Reforma ilustrada de la universidad de Alcalá: el plan de estudios de leyes y cánones

El plan de estudios de Alcalá de 1772 fue el resultado de proceso mucho más convulsivo de lo que en un principio hubiese cabido esperar. Entre las propuestas del claustro y del consejo de Castilla se perfilan distintas concepciones y culturas jurídicas que son aquí analizadas.Abstract: The curriculum used in Alcalá from 1772 was ihe consequence of a process which was much more convulsive than was originally thought. Among the proposals of the Monastic Council and the Council of Castilla were distinct concepts and juridical models,which are analyzed here.Publicad

Using simulation to estimate the power of a badger vaccine trial

The aim of this study was to estimate the power of a badger vaccine field trial using simulation techniques. The effects of sample size, sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test, transmission rate between unvaccinated badgers, Vaccine Efficacy for Susceptibility (VES) and Vaccine Efficacy for Infectiousness (VEI) on study power were determined. The most striking result was the large effect of the specificity of the diagnostic test on study power. Sample size had a small effect on power. Study power increased with increasing transmission rate between non-vaccinated badgers. Changes in VES had a higher impact on power than changes in VEI. In summary, study power in group randomized trials depends not only on sample size but on many other parameters. In the current vaccine trial, power was highly dependent on the specificity of the diagnostic test. Therefore, it is critical that the diagnostic test used in the badger vaccine trial is optimized to maximise test specificity

Humanismo y derecho canónico: la obra de Jean Doujat

El plan de estudios de 1772, para la universidad de Alcalá de Henares, erigió la cátedra de Historia eclesiástica. En ella debían cursar los aspirantes a la licencia en Cánones, quienes utilizarían como manual las Praenotiones canonicae del canonista francés Jean Doujat. ¿Quién fue Jean Doujat? ¿Cuál fue su producción jurídica? ¿Qué criterios inspiraron la redacción de sus Praenotiones? Estas son básicamente las preguntas a las que he tratado de responder. Así mismo, he analizado el capítulo que el autor dedicó al método de enseñanza del derecho canónico. En él se evidencia que Doujat ha de ser enmarcado en las coordenadas del humanismo jurídico y del galicanismo. El conocimiento de la historia y de las lenguas, el afán de síntesis, orden y claridad, la conexión entre los derechos civil y canónico, además de su actitud proclive a los intereses políticos de la Corona de Francia definieron su actividad como jurista.In 1772, the Spanish University oí Alcalá de Henares included within its program of studies a Chair for Ecclesiastic History. The students of Canonical Law had to study under this Chair and to use as textbook the Praenotiones canonicae written by the French canonist Jean Doujat. Who was Jean Doujat? What other books on Law he wrote? What criteria he used on writing Praenotiones? These are the questions that the author tries to answer in this work. Mn Aznar analyzes the chapter that Jean Doujat dedicated to the methodology of the teaching of Canonical Law. From this analysis, it becomes evident to the author that Jean Doujat has to be considered within the Juridical Humanism and the Gallicanism. Jean Doujat s activity as a jurist was set up by his knowledge of history and languages, his zeal for synthesis, order and clarity and the connexion he established between Civil and Canonical Law, as well as by his defense of all political interests of the French Crown.Publicad

Three essays in human capital formation. From colonial institutions in the Americas to early Catalan industrialization

