Area Of Barcelona Research Articles

Injury pattern in lethal motorbikes-pedestrian collisions, in the area of Barcelona, Spain

IntroductionThere are several studies about M1 type vehicle-pedestrian collision injury pattern, and based on them, there has been several changes in automobiles for pedestrian protection. However, the lack of sufficient studies about injury pattern in motorbikes-pedestrian collisions leads to a lack of optimization design of these vehicles. The objective of this research is to study the injury pattern of pedestrians involved in collisions with motorized two-wheeled vehicles. MethodsA retrospective descriptive study of pedestrian's deaths after collisions with motorcycles in an urban area, like Barcelona was performed. The cases were collected from the Forensic Pathology Service database of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Catalonia. The selected cases were categorized as pedestrian-motorcycle collision, between January 1st, 2005 and December 31st, 2014. Data were collected from the autopsy, medical, and police report. The collected information was then analyzed using Microsoft Excel statistical functions. ResultsTraumatic Brain Injury is the main cause of death in pedestrian hit by motorized two-wheeled vehicles (62.85%). The most frequent injury was the subarachnoid hemorrhage, in 71.4% of cases, followed by cerebral contusions and skull base fractures (65.7%). By contrast, pelvic fractures and tibia fractures only appeared in 28.6%. ConclusionsThe study characterizes the injury pattern of pedestrians involved in a collision with motorized two-wheeled vehicles in an urban area, like Barcelona, which has been found to be different from other vehicle-pedestrian collisions, with a higher incidence of brain injuries and minor frequency of lower extremities fractures in pelvis, tibia and fibula.

Insight and gender in schizophrenia and other psychoses

This study aimed to evaluate gender differences in the deficit of insight in psychosis and determine influences of clinical, functional, and sociodemographic variables. A multicenter sample of 401 adult patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders who agreed to participate was evaluated in four centers of the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Catalonia). Psychopathological assessment was performed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Lindenmayers’ Factors. Insight and its dimensions were assessed by means of the Scale of Unawareness of Mental Disorder. Significant differences were apparent neither between men and women in the three dimensions of insight, nor in the total awareness, nor in the total attribution subscales. However, statistically significant differences were found in awareness and attribution of particular symptoms. Women showed a worse awareness of thought disorder and alogia and a higher misattribution of apathy. Higher cognitive and positive symptoms, early stage of the illness, and having been married explained deficits of insight dimensions in women. In men, other variables such as lower functioning, higher age, other psychosis diagnosis, and, to a lower extent, higher scores in cognitive, positive, and excitative symptoms, explained deficits of insight dimensions. These data could help to design gender-specific preventive and therapeutic strategies.

Older Peruvian Migrants’ Capacity and Desire to Send Remittances from Spain

This article draws on the conceptual framework of capacity and desire to analyze the remitting behavior of older Peruvian migrants in Spain. Cross-sectional survey data are explored using regression analysis to estimate how local and transnational factors relate to the sending of remittances. To reveal the complexities involved in this activity, the findings are discussed in the light of qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews with older Peruvian migrants in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Results show that economic integration and transnational ties and practices are strong predictors for the sending of remittances, with local language skills being of intermediate relevance.

Alfabetización en salud en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca atendidos en atención primaria

ObjectivesThe level of health literacy is examined, as well as its conditioning factors in patients with heart failure who are seen routinely in a Primary Health Care Area. DesignA multicentre cross-sectional study. Setting10 Primary care centres from the metropolitan area of Barcelona. ParticipantsPatients diagnosed with heart failure. Inclusion criteria: to have visited the Primary Health Care centre in the last year, being able to arrive at the primary care setting independently, and voluntarily participation. Main measurementsHealth Literacy Survey–European Union - Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q) and Spanish version of the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour Scale. An analysis was made of the relationships between health literacy, self-care practices, sociodemographic, and clinical variables using ANOVA test and a multiple linear regression model. ResultsThe study included 318 patients (51.2% women) with a mean age of 77.9±8.7 years. The index of health literacy of 79.6% (n=253) of the participants indicated problems in understanding healthcare information. Health literacy level was explained by academic level (P<.001), the extent of heart failure (P=.032), self-care, and age (P<.04).The academic level explained 61.6% of the health of literacy (95% bootstrap: 44.58%; 46.75%). ConclusionsIn patients with stable heart failure, it is important to consider all factors that help patients to understand the healthcare information. Health literacy explains patient self-care attitude in heart failure.

