Characterization and evolution of the sediments of a Mediterranean coastal lagoon located next to a former mining area

Coastal lagoons are ecosystems that are relatively enclosed water bodies under the influence of both the terrestrial and themarine environment, being vulnerable to human impacts. Human activities, such asmining extraction, are significant anthropogenic coastal stressors that can negatively affect ecosystems and communities. In light of the above, the objective of this research is to examine the influence ofmetal mining activities on the composition of sediments of a Mediterranean coastal lagoon, named Mar Menor. This paper presents a comprehensive characterization for grain size, mineralogy, geochemistry and organic matter of sediments of this coastal lagoon, investigating their variation along space and time. Sedimentation dynamics are ruling clearly the grain size predominant in each area of the MarMenor coastal lagoon, determining the existence of entrainment, transport and sedimentation areas. Forminerals, elements and organic matter, sedimentation dynamics are also determining their distribution.The authors would like to thank Fundación Séneca for funding the project 12038/PI/09. In addition, they want to acknowledge the cooperation of J.M. Peñas, R. Baños, J. Saura, M. Saura and B. Villaescusa who helped us to improve this research and to Mr. and Mrs. Purves for their English grammar supervision

Servicer performance in processing HAMP loan modifications: a survey of Massachusetts-based counseling agencies

The Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP) attempts to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by compensating servicers that allow borrowers to modify the terms of their mortgages. To understand the seemingly troubled HAMP process, the Community Development unit of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank of Boston administered surveys to loan-modification counselors. The results indicate that the process takes much longer than the guidelines indicate and that servicers frequently claim the applications are incomplete. The surveys were run twice to assess any improvements.Mortgage loans - Massachusetts ; Mortgage servicing

Lessons from resurgent cities

In 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston began a project to help reinvigorate the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. This cross-departmental initiative uses the Boston Fed's research and convening capabilities to complement the efforts of other organizations dedicated to improving economic and social conditions in New England's fourth-largest city. As noted in an earlier joint Federal Reserve-Brookings Institution study, Springfield has one of the highest rates of concentrated poverty in the country: one-third of the city's poor live in neighborhoods where poverty rates exceed 40 percent. Thus, a particular focus of the Boston Fed project has been to support revitalization strategies that would enable more city residents, particularly those located in poor areas, to prosper. While the Boston Fed project focuses on the city of Springfield, we hope to devise approaches that can be replicated in other struggling mid-sized cites around New England and the nation. To this end, this essay reports on lessons learned from our research on older industrial cities that have adapted relatively well to economic challenges, and are recognized as vital communities today. We believe these "resurgent cities" provide relevant, inspiring insights on development strategies for urban America.Cities and towns ; Cities and towns - Massachusetts ; Economic conditions ; Economic conditions - Massachusetts ; Economic policy ; Economic policy - Massachusetts

Yield determination in olive hedgerow orchards. I. Yield and profiles of yield components in north–south and east–west oriented hedgerows

A study of the vertical distribution of flowering and fruit set and of components of yield (fruit numbers, fruit size, and fruit oil content) was maintained for 2 years in N–S- and E–W-oriented olive hedgerows of comparable structure (row spacing 4m, hedgerow height to 2.5 m, width c. 1m) near Toledo, Spain (39.98N). Mean yield of the N–S orchard was 1854 kg oil/ha without difference between sides or years. Yield of the E–W orchard was greater in 2006, producing 2290 kg/ha, but only 1840 kg/ha in 2007, the same as the N–S orchard. The S side of the E–Worchard yielded more (59%) than the N side in 2007. In both orchards and years, most fruit was produced at 1.0–2.0m height and fruit density was the most influential component in these differences, reflecting more intense bud initiation in these upper layers. Other components that determined fruit number, fertile inflorescences, fruits per fertile inflorescence, and fruit drop were not significantly different between layers. Fruit characteristics depended on hedgerow position. In both N–S and E–W hedgerows, fruit high in the hedgerow was the largest, most mature, and with highest oil content. These differences were more marked in N–S than in E–W hedgerows. Fruit growth and development were concentrated from the middle of September until the end November. Oil content per fruit increased linearly during that period when 65% of final oil content was accumulated. Similar patterns were observed between sides. The results of yield and yield profiles are discussed in the general context of light interception. The results suggest the importance of hedgerow porosity, and distinct penetration patterns of direct-beam radiation through N–S and E–W hedgerows, as the basis for explanation of the high yield of the N side of E–W hedgerows

