Assessing the vulnerability of emerging Asia to external demand shocks: the role of China

The paper assesses the vulnerability of China to external shocks via the indirect negative effect of a slow-down in exports on domestic demand for investment. In the last decade China has increased its dependence on external demand, particularly from the advanced countries; at the same time it has become a primary destination market for goods produced in the rest of emerging Asia. Since 2001 investment expenditures have represented a key driver of Chinese GDP growth; as a very large share of activity in the manufacturing sector is export oriented, we expect fixed capital investment in this sector to be highly related to exports. Overcoming serious shortcomings in available data, we estimate an investment equation for the period 1993-2006 and find an elasticity of investment to exports in the manufacturing sector in the range between 0.9 and 1. Taking into account the dominant contribution of capital accumulation to Chinese GDP growth, we conclude that the growth effects of an external demand shock could become significant when taking into account the domestic investment channel.exports, investment, elasticity

New regularity results for scalar conservation laws and applications to a source–destination model for traffic flows on networks

We focus on entropy admissible solutions of scalar conservation laws in one space dimension and establish new regularity results with respect to time. First, we assume that the flux function $f$ is strictly convex and show that, for every $x \in \mathbb{R}$, the total variation of the composite function $f \circ u(\cdot, x)$ is controlled by the total variation of the initial datum. Next, we assume that $f$ is monotone and, under no convexity assumption, we show that, for every $x$, the total variation of the left and right trace $u(\cdot, x^\pm)$ is controlled by the total variation of the initial datum. We also exhibit a counter-example showing that in the first result the total variation bound does not extend to the function $u$, or equivalently that in the second result we cannot drop the monotonicity assumption. We then discuss applications to a source-destination model for traffic flows on road networks. We introduce a new approach, based on the analysis of transport equations with irregular coefficients, and, under the assumption that the network only contains so-called T-junctions, we establish existence and uniqueness results for merely bounded data in the class of solutions where the traffic is not congested. Our assumptions on the network and the traffic congestion are basically necessary to obtain well-posedness in view of a counter-example due to Bressan and Yu. We also establish stability and propagation of $BV$ regularity, and this is again interesting in view of recent counter-examples.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figure

Green in times of COVID-19: urban green space relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Buenos Aires City

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the way we perceive our world. This study explores its effect on Urban Green Space (UGS) perception in Buenos Aires City (CABA), Argentina. We provide a detailed overview of the distribution of UGS in CABA, along with socio-economic analysis and visitors' profile and perception before and during the restrictive measures adopted by the national authorities to contain the COVID-19 outbreak (July to December of 2020). We conducted a series of surveys based on open and closed questions. Before the pandemic, surveys were carried out in situ in eight parks of six districts, randomly chosen. During the confinement, online surveys were conducted. According to our results, the mean UGS density in CABA is 6.09 m2 /person, but marked differences between districts exist, ranging from 0.02 m2 /person to 17.68 m2 /person. This uneven distribution causes differences in the quality of life of CABA inhabitants, perhaps more pronounced during reduced-mobility situations like COVID-19 confinement. Socio economic analysis were done linking multidimensional poverty, COVID-19 positive cases and urban mobility in CABA. Regarding UGS visitors, before the confinement, the majority of respondents were employees or students; during the confinement, employees and retirees predominated. When asked to choose important attributes to describe their perception about the UGS from a given list, respondents selected “calm,” “green,” and “sounds of nature,” without differences before and during the confinement. However, when asked about the UGS role, the main answer was “a place to be with nature” before the confinement and “an important place in the city” during it. Understanding how society perceives the UGS, especially during crises, is essential to rethink the urban landscape and prepare our cities, towards biophilic cities and for a more sustainable future.Fil: Marconi, Patricia Laura. Universidad Maimónides; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Perelman, Patricia Eleonora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Salgado, Vanina Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Propuesta de estrategia de comunicación para el Reposicionamiento de los servicios de atención Psicológica en la ciudad de Bogotá

La presente investigación busca conocer al concepto de marca y expectativas percibidas en una muestra bogotana frente a la labor del psicólogo y los servicios de atención psicológica a fin de determinar la posición ocupa tal concepto en la mente de las personas o potenciales clientes y generar con base en ello y en una exploración teórica bajo un marco conceptual, una propuesta de comunicación como estrategia de reposicionamiento de los servicios de atención psicológica en la ciudad de Bogotá.Abstract. This research seeks to understand the concept of brand and the expectations perceived in sample in Bogota about psychologists and psychological services to determine the position that it occupies such a concept in the minds of people or potential customers and generate based in this and in a theoretical exploration under a conceptual framework, a proposal of a communication strategy repositioning of psychological services in the city of Bogotá.Maestrí

