A methodology for connecting user centered design (UCD) with eco-design. The possibility of migration of products to services based on the user acceptance

The consumer products generation is one of the main engines that fuel the planet's environmental problems, reduction of environmental impacts associated with the products has been studied from various aspects between them, the supply of products for public consumption instead of private, seeking to meet the needs of the community by establishing programs for sharing single product. It has been detected a problematic issues linked to this strategy, where the user acceptance of this new way of living together with the products must be achieved. The arguments here presented seek to identify user perception of such proposals and their possible acceptance throughout strategies from the User Centered Design (UCD).     

Observing Erotic Videos With Heterosexual Content Induces Different Cerebral Responses in Homosexual and Heterosexual Men

ABSTRACT

To determine the cerebral functionality associated with the perception and processing of erotic stimuli in men with different sexual orientation, this work evaluated the electroencephalographic activity (EEG) from several cortical areas, as well as subjective arousal in homosexual and heterosexual men during observation of an erotic film with heterosexual content. The heterosexual men rated the erotic video with higher general and sexual arousal than the homosexual participants. During observation of the neutral and erotic videos, both groups showed a decreased amplitude of the alpha band in prefrontal and parietal cortices, indicating increased attention. When watching the erotic video, the homosexual men showed an increased amplitude of the theta and fast bands only in the prefrontal cortex, which could be related to the cognitive processing of the erotic stimulus. These EEG results should broaden our knowledge of the cortical mechanisms related to the different perception and processing of erotic stimuli in men with different sexual orientations.     

“Todo ha sido a pulmón”: Community organizing after disaster in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT

In this Notes from the Field, we highlight the work of community based organizations that filled essential gaps in the disaster recovery efforts in Puerto Rico for communities that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Maria yet received little formal government aid. We describe community mobilizing and organizing efforts and identify key lessons for eco-social work practice. As disaster risk increases with climate change, community led efforts are likely to prove vital for the effective protection of the most vulnerable population groups.     

The Role of Catchment Areas on School Segregation by Economic,Social and Cultural Characteristics

This research analyses the socioeconomic and cultural segregation of students across school catchment areas using census data for the students in their second year of secondary education in Andalusia (the most populated region in Spain). The main methodology used is the Mutual Information Index, which satisfies all the desirable properties for measuring segregation. Concretely, we draw upon the additive decomposability property, which decomposes the segregation of students across schools into the different levels in which schools can be grouped, that is, catchment areas and, within catchment areas, by source of funding (public and semiprivate schools). We found that school segregation is greater than catchment areas’ segregation. Additionally, statistically significant correlations are found between the level of segregation within the catchment areas and factors such as size of the catchment area, parental level of education and size of the municipality where the school is located.

     

The Influence of Top Management Teams in the Strategic Orientation and Performance of Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises

Identifying which factors affect firms' performance is a critical issue in strategic management research. This paper addresses the influence of managerial team over the behaviour and performance of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). By treating top management team (TMT) characteristics as predictors of a firm's strategic orientation, we seek to provide a more complete understanding of how the characteristics of managerial teams shape decision‐making processes and SMEs' behaviours in order to successfully compete in low munificent environments. Based on primary data regarding managerial characteristics and firms' behaviours of a sample of 295 SMEs, our results confirm that a firm's strategic orientation plays a mediating role in explaining how TMT characteristics determine SMEs' performance.     

Transnationalism and Development: Mexican and Chinese Immigrant Organizations in the United States

The literature on development in economics and sociology has tended to focus on capital flows, investments, and, more recently, institutions as key causal factors. International migration, when discussed, is relegated to the status of a symptom of underdevelopment and even a factor contributing to it. The more recent literature on migrant remittances has partially reversed this view by documenting large hard currency transfers made by expatriates to their home countries. This changed approach to migration and development does not go far enough because it does not take into account the organized efforts of immigrant communities themselves. Nor does it consider important developmental synergies produced by the rising interactions between immigrant organizations and sending‐country governments. Using data from a recently completed comparative study, we document these processes for two major countries of out‐migration—Mexico and China. The study compiled inventories of migrant organizations from both countries in the United States, interviewed leaders of the major ones, and complemented these data with interviews with officials and community leaders in each sending country. Profiles of these transnational ties were constructed, exemplifying their increasing density and developmental impact at the local and national levels. Theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Comments on “Detecting Outliers in Gamma Distribution” by M. Jabbari Nooghabi et al. (2010)

This note shows that the results presented by Jabbari Nooghabi et al (2010) do not hold in all expected cases. With this, the technique proposed by Kumar and Lalitha (2012) for detecting upper outliers in Gamma samples is also not valid.     

Coming of age in Spain: the self-identification, beliefs and self-esteem of the second generation

We review the literature on determinants of ethnic/national self-identities and self-esteem as a prelude to examining these outcomes among a large, statistically representative sample of second generation adolescents in Madrid and Barcelona. While these psycho-social outcomes are malleable, they still represent important dimensions of immigrant adaptation and can have significant consequences both for individual mobility and collective mobilizations. Current theories are largely based on data from the USA and other Anglophone countries. The availability of a new large Spanish survey allows us to test those theories in an entirely different socio-cultural context. The analysis concludes with a structural equations model that summarizes key determinants of national identities and self-esteem among children of immigrants in Spain. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.