U.S. historical initial jobless claims. Is it different with the coronavirus crisis? A fractional integration analysis.

This research paper makes an empirical analysis based on long memory to understand the historical behavior of initial unemployment claims (ICSA) in the United States (U.S.) during all the recession periods and epidemic diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and COVID-19 since 1967 applying statistical methods based on long range dependence and fractional differentiation. Using unit root/stationarity tests (ADF, PP and KPSS) we discover that the original time series is stationary I(0) and the subsamples are non-stationary I(1). Finally, to analyze the original time series as well as the several periods corresponding to the recessions that occurred in U.S. and the three epidemic diseases, we use AIC and BIC criterion to fit the best ARFIMA model. We conclude that the results display long memory with a degree of integration strictly below 1 (d < 1) for the COVID-19 episode and for the rest of the subsamples, except for the original time series and the 2nd subsample. Thus we can conclude that the impacts will be transient and with long lasting effects of shocks and expecting to disappear on their own in long term. Finally, we use a methodology proposed by Bai and Perron to estimate structural breaks not being necessary to know the time of the breaks in advance. The results are similar to those obtained previously.pre-print363 K

Bunker fuel, commodity prices and shipping market indices following the COVID-19 pandemic. A time-frequency analysis.

This paper deals with the analysis of the evolution of international trade after COVID-19, examining commodity prices, the shipping industry, and the influence of the cost of bunker fuel. To this end, we use techniques based on fractional integration, fractional cointegration VAR (FCVAR) and wavelet analysis. Monthly data relating to heavy fuel oil prices and the shipping market from October 2011 to September 2021 are used. Using fractional integration in the post-break period, a lack of mean reversion is observed in all cases, which means that, for the commodity prices and shipping market indices, a change in trend will be permanent after COVID-19 unless strong measures are carried out by the authorities. Using wavelet analysis, we conclude that the demand shock represented in the indices mentioned above has led the price of fuel oil since the beginning of the pandemic, and bunker fuel is not relevant in determining the cost of maritime transport.post-print2426 K

Analysis of the dynamics of an active control of the surface potential in metal oxide gas sensors

Postprint (author's final draft

Multiculturalismo, identidad y reconocimiento

Se concibe el multiculturalismo como una propuesta de reconocimiento cultural y político. Una propuesta que se apoya en ciertos supuestos antropológicos y filosóficos: la noción de autenticidad cultural, cierta equiparación de las diferentes culturas, el carácter positivo la diversidad cultural, un ideal armonicista de convivencia de la diversidad, la eficacia de los mecanismos de reconocimiento, etc. Esta comunicación se propone analizar algunas de estos supuestos y las dificultades y aporías que generanMulticulturalism is understood as a policy of political or cultural recognition. A policy of recognition which relies upon some anthropological and philosophical assumptions: the notion of cultural authenticity, the presumption of equal worth of the different cultures, the positive value of diversity, the peaceful coexistence of plurality and diversity, the efficacy of recognition, etc. This paper attempts to analyze some of these assumptions and the difficulties related to them

Hermenéutica crítica y hermenéutica filosófica. Gadamer frente a Spinoza

Se consideran algunas cuestiones hermenéuticas a partir de la interpretación que Gadamer ofrece (fundamentalmente en Verdad y método) del Tratado teológico-político de Spinoza, un texto clave en lo que el propio Gadamer denominará “la hermenéutica clásica”. A través de esta interpretación, se indaga en qué medida Gadamer presenta una alternativa gnoseológica (y no meramente una fenomenología descriptiva) a la pretensión cartesiana de un concepto unitario y homogéneo de método científico y a sus derivaciones críticas respecto a la religión y la tradición.This paper attempts to take into account some hermeneutic questions starting from Gadamer’s interpretation (basically through Truth and Method) of Spinoza’s Tractatus Theologico-politicus, in Gadamer’s opinion, a crucial document in “classical hermeneutics”. This interpretation allows thinking in what an extent Gadamer offers a gnoseological alternative (not simply a descriptive phenomenology) to the Cartesian pretension of a unitary and homogeneous concept of scientific method and its critical derivations towards religion and tradition

Un lector de Maquiavelo en la tratadística ibérica de finales del siglo XVI : Bartolomeu Filipe

