Hezbollah's identities and their relevance for cultural and religious IR

This working paper analyses the role of religious and resistance identities in Hezbollah’s transformation and foreign relations. It argues that this Islamist movement has privileged material concerns over the religious dogma when both factors have not been coincidental. To do so, it uses a theoretical framework that presents the main characteristics of the anthropological and political interpretations of the role of culture and religion in defining the behaviour of international actors. In the chapter dedicated to Hezbollah, close attention is paid to the domestic and regional levels of analysis. When assessing Hezbollah’s religious identity, this paper argues that the salience of the pan-Islamic religious identity in Hezbollah’s origins has been replaced by an increased political pragmatism. It also argues that the fight against Israel represents Hezbollah’s raison d’être and that its resistance identity has not suffered major transformations and has been easily combined with religious rhetoric. Linking Hezbollah’s case study with the theoretical framework, this paper argues that political conceptions of cultural and religious identities provide the best analytical tool to understand the evolution of this Islamist movement.

Usability of Virtual Museums and the Diffusion of Cultural Heritage

Les prioritats per als museus canvien. La missió de la nova museologia és convertir els museus en llocs per a gaudir i aprendre, cosa que fa que hagin de dur a terme una gestió financera molt semblant a la d'una empresa social que competeixi en el sector del lleure. Amb el pas del temps, els museus han d'establir i aplicar els criteris necessaris per a la supervivència, aplanant el terreny perquè altres institucions públiques siguin més obertes en els seus esforços per comunicar i difondre el seu patrimoni. Ja podem començar a parlar d'algunes conclusions comunament acceptades sobre el comportament dels visitants, que són necessàries per a planificar exposicions futures que vegin l'aprenentatge com un procés constructiu, les col·leccions com a objectes amb significat i les mateixes exposicions com a mitjans de comunicació que haurien de transformar la manera de pensar de l'espectador i que estan al servei del mateix missatge. Sembla que internet representa un mitjà efectiu per a assolir aquests objectius, ja que és capaç (a) d'adaptar-se als interessos i les característiques intel·lectuals d'un públic divers; (b) de redescobrir els significats dels objectes i adquirir un reconeixement sociocultural del seu valor per mitjà del seu potencial interactiu, i (c) de fer ús d'elements atractius i estimulants perquè tothom en gaudeixi. Per a aquest propòsit, és bàsic fer-nos les preguntes següents: quins criteris ha de seguir un museu virtual per a optimar la difusió del seu patrimoni?; quins elements estimulen els usuaris a quedar-se en una pàgina web i fer visites virtuals que els siguin satisfactòries?; quin paper té la usabilitat de l'aplicació en tot això?

Usability of Virtual Museums and the Diffusion of Cultural Heritage

Les prioritats per als museus canvien. La missió de la nova museologia és convertir els museus en llocs per a gaudir i aprendre, cosa que fa que hagin de dur a terme una gestió financera molt semblant a la d'una empresa social que competeixi en el sector del lleure. Amb el pas del temps, els museus han d'establir i aplicar els criteris necessaris per a la supervivència, aplanant el terreny perquè altres institucions públiques siguin més obertes en els seus esforços per comunicar i difondre el seu patrimoni. Ja podem començar a parlar d'algunes conclusions comunament acceptades sobre el comportament dels visitants, que són necessàries per a planificar exposicions futures que vegin l'aprenentatge com un procés constructiu, les col·leccions com a objectes amb significat i les mateixes exposicions com a mitjans de comunicació que haurien de transformar la manera de pensar de l'espectador i que estan al servei del mateix missatge. Sembla que internet representa un mitjà efectiu per a assolir aquests objectius, ja que és capaç (a) d'adaptar-se als interessos i les característiques intel·lectuals d'un públic divers; (b) de redescobrir els significats dels objectes i adquirir un reconeixement sociocultural del seu valor per mitjà del seu potencial interactiu, i (c) de fer ús d'elements atractius i estimulants perquè tothom en gaudeixi. Per a aquest propòsit, és bàsic fer-nos les preguntes següents: quins criteris ha de seguir un museu virtual per a optimar la difusió del seu patrimoni?; quins elements estimulen els usuaris a quedar-se en una pàgina web i fer visites virtuals que els siguin satisfactòries?; quin paper té la usabilitat de l'aplicació en tot això?

