Copwatching et perception publique de la police. L'intervention policière comme performance sous surveillance

Envisagée comme une situation sociale de rassemblement en rue, l'intervention policière se caractérise par sa nature publique et observable. Le « copwatching », en tant que pratique amateur de captation vidéo des interventions de police, problématise la visibilité des agents sur la voie publique en les soumettant à une surveillance médiatique. M'appuyant sur des exemples vidéos, j'explore les dimensions visuelles et symboliques du travail policier. De la performance policière en rue à la figuration médiatique du policier, l'étude des médiations entre action et image permet d'interroger la perception publique de la police engagée dans les rassemblements. Abstract Cop-watching and the public perception of the police. Police intervention as performance under surveillance. This paper deals with police work as a public performance on the street. Cop-watching, a way of publicly observing and documenting police activities, reveals the complex relationship between public perceptions of law enforcement and the visual nature of much police work. Three methodological approaches to cop-watching videos allow us to highlight the visual dimensions of police work : the study of mass-media images of cops, the study of street performance by real cops, and the study of the ways people make sense of the visual symbolic environment present in everyday police work.

Vitalidad etnolingüística, medios de comunicación e identidad étnica. Un estudio con grupos indígenas de Chiapas

Aquest estudi representa la primera exploració de l'ús de la televisió i la selecció de programes per part de grups d'indígenes a Chiapas. Més concretament, s'examina com els membres d'aquests grups seleccionen canals i programes específics dels mitjans de comunicació per raons d'etnicitat, i com això té a veure amb estratègies de mobilitat social. Les dades de 173 indígenes estudiants de la universitat Intercultural de Chiapas van indicar que per a 77 membres d'aquesta mostra, veure la televisió i seleccionar programes sobre la base de la seva etnicitat és una activitat de visualització important per a la seva autoestima etnolingüística. Aquests resultats es discuteixen en termes de la representació televisiva dels grups ètnics de Chiapas i motiven la realització de futures investigacions sobre aquests temes a Chiapas.

The sero-prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in British marine mammals

Serum samples from 101 stranded or bycatch cetaceans from British waters were screened for Toxoplasma gondii-specific antibodies using the Sabin Feldman Dye Test. Relatively high seropositivity was recorded in short-beaked Delphinus delphis and this study presents the first documented case of Toxoplasma in a humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae.

Prevention of overweight and obesity: a Spanish approach

Background. Obesity is considered a major public health issue in most developed countries nowadays. This paper provides an overview of current population data available in Spain and the approach to develop preventive strategies in the country. Methods. Review of population data available is based on individually measured weight and height as well as determinants. On this basis, the approach used in the country to develop preventive strategies is discussed. Results. According to the DORICA study, the prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥30 kg m−2) is 15.5% in Spanish adults aged 25–60 years (13.2% in men and 17.5% in women). Obesity rates are higher among women aged 45 years and older, low social class, living in semi-urban places. Population estimates for the prevalence of obesity in Spanish children and young people based on the enKid study are 13.9% for the whole group. In this study, overweight and obesity is related to absence of breastfeeding, low consumption of fruit and vegetables, high consumption of cakes, buns, softdrinks and butchery products, low physical activity levels and a positive association with time spent watching TV. In 2005, the Spanish Ministry of Health jointly with the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition launched the multifaceted NAOS strategy for nutrition, physical activity and the prevention of obesity. The important role of the family and the school setting as well as the responsibility of the Health Administration and Pediatric Care in the prevention of obesity is highlighted in the document. The need for environmental actions is recognised. The PERSEO programme, a multicomponent school-based intervention project is part of the strategy currently in place. Conclusion. Obesity is a public health issue in Spain. A national multifaceted strategy was launched to counteract the problem. Environmental and policy actions are a priority. Young children and their families are among the main target groups.

Life-style factors associated with overweight and obesity among Spanish adults

OBJECTIVES To assess the relationship between life styles and eating habits with the overweight and obesity prevalence in a Spanish adult population. METHODS A population-based, cross-sectional study conducted on 2640 subjects older than 15 years, in Cádiz (Spain). Surveys were conducted in subjects' homes to obtain life styles, eating habits, and anthropometric data. Logistic regression has been used to study the association between the life style variables and overweight and obesity. RESULTS Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Cadiz is 37% and 17%, respectively; higher in males and increases with age. BMI has an inverse relationship with educational level (PR = 2.3, 1.57-2.38). The highest levels of obesity are associated with daily alcohol consumption (PR = 1.39, 1.29-1.50), greater consumption of television,and sedentary pursuit (PR 1.5, 1.07-1.24). A lower prevalence of obesity is observed among those with active physical activity (10.9% vs 21.6%), with differences between sex. Following a slimming diet is more frequent in the obese and in women but dedicate more hours than men to passive activities. In men is greater the consumption of alcohol, high energy foods and snacks. Overweight and obesity is associated with the male sex (OR = 3.35 2.75-4.07), high consumption of alcohol (OR = 1.38 1.03-1.86) and watching television (OR = 1.52 1.11-2.07), and foods likes bread and cereals (OR = 1.47 1.13-1.91). Exercise activities is a protective factor (OR = 0.76 0.63-0.98). CONCLUSIONS Life styles factors associated with overweight and obesity present different patterns in men and women and is necessary to understand them to identify areas for behavioural intervention in overweight and obesity patients.

