Objective: to analyze the effectiveness of digital self-care in the management of pain and functional disability among people with spine musculoskeletal disorders. Method: a systematic literature review, developed with the PRISMA checklist, of randomized clinical trials of people with spine musculoskeletal disorders and digital interventions accessed by means of computers, smartphones or other portable devices. Databases researched: National Library of Medicine, Excerpta Médica dataBASE, SciVerse Scopus, Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, Science Citation Indexes, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Physiotherapy Evidence Database. The descriptive synthesis of the results and by means of meta-analyses (fixed-effects model) was performed with the Review Manager software. The methodological quality was evaluated with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. Results: a total of 25 trials were selected (5,142 participants), which showed statistically significant improvements (p <0.05) in 54% (12/22) in the pain levels and 47% (10/21) in functional disability in the Intervention Group. The meta-analyses showed moderate effects on pain intensity and small effects on functional disability. There was a predominance of medium quality studies. Conclusion: the digital care interventions showed a beneficial result in pain intensity and in functional disability, mainly for chronic low back pain. Digital care emerges as promising to support self-management of the spine musculoskeletal conditions. PROSPERO registry number CRD42021282102.

Objetivo: analizar la efectividad del autocuidado digital en el manejo del dolor y la discapacidad funcional en personas con trastornos musculoesqueléticos espinales. Método: revisión sistemática de la literatura, desarrollada con la checklist PRISMA, de ensayos clínicos aleatorizados sobre personas con trastornos musculoesqueléticos de columna e intervenciones digitales a las que se accede por computadora, smartphones u otro dispositivo portátil. Bases de datos consultadas: National Library of Medicine, Excerpta Médica dataBASE, SciVerse Scopus, Literatura Latinoamericana y del Caribe en Ciencias de la Salud, Science Citation Indexes, Cummulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature y Physiotherapy Evidence Database. Síntesis de resultados descriptiva y por metanálisis (modelo de efectos fijos) realizada con el software Review Manager. Calidad metodológica evaluada mediante la escala Physiotherapy Evidence Database. Resultados: se seleccionaron 25 ensayos (5142 participantes) que mostraron mejoras estadísticamente significativas (p<0,05) del 54% (12/22) en los niveles de dolor y del 47% (10/21) en la discapacidad funcional en el grupo intervención. Los metanálisis mostraron efectos moderados sobre la intensidad del dolor y efectos pequeños sobre la discapacidad funcional. Predominaron los estudios de calidad media. Conclusión: las intervenciones de atención digital demostraron resultados beneficiosos para la intensidad del dolor y la discapacidad funcional, principalmente para el dolor lumbar crónico. Se ha demostrado que la atención digital es promisoria para favorecer el automanejo de las afecciones musculoesqueléticas de columna. Registro PROSPERO CRD42021282102.

Objetivo: analisar a efetividade do autocuidado digital no manejo da dor e incapacidade funcional em pessoas com distúrbios musculoesqueléticos de coluna. Método: revisão sistemática da literatura, desenvolvida com o checklist PRISMA, de ensaios clínicos randomizados de pessoas com distúrbios musculoesqueléticos de coluna e intervenções digitais acessadas por computador, smartphones ou outro dispositivo portátil. Bases pesquisadas: National Library of Medicine, Excerpta Médica dataBASE, SciVerse Scopus, Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, Science Citation Indexes, Cummulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature e Physiotherapy Evidence Database. Síntese dos resultados descritiva e por metanálises (modelo de efeitos fixos) com o software Review Manager. Qualidade metodológica avaliada pela escala Physiotherapy Evidence Database. Resultados: selecionaram-se 25 ensaios (5142 participantes) que revelaram melhoras estatisticamente significativas (p<0,05) em 54% (12/22) nos níveis de dor e 47% (10/21) na incapacidade funcional no grupo intervenção. As metanálises mostraram efeitos moderados na intensidade da dor e pequenos na incapacidade funcional. Houve predominância de estudos de média qualidade. Conclusão: intervenções de cuidados digitais mostraram resultado benéfico na intensidade da dor e na incapacidade funcional principalmente para dor lombar crônica. Evidenciam-se os cuidados digitais como promissores para apoiar o autogerenciamento das condições musculoesqueléticas de coluna. Registro PROSPERO CRD42021282102.

Resumen La comunicación, sus estructuras tecnológicas y sus valores simbólicos se dislocaron por la digitalización de la vida cotidiana como consecuencia de la pandemia. Este contexto impactó la experiencia juvenil universitaria, por lo que resulta importante analizar los cambios socioculturales en cuanto al uso de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) de un grupo de universitarios, el tiempo de conexión, el dispositivo utilizado y su relación con el espacio doméstico durante la pandemia en México. Para ello se articula un marco teórico desde los Estudios Culturales para analizar la relación jóvenes-tecnología durante la pandemia e identificar su relevancia dentro de la experiencia juvenil contemporánea. La metodología utilizada tiene un enfoque mixto con un grupo de estudiantes universitarios mexicanos de la licenciatura en Comunicación (N=29), donde se empleó un formulario y un grupo focal para recuperar sus experiencias. Los resultados muestran que la pandemia suprimió las fronteras entre lo íntimo y público, generando procesos de negociación entre los miembros de la familia sobre el uso de dispositivos y los espacios domésticos. Además, las actividades educativas, familiares y sociales incrementaron el tiempo de conexión de jóvenes universitarios, pero además resignificaron los espacios domésticos por el solapamiento de actividades. Finalmente, se reconoce que la habitación de los participantes se vuelve el espacio estratégico para la experiencia juvenil en la pandemia porque las actividades universitarias, familiares y de socialización se desarrollaron en un mismo lugar.

