Assessing the environmental impact of water consumption by energy crops grown in Spain

The environmental impact of the water consumption of four typical crop rotations grown in Spain, including energy crops, was analyzed and compared against Spanish agricultural and natural reference situations. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used for the assessment of the potential environmental impact of blue water (withdrawal from water bodies) and green water (uptake of soil moisture) consumption. The latter has so far been disregarded in LCA. To account for green water, two approaches have been applied: the first accounts for the difference in green water demand of the crops and a reference situation. The second is a green water scarcity index, which measures the fraction of the soil-water plant consumption to the available green water. Our results show that, if the aim is to minimize the environmental impacts of water consumption, the energy crop rotations assessed in this study were most suitable in basins in the northeast of Spain. In contrast, the energy crops grown in basins in the southeast of Spain were associated with the greatest environmental impacts. Further research into the integration of quantitative green water assessment in LCA is crucial in studies of systems with a high dependence on green water resources.

Poverty and living arrangements among youth in Spain, 1980-2005

One of the most relevant demographic events in Spain from a recent historical perspective was the baby boom of the 1960s and 1970s. The “adapting to circumstances” of these generations of youth and their families through delayed emancipation and childbearing has been key in preventing a decline in their economic status. The results show that the reduction of the poverty risk among non-emancipated youth for the period 1980-2005 is explained by the fact that an increasing number of young Spaniards live with two employed parents. Thus, emancipation delay is found most in those families that can best afford it. Furthermore, the salaries of young workers remaining in the parental home have become an important factor in reducing their family poverty risk. On the other hand, fertility decline is readily explained by the economic difficulties young couples encounter in sustaining their offspring

Reconsidering the "policy gap":policy implementation and outcomes in Spain

By analysing entry policies and regularisation procedures in Spain from the 1990s to 2007, this article examines how the mismatch between very restrictive immigration policies and increasing foreign labour demands translated into a model of illegal migration, which in turn gave rise to the need to carry out periodical regularisation drives. This double 'policy gap' between legality and reality, and between entry policies and regularisation procedures, is explained as a policy in itself and as a way to solve in practice the apparently unsolvable dilemma between the demands for closure and the insatiable demands for foreign workers.

Economic and legal analysis of mandatory non-recourse mortgages with applications to Spain

“The liquidity crisis of the Spanish banks is largely due to the lack of confidence of foreign investors and, therefore, the changes that occur in the legislation should not affect the credibility, stability, legal certainty, predictability that markets expect”.Sergio Nasarre (2011)In the current situation of economic crisis, many people have found they can no longer pay back the mortgage loans that were granted to them in order to purchase a dwelling. It is for this reason that, in light of the economic, political and social problems this poses, our paper studies the state of the Spanish real-estate system and of foreclosure, paying special attention to the solution that has been proposed recently as the best option for debtors that cannot make their mort-gage payments: non-recourse mortgaging. We analyze this proposal from legal and economic perspectives in order to fully understand the effects that this change could imply. At the same time, this paper will also examine several alternatives we believe would ameliorate the situation of mortgage-holders, among them legal reforms, mortgage insurance, and non-recourse mortgaging itself.

Who Cares? A comparison of informal and formal care provision in Spain, England and the USA

This paper investigates the prevalence of incapacity in performing daily activities and the associations between household composition and availability of family members and receipt of care among older adults with functioning problems in Spain, England and the United States of America (USA). We examine how living arrangements, marital status, child availability, limitations in functioning ability, age and gender affect the probability of receiving formal care and informal care from household members and from others in three countries with different family structures, living arrangements and policies supporting care of the incapacitated. Data sources include the 2006 Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe for Spain, the third wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2006), and the eighth wave of the USA Health and Retirement Study (2006). Logistic and multinomial logistic regressions are used to estimate the probability of receiving care and the sources of care among persons age 50 and older. The percentage of people with functional limitations receiving care is higher in Spain. More care comes from outside the household in the USA and England than in Spain. The use of formal care among the incapacitated is lowest in the USA and highest in Spain.

Archaeological and archaeomagnetic dating at a site from the ager Tarraconensis (Tarragona, Spain): El Vila-sec Roman pottery

A very accurate archaeological dating of a Roman site in NE Spain (El Vila-sec) was made based on the typology of pottery artifacts. Three different phases were identifi ed with activity ranging from the mid- 1st century BC to the early-3rd century AD. Analyses of bricks from kilns at El Vila-sec produced data on their stored archaeomagnetic vector. These data were compared with the secular variation curve for the Iberian Peninsula and the SCHA.DIF.3K regional archaeomagnetic model. Both, the reference curve and the model, produced probability distributions for the final period of use for two kilns from the second archaeological phase that were not used during the third phase. At a 95% con fidence level, both time distributions cover a wide chronological range including the presumed archaeological age. Both the Iberian secular variation curve and the SCHA.DIF.3K regional model proved to be suitable models for dating the site, although on their own they do not produce a single unambiguous solution. This archaeomagnetic approach could also be applied to neighbouring archaeological sites that have an imprecise archaeological age.

