Does Seasonality Change over the Business Cycle? An Investigation using Monthly Industrial Production Series

This paper examines the proposition that the business cycle affects seasonality in industrial production, with output being switched to the traditionally low production summer months when recent (annual) growth has been strong. This is investigated through the use of a restricted threshold autoregressive model for the monthly growth rate in a total of 74 industries from 16 OECD countries. Approximately one third of the series exhibit significant nonlinearity, with this nonlinearity predominantly associated with changes in the seasonal pattern. Estimates show that the summer slowdown in many European countries is substantially reduced when recent growth has been high.

Marginal resection and adjuvant strontium plesiotherapy in the management of feline eyelid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours: two cases

Case series summary Two cats with a marginally resected eyelid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour were treated with adjuvant strontium plesiotherapy a few weeks after surgery. The dose applied in both cases was 200 Gy to the surface, in five fractions, on a Monday–Wednesday–Friday basis. The treatment aimed to achieve a clinical margin of approximately 1 cm around the surgical scar and multiple application fields were required to cover such an area. Local recurrence was not seen in either case after 1330 and 645 days, respectively. Relevance and novel information The majority of periocular malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours reported in the literature recur after surgery. In the two cases described in this report the combination of surgery and adjuvant plesiotherapy has been able to provide good local control with minimal toxicity. This multimodal approach could be considered as an alternative to aggressive surgery such as enucleation or exenteration

Seasonal adjustment and the detection of business cycle phases

To date, there has been little investigation of the impact of seasonal adjustment on the detection of business cycle expansion and recession regimes. We study this question both analytically and through Monte Carlo simulations. Analytically, we view the occurrence of a single business cycle regime as a structural break that is later reversed, showing that the effect of the linear symmetric X-11 filter differs with the duration of the regime. Through the use of Markov switching models for regime identification, the simulation analysis shows that seasonal adjustment has desirable properties in clarifying the true regime when this is well underway, but it distorts regime inference around turning points, with this being especially marked after the end of recessions and when the one-sided X-11 filter is employed. JEL Classification: E32, C22, C80business cycles, Markov switching models, Seasonal adjustment

Josep Puig i Cadafalch, un deportista científico

La cubierta de este último número de apunts del año 2001 es un homenaje a Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Después de un año 2000 dedicado a Domènech i Montaner y a la espera de un 2002 gaudiniano, el año 2001 ha sido declarado año Josep Puig i Cadafalch, el tercero de los grandes arquitectos modernistas. Josep Puig i Cafafalch nació en Mataró el año 1867. Estudio en esta ciudad en el Colegio de Santa Ana de las Escuelas Pías, donde terminó el bachillerato a los dieciséis años. En 1883 inició simultáneamente la carrera de arquitecto en la Escuela Provincial de Arquitectura y la de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas en la Universidad de Barcelona. En 1884 ingresó en la Academia de Bellas Artes, donde frecuentó las clases de pintura, escultura, grabado, estética e historia del arte. Como arquitecto sus realizaciones son numerosas y una gran parte de ellas enriquece todavía las calles de Barcelona. Se ha escrito mucho sobre sus obras y también sobre proyectos no consumados, como el de la Plaza de Cataluña y el de la Exposición Universal. Puede ser considerado como uno de los padres de la Patria. Su vida política, desde que de estudiante, militaba en el Centre Escolar Catalanista hasta que en 1917, a la muerte de Prat de la Riba, fue designado Presidente de la Mancomunidad de Cataluña, se manifestó esencialmente por su catalanidad. Su labor al frente de la Mancomunidad, especialmente en el campo cultural, fue extraordinaria. Después, el exilio hasta el año 1942, siendo primordial su activo papel en la recuperación de tradiciones catalanas, como la fiesta de Sant Jordi, y de instituciones, como el Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Puig i Cadafalch poseía un espíritu despierto, lleno de nobles inquietudes, pero al mismo tiempo tenía un carácter seco, con reacciones imprevisibles, a veces incluso violentas, en el cual destacaban la tenacidad y la intransigencia..

Josep Puig i Cadafalch, un esportista científic

La portada d’aquest últim número d’apunts de l’any 2001 és un homenatge a Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Després d’un any 2000 dedicat a Domenech i Montaner i a l’espera d’un 2002 gaudinià, l’any 2001 ha estat declarat any Josep Puig i Cadafalch , el tercer del grans arquitectes modernistes. Josep Puig i Cadafalch va néixer a Mataró l’any 1867. Va estudiar en aquesta ciutat en el Col·legi de Santa Anna de les Escoles Pies, on va acabar el batxillerat als setze anys. En 1883 va iniciar simultàniament la carrera d’arquitecte a l’Escola Provincial d’Arquitectura, i la de Ciències Físico-Matemàtiques a la Universitat de Barcelona. El 1884 va ingressar a l’Acadèmia de Belles Arts, on va freqüentar les classes de pintura, escultura, gravat, estètica i historia de l’art. Com a arquitecte, las seves realitzacions són nombroses i una gran part encara enriqueix els carrers de Barcelona. S’ha escrit molt sobre les seves obres i també sobre projectes no consumats, com el de la Plaça de Catalunya i el de l’Exposició Universal. Pot ser considerat justament com un dels pares de la Pàtria. La seva vida política, des que, d’estudiant, va militar en el Centre Escolar Catalanista fins que el 1917, a la mort de Prat de la Riba, va ser designat President de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya, es va manifestar essencialment per la seva catalanitat. La seva tasca al front de la Mancomunitat, especialment en el camp cultural, va ser extraordinària. Després, l’exili fins l’any 1942, essent aleshores primordial el seu paper actiu en la recuperació de tradicions catalanes, com la festa de Sant Jordi, i d’institucions, com l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Puig i Cadafalch posseïa un esperit despert, ple de nobles inquietuds, però, al mateix temps, tenia un caràcter sec, amb reaccions imprevisibles, a vegades fins i tot violentes, en el qual destacaven la tenacitat i la intransigència

