The Latin American population in Sweden has been increasing, and Colombians accounted for 17-24 % of the total migrant population in the last 5 years. In migration, acculturation is a process where individual changes take place as a result of contact with other culturally dissimilar people, which is known by influencing positively or negatively the health status of immigrants. Different studies have examined migration and health status, health access and barriers of consultation. However, there is a lack of information regarding immigrants’ attitudes towards health services and the influence on health-seeking behaviors. The aim was to explore the attitudes and experiences that Colombian immigrants had in their first interaction with the primary healthcare center (Vårdcentral). More specifically, it sought to explore differences or similarities in the attitudes and experiences of the Swedish healthcare system compared those from Colombia. Consequently, eight semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with Colombian immigrants living in the south of Sweden using a snowball-sampling technique. A qualitative manifest and a latent content analysis were used for the analysis and interpretation of results. Three themes emerged from the analysis: ‘The language: playing the same game’, referred to the relevance of language providing autonomy and connecting with the new context. ‘The Swedish healthcare system: The disillusion when starting over’, referred to the contrasting perceptions of immigrants in their first interaction with the Vårdcentral, indicating a shock that made them change their health-seeking behaviors. ‘Acculturation is like going on a long pathway’: described the transition of personal thoughts and actions with the healthcare system, which constituted steps in the process of adapting to the Swedish Culture. Acculturation is a complex process that includes encounters with the healthcare system. Interventions, in healthcare, that facilitate immigrants to better adjust to a new society are required in order to ensure the acceptation of attitudes and practices leading to gains in health and well-being.

Resumen: El objetivo de ésta tesis es dar una base bibliográfica suficiente para identificar estudios, disciplinas y tecnologías vigentes que puedan ser aplicadas a la observación y mejoramiento de los mecanismos biológicos necesarios para tocar contrabajo, y que por tanto aporten a la potenciación de las posibilidades técnicas y artísticas del contrabajista, así como de su salud. En el Capítulo 1 se presenta información considerada clave acerca de las características morfológicas, tanto del cuerpo humano como del contrabajo, a la vez que se introducen algunos ejemplos de la manera en que dichas morfologías, y la interacción entre ellas, aportan a la producción controlada de sonido. En el segundo capítulo se integra al documento información acerca de los trastornos músculo-esqueléticos que aquejan a músicos profesionales. Allí se recogen datos estadísticos referentes los músicos de orquesta, y se focaliza en algunos de los trastornos comunes para los contrabajistas, incluyendo descripciones de condiciones endógenas y exógenas que los originan. En el tercer capítulo se exponen algunas iniciativas investigativas que buscan vincular al panorama del desarrollo musical profesional ciertas perspectivas emergentes: conceptos y disciplinas dedicados a cultivar un buen uso de la asociación humana mente/cuerpo, que muestran un gran potencial, tanto para la prevención y la rehabilitación de trastornos músculo-esqueléticos como para el pulimento de la técnica instrumental. En la cuarta y última fase de la exploración bibliográfica (capítulo 4) se integrará enfáticamente información conteniendo análisis más detallados de las mecánicas corporales en interacción con los objetos, las herramientas, los instrumentos. Abstract: The objective of this document is to give a sufficientbibliographic basis to identify current studies, disciplines and technologies that can be applied to the observation and improvement of the biological mechanisms necessary to touch against Touch double bass, and therefore contribute to the empowerment of the technical and artistic possibilities of the bassist, as well as his health. In this sense, in the first instance (Chapter 1), information is presented that is considered key to the morphological characteristics of both the human body and the double bass, while introducing some examples of how these Morphology, and the interaction between them, contributes to the controlled production of sound. In the second chapter, information on musculoskeletal disorders afflicting professional musicians is integrated into the document. There are collected statistical data concerning orchestral musicians, and focuses on some of the common disorders for the bassists, including descriptions of endogenous and exogenous conditions that originate them. The third chapter sets out some research initiatives that seek to link to the panorama of professional musical development certain emerging perspectives: concepts and disciplines dedicated to cultivating a good use of the human Mind/body Association, which They show great potential, both for the prevention and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders and for the polishing of instrumental techniques. In the fourth and final phase of bibliographic exploration (chapter 4), information will be emphatically integrated containing more detailed analyses of body mechanics in interaction with objects, tools, instruments. It will be sought to make evident the relevance of the use of detailed biomechanical control and analysis tools, for the observation and development of the necessary movements within the instrumental musical activity of the bassist.