Yield determination in olive hedgerow orchards. II. Analysis of radiation and fruiting profiles

Profiles of fruit density, fruit size, and oil content were measured on 12 occasions in 7 olive orchards in Spain and 2 in Australia. Orchard structure varied widely. Height ranged from 2.0 to 5.5 m, row spacing from 3 to 6 m, and canopy width from 0.7 to 3m. Most orchards were oriented north–south (N–S) but one in Spain was oriented close to east–west (E–W)(208NE–SW). All orchards in Spain were cv. Arbequina, and in Australia they were cvv. Barnea and Picual. Analyses with a model of interception and transmission that estimated interception by individual sides of hedgerows revealed that fruit size and oil content were strongly related to intercepted radiation during the month before harvest across all orchards. Relationships were also evident between fruit density and interception but varied among orchards and years, indicating the importance of other environmental and probably physiological effects. In N–S orchards of cv. Arbequina, average fruit size and oil content increased linearly from 0.40 g (dry weight) to 0.72 g, and from 36 to 49% (of dry weight), as daily intercepted PAR increased from 6 to 25 mol/m2 (15–60% of horizontally incident radiation). The general principles of response extended to E–W orchards. There, it was shown that generally large fruit with high oil content on S sides was consistent with the plateau responses to radiation evident in the more extensive N–S data. On the N side, however, and accounting for transmission through the hedgerow, both fruit size and oil content were greater than in positions intercepting equivalent radiation inN–S orchards. Examples are provided of the utility of responses of fruit density, size, and oil content in establishing combinations of row height, row width, and row distance to improve or maintain productivity in some of the orchards included in the study

Mediación en conflictos versus mediación en Trabajo Social

El objeto de este artículo es apuntar las diferencias entre la mediación formal profesional y las actuaciones de mediación que se llevan a cabo desde el Trabajo Social, para lo cual, brevemente y con carácter previo, se desbrozan las confusiones que genera el término mediación por razón de sus distintas acepciones y se repasan su objeto y objetivos como intervención distinta y específica a la que se realiza desde otras profesiones.This article sets out to indicate the differences between formal professional mediation and the mediation actions carried out by Social Work. To this end, the confusion generated by the term mediation through its different senses is briefly examined as a preliminary approach, then going over its object and objectives as a different specific type of intervention to the sort performed by other professions

El acceso al campo profesional de la traducción médica: hacia una definición social del traductor médico

Catorzenes Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la FCHS (Any 2008-2009)La traducción médica es una actividad imprescindible para el desarrollo de la comunicación y el conocimiento médicos en todas sus vertientes. El mercado de la traducción médica se encuentra en constante crecimiento y muchos son los organismos que requieren profesionales específicamente formados para el ejercicio de esta actividad. Pese a ello, este ámbito resulta todavía poco explorado en el seno de la Traductología, ya que existe un desequilibrio entre la demanda de traducción médica y la oferta de formación y de investigación al respecto. Ante dicha situación y ante la falta de estudios que aborden los aspectos profesionales de esta especialidad, el presente artículo pretende contribuir a llenar este vacío tomando como punto de partida el profesional que se dedica a satisfacer las necesidades de comunicación médica: el traductor médico. El estudio se centra en apuntar tendencias acerca del perfil formativo del traductor médico y de las vías de acceso a este campo profesional. Dicho estudio se ha realizado combinando la revisión bibliográfica con un método de investigación sociológica, el cualitativo, mediante entrevistas a traductores médicos. Los resultados de la investigación dejan abiertas líneas de trabajo futuras mediante las que se podrán obtener datos rigurosos y empíricos sobre la actividad y el profesional de la traducción médica que sirvan de sustento teórico y académico para los responsables educativos de esta especialidad

