Mendel-GFDb and Mendel-ESTS: databases of plant gene families and ESTs annotated with gene family numbers and gene family names

There is no control over the information provided with sequences when they are deposited in the sequence databases. Consequently mistakes can seed the incorrect annotation of other sequences. Grouping genes into families and applying controlled annotation overcomes the problems of incorrect annotation associated with individual sequences. Two databases (http://www.mendel.ac.uk) were created to apply controlled annotation to plant genes and plant ESTs: Mendel-GFDb is a database of plant protein (gene) families based on gapped-BLAST analysis of all sequences in the SWISS-PROT family of databases. Sequences are aligned (ClustalW) and identical and similar residues shaded. The families are visually curated to ensure that one or more criteria, for example overall relatedness and/or domain similarity relate all sequences within a family. Sequence families are assigned a ‘Gene Family Number’ and a unified description is developed which best describes the family and its members. If authority exists the gene family is assigned a ‘Gene Family Name’. This information is placed in Mendel-GFDb. Mendel-ESTS is primarily a database of plant ESTs, which have been compared to Mendel-GFDb, completely sequenced genomes and domain databases. This approach associated ESTs with individual sequences and the controlled annotation of gene families and protein domains; the information being placed in Mendel-ESTS. The controlled annotation applied to genes and ESTs provides a basis from which a plant transcription database can be developed.

An idea from Donnellan: deferential and non-deferential uses of proper names

When we use a proper name, by virtue of what do we succeed in saying something about an individual? In other words, how are we supposed to explain the seemingly trivial fact that by uttering “Aristotle was wise” we actually predicate something of the famous philosopher? Questions like these have animated a fervent debate among philosophers of language; however, nowadays the standard answer is that by using “Aristotle” we say something about that famous philosopher because the name we have used in our utterance refers to him. Even though no general consensus has been reached on how to characterize the relation of reference – there are still different and competing accounts of the latter on the philosophical market – almost everybody believes, especially after the publication of Saul Kripke’s "Naming and necessity", that reference is the only semantic relation that connects our uses of proper names to individuals in the world. Contrary to this widespread assumption, in this dissertation I shall claim that our uses of proper names are not always referential.

Communicating strategically in the face of terrorism: The Spanish government’s response to the 2004 Madrid bombing attacks

With the re-emergence of insurgency tied to terrorism, governments need to strategically manage their communications. This paper analyzes the effect of the Spanish government’s messaging in the face of the Madrid bombing of March 11, 2004: unlike what happened with the 9/11 bombings in the USA and the 7/07 London attacks, the Spanish media did not support the government’s framing of the events. Taking framing as a strategic action in a discursive form (Pan & Kosicki, 2003), and in the context of the attribution theory of responsibilities, this research uses the “cascading activation” model (Entman, 2003, 2004) to explore how a framing contest was generated in the press. Analysis of the coverage shows that the intended government frame triggered a battle among the different major newspapers, leading editorials to shift their frame over the four days prior to the national elections. This research analyzes strategic contests in framing processes and contributes insight into the interactions among the different sides (government, parties, media, and citizens) to help bring about an understanding of the rebuttal effect of the government’s intended frame. It also helps to develop an understanding of the role of the media and the influence of citizens’ frames on media content.

The 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12): Reliability,external validity and factor structure in the Spanish population

The purpose of this study was to analyze the internal consistency and the external and structure validity of the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in the Spanish general population. A stratified sample of 1001 subjects, ages between 25 and 65 years, taken from the general Spanish population was employed. The GHQ-12 and the Inventory of Situations and Responses of Anxiety-ISRA were administered. A Cronbach’s alpha of .76 (Standardized Alpha: .78) and a 3-factor structure (with oblique rotation and maximum likelihood procedure) were obtained. External validity of Factor I (Successful Coping) with the ISRA is very robust (.82; Factor II, .70; Factor III, .75). The GHQ-12 shows adequate reliability and validity in the Spanish population. Therefore, the GHQ-12 can be used with efficacy to assess people’s overall psychological well-being and to detect non-psychotic psychiatric problems. Additionally, our results confirm that the GHQ-12 can best be thought of as a multidimensional scale that assesses several distinct aspects of distress, rather than just a unitary screening measure.