Assessment of the effectiveness of structural and nonstructural measures to cope with global change impacts in Barcelona

In a context of high uncertainty of hydro‐climatic variables, the development of updated methods to assess climate change impacts is as important as the provision of improved climate change data. This article presents the impacts of climate change on the flooding problems concerning a critical area of Barcelona and the assessment of the effectiveness of structural and nonstructural measures to cope with such impacts. For this purpose, a specific study tackling climate change influence on extreme precipitation in Barcelona and a detailed 1D/2D‐coupled model were used. Once the model was developed and calibrated, several scenarios of adaptation measures were considered to cope with climate change effects for the 2050 horizon. Results concerning these scenarios were compared to a defined ‘business as usual scenario’. Climate change impacts were assessed in terms of flood hazard and risk maps concerning vehicular and pedestrian circulation for several return periods (1, 10 and 100 years) for all the considered scenarios. Additionally, direct tangible damages were estimated using depth‐damage curves. The expected annual damage of the area is obtained by combining hazard and vulnerability levels using a Geographic Information System‐based toolbox. By undertaking a cost‐benefit analysis, the effectiveness of the strategies is assessed.

Older People and Mobile Communication in Two European Contexts

&lt;p&gt;We analyze the relationships seniors have with mobile communications in two different European contexts, Romania and Catalonia. By means of a qualitative approach, we describe the ways older individuals incorporate mobile phones in everyday life communication practices, and the motivations supporting these decisions. To understand motivations for using a given communication device –as the mobile phone– we took into account the channels individual has access to; individual’s personal interest on using available devices in everyday communications; the location of the members of the individual’s personal network; and the pricing system that determines the cost of mediated communication.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The empirical analysis is based on two case studies conducted in Romania and in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Catalonia) in different moments, between 2010 and 2012. Participants were 60 years old or over. Information was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews that were recorded and transcribed, while a common methodological design allows an enriched insight. Besides gender, we take into account heterogeneity of ageing for a more nuanced analysis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This paper constitutes the first step in the exploration of common trends in the relationship seniors have with mobile communication in different European countries.&lt;/p&gt;

Characteristics of falls producing hip fracture in patients on oral anticoagulants

Objective: To analyze the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients on chronic anticoagulant therapy (CAT) admitted because of a hip fracture secondary to a fall, and to compare with patients not receiving CAT. Methods: A prospective, observational study realized in six hospitals in the Barcelona area. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were collected. The index fall characteristics – cause, height, location, and time of occurrence – were evaluated. Results: Of the 1225 patients included, 99 (8%) patients were on CAT. When we compare with the rest logistic regression analysis showed that patients receiving CAT were more likely to be male (odds ratio 3.7), not institutionalized (odds ratio 3.5), to take more number of drugs (odds ratio 1.3), to have dementia (odds ratio 2.1) and stroke (odds ratio 1.7). Results revealed a higher prevalence of combined factors as the cause of the index fall in the group of patients on anticoagulants. Conclusions: Characteristics of falls were very similar when comparing the group of patients receiving CAT with those who did not. A prior history of falls should lead physicians to take actions for preventing falls causing hip fracture, in all patients and particularly in these on CAT.

Use rights markets for shallow geothermal energy management

Due to the growth in demand for shallow geothermal energy, the development of an integrated management system to organize the exploitation of this resource is mandatory to protect both groundwater and the users’ rights. This paper proposes a methodology to establish a market of shallow geothermal energy use rights which will represent an advance in the management of this resource. The new concept developed to define the basic unit of management is the thermal plot. It is related to the shallow geothermal potential of a registered plot of land. This methodology is based on a GIS framework (ArcGIS, ESRI) and is composed of a geospatial database (Personal Geodatabase, ESRI) to store the main information required to manage the SGE systems, such as groundwater velocity, thermal conductivity or thermal heat capacity, and a set of GIS tools used to define, implement and control this use rights market. The exchanged heat rate and thermal disturbance are calculated on the basis of analytical solutions of heat transport equation in porous media. Thermal impacts derived from the exploitation of this resource can also be registered geographically, by taking into account the groundwater flow direction and adjusting the thermal impact to the available plot. A synthetic application of this methodology is presented for the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, Spain.