Fatigue distress may be defined as cumulative damage on asphalt due to repetitive loading and it is observed when a huge number of micro-crack is propagated up to create a macro-crack. The fatigue behaviour can be analysed by different approaches and using distinct laboratory devices. This research was intended to investigate the fatigue behaviour of a polymer modified bitumen (PmB 25-55/55A) and an unmodified bitumen (PEN 50/70), as well as mortars and mastics derived from these binders by adding sand and filler in the same proportion. Since various points were needed to plot the final fatigue curves of each material, a total of 42 fatigue tests were performed by using the dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). The fatigue tests were performed by testing 20mm height and 6mm effective diameter cylindrical specimens. The test temperature was 20°C and a 10Hz frequency was chosen along this research. The tests were done under controlled-stress mode, which means that the input shear stress was constant. The initial shear stress used for each material was estimated by executing a previous stress sweep test. Three different initial shear stresses were employed at every bituminous material. By using the DSR, the rheological properties such as complex shear modulus and phase angle were found. The results were processed to estimate the fatigue life of different materials and establish further comparisons. Fatigue life of all materials was calculated by applying the classical method based on the 50% of initial stiffness and the dissipated energy approach. The number of load cycles needed to cause fatigue damage on specimen was defined as the fatigue life under both approaches. Additionaly, the concept of ratio of dissipated energy change (RDEC) was employed to calculate the number of load cycle to fatigue cracking. The results were higher than the dissipated energy ratio, which demonstrated a time lag between the fatigue resistance and the exact moment of cracking. RDEC number of cycles was found as a threshold in the fatigue life of specimen.

Es un trabaio que nace con el propósito de crear conciencia y se tomen acciones inmediatas, para controlar el deterioro que a lo largo de los años se viene dando en el medio ambiente, por el uso indiscriminado de los recursos naturales, por la falta de atención y por no ejercer controles a todos los efectos negativos que se presentan en el ambiente ni sobre quienes los ocasionan. De esta forma es pertinente que los medios de vigilancia y control se refuercen y contribuyan a regular ciertas actividades y efectos de la acción del hombre sobre el medio ambiente como: La erosión, la deforestación, las obras públicas, actividades mineras modificaciones en los cauces de los ríos entre otras, de esta manera el fin es que se apropie el tema de la Evaluación del Impacto Ambiental y se adopte una herramienta y metodología que permitan a los Gerentes de Proyectos identificar a tiempo desde la planificación de un proyecto ya sea público y/o privado financiero o social los daños que este llegue a ocasionar en el Medio Ambiente y así tomar los controles necesarios para atenuar o eliminar el impacto ambiental en el ecosistema.

Insects are essential for the functioning of ecosystems, delivering important ecological functions as nutrient recycling, pest control, pollination, and seed dispersal. Biodiversity increases the multi-functionality and resilience of ecosystems around the world, a valuable effect considering that global change is likely to have an impact on ecosystems globally. In the process of urbanisation, ecosystems are modified and plant and animal communities segregated, affecting biodiversity and thus jeopardising ecosystems in a global scale. Different insect taxa play distinct ecological roles, so assessing how environmental factors associated with urbanisation affect them is relevant for the conservation of biological diversity of cities. The main objective of this research project was to investigate how insect communities are affected by urbanisation, using an integrated multi-taxa and multiscale approach. The research project is divided in two fundamental questions: 1) Are insect communities affected by coarse or fine scale environmental filters? and 2) Are insect´s foraging abilities affected by environmental modification? To address the first question, I sampled four insect taxa (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera and Hymenoptera) in 19 sites with three levels of environmental modification, and multiple environmental variables associated with urbanisation. For the second question, I used focal plants to sample floral visitors in 19 sites with varying levels of environmental modification, recording the time taken for the focal plant to be discovered by an insect, and the number of insects after 48 hours. My results show that coarse environmental filters affect Hemiptera communities but do not seem to affect Coleoptera, Diptera, or Hymenoptera communities. Fine environmental filters such as proportion of native plants with flowers, site area, and proportion of green space are associated with species richness of coleopteran, dipteran and hymenopteran communities. Floral discoverability was not associated with environmental modification but the number of insects was higher in sites with higher environmental modification. Native floral resources are important for the maintenance of urban biodiversity, thus native plants should be used in urban green. Low species richness of hymenopterans and coleopterans in more urbanised sites indicates the susceptibility of these groups to urbanisation, reflecting what others studies have found in urban contexts worldwide. Environmental modification affects insects’ ability to discover and use floral resources. Where conservation initiatives use floral resource plantings to support biodiversity, environmental modification must be considered, to ensure that target taxa are able to reach the novel resources.

En esta disertación examino las formas en que un grupo de profesionales usa, diseña y entiende mapas digitales usados en proyectos participativos en Madrid, España. Argumento que estos Profesionales de la Participación Pública (PPP) llevan a cabo su experticia al generar y organizar sus relaciones con otros actores y objetos de forma que están, simultáneamente, resaltando su autoridad para generar participación, y distribuyendo su autoridad en el proceso. Mi análisis se centra en sus relaciones con los proyectos comunitarios que están mapeando, con profesionales que trabajan similarmente en el diseño de mapas participativos, y con el mapa digital como tal. Concluyo sugiriendo que una aproximación a la experticia que sea etnográfica y centrada en el objeto nos permite desestabilizar nuestras nociones de participación, el rol de las tecnologías digitales, y nuestro entendimiento de lo que es una perspectiva crítica.

Globalization has spread the English language to all the regions in the world, including the global south. Particularly in Colombia, the hegemony of English is evident in bilingual programs at the state and private level. Elite bilingual schools have been accomplices of this “English as a lingua franca” ideology, and they have constructed educational schemes that have students not only learn English, but also be assimilated into a whole new culture, values, and identity: the cosmopolitan identity. The hegemony of English has been attributed as one of the causes for this cosmopolitan identity to be strengthened and the national identity to be weakened. Therefore, this cosmopolitan identity, which is supposed to value all languages, cultures, identities, communities, and countries in the same way, is stratified: it devalues the Colombian students’ native language, culture, and country, and enhances their attachment to the culture of the global powers. Consequently, students prioritize the foreign over the local, and this inhibits the economic development of their native lands, contributing to the social reproduction of nations, cultures, ethnicities, communities, and, at the end, individuals. Thus, as these students are part of the country’s most valuable assets, there must be a new framing of teaching and learning foreign languages, and cultures, to promote first their love of native language, culture, and country. This will be the ideal cosmopolitan identity in Colombian students, one when they will understand that before being universal, they must be local. La globalización ha esparcido el idioma inglés a todos los países en el mundo, incluyendo los del sur global. Particularmente en Colombia, la hegemonía del idioma inglés es evidente en programas bilingües a nivel de estado y a nivel privado. Los colegios bilingües de élite han sido cómplices de esta ideología de “inglés como lengua global,” y han construido esquemas en los que los estudiantes no sólo aprenden inglés; también son asimilados a nueva cultura, nuevos valores y una nueva identidad: la identidad cosmopolita. La hegemonía del inglés ha sido atribuida como una de las causes del fortalecimiento de la identidad cosmopolita y el debilitamiento de la identidad nacional. Por esto, esta identidad cosmopolita, que se supone valora todos los idiomas, culturas, identidades, comunidades y países de la misma manera, esta estratificada: desvalora el idioma natal de los estudiantes colombianos, su cultura, y en consecuencia su país, y aumenta el apego a la cultura de los poderes globales. En consecuencia, los estudiantes priorizan lo extranjero sobre lo local, y esto inhibe el desarrollo económico de su país, lo que contribuye a la reproducción social de naciones, culturas, etnicidades, comunidades, y, al fin y al cabo, de individuos. Por eso, como estos estudiantes hacen parte de los activos más valiosos de un país, debe haber un nuevo marco teórico de cómo enseñar y aprender inglés, para primero valorar los idiomas locales, su cultura y su país. Aquí si se podrá decir que hemos llegado a la identidad cosmopolita ideal en los estudiantes colombianos, una donde ellos entenderán que antes de ser universales, hay que ser locales.

This study explored the development and expression of empathy in industrial design education. The literature on current design approaches emphasizes the importance of empathy for designers to understand and connect with users and stakeholders so that designed products, services, environments, systems, and experiences meet human needs, expectations, and aspirations. However, literature in psychology reports a decline in empathy among American college students since the year 2000, which raises questions about how new generations of design students develop this ability. There is little empirical research that examines empathy development in design education, which represents a gap in the literature addressed by this dissertation. The study examined educational practices in the industrial design studio that had the potential to promote student empathy and how design students expressed empathy for users and stakeholders. The ultimate goal of the study was to contribute to the discussion of how to educate new generations of designers who are sensitive and responsive to people’s experience. A mixed methods strategy was used to collect data from faculty and students in three courses in industrial design offered by a major land-grant public research university in the southeastern United States. The data collection techniques used were participant observation, semi-structured interviews, discourse analysis, document analysis, questionnaires, and surveys. The data analysis techniques used were thematic coding and memoing, visual content analysis, quantification of qualitative data, correlational analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study found how faculty promoted student empathy through the project brief, design research, and dialogue and critique in the studio. Likewise, the studio found how students expressed empathy for users and stakeholders through their use of language, images, and design and research methods. The study concludes by discussing the implications of findings for design education at the classroom level, covering aspects such as the curricular structure of the design studio, project brief and problems posed to students, design and research methods used in the studio, and teaching and evaluation practices used by design faculty.

