Lightweigth Adaptive fault-tolerant data storage system (AFTSYS)

Research group ARCOS of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) have been working on flexible and adaptive data storage systems for several years. The storage systems developed are featured by software governance, making them portable across different hardware storage resources, and their dynamic adaptativy to the different circumstances of computer systems following the autonomic system paradigm. They also allow getting high performance storage by using data distribution or striping across multiple devices. One of the group’s technologies y the AFTSYS system. A fault-tolerant storage system for persistent distributed objects, user configurable and adaptive to system behaviour

The role of the term spread in an augmented Taylor rule: An empirical investigation

Using US data for the period 1967:5-2002:4, this paper empirically investigates the performance of an augmented version of the Taylor rule (ATR) that (i) allows for the presence of switching regimes, (ii) considers the long-short term spread in addition to the typical variables, (iii) uses an alternative monthly indicator of general economic activity suggested by Stock and Watson (1999), and (iv) considers interest rate smoothing. The estimation results show the existence of switching regimes, one characterized by low volatility and the other by high volatility. Moreover, the scale of the responses of the Federal funds rate to movements in the term spread, inflation and the economic activity index depend on the regime. The estimation results also show robust empirical evidence that the ATR has been more stable during the term of office of Chairman Greenspan than in the pre-Greenspan period. However, a closer look at the Greenspan period shows the existence of two alternative regimes and that the response of the Fed funds rate to inflation has not been significant during this period once the term spread is considered.fed funds rate, switching regimes, term spread

Is there a Phillips Curve in the US and the EU15 Countries? An empirical investigation

This paper studies the comovement between output and inflation in the EU15 countries. Following den Haan (2000), I use the correlations of VAR forecast errors at different horizons in order to analyze the output-inflation relationship. The empirical results show that eight countries display a significant positive comovement between output and inflation. Moreover, the empirical evidence suggests that a Phillips curve phenomenom is more likely to be detected in countries where inflation is more stable.comovement of output and inflation, VAR forecast errors

Consistent poverty dynamics in Spain

This paper aims to analyse the evolution of consistent poverty, defined as the combination of income and living conditions to identify deprived people. The conclusions of other papers that show a high amount of poverty exits depending on temporary shocks of income are tested. In this paper we find a high degree of immobility in the extreme situations since the improvement of living standards of deprived people is not expected and most changes are expected to be caused by temporary shocks of income. This study is based on the ECHP data for Spain (1994-2000)poverty ; households ; panel data

The Comovement between Monetary and Fiscal Policy Instruments during the Post-War Period in the U.S.

This paper empirically studies the dynamic relationship between monetary and fiscal policies by analyzing the comovements between the Fed funds rate and the primary deficit/output ratio. Simple economic thinking establishes that a negative correlation between Fed rate and deficit arises whenever the two policy authorities share a common stabilization objective. However, when budget balancing concerns lead to a drastic deficit reduction the Fed may reduce the Fed rate in order to smooth the impact of fiscal policy, which results in a positive correlation between these two policy instruments. The empirical results show (i) a significant negative comovement between Fed rate and deficit and (ii) that deficit and output gap Granger-cause the Fed funds rate during the post-Volcker era, but the opposite is not true.fed rate, deficit, comovement, switching regimes

Does the Term Spread play a role in the FED's reaction function? An Empirical Investigation

Using US data for the period 1967:5-2002:4, this paper empirically investigates the performance of a Fed’s reaction function (FRF) that (i) allows for the presence of switching regimes, (ii) considers the long-short term spread in addition to the typical variables, (iii) uses an alternative monthly indicator of general economic activity suggested by Stock and Watson (1999), and (iv) considers interest rate smoothing. The estimation results show the existence of three switching regimes, two characterized by low volatility and the remaining regime by high volatility. Moreover, the scale of the responses of the Federal funds rate to movements in the rate of inflation and the economic activity index depends on the regime. The estimation results also show robust empirical evidence that the importance of the term spread in the FRF has increased over the sample period and the FRF has been more stable during the term of office of Chairman Greenspan than in the pre-Greenspan period.fed funds rate, switching regimes, term spread

La química médica como fuente de identificación y optimización de compuestos útiles en la biología molecular y celular. Ligandos de tubulina en el sitio de unión de colchicina como agentes antivasculares tumorales.

La química médica es una ciencia altamente multidisciplinar que abarca desde el diseño, identificación, síntesis y optimización de compuestos biológicamente activos a la interpretación de su modo de acción a nivel molecular. Por ello constituye un puente entre la ciencia básica de la biología y la química, y la ciencia clínica de la medicina. Así la química médica puede poner a disposición de la biología molecular y celular herramientas que ayuden a profundizar en el esclarecimiento de problemas biológicamente relevantes y en último término proporcionar compuestos que ayuden a solventar carencias en el tratamiento de enfermedades. En esta conferencia comentaremos algunos aspectos generales de la química médica y su integración con las disciplinas afines, como se ha comentado en el párrafo anterior. Además, para ilustrar esa interconexión haremos uso de un ejemplo muy reciente de nuestro grupo de investigación en la identificación y optimización de ligandos del sitio de unión de colchicina en tubulina, compuestos para los que se ha propuesto su utilización como agentes interruptores de la vascularización tumoral. Abordaremos la identificación de nuevos ligandos empleando técnicas de cribado virtual, la mejora de las propiedades de estos compuestos mediante la síntesis de profármacos y su comportamiento a nivel celular por despolimerización de tubulina.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Optimal railway infrastructure maintenance and repair policies to manage risk under uncertainty with adaptive control

The aim of this paper is to apply two adaptive control formulations under uncertainty, say open-loop and closed-loop, to the process of developing maintenance and repair policies for railway infrastructures. To establish the optimal maintenance and repair policies for railway lines, we use a previous design of risk model based on two factors: the criticality and the deterioration ratios of the facilities. Thus, our theory benefits from the Reliability Centered Management methodology application, but it also explicitly models uncertainty in characterizing a facility deterioration rate to decide the optimal policy to maintain the railway infrastructures. This may be the major contribution of this work. To verify the models presented, a computation study has been developed and tested for a real scenario: the railway line Villalba-Cercedilla in Madrid (Spain). Our results demonstrate again that applying any adaptive formulation, the cost of the railway lines maintenance shown is decreased. Moreover applying a Closed Loop Formulation the cost associated to the risk takes smaller values (40% less cost for the same risk than the deterministic approach), but with an Open Loop formulation the generated risk in the railway line is also smaller