Are we living longer but less healthy? Trends in mortality and morbidity in Catalonia (Spain), 1994-2011

Evidence on trends in prevalence of disease and disability can clarify whether countries are experiencing a compression or expansion of morbidity. An expansion of morbidity as indicated by disease have appeared in Europe and other developed regions. It is likely that better treatment, preventive measures and increases in education levels have contributed to the declines in mortality and increments in life expectancy. This paper examines whether there has been an expansion of morbidity in Catalonia (Spain). It uses trends in mortality and morbidity from major causes of death and links of these with survival to provide estimates of life expectancy with and without diseases and functioning loss. We use a repeated cross-sectional health survey carried out in 1994 and 2011 for measures of morbidity; mortality information comes from the Spanish National Statistics Institute. Our findings show that at age 65 the percentage of life with disease increased from 52% to 70% for men, and from 56% to 72% for women; the expectation of life unable to function increased from 24% to 30% for men and 40% to 47% for women between 1994 and 2011. These changes were attributable to increases in the prevalences of diseases and moderate functional limitation. Overall, we find an expansion of morbidity along the period. Increasing survival among people with diseases can lead to a higher prevalence of diseases in the older population. Higher prevalence of health problems can lead to greater pressure on the health care system and a growing burden of disease for individuals.

Disentangling the link between health and social capital: A comparison of immigrant and native-born populations in Spain

An increasing body of research has pointed to the relevance of social capital in studying a great variety of socio-economic phenomena, ranging from economics growth and development to educational attainment and public health. Conceptually, our paper is framed within the debates about the possible links between health and social capital, on one hand, and within the hypotheses regarding the importance of social and community networks in all stages of the dynamics of international migration, on the other hand. Our primary objective is to explore the ways social relations contribute to health differences between the immigrants and the native-born population of Spain. We also try to reveal differences in the nature of the social networks of foreign-born, as compared to that of the native-born persons. The empirical analysis is based on an individual-level data coming from the 2006 Spanish Health Survey, which contains a representative sample of the immigrant population. To assess the relationship between various health indicators (self-assessed health, chronic conditions and long-term illness) and social capital, controlling for other covariates, we estimate multilevel models separately for the two population groups of interest. In the estimates we distinguish between individual and community-level social capital. While the Health Survey contains information that allows us to define individual social capital measures, the collective indicators come from other official sources. In particular, for the subsample of immigrants, we proxy community-level networks and relationships by variables contained in the Spanish National Survey of Immigrants 2007. The results obtained so far point to the relevance of social capital as a covariate in the health equation, although, the significance varies according to the specific health indicator used. Additionally, and contrary to what is expected, immigrants’ social networks seem to be inferior to those of the native-born population in many aspects; and they also affect immigrant’s health to a lesser extent. Policy implications of the findings are discussed. Keywords: health status, social capital, immigration, Spain

The burden of hospital malnutrition in Spain: methods and development of the PREDyCES® study

It is well known that hospital malnutrition is a highly prevalent condition associated to increase morbidity and mortality as well as related healthcare costs. Although previous studies have already measured the prevalence and/or costs of hospital nutrition in our country, their local focus (at regional or even hospital level) make that the true prevalence and economic impact of hospital malnutrition for the National Health System remain unknown in Spain. The PREDyCES® (Prevalence of hospital malnutrition and associated costs in Spain) study was aimed to assess the prevalence of hospital malnutrition in Spain and to estimate related costs. Some aspects made this study unique: a) It was the first study in a representative sample of hospitals of Spain; b) different measures to assess hospital malnutrition (NRS2002, MNA as well as anthropometric and biochemical markers) where used both at admission and discharge and, c) the economic consequences of malnutrition where estimated using the perspective of the Spanish National Health System.

Multidisciplinary consensus on the approach to hospital malnutrition in Spain

Rationale: Disease-related malnutrition constitutes a highly prevalent healthcare problem with high costs associated. In Spain, the prevalence of malnutrition in hospitalized patients has been reported from 30% to 50%. Objectives: Main purposes of this consensus document were to establish recommendations that facilitate decision- making and action to prevent and early-diagnose disease-related hospital malnutrition, on the management of nutritional support methods and actions to evaluate nutritional treatment compliance and efficacy. Methods: A systematic bibliographical search of authors was performed, complemented by updated bibliography by author references up to 2010. From this review, some recommendations were defined, modified and critically evaluated by the representatives of scientific societies in a consensus conference (Dec 2010) following a structured brainstorming technique: the Metaplan® technique. A double validation process was undertaken until final recommendations were obtained. Results: 30 consensus recommendations for the prevention and management of hospital malnutrition are presented in this document. Recommendations cover all clinical care settings as well as prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of disease-related malnutrition. Conclusions: Nutritional screening is strongly recommended at all clinical settings when nutritional risk factors are identified or there is clinical suspicion of malnutrition. Nutritional assessment should be designed and performed according to centers’ resources, but clearly identified protocols should be available.

