Direct and Indirect Effects of Emotions towards Party Leaders on Voting: Evidence from the 2018 Andalusian Regional Election

Party leaders are increasingly relevant to voters’ choices in parliamentary systems. However, most studies addressing the electoral impact of leaders have largely ignored voters’ emotional responses to party leaders. Additionally, little is known about the effect of party leaders in subnational or regional elections. Using data from a specific election survey, this article examines the effect of emotions towards party leaders on regional voting. It assesses whether emotional responses to party leaders not only have direct effects, but whether they also have indirect effects through partisanship on voting. We found evidence that emotions towards party leaders have both direct and indirect effects through partisanship on vote choice

Study of Spectral Modifications in Acidified Ignitable Liquids by Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

In this work, the spectral characteristics of two types of acidified gasoline and acidified diesel fuel are discussed. Neat and acidified ignitable liquids (ILs) infrared absorption spectra obtained by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were compared in order to identify the modifications produced by the reaction of the ILs with sulfuric acid. Several bands crucial for gasoline identification were modified, and new bands appeared over the reaction time. In the case of acidified diesel fuel, no significant modifications were observed. Additionally, the neat and acidified ILs spectra were used to perform a principal components analysis in order to confirm objectively the results. The complete discrimination among samples was successfully achieved, including the complete differentiation among gasoline types. Taking into account the results obtained in this work, it is possible to propose spectral fingerprints for the identification of non-burned acidified ILs in forensic investigations related with arson or the use of improvised incendiary devices (IIDs)

Analytical tools for the analysis of fire debris. A review: 2008-2015

The analysis of fire debris evidence might offer crucial information to a forensic investigation, when for instance, there is suspicion of the intentional use of ignitable liquids to initiate a fire. Although the evidence analysis in the laboratory is mainly conducted by a handful of well-established methodologies, during the last eight years several authors proposed noteworthy improvements on these methodologies, suggesting new interesting approaches. This review critically outlines the most up-to-date and suitable tools for the analysis and interpretation of fire debris evidence. The survey about analytical tools covers works published in the 2008&-2015 period. It includes sources of consensus-classified reference samples, current standard procedures, new proposals for sample extraction and analysis, and the most novel statistical tools. In addition, this review provides relevant knowledge on the distortion effects of the ignitable liquid chemical fingerprints, which have to be considered during interpretation of results

Benzylic Complexes of Palladium(II): Bonding modes and Penta- coordination for Steric Relief

A large variety of α-(pentafluorophenylmethyl)benzylic palladium complexes with different ligands have been synthesized and char- acterized. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopic data allow to determine the σ-or η3-benzylic nature of the complexes in solution. The adoption of either coordination mode is a function of the number of ligands coordinated to palladium and, remarkably, the presence of bulky phosphines favors the adoption of a bidentate η3-benzylic mode and palladium pentacoordinated complexes. Experimental data and DFT calculations indicate that this five- coordination could alleviate the steric hindrance of two cis bulky phosphines. The benzylic complexes show a rich fluxional behavior that involves both ligand exchange and σ- to η3-benzylic interconversion.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (SGPI, grant CTQ2016-80913-P

α-Substituted Benzylic Complexes of Palladium(II) as Precursors of Palladium Hydrides

The adoption of a pseudoallylic (η3) form makes palladium benzylic derivatives a class of stabilized palladium alkyls that can undergo β-H elimination reactions in a more controlled way. α- (Pentafluorophenylmethyl)benzyl palladium complexes have been studied and they decompose by β-H elimination to give palladium hydrides that, depending on the auxil- iary ligands can: a) transmetalate to another palladium atom and, by reductive elimina- tion, give hydrogenated products; this process is favored for a combination of bridging ligands (i.e halogens) and low coordinating ligands. b) Be used as a hydride source and get trapped by a diene to give palladium allylic derivatives. The presence of carbon mon- oxide does not induce a β-H elimination reactions and only CO insertion into the Pd- benzyl bond to give acyl derivatives is observed.MINECO (SGPI, grant CTQ2016-80913-P

