Work-Related Violence Research Project: Overview and Survey Module and Focus Group Findings

[Excerpt] The main goal of the contract was to provide ILAB with a newly developed set of high quality research tools (i.e., new survey questions module and related focus group protocols) and corresponding methodological recommendations to meet ILAB’s needs for collecting nationally representative, gender-disaggregated data on the prevalence, nature, and possible consequences of adult (18 years of age and older) WRV, including gender-based violence (or GBV) to the extent practicable. ILAB is particularly interested in the formal and informal sectors of one or more of the following Spanish-speaking Central American countries: Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica

Combined Effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation on Sea Surface Temperature in the Alborán Sea

We explored the possible effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) on interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variations in the Albora´n Sea, both separately and combined. The probability of observing mean annual SST values higher than average was related to NAO and AO values of the previous year. The effect of NAO on SST was negative, while that of AO was positive. The pure effects of NAO and AO on SST are obscuring each other, due to the positive correlation between them. When decomposing SST, NAO and AO in seasonal values, we found that variation in mean annual SST and mean winter SST was significantly related to the mean autumn NAO of the previous year, while mean summer SST was related to mean autumn AO of the previous year. The one year delay in the effect of the NAO and AO on the SST could be partially related to the amount of accumulated snow, as we found a significant correlation between the total snow in the North Albora´n watershed for a year with the annual average SST of the subsequent year. A positive AO implies a colder atmosphere in the Polar Regions, which could favour occasional cold waves over the Iberian Peninsula which, when coupled with precipitations favoured by a negative NAO, may result in snow precipitation. This snow may be accumulated in the high peaks and melt down in spring-summer of the following year, which consequently increases the runoff of freshwater to the sea, which in turn causes a diminution of sea surface salinity and density, and blocks the local upwelling of colder water, resulting in a higher SST.CGL2009-11316 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain, and FEDER

Diversification and manager autonomy in fund families: Implications for investors

This paper aims to investigate the consequences of investing in a single fund family for investors. In essence, we focus on the correlation among portfolio holdings of funds with effects in terms of under-diversification for mutual fund investors, especially, if they invest in the same fund family. We also explore the fund manager autonomy in portfolio holding allocation within families and determine the characteristics of those fund families with higher autonomy. Our results show that a higher correlation among funds not only implies that families offer a lower diversification to investors; it also has a negative effect on their performance. However, investors’ performance benefits from a higher manager autonomy. Consequently, investors who select a single fund family could obtain higher returns in smaller fund families with considerable experience that do not belong to a banking or insurance group, as in the former, diversification and manager autonomy are higher

Inscripciones del norte y suroeste de la provincia de Cáceres: revisión y nuevas aportaciones II

En el presente trabajo se revisan y se dan a conocer varias inscripciones procedentes de algunas localidades de las zonas norte y suroeste de la provincia de Cáceres. Entre ellas, tres de augustobriga que, aunque ya conocidas, se encontraban en paradero desconocido o de las que no se tenia reproducción gráfica

Inscripciones del norte y sudoeste de la provincia de Cáceres: revisión y nuevas aportaciones

Se publican o revisan diversos epígrafes romanos de la provincia de Cáceres

Las colecciones de anortositas canadienses del Museu de Geologia de Barcelona y de la Facultat de Geologia de la Universitat de Barcelona

Este trabajo aporta algunas precisiones sobre el origen y características petrográficas de las colecciones gemelas de rocas anortosíticas canadienses del Museu de Geologia de Barcelona y la Facultat de Geologia de la Universitat de Barcelona, así como sobre su idoneidad a efectos museísticos y didácticos. Palabras clave: Canadá, Québec, Anortosita de Langelier, Anortosita de Lac de Saint-Jean, cantera de Alma, petrografia, meta-anortosita, didáctica, colecciones de anortositas, Museu de Geologia, Universitat, Barcelona.This work provides new insights on the origin and petrographic features of the twin collections of canadian anorthositic rocks from Museu de Geologia of Barcelona and Faculty of Geology of University of Barcelona, as well as some considerations on its interest as exhibition and didactic samples. Key words: Canada, Québec, Langelier anorthosite, Lac de Saint-Jean anorthosite, Alma quarry petrography, meta-anorthosite, didactics, anorthosite collections, Museu de Geologia, Universitat, Barcelona.Este trabajo aporta algunas precisiones sobre el origen y características petrográficas de las colecciones gemelas de rocas anortosíticas canadienses del Museu de Geologia de Barcelona y la Facultat de Geologia de la Universitat de Barcelona, así como sobre su idoneidad a efectos museísticos y didácticos. Palabras clave: Canadá, Québec, Anortosita de Langelier, Anortosita de Lac de Saint-Jean, cantera de Alma, petrografia, meta-anortosita, didáctica, colecciones de anortositas, Museu de Geologia, Universitat, Barcelona

A Lagrangian analysis of the variation in moisture sources related to drier and wetter conditions in regions around the Mediterranean Basin

Here, we describe our use of the Lagrangian 3-D FLEXPART model to investigate the variation in sources of moisture related to the drier and wetter conditions of the different regions that surround the Mediterranean Basin. We carried out seasonal analyses for the period from March 2000 to February 2005, and identified those years with the highest and lowest rates of precipitation by season, averaged over eight different continental regions. The variation in specific humidity along the 10-day backward trajectories of the particles identified over the target areas was tracked for the selected period, and the characteristics of the moisture sources were then compared between wetter and drier conditions by season. Although they only represented a relatively short period, the results suggest that in most of the years chosen, the moisture sources were more extensive and/or more intense during wetter periods. The contribution of the north Atlantic as a source of moisture is apparent for the Iberian Peninsula, for France and for Central North Africa. Otherwise, the Mediterranean Sea is the predominant source for Eastern North Africa, and for the Italian and Balkan Peninsulas. Local sources provide moisture for the Eastern Mediterranean and Western North Africa

Characterization of green composites from biobased epoxy matrices and bio-fillers derived from seashell wastes

The seashells, a serious environmental hazard, are composed mainly by calcium carbonate, which can be used as filler in polymer matrix. The main objective of this work is the use of calcium carbonate from seashells as a bio-filler in combination with eco-friendly epoxy matrices thus leading to high renewable contents materials. Previously obtaining calcium carbonate, the seashells were washed and grinded. The powder obtained and the resin was characterized by DSC, TGA, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and rheology plate-plate. The results show that addition of 30 wt.% of seashell bio-filler increase mechanical properties as flexural modulus (over 50%) and hardness Shore D (over 6%) and thermal properties as an increase around 13% in glass transitions temperature. The results show that the addition of calcium carbonate from seashells is an effective method to increase mechanical properties of bio-composite and to reduce the residue of seashells from industrial production. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.L. Bernardi would like to thank CNPq, Consejo Nacional de Desenvolvimiento Cientifico y Tecnologico - Brasil for financial support through a scholarship number.Fombuena Borrás, V.; Bernardi, L.; Fenollar Gimeno, OÁ.; Boronat Vitoria, T.; Balart Gimeno, RA. (2014). Characterization of green composites from biobased epoxy matrices and bio-fillers derived from seashell wastes. Materials and Design. 57:168-174. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2013.12.0321681745