El artículo se divide en tres momentos diferenciados. En primer lugar, se describe el marco conceptual genérico desde el que puede entenderse la relativamente escasa difusión de la obra de Maquiavelo en la España a partir del último tercio del siglo XVI. En segundo lugar, se analiza lo que en cierto sentido puede proponerse como una excepción (hay sin duda alguna más) a este cuadro general. En concreto, se examina el Tractado del Consejo y de los Consejeros de los Príncipes de Bartolomeu Filipe, probablemente el texto que presenta una apropiación más extensa y menos polémica de los Discursos de Maquiavelo. Se intenta, por último, ofrecer algunas consideraciones que ayudan a explicar la anomalía que supone esta actitud respecto al el autor florentino.This article is divided into three different sections. Firstly, a description is given of the general conceptual framework from which the relatively scarce diffusion of the work of Machiavelli in the Spain of the last third of the XVI century can be understood. Secondly, what to a certain extent could be presented as an exception to this general framework (there is surely some other) is analysed. I refer to the Tractado del Consejo by Bartolomeu Filipe, probably the text that, in the Spain of this period, presents a wider and less controversial approach towards The Discourses of Machiavelli. Thirdly, an attempt is made to provide some considerations that help to explain this anomaly in the use of Machiavelli

Caracterización de la Distribución de los Niveles de Presión Sonora para el Casco Central del Cantón de San José

Proyecto de Graduación (Licenciatura en Ingeniería en Seguridad Laboral e Higiene Ambiental). Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Escuela de Ingeniería en Seguridad Laboral e Higiene Ambiental, 2015.Noise is an unwanted and annoying sound that can cause damage to health and environmental problems that affects both rural and urban areas. In recent years, measuring, monitoring and mitigation of noise has become an important issue because of the increase thereof caused by different sources. The objective of this article is to characterize the distribution of sound pressure levels for San José down town. These taking measurements on laboral day in three different lapses, in twelve points of the city using a sound meter 3M SD-2000, besides observations were made to characterize the noise sources. As main results, was observed that average sound pressure levels at the measuring points exceeded the parameters of local legislation from 2dB(A) to 5 dB(A) and that the largest source of noise was caused by traffic.Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Escuela de Ingeniería en Seguridad Laboral e Higiene Ambiental

Terrorism and the behavior of oil production and prices in OPEC.

This paper contributes to the discussion of the role that terrorism plays in oil production and oil prices literature by studying the dynamics of terrorist attacks and oil production in OPEC. To this purpose, we use techniques based on fractional integration, fractional cointegration VAR (FCVAR) and wavelet analysis. Monthly data related to OPEC oil production, OPEC basket crude oil prices and terrorist attacks from January 1970 to December 2018 are used. The results, using fractional integration and cointegration techniques, indicate that the time series analyzed are highly persistent and there are no long-term deviations. Finally, using wavelet analysis, we conclude that the impact of the terrorist attacks in oil production and oil prices are non-significant and has a short-term component, recovering the original trend values between 1 and 10 months after the terrorist shock.pre-print555 K

A new multisensor software architecture for movement detection: Preliminary study with people with cerebral palsy

A five-layered software architecture translating movements into mouse clicks has been developed and tested on an Arduino platform with two different sensors: accelerometer and flex sensor. The archi-tecture comprises low-pass and derivative filters, an unsupervised classifier that adapts continuously to the strength of the user's movements and a finite state machine which sets up a timer to prevent in-voluntary movements from triggering false positives. Four people without disabilities and four people with cerebral palsy (CP) took part in the experi-ments. People without disabilities obtained an average of 100% and 99.3% in precision and true positive rate (TPR) respectively and there were no statistically significant differences among type of sensors and placement. In the same experiment, people with disabilities obtained 97.9% and 100% in precision and TPR respectively. However, these results worsened when subjects used the system to access a commu-nication board, 89.6% and 94.8% respectively. With their usual method of access-an adapted switch- they obtained a precision and TPR of 86.7% and 97.8% respectively. For 3-outof- 4 participants with disabilities our system detected the movement faster than the switch. For subjects with CP, the accelerometer was the easiest to use because it is more sensitive to gross motor motion than the flex sensor which requires more complex movements. A final survey showed that 3-out-of-4 participants with disabilities would prefer to use this new technology instead of their tra-ditional method of access

A real time leading economic indicator based on text mining for the Spanish economy. Fractional cointegration VAR and Continuous Wavelet Transform analysis.

The main aim of this paper is to build a Real Time Leading Economic Indicator (RT-LEI) that improves Composite Leading Indicators (CLI)’s performance to anticipate GDP trends and turning points for the Spanish economy. The indicator has been constructed using a Factor Analysis and is composed of 21 variables concerning motor vehicle activity, financial activity, real estate activity, economic sentiment, and industrial sector. The data sources used are Google Trends and Thomson Reuters Eikon-Datastream. This work contributes to the literature, studying the dynamics of GDP, CLI and RT-LEI using Fractional Cointegration VAR (FCVAR model) and Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) for its resolution. The results show that the model does not present mean reversion and it is expected the RT-LEI reveals a bear trend in the next two years, alike IMF and Consensus FUNCAS′ forecasts. The reasons are mostly associated with escalating global protectionism, uncertainty related to Catalonia and faster monetary policy normalization.pre-print990 K