Time Trends in Self-Rated Health and Disability in Older Spanish People: Differences by Gender and Age

Abstract Background: To analyse time trends in self-rated health in older people by gender and age and examine disability in the time trends of self-rated health. Methods: The data used come from the Spanish National Health Surveys conducted in 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2011- 12. Samples of adults aged 16 yr and older were selected. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between age, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, disability and self-rated health across period study. Results: Women exhibited lower (higher) prevalence of good self-rated health (disability) compared to men. The multivariate analysis for time trends found that good self-rated health increased from 2001 to 2012. Overall, variables associated with a lower likelihood of good self-rated health were: being married or living with a partner, lower educational level, and disability. Conclusion: Trends of good self-rated health differ by gender according to socio-demographic factors and the prevalence of disability.

On the forecast accuracy and consistency of exchange rate expectations: The Spanish PwC Survey.

We examine the predictive ability and consistency properties of exchange rate expectations for the dollar/euro using a survey conducted in Spain by PwC among a panel of experts and entrepreneurs. Our results suggest that the PwC panel have some forecasting ability for time horizons from 3 to 9 months, although only for the 3-month ahead expectations we obtain marginal evidence of unbiasedness and efficiency in the forecasts. As for the consistency properties of the exchange rate expectations formation process, we find that survey participants form stabilising expectations in the short-run and destabilising expectations in the long- run and that the expectation formation process is closer to fundamentalists than chartists.

O português de herança em território fronteiriço: a LH em Olivença como arma para preservação de um grupo minoritário

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar a língua portuguesa nativa e de herança sobreviventes em território fronteiriço de língua oficial espanhola. Como locus de pesquisa selecionamos Olivença, uma cidade da Espanha em que a língua portuguesa se faz em situações específicas de uso. A relevância desta pesquisa traduz-se no fato de que espaços fronteiriços mantêm sobrepostas em espaços geográficos contíguos algumas realidades que se sobrepõem: a realidade da oficialidade linguística e a realidade do sentimento de pertença sociolinguística. Nesta tese, partimos da identificação, em trabalho de campo, da presença da língua portuguesa no território atualmente espanhol (mas historicamente português) e na constatação de que há uma flutuação de identificação-identidade linguística. No espaço geográfico em que fizemos incursão científica, duas cidades sobrepõem-se historicamente e duas geografias políticas, por outro lado, avizinham-se e roçam-se continuamente. Ao tomar contato com essa cidade, hipotetizamos que o sentimento de pertença linguística estaria presente entre os falantes mais velhos, que manteriam a herança de traços lusitanos em sua comunicação, mesmo ao falar o espanhol. A justificativa é que, logo de chegada, já avistáramos recintos comerciais com nomes portugueses e, contrariamente, não ouvíamos o som lusitano nas ruas. Sabemos que o domínio espanhol numa cidade outrora portuguesa tenderia a apagar vestígios portugueses. No entanto, em grupos íntimos pressupúnhamos o português como língua corrente. Durante o trabalho de campo, identificamos fortes valores culturais sendo empunhados como armas de resistência entre descendentes de portugueses, fazendo correr numa velocidade acentuada a reorganização dos valores lusitanos em redutos da cidade espanhola. Essa força e essa velocidade pareciam ser as molas propulsoras de uma mudança linguística muito sorrateira, que impactava o sentimento de unidade de um segmento social da comunidade sociolinguística. Isso nos inspirou a dar um passo investigativo seguinte em direção aos mais jovens, que tinham o espanhol como língua materna, mas tinham o português como língua de herança. À pergunta central sobre a força do português como língua de herança buscamos respostas por meio de duas outras questões mais indiretas feitas aos sujeitos entrevistados: será que os mais jovens percebiam-se como portugueses? será que os elementos culturais lusitanos presentes nas ruas eram reconhecidos como vinculados à língua de herança? Foi assim que passamos a recolher pistas sobre os traços de resiliência do português como língua incrustada na região espanhola de Olivença.

Foreign MNEs and domestic innovative capabilities: are there conditions for reverse spillovers in the spanish industry?

