Spatial Structures and Spatial Spillovers: A GME Approach

Spatial econometrics is a subdiscipline that have gained a huge popularity in the last twenty years, not only in theoretical econometrics but in empirical studies as well. Basically, spatial econometric methods measure spatial interaction and incorporate spatial structure into regression analysis. The specification of a matrix of spatial weights W plays a crucial role in the estimation of spatial models. The elements of this matrix measure the spatial relationships between two geographical locations i and j, and they are specified exogenously to the model. Several alternatives for W have been proposed in the literature, although binary matrices based on contiguity among locations or distance matrices are the most commons choices. One shortcoming of using this type of matrices for the spatial models is the impossibility of estimating “heterogeneous†spatial spillovers: the typical objective is the estimation of a parameter that measures the average spatial effect of the set of locations analysed. Roughly speaking, this is given by “ill-posed†econometric models where the number of (spatial) parameters to estimate is too large. In this paper, we explore the use of generalized maximum entropy econometrics (GME) to estimate spatial structures. This technique is very attractive in situations where one has to deal with estimation of “ill-posed†or “ill-conditioned†models. We compare by means of Monte Carlo simulations “classical†ML estimators with GME estimators in several situations with different availability of information.

Ecological Inference with Entropy Econometrics: using the Mexican Census as a benchmark

Most regional empirical analyses are limited by the lack of data. Researchers have to use information that is structured in administrative or political regions which are not always economically meaningful. The non-availability of geographically disaggregated information prevents to obtain empirical evidence in order to answer some relevant questions in the field of urban and regional economics. The objective of this paper is to suggest an estimation procedure, based on entropy econometrics, which allows for inferring disaggregated information on local income from more aggregated data. In addition to a description of the main characteristics of the proposed technique, the paper illustrates how the procedure works taking as an empirical application the estimation of income for different classes of Mexican municipalities. It would be desirable to apply the suggested technique to a study case where some observable data are available and confront the estimates with the actual observations. For this purpose, we have taken the information contained in the Mexican census as a benchmark for our estimation technique. Assuming that the only available data are the income aggregates per type of municipality and State, we make an exercise of ecological inference and disaggregate these margins to recover individual (local) data.

Conservación de energía en sistemas autoconstruidos: El caso de la quincha mejorada

Se presentan la tecnología para autoconstrucción basada en la aplicación de la tecnología de tierra llamada quincha, la que se ha propuesto una mejora para hacerla más conservativa desde el punto de vista de la energía y que a su vez, permite no ser apta para el alojamiento de insectos. La misma se ha aplicado en dos construcciones: ampliación del comedor infantil "Mi Casita Noelia", ubicada en Junín, Mendoza y ampliación del Taller de experimentación del LAHVINCIHUSA. Se presenta el diseño del muro, los resultados de la evaluación térmica del material y esquemas explicativos del armado de esta tecnología.It is presented technology for selfconstruction of houses. It is based in the quincha, old earth technology but this paper show a method for improve thermal characteristic of vertical facades and for the roof. This technology was applicated in dining room for children "Mi Casita Noelia", situated in Junin, Mendoza and Experimental room for tools of LAHV-INCIHUSA. It is presented design of the facades and the result of thermal evaluation of material and explicative draw for technology conformation.Fil: Fernandez, Jose Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Esteves Miramont, Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentin

PREDICTING INDICATORS AT SMALL SCALE USING ENTROPY ECONOMETRICS

Statistical information for empirical analysis is very frequently available at a higher level of aggregation than it would be desired. Economic and social indicators by income classes, for example, are not always available for cross-country comparisons, and this problem aggravates when the geographical area of interest is sub-national (regions). In this paper we propose entropy-based methodologies that use all available information at each level of aggregation even if it is incomplete. This type of estimators have been studied before in the field of Ecological Inference. This research is related to a classical problem in geographical analysis called to modifiable area unit problem, where spatial data disaggregation may give inaccurate results due to spatial heterogeneity in the explanatory variables. An empirical application to Spanish data is also presented

