Inequality and psychological well-being in times of COVID-19: evidence from Spain

Mediante dos nuevas encuestas online llevadas a cabo en mayo y noviembre de 2020, en este documento estudiamos las consecuencias de las primeras etapas de la pandemia de COVID-19 para los hogares españoles. Documentamos un efecto importante y negativo sobre los ingresos de los hogares. En mayo de 2020, el hogar promedio había perdido el 16 % de sus ingresos prepandemia. Además, esta caída fue muy desigual: mientras que los hogares del quintil más rico perdieron el 6,8 % de sus ingresos, los del quintil más pobre perdieron el 27 %. También mostramos que la pandemia hizo más profunda la brecha de género en ingresos: en promedio, las mujeres experimentaron una pérdida de ingresos tres puntos porcentuales mayor que la de los hombres. Si bien esto es coherente con hallazgos anteriores de la literatura, en este trabajo documentamos que este efecto se debe a la evolución de los ingresos de las mujeres en hogares de ingresos medios. Finalmente, proporcionamos evidencia de que los españoles experimentaron descensos moderados en sus niveles de bienestar psicológico. Este efecto es similar para las personas de diferentes niveles de ingresos. Sin embargo, las razones que hay detrás de las pérdidas de bienestar difieren: las personas más ricas están más preocupadas por la pérdida de contacto con sus seres queridos, mientras que las personas de bajos ingresos es más probable que mencionen la pérdida de ingresos y del empleo como un motivo clave de deterioro emocional.Using two novel online surveys collected in May and November 2020, we study the consequences of the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic on Spanish households. We document a large and negative effect on household income. By May 2020 the average individual lived in a household that had lost 16% of their pre-pandemic monthly income. Furthermore, this drop was highly unequal: while households in the richest quintile lost 6.8% of their income, those in the poorest quintile lost 27%. We also document that the pandemic deepened the gender-income gap: on average, women experienced a three-percentage-point larger income loss than men. While this is consistent with previous findings in the literature, in this paper we document that this effect is driven by women from middle-income households with kids. Finally, we provide evidence that Spanish individuals experienced moderate declines in their levels of psychological well-being. This effect is not different for individuals living in rich or poor households, but the reasons behind well-being losses do differ: richer individuals are more concerned about loss of contact with dear ones, while low-income individuals are more likely to mention loss of income and employment as a key source of emotional distress

Essays on political accountability in non-democratic regimes

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2010.Page 173 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis is a collection of three independent essays on the causes and consequences of local elections in non-democratic regimes. The first essay examines the political consequences of local elections on the first democratic election after the fall of an autocratic regime. My theoretical analysis highlights that officials that were appointed by upper levels of government have a stronger incentive to continue to use local patronage networks to signal their alignment to upper levels of government, in order to protect their jobs. Therefore, if the previous dictator's party has a substantial probability of winning the election, appointed leaders will promote their electoral chances, which could become an impediment for the process of democratic consolidation. In contrast, elected local officials have a weaker incentive to signal their political leanings since their continuity in their positions does not depend on changes in upper levels of government. I provide evidence from the first democratic election in Indonesia after the fall of Suharto that corroborates the implications of the model. The second essay evaluates the economic and social impact of the introduction of local elections rural China during the last three decades. Our empirical findings highlight that elections led to a substantial reduction in income and income growth, decreased within village inequality and relaxed the enforcement of unpopular policies. These effects seem to be driven by a redistribution of assets from firms to households. We provide a simple model to illustrate how these findings can theoretically be a consequence of the shift in the accountability of local leaders, from the central government towards villagers. The third essay investigates the determinants of the existence of local elections in nondemocratic regimes. I develop a theoretical framework to explore the trade-offs for a dictator in the decision to allow local elections. The model highlights that, if the dictator values the competence of local politicians and voters have intermediate costs of military intervention, the dictator prefers local elections over an appointment system. In this scenario, elections aggregate voters' private information on competence efficiently and the ex-post alignment of voters' and dictator's preferences is maximized.by Mónica Martínez Bravo.Ph.D

Spectroelectrochemical operando method for monitoring a phenothiazine electrografting process on amide functionalized C-nanodots/Au hybrid electrodes

Phenothiazine derivatives are extensively explored dye molecules, which present interesting electrochemical and optical properties. In recent years, the possibility of transforming some phenothiazines in their aryl diazonium salt derivatives has been proved, what allows them to be electrochemically reduced and electrografted onto conductive surfaces. This is a smart way to modify these surfaces and enable them with specific functionalities. In order to better comprehend the electrografting process and consequently have a higher control of it, in this work we have carried out an exhaustive study by operando UV–Vis spectroelectrochemistry of the electrografting of a phenothiazine aryl diazonium salt onto amide carbon nanodots. As a model of phenothiazine dye we have chosen Azure A. The electrografting onto carbon nanodots has been stablished by comparison with the results obtained on bare gold electrodes in this novel study. The presence of carbon dots improves the reversibility of the electrochemical process as derived from the results obtained by operando UV–Vis spectroelectrochemistry. In addition, to asses that the electrochemical process studied corresponds to the electrografting, the results have been compared to those obtained for the simple Azure A adsorption. This study shows the advantages of obtaining simultaneously the electrochemical and the spectroscopic evolution of an electron-transfer process in a single experiment, in a particular electrochemical reaction. This work could be the starting point for the study of the electrografting on other nanomaterialsFunding from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (project: CTQ2017-84309-C2-1-R) and Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (NANOAVANSENS Program) is acknowledged. IMDEA Nanociencia acknowledges support from the 'Severo Ochoa' Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant SEV-2016-0686

