Regional devolopment and solidarity in Spain: the relationship between the E.C. and the internal solidarity funds.

This paper will analyse the importance that the Regional Solidarity Funds have acquired in the financial systems of those Autonomous Communities able to benefit from them, and the influence that these Funds have had in their development. In addition, the special role that Structural Funds have had in order to bring the Autonomous Communities’ development in line with the average level of the European Member States will be referred to. Then, the different EC tools that are connected with regional development will be described and analysed; next, the Spanish regions that have benefited from these tools since Spain joined the European Union in 1986 will be studied. The Internal Solidarity Funds and their relationship with the EC Structural Funds will also be analysed. The effects of these mechanisms will be examined from three different points of view. First of all, the impact of these resources on the regional financial system will be considered; secondly, the coordination between the EC Structural Funds and the Internal Solidarity Funds, and the impact of this relationship will be analysed; and finally, whether or not these mechanisms are efficient enough to achieve the aim of regional unity will be determined, and their influence in different areas of production will also be observed. Key words: Fiscal Federalism, Spanish Autonomous Communities, Structural Funds, Inter-regional Solidarity. JEL Codes: H7, H77.

Reliability and parameterization of Romberg Test in people who have suffered a stroke

AIM: To analyze the reliability and describe the parameterization with inertial sensors, of Romberg test in people who have had a stroke. METHODS: Romberg's Test was performed during 20 seconds in four different setting, depending from supporting leg and position of the eyes (opened eyes / dominant leg; closed eyes / dominant leg; opened eyes / non-dominant leg; closed eyes / non-dominant leg) in people who have suffered a stroke over a year ago. Two inertial sensors (sampling frequency 180Hz) were placed in lumbar (L5-S1) and in the trunk (T7). The test was performed three times for the four different settings. The outcome variables were extracted in each of the axes (X, Y, Z) (figure 1). We considered as the maximum, minimum and mean velocity and the magnitude of the angular displacement for each of the sensors (Figure 2 shows an example of direct extraction of variables). Statistical Analysis: descriptive analysis of all outcome variables for each axis and sensor. Further analysis of the internal consistency of the measure was performed by analysis interclass correlation (ICC) with a confidence interval of 95%. RESULTS: Values obtained after statistical analysis show levels of reliability ranging from 0.61 (Z axis speed - eyes closed / nondominant leg) and 0.92 (Y axis offset - opened eyes / dominant leg). The descriptive results of all outcome variables are shown in Table 1. CONCLUSION: Making inertial sensors in trunk and / or lumbar, inertial sensors are reliable tools for parameterizing Romberg test in different settings in people who have suffered stroke over a year ago.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A metabolite profile reveals the presence of neurodegenerative conditions according to severity of hydrocephalus

Introduction: In obstructive congenital hydrocephalus, cerebrospinal fluid accumulation is associated with high intracranial pressure (ICP), ischemia/hypoxia, metabolic impairment, neuronal damage and astrocytic reaction. The hyh mutant mice exhibit two different forms of hydrocephalus evolution: severe and moderate. A study was carried out in hyh mice to detect a metabolite profile that define the tissue response in each hydrocephalus form. Methods: Metabolites levels in brain cortex were analyzed with 1H High Resolution Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H HR-MAS) spectroscopy. The study was complemented with ICP recording and histopathological analysis. Results: Mice with severe hydrocephalus were found to have higher ICP and stronger astrocytic reaction. Several metabolites including glutamate and glutamine were found to correlate with the severity of hydrocephalus. The whole metabolite profile may be explained based in differential astrocyte reactions, neurodegenerative and ischemic conditions. The glutamate transporter EAAT2 and the metabolite taurine were found as key histopathological markers for the damaged parenchyma. Conclusions: Spectroscopy allowed the detection of a metabolite profile related to intracranial pressure and hydrocephalus severity, and therefore can be useful to monitor the efficacy of experimental therapies. Supported by Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech, and PI15/0619 (ISCIII/FEDER).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Supported by Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech, and PI15/0619 (ISCIII/FEDER)

SRL and EFL homework: gender and grade effects

This study investigates the associations between gender and school grade level and some process variables such as: students' English as Foreign Language (EFL) - English as a Foreign Languag

Bibliometric profile of the global scientific research on multiple sclerosis (2003–2012)

