Productivity growth and technological change in Europe and the U.S.

This paper presents an evaluation on the technological sources of labor productivity growth across European countries and the US economy for the period 1980-2004. Assets of capital are divided into those related to the information and communication technologies (ICT), and non-ICT assets. Technological progress is divided into neutral change and investment specific change. Previous exercises have aimed at ICT as a serious contributor to the upsurge of US productivity from 1995 on. Contribution to productivity growth from each type of technological progress for the US and EU-15 countries is computed using two different approaches: a growth accounting and a general equilibrium. The US and Denmark are the countries with the larger contribution from ICT-technological progress. Overall, we find that Europe is well behind the US in terms of the effects of ICT technological change.Productivity growth, Investment-specific technological change, Neutral technological change

Financial Perspective of EU Agro-Business

This paper intention is to identify descriptive financial patterns associated with the different sectors and countries, which could transition into a model to facilitate the financial analysis of the Agribusiness sector. Only two sectors are going to be considered, primary producers, like farmers, and secondary producers ike the agro-food industry.Which selection will be based on Eurostat NACE classification, focusing on the small and middle small enterprises

Análisis comparativo de adhesión a la dieta mediterránea entre niñas y adolescentes de gimnasia rítmica

Introduction: Eating habits are one of the underlying aspects in rhythmic gymnastics as a sport with an aesthetic component. Objective: To evaluate adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) in girls and adolescents who perform rhythmic gymnastics, and the relationship of this adherence with Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference. Methods: A prospective, descriptive comparative cross-sectional study with the participation of 221 gymnasts aged between 7 and 17 years. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was analyzed using the KIDMED test. The waist circumference, height and weight of each gymnast were measured and the BMI calculated. Results: 41.63%, 52.94% and 5.43% of the total sample exhibited high, medium and low adherence, respectively, to the Mediterranean diet. The Mann-Whitney U test indicated significant differences in the rate of adherence to the Mediterranean diet between the two age groups, U = 5007.0, p = .016, r = .162. The adolescent gymnasts had greater adherence than the younger gymnasts. The total sample showed a positive correlation of the rate of adherence with weight (Rho = .143, p = .034), BMI (Rho = .152, p = .024) and waist circumference (Rho = .180, p = .007). Conclusions: The eating habits of adolescent gymnasts with regard to the Mediterranean diet are healthier than those of the younger gymnasts. All participants had normal BMI values. The KIDMED values of the total sample were related to weight and BMI. The high percentages of younger gymnasts with mean adherence to the MD evidenced the need to approximate their eating habits with Mediterranean standards.Introducción: Los hábitos alimentarios son uno de los aspectos fundamentales en la gimnasia rítmica como deporte de componente estético. Objetivo: Evaluar la adhesión a la dieta mediterránea (DM) en niñas y adolescentes de gimnasia rítmica y su relación con el Índice de Masa Corporal (IMC) y el perímetro de cintura. Métodos: Estudio prospectivo, transversal, descriptivo y comparativo en donde participaron 221 gimnastas entre 7 y 17 años. Se analizó la adhesión a la dieta mediterránea a través del test KIDMED. Fueron medidos el perímetro de cintura, así como la altura y el peso de cada gimnasta, calculando el IMC. Resultados: 41,63%, 52,94% y 5,43% de la muestra total demostraron la adhesión a la dieta mediterránea alta, mediana y baja respectivamente. El test U de Mann-Whitney apuntó diferencias significativas del índice de adhesión a la dieta mediterránea entre los dos grupos de edad, U = 5007,0, p = ,016, r = ,162. Las gimnastas adolescentes presentaron mayor adhesión que las niñas. La muestra total mostró una correlación positiva del índice de adhesión con el peso (Rho = ,143, p = ,034), IMC (Rho = ,152, p = ,024), y perímetro de cintura (Rho = ,180, p = ,007). Conclusiones: Los hábitos de las gimnastas adolescentes con relación a la dieta mediterránea son más saludables que los de las gimnastas niñas. Todas presentaron valores normales de IMC. Los valores de Kidmed de la muestra total se relacionaron al peso y al IMC. Los elevados porcentajes de gimnastas niñas con adhesión mediana a la DM evidencian la necesidad de aproximar sus hábitos a los estándares mediterráneos. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudio de diagnóstico comparativo

Combined use of the Ab105-2фΔCI lytic mutant phage and different antibiotics in clinical isolates of multiresistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Phage therapy is an abandoned antimicrobial therapy that has been resumed in recent years. In this study, we mutated a lysogenic phage from Acinetobacter baumannii into a lytic phage (Ab105-2phiΔCI) showing antimicrobial activity against A.baumannii clinical strains(such as Ab177_GEIH-2000 which showed MICs to meropenem and imipenem of 32 μg/ml and 16 μg/ml, respectively as well as belonging to GEIH-REIPI Spanish MulticenterA. baumannii Study II 2000/2010, Umbrella Genbank Bioproject PRJNA422585).We observed in vitro, an antimicrobial synergistic effect(from 4 log to 7 log CFU/ml) with meropenem plus lytic phage in all combinations analysed(0.1, 1 and 10 MOI of Ab105-2phiΔCI mutant as well as 1/4 and 1/8 MIC of meropenem). Moreover, we had a decrease in bacterial growth of 8 log CFU/ml for the combination of imipenem at 1/4 MIC plus lytic phage(Ab105-2phiΔCI mutant) and of 4 log CFU/ml for the combination of imipenem at 1/8 MIC plus lytic phage (Ab105-2phiΔCI mutant) in both MOI 1 and 10.These results were confirmed in in vivo(G. mellonella) obtaining a higher effectiveness in thecombination of imipenem and Ab105-2phiΔCI mutant(P<0.05). This approach could help to reducethe emergence of phage resistant bacteria and restore sensitivity to the antibiotics when used tocombat multiresistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii

Uso De Un Polímero Hidrófilo A Base De Poliacrilamida Para Mejorar La Eficiencia En El Uso Del Agua

As an alternative in search of new options to reduce overexploitation of groundwater that allow us to increase agricultural profitability in water scarce areas, the behavior of a commercial hydrophilic polymer based in polyacrylamide (PAM) Lluvia solida®, was analyzed by evaluating the polymer hydration capacity. The tests that we used showed that this polymer is capable of absorbing its own weight in 268 times when using distilled water. When salts are dissolved in the water, the polymer reduces its water absorbing capacity, the hydration capacity being lower as the salt content increases, with a water absorption reduction up to 116 times its weight. The polymer hydration capacity also decreases significantly when a complete nutritive solution is used, reducing water absorption up to 55 times its weight; in the presence of divalent (Ca2+ and Mg2+) and monovalent (K+ and NH4 +) cations the polymer hydration capacity reduces proportionally to the cation concentration as an exponential function. Urea did not have any effect in the polymer hydration, thus this fertilizer may be used along with the polymer. The use of this hydrophilic polymer is a tool that improves the water use efficiency but the effect depends on water quality, being reduced by the presence of salts in water