Este artículo es un intento de dilucidación y delimitación historiográfico-conceptual que pretende aportar un enfoque alternativo a los estudios sobre la teoría política realista. Mi propósito es presentar un bosquejo del sentido histórico del concepto de realismo político situándolo en los contextos de la Realpolitik alemana y de la escuela realista de las relaciones internacionales. De este modo, pretendo mostrar las relaciones contextuales del realismo político, la localización de su antagonismo con el liberalismo y la invención retrospectiva de una tradición (...) realista como resultado de una serie de apropiaciones intelectuales y políticas. This article is a historiographical and conceptual attempt of clarification and delimitation to offer an alternative view to the studies of the realist political theory. I pretend to put forward an outline of the historical sense of the concept of political realism, placing it on the contexts of German Realpolitik and the realist school of international relations. Thus, I pretend to show the contextual relations of political realism, the location of its antagonism against liberalism and the retrospective invention of a realist tradition as a result of a set of intellectual and political additions. (shrink)

The assembly of products or components by operators in industries is a complex task with recurring problems. In these processes, operators often make errors that can lead to defective products. Therefore, they need to be inspected later to verify their correct assembly. The main problems are caused by several reasons including high employee turnover, lack of experience in manufacturing specific products or confusion in interpreting instructions to assemble similar components. In this paper, a novel structured language aimed to describe the (...) required actions to manufacture a product in industrial assembly environments is presented. The main contribution is to provide a formal language to feed automatic systems that can verify through visual control whether the actions performed by the operator are carried out following the standard described by this language. In general, the use of this formal language will allow to minimize the negative impact of errors during assembly and to reduce waste in many forms in the industry. (shrink)

The emergence of AI is posing serious challenges to standard conceptions of moral status. New non-biological entities are able to act and make decisions rationally. The question arises, in this regard, as to whether AI systems possess or can possess the necessary properties to be morally considerable. In this chapter, we have undertaken a systematic analysis of the various debates that are taking place about the moral status of AI. First, we have discussed the possibility that AI systems, by virtue (...) of its new agential capabilities, can be understood as a moral agent. Discussions between those defending mentalist and anti-mentalist positions have revealed many nuances and particularly relevant theoretical aspects. Second, given that an AI system can hardly be an entity qualified to be responsible, we have delved into the responsibility gap and the different ways of understanding and addressing it. Third, we have provided an overview of the current and potential patientist capabilities that AI systems possess. This has led us to analyze the possibilities of AI possessing moral patiency. In addition, we have addressed the question of the moral and legal rights of AI. Finally, we have introduced the two most relevant authors of the relational turn on the moral status of AI, Mark Coeckelbergh and David Gunkel, who have been led to defend a relational approach to moral life as a result of the problems associated with the ontological understanding of moral status. (shrink)

Biomedical innovations are making possible the enhancement of human capabilities. There are two philosophical stances on the role that medicine should play in this respect. On the one hand, naturalism rejects every medical intervention that goes beyond preventing and treating disease. On the other hand, welfarism advocates enhancements that foster subjective well-being. We will show that both positions have considerable shortcomings. Consequently, we will introduce a third characterization in which therapies and enhancements can be reconciled with the legitimate objectives of (...) medicine inasmuch as they improve the capabilities that enable the freedom to pursue personal well-being. (shrink)

Processing data streams arriving at high speed requires the development of models that can provide fast and accurate predictions. Although deep neural networks are the state-of-the-art for many machine learning tasks, their performance in real-time data streaming scenarios is a research area that has not yet been fully addressed. Nevertheless, much effort has been put into the adaption of complex deep learning (DL) models to streaming tasks by reducing the processing time. The design of the asynchronous dual-pipeline DL framework allows (...) making predictions of incoming instances and updating the model simultaneously, using two separate layers. The aim of this work is to assess the performance of different types of DL architectures for data streaming classification using this framework. We evaluate models such as multi-layer perceptrons, recurrent, convolutional and temporal convolutional neural networks over several time series datasets that are simulated as streams at different speeds. In addition, we evaluate how the different architectures react to concept drifts typically found in evolving data streams. The obtained results indicate that convolutional architectures achieve a higher performance in terms of accuracy and efficiency, but are also the most sensitive to concept drifts. (shrink)

