Abstract: In recent years, the intellectual capital reporting in higher education institutions has been acquiring progressive importance worldwide. Intellectual capital approaches becomes critical at universities, mainly due to the fact that knowledge is the main output as well as input in these institutions. Universities produce knowledge, either through scientific and technical research (the results of investigation, publications, etc.) or through teaching (students trained and productive relationships with their stakeholders). The purpose of the present paper is to identify the intangible elements about which university stakeholders demand most information. The results of a study done at Spanish universities are used to see which groups of universities have stakeholders who are more proactive to the disclosure of intellectual capital.
Abstract: Economic development and globalization of international markets have created a favourable atmosphere for the emergence of new forms of crime such as money laundering or financing of terrorism, which may contribute to destabilized and damage economic systems. In particular, money laundering have acquired great importance since the 11S attacks, what has caused on the one hand, the establishment and development of preventive measures and, on the other hand, a progressive hardening of penal measures. Since then, the regulations imposed to fight against money laundering have been viewed as key components also in the fight against terrorist financing. Terrorism, at the beginning, was a “national” crime connected with internal problems of the State (for instance the RAF in Germany or ETA in Spain) but in the last 20 years has started to be an international problem that is connected with the defence and security of the States. Therefore, the new strategic concept for the defense and security of NATO has a comprehensive list of security threats to the Alliance, such as terrorism, international instability, money laundering or attacks on cyberspace, among others. With this new concept, money laundering and terrorism has become a priority in the national defense.
In this work we will analyze the methods to combat these new threats to the national security. We will study the preventive legislations to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism, the UIF that exchange information between States, and the hawala-Banking.
Abstract: The goal of the present paper is to model two classic lines of research in which employees starred, organizational justice and citizenship behavior (OCB), but that have never been studied together when targeting customers. The suggestion is made that a hotel’s fair treatment (in terms of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) toward customers will be appreciated by the employees, who will reciprocate in kind by favoring the hotel with increased customer-oriented behaviors (COBs). Data were collected from 204 employees at eight upscale hotels in the Canary Islands (Spain). Unlike in the case of perceptions of distributive justice, results of structural equation modeling demonstrate that employees substantively react to interactional and procedural justice toward guests by engaging in customer-oriented behaviors (COBs). The findings offer new reasons why employees decide to engage in COBs, and they highlight potentially beneficial effects of fair treatment toward guests bring to hospitality through promoting COBs.
Abstract: —‘MEDICINE’ is a new project funded under the EC Horizon 2020 Marie-Sklodowska Curie Actions, to determine concepts of health and healing from a culturally specific indigenous context, using a framework of interdisciplinary methods which integrates archaeological-historical, ethnographic and modern health sciences approaches. The study will generate new theoretical and methodological approaches to model how peoples survive and adapt their traditional belief systems in a context of alien cultural impacts. In the immediate wake of the conquest of Peru by invading Spanish armies and ideology, native Andeans responded by forming the Taki Onkoy millenarian movement, which rejected European philosophical and ontological teachings, claiming “you make us sick”. The study explores how people’s experience of their world and their health beliefs within it, is fundamentally shaped by their inherent beliefs about the nature of being and identity in relation to the wider cosmos. Cultural and health belief systems and related rituals or behaviors sustain a people’s sense of identity, wellbeing and integrity. In the event of dislocation and persecution these may change into devolved forms, which eventually inter-relate with ‘modern’ biomedical systems of health in as yet unidentified ways. The development of new conceptual frameworks that model this process will greatly expand our understanding of how people survive and adapt in response to cultural trauma. It will also demonstrate the continuing role, relevance and use of TM in present-day indigenous communities. Studies will first be made of relevant pre-Colombian material culture, and then of early colonial period ethnohistorical texts which document the health beliefs and ritual practices still employed by indigenous Andean societies at the advent of the 17th century Jesuit campaigns of persecution - ‘Extirpación de las Idolatrías’. Core beliefs drawn from these baseline studies will then be used to construct a questionnaire about current health beliefs and practices to be taken into the study population of indigenous Quechua peoples in the northern Andean region of Ecuador. Their current systems of knowledge and medicine have evolved within complex historical contexts of both the conquest by invading Inca armies in the late 15th century, followed a generation later by Spain, into new forms. A new model will be developed of contemporary Andean concepts of health, illness and healing demonstrating the way these have changed through time. With this, a ‘policy tool’ will be constructed as a bridhging facility into contemporary global scenarios relevant to other Indigenous, First Nations, and migrant peoples to provide a means through which their traditional health beliefs and current needs may be more appropriately understood and met. This paper presents findings from the first analytical phases of the work based upon the study of the literature and the archaeological records. The study offers a novel perspective and methods in the development policies sensitive to indigenous and minority people’s health needs.
