Victimització en joves de protecció a la infància i l’adolescència i de justícia juvenil

A Catalunya, un nombre significatiu d’infants i adolescents es troba sota la guarda i tutela del sistema de protecció i d’altres són atesos pel sistema de justícia juvenil. En molts casos, aquests joves han viscut experiències de maltractaments i abusos per part de les principals figures cuidadores, però també d’altres formes de violència en contextos diversos que poden incloure: el carrer, l’escola, el grup d’iguals, les noves tecnologies o els propis centres on poden residir provisionalment. Aquesta multiplicitat d’experiències de violència els converteix amb el que es coneix com a polivíctimes. Però entre l'experiència de victimització en la infància i el desenvolupament de problemes psicològics podem trobar la resiliència, la capacitat de l’ésser humà per superar o recuperar-se amb èxit de circumstàncies adverses. I aquí és on els professionals poden intervenir amb èxit. Els objectius principals d’aquest estudi són conèixer la prevalença d’experiències de victimització en aquests joves, identificar els casos de polivictimització, analitzar les característiques sociodemogràfiques, victimològiques i el nivell de desajust psicològic que presenten. Alhora, identificar perfils de resiliència i analitzar el seu efecte en el nivell de malestar psicològic del jove víctima. Els resultats ens indiquen que són els recursos personals, relatius a la confiança en un mateix, la fe en un futur millor, la capacitat d’identificació i connexió amb les pròpies emocions o les habilitats socials, els que permeten al jove fer front a les dificultats amb èxit. Aquests recursos personals són els que marcaran la diferència en la posterior reintegració social i correcte desenvolupament del jove i, per tant, els professionals els han de conèixer, enfortir i desenvolupar.

Ampliación y adecuacion del American School of Barcelona

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Rockfall monitoring by Terrestrial Laser Scanning ¿ case study of the basaltic rock face at Castellfollit de la Roca (Catalonia, Spain)

This case study deals with a rock face monitoring in urban areas using a Terrestrial Laser Scanner. The pilot study area is an almost vertical, fifty meter high cliff, on top of which the village of Castellfollit de la Roca is located. Rockfall activity is currently causing a retreat of the rock face, which may endanger the houses located at its edge. TLS datasets consist of high density 3-D point clouds acquired from five stations, nine times in a time span of 22 months (from March 2006 to January 2008). The change detection, i.e. rockfalls, was performed through a sequential comparison of datasets. Two types of mass movement were detected in the monitoring period: (a) detachment of single basaltic columns, with magnitudes below 1.5 m3 and (b) detachment of groups of columns, with magnitudes of 1.5 to 150 m3. Furthermore, the historical record revealed (c) the occurrence of slab failures with magnitudes higher than 150 m3. Displacements of a likely slab failure were measured, suggesting an apparent stationary stage. Even failures are clearly episodic, our results, together with the study of the historical record, enabled us to estimate a mean detachment of material from 46 to 91.5 m3 year¿1. The application of TLS considerably improved our understanding of rockfall phenomena in the study area.

Faculty-librarians collaboration in an e-learning experience : resources management and training in Open University of Catalonia (UOC)

The traditional model of learning based on knowledge transfer doesn't promote the acquisition of information-related competencies and development of autonomous learning. More needs to be done to embrace learner-centred approaches, based on constructivism, collaboration and co-operation. This new learning paradigm is aligned with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) requirements. In this sense, a learning experience based in faculty' librarian collaboration was seen as the best option for promoting student engagement and also a way to increase information-related competences in Open University of Catalonia (UOC) academic context. This case study outlines the benefits of teacher-librarian collaboration in terms of pedagogy innovation, resources management and introduction of open educational resources (OER) in virtual classrooms, Information literacy (IL) training and use of 2.0 tools in teaching. Our faculty-librarian's collaboration aims to provide an example of technology-enhanced learning and demonstrate how working together improves the quality and relevance of educational resources in UOC's virtual classrooms. Under this new approach, while teachers change their role from instructors to facilitators of the learning process and extend their reach to students, libraries acquire an important presence in the academic learning communities.

Cultural events and tourist development in Catalonia (Spain)

From the point of view of local development cultural tourism events represent an opportunity since they are distributed homogeneously by the Catalan territory and are experiencing a vertiginous growth as a way to differentiate the existing supply. In our study a sample of 264 telephone surveys made to organizers of events in Catalonia has been compiled, with the purpose of characterizing the existing supply, thematic typologies, management models, commercialization inputs and economic impact. The results allow us to characterize events from the point of view of their tourist potential. Finally some recommendations are set out to develop future tourism policies based on events according to product differentiation, seasonality, competitiveness and creativity.

