Territory and cooperativism: A spatial analysis of the Spanish region of Andalusia

This study seeks to identify the behavior of cooperative societies in Andalusia, as well as the environments in which their greater relative importance is evident. The weight of cooperative societies is significantly greater in Andalusia as compared to the rest of Spain. These organizations are noteworthy for acting under social, economic and environmental principles and values, and represent a potential opportunity for the region. The methodology applied for this purpose consists of spatial analysis using descriptive graphing techniques and application of spatial autocorrelation. Among the results obtained, a significant finding is these organizations’ defined behavior as opposed to that of mercantile or traditional businesses. In mapping the weight of cooperativism in Andalusia, this study enables a deeper understanding that could lead to improved design and execution of general and specific territorial policies, and with a greater guarantee of success

Clérigos en sociedad: el despliegue vital del clero secular andaluz en la baja Edad Media

El clero secular gozó de un protagonismo indiscutible en la sociedad que contempló el ocaso de la Edad Media. Nos centramos en el clero residente en el gran centro urbano de la Andalucía de finales del siglo XV y principios del XVI, Sevilla. Dentro de los muchos aspectos relativos a los clérigos ponemos nuestra atención en aquellos que integran su vida personal, en su salida de los recintos eclesiásticos para imbricarse con la sociedad en la que estaban insertos. Ello es posible gracias a la documentación estudiada: los Protocolos notariales. Las escribanías públicas de Sevilla tuvieron entre sus clientes más activos muchos miembros del clero secular, permitiendo obtener una imagen bastante completa de este grupo. Tienen cabida en ella la situación celibataria, las cualidades humanas y, de forma especial, la economía, como ente individual: sus bienes, sus criterios económicos, su participación en el comercio, como agentes o como prestamistas, los niveles de riqueza. Todo ello se completa con el análisis de su formación intelectual, su prestigio social, sus relaciones con las minorías étnico-religiosas, etc. En definitiva, un conjunto de actuaciones donde, en buena medida, veremos a los miembros del clero implicados intensamente en la sociedad a la que pertenecían.The secular clergy enjoyed an indisputable prominence in the society of the late Middle Ages. This paper focuses on the clergy living in the largest urban area in Andalusia at the end of the 15th century and beginning of the 16th century -Seville. Amongst the many aspects relating to the clergy, we pay attention to those which made up their personal life and more particularly to such activities as they conducted outside ecclesiastical precincts in order to intermingle with the society of which they were part. This is possible thanks to the documentary evidence used in our study: the notarial protocols. The public notary offices in Seville had a significant number of members of the secular clergy amongst their more active customers, which allows us to obtain a comprehensive view of this group. Such a view includes things like celibacy, their qualities as human beings and above all their individual economies: their properties, the economic criteria which they relied on, their participation in trade exchanges -as brokers or moneylenders- and their standards of wealth. All these aspects are enriched by the analysis of their intellectual backgrounds, their social prestige, their relationship with ethnic and religious minorities, etc: in short, a number of dealings in which, to a large extent, members of the clergy were deeply involved within the society to which they belonged

Religious Women in Andalusia at the end of the Middle Ages: Economic Foundation and Family Ties

The aim of this article is to study the collectives of religious women who lived at the end of the Middle Ages in Andalusia. Researches about this item multiplied in the last years, but the analysis has been made from an institutional perspective. The novelty of my investigation is based on the analysis of their economic basis and their religious vocation, as on their family ties that their lifestyle allowed them to keep unlike religious women living in enclosed environments. Even they didn’t renounce to maternity. Enter into the privacy of religious women’s lives has been possible thanks to the information contained in the compilation of Public Notaries’ official records preserved at the Municipal Archive of Jerez de la Frontera

Advanced Elastic Platforms for High Throughput Computing on Container-based and Serverless Infrastructures