La integración de libros electrónicos como elementos destinados a favorecer la construcción de aprendizajes en los procesos educativos, supone una serie de conocimientos previos concernientes a las tendencias hipertextuales del e-book que los estudiantes universitarios deberían poseer, dadas las características de la sociedad actual en la que los jóvenes hacen uso cotidiano de ese tipo de tecnología para llevar a cabo diversas tareas. En ese tenor, el presente trabajo da cuenta de una investigación realizada con una población estudiantil de la (...) Carrera de Cirujano Dentista, cuyo objetivo se encaminó a identificar aquellos elementos involucrados con la adopción del libro en formato electrónico como apoyo didáctico para la asignatura Metodología de la Investigación. (shrink)

Psychological flexibility is a key concept of acceptation and commitment therapy. This factor has been linked with psychological wellbeing and associated factors, such as quality of life, in cancer patients. These and other positive results of acceptation and commitment therapy in cancer patients found in previous research could be enhanced by using mhealth tools. A three-arm randomized superiority clinical trial, with a pre-post-follow-up repeated measures intergroup design with a 1:1:1 allocation ratio is proposed. A hundred and twenty cancer patients will (...) be randomly assigned to one of the following interventions: face-to-face ACT + mobile application, face-to-face ACT, and Waitlist control group. The primary expected outcome is to observe significant improvements in psychological flexibility acceptance and action questionnaire- II in the face-to-face ACT + app group, after comparing baseline and post-treatment scores, and the scores will remain stable in the two assessment points, 3 and 6 months after the intervention. Secondary expected outcomes are significant increasing scores in quality of life and post-traumatic-growth, and significant decreasing scores in anxiety and depression, insomnia and fatigue at the same assessment points. Also, it is expected that the scores of this group will be higher than the scores of the face-to-face ACT group and the waitlist control group. This study aims to assess the efficacy of a combined intervention for psychological flexibility and associated symptoms in cancer patients. The results of this protocol may help to consider the use of acceptation and commitment therapy and mhealth applications in cancer settings as a valid therapeutic choice.Clinical Trial Registration[www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05126823]. (shrink)

Psychosocial work factors are implicated in the development of stress and job satisfaction. This relationship has been scarcely studied in so-called singular activities, as is the case of professional drivers. This cross-sectional study of 601 professional drivers assesses psychosocial risks and job satisfaction using Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and Overall Job Satisfaction questionnaire models. The values of the psychosocial scales of professional drivers were compared with thresholds values of the Spanish working population. The relationships of the psychosocial scales with the level (...) of job satisfaction were examined using logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, length of driving license and years of experience. In general, professional drivers have an unfavorable psychosocial environment compared to the average Spanish workers. The relationship between psychosocial scales and job satisfaction is observed, with the most influential variables being the meaning and development of work, integration in the company, social relations, esteem and level of psychological demands. (shrink)

