Sweet diversity: Colonial goods and the rise of European living standards after 1492

When did overseas trade start to matter for living standards? Traditional real-wage indices suggest that living standards in Europe stagnated before 1800. In this paper, we argue thatwelfare rose substantially, but surreptitiously, because of an influx of new goods as a result ofoverseas trade. Colonial luxuries such as tea, coffee, and sugar transformed European diets afterthe discovery of America and the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope. These goods became household items in many countries by the end of the 18th century. We use three different methodsto calculate welfare gains based on price data and the rate of adoption of these new colonialgoods. Our results suggest that by 1800, the average Englishman would have been willing to forego 10% or more of his income in order to maintain access to sugar and tea alone. These findings are robust to a wide range of alternative assumptions, data series, and valuation methods.

Los libros de caballerías en América: huellas culturales y cultura impresa (1492-1516)

El propósito de este artículo es, a partir del análisis de la difusión impresa de la literatura caballeresca en lengua española, iniciar una reflexión sobre las dimensiones literarias y la difusión de la cultura de los súbditos de la Corona de Castilla que fueron desembarcando en tierras americanas durante los primeros viajes transatlánticos, aproximadamente entre 1492 y 1516.

A topological proof that surface relators are test words

Vegeu el resum a l'inici del document del fitxer adjunt.

Pere Torroella i les corts dels infants d'Aragó al segle XV

En aquest article es parla breument de Pere Torroella i de les corts dels infants d’Aragó (Carles de Viana, Joan d’Aragó i Joana d’Aragó), és a dir, de les corts de Joan II i el Magnànim. Per fer-ho es basa en cinc documents inèdits, tots ells referits a diferents moments de la vida de Pere Torroella

Història de Biel: esplendor i decadència de la vil·la

Treball de recerca realitzat per alumnes d’ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit científic del Jovent l’any 2010. El treball investiga a l’entorn de la història del poble de Biel i dels motius que el portaren d’una època d’esplendor, tal com demostren la presència d’un important barri jueu, una bonica església i un castell, a la seva decadència a finals de l’Edat Mitjana. En un primer moment, tot apuntava que Biel va perdre protagonisme a finals de l'Edat Mitjana degut al desplaçament de la frontera cristiano-musulmana amb l'avenç de la reconquesta i que es va veure perjudicat econòmicament per l'expulsió dels jueus el 1492. La hipòtesi només es complirà parcialment, i la investigació deixarà la porta oberta a un treball molt més ampli que superarà amb escreix el marc cronològic i geogràfic que s'havia marcat.

Combining phospholipases and a liquid lipase for one-step biodiesel production using crude oils

Background Enzymatic biodiesel is becoming an increasingly popular topic in bioenergy literature because of its potential to overcome the problems posed by chemical processes. However, the high cost of the enzymatic process still remains the main drawback for its industrial application, mostly because of the high price of refined oils. Unfortunately, low cost substrates, such as crude soybean oil, often release a product that hardly accomplishes the final required biodiesel specifications and need an additional pretreatment for gums removal. In order to reduce costs and to make the enzymatic process more efficient, we developed an innovative system for enzymatic biodiesel production involving a combination of a lipase and two phospholipases. This allows performing the enzymatic degumming and transesterification in a single step, using crude soybean oil as feedstock, and converting part of the phospholipids into biodiesel. Since the two processes have never been studied together, an accurate analysis of the different reaction components and conditions was carried out. Results Crude soybean oil, used as low cost feedstock, is characterized by a high content of phospholipids (900 ppm of phosphorus). However, after the combined activity of different phospholipases and liquid lipase Callera Trans L, a complete transformation into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs >95%) and a good reduction of phosphorus (P <5 ppm) was achieved. The combination of enzymes allowed avoidance of the acid treatment required for gums removal, the consequent caustic neutralization, and the high temperature commonly used in degumming systems, making the overall process more eco-friendly and with higher yield. Once the conditions were established, the process was also tested with different vegetable oils with variable phosphorus contents. Conclusions Use of liquid lipase Callera Trans L in biodiesel production can provide numerous and sustainable benefits. Besides reducing the costs derived from enzyme immobilization, the lipase can be used in combination with other enzymes such as phospholipases for gums removal, thus allowing the use of much cheaper, non-refined oils. The possibility to perform degumming and transesterification in a single tank involves a great efficiency increase in the new era of enzymatic biodiesel production at industrial scale.

Juan Luis Vives and Richard Mulcaster: a humanist view of language

Humanist writers were multifaceted and thcir writings eclectic, delving into a wide range of fields of enquiry Many issues wcre raised and addressed, pursued ur abandoned, uftcn unsystematically. ‘[his hetcrogeneity has frequently lcd tu the neglect of specific facets of authurs who have gained renuwn in uthcr fzelds. ‘[his 1 believe tu be the case fur Richard Mulcaster and Juan Luis Vives, whuse contribution tu language Éhcory has been eclipsed by their rclatively mudem views un educatiun. ‘[heir views un language merit mure attention, if not fur their originality as such, at least fur te testimony they pruvide uf a periud in transition. ‘[he work uf these authors show 1mw views un language evolved thruughout te periud mié convey a sense uf its dynamic character. Profoundly cunservative attitudes coexist with progressive unes and, tliough ruoted in the past, thcy strain tuwards a new vision uf the nature and functioning uf language in human sucicty.

