Political credit cycles: the case of the Euro zone

We study the mechanisms through which the adoption of the Euro delayed, rather than advanced, economic reforms in the Euro zone periphery and led to the deterioration of important institutions in these countries. We show that the abandonment of the reform process and the institutional deterioration, in turn, not only reduced their growth prospects but also fed back into financial conditions, prolonging the credit boom and delaying the response to the bubble when the speculative nature of the cycle was already evident. We analyze empirically the interrelation between the financial boom and the reform process in Greece, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal and, by way of contrast, in Germany, a country that did experience a reform process after the creation of the Euro

Granito de O Corqueizo, arido triturado para hormigones

[Resumen] Hoy el hormigón es un material imprescindible en la construcción de viviendas y obras públicas. Los áridos representan aproximadamente el 80% de su masa. Habrán de ser resistentes, estables y duraderos. No reaccionar con el agua intersticia saturada en iones calcio y fuertemente concentrada en iones potasio y sodio disuelto durante la hidratación del cemento y que permanece ocluida en los poros del hormigón. Resistir a la acción agresiva de los agentes externos (eventuales aguas con sulfatos y cloruros, heladas, oxidación y carbonatación). Por razones de economía conviene extraerlos en la proximidad del lugar en que se apliquen. D. Isidro Parga, ya en su "Mapa Petrográfico Estructural de Galicia", año 1.963, en las cercanías de Lugo -ocupando aproximadamente el 20% de las cuadrículas 73 y 98 (unos 200 Km2.)- describe una gran formación de roca granítica que clasifica como granitos de biotita. Siguiendo metodos establecidos por las normas españolas y ASTM, hemos estudiado los áridos obtenidos al triturar a escala industrial en la cantera de O Carqueixo, el granito de biotita de esta procedencia y determinamos sus principales propiedades. Describimos las operaciones de extracción y reducción de tamaño. Resumimos las realizaciones práctiyas en 17 años de aplicación. En la proximidad de Lucus Augusti, se dispone de material de calidad para realizar obras duraderas.[Résumé] Actuellement le béton est un matériel indispensable pour la construction de longements et pour les traveaux publiques. Les agrégats représententenviron le 80% de sa masse. lIs devront etre resistants,stIDles et durables; me pas réagir avec l'eau interstitielle saturée d'ions de calcium et fortement concentrée d'ions de potassium et solium disouts pendat l'hidratation du ciment et qui reste occluse dans les pores du béton. lIs devront etre résistants a l'action ~sive des agents extérieurs (éventuellement de l'eau contenant des sulfates et des chlorures, des gelées, l'oxydation et la carbonatation). Pour des raisons ~'économie, il convient de les extraire a proximité de l'endroit ou l'on veut les employer. En 1963, M. Isidro Parga décrivait déja dans sa "Carte Pétrographique Structurale de la Galice", une grande formations de roches granitiques, qu'il clasifie comme des granites a biotite, située a proximité de Lugo et cruvrant a peu prés le 20% des quadrillages 73 et 98 (quelques 200 Km2.). Employant des méthodes établies dans les normes espaynoles et ASTM, nous avons étudié les agrégats obtenus en triturant a échelle industrielle, dans les carieres du Carqueixo, le granite de biotite, dontnous venons de parler, et nous déterminons leurs prmciplles propriétés. Nous décrivons le processus d'extraction et de réduction de taille. Nous résumons les realisations pratiques de 17 ans d'application. Pas loin de Lucus Augusti on dispose du matériel de qualité nécessaire a la réalisation d'ouvrages durables

