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Entre el arte y la devoción: estudio global del certificado de peregrinación islámica Add. MS 27566 (s. XV)
No full textIn the year 836 AH (1432/33 AD), a woman named Maymu¯na bt. Muh. ammad `Abd Alla¯h al-Zarda¯l¯ made the pilgrimage to Mecca and visited the tomb of the Prophet Muh. ammad in Medina. As proof of compliance with this precept Maymu¯na acquired a luxurious certificate, now preserved in the British Library (London) with the inventory number Add.MS 27566. The scroll, reported for the first time by the French orientalist Jean Renaud (1828), has fifteen sections with colorful illustrations detailing the spaces and rituals of the Islamic pilgrimage. This article seeks to complete the preliminary description of this certificate and offers a global study of its iconographic and textual content. This includes the reading of decorative calligraphies and labels identifying the architectural elements represented in the certificate, absent in Renaud's work. The sharing of these elements suggest an underlying instructional function that will be analyzed in this article
Social value analysis: the case of Pompeu Fabra University
No full textPurpose
This paper aims to explore how to quantify the social value generated by higher education from a social accounting perspective. The proposed approach is integrated social value (ISV) analysis, a social accounting model that considers both the economic value and the social value created by an organisation for its stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
The ISV analysis has been applied to Pompeu Fabra University, following a participatory action research process with representatives of the university and its stakeholders.
Findings
The final ISV includes not only the social value created through the university's economic activity - captured by economic and financial accounting indicators - but also the specific social value created for the different stakeholders by means of non-market relationships, which were monetised through the use of indicators and financial proxies.
Research limitations/implications
Like other social accounting methodologies, ISV analysis suffers from some limitations regarding data availability and economic pricing, that partly will be resolved with maturation of the methodology and increasing standardisation.
Practical implications
By using appropriate proxies, the non-market value of the university can be monetised and integrated with university's market value. The social value results become a valuable tool for developing useful indicators for internal management and external communication.
Social implications
The process of measuring the social value created by universities provides a way to meet the rising demands for greater accountability and transparency and facilitates engagement with stakeholders on how these institutions are contributing to a sustainable society.
Originality/value
ISV is a recently proposed social accounting model that combines an organisation's economic and social results into a single concept of value creation and thus contributes to advance the field of social accounting
Social interactions and online engagement in CSCL environments: examining a measurement scale
No full textComunicació presentada al 31st International Conference on Collaboration Technologies and Social Computing (CollabTech 2025), celebrada a Jakarta (Indonèsia) del 4 al 7 de novembre de 2025.Abstract. Social interactions are key to promote effective coordination and participation in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments. While current research examines how structural and technological features can enhance collaboration, there is still the need for validated instruments to assess learners' social Interaction and Online Engagement during online collaborative activities. This study presents an exploratory validation of a scale aimed at assessing learners’ perceptions of social interaction and online engagement after CSCL activities. The scale was piloted within a questionnaire assessing online learning and collaboration, administered in the context of a standard Higher Education course. Data were collected from 68 undergraduate students who completed a synchronous task in the environment of the CSCL tool PyramidApp. The exploratory factor analysis showed three interpretable factors that mediate social interaction in the tool: Cognitive Engagement, Social Engagement and Perception Value of the Experience with satisfactory internal consistency for each subscale. Further research is needed to confirm the factor structure.This work has been supported by PID2023-146692OB-C33 and CEX2021-001195-M granted by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. D. Hernández-Leo (Serra Húnter) also acknowledges the support of ICREA through the ICREA Academia programme
Tolerance, flexibility and the application of kind terms
