Does the educational management model matter? New evidence from a quasiexperimental approach

A growing literature has appeared in the last 2 decades with the aim to explore if the way in which publicly funded private schools are managed (a very autonomous mode) is more effective, than that applied in public schools (where decisions are highly centralized), concerning the promotion of student’s educational skills. Our paper contributes to this literature providing new evidence from the Spanish experience. To this end, we use the Spanish Assessment named “Evaluación de Diagnóstico, ” a national yearly standardized test given to students in the fourth grade and administered by the Regional Educational Authorities. In particular, our data are those corresponding to the assessment conducted in the Spanish region of Aragón in 2010. Our methodological strategy is defined by the sequential application of two methods: propensity score matching and hierarchical linear models. Additionally, the sensitivity of our estimates is also tested with respect to unobserved heterogeneity. Our results underline the existence of a slight advantage of the private management model of schools in the promotion of scientific abilities of students and in the acquisition of foreign language (English) skills

Surface ozone measurements at Taliarte, Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)

From December 1990 tropospheric ozone concentrations have been measured at Taliarte station (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands). Taliarte’s measurements are of great interest because of its proximity to Izaña BAPMoN observatory (Tenerife, Canary Islands) and its relative distance to high-pollution regions. A comparative study with other North-Atlantic stations has been carried out. In order to compare possible analogies and differences, a comparative study has been carried out. Studies involve seasonal cycle, diurnal oscillation and long-range transport. Ozone concentrations at Taliarte show high sensitivity to transport from higher latitudes. For diurnal variations, two different patterns have been found: “trade winds” and “marine breeze” situations

Generation of short and long range temporal correlated noises

We present the implementation of an algorithm to generate Gaussian random noises with prescribed time correlations that can be either long or short ranged. Examples of Langevin dynamics with short and long range noises are presented and discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figs, submitted to J. Comp. Phy

Comparing university performance by legal status: a Malmquist-type index approach for the case of the Spanish higher education system

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Tertiary Education and Management on 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13583883.2017.1296966New public management and increasing levels of competition driven by global rankings are bringing the managerial practices of public and private higher education institutions closer together. However, these two types of institutions still maintain different objectives and traditions and enjoy different degrees of autonomy that are reflected in their internal organisational structures. We study the relative efficiency and productivity performance of private and public universities in Spain through two adaptations of the Malmquist Index. Results show that, in 2009/2010, the greater flexibility of private universities meant a better adjustment between inputs and outputs in the private sector. However, in 2013/2014, public universities had caught up with private universities. Because of the economic crisis, the inputs of public universities have decreased, but this decrease had not fully impacted their results in 2013/201

Mitochondria and chromaffin cell function

Producción CientíficaChromaffin cells are an excellent model for stimulus– secretion coupling. Ca2+ entry through plasma membrane voltage-operated Ca2+ channels (VOCC) is the trigger for secretion, but the intracellular organelles contribute subtle nuances to the Ca2+ signal. The endoplasmic reticulum amplifies the cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]C) signal by Ca2+- induced Ca2+ release (CICR) and helps generation of microdomains with high [Ca2+]C (HCMD) at the subplasmalemmal region. These HCMD induce exocytosis of the docked secretory vesicles. Mitochondria close to VOCC take up large amounts of Ca2+ from HCMD and stop progression of the Ca2+ wave towards the cell core. On the other hand, the increase of [Ca2+] at the mitochondrial matrix stimulates respiration and tunes energy production to the increased needs of the exocytic activity. At the end of stimulation, [Ca2+]C decreases rapidly and mitochondria release the Ca2+ accumulated in the matrix through the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. VOCC, CICR sites and nearby mitochondria form functional triads that co-localize at the subplasmalemmal area, where secretory vesicles wait ready for exocytosis. These triads optimize stimulus–secretion coupling while avoiding propagation of the Ca2+ signal to the cell core. Perturbation of their functioning in neurons may contribute to the genesis of excitotoxicity, ageing mental retardation and/or neurodegenerative disorders

Tratamiento de las fracturas conminutas de cabeza radial mediante exéresis cabeza radial: resultados a largo plazo de 18 casos

La resección de la cabeza radial en las fracturas conminutas supone una opción de tratamiento comúnmente aceptada. El objetivo de este estudio es la evolución de los resultados a largo plazo tras escisión de la cabeza radial. Se realizó un estudio prospectivo en 18 pacientes con fracturas Mason tipo III y IV. La media de edad fue de 50 años con un tiempo medio de seguimiento de 6,8 años. Sólo 4 pacientes presentaron una pérdida de 15 grados o más de la extensión. Se produjo una pérdida den la pronación y supinación de 3,7º y 8,4 respectivamente. De acuerdo a la clasificación funcional utilizada, la media según EMPS fue de 83,3 con un 88,3% de resultados satisfactorios y según la HSSS la media fue de 71,1 con un 94% de excelentes o buenos resultados.Radial head resection is the accepted treatment of comminuted radial-head fractures in adults. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the long-term outcomes of primary radial head excision. A retrospective study was undertaken of 18 patients with Mason type III and IV. The average age at operation was 50 years and the average length of follow-up was 6,8 years. Only four patients lost 15 degrees or more of extension of the elbow. Pronation and supination were decreased by an average of 3,7º and 8,4º respective. According to the functional classification that we use, the average of EMPS score was 83,3 with a 88,3% of satisfactory results and the average of HSSS score was 71,1 with a 94% of excellent o good results

A methodology to study price-quantity interactions in inputoutput modeling : an application to NextGenerationEU funds

Severo Ochoa Program for Centers of excellence in R&D grant CEX2019-00915-S to the Barcelona School of Economics.The input-output (I-O) model is a widely employed tool for examining the interconnected structure of an economy and evaluating policy impacts. The current model consists of two separate and independent modules that describe the underlying factors governing quantities and prices. However, these modules lack any form of interaction, existing in isolated spheres where prices do not influence quantities, and quantities do not affect prices. Consequently, the I-O model has been questioned for its limited descriptive capability, particularly when a more comprehensive assessment is necessary. This study aims to enhance the explanatory capabilities of the I-O model by proposing a novel improvement. We introduce an extended version of the traditional I-O price and quantity models, which integrates them into a unified "price-quantity" model, establishing interdependencies between the two modules. This integrated model could be useful in advancing the explanatory capacity of I-O analysis, without having to resort to computational general equilibrium (CGE) models. As we know, CGE models are considerably more complex and resource-intensive in terms of data requirements compared to I-O models. To evaluate the impact of NextGenerationEU funds on the Spanish economy, we apply this integrated I-O model, utilizing data from a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for 2016, the latest year with available oficial I-O data

Spatio-temporal Bounded Noises, and transitions induced by them in solutions of real Ginzburg-Landau model

In this work, we introduce two spatio-temporal colored bounded noises, based on the zero-dimensional Cai-Lin and Tsallis-Borland noises. We then study and characterize the dependence of the defined bounded noises on both a temporal correlation parameter $\tau$ and on a spatial coupling parameter $\lambda$. The boundedness of these noises has some consequences on their equilibrium distributions. Indeed in some cases varying $\lambda$ may induce a transition of the distribution of the noise from bimodality to unimodality. With the aim to study the role played by bounded noises on nonlinear dynamical systems, we investigate the behavior of the real Ginzburg-Landau time-varying model additively perturbed by such noises. The observed phase transitions phenomenology is quite different from the one observed when the perturbations are unbounded. In particular, we observed an inverse "order-to-disorder" transition, and a re-entrant transition, with dependence on the specific type of bounded noise.Comment: 12 (main text)+5 (supplementary) page