La irrupción de España en el panorama de las migraciones internacionales: por qué llegaron, por qué siguen llegando y por qué lo seguirán haciendo

España se convirtió en el destino europeo preferido de buena parte de los inmigrantes en la década de los 2000. A finales del 2007, la crisis ha venido a trastocar las perspectivas a corto plazo de españoles y extranjeros, y sin embargo, el flujo inmigratorio no parece haberse detenido sustancialmente. Los interrogantes de futuro se extienden sobre la pauta que debe emprender la nueva economía española: ¿seguirá siendo nuestro país un destino migratorio relevante? Este texto pretende reflexionar sobre las causas de la inmigración en España, sobre las razones que inhiben el retorno y sobre las perspectivas de los flujos inmigratorios en el largo plazo

Drivers of electricity poverty in Spanish dwellings: A quantile regression approach

The main objective of this article is to explore the causes of household electricity poverty in Spain from an innovative perspective. Based on evidence of energy inequality across households with different income levels, a quantile regression approach was used to better capture the heterogeneity of determinants of energy poverty across different levels of electricity expenditure. The results illustrate some interesting and counter-intuitive findings about the relationship between household income and electricity poverty, and the technical efficiency of quantile regression compared to the imprecise results of a standard single coefficient/OLS approach

Impacto de la crisis laboral sobre la población inmigrante

La crisis económica ha provocado un aumento sustancial del desempleo entre la población inmigrante, cuyo tamaño ha continuado aumentando pese a la reducción de oportunidades laborales. Tras un período de extraordinario crecimiento económico y una formidable generación de empleo, la población laboral inmigrante ha sufrido un duro ajuste durante el primer año y medio de crisis. Las tasas de paro se han elevado desde el 17% en 2008 hasta el 29% en el tercer trimestre de 2009. Una mayor exposición y vulnerabilidad del colectivo laboral inmigrante ha determinado un ajuste que, aunque está afectando también a los nativos, presenta características diferenciales que son estudiadas en este ARI

Animal models for diabetes insipidus

The hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a nonapeptide synthesized by hypothalamic magnocellular nuclei and secreted from the posterior pituitary into the bloodstream. It binds to AVP receptor 2 in the kidney to promote the insertion of aquaporin channels (AQP2) and antidiuretic responses. AVP secretion deficits produce central diabetes insipidus (CDI), while renal insensitivity to the antidiuretic effect of AVP causes nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI). Hereditary and acquired forms of CDI and NDI generate hypotonic polyuria, polydipsia, hyperosmolality, and hypernatremia. The AVP mutant (Brattleboro) rat is the principal animal model of hereditary CDI, while neurohypophysectomy, pituitary stalk compression, hypophysectomy, and mediobasal hypothalamic lesions produce acquired CDI. In animals, hereditary NDI is mainly caused by mutations in AVP2R or AQP2 genes, while acquired NDI is most frequently induced by lithium. We report here on the determinants of the intake and excretion of water and mineral salts and on the different types of DI in humans. We then describe the hydromineral characteristics of these animal models and the responses observed after administration of hypertonic NaCl or when they are fed with low-sodium diets. Finally, we report on the effects of drugs such as AVP analogues and/or oxytocin, another neuropeptide that increases sodium excretion in animal models and humans with CDI, and silden- afil, a compound that increases the expression and function of AQP2 channels in animal models and humans with NDI.Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref. PSI2017-89324-C2-1-P)

Animal Models of Central Diabetes Insipidus: Oxytocin and Low-Sodium Diets as Complementary Treatments

Human central diabetes insipidus (CDI) is a neurobiological syndrome characterized by the presence of hypotonic polyuria, hypernatremia, and polydipsia. CDI can be acquired (aCDI) as the result of brain damage to magnocellular neurosecretory cells or fibers that constitute the hypothalamic-neurohypophyseal system or can be caused by genetic disorders (hereditary CDI). aCDI can be experimentally induced by various surgical interventions, including neurohypophysectomy, pituitary stalk compression (PSC), hypophysectomy, and hypothalamic mediobasal lesions. CDI has been associated with a deficient production of arginine vasopressin (AVP) (the antidiuretic hormone secreted by magnocellular system), while more recently, aCDI animal studies also suggest the possible involvement of oxytocin (OT) (a natriuretic-promoting hormone secreted by neurosecretory systems) and other factors related to serum fluid concentration. Both humans and animals with aCDI may benefit from the combined administration of AVP and OT and, importantly, from a low-sodium diet. Moreover, increased OT levels are observed in Brattleboro rats (with mutated AVP gene), which may explain the regulatory hydromineral capacity shown by these animals after hydromineral challenges. In short, the symptoms shown by the different CDI animal models suggest the involvement of additional factors besides the absence of AVP, which appear to depend on the particular neurobiological systems affected in each case

