A Methodological Approach to Determine Sound Response Modalities to Coastal Erosion Processes in Mediterranean Andalusia (Spain)

Human occupation along coastal areas has been greatly increasing in recent decades and, in many places, human activities and infrastructures are threatened by erosion processes that can produce relevant economic and human losses. In order to reduce such impacts and design sound management strategies, which can range from the "no action" to the "protection" option, coastal managers need to know the intrinsic coastal sensitivity and the potential vulnerability and value of land uses. In this paper, in a first step, coastal sensitivity was determined by calculating the following: (i) the spatial distribution at the coast of the wave forcing obtained by using the ERA5 wave dataset and defined as the energy associated with the 50-year return period storm. Two storm conditions were considered, that is, one for the eastern and one for the western parts of the Andalusia Mediterranean coast, respectively, characterized by a height of 8.64-7.86 m and 4.85-4.68 m and (ii) the existence of a buffer zone, namely the dry beach width expressed as a multiple of the 20-year predicted shoreline position that was calculated using a dataset of aerial photographs covering a time span from 1956 to 2016. Coastal sensitivity values were divided into five classes with class 1 indicating the lowest sensitivity (i.e., the presence of a wide buffer zone associated with low wave energy flux values) and class 5 the highest sensitivity (i.e., a narrow buffer zone associated with very high wave energy flux values). In a second step, land uses were obtained from the official Land Use Map of the Andalusia Region, based on the results of the "Coordination of Information on the Environment" (CORINE) European Project. Such uses were divided into five classes from class 1 including natural areas (typologies "A" and "B" of the CORINE Project) to class 5 including very capital land uses (typologies "E1" and "E2"). In a third step, information concerning coastal sensitivity and land uses was crossed to determine the best mitigation strategies to cope with erosion processes. The "no action" option was observed at the westernmost area of Cadiz Province and at some areas from the west coast of Almeria Province, where both coastal sensitivity and land use classes show low values; the "adaptation" option was recorded along more than one half of the coast studied, essentially at natural areas with high sensitivity and at urbanized areas with low sensitivity; and the "protection" option was observed especially at some areas from the center and eastern part of Malaga Province and at the easternmost areas of Almeria Province, where both coastal sensitivity and land use classes presented high values

Estudio de los Portafolios en el Practicum: An álisis de un PLE - Portafolio

The specialized literature agrees to notice that even existing some conditions, it is not a generalized methodology at universities. In the new grades and knowledge areas is found the subject of external practices that would be able to show conditions for using the portfolios. Whereas, there are some questions in the educational area: What conditions exist for the use of the portfolios in the Practicum of the education grades in Spain? What level of utilization are evident? What problems of understanding, the students express about the documentation of evidences in portfolios? The research performs a mixed methodology: a first quantitative study with descriptive methodology, interview to 31 coordinators of Practicum of all grades in 10 (20%) Faculty of Education, along with a qualitative study and content analysis of 256 Practicum guides of all grades of 36 (72%) Faculties of Education of public universities in Spain. A second case study, perform a content analysis of 592 annotations of 212 students to show and evaluate the evidences in ePortfolios of the Practicum of the degree of Pedagogy. The results reveal that there are 11 students per tutor 2,88h medium for tutoring and assess ePortfolios. Being mail (between 37.77% and 46.66%) followed by the platforms most used technologies. The eRúbricas and video annotations help document the evidence, however, students still show difficulties in some competencesFunded by Spanish Plan of R+D+i Excellence (2014-16) No. EDU2013-41974P. Project entitled: “Study of the Impact of Federated eRubrics on Assessing Competences in the Practicum”. http://goo.gl/u07aN

Tax evasion and tax avoidance in the towns of the Kingdom of Naples (XV-XVIII centuries)

The phenomenon of tax fraud was rooted in the tax system of the old regime. The main reasons were: the magnitude of the number of the privileged, the negotiatory nature of fiscal relations between the Sovereign and his subjects, the decentralised management of taxation where a leading role was played in this by the intermediary bodies throughout the territory. Another factor was the autonomy enjoyed at local level, which was also a source of particularism, heterogeneity and excessive power on the part of the urban élite (Fortea Pérez). Many of these characteristics, relating specifically to sixteenth and seventeenth-century Castile, were also common to other areas of Europe as a result of jurisdictional fragmentation (Epstein, Dincecco). In order to describe the peculiar physiognomy of the Kingdom in the field of tax evasion, I shall try to answer questions on whether and how this phenomenon followed the above-mentioned centuries-old patternsEl fenómeno del fraude fiscal es inherente al sistema tributario del antiguo régimen. Las principales razones fueron: la gran cantidad de privilegiados implicados en el sistema; la naturaleza per se negociadora de las relaciones fiscales entre el soberano y sus súbditos; la gestión descentralizada de los impuestos y el papel substancial que jugaron en todo ello los organismos intermedios. Otro factor fue la autonomía de que gozaron en el ámbito local, lo que era también una fuente de particularismos, así como la heterogeneidad y el poder excesivo por parte de la élite urbana (Fortea Pérez). Muchas de estas características, específicamente relacionado con la Castilla de los siglos XVI y XVII, también eran comunes a otras zonas de Europa como resultado de la fragmentación jurisdiccional (Epstein, Dincecco). Para describir la fisonomía peculiar del Reino en el campo de la evasión fiscal, voy a tratar de responder a las preguntas sobre cómo este fenómeno siguió los viejos patrones de los mencionados siglo

