Human mitochondrial DNA variability: multidisciplinary applications in the fields of forensic, medical and population genetics

The results of the present project indicate that the analysis of the mtDNA variation can be useful in medical, forensic, and population genetic studies. The particular features of the mtDNA, including high copy number, lack of recombination, and high average mutation rate; also determine its usefulness and limitations in genetic studies. For instance, the reconstruction of the phylogeny is straightforward because the lineages are passed through the matriline with the only changes generated by mutation. However, this is a single marker and only tells the history of female population, which not necessarily match the demography of the whole population. We have applied these principles to the analysis of several human populations, to the forensic field, and to some medical study. All of them have many aspects in common, indicating also the important interplay that should be always needed in all mtDNA studies. For instance, one cannot carry out a forensic or medical genetic study ignoring population variation patterns or the important heterogeneity that exists regarding site specific mutation rates. We have contributed to improve our knowledge of the variation in several African, European, and American populations. In this project we have also focussed our attention in several aspects of forensic interest, concerning the analysis of degraded and low DNA amount samples. And finally, we have tried to establish a necessary bridge between the different fields of research, indicating that proper quality standards can help to avoid false positives of instabilities in cancer studies, erroneous conclusions in forensic casework, or errors in datasets that could have consequences in population studies or indirectly in forensic or medical genetic ones

A supply-side GDP nowcasting model

Rationale The recent shocks to the Spanish economy, linked to both COVID-19 and rising energy prices, have had an uneven impact across sectors of activity, underscoring the importance of monitoring the supply side of economic activity. Takeaways •This article presents a model for forecasting quarterly GDP using a combination of monthly indicators to estimate the growth of gross value added for each sector of activity. •The results in terms of forecasting accuracy evidence the usefulness of a sectoral approach, as a complementary tool for monitoring economic activity in the short term

Determination of the Insulation Solution that Leads to Lower CO2 Emissions during the Construction Phase of a Building

The characteristics of the envelope of a building determine, together with other factors, its consumption of energy. Additionally, the climate zone and insulation material may vary the minimum insulation thickness of walls and roofs, making it different, according to cooling down or warming up the home. Spanish legislation establishes different maximum values for energy demand according to different climate area both for heating and for cooling. This paper presents the results of a study that determines the influence of many variables as the climate zone or the orientation, among others, in the optimization of thickness insulation in residential homes in Spain to reduce the CO2 emissions embodied. To do that, 12 representative cities in Spain corresponding to different climate zones, four orientations, two constructive solutions, and four different configurations of the same house have been combined, for three different hypotheses and four insulation materials, resulting in 4608 cases of study. The results show that, under equal conditions on energy demand, the optimal insulation requirements are determined by heating necessities more than by cooling ones. In addition, a higher insulation thickness need does not necessarily mean more CO2 emissions, since it can be compensated with a lower Global Warming Potential characterization factor that is associated to the insulation material. The findings of this study can serve to designers and architects to establish the better combination of the variables that are involved in order to minimize the CO2 emissions embodied during the construction phase of a building, making it more energy efficient

The Banco de España Business Activity Survey: 2023 Q4

Rationale The Banco de España Business Activity Survey (EBAE) provides real-time information on a broad sample of Spanish firms’ turnover, employment and costs and prices. This is particularly helpful for diagnosing current economic developments. Takeaways •Firms reported no change in their turnover in 2023 Q4, after it decreased in Q3, and perceived a fall in employment. •Inflationary pressures on production costs and selling prices are reported to have softened somewhat, but expectations suggest that they will increase slightly next year. •Business activity has been affected by growing economic policy uncertainty, labour shortages and an increase in factors related to the tightening of financing conditions (difficulties in accessing finance and higher financial costs)

The Stereotype of the Witch in the Harry Potter Books Series

Throughout history there have been cases of massive persecution of people because of their ethnicity, race or nationality. This dissertation aims to study the movement of persecution of people under the pretext of committing witchcraft: The Great European Witch-Hunt. This hunt took place mainly between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries although the persecutions started a little earlier. Despite what many people believe and the large number of women persecuted, there was also a percentage of men judged under the pretext of practicing magic. All of this led authors such as Brian P. Levack to carry out different studies on the patterns that made a person become accused of witchcraft. The aim is to analyse whether and to what extent the stereotype of the witch is portrayed in the Harry Potter saga through some characters.A lo largo de la historia ha habido casos de persecuciones masivas de personas por su etnia, raza o nacionalidad. Con este trabajo se pretende estudiar un movimiento que persiguió personas bajo el pretexto de la brujería: La Gran Caza de Brujas Europea. Esta caza tuvo lugar principalmente entre los siglos XVI y XVII, aunque realmente comenzó un poco antes. A pesar de lo que mucha gente cree y del gran número de mujeres perseguidas, también hubo un porcentaje de hombres juzgados bajo el pretexto de practicar magia. Todo esto hizo que autores como Brian P. Levack llevaran a cabo distintos estudios sobre los patrones que hacían que una persona se viera acusada por brujería. El objetivo de este Trabajo de Fin de Grado es analizar si el estereotipo de la bruja se representa y en qué medida, a través de algunos personajes, en la saga de Harry Potter.Grado en Estudios Inglese