Ring Hoop Tension Test for yield strength estimation: Numerical analysis for a novel correlation method and applicability for mechanical testing of tubes and pipes

The tubes and pipes manufacturing industry characterizes the mechanical properties of their products with a wide selection of standards, but most of them are qualitative testing methodologies. To estimate the mechanical properties from a quantitative point of view there are limited options in standards. In that sense, the standard tensile test is the preferred alternative by the manufacturers, but this option limits the mechanical estimation for the longitudinal direction of the tube–pipe product. Particular efforts have been made to design an alternative mechanical testing procedure to characterize the mechanical properties in the hoop direction of pipes and tubes. The Ring Hoop Tension Test (RHTT) was designed to fill this gap, but it shows limitations related to the required tooling and the influence of the frictional contact between the tooling and the ring specimen. In the nuclear industry, the Small Ring Test (SRT), a miniature test derivated from the RHTT, has been investigated in recent years. In this investigation, a novel RHTT was designed to overcome the limitations of SRT and RHTT, and a new procedure was implemented to estimate the yield strength of tubes and pipes. Numerical FEM simulations were performed to reach an optimum estimation method for the yield strength with the specific geometry of the SRT and a wide selection of pipe geometries with the RHTT. A set of hypothetical materials were designed to perform these analyses, taking into account the influence of Young’s modulus, proportional limit, hardening coefficient (based on the Ramberg–Osgood law), and presence of Lüders bands straining. To verify the results obtained from this numerical FEM analysis, experimental tests (standard tensile tests and RHTTs) and metallographic analysis were performed on aluminum Al 6063 T6 and copper C12200 R360 tubes, showing the capability of this optimized RHTT to estimate the yield strength in the hoop direction for anisotropic tubes and pipes

Mitochondrial DNA insertions into nuclear DNA affecting chromosome segregation: Insights for a novel mechanism of immunosenescence in mice

Mitochondrial DNA sequences were found inserted in the nuclear genome of mouse peritoneal T lymphocytes that increased progressively with aging. These insertions were preferentially located at the pericentromeric heterochromatin. In the same individuals, binucleated T-cells with micronuclei showed a significantly increased frequency associated with age. Most of them were positive for centromere sequences, reflecting the loss of chromatids or whole chromosomes. The proliferative capacity of T lymphocytes decreased with age as well as the glutathione reductase activity, whereas the oxidized glutathione and malondialdehyde concentrations exhibited a significant increase. These results may point to a common process that provides insights for a new approach to understanding immunosenescence. We propose a novel mechanism in which mitochondrial fragments, originated by the increased oxidative stress status during aging, accumulate inside the nuclear genome of T lymphocytes in a timedependent way. The primary entrance of mitochondrial fragments at the pericentromeric regions may compromise chromosome segregation, causing genetic loss that leads to micronuclei formation, rendering aneuploid cells with reduced proliferation capacity, one of the hallmark of immunosenescence. Future experiments deciphering the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon are needed

Biocontrol and plant growth promoting traits of two avocado rhizobacteria are orchestrated by the emission of diffusible and volatile compounds

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is a tree crop of great social and economic importance. However, the crop productivity is hindered by fast-spreading diseases, which calls for the search of new biocontrol alternatives to mitigate the impact of avocado phytopathogens. Our objectives were to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of diffusible and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by two avocado rhizobacteria (Bacillus A8a and HA) against phytopathogens Fusarium solani, Fusarium kuroshium, and Phytophthora cinnamomi, and assess their plant growth promoting effect in Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that, in vitro, VOCs emitted by both bacterial strains inhibited mycelial growth of the tested pathogens by at least 20%. Identification of bacterial VOCs by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS) showed a predominance of ketones, alcohols and nitrogenous compounds, previously reported for their antimicrobial activity. Bacterial organic extracts obtained with ethyl acetate significantly reduced mycelial growth of F. solani, F. kuroshium, and P. cinnamomi, the highest inhibition being displayed by those from strain A8a (32, 77, and 100% inhibition, respectively). Tentative identifications carried out by liquid chromatography coupled to accurate mass spectrometry of diffusible metabolites in the bacterial extracts, evidenced the presence of some polyketides such as macrolactins and difficidin, hybrid peptides including bacillaene, and non-ribosomal peptides such as bacilysin, which have also been described in Bacillus spp. for antimicrobial activities. The plant growth regulator indole-3-acetic acid was also identified in the bacterial extracts. In vitro assays showed that VOCs from strain HA and diffusible compounds from strain A8a modified root development and increased fresh weight of A. thaliana. These compounds differentially activated several hormonal signaling pathways involved in development and defense responses in A. thaliana, such as auxin, jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA); genetic analyses suggested that developmental stimulation of the root system architecture by strain A8a was mediated by the auxin signaling pathway. Furthermore, both strains were able to enhance plant growth and decreased the symptoms of Fusarium wilt in A. thaliana when soil-inoculated. Collectively, our results evidence the potential of these two rhizobacterial strains and their metabolites as biocontrol agents of avocado pathogens and as biofertilizers

