Suchergebnisse

We show that the sale of state-owned firms in dictatorships can help political corporations to emerge and persist over time. Using new data, we characterize Pinochet's privatizations in Chile and find that some firms were sold underpriced to politically connected buyers. These newly private firms benefited financially from the Pinochet regime. Once democracy arrived, they formed connections with the new government, financed political campaigns, and were more likely to appear in the Panama Papers. These findings reveal how dictatorships can influence young democracies using privatization reforms. © The Economic History Association 2020.

This article describes the design and manufacture of a gypsum board which, despite its 45 % wt content of phase change materials, meets the minimum physical and mechanical requirements laid down in the legislation on gypsum plasters (Spanish and European standard UNE EN 13279 and Spanish specifications for gypsum acceptance, RY 85). Under this design, a one-metre square, 1.5-cm thick board contains 4.75 kg of PCM, much more than in any prior drylining (the maximum attained to date is 3 kg per m2). The mechanical and physical characteristics of this new composite were previously improved with two joint-action additives: polypropylene fibres and melamine formaldehyde as a dispersing agent. In the 20-30 ºC temperature range, a gypsum board 1.5 cm thick containing this percentage of PCMs can store five times more thermal energy than conventional plasterboard of the same thickness, and the same amount of energy as half-foot hollow brick masonry. ; En esta investigación se ha diseñado y fabricado un panel de escayola que incorpora un 45% en peso de material de cambio de fase, manteniendo las propiedades físicas y mecánicas exigidas en la normativa de aplicación para yesos de construcción (UNE EN 13279 y referencias a la RY 85). Así, un panel de 1,0 m2 y 1,5 cm de espesor, contiene 4,75 kg de PCM, cantidad muy superior a la conseguida hasta la fecha (3 kg/m2). Para ello se ha mejorado previamente sus prestaciones mecánicas y físicas mediante adiciones binarias: fibras de polipropileno y dispersión de melanina formaldehído. Este porcentaje es capaz de almacenar en 1,5 cm de espesor cinco veces la energía térmica de un panel de cartón yeso con el mismo espesor y la misma cantidad que una fábrica de 1/2 pie de ladrillo hueco, en el rango de temperaturas próximas a la de confort (20-30 ºC).

Contiene: I. Desde la fundación de Roma hasta la caida de los reyes. - II y IV. Desde la expulsión de los reyes hasta la reunión de los estados italicos. - III. Desde la reunión de Italia hasta la sumisión de Cartago y de Grecia. - V. y VI. La Revolución. - VII. y VIII. La fundación de la monarquía militar. - IX. Complementario

A functional microemulsified concentrate was obtained from an industrial shrimp cooking effluent by using a centrifugal separator, resulting in a new effluent with only 5% of dry matter. The shrimp concentrate (C) showed valuable properties for use as a bioactive ingredient, being rich in lipids (~16%) and proteins (~11% w/w), and exhibiting antioxidant (radical scavenging capacity and reducing power) and antimicrobial properties. Chitosan–gelatin (ChG) biocomposites with and without the shrimp concentrate were prepared and characterized. The incorporation of C provided film-forming dispersions (S-ChGC) and dried films (F-ChGC) with increased antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The film microstructure changed with the incorporation of the concentrate, which caused an evident plasticizing effect and reduced the tensile strength. The resulting biocomposites containing the shrimp cooking concentrate showed great potential for use in food applications (as food preservation or food design), medical devices or for cosmetic purposes, as wound dressing or film matrix for application on mucous membranes and epithelia with different functionalities. ; This research was financed by: (i) the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project AGL2011-27607, AGL2014-52825-R and project AGL2017-84161-C2 and (ii) the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) through project 201370E036. M. Arancibia was funded by a SENESCYT Scholarship provided by the Ecuadorian government. ; Peer Reviewed

EU research project Bluehuman EAPA_151/2016 Government of Spain RTI2018-095490-J-I00 Xunta de Galicia ED431B 2016/042 ED481D 2017/010 ED481B 2016/047-0 Project U-Redes NanoBioMat, University of Chile

