Front Polisario. A Step Forward in Judicial Review of International Agreements by the Court of Justice?

In Front Polisario (judgment of 21 December 2016, case C-104/16 P, Council of the European Union v. Front Polisario [GC]), the Court of Justice was called to assess the validity of a decision that had concluded an agreement providing for reciprocal liberalisation measures on agriculture and fishery products between the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco. The agreement had been implemented by the parties as covering also products originating from Western Sahara, a non-self-governing territory militarily occupied by Morocco. In its previous case law, the Court of Justice had mainly limited to procedural aspects the judicial review of acts related to the EU’s foreign relations. In Front Polisario it took a different view, and assessed the validity of the decision also on the merits. This Insight examines the technique used by the Court of Justice, and tries to identify which reasons led it to depart from its traditional standard of judicial review

Evaluation and improvement of the motivational profile of compulsory secondary education students.

Treball Final de Grau en Psicologia. Codi: PS1048. Curs: 2018/2019.The present study is based on the Educational Situation Quality Model (MOCSE) proposed by Doménech (2017). For more information about the characteristics of this model, you can access the following web address (https://sites.google.com/a/uji.es/plataforma-web-para-la-mejora-de-lamotivacion-escolar-y-el-aprendizaje-en-educacion-secundaria/) where the article cited will be found. The study has two objectives, first, to analyze the relationship between the intention to learn (success expectancies) and the involvement of students in their learning process. Secondly, to examine the relationship between the intention to learn (overall value of subject-matter) and the involvement of students in their learning process. Specifically, we want to test two hypotheses. The first (H1) predicts a positive and significant relationship between success expectancies and active coping strategies (focused on the problem); and vice versa, a negative and significant relationship between success expectancies and passive coping strategies (focused on avoidance), while the second (H2) predicts a positive and significant relationship between the overall value of subject-matter and active coping strategies (centered in the problem); and vice versa, a negative and significant relationship between the overall value of subject-matter and passive coping strategies (focused on avoidance). The sample consists of 74 students from the Caminás, Bajo Aragón, Juan Bautista Porcar and Alfonso XIII High Schools. The data on the variables that were used in this study, has been obtained through the application of a questionnaire based on the Quality of Education Situation Model (MOCSE) proposed by Doménech (2017). In order to analyze the hypotheses proposed, bivariate Pearson correlations have been carried out. After obtaining the results and their subsequent statistical treatment, we can affirm that there is a relationship between the success expectancies and active coping and also, between the overall value of subject-matter and active coping strategies, which allows to determine determining -> that the motivational profile of the students present in our sample is favorable. Finally, we present a proposal for improvement and guidance for teachers with the aim of preventing any deficiency in the motivational climate of the classroom.El presente estudio se basa en el Modelo de Calidad Situación Educativa (MOCSE) propuesto por Doménech (2017). Para conocer las características de este modelo, se puede consultar la siguiente dirección web (https://sites.google.com/a/uji.es/plataforma-web-para-la-mejora-de-la-motivacionescolar-y-el-aprendizaje-en-educacion-secundaria/) donde se encontrara el artículo citado. El estudio tiene dos objetivos, por una parte examinar la relación entre la intención de aprender (expectativas de éxito) y la implicación de los alumnos en su aprendizaje y por otra parte, examinar la relación entre la intención de aprender (Valor de la materia) y la implicación de los alumnos en su aprendizaje. Concretamente queremos probar dos hipótesis. La primera (H1) pronostica una relación positiva y significativa entre las expectativas de éxito y las estrategias de afrontamiento activo (centradas en el problema); y viceversa, una relación negativa y significativa entre las expectativas de éxito y las estrategias de afrontamiento pasivo (centradas en la evitación), mientras que la segunda (H2) pronostica una relación positiva y significativa entre el valor de la materia y las estrategias de afrontamiento activo (centradas en el problema); y viceversa, una relación negativa y significativa entre el valor de la materia y las estrategias de afrontamiento pasivo (centradas en la evitación). La muestra está formada por 74 alumnos de los centros IES El Caminàs, IES Bajo Aragón, IES Juan Bautista Porcar y IES Alfons XIII. La información de las variables utilizadas se ha conseguido a través de la aplicación de un cuestionario basado en el Modelo de Calidad Situación Educativa (MOCSE) propuesto por Doménech (2017). Para examinar las hipótesis planteadas se han llevado a cabo correlaciones bivariadas de Pearson. Tras la obtención de los resultados y su posterior tratamiento estadísticos, podemos afirmar que existe una relación entre las expectativas de éxito y afrontamiento activo y, también, entre el valor de la materia y las estrategias de afrontamiento activo, lo que permite determinar que el perfil motivacional del alumnado de nuestra muestra es favorable. Finalmente, presentamos una propuesta de mejora y orientaciones para los profesores con el objetivo de prevenir cualquier deficiencia en el clima motivacional del aula