Abstract Communication, its technological structures, and its symbolic values have been dislocated by the digitization of everyday life as a consequence of the pandemic. This context impacted the university youth experience, so it is important to analyze the sociocultural changes regarding the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) of a group of university students, the connection time, the device used and their relationship with the domestic space during the pandemic in Mexico. For this, a theoretical framework is articulated from Cultural Studies for analyzing the youth-technology relationship during the pandemic and identify its relevance within the contemporary youth experience. The methodology used has a mixed approach with a group of Mexican university students of the Communication bachelor (N=29), where a form and a focus group were used to recover their experiences. The results show that the pandemic abolished the borders between the intimate and the public, generating negotiation processes between family members on the use of devices and domestic spaces. In addition, university, family and social activities increased the connection time of students, but also resignified domestic spaces due to the overlapping of activities. Finally, it is recognized that the bedroom of the participants becomes the strategic space for the youth experience in the pandemic because the university, family and socialization activities took place in the same space.

Resumen El IoT es tendencia tecnológica que hace posible sistemas inteligentes entre cosas conectadas. Su aplicación se encuentra en diferentes campos, uno de ellos es la agricultura, donde el uso de nuevas técnicas, como la hidroponía, está en auge. Es importante abordar esta área, porque la población mundial alcanzará un aproximado de 9600 millones de habitantes para el 2050, por ende, para satisfacer esta demanda se necesita que el ritmo industrial agrícola sea aún más rápido y preciso. Además, el aumento de la temperatura ambiente y los cambios climáticos por el calentamiento global también están afectando negativamente a la producción agraria. En esta investigación se presenta un sistema de monitoreo IoT escalable basado en la tecnología Sigfox con capacidades de predicción del 89,37 % a través de redes neuronales para aplicaciones agrícolas. Se proporciona una arquitectura efectiva de cuatro capas que consta de percepción, red, middleware y aplicación. Para la validación, el sistema fue construido, probado experimentalmente y validado mediante el monitoreo de la temperatura, humedad y control de la recirculación de nutrientes, en un sistema hidropónico de la ciudad de Loja en Ecuador, durante cinco meses. El sistema desarrollado es lo suficientemente inteligente para proporcionar la acción de control adecuada para el entorno hidropónico, en función de los múltiples parámetros de entrada recopilados, facilitando una gestión efectiva para los agricultores, por ende, mejorando su producción.

Abstract The IoT is a technological trend, it makes possible intelligent systems between connected things, its application is founded in different fields, one of them is agriculture, where the use of new techniques such as hydroponics are booming. It is important to address this area because the world population will reach approximately 9.6 billion inhabitants by 2050, therefore, to meet this demand, the agricultural industrial pace needs to be even faster and more precise. Moreover, the increase in ambient temperature and climate changes due to global warming are also negatively affecting agricultural production. In this research, a scalable IoT monitoring system based on Sigfox technology with 89.37% prediction capabilities through neural networks is presented for agricultural applications. An effective four-layer architecture consisting of perception, network, middleware, and application is provided. For validation, the system was built, experimentally tested and validated by monitoring temperature, humidity and nutrient recirculation control, in a hydroponic system in the city of Loja-Ecuador, for five months. The developed system is intelligent enough to provide the appropriate control action for the hydroponic environment, depending on the multiple input parameters collected, facilitating an effective management for farmers, thus improving their production.

Resumen Hoy en día la medición de la dinámica respiratoria está infravalorada en el ámbito clínico y en la vida diaria de un sujeto, y sigue representando un reto desde el punto de vista técnico y médico. En este artículo proponemos un concepto para medir algunos de sus parámetros, como la frecuencia respiratoria (FR), utilizando cuatro sensores inerciales. Se realizaron dos experimentos diferentes para validar el concepto. Analizamos la colocación más adecuada de cada sensor para evaluar esas características y estudiamos la fiabilidad del sistema para medir parámetros anormales de la respiración (taquipnea, bradipnea y retención de la respiración). Por último, realizamos mediciones en pacientes posCOVID-19, algunos de ellos con alteraciones respiratorias después de más de un año del diagnóstico. Los resultados experimentales mostraron que el sistema propuesto podría utilizarse potencialmente para medir la dinámica respiratoria en el ámbito clínico. Además, mientras que la FR puede calcularse fácilmente con cualquier sensor, otros parámetros deben medirse con un sensor en una posición determinada.