Intertwined cultural demands of immigrants and minority nations

Since at least the last two decades of the 20th century, the normative debate on multiculturalism has been one-dimensional. It has deployed arguments related to cultural demands either linked to feminism and sub-cultural identities, immigration or national minorities. Little attention has been given to the relations between these dimensions, and how they effect each other in putting forward demands to the nation-state. The purpose of this article is to analyse the interaction between cultural demands of immigrants and minority nations. The basic objective of this paper is to give an overview of different reflections coming from three basic contributors: J. Carens, W. Kymlicka and R. Bauböck.

Impact of geographical and cultural factors on clinical trials in acute mania: lessons from a ziprasidone and haloperidol placebo-controlled study

Clinical trials today are conducted in multiple countries to enhance patient recruitment and improve efficiency of trials. However, the demographic and cultural diversity may contribute to variations in study outcomes. Here we conducted post-hoc analyses for a placebo-controlled study with ziprasidone and haloperidol for the treatment of acute mania to address the demographic, dosing, and outcome disparities in India, Russia and the USA. We compared the baseline characteristics, outcomes and discontinuations in patients and explored the relationship between the outcome measures across these countries. We found substantial differences in baseline characteristics of subjects, administered dosage and disease severity in India compared to the USA and Russia. Conversely, US subjects had a higher placebo response compared to subjects in Russia and India. These results are probably due to demographic differences in patient populations and psychiatric clinical practice across countries. While we offer initial ideas to address the disparities identified in this analysis, it is clear that further research to improve our understanding of geographical differences is essential to ensure globally applicable results for clinical trials in psychiatry.

The new role of the mass media in the construction of sport and Olympic values

This paper was presented in the International Symposium on Toward the Creation of New-Sport Cultures, undertaken in Osaka, Japan, in January 28, 1996. The main purpose is to make an interpretation of the cultural values of sport and Olympism in contemporary society, considering the enormous influence that the media have on them.

The Biblioteca de Catalunya: working for the present and the future

The Biblioteca de Catalunya (BC) was created in 1907 by the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC). In 1914 the Mancomunitat de Catalunya gave the library its condition of cultural and public service, open to researchers and scholars. The library underwent several changes as a consequence of political events, along the most of 20th century. In 1981 it was recognized by law as national library and it recovered its foundational aim of gathering, preserving and disseminating the bibliographical output of Catalonia and the production related with the Catalan linguistic field. As the proud host of ANADP2, the BC wants to show the attendees to the conference how, since 2004, has positioned itself to face the challenge of the new informational and technological paradigm. The library strategy for oncoming years includes giving open and free access online to the digitization of many of his collections through the portals MDC (Digital Memory of Catalonia), ARCA (Old Catalan Serials Archive) and Google Books project; the creation of the Web Archive of Catalonia and, as the last step in the consolidation of its policy, a high-security preserving repository named COFRE, based on the international guidelines and initiatives and the experience of the BC itself.

Effects of crop and weed densities on the interactions between barley and Lolium rigidum in several Mediterranean locations

The effects of both barley and Lolium rigidum densities on weed growth and spike production and on crop yield were examined in five field experiments carried out in the Mediterranean drylands of Spain and Western Australia. The aim was to check the consistency of the competitiveness of the crop in different environmental and management conditions. L. rigidum reduced barley yields in most of the experiments (between 0 and 85%), the number of ears per m2 being the most affected. It was found that increasing the barley seeding rate did not reduce the crop losses but did limit weed biomass (between 5 and 61%) and spike production (between 24 and 85%). The variability observed in crop yield losses between sites and seasons was related to rainfall at the beginning of the season. The most sensitive component of yield to weed competition was the number of ears per plant.

