Spain and the Philippines in the protection of the right to a reasonable time in criminal proceedings

The subject of this work deals with the right of every person, provided in Article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to a hearing within a reasonable time, specifically in criminal proceedings. This right, which in Spain enjoys constitutional protection in Article 24.2 and gives rise to a reduction of the penalty through the application of a mitigating circumstance, provided in article 21.6 of the Criminal Code, also constitutes an object of protection in the Philippines through Article III Section 14 of its Constitution or through the Speedy Trial Act, among other regulations. The legal configuration of this right in both legal systems has been specially conditioned by case-law but in different senses. Thus, on the one hand, in Spanish law the mitigation applicable to the penalty was introduced into the Criminal Code in 2010 on the basis of a consolidated case-law practice, influenced by the requirements contained in the judicial decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, which pay attention to the circumstances of the specific case, instead of requiring predetermined deadlines. On the other hand, the protection of this right in the Philippine Law, and in particular, the case-law of the Supreme Court, has closely followed the case-law of the United States to interpret the constitutional right to speedy trial, in addition to constitutionally demanding deadlines which the courts must respect. In conclusion, the present paper intends to compare the two systems, to firstly determine whether in both cases this issue is addressed from the same approach, since in the Spanish case the term used is ‘reasonable time’ while in the Filipino ‘speedy trial’; secondly, to study the requirements of both legal systems; and, thirdly, to evaluate them to consider whether, in both cases, the protection of this procedural guarantee of great relevance is ensured.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Corporate criminal liability: similarities and differences between Spain and Philippines

This paper focuses on the topic of corporate criminal liability and the common and opposite aspects that regimes of Spain and The Philippines have. On the one hand, in Spain, criminal liability of legal persons has suffered a deep reform with the organic law 1/2015, after being introduced in year 2010. This reform has brought important modifications and news, as the creation of an exemption of liability through the adoption of compliance programs. On the other hand, corporate criminal liability is more limited in The Philippines, being criticized by the doctrine that, rather to impose this kind of liability to companies, natural persons as directors, officers or employees of the corporation are the only ones considered responsible for some crimes. The analysis of both regimes, the Spanish and the Philippines one, will comprise different aspects of the issue as the crimes for which companies can be criminally liable, the ways to require to them criminal liability or their exemption of it and the possible sanctions that can be imposed. The comparative study will bring out the positive and the negative points of both regimes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Is the bulbus arteriosus of fish homologous to the mamalian intrapericardial thoracic arteries?

El resumen aparece en el Program & Abstracts of the 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Barcelona 2013.Anatomical Record, Volume 296, Special Feature — 1: P-089.Two major findings have significantly improved our understanding of the embryology and evolution of the arterial pole of the vertebrate heart (APVH): 1) a new embryonic presumptive cardiac tissue, named second heart field (SHF), forms the myocardium of the outflow tract, and the walls of the ascending aorta (AA) and the pulmonary trunk (PT) in mammals and birds; 2) the bulbus arteriosus (BA), previously thought to be an actinopterygian apomorphy, is present in all basal Vertebrates, and probably derives from the SHF. We hypothesized that the intrapericardial portions of the AA and the PT of mammals are homologous to the BA of basal vertebrates. To test this, we performed 1) a literature review of the anatomy and embryology of the APVH; 2) novel anatomical, histomorphological, and embryological analyses of the APVH, comparing basal (Galeus atlanticus), with apical (Mus musculus and Mesocricetus auratus) vertrebrates. Evidence obtained: 1) Anatomically, BA, AA, and PT are muscular tubes into the pericardial cavity, which connect the distal myocardial outflow tracts with the aortic arch system. Coronary arteries run through or originate at these anatomical structures; 2) Histologically, BA, AA, and PT show an inner layer of endothelium covered by circumferentially oriented smooth muscle cells, collagen fibers, and lamellar elastin. The histomorphological differences between the BA and the ventral aorta parallel those between intrapericardial and extrapericardial great arteries; 3) Embryologically, BA, AA, and PT are composed of smooth muscle cells derived from the SHF. They show a similar mechanism of development: incorporation of SHF‐derived cells into the pericardial cavity, and distal‐to‐proximal differentiation into an elastogenic cell linage. In conclusion, anatomical, histological and embryological evidence supports the hypothesis that SHF is a developmental unit responsible for the formation of the APVH. The BA and the intrapericardial portions of the great arteries must be considered homologous structures.Proyecto P10-CTS-6068 (Junta de Andalucía); proyecto CGL-16417 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación); Fondos FEDER

Endocardial-mesenchymal transition underlies fusion of the conotruncal ridges during embryonic cardiac outflow tract septation

The embryonic cardiac outflow tract (conotruncus) is a single tubular chamber that connects the right ventricle with the aortic arch arteries. It contains two opposite, long and helical mesenchymal cushions covered by endocardial cells (conotruncal ridges). Conotruncal division (septation) gives rise to the adult right and left outflows together with the aortic and pulmonary valves. It takes place by fusion of the two opposite ridges and formation of the conotruncal septum. Although the participation of neural crest cells in septation is well established, the mechanism of fusion of the conotruncal ridges remains unknown. Defects in fusion have been shown to produce bicuspid aortic valve, the most prevalent human congenital cardiac malformation, in a hamster model. Three fusion mechanisms have been proposed to operate during embryonic development: epithelial adhesion, epithelial apoptosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The first mechanism entails the expression of adhesion molecules and the maintenance of the identity of cells in contact, whereas in the other two, epithelial cells covering the fusing structures disappear by apoptosis or by transforming into mesenchymal cells. The objective of this study is to elucidate the mechanism involved in the fusion of the conotruncal ridges. Immunofluorecence techniques were used in ED 11-12 hamster embryos. The results indicate that the mechanism of EMT, but not epithelial adhesion or apoptosis, is involved in the process of fusion of the conotruncal ridges. The EMT mechanism associated with conotruncal septation seems to be uncoupled from the process of formation of the endocardial cushions, which takes place at early stages. With these results, we can raise the hypothesis that defects in the EMT process may lead to different morphological types of bicuspid aortic valve.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This study was supported by P10-CTS-6068 (Junta de Andalucía), CGL2014-52356-P and CGL2017-85090-P (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad), contract UMAJI75 (Junta de Andalucía, European Social Fund), and Universidad de Málaga

Energy efficiency and integration of urban electrical transport systems: EVS and metro-trains of two real European lines

Transport is a main source of pollutants in cities, where air quality is a major concern. New transport technologies, such as electric vehicles, and public transport modalities, such as urban railways, have arisen as solutions to this important problem. One of the main difficulties for the adoption of electric vehicles by consumers is the scarcity of a suitable charging infrastructure. The use of the railway power supplies to charge electric vehicle batteries could facilitate the deployment of charging infrastructure in cities. It would reduce the cost because of the use of an existing installation. Furthermore, electric vehicles can use braking energy from trains that was previously wasted in rheostats. This paper presents the results of a collaboration between research teams from University of Rome Sapienza and Comillas Pontifical University. In this work, two real European cases are studied: an Italian metro line and a Spanish metro line. The energy performance of these metro lines and their capacity to charge electric vehicles have been studied by means of detailed simulation tools. Their results have shown that the use of regenerated energy is 98% for short interval of trains in both cases. However, the use of regenerated energy decreases as the train intervals grow. In a daily operation, an important amount of regenerated energy is wasted in the Italian and Spanish case. Using this energy, a significant number of electric vehicles could be charged every day