Selection in Unsolicited Ratings: the Case of the Sovereign Debt Market

This paper aims at contributing to the debate on whether unsolicited ratings are strategically motivated. I present evidence from the sovereign debt market that strategic motivation is not necessarily behind the patterns that we see in the data and propose a model of credit ratings and ancillary services that abstracts from strategic considerations. In my model, borrowers with different unobservable characteristics select themselves into different solicitation groups. In equilibrium, the model can generate either a negative or a positive selection on unsolicited ratings, depending on the share of unsolicited ratings in a given market. The economic mechanism analyzed in this paper implies a "natural" degree of market selection which is not associated to strategic motivation.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Use of UAVs for technical inspection of buildings within the BRAIN massive inspection platform

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are becoming more and more popular for use in a various sectors of the economy. The paper presents the results of experiments using a UAV, equipped with a high resolution digital camera, for a visual assessment of technical condition of a building with connection to a big project implemented in Barcelona that required visual data about buildings and their changes with time. Authors try to find out possibilities for the usefulness of digital images obtained from the UAV deck in concrete examples and figure out if they may be complementary to traditional ways used so far in a project called Building Research Analysis and Information Network, which is a platform for analysis to allow strategic decision-making for the maintenance and the sustainability of building stock.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Valoración del crecimiento y maduración de los casos de hipotiroidismo congénito detectados por el programa de cribado neonatal en Catalunya (1986-1997)