[eng] This doctoral thesis aims to investigate the role of human capital in some of the most economically dynamic areas under the control of the Hispanic monarchy. The period covered by this study extends from the 18th century, in regions that formed part of the colonial empire during the Old Regime, or in the peninsula itself during the pre-industrial period, to the creation of the 19th-century mass education systems during the transition to the liberal state. First, this research attempts to contribute to the debate on the role of institutions in human capital formation, transmission and persistence. With this objective in mind, an analysis of the case of the Guarani missions, which were established and led by the Jesuits in the 18th century, was performed. Moreover, it presents new quantitative evidence that encompasses a theoretical framework for reviewing the paradox of human capital and early industrialization in Catalonia from the beginning of the 18th century until the eve of the Civil War. In order to provide new indicators that contribute to a quantitative discussion on economic history, this research focused on the simplest form of human capital: basic literacy (the ability to read and write) and numeracy (the ability to count). After a review of the existing literature linking human capital and economic development in the introduction (Chapter 1), three essays are presented. The first, in Chapter 2, uses the age-heaping methodology to analyse the level of numeracy achieved by the Guarani missions during the 18th century, in which the Jesuits were responsible for educating the indigenous population, within the colonial context of the modern period, and allows for an assessment of the weight of institutions in human capital formation and transmission. The results reveal the high levels of numeracy achieved by the Jesuit missions and a wide diversity of institutions and situations within territories under the colonial rule of the Hispanic kings during the modern period, when the areas with the greatest economic dynamism had some institution that facilitated the transmission of elementary human capital; they also reveal, however, that the more extractive institutions hindered this process. Next, Chapter 3 focuses on Catalonia at the beginning of the 18th century and, using the same age-heaping methodology, examines the level of human capital in a varied sample of Catalan localities and by various occupations and social classes. Early 18th-century Catalonia had arithmetic levels that were relatively high in certain sectors, occupations and social groups and, more importantly, that were comparable to other dynamic areas of Europe. These contributions are consistent with the literature that examined the role that may have been played by useful knowledge in the promotion of innovation in the early phases of the Industrial Revolution to explain how economies embarked upon the path to modern economic growth. The third essay, in Chapter 4, then sets out to study the municipal-scale evolution of literacy rates in Catalonia between 1860 and 1930, for both men and women, in a key period for Catalan society and economy. The results show that in 1860, urban areas of Catalonia had higher literacy rates, although there were notable exceptions, and that the evolution between 1860 and 1900 was marked by a significant improvement that did not lead to increased territorial inequalities unlike the situation in Spain as a whole. Finally, Chapter 5 of the thesis presents some conclusions and proposes that a reassessment of the human capital paradox and early industrialization by means of new quantitative indicators from the European periphery, specifically in the case of Catalonia, may contribute to the debate on the measurement of human capital accumulation and its relationship with economic development.[cat] Aquesta tesi doctoral té com a objectiu investigar el paper del capital humà en algunes de les àrees econòmicament més dinàmiques sota el control de la monarquia hispana. El període cobert per aquest estudi s'estén des del segle XVIII, en les regions que van formar part de l'imperi colonial durant l'Antic Règim, o en la mateixa península durant el període preindustrial, fins a la creació dels sistemes d'educació massiva de segle XIX durant la transició a l'estat liberal. En primer lloc, aquesta investigació intent contribuir al debat sobre el paper de les institucions en la formació, transmissió i persistència del capital humà. Amb aquest objectiu, s'ha realitzat una anàlisi del cas de les missions guaranís, establertes i dirigides pels jesuïtes al segle XVIII. A més, es presenten noves proves quantitatives que abasten un marc teòric per revisar la paradoxa el capital humà i la industrialització primerenca a Catalunya des de principis de segle XVIII fins a la vigília de la Guerra Civil. Per tal de proporcionar nous indicadors que contribueixin a un debat quantitatiu sobre la història econòmica, aquesta investigació es va centrar en la forma més simple de capital humà: l'alfabetització bàsica (la capacitat de llegir i escriure) i el càlcul (la capacitat de comptar). Després d'un examen de la bibliografia existent que vincula el capital humà i el desenvolupament econòmic en la introducció (Capítol 1), es presenten tres assajos. El primer, en el capítol 2, utilitza la metodologia de càlcul numèric per edats per analitzar el nivell de coneixements numèrics assolit per les missions guaranís durant el segle XVIII, en què els jesuïtes es van encarregar d'educar a la població indígena, en el context colonial del període modern, i permet avaluar el pes de les institucions en la formació i transmissió del capital humà. Els resultats revelen els alts nivells de capacitat numèrica assolits per les missions jesuítiques i una gran diversitat d'institucions i situacions dins dels territoris sota el domini colonial dels reis hispànics durant el període modern, quan les zones de major dinamisme econòmic comptaven amb alguna institució que facilitava la transmissió del capital humà elemental; també revelen, però, que les institucions més extractives obstaculitzaven aquest procés. A continuació, el capítol 3 se centra en la Catalunya de principis de segle XVIII i, utilitzant la mateixa metodologia de l'època, examina el nivell de capital humà en una variada mostra de localitats catalanes i per diverses ocupacions i classes socials. La Catalunya de principis de segle XVIII tenia nivells aritmètics relativament alts en determinats sectors, ocupacions i grups socials i, el que és més important, eren comparables a altres zones dinàmiques d'Europa. Aquestes contribucions són coherents amb la literatura que va examinar el paper que poden haver exercit els coneixements útils en la promoció de la innovació en les primeres fases de la Revolució Industrial per a explicar com les economies van emprendre el camí cap al creixement econòmic modern. A continuació, el tercer assaig, en el capítol 4, es proposa estudiar l'evolució a escala municipal de les taxes d'alfabetització a Catalunya entre 1860 i 1930, tant d'homes com de dones, en un període clau per a la societat i l'economia catalanes. Els resultats mostren que en 1860, les zones urbanes de Catalunya tenien taxes d'alfabetització més elevades, tot i que amb notables excepcions, i que l'evolució entre 1860 i 1900 es va caracteritzar per una important millora que no va provocar un augment de les desigualtats territorials, a diferència de la situació en el conjunt d'Espanya. Finalment, en el capítol 5 de la tesi es presenten algunes conclusions i es proposa que una reavaluació de la paradoxa el capital humà i de la industrialització primerenca mitjançant nous indicadors quantitatius de la perifèria europea, concretament en el cas de Catalunya, pot contribuir al debat sobre el mesurament de l'acumulació de capital humà i la seva relació amb el desenvolupament econòmic