Taking into consideration the increasing importance of arbitration as one of the most used methods of dispute resolution, the concept of Emergency Arbitrators (EAs), as a mean to grant interim measures that are put forward by a party which is in urgent need to obtain relief when a dispute arises, and the enforceability of their decisions are analysed in this dissertation. In order to do so, this research explores firstly the concept of interim relief and the reasons that justify the use of this alternative, as well as the concept of EAs and what it implies, analysing the consideration of them as real arbitrators. In second place, the paper focuses on the enforceability of the EAs’ decisions, for which end it examines the types of decisions they render, namely orders and awards, and if they can be considered as final decisions. Finally, the study concludes that the establishment of unambiguous rules is necessary to give confidence to parties in a dispute submitted to arbitration. To achieve this goal, some recommendations are put forth related mainly to resort to soft law, to include some regulations in domestic laws related to the topic, to amend the current New York Convention in the sense of including some EA’s provisions and, finally, to issue a completely new convention regarding this topic. To make this thorough study, primary sources such as national laws, international instruments (primarily The New York Convention), Arbitration Rules issued by the main Arbitration Institutions and some Courts Decisions of different countries are analysed. On the other hand, as secondary sources, the dissertation surveyed various papers written on this issue by recognized authors in arbitration, by contrasting and outweighing opposite points of view. Teniendo en cuenta la creciente importancia del arbitraje como uno de los métodos más usados en resolución de conflictos, el concepto de Árbitros de Emergencia (EAs), como un medio para garantizar medidas cautelares que son solicitadas por una parte que está en la necesidad urgente de obtener un alivio cuando surge una disputa, y la ejecutabilidad de sus decisiones son analizadas en esta disertación. Para ello, esta investigación explora en primer lugar el concepto de medidas cautelares y las razones que justifican el uso de las mismas, así como el concepto de EA y lo que ello implica, analizando su concepción como verdaderos árbitros. En segundo lugar, el artículo se enfoca en la ejecutabilidad de las decisiones de los EAs, para lo cual examina los tipos de decisiones que ellos toman, en específico órdenes y laudos, y si pueden ser consideradas como decisiones finales. Finalmente, el estudio concluye que el establecimiento de reglas inequívocas es necesario para dar seguridad a las partes en una disputa sometida a arbitraje. Para alcanzar esta meta, algunas recomendaciones son realizadas, relacionadas principalmente con acudir al “derecho suave” o soft law, incluir regulaciones en leyes domésticas relacionadas con el tema, modificar la actual Convención de Nueva York en el sentido de incluir algunas provisiones sobre los EAs y, finalmente, expedir una nueva convención en relación con este tema. Para realizar este detallado estudio, fuentes primarias tales como leyes nacionales, instrumentos internacionales (principalmente la Convención de Nueva York), Reglamentos de Arbitrajes expedidos por las principales Instituciones de Arbitraje y algunas decisiones de las cortes de diferentes países son analizados. De otra parte, como fuentes secundarias, la disertación examina varios artículos escritos sobre este tema por autores reconocidos en arbitraje, contrastando y sopesando diferentes puntos de vista.

This research aims to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between the legal status and the activity sector of temporary migrants. The case of the Mexico-Guatemala border is analyzed due to its large migration flows, the characteristics of its migration regulation and the existence of a widely unexploited databased. The results suggest, on one side, that Guatemalans who entered lawfully to Mexico and are authorized to work are more likely to participate in the agricultural sector than undocumented migrants. On the other side, Guatemalans who entered lawfully to Mexico but are not authorized to work are more likely to participate in the nonagricultural sector than undocumented migrants, carrying out informal activities such as street sales, construction, and domestic services. Resumen Esta investigación tiene como objetivo proveer información empírica sobre la relación entre el estado de legalidad y el sector de actividad de los migrantes temporales. Se analiza el caso de la frontera México-Guatemala debido a sus grandes flujos migratorios, las características de su regulación migratoria y la existencia de una amplia base de datos poco explorada. Los resultados sugieren, de una parte, que los guatemaltecos que ingresan legalmente a México y están autorizados para trabajar tienen más probabilidad de participar en el sector agrícola que los migrantes indocumentados. De otra parte, se evidencia que los guatemaltecos que ingresan legalmente a México pero no están autorizados para trabajar tienen más probabilidad de participar en el sector no agrícola que los migrantes indocumentados, los cuales se dedican a actividades informales tales como las ventas callejeras, la construcción, y los servicios domésticos.