Four temptations against urban renewel: an approach to fur current urban processes

Comunicación presentada en 25 European Network housing Research International Conference. Tarragona 19 al 22 junio 2013The new paradigm of urban social and economic rehabilitation is replacing the current sprawl growth model. But four temptations must be considered: 1) The high-density. This process is possible in sprawl model, but its quantification does not seem to be clear, because after a certain threshold of occupancy per unit area, the city seems to collapse and social and environmental benefits disappear, appearing reversal processes city to country in search of a minimum quality of life standards. There is not a model for appropriate density. It depends on the way of life of population, the traditional city model. 2) The replacement. Architectonic and urban rehabilitation must be preferred to replacement, except for certain cases to be legally taxed. But as the city cannot be densified and orderly, without the prior replacement of the building, may fit this temptation. Even replacing the building can be made without considering high building standards 3) The gentrification. There is a wide doctrine and experience about this phenomenon with serious social consequences. It is very tempting to replace the building, due to improve requirement of broad levels of quality, entering a game of speculation, so common in our real estate market. 4) The eco-city. Comprehensive projects are building spaces with low levels of energy consumption. Fall into this temptation means to continue the extensive city model we have been developing, creating new cities far from the existing but incorporating saving measures, and continuing resource consumptio

Evaluation of Extracurricular Sports Activities as an Educational Element for Sustainable Development in Educational Institutions

Education that instills healthy habits has acquired much attention in recent years due to concerns related to obesity and the sedentary lifestyle of the scholastic population. Extracurricular sports activities can contribute to the creation of healthy habits and can promote active lifestyles. These positive habits provide social benefits and are a facilitator of sustainable development. Thisstudy had two objectives: To assess the quality and value of extracurricular sports activities offered by schools, as well as the satisfaction of the participants and their future intentions to participate; and to assess the relationship between these constructs, with the aim of identifying factors that encourage schoolchildren to be active. Information was gathered from 1080 children in secondary education in Spain (n = 1080) (65.90% boys, 13.76 1.39 years). The instruments used were the Scale of Perception of Sports Organizations (EPOD2) and a future intentions scale. The evaluation of satisfaction, quality, and value, as well as the intentions expressed by the young athletes to continue participating in extracurricular sports activities were positive, with average values close to the maximum. The best-rated quality variables were human resources. A significant association was identified between communication and loyalty, and response capacity and sports spaces. Likewise, perceived satisfaction and value were related to loyalty and price. In short, student perceptions establish a clear relationship between evaluations of activities and the intention to continue practicing sports in schools

International Lessons for Promoting Transit Connections to High-Speed Rail Systems

As the California High-Speed Rail (HSR) project becomes reality, many communities involved in, or affected by, the California HSR project have considered how to connect the new HSR passenger services to local urban transportation systems – such as bus and light rail systems – and how they can take advantage of HSR accessibility and speed throughout the state. European and other overseas systems have decades of experience in forging connections between HSR and various transportation options. This study examines international HSR stations and identifies patterns in transit connections associated with stations on the basis of size, population levels, and other characteristics. Additionally, a closer examination is made of the lessons that can be learned from a strategic sample of overseas HSR stations, correlated to similar cities in the planned California system. Generally, the findings from the comparison suggest that California cities must make significant strides to approach the level of integration and ease of access to other modes that systems outside the U.S. now enjoy

Old and new coins in Southern Hispania in the sixth century A.D

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the behaviour of monetary circulation in Southern Hispania in the 6th century AD. During this time, there was a visible renewal of the monetary stock. This large quantitative increase contrasts with a shortage of information on coin circulation for the previous period, between the second quarter of the 5th century and the arrival of Byzantine authority in the Iberian Peninsula.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Structure, Atomistic Simulations, and Phase Transition of Stoichiometric Yeelimite

ABSTRACT: Yeelimite, Ca4[Al6O12]SO4, is outstanding as an aluminate sodalite, being the framework of these type of materials flexible and dependent on ion sizes and anion ordering/disordering. On the other hand, yeelimite is also important from an applied perspective as it is the most important phase in calcium sulfoaluminate cements. However, its crystal structure is not well studied. Here, we characterize the room temperature crystal structure of stoichiometric yeelimite through joint Rietveld refinement using neutron and Xray powder diffraction data coupled with chemical soft-constraints. Our structural study shows that yeelimite has a lower symmetry than that of the previously reported tetragonal system, which we establish to likely be the acentric orthorhombic space group Pcc2, with a √2a × √2a × a superstructure based on the cubic sodalite structure. Final unit cell values were a = 13.0356(7) Å, b = 13.0350(7) Å, and c = 9.1677(2) Å. We determine several structures using density functional theory calculations, with the lowest energy structure being Pcc2 in agreement with our experimental result. Yeelimite undergoes a reversible phase transition to a higher-symmetry phase which has been characterized to occur at 470 °C by thermodiffractometry. The higher-symmetry phase is likely cubic or pseudocubic possessing an incommensurate superstructure, as suggested by our theoretical calculations which show a phase transition from an orthorhombic to a tetragonal structure. Our theoretical study also predicts a pressure-induced phase transition to a cubic structure of space group I43m. Finally, we show that our reported crystal structure of yeelimite enables better mineralogical phase analysis of commercial calcium sulfoaluminate cements, as shown by RF values for this phase, 6.9% and 4.8% for the previously published orthorhombic structure and for the one reported in this study, respectively.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional. Andalucía Tech