Globalization and the Symphony of the New (Post-modern) World: From Westphalia to Maastricht…passing by Washington DC

Taking on the challenge of understanding and explaining the Symphony of (today’s) New World in realistic terms (not realist), this essay aims to analyse the Post-Cold war era by devising a multi-conceptual framework that combines different theoretical contributions not yet linked in a fully explanatory way. This paper suggests two inter-related analytical contexts (or background melodies) to understand Dvorak´s "New World”. First, the socio-economic structural context that falls under the controversial category of Globalization and, second, the post-modern political structural context that is built on Robert Cooper’s threefold analysis (Pre-modern, Modern and Post-modern) of today’s world [Cooper, R: 1997, 1999]. Lastly, the closing movement (allegro con fuoco) enters the normative arena to assess American foreign policy options in the light of the theoretical framework devised in the first part of the essay.

The aftermath of Civil War

Using an event-study methodology, this paper analyzes the aftermath of civil war in a cross-section of countries. It focuses on those experiences where the end of conflict marks the beginning of a relatively lasting peace. The paper considers 41 countries involved in internal wars in the period 1960-2003. In order to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the aftermath of war, the paper considers a host of social areas represented by basic indicators of economic performance, health and education, political development, demographic trends, and conflict and security issues. For each of these indicators, the paper first compares the post- and pre-war situations and then examines their dynamic trends during the post-conflict period. It conducts this analysis both in absolute and relative terms, the latter in relation to control groups of otherwise similar countries. The paper concludes that, even though war has devastating effects and its aftermath can be immensely difficult, when the end of war marks the beginning of lasting peace, recovery and improvement are indeed achieved.

Control dolor post quirúrgic pacients intervinguts hèrnia inguinal per CMA

El dolor post-operatori és un dels problemes més importants que segons la OMS afecta als pacients intervinguts quirúrgicament i el que més els preocupa. Any rere any hi ha un increment del nombre de pacients intervinguts per Cirurgia Major ambulatòria al nostre país de manera que ha de ser el mateix usuari i la família els que facilitin les cures als pacients al propi domicili. Aquest estudi planteja si introduir intervencions educatives al servei disminueix el dolor post-operatori dels usuaris Objectiu general: Dissenyar un programa d’informació que realitzarà infermeria dirigit als cuidadors i pacients del servei de CMA i que han de ser intervinguts de hèrnia engonal. Avaluar l’eficiència del mateix programa educatiu. Metodologia: l’àmbit d’estudi d’aquest treball serà les unitats de Cirurgia Major ambulatòria de qualsevol centre de Catalunya. Es realitzarà un estudi comparatiu quantitatiu entre dos grups independents integrants per 30 participants en cadascun d’ells (total de 60 participants). Grupo A: protocol habitual de la unitat Grup B: intervenció educativa dissenyada Els participants seran pacients majors d’edat, que compleixen els requisits per ser intervinguts per Cirurgia Major Ambulatòria de Hèrnia inguinal. El participant ha de fer-ho amb un familiar responsable de les seves cures. Es realitzaran 3 enquestes al pacient i 3 al familiar responsable de les cures, la primera a les 24 hores després de la intervenció, la segona a la setmana i l’última a les 2 setmanes. Limitacions de l’estudi: en cas de que el pacient que ha de formar part de l’estudi requereixi ingrés hospitalari per alguna complicació durant la cirurgia el pacient deixa de participar en l’estudi automàticament. En cas que el pacient o familiar no contestin al telèfon el dia i l’hora pactada prèviament també deixarà de formar part de la investigació. Per aquest motiu es tindran 10 pacients de reserva per si calgués reemplaçar el subjecte d’estudi.

Gone with the Wind and the Southern Way of Life: the Civil War as described in Margaret Mitchell’s Novel

This essay examines the American Civil War of 1861 – 1865, which is also known as the bloodiest war that the United States has ever experienced. The pretext for the war was the abolition of slavery in the South, and after many battles the Southern states lost: as a consequence, they experienced major changes in their economic and social life. This interesting piece from American history can be traced out throughout the characters’ lives in the novel Gone with the Wind which has been thoroughly analyzed in order to draw nearer and to comprehend the changes in the Southern way of life before and after the war. The author, Margaret Mitchell, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up with the stories about the war. As a result, Gone with the Wind studies not only its causes, but also the years after its end – a period which is not generally a subject of history and receives little attention – and the effects that such reversals have on former planters and slaves. From the position of contemporaneity, the reader can see that such changes in a society do not end with the laying down of an act, or in this case the end of the war, but they continue during many years; thus, the modern world can draw conclusions and lessons for events that are happening at the moment.

Post-market environmental monitoring of Bt maize in Spain: Non-target effects of varieties derived from the event MON810 on predatory fauna

The Spanish Government has established post-market environmental monitoring (PMEM) as mandatory for genetically modified (GM) crop varieties cultivated in Spain. In order to comply with this regulation, effects of Bt maize varieties derived from the event MON810 on the predatory fauna were monitored for two years in northeast and central Spain. The study was carried out with a randomized block design in maize fields of 3-4 ha on which the abundance of plant-dwelling predators and the activity-density of soil-dwelling predators in Bt vs. non-Bt near-isogenic varieties were compared. To this end, the plots were sampled by visual inspection of a certain number of plants and pitfall traps 6 or 7 times throughout two seasons. No significant differences in predator densities on plants were found between Bt and non-Bt varieties. In the pitfall traps, significant differences between the two types of maize were found only in Staphylinidae, in which trap catches in non-Bt maize were higher than in Bt maize in central Spain. Based on the statistical power of the assays, surrogate arthropods for PMEM purposes are proposed; Orius spp. and Araneae for visual sampling and Carabidae, Araneae, and Staphylinidae for pitfall trapping. The other predator groups recorded in the study, Nabis sp. and Coccinellidae in visual sampling and Dermaptera in pitfall trapping, gave very poor power results. To help to establish a standardized protocol for PMEM of genetically modified crops, the effect-detecting capacity with a power of 0.8 of each predator group is given.