[ES] El principal objetivo de esta tesis es ofrecer a los usuarios científicos un modo de crear y ejecutar aplicaciones sin servidor (i.e. serverless) altamente paralelas, dirigidas por eventos y orientadas al procesado de datos, tanto en proveedores en la nube públicos (e.g. AWS) como privados (e.g. OpenNebula, OpenStack). Para llevar a cabo dicho objetivo, se han desarrollado e integrado diferentes herramientas que ofrecen una vía para desplegar aplicaciones de computación de altas prestaciones basadas en contenedores, que además pueden beneficiarse de la alta escalabilidad presente en los entornos serverless. Primero se ha creado una herramienta que permite el despliegue de cargas de trabajo genéricas en el proveedor público AWS. Esta herramienta posibilita que se puedan aprovechar las funcionalidades de AWS Lambda (e.g. alta escalabilidad, computación basada en eventos) para el despliegue y la integración de aplicaciones computacionalmente intensivas que usan el modelo de funciones como servicio (FaaS). En segundo lugar se ha desarrollado un modelo de programación de alto rendimiento para el procesado de datos y orientado a eventos que permite a los usuarios desplegar flujos de trabajo como un conjunto de funciones serverless, a la vez que ofrece una gestión transparente de los datos. En tercer lugar, para poder superar los problemas presentes en los proveedores públicos (e.g. tiempo de ejecución limitado), se ha creado una plataforma que facilita el uso del modelo FaaS en infraestructuras privadas. Esta plataforma también puede ser desplegada automáticamente en distintos proveedores públicos de la nube. Finalmente, para comprobar y validar las diferentes herramientas y plataformas desarrolladas, se han probado diferentes casos de uso con interés tanto para investigación como para la empresa.[CA] El principal objectiu d'aquesta tesi és oferir als usuaris científics una manera de crear i executar aplicacions sense servidor (i.e. serverless) altament paral·leles, dirigides per esdeveniments i orientades al processament de dades, tant en proveïdors en núvol públics (e.g. AWS) com en privats (e.g. OpenNebula, OpenStack). Per a dur a terme aquest objectiu, s'ha desenvolupat e integrat diferents eines que ofereixen una via per desplegar aplicacions de computació d'altes prestacions basades en contenidors, alhora que es poden beneficiar de l'alta escalabilitat present en els entorns serverless. Primerament, s'ha creat una eina que possibilita el desplegament de càrregues de treball genèriques al proveïdor públic en núvol AWS. Aquesta eina permet aprofitar les funcionalitats de AWS Lambda (e.g. alta escalabilitat, computació basada en esdeveniments) per al desplegament i la integració d'aplicacions computacionalment intensives que fan ús del model de funcions com a servei (FaaS). En segon lloc, s'ha desenvolupat un model de programació d'alt rendiment per al processament de dades i orientat a esdeveniments, que permet als usuaris desplegar fluxos de treball com un conjunt de funcions serverless, alhora que ofereix una gestió transparent de les dades. En tercer lloc, per a superar els problemes presents als proveïdors públics (e.g. temps d'execució limitat) s'ha creat una plataforma que permet utilitzar el model FaaS en infraestructures privades. A més, aquesta plataforma pot ser desplegada automàticament en múltiples proveïdors públics en núvol. Finalment, per a comprobar i validar les diferents eines i plataformes dutes a terme, s'han provat diferents casos d'ús amb interès tant per a la recerca com per a l'empresa.[EN] The main objective of this thesis is to allow scientific users to deploy and execute highly-parallel event-driven file-processing serverless applications both in public (e.g. AWS), and in private (e.g. OpenNebula, OpenStack) cloud infrastructures. To achieve this objective, different tools and platforms are developed and integrated to provide scientific users with a way for deploying High Throughput Computing applications based on containers that can benefit from the high elasticity capabilities of the serverless environments. First, an open-source tool to deploy generic serverless workloads in the AWS public Cloud provider has been created. This tool allows the scientific users to benefit from the features of AWS Lambda (e.g. high scalability, event-driven computing) for the deployment and integration of compute-intensive applications that use the Functions as a Service (FaaS) model. Second, an event-driven file-processing high-throughput programming model has been developed to allow the users deploy generic applications as workflows of functions in serverless architectures, offering transparent data management. Third, in order to overcome the drawbacks of public serverless services such as limited execution time or computing capabilities, an open-source platform to support FaaS for compute-intensive applications in on-premises Clouds was created. The platform can be automatically deployed on multi-Clouds in order to create highly-parallel event-driven file-processing serverless applications. Finally, in order to assess and validate all the developed tools and platforms, several use cases with business and scientific backgrounds have been tested.Pérez González, AM. (2020). Advanced Elastic Platforms for High Throughput Computing on Container-based and Serverless Infrastructures [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/146365TESI

