to increased polyamines is an important polyamine homeostatic mechanism. Indirect evidence has suggested that there is an important control mechanism involving the release of a translational repressor protein that allows the immediate initiation of SSAT protein synthesis without RNA transcription, maturation, or translocation. To identify a repressor protein, we used a mass spectroscopy-based RNAprotein interaction system and found six proteins that bind to the coding region of SSAT mRNA. Individual small interfering RNA (siRNA) experiments showed that nucleolin knockdown enhances SSAT translation. Nucleolin exists in several isoforms, and we report that the isoform that binds to SSAT mRNA undergoes autocatalysis in the presence of polyamines, a result suggesting that there is a negative feedback system that helps control the cellular content of polyamines. Preliminary molecular interaction data show that a nucleolin isoform binds to a 5' stem-loop of the coding region of SSAT mRNA. The glycine/arginine-rich C terminus of nucleolin is required for binding, and the four RNA recognition motif domains are included in the isoform that blocks SSAT translation. Understanding SSAT translational control mechanisms has the potential for the development of therapeutic strategies against cancer and obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the main elements of Spanish diversity management and specifically its philosophy. It defends the argument that Spain follows a practical philosophy. 'Practical philosophy' refers to a way of managing diversity which is not based on established and preconceived ideas, projected by its own social construction such as French republicanism or British multiculturalism, but rather on questions and answers generated by the practice of governance of diversity. The Spanish practical philosophy is neither universalistic nor closed by rigid theoretical principles. At this point, the problem emerges when this context acts as a restraint for proactive policies, since it is based on an identity, a history and a structure that impede innovation and change. The first section of the paper describes the Spanish diversity management framework, by focusing on the identity, the historical and the structural contexts. The second section, analyses three main policy realms - education, labour market and political rights policy realms - applying the framework discussed in the first section. Finally, I present an outline of the basic elements of the Spanish 'practical philosophy' of diversity management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By tackling negative opinions towards immigration we can create a basis to orientate policies that seek to reduce them. My purpose is to highlight that the analysis of immigration in Spain exemplifies a clear link between policies and public opinion. It is this link that is at the basis of what I will call the ambivalence of Spanish public opinion, when border and integration issues are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article puts forward a number of theoretical considerations relevant for understanding the relationship between immigration policies and the flows and settlement of Moroccan immigrants in Spain. The basic argument is that there is a combination of perceptions and realities that have to be taken into account in any analysis exploring the interface between migrants' plans and their actions and state policies. The structure of this article will include two main parts. In section 1 the main patterns of the Moroccan immigrant group coming to Spain are presented, justifying its selection as a case study. In section 2 the basic results of a set of interviews with main stakeholders and Moroccan immigrants about immigration flows and Spanish policies are introduced. Finally, I will end with some theoretical considerations for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last two decades of the 20th century, the normative debate on multiculturalism has been one-dimensional. It has deployed arguments related to cultural demands either linked to feminism and sub-cultural identities, immigration, or national minorities. Little attention has been given to the relations between these dimensions, and how they affect each other in putting forward demands to the nation-state. The purpose of this article is to set a research agenda on the interaction between cultural demands of immigrants and minority nations by reviewing three basic reliections of J. Carens, W. Kymlicka and R. Bauböck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The purpose of the study was to determine the validity, reliability, feasibility and satisfaction of the Mini-CEX. Methods and Results: From May 2003 to December 2004, 108 residents from 17 cardiology residency programs in Buenos Aires were monitored by the educational board of the Argentine Society of Cardiology. Validity was evaluated by the instrument's capability to discriminate between pre-existing levels of clinical seniority. For reliability, generalisability theory was used. Feasibility was defined by a minimum number of completed observations: 50% of the residents obtaining at least four Mini-CEX's. Satisfaction was evaluated through a one to nine rating scale from the evaluators, and residents' perspectives. The total number of encounters was 253. Regarding validity, Mini-CEX was able to discriminate significantly between residents of different seniority. Reliability analysis indicated that a minimum of ten evaluations are necessary to produce a minimally reliable inference, but more are preferable. Feasibility was poor: 15% of the residents were evaluated four or more times during the study period. High satisfaction ratings from evaluators' and residents' were achieved. Conclusion: Mini-CEX discriminates between pre-existing levels of seniority, requires considerable sampling to achieve sufficient reliability, and was not feasible within the current circumstances, but it was considered a valuable assessment tool as indicated by the evaluators' and residents' satisfaction ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of Spain in governing the borders of the European Union. The history of the immigration law in Spain is highlighted. The attitude of Spanish citizens towards immigrants is discussed. The Strait of Gibraltar is the traditional route used by irregular migrants in crossing the Spanish southern boarder aboard small fishing boats called pateras.

The synthesis of nor-Ambreinolide(8) from(-)-sclareol(1) was carried out by treatment with KMnO4-Ac2O and further alkaline hydrolysis. 8 was directly transformed into(-)-ambrox(11) by reduction with metal borohydride in the presence of Lewis acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The point of departure for this article is that the European debate on immigration is incomplete. The assumption is that integration involves two parties: the host society and the immigrants. I bring in a third party- the citizens, who must also integrate themselves into the newly emerging multicultural societies. In other words, not only societies but also citizens need to be multicultural. Using a case study of riots in southern Spain's El Ejido in February 2000, the author draws implications for a wider European debate which links immigration, identity and security to the discourse of populism and xenophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]