Differences in the ectoparasite fauna between micromammals captured in natural and adjacent residential areas are better explained by sex and season than by type of habitat

We compared the ectoparasite fauna in 608 micromammals (chiefly 472 wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus, 63 Algerian mice Mus spretus, and 51 greater white-toothed shrews Crocidura russula) captured in natural and adjacent residential areas in spring and autumn during three consecutive years in four areas in periurban Barcelona (NE Spain). We found little support for an association of urbanization with differences in infestation by ectoparasites. Prevalence of Rhipicephalus sp. tick in wood mice and shrews was significantly higher in residential than in natural habitats, and the opposite was found for the flea Ctenophtalmus andorrensis catalanensis in shrews. Marked differences in the prevalence of the flea Leptopsylla taschenbergi amitina in wood mice between seasons were observed in natural but not in residential habitats, probably due to enhanced flea survival probabilities in the latter. However, as a rule, males were more frequently and heavily infested than females, and the prevalence was higher in autumn than in spring. Our results suggest that the ectoparasite fauna of periurban micromammals is shaped more by other factors than by habitat modification. People living in residential areas are at risk of contact with the arthropods borne by non-commensal micromammals and the pathogens transmitted by them.

An integrated GIS-based tool for aquifer test analysis

The quantification of the hydraulic parameters is important to support decision making in environmental impact assessment, water resources evaluation or groundwater contamination remediation, among others. These kind of parameters derived from aquifer tests usually encompasses a vast amount of data (spatial and non-spatial) for management and analysis. To achieve this in a clear and understandable manner, the GIS environment is a useful instrument. Development of innovative software to analyze pumping tests in a GIS platform environment to support the hydraulic parameterization of groundwater flow and transport models is presented in this paper. This new platform provides three interconnected modules to improve (a) pumping test interpretation code through a user-friendly interface, (b) pumping test data visualization supported by a set of tools that perform spatiotemporal queries in a GIS environment and (c) the storage and management of hydrogeological information. Additionally, within the GIS platform, it is possible to process the hydraulic parameters obtained from the pumping test and to create spatial distribution maps, perform geostatistical analysis and export the information to an external software platform. Finally, a real-world application in the area of Barcelona (Spain) has shown the usefulness of the tools developed in support of hydrogeological analysis.

Building a panel data set on fuel stations located in the Spanish regional areas of Madrid and Barcelona

The data described in this article were collected daily over the period June 10, 2010, to November 25, 2012, from the website of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. The database includes information about fuel stations regarding to their prices (both gross and net of taxes), brand, location (latitude and longitude), and postal code in the Spanish provinces of Madrid and Barcelona. Moreover, obtaining the postal codes has allowed us to select those stations that are operating within the metropolitan areas of Madrid and Barcelona. By considering those fuel stations that uninterruptedly provided prices during the entire period, the data can be especially useful to explore the dynamics of prices in fuel markets. This is the case of Balaguer and Ripollés (2016), “Asymmetric fuel price responses under heterogeneity” [1], who, taking into account the presence of the potential heterogeneity of the behaviour of fuel stations, used this statistical information to perform an analysis on asymmetric fuel price responses.

Territorio y crisis: impacto territorial de la crisis económica en las regiones metropolitanas de Madrid y Barcelona.

The economic crisis has had a major impact on the country, but has been little studied in its socio-territorial dimension. To analyze it in the metropolitan areas of Barcelona and Madrid, we 1) present a time series of the unemployment rates, the evolution of which will be 2) analyzed against the main sociodemographic features of the studied population: age, gender and nationality. 3) These results are further broken down by sector of activity and professional category to account for the occupational characteristics of said population. 4) Next, the obtained time series of unemployment rates are analyzed from a geographical perspective, through the comparison of territorial aggregates such as the cluster of municipalities by size, 2 by comarcas (NUTS4), and by socioeconomic level. Finally, 5) the evolution of said unemployment rates for each period and metropolitan region is studied through multivariate analysis. The obtained results allow for the presentation of a synthesis of the processes that underlie the changes in unemployment rates and their territorial articulation. This analysis shows that the crisis has two distinct phases, with an earlier and more intense incidence in the regional peripheries, in areas most linked to the construction

An evaluation of monk parakeet damage to crops in the metropolitan area of Barcelona

Evaluacion de los danos producidos por la cotorra de pecho gris en los cultivos del area metropolitana de Barcelona En este trabajo evaluamos los danos producidos por la cotorra de pecho gris, Myiopsitta monachus , en los cultivos comerciales del area agricola del Baix Llobregat (1.024 ha), adyacente a la ciudad de Barcelona (Espana). En promedio, las cotorras causaron perdidas en los cultivos del orden del 0,4% en el tomate, el 28% en el maiz, el 9% en la ciruela claudia ovalada, el 36% en la ciruela claudia redonda, el 37% en la pera, el 17% en el caqui y el 7% en el membrillo. Nuestro trabajo confirma de forma objetiva que los danos potenciales producidos por la cotorra de pecho gris en esta zona invadida son ya una realidad. La pasividad en la gestion ante las especies invasoras a la larga siempre acarrea graves consecuencias. Por lo tanto, los sistemas de deteccion de danos y la rapida intervencion en este tipo de conflictos son herramientas basicas en la gestion para evitar problemas a medio largo plazo.

