Optimal Oil Taxation in a Small Open Economy

The international oil market has been very volatile over the past three decades. In industrialized economies, especially in Europe, taxes represent a large fraction of oil prices and governments do not seem to react to oil price shocks by using oil taxes strategically. The aim of this paper is to analyze optimal oil taxation in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of a small open economy that imports oil. We obtain that in general it is not optimal to distort the oil price paid by firms with taxes. Extending the model in several ways this result could be reversed depending on environmental considerations and available fiscal instruments.Optimal oil taxation, general equilibrium, small open economies

Price discovery in the pre-opening period. theory and evidence from the madrid stock exchange

Some stock exchanges, such as the Spanish Stock Exchange and Euronext (Paris), allow traders to place orders in a 'pre-opening' period. Orders placed in this period are used to determine the opening price, and can be cancelled at any moment and at no cost by the traders. We consider a model in which noise traders can appear in the market before or after the opening, and a strategic informed trader decides her order strategy at the pre-opening and at the opening period. We characterize the equilibrium of such a model, showing that at the pre-opening there is a non-monotonic relation between the aggregate quantity ordered and prices. Thus, the equilibrium at the pre-opening stage is determined in a way which is fundamentally different from the equilibrium in the open market. We proceed to study the implications of the existence of a pre-opening period on information revelation and on the determination of the opening price. We present evidence from the Spanish Stock Exchange that seem to support the theoretical predictions, showing a clear different in behaviour between the market behaviour before and after the opening of the market

Diversity mdir receiver for space-time dispersive channels

A particular property of the cellebrated MDIR receiver is introduced in this communication, namely, the fact that full exploitation of the diversity is obtained with multiple beamformers when the channel is spatially and timely dispersive. Therefore a new structure is developped which provides better performance. The hardware need for this new receiver may be obtained through reconfigurability of the RAKE architectures available at the base station. It will be tested in the FDD mode of UTRA.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Complex Bone Diseases: Bone Cancer, Bone Infection and Osteoporosis

Bone diseases, such as bone cancer, bone infection and osteoporosis, constitute a major issue for modern societies as a consequence of their progressive ageing. Even though these pathologies can be currently treated in the clinic, some of those treatments present drawbacks that may lead to severe complications. For instance, chemotherapy lacks of great tumor tissue selectivity, affecting healthy and diseased tissues. In addition, the inappropriate use of antimicrobials is leading to the appearance of drug-resistance bacteria and persistent biofilms, rendering current antibiotics useless. Furthermore, current antiosteoporotic treatments present many side effects as a consequence of their poor bioavailability and the need to use higher doses. In view of the exposed evidences, the encapsulation and selective delivery to the diseased tissues of the different therapeutic compounds seem highly convenient. In this sense, silica-based mesoporous nanoparticles offer great loading capacity within their pores, the possibility of modifying the surface to target the particles to the malignant areas and great biocompatibility. This manuscript is intended to be a comprehensive review of the available literature on complex bone diseases treated with silica-based mesoporous nanoparticles, whose further development and eventual translation into the clinic could bring significant benefits for our future society

Peanut Shell for Energy: Properties and Its Potential to Respect the Environment

The peanut (Arachys hypogaea) is a plant of the Fabaceae family (legumes), as are chickpeas, lentils, beans, and peas. It is originally from South America and is used mainly for culinary purposes, in confectionery products, or as a nut as well as for the production of biscuits, breads, sweets, cereals, and salads. Also, due to its high percentage of fat, peanuts are used for industrialized products such as oils, flours, inks, creams, lipsticks, etc. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistical yearbook in 2016, the production of peanuts was 43,982,066 t, produced in 27,660,802 hectares. Peanuts are grown mainly in Asia, with a global production rate of 65.3%, followed by Africa with 26.2%, the Americas with 8.4%, and Oceania with 0.1%. The peanut industry is one of the main generators of agroindustrial waste (shells). This residual biomass (25–30% of the total weight) has a high energy content that is worth exploring. The main objectives of this study are, firstly, to evaluate the energy parameters of peanut shells as a possible solid biofuel applied as an energy source in residential and industrial heating installations. Secondly, different models are analysed to estimate the higher heating value (HHV) for biomass proposed by different scientists and to determine which most accurately fits the determination of this value for peanut shells. Thirdly, we evaluate the reduction in global CO2 emissions that would result from the use of peanut shells as biofuel. The obtained HHV of peanut shells (18.547 MJ/kg) is higher than other biomass sources evaluated, such as olive stones (17.884 MJ/kg) or almond shells (18.200 MJ/kg), and similar to other sources of biomass used at present for home and industrial heating applications. Different prediction models of the HHV value proposed by scientists for different types of biomass have been analysed and the one that best fits the calculation for the peanut shell has been determined. The CO2 reduction that would result from the use of peanut shells as an energy source has been evaluated in all production countries, obtaining values above 0.5 ‰ of their total emissions

Ultrasound responsive Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Nanotechnology, which has already revolutionised many technological areas, is expected to transform life sciences. In this sense, nanomedicine could address some of the most important limitations of conventional medicine. In general, nanomedicine include three major objectives: (1) trap and protect a great amount of therapeutic agents; (2) carry them to the specific site of disease avoiding any leakage; and (3) release on-demand high local concentrations of therapeutic agents. This feature article will make special emphasis on mesoporous silica nanoparticles that release their therapeutic cargo in response to ultrasound

Post-embryonic organogenesis and plant regeneration from tissues: two sides of the same coin?

Plants have extraordinary developmental plasticity as they continuously form organs during post-embryonic development. In addition they may regenerate organs upon in vitro hormonal induction. Advances in the field of plant regeneration show that the first steps of de novo organogenesis through in vitro culture in hormone containing media (via formation of a proliferating mass of cells or callus) require root post-embryonic developmental programs as well as regulators of auxin and cytokinin signaling pathways. We review how hormonal regulation is delivered during lateral root initiation and callus formation. Implications in reprograming, cell fate and pluripotency acquisition are discussed. Finally, we analyze the function of cell cycle regulators and connections with epigenetic regulation. Future work dissecting plant organogenesis driven by both endogenous and exogenous cues (upon hormonal induction) may reveal new paradigms of common regulation

Self-Immolative Polymers as novel pH-responsive gate keepers for drug delivery

A novel pH-sensitive nanocarrier based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles with self-immolative polymers blocking the pore openings is presented. Triggered release by acid pH is demonstrated, together with their in vitro biocompatibility and effective cell internalisation, which makes this new material a promising candidate for future applications in cancer treatment