An approach to corporate volunteering in Spain

This study aims to analyse the role of corporate volunteerism in the framework of corporate social responsibility of enterprises. After reviewing the active components in the employee volunteering concept, we present the steps taken at the European level in this area, focusing on Spain’s situation. We start with a search and comparison of information on the topic published by the major Spanish listed companies. This first approach verifies that the data are disclosed from various sources and presented heterogeneously. Then, we identify the sector that concentrates a more significant number of employees in volunteer activities. Subsequently, we focus on this sector to explore the type of volunteer activities these companies reveal according to Spanish legislation. The study sheds light on corporate governance practices, especially the disclosure of information about this activity type

The presidency of the governing boards of cooperatives in Spain: a gendered approach

International cooperative values and principles are guidelines that could lead cooperatives towards greater gender equality in the decision-making process. Stimulated by the interest in cooperatives and by the growing demand for advocating a faster increase in the presence of chairwomen in boardrooms, this research aims to analyse the impact of the gender of the cooperative president in some variables related to financial and employment ratios, corporate governance and other characteristics of the organization in Spain. Information about the major Spanish cooperative entities has been collected and analyzed to carry out the empirical study. We find that cooperatives with higher liquidity ratio, higher number of employees, higher percentage of female employees, higher employee costs divided by operating revenue ratio, lower indebtedness, and fewer years since the appointment of the president have a higher probability of belonging to the group of cooperatives with a board chaired by a woman. Cooperatives headed by women exhibit a higher ratio of staffing costs to operating revenues, which could indicate an increased intensity of cooperative principles and values related with the primacy of the economic welfare of workers over the economic benefits

Barriers to innovation in Spanish rural Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

In the context of globalisation, innovation has been recognized as a key driver of Europe’s national and regional economies, whether rural or not. Nevertheless, rural firms are considered less innovative than firms in urban agglomerations. Rural areas represent three-quarters of the land of the OECD countries and are home to a quarter of its population. Moreover, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the economy. This paper reviews the barriers to innovation indicated throughout literature, brings out what constitutes the main barriers in rural SMEs and presents an understanding of some of the factors that determine the position of these firms in responding to new requirements. Data were collected through a questionnaire for managers of 511 SMEs in a rural area of Spain. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software package. The results identify key factors that hinder innovation in rural SMEs, namely those related to economic reasons, such as high costs of the innovation or the difficulty to obtain financial resources, and risk aversion issues. Specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in SMEs firms in rural areas is limited. Therefore, this paper fills this research gap by expanding the body of knowledge in the field of rural SMEs innovation and provides further evidence on this phenomenon. The results also offer relevant insights for managers and policy makers when formulating and implementing strategies to diminish innovation barriers in rural SMEs

Um Modelo para Construção, Acompanhamento e Avaliação de Desenho Instrucional para a EaD – a Estratégia dos 4Cs

Existem inúmeras propostas de aprendizagem on-line e diversos paradigmas educacionais, que, se considerados na totalidade, oferecem uma visão complexa, por vezes confusa ou distorcida da realidade. Este trabalho propõe um modelo simplificador de desenho instrucional direcionado para EaD, baseado em quatro pilares ou ações principais (os 4Cs): Contexto, Conteúdo, Comunidade e Coordenação. Para cada uma das ações, há atores correspondentes que participam do caminho de construção, acompanhamento e avaliação e devem responder colaborativamente a quatro perguntas fundamentais: "como", "o quê", "com quem" e "por quê". Quanto maior o discernimento dos papeis e de sua ação, melhor a visão do processo educacional e de seu constante aperfeiçoamento. Este modelo foi aplicado ao curso "Química e os Sentidos - paladar e olfato", oferecido pela Diretoria de Extensão da Fundação CECIERJ e demonstrou resultados satisfatórios

Impacto del género y la responsabilidad social en la rentabilidad empresarial cuando se controlan los recursos estructurales e intangibles

