The Caesar’s Wealth before the Watchdog: A Precision Journalism analysis about financial transparency of Government Cabinet in Spain

La información administrativa sobre la actividad de altos cargos y funcionarios continúa en España bajo importantes restricciones en cuanto pueda afectar a datos personales de cualquier índole, conforme a la prevalente protección en nuestro país de la privacidad sobre el derecho a la información de interés público. Aun así, desde el año 2009 se ha producido alguna apertura reglamentaria en materia de declaración de patrimonio e intereses socioeconómicos de miembros del Gobierno y diputados, lo que constituye un tímido avance hacia la transparencia democrática de la documentación administrativa de interés general. Mediante el acceso a las correspondientes bases de datos, el periodismo de precisión como especialidad dedicada al cruce o contraste sistemático de grandes conjuntos de datos objetivados sobre asuntos de interés público, obtiene así una oportunidad de contribuir a la transparencia democrática en cuestiones que pudieran afectar al desvelamiento de irregularidades, desequilibrios institucionales o simple conocimiento ciudadano de los datos contrastados de la actividad de los servidores públicos. A través de una petición concreta de datos y de acceso a los correspondientes ficheros de reciente liberación, este artículo muestra los resultados de una aplicación del periodismo de precisión al conocimiento de la situación económica e intereses de los principales miembros del poder Ejecutivo, al tiempo que pone de manifiesto la debilidad e insuficiencia de alcance que las citadas modificaciones legales suponen aún para una fiscalización plena de la responsabilidad de los representantes políticos.The administrative information about top officials and civil servants’ activities in Spain is still kept under important restrictions. Such limitation is particularly severe on personal data of any type related to these politicians, in accordance with the Spanish preference for protection to privacy over the right to public interest information. Even so, since 2009 some regulations openness has taken place in relation to Government and Parliament members’ declarations about their assets, their personal economic interests and their business ties. The new regulation supposes a tiny advance towards a democratic transparency of general interest administrative documentation. Through the access to the specific data bases, precision journalism –a newsmedia strategy specialized on computer cross-checking and matching of big data collections-, contributes to a real democratic transparency by means of the disclosure of unveil irregularities, institutional unbalances or just basic data about public servants’ activities which can improve the control of the public institutions responsiveness by the citizens. Across an accurate data petition and the access to the specific datafiles recently unlocked to the public scrutiny in Spain, this article shows the results of an application of precision journalism to the case of the main directors of the executive power regarding their personal assets, complementary incomes and business connections. Nevertheless, the poor data specification showed in the disclosure records of the Spanish Administration seriously restricts the goal of a full watchdogging of the political representativesDepto. de Periodismo y Comunicación GlobalFac. de Ciencias de la InformaciónTRUEpu

“Little Spains” [Spanish Bellwether Electoral Districts]: A Precision Journalism Investigation on Districts with the Greatest Capability in the Electoral Prediction

La existencia de distritos electorales con una distribución de votos similar al cómputo nacional puede servir para predecir los resultados globales de un país. New Hampshire en Estados Unidos, Donzy en Francia o Almendralejo en España han sido considerados en las últimas décadas espejos locales o ‘pueblos clónicos’ del resultado global. Este artículo identifica localidades predictoras de ese tipo para los principales partidos políticos españoles. Aplica para ello el enfoque y técnicas del ‘periodismo de precisión’ o ‘de datos’ y muestra una vía de convergencia interdisciplinar entre la sociología electoral, la comunicación política y los estudios y la práctica del periodismo.The existence of electoral districts with a similar voting distribution to that of national ones may be used to forecast the national elections results. New Hampshire, in United States, Donzy in France, or Almendralejo in Spain have been known in the last decades as predictors of national results or ‘bellwether electoral districts’. This article identifies some towns of this type in Spain, in relation with the results of the main political parties. To do that, it applies the perspective and techniques of ‘precision journalism’ or ‘data journalism’ and it shows and interdisciplinary and convergent research line among electoral sociology, political communication, journalism studies and the practice of journalism.Depto. de Periodismo y Comunicación GlobalFac. de Ciencias de la InformaciónTRUEpu

Pequeñas Españas: Una aplicación del Periodismo de Precisión a la detección de municipios con máximo potencial de predicción electoral

La existencia de distritos electorales con una distribución de votos similar al cómputo nacional puede servir para predecir los resultados globales de un país. New Hampshire en Estados Unidos, Donzy en Francia o Almendralejo en España han sido considerados en las últimas décadas espejos locales o pueblos clónicos del resultado global.Este artículo identifica localidades predictoras de ese tipo para los principales partidos políticos españoles. Aplica para ello el enfoque y técnicas del periodismo de precisión o de datos y muestra una vía de convergencia interdisciplinar entre la sociología electoral, la comunicación política y los estudios y la práctica del periodismo.; Estatu mailan ematen den boto banaketaren antzekoa duten hauteskunde barrutiak erabilgarriak izan daitezke herrialde baten emaitza globalak aurreikusteko. Azken hamarkadetan, New Hampshire Estatu Batuetan, Donzy Frantzian edo Almendralejo Espainian emaitza globalaren tokiko ispilu edo herri kloniko-tzat hartu izan dira.Artikulu honek espainiar alderdi politiko nagusientzako mota horretako herri iragarleak identifikatzen ditu. Horretarako, zehaztasuneko kazetaritza edo datu kazetaritza-ren teknika eta ikuspegiak erabili dira, hauteskunde soziologia, komunikazio politikoa eta kazetaritzaren ikerketa eta praktikaren arteko konbergentzia interdisziplinariorako bide bat erakutsiz.; The existence of electoral districts with a similar voting distribution to that of national ones may be used to forecast the national elections results. New Hampshire, in United States, Donzy in France, or Almendralejo in Spain have been known in the last decades as predictors of national results or bellwether electoral districts.This article identifies some towns of this type in Spain, in relation with the results of the main political parties. To do that, it applies the perspective and techniques of precision journalism or data journalism and it shows and interdisciplinary and convergent research line among electoral sociology, political communication, journalism studies and the practice of journalism

Statistical study of combustion characteristics and optimal operation factor determination in an emulsion burner fuelled with vegetable oils

This work experimentally investigates the combustion characteristics of refined soya, sunflower and rapeseed vegetable oils and, by means of statistical techniques, determines the optimal operating factors of an emulsion burner to obtain the best combustion performance and low pollutant emissions. Given the high dimensionality of the study, the PCA provides a descriptive study of the variables involved in the combustion process and of the physicochemical properties of the vegetable oils so as to establish the correlations between them. ANOVA was then performed to identify which factors (type of vegetable oil, fuel flow, and airflow), as well as any possible interactions, have the greatest impact on the combustion results (performance as well as CO2, CO, NOx, CxHy and SOx emissions). ANOVA results showed that almost all of the factors and their interactions were significant, which makes it essential to analyse the interaction plots to see the optimal combinations of levels. This study showed that fuel flow rate was quite an important factor affecting combustion characteristics, that the type of vegetable oil influenced CxHy emissions, and that the airflow rate displayed no clear trend. Furthermore, the best combustion performance coupled with pollutant emissions that were below the lowest limits established by current legislation were achieved for a combination of maximum fuel flow and minimum airflow rates, with soya exhibiting the best performance. In general, good combustion performances were obtained with extremely low NOx emissions, and SOx emissions were not detected in any of the combustion experiments performed.Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, grant MTM2017-86061-C2-1-P, and by Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León and FEDER, grant VA005P17 and VA002G18

Statistical Study of Combustion Characteristics and Optimal Operation Factor Determination in an Emulsion Burner Fueled with Vegetable Oils

This work experimentally investigates the combustion characteristics of refined soya, sunflower, and rapeseed vegetable oils and, by means of statistical techniques, determines the optimal operating factors of an emulsion burner to obtain the best combustion performance and low pollutant emissions. Given the high dimensionality of the study, principal component analysis provides a descriptive study of the variables involved in the combustion process and of the physicochemical properties of the vegetable oils so as to establish the correlations between them. ANOVA was then performed to identify which factors (type of vegetable oil, fuel flow, and airflow), as well as any possible interactions, have the greatest impact on the combustion results (performance as well as CO2, CO, NOx, CxHy, and SOx emissions). The ANOVA results showed that almost all of the factors and their interactions were significant, which makes it essential to analyze the interaction plots in order to see the optimal combinations of levels. This study showed that fuel flow rate was quite an important factor affecting combustion characteristics, that the type of vegetable oil influenced CxHy emissions, and that the airflow rate displayed no clear trend. Furthermore, the best combustion performance coupled with pollutant emissions below the lowest limits established by the current legislation were achieved for a combination of maximum fuel flow and minimum airflow rates, with soya exhibiting the best performance. In general, good combustion performances were obtained with extremely low NOx emissions. SOx emissions were not detected in any of the combustion experiments performed.Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, grant MTM2017-86061-C2-1-P, and by Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León and FEDER, grant VA005P17 and VA002G18

Relationship between target organ damage and blood pressure, retinal vessel calibre, oxidative stress and polymorphisms in VAV-2 and VAV-3 genes in patients with hypertension: a case-control study protocol (LOD- Hipertensión)

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license.[Introduction]: Target organ damage (TOD) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. The study objectives were to analyse the relationship of TOD to blood pressure, size of retinal arteries and veins, oxidative stress and different polymorphisms in the VAV-2 and VAV-3 genes in participants with hypertension. [Methods and analysis]: A case-control study to analyse the relationship between clinical, biochemical and genetic parameters and presence of cardiac, vascular and renal TOD in 486 patients with hypertension. Participants with TOD will be considered as cases, and those without TOD will be enrolled as controls. This will be a collaborative study conducted by the groups of Primary Care, Cardiovascular and Metabolic and Degenerative Diseases of the Instituto de Investigación Biomédica of Salamanca (IBSAL). Assessment of cardiac, renal and vascular TOD. Measurement of peripheral and central blood pressure, size of eye fundus arteries and veins, and oxidative stress, and polymorphisms in the VAV-2 and VAV-3 genes. [Ethics and dissemination]: The study will be conducted after approval is obtained from the Ethics Committee of Hospital Clínico Universitario of Salamanca. All study participants will sign an informed consent to agree to participate in the study, and another consent to agree on the genetic study, in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the WHO standards for observational studies. The results of this study will allow for an understanding of the relationship of the different TODs with blood pressure, retinal artery and vein diameters, oxidative stress and polymorphisms in VAV-2 and VAV-3 genes. [Trial registration number]: Clinical Trials. gov Identifier: NCT02022618.This project has been supported by the Castilla y León Health Service (BIO/SA05/13), Carlos III Institute of Health of the Spanish Ministry of Health (RETICS RD12/0005, RedIAPP, and RD12/0021, RedinRen), and Infosalud Foundation.Peer Reviewe

Four chamber right ventricular longitudinal strain versus right free wall longitudinal strain. Prognostic value in patients with left heart disease

Background: There is no consensus on which right ventricle (RV) strain parameter should be used in the clinical practice: four chamber RV longitudinal strain (4CH RV-LS) or free wall longitudinal strain (FWLS). The aim of this study was to analyze which RV strain parameter better predicts prognosis in patients with left heart disease. Methods: One hundred and three outpatients with several degrees of functional tricuspid regurgitation severity secondary to left heart disease were prospectively included. 4CH RV-LS and FWLS were assessed using speckle tracking. Left ventricular (LV) systolic function was determined using LV ejection fraction and RV systolic function using tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE). Patients were followed up for 23.1 ± 12.4 months for an endpoint of cardiac hospitalization due to heart failure. Results: The cutoff value related to RV dysfunction (TAPSE < 17 mm) was lower, in absolute value, for 4CH RV-LS (4CH RV-LS = –17.3%; FWLS = –19.5%). There were 33 adverse events during the follow-up. Patients with 4CH RV-LS > –17.3% (log rank [LR] = 22.033; p < 0.001); FWLS > –19.5% (LR = 12.2; p < 0.001), TAPSE < 17 mm (LR = 17.4; p < 0.001) and LV systolic dysfunction (LR = 13.3; p < 0.001) had lower event-free survival (Kaplan Meier). In Cox multivariate analysis, 4CH RV-LS > –17.3% (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.593; p < 0.002), TAPSE < 17 (HR = 2.093; p < 0.055) and LV systolic dysfunction (HR = 2.087; p < 0,054) had prognostic value, whereas FWLS did not reach significance. Conclusions: Although both 4CH RV-LS and FWLS have prognostic value, 4CH RV-LS is a better predictor of episodes of heart failure in patients with left heart disease, providing additional information to that obtained by TAPSE.

Solar-Simulated Ultraviolet Radiation Induces Abnormal Maturation and Defective Chemotaxis of Dendritic Cells

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light induces immunosuppression. Different evidences indicate that this phenomenon is mainly a consequence of the effect of UV light on skin dendritic cells (DC). To investigate the cellular and molecular basis of this type of immunosuppression, we assessed in vitro the effect of solar-simulated UV radiation on the phenotypic and functional characteristics of human monocyte-derived DC and Langerhans-like DC. UV radiation induced a decreased expression of molecules involved in antigen capture as DC-SIGN and the mannose receptor. This effect was accompanied by a diminished endocytic capacity, an enhanced expression of molecules involved in antigen presentation such as major histocompatibility complex-II and CD86, and a significant increase in their capability to stimulate T cells. Furthermore, irradiated DC failed to acquire a full mature phenotype upon treatment with lipopolysaccharide. On the other hand, solar-simulated radiation induced the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-αand interleukin (IL)-10 by DC, but no IL-12. Interestingly, solar-simulated UV radiation also caused an altered migratory phenotype, with an increased expression of CXCR4, and a lack of induction of CCR7, thus correlating with a high chemotactic response to stromal cell-derived factor 1(SDF-1) (CXCL12), but not to secondary lymphoid tissue chemokine (SLC) (CCL21). These data indicate that solar-simulated UV radiation induces a defective maturation and an anomalous migratory phenotype of DC

Implantación de un sistema integral de gestión del conocimiento para los procesos de innovación docente de la Universidad de Salamanca

Memoria ID-0312. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2014-2015

Internacionalización de las prácticas de laboratorio en las asignaturas del área de Electromagnetismo del grado de Ingeniería Electrónica

En esta memoria se describen los resultados del proyecto num 122, "Internacionalización de las prácticas de laboratorio en las asignaturas del área de Electromagnetismo del grado de Ingeniería Electrónica". Se han realizado más de veinte vídeos divulgativos en ingles sobre las técnicas experimentales que se estudian en las asignaturas del Área de Electromagnetismo de la Ingeniería Electrónica de Comunicaciones. Estos vídeos se han cargado en un canal de Youtube, al que se puede acceder desde la página web www.ucm.es/elec