The contribution of the EU to the implementation of the global compacts: legal certainty for people on the move as a global public good

This work aims to analyze the role of the EU and its Member States in implementing the UN Global Compacts from a specific approach: the theory of global public goods. In particular, it aims to explore the incentives EU and its Member States would have for agreeing on a European regime providing safe and legal pathways for migrants and people in need of international protection heading to the European territory. Although a variety of international instruments contain both the right to leave any country, including one’s own country, and the right to seek international protection, up to now the International Community has failed in its attempt of providing legal certainty for people on the move. This article considers that a global public good approach would fuel the indispensable political consensus to do so

A volatility index for the Spanish banking sector

Artículo de revistaThis article is a summary of the methodology proposed by Gonzalez-Perez (2021) for estimation of a volatility index for an asset portfolio on which no options have been issued. The methodology allows volatility indices to be constructed for personalised portfolios, using the options issued on the individual shares and a benchmark portfolio that provides information on the correlation risk premium between the assets in the portfolio concerned. This methodology and a benchmark portfolio representing the Spanish stock market (IBEX 35) are used to estimate a volatility index for the Spanish banking sector. The methodology proposed allows for adjustment of the benchmark portfolio according to the framework of uncertainty desired. A comparison between this sectoral volatility index and that of the Spanish stock market overall and other key indices shows that falls in bank share prices have a particularly strong correlation with growth in banking sector uncertainty, while share price rallies have a correlation with lower uncertainty either on the Spanish equity market or in the banking sector. Moreover, there is a persistent and positive volatility spread between the Spanish stock market and the banking sector. The fact that the Spanish banking sector has become more integrated following the global financial crisis, together with the gradual increase in correlation between bank portfolios, helps to explain this. In February 2022 this spread stood at around 20%. The Spanish banking sector volatility index moves parallel to its European equivalent, with an average historical spread of around 6%

The effective application of international human rights law standards to the sporting domain: Should UN monitoring bodies take central stage?

This work aims to reflect on the role that UN human rights monitoring bodies—both charter and treaty based—could play in tackling human rights violations of athletes rights occurred in the sporting domain. While recognizing the autonomy of sports associations in the application of their own lex sportiva, the author maintains that the perspective and concrete recommendations provided by UN human rights mechanisms could help (i) raise human rights standards applied by sporting associations and (ii) more effectively combat discriminatory and other harmful or unfair practices in sport. Thus, the purpose of the analysis is twofold. First, the work will examine the reasons behind the absence of a significant UN human rights mechanisms/bodies practice so far. Secondly, it will support that autonomy of sport should not imply that athletes could be prevented from having access to these mechanisms seeking concrete recommendations regarding changes in situations of discrimination or application of such harmful or unfair practices. While identifying certain obstacles to individual access, the work advocates for a more decisive action of these mechanisms in this regard. In particular, through Committees’ General Recommendations and Concluding Observations, on the one hand, and special procedures of the Human Rights Council’s pronouncements, on the other

Lessons from estimating the average option-implied volatility term structure for the Spanish banking sector

