How complex are the contracts offered by health plans?

Financial support by a Marie Curie Fellowship under contract no. HPMF-CT-01206. Olivella acknowledges financial support from projects SEJ2006-00538, ECO2009-7616, Consolider-Ingenio CSD2006-16, 2009SGR-169, and Barcelona Economics-Xarxa CREA. Olivella is a Research Fellow of MOVE (Markets, Organizations and Votes in Economics)When health plans compete under adverse selection, the competitive equilibrium set of contracts is unique. However, the allocation of these contracts among health plans is undetermined. We show that three health plans suffice to sustain an equilibrium where each health plan offers a single contract and attracts a single type of agent (full specialization). We also show that this equilibrium can be ruled out by introducing any horizontal differentiation, and that if in equilibrium each health plan attracts all types of agents, at least one of the health plans must do so through a menu of contracts

Per què adquirir una assegurança de salut privada?

Per què algunes persones compren assegurances de salut privades quan ja existeix un sistema nacional de salut públic i gratuït? Aquest article desenvolupa un model teòric i contrasta empíricament la seva predicció principal emprant dades del Regne Unit. El model prediu que si les persones tenen millor informació que les asseguradores sobre el seu propi estat de salut o sobre les seves preferències per a la salut, les persones més propenses a utilitzar els serveis sanitaris compraran una assegurança privada, mentre que la resta optarà per usar els serveis del sistema nacional de salut. Sorprenentment, el que determina aquestes decisions són les preferències per la salut.Por qué algunas personas compran seguros de salud privados cuando ya existe un sistema nacional de salud público y gratuito? Este artículo desarrolla un modelo teórico y contrasta su predicción principal con datos del Reino Unido. El modelo predice que si las personas tienen mejor información que las aseguradoras sobre su propio estado de salud o sobre sus preferencias, entonces las más propensas a utilizar los servicios sanitarios comprarán un seguro privado, mientras que el resto optará por usar los servicios del sistema nacional de salud. Sorprendentemente, lo que determina estas decisiones son las preferencias por la salud.Why do some people buy private health insurance when there is a national system of free health services? This article develops a theoretical model and tests its main prediction with data from the UK. The model predicts that if people have better information than insurers about their own health or preferences then those more likely to use health services will buy private insurance, while the rest will use the services of the national health system. Surprisingly, it is the preference for health what drives these decisions

Sóc prou gran per tenir Facebook? Menors i ús de la xarxa social

Sempre s'ha alertat dels avantatges i perills que la xarxa social Facebook pot suposar per als seus usuaris, però mai se n'ha parlat des de la perspectiva de restricció que l'empresa mateixa s'autoimposa com a norma general per poder usar-la: els 13 anys d'edat mínima. Mitjançant 475 enquestes, en aquest estudi es realitza un treball de camp en diferents escoles catalanes per comprovar si aquesta xarxa social s'usa en una edat menor a l'esmentada i, si és el cas, comprovar els coneixements que els nois tenen sobre ús i privacitat en la preadolescència. Els resultats d'aquest treball pioner a Catalunya mostren algunes diferències significatives amb els estudis previs realitzats als Estats Units. Així, la incorporació de Facebook a la rutina diària dels adolescents no amaga un cert desconeixement d'aspectes com la privacitat.The advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook have regularly been commented on. However, this issue has never been discussed from the perspective of the restrictions that Facebook itself puts forward, which indicate that users must be at least 13 years old. By means of a survey of 475 children, this empirically grounded study analyses whether this rule is effectively being followed or if students aged under 13, attending Catalan schools, use this social network. If so, their knowledge of issues such as privacy are studied. The results of this pioneering work bring to light some differences with respect to previous research carried out in the US. For instance, despite routinely using Facebook, young users are often not aware of issues such as privacy

Real time falling leaves

There is a growing interest in simulating natural phenomena in computer graphics applications. Animating natural scenes in real time is one of the most challenging problems due to the inherent complexity of their structure, formed by millions of geometric entities, and the interactions that happen within. An example of natural scenario that is needed for games or simulation programs are forests. Forests are difficult to render because the huge amount of geometric entities and the large amount of detail to be represented. Moreover, the interactions between the objects (grass, leafs) and external forces such as wind are complex to model. In this paper we concentrate in the rendering of falling leafs at low cost. We present a technique that exploits graphics hardware in order to render thousands of leafs with different falling paths at real time and low memory requirements.Postprint (published version

La influencia del estatus socioeconómico inicial en la inserción sociolaboral de los jóvenes

