U.S. Federalism and Spanish Autonomy - Lessons from U.S. Federalism for the External Activities of Substate Entities

This article will focus on a narrow aspect of the larger question of the effect of international economic integration and increased international security on the national legal order of complex states, such as the United States and Spain. At first glance, the United States and Spain have rather different systems of constitutional law concerning the relationship between the center and periphery. Nonetheless, as this article will argue, it is revealing to explore the recent responses of theories as different as U.S. federalism and Spain\u27s system of autonomous communities to the new international environment in the crucial area of the external activities of sub-state entities. In this way, one can begin to understand the extent to which centripetal and centrifugal forces described above may influence constitutional systems generally. This article therefore will begin with a comparison of common law and the continental system of legal science, which in each constitutional system operate as a lens through which one can study the substance of constitutional and international law (and, in the case of Spain, also supranational law). These conceptual lenses are necessary for readers or students of both systems to translate the opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court and Spain\u27s Constitutional Tribunal into their respective legal vocabularies. Once these concepts are explicated, it will be possible to analyze the similarities and differences between federalism\u27s organizing concept of dual sovereignty and Spanish autonomy\u27s organizing concept, in my view, of a version of subsidiarity. Thereafter, this article will apply these concepts to the jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court and Spain\u27s Constitutional Tribunal concerning the external activities of sub-state entities, and then it will conclude with some brief comments concerning the significance of these constitutional developments for the state of international law and the comparative study of constitutional law, in particular the relative value of constitutional law methodologies grounded in common law and civil law in responding to international system change

Structural effects of steel reinforcement corrosion on statically indeterminate reinforced concrete members

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1617/s11527-016-0836-2Steel corrosion in reinforced concrete structures produces loss of reinforcement area and damage in the surrounding concrete. As a consequence, increases in deflections, crack widths and stresses may take place, as well as a reduction of the bearing capacity, which depends on the structural scheme and redundancy. In this paper an experimental study of twelve statically indeterminate beams subjected to different levels of forced reinforcement corrosion is presented. Different sustained loads were applied during the corrosion phase to assess their influence on the effects of corrosion. An important increase in deflections was registered in all corroded beams, especially in those subject to higher load levels. It was also found that the rate of corrosion was affected by the load level. Internal forces redistributions due to induced damage were measured. Finally, the experimental results were compared with those predicted by a non-linear time-dependent segmental analysis model developed by the authors, obtaining in general good agreement.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The convolution theorem for the continuous wavelet tranform

We study the application of the continuous wavelet transform to perform signal 1ltering processes. We 1rst show that the convolution and correlation of two wavelet functions satisfy the required admissibility and regularity conditions. By using these new wavelet functions to analyze both convolutions and correlations, respectively, we derive convolution and correlation theorems for the continuous wavelet transform and show them to be similar to that of other joint spatial/spatial–frequency or time/frequency representations. We then investigate the e5ect of multiplying the continuous wavelet transform of a given signal by a related transfer function and show how to perform spatially variant 1ltering operations in the wavelet domain. Finally, we present numerical examples showing the usefulness of applying the convolution theorem for the continuous wavelet transform to perform signal restoration in the presence of additive noise

An Empirical Air-to-Ground Channel Model Based on Passive Measurements in LTE

In this paper, a recently conducted measurement campaign for unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV) channels is introduced. The downlink signals of an in-service long-time-evolution (LTE) network which is deployed in a suburban scenario were acquired. Five horizontal and five vertical flight routes were considered. The channel impulse responses (CIRs) are extracted from the received data by exploiting the cell specific signals (CRSs). Based on the CIRs, the parameters of multipath components (MPCs) are estimated by using a high-resolution algorithm derived according to the space-alternating generalized expectation-maximization (SAGE) principle. Based on the SAGE results, channel characteristics including the path loss, shadow fading, fast fading, delay spread and Doppler frequency spread are thoroughly investigated for different heights and horizontal distances, which constitute a stochastic model.Comment: 15 pages, submitted version to IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. Current status: Early acces

