Simplicial degree in complex networks. Applications of Topological Data Analysis to Network Science

Network Science provides a universal formalism for modelling and studying complex systems based on pairwise interactions between agents. However, many real networks in the social, biological or computer sciences involve interactions among more than two agents, having thus an inherent structure of a simplicial complex. We propose new notions of higher-order degrees of adjacency for simplices in a simplicial complex, allowing any dimensional comparison among them and their faces, which as far as we know were lacked in the literature. We introduce multi-parameter boundary and coboundary operators in an oriented simplicial complex and also a novel multi-combinatorial Laplacian is defined, which generalises the graph and combinatorial Laplacian. To illustrate the potential applications of these theoretical results, we perform a structural analysis of higher-order connectivity in simplicial-complex networks by studying the associated distributions with these simplicial degrees in 17 real-world datasets coming from different domains such as coauthor networks, cosponsoring Congress bills, contacts in schools, drug abuse warning networks, e-mail networks or publications and users in online forums. We find rich and diverse higher-order connectivity structures and observe that datasets of the same type reflect similar higher-order collaboration patterns. Furthermore, we show that if we use what we have called the maximal simplicial degree (which counts the distinct maximal communities in which our simplex and all its strict sub-communities are contained), then its degree distribution is, in general, surprisingly different from the classical node degree distribution.Comment: 52 pages, 12 figures, 4 table

The Role of the Tourism Network in the Coordination of Pandemic Control Measures

The emergence and spread of COVID-19 has severely impacted the tourism industry worldwide. In order to limit the effect of new pandemics or any unforeseen crisis, coordinated actions need to be adopted among tourism stakeholders. In this paper, we use an evolutionary game model to analyze the conditions that promote cooperation among different stakeholders in a tourism network to control high-risk crises. A data sample of 280 EU regions is used to define the tourism network of regions with a heterogeneous dependence on tourism. The results show that cooperation is helped by the existence of a structured tourism network. Moreover, cooperation is enhanced when coordination groups include small numbers of participants and when they are formed according to the similarity of tourism dependence.University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria COVID-19-04Spanish GovernmentAndalusian GovernmentEuropean Commission P18-TP-4475 PID2021-122916NB-I00 RYC-2016-1980

Montar un punto de acceso inalámbrico 802.11 en Linux

La gente se mueve, las redes no. Estas dos sentencias definen más que nada la explosión de las redes inalámbricas de área local o WLAN (WirelessLocalArea Network). En unos pocos años el precio de los dispositivos WLANha bajado lo suficiente como para que se plantee su adquisición para usos domésticos. Aun así el precio del punto de acceso o AP (Access Point) sigue siendo elevado, y en la mayoría de casos su capacidad sobrepasa los pequeños requerimientos de una red inalámbrica doméstica. En este artículo explicamos como montar un AP inalámbrico con un ordenador, una tarjeta WLAN y software de código libre.Peer Reviewe

Rewarding policies in an asymmetric game for sustainable tourism

Tourism is a growing sector worldwide, but many popular destinations are facing sustain- ability problems due to excessive tourist flows and inappropriate behavior. In these areas, there is an urgent need to apply mechanisms to stimulate sustainable practices. This paper studies the most efficient strategy to incentivize sustainable tourism by using an asymmet- ric evolutionary game. We analyze the application of rewarding policies to the asymmetric game where tourists and stakeholders interact in a spatial lattice, and where tourists can also migrate. The incentives of the rewarding policies have an economic budget which can be allocated to tourists, to stakeholders, or to both sub-populations. The results show that an adaptive rewarding strategy, where the incentive budget changes over time to one or the other sub-population, is more effective than simple rewarding strategies that are exclu- sively focused on one sub-population. However, when the population density in the game decreases, rewarding just tourists becomes the most effective strateg

e-Mazing - Juego de autoaprendizaje en terminales móviles

¿Te gustan los juegos? En este artículo se describirá el resultado de un Proyecto de Final de Carrera de la EPSC: un videojuego educativo para teléfonos móviles. Los juegos y más concretamente los videojuegos, pueden ser herramientas muy potentes de aprendizaje, debido a la alta capacidad de atención y concentración que muestra el usuario durante su curso. Siendo uno de los propósitos llegar a un público amplio y heterogéneo, se ha escogido el teléfono móvil como plataforma de la aplicación, por su gran penetración en nuestra vida cotidiana, ya que presenta la posibilidad de usarlo en cualquier momento y lugar. Estos son los principios de e-Mazing. Primero, se desarrollará ePeer Reviewe

The Spanish public pension system : current situation, challenges and reform alternatives