Box 2. Manufacturing in Spain: recent developments

Artículo de revistaThis early-release box was published on 16 Septembe

The regional dimension of the Banco de España Business Activity Survey

Rationale The Banco de España Business Activity Survey (EBAE) may be a useful source of information for monitoring regional economic developments. This article aims to analyse the regional dimension of the EBAE results. Takeaways •Harnessing the regional dimension of the EBAE seems appropriate, as the regional distribution of firms in the sample is similar to that of the universe of firms and, moreover, some of the survey results are strongly correlated with other indicators available at regional level. •Based on the EBAE results, over the last four quarters (2022 Q3 to 2023 Q2) turnover proved more buoyant in the Canary Islands and the Madrid region, whereas in the South, Centre, North-West and Catalonia it was more sluggish. •Overall, the regions where turnover performed more positively over the last 12 months are those which in mid-2022 lagged farther behind in recovering their pre-pandemic GDP level and those facing more favourable demand conditions

A sectoral analysis of the future challenges facing the Spanish economy

Este trabajo proporciona una visión acerca del posicionamiento relativo de los distintos sectores de actividad ante los principales retos que afronta la economía española. Por un lado, ante el desafío de impulsar el crecimiento a medio plazo, se examinan las perspectivas de evolución de la productividad por ramas, analizando el capital humano y tecnológico y las dinámicas empresariales dentro de cada sector. Por otro lado, se clasifican los sectores según la resiliencia frente a las diferentes transformaciones estructurales que han de afrontar las principales economías, como la tecnológica y digital, la transición energética y el envejecimiento poblacional. Para ello, se ha resumido la información procedente de un conjunto muy amplio de indicadores sectoriales, lo que permite clasificar las ramas productivas según el grado relativo de exposición frente a cada uno de estos retos. Los servicios de actividades profesionales, científicas y técnicas, información y comunicaciones, y actividades financieras y de seguros, así como la fabricación de maquinaria, productos informáticos, electrónicos y ópticos y la de productos farmacéuticos, se encuentran bien posicionados en términos tanto de productividad como de resiliencia, pero se trata de sectores, en general, con una reducida dimensión en la economía española. Por el contrario, la hostelería, el sector primario y los servicios de transporte presentan las mayores vulnerabilidades en las dimensiones analizadas.This paper studies the relative position of various sectors of activity in the face of the main structural challenges for the Spanish economy. First, as regards the challenge of boosting medium-term growth, we review the sectoral developments on the productivity side, analysing human and technological capital and business dynamics within each sector. Second, the sectors are classified on the basis of their resilience to the different structural transformations currently in the pipeline for the main economies, such as technological and digital transformation, energy transition and population ageing. To this end, the information from a very broad set of sectoral indicators has been summarised in a narrow set of composite indicators in order to classify the productive sectors according to the relative degree of exposure to each of these challenges. Our results show that services relating to professional, scientific and technical activities, information and communication, and financial and insurance activities, as well as the manufacture of machinery, computer, electronics and pharmaceutical products, are well placed in terms of both productivity and resilience. However, in general these sectors have little weight in the Spanish economy. By contrast, accommodation and food service activities, the primary sector and transport services are the most vulnerable in the dimensions analysed

Mobile Robot Lab Project to Introduce Engineering Students to Fault Diagnosis in Mechatronic Systems

This document is a self-archiving copy of the accepted version of the paper. Please find the final published version in IEEEXplore: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TE.2014.2358551This paper proposes lab work for learning fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) in mechatronic systems. These skills are important for engineering education because FDD is a key capability of competitive processes and products. The intended outcome of the lab work is that students become aware of the importance of faulty conditions and learn to design FDD strategies for a real system. To this end, the paper proposes a lab project where students are requested to develop a discrete event dynamic system (DEDS) diagnosis to cope with two faulty conditions in an autonomous mobile robot task. A sample solution is discussed for LEGO Mindstorms NXT robots with LabVIEW. This innovative practice is relevant to higher education engineering courses related to mechatronics, robotics, or DEDS. Results are also given of the application of this strategy as part of a postgraduate course on fault-tolerant mechatronic systems.This work was supported in part by the Spanish CICYT under Project DPI2011-22443

Evaluación del Programa Remediar : acceso a medicamentos esenciales en el Primer Nivel de Atención (PNA)

Fil: Cerezo, Leticia. Área de Monitoreo y Evaluación del Programa RemediarFil: Fernández Prieto, Anabel. Centro REDES (Centro de Estudios sobre Ciencia, Desarrollo y Educación Superior)Fil: Rezzonico, María Guadalupe. Centro REDES (Centro de Estudios sobre Ciencia, Desarrollo y Educación Superior