Prestacions en benefici de la comunitat i realització de tasques socioeducatives en justícia juvenil

Els joves als quals se’ls ha imposat una mesura de realització de tasques socioeducatives (RTS) o de prestacions en benefici de la comunitat (PBC) presenten un alt fracàs escolar, majoritàriament amb baix rendiment i abandonament dels estudis en la meitat dels casos. Un de cada tres joves prové d’una família amb algun tipus de problemàtica específica o una economia insuficient. Els resultats indiquen, però, que els joves que realitzen tasques socioeducatives solen acumular més problemàtiques que els de PBC, ja sigui a nivell personal, familiar o social. Quant al perfil penal i criminològic, el 63% dels nois i noies d’aquestes dues mesures té antecedents. La taxa de reincidència de RTS és del 31,1% i la de PBC del 25,2%. Alguns dels factors que els joves reincidents mostren en més proporció són tenir un grup d’iguals dissocial, estar en contacte amb els serveis socials o tenir antecedents. Els reincidents de RTS també presenten més proporció de consum de tòxics, problemes de salut mental, fracàs escolar i una ocupació del temps desestructurada i amb conductes de risc. Comparant aquests resultats amb estudis respecte altres programes i mesures de Justícia juvenil podem concloure que la taxa de reincidència global a Catalunya és del 28,9% i l’específica de Medi obert és del 27,8%.

Profile, cost and pattern of prescriptions for polymedicated patients in Catalonia (Spain).

OBJECTIVES: Polypharmacy is one of the main management issues in public health policies because of its financial impact and the increasing number of people involved. The polymedicated population according to their demographic and therapeutic profile and the cost for the public healthcare system were characterised. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Primary healthcare in Barcelona Health Region, Catalonia, Spain (5 105 551 inhabitants registered). PARTICIPANTS: All insured polymedicated patients. Polymedicated patients were those with a consumption of ≥16 drugs/month. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The study variables were related to age, gender and medication intake obtained from the 2008 census and records of prescriptions dispensed in pharmacies and charged to the public health system. RESULTS: There were 36 880 polymedicated patients (women: 64.2%; average age: 74.5±10.9 years). The total number of prescriptions billed in 2008 was 2 266 830 (2 272 920 total package units). The most polymedicated group (up to 40% of the total prescriptions) was patients between 75 and 84 years old. The average number of prescriptions billed monthly per patient was 32±2, with an average cost of 452.7±27.5. The total cost of those prescriptions corresponded to 2% of the drug expenditure in Catalonia. The groups N, C, A, R and M represented 71.4% of the total number of drug package units dispensed to polymedicated patients. Great variability was found between the medication profiles of men and women, and between age groups; greater discrepancies were found in paediatric patients (5-14 years) and the elderly (≥65 years). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides essential information to take steps towards rational drug use and a structured approach in the polymedicated population in primary healthcare.

The Coverage of the European independence movements from a Canadian perspective: Comparisons of the francophone online press in Quebec with the English Canadian press on the independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia

This research paper provides the basis of a future doctoral thesison the construction of foreign news. We aim to highlight similarities and differences in the online news coverage of the nationalist movments in Scotland and Catalonia in the Canadian Anglophone and Francophone press. Through a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of The Montreal Gazette, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, Le Devoir and La Presse, we attempt to show the frames used in the coverage of the political developments in both “stateless regions” from January 2011 to September 2014, when a referendum on the constitutional status of Scotland has beenagreed on. In parallel to the analysis of daily online newspapers, we will use semi-structured interviews of journalists from each news organization to obtain more in-depth knowledge of the factors influencing the construction of news. Lastly, we want to find out to the extent to which the coverage on the nationalist movements in Scotland and Catalonia serve to revive the debate on the independence question of Québec

Calibrating predicted tree diameter distributions in Catalonia, Spain

Abstract

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.

Una pintura d'Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755) a Manresa : l'Assumpta de Santa Maria de l'Alba

This painting with an exceptional iconography of the Assumption of the Virgin with All the Saints, was saved from a altarpiece in the church of Santa Maria de l'Alba in Manresa, which was burnt during the Spanish Civil War. The article attributes this painting to Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755), one of the most relevant figures in the Catalan artistic scene in the 18th century, and it dates it to the latter years of his extensive artistic career. An analysis of the work shows that the Catalan painter incorporated some figurative elements that he borrowed from an engraving of the Swiss engraver, Jakob Frey (1681-1752), interpreted from a canvas of the Italian painter Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764). This helps to relate the canvas of the Barcelona painter-based on his previous figurative work with high Roman baroque- to the new proposals of the so-called Roman barrochetto. In addition the study hopes to offer the reader an artistically cultural view of Antoni Viladomat, openly concerned by the novelties that constantly reached Catalonia by means of the engravings

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.

Noves aportacions al coneixement florístic de l'Empordà - III

New records of some vascular plants in the Empordà (NE of Iberian Peninsula) are given. Some of them are new for this area. We make several annotations about chorology of these taxa. Coronilla repanda (Poir.) Guss. subsp. dura (Cav.) Cout. and Ranunculus nodiflorus L. are indicated for the first time in Catalonia

Vessana a Vessana. Reflexions sobre la pràctica dels establiments emfitèutics a la regió de Girona (segles XVIII-XIX)

Tenim documentats més de 30.000 contractes d'establiment emfitèutic (la majoria, amb caràcter de subestabliment) concedits a la regió de Girona (actuals comarques del Baix i de l'Alt Empordà, del Gironès i de La Selva) entre 1768 i 1862, anys en què van ser inscrits en els llibres del Registre d’hipoteques. Sabem que durant aquests mateixos anys se'n concediren molts més, ja que ens manca la informació relativa a l'ofici de Figueres entre 1774 i 1806 i la comarca de l’Alt Empordà va concentrar un 40% dels establiments concedits entre 1806 i 1862. És molt possible, doncs, que el nombre total s'apropés als 35.000. La xifra no és negligible; a mitjan segle XIX vivien a la regió unes cinquanta mil famílies. Es fa necessari, doncs, reflexionar sobre aquesta pràctica

Concentració parcel·lària de la zona regable del canal Segarra-Garrigues afectada per la xarxa Natura 2000 al nucli de La Figuerosa, terme municipal de Tàrrega (Urgell)

Aquest projecte final de carrera pretén realitzar la concentració parcel·lària d’una zona de 1.421,4476 hectàrees afectada per una zepa (zona especial de protecció d’aus) i que alhora és regable pel canal segarra-garrigues, al terme municipal de Tàrrega (Urgell), i més concretamente als voltants del nucli de la Figuerosa. La concentración parcel·lària és un procediment de reorganització de la propietat jurídica i pretén millorar la viabilitat económica de les explotacions, ja que moltes d’elles presenten nombroses parcel·les distribuïdes pel territorio. Alhora, la CP puposa ajustar l’estructura i dimensión de les finques i per tant els costos d’explotació dels propietaris beneficiats.