Comportamiento mecánico ante la sobrexpansión de stents de cromo-cobalto comparados con stents de acero inoxidable, implantados en la aorta abdominal de conejos hipercolesterolémicos

Introducción: La fisiopatología de la disfunción diastólica del ventrículo izquierdo incluye alteraciones de la relajación ventricular, rigidez elástica pasiva o una combinación de ambos mecanismos. Mediante el eco-Doppler es posible evaluar parámetros relacionados con la relajación ventricular, pero no de la rigidez elástica pasiva. El estrés parietal diastólico evalúa la rigidez elástica pasiva a través de la disminución de la compresión del miocardio al final de la diástole. Objetivo: Evaluar la rigidez elástica pasiva mediante el estrés parietal diastólico en pacientes con estenosis aórtica grave con fracción de eyección preservada y su relación con la presencia de insuficiencia cardíaca grado III-IV. Material y métodos: Se estudiaron 76 pacientes (edad promedio 67 ± 11 años) portadores de estenosis aórtica grave (índice de área valvular aórtica <0,6 cm2/m2) y fracción de eyección mayor o igual al 50%. El estrés parietal diastólico fue calculado como: (espesor sistólico de pared posterior – espesor diastólico) / espesor sistólico en modo M. Se calculó por métodos no invasivos la relación E/e´, presión de fin de diástole y presión de fin de diástole / volumen de fin de diástole. Los pacientes fueron ordenados en 2 grupos: Grupo 1: insuficiencia cardíaca grado III - IV (n = 5 pacientes) y Grupo 2: sin insuficiencia cardíaca (n = 71 pacientes). Resultados: Los pacientes del grupo 1 presentaron mayor alteración de la rigidez elástica pasiva evidenciada por disminución del estrés parietal diastólico (0,23 ± 0,05 vs. 0,30 ± 0,06 p < 0,01), mayor incremento de E/e´ (20 ± 7 vs. 14 ± 8 p < 0,05), presión de fin de diástole y presión de fin de diástole / volumen de fin de diástole. Conclusión: El estrés parietal diastólico permitiría objetivar alteraciones de la rigidez elástica pasiva en pacientes con estenosis aórtica grave, fracción de eyección preservada e insuficiencia cardíaca que no pueden ser evaluadas mediante los parámetros de función diastólica habituales.Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the behavior to overexpansion of cobalt chromium stents compared with stainlesssteel stents.Methods: Twenty New Zealand rabbits were used, fed with a diet supplemented with 1% cholesterol. Animals were divided into twogroups. Group 1 (n=10) received 3.0 mm cobalt chromium stents overexpanded at 20 atmospheres and group 2 (n=10) 3.5 mm stentsdeployed at 10 atmospheres. These stents were compared with a previous series of 20 animals with stainless steel stents, dividedinto the same two groups. A third group with conventional diet was used as control. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was performedto assess the degree of elastic recoil and also the degree of symmetry using ?intertrust angles?.Results: In group 1 of cobalt chromium stents, mean elastic recoil was 0.11±0.13 mm, (3.21% recoil) and in group 2 this was0.3±0.12 mm, (8.26% recoil) (p=0.002). In group 1 of stainless steel stents mean elastic recoil was 0.28±0.18 mm (8.21% recoil) andin group 2 this was 0.10±0.11 mm (2.79% recoil) (p <0.001).Conclusions: In cobalt chromium stents, elastic recoil was lower in overexpanded stents, whereas in stainless steel stents, elasticrecoil was higher in overexpanded stents. No differences in symmetry were observed between the different groups.Fil: Fernandez, Alejandro. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Mele, Esteban. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Renou, Sandra Judith. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología. Cátedra de Anatomía Patológica; ArgentinaFil: Olmedo, Daniel Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología. Cátedra de Anatomía Patológica; ArgentinaFil: Berrocal, Daniel. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Gelpi, Ricardo Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología. Cátedra de Anatomía Patológica; Argentin

Ecological and Sociodemographic Determinants of House Infestation by Triatoma infestans in Indigenous Communities of the Argentine Chaco