Conflicto y convivencia: profesores y alumnos en el proceso de enseñanza en un aula de secundaria

Esta investigación analiza las relaciones complejas entre un profesor de educación secundaria y sus alumnos en la clase de Ciencias sociales. Se examinan las posibilidades de una práctica docente más reflexiva como estrategia de superación del enfrentamiento entre la cultura de los estudiantes y la cultura escolar, representada por el profesor. A través de la experimentación de un proyecto curricular sobre el conflicto y la convivencia y utilizando una metodología cualitativa, se obtuvieron evidencias en relación con el progreso del desarrollo profesional del docente en tres dimensiones: la concepción de los contenidos escolares, la utilización de una metodología didáctica activa y la reformulación de la identidad profesional en función de un nuevo tipo de relaciones en el aula.This research analyzes the complex relations between a secondary school teacher and his students in a social science class. An examination is made of a more reflective teaching practice as a strategy to overcome confrontation between student culture and school culture, which is represented by the teacher. By experimenting with a curriculum project on conflict and interaction and using qualitative methodology, evidence was obtained in relation to the progress of teachers’ professional development in three dimensions: the conception of scholastic content, the use of active teaching methodology, and the reformulation of professional identity as a function of a new type of relationships in the classroo

Ciudadanía e identidad en el territorio. Una experiencia educativa en un barrio de Sevilla

Se expone un proceso de experimentación curricular en la enseñanza de las Ciencias Sociales con alumnado de 4º curso de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (16 años de edad) en un centro educativo de un barrio (Torreblanca) del extrarradio de Sevilla. Esta propuesta educativa trabaja sobre la historia de dicho barrio, formado por los familiares y descendientes de los presos políticos del franquismo condenados a trabajos forzados en la construcción del Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir. Con este trabajo se pretende recuperar la memoria histórica y contribuir a la construcción de una identidad positiva de barrio, que sirva de soporte para promover una ciudadanía emancipada y socialmente comprometida, frente a la idea de identidad dependiente, que daría lugar a una ciudadanía asistida. La experimentación se incluye en un proyecto de enseñanza de las Ciencias Sociales estructurado en torno a problemas sociales relevantes, tratados en distintas escalas y con diferentes niveles de profundidad. De esta forma, el conocimiento de la problemática del espacio vivido y la sensibilización y compromiso con los problemas próximos constituirían un punto de partida para abordar problemas sociales más globales y complejos.We describe a process of curricular experimentation in the teaching of the Social Sciences with 4th year students of Secondary Education (16 years old) in a school in a neighborhood (Torreblanca) on the outskirts of Seville. This educational proposal works on the history of this district, consisting of families and descendants of Franco's political prisoners sentenced to hard labor in the construction of the Lower Guadalquivir Canal. This work seeks to recover the historical memory and contribute to building a local positive identity that serves as support to promote an emancipated and socially committed citizenship, facing to the idea of dependent identity, which would lead to an assisted citizenship. Experimentation is included in a project of Social Sciences teaching structured around relevant social problems, treated at different scales and with different levels of depth. Thus the knowledge of the problems of living space and awareness and commitment with proximity problems would constitute a starting point to address more global and complex social problems