Job accessibility and job‐education mismatch in the metropolitan area of Barcelona

AbstractThis paper analyses the effect of job accessibility on job‐education mismatch in the metropolitan area of Barcelona with regard to both public and private transport. Transit accessibility is defined in terms of the spatial distribution of employment relative to travel time by public transport, whereas accessibility by private transport is approximated by car availability. The results obtained from a joint model for car ownership, employment selectivity and mismatch confirm that car availability matters for job‐education mismatch. Moreover, public transport connectivity to job locations favours the matching between schooling and occupation in the urban labour market.

Prevalence of selected infectious disease agents in stray cats in Catalonia, Spain.

ObjectivesThe objective of the current study was to investigate the prevalence rates of the following infectious agents in 116 stray cats in the Barcelona area of Spain: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella species, Borrelia burgdorferi, Chlamydia felis, Dirofilaria immitis, Ehrlichia species, feline calicivirus (FCV), feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1), feline leukaemia virus (FeLV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), haemoplasmas, Mycoplasma species and Rickettsia species.MethodsSerum antibodies were used to estimate the prevalence of exposure to A phagocytophilum, Bartonella species, B burgdorferi, Ehrlichia species and FIV; serum antigens were used to assess for infection by D immitis and FeLV; and molecular assays were used to amplify nucleic acids of Anaplasma species, Bartonella species, C felis, D immitis, Ehrlichia species, FCV, FHV-1, haemoplasmas, Mycoplasma species and Rickettsia species from blood and nasal or oral swabs.ResultsOf the 116 cats, 63 (54.3%) had evidence of infection by Bartonella species, FeLV, FIV or a haemoplasma. Anaplasma species, Ehrlichia species or Rickettsia species DNA was not amplified from these cats. A total of 18/116 cats (15.5%) were positive for FCV RNA (six cats), Mycoplasma species DNA (six cats), FHV-1 DNA (three cats) or C felis DNA (three cats).Conclusions and relevanceThis study documents that shelter cats in Catalonia are exposed to many infectious agents with clinical and zoonotic significance, and that flea control is indicated for cats in the region.

Asymmetric fuel price responses under heterogeneity

We explore the effect of cross-sectional aggregation of data on estimation and test of asymmetric retail fuel price responses to wholesale price shocks. The analysis is performed on data collected daily from individual fuel stations in the Spanish metropolitan areas of Madrid and Barcelona. While the standard OLS estimator is applied to an error correction model in the case of the aggregated time series, we use the mean group approaches developed by Pesaran and Smith (1995) and Pesaran (2006) to estimate the short- and long-run micro-relations under heterogeneity. We found remarkable differences between the results of estimations using aggregated and disaggregated data, which are highly robust to both datasets considered. Our findings could help to explain many of the results in the literature on this research topic. On the one hand, they suggest that the typical estimation with aggregated data clearly tends to overestimate the persistence of shocks. On the other hand, we show that aggregation may generate a loss of efficiency in econometric estimates that is sufficiently large to hide the existence of the “rockets and feathers” phenomenon.

Revisiting “Southern” Sprawl: Urban Growth, Socio-Spatial Structure and the Influence of Local Economic Contexts

Given its unpredictable nature, urban sprawl in the Mediterranean region is considered an intriguing (and intricate) socioeconomic issue. Since the 1970s, urban dispersion advanced rapidly in southern Europe—irrespective of a city’s size and morphology—with urbanization rates growing faster than population. A comparison between the metropolitan areas of Barcelona, Rome and Athens reveals how sprawl has occurred in different ways in the three cities, highlighting peculiar relationships between urbanization, land-use and economic structures. Sharing common drivers of change related to population dynamics, socio-spatial structure and deregulated urban expansion, sprawl has adapted to the local economic, cultural and environmental context. Barcelona shows a dispersion pattern towards a more spatially-balanced morphology, with expanding sub-centres distributed around the central city, Rome appears to be mostly scattered around the historical city with fragmented urban fabric and heterogeneous economic functions, Athens is denser, with polarized economic spaces and social segregation. Understanding how place-specific factors influence processes of settlement dispersion in Mediterranean contexts may inform policies of urban containment and land-use management.

