Global citizens,exotic others,and unwanted migrants: mobilities in and of Europe

This article reflects on Europe’s problematic relationship with its ‘others’, asking in particular how the idea of the ‘exotic’ – constituting one of Europe’s ‘imperial ruins’ – intersects with the figure of the Muslim migrant. The Muslim migrant has in the present become in Europe a potent marker of otherness, which reflects how some cosmopolitan aspirations are perceived negatively in European discourses, revealing how mobility itself is racilized and gendered. WoDaaBe Fulani migrants from Niger have historically occupied a subject position in Europe as identified with ‘the exotic’. The article discusses WoDaaBe temporary migration to Europe to supplement their income back home, and their intersecting positions as ‘exotic’, as Muslims and black Africans. While contemporary discourses tend to highlight Europe’s status as a site of equality, human rights, and cradle of civilization, some bodies are welcome within the space of Europe while others are not.     

The importance of the size of the social network and residential proximity in the reception of informal care in the European Union

This paper explores which factors affect the reception of informal care among those dependent people aged 65 and over in Europe, starting from the so-called Behavioural Model of Health Service Use introduced by Andersen. The data employed are drawn from the fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement. The final sample consists of a total of 17,284 older dependent people of which 4529 (26.2%) received informal care. The main novelty is the incorporation of different characteristics of the social network of the individual (presence of children, size and residential proximity) among the factors that enable the reception of informal care. In particular the two latter aspects are combined in one sole indicator of distance to the social network. In addition to ‘traditional factors’ like age or degree of dependency, all the characteristics of the social network are found to influence the likelihood of receiving informal care. This reveals the need for taking into consideration the role played by social networks when governments design care programmes, especially in the current scenario of rising demand for care.     

Growing Up in A Single Mother Family and Student’s Tardiness: A Cross-National Study Exploring the Moderating Role of Family Resources

Research shows that growing up in a single-parent family has a negative effect on children’s educational level, whereas the relationship between family structure and test scores is less consistent or even nonexistent in some countries. Some authors suggested that something besides cognitive ability is responsible for the poorer school outcomes of children from nonintact families. In this study, we focus on a noncognitive outcome, in this case student tardiness, which is one of the components of problematic absenteeism. Using PISA 2003 data from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we find that children who grow up in a single-mother family have greater chances of arriving late for school in 16 of the 17 countries analyzed. Some studies have analyzed the extent to which the effect of growing up in a single-mother family is compensated by a high level of family resources. However, these yield mixed findings, which can be attributed to the differences between the countries studied. With the exception of Bernardi and Radl (2014), to our knowledge no study analyzes the heterogeneity of family structure effects using a cross-national approach. We find that in most of the 17 countries analyzed, a high level of family resources, such as home possessions, cultural resources, mother’s occupational and educational level, and mother’s type of work, do not compensate for the harmful effects of growing up in a single-mother family on children’s school tardiness.     

Correction to: Analysis of environmental flow requirements for macroinvertebrates in a creek affected by urban drainage (Prague metropolitan area,Czech Republic)

Urban Ecosystems - The original version of this article unfortunately contained errors. The given name and family name of all the authors were interchanged. Dana, Jana and Tomá? are given...     

PI3K pathway and Bcl-2 family. Clinicopathological features in prostate cancer

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mTOR pathways and Bcl-2 family play a central role in prostate cancer (PC). The aim was to determine influence in the biochemical progression in PC. To evaluate the association between clinic pathological and immunohistochemical variables, Spearman’s test was performed. Log-rank test and Kaplan–Meier curves were used for survival comparisons. To explore the correlation of the studied immunohistochemical parameters and the established prognostic variables with biochemical progression, univariate and multivariate Cox proportional Hazard regression analyses were performed. Spearman analysis showed correlation between stroma expression and tumor expression of PI3K with biochemical progression (p?=?.009, p?=?.004), respectively, and tumor immunohistochemical score with biochemical progression (p?=?.051). In the multivariate Cox regression model, only PI3K was retained as independent predictors of biochemical progression. In stroma expression, PI3K is (HR 0.172, 95% CI 0.065–0.452, p?=?.000); tumor expression, PI3K is (HR 0.087, 95% CI 0.026–0.293, p?=?.000), and tumor immunohistochemical score (HR 0.382, 95% CI 0.209–0.697 p?=?.002). Our results suggest a role for prostatic expression of PI3K was prognostic markers for PC. PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Bcl-2 family are becoming an important therapeutic target and predictive biomarkers of onset and progression of PC.     

