COUNTRY RISK: Economic Policy, Contagion Effect or Political noise?

The opening of the capital account was one of the important structural reforms implemented by Argentina. This liberalization increased the linkage of the real economy with the changing conditions of the international financial markets. In particular, recent data show a clear relation between interest rates and the business cycle on the one hand, and sovereign spreads on the other. In order to understand better these linkages, it is necessary to analyze the determinants of these spreads also known as country risk. Using monthly data for the period 1994 to 1998, we find that this spread is explained by: 1) growth expectations, 2) fiscal deficits, 3) the debt service to export ratio and its growth rate, 4) contagion effects, 5) external shocks including movements of international interest rates, and 6) political noise. Based on these findings, we offer a discussion of some of the policies that should be implemented in order for the spreads to start declining and for the country to eventually reach an "investment grade" rating for its sovereign bonds.

Flux pinnig in a superconductor by an array of submicrometer magnetic dots

Triangular arrays of submicrometer magnetic dots, with typical spacing of 400-600 nm and diameters close to 200 nm, have been fabricated by electron beam lithography to study pinning effects on Nb thin films. The resistivity versus magnetic field curves exhibit regular structure. Minima appear at constant field intervals, given by the lattice parameter of the dot array. The angular, current, and temperature dependencies of the resistivity imply synchronized pinning by the magnetic array which is relevant at high vortex velocities, when the order in the vortex lattice increases

Ecuaciones de segundo grado con una incógnita. Una propuesta didáctica para 2º de E.S.O.

Propuesta didáctica sobre las ecuaciones de segundo grado con una incógnita para 2º de la E.S.O<br /

Comparison between land suitability and actual crop distribution in an irrigation district of the Ebro valley (Spain)

El objetivo de la presente investigación fue analizar la correspondencia entre los resultados de una evaluación de tierras con la distribución real de los cultivos. Para ello la aptitud biofísica de las tierras se comparó con diferentes tipologías de frecuencia de ocurrencia de los cultivos y rotaciones derivadas de mapas de cultivos multitemporales. La investigación fue llevada a cabo en el distrito de riego de Flumen (33.000 ha), localizado en el valle del Ebro (NE España). La evaluación de tierras se basó en una cartografía de suelos 1:100.000, según el esquema FAO, para los principales cultivos presentes en el área de estudio (alfalfa, cereales de invierno, maíz, arroz y girasol). Se utilizaron tres mapas de frecuencia de cultivos y un mapa de rotaciones, derivado de una serie temporal de imágenes Landsat TM y ETM+ del periodo 1993-2000, y se compararon con los mapas de aptitud de tierras para los diferentes cultivos. Se analizó estadísticamente (Pearson χ2, Cramer V, Gamma y Somers D) la relación entre los dos tipos de variables. Los resultados muestran la existencia de una relación significativa (P=0,001) entre la localización de los cultivos y la idoneidad de las tierras, excepto de cultivos oportunistas como el girasol, muy influenciado por las subvenciones en el periodo estudiado. Las rotaciones basadas en la alfalfa muestran los mayores porcentajes (52%) de ocupación en las tierras más aptas para la agricultura en el área de estudio. El presente enfoque multitemporal de análisis de la información ofrece una visión más real que la comparación entre un mapa de evaluación de tierras y un mapa de cultivos de una fecha determinada, cuando se valora el grado de acuerdo entre las recomendaciones sobre la aptitud de las tierras y los cultivos realmente cultivados por los agricultores.The present research aims to obtain a better insight into the agreement between land evaluation results and actual crop spatial distribution by comparing biophysical land suitability with different crop frequency parameters and with crop rotations derived from multi-year crop maps. The research was carried out in the Flumen district (33,000 ha), which is located in the Ebro Valley (northeast Spain). Land evaluation was based on a 1:100,000 soil survey according to the FAO framework for the main crops in the study area (alfalfa, winter cereals, maize, rice and sunflower). Three crop frequency maps and a crop rotation map, derived from a time-series of Landsat TM and ETM+ images of the period 1993-2000 were used for comparison with land suitability maps. The relationships between the two types of variables were analyzed by means of statistical tests (Pearson chi-square (χ2), Cramer ́s V, Gamma and Somers ́ D). The results show the existence of a significant (P=0.001) relationship between crops’ location and land suitability, except for opportunist crops as sunflower, which is very much influenced by subsidies in the study period. The alfalfa-based rotations show the highest distribution percentages (52%) on the land most suitable for agriculture in the area. The present multitemporal analysis approach offers a more realistic insight than the comparison between a land evaluation map and static year crop map in assessing the degree of agreement of land evaluation recommendations with crops actually cultivated by farmers

