Competition for procurement shares

We propose a new procurement procedure that allocates shares of the total amount to be procured depending on the bids of suppliers. Among the properties of the mechanism are the following: (i) Bidders have an incentive to participate in the procurement procedure, as equilibrium payoffs are strictly positive. (ii) The mechanism allows variations in the extent to which affirmative action objectives, like promoting local industries, are pursued. (iii) Surprisingly, even while accomplishing affirmative action goals, procurement expenditures might be lower than under a standard auction format.

Sexual health and socioeconomic-related factors in Spain

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to describe sexual health in Spain according to three important indicators of the World Health Organization definition and explore the influence of socioeconomic factors. Methods: We performed a population-based cross-sectional study of sexually active people aged 16-44 years residing in Spain in 2009 (2365 women and 2532 men). Three main aspects of sexual health were explored: sexual satisfaction, safe sex, and sexual abuse. The independent variables explored were age, age at first intercourse, reason for first intercourse, type of partner, level of education, country of origin, religiousness, parity, and social class. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were fitted. Results: Both men and women were quite satisfied with their sexual life, their first sexual intercourse, and their sexual relationships during the previous year. Most participants had practiced safe sex both at first intercourse and during the previous year. Levels of sexual abuse were similar to those in other developed countries. People of disadvantaged socioeconomic position have less satisfying, more unsafe, and more abusive sexual relationships. Women experienced more sexual abuse and had less satisfaction at their first intercourse. Conclusions: The state of sexual health in Spain is relatively good. However, we observed inequalities according to gender and socioeconomic position.

Maria-Antònia Oliver o el plaer de narrar en femení

Maria-Antònia Oliver és una figura cabdal en la història de la novel·la policíaca en llengua catalana. Amb un personatge principal innovador en el panorama literari català dels anys vuitanta, Oliver destaca per una sèrie d’aspectes com són el seu personatge principal, feminista i representant del hard-boiled i la forta crítica social, especialment centrada en l’illa de Mallorca, aspectes que són objecte d’estudi en aquest article. Temes com el feminisme, l’impacte social del turisme o la situació de la llengua catalana a les Balears formen part de les seves obres i demostren el compromís social de l’autora mallorquina.

Rafael Tasis, els fonaments d’un gènere

Rafael Tasis fou un escriptor català pioner de la novel·la policíaca o detectivesca. Va ser també un destacat crític literari, llibreter, periodista i activista polític. És autor d’una trilogia formada per les obres La bíblia valenciana, Es hora de plegar i Un crim al Paralelo. Les seves aportacions teòriques a la novel·la i, especialment, a la de gènere, van ser de molta envergadura, demostració de la seva enorme capacitat de treball. Tasis va teoritzar sobre el gènere policíac i s’adonà, abans que ningú a Catalunya, de la importància que agafaria la novel·la negra americana. També va apostar per un escriptor inèdit, Manuel de Pedrolo, de qui va considerar que seria el novel·lista català més considerable del segle XX. Com a novel·lista i crític literari va donar testimoni de la vida i els ambients barcelonins i de l’atractiu de la utilització del material urbà de Barcelona com a argument de novel·les. La figura de Tasis respon a la de l'intel·lectual preocupat pels afers públics i, de manera més concreta, a la de l'escriptor en acte de servei permanent.

Cúpulas de crucero en templos de la provincia de Alicante (s.XVII-XIX): construcción y geometría

El objetivo es determinar las características constructivas, geométricas y materiales en la construcción de cúpulas originales de ladrillo en templos de la provincia de Alicante desde finales del siglo XVII hasta principios del siglo XIX. Se estudian 38 cruceros de iglesias y catedrales en 35 localidades alicantinas mediante recopilación de dibujos originales, levantamiento de planos, construcción en 3D, termografías y toma de muestras, todo ello seguido de un análisis comparativo de variables. Constructivamente, el 88,57 % de las cúpulas simples analizadas son de una hoja de ladrillo macizo (colocado a rosca). Geométricamente, el 97,37 % presentan planta circular y el 92,1 % peralte. El acabado azul vidriado en cubierta es el característico de la provincia (68,42 %), adornado con limatesas en color blanco. Un estudio imprescindible para establecer criterios de uso y conservación, facilitando futuras intervenciones de rehabilitación en este tipo de construcciones religiosas.