Abstract: In this work we study the thermodynamic behavior of some ventilated facades under summer operating conditions in Southern Spain. Under these climatic conditions, indoor comfort implies a high energetic demand due to high temperatures that usually are reached in this season in the considered geographical area.
The aim of this work is to determine if during summer operating conditions in Southern Spain, ventilated façades provide some energy saving compared to the non-ventilated façades and to deduce their behavior patterns in terms of energy efficiency.
The modelization of the air flow in the channel has been performed by using Navier-Stokes equations for thermodynamic flows. Numerical simulations have been carried out with a 2D Finite Element approach.
This way, we analyze the behavior of ventilated façades under different weather conditions as variable wind, variable temperature and different levels of solar irradiation.
CFD computations show the combined effect of the shading of the external wall and the ventilation by the natural convection into the air gap achieve a reduction of the heat load during the summer period. This reduction has been evaluated by comparing the thermodynamic performances of two ventilated and two unventilated façades with the same geometry and thermophysical characteristics.
Abstract: This paper present lease agreement regulations in
selected European countries. The lease agreement has a long history
and now is one of the main ways to manage agricultural lands in
Europe. The analysis of individual regulations, which has been done,
indicates that this agreement is very important to build social
relations in agriculture and society. This article provides an analysis
of the legal regulations concerning the lease in France, Spain,
Switzerland, Ukraine and Italy. Article is example of study of the
legal regulations and can be used for legal changes in individual
countries.
Abstract: Based on different experiences in the historic centers
of Spain, we propose an global strategy for the regeneration of the
pre-tertiary fabrics and its application to the specific case of San
Mateo neighborhood, in Jerez de la Frontera (Andalusia), through a
diagnosis that focus particularly on the punishments the last-decade
economic situation (building boom and crisis) and shows the tragic
transition from economic center to an imminent disappearance with
an image similar to the ruins of war, due to the loss of their
traditional roles. From it we will learn their historically-tested
mechanisms of environment adaptation, which distill the vernacular
architecture essence and that we will apply to our strategy of action
based on a dotacional-and-free-space rhizome which rediscovers its
hidden character. The architectural fact will be crystallized in one of
the example-pieces proposed: The Artistic Revitalization Center.
Abstract: Directive 2009/28/CE establishes, as obligatory objective, a share of renewable energies on energetic consumption of 20%, in European Union, in 2020 However, such European normative gives freedom to member states in the selection of the renewable promotion mechanism that allows them to obtain that objective. In this paper, we analyze the main characteristics of the promotion mechanisms of renewable energy used in the countries that shape the Electricity Iberian Market (Spain and Portugal) and the results in employment. The importance of these countries is given by the great increasing of the renewable energies which suppose a share higher than 30% of the overall generation in 2010. Therefore, this research paper can serve as the basis for the learning of other countries with regard to the main advantages that entail the use of a feed-in tariff system.
Abstract: Embedding Sustainability in technological curricula has become a crucial factor for educating engineers with competences in sustainability. The Technical University of Catalonia UPC, in 2008, designed the Sustainable Technology Excellence Program STEP 2015 in order to assure a successful Sustainability Embedding. This Program takes advantage of the opportunity that the redesign of all Bachelor and Master Degrees in Spain by 2010 under the European Higher Education Area framework offered. The STEP program goals are: to design compulsory courses in each degree; to develop the conceptual base and identify reference models in sustainability for all specialties at UPC; to create an internal interdisciplinary network of faculty from all the schools; to initiate new transdisciplinary research activities in technology-sustainability-education; to spread the know/how attained; to achieve international scientific excellence in technology-sustainability-education and to graduate the first engineers/architects of the new EHEA bachelors with sustainability as a generic competence. Specifically, in this paper authors explain their experience in leading the STEP program, and two examples are presented: Industrial Robotics subject and the curriculum for the School of Architecture.