Se realizó una investigación cualitativa para comprobar la utilidad del cine como apoyo a la docencia en la asignatura de Psiquiatría del quinto año de la carrera de Medicina en tres subgrupos de estudiantes de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas "Carlos J. Finlay" de Camagüey. La muestra ascendió a 43 estudiantes de ambos sexos y diferentes nacionalidades, a quienes se les realizaron entrevistas individuales grabadas en audio, explorando criterios personales tras haber presenciado un grupo de películas previamente escogidas por abordar (...) el tema del trastorno mental con profundidad. Las mismas se exhibieron una vez por semana, coincidiendo su tema con los objetivos propuestos según los contenidos, siempre después de la conferencia introductoria y clase taller, y antes del seminario correspondiente. Entre los resultados obtenidos se destaca que la totalidad expresó opiniones positivas respecto a la actividad, y propuso se mantuviera en el resto de las rotaciones de Psiquiatría. La totalidad consideró que la misma representó un enriquecimiento de su cultura general. La mayoría expresó que les fue fácil la identificación de síntomas, síndromes y situaciones causales en las películas utilizadas, y manifestó que existe una estrecha relación entre los contenidos semanales y las películas elegidas. Se recogieron además algunas sugerencias respecto a la actividad. Teniendo en cuenta los resultados obtenidos, se puede considerar como muy positiva la utilización del cine como apoyo a la actividad docente en Psiquiatría en el grupo estudiado. A qualitative research was carried out in three sub-groups of medical students at Carlos J. Finlay University in order to test the usefulness of films as a teaching aid for the 5th year subject of Psychiatry. The sample was composed of 43 students, both male and female, from different nationalities whose individual interviews were recorded in order to analyze personal criteria after watching a series of movies previously chosen since the plot deals with serious mental disorders. These were screened once a week. Their subject matter coincided with the objectives set according to the class content, always after the introductory lecture and workshop class, and before the corresponding seminar. The most outstanding results show that all students expressed positive views with regard to the activity, and suggested to maintain this initiative in the rest of Psychiatry rotations. All of them considered that this activity allowed them to enrich their general culture. Most expressed that it was easy for them to identify symptoms, syndromes and causal situations used in films and that there is a close relationship between the weekly contents and selected films. In addition some suggestions regarding the activity were collected. Taking into account the obtained results, the use of cinema as a teaching aid in Psychiatry can be considered as very positive in the studied group. (shrink)

This work aims to rescue, transcribe and create new artistic and cultural expressions through the use of native peoples’ historical visual recordings, integrating intelligent technologies. For this purpose, a Chilean native peoples’ digital repository is collected, in order to apply a Digital Humanities-based methodology. From the chosen material, portraits are selected, recoloured through a AI-based model; the facial mesh is constructed using a facial landmark detector; the points of the mesh are reconstructed by a Delaunay triangulation; to finally apply an (...) additive manufacturing process. Thus, these physical pieces allow to compare the native people’s own physiognomies, creating new cultural expressions. (shrink)

: In recent years, research on the family role and entrepreneurship has increased extremely, consolidating itself as a valid and current subject of study. However, a part of the scientific literature seems to lack systematization and the boundaries appear unclear, maybe due to its multidisciplinary nature. This paper presents a systematic analysis of academic research, applying bibliometric indicators and cluster analysis, which define the state of research on the international scene. For this purpose, using three well accepted databases among the (...) research community: Scopus, Web of Science, Business Source, a total of 92 articles were selected and analyzed, published between 1989 and 2019 (until March). The results show that this is a relatively recent field of study, with a multidisciplinary character and in which the most influential authors do not coincide with the most productive scientific journals. A cluster analysis finds out five main areas of literature development: the cluster with the largest percentage of co-occurrences (25%) is the one that relates to the dimensions of entrepreneurship, self-employment and personality; in contrast, the area with a lower percentage of co-occurrences of keywords (12,1%) is refers to family business, succession, economic development and Arabia Saudita. Based on the outcome obtained and the shortcomings above, in the final part of the article, possible points of reflection for future research are exposed, which could be useful to further of this field of study. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Knock at the Door: Utopian Dreams for Post-Covid TimesPedro Mora-Ramírez, María Amo-Hernández, and Paula García-RodríguezAnswering the Knock at the Door, Welcoming Utopian Futures, The Knock at the Door: Utopian Dreams for Post-Covid Times, May 21–24, 2023, University of Huelva, Spain, and University of Calgary, CanadaThe COVID-19 pandemic has fostered new adversities and vulnerabilities, prompting reflection on the economic, social, and political paradigms that endanger human and nonhuman (...) lives. For many, it was anxiety and uncertainty that “knock[ed] at the door”; for others, however, those same feelings of unease prompted one of hopefulness: reflecting on the possibilities for resilience and regeneration in the process of changing our vision of the world.1 The Knock at the Door conference brought contemporary utopianism to the forefront of thinking about how to respond to global crises while remaining attentive to other adversities of daily life. Scholars and artists answered the knock in an attempt to examine paths toward utopia, and to take advantage of the regenerative and resilient potential of the present.The conference was the culmination of author/activist Larissa Lai’s fellowship period at the University of Huelva. The 2022–23 María Zambrano Fellowship for the academic year2 allowed Lai to complete the project “Utopian Dreams for Post-Covid Times,” carried out in collaboration with the Huelva research group led by Professor Pilar Cuder-Domínguez, who hosted a number of online and in-person seminars on speculative fiction with Lai. The Knock at the Door conference, marking the end of Lai’s fellowship, created yet another space for scholars, artists, and critics to discuss the potential of utopian narratives. Lai asks: “What does our cultural moment require, and how can we get where we need to go from where we are? How can literature, especially speculative fiction literature, help us get from here to there?”3 [End Page 641] The intention of the conference was to encourage others to continue Lai’s work on how to imagine futures where human and posthuman beings need to remain vigilant to adversities. Utopian scholars, among others, might find the complications of “getting there from here” closely related to Lai’s conception of “insurgent utopias,” or “emergent insurgency.” They could find Lai’s concept of “insurgent utopianism” interesting as it lays the foundations of futurity in terms of crisis responses.The aim of the conference was to explore the imagination of better futures through utopian thinking and practice. In addition, it focused on “the knock at the door,” which is “a moment of contingent arrival... open to cooptation, destruction, bastardization, incorporation, death, or defusal.” Yet, it presents “the powerful possibility of critique—narratively or discursively, in its very materiality.”4 One way of doing this might be to look back at the past century of utopianism and ask who or what has been missing. The conference took up Lai’s idea of insurgent utopianism as a method of paving a path toward a multitude of dreams and actions, all shaped by the unique circumstances of one’s positionality.After the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for utopian thinking has become more pressing than ever. New horizons of hope must be created in the face of emerging anxieties. In a world where anthropocentrism is showing signs of its deadly potential, conference participants reflected on the relevance of the utopian imagination to political resistance and resilience building.Utopian Visions: Contesting Better Worlds in Neoliberal and Feminist UtopiasThe first two panels of the conference addressed the critique of two dominant theoretical (and interrelated) frameworks: capitalism and neoliberalism. Speakers reflected on both in light of theoretical interventions by theorists Rosi Braidotti and Francesca Ferrando. Panelists Benjamin Ghan and Marc Lynch reflected on how creative writers envision ideal worlds and temporalities. In Ghan’s view, utopian narratives create a symphony of voices historically excluded from the category of “the human”: women; LGBTQ+ people; Indigenous peoples. In a similar vein, Lynch described his own novel, A Wasp’s Waist, as highlighting the impossibility of imagining utopias within the capitalist paradigm—and thus the necessity of imagining futures beyond capitalism, and beyond... (shrink)

Universities increasingly play an important role in entrepreneurship, which has contributed to gender equality in the business world. The aim of this study is to establish a causal model of entrepreneurial intentions and explore it by gender, based on the dimensions of the Theory of Planned Behavior, and how these are mediated by the individuals’ resilience and psychological well-being. The previous work experience was considered as one of the control variables, in order to analyze whether this influence the entrepreneurial intention. (...) With a convenience sample of 644 Portuguese students, Structural Equation Modeling was used. For a better understanding, multivariate analyses were performed and each one was individually reported, and for appropriate comparisons by gender, the t-student test was used. The comparison of means, between genders, showed that there are differences only between perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, and entrepreneurial intention, with women scoring the highest values, and psychological well-being, with men scoring the higher. A serial mediation path was performed, and psychological resilience was found to mediate a significant effect between perceived behavioral control and intention in females, but not in males. It also mediates a significant effect between attitude and intention in females, but not in males. These results show that attitude is a determining factor for females to become entrepreneurs. Finally, after discussing the results, theoretical and practical contributions are analyzed, with regard to the field of entrepreneurship in Portugal, and alternatives are pointed out for a more entrepreneurial future, reinforcing the role of higher education institutions. (shrink)