Abstract Nowadays, the measurement of respiratory dynamics is underrated at clinical setting and in the daily life of a subject, still representing a challenge from a technical and medical point of view. In this article we propose a concept to measure some of its parameters, such as the respiratory rate (RR), using four inertial sensors. Two different experiments were performed to validate the concept. We analyzed the most suitable placement of each sensor to assess those features and studied the reliability of the system to measure abnormal parameters of respiration (tachypnea, bradypnea and breath holding). Finally, we measured post-COVID-19 patients, some of them with breath alterations after more than a year of the diagnosis. Experimental results showed that the proposed system could be potentially used to measure the respiratory dynamics at clinical setting. Moreover, while RR can be easily calculated by any sensor, other parameters need to be measured with a sensor in a particular position.

Resumen: En el Ecuador, el acceso a Internet es considerado un servicio básico desde el 2015; sin embargo, apenas el 60% de su población tiene acceso al mismo. El 70% de los ecuatorianos que viven en la zona urbana cuentan con Internet mientras que en la zona rural solo el 38%. En este sentido, el objetivo de este trabajo fue diseñar e implementar un sistema de transmisión de texto e imagen a través de la radio FM tradicional basado en la tecnología data-over-sound para que pueda ser utilizado como una herramienta para reducir la brecha digital de las zonas rurales. Se construyeron un prototipo transmisor y otro receptor, se codificaron los datos aplicando la técnica de modulación BPSK y se enviaron a diferentes tasas de transmisión 4800, 9600, 19200, 76800 y 11500 bits por segundo (bps). Para evaluar el funcionamiento del dispositivo, se midió la tasa de error definida como la relación entre el número de bits trasmitidos y el de recibidos. Como resultado, se obtuvo una tasa de error mínima de 58% a una velocidad de 4800 bps y máxima de 61.25% a 115200 bps, así mismo, el sistema permitió enviar imágenes de hasta 256 píxeles. A diferencia de otros trabajos relacionados, esta propuesta no solo que superará por mucho la distancia de cobertura si no que puede ser implementada sobre una infraestructura de radiodifusión existente para llegar con la información a los sectores más vulnerables

Abstract: In Ecuador, Internet access has been considered an essential service since 2015; however, only 60% of its population has access. 70% of Ecuadorians in urban areas have Internet access, whereas only 38% in rural areas do. In this sense, this work aimed to design and implement a text and image transmission system through traditional FM radio based on data-over-sound technology so that it can be used as a tool to reduce the digital divide in rural areas. A transmitter and a receiver prototype were built, and the data was encoded using the BPSK modulation technique and sent at different transmission rates: 4800, 9600, 19200, 76800, and 11500 bits per second (bps). The error rate was measured to evaluate the operation of the device, defined as the ratio between the number of bits transmitted and the number of bits received. As a result, a minimum error rate of 58% was obtained at a speed of 4800 bps and a maximum of 61.25% at 115200 bps; likewise, the system allowed images of up to 256 pixels to be sent. Unlike other related works, this proposal will not only exceed the coverage distance but can also be implemented on an existing broadcasting infrastructure to reach the most vulnerable.

RESUMEN El presente trabajo es el resultado de una investigación realizada sobre la doctrina y la jurisprudencia con respecto a la laboralidad de los contratos celebrados entre repartidores, conocidos como riders, y las plataformas digitales de reparto. Nuestra tesis es que, si bien estos contratos revisten una forma civil, se trata de verdaderos contratos laborales. La determinación de lo que la doctrina ha denominado la laboralidad de dichos contratos no ha estado exenta de problemas, es más, ha requerido la reformulación de conceptos clásicos del derecho del trabajo como: la dependencia y la ajenidad, con el fin de adaptarlos a los cambios introducidos por la tecnología e internet en el mundo del trabajo. Aunque el estudio está centrado en el caso ecuatoriano, se tomó como referencia el español en lo que tiene que ver con la jurisprudencia, pues allí, después de un largo camino, se llegó a establecer que los trabajadores de plataformas de reparto son dependientes y, por tanto, se les aplican las normas laborales. No ocurre lo mismo en Ecuador, en donde el debate ni siquiera ha llegado a los fueros jurídicos académicos, menos aún a los tribunales. Esto, sin embargo de que se están discutiendo varias iniciativas legales en la Asamblea y de que los trabajadores están exigiendo su reconocimiento como tales.

ABSTRACT This work is the result of an investigation carried out about the doctrine and jurisprudence regarding labour nature of contracts between the "riders" and the digital delivery platforms. Although it is true, these contracts have a civil or commercial form, we think they are true labour contracts. Determination of labour contract features are conflicting and required the reformulation of classic concepts of Labor Law such as: dependency or alienation, in order to adapt them to the changes introduced by technology and the internet in the world of work. Although, this investigation is focused in Ecuador case, we have analized Spanish case, because in Spain, through a long judicial battle, many juriprudential rulings have established that delivery platform workers are dependent, not self-employed, and therefore, the Labour Law are applied to them. In our country there is a different development in this issue, the debate has not even reached academic legal forums, let alone the courts and other institutions, despite the fact that several legal projects are been analized at the National Assambly and the workers are demanding their recognition as such.