Loss of m-AAA protease in mitochondria causes complex I deficiency and increased sensitivity to oxidative stress in hereditary spastic paraplegia

Mmutations in paraplegin, a putative mitochondrial metallopeptidase of the AAA family, cause an autosomal recessive form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). Here, we analyze the function of paraplegin at the cellular level and characterize the phenotypic defects of HSP patients' cells lacking this protein. We demonstrate that paraplegin coassembles with a homologous protein, AFG3L2, in the mitochondrial inner membrane. These two proteins form a high molecular mass complex, which we show to be aberrant in HSP fibroblasts. The loss of this complex causes a reduced complex I activity in mitochondria and an increased sensitivity to oxidant stress, which can both be rescued by exogenous expression of wild-type paraplegin. Furthermore, complementation studies in yeast demonstrate functional conservation of the human paraplegin–AFG3L2 complex with the yeast m-AAA protease and assign proteolytic activity to this structure. These results shed new light on the molecular pathogenesis of HSP and functionally link AFG3L2 to this neurodegenerative disease

Influencia de reguladores de crecimiento sobre el establecimiento de cultivos in vitro de Salvia hispánica L. (“chia”) y sobre su contenido de ácidos grasos

Salvia hispánica L. (Labiateae), comúnmente conocida como chía, es una especie herbácea anual cuyo cultivo está ampliamente extendido por América del Sur. Recientemente está siendo utilizada como cultivo industrial y para elaboración de alimentos funcionales por su contenido en proteínas, antioxidantes, fibras y lípidos esenciales. El aceite de sus semillas contiene la mayor proporción (68%) de omega-3 de cualquier fuente vegetal conocida. El objetivo de este trabajo fue establecer cultivos in vitro de chía y analizar la influencia de diferentes reguladores de crecimiento sobre la inducción de callos, sobre el crecimiento de los mismos y sobre su contenido de ácidos grasos. Se iniciaron cultivos de callos in vitro a partir de explantos de tallos sin nudos y de hojas de plántulas axénicas de 20 días de edad utilizando 3 tratamientos de reguladores de crecimiento diferentes. El medio Murashige & Skoog modificado (MSRT) con el agregado de ácido 2,4-diclorofenoxiacético (2,4-D) a una concentración de 2.25 µM y un fotoperíodo de 16 horas fueron las condiciones óptimas para la inducción de callos. Para el mantenimiento de los callos el tratamiento más adecuado resultó bencilaminopurina (BAP) a una concentración de 1 mM. La cinética de crecimiento se caracterizó por un período de latencia hasta el día 20 de cultivo, seguido de un período de crecimiento exponencial entre los días 20 y 54. El tratamiento con 2,4-D (2.25 µM) mostró la más alta velocidad específica de crecimiento (0.22 ± 0.01 /día), el tiempo de duplicación más bajo (31.51 ± 1.00 días) y la mayor biomasa máxima (1.46 ± 0.01 g PF). El contenido de ácidos grasos en los callos de chía fue 0.83 % en promedio de todos los tratamientos después de 6 meses en cultivo y no mostró variaciones significativas (0.2% - 0.3%) entre los tratamientos aplicados (p < 0.05).Salvia hispanica L. (Labiateae), whose vulgar name is chia, is an annual herb cultured in South America. Recently, their content of proteins, antioxidants, fibers and essential lipids has promoted its exploitation as an industrial culture and to produce functional food. The seed oils contain the highest proportion (68 %) of omega-3 in the plant kingdom. The aim of this work was to establish in vitro cultures of chia and to analyze the influence of different plant growth regulators on the establishment of calli, their growth, and their fatty acids content. In vitro cultures were initiated from 20 days-old plantlets with different plant growth regulators relationship. The media Murashige & Skoog (MSRT) modified added by 2,4-dichlore phenoxyaceticacid (2,4-D) at 2.25 µM, and a photoperiod of 16 h were the optimal conditions for starting the cultures. For their maintenance the optimal conditions were with the addition of the plant growth regulator benzylaminopurine (BAP) at 1.00 µM. The kinetic of growth presented a lag period of 20 days followed by an exponential period of 34 days. The treatment with 2,4-D (2.25 µM) produced the highest specific growth rate (0.22 ± 0.01 d-1), the lowest duplication time (31.51 ± 1.00 d) and the highest maximal biomass (1.46 ± 0.01 g). The mean fatty acid content was 0.83 % for all the conditions after 6 months in culture without significant differences (0.2 % - 0.3 %) among the different treatments (p < 0.05).Fil: Bari, Martín León. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Marconi, Patricia Laura. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: López, María Cristina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, Maria Alejandra. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin