Fuzzy Subset Theory in the Measurement of Poverty

What has not been explored in the traditional measures of poverty is the extensive set of categorical variables that indicate standard of living and are already available from existing survey data. What precluded researchers from deriving poverty and welfare gauges from these data is the difficulty of incorporating these indicators in their measurement. This article offers a new approach to the traditional measures that allow these available data to be readily utilized. While accounting for the multi-dimensionality of the poverty phenomenon, the approach still provides formalism in the use of other variable parallel to and complementary with income and expenditure.poverty, econometric modeling, data and statistics

Nitrate and Phosphorus Transport in a Galician River (NW Iberian Peninsula): Insights From Fourteen Years of Monitoring

This article is part of the special issue Current Research on Soil Science and Related Aspects of Environmental Sciences in Galicia[Abstract] The long-term development of water quality metrics is critical to estimate the status of water resources and successful catchment management. This study looks at the temporal evolution of nitrate and phosphorus loads and concentrations in a stream draining rural catchment in Galicia (NW Iberian Peninsula) during 14 hydrological years. The concentrations of both nutrients are relatively low because of the rural nature of the research catchment and low-intensity agriculture. However, catchment nutrient reference levels were widely exceeded. The hydrology controls nutrient fluxes as flow is the main driver of nutrient transfer. For both nutrients there were no consistent trends in nutrient fluxes. The analysed nutrients, however, have been seen to behave differently. As a result, N seems to be decreasing, mainly due to decreased transit in the autumn and spring. Phosphorus, which is primarily transported as particulate matter, exhibits an increase in winter linked to a greater flow and sediment transfer.This research was carried out within the projects REN2003-08143, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, and PGIDIT05RAG10303PR and 10MDS103031PR, financed by the Xunta of GaliciaXunta de Galicia; PGIDIT05RAG10303PRXunta de Galicia; 10MDS103031P

¿SON EFECTIVOS LOS CONSEJOS DE ADMINISTRACIÓN? LA EFICACIA DEL CONSEJO Y LOS RESULTADOS DE LA EMPRESA

Numerosos trabajos han estudiado la influencia del consejo de administración en las decisiones y resultados de sus empresas. No obstante, la enorme popularidad alcanzada en el campo del gobierno corporativo por estos estudios, no viene acompañada por sus resultados, que han sido ambiguos y, a veces, conflictivos En esta investigación proponemos que la efectividad de los consejos depende de las experiencias y conocimientos de los consejeros que lo conforman, así como de la estructura de estos consejos. Entendemos que ambas dimensiones (composición y estructura) no son “por si” suficientes para el logro de consejos plenamente efectivos, pero si se definen como elementos necesarios para ello. Desde nuestra perspectiva, constituyen el potencial que permitirá lograr una adecuada capacidad estratégica por parte del consejo. Nuestros resultados muestran la importancia de las variables que conforman la estructura y composición del consejo (tamaño del consejo, permanencia, experiencia de los consejeros) a la hora de explicar los resultados empresariales

Root system traits and its relationship with photosynthesis and productivity in four maize genotypes under drought

The present study combined evaluations of agronomic parameters such as roots morphometry (using the WinRhizo program) and leaf gas exchange, in order to detect features in the root system which allow the maintenance of photosynthetic rates and productivity in four maize genotypes contrasting for tolerance to water deficit (WD), two tolerant (DKB 390 and BRS1055) and two sensitive (BRS 1010 and 2B710). The genotypes showed similar tolerance to dehydration of leaf tissue, but the tolerant genotypes DKB 390 and BRS1055 presented higher photosynthetic rate and yield compared to the sensitive BRS 1010 and 2B710. Nevertheless, divergent strategies of adaptation to drought among tolerant genotypes were observed. The genotype DKB 390 presented physiological mechanisms in shoots responsible for minimizing water loss, which decreases the dependence of root adjustments to increase the absorption of water. In turn, the BRS 1055 genotype showed a drought avoidance strategy by producing fine roots associated with a higher leaf area

