"A correlation sensitivity analysis of non-life underwriting risk in solvency capital requirement estimation"

This paper analyses the impact of using different correlation assumptions between lines of business when estimating the risk-based capital reserve, the Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR), under Solvency II regulations. A case study is presented and the SCR is calculated according to the Standard Model approach. Alternatively, the requirement is then calculated using an Internal Model based on a Monte Carlo simulation of the net underwriting result at a one-year horizon, with copulas being used to model the dependence between lines of business. To address the impact of these model assumptions on the SCR we conduct a sensitivity analysis. We examine changes in the correlation matrix between lines of business and address the choice of copulas. Drawing on aggregate historical data from the Spanish non-life insurance market between 2000 and 2009, we conclude that modifications of the correlation and dependence assumptions have a significant impact on SCR estimation.Solvency II, Solvency Capital Requirement, Standard Model, Internal Model, Monte Carlo simulation, Copulas JEL classification:C53

Is There an Estimation Bias in Occupational Health and Safety Surveys? The Mode of Administration and Informants as a Source of Error

Information quality deficiencies have been detected in occupational safety and health surveys in Europe, which typically gather self-reported data responded by employers or their representatives. For instance, their low response rates and informant profiles make estimations on establishments with safety representatives (SRs) unreliable. We tested the mode of administration and informants as sources of error regarding establishments with SRs in Catalonia, Spain. Two sources of information were compared: the Second Catalan Survey of Working Conditions 2011 (IICSWC) with a methodology similar to surveys conducted at the state and European level and the Progam on Prevention of Risks Management in Companies (PPRMC) in which the labor authority collected data using a documentary verification in another sample of establishments. Percentage of establishments with SRs was estimated using the data from the PPRMC and also the differences in percentage between sources and informant profiles (with 95 percent confidence interval). Results show that the IICSWC overestimates the percentage of establishments with SRs

PANORÀMICA

PANORÀMICA • L’educació en temps d’internet. Ressenya del llibre d’A. Finkielkraut i P. Soriano Internet, el éxtasis inquietante, a càrrec de Francesc Torralba • Cap a la conciliació audiovisual. Ressenya del llibre d’Alfonso Puyal. Teoría de la comunicación audiovisual, a càrrec de Francesc Canosa • Molts focs artístics estan cremant sota l’aigua de l’estètica. Ressenya del llibre de Juan Eduardo Cirlot Diccionarios de los ismos, a càrrec d’Antonio Bueso • Quan les marques parlen d’amor. Ressenya del llibre de David Alameda García Una nueva realidad publicitaria. La generación de valores corporativos en publicidad, a càrrec de Josep Rom • La publicitat arriba a l’escola. Ressenya del llibre de Miguel Ángel Arconada Melero Cómo trabajar con la publicidad en el aula: compe- tencia comunicativa y textos publicitarios, a càrrec de Montse Guillén • El barnús del senyor Bendelac. Ressenya del llibre de Stanley Bendelac Nunca tires la toalla, a càrrec de Sílvia Sivera • Un buen intento. Ressenya del llibre de Maricruz Alvarado i Maribel Martín (coords.) Publicidad y cultura. La publicidad como homologa- dor cultural, a càrrec de Joan Sabaté • Una crònica sentimental de la publicitat catalana. Ressenya del llibre de Joaquín Lorente Publicitat a Catalunya: 80 anys d’associacionis- me professional, a càrrec de Víctor Curto • El “boom” de la telefonia mòbil.Ressenya del llibre de ManuelCastells, Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, Jack Linchuan Qiu i Araba Sey Comuni- cación móvil y sociedad. Una perspectiva global,a càrrec de Laura Ruano • Al·legat antideterminista. Ressenya del llibre de Miquel Tresserras La ciutat de risc, a càrrec de Bernat López • Imatges al servei de la realitat. Ressenya dels llibres de Mary Panzer Las cosas tal como son: el fotoperiodismo en contexto desde 1955i d’Andy Steel Photojournalism: The World’s Top Photographers and the Stories Behind their Greatest Images, a càrrec de Sandra Balsell

