Alguns trematódeos monogenéticos da família Capsalidae Baird, 1853, em peixes do Oceano Atlântico - Costa Continental Portuguesa e Costa do Norte da África

No presente trabalho é feito um estudo de cinco trematódeos monogenéticos pertencentes à família Capsalidae Baird, 1853. Para a subfamília Benedeniinae Johnston, 1931, foram criadas duas espécies pertencenteso ao gênero Benedenia Diesing, 1858: Benedenia pompatica sp. n., que muito se assemelha a Benedenia sciaenae (Beneden, 1852), diferindo desta principalmente pela estrutura do 2º e 3º pares de macroganchos e Benedenia innobilitata sp. n. que mais se aproxima de Benedenia jaliscana Bravo-Hollis, 1951, afastando-se desta espécie pela ausência do cirro armado e também pela estrutura e localização da vagina. Da subfamília Trochopodiane (Price, 1936) são apresentados novos hospedadores: Lepidotrigla cavillone para Trochopus pini (Beneden & Hesse, 1863) e Serranus cabrilla para Megalocotyle grandiloba Paperna e Kohn, 1964, sendo apresentadas com novas descrições e ilustrações. Ainda desta subfamília é criada uma nova espécie do gênero Allomegalocotyle (Robinson, 1961) Yamaguti, 1963. A. gabbari sp. n. diferencia-se de A. johnstoni (Robinson, 1961), única espécie do gênero, pela morfologia dos macroganchos, localização do poro vaginal e vesícula seminal bem desenvolvida e externa.

Alguns nematódeos de peixes do Oceano Atlântico - Costa Continental Portuguesa e Costa do Norte da África

Os autores estudam 6 espécies de nematódeos encontrados em 21 peixes coletados no Oceano Atlântico na Costa Continental Portuguesa e Costa no Norte da África. Dos 21 peixes necropsiados 7 (33,3%) estavam parasitados por nematódeos. Os hospedeiros bem como os nematódeos encontrados e as freqüências de positividade são as seguintes: 6 exemplares de Beryx decadactylus um dos quais parasitado por Ascarophis morrhuae (16,6%); 3 Lethrinus atlanticus um dos quais parasitado por Luzonema cruzi gen. n. sp. n. (33,3%); 3 Scyliorhynus canicula sendo 2 parasitados por Proleptus obutusus (66,6%); 8 de Raja clavata sendo um parasitado por Proleptus robustus (12,5%) e outro por Pseudanisakis rajae (12,5%); 1 Conger conger parasitado por Cucullanus longispiculum sp. n. (100 %). Pseudanisakis rajae é referido pela primeira vez no Oceano Atlântico e como parasita de Raja clavata. Beryx decadactylus é referido pela primeira vez como hospedeiro de Ascarophis morrhuae.

Alguns acantocéfalos de peixes do Oceano Atlântico, Costa Continental Portuguesa e Costa do Norte da África

Foram estudadas quatro espécies de acantocéfalos encontrados na autópsia de 81 peixes capturados no Oceano Atlântico, na Costa Continental Portuguesa e na Costa Norte da África. Encontramos 16 peixes parasitados por acantocéfalos. As espécies de peixes necropsiados e os helmintos encontrados foram os seguintes: 11 meros (Epinephellus gigas) sendo 1 parasitado por fêmeas da família Rhadinorhynchidade; 5 sardas (Scomber scombrus) sendo duas parasitadas por Rhadinorhynchus tenuicornis; 62 pescadas (Merluccius merluccius merluccius) sendo 12 parasitadas por Aspersentis johni e 3 linguados (Solea solea) sendo 1 parasitado por Acanthocephaloides incrassatus. Aspersintis johni é pela primeira vez mencionado no Hemisfério Norte e Acanthocephaloides incrassatus é pela primeira vez referido no Oceano Atlântico.

Health care utilization among immigrants and native-born populations in 11 European countries. Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

Objective: This study examines health care utilization of immigrants relative to the native-born populations aged 50 years and older in eleven European countries. Methods. We analyzed data from the Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from 2004 for a sample of 27,444 individuals in 11 European countries. Negative Binomial regression was conducted to examine the difference in number of doctor visits, visits to General Practitioners (GPs), and hospital stays between immigrants and the native-born individuals. Results: We find evidence those immigrants above age 50 use health services on average more than the native-born populations with the same characteristics. Our models show immigrants have between 6% and 27% more expected visits to the doctor, GP or hospital stays when compared to native-born populations in a number of European countries. Discussion: Elderly immigrant populations might be using health services more intensively due to cultural reasons.

Ús social del català: el català als immigrants

Treball de recerca realitzat per alumnes d'ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit cientí¬fic del Jovent l'any 2009. El treball pretén aconseguir quatre objectius. En primer lloc, comprovar l’estat de la llengua catalana entre els immigrants catalans i cerdanyolencs. Per altra banda, conèixer les institucions o serveis que vetllen per l’extensió de l’ús social del català. També determinar quins factors impulsen la població immigrada a aprendre català. I, per últim, diferenciar l’ús del català entre la població immigrada dels anys 60 i l'actual. La recerca portada ha terme ha mostrat que hi ha un bon nombre de població immigrada de països llatinoamericans i del Nord d’Àfrica que s’interessa per l’aprenentatge del català. El motiu sembla ser laboral i d’integració cultural. En canvi, s’observa que la immigració interna en fa un ús més oral i de relació amb les noves generacions. Alhora, no consideren necessari l’ús del català per a poder viure a Cerdanyola.

Heterogeneity across immigrants in the Spanish labour

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the diferences that immigrants have in the Spanish labour market. Immigrants in Spain come from a diversity of continents (Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, Asia, etc.), and there are substantial diferences in characteristics not only among continents but also among countries in each continent. Using a quantile regression method of decomposition we estimate these diferences that are reflected in the labour market and in particular are mirrored in the wage, so some immigrants are more discriminated or segregated that others because they have less advantage. For example Argentineans and Peruvians have the same origin and culture but we can find diferences in the wage that they receive in the Spanish labor market, or for example Moroccans have a advantage with respect to the Rest of Africans, due to the geographical proximity to Spain. So when we study the pay gap and the gender pay gap we need to take into consideration the origin of immigrants. We also want to study how the integration of immigrants evolved across years, whether the wage gap that we find in the first episode of work between immigrants and natives disappears or continues to be present in the Spain labour market.

Immigrants'assimilation process in a segmented labor market

While much of the literature on immigrants' assimilation has focused on countries with a large tradition of receiving immigrants and with flexible labor markets, very little is known on how immigrants adjust to other types of host economies. With its severe dual labor market, and an unprecedented immigration boom, Spain presents a quite unique experience to analyze immigrations' assimilation process. Using data from the 2000 to 2008 Labor Force Survey, we find that immigrants are more occupationally mobile than natives, and that much of this greater flexibility is explained by immigrants' assimilation process soon after arrival. However, we find little evidence of convergence, especially among women and high skilled immigrants. This suggests that instead of integrating, immigrants occupationally segregate, providing evidence consistent with both imperfect substitutability and immigrants' human capital being under-valued. Additional evidence on the assimilation of earnings and the incidence of permanent employment by different skill levels also supports the hypothesis of segmented labor markets.

Do Legal Immigrants and Natives Compete in the Labour Market? Evidence from Catalonia

The precondition for labour-market competition between immigrants and natives is that both are willing to accept jobs that do not differ in quality. To test this hypothesis, in this paper we compare the working conditions between immigrants and natives in Catalonia. Comparing immigrants’ working conditions in relation to their native counterparts is not only a useful analysis for studying the extent to which immigrants and low-skilled native workers are direct competitors in the labour market, but also allows us to contribute to the literature on this issue by moving away from the conventional approach used in previous studies. Our results indicate that: i) natives and immigrants display a different taste for job (dis)amenities; ii) Catalan-born workers might be in direct competition with EU15 immigrants, while non-Catalan Spanish workers might be competing with Latin American immigrants, and; iii) African-born immigrants are the group in the Catalan workforce that by far face the worst working conditions.

Work, risk and health: differences between immigrants and natives in Spain

We analyze the impact of working and contractual conditions, particularly exposure to job risks, on the probability of acquiring a disability. We postulate a model in which this impact is mediated by the choice of occupation, with a level of risk associated to it. We assume this choice is endogenous, and that it depends on preferences and opportunities in the labour market, both of which may differ between immigrants and natives. To test this hypothesis we use data from the Continuous Sample of Working Lives of the Spanish SS system. It contains individual, job and firm information of over a million workers, including a representative sample of immigrants. We find that risk exposure increases the probability of permanent disability by 5.3%; temporary employment also influences health. Migrant status -with differences among regions of origin- significantly affects both disability and the probability of being employed in a risky occupation. Most groups of immigrants work in riskier jobs, but have lower probability of becoming disabled. Nevertheless, our theoretical hypothesis that disability and risk are jointly determined is not valid for immigrants: i.e. for them working conditions is not a matter of choice in terms of health.

Is there Descriminatory Mortgage Pricing against Immigrants in the Spanish Lending Market?