Oxy-steam combustion: The effect of coal rank and steam concentration on combustion characteristics

This paper addresses the experimental investigation of coal combustion characteristics (ignition, burnout and NO formation) under oxy-steam combustion conditions. Two coals are selected in order to compare the effect of the rank: bituminous and sub-bituminous ones. The experiments have been conducted in an electrically-heated entrained flow reactor for a set of O2/N2, O2/CO2 and O2/H2O/CO2 atmospheres, with O2 concentrations up to 35% and H2O concentrations up to 40%. Regarding ignition, 10% H2O reduces ignition temperature (max. 16–19 K) but the trend is reversed when supplying additional steam to 25% and 40%. This behaviour is similar for both coals, with slight larger variations in the case of the low rank coal. Burnout degree of the sub-bituminous coal is barely affected by the steam concentration since all observed conversions are very high. Larger increments (up to 6.1 percentage points) are obtained for the bituminous coal, with a maximum burnout degree for the 25/35% H2O/O2 atmosphere. A very different effect of steam on NO formation is found depending on the coal rank. Significant reduction rates are observed for the bituminous coal in comparison to the dry O2/CO2 atmospheres, with a maximum diminution of 24% when 40% H2O replaces CO2. On the contrary, the higher volatile content in the sub-bituminous coal leads to NO increments up to 9%. For all the combustion characteristics studied, the increase of O2 concentrations attenuates the effects caused by the steam addition

Mechanical modeling of collective cell migration: An agent-based and continuum material approach

We develop a novel modeling approach that combines a discrete agent-based model and a continuum material model to simulate collective cell migration in epithelial layers. In this approach, cells are represented as particles located at their geometrical center, but also as a polygonal body derived from the Voronoi diagram. Furthermore, we model the tissue as a continuum medium with different spatial domains that represent cell and substrate materials. In fact, the mechanical behavior of each domain is affected by the presence of cells from the discrete model. Moreover, we solve this mechanical problem using the finite element method (FEM). The forces generated by cells are projected to the FE mesh, that is created dynamically during the simulation from the discrete cell representation. After the FE resolution, we use the mesh displacements to determine the new cell positions in the agent-based model. Finally, to demonstrate the potential of this approach to model epithelial tissue mechanics, we simulate two well-studied cases of collective cell migration: durotaxis and gap closure. We use the experimental data from the literature to validate our numerical results. Therefore, the modeling strategy here presented offers a new perspective for a deeper understanding of tissue mechanics that emerge from cell dynamics in epithelial layers

We see ICT spillovers everywhere but in the econometric evidence: a reassessment

Using company-level data for the US we study the productivity effects of knowledge spillovers, induced by the diffusion of ICT in the markets where companies operate. We adopt multiple spillover proxies and account for firms' absorptive capacity and lagged effects. Our results show that intra-industry ICT spillovers have a contemporaneous negative effect while the impact of inter-industry spillovers is positive. The overall productivity effect of ICT is negative, except for those companies with a strong absorptive capacity. However, after a 5-year lag the overall spillover effect turns positive while the role of absorptive capacity diminishes as a consequence of decreasing learning costs and more accessible technology

Els noms en català dels nous elements químics

El mes de novembre de 2016, la IUPAC publicava els noms anglesos oficials dels darrers quatre elements incorporats a la taula periòdica: nihonium, moscovium, tennessine i oganesson. Gairebé simultàniament, el Consell Supervisor del TERMCAT va iniciar l'estudi d'aquests neologismes per a establir-ne la denominació adequada en català. Aquest article presenta les denominacions normalitzades en català, amb els principals arguments terminològics en què es fonamenten: nihoni, moscovi, tennessi i oganessó. S'hi inclou una referència a les propostes denominatives en català que, un cop considerades, es van desestimar.Last November, the IUPAC published the official names of the four latest elements to be added to the periodic table: nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson. Almost at the same time, the TERMCAT Supervisory Council started the study of these neologisms to set their appropriate names in Catalan. This article introduces the standardized Catalan denominations with the main terminological arguments that support them: nihoni, moscovi, tennessi and oganessó. Alternative Catalan names that were rejected after consideration are also included

El aprendizaje de competencias en Química a través de la resolución de situaciones problemáticas abiertas

Este trabajo forma parte de una investigación más amplia y su objetivo es comprobar el cambio competencial producido en los alumnos cuando resuelven situaciones problemáticas abiertas mediante una Metodología de Resolución de Problemas como Investigación, MRPI. Este estudio se plantea dentro de la disciplina de Química y con alumnos de primer curso de Bachillerato de Ciencias. Las situaciones problemáticas abiertas forman parte de una Unidad Didáctica y permiten abordar los contenidos curriculares sobre reacciones químicas y medioambiente, dentro de un enfoque CTSA a partir de la energía de la Biomasa. Los resultados indican una mejoría estadísticamente significativa en las competencias desarrolladas por los alumnos mediante la MRPI