Uranium reserve, nuclear fuel cycle delusion, CO2 emission from the sea, and electricity supply: reflections after the fuel meltdown of Fukushima nuclear power units

The Great Tohoku-Kanto earthquake and resulting tsunami has brought considerable attention to the issue of the construction of new power plants. We argue in this paper, nuclear power is not a sustainable solution to energy problems. First, we explore the stock of uranium-235 and the different schemes developed by the nuclear power industry to exploit this resource. Second, we show that these methods, fast breeder and MOX fuel reactors, are not feasible. Third, we show that the argument that nuclear energy can be used to reduce CO2 emissions is false: the emissions from the increased water evaporation from nuclear power generation must be accounted for. In the case of Japan, water from nuclear power plants is drained into the surrounding sea, raising the water temperature which has an adverse affect on the immediate ecosystem, as well as increasing CO2 emissions from increased water evaporation from the sea. Next, a short exercise is used to show that nuclear power is not even needed to meet consumer demand in Japan. Such an exercise should be performed for any country considering the construction of additional nuclear power plants. Lastly, the paper is concluded with a discussion of the implications of our findings.

From MuSIASEM theory to practice: report and reflections from field research in Kampot province, Cambodia

This document contains a report and summary of the field research activities in a rural community of rice farmers in Kampot province, Cambodia in 2011, which I conducted within the context of my PhD research at ICTA-UAB (Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain). The purpose of the field research was to gather data for a MuSIASEM analysis (Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism) at the village and household level, in order to analyze the multidimensional challenges that small farmers may face nowadays within the context of global rural change and declining access to land. While the literature on MuSIASEM offers a great variety of theoretical explanations and practical applications, there is little information available for students regarding the practical steps required for doing a MuSIASEM analysis at the local level. Within this context, this report offers not only a documentation of the field research design and data collection methods, but further provides a general overview on some organizational and preparative aspects, including some personal reflections, that one may face when preparing and conducting field research for MuSIASEM analysis. In summary, this document thus serves three objectives: (i) to assure methodological transparency for the future work, based on the collected data during field research, (ii) to share my personal experience on the preparative and practical steps required for field research and data collection for a MuSIASEM analysis at the local level, and (iii) to make available for the further interested reader some more detailed background information on the case study village.

Reflections on gains and losses: A 2x2x7 experiment

We test whether risk attitudes change when losses instead of gains areinvolved. The study of gain-loss asymmetries has been largely confinedto reflected choices, where all the money amounts of a positiveprospect are multiplied by minus one. We define the decomposition reflection = translation + probability switch, and experimentally findboth a translation effect (risk attraction becomes more frequent whengains are translated into losses) and a probability switch effect (riskattraction becomes more frequent when the probability of the best outcomedecreases). Surprisingly, the switch effect is somewhat stronger than thetranslation effect, negating a conventional reflection effect when onestarts with choices between gains with a low probability of the bestoutcome. We conclude by arguing that, while both the translation effectand the switch effect contradict the expected utility hypothesis, thetranslation effect implies a deeper violation of standard preference theory.

Some reflections on Geobotany and Vegetation mapping

uivalent Spanish and Catalan terms.

Some critical reflections on Michel Foucault's reading of Plutarch's Eroticus (Amatorius)

This aim of this article is to reflect on Michel Foucault's reading of Plutarch's Eroticus in his Histoire de la sexualité, putting emphasis on the fact that, against what it is affirmed by the French thinker, the real debate is not, in the author's opinion, about true pleasure, that obtained by the erastés from his erómenos or that obtained by husbands from their wives, but the need to assign also love and friendship (éros kaì philia) to the conjugal love.

1st Conference on Arts-Based and Artistic Research. Critical reflections on the intersection between art and research

[eng] Proceedings for the 1st Conference on Arts-Based and Artistic Research: Critical Reflections on the Intersection of Art and Research. University of Barcelona, January 31st - February 1st, 2013.

The contribution of real-time mirror reflections of motor actions on virtual body ownership in an immersive virtual environment

This paper reports an experiment that investigated people"s body ownership of an avatar that was observed in a virtual mirror. Twenty subjects were recruited in a within-groups study where 10 first experienced a virtual character that synchronously reflected their upper-body movements as seen in a virtual mirror, and then an asynchronous condition where the mirror avatar displayed prerecorded actions, unrelated to those of the participant. The other 10 subjects experienced the conditions in the opposite order. In both conditions the participant could carry out actions that led to elevation above ground level, as seen from their first person perspective and correspondingly in the mirror. A rotating virtual fan eventually descended to 2m above the ground. The hypothesis was that synchronous mirror reflection would result in higher subjective sense of ownership. A questionnaire analysis showed that the body ownership illusion was significantly greater for thesynchronous than asynchronous condition. Additionally participants in the synchronous condition avoided collision with the descending fan significantly more often than those in the asynchronous condition. The results of this experiment are put into context within similar experiments on multisensory correlation and body ownership within cognitive neuroscience.

Ionospheric tomography using GNSS reflections

In this paper, we report a preliminary analysis of the impact of Global Navigation Satellite System Reflections (GNSS-R) data on ionospheric monitoring over the oceans. The focus will be on a single polar Low Earth Orbiter (LEO) mission exploiting GNSS-R as well as Navigation (GNSS-N) and Occultation (GNSS-O) total electron content (TEC) measurements. In order to assess impact of the data, we have simulated GNSS-R/O/N TEC data as would be measured from the LEO and from International Geodesic Service (IGS) ground stations, with an electron density (ED) field generated using a climatic ionospheric model. We have also developed a new tomographic approach inspired by the physics of the hydrogen atom and used it to effectively retrieve the ED field from the simulated TEC data near the orbital plane. The tomographic inversion results demonstrate the significant impact of GNSS-R: three-dimensional ionospheric ED fields are retrieved over the oceans quite accurately, even as, in the spirit of this initial study, the simulation and inversion approaches avoided intensive computation and sophisticated algorithmic elements (such as spatio-temporal smoothing). We conclude that GNSS-R data over the oceans can contribute significantly to a Global/GNSS Ionospheric Observation System (GIOS). Index Terms Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Global Navigation Satellite System Reflections (GNSS-R), ionosphere, Low Earth Orbiter (LEO), tomography.

Jóvenes que estuvieron en el sistema de protección social a la infancia : reflexiones a partir de una investigación realizada en Girona, España = Young people who were in the child protection system : reflections from a study done in Girona, Spain

Research on residential care is still scarce despite its high implementation in Spain. This article presents the results of a research using qualitative methods. The study analyses the situation experienced by young people who lived in foster care in the province of Girona (1994-2002) based on their opinions and perceptions expressed in a semi-structured interview. The results, clustered into subcategories, show lack of knowledge about the reasons why they needed foster care, if it was better being there than staying with their parents, and the lack of support for transition to adulthood. The study shows implications for children and youth policies, professional practice and research

Nous perfils professionals de l'actual panorama informatiu audiovisual i multimèdia de Catalunya

Aquest treball forma part de una recerca –finançada pel Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya- dedicada a l’anàlisi de les conseqüències dels processos de digitalització en els mitjans de comunicació de Catalunya (Espanya). El document presenta les transformacions que han afectat al periodista, especialment les noves tasques i funcions. Després d’una introducció dedicada al marc teòric i a la metodologia de la recerca, el document explica les tendències principals observades en les ràdios, emissores de televisió, agències de noticies i mitjans en línia de Catalunya. El document també presenta una sèrie de reflexions sobre la polivalència, la re-qualificació i altres processos que afecten als professionals de la informació. Finalment, es proposa una classificació de les formes que assumeix la polivalència en els mitjans.

Processos participatius, governança ambiental i desenvolupament territorial sostenible

Estudio realizado a partir de una estancia en el Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas de la Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brasil, durant entre septiembre y noviembre del 2005. El intercambio con los grupos de trabajo del Programa de Pós-Graduçao Interdisciplinar em Ciências Humanas (UFSCE-Brasil), se ha llevado a cabo con el objetivo de profundizar en las diferentes perspectivas teóricas y analíticas que orientan la reflexión sobre el papel crítico de los investigadores en el área de sociología del conocimiento ambiental científico. Esto ha permitido conocer experiencias-laboratorios de procesos participativos para planear intervenciones en áreas protegidas. Estas orientaciones conceptuales, epistemológicas y metodológicas ayudaran a la candidata a reforzar la aproximación de investigación participativa del proyecto “Avaluació social multicriteri per a la presa de decisions orientades a una gestió conservativa de sistemes agropecuaris i el desenvolupament sostenible de la zona seca i semi-seca del paisatge terrestre protegit de Miraflor-Moropotente (Nicaragua)” que es la línea del trabajo de PhD de la candidata. En especial, las reflexiones teóricas y metodológicas se han centrado en los siguientes temas: aproximación sistemática y basada en los actores para el análisis de sistemas complejos y incertezas, métodos participativos para las evaluaciones integradas de sustentabilidad que apoyan los procesos de toma de decisiones, o el nuevo papel de los investigadores sobre una perspectiva compleja de análisis y diálogo entre los conocimientos científicos y locales.

The effects of teacher talk on students’ oral productions

The present study is a brief personal enquiry into the teaching and learning of EFL in the classroom with an orientation to action and personal professional development. It focuses on teacher talk, making special emphasis on questions, as well as on students’ resulting oral productions. The research contains samples of empirical data, which include their interpretations in the light of relevant research literature, and a more personal overall reflection of the teaching practice. Both the analysis and the reflections derive to a large extent from the self-observation paper 1 (SO1) and the Practicum portfolio (PP) developed within the TED Masters Degree practicum stages

The first steps of a secondary school teacher: experiences and studies of a student-teacher

This dissertation aims at fostering the professional development of the EFL teacher. This document compiles two small scale empirical studies carried out during the practicum periods of the TED's course. The first one is based on the role of the teacher's talk in the EFL classroom and the second one focuses on students’ small group talk, analysing the impact of cooperative learning in the EFL classroom by examining students' conversation. The following section gathers the teacher's personal reflections upon the process of professionalization. The paper concludes with a summary of the major findings and further professional improvement proposals

Xarxes docents per a l'art medieval a Catalunya

El projecte ha d’establir xarxes per posar en contacte els diferents continguts, reflexions i recursos docents emprats per professors d’art medieval de la UB i la URV s’ha dut a terme adaptant-se a diferents conjuntures. Una modificació sorgida durant el desenvolupament del projecte deriva de la transformació que han de patir els actuals plans d’estudis enfront dels nous títols de grau. Els lligams plantejats en funció d’unes determinades assignatures s’ha vist alterat quan la seva definició i durada ha variat dins els nous plans d’estudis, en la preparació dels quals han intervingut diversos membres del projecte, tant des del Consell d’estudis com des de la Comissió promotora del grau d’història de l’art. Malgrat tot, els diferents professors hem elaborat materials específics per a la docència de les actuals assignatures, incloent un extens ventall de presentacions en PowerPoint, que abasten les distintes matèries implicades. A més de les classes i pràctiques pròpies de cada assignatura, vàrem dur a terme el cicle de conferències Imatges Indiscretes. Art i devoció a l’Edat Mitjana, per tal d’aproximar l’alumnat a la recerca desenvolupada pels membres del grup (incloent becaris i alguns invitats procedents d’altres universitats), ampliant l’oferta formativa més enllà dels formats més predeterminats. És en curs la publicació del cicle en forma de dossier docent. Si aquesta activitat s’orientava vers els continguts relatius a l’art medieval, també hem promogut una reflexió adreçada vers una problemàtica general específicament docent amb un Seminari de docència sobre a història de l’’art en el qual han participat, a més del grup, un ampli ventall de professors del Departament d’Història de l’Art de la UB, així com docents d’altres universitats i professionals vinculats a l’exercici de la disciplina. Tant el seminari com el cicle de conferències són propostes a les quals és previst donar continuïtat en futures convocatòries.