Content-Based Video Retrieval in Historical Collections of the German Broadcasting Archive

The German Broadcasting Archive (DRA) maintains the cultural heritage of radio and television broadcasts of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The uniqueness and importance of the video material stimulates a large scientific interest in the video content. In this paper, we present an automatic video analysis and retrieval system for searching in historical collections of GDR television recordings. It consists of video analysis algorithms for shot boundary detection, concept classification, person recognition, text recognition and similarity search. The performance of the system is evaluated from a technical and an archival perspective on 2,500 hours of GDR television recordings.Comment: TPDL 2016, Hannover, Germany. Final version is available at Springer via DO

(BIO)Technological Images about Human Self-construction on Spain Context: A Preliminar Study

The study of (bio) technology has a great social significance. As time goes by, the human being is getting more linked to technology. (Bio)technology and society are, therefore, two inseparable fields. Furthermore, this study shows the importance of setting a new context of analysis for (bio)technology. This context will be a polycontexture formed by biological, technical, psychological, sociological and axiological factors. In order to analyze this polycontexture, we consider that one of the most powerful methods is that used by social imageries. Social imageries have been studied by many researchers, but we believe that Juan Luis Pintos has developed the best method. In the end, this paper concludes that the materialization of this polycontexture is the cyborg metaphor. Keywords: Cyborg; Policontexture; Juan Luis Pintos; Socials Imagerie

A social constructed human beeing : a (bio)technological approach

As a social construction, (bio)technology1 should not be studied out of the social field. From a Social Imaginaries approach, (bio)technology can be considered as a contemporary social magma formed by biological, technical, psychological, sociological and axiological factors. Orbiting around the the cyborg metaphor, in this article we intend to build a multidisciplinary approach of this polycontextureComo una construcción social, la (bio)tecnología no debe ser estudiada fuera del campo social. Desde una perspectiva analítica sobre los imaginarios sociales, la (bio)tecnología puede ser considerada como un magma social formado por factores biológicos, técnicos, psicológicos, sociológicos y axiológicos. Orbitando alrededor de la metáfora del cyborg, en este artículo nos proponemos construir un enfoque multidisciplinar de esta polycontextura

Nanostructural changes in cell wall pectins during strawberry fruit ripening assessed by atomic force microscopy

Rapid loss of firmness occurs during strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch) ripening, resulting in a short shelf life and high economic losses. The disassembly of cell walls is considered the main responsible for fruit softening, being pectins extensively modified during strawberry ripening (Paniagua et al. 2014). Atomic force microscopy allows the analysis of individual polymer chains at nanostructural level with a minimal sample preparation (Morris et al., 2001). The main objective of this research was to compare pectins of green and red ripe strawberry fruits at the nanostructural level to shed light on structural changes that could be related to softening. Cell walls from strawberry fruits were extracted and fractionated with different solvents to obtain fractions enriched in a specific component. The yield of cell wall material, as well as the amount of the different fractions, decreased in ripe fruits. CDTA and Na2CO3 fractions underwent the largest decrements, being these fractions enriched in pectins supposedly located in the middle lamella and primary cell wall, respectively. Uronic acid content also decreased significantly during ripening in both pectin fractions, but the amount of soluble pectins, those extracted with phenol:acetic acid:water (PAW) and water increased in ripe fruits. Monosaccharide composition in CDTA and Na2CO3 fractions was determined by gas chromatography. In both pectin fractions, the amount of Ara and Gal, the two most abundant carbohydrates, decreased in ripe fruits. The nanostructural characteristics of CDTA and Na2CO3 pectins were analyzed by AFM. Isolated pectic chains present in the CDTA fraction were significantly longer and more branched in samples from green fruits than those present in samples obtained from red fruit. In spite of slight differences in length distributions, Na2CO3 samples from unripe fruits displayed some longer chains at low frequency that were not detected in ripe fruits. Pectin aggregates were more frequently observed in green fruit samples from both fractions. These results support that pectic chain length and the nanostructural complexity of the pectins present in CDTA and Na2CO3 fractions diminish during strawberry fruit development, and these changes, jointly with the loss of neutral sugars, could contribute to the solubilization of pectins and fruit softening. Paniagua et al. (2014). Ann Bot, 114: 1375-1383 Morris et al. (2001). Food Sci Tech 34: 3-10 This research was supported by FEDER EU Funds and the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain (grant reference AGL2011-24814)Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech