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Peer Reviewe

Debiasing EQ-5D Tariffs. New estimations of the spanish EQ-5D value set under nonexpected utility

Este proyecto tiene como objetivo estimar las utilidades asociadas a los estados de salud definidos mediante el sistema EuroQol-5D a partir de la medición directa de las preferencias de una muestra de la población andaluza. Los valores obtenidos serán susceptibles de ser utilizados en el marco de estudios de evaluación económica de políticas sanitarias (análisis coste-utilidad) realizados en la comunidad andaluza y en el conjunto del estado. Para la valoración directa de un subconjunto de estados de salud se realizará una encuesta personal asistida por ordenador a una muestra representativa por sexo y cuotas de edad de la población española, extraída de la población residente en Andalucía. Los métodos que se aplicarán para obtener las preferencias y calcular las utilidades tratarán de corregir algunos de los sesgos que pueden afectar a las estimaciones existentes. Así, se adoptarán enfoques teóricos alternativos a los habitualmente empleados que permitirán relajar algunos de los supuestos que han sido puestos en cuestión a la luz de la evidencia empírica, como es el caso de la linealidad de la función de utilidad del tiempo de vida, la validez descriptiva de la teoría de la utilidad esperada o la separabilidad multiplicativa de las preferencias por cantidad y calidad de vida.EQ-5D, social tariff, utility curvature, probability weighting, rank-dependent utility, time trade-off, value lottery equivalence, certainlty equivalence

Une nouvelle variété de solidus au nom de Constance II avec le chrisme à l’intérieur du bouclier

Un solidus au nom de Constance II a été trouvé récemment à 3 km de la ville romaine de Cáparra (province moderne de Cáceres, ancienne province de Lusitanie, Espagne. Le graveur a fait figurer sur le bouclier de l'avers un chrisme, le rho étant inversé, vers la gauche. La présence du chrisme au solidus espagnol fait de cette monnaie une nouvelle variété inconnue jusqu’à présent

Approximations of the ultimate ruin probability in the classical risk model using the Banach's fixed-point theorem and the continuity of the ruin probability

summary:In this paper, we show two applications of the Banach's Fixed-Point Theorem: first, to approximate the ultimate ruin probability in the classical risk model or Cramér-Lundberg model when claim sizes have some arbitrary continuous distribution and second, we propose an algorithm based in this theorem and some conditions to guarantee the continuity of the ruin probability with respect to the weak metric (Kantorovich). In risk theory literature, there is no methodology based in the Banach's Fixed-Point Theorem to calculate the ruin probability. Numerical results in this paper, guarantee a good approximation to the analytic solution of the ruin probability problem. Finally, we present numerical examples when claim sizes have distribution light and heavy-tailed

Experts’ Selection for Neutrosophic Delphi Method. A Case Study of Hotel Activity

This investigation aims to model experts’ selection for neutrosophic Delphi method. The phase of selecting experts is essential to obtain adequate results in Delphi method, thus this phase deserves a major attention. The proposed method considers the complexity of the subject, according to experts’ criteria to fix the number of experts necessary to apply the neutrosophic Delphi method. Single-valued triangular neutrosophic numbers are used to measure experts’ self-evaluations and the weights of expertise criteria. Neutrosophy allows us to include indeterminacy, which is typical in any decision-making problem, as well as the calculation based on linguistic terms. Hotel activity serves as a case study for illustrating the applicability of the method in a real life situation

Improving scope sensitivity in contingent valuation: joint and separate evaluation of health states

We present data of a contingent valuation survey, testing the effect of evaluation mode on the monetary valuation of preventing road accidents. Half of the interviewees was asked to state their willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce the risk of having only 1 type of injury (separate evaluation, SE), and the other half of the sample was asked to state their WTP for 4 types of injuries evaluated simultaneously (joint evaluation, JE). In the SE group, we observed lack of sensitivity to scope while in the JE group WTP increased with the severity of the injury prevented. However, WTP values in this group were subject to context effects. Our results suggest that the traditional explanation of the disparity between SE and JE, namely, the so-called “evaluability,” does not apply here. The paper presents new explanations based on the role of preference imprecision

