Time Trends in Self-Rated Health and Disability in Older Spanish People: Differences by Gender and Age

Abstract Background: To analyse time trends in self-rated health in older people by gender and age and examine disability in the time trends of self-rated health. Methods: The data used come from the Spanish National Health Surveys conducted in 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2011- 12. Samples of adults aged 16 yr and older were selected. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between age, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, disability and self-rated health across period study. Results: Women exhibited lower (higher) prevalence of good self-rated health (disability) compared to men. The multivariate analysis for time trends found that good self-rated health increased from 2001 to 2012. Overall, variables associated with a lower likelihood of good self-rated health were: being married or living with a partner, lower educational level, and disability. Conclusion: Trends of good self-rated health differ by gender according to socio-demographic factors and the prevalence of disability.

Las poéticas explícitas de Antonio Colinas

Poets' thoughts about poetry have long been the subject of much attention. Since Classical Antiquity this has given rise to powerful reflections about literature, influencing texts which would then become part of academic discourse. However, these have also been used to help to explain or exemplify questions the academic discipline of Literary Theory have failed to address properly, since such questions related to the process of creation justifiably give attention to the writers' own experiences of such a process. Nevertheless, although the content of texts in which poets explain their own creation or specify key aspects of the literary process has been taken into account, there has not been any systematic study of the formal aspects of the discourse coming from the creator. The reason lies in the fact that the discourse of the creator takes different and variant directions that complicate its definition and distinction in relation to other kinds of similar texts. The first part, theoretical in nature, has emerged from the study of explicit poetics by numerous authors, as well as from critical bibliography. This seeks to identify common characteristics of these texts. Conversely, the second and third parts aims to find the individuality of Colinas' poetics, which manifests itself fundamentally in its content. Because of this, it is the study of the core parts of Colinas' poetic thinking expressed in the trends of his explicit poetics that will constitute a substantial part of this section of research...

Consecuencias literarias del 11-S: la representación de la violencia en la novela angloamericana

In my eight years as a professional journalist, I have been a front line observer of the extreme level of violence which occurs everyday in our society. As victims, consumers or perpetrators of violence, this phenomenon is now a part of our existence. As a reporter for the Spanish national newspaper El País I have been witness to the most terrible acts of violence. In Venezuela, with one of the highest rates of criminality in the world, I saw piles of bodies stacked up in mortuaries. In Argentina, I reported on the most brutal crimes including the rape of children by policemen. I believe that my interest in the manifestations and causes of violence was aroused during my time as a journalist. On a personal level, I was deeply affected by the twin poles of attraction/repulsion which the violent images produced in me. The first time I visited New York in 2003, I talked to various people who were selling photos of the victims of the Twin Tower attacks. They had laid out their wares along the wire fence that separated Ground Zero from the main public areas. One particular photograph made an indelible impression on my mind: a ghost like corpse covered in white dust which was streaked with blood. It is an image I will never forget. If I remember well, a complete album of these gruesome images cost about ten dollars. At the same time, I also became interested in islamic terrorism: its complexity and the great impact it has made on Western society. One only has to look at the front page of the press around the world to read about war, terrorism or the constant violation of human rights. The words Al-Qaeda, Daesh, Boko Haram and Islamic State have sadly become parts of our everyday language. The nihilistic philosophy which promisess eternal life in exchange for self-inmolation is a new, highly worrying reality, especially painful when it involves young people who become indoctrinated through the social media. They have become the most loyal supporters of a fanatical and uncompromising version of Islam. The stark reality is that these young recruits to Jihad (holy war) were born in places like London, Paris, Rome or Madrid...