Biofuels in Spain: Market penetration analysis and competitiveness in the automotive fuel market

For several years the European Union (E.U.) has been promoting the use of biofuels due to their potential benefits such as the reduction of dependence on foreign energy imports (the raw materials can be produced within the E.U.), the more stable fossil fuel prices (they can replace fossil fuels on the market), the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction (biofuels’ raw materials fix CO2 from the atmosphere) and the fact that they can represent an additional source of income for the primary sector (biofuels’ raw materials are vegetables that can be grown and harvested). Despite the public aids (direct and indirect), biofuels are not competitive with fossil fuels at present, but it is possible that in the future the environment conditions change and biofuels might become competitive. It is difficult to assess whether this will happen or not, but it is possible to make an assessment of a future situation. This article presents two analyses with one objective: to determine if biofuels might become competitive in the future. The first analysis examines the dependencies of two quotations which have a strong relationship with fuels: the crude oil quotation and the CO2 bond quotation. The analysis of these relationships may help to forecast the future competitiveness of biofuels. For instance, biofuels’ future competitiveness will be higher if their raw material costs are not related to crude oil quotations or if they are related in a negative way (the higher the crude oil quotations the lower the raw material biofuels’ cost). The second analysis focuses on the market penetration of biofuels in the Spanish market. There are data related to biofuels monthly consumption in Spain since 2007 and it is possible to know if biofuels are gaining market quota since the

Lo dramático y lo teatral en Tácito frente a Amiano Marcelino. Estudio comparativo

[ES] En el trabajo se ha estudiado el planteamiento imitativo presente en la historia de los dos representantes latinos del género en el Imperio Romano, Tácito y Amiano; y para ello se ha partido de la oposición técnica entre lo dramático y lo teatral, así como de la jerarquización entre el relato y la narración de los episodios históricos, distinguiendo entre la estructura del relato, la de la narración y la forma, asimismo, de la narración. Empezando por la narración, se ha comprobado que los episodios tanto de Tácito como de Amiano están divididos por escenas, entendiendo por éstas las partes que tienen una sintaxis durativa y dinámica dentro de la propia narración, que de este modo resuelve transiciones factuales entre las escenas. Por tanto, la estructura de la narración es similar entre los dos historiadores; sin embargo, la forma señala la diferencia. En Tácito la composición de la escena es representativa de la enérgeia; en Amiano, de la enárgeia. La enérgeia expone una acción vívida; la enárgeia, la teatralidad de esa acción a partir del decorado, el vestuario y la actio de los personajes, implementada en la caracterización retórica del texto que desplaza a la propia acción y se extiende a las transiciones de la narración. Mientras que Tácito también aplica un criterio dramático a las escenas entendidas en sí mismas, el criterio de Amiano es exclusivamente retórico y conlleva que el procedimiento de la caracterización de un contexto con base a sus elementos pasivos y activos se amplifique en la descripción independiente de la propia escenografía y los personajes. En el plano de la forma de la narración los dos historiadores se contraponen; y, desde la perspectiva de la conexión entre la historia antigua y el drama como representación de la realidad y la ficción, la distorsión de datos históricos no compromete el realismo de las situaciones generales presentadas -escenas-, porque la ficcionalización de la historia parte de una «representación» verosímil en los dos casos, aunque distinta. En el plano del relato que ordena la narración, los patrones de conexión entre los libros, y de su unidad y linealidad, según la posición de los episodios que contienen las escenas y la secuencia entre éstos, hablan de un modelo dramático común, que, sin embargo, tiene un sustrato analístico en Tácito pero no en Amiano; algo que permite a este último unificar episodios de años distintos, diferenciados por la fórmula consular o no, dentro de una misma secuencia en función del espacio, porque la historia real de su período es completamente distinta de la del de Tácito. Interpretando en conjunto los resultados del análisis en los tres planos mencionados se comprende que la propuesta dramática de Amiano parte de la de Tácito, tanto por la inserción de escenas en los episodios como por la unidad temática de los libros. La unidad de los libros se incrementa respecto a Tácito desde el momento en que los años no separan episodios que comparten el mismo marco geográfico en la narración. La continuación de esta investigación pasa, necesariamente, por el estudio de la escenografía y la actio en la literatura histórica griega y ya no propiamente histórica latina de la época de Amiano, donde habrá que buscar los paralelos de los parámetros teatrales que separan a Amiano de Tácito pero que explican el pictoricismo que Amiano comparte con sus autores coétaneos a partir de una misma concepción escénica tardoantigua

Safeguarding Health at the Workplace: A Study of Work Engagement, Authenticity and Subjective Wellbeing among Religious Workers

: Research in work and organizational psychology has paid little attention to religious workers, something certainly surprising as faith-based organizations play a key role in the welfare state of many countries. This research shows that religious workers in a Catholic order present a high degree of subjective wellbeing, both in terms of flourishing and satisfaction with life in general, and a positive balance of positive and negative feelings. More specifically, this study examines the relationship between authenticity and wellbeing amongst religious workers. Survey responses from 142 religious workers in Spain were analyzed using partial least squares path modelling. The results reveal that subjective wellbeing at work is positively related to authenticity. In addition, this relationship is mediated by their level of work engagement

Critical analysis of the European Union directive which regulates the use of biofuels: An approach to the Spanish case

In recent times, the global debate on the environment has been centered on CO2 emissions. This gas is the major cause of the “greenhouse effect” and people are more concerned with the idea that the emissions of this gas should be minimized. As a result of this concern, the Kyoto Protocol was enacted and subscribed to by many countries, setting the maximum gas emissions for them. Fossil fuels are a major source of CO2 emissions. For some years now The European Union has been seeking to promote some years now the use of biofuels as substitutes for diesel or petrol for transport purposes. As a result of this policy, in 2003 the European Union (EU) Directive 2003/30/EC [1] was developed with the aim of promoting the use of biofuels as a substitute for diesel or gasoline among European Union countries as well as to contribute to fulfilling the commitments acquired on climate change, security of supply in environmentally friendly conditions and the promotion of renewable energy sources. In order to achieve these goals, the directive forces all EU members to ensure that before December 31 of 2010 at least 5.75% of all gasoline and diesel fuels sold for transport purposes are biofuels. European Union countries have social and economic characteristics unique to themselves. The energy dependence on foreign sources, the features of the agricultural sector or the degree of industrialization varies greatly from one country to another. In this context, it is questionable whether the obligation imposed by this directive is actually achieving in its application uniform and/or identical goals in each of the countries involved and whether the actions of the various governments are also aligned with these goals. All these ideas were developed in a previous report (Sobrino and Monroy (2009) [2]). This report examines the possibility of using hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels from a technical, economic and environmental point of view in the specific case of a European Union country: Spain

Authenticity and Subjective Wellbeing within the Context of a Religious Organization

Although authenticity has a long history as a philosophical and psychological idea, this concept has received scarce attention in the business literature until very lately. Nevertheless, scholars belonging to a broad array of disciplines have pointed out the escalation in the individuals’ search for authenticity within developed societies. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to assess the link between authenticity and subjective wellbeing within the rarely explored context of faith-driven organizations, where the management of emotions attains a particular significance. Specifically, this study links authenticity with subjective wellbeing among the distinct groups that shape a large international Catholic organization. This study uses Partial Least Squares (PLS) to test our research model and hypotheses. This paper covers two noteworthy research gaps. On the one hand, it provides evidence of the relationship between authenticity and subjective wellbeing within the context of religious organizations. On the other hand, our results suggest that this relationship is not homogeneous among the distinct groups that shape the organization. Implications of the research are finally discussed

A methodology to measure sight-hidden dips'parameters.

Highway design standards specify several requirements on available sight distance. Usually, compliance with these standards is ensured during the design phase of a new road. This is made through geometric calculations that take into account the terrain and the road. In this paper, a procedure for measuring distances in an existing road from georeferenced photographs is proposed. In addition, an estimation of the error committed when using this procedure is made. Distances measured using this procedure arecompared with the ones measured using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Distances error is within the error estimation and is low enough for using it in traffic safety studies. In addition, the procedure is applied to measure several parameters of a sight-hidden dip. This procedure does not need a terrain model to measure these parameters. This is an advantage compared with other existing procedures for estimating the parameters of sight-hidden dips

Interleukin-10 facilitates the selection of patients for systemic thrombolysis

Background: Clinical-Diffusion mismatch (CDM; NIHSS score ≥8 & DWI lesion volume ≤25 mL) and Perfusion-Diffusion mismatch (PDM; difference >20% between initial DWI and MTT lesion volumes) have been proposed as surrogates for ischemic brains that are at risk of infarction. However, their utility to improve the selection of patients for thrombolytic treatment remains controversial. Our aim was to identify molecular biomarkers that can be used with neuroimaging to facilitate the selection of ischemic stroke patients for systemic thrombolysis. Methods: We prospectively studied 595 patients with ischemic stroke within 12 h of the stroke onset. A total of 184 patients received thrombolytic treatment according to the SITS-MOST criteria. DWI and MTT volumes were measured at admission. The main outcome variable was good functional outcome at 3 months (modified Rankin scale <3). Serum levels of glutamate (Glu), IL-10, TNF-α, IL-6, NSE, and active MMP-9 also were determined at admission. Results: Patients treated with t-PA who presented with PDM had higher IL-10 levels at admission (p < 0.0001). In contrast, patients with CDM had higher levels of IL-10 (p < 0.0001) as well as Glu and TNF-α (all p < 0.05) and lower levels of NSE and active MMP-9 (all p < 0.0001). IL-10 ≥ 30 pg/mL predicts good functional outcome at 3 months with a specificity of 88% and a sensitibity of 86%. IL-10 levels ≥30 pg/mL independently in both patients with PDM (OR, 18.9) and CDM (OR, 7.5), after an adjustment for covariates. Conclusions: Serum levels of IL-10 facilitate the selection of ischemic stroke patients with CDM and PDM for systemic thrombolysis

Perfil de entrada de los alumnos de Comunicación en las universidades de Madrid (2011)