Este trabajo presenta la estructura temporal de un índice de volatilidad para la industria bancaria española (SBVX). El índice se calcula a partir de la volatilidad implícita de cada uno de los bancos y de la prima de riesgo de correlación del mercado. Empleando cotizaciones diarias desde 2015 hasta 2021, se muestra una relación signifi cativamente mayor entre el índice de volatilidad SBVX y el rendimiento de las acciones bancarias que entre estas últimas y el VIBEX (índice de volatilidad del mercado), especialmente cuando los rendimientos bancarios son negativos. En concreto, los resultados obtenidos recomiendan utilizar el SBVX a un año como indicador de incertidumbre del sector bancario español, en lugar del VIBEX. Por otro lado, cambios en el VIBEX y el SBVX se relacionan de manera similar con los rendimientos bancarios cuando estos son positivos. Ello se alinea con una hipótesis, ya mencionada en la literatura, que argumenta que una caída en la volatilidad global (incertidumbre) afecta positivamente al desempeño de las empresas y mejora las proyecciones sobre el valor de las entidades bancarias. Adicionalmente, los resultados obtenidos aconsejan usar el índice de volatilidad SBVX a un mes para prever la volatilidad mensual de los retornos bancarios. Este documento proporciona evidencia empírica a favor del uso de medidas idiosincrásicas de volatilidad en combinación con medidas de incertidumbre global (VIBEX) para monitorear y prever el desempeño del precio de las acciones de los bancos. En particular, se aconseja el uso ponderado de tres variables para estudiar la evolución del rendimiento de las acciones bancarias: la estructura temporal del índice SBVX, el VIBEX a corto plazo y la prima de riesgo de correlación de mercado. El uso combinado de estas tres herramientas permitiría, además, prever períodos de estrés en esta industria. Los resultados empíricos aportados en este trabajo contribuyen a las líneas de investigación que estudian la dinámica del precio de las acciones bancarias en el mercado secundario y su sensibilidad a cambios en la incertidumbre, la volatilidad y el riesgo (idiosincrásico y global). Por último, la metodología implementada permite calcular un índice de volatilidad para carteras arbitrarias (no negociadas), lo que supone una contribución al estudio y a la elaboración de medidas de riesgo no estándar.This paper estimates the volatility index term structure for the Spanish bank industry (SBVX) using the implied volatility of individual banks and assuming market correlation risk premium. This methodology enables calculating a volatility index for arbitrary (non-traded) portfolios. Using data from 2015 to 2021, we find that SBVX informs about the dynamics of bank returns beyond the standard market volatility index VIBEX, especially when bank returns are negative; and that one-year SBVX beats shorter maturities in explaining bank returns. On the other hand, positive bank returns relate to the dynamics of VIBEX just as much as SBVX, which aligns with the belief that a drop in global volatility (uncertainty) positively affects firm performance and, therefore, bank value projections. We find one-month SBVX better than VIBEX to forecast monthly bank returns volatility, regardless of the tenor we use to compute VIBEX. This paper provides empirical evidence that idiosyncratic implied volatility is just as significant, or even more than global volatility, to monitor current and future banks’ share price performance. We advise using SBVX term structure, short-term VIBEX, and market correlation risk premium to monitor uncertainty and returns in the banking sector and foresee periods of stress in this industry. Our results may be of great interest to those seeking to estimate the banking sector’s sensitivity to uncertainty, volatility, and risk

Comparing Protonolysis and Transmetalation Reactions: Microcalorimetric Studies of C–AuI Bonds in [AuRL] Complexes

Producción CientíficaThe protonolysis of C–Au bonds in [AuRL] organometallic complexes has been studied by calorimetry for twelve R groups. The experimental data have been combined with DFT calculations to obtain Bond Dissociation Energy values (BDE). The C–Au BDE values show a good correlation with the corresponding isolobal C–H BDE values. The heat released in the protonolysis of [AuRL] has also been measured for R = Ph and L = P(OPh)3, PPh3, PMe3, PCy3, and IPr, and these values strongly depend on the trans influence of L because of the mutual destabilization of the L–Au and Au–C bonds. The enthalpy of the transmetalation reactions [AuR(PPh3)] + SnIBu3 → [AuI(PPh3)] + SnRBu3 for seven R groups have been measured and compared with the corresponding [AuR(PPh3)] protonolysis.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project CTQ2016-80913-P)Junta de Castilla y León (Project VA 051P17