Abstract: To make use of the limited amounts of water in arid
region, the Iranians developed man-made underground water
channels called qanats (kanats) .In fact, qanats may be considered as
the first long-distance water transfer system. Qanats are an ancient
water transfer system found in arid regions wherein groundwater
from mountainous areas, aquifers and sometimes from rivers, was
brought to points of re-emergence such as an oasis, through one or
more underground tunnels. The tunnels, many of which were
kilometers in length, had designed for slopes to provide gravitational
flow. The tunnels allowed water to drain out to the surface by gravity
to supply water to lower and flatter agricultural land.
Qanats have been an ancient, sustainable system facilitating the
harvesting of water for centuries in Iran, and more than 35 additional
countries of the world such as India, Arabia, Egypt, North Africa,
Spain and even to New world.
There are about 22000 qanats in Iran with 274000 kilometers of
underground conduits all built by manual labor. The amount of
water of the usable qanats of Iran produce is altogether 750 to
1000 cubic meter per second. The longest chain of qanat is
situated in Gonabad region in Khorasan province. It is 70
kilometers long. Qanats are renewable water supply systems that
have sustained agricultural settlement on the Iranian plateau for
millennia. The great advantages of Qanats are no evaporation
during transit, little seepage , no raising of the water- table and no
pollution in the area surrounding the conduits. Qanat systems
have a profound influence on the lives of the water users in Iran, and
conform to Iran-s climate. Qanat allows those living in a desert
environment adjacent to a mountain watershed to create a large oasis
in an otherwise stark environment.
This paper explains qanats structure designs, their history,
objectives causing their creation, construction materials, locations
and their importance in different times, as well as their present
sustainable role in Iran.
Abstract: The environmental impacts caused by the current production and consumption models, together with the impact that the current economic crisis, bring necessary changes in the European industry toward new business models based on sustainability issues that could allow them to innovate and improve their competitiveness. This paper analyzes the key environmental issues and the current and future market trends in one of the most important industrial sectors in Spain, the furniture sector. It also proposes new decision support tools -diagnostic kit, roadmap and guidelines- to guide companies to implement sustainability criteria into their organizations, including eco-design strategies and other economical and social strategies in accordance with the sustainability definition, and other available tools such as eco-labels, environmental management systems, etc., and to use and combine them to obtain the results the company expects to help improve its competitiveness.
Abstract: We study the dynamic response of a wind turbine
structure subjected to theoretical seismic motions, taking into account
the rotational component of ground shaking. Models are generated
for a shallow moderate crustal earthquake in the Madrid Region
(Spain). Synthetic translational and rotational time histories are
computed using the Discrete Wavenumber Method, assuming a point
source and a horizontal layered earth structure. These are used to
analyze the dynamic response of a wind turbine, represented by a
simple finite element model. Von Mises stress values at different
heights of the tower are used to study the dynamical structural
response to a set of synthetic ground motion time histories
Abstract: Light rail systems have proliferated in Spain in the last decade, following a tendency that is common not only in other European countries but also in other parts of the world. This paper reviews the benefits of light rail systems, both related to environmental issues and mobility issues. It analyses the evolution of light rail projects in Spain and shows that light rail systems in this country have evolved towards an extensive use of public-private partnerships. The analysis of the Spanish projects, however, does not contribute any conclusive evidence about whether public-private partnerships have been more efficient than publicly owned enterprises in building and operating light rail systems.
Abstract: The search for competitive advantages as one of the
main activities of a company has become a principle of contemporary
theories on Strategic Management. Innovation facilitates a company's
adaptation to the global competitive environment, representing the
important strategic role that it has to play in relation to managerial
performance and, as such, underlines the growing importance of
innovation and the use of a company's technological assets. This
paper therefore studies the effect in the results of four dimensions of
technological innovation strategy on a sample of Spanish wineries,
situated in the Castilla La-Mancha region of Spain, all of which are
registered under the La Mancha Designation of Origin (DO).
Abstract: Abdominal aortic aneurysms rupture (AAAs) is one of the main causes of death in the world. This is a very complex phenomenon that usually occurs “without previous warning". Currently, criteria to assess the aneurysm rupture risk (peak diameter and growth rate) can not be considered as reliable indicators. In a first approach, the main geometric parameters of aneurysms have been linked into five biomechanical factors. These are combined to obtain a dimensionless rupture risk index, RI(t), which has been validated preliminarily with a clinical case and others from literature. This quantitative indicator is easy to understand, it allows estimating the aneurysms rupture risks and it is expected to be able to identify the one in aneurysm whose peak diameter is less than the threshold value. Based on initial results, a broader study has begun with twelve patients from the Clinic Hospital of Valladolid-Spain, which are submitted to periodic follow-up examinations.