Este trabajo analiza en qué medida el género y la responsabilidad social de una empresa pueden tener efectos positivos sobre la rentabilidad, una vez se consideran como variables de control sus recursos estructurales e intangibles. Al utilizar la metodología de datos de panel para una serie temporal de seis años, en la que se combina información económica e información obtenida por medio de un cuestionario, los resultados constatan cómo ni el género de los empresarios, ni las prácticas de responsabilidad social —a excepción de las relativas a la igualdad de género—, son estadísticamente significativos para explicar las diferencias en la rentabilidad. Sin embargo, sí es significativa la aplicación de medidas de igualdad, considerada de forma individual, de modo que aquellas empresas que muestran mayor preocupación por las políticas de igualdad pueden tener un efecto positivo sobre su rendimiento. This paper analyzes the extent to which gender and social responsibility in a company can have positive effects on profitability once its structural and intangible resources are considered as control variables. Using the panel data methodology for a six-year time series, which combines economic data and information obtained by a questionnaire, the results show how neither the gender of entrepreneurs nor social responsibility practices—with the exception of those relating to gender equality—are statistically significant to explain differences in profitability. However, the application of equality measures, considered individually, is significant so that companies that are more concerned about equality policies can have a positive effect on their performance

Methodology of the Virtual Reconstruction of Arquitectonic Heritage: Ambassador Vich's Palace in Valencia

The 19th century was disastrous as far as the conservation of architectonic heritage is concerned. The awareness of the importance of preserving monuments that has prevailed since the end of the last century was dazzlingly absent in the previous, leading both to the disappearance of representative heritage works and the plundering of many others. The present study establishes the methodological basis to proceed with the virtual reconstruction of many disappeared architectures, representative of emblematic architectonic typologies. A method based on the combination of deduction and induction allows benchmarks to be created that signify a starting point to which the key and specific elements of each building are later incorporated, from the data extracted from the conserved parts and the graphic, literary and archive documents. The result is the virtual recovery of the general outlines of the architecture: morphology of the plot, volumetry, exterior and interior facades, and the functional layout. The good results obtained in the study of the disappeared Ambassador Vich's Palace, allow the methodology to be extended to the analysis of other similar examples, serving investigators as a tool to carry out an arduous task of deciphering a trail that is increasingly fading with the passing of time.Galiana Agullo, M.; Mas Tomas, MDLA.; Lerma Elvira, C.; Peñalver Martínez, MJ.; Conesa Tejada, S. (2014). Methodology of the Virtual Reconstruction of Arquitectonic Heritage: Ambassador Vich's Palace in Valencia. International Journal of Architectural Heritage. 8(1):94-123. doi:10.1080/15583058.2012.672623S9412381Boix, V. 1979.Historical and topographic Valencia[in Spanish]. Vol. I261 S. A. Printing J. Rius.Estaban Chapapría, J. (2001). Impostación del patio del Embajador Vich en el ex-convento del Carmen (Valencia). Loggia, Arquitectura & Restauración, (12), 26. doi:10.4995/loggia.2001.3605Morrish, S. W., & Laefer, D. F. (2010). Web-Enabling of Architectural Heritage Inventories. International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 4(1), 16-37. doi:10.1080/15583050902731056Lotz, W. 1995.Architecture in Italy 1500–1600 [in Italian]35–37. ed. RizzoliYale University Press.Lourenço, P. B., Peña, F., & Amado, M. (2010). A Document Management System for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage Buildings. International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 5(1), 101-121. doi:10.1080/15583050903318382Vila Ferrer, S. (2001). La recuperación del patio del palacio del Embajador Vich (Valencia). Loggia, Arquitectura & Restauración, (12), 44. doi:10.4995/loggia.2001.3606Zonta, D., Pozzi, M., & Zanon, P. (2008). Managing the Historical Heritage Using Distributed Technologies. International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 2(3), 200-225. doi:10.1080/1558305080206369

The importance of regional differences in vulnerability to climate change for demersal fisheries