Spectrally tunable light source based on light-emitting diodes for custom lighting solutions

This study describes a novel spectral LED-based tunable light source used for customized lighting solutions, especially for the reconstruction of CIE (Commission Internationale de l’Éclairage) standard illuminants. The light source comprises 31 spectral bands ranging from 400 to 700 nm, an integrating cube and a control board with a 16-bit resolution. A minimization algorithm to calculate the weighting values for each channel was applied to reproduce illuminants with precision. The differences in spectral fitting and colorimetric parameters showed that the reconstructed spectra were comparable to the standard, especially for the D65, D50, A and E illuminants. Accurate results were also obtained for illuminants with narrow peaks such as fluorescents (F2 and F11) and a high-pressure sodium lamp (HP1). In conclusion, the developed spectral LED-based light source and the minimization algorithm are able to reproduce any CIE standard illuminants with a high spectral and colorimetric accuracy able to advance available custom lighting systems useful in the industry and other fields such as museum lighting.

Anuari / Junta de Ciències Naturals.

1916

Independentism and the European Union. EPC Policy Brief, 7 May 2014

Independentism is a live issue in Europe today. In the European Union separatist parties have gained votes in Scotland, Catalonia, Flanders and elsewhere, and referendums are in prospect. In Eastern Europe Crimea’s referendum has led to an international crisis. Graham Avery, senior adviser to the EPC asks in this policy brief: What is the European Union's policy on independentism? Is the division of a member state into two states bad for the EU? And finally, how is the organisational structure of the EU relevant to independentism?

Autonomy in the global era: Euro-regionalism and new policy spaces in education. ACES Working Papers, August 2010

Framed by a critical discussion of methodological nationalism, this paper explores the intersection of new and evolving regional, central state, and supranational education policy spaces through examples drawn from post-Franco Spain. This work is situated within the broader literature on the development of a European Education Policy Space, which aims to understand changing governance structures in European education (cf. Grek et al., 2009; Lawn & Lingard,2002; N6voa & Lawn, 2002). Using policy documents since 2000 and interview data, the paper first examines Spanish and regional (Catalan) education policy related to devolution, namely Catalonia's recently revised Statute of Autonomy. The paper then places devolution in Spain and Catalonia in a broader context of Euro-regionalism, which has deepened and legitimized regional autonomy. Together these shifts in educational governance and the development of new education policy spaces have promoted a concept of the multi-scalar, European "ideal citizen" (Engel & Ortloff, 2009). The last section presents an overview of the recent influx of immigrants into Catalonia and Spain, exploring whether and to what extent recent education policy promoting the "ideal citizen" has taken non-European immigrants into account.

EU Enlargement: Lessons from, and Prospects for. IES WORKING PAPER 3/2013

In 2009 the European Union (EU) reached a crucial moment in its history, in which the terms Europe and crisis became conjoined: the European sovereign-debt crisis, or Euro-crisis. Yet enlargement remains on the agenda, with the EU’s next enlargement starting on 1st July 2013 with the accession of Croatia, Iceland and FYROM looking set to follow in the near future, and probably other Western Balkan states and possibly Turkey in the long term. Enlargement therefore will soon come back into focus. Focusing on climate and energy security policy, this working paper first reflects upon the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargement on the EU. A reflection on the EU’s recent past with some of the lessons that can be learnt then follows, with a consideration that predictions of decision- and policy-making gridlock were not realised, that newer member states have proved influential, and that prospective member states cannot be expected to be passive nor impotent. The latter part of this paper evaluates the potential prospects and outcomes of these lessons with regard to future enlargement from within (Scotland and Catalonia), and without (Turkey), and the political factors which may dictate whether these possible enlargements are realised.

Information Guide: Regionalism and separatism in the European Union

A brief bibliography of information sources about current issues of regionalism and separatism in the European Union with a particular focus on Catalonia, Flanders and Scotland. This guide has been compiled in connection with the event Regionalism and Separatism in the European Union held in the Cardiff EDC on 21 February 2013.

Der Dom zu St. Marien in Riga. Baugeschichte und Baubeschreibung.

Bibliography, 3 p. at end.

View's of all the cathedrall churches of England and Wales &c neatly engrav'd = Vues de toutes les englises cathederalles d'Angleterre et de Galle &c. proprement gravée.

Comprises title leaf, and 29 views etched by J. Harris. Last plate has additional legend: H. Beighton delin. 1715.

Der Zusammenbau des von Schinkel im alten Dom zu Berlin aufgebauten Altarabschlusses.

Caption title.

Liber vitæ ecclesiæ Dunelmensis; nec non obituaria duo ejusdem ecclesiæ.

Mode of access: Internet.