Abstract: This paper explores the extent of the gap in poverty rates between immigrant and native households in Spanish regions and assess to what extent regional differences in individual and contextual characteristics can explain the divergences in such a gap. By using multilevel techniques and European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions, we estimate immigrant households experiments an increase of 76 per cent in the odds of being poor compared with a native one when we control by individual variables. In relation to regional differences in the risk of poverty, regionallevel variables have higher effect in the reduction of these differences than individual variables.
Abstract: Ground-level tropospheric ozone is one of the air
pollutants of most concern. It is mainly produced by photochemical
processes involving nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds
in the lower parts of the atmosphere. Ozone levels become
particularly high in regions close to high ozone precursor emissions
and during summer, when stagnant meteorological conditions with
high insolation and high temperatures are common.
In this work, some results of a study about urban ozone
distribution patterns in the city of Badajoz, which is the largest and
most industrialized city in Extremadura region (southwest Spain) are
shown. Fourteen sampling campaigns, at least one per month, were
carried out to measure ambient air ozone concentrations, during
periods that were selected according to favourable conditions to
ozone production, using an automatic portable analyzer.
Later, to evaluate the ozone distribution at the city, the measured
ozone data were analyzed using geostatistical techniques. Thus, first,
during the exploratory analysis of data, it was revealed that they were
distributed normally, which is a desirable property for the subsequent
stages of the geostatistical study. Secondly, during the structural
analysis of data, theoretical spherical models provided the best fit for
all monthly experimental variograms. The parameters of these
variograms (sill, range and nugget) revealed that the maximum
distance of spatial dependence is between 302-790 m and the
variable, air ozone concentration, is not evenly distributed in reduced
distances. Finally, predictive ozone maps were derived for all points
of the experimental study area, by use of geostatistical algorithms
(kriging). High prediction accuracy was obtained in all cases as
cross-validation showed. Useful information for hazard assessment
was also provided when probability maps, based on kriging
interpolation and kriging standard deviation, were produced.
Abstract: The literature has argued that firms based in industrial districts enjoy advantages for creating internal knowledge and absorbing external knowledge as a consequence of to the knowledge flows and spillovers that exist in the district. However, empirical evidence to show how belonging to an industrial district affects the business processes of creation and absorption of knowledge is scarce and, moreover, empirical research has not taken into account the influence of variations in the flows of knowledge circulating in each cluster. This study aims to extend empirical evidence on the effect that the stock of shared competencies in industrial districts has on the business processes of creation and absorption of knowledge, through data from an initial study on 952 firms and 35 industrial districts in Spain.
Abstract: The lifelong learning is a crucial element in the
modernization of European education and training systems. The most
important actors in the development process of the lifelong learning
are the trainers, whose professional characteristics need new
competences and skills in the current labour market. The main
objective of this paper is to establish an importance ranking of the
new competences, capabilities and skills that the lifelong learning
Spanish trainers must possess nowadays. A wide study of secondary
sources has allowed the design of a questionnaire that organizes the
trainer-s skills and competences. The e-Delphi method is used for
realizing a creative, individual and anonymous evaluation by experts
on the importance ranking that presents the criteria, sub-criteria and
indicators of the e-Delphi questionnaire. Twenty Spanish experts in
the lifelong learning have participated in two rounds of the e-
DELPHI method. In the first round, the analysis of the experts-
evaluation has allowed to establish the ranking of the most
importance criteria, sub-criteria and indicators and to eliminate the
least valued. The minimum level necessary to reach the consensus
among experts has been achieved in the second round.
Abstract: Smoke from domestic wood burning has been
identified as a major contributor to air pollution, motivating detailed
emission measurements under controlled conditions. A series of
experiments was performed to characterise the emissions from wood
combustion in a fireplace and in a woodstove of two common species
of trees grown in Spain: Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) and
black poplar (Populus nigra). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in
the exhaust emissions were collected in Tedlar bags, re-sampled in
sorbent tubes and analysed by thermal desorption-gas
chromatography-flame ionisation detection. Pyrenean oak presented
substantially higher emissions in the woodstove than in the fireplace,
for the majority of compounds. The opposite was observed for
poplar. Among the 45 identified species, benzene and benzenerelated
compounds represent the most abundant group, followed by
oxygenated VOCs and aliphatics. Emission factors obtained in this
study are generally of the same order than those reported for
residential experiments in the USA.