Ultrasound screening for fetal growth restriction at 36 vs 32 weeks' gestation: a randomized trial (ROUTE).

To compare the utility of routine third-trimester ultrasound examination at 36 weeks' gestation with that at 32 weeks in detecting fetal growth restriction (FGR). This was an open-label parallel randomized trial (ROUTE study) conducted at a single general hospital serving a geographically well-defined catchment area in Barcelona, Spain, between May 2011 and April 2014. Women with no adverse medical or obstetric history and a singleton pregnancy without fetal abnormalities at routine second-trimester scan were assigned randomly to undergo a scan at 32 weeks' gestation (n = 1272) or at 36 weeks' gestation (n = 1314). Primary outcome measures were detection rates of FGR (customized birth weight < 10(th) centile) and severe FGR (customized birth weight < 3(rd) centile). There were no significant differences in perinatal outcome between those who underwent a scan at 32 weeks' gestation and those who underwent a scan at 36 weeks' gestation. Severe FGR at birth was associated significantly with emergency Cesarean delivery for fetal distress (odds ratio (OR), 3.4 (95% CI, 1.8-6.7)), neonatal admission (OR, 2.23 (95% CI, 1.23-4.05)), hypoglycemia (OR, 9.5 (95% CI, 1.8-49.8)) and hyperbilirubinemia (OR, 9.0 (95% CI, 4.6-17.6)). Despite similar false-positive rates (FPRs) (6.4% vs 8.2%), FGR detection rates were superior at 36 vs 32 weeks' gestation (sensitivity, 38.8% vs 22.5%; P = 0.006), with positive and negative likelihood ratios of 6.1 vs 2.7 and 0.65 vs 0.84, respectively. In cases of severe FGR, FPRs for both scans were also similar (8.5% vs 8.7%), but detection rates were superior at 36 vs 32 weeks' gestation (61.4% vs 32.5%; P = 0.008). Positive and negative likelihood ratios were 7.2 vs 3.7 and 0.4 vs 0.74, respectively. In low-risk pregnancies, routine ultrasound examination at 36 weeks' gestation was more effective than that at 32 weeks' gestation in detecting FGR and related adverse perinatal and neonatal outcomes.

Estratégias de Gênero em Contexto Diaspórico: o caso dos missionários pentecostais brasileiros em Barcelona.

The religious revival of the 'North' (Europe), developed by Pentecostal missionaries of the 'South' (Latin America - Brazil, in particular), in the context of the 'reverse mission', is a dynamic process and in significant expansion. From a localized ethnography - conducted between November 2011 and April 2012 - this article analyzes the work of evangelization and gender strategies developed by two emblematic and differentiated Brazilian neo-Pentecostal religious movements, in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain): the evangelical and transnationalised Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal group Raboni Ajaray. From a comparative anthropological study of the daily life of these two religious groups, it discusses how a feminized and manly character, respectively, define important boundaries between Catholics and evangelicals. The ethnographic data demonstrate how certain characteristics of immigrants can act as a source of social differentiation that fosters opportunities and specific doctrinal strategies for men and women, in a context of diaspora.

How to measure the efficacy of VET workplace learning: the FET-WL model

Purpose – Workplace learning (WL) is a key part of vocational education and training (VET) because it allows students to develop their skills in a work environment, and provides important information about how well VET studies prepare skilled workers. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and validate an instrument to evaluate WL efficacy in VET. Design/methodology/approach – The research presented in this paper was based on a quantitative design, after having identified factors that influence training efficacy. The factors to evaluate transfer in WL (FET-WL) questionnaire was formed of 57 items (five-point Likert scale) and applied to a stratified probabilistic sample of 1,026 VET students in the Barcelona area (Spain). Findings – After conducting an exploratory factor analysis, the model explained 48.42 per cent of the variance and six factors merged: coherence of the training of the school with the WL, school tutor’s sole, host company tutor’s role, the possibilities of developing the WL, integration into the company and student’s motivation. Originality/value – Results show that the FET-WL may be a useful tool for the various agents involved in WL since it may improve the organization and management of VET and thereby increase its efficacy.