Chaucer's "makyng" of the Romaunt of the Rose

Despite its being the first testimony of Chaucer’s genius, the interest of modern criticism in the Romaunt has mainly focused on the issue of authorship, whereas the efforts to assess this text as a translation have been limited both in their number and in their scope. This paper discusses Chaucer’s translation of the Roman de la Rose, and provides an evaluation of Fragment A from a modern traductological perspective, while taking account of contemporary theoretical positions. First, this article compares the Romaunt with Chaucer’s later translating practice. Second, taking into account that the immediate audience of the Romaunt would have been cognizant of French, this essay considers the pragmatic function of this translation. Finally, I reconstruct some of Chaucer’s decisions in the translation process, and then I present the translation strategies he adopted in order to create an English metapoem which replicated the spirit of the Roman, thus proving the adequacy of English for poetic expression.

Inequality in analgesic prescription in Spain: a gender development issue

Objectives: It is well known that sex differences in analgesic prescription are not merely the logical result of greater prevalence of pain in women, since this therapeutic variability is related to factors such as educational level or social class. This study aims to analyse the relationship between analgesic prescription and gender development in different regions of Spain. Methods: Cross-sectional study of sex-differences in analgesic prescription according to the gender development of the regions studied. Analgesic prescription, pain and demographic variables were obtained from the Spanish Health Interview Survey in 2006. Gender development was measured with the Gender Development Index (GDI). A logistic regression analysis was conducted to compare analgesic prescription by sex in regions with a GDI above or below the Spanish average. Results: Once adjusted by pain, age and social class, women were more likely to be prescribed analgesics than men, odds ratio (OR) = 1.74 (1.59-1.91), as residents in regions with a lower GDI compared with those in region with a higher GDI: ORWomen = 1.26 (1.12-1.42), ORMen = 1.30 (1.13-1.50). Women experiencing pain in regions with a lower GDI were more likely than men to be treated by a general practitioner rather than by a specialist, OR = 1.32 (1.04-1.67), irrespective of age and social class. Conclusions: Gender bias may be one of the pathways by which inequalities in analgesic treatment adversely affect women's health. Moreover, research into the adequacy of analgesic treatment and the possible medicalisation of women should consider contextual factors, such as gender development.

A quantitative assessment of students’ experiences of studying music: a Spanish perspective on the European credit transfer system (ECTS)

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate whether or not the allocation of time proposed in the Music Study Guide, adapted from the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) guidelines, is consistent and adequate for students with minimal musical knowledge. The report takes into account the importance of students’ previous knowledge and the relation this has to the time and effort expended by students in acquiring appropriate knowledge and skills. This is related also to the adequacy of the course specification to meet the demands of university study and the labour market. Results show that those students who enrolled at university without any previous musical knowledge are likely to experience significant difficulty in the acquisition of certain musical and professional competences. This highlights a need to reinforce the music curriculum, or establish zero-level courses, in order to enable such students to succeed in the subject.

Challenges in Lifestyle Migration Research: Reflections and Findings about the Spanish Crisis

The lifestyle migration conceptual framework is based on the motivation for moving reported by the migrants themselves. We discuss the operability of this approach, which is built on the subjective assessments of individuals. It diminishes the actual importance of economic factors and has an underlying ideological element associated with the categorisation of people according to their nationality. A comparative analysis of residential variations by nationalities between 2005 and 2010 in Alicante (Spain) shows that, when faced with the economic crisis, the so-called lifestyle migrants are changing their mobility patterns in a way similar to the rest of the migrants. This calls into question the adequacy of juxtaposing lifestyle and labour migration. Both theory and research show that this duality, instead of clarifying applied research, makes it more difficult. We argue that the lifestyle migration framework is inadequate to study changes in mobility patterns, particularly when using a quantitative approach.

A Computational Method based on Radio Frequency Technologies for the Analysis of Accessibility of Disabled People in Sustainable Cities

The sustainability strategy in urban spaces arises from reflecting on how to achieve a more habitable city and is materialized in a series of sustainable transformations aimed at humanizing different environments so that they can be used and enjoyed by everyone without exception and regardless of their ability. Modern communication technologies allow new opportunities to analyze efficiency in the use of urban spaces from several points of view: adequacy of facilities, usability, and social integration capabilities. The research presented in this paper proposes a method to perform an analysis of movement accessibility in sustainable cities based on radio frequency technologies and the ubiquitous computing possibilities of the new Internet of Things paradigm. The proposal can be deployed in both indoor and outdoor environments to check specific locations of a city. Finally, a case study in a controlled context has been simulated to validate the proposal as a pre-deployment step in urban environments.

El índice de afinidad como medida de la calidad en los informativos de televisión. Estudio empírico de Antena 3 y Telecinco

En la sociedad actual se recibe tanta información que puede darse la paradoja de que el ciudadano no esté bien informado. En este trabajo, tras una breve revisión de la literatura más reciente sobre la calidad del producto informativo, se propone un indicador de calidad para los programas informativos de televisión, el índice de afinidad (IA). Este índice se define como la medida de la adecuación del programa informativo a los intereses del espectador, considerando como tales las preocupaciones de los ciudadanos que el Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) recoge en su barómetro mensual. En síntesis, se procederá a medir un aspecto de la calidad de los informativos, teniendo en cuenta la adecuación a los intereses del público. Para el estudio, se ha escogido una muestra de programas informativos emitidos en Antena 3 y Telecinco, en el momento de máxima audiencia - 21:00 horas- en el año 2011. Se han seleccionado estos dos canales por ser los de mayor audiencia dentro de las compañías privadas en España. Se obtiene como resultado que el IA de Antena 3 es normalmente superior al de Telecinco, aunque en ambas cadenas el valor del índice disminuye considerablemente en los programas del fin de semana.