Assessing `not in my backyard' environmental policies: Is carbon leakage worse than we thought?

In the last few decades, high-income and high-productivity countries have pushed their agenda towards environmentally friendly policies. The carbon leakage hypothesis predicts that these policies will increase the emissions in unregulated countries, which happen to be low-income and low-productivity nations. Using a panel at the country level, we show that, because of the productivity differential, heterogeneous regulations have increased net global emissions. These results are a call for international coordination and cooperation in order to achieve a sustainable global economy

Strengths and obstacles for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area: The Spanish case

Trabajo presentado a la International Conference on Engineering Education & Research celebrada del 23 al 28 Agosto de 2009 en Seul (Corea del Sur).Quality assurance and accreditation in higher education are a priority aim in the convergence process to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Although the majority of European universities are working around these issues, there exist diverse tensions between the national legislation, accreditation and quality assurance, both in internal and external contexts. Spanish Higher Education Institutions must ensure the fulfillment of the goals related to their different degree programs, in a context of continuous improvement. This paper presents the evolution, some examples and the more recent trends related to quality assurance and accreditation in Spain. It comments some instruments that have been developed by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation of Spain (ANECA), like the guidelines developed in the AUDIT program whose purpose is to provide guidance in designing internal quality assurance systems.Peer reviewe

Kissing molars extraction: case series and review of the literature

Kissing molars are a very rare form of inclusion defined as molars included in the same quadrant, with occlusal surfaces contacting each other within a single dental follicle. We present four cases of this pathology: a 35 year-old male, referred to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of the Hospital Virgen del Rocio in Seville, and three females of 24, 26, and 31 years, all of which had kissing molars that were treated by tooth extraction. We have found only 10 cases published in the medical literature in which this type of inclusion is briefly described, none of which elaborate on the surgical technique employed. In these cases, the indication for surgery is established when there is a history of recurring infections or cystic lesions associated with dental inclusions. The extraction of kissing molars requires an exhaustive comprehension of the anatomy of the region involved, sufficiently developed surgical abilities, and an extensive planning proces

The social value of a QALY : raising the bar or barring the raise?

Background: Since the inception of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England, there have been questions about the empirical basis for the cost-per-QALY threshold used by NICE and whether QALYs gained by different beneficiaries of health care should be weighted equally. The Social Value of a QALY (SVQ) project, reported in this paper, was commissioned to address these two questions. The results of SVQ were released during a time of considerable debate about the NICE threshold, and authors with differing perspectives have drawn on the SVQ results to support their cases. As these discussions continue, and given the selective use of results by those involved, it is important, therefore, not only to present a summary overview of SVQ, but also for those who conducted the research to contribute to the debate as to its implications for NICE. Discussion: The issue of the threshold was addressed in two ways: first, by combining, via a set of models, the current UK Value of a Prevented Fatality (used in transport policy) with data on fatality age, life expectancy and age-related quality of life; and, second, via a survey designed to test the feasibility of combining respondents’ answers to willingness to pay and health state utility questions to arrive at values of a QALY. Modelling resulted in values of £10,000-£70,000 per QALY. Via survey research, most methods of aggregating the data resulted in values of a QALY of £18,000-£40,000, although others resulted in implausibly high values. An additional survey, addressing the issue of weighting QALYs, used two methods, one indicating that QALYs should not be weighted and the other that greater weight could be given to QALYs gained by some groups. Summary: Although we conducted only a feasibility study and a modelling exercise, neither present compelling evidence for moving the NICE threshold up or down. Some preliminary evidence would indicate it could be moved up for some types of QALY and down for others. While many members of the public appear to be open to the possibility of using somewhat different QALY weights for different groups of beneficiaries, we do not yet have any secure evidence base for introducing such a system

Análisis arqueosismológico del conjunto arqueológico romano de Mulva- Munigua (Sevilla, España). Resultados preliminares

El conjunto arqueológico romano de Mulva-Munigua (Sevilla, España) presenta daños en las edificaciones que pueden ser interpretadas como resultado de la ocurrencia de un evento sísmico (Efectos Arqueológicos de los Terremotos: EAEs) a finales del siglo III A.D., fecha coincidente con el inicio del periodo de declive económico de este asentamiento romano. Para intentar establecer el posible origen sísmico de las deformaciones, se ha procedido al inventario y análisis de las estructuras deformadas presentes en el yacimiento. No obstante, algunas de estas deformaciones también se pueden interpretar como resultado de procesos gravitaciones asociados a la ladera Este de la colina sobre la que se sitúa parte del yacimiento. Las direcciones de máxima deformación (ey) obtenidas del análisis de EAEs indica dos direcciones preferentes de la deformación (o movimiento preferente del terreno): NNO-SSE y ENEOSO. Aunque los datos presentan una dispersión importante, se puede establecer que la orientación principal NNO-SSE es compatible con un evento sísmico situado en el borde norte del Valle del Guadalquivir. La orientación ENE-OSO podría relacionarse con un evento posterior, o más seguramente con procesos de ladera de carácter cosísmico o no.The Roman archaeological site of Mulva-Munigua (Sevilla, Spain) displays building damage features suggesting a seismic origin (Earthquake Archaeological Effects: EAEs). The proposed seismic event could be tentatively dated in the late 3rd century AD, coinciding with the beginning of the economic fall of the Roman Empire at Iberia. However, some of the recorded EAEs can be also interpreted as a result of intervening slope movements in the eastern hillslope of this roman site. The inventory and analysis of the proposed EAEs make possible to discern between seismic oriented damage and other causes. In spite of the data show a significant dispersion, their analysis result in two different orientations of maximum deformation (ey) or preferential ground movement: NNW-SSE and ENE-WSW. The main ey orientation (NNW-SSE) can be tentatively related to a seismic event occurred in the environs of the northern border of the Guadalquivir Depression. The secondary orientation (ENE-WSW) can be interpreted as a consequence of latter slope movements triggered (or not) by other ancient earthquakes