Este Informe trata sobre la elección de estudios universitarios de los jóvenes españoles que desean cursar Comunicación. Según el Ministerio de Educación, la tasa de abandono de los estudios universitarios se sitúa entre el 30% y el 50%. Del total de estudiantes universitarios, sólo la mitad de estos, decide comenzar una titulación distinta. En el mes de julio de 2010 se llevó a cabo una investigación, realizada por cuatro profesores de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid y que forman parte del Grupo de Investigación MEDIACOM UCM, entre alumnos que querían cursar algunos de los Grados en Comunicación en las Universidades de Madrid, para determinar su perfil de entrada. Se trataba de dibujar un retrato robot de los futuros alumnos sobre los diferentes motivos que le impulsaban a realizar estos estudios. Pero también fue objeto de la investigación la relación de los futuros estudiantes de Comunicación con los media, cómo les influyen, y sus expectativas profesionales y universitarias. Hasta ahora, las pocas investigaciones realizadas en este sentido en España habían tenido como objeto – en su mayoría- los estudiantes que ya estaban cursando los Estudios de Comunicación. En esta ocasión, se trataba de investigar la situación de los alumnos preuniversitarios del área de Comunicación

Perfil de entrada de los futuros alumnos de comunicación en las universidades de Madrid, en 2010/2012: la reafirmación de los rasgos

During the celebration in Madrid of "Digital Society Congress: Spaces for interactivity and immersion", it was presented a preview of the results of two investigations carried out in 2010 and 2011, about students who wanted to study some of the communication degrees in one of universities of Madrid, to determine their access profile. The sample was obtained from all participants in an educational experience called Media Summer School, which was organized by FIDES Foundation in Madrid. The research was conducted by a group of investigators of IV Journalism Department of the Complutense University of Madrid. Its aim was to develop an access profile of the future students in those degrees and the different motivations which impelled to perform these studies. However, research has not lost sight of the aim of studying the relationships of the future students of communication with the media, how it influences them, consumer relationships and their professional and academic expectations. Until now, little research in this direction in Spain had been intended and, mainly, about who were already enrolled in Communication Studies. In this case, the uniqueness of these two works lies in the fact that the sample was selected from candidates’ students for Communication Degrees.Now, it presents the main findings of research conducted in 2011 and to what extent the profile has changed from one year to another.En el transcurso del “II Congreso Sociedad Digital: Espacios para la Interactividad y la inmersión”, celebrado en Madrid, se presentó un avance de  los resultados De las   investigaciones llevadas a cabo en 2010 y 2011, entre alumnos que querían cursar algunos de los Grados en Comunicación en las Universidades de Madrid, para determinar su perfil de entrada. La muestra fue extraída del conjunto de participantes en una experiencia educativa denominada Summer Media School que había sido organizada por la Fundación FIDES, en Madrid.  La investigación fue realizada por un grupo de investigadores del Departamento de Periodismo IV de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Su objetivo era elaborar  un perfil de entrada de los futuros alumnos de esos Grados y  los diferentes motivos que les impulsaban a realizar estos estudios. Sin embargo, la investigación no perdía de vista, como objetivo, la relación de los futuros estudiantes de Comunicación con los media, cómo les influyen, sus relaciones de consumo y sus expectativas profesionales y universitarias. Hasta ahora, las pocas investigaciones realizadas en este sentido en España habían tenido como objeto – en su mayoría- los estudiantes que ya estaban cursando los Estudios de Comunicación. En este caso, la singularidad de estos dos trabajos radica en el hecho de que la muestra la constituían alumnos candidatos a cursar los Grados de Comunicación.A continuación, se presentan las principales conclusiones de la  investigación realizada en 2011 y en qué medida el perfil de entrada de estos alumnos se ha modificado de un año a otro

proMetalloproteinase-10 is associated with brain damage and clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) mediate tissue injury during stroke but also neurovascular remodeling and we have shown that MMP-10 is involved in atherothrombosis. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between proMMP-10 and clinical outcome, assessing inflammatory and proteolytic markers, in patients with acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: We prospectively studied 76 patients with ischemic stroke treated with tPA within the first 3 h from symptom onset, compared with 202 non-tPA-treated ischemic stroke patients and 83 asymptomatic subjects. Stroke severity was assessed with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) and severe brain edema were diagnosed by cranial CT. Good functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin scale score </= 2 at 90 days. Serum levels of MMP-9, proMMP-10, TIMP-1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin-6 and cellular fibronectin were measured at admission. The effect of TNFalpha on endothelial proMMP-10 was assessed in vitro. RESULTS: Serum proMMP-10 concentration in ischemic stroke patients, non-treated or treated with t-PA, which was higher than age-matched healthy subjects (P < 0.0001), was independently associated with higher infarct volume, severe brain edema, neurological deterioration and poor functional outcome at 3 months (all P < 0.05), but not with HT. proMMP-10 levels were also independently and positively associated with circulating levels of TNFalpha (P < 0.0001), which induced its endothelial expression in vitro, both mRNA and protein. MMP-9, however, was only associated with HT and severe edema (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Increased serum proMMP-10 after acute ischemic stroke, associated with TNFalpha, is a new marker of brain damage and poor outcome