Do pornographic websites influence boys' sexual behavior?

Purpose: To compare the sexual behavior of adolescent males who do and do not watch pornographic websites. Methods: This study was presented as a school survey. Data were drawn from the 2002 Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health (SMASH02) database, a survey including 7,548 adolescents age 16-20. The setting was post-mandatory schools in Switzerland. A total of 2,891 male students who connected to the internet in the last 30 days were enrolled and distributed into two groups: boys who deliberately watched pornographic websites in the last 30 days (n ¼ 942; 33%) and boys who did not (n ¼ 1,949; 67%). Socio-demographic characteristics; frequency of connection to the internet; sexual behavior parameters (having a girlfriend and if yes, for more or less than 6 months; having had sexual intercourse; age at first sexual intercourse; use of a condom at last sexual intercourse; number of sexual partners; having made a partner pregnant). Results: A logistic regression was performed using STATA 9.2. The only significant socio-demographic variable was having a low socioeconomic status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.66); no difference was found for age and academic track between the two groups. Boys who watch pornographic websites were also significantly more likely to connect frequently to the internet (one day a week: AOR 1.75; several days a week: AOR 2.36; every day: AOR 3.11), to have had sexual intercourse (AOR 2.06), and to have had their first sexual intercourse before age 15 (AOR 1.48). The stability of the relationship with their girlfriend did not appear to have any influence on the search for pornography on the internet. Conclusions: About one third of boys in our sample report having accessed pornographic websites in the last 30 days, a proportion similar to other studies. Watching such websites increases with the frequency of connection to the internet and seems to be correlated with an earlier sexual activity debut among adolescent males. However, having had first sexual intercourse before age 15 is the only sexual risk behavior that seems to be increased when watching pornographic websites among boys. Further studies should address the causality of this correlation and the factors influencing the search for pornography on the web among boys, in order to explore some new ways of prevention about sexual risk behaviors. Sources of Support: The SMASH02 survey was carried out with the financial support of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and the participating cantons.

TV taskussa - tänään ja tulevaisuudessa

The objective of my thesis was to find out how mobile TV service will influence TV consumption behaviour of the Finns. In particular the study focuses on the consumption behaviour of a well educated urban people. For my thesis, I provided a detailed analysis of the study results of a large scale questionnaire research FinPilot from the year 2005 based on an assignment of Nokia Ltd. In order to deepen the study results, I focused on the above mentioned group of young people with good education. The goal of the FinPilot research was to give answers to the following questions: what kind of programs, in what kind of circumstances, and for which reasons are they watched when using the mobile television service. The results of the research consisted mainly of data like figures, graphics etc. The data was explaned from the helicopter perspective, for it gave additional value to the research and consequently to my own thesis. My study offered complementary, unique information about their needs as it was based on questionnaires supplemented by individual interviews of the group members, their free comments as well as group discussions. The study results proved that mobile TV service did not increase the total TV consumption time. The time used for watching the mobile TV was significantly shorter than the time for watching the traditional TV. According to my study, the young urban people with good education are more interested to adapt the mobile TV service than the average Finns. Being eager to utilize the added value offered by the mobile TVs they are a potential target group in launching and marketing processes. On the basis of the outcome of the thesis, the future of mobile TV service seems very promising. The content and the pricing, however, have to match the user's needs and expectations. All the study results prove that there exists a social order for mobile TV service.

