Sphenoid bone is more asymmetrical than palatine bone among small ruminants

A sample comprised by 53 dry modern skulls of adult small ruminants (sheep n = 36 and goat n = 17) from a comparative collection, absent of bony pathologies, was studied on their basal craniofacial aspect. A total of 26 points (2 sagittal landmarks and 24 semilandmarks) and 32 points (4 landmarks and 28 semilandmarks) were chosen on the sphenoid bone and palatine bone respectively and analysed by means of geometric morphometric techniques. The interaction of individuals and sides (fluctuating asymmetry) showed a highly significant difference for both bones, as well as side effect (directional asymmetry), being levels of detected fluctuating asymmetry higher in sphenoid (25.4%) than in palate (12.8%). Asymmetric component differentiated sheep and goats. Detected basicranial asymmetry can be viewed as a common finding among small ruminants

La Crisi de 1866 i després: antecedents i conseqüències

L'article tracta del procés que va desencadenar una de les crisis financeres més profunda que ha patit Catalunya: la del 1866. En la primera part s'exposa la conjuntura econòmica del període 1835-1862. I a continuació s'explica, successivament, la necessitat d'efectuar una gran inversió en la construcció de la xarxa ferroviària per afavorir la consolidació i l'expansió del procés d'industrialització català; el gran abast de la «mania» ferroviària del decenni 1856-1865 i els desequilibris financers experimentats per les companyies ferroviàries; i les causes que van determinar les suspensions de pagaments de les empreses ferroviàries i els altres factors explicatius que van determinar el crac borsari de 1866 i l'ensulsiada de gran part de la banca barcelonesa. Per acabar, tracta els efectes i la sortida de la crisi, que va culminar, uns anys després, amb una altra bombolla especulativa (la «febre d'or»), seguida d'un altre crac i d'una altra depressió econòmica.This article deals with the process that gave rise to one of the most extensive financial crises ever suffered by Catalonia: the 1866 crisis. Th e first part sets out the economic situation of the period 1835-1862. It then explains, successively, the need to invest heavily in building a railway network to boost the consolidation and expansion of Catalan industry; the huge spread of the 1856-65 railway «madness» and financial imbalances experienced by railway companies; the reasons why the railway companies went bankrupt and other factors that lay behind the stock market crash of 1866 and the downfall of a large proportion of Barcelonas banks. To end, this article looks at the effects and the exit of the crisis which, some years later, culminated in another speculative bubble (the «febre dor» or gold fever), followed by another crash and another economic depression