Usability and accessibility curricula

Presentation of existing curricula connected with usability and accessibility at the University of Alicante for the Leonardo da Vinci project "GUI Usability and Accessibility: Exchanging Knowledge and Experiences" (Grenoble, France, 27 November 2012).

Quality of pharmaceutical advertising and gender bias in medical journals (1998-2008): a review of the scientific literature

Objective: To review the scientific literature on pharmaceutical advertising aimed at health professionals in order to determine whether gender bias has decreased and the quality of information in pharmaceutical advertising has improved over time. Methods: We performed a content analysis of original articles dealing with medical drug promotion (1998-2008), according to quality criteria such as (a) the number, validity and accessibility of bibliographic references provided in pharmaceutical advertising and (b) the extent to which gender representations were consistent with the prevalence of the diseases. Databases: PUBMED, Medline, Scopus, Sociological Abstract, Eric and LILACS. Results: We reviewed 31 articles that analyzed advertising in medical journals from 1975-2005 and were published between 1998 and 2008. We found that the number of references used to support pharmaceutical advertising claims increased from 1975 but that 50% of these references were not valid. There was a tendency to depict men in paid productive roles, while women appeared inside the home or in non-occupational social contexts. Advertisements for psychotropic and cardiovascular drugs overrepresented women and men respectively. Conclusions: The use of bibliographic references increased between 1998 and 2008. However, representation of traditional male-female roles was similar in 1975 and 2005. Pharmaceutical advertisements may contribute to reinforcing the perception that certain diseases are associated with the most frequently portrayed sex.

Linking tourism, retirement migration and social capital

A general trend in the study of international retirement migration has been the increased attention paid to the social contacts and network connections of the migrants in both the destination and the origin areas. These studies have examined the extent to which migrants build social relationships with their neighbours and the host society while also maintaining social links with their countries of origin, addressing the central role that leisure travel plays in sustaining increasingly dispersed social networks and maintaining the social capital of these networks and of the individuals involved in them. Using a case study approach to examine British retirement migration to Spain, we explore the relevance of transnational social networks in the context of international retirement migration, particularly the intensity of bidirectional visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism flows and the migrants’ social contacts with friends and/or family back in their home country. Building on the concept of social capital and Putnam's distinction between bonding and bridging social capital, we propose a framework for the analysis of the migrants’ international social networks. The results of a study conducted based on a sample of 365 British retirees living in the coast of Alicante (Spain) show both the strength of the retirees’ international bonding social capital and the role of ‘VFR's travel and communication technologies in sustaining the migrants’ transnational social practices and, ultimately, their international bonding social capital. It also provides evidence for the reinforcing links between tourism-related mobility and amenity-seeking migration in later life.

As consequências da não elaboração do Plano de Mobilidade Urbana na vida de munícipes com deficiência

O Plano de Mobilidade Urbana (PMU) pretende melhorar as condições em que se realizam os deslocamentos nas cidades, observando a acessibilidade para pessoas com deficiência. O PMU representa um avanço rumo à inclusão e um salto na qualidade de vida dos 45,6 milhões de brasileiros que possuem deficiência, uma vez que torna mais fácil ou até mesmo possível a circulação no espaço urbano e consequentemente o acesso a todos os bens e serviços que este oferece. Esta pesquisa objetiva avaliar os impactos negativos que a não elaboração do PMU pode gerar na vida de citadinos com deficiência e o quanto estes impactos podem comprometer o desenvolvimento sustentável das Cidades. Apenas 30% dos municípios brasileiros elaboraram o PMU no prazo estabelecido (abril/2015). Quando pessoas com deficiência nascem e crescem em regiões que não primam por sua inclusão, elas terão suas oportunidades de crescimento pessoal e profissional, comprometidas devido a ausência de acessibilidade, ao baixo acesso à saúde, à educação, ao emprego, à cultura e ao lazer. Por não desfrutarem de serviços e oportunidades, os citadinos com deficiência são reduzidos ao isolamento e os Municípios deixam de aproveitar fatia do potencial humano que poderia contribuir para seu sustentável desenvolvimento.