MPRO-Spanish: development and experiments with a linguistic parser for Spanish texts

This paper describes the main features and present results of MPRO-Spanish, a parser for morphological and syntactic analysis of unrestricted Spanish text developed at the IAI1. This parser makes direct use of X-phrase structure rules to handle a variety of patterns from derivational morphology and syntactic structure. Both analyses, morphological and syntactic, are realised by two subsequent modules. One module analyses and disambiguates the source words at morphological level while the other consists of a series of programs and a deterministic, procedural and explicit grammar. The article explains the main features of MPRO and resumes some of the experiments on some of its applications, some of which still being implemented like the monolingual and bilingual term extraction while others need further work like indexing. The results and applications obtained so far with simple and relatively complex sentences give us grounds to believe in its reliability.

La noció d'Espanya a la Catalunya medieval

A partir de la necessitat de conèixer les bases del propi present i d'assolir puntals on arrelar els discursos de futur, ara i adés les diferents col·lectivitats es remeten als orígens, "l'obsessió pels orígens" deia Marc Bloch. I aquests, en una Europa que parla de l'Edat Mitjana com la infantesa de la pròpia identitat, s'aboquen a una època medieval on conflueixen -en el que des de la llunyania de la nostra quotidianitat pot semblar una amalgama poc destriada- tant les realitats gresoladores dels actuals signes d'identitat culrurals, socials i lingüístics, com les projeccions que delerosament hi cerquen les justificacions del present i els condicionants del furur. Així doncs, convé apamar bé l'espai físic i conceptual per definir adientment la realitat existent en aquells moments que han alimentat les arrels d'identitats que, travessant diferents estímuls al llarg de la història, han menat fins als nostres dies.

Fer mapes per conèixer la Història: aportacions de la cartografia a l'estudi de l'Alta Edat Mitjana

To make maps to know history: contributions from the cartography to the study of the early middle ages. The accomplishment of maps can allow us to know many aspects that documents written do not allow us to have knowledge. This paper focuses on the boundaries of the townships or the parishes, on the routes and ways, and on the place names or on the invocations of the churches, in order to get to know like it was the territory in the early medieval centuries. One reaches the conclusion that often the limits, the ways and the settlements were created at early middle ages. This study allows to raise the ruptures and the continuities that took place throughout these centuries in the settlement.

Entorn al testament de Brunissèn d'Alentorn i alguns costums funeraris de la Lleida medieval

In this research from the late medieval period, we want to analyze diferent aspects related to funerary world through Brunissèn d’Alentorn’s will. The document is compared with other wills from Lleida’s area that acquire knowledge to these customs, for instance, the draps d’or’s uses. These were provided of deceased’ heraldry, and were comissioned to cover the tomb. Also, in Lleida’s case, they were used to decorate the ancient cathedral’s presbitery during the main festivities, and the patrons’ wedding bed. Artistic patronage, social prestige, family arms ostentation, pomp and devotion are other aspects that would be emphasized in this tour, just as the private devotions in the chapels and altars that were founded regarding this topic.

La medina andalusina de Lleida en el segle XI: identitat i societat

La ciutat a Alandalús és l’espai hegemònic del poder públic emiral i posteriorment califal. Partint de la ciutat de Lleida, analitzem la evolució des del segle VIII fins al segle XI de la consolidació dels espais urbans com a representants del poder. Talment, aquests, capitalitzen els districtes o cores, mitjançant una xarxa de ciutats i fortificacions que li donen cohesió interna. Paral∙lelament, es vertebra i s’envigoritza una societat urbana partint d’elements comuns d’identitat i d’un discurs ideològic afí a la dinastia Omeia. La “gent de la ciutat” repre‐senten una part de la societat andalu‐sina, d’arrels hispano‐visigodes, i alhora, assumeixen l’hegemonia cultural de l’Islam, tot convivint en la nova realitat político‐social.

Garcilaso de la Vega y Pedro Salinas: la voz a ti debida

This paper shows the relationship between two Spanish writers: Garcilaso de la Vega and Pedro Salinas; or better, the influence of the former over the latter. This influence may be noticed in different levels: the use of literary genres (eclogues, elegies or collections of verse), the conception of love, the use of myths and topics, the music of verse, etc. Some characteristics of Salinas’s style come clearly from Garcilaso (the intimacy, simplicity, orality, the dialogue, the use of the present tense and the first person, etc.). Our essay studies the influence of Garcilaso on the book Largo lamento, 1937?, written by Salinas at the same time as an essay about the renaissance poet —in addition of other unpublished works and his personal correspondence—, in order to show the presence of Garcilaso in his mind and all of his production