Occupational health remains neglected in developing countries because of competing social, economic and political challenges. Ethical issues in the workplace related to the hazards and risks of becoming infected by Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana, through the bite of naturally infected sand flies, is another area of concern that has been neglected as well. We report here the results of reviewing two entomological field studies carried out in our research center from 2003 to 2006. Eight students from our School of Biology were (...) invited to catch sand flies. A total of six of the eight (75%) developed a typical clinical picture of Localized Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (LCL) caused by L. (L.) mexicana. In this article we identify the ethical issues related to these kinds of studies and propose some guidelines for conducting them. (shrink)

In the context of reproductive health, policies focused on decriminalising abortion that resulted in religious beliefs, attitudes and behaviours being affected. The main purpose of this article was to identify the religious beliefs of abortion in the emergency situations such as COVID-19. Although there is no general consensus regarding abortion, there is almost ‘general opposition to causing harm to life’ in most religions. In the current study, 28 indicators and four factors (seven for each factor) related to pregnancy termination were (...) explored through an exploratory factor structure. The study was therefore non-experimental, cross-sectional and exploratory, with 100 students selected in a non-probabilistic way. Contribution: The main contribution of this research is to find the variable effects on abortion in emergency conditions regarding religious beliefs. Given the results, behavioural intentions determine a structural model, but religious beliefs explain the solution. Furthermore, data generalisation is not possible due to the context, sample selection and type of analysis. In the local population, a confirmatory factor analysis should be performed with a probabilistic sample selection. (shrink)

El sufrimiento existencial en el paciente oncológico en estadio avanzado: dimensiones y ejes vertebradores para la intervención psicológica Sofrimento existencial no paciente oncológico em estágio avançado: dimensões e eixos vertebrais para intervenção psicológica The relief of existential suffering in the patients with adavanced cancer is a first-order therapeutic goal. The present work suggests some axis on which psychotherapeutic intervention could be developed, in order to facilitate in these patients: 1) The experience of: In spite of the "existing" limited situation, one's (...) life "still" has meaning, 2) Positive emotional experiences that promote well-being and quality of life, and 3) Face the serious illness that will cause one's almost imminent death, through the development of a serene, reconciled attitude with life and integrating with oneself and the others. Para citar este artículo / To reference this article / Para citar este artigo García-Alandete J, Hernández-Jiménez MJ. El sufrimiento existencial en el paciente oncológico en estadio avanzado: dimensiones y ejes vertebradores para la intervención psicológica. pers. bioét. 2018; 22: 319-330. DOI: 10.5294/pebi.2018.22.2.9. (shrink)

Social entrepreneurship (SE) enables business consolidation, combined with the production of positive impact and improvements in society. Aligned with 2030 Agenda for the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, it is important to clarify the role of social entrepreneurs, as they are making visible the impact of their creative ideas in several areas, from civic engagement to the environment, health and learning. The main purpose of this study is to specify a model of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) and (...) explore it by country, based on the dimensions of the Theory of Planned Behavior and how these are mediated by spirituality and optimism. With a convenience sample of 1476 Portuguese and Spanish students, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used. For a deeply understanding, variables within the model were compared by country usingt-rest, and multivariate analysis was done by each one separately. The mean comparison between countries, demonstrated that there are differences only between perceived behavioral control (PBC), Spirituality, Optimism and SEI, with Portuguese students scoring the highest values, in all variables except Optimism. A mediation path was carried out, and Spirituality mediate a significant effect between the three TPB dimensions in Portuguese students, but not in students from Spain. Finally, after discussing the results, theoretical and practical contributions are analyzed, with regard to the field of SE in Portugal and Spain, and alternatives are pointed out for a more social and sustainable entrepreneurial future. (shrink)

La Psicología de la Sustentabilidad (PS) estudia las problemáticas hídricas considerando la relación entre disponibilidad per cápita y consumo de agua. A partir de conceptos tales como; densidad poblacional, infraestructura hídrica y provisión de agua plantea tres estilos de vida relativos al almacenamiento de agua, la reparación de fugas y el consumo hídrico. La PS advierte que las relaciones causales entre las problemáticas hídricas y los estilos de vida son relevantes si se considera el Desarrollo Local Sustentable más que regional (...) y global. A medida que las problemáticas hídricas se intensifican, procesos actitudinales y de austeridad prevalecen sobre el dispendio de agua. En contraste, las situaciones hídricas en equilibrio con el consumo residencial facilitan el dispendio. La discusión alusiva a las problemáticas hídricas y los estilos de vida permitirá construir un sistema tarifario de consumo y delimitar las políticas públicas que se requerirán en el marco de la crisis de abastecimiento y distribución que se espera en los próximos años. (shrink)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, educational centers and universities in Venezuela have closed their physical plants and are migrating to emergency remote education to continue with academic programs. This empirical study aimed to analyze the predictive capacity of academic self-efficacy and emotional intelligence skills on each of the dimensions of psychological well-being. We employed a cross-sectional predictive design. The sample comprised 277 university students, of which 252 were female. Their ages ranged from 18 to 45 years, with a mean of (...) 20.35. Non-probabilistic chance sampling was used. For data collection, we used an anonymous online form, contacted students by mail, and invited them to participate in the study. Questionnaires were available between 217 and 227 days of decreed quarantine in Venezuela. The results indicated average levels of academic self-efficacy, emotional intelligence: clarity, attention y repair, and psychological well-being. We found differences according to sex and age, specifically in emotional regulation and in bonds of psychological well-being favoring men, respectively. Regarding age, statistically significant differences were found in the group of students older than 21 years with higher perception of psychological well-being and in each of its dimensions. Emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy were found to be significant predictors of psychological well-being and its dimensions, specifically on control, links, projects, acceptance, and total well-being. It was concluded that emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy are protective psychological resources of psychological well-being that should be promoted at university to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the mental health of young people. (shrink)

La instauración del sistema penal acusatorio en varios países de Latinoamérica ha enfrentado el reto, entre muchos, de configurar nuevos estándares para la actuación judicial. Este artículo se centra en el reto que representa para los juzgadores valorar la confiabilidad de la prueba científica, dado que su naturaleza excede el conocimiento de la mayoría de ellos. Evaluar la confiabilidad y corrección de la prueba científica para asignarle un peso específico en el acervo probatorio es una labor para la que el (...) juez requiere de un análisis multidisciplinario. A manera de guía para el juzgador y como una herramienta innovadora en el ambiente judicial latinoamericano, se proponen lineamientos generales y específicos a seguir en la valoración de la confiabilidad de la prueba en tres áreas forenses. (shrink)

In the comedies of errors, and more precisely in the comedies of double, in which two identities become confused, the characters get into paradoxical situations reigned by the principle of contradiction. The classemic relationships that are based on the criterion of subjectivity are broken due to the intervention of the character appearing as the double, for the doubled and the double can appear as one subject or as two. In fact, in the added double one + one equals one (1 (...) + 1 = 1; Sosia + Mercury = Sosia) and in the split double one equals one + one (1 = 1 + 1; Philocomasium = Philocomasium + Dicea). In the modal oppositions of the alternative class (present | absent, to be | not to be) and in the aspectual oppositions of the sequential class (to arrive – to be in) the intrasubjective nature is cancelled; in the diathetic or complementary oppositions (to give .– to receive) the intersubjective relationship gets broken. Thus, it turns out that, due to the action of the double, a character can be present and absent at the same time, be and not be the same, be in a place before arriving there or have received what another has not yet given him. (shrink)