Resumen Internet de las Cosas (IoT) es un término que ha ganado importancia esta última década, sus aplicaciones en la construcción de las ciudades inteligentes han llevado a plantear soluciones a problemas asociados a seguridad, energéticas, salud, turismo, movilidad, entre otras. Es en este contexto en donde la movilidad, y en particular la gestión del tráfico, juegan un papel importante ante un aumento de la población en las grandes ciudades. Para mejorar el transporte público, la seguridad vial y una creciente carga vial en las calles se requieren soluciones apoyadas en las tecnologías de la información y comunicación. El presente estudio busca contextualizar estas tecnologías a través del tiempo, los desarrollos tecnológicos que permiten dar el preámbulo a nuevas patentes, y las condiciones para generar tecnologías y su aplicación en la construcción de soluciones al tráfico.

Abstract The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained importance in the last decade. Its applications in the design of smart cities have contributed to address problems of security, energy, health, tourism, mobility, among others. In terms of mobility -especially traffic management- they play an important role given the growth of large cities in order to improve public transport, road safety and road freight, based on ICT solutions. This study is based on the review of patents to contextualize the evolution of IoT over time, the technological developments, as well as the conditions for generating technologies and their application in building traffic solutions.

Resumen Durante la pandemia del covid-19, el trabajo en línea generó inconformidades e inquietudes en los distintos actores del sector educativo, lo que ocasionó que la educación a distancia (EaD) fuera considerada difícil y poco efectiva. Por eso, el objetivo de este estudio fenomenológico hermenéutico fue explorar las experiencias de alumnos de algunas universidades públicas en México. En concreto, se trató de dar respuesta a preguntas que se han generado respecto a esta transformación educativa para las distintas instancias sociales, la efectividad de las implementaciones pedagógicas llevadas a cabo y las consecuencias de las brechas existentes. Para ello, se efectuó la entrevista a una muestra de 5 alumnos de algunas universidades públicas en México. Las evidencias cualitativas recolectadas se analizaron utilizando la agrupación de la información por temas y códigos axiales con la ayuda del software Nvivo. Entre los hallazgos de la investigación se detectaron aspectos que complicaron la forma de trabajo relacionados con el uso de dispositivos electrónicos, conexión a internet, capacitación docente y recursos institucionales. Finalmente, se realizaron varias propuestas para mejorar la educación en la reinserción a la nueva normalidad postcovid-19. Desde la perspectiva de los alumnos universitarios, una opción considerada es la modalidad de aula invertida o blended learning. Para ello, las instituciones educativas deberán enfocarse en capacitar a sus docentes en uso de tecnología y mejorar su infraestructura tecnológica.

Abstract During the CoVID-19 pandemics, working online generated mostly negative opinions and concerns in different educational participants. Negative attributions were given to online education, considering it difficult and time-consuming. The objective of this phenomenological study was to explore students’ experiences from some Mexican public universities. This study aimed at answering questions raised concerning this educational transformation for different participants, the effectiveness of the instructional implementations, and the consequences of the existent digital divide. A sample of 5 students from public Mexican universities was interviewed. The qualitative evidences were collected and analyzed using themeing the data categorically and axial codes with Nvivo software. The findings are related to aspects that affected this situation as the use of electronic gadgets, internet connectivity, teachers’ training, and institutional resources. Finally, suggestions are made to improve education for the new normal lifestyle post CoVID-19. From higher education students’ perspectives, blended learning and flipped classroom were suggested as options to continue education. Higher education institutions will need to encourage the development of these skills to improve their efficiency in education and graduates’ insertion into the job market.

Resumo Durante a pandemia de covid-19, o trabalho online gerou divergências e inquietações nos diversos atores do setor educacional, o que fez com que a educação a distância (EaD) fosse considerada difícil e ineficaz. Portanto, o objetivo deste estudo fenomenológico hermenêutico foi explorar as experiências de estudantes de algumas universidades públicas do México. Especificamente, procurou-se responder às questões que foram geradas sobre essa transformação educacional para as diferentes instâncias sociais, a eficácia das implementações pedagógicas realizadas e as consequências das lacunas existentes. Para isso, foi realizada uma entrevista com uma amostra de 5 alunos de algumas universidades públicas do México. As evidências qualitativas coletadas foram analisadas por meio do agrupamento de informações por temas e códigos axiais com o auxílio do software Nvivo. Entre os achados da pesquisa, foram detectados aspectos que dificultam a forma de trabalhar relacionados ao uso de dispositivos eletrônicos, conexão com a Internet, formação de professores e recursos institucionais. Por fim, foram feitas várias propostas para melhorar a educação na reintegração na nova normalidade pós-covid-19. Na perspectiva dos universitários, uma opção considerada é a sala de aula invertida ou modalidade de ensino híbrido. Para isso, as instituições de ensino devem focar na capacitação de seus professores no uso da tecnologia e na melhoria de sua infraestrutura tecnológica.

ABSTRACT The objective is to analyze tourist accommodation and its capacity for the development of meeting tourism in the city of Asunción-Paraguay, 2022. It was carried out using a quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive approach. 36 establishments registered on the REGISTUR website were analyzed in October 2022. The inclusion criteria were: having a website, being a tourist accommodation establishment located in the city of Asunción and registered as active or operating in REGISTUR. The data collection technique was observation and the instrument used consisted of a registration form made up of 4 variables and 16 items. The results show that 72% of the establishments offer services for Meeting Tourism: banquets, food and beverages and internet (100%), support staff for events (88%) and audiovisual services (85%). The meetings held are mainly Business (92%), so it is concluded that the accommodation capacity of the city of Asunción is quite large and allows it to cover the demand of this market segment.

RESUMEN Se tiene como objetivo analizar los alojamientos turísticos y su capacidad para el desarrollo del turismo de reuniones en la ciudad de Asunción-Paraguay, 2022. Se llevó a cabo mediante un enfoque cuantitativo de corte transversal y descriptivo. Se analizó a 36 establecimientos en octubre de 2022 registrados en el sitio web de REGISTUR. Los criterios de inclusión fueron: contar con un sitio web, ser un establecimiento de alojamiento turístico ubicados en la ciudad de Asunción y registrado como activo o en funcionamiento en REGISTUR. La técnica de recolección de datos fue la observación y el instrumento utilizado estuvo constituido por una ficha de registro compuesta por 4 variables y 16 ítems. Los resultados muestran que 72% de los establecimientos ofrecen servicios para Turismo de Reuniones: banquetes, alimentos y bebidas e internet (100%), personal de apoyo para los eventos (88%) y servicios audiovisuales (85%). Las reuniones desarrolladas son principalmente de Negocios (92%) por lo que se concluye que la capacidad de alojamiento de la ciudad de Asunción es bastante amplia y permite cubrir la demanda de este segmento de mercado.

ABSTRACT This essay is a reflection on the role of communication technologies in theater during the post-pandemic period, and on the commitments that must be re-assumed as artists, teachers and students of performing arts in the Peruvian context. Taking the premise that theater requires the physical presence of actors and spectators to exist and, in turn, that the intervention of digital media is an unstoppable constant in the social evolution, we conclude on the need to involve technologies and the Internet as part of the process of poetic-scenic construction, as well as the importance of redoubling the effort to generate spaces for the physical encounter between artists and spectators.

RESUMEN El presente ensayo es una reflexión acerca del rol de las tecnologías de la comunicación en el teatro durante la pospandemia, y sobre los compromisos que hay que asumir como profesionales de las artes escénicas en el ámbito peruano. Tomando la premisa de que el teatro requiere de la presencia física de actores y espectadores para existir y, a su vez, de que la intervención de los medios digitales es una constante imparable en el devenir social, se concluye en la necesidad de involucrar las tecnologías y el Internet como parte del proceso de construcción poético-escénica, así como la importancia de redoblar el esfuerzo en generar espacios para el encuentro físico entre artistas y espectadores.

Abstract: This paper presents a prototype of an automobile driver assistance system based on YOLOv3. The system detects car types, traffic signs, and traffic lights in real-time and warns the driver accordingly. In the learning phase of the YOLO algorithm, the standard weights are learned first, followed by transfer learning to the objects of interest. The retraining phase uses 2,800 images obtained from the Internet of three countries of the real-life, and the testing phase uses real-time videos of Mexico City roads. In the validation phase, the proposed system achieves 95%, 37%, and 40% performance on the compiled dataset for the detection of road elements. The results obtained are comparable and in some cases better than those reported in previous works. Using a Raspberry Pi 4, the prototype was tested in real-life, generating visual and audible warnings for the driver, with an object recognition rate of 0.4 fps. A mean average precision (mAP) of 53% was reached by the proposed system. The experiments showed that the prototype achieved a poor recognition rate and required high computational processing for object recognition. However, YOLO is a model that can have good performance on low-resource hardware.

