La gestión del turismo en los programas de innovación rural de Castilla-La Mancha

[ES] Los programas de innovación rural han supuesto un verdadero revulsivo para determinadas regiones europeas, por cuanto han representado una cuantiosa inversión que ha necesitado de una adecuada gestión para dirigir el destino de unos fondos estructurales. En este sentido, el presente trabajo analiza la inversión de estos programas de desarrollo en medidas de apoyo al sector del turismo rural, que han supuesto un importante incremento de la oferta a diversos niveles: aumento de alojamientos rurales, del número de plazas disponibles para turistas, rehabilitación del patrimonio, puesta en valor de elementos históricos y recuperación, en definitiva, del patrimonio histórico, cultural, arquitectónico y natural del mundo rural.

Factors behind the wage in the Basque Country

[EN]This project aims to determine the factors which influence workers’ wages in the Basque Country, taking data from the INE (Spanish Statistical Office). In first place, I will decide which variables to choose and describe them. Then they will be used to build a wage model. At this point I will observe their behaviour according to their values and the possible differences between them. Once these variables are described, they will be used to develop an econometric model that will allow to see the different effects of the variables on the endogenous variable, in this case the gross annual wage. Finally, all the analysed data will be taken and examined to draw the final conclusions and see how workers’ age, training or gender affect their salary. [EN]

Wage factors in the Basque Economy

[EN] This project aims to determine the factors which influence workers’ wages in the Basque Country, taking data from the INE (Spanish Statistical Office). In first place, I will decide which variables to choose and describe them. Then they will be used to build a wage model. At this point I will observe their behaviour according to their values and the possible differences between them. Once these variables are described, they will be used to develop an econometric model that will allow to see the different effects of the variables on the endogenous variable, in this case the gross annual wage. Finally, all the analysed data will be taken and examined to draw the final conclusions and see how workers’ age, training or gender affect their salary. [EN]

Global pressures, specific responses: effects of nutrient enrichment in streams from different biomes

13 p. + 2 p. (Erratum)

The Long Run Demand for Lighting: Elasticities and Rebound Effects in Different Phases of Economic Development

25 p.

Extended ageing time and temperature effects on quality of sub-primal cuts of boxed beef

[EN]Most of the information indicating ageing improves tenderness has been collected on the loin and rib-eye muscles over relatively short ageing times, assuming that all muscles will react similarly. In the present study, the effect of extended ageing times on instrumental texture (56 d) and sensory characteristics (42 d) of six different beef sub-primals [striploin (SL), inside round (IR), outside round (OR), eye of round (ER), blade eye (BE) and chuck tender (CT)] was studied. The effects of two ageing temperatures (1and 58C) were also compared. In general, ageing increased tenderness (P<0.05) of SL, BE, ER and CT sub-primals, although BE shear force increased after 42 d of ageing. On the other hand, ageing had no effect on IR tenderness (P<0.05) and resulted in a decrease in tenderness of OR (P<0.05) until day 35, with a later increase after 42 d of ageing. Increasing ageing temperature (58C) had limited effect on tenderness, but ageing time and temperature increases led to lower flavour and higher off-flavour intensity (P<0.05) of the studied sub-primals. These results suggest that cutspecific maximum ageing times and rigid adherence to temperature maximums would be of benefit to optimize postslaughter processes and meat quality

The Health Effects of Climate Change: A Survey of Recent Quantitative Research

44 p.

Dealing with the Effects of Sensor Displacement in Wearable Activity Recognition

Most wearable activity recognition systems assume a predefined sensor deployment that remains unchanged during runtime. However, this assumption does not reflect real-life conditions. During the normal use of such systems, users may place the sensors in a position different from the predefined sensor placement. Also, sensors may move from their original location to a different one, due to a loose attachment. Activity recognition systems trained on activity patterns characteristic of a given sensor deployment may likely fail due to sensor displacements. In this work, we innovatively explore the effects of sensor displacement induced by both the intentional misplacement of sensors and self-placement by the user. The effects of sensor displacement are analyzed for standard activity recognition techniques, as well as for an alternate robust sensor fusion method proposed in a previous work. While classical recognition models show little tolerance to sensor displacement, the proposed method is proven to have notable capabilities to assimilate the changes introduced in the sensor position due to self-placement and provides considerable improvements for large misplacements.

Differential Neuroprotective Effects of 5 '-Deoxy-5 '-Methylthioadenosine

Background: 5'-deoxy-5'-methylthioadenosine (MTA) is an endogenous compound produced through the metabolism of polyamines. The therapeutic potential of MTA has been assayed mainly in liver diseases and, more recently, in animal models of multiple sclerosis. The aim of this study was to determine the neuroprotective effect of this molecule in vitro and to assess whether MTA can cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) in order to also analyze its potential neuroprotective efficacy in vivo. Methods: Neuroprotection was assessed in vitro using models of excitotoxicity in primary neurons, mixed astrocyte-neuron and primary oligodendrocyte cultures. The capacity of MTA to cross the BBB was measured in an artificial membrane assay and using an in vitro cell model. Finally, in vivo tests were performed in models of hypoxic brain damage, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. Results: MTA displays a wide array of neuroprotective activities against different insults in vitro. While the data from the two complementary approaches adopted indicate that MTA is likely to cross the BBB, the in vivo data showed that MTA may provide therapeutic benefits in specific circumstances. Whereas MTA reduced the neuronal cell death in pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus and the size of the lesion in global but not focal ischemic brain damage, it was ineffective in preserving dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-pyridine (MPTP)-mice model. However, in this model of Parkinson's disease the combined administration of MTA and an A(2A) adenosine receptor antagonist did produce significant neuroprotection in this brain region. Conclusion: MTA may potentially offer therapeutic neuroprotection.

Dispersion of gamma-Alumina Nano-Sized Spherical Particles in a Calamitic Liquid Crystal. Study and Optimization of the Confinement Effects

We report an experimental study on confined systems formed by butyloxybenzylidene octylaniline liquid crystal (4O.8) + gamma-alumina nanoparticles. The effects of the confinement in the thermal and dielectric properties of the liquid crystal under different densities of nanoparticles is analyzed by means of high resolution Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (MDSC) and broadband dielectric spectroscopy. First, a drastic depression of the N-I and SmA-N transition temperatures is observed with confinement, the more concentration of nanoparticles the deeper this depression is, driving the nematic range closer to the room temperature. An interesting experimental law is found for both transition temperatures. Second, the change in shape of the heat capacity peaks is quantified by means of the full width half maximum (FWHM). Third, the confinement does not noticeably affect the molecular dynamics. Finally, the combination of nanoparticles and the external applied electric field tends to favor the alignment of the molecules in metallic cells. All these results indicate that the confinement of liquid crystals by means of gamma-alumina nanoparticles could be optimum for liquid crystal-based electrooptic devices.