Policies to Promote Growth and Economic Efficiency in Mexico

This paper discusses the problems facing the Mexican economy. It operates under a heavy burden of monopoly and regulation. We focus on two issues that should receive more attention in discussions of Mexican policy. (1) The family is under stress in Mexico and this retards the growth of skills of workforce. (2) The informal sector is large, mostly due to the heavy burden of monopoly and regulation. We find little evidence that the introduction of social protection programs for workers outside the formal sector have promoted the growth of the informal sector.Mexico, family policy, informality, regulation

Progression from ocular hypertension to visual field loss in the English hospital eye service

Background There are more than one million National Health Service visits in England and Wales each year for patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension (OHT). With the ageing population and an increase in optometric testing, the economic burden of glaucoma-related visits is predicted to increase. We examined the conversion rates of OHT to primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in England and assessed factors associated with risk of conversion. Methods Electronic medical records of 45 309 patients from five regionally different glaucoma clinics in England were retrospectively examined. Conversion to POAG from OHT was defined by deterioration in visual field (two consecutive tests classified as stage 1 or worse as per the glaucoma staging system 2). Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine factors (age, sex, treatment status and baseline intraocular pressure (IOP)) associated with conversion. Results The cumulative risk of conversion to POAG was 17.5% (95% CI 15.4% to 19.6%) at 5 years. Older age (HR 1.35 per decade, 95% CI 1.22 to 1.50, p<0.001) was associated with a higher risk of conversion. IOP-lowering therapy (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.57, p<0.001) was associated with a lower risk of conversion. Predicted 5-year conversion rates for treated and untreated groups were 14.0% and 26.9%, respectively. Conclusion Less than one-fifth of OHT patients managed in glaucoma clinics in the UK converted to POAG over a 5-year period, suggesting many patients may require less intensive follow-up. Our study provides real-world evidence for the efficacy of current management (including IOP-lowering treatment) at reducing risk of conversion

Biochar production through slow pyrolysis of different biomass materials: Seeking the best operating conditions

In the last years, special attention has been focused on analyzing the effect of pyrolysis conditions (mainly peak temperature) on the yield and properties of produced biochar. Given that the nature of biomass plays a key role in the pyrolysis process, it becomes really difficult to establish generic trends and correlations, which can be used for any biomass feedstock to predict the properties of derived biochar. Thus, more experimental studies focused on a given biomass source are still needed with the aim of providing reliable data for further research goals. In addition, a number of techniques have been proposed to estimate the long-term stability of biochar in a relatively easy and fast way (e.g., recalcitrance index, percentage of aromatic carbon, H2O2 oxidation, etc.). Please click on the file below for full content of the abstract

Influence of pressure and temperature on key physicochemical properties of corn stover-derived biochar

This study focuses on analyzing the effect of both the peak temperature and pressure on the properties of biochar produced through slow pyrolysis of corn stover, which is a common agricultural waste that currently has little or no value. The pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a fixed-bed reactor at different peak temperatures (400, 525 and 650 °C) and absolute pressures (0.1, 0.85 and 1.6 MPa). The inert mass flow rate (at NTP conditions) was adjusted in each test to keep the gas residence time constant within the reactor. The as-received corn stover was pyrolyzed into a biochar without any physical pre-treatment as a way to reduce the operating costs. The properties of biochars showed that high peak temperature led to high fixed-carbon contents, high aromaticity and low molar H:C and O:C ratios; whereas a high pressure only resulted in a further decrease in the O:C ratio and a further increase in the fixed-carbon content. Increasing the operating pressure also resulted in a higher production of pyrolysis gas at the expense of water formation

Study on the effects of using a carbon dioxide atmosphere on the properties of vine shoots-derived biochar

This study analyzes the effects of using a different atmosphere (pure N2 or pure CO2) at two levels of absolute pressure (0.1 and 1.1 MPa) on the pyrolysis of vine shoots at a constant peak temperature of 600 °C. Recycling CO2 from residual flue gases into the pyrolysis process may be economically beneficial, since CO2 can replace the use of an expensive N2 environment. In addition, the use of a moderate pressure (e.g., 1.1 MPa) can result in higher carbonization efficiencies and an improvement in the pyrolysis gas (in terms of yield and composition). Results from our study suggest that the use of CO2 instead of N2 as pyrolysis environment led to similar carbonization efficiencies (i.e., fixed-carbon yields) and mass yields of biochar. The chemical properties related to the potential stability of biochar (i.e., fixed-carbon content and molar H:C and O:C ratios) were very similar for both pyrolysis atmospheres. Under an atmosphere of CO2, the yield of produced CO2 was drastically decreased at the expense of an increase in the yield of CO, probably as a consequence of the promotion of the reverse Boudouard reaction, especially at high pressure. The enhanced reverse Boudouard reaction can also explain the relatively high BET specific surface area and the macro-porosity development observed for the biochar produced under a CO2 environment at 1.1 MPa. In summary, the pressurized pyrolysis of biomass under an atmosphere of CO2 appears as a very interesting route to produce highly stable and porous biochars and simultaneously improving the yield of CO