Atlas de las praderas marinas de España

Knowledge of the distribution and extent of seagrass habitats is currently the basis of management and conservation policies of the coastal zones in most European countries. This basic information is being requested through European directives for the establishment of monitoring programmes and the implementation of specific actions to preserve the marine environment. In addition, this information is crucial for the quantification of the ecological importance usually attributed to seagrass habitats due to, for instance, their involvement in biogeochemical cycles, marine biodiversity and quality of coastal waters or global carbon budgets. The seagrass atlas of Spain represents a huge collective effort performed by 84 authors across 30 Spanish institutions largely involved in the scientific research, management and conservation of seagrass habitats during the last three decades. They have contributed to the availability of the most precise and realistic seagrass maps for each region of the Spanish coast which have been integrated in a GIS to obtain the distribution and area of each seagrass species. Most of this information has independently originated at a regional level by regional governments, universities and public research organisations, which explain the elevated heterogeneity in criteria, scales, methods and objectives of the available information. On this basis, seagrass habitats in Spain occupy a total surface of 1,541,63 km2, 89% of which is concentrated in the Mediterranean regions; the rest is present in sheltered estuarine areas of the Atlantic peninsular regions and in the open coastal waters of the Canary Islands, which represents 50% of the Atlantic meadows. Of this surface, 71.5% corresponds to Posidonia oceanica, 19.5% to Cymodocea nodosa, 3.1% to Zostera noltii (=Nanozostera noltii), 0.3% to Zostera marina and 1.2% to Halophila decipiens. Species distribution maps are presented (including Ruppia spp.), together with maps of the main impacts and pressures that has affected or threatened their conservation status, as well as the management tools established for their protection and conservation. Despite this considerable effort, and the fact that Spain has mapped wide shelf areas, the information available is still incomplete and with weak precision in many regions, which will require an investment of major effort in the near future to complete the whole picture and respond to demands of EU directives

Atlas de las praderas marinas de España

Knowledge of the distribution and extent of seagrass habitats is currently the basis of management and conservation policies of the coastal zones in most European countries. This basic information is being requested through European directives for the establishment of monitoring programmes and the implementation of specific actions to preserve the marine environment. In addition, this information is crucial for the quantification of the ecological importance usually attributed to seagrass habitats due to, for instance, their involvement in biogeochemical cycles, marine biodiversity and quality of coastal waters or global carbon budgets. The seagrass atlas of Spain represents a huge collective effort performed by 84 authors across 30 Spanish institutions largely involved in the scientific research, management and conservation of seagrass habitats during the last three decades. They have contributed to the availability of the most precise and realistic seagrass maps for each region of the Spanish coast which have been integrated in a GIS to obtain the distribution and area of each seagrass species. Most of this information has independently originated at a regional level by regional governments, universities and public research organisations, which explain the elevated heterogeneity in criteria, scales, methods and objectives of the available information. On this basis, seagrass habitats in Spain occupy a total surface of 1,541,63 km2, 89% of which is concentrated in the Mediterranean regions; the rest is present in sheltered estuarine areas of the Atlantic peninsular regions and in the open coastal waters of the Canary Islands, which represents 50% of the Atlantic meadows. Of this surface, 71.5% corresponds to Posidonia oceanica, 19.5% to Cymodocea nodosa, 3.1% to Zostera noltii (=Nanozostera noltii), 0.3% to Zostera marina and 1.2% to Halophila decipiens. Species distribution maps are presented (including Ruppia spp.), together with maps of the main impacts and pressures that has affected or threatened their conservation status, as well as the management tools established for their protection and conservation. Despite this considerable effort, and the fact that Spain has mapped wide shelf areas, the information available is still incomplete and with weak precision in many regions, which will require an investment of major effort in the near future to complete the whole picture and respond to demands of EU directives.Versión del edito

Proposta d'integració de les competències informàtiques i informacionals (CI2) als estudis de grau i postgrau de la UB