When surveying the recent and arguably increasing signs of attempts to control citizens globally in various ways, one is reminded of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four (or 1984), first published in 1949. It strikes one as being paradigmatic of totalitarian domination in its literary representation of social control through diverse forms of technical and personal surveillance, keeping in mind that such domination permits none of the democratic freedoms that one has come to take for granted, such as freedom of speech, of association, and of movement. Can anyone therefore resist seeing in present developments worldwide an echo of Orwell's depiction of the totalitarian, brainwashing society of Big Brother, with the pervasively powerful Ingsoc (the "Party"), Newspeak (the language calculated to inhibit critical thinking), the feared Thought Police, and the incessant surveillance of every citizen, via technical mediation (the "telescreen" in every home and other frequented places), as well as furtive observation of citizens 'actions by agents of the Party, who monitor their behaviour (lest they should display signs of "thoughtcrime", or worse, total revolt)? It is telling as far as the present is concerned that Orwell's novel reflects his understanding of the true character of totalitarianism, ofwhich Shoshana Zuboff (2019:337), referring to Hannah Arendt's magisterial study of this (at the time unprecedented) phenomenon, remarks: "Essential to totalitarianism was the deletion of all ties and sources of meaning other than 'the movement'". In fact, Zuboff's book (2019), published just before the outbreak of the Covid-19 "pandemic" - in scare quotes because it was no real pandemic (Agamben, 2020: 9-10) - detailed the extent to which contemporary advanced electronic technology enables companies such as Google and Facebook, not merely to spy on "users", but to manipulate and anticipate their internet behaviour. Returning to 1984, consider that the pervasive surveillance in the world Winston (the central character) inhabits is evident in several things: snooping police helicopters, the dread-inspiring (albeit imperceptible) Thought Police, and (although it is not actively spying on citizens), the metonymic embodiment of the ubiquity of totalitarian power, personified in the omnipresent image of "Big Brother", at once menacing and avuncular as well as reassuring. It is reminiscent of the prison designed by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century - the "Panopticon" - where wardens enjoyed uninterrupted visual access to the cells of all inmates from a central tower, so that the latter were inclined to act as if they were being watched all the time, that is, by monitoring their own behaviour. It should be obvious that Big Brother's omnipresent gaze, and especially the bi-directional "telescreen," has the same effect in Orwell's projected dystopian society. This sinister technical apparatus, perhaps more than anything else in 1984, accords with Bentham 's principle, of power being visible, but "unverifiable". One of the differences between surveillance in 1984 and what has come to pass as advanced electronic surveillance today, however, is that this principle of Bentham 's is no longer universally valid; today, power is mostly invisible and unverifiable. If anyone observing the global political landscape today might conclude that Orwell's fears of a totalitarian future were unfounded, such people need to remind themselves that the pervasive surveillance for the sake of control that is central to 1984 need not be tethered to an easily identifiable Big Brother or Thought Police. It can assume multiple different, unexpected guises, as writers such as Giorgio Agamben, Robert F Kennedy and Naomi Wolf have irrefutably demonstrated - showing that, on the pretext of a medical emergency, people worldwide have been subjected to inhumane measures of control which not only had immeasurably negative, pathogenic psychological effects, especially on children, but similarly devastating economic effects as far as ordinary people and small businesses (which were forced to shut down) are concerned. In contrast, big corporations such as Amazon have benefitted hugely in financial terms, so that Naomi Wolf justifiably writes of a colossal "wealth transfer" from the middle classes to the super-wealthy. Characteristic of the mode of control to which citizens have been subjected globally, is the fact that advanced technology has played a decisive role in it - not merely in the guise of surveillance, but also in the form of medical interventions misleadingly labelled "vaccines", even if these (particularly the mRNA-variety) are experimental. Tied as they are to these supposed "vaccines", the ensuing "vaccine passports" further served as major means of control of populations. In addition, as some people started challenging the unconstitutional control measures, new ones started emerging, foremost among them a massive "censoring machine" focused on the deletion and/or derogation of any information aimed at enlightening a punch-drunk public about the transgression of their constitutionally guaranteed human rights by governments, and the availability of alternative, "re-purposed" medicines to treat Covid-19 comparatively effectively and safely, including hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Furthermore, so-called "fact-checkers" appeared, amplifying the "censoring machine", effectively causing "cognitive dissonance" on the part of at least those members of the public who were aware of alternative information regarding the supposed lethality of the "coronavirus", and the putative "safety and effectiveness" of the "vaccines". Add to this the establishment of "vaccine mandates" in many countries, and it is clear that the measures accompanying the (pseudo-)"pandemic" were not really about health, but about inexorable control, as Agamben already observed early in the unfolding process. Against this backdrop it is not difficult to discern salient parallels between the dystopian events that have been unfolding across the world in the course of the last three years (2020-2022), on the one hand, and the fictional dystopia encountered in Orwell's 1984. For one thing, the "Thought Police" of1984finds a recognisable counterpart in the various censoring and "fact-checking" agencies during Covid-19, and for another, the Orwellian phenomenon of "Newspeak" in Oceania - the invention of linguistic practices that gloss over the true state of affairs and indoctrinate people at the same time into believing that what these words and phrases denote is what is really the case, and should not be critically questioned - corresponds to a Covidian "Newspeak" (think of "conspiracy theories", "social distancing" and "contact tracing") which arguably serves the same purpose as that in 1984. However, while in 1984 "Big Brother" presents a recognisable face to denizens of Oceania, as Naomi Wolf points out, the "power" behind the oppressive events and measures accompanying the "pandemic" is to a large degree faceless and remote - a group of billionaire technocrats attached to the World Economic Forum (WEF) - despite which the face that has increasingly come to be associated with this implacable force is that of Klaus Schwab, the founder and CEO of the WEF, and to some extent also the face of Bill Gates. This paper therefore sets out to demonstrate that, while Orwell in all likelihood did not intend his novel to be used as a script for ushering in a dystopian, totalitarian society -instead of which he intended it as a warning against such a possibility (as Zuboff has pointed out) - this is precisely what has happened.

