Cultures mediàtiques adolescents: Un estudi psicosocial centrat en el telèfon mòbil

Des de la perspectiva psicosocial s'analitzen alguns aspectes de les interaccions entre progenitors i fills/es adolescents entre 12 i 16 anys en relació a l'ús del telèfon mòbil en el marc de la societat acceleradament canviant. S'ha emprat un mètode plural o multimètode que s'ha articulat en dues fases d'investigació, una quantitativa i una qualitativa, per l'estudi dels fenòmens socials complexes com ho són les relacions intergeneracionals. Els resultats posen de manifest que existeixen interaccions entre les actituds dels adolescents i dels progenitors en l'ús del telèfon mòbil. També apunten que les tecnologies audiovisuals com el mòbil estan mediatitzant les relacions intergeneracionals. És a dir, no només els adolescents utilitzen molt més les tecnologies que els adults, sinó que a més sobre el context social que té impacte aquest ús és fonamentalment amb els amics. Cal un major apropament intergeneracional pel que fa a mantenir converses entre adults i adolescents al voltant dels temes que els motiven i interessen, com és el cas de les TICs.

The sight of silence : the conceptualisation of silence in the visual cultures of sign language communities

Deaf people are perceived by hearing people as living in a silent world. Yet, silence cannot exist without sound, so if sound is not heard, can there be silence? From a linguistic point of view silence is the absence of, or intermission in, communication. Silence can be communicative or noncommunicative. Thus, silence must exist in sign languages as well. Sign languages are based on visual perception and production through movement and sight. Silence must, therefore, be visually perceptible; and, if there is such a thing as visual silence, how does it look? The paper will analyse the topic of silence from a Deaf perspective. The main aspects to be explored are the perception and evaluation of acoustic noise and silence by Deaf people; the conceptualisation of silence in visual languages, such as sign languages; the qualities of visual silence; the meaning of silence as absence of communication (particularly between hearing and Deaf people); social rules for silence; and silencing strategies.

Análisis de la relación Fondo Ambiental Nacional, FAN - Ministerio del Ambiente, MAE: caso Alianza estratégica para apoyar el fortalecimiento del Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas: (SNAP)

La presente tesis analiza las relaciones del Ministerio del Ambiente (MAE), con el Fondo Ambiental Nacional, FAN, en el marco de la alianza estratégica que mantienen para apoyar la conservación de la biodiversidad del Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas, SNAP. Con este enfoque, se revisa puntualmente el marco jurídico e institucional para la gestión de la biodiversidad en general y del SNAP en particular; y en este contexto se resume la trayectoria del SNAP, su conformación, problemática y situaciones recurrentes de debilidades para su gestión, desde 1973 hasta la actualidad. Se revisan el contexto político y económico que motivaron la creación y luego puesta en marcha del FAN; sus características legales y organizacionales, ámbito de acción y enfoque estratégico; así como las características de la alianza MAE FAN, direccionada a apoyar al MAE en la gestión de recursos financieros que apoyen la gestión del SNAP, la cual se agravó como resultado de la implementación en 1998 de la Ley Especial de Galápagos, que eliminó los fondos que subsidiariamente recibía el SNAP. Se analiza los sistemas y modelos de gestión, tanto del MAE, como del FAN, para ubicar en ellos los arreglos institucionales realizados para implementar la alianza de apoyo al SNAP; y en este sentido se describen el diseño, elaboración e implementación del Fondo de gastos operativos básicos, para las áreas protegidas, FAP, como un mecanismo de capitalización de un fondo patrimonial cuyos rendimientos se destinan a apoyar la gestión de las áreas protegidas del SNAP; mecanismo implementado conjuntamente por las dos entidades desde el 2002. Luego de una revisión de la implementación de los macro procesos del Fondo de áreas protegidas: FAP, se analizan los planes estratégicos del SNAP y del FAN, para ubicar los avances, reflexionar sobre los problemas recurrentes; y en base de ello proceder a proponer recomendaciones que fortalezcan la alianza MAE y FAN, tanto en la implementación del FAP, como en potenciales temas de interacción entre el MAE y el FAN, para un fortalecimiento más integral a la gestión del SNAP como un objetivo de país, a cuyo cumplimiento el FAN debe contribuir de manera más eficiente y con la consiguiente corresponsabilidad del MAE.

Youth/youth cultures

Youth is an embodied social construct attached to people who are too young to be classified as fully adult, and yet older than children. It is a term whose meaning is sociospatially specific and shifting. Youth and young people are often perceived as troubling to society, and the earliest studies of youth were tied to attempts to control unruly young people. Studies of youth cultures often utilized ethnographic research to explore the perspectives of young people. Early youth cultural studies inadvertently reproduced some dominant representations of youth, as male and troubling to society, by focusing upon subcultural groupings, such as Punks and Mods, and by excluding accounts of those other than white, heterosexual males. Recent studies have moved beyond these accounts to consider how youth cultures are porous, differentiated rather than holistic, connected to broader sociospatial processes, and can reproduce powerful social relationships, such as gender, along with teasing out how youth cultures are played out differently in various geographical contexts.

