Robust implementation under alternative information structures

In this paper we consider a model in which agents have complete information about their neighbours and, possibly, incomplete information about the rest of the economy. We consider two different informational frameworks. In the first, agents do not have priors about what is going on in the rest of the economy. In the second, agents are supposed to have priors about the unknown characteristics. We present a mechanism which any social choice correspondence satisfying monotonicity and no veto powet in both informational settings for every possible prior thus requiring little knowledge from the point of view of the designer of the information possesed by agents about the economy

Robust implementation under alternative information structures.

In this paper we consider a model in which agents have complete information about their neighbors and, possibly, incomplete information about the rest of the environment. We consider two different informational frameworks. In the firts, agents do not have priors about the relevant characteristics in the rest of the environment. In the second, agents are supposed to have priors about the unknown characteristics. We present a mechinism which implements any social choice correspondence satisfying monotonicity and no veto powe in both informational settings for every possible prior thus requiring little knowledge from the point of view ofthe desinner of the information possessed by agents about the environment.Nash implementation; Incomplete information; Local information;

Divide the dollar, a model of interregional redistributive politics

We develop a dynamic political model of dividing a fixed amount of money among n districts. There are two political parties that make proposal on such divisions and compete in each district. Each district elects a representative to a legislature. Each party is governed by its representatives who are elected to the legislature. Voters are myopic and there is a slight incumbency advantage. We show that if all districts are of the same size then they all get the same share in the long run

Public funding of political parties

This paper concerns public funding of parties. Parties receive public funds depending on their vote share. Funds …nance electoral campaigns. Two cases are investigated. In the …rst some voters are policy motivated and some are “impressionable” - their vote depends directly on campaign expenditures. In the second campaigning is informative and all voters are policy motivated. Public funds increase policy convergence in both cases. The e¤ect is larger, the more funding depends on vote shares. When campaigns are informative, there may be multiple equilibria. Intuitively, a large party can stay large since it receives large funds

Evaluation of Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics in Stool Samples Obtained from Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus) in Family and Family-commercial Farms

The inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents in guinea pigs to control enteric pathogens affects the nutritional sustainability of the rural population. Therefore, it is important to identify the pathogen, its resistance, and the appropriate antimicrobial agent for its control. The present investigation was carried out in family and family-commercial guinea pig farms, in eight rural parishes of the Gualaceo canton, Azuay province, Ecuador, from which 384 samples were obtained by rectal swabbing of guinea pigs from production units with enteric problems (diarrhea), the same ones that were transferred to the laboratory of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Cuenca, in order to identify the bacterial agents present in fecal samples of guinea pigs. There the isolation of culture media and identification of pathogens were carried out, they were subsequently exposed to an antibiogram, in order to qualitatively assess their bacterial resistance. The data were tabulated and analyzed in SPSS, finding the presence of Escherichia coli (49.4%), Salmonella typhimurium (24.6%), Shigella flexneri (14.3%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (11.7%). The Chi-square test determined that of the five antimicrobials used, only tetracycline had a relationship between bacterial presence and resistance. It was also found that Escherichia coli presented a higher percentage of resistance, for enrofloxacin 22.5%, neomycin 14.2%, sulfamethoxazole - trimethoprim 33.3%, tetracyclines 29.2%. Data were analyzed at a confidence level of 95% with a 5% error, concluding that the identified pathogens have low resistance to the antimicrobials used, but are still susceptible. Keywords: bacterial resistance, antibiogram, enteric infection, antibiotics. Resumen El uso inadecuado de agentes antimicrobianos en cobayos para controlar patógenos entéricos, afectan la sustentabilidad alimenticia de la población rural, por ello es importante identificar el patógeno, su resistencia y el agente antimicrobiano adecuado para su control. La presente investigación se realizó en explotaciones de cobayos de tipo familiar y familiar – comercial, en ocho parroquias rurales del cantón Gualaceo provincia del Azuay, Ecuador de donde se obtuvo 384 muestras mediante hisopado rectal de cobayos provenientes de unidades productoras con problemas entéricos (diarrea), las mismas que fueron trasladadas al laboratorio de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad de Cuenca, con el fin de identificar los agentes bacterianos presentes en muestras fecales de cobayos, ahí se realizó la infección de medios de cultivo e identificación de agentes patógenos, mismos que posteriormente fueron expuestos a un antibiograma, con la finalidad de evaluar cualitativamente su resistencia bacteriana. Los datos fueron tabulados y analizados en SPSS, encontrándose la presencia de Escherichia coli (49,4%), Salmonella typhimurium (24,6%), Shigella flexneri (14,3%) y Klebsiella pneumoniae (11,7%). En la prueba de chi 2, se determinó que de los cinco antimicrobianos usados, solamente la Tetraciclina tiene relación entre la presencia bacteriana y la resistencia; también se encontró que Escherichia coli presentó mayor porcentaje de resistencia, para Enrofloxacina 22,5%, Neomicina 14,2%, Sulfametoxazol – trimetoprim 33,3%, Tetraciclinas 29,2%, datos que fueron analizados a un nivel de confianza del 95% con un 5% de error, concluyendo que los patógenos identificados presentan baja resistencia a los antimicrobianos utilizados, pero aún son susceptibles. Palabras Clave: resistencia bacteriana, antibiograma, infección entérica, antibióticos

Fluctuations of the correlation dimension at metal-insulator transitions

We investigate numerically the inverse participation ratio, $P_2$, of the 3D Anderson model and of the power-law random banded matrix (PRBM) model at criticality. We found that the variance of $\ln P_2$ scales with system size $L$ as $\sigma^2(L)=\sigma^2(\infty)-A L^{-D_2/2d}$, being $D_2$ the correlation dimension and $d$ the system dimension. Therefore the concept of a correlation dimension is well defined in the two models considered. The 3D Anderson transition and the PRBM transition for $b=0.3$ (see the text for the definition of $b$) are fairly similar with respect to all critical magnitudes studied.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 4 eps figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

¿Cuál es la actitud de los médicos hacia el actual modelo de atención primaria?