Identifying beliefs behind boys’ use of mobile phones to monitor girlfriends and girls’ acceptance: a reasoned-action approach

Monitoring/controlling behaviours can be present in the early stages of an abusive relationship. Because of the need for evidence-based interventions grounded on behavioural models that identify the determinants of abusive behaviours, we applied the formative research of the reasoned action approach to: (1) conduct an elicitation study on the behavioural and normative beliefs that explain why boys use mobile phones to monitor their girlfriends and why these accept it, (2) analyse the items designed to assess the different constructs in the model and (3) carry out a preliminary exploration of the relationship between constructs. The sample was composed of 119 adolescent girls and boys between 14 and 18 years of age. Boys and girls seem to hold complementary beliefs that could produce a feedback loop that maintains the abusive behaviour. Parents are a protective factor against the behaviour whereas peers are not. Results on the item analysis and reliability of the scales were good. Intention seems an important predictor of the performance (51%) and acceptance (60%) of the behaviour and attitudes and perceived social norms of the intention (boys: 67%; girls: 65%), which suggests the appropriateness of the model for the prediction of the behaviour.     

Twitter and video activism as tools for counter-surveillance: the case of social protests in Spain

From a communication perspective, social movements of international significance such as the Arab Spring, Toronto G20, Spanish 15M or Occupy Wall Street have been characterized by the use of mobile communication and social media as tools for video activism and counter-surveillance against the abuse of power committed by the state forces. A representative case of this reality, which reached a high coverage and support in social media environment, can be found in the riots that took place in the Gamonal neighbourhood (Burgos, Spain) in January 2014. In this regard, this article focuses on the denunciation of police violence through video activism by Twitter users during the demonstrations across the country, applying a quantitative–qualitative mixed methodology. First, by means of a content analysis, a sample of 784 tweets linked to videos is analysed in order to identify the main topics and functions of the shared content. Second, a textual analysis of those linked videos of a violent nature recorded by witnesses in order to document police interventions is carried out. The prominent use of Twitter for distributing videos to denounce police violence stands out among the main findings, underlining the audiovisual exposure and ‘secondary visibility’ of the police officers. The results obtained also reinforce the idea of citizen empowerment through the development of an alternative form of journalism, as a practice to criticize the mainstream media coverage of the protests. Additionally, this article sheds light on the open debate about the relevance of social media to encourage citizen involvement in a face-to-face interaction.     

How do vulnerable youth complete secondary education? The key role of families and the community

This article demonstrates how the engagement of families and other community members in decision-making processes in a school may prevent early school leaving among vulnerable youth and simultaneously increase their enrolment in secondary education. Based on a large-scale, EU-funded study, this article focuses on the case of one school located in a deprived area inhabited mainly by Roma people – one of the vulnerable populations most affected by early school leaving – where a specific egalitarian participatory process of Roma families was implemented. According to the analysis of the collected data, this participation contributed to a reduction in student dropout rates during primary education, led to the implementation of compulsory secondary education in the same school, and increased the numbers of students who graduated from secondary school. These achievements transformed the educational and social prospects of vulnerable youth who were following the path to failure and who now dream of continuing their studies. Furthermore, these youth are acting as role models for younger children in primary education, helping to prevent school dropout and early school leaving from early ages. The case shows how the community participation in decision-making processes transformed the climate and expectations regarding education in the neighbourhood.     

Evaluation of job satisfaction in a sample of Spanish social workers through the ‘Job Satisfaction Survey’ scale

The objective of this study is to determine the level of job satisfaction experienced by social workers and to establish whether there are significant differences between the various levels of job satisfaction and a series of personal features and job characteristics. The participants were 947 social workers (861 women and 86 men) belonging to 35 of the 36 Professional Associations existing in Spain. The measurement tool used is the Job Satisfaction Survey scale, designed by Spector [2002. Psicología Industrial y Organizacional: Investigación y Práctica [Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice]. México: Manual Moderno]. The results show that the social workers surveyed experience moderate levels of job satisfaction (M?=?115.8; SD?=?21.4). The intrinsic factor that seems to have the greatest positive influence on job satisfaction is the nature of the job, while the extrinsic factors of pay, fringe benefits, and operating conditions are the ones that contribute most to job dissatisfaction, and social workers have no control over any of them.