Effects of a post-weaning cafeteria diet in young rats: metabolic syndrome, reduced activity and low anxiety-like behaviour.

Among adolescents, overweight, obesity and metabolic syndrome are rapidly increasing in recent years as a consequence of unhealthy palatable diets. Animal models of diet-induced obesity have been developed, but little is known about the behavioural patterns produced by the consumption of such diets. The aim of the present study was to determine the behavioural and biochemical effects of a cafeteria diet fed to juvenile male and female rats, as well as to evaluate the possible recovery from these effects by administering standard feeding during the last week of the study. Two groups of male and female rats were fed with either a standard chow diet (ST) or a cafeteria (CAF) diet from weaning and for 8 weeks. A third group of males (CAF withdrawal) was fed with the CAF diet for 7 weeks and the ST in the 8th week. Both males and females developed metabolic syndrome as a consequence of the CAF feeding, showing overweight, higher adiposity and liver weight, increased plasma levels of glucose, insulin and triglycerides, as well as insulin resistance, in comparison with their respective controls. The CAF diet reduced motor activity in all behavioural tests, enhanced exploration, reduced anxiety-like behaviour and increased social interaction; this last effect was more pronounced in females than in males. When compared to animals only fed with a CAF diet, CAF withdrawal increased anxiety in the open field, slightly decreased body weight, and completely recovered the liver weight, insulin sensitivity and the standard levels of glucose, insulin and triglycerides in plasma. In conclusion, a CAF diet fed to young animals for 8 weeks induced obesity and metabolic syndrome, and produced robust behavioural changes in young adult rats, whereas CAF withdrawal in the last week modestly increased anxiety, reversed the metabolic alterations and partially reduced overweight.

Ralstonia solanacearum, a widespread bacterial plant pathogen in the post-genomic era

Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne bacterium causing the widespread disease known as bacterial wilt. Ralstonia solanacearum is also the causal agent of Moko disease of banana and brown rot of potato. Since the last R. solanacearum pathogen profile was published 10 years ago, studies concerning this plant pathogen have taken a genomic and post-genomic direction. This was pioneered by the first sequenced and annotated genome for a major plant bacterial pathogen and followed by many more genomes in subsequent years. All molecular features studied now have a genomic flavour. In the future, this will help in connecting the classical field of pathology and diversity studies with the gene content of specific strains. In this review, we summarize the recent research on this bacterial pathogen, including strain classification, host range, pathogenicity determinants, regulation of virulence genes, type III effector repertoire, effector-triggered immunity, plant signalling in response to R. solanacearum, as well as a review of different new pathosystems.

Evolución de los conocimientos acerca de los trastornos del comportamiento alimentario, a través de una intervención educativa en estudiantes de enseñanza post-obligatoria

Introducción: A pesar de ser considerados eventos infrecuentes en comparación a otros estados patológicos relacionados con la alimentación, en los últimos años y en diferentes países, se constata un incremento de las tasas de incidencia y prevalencia de los Tras - tornos del Comportamiento Alimentario; la mayoría de estudios que analizan los factores que pueden influir en su aparición, suelen implicar a jóvenes y adolescentes de poblaciones pre-mórbidas o mórbidas, siendo menos frecuentes los realizados sobre población sana y estándar. Objetivos: Evaluar el nivel de conocimientos acerca de los Trastornos del Comportamiento Alimentario y comprobar la eficacia de una intervención educativa, en jóvenes de una población presumiblemente sana. Métodos: Estudio de intervención con evaluación pre y post intervención, a través de un cuestionario previamente validado de 10 preguntas cerradas y abiertas, en estudiantes de Fisioterapia, Educación Infantil y Hostelería. Resultados: Respondieron el cuestionario inicial 154 estu diantes, 85 universitarios y 39 de ciclo formativo en Hostelería, mayoritariamente mujeres (68%) y con una edad media de 20,8 años. Los estudiantes demostraron un nivel medio de conocimientos inicial, mayor en las mujeres y en los estudiantes universitarios que en los de formación profesional. Los factores de riesgo y las manifestaciones clínicas fueron los aspectos menos conocidos por los estudiantes. La intervención educativa realizada en los 35 estudiantes de Hostelería que participaron en el taller y respondieron el cuestionario post-intervención, consiguió elevar el nivel de conocimientos hasta una calificación media superior a la inicial y a la de los grupos en que no se realizó la intervención. Discusión y conclusiones: A pesar de que la intervención realizada resultó eficaz para mejorar el nivel de conocimientos en muchos de los participantes, los resultados del cuestionario post-intervención revelan la necesidad de educar a los jóvenes en los rasgos que definen y caracterizan un Trastorno del Compor tamiento Alimen - tario, adaptando el abordaje de los mismos a su realidad social. La inclusión de temas relacionados con la nutrición y la salud en los programas curriculares de los estudios post-obligatorios mejoraría el nivel de conocimientos entre los futuros profesionales de los ámbitos de la salud, la educación y la hostelería/restauración.