Calizas de Triacastela, materia prima para la fabricación de cemento

[Resumen] Los niveles de producción y consumo actual de cemento; las exportaciones, en las que España en los últimos años ha adquirido el primer puesto, exigen un tamaño mínimo necesario de las factorias para lograr un nivel de costo razonable. El calcio ha sido el principal componente del cemento y, por consideraciones científicas, podernos estar seguros que mañana también lo será. En Galicia aparece en pocos lugares, en cantidades muy limitadas y en ocasiones con carbonato magnésico. Don Isidro Parga ha tenido el mérito de aportar una solución; la cantera de Triacastela. En este trabajo se describe su importante volumen (más de 100 millones de toneladas), su idónea composición química, las posibilidades de lograr unos costos de extracción muy favorables y los resultados experimentales logrados en los dos primeros años de explotación[Résumé] Le niveau de production et de consomation actuel de ciment, de même que les exportations, ou l'Espagne a atteint la premiere place ces dernieres années, exigent un volume minimun nécessaire des usines a ciment pour parvenir a un niveau de frais raisonnable. Le calcium a été le compossant principal du ciment et, par des considerations scientifiques, nous pouvons affirmer qu'il continuera a l'otre. En Galice il n'apparalt que rarement et dans des can tités tres limitées, meme parfois contenant du carbonate de magnesium. Mr. Isidro Parga a eu le mérite d'apporter une solution; la carriere de Triacastela. Dans cet étude on y voit décrit sa grande Quantité (plus de 100 Millions de Tm.), son adéquate composition chimique, la possibilité de réussir des frais d'extraction tres favorables et les resultats expérimentaux atteints durant les deux premieres années d'exploitatio

Quantum authentication with unitary coding sets

A general class of authentication schemes for arbitrary quantum messages is proposed. The class is based on the use of sets of unitary quantum operations in both transmission and reception, and on appending a quantum tag to the quantum message used in transmission. The previous secret between partners required for any authentication is a classical key. We obtain the minimal requirements on the unitary operations that lead to a probability of failure of the scheme less than one. This failure may be caused by someone performing a unitary operation on the message in the channel between the communicating partners, or by a potential forger impersonating the transmitter.Comment: RevTeX4, 10 page

Possible ring material around centaur (2060) Chiron

We propose that several short duration events observed in past stellar occultations by Chiron were produced by rings material. From a reanalysis of the stellar occultation data in the literature we determined two possible orientations of the pole of Chiron's rings, with ecliptic coordinates l=(352+/-10) deg, b=(37+/-10) deg or l=(144+/-10) deg, b=(24+/-10) deg . The mean radius of the rings is (324 +/- 10) km. One can use the rotational lightcurve amplitude of Chiron at different epochs to distinguish between the two solutions for the pole. Both imply lower lightcurve amplitude in 2013 than in 1988, when the rotational lightcurve was first determined. We derived Chiron's rotational lightcurve in 2013 from observations at the 1.23-m CAHA telescope and indeed its amplitude is smaller than in 1988. We also present a rotational lightcurve in 2000 from images taken at CASLEO 2.15-m telescope that is consistent with our predictions. Out of the two poles the l=(144+/-10) deg, b=(24+/-10) deg solution provides a better match to a compilation of rotational lightcurve amplitudes from the literature and those presented here. We also show that using this preferred pole, Chiron's long term brightness variations are compatible with a simple model that incorporates the changing brightness of the rings as the tilt angle with respect to the Earth changes with time. Also, the variability of the water ice band in Chiron's spectra in the literature can be explained to a large degree by an icy ring system whose tilt angle changes with time and whose composition includes water ice, analogously to the case of Chariklo. We present several possible formation scenarios for the rings from qualitative points of view and speculate on the reasons why rings might be common in centaurs. We speculate on whether the known bimodal color distribution of centaurs could be due to presence of rings and lack of them

Modelling of a Stilling Basins with Sloping Apron in IBER to Improve Efficiency in High-slope Rivers