No full textWe explore two ways of distinguishing the semantic operation of kind terms. First, we focus on a distinction between terms with a flexible versus terms with an inflexible semantics. Flexibility depends on whether some changes in the domain of application are taken to be possible while being consistent with past usage and what is intuitively the same meaning. On the other hand we discuss terms whose mode of operation is tolerant, in that the cohabitation in the speakers' community of more than one use or practice of use of the term in question is accepted. Those terms contrast with terms that operate in a strict way restricting severely the legitimacy of different uses that cut the domain of application in different ways. Among the latter we include terms with an ethical component and terms whose correct application involves high stakes. These distinctions are not new, since the phenomena that we identify as flexibility and tolerance have been observed, although in our view they have not been properly systematized and assessed. We argue that the two distinctions throw light on the bases of some disputes and on some legal disagreements
The role of digital rectal examination for early detection of significant prostate cancer in the era of magnetic resonance imaging
No full textThe role of digital rectal examination (DRE) in the early detection of significant prostate cancer (PCa) is being questioned in the era of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, some men with suspected PCa may still be identified solely through DRE, even with low serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Additionally, most predictive models designed to improve significant PCa diagnostic pathways incorporate DRE findings. We assessed the role of DRE among 5005 men with serum PSA levels > 3.0 ng/mL and/or suspicious DRE findings, who underwent pre-biopsy MRI and targeted and/or systematic biopsies, as part of the significant PCa opportunistic screening program in Catalonia (Spain) between 2016 and 2023. Significant PCa, defined as grade group > 2, was detected in 2097 men (41.9%). Suspicion of PCa was based solely on DRE in 206 cases (4.1%) with significant PCa detected in 50 of them (2.4%). Two pathways using the Barcelona predictive models, before and after MRI, with and without DRE findings showed specificities of 52.8 and 38.7%, respectively (p < 0.001), after fixing sensitivity at 90%. Prostate biopsy was avoided in 35.1 and 26.7%, respectively (p < 0.001), while its efficacy increased from 52.8 to 58%. We conclude that DRE improved the effectiveness of an opportunistic significant PCa-screening program
L'Església Catòlica i l'Esclavitud: Esclaves als Monestirs Femenins de Barcelona a la Baixa Edat Mitjana (1326-1495)
No full textEl propòsit d’aquesta tesi és doble. En primer lloc, aprofundir el coneixement de la presència i la vida de dones esclaves que, a la Catalunya medieval, entre els anys 1326 i 1495, van ser propietat d’institucions monàstiques femenines o de les seves monges, en quatre monestirs de la ciutat de Barcelona: Sant Antoni i Santa Clara, Santa Maria de Pedralbes, Sant Pere de les Puel·les i Santa Maria de Valldonzella. I, en segon lloc, conèixer quina era la doctrina de l’Església catòlica sobre l’esclavitud i si les seves directrius es van acordar a les peculiaritats dels cenobis femenins. Creiem que l’estudi de la interacció entre doctrina i praxi pot ser una qüestió clau per comprendre si va ser la legitimació de la institució de l’esclavitud al llarg dels segles, afegida al context històric i l’entorn sociocultural de l’època, el que va fer possible que aquells monestirs femenins posseïssin persones esclaves.The purpose of this thesis is twofold. On the one hand, to deepen the knowledge of the presence and the life of women slaves owned by female monastic institutions or their nuns in medieval Catalonia, from 1326 to 1495, namely in four monasteries in the city of Barcelona: Sant Antoni i Santa Clara, Santa Maria de Pedralbes, Sant Pere de les Puel·les and Santa Maria de Valldonzella. And, on the other, to know what was the doctrine of the Catholic Church on slavery, and whether its directives were adapted to the peculiarities of female monasteries. We believe that the study of the interaction between doctrine and praxis can be the key to understand whether or not it was the legitimization of the institution of slavery over the centuries added to the historical context and the socio-cultural environment of the epoch, that allowed for those female monasteries to own enslaved people.Programa de Doctorat en Històri
Assessing the relationship between public speaking perception, personality traits, and nonverbal behavior