A Casa como Centro das Relações de Parentesco e Mobilidade dos Emigrantes Cabo-Verdianos: o Caso dos Cabo-Verdianos em Portugal

Esta dissertação propõe estudar o papel que a casa desempenha na vida dos cabo-verdianos residentes em Portugal, particularmente na região de grande Lisboa, observando-os como um grupo étnico, isto é, como um conjunto de pessoas que tem por referência a sua origem, ou os seus antepassados próximos em Cabo Verde, ou noutras regiões para onde estes tenham emigrado assim como os imigrantes que já regressaram a Cabo Verde. Por “origem” entendese tanto a procedência geográfica de um lugar que ficou distante, quanto a vinculação a determinados referenciais culturais. A imigração em causa é da segunda metade do século XX, cujas motivações ora são de ordem económica (movidos pelo sistema fundiário que não permitia o acesso à terra para a maioria das populações das ilhas, pobreza extrema, etc.), ora de ordem natural (escassez e irregularidade das chuvas, com as consequentes secas prolongadas e fomes, dizimando pessoas e gados), ora de ordem política (perseguição política, fuga à prestação de serviços militares na Guiné, antes e após o 25 de Abril). Assim, será dado uma especial atenção ao papel que a casa, sobretudo a que foi deixada em Cabo Verde, desempenha nas relações de parentesco de pessoas que se encontram espalhadas por diversos países, bem como todo o processo que enrola a construção e a manutenção da mesma.

Independent contribution of parental migrant status and educational level to adiposity and eating habits in preschool children.

Background/Objective:Little is known about the precise role of parental migrant status (MS) and educational level (EL) on adiposity and various eating habits in young children. Therefore, we assessed their independent contribution in preschoolers.Subjects/Methods:Of 655 randomly selected preschoolers, 542 (5.1±0.6 years; 71% of parental MS and 37% of low parental EL) were analysed. Body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance. Eating habits were assessed using a semiqualitative food frequency questionnaire and analysed according to five messages developed by the Swiss Society for Nutrition, based on factors implicated in childhood obesity: (1) 'Drinking water and decreasing sweetened drinks', (2) 'Eating fruit and vegetables', (3) 'Decreasing breakfast skipping', (4) 'Reducing fatty and sweet foods' and (5) 'Reducing the intake of meals and snacks in front of television'.Results:Children of migrant and low EL parents had higher body fat, ate more meals and snacks while watching television and had more fruit and fatty foods compared with their respective counterparts (all P0.04). Children of low EL parents also consumed less water and vegetables compared with their counterparts (all P0.04). In most instances, we found an independent contribution of parental MS and EL to adiposity and eating habits. A more pronounced effect was found if both parents were migrants or of low EL. Differences in adiposity and eating habits were relatively similar to the joint parental data when assessed individually for maternal and paternal MS and EL.Conclusions:Parental MS and EL are independently related to adiposity and various eating habits in preschoolers.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 3 November 2010; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2010.248.

δ15N value does not reflect fasting in mysticetes.

The finding that tissue δ15N values increase with protein catabolism has led researchers to apply this value to gauge nutritive condition in vertebrates. However, its application to marine mammals has in most occasions failed. We investigated the relationship between δ15N values and the fattening/fasting cycle in a model species, the fin whale, a migratory capital breeder that experiences severe seasonal variation in body condition. We analyzed two tissues providing complementary insights: one with isotopic turnover (muscle) and one that keeps a permanent record of variations in isotopic values (baleen plates). In both tissues δ15N values increased with intensive feeding but decreased with fasting, thus contradicting the pattern previously anticipated. The apparent inconsistency during fasting is explained by the fact that a) individuals migrate between different isotopic isoscapes, b) starvation may not trigger significant negative nitrogen balance, and c) excretion drops and elimination of 15N-depleted urine is minimized. Conversely, when intensive feeding is resumed in the northern grounds, protein anabolism and excretion start again, triggering 15N enrichment. It can be concluded that in whales and other mammals that accrue massive depots of lipids as energetic reserves and which have limited access to drinking water, the δ15N value is not affected by fasting and therefore cannot be used as an indicatior of nutritive condition.

Stable isotopes indicate population structuring in the Southwest Atlantic population of right whales

From the early 17th century to the 1970s southern right whales, Eubalaena australis, were subject to intense exploitation along the Atlantic coast of South America. Catches along this coast recorded by whalers originally formed a continuum from Brazil to Tierra del Fuego. Nevertheless, the recovery of the population has apparently occurred fragmentarily, and with two main areas of concentration, one off southern Brazil (Santa Catarina) and another off central Argentina (Peninsula Valdés). This pattern suggests some level of heterogeneity amongst the population, which is apparently contradicted by records that traced individuals moving throughout the whole geographical extension covered by the species in the Southwest Atlantic. To test the hypothesis of the potential occurrence of discrete subpopulations exploiting specific habitats, we investigated N, C and O isotopic values in 125 bone samples obtained from whaling factories operating in the early 1970s in southern Brazil (n = 72) and from contemporary and more recent strandings occurring in central Argentina (n = 53). Results indicated significant differences between the two sampling areas, being δ13C and δ18O values significantly higher in samples from southern Brazil than in those from central Argentina. This variation was consistent with isotopic baselines from the two areas, indicating the occurrence of some level of structure in the Southwest Atlantic right whale population and equally that whales more likely feed in areas commonly thought to exclusively serve as nursing grounds. Results aim at reconsidering of the units currently used in the management of the southern right whale in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. In the context of the current die-off affecting the species in Peninsula Valdés, these results also highlight the necessity to better understand movements of individuals and precisely identify their feeding areas.