Regional differences in climate vulnerability are particularly important in many countries with socio-ecological gradients or geographical and environmental spatial segregation. Many studies are regularly performed at the national level, but regional assessments can provide more detailed information and important insights into intra-national vulnerabilities. They require detailed information of many socio-ecological components that are often neglected at the regional scale but are meaningful and operational at national and international levels. In this work, we developed a climate vulnerability assessment (CVA) to investigate the vulnerability of demersal fisheries based on 19 indicators covering exposure, fisheries sensitivity, species sensitivity (SS) and adaptive capacity (AC) for nine coastal regions of Spain, contrasting the Mediterranean to Atlantic areas. Exposure was consistently larger in the Mediterranean than Atlantic regions, while AC showed the opposite trend. While fisheries and SS did not display a clear Atlantic-Mediterranean pattern, they were critical for capturing regional differences that have an impact on fisheries vulnerability. Our results highlight the generally higher vulnerability of Mediterranean demersal fisheries, mainly due to the lower AC and higher exposure of Mediterranean regions, while providing key regional elements for guiding national and international actions for adaptation. This study demonstrates that the spatial scale considered in the development of CVAs must recognise the spatial heterogeneity in the socio-ecological system within its unit of analysis in order to be a relevant tool for management and policy makers.Preprint2,27

Senescence atlas reveals an aged-like inflamed niche that blunts muscle regeneration.

Tissue regeneration requires coordination between resident stem cells and local niche cells1,2. Here we identify that senescent cells are integral components of the skeletal muscle regenerative niche that repress regeneration at all stages of life. The technical limitation of senescent-cell scarcity3 was overcome by combining single-cell transcriptomics and a senescent-cell enrichment sorting protocol. We identified and isolated different senescent cell types from damaged muscles of young and old mice. Deeper transcriptome, chromatin and pathway analyses revealed conservation of cell identity traits as well as two universal senescence hallmarks (inflammation and fibrosis) across cell type, regeneration time and ageing. Senescent cells create an aged-like inflamed niche that mirrors inflammation associated with ageing (inflammageing4) and arrests stem cell proliferation and regeneration. Reducing the burden of senescent cells, or reducing their inflammatory secretome through CD36 neutralization, accelerates regeneration in young and old mice. By contrast, transplantation of senescent cells delays regeneration. Our results provide a technique for isolating in vivo senescent cells, define a senescence blueprint for muscle, and uncover unproductive functional interactions between senescent cells and stem cells in regenerative niches that can be overcome. As senescent cells also accumulate in human muscles, our findings open potential paths for improving muscle repair throughout life.We thank M. Jardí, A. Navarro, J. M. Ballestero, K. Slobodnyuk, M. González, J. López and M. Raya for their technical contributions; A. Harada and K. Tanaka for assistance in ATAC-seq; all of the members of the P.M.-C. laboratory for discussions; J. Campisi for p16-3MR mice; J. A. Fernández-Blanco (PRBB Animal Facility); O. Fornas (UPF/CRG FACS Facility); E. Rebollo (IBMB Molecular Imaging Platform); V. A. Raker for manuscript editing; and the members of the Myoage network (A. Maier) for human material. We acknowledge funding from MINECO-Spain (RTI2018-096068, to P.M.-C. and E.P.); ERC-2016-AdG-741966, LaCaixa-HEALTHHR17-00040, MDA, UPGRADE-H2020-825825, AFM, DPP-Spain, Fundació La MaratóTV3-80/19- 202021 and MWRF to P.M.-C.; Fundació La MaratóTV3-137/38-202033 to A.L.S.; Maria-de-Maeztu ́ Program for Units of Excellence to UPF (MDM-2014-0370) and Severo-Ochoa Program for Centers of Excellence to CNIC (SEV-2015-0505). This work was also supported by JST-CREST JPMJCR16G1 and MEXT/JSPS JP20H00456/18H05527 to Y.O.; the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA16030502) to M.A.E.; V.M. and A.C. were supported by FPI and Maria-de-Maeztu predoctoral fellowships, respectively, and V.S. by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship. Parts of the figures were drawn using pictures from Servier Medical Art. Servier Medical Art by Servier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/3.0/).S

Emociones y psicoterapia: caminos e intersecciones

En este libro, dirigido a profesionales y estudiantes del campo de la psicología, se reúnen diversas investigaciones centradas en las emociones desde las dimensiones psicológica, social y cultural y despliega diversas formas de trabajo, regulación, expresión y reconfiguración emocional en aras de un mayor bienestar psicológico. Como parte del alivio psicológico, las emociones son condición que favorece el trabajo psicoterapéutico para generar condiciones de bienestar en las personas y afrontar lo emocional desde la psicoterapia, remite al tema de la pertenencia y la identidad; por tanto, la comprensión del vínculo inquebrantable entre el cuerpo y las emociones resulta fundamental para su gestión.ITESO. A.C