Abstract Background and objectives: The aim of this paper is to analyse the scientific research on multiple sclerosis using a bibliographic analysis of articles published during the period 2003–2012. Methods: The items under study were obtained from the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-E) database, which was accessed through the Web of Science (WOS) platform. All records with the term ‘multiple sclerosis’ in the title, plus all articles published in the journals Multiple Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis Journal, were analysed. Results: A total of 9778 articles, with 160,966 citations, were retrieved on multiple sclerosis, and the majority of the articles were published in Multiple Sclerosis Journal (n = 1511). The articles were published in journals belonging to 135 different subject areas, with the greatest number of papers falling under the category of clinical neurology. The countries that published the largest numbers of articles were the United States (US) (n = 2786), Italy (n = 1263), the United Kingdom (n = 1147) and Germany (n = 1018). International collaborations produced 20.4% of the papers. Conclusions: We emphasise the progressive growth of publications worldwide, the publication of articles in a wide variety of journals covering numerous subject areas, and the research leadership of Western countries, most notably European countries, the US and Canad

Pensar lo Político. Ontología y Mundo Contemporáneo

Los vertiginosos cambios del mundo actual reclaman una reflexión desde los más diversos derroteros disciplinarios y, en esta tarea, la filosofía no es la excepción. Sin embargo, la complejidad de los dilemas contemporáneos demanda un examen desde la propia ontología, pues así como el Ser se dice de muchas maneras, la política es también un affaire que se dice de variados modos, en tanto termina reflejando y enriqueciendo tal pluralidad ontológica. Los textos aquí reunidos comparten una preocupación común: interrogarse por el Ser de la política y la manera que ésta, y sus expresiones contemporáneas, nos arrojan a habitar un mundo lleno de contradicciones y retos. La forma como vivimos el tiempo, como enfrentamos la globalización, la manera como territorializamos el espacio, como creamos alternativas frente a las lógicas dominantes, como nos insertamos o intentamos frenar la aceleración de lo cotidiano, como reconstruimos nuestras prácticas e ideas sobre la libertad, incluso, el modo de edificar nuestro estar en común, son cuestiones en las que lo político y el mundo contemporáneo terminan repensando muchos de los temas y conceptos ontológicos clásicos. Vivimos tiempos críticos no sólo porque parecen violentar nuestras visiones y formas de vida tradicionales, sino sobre todo porque nos invitan a pensar de maneras inéditas, así como a plantearnos otras formas de acción, nuevos conceptos y herramientas de pensamiento

X-Ray Diffraction, Calorimetric and Dielectric Relaxation Study of the Amorphous and Smectic States of a Main Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymer

Los polímeros cristales líquidos (LCP) son sistemas complejos que forman mesofases que presentan orden orientacional y polímeros amorfos. Con frecuencia, el estado amorfo isotrópico no puede ser estudiado debido a la rápida formación de mesofases. En este trabajo se ha sintetizado y estudiado un nuevo LCP: poli(trietilenglicol metil p, p '-bibenzoato), PTEMeB. Este polímero presenta una formación de mesofase bastante lenta haciendo posible estudiar de forma independiente tanto los estados amorfo y de cristal líquidos. La estructura y las transiciones de fase del PTEMeB han sido investigados por calorimetría (DSC), con MAXS / WAXS con temperatura variable que emplean radiación de sincrotrón y con difracción de rayos X. Estos estudios han mostrado la existencia de dos transiciones vítreas, relacionadas con las fases amorfa y cristal líquido. Se ha realizado un estudio de relajación dieléctrica en amplios intervalos de temperatura y presión. Se ha encontrado que la transición vítrea dinámica de la fase amorfa es más lenta que la del cristal líquido. El estudio de la relajación ? nos ha permitido seguir la formación isoterma de la mesofase a presión atmosférica. Además, con el estudio el comportamiento dinámico a alta presión se ha encontrado que se produce la formación rápida de la mesofase inducida por cambios bruscos de presión. Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) are complex systems that include features of both orientationally ordered mesophases and amorphous polymers. Frequently, the isotropic amorphous state cannot be studied due to the rapid mesophase formation. Here, a new main chain LCP, poly(triethyleneglycol methyl p,p'-bibenzoate), PTEMeB, has been synthesized. It shows a rather slow mesophase formation making possible to study independently both the amorphous and the liquid crystalline states. The structure and phase transitions of PTEMeB have been investigated by calorimetry, variable-temperature MAXS/WAXS employing synchrotron radiation, and X-ray diffraction in oriented fibers. These experiments have pointed out the presence of two glass transitions, related to the amorphous or to the liquid crystal phases. Additionally, the mesophase seems to be a coexistence of orthogonal and tilted smectic phases. A dielectric relaxation study of PTEMeB over broad ranges of temperature and pressure has been performed. The dynamic glass transition turns out to be slower for the amorphous state than for the liquid crystal. Monitoring of the α relaxation has allowed us to follow the isothermal mesophase formation at atmospheric pressure. Additionally, the dynamical behavior at high pressures has pointed out the fast formation of the mesophase induced by sudden pressure changes