Document elaborat per el grup de treball de Formació d'usuaris del CRAI amb la col·laboració del departament de Biblioteconomia i Documentació, el Servei d'Atenció a l'Estudiant de la UB i la Unitat de Serveis als Usuaris de l'Àrea de Tecnologies.El canvi de paradigma en la docència universitària impulsat per els Acords de Bolonya porta implícita, entre d'altres, la formació en competències informàtiques i informacionals als alumnes de Grau, Postgrau i Doctorat de les universitats. El personal bibliotecari del CRAI de la UB és expert en aquest tipus de formació ja que per una banda es tracta d'habilitats bàsiques en el desenvolupament de la seva professió i per l'altra compta amb molts anys d'experiència acumulada oferint i realitzant sessions de formació per als usuaris de la UB. És a partir del reconeixement d'aquestes condicions del personal de les biblioteques del CRAI que, d'acord amb el vicerectorat de Docència i Convergència Europea de la UB, es va crear un grup de treball, en el qual hi ha participat també el departament de Biblioteconomia i Documentació, el Servei d'Atenció a l'Estudiant (SAE) i la Unitat de Serveis als Usuaris de l'Àrea de Tecnologies, amb l'encàrrec d'elaborar una proposta per implementar la formació en competències informàtiques i informacionals als graus, postgraus i doctorats de la UB. La finalitat: dotar als usuaris de les habilitats necessàries per a la cerca, obtenció, avaluació, processament i comunicació de la informació en qualsevol suport i aconseguir un millor coneixement i per tant una millor utilització dels recursos d¿informació que s'ofereixen des de les biblioteques del CRAI de la UB

Solucions als problemes proposats al volum 11 núm. 1

Peer Reviewe

Solucions als problemes proposats al volum 11 núm. 1

Peer Reviewe

Tobacco Control Training Programme for health professionals of the Catalan Network of Smoke-Free Hospitals: 11-year experience

Background and challenges to implementation The Catalan Network of Smoke-Free Hospitals (XCHSF), with 82 hospitals of Catalonia, is coordinated by the Catalan Institute of Oncology and supported by the Health Department of the Catalan Government. This public health programme is intended to design, scale down, and evaluate tobacco-control policies within its members. In this context, we aim to describe the Tobacco Control Training Programme initiated in 2006 addressed to health professionals to provide knowledge and skills to effectively uphold tobacco cessation services. Intervention or response The XCHSF's Training Programme is based on the identified needs detected in a baseline study conducted in 2005. It offers specific contents provided annually by a qualified group of experts in the field. Three modalities have been launched since 2006: a) face-to-face training courses on specific topics about smoking cessation intervention, b) a Train-the-Trainer Programme, and c) an on-line course about brief intervention on smoking cessation. Courses information is spread among hospital coordinators and posted online. All courses are accredited by the Official Administration and a certificate of completion is provided after participants' knowledge assessment. Participants are also required to evaluate the course and the trainer/s. Results and lessons learnt Since its beginnings in 2006, the XCHSF's Training Programme has increased its offer from 1 to 7 different topics of courses. Results on participation up to July 2017 indicate that 1,427 professionals have attended face-to-face courses since 2006; more than 2,700 professionals have been trained through the Train-the-Trainer Programme since 2009, and 1,474 professionals have finished the online course through several editions since 2014. The overall satisfaction reaches ≥8.5/10. Conclusions and key recommendations Offering a wide and continuous range of training activities is essential for having skilled health professionals in smoking cessation in hospitals. The XCHSF's Training Programme is an educational resource that reinforces public health promotion in the territory and fosters the implementation of tobacco control strategies in hospitals

Effects of Kinesiotape versus Low-Dye Tape on Pain and Comfort Measures in Patients with Plantar Fasciitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Bandages are commonly used to relieve pain in patients with plantar fasciitis. The goal was to compare the effects of using kinesiotape versus low-dye tape in the acute phase of plantar fasciitis on pain and comfort measures. Methods: Forty individuals with plantar fasciitis were allocated to the kinesiotape or low-dye tape interventions. The patients were assessed at baseline and every 24 h until the fifth day. The primary measure was a visual analog scale of pain. The other measures were comfort, mobility, durability, personal hygiene, sweating, and allergies. The effects were compared with an ANOVA test, 95% CI. Results: Kinesiotape was more effective in reducing pain; the greater effect occurred during the first day, with a between-group difference of 2.0 (95% CI: 1.8 to 2.2). The pain differences between the treatments progressively reduced each day from the second day. Kinesiotape offered significantly higher performance than low-dye tape in mobility, comfort, and comfort in hygiene, sweating, and durability, with a large effect size d > 0.8. Conclusions: Kinesiotape could be more effective than low-dye tape in relieving pain in patients with plantar fasciitis, with a significant clinical impact on the first day of treatment. Kinesiotape can also provide higher performance in terms of comfort