Aim The former continental‐scale studies modelled coarse‐grained plant species‐richness patterns (gamma diversity). Here we aim to refine this information for European forests by (a) modelling the number of vascular plant species that co‐occur in local communities (alpha diversity) within spatial units of 400 m2; and (b) assessing the factors likely determining the observed spatial patterns in alpha diversity. Location Europe roughly within 12°W–30°E and 35–60°N. Taxon Vascular plants. Methods The numbers of co‐occurring vascular plant species were counted in 73,134 georeferenced vegetation plots. Each plot was classified by an expert system into deciduous broadleaf, coniferous or sclerophyllous forest. Random Forest models were used to map and explain spatial patterns in alpha diversity for each forest type separately using 19 environmental, land‐use and historical variables. Results Our models explained from 51.0% to 70.9% of the variation in forest alpha diversity. The modelled alpha‐diversity pattern was dominated by a marked gradient from species‐poor north‐western to species‐rich south‐eastern Europe. The most prominent richness hotspots were identified in the Calcareous Alps and adjacent north‐western Dinarides, the Carpathian foothills in Romania and the Western Carpathians in Slovakia. Energy‐related factors, bedrock types and terrain ruggedness were identified as the main variables underlying the observed richness patterns. Alpha diversity increases especially with temperature seasonality in deciduous broadleaf forests, on limestone bedrock in coniferous forests and in areas with low annual actual evapotranspiration in sclerophyllous forests. Main conclusions We provide the first predictive maps and analyses of environmental factors driving the alpha diversity of vascular plants across European forests. Such information is important for the general understanding of European biodiversity. This study also demonstrates a high potential of vegetation‐plot databases as sources for robust estimation of the number of vascular plant species that co‐occur at fine spatial grains across large areas. ; M.V., J.D., I.K., M.Ř. and M.C. were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (Centre of Excellence Pladias; project no. 14–36079G). I.B. and J.A.C. were supported by the Basque Government (IT936‐16). B.J.‐A. was supported by the Marie Curie Clarín‐COFUND program of the Principate of Asturias and the European Union (ACB17‐26). J.‐C.S. considers this work a contribution to his VILLUM Investigator project "Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World" funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549) and his Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences TREECHANGE project (grant 6108‐00078B).

Background Sepsis and severe focal infections represent a substantial disease burden in children admitted to hospital. We aimed to understand the burden of disease and outcomes in children with life-threatening bacterial infections in Europe. Methods The European Union Childhood Life-threatening Infectious Disease Study (EUCLIDS) was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study done in six countries in Europe. Patients aged 1 month to 18 years with sepsis (or suspected sepsis) or severe focal infections, admitted to 98 participating hospitals in the UK, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, and the Netherlands were prospectively recruited between July 1, 2012, and Dec 31, 2015. To assess disease burden and outcomes, we collected demographic and clinical data using a secured web-based platform and obtained microbiological data using locally available clinical diagnostic procedures. Findings 2844 patients were recruited and included in the analysis. 1512 (53·2%) of 2841 patients were male and median age was 39·1 months (IQR 12·4–93·9). 1229 (43·2%) patients had sepsis and 1615 (56·8%) had severe focal infections. Patients diagnosed with sepsis had a median age of 27·6 months (IQR 9·0–80·2), whereas those diagnosed with severe focal infections had a median age of 46·5 months (15·8–100·4; p<0·0001). Of 2844 patients in the entire cohort, the main clinical syndromes were pneumonia (511 [18·0%] patients), CNS infection (469 [16·5%]), and skin and soft tissue infection (247 [8·7%]). The causal microorganism was identified in 1359 (47·8%) children, with the most prevalent ones being Neisseria meningitidis (in 259 [9·1%] patients), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (in 222 [7·8%]), Streptococcus pneumoniae (in 219 [7·7%]), and group A streptococcus (in 162 [5·7%]). 1070 (37·6%) patients required admission to a paediatric intensive care unit. Of 2469 patients with outcome data, 57 (2·2%) deaths occurred: seven were in patients with severe focal infections and 50 in those with sepsis. Interpretation Mortality in children admitted to hospital for sepsis or severe focal infections is low in Europe. The disease burden is mainly in children younger than 5 years and is largely due to vaccine-preventable meningococcal and pneumococcal infections. Despite the availability and application of clinical procedures for microbiological diagnosis, the causative organism remained unidentified in approximately 50% of patients.