The effects of regional educational policies on school failure in Spain

This paper presents a regional analysis of the effects of educational policies implemented in Spain between 1992 and 2003, focusing specifically on school failure rates. We consider the impact of expenditure per pupil, class size, and pupil-teacher ratio on dropout rates at the end of compulsory education and on the proportion of early school-leavers in the 18-24 year age group. Our results indicate that higher levels of educational expenditure per pupil and lower class sizes and pupil-teacher ratios reduce rates of dropout and early school-leaving (although class-size is not always significant). However, the magnitude of the effects of these variables is small at the average level.

Forecasting tourism demand to Catalonia: neural networks vs. time series models

The increasing interest aroused by more advanced forecasting techniques, together with the requirement for more accurate forecasts of tourismdemand at the destination level due to the constant growth of world tourism, has lead us to evaluate the forecasting performance of neural modelling relative to that of time seriesmethods at a regional level. Seasonality and volatility are important features of tourism data, which makes it a particularly favourable context in which to compare the forecasting performance of linear models to that of nonlinear alternative approaches. Pre-processed official statistical data of overnight stays and tourist arrivals fromall the different countries of origin to Catalonia from 2001 to 2009 is used in the study. When comparing the forecasting accuracy of the different techniques for different time horizons, autoregressive integrated moving average models outperform self-exciting threshold autoregressions and artificial neural network models, especially for shorter horizons. These results suggest that the there is a trade-off between the degree of pre-processing and the accuracy of the forecasts obtained with neural networks, which are more suitable in the presence of nonlinearity in the data. In spite of the significant differences between countries, which can be explained by different patterns of consumer behaviour,we also find that forecasts of tourist arrivals aremore accurate than forecasts of overnight stays.

L'Anatomia artística a l"Escola de Belles Arts de Barcelona. Els casos de Jeroni Faraudo (1823-1886) i de Tiberio Ávila (1843-1932)

[cat] Aquest article se centra en la significació i transcendència de l"assignatura d"Anatomia artística a l"Escola de Belles Arts de Barcelona durant la segona meitat del segle XIX i principis de segle XX. S"empren, com a fil conductor, les figures de Jeroni Faraudo i Condeminas (1823-1886) i de Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), els dos primers professors que impartiren la matèria i que romanen, en l"actualitat, pràcticament inèdits. El coneixement de l"ideari de Faraudo i d"Ávila permet completar el panorama de l"evolució de les idees estètiques a la Catalunya del moment i, alhora, contribueix a la comprensió de l"erosió de la primacia de l"antic en l"aprenentatge oficial de les arts a Catalunya. [spa] Este artículo se centra en la significación y transcendencia de la asignatura de Anatomía artística en la Escuela de Bellas Artes de Barcelona durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y principios de siglo XX. Se emplean, como hilo conductor, las figuras de Gerónimo Faraudo Condeminas (1823-1886) y de Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), los dos primeros profesores que impartieron la materia y que permanecen, en la actualidad, prácticamente inéditos. El conocimiento del ideario de Faraudo y de Ávila permite completar el panorama de la evolución de las ideas estéticas en la Cataluña del momento y, al mismo tiempo, contribuye a la comprensión de la erosión de la primacía del antiguo en el aprendizaje oficial de las artes en Cataluña. [eng]This article focuses on the subject of Artistic Anatomy at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, discussing its signification. The connecting thread of this article are Jeroni Faraudo i Condeminas (1823-1886) and Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), its first two teachers, who remain nowadays practically unknown. The knowledge of their ideas completes the history of contemporary Catalan aesthetics and also contributes to the comprehension of the erosion in the primacy of the use of ancient models in the official artistic teaching in Catalonia.

Mediació intercultural i institucions escolars: l'exemple del Quebec

L’increment de la multiplicitat cultural ha comportat que, en diversos països, s’elaborin diferents actuacions per aproximar posicions i millorar la comunicació entre progenitors i professionals de les institucions escolars, així com per facilitar l’adaptació del currículum a la diversitat cultural. Una de les opcions preses, amb cert èxit però no exempta d’errors,és la dels anomenats «mediadors interculturals». Una societat on aquesta figura, amb els noms d’agents de liaison i de milieu, s’ha desenvolupat és el Quebec. L’estudi dels seus encerts i limitacions, específicament a les institucions escolars, creiem que pot ser un referent a partir del qual cal reflexionar, atès el notable increment d’aquesta pràctica a Catalunya.