Reaction flash sintering for producing high quality functional ceramics within seconds

For ceramic materials, it has been recently shown in literature that applying a small electric field and a small DC current through a sample produces sudden sintering (within seconds) at relatively low temperatures. This method is known as Flash Sintering and it has been applied to number of materials. In this work it is shown that both chemical reaction and sintering can be combined into a single flash sintering experiments. This new approach is known as Reaction Flash Sintering. To demonstrate the feasibility of this method, a multiferroic material, BiFeO3, is prepared from a stoichiometric mixture of Bi2O3 and Fe2O3 oxides. Thus, in a single process, dense nanostructured BiFeO3 ceramics are obtained by applying an electric field of 50 V cm-1 and with a current limit of 35 mA mm-2 within seconds at a furnace temperature of about 625 °C. The resulting materials were pure-phase perovskites without any evidence of secondary phases, sillenite or mullite, that are commonly present in materials prepared by conventional procedures. Moreover, samples were electrically insulating, as measured by complex impedance spectroscopy. It is shown here that the synthesis of pure single-phase ceramics of complex oxides from stoichiometric mixtures of single oxides is possible by reaction flash sintering, even for materials difficult to prepare by conventional procedures. This discovery is a breakthrough in materials preparation

Morphometric analysis of bite mark patterns caused by domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) using dental wax registers

Dog bites are a known public health problem involving physical, mental and emotional traumas. From a forensic point of view, it has been stated that their morphological characters, and the intercanine and interincisive measurements, could allow a taxonomic and specific identification of the implicated animal. The aim of this study was to differentiate and identify the biological profile of a potential aggressor dog by analysing eight morphometric bite patterns belonging to three different dog breeds. The data obtained were analyzed following three categories: a) breeds; b) sexes among breeds; and c) sex within breed. Significant differences were detected among the variables (p <= 0.05), but only the maximum maxillary intercanines width (MaxCW) allowed a breed differentiation. The other variables allowed a differentiation between two breeds or one breed over the others. The principal components analysis (PCA) allowed visualizing the degree of dispersion and relationship among the scores. It showed three well-defined and separated breed groups, and different degrees of dispersion within and among breeds. The most important variable for such a differentiation was MaxCW. When considering sex among breeds for males, it showed a statistically significant difference, but only the diastema located between the third left mandibular, incisive and the left mandibular canine (C-I-ManL) allowed breed differentiation. For females, only MaxCW allowed a differentiation among breeds. The multivariate analysis permitted with a 95 % confidence interval, a breed and sex differentiation. Besides, the PCA models allowed classifying, identifying, separating and graphically showing the relationship among the variables. This made it possible to differentiate between breeds and sexes. Due to the large range of dog breeds around the world, this multivariate analysis could also help determining the dog's weight and size, narrowing down towards an approximate number of offending dogs, focussing on a certain kind of dog breed, and pinpointing any suspect dog

Capacidad predictiva de las metas académicas sobre el rendimiento en diferentes áreas curriculares

El objetivo de este estudio es el análisis del poder predictivo de los diferentes tipos de metas académicas sobre el rendimiento académico en cinco áreas curriculares. Para ello, se ha aplicado el Cuestionario de Metas Académicas a una amplia muestra de adolescentes que cursaban los cuatro cursos de la Enseñanza Secundaria en España (12 a 16 años). Los resultados obtenidos indican que el rendimiento se encuentra explicado, en primer lugar, positiva y significativamente por motivos de adquisición de competencia y control así como de obtención de un buen trabajo futuro y, en segundo lugar, negativamente por motivos muy relacionados con la protección de la autoestima. Son presentadas y discutidas algunas implicaciones de los datos para el proceso de aprendizaje.This study intends to analyze the various academic goals and their predictive power of the academic achievement in five different school subjects of Spanish core curriculum. In order to assess this, the Questionnaire of Academic Goals has been applied to a large sample of adolescents attending the four grade level years of Spanish Secondary Education (12 to 16 years). Data suggest that achievement is, firstly, explained, positive and significantly, by students’ wish of acquiring competence and control as well as of obtaining a good future job and, secondly, negatively, by reasons strongly related to the preservation of one’s self-esteem. Some implications of this data to learning are discussed