This research shows the influence of stilling basin slopes on energy loss in rivers with a high gradient. This study takes as a case San Pedro water intake (Ayacucho, Peru). The main objective is to improve efficiency of stilling basins in rivers with high slope. Five dissipation pools of different slopes were modelled: 0%, 1.52%, 3.04%, 4.56% and 6.08% to propose the optimum pool among these, for the San Pedro intake. Results were validated by means of a Sensitivity Analysis, trough comparison with the results of previous investigation and results of modelling San Pedro river with HEC-RAS and IBER. It was obtained that the steeper the slope of the stilling basin, the higher the specific energy loss, the higher the output rate, the longer the stilling basin. It can be concluded that the 3.04% slope stilling basin is the most appropriate for the 6.08% slope river since the slope variation is not abrupt as in the case of the horizontal one, that is, 30% more energy loss with respect to the horizontal pool and velocity and Froude results similar to the modelling of the San Pedro river

Proposal of a method for fluorimetric analysis of malvin in red wines

A fluorimetric method for the quantitative determination of malvin (malvidin 3,5-diglucoside) in red wines is described. The method is based on previous fractionation of the wine in a Polyclar AT column and later formation of a fluorophore, by oxidation of the malvin. The proposed method has good precision and accuracy and when applied to hybrid red wines affords results significantly comparable with those obtained by HPLC

LEAD ACCUMULATION AND SUBCELULAR DISTRIBUTION IN THE SCALLOP AEQUIPECTEN OPERCULARIS

The scallop Aequipecten opercularis accumulates high concentrations of lead (Pb) in its tissues, what has led to the ban of its extraction in the Ría de Vigo (Galicia, Spain) for feeding purposes. The Ría de Vigo presents higher levels of Pb than other industrialized Galician Rías, mainly due to a ceramic factory that was operating in the inner part of the Ría from 1961 to 2001 (Álvarez-Iglesias et al., 2003). This study aims at testing the dynamics of bioaccumulation of Pb in this species, its tissue distribution and the subcellular partitioning Pb, with the aim of enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms that provoke the high Pb levels reached in its tissues. Scallops originating from a clean area were exposed in cages in two places in the Ría de Vigo (one harbour and a less impacted location) and 10 individuals were collected every month over a three months period. The bioaccumulation of Pb and other metals was studied including its distribution in several tissues: gills, digestive gland, kidney, muscle, gonad and rest. The results showed that scallops accumulated similar levels of Pb in both locations, and that about 76% of the Pb was found in the kidney. Subcellular partitioning of kidney samples additionally showed that around a 60-70% of Pb in the kidneys was included in metal rich granules, indicating that this is probably the reason of the high levels of Pb observed in this species, as occurs for other bivalves (Darriba and Sánchez-Marín, 2013). Concerning other metals analysed, it was observed that Zn was also mainly accumulated in the kidney, while Cd content was highest in the digestive gland. Cu and Ni were preferentially accumulated in the digestive gland or kidney, depending on the location, and As was mainly found in the muscle. Results will be discussed on the basis of metal pollution in both locations and according to detoxification strategies used by scallops

Bioactivity of wollastonite/aerogels composites obtained from a TEOS-MTES matrix

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials were synthesized by controlled hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTES), synthetic wollastonite powders and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in an ethanol solution. Aerogels were prepared from acid hydrolysis of TEOS and MTES with different volume ratio in ethanol, followed by addition of wollastonite powder and PDMS in order to obtain aerogels with 20 wt% of PDMS and 5 wt% of CaO of the total silica. Finally, when the wet gels were obtained, they were supercritically dried at 260°C and 90 bar, in ethanol. In order to obtain its bioactivity, one method for surface activation is based on a wet chemical alkaline treatment. The particular interest of this study is that we introduce hybrid aerogels, in a 1 M solution of NaOH, for 30 s at room temperature. We evaluate the bioactivity of TEOS-MTES aerogel when immersed in a static volume of simulated body fluid (SBF). An apatite layer of spherical-shaped particles of uniform size smaller than 5 microns is observed to form on the surface of the aerogels after 25 days soaking in SBF.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MAT2005-01583Junta de Andalucía TEP 79