Unbiasing the estimate of the role of income in carbon footprint of households: analysis of the Spanish case as a pilot study

Although the estimation of the elasticity of the household carbon footprint and income is a frequently analysed fact, unfortunately a fundamental aspect of this relationship has not been considered: it is not a constant factor for the whole population. To make an adequate estimate of this relationship, a Quantile Regression is proposed, obtaining significantly different results to those derived from the usual estimations using ordinary least squares (OLS), which have been carried out up to now. This fact is fundamental for the correct planning and evaluation of fiscal policies based on income taxation to reduce the carbon footprint. Our results confirm that the OLS estimation would overestimate the effects of income on CO2 reduction by 26

Inversión y comercio entre la Unión Europea y Latinoamérica: pasado, presente y geostrategia en el futuro

La Unión Europea se convirtió, durante la década de los 90, en el mayor inversor internacional en Latinoamérica. A pesar de ello, el margen de comercio con esta área tiene un limitado peso sobre el total del realizado por la UE en su conjunto. En este documento se analizan las grandes líneas que han guiado las relaciones económicas entre ambas zonas durante los últimos cincuenta años, haciendo especial hincapié en sus resultados en materia comercial y de inversiones. Posteriormente, se hace un breve repaso sobre la situación actual y perspectivas del marco negociador UE-Latinoamérica, destacando los cambios geoestratégicos derivados de la Conferencia de Barcelona de 1995 y del Tratado de Adhesión de Copenhague (2002)

Análisis de similitud relativa entre la estructura de exportación de los países mediterráneos y la Unión Europea (ISREE). El caso especial de España

Se presenta un índice de similitud de la estructura de exportaciones alternativo a los ya existentes en la literatura tradicional, que hemos denominado ISREE. Dicho índice se estima a partir de la matriz de disimilitudes habitualmente empleada en el análisis cluster. El procedimiento nos permite obtener una medición no confusa del riesgo relativo de un país o área frente a otro/s en función del grado de similitud de su estructura de exportación de un tipo de productos. En nuestro caso, el análisis se centra en la exportación de productos agrícolas, con un nivel de desagregación máximo, y para los países de la Unión Europea y el Mediterráneo. El principal resultado obtenido es la clasificación bilateral de los riesgos relativos entre países y áreas como punto a tener en cuenta en la negociación de una eventual liberalización del mercado agrícola.We present an export structure similarity index alternative to the ones already existing in the traditional literature, referred to as ESSI (ISREE). This index is estimated from the dissimilarity matrix usually used in cluster analysis. The procedure enables us to obtain a definite measurement of the relative risk of a country or area compared with another/others in accordance with the degree of similarity of their structure for the export of products of one type. In our case, the analysis is focused on the export of farm produce, with a maximum level of disaggregation and for European Union and Mediterranean countries. The main result obtained is the bilateral classification of the relative risks between countries and areas as a point to be taken into account in the negotiation of a possible future liberalisation of the agricultural market.Financiación prestada por FEMIS

Prioridades de los Países Socios Mediterráneos ante una eventual inclusión de la agricultura en el Area de Libre Comercio Euromediterránea: claves cuantitativas para el diseño de una 'hoja de ruta'

En el contexto del mandato comunitario de generar una hoja de ruta específica para cada uno de los Países Socios Mediterráneos (PSM), es necesario realizar un análisis cuantitativo de las ventajas y desventajas relativas de cada uno de estos países para asimilar un régimen comercial agrícola de libre cambio con la UE. En el artículo se definen una serie de ejes económicos, sociales, de infraestructuras, etcétera, a considerar en el estado de desarrollo de cada uno de los PSM. Posteriormente, se lleva a cabo un análisis factorial y se generan una serie de indicadores sintéticos que nos permiten graduar las áreas de atención preferente en cada país con objeto de definir hojas de ruta específicas por país

Quantifying the excess carbon footprint and its main determinants of Spanish households

New evidence is provided on the determinants of the carbon footprint (CF) at the household level, using the Spanish case as an example and data from the Household Budget Survey (HBS) and the E-MRIO database. The research presents two new contributions. On the one hand, the basis of analysis on what we call ‘Excess per capita CF’, that is, the part of CF that exceeds a threshold associated with a minimum per capita consumption of each product in a household, below which level it is difficult to expect reductions in consumption. Second, the use of a quantile regression (QR) approach for the estimation of the drivers of CF. Both issues imply important changes in the consideration of the influence of some drivers considered so far in the literature, related to which CF quantile the household is in. These differences between an ordinary least squares (OLS) and the QR are especially significant for variables such as income, household size, occupation, age, household composition, housing area and area of residenc