Cladobotryum mycophilum as Potential Biocontrol Agent

A study was conducted to explore the efficacy of potential biocontrol agent Cladobotryum mycophilum against different phytopathogenic fungi. The growth rates of 24 isolates of C. mycophilum were determined, and their antagonistic activity was analysed in vitro and in vivo against Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cucumerinum, Fusarium solani, Phytophthora parasitica, Phytophthora capsici, Pythium aphanidermatum and Mycosphaerella melonis. Most isolates grow rapidly, reaching the opposite end of the Petri dish within 72–96 h. Under dual-culture assays, C. mycophilum showed antagonistic activity in vitro against all phytopathogenic fungi tested, with mycelial growth inhibition ranging from 30 to 90% against all the different phytopathogens tested. Similarly, of all the selected isolates, CL60A, CL17A and CL18A significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the disease incidence and severity in the plant assays compared to the controls for the different pathosystems studied. Based on these results, we conclude that C. mycophilum can be considered as a potential biological control agent in agriculture. This is the first study of Cladobotryum mycophilum as a biological control agent for different diseases caused by highly relevant phytopathogens in horticultur

Search for isotropic γ-radiation in the cosmological window between 65-tev and 200-tev

Electromagnetic energy injected into the universe above a few hundred TeV is expected to pile up as γ radiation in a relatively narrow energy interval below 100 TeV due to its interaction with the 2.7°K background radiation. We present an upper limit (90% C.L.) on the ratio of primary γ to charged cosmic rays in the energy interval 65-160 TeV (80- 200 TeV) of 10.3 . 10¯³(7.8 . 10¯³). Data from the HEGRA cosmic-ray detector complex consisting of a wide angle Cerenkov array (AIROBICC) measuring the lateral distribution of air Čerenkov light and a scintillator array, were used with a novel method to discriminate γ-ray and hadron induced air showers. If the presently unmeasured universal far infrared background radiation is not too intense, the result rules out a topological-defect origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays for masses of the X particle released by the defects equal to or larger than about 10_(16) GeV

Plant Growth Promotion and Biocontrol of Pythium ultimum by Saline Tolerant Trichoderma Isolates under Salinity Stress

This present study evaluates three isolates of Trichoderma as plant growth promoting or biological control agents: Trichoderma aggressivum f. sp. europaeum, Trichoderma saturnisporum, and the marine isolate obtained from Posidonia oceanica, Trichoderma longibrachiatum. The purpose is to contribute to an overall reduction in pesticide residues in the fruit and the environment and to a decrease in chemical fertilizers, the excess of which aggravates one of the most serious abiotic stresses, salinity. The tolerance of the different isolates to increasing concentrations of sodium chloride was evaluated in vitro, as well as their antagonistic capacity against Pythium ultimum. The plant growth promoting capacity and effects of Trichoderma strains on the severity of P. ultimum on melon seedlings under saline conditions were also analysed. The results reveal that the three isolates of Trichoderma, regardless of their origin, alleviate the stress produced by salinity, resulting in larger plants with an air-dry weight percentage above 80% in saline stress conditions for T. longibrachiatum, or an increase in root-dry weight close to 50% when T. aggressivum f. sp. europaeum was applied. Likewise, the three isolates showed antagonistic activity against P. ultimum, reducing the incidence of the disease, with the highest response found for T. longibrachiatum. Biological control of P. ultimum by T. aggressivum f. sp. europaeum and T. saturnisporum is reported for the first time, reducing disease severity by 62.96% and 51.85%, respectively. This is the first description of T. aggressivum f. sp. europaeum as a biological control agent and growth promoter. The application of these isolates can be of enormous benefit to horticultural crops, in both seedbeds and greenhouses