In this paper, we investigate whether evidence of discriminatory treatment against immigrants in the Spanish mortgage market exists. More specifically, we test whether, ceteris paribus, immigrant borrowers tend to be charged with higher interest rates on their mortgages than their Spanish born counterparts. To do so, we use a unique dataset on granted mortgages that contains information not only regarding the conditions of the loan but also the socio-economic characteristics of the mortgagors. We observe that immigrants are systematically charged with higher interest rates. We apply the well known Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to measure the extent to which this disparate treatment of lenders in mortgage pricing against immigrants is due to discrimination. Our results indicate that approximately two thirds of the gap in the interest rate between Spanish born and immigrant borrowers can be attributed to discriminatory treatment. Key words: Immigration, discrimination, mortgage pricing, housing market. JEL codes: R21, G21, J14

Pau, conflicte i seguretat a l'Àfrica. Nous reptes i noves perspectives. Barcelona, 3 a 5 de novembre de 2010

Relatoria de las jornadas internacionales “Paz, Conflicto y seguridad en África. Nuevos retos y Nuevas perspectivas” realizadas en Barcelona en noviembre de 2010 y coorganizadas por el Instituto Catalán Internacional para la Paz (ICIP), la Casa África y el Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). Las jornadas tenían por objeto analizar las situaciones vinculadas a la paz, los conflictos y la seguridad en África, pero tratando de huir de las visiones pesimistas y adoptando una perspectiva constructiva. Por lo tanto no centrada en los conflictos violentos sino también en las experiencias de paz y resolución de conflictos, y fundamentada en las cosmovisiones africanas, intentando abandonar los clichés que ofrecen una imagen negativa i estereotipada de África.

Active screening for pulmonary tuberculosis by chest x-ray among immigrants at the Swiss border

Summary : Aim: To assess the number of immigrants with pulmonary tuberculosis detected by chest x-ray screening at the Swiss border. Method: All adult immigrants entering Switzerland in 2004 were screened by chest x-ray (CXR). The number of radiological abnormalities suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis, and the proportion requiring treatment for tuberculosis, were assessed retrospectively. The frequency of symptoms among immigrants with documented TB was compared with a sample of immigrants with a normal CXR. Results: Among 8995 immigrants, 8240 had a normal CXR, 630 had some abnormality not suggestive of active TB and 125 (1.4%) had a CXR suggestive of pulmonary TB. A final diagnosis of tuberculosis requiring treatment was made in SO (1 l with positive smear and culture, 16 with positive culture and 23 with negative culture), 57 had fibrotic lesions and 18 had another disease or a normal x-ray on control. The prevalence of symptoms did not differ between 27 immigrants with documented TB (smear+/culture+: 82%, smear-/ culture+: 75%), and 23 with smear-/culturetuberculosis (91%), but lower in 57 immigrants with fibrotic lesions (60%). Cough was more frequent among the 27 immigrants with documented TB (70%) than among 198 smokers without TB (37%) and among 229 non-smokers without TB (15%) Conclusions: Only 22% (27/125) of immigrants with CXR abnormalities suggestive of pulrnonary tuberculosis were documented by smear and/or culture and 40% (50/125) needed antituberculous treatment. 2/11 smear-positive immigrants would not have been detected by a questionnaire on symptoms. Rapport de synthèse : Le but de l'étude est d'évaluer le rendement du dépistage radiologique de la tuberculose pulmonaire chez les immigrés à l'entrée en Suisse. Méthode: parmi les immigrés adultes entrés en Suisse en 2004, qui ont tous passé un contrôle radiologique, le nombre de porteurs de clichés thoraciques suspects de tuberculose et la proportion de cas chez lesquels un traitement antituberculeux a été prescrit ont été évalués rétrospectivement. La fréquence des symptômes chez les immigrés atteints de tuberculose a été comparée à celle d'un groupe contrôle sans tuberculose. Résultats: parmi 8995 immigrés, 8240 avaient un cliché thoracique normal, 630 étaient porteurs d'une anomalie non suspecte de tuberculose active et 125 (1.4%) montraient des signes radiologiques suspects de tuberculose. Un diagnostic final de tuberculose nécessitant un traitement a été posé dans 50 cas (11 cas à frottis et culture positifs, 16 cas à culture positive, 23 cas à culture négative), 57 présentaient des lésions cicatricielles compatibles avec une ancienne tuberculose et 18 avaient une autre affection pulmonaire ou un cliché normal au contrôle. La prévalence des plaintes n'était pas différente entre les 27 immigrés porteurs d'une tuberculose documentée (frottis+ /culture+: 82%, frottis-/culture+ : 75%) et les 23 immigrés atteints d'une tuberculose non documentée (frottis-/culture-: 91%), mais elle était plus élevée que chez les 57 immigrés porteurs de lésions cicatricielles (59%). La toux était plus fréquente chez les 27 tuberculeux documentés (70%) que chez 198 fumeurs sans tuberculose (37%) et chez 229 non fumeurs sans tuberculose (15%). Conclusions: seuls 22% (27/125) des immigrés dont le cliché thoracique est suspect de tuberculose sont porteurs d'une tuberculose documentée par examen direct ou culture et 40% (50/125) nécessitent un traitement antituberculeux. Deux immigrants sur les 11 cas frottis positifs n'auraient pas été dépistés par un questionnaire.