Diversidad cultural e instituciones educativas en Cataluña: el mediador intercultural como nueva figura profesional

En Cataluña en los últimos años, han ido proliferando una serie de "profesionales" que realizan, con más o menos adecuación a la definición teórica de mediador intercultural, dicha función. Primeramente se trataba de gitanos, pero recientemente, fruto del incremento de la presencia del alumndado de origen inmigrante en las escuelas, se ha visto crecer el número y el protagonismo de los mediadores de extranjero, sobre todo por el reconocimiento que se les ha otorgado desde la administración y las instituciones. Concretamente, los mediadores interculturales han intentado intervenir en cuestiones como la participación de los padres de origen inmigrante en los centros escolares, la adaptación del currículum a la diversidad cultural, la negociación de conflictos "culturales" (el uso del pañuelo en las clases, los menús del comedor...), la desescolarización, absentismlo y abandono escolar de los alumnos durante el período de la escoalrización obligatoria, la traducción lingüística y la interpretación sociocultural., etc. Al ser una práctica nueva, está aún llena de interrogantes, pero, como no se estaba produciendo paralelamente una reflexión y clarificación de sus fundamentos, nos parecía un momento pertinente para examinarla. Así pues, pretendemos profundizar en esta figura a partir de un trabajo empírico que ha consistido en 22 entrevistas en profundidad a mediadores de origen inmigrante que trabajan en las instituciones escolares de Cataluña.

La escolarización del colectivo gitano en Lleida: de la exclusión a la inclusión

Este artículo pretende analizar la situación actual de la escolarización de la población escolar gitana en Cataluña, así como de las actuaciones que se han realizado en la última décda para su integración en las instituciones escolares de Lleida. Además, propone una reflexión sobre la reubicación de la problemática avenida Tarradellas y la distribución de niños; los programas y servicios que la Administración educativa ofrece para atender a las minorias étnicas; la contratación de un mediador intercultural, y el control del absentismo. Y por último, se centra en los programas europeos y los intentos de conversión de centros-gueto en comunidades de aprendizaje como apuestas de futuro en una sociedad que, al vivir en continuo proceso de transformación, exige la responsabilidad activa de los actores y agentes sociales para dar respuesta a los interrogantes sociales y educativos que se plantean.

Breast cancer incidence and overdiagnosis in Catalonia (Spain)

Introduction: Early detection of breast cancer (BC) with mammography may cause overdiagnosis and overtreatment, detecting tumors which would remain undiagnosed during a lifetime. The aims of this study were: first, to model invasive BC incidence trends in Catalonia (Spain) taking into account reproductive and screening data; and second, to quantify the extent of BC overdiagnosis. Methods: We modeled the incidence of invasive BC using a Poisson regression model. Explanatory variables were: age at diagnosis and cohort characteristics (completed fertility rate, percentage of women that use mammography at age 50, and year of birth). This model also was used to estimate the background incidence in the absence of screening. We used a probabilistic model to estimate the expected BC incidence if women in the population used mammography as reported in health surveys. The difference between the observed and expected cumulative incidences provided an estimate of overdiagnosis. Results: Incidence of invasive BC increased, especially in cohorts born from 1940 to 1955. The biggest increase was observed in these cohorts between the ages of 50 to 65 years, where the final BC incidence rates more than doubled the initial ones. Dissemination of mammography was significantly associated with BC incidence and overdiagnosis. Our estimates of overdiagnosis ranged from 0.4% to 46.6%, for women born around 1935 and 1950, respectively. Conclusions: Our results support the existence of overdiagnosis in Catalonia attributed to mammography usage, and the limited malignant potential of some tumors may play an important role. Women should be better informed about this risk. Research should be oriented towards personalized screening and risk assessment tools.

Competing risks to breast cancer mortality in Catalonia

Background: Breast cancer mortality has experienced important changes over the last century. Breast cancer occurs in the presence of other competing risks which can influence breast cancer incidence and mortality trends. The aim of the present work is: 1) to assess the impact of breast cancer deaths among mortality from all causes in Catalonia (Spain), by age and birth cohort and 2) to estimate the risk of death from other causes than breast cancer, one of the inputs needed to model breast cancer mortality reduction due to screening or therapeutic interventions. Methods: The multi-decrement life table methodology was used. First, all-cause mortality probabilities were obtained by age and cohort. Then mortality probability for breast cancer was subtracted from the all-cause mortality probabilities to obtain cohort life tables for causes other than breast cancer. These life tables, on one hand, provide an estimate of the risk of dying from competing risks, and on the other hand, permit to assess the impact of breast cancer deaths on all-cause mortality using the ratio of the probability of death for causes other than breast cancer by the all-cause probability of death. Results: There was an increasing impact of breast cancer on mortality in the first part of the 20th century, with a peak for cohorts born in 1945–54 in the 40–49 age groups (for which approximately 24% of mortality was due to breast cancer). Even though for cohorts born after 1955 there was only information for women under 50, it is also important to note that the impact of breast cancer on all-cause mortality decreased for those cohorts. Conclusion: We have quantified the effect of removing breast cancer mortality in different age groups and birth cohorts. Our results are consistent with US findings. We also have obtained an estimate of the risk of dying from competing-causes mortality, which will be used in the assessment of the effect of mammography screening on breast cancer mortality in Catalonia.