El déficit del Sistema de la Seguridad Social español alcanzó un 1,5 % del PIB en 2015, que contrasta con el superávit observado antes de la crisis económica, del 2,2 % del PIB en 2007. Este deterioro se debe, sobre todo, a un incremento del gasto en pensiones contributivas (en % del PIB), como resultado del incremento de la tasa de dependencia, el aumento de la tasa de sustitución de las pensiones y la caída de la tasa de empleo. Más allá de esta situación de corto plazo, el sistema público de pensiones español se enfrenta, como los del resto de los países desarrollados, a retos importantes causados por la expectativa de un aumento significativo de la longevidad y, consecuentemente, de la proporción de la población en edad de jubilación. En este contexto, este documento tiene como objetivo contribuir al debate sobre la situación del sistema de pensiones mediante el análisis de su evolución reciente, las previsiones hacia el futuro, que incorporan el impacto de las últimas reformas, y los retos pendientesThe Spanish Social Security System’s deficit rose to 1.5% of GDP in 2015, in contrast to a pre-crisis surplus of 2.2% of GDP in 2007. This deterioration is primarily due to an increase in contributory pension spending (as a % of GDP), as a result of the rise in the dependency ratio, the increase in the pension replacement rate and the decline in the employment rate. Beyond this short-term situation, the Spanish public pension system, as is the case in other developed countries, faces major challenges arising from expectations of significant longevity gains and the attendant growth of the retirement-age population. In this context, this paper aims to contribute to the debate on the situation of the pension system through an analysis of its recent evolution, forward-looking projections that include the impact of the latest reforms and the challenges outstandin

A collective risk dilemma for tourism restrictions under the COVID‑19 context

This work is jointly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Andalusian Government, ERDF and University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria under grants EXASOCO (PGC2018-101216-B-I00), SIMARK (P18-TP-4475), AIMAR (A-TIC-284-UGR18), and COVID-19-04.The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted millions of people and the global economy. Tourism has been one the most affected economic sectors because of the mobility restrictions established by governments and uncoordinated actions from origin and destination regions. The coordination of restrictions and reopening policies could help control the spread of virus and enhance economies, but this is not an easy endeavor since touristic companies, citizens, and local governments have conflicting interests. We propose an evolutionary game model that reflects a collective risk dilemma behind these decisions. To this aim, we represent regions as players, organized in groups; and consider the perceived risk as a strict lock-down and null economic activity. The costs for regions when restricting their mobility are heterogeneous, given that the dependence on tourism of each region is diverse. Our analysis shows that, for both large populations and the EU NUTS2 case study, the existence of heterogeneous costs enhances global agreements. Furthermore, the decision on how to group regions to maximize the regions’ agreement of the population is a relevant issue for decision makers to consider. We find out that a layout of groups based on similar costs of cooperation boosts the regions’ agreements and avoid the risk of having a total lock-down and a negligible tourism activity. These findings can guide policy makers to facilitate agreements among regions to maximize the tourism recovery.Grant EXASOCO (PGC2018-101216-B-I00)SIMARK (P18-TP-4475)AIMAR (A-TIC-284-UGR18)COVID-19-0

Fiscal policy, structural reforms and external imbalances : a quantitative evaluation for Spain

Este artículo considera un modelo de generaciones solapadas, aplicado a una economía pequeña, abierta al comercio internacional y caracterizada por la existencia de competencia imperfecta en los mercados de bienes y de trabajo, para analizar: i) cuáles fueron los principales determinantes de la expansión observada en la economía española desde mediados de los 1990s hasta la llegada de la crisis financiera global en 2007-2008, ii) qué papel podrían haber jugado la política fiscal y las reformas estructurales en la reducción del desequilibrio externo acumulado durante este periodo, y iii) cómo estas políticas podrían influir en el proceso de recuperación de la actividad económica en España después de la crisis. Los resultados apuntan a que la caída en los tipos de interés y los cambios demográficos fueron los principales factores que impulsaron la última etapa expansiva en España. En cuanto al comportamiento macroeconómico de la economía española después de la crisis, los resultados sugieren que un adelanto en el proceso de consolidación fiscal, junto con la introducción de reformas estructurales que reduzcan las distorsiones existentes en los mercados de bienes y de trabajo, contribuirían a que la recuperación de la actividad fuera más exitos

Using Modelling Techniques to Analyze Urban Freight Distribution. A Case Study in Pamplona (Spain)

The city of Pamplona, in Spain, is currently experiencing several changes regarding sustainable mobility such as pedestrianization of some streets in the city center, and access control to the Old Town for motor vehicles through the use of automatic number-plate recognition. However, some groups including local neighbors and businesses are raising complaints as they are being affected by these measures. This is also the case for couriers and logistics companies which have now to comply with new regulations regarding delivery routes throughout the Old Town. This paper will present a comprehensive study of the situation that is being carried out, and in which social perceptions and freight traffic patterns in the Old Town of Pamplona are analyzed to understand how urban freight distribution could be improved in the area. For this purpose, we make use of a survey-based research to the stakeholders, i.e. pedestrians, logistics companies, retailers, and authorities of Pamplona. Results highlight pollution derived from transportation, lack of parking spaces as well as invasion of public spaces in the city center as the key issues for improving freight transportation in the Old Town. Finally, placing a distribution center in the Old Town and the promotion of the cycle-logistics are considered as the future of the urban distribution in Pamplona