Short communication.Wood identification based on their common name and their transversal surface anatomy. Application to the batch from the expedition of Ruiz and Pavon

Aim of study: To identify species of wood samples based on common names and anatomical analyses of their transversal surfaces (without microscopic preparations). Area of study: Spain and South America Material and methods: The test was carried out on a batch of 15 lumber samples deposited in the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid, from the expedition by Ruiz and Pavon (1777-1811). The first stage of the methodology is to search and to make a critical analysis of the databases which list common nomenclature along with scientific nomenclature. A geographic filter was then applied to the information resulting from the samples with a more restricted distribution. Finally an anatomical verification was carried out with a pocket microscope with a magnification of x40, equipped with a 50 micrometers resolution scale. Main results: The identification of the wood based exclusively on the common name is not useful due to the high number of alternative possibilities (14 for “naranjo”, 10 for “ébano”, etc.). The common name of one of the samples (“huachapelí mulato”) enabled the geographic origin of the samples to be accurately located to the shipyard area in Guayaquil (Ecuador). Given that Ruiz y Pavon did not travel to Ecuador, the specimens must have been obtained by Tafalla. It was possible to determine correctly 67% of the lumber samples from the batch. In 17% of the cases the methodology did not provide a reliable identification. Research highlights: It was possible to determine correctly 67% of the lumber samples from the batch and their geographic provenance. The identification of the wood based exclusively on the common name is not useful.

Making Space for Festival 1400-1700. Interactions of Architecture and Performance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Festivals

Las relaciones entre actos festivos y espacios arquitectónicos, y las modalidades con que las ceremonias cortesanas llegaban a modificar los centros urbanos y las residen- cias palaciegas, han sido los temas principales del congreso internacional Making Space for Festival, 14001700. Interactions of Architecture and Performance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Festivals, que tuvo lugar del 21 al 24 de marzo de 2013 en el Palacio Pesaro-Papafava de Venecia, residencia de la Universidad de Warwick en la Laguna. La Society for European Festivals Research (SEFR), entidad vinculada a esta universidad, ha promovido el encuentro junto con la Red PALATIUM financia- da por el Research Networking Programme de la European Science Fundation (ESF) (2010-2015), dedicada al estudio de las residencias palaciegas de la Edad Moderna como espacios de intercambios políticos y culturales. El tema de las jornadas nacía de la unión de los intereses científicos de los grupos organizadores, dejando lugar a temáticas diferentes como: la articulación de un mensaje festivo a lo largo del recorri- do de procesiones y entradas públicas, la financiación y los aspectos más prácticos de la puesta en escena de un evento festivo, la tipificación de ceremonias y decoraciones en determinados contextos, el intercambio cultural a través de la fiesta, o la recepción de las modificaciones de los espacios por parte de los espectadores

BioSuper: A web tool for the superimposition of biomolecules and assemblies with rotational symmetry

Background Most of the proteins in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) are oligomeric complexes consisting of two or more subunits that associate by rotational or helical symmetries. Despite the myriad of superimposition tools in the literature, we could not find any able to account for rotational symmetry and display the graphical results in the web browser. Results BioSuper is a free web server that superimposes and calculates the root mean square deviation (RMSD) of protein complexes displaying rotational symmetry. To the best of our knowledge, BioSuper is the first tool of its kind that provides immediate interactive visualization of the graphical results in the browser, biomolecule generator capabilities, different levels of atom selection, sequence-dependent and structure-based superimposition types, and is the only web tool that takes into account the equivalence of atoms in side chains displaying symmetry ambiguity. BioSuper uses ICM program functionality as a core for the superimpositions and displays the results as text, HTML tables and 3D interactive molecular objects that can be visualized in the browser or in Android and iOS platforms with a free plugin. Conclusions BioSuper is a fast and functional tool that allows for pairwise superimposition of proteins and assemblies displaying rotational symmetry. The web server was created after our own frustration when attempting to superimpose flexible oligomers. We strongly believe that its user-friendly and functional design will be of great interest for structural and computational biologists who need to superimpose oligomeric proteins (or any protein). BioSuper web server is freely available to all users at http://ablab.ucsd.edu/BioSuper webcite.

Repensando la formación inicial del profesorado para abordar el tratamiento a la diversidad cultural y lingüística en el aula = Rethinking initial teacher education for linguistic and cvltural diversity in the classroom

In recent decades, European educational systems are facing many challenges related to the treatment of cultural and linguistic diversity. The need to address this diversity requires new approaches to education; this in turn requires changes in the way we prepare teachers for the new reality they face in their classrooms. In this article we highlight some of the major problems that initial teacher training has to address in order to enable teachers to deal effectively, respectfully, and fairly with students whose linguistic and cultural background is different from their own. We also present several models for teacher education from Europe and North America based on clearly identified teacher competences for linguistic and cultural diversity