Promišljanje protiv "praznih ljuštura" u turističkim razvojnim projektima

Tourism is a sophisticated creation of capitalist practices and a development vehicle both in less developed and in industrialised countries. This article, written in the style of an academic essay, contributes to the field by identifying two main tourism development strategies used to cope with globalisation and modernisation, and it presents an analytical model through which to frame them. Most tourism projects rely on an increasing number of tourists and think towards the outside; to satisfy tourists, local offerings must adapt constantly to their shifting needs and desires. This tourism development strategy breaches continuities in the cultural production of meanings within local communities. However, there are some examples of touristic developments which think against this strategy and look towards the inside, as described in this article.Turizam je sofisticirana kreacija kapitalističkih praksi i razvojno sredstvo i u manje razvijenim i u industrijaliziranim zemljama. Ovaj članak, napisan u stilu znanstvenog eseja, doprinosi polju utvrđujući dvije osnovne strategije razvoja turizma koje se koriste u suočavanju s globalizacijom i modernizacijom te predstavlja analitički model za njihovo uokvirivanje. Većina turističkih projekata oslanja se na sve veći broj turista i razmišlja prema van; kako bi turisti bili zadovoljni, lokalna se ponuda neprekidno mora prilagođavati njihovim promjenjivim potrebama i željama. Takva strategija razvoja turizma prekida kontinuitet u kulturnoj proizvodnji značenja u lokalnim zajednicama. Međutim, postoje pojedini primjeri turističkog razvoja koji se suprotstavljaju takvoj strategiji i gledaju prema unutra, kao što je opisano u ovom članku

Accumulation of Mg to Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT) devices: Kinetic and thermodynamic effects of the ionic strength

Availability of magnesium is a matter of concern due to its role in many environmental and biological processes. Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT) devices can measure Mg availability in situ. This work shows that Mg accumulation in water largely increases when ionic strength (I) decreases. This phenomenon can be explained from (i) the increase of both the association equilibrium (K) and rate (ka,R) constants for the reaction between Mg cations and resin sites, and (ii) the growing contribution of the partitioning of Mg cations at the resin–gel interface, as I decreases. Two theoretical models that take into account electrical interactions among Mg cations, background electrolyte, and resin sites can successfully be used to determine ka,R and K at each I. Both models yield similar ka,R values, which fulfill an expression for the kinetic salt effect. For freshwater (with a typical salinity of 10 mM and circumneutral pH), the binding of Mg is so fast and strong that the simplest perfect-sink DGT expression can be helpful to predict (overestimation lower than 5%) the accumulation in solutions with Mg concentrations up to 1 mM whenever the deployment time is below 9 h. Perfect sink conditions can still be applied for longer times, in systems with either a lower I or a lower Mg concentration.Financial support from FEDER and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Projects CTM2012-39183 and CTM2013-48967) is gratefully acknowledged

Origin of the asymmetric magnetization reversal behavior in exchange-biased systems : competing anisotropies

The magnetization reversal in exchange-biased ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic (FM-AFM) bilayers is investigated. Different reversal pathways on each branch of the hysteresis loop, i.e., asymmetry, are obtained both experimentally and theoretically when the magnetic field is applied at certain angles from the anisotropy direction. The range of angles and the magnitude of this asymmetry are determined by the ratio between the FM anisotropy and the interfacial FM-AFM exchange anisotropy. The occurrence of asymmetry is linked with the appearance of irreversibility, i.e., finite coercivity, as well as with the maximum of exchange bias, increasing for larger anisotropy ratios. Our results indicate that asymmetric hysteresis loops are intrinsic to exchange-biased systems and the competition between anisotropies determines the asymmetric behavior of the magnetization reversal

Surface modification of microparticles causes differential uptake responses in normal and tumoral human breast epithelial cells

Altres ajuts: FI-DGR 2013 de la Generalitat de CatalunyaThe use of micro- and nanodevices as multifunctional systems for biomedical applications has experienced an exponential growth during the past decades. Although a large number of studies have focused on the design and fabrication of new micro- and nanosystems capable of developing multiple functions, a deeper understanding of their interaction with cells is required. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of different microparticle surfaces on their interaction with normal and tumoral human breast epithelial cell lines. For this, AlexaFluor488 IgG functionalized polystyrene microparticles (3 μm) were coated with Polyethyleneimine (PEI) at two different molecular weights, 25 and 750 kDa. The effect of microparticle surface properties on cytotoxicity, cellular uptake and endocytic pathways were assessed for both normal and tumoral cell lines. Results showed a differential response between the two cell lines regarding uptake efficiency and mechanisms of endocytosis, highlighting the potential role of microparticle surface tunning for specific cell targeting