No full textModern public speaking heavily focuses on the delivery and performance of the speaker, and the speaker’s nonverbal behavior plays a key role in shaping the perception about their performance as well as their underlying personality traits. As most of the literature focuses on the speaker, this study sought to assess whether or not the personality traits of the audience and the personality traits with which they judged the speaker also play a role in shaping this perception comprising seven attributes. This quantitative research study that included a sample of 323 respondents from different universities adopted an experimental research design that replicated a virtual and modern public speaking scenario. Four actors, two female and two males, were commissioned to enact a similar speech content while shifting their nonverbal behavior based on pre-defined big five personality traits. It also introduced a revised Brunswik Lens Model that structures accurate personality judgement. The results revealed interesting findings supporting the notion that audience personality traits affect certain perception attributes namely sincerity and dominance of the speaker. While the gender of the audience had no effect, that of the public speaker did along some attributes. The results also showed that the judged public speaker personality traits affected all the selected perception attributes. Many challenges were faced in this study especially because production and many variables were involved; however, in parallel, it introduced theoretical and practical contributions and opened the door to new lines of research that look more closely at the relationship between the three pillars of public speaking, personality traits, and nonverbal behavior from both the speaker and the audience sides.Programa de Doctorat en Comunicaci
Somatic and germline mutational processes and the evolution of cancer drives genes
No full textCancer develops from healthy cells due to mutations in around 600 cancer driver genes. These mutations, along with neutral ones, are generated from DNA mutational processes, creating distinct patterns known as mutational signatures, which are crucial for understanding cancer's etiology. This doctoral thesis explores two main topics: mutational signatures in somatic and germline cells, and the evolution of cancer driver genes. It introduces SigNet, a neural network algorithm that accurately identifies mutational signatures even in samples with low mutation counts, revealing signatures linked to hypoxia, cancer stages, and genomic regions, with a focus on challenging signatures like SBS3, SBS5, and SBS40, and regions such as close to the transcription start sites of genes. The second focus examines if cancer driver genes evolved to minimize mutations that could lead to early-onset cancer. By reconstructing the most recent common ancestor between humans and chimpanzees and simulating germline evolution, the study suggests differences in the evolutionary paths of cancer driver and non-driver genes, potentially linked to DNA repair signatures.El càncer es desenvolupa a partir de cèl·lules sanes a causa de mutacions en uns 600 gens iniciadors del càncer. Aquestes mutacions, juntament amb les neutres, es generen a partir de processos mutacionals de l’ADN, creant patrons distintius coneguts com a signatures mutacionals, que són crucials per comprendre l'etiologia del càncer. Aquesta tesi doctoral explora dos temes principals: les signatures mutacionals en cèl·lules somàtiques i germinals, i l'evolució dels gens iniciadors del càncer. S'introdueix SigNet, un algorisme basat en xarxes neuronals que identifica amb precisió les signatures mutacionals fins i tot en mostres amb poques mutacions, revelant signatures vinculades a la hipòxia, les etapes del càncer i les regions genòmiques, especialment respecte signatures com SBS3, SBS5 i SBS40, i regions a prop dels llocs d’inici de la transcripció dels gens. El segon punt examina si els gens iniciadors del càncer han evolucionat per minimitzar les mutacions que podrien desenvolupar un càncer. Reconstruint l’ancestre comú més recent entre humans i ximpanzés i simulant l’evolució de la línia germinal, l'estudi suggereix diferències en les trajectòries evolutives dels gens iniciadors i no iniciadors del càncer, potencialment vinculades a les signatures de reparació de l’ADN.Programa de Doctorat en Biomedicin
Academic knowledge, translation and geopolitics
No full textTranslation as a translingual and transcultural practice plays a central role in reinforcing or challenging geopolitical configurations of knowledge circulation. It has transformational potential vis-à-vis political and intellectual hegemony. Counter-hegemonic practices of translation include the selective adoption of specific works to be transposed and the transformation of their textual interface in the target language. Translation is a way to modify discourses, engage in geopolitical shifts or advance ideological agendas. In this sense, current geopolitical shifts, including China's rise, reveal the many aspects that come with the translocal legitimation of knowledge