In recent years, the study of women entrepreneurship has experienced great growth, gaining a broad consensus among academics and contributing above all to understanding all those factors that explain the difficulty of women in undertaking an entrepreneurial career. This document tries to contribute to the field of study, thanks to a systematic analysis through the publications present in the topic. For this purpose, 2,848 peer-reviewed articles were analyzed, published between 1950 and 2019, using the Scopus database (SCImago Research Group). Through (...) the use of a series of bibliometric indicators it was possible to define the current state of research on the international scene. The analysis revealed that it is a multidisciplinary field of study and that has started to expand further since 2006, culminating in 2019, which makes it become a current and valid object of study. The analysis of the clusters allowed to isolate 6 different lines of research in which emerged, on the one hand, the importance of entrepreneurial education, social entrepreneurship and the socio-cultural context of reference (e.g. culture, family and institutional support) as tools to overcome the gender gap, on the other, the importance that women entrepreneurship assumes in the economic growth of the country (especially in developing economies), promoting social inclusion and combating poverty and discrimination. The study presents an important contribution to reflect on current policies and to outline future lines of investigation. (shrink)

The Creative Citizenship project was founded to promote critical, ethical, and creative thinking in early childhood, and to recognize and encourage children as social actors and peacebuilders. In concert with the methodology of North American philosopher Matthew Lipman's Philosophy for Children (P4C), Creative Citizenship seeks to promote in children the ability to think critically, ethically, and creatively in and from their own realities, and to exercise multidimensional thinking skills in the various areas of their daily lives. The research documented here (...) adopted a qualitative approach in so far as it sought to inquire about the character of those relationships, particularly among boys and girls, that promote their identity as social agents. As such, it examined training processes and generated theoretical perspectives in the interest of promoting social transformation through the empowerment of multidimensional thinking. The article begins with a review of the concept of Creative Citizenship and ends with that of Peacebuilding. Three theoretical categories have been applied in order to situate the inquiry within the framework of the realities of childhood, and to chart the pedagogical interventions by adults that occurred throughout the implementation of the project. The first focuses on the development of children’s thinking per se, the second on children's capacities for creative problem-solving in social environments, and the third on the concept of peacebuilding as a commitment to practicing philosophical dialogue among children, which is understood as a form of discourse that builds the capacities of citizens to undertake individual and collective actions that allow them, in turn, to create and re-create scenarios of peaceful coexistence. (shrink)

In this paper, the structure of a southeastern Spanish population was studied for the first time with respect to its inbreeding patterns and its relationship with demographic and geographic factors. Data on consanguineous marriages from 1900 to 1969 were taken from ecclesiastic dispensations. Our results confirm that the patterns and trends of inbreeding in the study area are consistent with those previously observed in most non-Cantabrian Spanish populations. The rate of consanguineous marriages was apparently stable between 1900 and 1935 and (...) then sharply decreased since 1940, which coincides with industrialization in Spain. A marked departure from Hardy-Weinberg expectations in the ratio of first cousin to second cousin marriages in the study population was observed. The high levels of endogamy and its significant steadiness throughout the twentieth century is noteworthy. Accordingly, our results show that exogamous marriages were not only poorly represented but also that this reduced mobility suggests that the choice of a mate was preferentially local. We found higher mobility in M22 with respect to M33 cousin mating. The relationships between population size and consanguinity rates and inbreeding fit power-law distributions. A significant positive correlation was observed between inbreeding and elevation. Many Spanish populations have experienced a prolonged and considerable isolation across generations, which has led to high proportions of historical and local endogamy that is associated, in general, with high \ values. Thus, assessing genomic inbreeding using runs of homozygosity in current Spanish populations could be an additional pertinent strategy for obtaining a more refined perspective regarding the population history inferred from the extent and frequency of ROH regions. (shrink)

Occupational health remains neglected in developing countries because of competing social, economic and political challenges. Ethical issues in the workplace related to the hazards and risks of becoming infected by Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana , through the bite of naturally infected sand flies, is another area of concern that has been neglected as well. We report here the results of reviewing two entomological field studies carried out in our research center from 2003 to 2006. Eight students from our School of Biology (...) were invited to catch sand flies. A total of six of the eight (75%) developed a typical clinical picture of Localized Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (LCL) caused by L. (L.) mexicana . In this article we identify the ethical issues related to these kinds of studies and propose some guidelines for conducting them. (shrink)