Body size, activity, employment and wages in Europe: A first approach

This paper examines the associations between obesity, employment status and wages for several European countries. Our results provide weak evidence that obese workers are more likely to be unemployed or tend to be more segregated in self-employment jobs than their non-obese counterparts. We also find difficult to detect statistically significant relationships between obesity and wages. As previously reported in the literature, the association between obesity, unemployment and wages seems to be different for men and women. Moreover, heterogeneity is also found across countries. Such heterogeneity can be somewhat explained by some labor market institutions, such as the collective bargaining coverage and the employer-provided health insurance.Obesity, labor market, heterogeneity, institutions

The evolution of adult height in Europe: A brief note

This paper presents new evidence on the evolution of adult height in 10 European countries for cohorts born between 1950 and 1980 using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), which collects height data from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Our findings show a gradual increase in adult height across all countries. However, countries from Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain) experienced higher gains in stature than those located in Northern Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Sweden).Europe, height, ECHP

Income and body mass index in Europe

The problem of obesity is alarming public health authorities around the world. Therefore, it is important to study its determinants. In this paper we explore the empirical relationship between household income and body mass index (BMI) in nine European Union countries. Our findings suggest that the association is negative for women, but we find no statistically significant relationship for men. However, we show that the different relationship for men and women appears to be driven by the negative relationship for women between BMI and individual income from work. We tentatively conclude that the negative relationship between household income and BMI for women may simply be capturing the wage penalty that obese women suffer in the labor market.Europe, obesity, income

GUÍA PEDAGÓGICA: METODOLOGÍA PARA EL DISEÑO

GUÍA PEDAGÓGIC

Premi Nobel d'Economia de l'any 2000: Una elecció encertada entre una mostra seleccionada

El Premi Nobel d'Economia de l'any 2000 ha estat atorgat als professors Heckman i McFadden per les seves contribucions metodològiques en el camp de la microeconometria, disciplina que s'ocupa dels problemes economètrics relacionats amb la utilització de dades individuals (persones, unitats familiars, empreses). Les contribucions de James Heckman s'han centrat fonamentalment en les implicacions de la utilització de mostres seleccionades per tal de extreure conclusions correctes extrapolables a la població, tema d'especial rellevància en l'anàlisi de models del mercat laboral i per a l'avaluació de programes socials. Les contribucions de Daniel McFadden s'han centrat en el desenvolupament del models d'elecció discreta tant en termes de la seva adequació a la realitat i la seva facilitat d'estimació com en termes de la seva consistència amb un model explicatiu del comportament dels agents. Les seves contribucions han tingut implicacions importants a 1'hora de valorar com diferents aspectes econòmics o relacionats amb les alternatives disponibles afecten la demanda de transport o la localització de residència entre d'altres temes.The 2000 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to professors Heckman and McFadden for their methodological contributions in the microeconomic field, an approach concerned with econometric problems in the context of the use of information on individuals (persons, family units, business firms). The contributions of James Heckman refer fundamentally to the implications of the use of selected samples to obtain correct conclusions which can be extrapolated to the general population, a question especially relevant to analyzing models of the employment market and evaluating social programmes. The contributions of Daniel McFadden have centred on the development of models of discreet choice, their fit with the real world, their capacity to estimate and consistency as an explanatory model of the behaviour of the agents. Their contributions have important implications for the evaluation of how several economic questions affect demand for transport and residential location among others

New design parameters for biparabolic beach profiles (SW Cadiz, Spain)

165 profiles of seventy-one beaches along the Gulf of Cadiz (SW, Spain) were studied to improve the formulation of the beach profile in tidal seas. Maritime climate, degree of energy exposure and size of the sand grains were taken into account to study the two sections of the biparabolic profile. The objective of the study was the determination of more accurate formulations of the design parameters for the equilibrium profile that involves tidal seas. These formulations were modelled and validated based on existing profiles to quantify the error existing between the real profile and the modelling. This comparative analysis was extended by considering the formulations proposed by other authors. The best results were obtained with the proposal presented herein

Methodology for the metric restoration of the historical cartography applied to Francisco Coello's cartografic series of the Royal Site of Aranjuez

Hojas Kilométricas (Kilometric Sheets). Specifically, the study focuses on those sheets referring to the city centre and surrounding area of the Royal Site of Aranjuez, a town in the south of the Province of Madrid. The aim of this study is to restore the actual size and measurements of scanned images of the Hojas Kilométricas. This would allow us, among other things, to reestablish both the format and scale of the original plans. To achieve this goal it is necessary to rectify and then georeference these images, i.e. assign them a geographic reference system. This procedure is essential in the overlaying and comparison of the Hojas Kilométricas of the Royal Site with other historical cartography as well as other sources related to the same area from different time periods. Subsequent research would allow us, for example, to reconstruct the time-evolution of the urban area, to spot new construction and to pinpoint the locations of any altered or missing buildings or architectural features. In addition, this would allow us to develop and integrate databases for GIS models applicable to the management of our cultural heritage

Influence of Di erent Sieving Methods on Estimation of Sand Size Parameters

Sieving is one of the most used operational methods to determine sand size parameters which are essential to analyze coastal dynamics. However, the influence of hand versus mechanical shaking methods has not yet been studied. Herein, samples were taken from inside the hopper of a trailing suction dredger and sieved by hand with sieves of 10 and 20 cm diameters on board the dredger. Afterwards, these same samples were sieved with a mechanical shaker in the laboratory on land. The results showed di erences for the main size parameters D50, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. Amongst the main results, it should be noted that the highest values for D50 and kurtosis were given by the small sieves method. On the other hand, the lowest values were given by the mechanical shaker method in the laboratory. Furthermore, standard deviation and skewness did not seem to be a ected by the sieving method which means that all the grainsize distribution was shifted but the shape remained unchanged. The few samples that do not follow these patterns have a higher percentage of shells. Finally and definitely, the small sieves should be rejected as a sieving method aboard

Status of the ANAIS Dark Matter Project at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory

The ANAIS experiment aims at the confirmation of the DAMA/LIBRA signal. A detailed analysis of two NaI(Tl) crystals of 12.5 kg each grown by Alpha Spectra will be shown: effective threshold at 1 keVee is at reach thanks to outstanding light collection and robust PMT noise filtering protocols and the measured background is well understood down to 3 keVee, having quantified K, U and Th content and cosmogenic activation in the crystals. A new detector was installed in Canfranc in March 2015 together with the two previous modules and preliminary characterization results will be presented. Finally, the status and expected sensitivity of the full experiment with 112 kg will be reviewed.Comment: Contributed to the 11th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, Zaragoza, June 22 to 26, 201

Virtual resources for the improvement of teaching in the course of Port and Coastal Engineering (dregree in Civil Engineering)

Port and Coastal Engineering is a subject included in the third year of the degree in Civil Engineering (Civil Constructions and Hydrology specialty) taught at the Polytechnic School of Algeciras. As this is a subject with a very specific syllabus, there is no textbook (or even appropriate references) that contemplates all the related topics of the whole course. Moreover, there are many students who, for different reasons (repeaters, Erasmus, labour obligations, ...), cannot attend the regular classes. This lack of attendance has been leading to another problem: this kind of students have been leaving the subject for several years. In addition, understanding of the basic concepts becomes even more complicated for Erasmus students enrolled in the subject because of the language barrier. In order to solve this problem, a project of teaching innovation has been launched which consists of the creation of a set of evaluable tasks for the different topics addressed to be performed by the students. In this way, the students are motivated to keep up-to-date the course contents. A comparison of the last year results with those of the preceding five years is provided. Finally, an analysis of the significance of the improvement is also presented