FROM TOTAL INSTITUTION TO EXTITUTION? Discussions on the future of monastic life in the Benedictine women’s monasteries of Catalonia (Spain

On the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Federation of Benedictine Women’s Monasteries of Catalonia (Spain), the five monasteries represented are discussing the following question: what will monastic life be like in the future? This question is added to the debate about “new forms of monasticism”, “urban monastic life” and, in a more general sense, to the modernisations and “the opening up” of the precepts and practices of monastic life at this time. Faced with the ambitious monastic questioning, the author responds with five deliberately provocative debates developed out of a consideration of various chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict that raise profound questions when it comes to responding to the question presented here. Having described these five debates, by way of a summary, the article presents three ideal types of monastery in relation to the current processes of deinstitutionalisation that represent, in an overall way, three provisional responses and serve as a focus for the question discussed here.

Sectoral and occupational employment growth in Spain 1995-2005

Between 1995 and 2005, the Spanish economy grew at an annual average rate higher than 3,5%. Total employment increased by more than 4.9 millions. Most of this growth was in occupations related with university degrees (more than 890,000, 18% of the total employment increase) and vocational qualifications (more than 855,000, 17.5% of the total employment increase). From a sectoral perspective, the main part of this increase took place in “Real estate, renting and business activities” (K sector in NACE rev.1), “Construction” (F sector) and “Health and social sector” (N sector). This paper analyses this employment growth in an Input-output framework, by means of a structural decomposition analysis (SDA). Two kinds of results have been obtained. From a sectoral perspective we decompose employment growth into Labour requirements change, technical change and demand change. From an occupational perspective, we decompose the employment growth in substitutions effect, labour productivity effect and demand effect. The results show that, in aggregated terms, the main part of this growth is attributable to demand growth, with a small technical improvement. But the results also show that this aggregated behaviour hides important sectoral and occupational variation. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate over productivity growth and what has been called the “growth model” for the Spanish economy.

Proyecto de ejecución de zona lúdica de verano formada por piscinas, jacuzzi y edificio de servicios

Este trabajo final de carrera se basa en la redacción de un proyecto de ejecución de una zona lúdica situada en el interior del recinto de un camping, la cual estará formada por una piscina de grandes dimensiones formada por tres vasos de tipo desbordante, una piscina de tipo infantil, un jacuzzi y finalmente un edificio de servicios complementarios (bar, aseos y enfermería). La piscina grande estará formada por tres vasos donde el agua va deslizándose de uno a otro hasta ser recogida por un depósito de compensación desde donde se realizará la filtración y tratamiento antes de ser devuelta al piscina de nuevo. La instalación está también preparada para ser utilizado cada vaso como una piscina individual, recogiendo el agua por los rebosaderos laterales y conduciéndola al mismo vaso de compensación. El tratamiento del agua se realizará de forma física a través de la filtración mediante filtros de arena y de forma química analizando la cantidad de cloro residual y el nivel de PH y posteriormente añadiendo de forma automática las cantidades de cloro y corrector de PH adecuados mediante bombas dosificadoras de precisión. La piscina infantil es de pequeñas dimensiones y esta preparada para ser utilizada por niños de muy corta edad. Se diferencia de la piscina grande en el sistema de recirculación de agua (en este casos e utilizarán skimmers) y en el tratamiento posterior, ya que se utilizará el sistema de hidrólisis salina para su desinfección en lugar de añadir directamente cloro. Este sistema de tratamiento del agua no es tan agresivo como el tradicional, siendo cada vez mas utilizado en piscinas de mediano y pequeño tamaño. El jacuzzi es de grandes dimensiones, disponiendo de su propio sistema de tratamiento de agua, utilizando el sistema de hidrólisis salina como en el caso de la piscina infantil. El edificio de servicios dispone de zonas de bar, enfermería y aseos. Se ha descrito desde la estructura a las instalaciones, justificando las conclusiones a través de los cálculos correspondientes, bien de forma manual, bien utilizando diverso software especializado.

Challenges and opportunities for science journalists in adopting new technologies: the case of Spain = Retos y oportunidades para los periodistas científicos en la adopción de las nuevas tecnologías: el caso de España

This paper analyses the adoption of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) by Spanish journalists specialising in science. Applying an ethnographic research model, this study was based on a wide sample of professionals, aiming to evaluate the extent by which science journalists have adopted the new media and changed the way they use information sources. In addition, interviewees were asked whether in their opinion the Web 2.0 has had an impact on the quality of the news. The integration of formats certainly implies a few issues for today’s newsrooms. Finally, with the purpose of improving the practice of science information dissemination, the authors put forward a few proposals, namely: Increasing the training of Spanish science journalists in the field of new technologies; Emphasising the accuracy of the information and the validation of sources; Rethinking the mandates and the tasks of information professionals.