ICTs, disruptive forces and the production paradox in tourism: Present and future issues in the Visitor Attraction sector

En el marco de colaboración entre la Glasgow Caledonian University (Escocia, Reino Unido) y la Universidad de Alicante (España) y con el objetivo de dar a conocer la producción investigadora de docentes e investigadores involucrados en el convenio de colaboración entre ambas universidades, publicamos este libro como medio de difusión científica para visibilizar, compendiar y compartir las investigaciones. El valor fundamental de la obra es el carácter internacional y multidisciplinar de las investigaciones en el área de ciencias sociales y económicas, enfocadas en temáticas tan diversas como el marketing, la economía, la comunicación o la moda, entre otras.As part of the cooperation between Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland, United Kingdom) and the University of Alicante (Spain) and in order to publicize the research production of teachers and researchers involved in the collaboration agreement between the two universities, we publish this book as a means of scientific dissemination to visualize, summarize and share research. The fundamental value of the work is international and multidisciplinary research in the area of social and economic sciences, focused on topics as diverse as marketing, economics, communication and fashion, among others

Computed tomography angiography, perforator flaps, surgeon and OsiriX

Desde la introducción de la transferencia cutánea basada en perforantes, la angiotomografía computerizada ha emergido como una técnica de gran valor en la planificación preoperatoria de los colgajos de perforante. Sin embargo, parece probable que el aprovechamiento de la técnica sea menor del deseable. Evaluamos, a través de la experiencia en 144 pacientes, la utilidad del visor gratuito de imágenes DICOM OsiriX para Mac en la planificación preoperatoria de los colgajos de perforante con tres objetivos: 1) ampliar los conocimientos actuales relacionados con la aplicación de la angiotomografía computerizada en la planificación preoperatoria de los colgajos de perforante, 2) evaluar la aplicación OsiriX en el post-procesamiento de imágenes en la planificación preoperatoria de colgajos de perforante y 3) evaluar el rendimiento obtenible de la angiotomografía considerando que el postprocesamiento es realizado por un cirujano (no especialista en Radiodiagnóstico). La experiencia permite afirmar que el postprocesamiento de las imágenes DICOM por el cirujano con la aplicación Osirix permite habitualmente evaluar de manera adecuada diversas estructuras y parámetros de gran interés en la cirugía de colgajos de perforante: 1) arteria principal, origen de la perforante, 2) diámetro de arteria y vena/s en el hipotético sitio de anastomosis microquirúrgica, 3) recorrido y patrón de ramificación del pedículo del colgajo, 4) disposición de la perforante en la grasa subcutánea (teórico eje de diseño del colgajo), 5) medición del grosor cutáneo en el punto de perforación de la fascia profunda por la rama perforante (teórico grosor de colgajo), 6) medición de la distancia entre el punto de perforación de la fascia profunda por la rama perforante y el origen de la arteria principal (teórica longitud máxima posible de pedículo) y 7) medición del diámetro, en el punto de perforación de la fascia profunda, de la perforante. En consecuencia, parece aconsejable que el cirujano plástico relacionado con los colgajos de perforante se involucre decididamente en el postprocesamiento de las imágenes de angiotomografía computerizada. El visor de imágenes DICOM gratuito OsiriX es una alternativa eficiente, comparable a aplicaciones más profesionales sólo disponibles en servicios de Radiología.With the advent of perforator-based skin transfer, computed tomography angiography has emerged as an invaluable tool in the preoperative planning of perforator flaps. But most likely, the exploitation of the technique is less than desirable. Through our experience with 144 patients, we evaluate the use of the free DICOM viewer OsiriX for Mac in the preoperative planning of perforator flaps with three objectives: 1) increase the present knowledge related with the preoperative planning of perforator flaps with computed tomography angiography, 2) evaluate the OsiriX application in the image post-processing of perforator flaps and 3) evaluate the performance of the procedure when performed by a surgeon (not specialized in Radiology). The experience has shown that the image post-processing performed by the surgeon with the OsiriX application usually allows an adequate evaluation of different structures and parameters of great preoperative interest in perforator flap surgery: 1) source artery, 2) diameter of artery and vein/s at the hypothetical site of microsurgical anastomoses, 3) course and branching pattern of the flap pedicle, 4) perforator course in the subcutaneous fat (theoretical flap axis), 5) measurement of the skin and fat where the perforator pierces the deep fascia (theoretical flap thickness ), 6) measurement of the distance between the point of entrance of the perforator in the subcutaneous fat to the source artery (theoretical maximal pedicle length) and 7) measurement of the perforator diameter where it pierces the deep fascia. Ultimately, in the authors’ opinion, those plastic surgeons involved in perforator flap surgery would largely benefit from incorporating the image post-processing into their routine practice. The free DICOM viewer OsiriX is an efficient alternative, comparable to the more professional software only available in Radiology service