δ15N value does not reflect fasting in mysticetes.

The finding that tissue δ15N values increase with protein catabolism has led researchers to apply this value to gauge nutritive condition in vertebrates. However, its application to marine mammals has in most occasions failed. We investigated the relationship between δ15N values and the fattening/fasting cycle in a model species, the fin whale, a migratory capital breeder that experiences severe seasonal variation in body condition. We analyzed two tissues providing complementary insights: one with isotopic turnover (muscle) and one that keeps a permanent record of variations in isotopic values (baleen plates). In both tissues δ15N values increased with intensive feeding but decreased with fasting, thus contradicting the pattern previously anticipated. The apparent inconsistency during fasting is explained by the fact that a) individuals migrate between different isotopic isoscapes, b) starvation may not trigger significant negative nitrogen balance, and c) excretion drops and elimination of 15N-depleted urine is minimized. Conversely, when intensive feeding is resumed in the northern grounds, protein anabolism and excretion start again, triggering 15N enrichment. It can be concluded that in whales and other mammals that accrue massive depots of lipids as energetic reserves and which have limited access to drinking water, the δ15N value is not affected by fasting and therefore cannot be used as an indicatior of nutritive condition.

How patient-centered do female physicians need to be? Analogue patients' satisfaction with male and female physicians' identical behaviors (Published online: 30 Aug 2014)

Previous research suggests that female physicians may not receive appropriate credit in patients' eyes for their patient-centered skills compared to their male counterparts. An experiment was conducted to determine whether a performance of higher (versus lower) verbal patient-centeredness would result in a greater difference in analogue patient satisfaction for male than female physicians. Two male and two female actors portrayed physicians speaking to a patient using high or low patient-centered scripts while not varying their nonverbal cues. One hundred ninety-two students served as analogue patients by assuming the patient role while watching one of the videos and rating their satisfaction and other evaluative responses to the physician. Greater verbal patient-centeredness had a stronger positive effect on satisfaction and evaluations for male than for female physicians. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that the different associations between patient-centeredness and patients' satisfaction for male versus female physicians occur because of the overlap between stereotypical female behavior and behaviors that comprise patient-centered medical care. If this is the case, high verbal patient-centered behavior by female physicians is not recognized as a marker of clinical competence, as it is for male physicians, but is rather seen as expected female behavior.

Stable isotopes provide insight into population structure and segregation in eastern North Atlantic sperm whales

In pelagic species inhabiting large oceans, genetic differentiation tends to be mild and populations devoid of structure. However, large cetaceans have provided many examples of structuring. Here we investigate whether the sperm whale, a pelagic species with large population sizes and reputedly highly mobile, shows indication of structuring in the eastern North Atlantic, an ocean basin in which a single population is believed to occur. To do so, we examined stable isotope values in sequential growth layer groups of teeth from individuals sampled in Denmark and NW Spain. In each layer we measured oxygen- isotope ratios (δ18O) in the inorganic component (hydroxyapatite), and nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios (δ15N: δ13C) in the organic component (primarily collagenous). We found significant differences between Denmark and NW Spain in δ15N and δ18O values in the layer deposited at age 3, considered to be the one best representing the baseline of the breeding ground, in δ15N, δ13C and δ18O values in the period up to age 20, and in the ontogenetic variation of δ15N and δ18O values. These differences evidence that diet composition, use of habitat and/or migratory destinations are dissimilar between whales from the two regions and suggest that the North Atlantic population of sperm whales is more structured than traditionally accepted.

Descrições de técnicas da química na produção de bens de acordo com os relatos dos naturalistas viajantes no Brasil colonial e imperial

European naturalists explored Brazil in long scientific expeditions and published accounts that make up a rich and still largely untapped historiographic source for the understanding of the history of chemistry. The production of indigo dye, the manufacture of limestone, extraction and purification of saltpeter and the production of salt are discussed. Lime was used to whitewash walls and, mixed with whale oil, as cement to glue stones in buildings of the colonial period. It was prepared by burning seashells in specifically designed ovens. Saltpeter was produced by reacting naturally occurring calcium and magnesium nitrate with potassium-rich wood ashes to yield KNO3. NaCl was obtained by evaporating seawater under the sun. Indigo, a native plant, was cultivated and processed to produce the renowned dye, which was exported to Europe.