Convivencia y disciplina en el espacio escolar : discursos y realidades

Los problemas de convivencia en los centros escolares suelen ser tratados como problemas de disciplina escolar, mediante el control de los comportamientos del alumnado. En ese sentido, se ha elaborado una gran cantidad de normas reguladoras y de proyectos para fomentar el ambiente de convivencia en los centros, pero los resultados educativos han sido escasos. Por otra parte, la educación para la paz y para la convivencia ha sido considerada también como un tema transversal que debía ser incorporado al currículum escolar, pero la estructura del currículum escolar, organizado en materias escolares tradicionales, ha dificultado dicha intención. En esta investigación presentamos como alternativa el tratamiento de la convivencia como contenido escolar en la enseñanza de las Ciencias Sociales, en una experimentación curricular llevada a cabo con alumnado de 4º curso de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en un centro de Sevilla.Living together problems at schools are often treated as discipline problems, just by controlling the behavior of students. In that sense, a lot of regulatory rules and projects to promote the atmosphere of living together at schools have been drawn, but the educational results have been poor. Moreover, education for peace and for living together has also been considered as a crosscutting subject that should be incorporated into the school curriculum, but the structure of the school curriculum, organized in traditional school subjects, has hindered this intention. This research presents an alternative treatment of living together at school as a teaching content of Social Sciences with students of 4th year Secondary School at a school center in Seville

The influence of skull shape modularity on internal skull structures: a 3D-Pilot study using bears

In order to capture the phenotypic variation of the internal skull structures, such as the sinuses or the brain, it is necessary to perform CT scans in a large number of specimens, which is difficult and expensive. Therefore, while the external morphology of the mammalian cranium has been the subject of many morphometric studies, the internal structures of the cranium have been comparatively less studied. Here, we explore how the variation of external shape reflects the morphology of internal structures. We use the family Ursidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) as a case study because bears have a wide variability of cranial morphologies in part associated with different trophic ecologies. To do this, we digitized a set of landmarks in 3D with a Microscribe G2X from the external surface of the cranium in a wide sample of bears. Additionally, the crania of seven bear species were CT-scanned and prepared digitally to visualize the 3D models of the external cranium morphology and of internal structures. Subsequently, we divided the landmarks into two modules, splanchnocranium and neurocranium, and we perform a two-block partial least squares analysis (2B PLS) to explore the intraspecific (static) morphological changes associated with the covariation between them. These morphological changes were visualized using the morphing technique with the 3D models, looking at both the external shape and the internal structures. In addition, we inferred the volume of the sinuses and of the brain in each hypothetical model. Our results show that the first two PLS axes are associated externally with changes in the basicranial angle, face length and cranium height and width. Concerning the internal structures, there are parallel changes in dorso-ventral and medio-lateral expansion of sinuses and brain, accompanied by their corresponding changes in volume. In contrast, the third PLS axis is related to opposite changes in the volume of sinuses and brain. These preliminary results suggest that the opposite relationship between sinuses and brain volumes in the bear cranium is not as evident as expected, at least at intraspecific level.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Estudio de mejora de la calidad del agua para el olivar de riego de provincia de Jaén mediante la aplicación de herramientas SIG

El objetivo de este trabajo es el estudio, por medio de SIG, de la viabilidad de la utilización conjunta para el riego de olivar de aguas superficiales y subterráneas, para disminuir la salinización de acuíferos y los riesgos de contaminación por retornos de agua en la provincia de Jaén (sur de España). Se procede a evaluar las proporciones óptimas de los dos tipos de agua en función al umbral de salinidad a partil del cual puede afectar a la producción de la cosecha de olivar, y realizar mapas temáticos con el fin de evitar una acumulación excesiva de sal en el suelo. Se consideraron diferentes variables de la evaluación de riesgos, y un mapa temático para cada variable desarrollado por medio de análisis geoestadístico de los datos, utilizando el software de código abierto gvSIG. La herramienta basada en GIS fue una estrategia capaz de realizar mapas de mezcla de agua superficial y subterránea para disminuir los riesgos de salinización. Con este trabajo se expone la posibilidad de solucionar la afección de las superficies regadas en sus cuencas vertiente, desde las que la escorrentía superficial puede arrastrar sustancias contaminantes hacia áreas permeables a las que recarga, mediante la mezcla de agua de distinta procedencia, minimizando el riesgo de afección y vulnerabilidad de las escorrentías superficiales y aguas subterráneas frente a la contaminación