The Impact of Persistent Cycles on Zero Frequency Unit Root Tests

In this paper we investigate the impact of non-stationary cycles on the asymptotic and finite sample properties of standard unit root tests. Results are presented for the augmented Dickey-Fuller normalised bias and t-ratio-based tests (Dickey and Fuller, 1979, and Said and Dickey, 1984), the variance ratio unit root test of Breitung (2002) and the M class of unit-root tests introduced by Stock (1999) and Perron and Ng (1996). The limiting distributions of these statistics are derived in the presence of non-stationary cycles. We show that while the ADF statistics remain pivotal (provided the test regression is properly augmented), this is not the case for the other statistics considered and show numerically that the size properties of the tests based on these statistics are too unreliable to be used in practice. We also show that the t-ratios associated with lags of the dependent variable of order greater than two in the ADF regression are asymptotically normally distributed. This is an important result as it implies that extant sequential methods (see Hall, 1994 and Ng and Perron, 1995) used to determine the order of augmentation in the ADF regression remain valid in the presence of non-stationary cycles.

A Bessel differential heat initial value problem in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space framework

For modified Bessel heat equations subjected to an initial condition, we investigate integral transforms with kernels related to the solutions of those equations by using the theory of reproducing kernels. In particular, a new framework within reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces is proposed where we construct the unique solutions of the corresponding initial value problems

Desarrollo de un chip de DNA para la detección de dianas génicas bacterianas de interés en el campo de la acuicultura

La adquisición bacteriana de multiresistencias frente a antimicrobianos es un fenómeno cada vez más preocupante, con gran repercusión para la salud pública, pero también con impacto en sectores de la producción animal, como es el caso particular de la acuicultura. Entre los años 2010-2012, como objetivo de un Proyecto de Investigación Italiano (Progetti d’interesse Nazionale, PRIN), se realizaron diferentes campañas de muestreo a lo largo de la costa del mar Adriático, en centros dedicados a la acuicultura y áreas costeras, estudiando la incidencia de bacterias multiresistentes, así como de los elementos genéticos móviles responsables de su adquisición, desarrollando además una herramienta biotecnológica que agiliza este tipo de estudios permitiendo detectar 164 dianas génicas en un único soporte. Se obtuvo una colección de 1274 aislados bacterianos, a partir de muestras de agua, sedimento y biofilm, resistentes a las distintas combinaciones de antibióticos utilizados según la legislación italiana. Del total, 105 (8,25%) aislados resultaron ser multiresistentes, detectándose en el 13,59% el integrón de clase I, en el 14,56% el plásmido pAb5s9, en el 5,82% el elemento SXT/R391, y en el 15,52% diferentes combinaciones de estos elementos genéticos. Basándonos en estos resultados, se ha desarrollado y validado un chip de DNA que permite detectar en un mismo soporte, genes que codifican para determinantes de resistencia a antimicrobianos, elementos genéticos móviles (MGE), genes para la detección de especies bacterianas patógenas con repercusión en acuicultura y para la salud del hombre, e indicadores de contaminación fecal.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Румунський етнографічний aтлас

In Romania, the crisis of the popular culture and the necessity to preserve its characteristic elements by publishing a Romanian Ethnographic Atlas was realized later. The Romanian ethnographers had the possibility to make major methodological innovation for this type of works, such as the replacement of the explicative texts of the maps with the integral publishing of the ethnographic documents, exactly as they were recorded on the field. These two works – thesaurus which shelter the registered for the XX century ethnographic data will have, when finished, 30 toms: 25 with document of oral history and five with maps and images regarding their territorial distribution.În România criza culturii populare şi necesitatea de a păstra elementele ei caracteristice prin publicarea Atlasului Etnografic Român s-a constatat mai târziu. Etnografii români au avut mai apoi posibilitatea de a folosi inovaţii metodologice majore pentru asemenea gen de lucrări, cum ar fi înlocuirea textelor explicative ale hărţilor cu publicarea integrală a documentelor etnografice în felul în care au fost înregistrare pe teren. Aceste două tipuri de lucrări cu caracter de tezaur care acoperă toate datele etnografice înregistrate în secolul al XX-lea vor avea, cînd se vor încheia, 30 de volume: 25 cu documente de istorie orală şi cinci cu hărţi şi imagini referitoare la distribuţia lor teritorială