Bridging the two cultures. Commercial archaeology and the study of prehistoric Britain

This paper was given at a meeting of the Society held on 12 January 2006 and it discusses the relationship between academic research and developer-funded archaeology in Britain today, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each. It considers the relationship between archaeological theory and practice and discusses the changing roles of academics, fieldworkers and managers. It argues that important issues need to be resolved, including the dissemination of information from recent archaeological fieldwork and the use of ‘grey literature’ in informing more ambitious interpretations of the past.

Pollen ultrastructure in anther cultures of Datura innoxia. III. Incomplete microspore division

During the microspore division in Datura innoxia, the mitotic spindle is oriented in planes both perpendicular (PE) and oblique (OB) to the spore wall against which the nucleus is situated. However, irrespective of polarity, the usual type of hemispherical wall is laid down at cytokinesis and isolates the generative cell from the rest of the pollen grain (type A). In PE spores the vegetative nucleus initially occupies a central position in the pollen grain, whereas in OB spores the vegetative nucleus lies at the periphery of the grain close to the generative cell. In anther cultures initiated just before the microspore division is due to take place, no marked change can be observed in either orientation or symmetry of the mitotic spindle when the spores divide. In some, however, cytokinesis is disrupted and deposition of the hemispherical wall arrested. In the absence of a complete wall, differentiation of the generative cell cannot take place and binucleate pollen grains are formed having 2 vegetative-type nuclei (type B). The 2 nuclei in the B pollens are always situated against the pollen-grain wall, suggesting that the disruption phenomenon is related to the OB spores. The incomplete wall always makes contact with the intine on the intine-side of the spindle. Wall material may be represented merely as short stubs projecting out from the intine into the cytoplasm, in which event the 2 nuclei lie close to each other and are separated by only a narrow zone of cytoplasm. In other grains the wall is partially developed between the nuclei and terminates at varying distances from the tonoplast; in these, the nuclei are separated by a wider zone of cytoplasm. The significance of these binucleate grains in pollen embryogenesis is discussed.

Pollen ultrastructure in anther cultures of Datura innoxia. II. The generative-cell wall.

In young pollen grains of Datura innoxia, a wall of the usual hemispherical type separates the 2 gametophytic cells initially and, in the electron microscope, appears as an electron-translucent matrix which is contiguous with the intine. Before detachment of the generative cell from the intine, the matrix decreases in thickness and in places is dispersed altogether leaving the plasmalemmae on either side of it in close apposition. A particularly prominent zone, triangular in profile, is left where the wall joins with the intine. After detachment of the cell, remnants of the matrix can be seen distributed irregularly around the cell and it is supposed that these are partly derived from material in the triangular zone as the cell is drawn away from the intine. The wall residues persist throughout the maturation phase of the pollen and are considered to be either callose resulting from incomplete digestion of the initial wall, or some other polysaccharide material which is unevenly laid down along the wall and concentrated at the junction with the intine. In pollen induced into embryogenesis by anther culture, wall material is also distributed irregularly around the detached cell in a series of discrete zones, but these are more extensive than in vivo, closer together and in many instances highly dilated. The wall profiles thus have a beaded appearance, the 'beads' being connected together by short links of the 2 apposed plasmalemmae. The contents of the swollen zones have a similar electron density to that of the matrix in vivo but also show traces of a fibrillar component. It is postulated that this unusual swelling is a prelude to dispersal of the wall by disruption of the plasmalemmal links and to the establishment of cytoplasmic continuity between the 2 cells. The significance of such binucleate pollen grains in the formation of non-haploid embryos is discussed.

Pollen ultrastructure in anther cultures of Datura innoxia. I. Division of the presumptive vegetative cell.

Ultrastructural features of embryogenic pollen in Datura innoxia are described, just prior to, during, and after completion of the first division of the presumptive vegetative cell. In anther cultures initiated towards the end of the microspore phase and incubated at 28 degrees C in darkness, the spores divide within 24 h and show features consistent with those of dividing spores in vivo. Cytokinesis is also normal in most of the spores and the gametophytic cell-plate curves round the presumptive generative nucleus in the usual highly ordered way. Further differentiation of the 2 gametophytic cells does not take place and the pollen either switches to embryogenesis or degenerates. After 48-72 h, the remaining viable pollen shows the vegetative cell in division. The cell, which has a large vacuole and thin layer of parietal cytoplasm carried over from the microspore, divides consistently in a plane parallel to the microspore division. The dividing wall follows a less-ordered course than the gametophytic wall and usually traverses the vacuole, small portions of which are incorporated into the daughter cell adjacent to the generative cell. The only structural changes in the vegetative cell associated with the change in programme appear to be an increase in electron density of both plastids and mitochondria and deposition of an electron-dense material (possibly lipid) on the tonoplast. The generative cell is attached to the intine when the vegetative cell divides. Ribosomal density increases in the generative cell and exceeds that in the vegetative cell. A thin electron-dense layer also appears in the generative-cell wall. It is concluded that embryogenesis commences as soon as the 2 gametophytic cells are laid down. Gene activity associated with postmitotic synthesis of RNA and protein in the vegetative cell is switched off. The data are discussed in relation to the first division of the embryogenic vegetative cells in Nicotiana tabacum.