Accounting research: a critical view of the present situation and prospects

In this study we critically review the internal procedures of the accounting community for generating and disseminating knowledge. We contend that academic journals on accounting research are scarce, publish few articles and apply high rejection rates, and the review process is lengthy and expensive. Additionally, an academic elite has unparalleled predominance in comparison to other business disciplines, reflected in an unusual share of published articles with authors affiliated to a small number of academic institutions, and the predominance of certain topics and methodologies. The discipline does not allow the collaborative, iterative and flexible features of innovative knowledge communities. The discipline¿s internal procedures favour restriction, control, slowness, and expiration, rather than participation, speed and renewal. They are ill suited for advancing knowledge and bode badly for successful research. As a result, accounting academics present low research performance and the discipline is facing steady decline. More importantly, the discipline is handicapped in producing innovative knowledge able to contribute to critical research and long term social well-being. We also focus on the Spanish institutional situation, arguing that Spanish requirements for reaching tenured positions are difficult for accountants to meet. We highlight the need to raise awareness of the problem and change the procedures.

Característiques bàsiques de l’organització d’espais, d’ambients i dels tipus de materials que hauria d’estar present en les escoles d’educació infantil (3-6) per garantir pràctiques educatives de qualitat

Amb el present treball es vol aprofundir en la manera que influeix l’organització d’espais, d’ambients i les característiques dels materials en el procés educatiu. A partir d’una recerca teòrica en base les necessitats educatives de la societat actual, les necessitats evolutives dels infants, i en base a l’observació i anàlisi d’escoles reggianes i catalanes referents que tenen en compte com a agent educador l’espai, els ambients i els materials, es volen reunir quines són les característiques bàsiques de l’organització dels espais, ambients i materials per garantir una educació de qualitat a l’etapa infantil (3-6).

Prognostic value of PCSK9 levels in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

AIMS: Proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9) is an emerging target for the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia, but the clinical utility of PCSK9 levels to guide treatment is unknown. We aimed to prospectively assess the prognostic value of plasma PCSK9 levels in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). METHODS AND RESULTS: Plasma PCSK9 levels were measured in 2030 ACS patients undergoing coronary angiography in a Swiss prospective cohort. At 1 year, the association between PCSK9 tertiles and all-cause death was assessed adjusting for the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) variables, as well as the achievement of LDL cholesterol targets of <1.8 mmol/L. Patients with higher PCSK9 levels at angiography were more likely to have clinical familial hypercholesterolaemia (rate ratio, RR 1.21, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.09-1.53), be treated with lipid-lowering therapy (RR 1.46, 95% CI 1.30-1.63), present with longer time interval of chest pain (RR 1.29, 95% CI 1.09-1.53) and higher C-reactive protein levels (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.16-1.30). PCSK9 increased 12-24 h after ACS (374 ± 149 vs. 323 ± 134 ng/mL, P < 0.001). At 1 year follow-up, HRs for upper vs. lower PCSK9-level tertiles were 1.13 (95% CI 0.69-1.85) for all-cause death and remained similar after adjustment for the GRACE score. Patients with higher PCSK9 levels were less likely to reach the recommended LDL cholesterol targets (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.66-0.99). CONCLUSION: In ACS patients, high initial PCSK9 plasma levels were associated with inflammation in the acute phase and hypercholesterolaemia, but did not predict mortality at 1 year.

The social professions in Spain: past and present

This paper explores the relationship among the main three professionals who work in the social field in Spain: social workers, social educators and pedagogues. To contextualise the current situation with regard to these professions, the first section presents the most notable events in the history of the social professions. In the second section we present the main characteristics concerning the areas of work and the professional competences. In the third section we discuss some of the challenges related to the current training of these professionals

Low Dynamics, High Longevity and Persistence of Sessile Structural Species Dwelling on Mediterranean Coralligenous Outcrops

There is still limited understanding of the processes underlying benthic species dynamics in marine coastal habitats, which are of disproportionate importance in terms of productivity and biodiversity. The life-history traits of long-lived benthic species in these habitats are particularly poorly documented. In this study, we assessed decadal patterns of population dynamics for ten sponge and anthozoan species that play key structural roles in coralligenous outcrops (~25 m depth) in two areas of the NW Mediterranean Sea. This study was based on examination of a unique long-term photographic series, which allowed analysis of population dynamics over extensive spatial and time spans for the very first time. Specifically, 671 individuals were censused annually over periods of 25-, 15-, and 5-years. This long-term study quantitatively revealed a common life-history pattern among the ten studied species, despite the fact they present different growth forms. Low mortality rates (3.4% yr−1 for all species combined) and infrequent recruitment events (mean value of 3.1±0.5 SE recruits yr−1) provided only a very small fraction of the new colonies required to maintain population sizes. Overall, annual mortality and recruitment rates did not differ significantly among years; however, some species displayed important mortality events and recruitment pulses, indicating variability among species. Based on the growth rates of these 10 species, we projected their longevity and, obtained a mean estimated age of 25-200 years. Finally, the low to moderate turnover rates (mean value 0.80% yr−1) observed among the coralligenous species were in agreement with their low dynamics and persistence. These results offer solid baseline data and reveal that these habitats are among the most vulnerable to the current increases of anthropogenic disturbances.

Passat i present de la impremta escolar i els llibres de vida: les tècniques Freinet a l’Estat espanyol a propòsit d’algunes publicacions recents

Les darreres publicacions sobre els inicis de les tècniques Freinet a les escoles de l’Estat espanyol són una bona oportunitat per conèixer les aportacions dels mestres que van apostar per una renovació pedagògica, i posen de manifest la vigència de les pràctiques del pedagog Célestin Freinet. La nostra aportació recull i relaciona les idees principals d’alguns dels estudis recents sobre les tècniques Freinet, relacionades amb l’aprenentatge del llenguatge, amb l’objectiu de ressenyar alguns aspectes importants de les investigacions i fer un breu repàs a la figura dels mestres que impulsaren l’ús de la impremta a l’escola, la creació de les revistes escolars i els llibres de vida a l’Estat espanyol. Propostes basades en la manipulació, el tempteig experimental, la necessitat d’expressió de l’infant, el foment de la reflexió lingüística i la creativitat, que van renovar l’enfocament de l’aprenentatge de la lectura i l’escriptura i que es reivindiquen com a pràctiques útils actualment. Es pretén contribuir a la difusió del valuós llegat dels mestres que van creure en una escola renovada i, al mateix temps, a la recuperació de les bases del seu ideari pedagògic. La vitalitat de les recerques actuals és una mostra del creixent interès per recuperar les aportacions de Freinet, per conèixer el nostre passat i poder reflexionar sobre la millora de la pràctica docent present i de futur.

Resurrecting Disney: Tracing Walt Disney‘s ever-present spirit in feature animated films of the Michael Eisner era (1984-2004)

El treball Ressuscitant a Disney: Rastrejant el sempre present esperit de Walt Disney en els llargmetratges animats de l'era Michael Eisner (1984-2004) pretén definir i analitzar les característiques, tant respecte al procés creatiu com en la definició de contingut, integrades en els clàssics originals de Disney per, a continuació, demostrar que aquestes van ser recuperades i implementades de nou després de la mort de Walt Disney -amb lleus adaptacions- per donar lloc a una segona edat d'or de l'animació

La educación en valores democráticos en los manuales de la asignatura Educación para la Ciudadanía

Este artículo aporta los resultados de un estudio sobre legislación educativa y manuales de Educación para la Ciudadanía con el objeto de visibilizar la presencia de la educación en valores democráticos y su evolución en el contexto de los cambios sociales y políticos recientes. En la primera parte, nos adentramos en la reflexión sobre la moral y la vivencia de los valores en nuestras realidades, con el objeto de analizar la dimensión ética de la sociedad. Abordamos el debate de la crisis de valores y se realizan propuestas sobre la dimensión teleológica y axiológica de la educación en y para la democracia. En la segunda parte, se aporta la síntesis del estudio de la presencia de la educación en valores en algunas leyes educativas aprobadas a partir de la Constitución Española de 1978. Se describe cómo se ha incorporado la educación en valores a la normativa y qué formas ha ido adoptando. Se dedica especial atención al área de Educación para la Ciudadanía propuesta en la loe como espacio de formación ética y política. En el último apartado sobre educación en valores y manuales de ciudadanía se presentan, en primer lugar, diferentes significados y principios de ciudadanía para enmarcar teóricamente la investigación. A continuación, se visualizan los resultados del análisis de contenido de los valores presentes en una muestra de manuales de Educación para la Ciudadanía editados en el marco de desarrollo de la loe. Nuestro interés ha sido mostrar cómo los libros de texto traducen la legislación, qué valores de la democracia priorizan y cómo los conceptualizan. Se finaliza el artículo con las conclusiones que recogen un conjunto de apuntes en los que se considera la crisis como posibilidad y se propone seguir avanzando en proyectos de democracia, ciudadanía y educación en valores innovadores.

[Notes breus (fauna)] Noves introduccions i poblament actual de peixos a l’estany de Banyoles = New introductions and present population of fishes in Lake Banyoles

Nota breu de fauna sobre les noves introduccions i el poblament actual de peixos a l’estany de Banyoles

Trans-equatorial migration and mixing in the wintering areas of a pelagic seabird

Despite increasing interest in long-distance migration, the wintering areas, migration corridors, and population mix in winter quarters of most pelagic marine predators are unknown. Here, we present the first study tracking migration movements of shearwaters through the non-breeding period. We used geolocators (global location sensing [GLS] units based on ambient light levels) to track 22 Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) breeding in three different areas. Most birds wintered in one or more of three relatively small areas, all clearly associated with major coastal upwelling systems of the tropical and south Atlantic. Trans-equatorial movements were dominated by prevailing trade winds and westerlies, while calm, oligotrophic areas were avoided. Breeding populations clearly differed in their preference amongst the three major wintering areas, but showed substantial mixing. This illustrates the exceptional value of GLS, not only for determining and describing the influence of oceanographic features on migration patterns, but also for assessing population mix in winter quarters. This knowledge is essential to understanding the impacts of population-level threats, such as longlining, offshore windfarms, and oil spills on multiple breeding sites, and will be critical in devising conservation policies that guarantee the sustainable exploitation of the oceans.

Estimating extreme value cumulative distribution functions using bias-corrected kernel approaches

We propose a new kernel estimation of the cumulative distribution function based on transformation and on bias reducing techniques. We derive the optimal bandwidth that minimises the asymptotic integrated mean squared error. The simulation results show that our proposed kernel estimation improves alternative approaches when the variable has an extreme value distribution with heavy tail and the sample size is small.

Liderazgo y dirección de empresas en el s. XXI

Peer-reviewed

Present and future methodology for the implementation of decision support systems for traffic management

Real-time predictions are an indispensable requirement for traffic management in order to be able to evaluate the effects of different available strategies or policies. The combination of predicting the state of the network and the evaluation of different traffic management strategies in the short term future allows system managers to anticipate the effects of traffic control strategies ahead of time in order to mitigate the effect of congestion. This paper presents the current framework of decision support systems for traffic management based on short and medium-term predictions and includes some reflections on their likely evolution, based on current scientific research and the evolution of the availability of new types of data and their associated methodologies.