A methodology for the development of a sustainability index for construction works in Spain

The present paper tries to describe in a systematic way the process followed to develop a methodology to obtain a Sustainable Index for Construction Works in Spain. Given the complexity of the task at hand, and having into account that this is the first attempt within the Spanish construction sector to create an integrating index, the description of the process becomes indispensable in order to replicate the index in a different context –e.g. another European country-. On the other hand, the development of an index with a triple focus -economic, environmental and social-, transcending the interests of the different activities which coexist inside this sector, and joining efforts towards a common objective fills an existing gap in the Spanish construction sector, as it will be shown. The proposed index aims at establishing, on a permanent basis, a common reference for the assessment of sustainability within this sector, to the improvement of which all parties involved could and should contribute

Wood mouse feeding effort and decision-making when encountering a restricted unknown food source

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Animals making foraging decisions must balance the energy gained, the time invested, and the influence of key environmental factors. In our work, we examined the effect of predation risk cues and experience on feeding efforts when a novel food resource was made available. To achieve this, we live-trapped wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus in Monte de Valdelatas (Madrid), where 80 Sherman traps were set in four plots. Traps were subjected to two food-access difficulties in treatments consisting of three consecutive nights: open plastic bottles (easy) and closed bottles (difficult), both using corn as bait. To simulate predation risk, we set fox faeces in half of the traps in each plot. We also considered moonlight (medium/low) as an indirect predation risk cue. We analysed whether bottles had been bitten by mice and the gnawed area of each bottle was measured. Our results indicated that food access difficulty, experience, and predation risk determined mice feeding decisions and efforts. The ability of mice to adapt feeding effort when a new food source is available was demonstrated because a higher proportion of closed bottles exhibited bite marks and the gnawed area was bigger. Moreover, mouse experience was determinant in the use of this new resource since recaptured mice gnawed broader orifices in the bottles and the gnawed area increased each time an individual was recaptured. Additionally, direct predation risk cues prompted mice to bite the bottles whereas the effect of different moon phases varied among the food access treatments. This study provides direct evidence of formidable efficacy of wild mice to exploit a new nutrient resource while considering crucial environmental factors that shape the decision-making procedur

La delimitación y el gobierno del fenómeno metropolitano en España

El presente artículo examina la situación actual del fenómeno metropolitano en España. Se aproxima en primer lugar a la definición de «área metropolitana» en nuestro sistema político, identificando las carencias y desfases existentes en nuestro país sobre una delimitación clara y unívoca de este tipo de espacios, intentando explicar sus causas. A continuación aporta una delimitación de las áreas metropolitanas españolas de más de 200.000 habitantes describiendo sus dinámicas. En una segunda parte realiza una aproximación crítica a las diferentes tradiciones existentes en la disciplina de los estudios urbanos sobre cómo organizar políticamente los espacios metropolitanos para finalizar con las experiencias españolas y muy especialmente la del área metropolitana de MadridThis contribution looks at the metropolitanization of the Spanish urban spaces. It starts with the definition of a «metropolitan area» in our system, identifying the deficiencies of the concept and the gap affecting the country in the elaboration and clear listing of metropolitan areas compared to other western countries. It goes on with the indentification of the metropolitan areas the above 200,000 inhabitants and the general trends of their dynamics. In its second part it analyses the different academic traditions offering answers on how to organize and political manage metropolitan areas. Finally, it contrasts with the Spanish experience and particularly with Madrid metropolitan are

Márgenes y centros en la literatura británica actual, Fernando Galván, ed.

El volumen del que es editor Fernando Galván Reula reúne ocho artículos de otros tantos autores a los que ha convocado la misma preocupación: indagar sobre la manifestación literaria que muestra la existencia de lo que se ha considerado fragmentado frente a lo unitario dentro del canon literario occidental. Se estudian aquí a distintos escritores cuyas obras literarias deconstruyen la noción de literatura inglesa, es decir, y simplificando, la que ha tenido su origen en las Islas Británicas

Maus y El arte de volar: dos representaciones paradigmáticas del universo concentracionario

La conjunción de lo visual y lo textual ofrece en el cómic una particular visión de la representación ficcional del referente histórico. Si bien los autores que nos ocupan (Spiegelman; Altarriba) no son testigos directos, la transmisión intergeneracional de lo vivido permite articular y reflexionar en sus narraciones sobre lo traumático, lo criminal y lo inhumano de estos campos de exterminio o internamiento que fueron tanto Auschwitz como, en el caso francés, Saint-Cyprien. El ejercicio metanarrativo de Maus o la apropiación de la voz testimonial del narrador de Altarriba son algunos de los recursos narrativos y gráficos sometidos aquí a análisis como estrategias para solventar la problemática representación de lo real, la experiencia traumática y la imagen de los campos de concentración.  Palabras clave: cómic; campos de concentración; memoria; testimonio; compromiso.Comics offer valuable insights into representing historical questions in a fictional way through the conjunction of their visual and textual elements. Even though both authors (Spiegelman; Altarriba) are not direct witnesses, intergenerational transmission allows them to articulate and to think about their stories, regarding the trauma, the criminality and inhumanity of extermination camps such as Auschwitz and Saint-Cyprien. The metafictional exercise of Maus, or the appropriation of the testimonial voice by Altarriba’s narrator, are some of the narrative and graphic resources analyzed as strategies in order to resolve the problematic representation of reality, the traumatic experience and the image of the concentration camps.  Keywords: comic; concentration camps; memory; testimony; commitment

Affectivity and Intimacy in Doris Lessing's Love, Again and Rosa Montero's La carne

This article discusses the literary similarities betweenDoris Lessing's Love, Again(1995) and Rosa Montero's La carne(2016), emphasising the parallels between these writers' interest in women's ageing experiences and the role that the main characters in both of these novels play in the contemporary cultural scene. Of particular interest for this analysis is the experience of these two female authors, whose novels were written in historical periods that are marked by major social and economic upheavals, between the 1990s and the first two decades of the twenty-first century. I suggest that their respective productions problematise the notions of affectivity and intimacy and, notably, showcase the contributions made by women, as creative agents of social and cultural change, in the understanding of the process of ageing in contemporary Europe.Este artículo estudia las similitudesliterarias entre las novelas Love, Againde Doris Lessing (1995) y La carne(2016) de Rosa Montero, destacando el interés paralelo de las dos escritoras en las experiencias de envejecimiento de las mujeres, junto con el papel de sus protagonistas en la escena cultural contemporánea. Interesa de manera especial conocer la experiencia de estas novelistas, cuyos textos se han producido en períodos históricos convulsos desde el punto de vista social y económico, en concreto entre los años noventa del siglo XXy las dos primeras décadas del XXI. Sugiero que las producciones de ambas autoras problematizan nociones sobre la afecti-vidad y la intimidad, y destaco las aportaciones de las mujeres, como agentes creadoras de cam-bios sociales y culturales, respecto a los procesos de envejecimiento en el contexto europeo contemporáneo