Social perspectives towards biobased products and textiles

This study explores and compares stakeholders’ perceptions of biobased products over the last few years. Three groups of stakeholders are included: consumers, the business-to-business market, and public procurers. The main research method consists of a qualitative analysis of some of the results obtained in a series of surveys in Europe-wide projects with the aim of understanding the behaviour, motivations, and concerns of stakeholders related to biobased products. The aim is to gather up-to-date information on the opinion of society from the perspective of the different actors on this type of product, focusing on textiles, in order to make a series of proposals to favour their inclusion in the market, while at the same time answering which are the most influential aspects when it comes to favouring or complicating the access of bioproducts to the market. The document compiles information from multiple sources and years (2014–2020) and, together with the most current and available information (2021), is processed in such a way that the information can be compared across years and stakeholders, allowing to observe the evolution over time of societal perspectives and the variation in opinion according to stakeholder. The results are presented according to three themes: (1) level of awareness, (2) product information, and (3) benefits, drivers, and barriers. The main findings indicate a general lack of awareness of biobased products, as well as several divergences in terms of the best methods to promote market access for biobased textiles

Clusters into Poland and Spain: comparative case study of two clusters from the agricultural industry

The aim of the publication is to compare two clusters from different parts of Europe, detailing the stages of its development and make recommendations for the future development of the two. The methodology proposes using the case study examples of two clusters from Poland and Spain, both linked to the food area. While Agrofood is characterised by the large number of firms, a complementary industry, universities and research centres, the Ecological Food Valley cluster is at an initial development stage and still has not sufficient economic resources to be maintained with full autonomy, and to become competitive. The main recommendation is that the evolution of Agrofood illustrates the stages that the Ecological Food Valley cluster could go through in its own evolution

Combustion Performance of Agropellets in an Experimental Fixed Bed Reactor versus a Commercial Grate Boiler. Validation of Ash Behavior

Agrobiomass is presented as a suitable alternative to contribute to the fossil fuel decarbonization strategy at the European level. To achieve the ambitious objectives established in this regard: (i) new biomass resources need to be used and therefore initially tested in order to confirm its potential for different applications, such as energy production, and (ii) biomass supply capacity needs to be enlarged; therefore, agroindustries converted into Integrated Biomass Logistic Center (IBLC) can play a key role. In this research, eight different agropellets (blends of wheat straw and maize stalk with forestry wood) were produced in a IBLC and tested in a commercial boiler, comparing the results with previous ones obtained in a fixed bed reactor test campaign and to a base case (woody pellets). This paper includes both individual results in terms of bottom ash, deposition, and a final comparison of ash behavior in both facilities. All biofuels tested showed an adequate performance in terms of efficiency and emissions, being slightly better for the agropellets produced with wheat straw. Regarding sintering and deposition, the tendencies found in the reactor investigation were also observed in the commercial boiler. Moreover, the assessment of the results from the boiler and reactor’s tests proved that reactor experiments are representative and may be used to test new biofuels more efficiently in terms of effort and time allocated and could be used to predict sintering and deposition phenomenon occurrence

Ash Behaviour during Combustion of Agropellets Produced by an Agro-Industry—Part 1: Blends Design and Experimental Tests Results

Agropellets are presented as a suitable product to be produced in certain agro-industries which could become Integrated Biomass Logistic Centres (IBLC) by taking advantage of its current resources during those periods in which their facilities are underused. Wheat straw and maize stalk were selected to be blended with forestry wood in an agro-industry dedicated to animal feed production. The materials were characterized to assess the quality of the input material. Taking into account the former, different pellets (blends of woody and herbaceous biomass) were produced and tested in a fixed bed reactor in order to study their combustion behaviour. Additionally, several predictive indexes were also calculated to assess sintering and deposition occurrence probability. Ash sintering degree was found to be directly related to composition and highly dependent on Si content. Moreover, an increase of the wood content in the blend did not proportionally imply a higher quality of the final blend, as would be expected. Regarding deposition, due to the high number of factors involved in this phenomenon, it has not been possible to draw clear conclusions. To do this, it was necessary to delve into the deposition mechanisms, which is addressed in the second part of this paper. Thus, despite the appearance of sintering and deposition phenomena, the combustion behaviour was satisfactory in the test carried out. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that agro-industries can act as IBLCs, producing blended pellet for the energy market that aligns with the standard ISO 17225-6