The Gran Chaco ecoregion, a hotspot for Chagas and other neglected tropical diseases, is home to >20 indigenous peoples. Our objective was to identify the main ecological and sociodemographic determinants of house infestation and abundance of Triatoma infestans in traditional Qom populations including a Creole minority in Pampa del Indio, northeastern Argentina.A cross-sectional survey determined house infestation by timed-manual searches with a dislodging aerosol in 386 inhabited houses and administered questionnaires on selected variables before full-coverage insecticide spraying and annual vector surveillance. We fitted generalized linear models to two global models of domestic infestation and bug abundance, and estimated coefficients via multimodel inference with model averaging.Most Qom households were larger and lived in small-sized, recently-built, precarious houses with fewer peridomestic structures, and fewer livestock and poultry than Creoles’. Qom households had lower educational level and unexpectedly high residential mobility. House infestation (31.9%) was much lower than expected from lack of recent insecticide spraying campaigns and was spatially aggregated. Nearly half of the infested houses examined had infected vectors. Qom households had higher prevalence of domestic infestation (29.2%) than Creoles’ (10.0%), although there is large uncertainty around the adjusted OR. Factors with high relative importance for domestic infestation and/or bug abundance were refuge availability, distance to the nearest infested house, domestic insecticide use, indoor presence of poultry, residential overcrowding, and household educational level.Our study highlights the importance of sociodemographic determinants of domestic infestation such as overcrowding, education and proximity to the nearest infested house, and corroborates the role of refuge availability, domestic use of insecticides and household size. These factors may be used for designing improved interventions for sustainable disease control and risk stratification. Housing instability, household mobility and migration patterns are key to understanding the process of house (re)infestation in the Gran Chaco.Fil: Gaspe, Maria Sol. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Provecho, Yael Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Cardinal, Marta Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Maria del Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Gurtler, Ricardo Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Exact solutions and cosmological constraints in fractional cosmology

This paper investigates exact solutions of cosmological interest in fractional cosmology. Given $\mu$, the order of the fractional derivative, and $w$, the matter equation of state, we present particular exact power-law solutions. We discuss the exact general solution of the system obtained by solving a Riccati Equation, where the solution for the scale factor is a combination of power-law. Using cosmological data, we estimate the free parameters $(\alpha_0, \mu)$, where $H_{0}=100\frac{\text{km/s}}{\text{Mpc}}h$, and $\alpha_0:=t_0 H_0 = \frac{1}{6} \left(9 -2 \mu +\sqrt{8 \mu (2 \mu -9)+105}\right)(1+ 2 \epsilon_0)$, is the current age parameter. The joint analysis with data from SNe Ia + OHD leads to $h=0.684_{-0.027}^{+0.031}$, $\mu=1.840_{-0.773}^{+1.446}$ and $\epsilon_0=\left(1.213_{-1.057}^{+0.482}\right)\times 10^{-2}$, where the best-fit values are calculated at $3\sigma$ CL. On the other hand, these best-fit values lead to an age of the Universe with a value of $t_0=\alpha_0/H_0=25.62_{-4.46}^{+6.89}\;\text{Gyrs}$, a current deceleration parameter of $q_{0}=-0.37_{-0.11}^{+0.08}$, both at $3\sigma$ CL, and a current matter density parameter of $\Omega_{m,0}=0.531_{-0.260}^{+0.195}$ at $1\sigma$ CL. Finding a Universe roughly twice older as the one of $\Lambda$CDM is a distinction of Fractional Cosmology. Focusing our analysis on these results, we can conclude that the region in which $\mu>2$ is not ruled out by observations. This region of a parameter is relevant because, in the absence of matter, fractional cosmology gives a power-law solution $a(t)= \left(t/t_0\right)^{\mu-1}$, which is accelerated for $\mu>2$. We present a fractional origin model that leads to an accelerated state without appealing to $\Lambda$ or Dark Energy.Comment: 51 pages, 10 figure

Essays in Credit, Banking and Monetary Policy

This dissertation studies the interplay between the banking and financial system and macroeconomic dynamic