De princesas lascivas, pastoras célibes y amadas inconstantes: la parodia de la literatura idealizante en el "Caballero de la Fe" (1583)

Resumen:Frente a lo que su título parece prometer, en la ficción del padre Miguel Daza lo femenino goza de una autonomía propia, de un espaciode representación independiente del mundo de las armas que se distancia de la divinización de la mujer intrínseca al amor courtois.Como el presente trabajo se propone demostrar, en su construcción, Daza rompe las convenciones de un universo sublimado pordefinición, para introducir una mirada nueva, de corte realista, que provoca la sonrisa del lector. De esta forma, la narración ejecutauna estudiada parodia de los géneros idealizantes del momento, sustentada en la consciente adopción de un naturalismo amorosoque remite explícitamente a la Celestina. Su autor se coloca así en la ininterrumpida tradición anti-cortesana, desde una perspectivaesencialmente humanista.Palabras clave:Libros de caballerías, humor, hibridación genérica, autoconciencia narrativa, corriente anti-cortesana, naturalismo amoroso.Abstract:At odds with what its title seems to suggest, feminity has autonomy in Father Miguel Daza’s fiction. It has its own space ofrepresentation away from the world of chivalry, and detached from the divinizing of the woman in courtly love. This paper’s aim isto demonstrate that Daza breaks the conventions of an ennobled universe by definition, to introduce a new realistic perspective thatcauses the reader to smile. This way, the narrative creates an intended parody of the idealizing genre of the epoch, which stands on theconscious adoption of naturalistic love, thus adhering explicitly to Celestina. Its author places himself in the uninterruptedanti-courtisan tradition from a fundamentally humanistic perspective.Key words: Chivalric literature, humour, generic hybridization, narrative self-awareness, anti-courtisan trend, naturalistic love

La traducción médica como especialidad académica: algunos rasgos definitorios.

Desde un punto de vista disciplinario y dado el parentesco indudable que guarda con la traducción científico-técnica, la traducción médica ha quedado tradicionalmente diluida como una subespecialidad dentro de aquella. No obstante, cada vez son más los estudiosos y traductores del ámbito que inciden en resaltar las «características que le son propias» (Montalt 2009: 172) y conferir a la traducción médica el estatus de especialidad acotada, con entidad propia y con necesidades formativas particulares. El principal objetivo de este artículo es definir y caracterizar la traducción médica como especialidad académica. Para ello, se repasarán algunos de los criterios por los que se podría considerar una especialidad con entidad propia dentro del marco de la Traductología, y se revisarán los principales rasgos que la caracterizan, como su amplitud e interdisciplinariedad, la existencia de géneros textuales propios, la variedad de situaciones comunicativas en que tiene lugar o el tipo de problemas a los que se deberá enfrentar el traductor

Resultados iniciales en el desarrollo de una Escala de Creencias Irracionales sobre la Separación matrimonial

En el presente artículo se ofrecen los resultados iniciales obtenidos en el desarrollo de una escala para evaluar las creencias irracionales que las personas mantienen acerca de su separación matrimonial, la Escala de Creencias Irracionales sobre la Separación (ECIS). La comprobación de sus características psicométricas se llevó a cabo con una muestra de 88 personas a las que se accedió a través de diversas asociaciones de separados/ as y de centros de mediación en divorcios. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que la ECIS posee unas propiedades psicométricas aceptables en cuanto a su fiabilidad y validez por lo que es posible su utilización tanto en la práctica clínica como en futuras investigaciones con personas separadas.In the present article we offer the initial results obtained in the development of a scale to assess irrational beliefs that people maintain about their divorce, the Irrational Beliefs about Divorce Scale (Escala de Creencias Irracionales sobre la Separación, ECIS). The analysis of its psychometric characteristics was carried out with a sample of 88 subjects, which was contacted through several mediation centres and associations of separated people. The results showed that the ECIS has acceptable psychometric properties in relation to its reliability and validity, which makes possible its use in the clinical practice as well as in future researches with divorced people