Cov-caldas: A new COVID-19 chest X-Ray dataset from state of Caldas-Colombia

The emergence of COVID-19 as a global pandemic forced researchers worldwide in various disciplines to investigate and propose efficient strategies and/or technologies to prevent COVID-19 from further spreading. One of the main challenges to be overcome is the fast and efficient detection of COVID-19 using deep learning approaches and medical images such as Chest Computed Tomography (CT) and Chest X-ray images. In order to contribute to this challenge, a new dataset was collected in collaboration with “S.E.S Hospital Universitario de Caldas” (https://hospitaldecaldas.com/) from Colombia and organized following the Medical Imaging Data Structure (MIDS) format. The dataset contains 7,307 chest X-ray images divided into 3,077 and 4,230 COVID-19 positive and negative images. Images were subjected to a selection and anonymization process to allow the scientific community to use them freely. Finally, different convolutional neural networks were used to perform technical validation. This dataset contributes to the scientific community by tackling significant limitations regarding data quality and availability for the detection of COVID-19. © 2022, The Author(s)

Influence of obstructive sleep apnea on systemic inflammation in pregnancy

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent in pregnancy and it is associated with adverse pregnancy-related outcomes such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, and low birth weight. Maternal systemic inflammation is proposed to be one of the main intermediate mechanisms. However, the effects of OSA on systemic inflammation are unknown in normal pregnancy. Methods: Women in the 3rd trimester underwent hospital polysomnography to evaluate whether OSA increases systemic inflammation in normal pregnancy and its potential association with adverse fetal outcomes. OSA was defined as an apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) of = 5 h-1. Plasma cytokines levels (TNF-a, IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10) were determined by multiple immunoassays. Results: We included 11 patients with OSA and 22 women with AHI < 5 h-1, who were homogeneous in age, and body mass index (BMI). Women with OSA had significant higher levels of TNF-a, IL-1ß, IL-8, and IL-10. We found significant correlations between AHI during REM and TNF-a (r = 0.40), IL-1ß (r = 0.36), IL-6 (r = 0.52), IL-8 (r = 0.43), between obstructive apnea index and TNF-a (r = 0.46) and between AHI and IL-1ß (r = 0.43). We also found that CT90% was related to IL-8 (r = 0.37). There were no significant differences in neonatal characteristics; however, we found inverse correlations between TNF-a and IL-8 with birth weight (both r = -0.48), while IL-8 showed a significant inverse relationship with neonatal gestational age (r = -0.48). Conclusions: OSA in our normal pregnancy population was associated with higher systemic inflammation, which was related to obstructive events, especially during REM sleep. Moreover, systemic inflammation was inversely correlated with neonatal birth weight and age

Associated factors for mortality in a COVID-19 colombian cohort : is the third wave relevant when Mu variant was predominant epidemiologically?

Q1Q1Pacientes con COVID-19Objectives: To evaluate the association between Colombia's third wave when the Mu variant was predominant epidemiologically (until 75%) in Colombia and COVID-19 all-cause in-hospital mortality. Methods: In this retrospective cohort, we included hospitalized patients ≥18 years with SARS-CoV-2 infection between March 2020 to September 2021 in ten hospitals from three cities in Colombia. Description analysis, survival, and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between the third epidemic wave and in-hospital mortality. Results: A total of 25,371 patients were included. The age-stratified time-to-mortality curves showed differences according to epidemic waves in patients ≥75 years (log-rank test p = 0.012). In the multivariate Cox analysis, the third wave was not associated with increased mortality relative to the first wave (aHR 0.95; 95%CI 0.84–1.08), but there was an interaction between age ≥75 years and the third wave finding a lower HR for mortality (aHR 0.56, 95%CI 0.36–0.86). Conclusions: We did not find an increase in in-hospital mortality during the third epidemic wave in which the Mu variant was predominant in Colombia. The reduced hazard in mortality in patients ≥75 years hospitalized in the third wave could be explained by the high coverage of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in this population and patients with underlying conditions.https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1833-1599https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5363-5729https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6964-2229https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3975-2835https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9441-4375Revista Internacional - IndexadaA1N