Diferencias de género en el éxito al dejar de fumar: resultados a corto y largo plazo [Gender differences in success at quitting smoking: Short- and long-term outcomes]

Los tratamientos para dejar de fumar son eficaces en hombres y mujeres. Sin embargo, las posibles diferencias encontradas en los resultados del tratamiento aún son objeto de controversia. Este estudio analiza si existen diferencias entre hombres y mujeres en el éxito al dejar de fumar a corto y largo plazo (> 1 año) con un programa de tratamiento que incluye la perspectiva de género. Se realizó una encuesta telefónica en fumadores atendidos en una unidad de tabaquismo. Los pacientes que completaron con éxito el tratamiento (3 meses), fueron encuestados telefónicamente para determinar su abstinencia a largo plazo; se validó la abstinencia mediante cooximetría (CO espirado =10 ppm) en los que se mantenían abstinentes. La probabilidad de permanecer abstinentes a largo plazo se calculó utilizando un análisis de supervivencia de Kaplan-Meier. La tasa de éxito del tratamiento fue de 41, 3% (538/1302), sin diferencias por sexo. El 89% (479/538) fue localizado por teléfono y el 47, 6% (256/479) se mantenía abstinente sin diferencias por sexo (p = , 519); la abstinencia fue validada en 191 de 256 (53, 9% hombres y 46, 1% mujeres). En el análisis de supervivencia, la probabilidad de que los hombres y las mujeres mantuvieran la abstinencia a largo plazo no fue significativa. No hay diferencias por sexo en el resultado del tratamiento para dejar de fumar, que incluyan aspectos de género, a corto y largo plazo (> 1 año). Smoking cessation treatments are effective in men and women. However, possible sex-related differences in the outcome of these treatments remain a controversial topic. This study evaluated whether there were differences between men and women in the success of smoking cessation treatment, including gender-tailored components, in the short and long term (> 1 year). A telephone survey was carried out between September 2008 and June 2009 in smokers attended in a Smoking Cessation Clinic. All patients who have successfully completed treatment (3 months) were surveyed by telephone to determine their long-term abstinence. Those who remained abstinent were requested to attend the Smoking Cessation Clinic for biochemical validation (expired CO =10 ppm). The probability of remaining abstinent in the long-term was calculated using a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The treatment success rate at 3-months was 41.3% (538/1302) with no differences by sex 89% (479/538) among those located in the telephonic follow-up study and 47.6% (256/479) were abstinent without differences by sex (p =.519); abstinence was validated with CO less than 10 ppm in 191 of the 256 (53.9% men and 46.1% women). In the survival analysis, the probability of men and women remaining abstinent in the long-term was not significant. There are no differences by sex in the outcome of smoking cessation treatment that included gender-tailored components in the short and long term (> 1 year)

The presidency of the governing boards of cooperatives in Spain: a gendered approach

International cooperative values and principles are guidelines that could lead cooperatives towards greater gender equality in the decision-making process. Stimulated by the interest in cooperatives and by the growing demand for advocating a faster increase in the presence of chairwomen in boardrooms, this research aims to analyse the impact of the gender of the cooperative president in some variables related to financial and employment ratios, corporate governance and other characteristics of the organization in Spain. Information about the major Spanish cooperative entities has been collected and analyzed to carry out the empirical study. We find that cooperatives with higher liquidity ratio, higher number of employees, higher percentage of female employees, higher employee costs divided by operating revenue ratio, lower indebtedness, and fewer years since the appointment of the president have a higher probability of belonging to the group of cooperatives with a board chaired by a woman. Cooperatives headed by women exhibit a higher ratio of staffing costs to operating revenues, which could indicate an increased intensity of cooperative principles and values related with the primacy of the economic welfare of workers over the economic benefits

Barriers to innovation in Spanish rural Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

In the context of globalisation, innovation has been recognized as a key driver of Europe’s national and regional economies, whether rural or not. Nevertheless, rural firms are considered less innovative than firms in urban agglomerations. Rural areas represent three-quarters of the land of the OECD countries and are home to a quarter of its population. Moreover, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the economy. This paper reviews the barriers to innovation indicated throughout literature, brings out what constitutes the main barriers in rural SMEs and presents an understanding of some of the factors that determine the position of these firms in responding to new requirements. Data were collected through a questionnaire for managers of 511 SMEs in a rural area of Spain. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software package. The results identify key factors that hinder innovation in rural SMEs, namely those related to economic reasons, such as high costs of the innovation or the difficulty to obtain financial resources, and risk aversion issues. Specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in SMEs firms in rural areas is limited. Therefore, this paper fills this research gap by expanding the body of knowledge in the field of rural SMEs innovation and provides further evidence on this phenomenon. The results also offer relevant insights for managers and policy makers when formulating and implementing strategies to diminish innovation barriers in rural SMEs

Dynamic risk management in European energy portfolios: Evolution of the role of clean and carbon markets