Biomass-derived carbon materials for energy storage applications

Energy storage systems are an essential link in the implementation of renewable energies and in the development of electric vehicles, which are needed to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases. Various technologies have been proposed for energy storage based on different working principles, including lithium-ion batteries, emerging sodium-ion batteries and electric-double layer capacitors. Besides the quest for improving key aspects such as energy and power densities, current research efforts are devoted to foster the manufacturing of more environmentally friendly devices using sustainable materials. Carbon-based electrodes hold considerable promise in such terms due to their low cost, tailorable morphology and microstructure, and the possibility of processing them by direct carbonization of eco-friendly and naturally-available biomass resources. The main goal of this thesis is to develop carbon materials from biomass resources and study their applications as electrode for lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries and electric-double layer capacitors. En route towards that goal, it also aims at expanding our understanding of the microstructural changes of biomass-derived carbons with varying processing conditions and their effect on the electrochemical performance for each of these technologies. The first part of this work reports on the synthesis of graphitized carbon materials from biomass resources by means of an Fe catalyst, and the study of their electrochemical performance as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Peak carbonization temperatures between 850 °C and 2000 ºC were covered to study the effect of crystallinity, surface and microstructural parameters on the anodic behavior, focusing on the first-cycle Coulombic efficiency, reversible specific capacity and rate performance. Reversible capacities of Fe-catalyzed biomass-derived carbons were compared to non-catalyzed hard carbon and soft carbons materials heated up to 2800 ºC. Moreover, in-situ characterization experiments were carried out to advance our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for catalytic graphitization. The second part of this work reports a comprehensive study on the structural evolution of hard carbons from biomass resources as a function of carbonization temperature (800 - 2000 ºC), and its correlation with electrochemical properties as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Synchrotron X-ray total scattering experiments were performed and the associated atomic pair distribution function (PDF) extracted from the data to access quantitative information on local atomic arrangement in these amorphous materials at the nanoscale, as well as its evolution with increasing processing temperature. Then, electrochemical properties and the storage mechanisms involved on Na ions insertion into hard carbon structures at each characteristic potential regions were elucidated and correlated with microstructural properties. Finally, the third part of this work reports on the synthesis of nanostructured porous graphene-like materials from biomass resources using an explosion-assisted activation strategy by nitrate compounds and Ni as a graphitization catalyst. The thermal behavior during carbonization as well as the resulting microstructural and surface properties were evaluated at two different processing temperatures, 300 and 1000 ºC. Finally, their application as electrode materials for electric-double layer capacitors (EDLCs) and LIBs is investigated, with a view to their performance under high charge/discharge specific current densities experiments.Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado U

Ground-state properties of bosons in three- and two-dimensional traps

We study trapped systems of bosons at zero temperature in three and two dimensions. Conditions are fulfilled for the application of Gross-Pitaevskii theory with a positive scattering length. Series expansions for ground-state properties are obtained in both the noninteracting and the strong-coupling (Thomas-Fermi) limits. From these expansions, analytic estimates are presented in the form of two-point Pad\'e approximants. We explicitly show the approximants for the total energy per particle and the chemical potential.Comment: LaTeX, 4 pages, 3 ps figure

On the Link between Human Capital and Firm Performance. A Theoretical and Empirical Survey

The present paper provides a review of the literature focusing the relationship between human capital and performance essentially at firm level. The exposition is approached in three different but interrelated perspectives: economic, technological and survival. The exercise of reviewing existing literature permitted to uncover four major neglected issues: 1) the analysis of human capital – skills relationship; 2) the determinants of demands for human capital and how those demands change; interrelated with the second, 3) the influence of social and institutional context on the accumulation of human capital; and 4) the link between human capital and firms capacity of survival at both theoretical and empirical grounds.Human Capital, Skills, Economic Performance, Technological Performance, Survival

Non-Price Competition and Exchange Rate Pass-Through

A substantial body of empirical works document that exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices is incomplete. This evidence has cast doubts on the ability of flexible exchange rates to generate expenditure switching. In a dynamic stochastic discrete-time duopoly game, non-price competition among .rms endogenously originates a degree of exchange ratepass-through close to zero together with an expenditure switching e¤ect stronger than in the standard models.pass-through, non-price competition, expenditure switching