Waneer 'n mens die huidige wêreld onbevange, met literêre voorkennis in oënskou neem, is dit onteenseglik so dat pogings om toenemende beheer oor burgers uit te oefen by sogenaamde "demokratiese" regerings asook by gesondheidsbeheerliggame opmerkbaar is. Dit herinner 'n mens onwillekeurig aan George Orwell se distopiese roman, Nineteen Eighty-four (of 1984), wat in 1949 verskyn het, en wat in literêre terme paradigmaties is van totalitêre heerskappy aan die hand van uiteenlopende vorms van tegnologiese toesig en bewaking, waar al die demokratiese vryhede wat tot onlangs in die meeste lande as vanselfsprekend aanvaar is, afwesig is, soos spraakvryheid, vryheid van beweging, en so meer. Hedendaagse ontwikkelings resoneer veral met Orwell se roman in terme wat simptomaties is van die breinspoel-georiënteerde samelewing van "Big Brother", "Ingsoc" ("the Party"), "Newspeak" (die taal wat ontwerp is om kritiese denke te inhibeer), die gevreesde "Thought Police", en die konstante bewakende toesig van elke burger via tegniese bemiddeling (soos die "telescreen" in elke tuiste en openbare ruimte), asook die onopsigtelike spioenering op mense se handelinge deur agente van die "Party", vir ingeval hulle moontlik tekens van denkmisdaad (thoughtcrime) of rebellie sou toon. Dit is betekenisvol dat Shoshana Zuboff se werk oor tydgenootlike "surveillance capitalism", waarin sy die aandag op die bedekte tegniese inbreuk (deur maatskappye soos Google en Facebook) op mense se internet-privaatheid vestig, versoenbaar is met Orwell se insig in totalitarisme, sowel as met Hannah Arendt se bekende ontleding daarvan. Bowendien het Zuboff se werk 'n jaar voor die uitbreek van die sogenaamde Covid-19-pandemie verskyn, wat dit verder relevant maak vir 'n indringende ondersoek van laasgenoemde, met die oog daarop om dit met Orwell se 1984 in dialoog te plaas. Net soos wat die omvattende bespieding van burgers in 1984 uit hul vrees vir die onsigbare denkpolisie, die alomteenwoordige beeld van "Big Brother", asook van die tweerigting "teleskerm" (telescreen), wat 'n soort "Panoptikon" voorstel, blyk, bestaan daar vandag opvallende ekwiva-lente vir hierdie metonimiese beliggaming van totalitêre mag, wat blykbaar nie maklik met 'n identifiseerbare "Big Brother" of denkpolisie in verband gebring kan word nie. Daarby kan totalitêre beheerstrategieë veelvuldige, onverwagte vorms aanneem, soos wat Agamben, Kennedy en Wolf onweerlegbaar aangetoon het. Onder voorwendsel van 'n mediese noodtoestand, byvoorbeeld, is mense wêreldwyd aan onmenslike noodmaatreëls onderwerp, wat 'n aanwysbare negatiewe psigologiese, patogeniese, asook patologies-fisiese en ekonomiese uitwerking op bevolkings gehad het. Gevorderde tegniese middele is kenmerkend van die soort beheer waaraan mense globaal onderwerp is - nie slegs as beheer-georiënteerde "bespieding" nie, maar ook in die gewaad van mediese ingrypings wat misleidend as "entstowwe" bestempel is, ofskoon hulle (veral die mRNA-soort) volkome eksperimenteel is. Hierdie artikel fokus op die ooreenkomste tussen die spektrum van beheermiddele in 1984 en dié wat tans in samelewings aangewend word, waaronder onder meer die kolossale sensor-masjinerie om alternatiewe perspektiewe te snoer, naamlik die sogenaamde feite-kontroleerders, entstof-mandate en entstof-paspoorte.

Abstract Food is a basic necessity of all human beings, but the relationship between consumers and food safety can be compromised due to their lack of food literacy. While food safety is everyone's responsibility, consumers do not always take this into account. Thus, the present study analyzed the behavior of Portuguese with regard to food safety, comparing two time moments. The investigation was descriptive, with the collection of quantitative data through a questionnaire shared on the Internet over a period of 5 months (June-October 2019), replicating the Study of Toscano in 2006 and comparing them. The results made it possible to know the evolution of the Portuguese consumer's connection with food safety as well as to understand the importance it assumes in its day-to-day, through the analysis of its level of knowledge and concern and the evaluation of the influence of food labels, allowing to highlight the main changes that have occurred since the situation in 2006.