We analyse, over 2004-2008, a sample of approximately 700 foreign subsidiaries and 4,500 domestic firms located in Spain in order to understand the relationship between local R&D cooperation and innovativeness of the firm. Our ultimate objective is to understand whether foreign subsidiaries are likely to make a contribution to local innovative capabilities or if, conversely, they may eventually benefit from conditions for reverse spillovers. Using a variety of specifications for the innovation-related activities of the firm, we find that foreign subsidiaries are more cooperative than the average firm located in Spain, but not necessarily more than affiliated domestic firms (entrepreneurial groups). However, foreign subsidiaries are more cooperative than affiliated domestic firms in sectors considered highly dynamic by international technological standards, whether Spain has a technical advantage in these specific sectors or not. When we focus on companies which are more innovative than the two-digit industries in which they operate, we find that foreign subsidiaries tend to be more cooperative than domestic firms in sectors where Spain displays technological advantage. These sectors comprise traditional industries displaying little innovation dynamism from an international point of view. This finding suggests that there may be conditions for reverse spillovers in these specific Spanish sectors (though measuring them is beyond the objectives of this paper).

Import competition from China and unemployment. An analysis using Spanish workers’micro-data.

In the period 1997-2011, import competition from China multiplied by five in the Spanish manufacturing sector. In this paper we analyze whether this severe increase in import competition from China is associated with a higher probability of becoming unemployed in the Spanish manufacturing sector. Linking industry-level data on imports with the working histories of 141,000 manufacturing workers, we show that import competition from China is positively associated with the probability of becoming unemployed. In particular, a standard deviation increase in import competition from China raises the probability of becoming unemployed between 0.8 and 3.5 percentage points, which represents between a 9% and a 44% increase relative to the unconditional probability of becoming unemployed. In contrast, we do not find any effect of import competition from China on manufacturing wages. Also, our estimations show that there is weak evidence of a positive association between a higher import competition from China and the probability of switching to an employment outside the manufacturing sector.

Exposure to Chinese imports andlocal labor market outcomes. An Analysis for Spanish provinces

In the period 1999-2007 Spanish imports from China multiplied by six, making that Asian country the fourth largest supplier to the Spanish economy. In this paper, we analyse whether this massive increase in imports impacted on the labour markets of Spanish provinces to differing degrees, due to differences in their initial productive specialization. Our results show that Spanish provinces with a higher exposure to Chinese imports experienced larger drops in manufacturing employment as a share of the working-age population. However, this reduction was compensated for by increases in non-manufacturing employment.

Social risk factors in Spanish youth and their impact on self-concept construction

This paper presents evidence from a psychosocial framework about the relationship among youth, work, and identity construction. The aims of this research were twofold. The first one was to analyze the working conditions of Spanish youth and their impact on individuals' biographies. The second one was to examine the effect of labor-related variables on construction / change of identity elements in Spanish youth. For this purpose, two research techniques were used: the Delphi method (103 experts sample from several entities and organizations closely related to our topic) and deep interviews (15 interviews with youths classified according to their relationship with the work market). Copyright 2007 by The Spanish Journal of Psychology.

Relationship between taxocenoses of decapod crustaceans and characteristics of coastal detritic bottoms in the east and southeast of the Spanish coast

Se ha estudiado la composición de las poblaciones de crustáceos decápodos en los fondos detríticos circalitorales del Este y Sureste ibérico, con relación a sus diferentes facies, efectuándose diferentes análisis estadísticos sobre la composición y diversidad. La taxocenosis de crustáceos decápodos muestra elevados valores de abundancia, riqueza y diversidad en las localidades identificadas como fondos detríticos costeros de aspecto típico. Por último, algunos grupos de especies podrían ser utilizados para caracterizar las biocenosis típica de fondos detríticos costeros, tales como: Paguristes eremita, Ebalia edwardsi, E. deshayesi, Eurynome aspera, Galathea intermedia, Parthenope massena, y Anapagurus hyndmani; la biocenosis del detrítico costero enfangada: Ebalia tuberosa, Atelecyclus rotundatus, Ethusa mascarone, y Liocarcinus zariquieyi; y la biocenosis de arenas fangosas: Upogebia deltaura, Goneplax rhomboides.

Overexploitation, malnutrition and stigma in a woman's illness: chlorosis in contemporary Spanish medicine (1877-1936)

The work was financed by the Project: 'Antecedentes históricos de la nutrición comunitaria en España: los primeros intentos de institucionalización, 1923-1947' (HUM2005-04961-C03-01).