Investigación de una serie de circunstancias que afectan a la desigualdad de los jóvenes en España. El objetivo principal es demostrar mediante el análisis de eventualidades en la vida de los jóvenes, sus efectos que desencadenan en la desigualdad. Gran repercusión de está situación en la vida de las personas, cada vez de forma más notoria y con consecuencias nocivas para la salud de las personas, debido a la situación a la que terminan exponiéndose. La gestión adecuada por parte de las personas encargadas de la organización y con mayores recursos es la manera de eludir está situación

The ATPase inhibitory factor 1 is a tissue-specific physiological regulator of the structure and function of mitochondrial ATP synthase: A closer look into neuronal function

The ATP synthase is an essential multifunctional enzyme complex of mitochondria that produces most of cellular ATP, shapes the structure of the inner membrane into cristae and regulates the signals that control cell fate or demise. The ATPase Inhibitory Factor 1 (IF1) functions in vivo as a physiological regulator of the ATP synthase and thereby controls mitochondrial structure and function, and the retrograde signaling pathways that reprogram nuclear gene expression. However, IF1 is not ubiquitously expressed in mammals, showing tissue-restricted expression in humans and mice and large expression differences between the two species in some tissues. Herein, we summarized key regulatory functions of IF1 for tissue homeostasis, with special emphasis on the deleterious effects that its genetic ablation in neurons has in learning. The development and characterization of tissue-specific mouse models with regulated expression of IF1 will be crucial to disentangle the contribution of the ATP synthase/IF1 axis in pathophysiologySD-Z, and IR-C were supported by predoctoral fellowships from FPI-MINECO and FPU-MINECO, Fondo Social Europeo, respectively. PE-M was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from La Caixa. The work was supported by grants from MINECO (PID2019-108674RB100), CIBERER-ISCIII (CB06/07/0017) and Fundación Ramón Areces, Spai

IF1 promotes oligomeric assemblies of sluggish ATP synthase and outlines the heterogeneity of the mitochondrial membrane potential

The coexistence of two pools of ATP synthase in mitochondria has been largely neglected despite in vitro indications for the existence of reversible active/inactive state transitions in the F1-domain of the enzyme. Herein, using cells and mitochondria from mouse tissues, we demonstrate the existence in vivo of two pools of ATP synthase: one active, the other IF1-bound inactive. IF1 is required for oligomerization and inactivation of ATP synthase and for proper cristae formation. Immunoelectron microscopy shows the co-distribution of IF1 and ATP synthase, placing the inactive “sluggish” ATP synthase preferentially at cristae tips. The intramitochondrial distribution of IF1 correlates with cristae microdomains of high membrane potential, partially explaining its heterogeneous distribution. These findings support that IF1 is the in vivo regulator of the active/inactive state transitions of the ATP synthase and suggest that local regulation of IF1-ATP synthase interactions is essential to activate the sluggish ATP synthaseThe work was supported by grants from MINECO (PID2019-108674RB-100), CIBERER-ISCIII (CB06/07/0017) and Fundación Ramón Areces, Spain. IRC and PBEM were supported by predoctoral fellowships from FPU-MINECO and La Caixa, respectively. SDZ and CNT were supported by predoctoral fellowships from FPI-MINECO, Fondo Social Europe

New evidences of the presence of Aphelocheirus aestivalis in the Iberian Peninsula, its ecology and description of two northeastern Iberian populations

The waterbug Aphelocheirus aestivalis is herein recorded for the first time in Northeastern Iberian Peninsula, constituting the first citation of the family Aphelocheiridae in the region. Yet, later on in 1989, the description of three new endemic Iberian species belonging to Aphelocheirus implied the assumption that A. aestivalis was absent. Here, we show strong evidences of the presence of this species by the collection of individuals in two isolated stream reaches located 36 km apart, in the two Mediterranean rivers Llobregat and Ter. The Iberian specimens studied showed slight differentiation from other European specimens in the structures of male internal genital. Photographs of the habitus of the male and female are provided. More than 25 years of study of these rivers show Aphelocheirus sp. is confined solely to a short stretch in both rivers. Our study thus suggests that the distribution of A. aestivalis in the Iberian Peninsula should be revised and further investigated, and warns of urgent measures to improve, or at least preserve, the habitat and the hydrological conditions rivers Llobregat and Ter to protect the species

Comprehensive clone screening and evaluation of fed-batch strategies in a microbioreactor and lab scale stirred tank bioreactor system : application on Pichia pastoris producing Rhizopus oryzae lipase

Background: In Pichia pastoris bioprocess engineering, classic approaches for clone selection and bioprocess optimization at small/micro scale using the promoter of the alcohol oxidase 1 gene (PAOX1), induced by methanol, present low reproducibility leading to high time and resource consumption. - Results: An automated microfermentation platform (RoboLector) was successfully tested to overcome the chronic problems of clone selection and optimization of fed-batch strategies. Different clones from Mut+P. pastoris phenotype strains expressing heterologous Rhizopus oryzae lipase (ROL), including a subset also overexpressing the transcription factor HAC1, were tested to select the most promising clones. The RoboLector showed high performance for the selection and optimization of cultivation media with minimal cost and time. Syn6 medium was better than conventional YNB medium in terms of production of heterologous protein. The RoboLector microbioreactor was also tested for different fed-batch strategies with three clones producing different lipase levels. Two mixed substrates fed-batch strategies were evaluated. The first strategy was the enzymatic release of glucose from a soluble glucose polymer by a glucosidase, and methanol addition every 24 hours. The second strategy used glycerol as co-substrate jointly with methanol at two different feeding rates. The implementation of these simple fed-batch strategies increased the levels of lipolytic activity 80-fold compared to classical batch strategies used in clone selection. Thus, these strategies minimize the risk of errors in the clone selection and increase the detection level of the desired product. Finally, the performance of two fed-batch strategies was compared for lipase production between the RoboLector microbioreactor and 5 liter stirred tank bioreactor for three selected clones. In both scales, the same clone ranking was achieved. - Conclusion: The RoboLector showed excellent performance in clone selection of P. pastoris Mut+ phenotype. The use of fed-batch strategies using mixed substrate feeds resulted in increased biomass and lipolytic activity. The automated processing of fed-batch strategies by the RoboLector considerably facilitates the operation of fermentation processes, while reducing error-prone clone selection by increasing product titers.The scale-up from microbioreactor to lab scale stirred tank bioreactor showed an excellent correlation, validating the use of microbioreactor as a powerful tool for evaluating fed-batch operational strategies

Description of atmospheric gravity waves in the Buenos Aires coast, Argentina

En este trabajo se estudiaron las perturbaciones de la presión atmosférica en alta frecuencia (ondas de gravedad atmosféricas, OGA) registradas en Mar del Plata durante 2013. Mediante el análisis realizado con el método espectral wavelets se obtuvo que las duraciones de los lapsos de actividad, la estructura espectral, la intensidad energética y las amplitudes de las OGA son diferentes para cada evento. En general, los eventos activos duran entre 5 y 20 h y las máximas fluctuaciones de presión están comprendidas entre 0.5 y 2 hPa, con periodicidades típicas entre 30 y 150 min. De los 37 casos de OGA detectados se encontró que 24 están asociado a frentes fríos, 9 a frentes cálidos, y 4 están relacionados con otros forzantes sinópticos. Se encontró que la mayoría de los eventos ocurren cuando la zona frontal se ubica al N de la Patagonia y se desplaza hacia el E o NE. Se utilizó el modelo Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) para simular dos casos. En el primero se observó un frente frío y un ciclón en superficie al S de la provincia de Buenos Aires y sobre el océano mientras que en el segundo, un frente cálido al S de Buenos Aires que luego se desplazó hacia el NO como frente frío. Los resultados obtenidos con el modelo WRF indicarían que la dirección predominante de propagación de OGA en la región costera bonaerense sería hacia el E-NE, discrepando con los escasos antecedentes disponibles para la región que indican que la dirección de propagación sería hacia el ESE-SE.High-frequency perturbations of the atmospheric pressure (atmospheric gravity waves, AGW) measured at Mar del Plata in 2013 are studied in the present paper. Implementing the wavelet spectral method it was obtained that the duration of the active lapses, the spectral structure, the energy and the amplitudes of AGW are different for each event. It was found that, in general, active events last between 5 and 20 h and that the maximum pressure fluctuations range between 0.5 and 2 hPa, with typical oscillations between 30 and 150 min. From the 37 active cases of AGW, it was established that 24 are associated with cold fronts, 9 with warm fronts, and 4 are related to other synoptic systems. It was found that most of the events occur when the frontal zone is located at the northern Patagonia and moves towards the E or NE. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was implemented and two cases were simulated. In the first case, a cold front and a cyclone located at the southern Buenos Aires Province and on the ocean were observed. In contrast, in the second case, a warm front was observed at the southern Buenos Aires Province, which then moved towards the NW as a cold front. The results achieved with the WRF model indicate that the predominant direction of propagation in the coastal region of Buenos Aires could be towards E-NE, in disagreement with the available scarce background for the region indicating that the direction of propagation could be towards the ESE-SE.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica