Central banking in the iberian peninsula : a comparison.

The paper explores the similiraties and differences between the origin, behavior and evolution of the central banks of Portugal and Spain. Portugal and Spain are two countries that share the same peninsular space in the west corner of Europe. Though different in size and population, the political, social and economic history of both nations offer more similarities than differences. In the financial sphere, he resemblances are remarkable. Both nations exhibit very low levels of financial intermediation, as measured by the ratio between total bank deposits and GDP. Another common feature of both Iberian nations is the dominance exerted by a sole institution. However, we also find some divergences between the financial structures of the two countries that are worth noting. Three differences merit our particular attention in this paper. The first diversity refers to the distinct composition of the quantity of money. The monetary regime is the second difference between the two countries (Portugal joined the gold standard while Spain remained off the gold standard). Finally, the Bank of Portugal and the Bank of Spain exhibit also significant contrasts in their behavior as central banks.Central banks; Monetary policy; Gold standard; Portugal; Spain;

Effects of Ingestion of Lithic Particles on Growth of the Apple Snail Pomacea canaliculata (Caenogastropoda, Ampullariidae)

Lithic particles are a common feature in the digestive tract of freshwater snails. Their role in the digestive processes has been demonstrated in some microphytophagous and detritivorous species, as they enhance growth, assimilation and reproduction. It has been suggested that they could have the same function in Pomacea canaliculata, a macrophytophagous apple snail with powerful jaws and radula, a strongly muscular and cuticularized gizzard and high levels of enzymatic activity. Our aims were to investigate the occurrence of lithic elements in the digestive tract of P. canaliculata snails from natural populations through the analyses of digestive contents, as well as the effect of size and availability of lithic particles on growth and growth efficiency through laboratory experiments. Lithic particles are very common in the digestive tract of P. canaliculata from natural populations and from laboratory aquaria if they are available in the immediate environment. Such particles are not retained or concentrated differentially in the stomach and they are apparently totally lost in less than four weeks if the supply is interrupted. The frequency of plant material and lithic particles increases from mouth to anus indicating that the retention time increases in the same way. Sand and plant material frequently co-occur in the intestine and in the stomach indicating that both are ingested together. Ground marble had negative effects on the growth of P. canaliculata probably due to the sharp edges and pointed ends of these particles. The availability of natural lithic particles (sand) had a positive effect on growth and also a synergic interaction with the availability of food. The growth efficiency was 25.2% higher when sand was available than when it was absent. These effects were more marked in juvenile females than in juvenile males. Our results indicate that growth rates may be underestimated under laboratory conditions if lithic particles are not supplied regularly and that their presence should be standardized to allow reliable comparisons between studies. Our results also indicate that the effects of food availability and plant palatability on the growth of P. canaliculata may be modulated by the presence of lithic particles and this may in turn affect the outcome of interactions between apple snails, other snails and macrophytes.Fil: Manara, Enzo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Saveanu, Lucía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Martín, Pablo Rafael. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; Argentin

Chemical composition and physical properties of sorghum flour prepared from different sorghum hybrids grown in Argentina

This work analyzed the physical, chemical, and thermal properties of sorghum flour and the relationships among these, in order to evaluate its suitability for the development of food products. Sorghum flour was obtained through roller dry milling from 20 commercial hybrids grown in Argentina with the average chemical composition of the samples being: 0.68% ash, 3.67% fat, 12.21% protein, 83.45% total carbohydrates, 79.77% starch (amylose 26.6%), and 34.9 mg of tannic acid per 100 g of flour. A high degree of variability among evaluated properties was found, particularly in the pasting properties peak viscosity (2809–5184 mPa/s), breakdown (1169–3170 mPa/s), and final viscosity (3030–4401 mPa/s) with onset temperature (To) and gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH) varying between 66.8 and 72.6°C, and 5.38 and 8.48 J/g, respectively. A principal component analysis demonstrated that the grain color did not influence the chemical composition of the flour. Cluster analysis permitted the separation of flour into three different groups with different thermal and physicochemical characteristics, and enabled the selection of hybrids. Thus, sorghum flour is a versatile ingredient and can be used in several food and non-food applications.Fil: Palavecino, Pablo Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Penci, Maria Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Calderón-Domínguez, Georgina. Instituto Politécnico Nacional; MéxicoFil: Ribotta, Pablo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; Argentin

Financial crises and financial reforms in Spain : what have we learned?.

Like the rest of the world, Spain has suffered frequent financial crises and undergone several changes in its regulatory framework. There have been crises that have been followed by reforms of the financial structure, and also troubled financial times with no modification of the regulatory and supervisory regime. In various instances, regulatory changes have predated financial crises, but in others banking crises have occurred without reference to changes in the regulatory regime. Regulation and supervision has been usually absent in the XIXth century, while in the XXth century policy makers have been more active and diligent. Moreover, all major financial crises have been followed by intense financial restructuring, although as elsewhere banking restructuring and interventions not always have been successful (in fact, the cases of failures and mixed results overcome the successful cases). The paper provides a short history of the major financial crises in Spain from 1856 to the present, and also reviews the main financial reforms and the distinctive regulatory regimes that have been in place in this last 150 years time span.Spanish banking; Financial crisis; Financial regulations; Banking reforms;

Use of discrete choice to obtain urban freight evaluation data

The ex-ante evaluation of urban freight solutions is a complex task, due to the interference of different stakeholder groups with different views and objectives. The multi-actor multi-criteria methods have developed as a response to this scenario, but the determination of the weights required by them remains an unclear and controversial task. We propose the use of discrete choice methods as a powerful tool to confront these multi-faced evaluation problems, since the resulting surveys are flexible and easy to respond, and do not give away the final quantitative results. We have applied this methodology to the selection of urban freight solutions in the city of Seville, in Spain, followed by the determination of the relative weights associated to different objectives, both analyses carried out from the side of the carriers stakeholder group.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2013-47286-C3-3-