Developing a water-energy-GHG emissions modeling framework: Insights from an application to California's water system

[EN] Integrating processes of water and energy interdependence in water systems can improve the understanding of the tradeoffs between water and energy in management and policy. This study presents a development of an integrated water resources management model that includes water-related energy use and GHG emissions. We apply the model to a simplified representation of California's water system. Accounting for water demands from cities, agriculture, environment and the energy sector, and combining a surface water management model with a simple groundwater model, the model optimizes water use across sectors during shortages from an economic perspective, calculating the associated energy use and electricity generation for each water demand. The results of California's water system show that urban end-uses account for most GHG emissions of the entire water cycle, but large water conveyance produces significant peaks over the summer season. Different policy scenarios show the significant tradeoffs between water, energy, and GHG emissions.Escrivà Bou, À.; Lund, J.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Hui, R.; Medellín-Azuara, J. (2018). Developing a water-energy-GHG emissions modeling framework: Insights from an application to California's water system. Environmental Modelling & Software. 109:54-65. doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.07.011S546510

Satellite‐Based Monitoring of Irrigation Water Use: Assessing Measurement Errors and Their Implications for Agricultural Water Management Policy

Reliable accounting of agricultural water use is critical for sustainable water management. However, the majority of agricultural water use is not monitored, with limited metering of irrigation despite increasing pressure on both groundwater and surface water resources in many agricultural regions worldwide. Satellite remote sensing has been proposed as a low-cost and scalable solution to fill widespread gaps in monitoring of irrigation water use in both developed and developing countries, bypassing the technical, socioeconomic, and political challenges that to date have constrained in situ metering. In this paper, we show through a systematic meta-analysis that the relative accuracy of different satellite-based irrigation water use monitoring approaches remains poorly understood, with evidence of large uncertainties when water use estimates are validated against in situ irrigation data at both field and regional scales. Subsequently, we demonstrate that water use measurement errors result in large economic welfare losses for farmers and may negatively impact ability of policies to limit acute and nonlinear externalities of irrigation abstraction on both the environment and other water users. Our findings highlight that water resource planners must consider the trade-offs between accuracy and costs associated with different water use accounting approaches. Remote sensing has an important role to play in supporting improved agricultural water accounting—both independently and in combination with in situ monitoring. However, greater transparency and evidence is needed about underlying uncertainties in satellite-based models, along with how these measurement errors affect the performance of associated policies to manage different short- and long-term externalities of irrigation water use

Baseline characteristics of participants in the Treatment of Advanced Glaucoma Study (TAGS): A multicentre randomised controlled trial

PURPOSE: To report the baseline characteristics of participants enrolled in the Treatment of Advanced Glaucoma Study (TAGS) DESIGN: Pragmatic randomised control trial (RCT). PARTICIPANTS: Patients with open angle glaucoma presenting with advanced glaucoma in at least one eye as defined by the Hodapp-Parrish-Anderson (HPA) criteria of severe defect. METHODS: Participants with newly diagnosed advanced glaucoma in at least one eye were recruited. Participants were randomly allocated to receive either primary augmented trabeculectomy or primary medical management. When both eyes were eligible, the same intervention was undertaken in both eyes and the index eye for analysis was the eye with the less severe visual field mean deviation (MD). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual field profile defined by the HPA classification, clinical characteristics, Quality of life measured by the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (VFQ-25), EuroQual-5 Dimension (EQ-5D 5L), Health Utility Index-3 (HUI-3) and Glaucoma Profile Instrument (GPI) RESULTS: Four hundred and fifty-three patients were recruited. The mean visual field MD was -15.0dB (SD 6.3) in the index eye and -6.2dB in the non-index eye. Of index eyes (HPA ‘severe’ classification) at baseline, over 70% had a mean deviation < -12.00dB and nearly 90% had more than 20 points defective at the 1% level. The mean LogMAR visual acuity of the index eye was 0.2 (SD 0.3), CONCLUSIONS: TAGS is the first RCT to compare medical and surgical treatments for patients presenting with advanced open angle glaucoma in a publicly funded health service. It will provide clinical, health related quality of life and economic outcomes to inform future treatment choices for those presenting with advanced glaucom

Monitoring ocular hypertension, how much and how often? : A cost-effectiveness perspective

Funding This work was part of the Surveillance for Ocular Hypertension study funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment Programme (07/46/02).Peer reviewedPostprin