Ash Behaviour during Combustion of Agropellets Produced by an Agro-Industry—Part 2: Chemical Characterization of Sintering and Deposition

Eight different pellets (one woody and seven blends of woody and herbaceous biomass) produced by an agro-industry were tested in a fixed-bed reactor to characterize their behaviour during their combustion process. The objective was to analyze the possible problems that could arise and, thus, achieve advances in the greater penetration of these agropellets in the energy market. The blends’ design and tests results are presented in the first part of this article. The results of the bottom ash and fly ash samples obtained from the combustion tests using SEM-EDS and P-XRD techniques were analyzed in order to delve into the sintering and deposition phenomena, respectively. Regarding the sintering, a clear relationship has been found between the results of the SEM-EDS analysis and the initial composition of the ash of the fuels. Additionally, the analysis of the results confirms a different ash behaviour regarding the sintering phenomenon depending on the ratio between the amounts of Si, Ca + Mg and K + Na. With respect to deposition, it has been determined that in woody pellets, showing the lower sintering degree, the predominant deposition mechanism is by inertial impact, while in blend pellets it is by condensation, which increases when the percentage of herbaceous in the mixture increases. It has been proved that, in order to compensate (at least partially) for the negative effect of the herbaceous components in the blends, working with a higher λ value is interesting, as it achieves a decrease in the combustion temperature (with λ >1), which implies both a decrease in the sintering degree and in the deposition, improving therefore the ash behaviour in the combustion of agropellets

Implementación del aprendizaje basado en problemas (ABP) y el learning by doing en el Grado en Publicidad y Relaciones Públicas para la adquisición de competencias.

The EHEA (European Higher Education) framework has foreseen an approach between University and business in order to optimize student learning and facilitate their entry into the professional world. With this purpose, lecturers in the Degree in Advertising and Public Relations at San Pablo CEU University have designed and carried out the “Contest Entrepreneurs and Creatives”. It consists of an innovative teaching methodology that combines PBL (problem based learning) with learning by doing.El marco del EEES (Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior) ha previsto un acercamiento entre el ámbito universitario y el empresarial con el objetivo de optimizar el aprendizaje del alumno y facilitar su entrada en el mundo profesional. Este trabajo resume la experiencia que, con tal propósito, profesores en el Grado de Publicidad y Relaciones Públicas de la Universidad CEU San Pablo hemos diseñado y llevado a cabo con el “Concurso Emprendedores y Creativos”, una metodología de innovación docente que combina el ABP (aprendizaje basado en problemas) bajo el método learning by doing

Direct and indirect approaches based on paper analysis by Py-GC/MS for estimating the age of documents

The age of a relatively old document is one of the pending issues to be resolved in the field of forensic documentary examination. Although nowadays there are a variety of analytical methodologies focused in the analysis of inks for dating documents, the paper analysis has attained little attention. This work aims to develop two complementary approaches for estimating the age of documents based on paper analysis employing the pyrolysis technique coupled to gas chromatography with detection by mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS): (i) a direct approach using the pyrolytic fingerprints and multivariate regression with artificially aged samples, and (ii) an indirect approach based on the identification of compounds characteristic of the document period. The direct approach has successfully allowed the age estimation of relatively old documents under police custody (up to 30 years of age) and the determination of a relation between the natural and the accelerated aging of paper under the used conditions. This approach is applicable to papers that have the same (or similar) composition and have been stored under comparable storage conditions. Additionally, the indirect approach is presented as an interesting perspective to ratify valuable information of the document age

Does Green Intellectual Capital Affect Green Performance? The Mediation of Green Innovation

Nowadays, wineries have to cope with the many challenges that threaten their survival. In this context, environmental management and the development of intangible assets are two decisive elements for their survival. The following three research questions can be answered through this study: (1) does Green Intellectual Capital (GIC) influence Green Performance (GP)? (2) does Green Innovation (GI) influence the GIC-GP relationship? and (3) what measures can companies take to improve their GI? The results of the study show that there is a positive and significant relationship between GIC and GP, with this relationship being partially measured by the GI variable