Multilevel Zero-One Inflated Beta Regression Model for the Analysis of the Relationship between Exogenous Health Variables and Technical Efficiency in the Spanish National Health System Hospitals

Background: This article proposes a methodological innovation in health economics for the second stage analysis of technical efficiency in hospitals. It investigates the relationship between the installed capacity in regions and hospitals and their ownership structure. Methods: A multilevel zero-one inflated beta regression model is employed to model pure technical efficiency more adequately than other models frequently used in econometrics. Results: Compared to publicly managed hospitals, the mean efficiency index of hospitals with public-private partnership (PPP) formulas was 4.27-fold. This figure was 1.90-fold for private hospitals. Concerning the efficiency frontier, the odds ratio (OR) of PPP models vs. public hospitals was 42.06. The OR of private hospitals vs. public hospitals was 8.17. A one standard deviation increase in the percentage of beds in intensive care units increases the odds of being situated on the efficiency frontier by 50%. Conclusions: The proportion of hospital beds in intensive care units relates to a higher chance of being on the efficiency frontier. Hospital ownership structure is related to the mean efficiency index of Spanish National Health Service hospitals, as well as the odds of being situated on the efficiency frontier.EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND (Operative Program: Andalusia 2014–2020. Ministry of Economy. Knowledge. Business and University. Junta de Andalucía. Spain. Grant number: B-SEJ-266-UGR18

In-service training on teaching in the University of Granada: an answer to the teaching needs of academics

International Conference on Education. Bilbao, 18-20 de julio de 2013In the last years, Spanish universities have given great importance to in-service training focusing mainly on the quality of teaching. This increase, which is a clear sign of the effort done by Spanish universities to improve the professional competence of academics, must be accompanied by asp ects such as the evaluation of the given training/courses, the inclusion of different elements to be assessed, i.e. the lecturers, contents, structure of the course, number of participants, degree of satisfaction of the participants with the received training, the impact of the course on the development of teaching competences and the impact of the new skills on the teaching practice, considering, mainly, the teaching of the participants. This paper analyses the needs expressed by academics as well as the offer proposed by the University of Granada to those needs. A survey conducted in 2012/13 of more than 500 academics is used to gather informatio

Geochemical Anomalies in Soils and Surface Waters in an Area Adjacent to a Long-Used Controlled Municipal Landfill

Municipal landfills, even when controlled, are potential sources of soil and water pollution in surrounding areas, due to the migration of pollutants through water and air. This research assesses geochemical anomalies of heavy elements and rare earth elements in soils and surface waters in an adjacent area to a controlled municipal landfill near Madrid (Central Spain), under long-term operation. Twenty soil and eighteen water samples were collected in 2017 and 2018 and analyzed for this purpose. Spatial distribution and concentrations of heavy elements (Ag, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Tl, and Zn) and rare Earth elements (La, Ce, and Gd) are heterogeneous and significantly higher than soil background levels, but below the legal limits to consider intervention. Accumulation of heavy and rare Earth elements in soil nearest the landfill is attributed to occur via wind and wind-driven rain transport, while their accumulation in sediments is attributed to water transport through the creeks. Surface waters show large contamination by organic and inorganic compounds and influence geochemical anomalies in sediments. The water quality is below allowable concentrations for drinking water. The combined evaluation of the soil and water samples performed in the present work is proposed as a pilot study that may be applicable to similar surrounding landfill areas worldwideThe work has been partially financed by the Faculty of Sciences of the Autonomous University of Madrid

The impact of ideological positions and personal attributes of candidates in intraparty competition: a study under the swiss open-list PR system

Intraparty preference voting systems offer different incentives for candidates to cultivate a personal vote, but little is known about how the candidates' policy positions affect their elec-toral success in intraparty competition. This article analyses the effect of candidates' ideological positions and personal attributes on their preference vote share in the 2015 and 2019 Swiss Lower House elections. We used candidate survey data combined with official election statistics. Our findings demon-strate that the ideological distance between candidates' posi-tions and their party's median position is of minor importance for their electoral success when compared to their personal attributes. However, ideological distance between candidates and their party's median position reduce their preference vote share