Consultable des del TDXA la portada: Área de PediatríaTítol obtingut de la portada digitalitzadaEl diagnóstico clínico del hipotiroidismo congénito (HC) al nacer es difícil. Las graves secuelas neurológicas, sensoriales y de desarrollo que se derivan del tratamiento tardío, asociado al hecho de su prevención si el tratamiento es precoz ha hecho que en muchos países se establezcan programas de detección precoz del HC. En Catalunya el programa de detección precoz del HC se inició en 1982 y en el año 1983 se formó en el Hospital Materno-infantil Vall d'Hebron una comisión para el diagnóstico definitivo y seguimiento de estos pacientes. HIPÓTESIS DE TRABAJO: La instauración de un tratamiento temprano en los niños diagnosticados de HC mediante el programa de detección precoz puede condicionar un desarrollo somático similar al de la población normal, aunque no se podrían descartar alteraciones en el desarrollo neurológico y psicológico. OBJETIVOS: Para evaluar la hipótesis de trabajo se han estudiado los casos de HC diagnosticados por el programa de detección precoz en Catalunya desde 1986 a 1997 y que han sido controlados en la unidad de seguimiento del Hospital Materno-infantil Vall d'Hebron de Barcelona con los siguientes objetivos: 1. Conocer la intensidad y duración del hipotiroidismo durante el periodo neonatal. 2. Valorar la dosificación de L-tiroxina administrada y los niveles séricos de T4 y TSH según edad. 3. Valorar la evolución del crecimiento (talla, peso e IMC) y maduración ósea. 4. Valorar el desarrollo puberal. 5. Valorar la evolución neurológica. 6. Valorar la evolución psicológica. 7. Correlacionar la intensidad y duración del hipotiroidismo con el crecimiento, desarrollo puberal, desarrollo neurológico y psicológico. PACIENTES Y MÉTODOS: El estudio es descriptivo, longitudinal y retrospectivo, de una serie de 136 casos de HC detectados por el programa de detección precoz en Catalunya del año 1986 al año 1997. Se han recogido los siguientes datos de la historia clínica de los 136 casos objeto de este estudio: •DATOS DE LA PRIMERA VISITA: Se valoran los parámetros que indican la intensidad y duración del hipotiroidismo pre y postnatal: índice clínico de Dussault, T4 y TSH iniciales, superficie de los núcleos de osificación de la rodilla, días de vida al inicio del tratamiento, días de vida cuando se normalizan los niveles de T4. •SEGUIMIENTO: 1) se hace el seguimiento del crecimiento (peso, talla, IMC, VC), de la maduración ósea, del tratamiento recibido (dosificación de L-tiroxina/Kg peso) y del control bioquímico (niveles séricos de T4 y TSH) a los 3 meses de edad, a los seis meses de edad, al año y a partir de este momento cada seis meses. 2) Exploración psicológica: se ha llevado a cabo en el servicio de psiquiatría infantil. Se consideran los resultados de los tests: - Escalas McCarthy de Aptitudes y Psicomotricidad. - Escala de Inteligencia de Wechsler para niños (WISC-R). RESULTADOS: Los niños (30 casos, 22,1%) y niñas (106 casos, 77,9%) con hipotiroidismo congénito detectados y seguidos por el programa de detección precoz en Catalunya, tienen un crecimiento, peso e IMC que no es distinto del de la población actual de Barcelona. La talla, tanto para el grupo de niñas como de niños, se sitúa 0,5 DS por encima de los valores de referencia de Tanner de 1966. El IMC, también para los dos grupos, se encuentra una DS por encima de los valores de referencia de Roland-Cachera de 1982. Esta aceleración secular del crecimiento se ha observado en todos los países desarrollados. En una muestra del 37,5% de los casos, el desarrollo psicológico no difiere del de la población de referencia. Sin embargo, una mayor intensidad del hipotiroidismo neonatal y la normalización más tardía del mismo correlaciona negativamente con la puntuación en los tests psicológicos.Clinical diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) at the time of birth is difficult. The serious neurological, sensory and developmental effects that result from delayed treatment, linked to the fact that early treatment can prevent CH, have led many countries to develop screening programs for CH. In Catalonia, the screening program for CH began in 1982 and in year 1983 a commission for the definitive diagnosis and follow-up of these patients was set up in 1983 in the Maternal-infantile Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. HYPOTHESIS OF THE THESIS: The establishment of early treatment in children diagnosed with CH by means of the screening program can bring about a somatic development similar to that in the normal population, although alterations in neurological and psychological development could not be ruled out. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the hypothesis, a study has been made of the cases of CH that have been diagnosed by the screening program in Catalonia from 1986 to 1997 and that have been checked in the Maternal-infantile Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, with the following objectives: 1. To find out the intensity and duration of hypothyroidism during the neonatal period. 2. To evaluate the dose of L-thyroxine administered and the serum levels of T4 and TSH according to age. 3. To evaluate the evolution of growth (height, weight and BMI) and bone maturation. 4. To evaluate pubertal development. 5. To evaluate neurological evolution. 6. To evaluate psychological evolution. 7. To correlate the intensity and duration of hypothyroidism with growth, pubertal development and neurological and psychological development. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study is descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective, of a series of 136 cases of CH detected by the screening program in Catalonia from 1986 to 1997. The following data have been collected from the clinical history of the 136 cases in this study: • DATA FROM THE FIRST VISIT: An evaluation is made of the parameters that indicate the intensity and duration of pre- and postnatal hypothyroidism: Dussault's clinical index, initial T4 and TSH, surface of the nuclei of ossification of the knee, days of life at the beginning of treatment, days of life when the values of T4 are normalized. • FOLLOW-UP: 1) Follow-up is carried out for growth (height, weight, BMI, GV), for bone maturation, for treatment received (dose of L-thyroxine per kilogram in weight) and for biochemical control (serum levels of T4 and TSH) at three months of age, at six months of age, at one year of age and every subsequent six months. 2) Psychological exploration: This has been carried out in the infant psychiatry service. The results of these tests are considered: - McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. - The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) (WISC-R). RESULTS: Males (30 cases, 22.1%) and females (106 cases, 77.9%) with congenital hypothyroidism who were detected and followed by the screening program in Catalonia have a height, weight and BMI that are no different from those of the current population of Barcelona. Height, both for the group of females and of males, is 0.5 SD above the Tanner reference values of 1966. BMI, also for both groups, is one SD above the Roland-Cachera reference values of 1982. This secular acceleration of growth has been observed in all developed countries. In a sample of 37.5% of the cases, psychological development does not differ from that of the reference population. However, a greater intensity of neonatal hypothyroidism and the most delayed normalization of this correlate negatively with the score in the psychological tests

Exploring conditions and usefulness of UAVs in the BRAIN Massive Inspections Protocol

In this paper authors conduct a case study analysis by implementing the use of UAVs in the data collection within the BRAIN framework for the failures diagnosis of facades. The main goal is to assess the conditions and usefulness of UAVs in the BRAIN protocol by analyzing the goodness of fit to the fundamental requirements that support this inspection methodology. This preliminary qualitative approach allows the authors to investigate the benefits and potential of this high performance technology as a complement or alternative tool to the initial method, which is based on visual inspections supported, as maximum, by high resolution digital camera images. For the study a sample of facades has been selected in Poland. A full equipped UAV has been collecting the images. Finally, full procedure, collected data and positive and negative issues has been assessed under the perspective of the requirements involved in a multiscale BRAIN inspection. Overall scoring conditions has been determined and, as a conclusion, it can be stated that the use of UAVs for technical inspections in a population based predictive approach is, and even more it will be in the future, an interesting complementary tool for the data collection.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

UAV, Digital Processing and Vectorization Techniques Applied to Building Condition Assessment and Follow-up

The aim of the paper is to explain the basic principles of carrying out an inventory and follow-up of buildings and their condition assessment, by using the Full Interactive Visualization Method for Building Condition Assessment platform. It is a platform enabling the implementation of construction inventory based on the remote cooperation of many specialists in the field of, among others: building construction, architecture, civil engineering, photogrammetry, CAD, UAV. This type of cooperation is of particular importance especially in the context of the current epidemiological situation related to COVID-19. The idea of the presented platform fits into the broadly understanding of Building Information Modeling. After introducing the methodology, stages of the inventory and follow-up process carried out within the platform are illustrated and discussed on the basis of a case study. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that the proposed methodology creates a convenient, efficient and inexpensive tool for massive inspection of building resources in large areas. The inventory is based primarily on high-quality photo and video material obtained from the deck of an unmanned aerial vehicle and the expert knowledge of the inspector conducting the inspection. By combining digital images data (photos, 3D model, orthophotos) with substantive data (facade element classification tables, wear / defect classification tables), we get a platform that allows intuitive access to viewing, classification, editing and analysis of selected data

A hybrid recommender system for industrial symbiotic networks

Various solutions enabling the realization of synergies in Industrial Symbiotic Networks have been proposed. However, incorporating intelligence into the platforms that these networks use, supporting the involved actors to automatically find possible candidates able to cover their needs, is still of high importance. Usually, the actors participating in these networks act based on previously predefined patterns, without taking into account all the possible alternatives, usually due to the difficulty of finding and properly evaluating them. Therefore, the recommendation of new matches that the users were not aware of is a big challenge, as companies many times are not willing to change their established workflows if they are not sure about the outcome. Thus, the ability of a platform to properly identify symbiotic alternatives that could provide both economic and environmental benefits for the companies, and the sector as a whole, is of high importance and delivering such recommendations is crucial. In this work, we propose a hybrid recommender system aiming to support users in properly filtering and identifying the symbiotic relationships that may provide them an improved performance. Several criteria are taken into account in order to generate, each time, the list of the most suitable solutions for the current user, at a given moment. In addition, the implemented system uses a graph-based similarity model in order to identify resource similarities while performing a hybrid case-based recommendation in order to find the optimal solutions according to more features than just the resources’ similarities.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Dictamen jurídic del Màster d'Advocacia. Dret penal: delictes contra la propietat. Cas 10 C

Treballs Finals del Màster d'Advocacia, Facultat de Dret, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2019-2020, Tutor: Joshi Jubert, Ujal

Amyloid-like protein inclusions in tobacco transgenic plants

The formation of insoluble protein deposits in human tissues is linked to the onset of more than 40 different disorders, ranging from dementia to diabetes. In these diseases, the proteins usually self-assemble into ordered β-sheet enriched aggregates known as amyloid fibrils. Here we study the structure of the inclusions formed by maize transglutaminase (TGZ) in the chloroplasts of tobacco transplastomic plants and demonstrate that they have an amyloid-like nature. Together with the evidence of amyloid structures in bacteria and fungi our data argue that amyloid formation is likely a ubiquitous process occurring across the different kingdoms of life. The discovery of amyloid conformations inside inclusions of genetically modified plants might have implications regarding their use for human applications

A laser-ARPES study of LaNiO3 thin films grown by sputter deposition

Thin films of the correlated transition-metal oxide LaNiO$_3$ undergo a metal-insulator transition when their thickness is reduced to a few unit cells. Here, we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the evolution of the electronic structure across this transition in a series of epitaxial LaNiO$_3$ films of thicknesses ranging from 19 to 2 u.c. grown in situ by RF magnetron sputtering. Our data show a strong reduction of the electronic mean free path as the thickness is reduced below 5 u.c. This prevents the system from becoming electronically two-dimensional, as confirmed by the largely unchanged Fermi surface seen in our experiments. In the insulating state we observe a strong suppression of the coherent quasiparticle peak but no clear gap. These features resemble previous observations of the insulating state of NdNiO$_3$.Comment: Submitted to APL Material