This paper examines the potential of clean energy stocks and emission permits to reduce downside risk when combining them in a portfolio with dirty energy assets. We propose a strategy for building portfolios that are well diversified between equity energy and carbon markets that takes into account their dynamic price relationship. The asset allocation proposed is framed in a volatility-timing context, which reacts to changing market conditions, holding different weights at different times. To achieve this objective, we use multivariate GARCH models, specifically the Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlations family, which allow us to obtain good estimations of the conditional covariance matrices of the daily asset returns. To determine the weights of the optimum minimum-risk portfolio, we use a method based on Engle and Colacito (2006) to compare the portfolio volatilities obtained with different models. The analysed period runs from January 19, 2010, to April 4, 2022, which, on the one hand, includes more than twelve years of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) beyond the Phase I pilot; and, on the other, considers the latest crisis episodes (Sovereign debt crisis, Brexit COVID-19, and the recent Russo–Ukrainian war). Our findings show that investing in clean energy companies is now valuable not only because of its contribution to a sustainable energy transition to renewable sources, but also due to its attractiveness from a financial point of view. This fact provides a ray of hope in terms of the climate emergency and avoiding the current geopolitical conflicts principally caused by certain countries’ energy dependence because their energy mix is still heavily overpowered by fossil fuels. The results of this research should encourage investors to decarbonise their equity portfolios, thus promoting the needed alignment of the financial system with the requirements of the energy transition

Identification of Homogeneous Groups of Actors in a Local AHP-Multiactor Context with a High Number of Decision-Makers: A Bayesian Stochastic Search

The identification of homogeneous groups of actors in a local AHP-multiactor context based on their preferences is an open problem, particularly when the number of decision-makers is high. To solve this problem in the case of using stochastic AHP, this paper proposes a new Bayesian stochastic search methodology for large-scale problems (number of decision-makers greater than 20). The new methodology, based on Bayesian tools for model comparison and selection, takes advantage of the individual preference structures distributions obtained from stochastic AHP to allow the identification of homogeneous groups of actors with a maximum common incompatibility threshold. The methodology offers a heuristic approach with several near-optimal partitions, calculated by the Occam’s window, that capture the uncertainty that is inherent when considering intangible aspects (AHP). This uncertainty is also reflected in the graphs that show the similarities of the decision-maker’s opinions and that can be used to achieve representative collective positions by constructing agreement paths in negotiation processes. If a small number of actors is considered, the proposed algorithm (AHP Bayesian clustering) significantly reduces the computational time of group identification with respect to an exhaustive search method. The methodology is illustrated by a real case of citizen participation based on e-Cognocracy. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Spatial hedonic modelling adjusted for preferential sampling

Hedonic models are widely used to predict selling prices of properties. Originally, they were proposed as simple spatial regressions, i.e. a spatially referenced response regressed on spatially referenced predictors. Subsequently, spatial random effects were introduced to serve as surrogates for unmeasured or unobservable predictors and were shown to provide better out-of-sample prediction. However, what has been ignored in the literature is the fact that the locations (and times) of the sales are random and, in fact, are an observation of a random point pattern. Here, we first consider whether there is stochastic dependence between the point pattern of locations and the set of responses. If so, a second question is whether incorporating a log-intensity for the point pattern of locations in the hedonic modelling enables improvement in the prediction of selling price. We connect this problem to what is referred to as preferential sampling. Through model comparison we illuminate the role of the point pattern data in the prediction of selling price. Using two different years of property sales from Zaragoza, Spain, we employ both the full database as well as an intentionally biased subset to elaborate this story

Significant linkage and non-linkage of type 1 von Willebrand Disease to the von Willebrand factor gene

[EN] Significant linkage of types 2A and 2B von Willebrand disease (VWD) to the von Willebrand factor (VWF) gene have been reported, as well as mutations in the VWF gene. However, data for the partial quantitative variant are less consistent. An inconsistency of association between the type 1 VWD phenotype and genotype has been reported recently. We undertook linkage analysis of 12 families with definite or possible type 1 VWD patients. One family with classic type 1 VWD had a high lod score (Z = 5.28, theta = 0.00). A total lod score of 10.68 was obtained for the four families with fully penetrant disease. In two families linkage was rejected, while three families did not show conclusive evidence of linkage. This study corroborates ABO blood group influence, especially in patients with mild deficiencies and/or incomplete penetrance, Indirect genetic analysis may be an option for diagnosing asymptomatic or presymptomatic type 1 VWD carriers, particularly in families showing higher penetrance. The study indicates defects of the VWF locus are to be expected in more than half of the families studied. However, as defects at different loci may be the cause of this phenotype, the results of the segregation analyses should be interpreted with caution, especially in studies involving small families, or mild expressions of the disorder or incomplete penetrance.This work was partly supported by F1S grant # 99/0633 (Spain). We wish to thank J. M. Montoro for the multimeric structure analyses, R. Curats for his help in the segregation analyses, all the staff of the `Unidad de CoagulopatõÂas CongeÂnitas de la Comunidad 5alenciana' for their technical and clinical assistance, and Mr Peter Blair for the linguistic advice given in writing this paper.Casaña-Gargallo, MP.; Martínez, F.; Haya, S.; Espinós-Armero, CÁ.; Aznar, JA. (2001). Significant linkage and non-linkage of type 1 von Willebrand Disease to the von Willebrand factor gene. British Journal of Haematology. 115(3):692-700. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2141.2001.03132.x692700115

Acoustically driven arrayed waveguide grating

We demonstrate compact tunable phased-array wavelength-division multiplexers driven by surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in the low GHz range. The devices comprise two couplers, which respectively split and combine the optical signal, linked by an array of single-mode waveguides (WGs). Two different layouts are presented, in which multi-mode interference couplers or free propagating regions were separately employed as couplers. The multiplexers operate on five equally distributed wavelength channels, with a spectral separation of 2 nm. A standing SAW modulates the refractive index of the arrayed WGs. Each wavelength component periodically switches paths between the output channel previously asigned by the design and the adjacent channels, at a fixed applied acoustic power. The devices were monolithically fabricated on (Al,Ga)As. A good agreement between theory and experiment is achieved