ObjetivoDeterminar cómo es la actitud de los médicos hacia el actual modelo de atención primaria de salud y estimar su relación con variables de tipo sociodemográfico y/o laboral.DiseñoEstudio multicéntrico, transversal.EmplazamientoCentros de salud del Área II de la Región de Murcia.ParticipantesTotalidad de médicos generales, de familia y pediatras de los centros de salud mencionados (54 en total).Mediciones principalesComo instrumento de evaluación se utiliza la «Escala de actitudes hacia los contenidos de atención primaria de salud», de Ballesteros et al. Esta escala proporciona una puntuación total, así como una puntuación específica para cada una de las 7 dimensiones que la componen.ResultadosEn general, la actitud de los médicos es favorable (4,1 puntos de media sobre 5). En la dimensión «Inclusión de los profesionales del segundo nivel en atención primaria» es donde hemos encontrado una actitud menos favorable, siendo los médicos de familia los que se muestran más de acuerdo. En cuanto a las demás variables asociadas, los profesionales que trabajan en centros periféricos y en situación de interinidad muestran una actitud más positiva hacia el actual modelo.ConclusionesEl conocimiento de las actitudes de los profesionales, así como de las variables relacionadas, puede servir de base para diseñar posibles estrategias de intervención dirigidas a la mejora de la calidad asistencial en atención primaria y para una evolución positiva de los profesionales que prestan sus servicios.ObjectivesTo determine the attitude of doctors towards the current model of primary care and to calculate its relationship with social and demographic and/or work variables.DesignMulti-centre cross-sectional study.SettingHealth centres in Area II of the Murcia region.ParticipantsAll general practitioners, family doctors and paediatricians in the health centres mentioned (54 in all).Main measurementsThe «Scale of attitudes towards the contents of primary health care» by Ballesteros et al. was used as the tool of evaluation. This scale provides both a total score and a specific score for each of its 7 dimensions.ResultsIn general, doctors´ attitudes were favourable (4.1 points average out of 5). We found a less favourable attitude in the dimension «Inclusion of second-level professionals in primary care», with family doctors most in agreement. The professionals working in centres on the periphery and those without tenure had a more positive attitude towards the current model, for the remaining variables.ConclusionsUnderstanding professionals´ attitudes and the variables related to them may serve as a basis for designing intervention strategies aimed at improving the quality of primary care and for the positive evolution of professionals working in PC

Thermographic measurement of canopy temperature is a useful tool for predicting water deficit effects on fruit weight in citrus trees

[EN] Alternative and more practical methods for plant water stress detection than stem water potential (ψs) and stomatal conductance (gs) are needed when regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategies are applied. The aim of this experiment was to compare sap flow and canopy temperature (Tc) measurements with more classical methods like ψs or gs to predict the effect of deficit irrigation on fresh fruit weight in citrus trees. The experiment was performed during the summer of 2011 in a “Clementina de Nules” orchard undergoing RDI. Sap flow was determined by means of the compensation heat pulse method in well-watered and RDI trees. Tc was measured continuously with infrared thermometers (IRTs) mounted over the canopies and also weekly with an infrared hand-operated thermographic camera taking frontal images of the sunlit side of tree crowns. Concurrently, ψs and gs were also measured on all trees. Results showed that the evolution of the relative transpiration obtained with the sap flow sensors was in agreement with the plant water stress experienced. The values of Tc obtained with the fixed IRTs, normalized by air temperature (Tc − Ta) were in general poorly related with ψs and gs. However, when Tc was obtained from thermal imaging, there was a good correlation with ψs in days of relatively high water stress (i.e. when ψs differences among treatments were >1.0 MPa). The average fruit weight at harvest was significantly correlated with all the stress indicators, and the best correlation was that of thermographic Tc followed by ψs and gs. Overall, results showed that in citrus trees Tc measurement obtained from thermal imaging is a good tool to predict the effect of water deficit on fresh fruit weight.The authors thank H. Hernandez and T. Yeves for their help with the field work. This experiment has been funded by the RIDECO-CONSOLIDER CSD2006-00067 and Telerieg Interreg IV Sudoe projects. C. Ballester was holder of a predoctoral fellowship FPI-INIA-CCAA. D.S. Intrigliolo acknowledges the financial support received from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) program "Ramon y Cajal".Ballester, C.; Castel, J.; Jiménez Bello, MÁ.; Castel Sánchez, JR.; Intrigliolo Molina, DS. (2013). Thermographic measurement of canopy temperature is a useful tool for predicting water deficit effects on fruit weight in citrus trees. Agricultural Water Management. 122:1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.02.005S1612