The role of fiscal rules and institutions in shaping budgetary outcomes

The Workshop "The role of fiscal rules and institutions in shaping budgetary outcomes" organized by the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial affairs of the European Commission on 24 November 2006 in Brussels aimed at enriching the debate on the fiscal arrangements and improving the understanding of their functioning. This Economic Paper contains all the paper presented in this event that was organised in four sessions. A first set of papers mainly focus on the impact of numerical fiscal rules on budgetary outturns. Other paper deal primarily with the appropriate design of fiscal rules and institutions. An additional group of papers addresses the relationship between the fiscal governance approach adopted by the EU Member States and their institutional and political frameworks. Finally the remaining presentations relate more directly to policy experiences. fiscal rules, budget, institutions.fiscal rules, budget, institutions, Ayuso-i-Casals, Deroose, Flores, Moulin

Law, Liberty and the Rule of Law (in a Constitutional Democracy)

In the hunt for a better--and more substantial--awareness of the “law,” The author intends to analyze the different notions related to the “rule of law” and to criticize the conceptions that equate it either to the sum of “law” and “rule” or to the formal assertion that “law rules,” regardless of its relationship to certain principles, including both “negative” and “positive” liberties. Instead, he pretends to scrutinize the principles of the “rule of law,” in general, and in a “constitutional democracy,” in particular, to conclude that the tendency to reduce the “democratic principle” to the “majority rule” (or “majority principle”), i.e. to whatever pleases the majority, as part of the “positive liberty,” is contrary both to the “negative liberty” and to the “rule of law” itself

Effective Lagrangian description of Higgs mediated flavor violating electromagnetic transitions: implications on lepton flavor violation

Higgs mediated flavor violating electromagnetic interactions, induced at the one--loop level by a nondiagonal $Hf_if_j$ vertex, with $f_i$ and $f_j$ charged leptons or quarks, are studied within the context of a completely general effective Yukawa sector that comprises $SU_L(2)\times U_Y(1)$--invariant operators of up to dimension--six. Exact formulae for the one--loop $\gamma f_if_j$ and $\gamma \gamma f_if_j$ couplings are presented and their related processes used to study the phenomena of Higgs mediated lepton flavor violation. The experimental limit on the $\mu \to e\gamma$ decay is used to derive a bound on the branching ratio of the $\mu \to e\gamma \gamma$ transition, which is 6 orders of magnitude stronger than the current experimental limit. Previous results on the $\tau \to \mu \gamma$ and $\tau \to \mu \gamma \gamma$ decays are reproduced. The possibility of detecting signals of lepton flavor violation at $\gamma \gamma$ colliders is explored through the $\gamma \gamma \to l_il_j$ reaction, putting special emphasis on the $\tau \mu$ final state. Using the bound imposed on the $H\tau \mu$ vertex by the current experimental data on the muon anomalous magnetic moment, it is found that about half a hundred events may be produced in the International Linear Collider.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure

Multi-wavelength characterisation of z~2 clustered, dusty star forming galaxies discovered by Planck

(abridged) We report the discovery of PHz G95.5-61.6, a complex structure detected in emission in the Planck all-sky survey that corresponds to two over-densities of high-redshift galaxies. This is the first source from the Planck catalogue of high-z candidates that has been completely characterised with follow-up observations from the optical to the sub-millimetre domain. Herschel/SPIRE observations at 250, 350 and 500 microns reveal the existence of five sources producing a 500 microns emission excess that spatially corresponds to the candidate proto-clusters discovered by Planck. Further observations at CFHT in the optical bands (g and i) and in the near infrared (J, H and K_s), plus mid infrared observations with IRAC/Spitzer (at 3.6 and 4.5 microns) confirm that the sub-mm red excess is associated with an over-density of colour-selected galaxies. Follow-up spectroscopy of 13 galaxies with VLT/X-Shooter establishes the existence of two high-z structures: one at z~1.7 (three confirmed member galaxies), the other at z~2.0 (six confirmed members). This double structure is also seen in the photometric redshift analysis of a sample of 127 galaxies located inside a circular region of 1'-radius containing the five Herschel/SPIRE sources, where we found a double-peaked excess of galaxies at z~1.7 and z~2.0 with respect to the surrounding region. These results suggest that PHz G95.5-61.6 corresponds to two accreting nodes, not physically linked to one another, embedded in the large scale structure of the Universe at z~2 and along the same line-of-sight. In conclusion, the data, methods and results illustrated in this pilot project confirm that Planck data can be used to detect the emission from clustered, dusty star forming galaxies at high-z, and, thus, to pierce through the early growth of cluster-scale structures.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Prediction equations of skinfold in children of primary school

El objetivo de este trabajo es crear ecuaciones que estimen las medidas de los pliegues cutáneos para escolares de 6 a 13 años de edad. Como resultado se obtuvieron catorce ecuaciones que estiman algunos pliegues cutáneos. Las ecuaciones se validaron con muestras aleatorias de 479 niñas y 541 niños del estado de Puebla y otras 2 muestras aleatorias del estado de Veracruz con 155 niñas y 146 niños respectivamente; las mediciones directas se realizaron con la metodología y unidades ISAK (International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry)The aim of this paper is to create equations that predict the skinfold measures for school children 6 to 13 years old. Fourteen resulting equations were derived to estimate some measures of skinfold. The equations were validated with random samples of 479 girls and 541 boys in the state of Puebla and 2 other random samples of the state of Veracruz with 155 girls and 146 boys respectively; direct measurements were performed with the methodology and units ISAK (International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometr

A novel notion of null infinity for c-boundaries and generalized black holes

We give new definitions of null infinity and black hole in terms of causal boundaries, applicable to any strongly causal spacetime $(M,g)$. These are meant to extend the standard ones given in terms of conformal boundaries, and use the new definitions to prove a classic result in black hole theory for this more general context: if the null infinity is regular (i.e. well behaved in a suitable sense) and $(M,g)$ obeys the null convergence condition, then any closed trapped surface in $(M,g)$ has to be inside the black hole region. As an illustration of this general construction, we apply it to the class of generalized plane waves, where the conformal null infinity is not always well-defined. In particular, it is shown that (generalized) black hole regions do not exist in a large family of these spacetimes.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figures. Included new referenc

Alelopatía diferencial entre los géneros de un árbol invasor dioico sobre plantas de desierto

"The Peruvian peppertree (Schinus molle) is a dioecious species from South America that was introduced into central Mexico five centuries ago. This tree has invaded abandoned agricultural fields from semiarid regions, where it can be found with several native succulent plants that have recolonized these areas. Although peppertrees have negative allelopathic effects on crops, their effects on these native plants remain unknown. Indeed, the allelopathy of peppertrees has only been tested for female individuals, while the allelopathic potential of male peppertrees has not been assessed yet. This study focused on these issues and assessed whether peppertrees affect germination of succulent plants from the Chihuahuan Desert and whether these effects differ between male and female trees. For this we conducted a series of germination bioassays where seeds of native species were watered with aqueous extracts of staminate flowers and leaves produced by male peppertrees, and with aqueous extracts of fruits and leaves produced by female peppertrees. Additionally, we conducted experiments where seeds of native species were sowed on soils collected beneath the canopy of both tree genders. The results of all these experiments indicated that both peppertree genders can reduce germination of native species, but also suggested that male peppertrees would have stronger allelopathic effects than female peppertrees. To our best knowledge, this is the first study reporting allelopathic effects of peppertrees on native plants from Mexico, but this is also the first study indicating differential gender effects for invasive dioecious species with allelopathic potential.""El pirul (Schinus molle) es una especie dioica de Sudamérica que fue introducida en México hace cinco siglos atrás. Este árbol ha invadido campos agrícolas abandonados de regiones semiáridas, donde puede ser encontrado con varias especies de plantas suculentas nativas que han recolonizado estas áreas. Aunque los pirules tienen efectos alelopáticos negativos sobre los cultivos, sus efectos sobre estas plantas nativas siguen siendo desconocidos. De hecho, la alelopatía de los pirules sólo se ha probado para individuos femeninos, mientras que el potencial alelopático de los pirules masculinos aún no se ha evaluado. Este estudio se enfocó en estos temas y evaluó si los pirules inhiben la germinación de plantas suculentas del desierto Chihuahuense y si estos efectos diferen entre árboles masculinos y femeninos. Para ello se realizó una serie de bioensayos de germinación donde semillas de las especies nativas fueron regadas con extractos acuosos obtenidos de fores estaminadas y hojas producidas por pirules masculinos, y con extractos acuosos de frutos y hojas producidas por pirules femeninos. Adicionalmente, realizamos experimentos donde semillas de las especies nativas fueron sembraron en suelos recogidos bajo el dosel de ambos géneros de pirul. Los resultados de todos estos experimentos indicaron que ambos géneros del pirul pueden reducir la germinación de especies nativas, pero también sugirieron que los pirules masculinos tendrpian efectos alelopáticos más fuertes sobre las especies nativas que los pirules femeninos. Hasta donde estamos enterados, este es el primer estudio que reporta efectos alelopáticos de los pirules sobre plantas nativas de México, pero esto también es el primer estudio que indica los efectos de diferenciales del género para especies invasoras dioicas con potencial alelopático.

Improvement of scanning tunneling microscopy resolution with H-sensitized tips

Recent scanning tunneling hydrogen microscopy (STHM) experiments on PTCDA (perylene-3,4,9,10- tetracarboxylic-3,4,9,10-dianhydride)/Au(111) have shown unprecedented intramolecular and intermolecular spatial resolution. The origin of this resolution is studied using an accurate STHM theoretical simulation technique that includes a detailed description of the electronic structure of both the tip and sample. Our results show that H2 molecules are dissociated on the Au tip; the adsorbed H atoms change the density of states at the Fermi level (EF) of the tip, increasing its p-orbital character and reducing the s-orbital contribution. Also, due to the interaction with the H-decorated tip, EF is shifted to the middle of the PTCDA lowest unoccupied molecular orbital peak, increasing dramatically the density of states of the sample at EF. These effects give rise to the enhanced STHM resolutionThis work is supported by Spanish MICIIN under Contract No. FIS2010-16046, the CAM under Contract No. S2009/MAT-1467, and the European Project MINOTOR (Grant No. FP7-NMP-228424). J. I. M. acknowledges funding from Spanish MICINN through Juan de la Cierva Program, E. A. the financial support by Consejería de Educación de la CAM, FSE, and European Project MINOTOR, and C. G. the CSIC JA

Dynamics of quantum systems

A relation between the eigenvalues of an effective Hamilton operator and the poles of the $S$ matrix is derived which holds for isolated as well as for overlapping resonance states. The system may be a many-particle quantum system with two-body forces between the constituents or it may be a quantum billiard without any two-body forces. Avoided crossings of discrete states as well as of resonance states are traced back to the existence of branch points in the complex plane. Under certain conditions, these branch points appear as double poles of the $S$ matrix. They influence the dynamics of open as well as of closed quantum systems. The dynamics of the two-level system is studied in detail analytically as well as numerically.Comment: 21 pages 7 figure