Resumo A alimentação é uma necessidade básica de todos os seres humanos, porém a relação dos consumidores com a segurança dos alimentos pode ficar comprometida, devido à sua falta de literacia alimentar. Embora o cumprimento da segurança alimentar seja uma responsabilidade de todos, nem sempre os consumidores têm isso em consideração. Desta forma, o presente estudo analisou o comportamento do consumidor português no que concerne à segurança alimentar, comparando dois momentos temporais. A investigação foi descritiva, com o levantamento de dados quantitativos através de um questionário partilhado na internet num período de 5 meses (junho-outubro de 2019), replicando o estudo de Toscano em 2006 e comparando-os. Os resultados permitiram conhecer a evolução da ligação do consumidor português com a segurança alimentar assim como compreender a importância que a mesma assume no seu dia-a-dia, mediante da análise do seu nível de conhecimento e preocupação e da avaliação da influência dos rótulos alimentares, permitindo evidenciar as principais alterações que ocorreram desde a situação existente em 2006.

Resumen En marzo del 2020 inició una pandemia que afectó a todo el mundo. En primera instancia, el Comité de Operaciones de Emergencia (COE) nacional declaró estado de excepción, todo fue cerrado y se ingresó a cuarentena. Se dio inicio a una educación virtual, en la que se dejó atrás las aulas de clase; se crearon y adaptaron plataformas y entornos virtuales para dar inicio a una educación virtual. En el sector rural se presentaron muchas dificultades: hogares sin Internet por falta de recursos, estudiantes que no podían conectarse a clases y el único recurso al que accedían era a la guía semanal emitida por el docente. En este sentido, la finalidad del presente trabajo fue determinar los efectos y problemas que ha causado la pandemia en la educación del sector rural. Las modalidades de investigación fueron bibliográficas y de campo, los niveles fueron exploratorio y descriptivo. La muestra fue conformada por los padres de familia de los diferentes barrios rurales de San Buenaventura. La recolección de la información se realizó con la aplicación de la técnica de la encuesta y como instrumento el cuestionario. Los resultados permitieron identificar que en el sector rural la mayoría de los hogares no cuentan con Internet, motivo por el cual obstaculiza el aprendizaje.

Abstract In March 2020, a pandemic began that affected the entire world. In the first instance, the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE) declared a state of emergency, everything was closed and quarantined. Virtual education began, in which classrooms were left behind; platforms and virtual environments were created and adapted to start virtual education. In the rural sector there were many difficulties: homes without Internet due to lack of resources, students who could not connect to classes and the only resource they had access to was the weekly guide issued by the teacher. In this sense, the purpose of this work was to determine the effects and problems caused by the pandemic in education in the rural sector. The research modalities were bibliographic and field, the levels were exploratory and descriptive. The sample consisted of parents from the different rural neighborhoods of San Buenaventura. The information was collected through the application of the survey technique and the questionnaire as an instrument. The results made it possible to identify that in the rural sector most of the homes do not have Internet, which hinders learning.

Abstract Twitter has become the Internet social network of choice for most political leaders and its use was significant during the hardest months of COVID-19. This paper analyzes the effects that the speeches of the main political leaders in Spain have had on the management of the communication of COVID-19, in order to verify how their speech has influenced transparency and the increase in disinformation in this moment. Likewise, these data will allow us to observe which communication techniques have been used by the most representative figures linked to the management of the pandemic. Based on a triple approach methodological basis, a quantitative, qualitative and discursive content analysis will be carried out, analyzing the data with the SPSS tool, version 25. The results obtained show how institutional sources have propagated opinionated content on Twitter. more than informative. We also verify that the saturation of messages in the network has given rise to a greater use of fallacy mechanisms by the institutional subjects analyzed and, therefore, it has been possible to determine that the way in which communication has been managed about COVID-19 has contributed to the increase in misinformation. Hand in hand with the new emerging narratives, social technology and artificial intelligence to know the citizen opinion of the transparency portals.

Resumen Twitter se ha convertido en la red social de Internet preferida por la mayoría de los líderes políticos y su utilización durante los meses más duros de la COVID-19 es significativa. Este trabajo analiza los efectos que los discursos de los principales líderes políticos en España han tenido en la gestión de la comunicación de la COVID-19, con el objetivo de comprobar cómo su discurso ha influido en la transparencia y en el aumento de la desinformación en este momento. Asimismo, estos datos permitirán observar cuáles son las técnicas comunicativas utilizadas por los representantes políticos más representativos y vinculados a la gestión de la pandemia en tres comunidades autónomas españolas. A partir de una base metodológica de triple enfoque, se realizará un análisis de contenido de carácter cuantitativo, cualitativo y discursivo, analizando los datos con la herramienta SPSS, versión 24. Los resultados obtenidos muestran cómo las fuentes institucionales han propagado en Twitter un contenido de carácter opinativo más que informativo. Además se ha comprobado que la saturación de mensajes en la red ha dado lugar a una mayor utilización de mecanismos de falacias por parte de los sujetos institucionales analizados y, por tanto, se ha podido determinar que la forma en la que se ha gestionado la comunicación sobre la COVID-19 ha contribuido al incremento de la desinformación.