'El Niño' Effects and Biomass Endogeneity in a Harvest Function: The Chilean Jack Mackerel Fishery

The main goal of this paper consists in estimating the input parameters of an annual harvest function for the Chilean jack mackerel stock; particularly, the effects of biomass on catch. One of the main problems faced is that the biomass variable is possibly endogenous, which would bias the estimators if the problem remains unsolved. Our empirical strategy consists in estimating a per vessel harvest function using panel data, which allows us to control for vessels' unobserved heterogeneity, and episodes of 'El Niño' phenomenon as valid instrumental variable for biomass, which allows us to control for the potential biomass endogeneity. This strategy produces consistent estimates of the biomass coefficient. The results, using a panel of industrial vessels operating in the central-southern region of Chile during the period 1985-2002, show that the endogeneity of the biomass variable biases upwardly the magnitude of its coefficient in a Cobb-Douglas harvest function. In the case of our data, the endogeneity bias even changes the sign of the catch-to-biomass elasticity. A first contribution of the paper is to address the endogeneity of biomass in a harvest function, an issue often underestimated in the empirical literature. A second contribution is related to 'El Niño' effects on the Chilean jack mackerel stock. The results show that an oceanic 'El Niño' episode not only has negative contemporaneous effects on jack mackerel biomass but also negative biomass effects lasting for at least two additional years.El Niño phenomenon; pelagic fisheries; Chilean jack mackerel; Instrumental variable estimation; marginal stock effects; endogenous biomass

Flywheel energy storage and dump load to control the active power excess in a wind diesel power system

Wind Diesel Power Systems (WDPS) are isolated microgrids which combine Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs) with Diesel Generators (DGs). The WDPS modelled in this article is composed of a DG, a WTG, consumer load, Dump Load (DL) and a Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS). In the Wind-Diesel (WD) mode both the DG and WTG supply power to the consumers. The WDPS is simulated in the WD mode in the case that the WTG produced power exceeds the load consumption. This WTG excess power case is simulated in the subcases of DL and FESS turned off, only-DL and only-FESS. Simulations for the DL and FESS-off case show that the WTG excess power leads to a continuous system frequency increase, so that the tripping of the WTG Circuit Breaker (CB) is required to guarantee the WDPS power supply continuity. Simulations for the only-DL/only-FESS cases show that commanding the DL/FESS to consume controlled power, so that the required DG power to balance the system active power is positive, enables the DE speed governor to regulate the system frequency. Furthermore, the frequency and voltage variations in the DL/FESS cases are moderate and there is no need to trip the WTG-CB, so that the WDPS reliability and power quality are greatly improved. Additionally, the only-FESS case obtains better WDPS relative stability than the only-DL case

Bilingual Lexicon Extraction from Comparable Corpora as Metasearch

International audienceIn this article we present a novel way of looking at the problem of automatic acquisition of pairs of translationally equivalent words from comparable corpora. We first present the standard and extended approaches traditionally dedicated to this task. We then reinterpret the extended method, and motivate a novel model to reformulate this approach inspired by the metasearch engines in information retrieval. The empirical results show that performances of our model are always better than the baseline obtained with the extended approach and also competitive with the standard approach

Socioeconomic differences in alcohol use, disorders and harm : Exploring the Alcohol Harm Paradox

Harmful alcohol use is a global public health challenge. Socioeconomic differences in alcohol-attributable harm are higher than in all-cause mortality and Finland has one of the highest socioeconomic differences in alcohol-attributable harm in European countries. Lower socioeconomic groups typically experience greater alcohol-attributable harm, despite reporting lower levels of alcohol use. This “alcohol harm paradox” can be the result of differential biases in the measurement of alcohol use, differential vulnerability to the effects of alcohol or reverse causality. What explains the alcohol harm paradox remains largely unknown. This study investigated the existence and patterns of socioeconomic differences in volume of alcohol use and drinking patterns in Finland and Chile (two countries with high alcohol use and harm); examined changes in the prevalence and socioeconomic correlates of alcohol use disorders (AUD) in Finland between 2000 and 2011; and examined whether differential biases in the measurement of volume of alcohol use (using alcohol biomarkers as objective measures of alcohol use) and behavioural risk factors and their joint effects with each other and with socioeconomic status (SES) could explain the alcohol harm paradox. We used data from national health surveys in Finland and also Chile in Sub-study I. The study population were adults residing permanently in Finland. Income and education were used as indicators of SES. Central measurements included alcohol use (volume and heavy episodic drinking), alcohol biomarkers (GGT, CDT, ALT and AST), smoking, body mass index as well as sociodemographic factors. We used structured interviews to assess 12-month and lifetime AUD and linked data from population surveys to mortality data. Outcomes were indicators of alcohol use, 12-month and lifetime prevalence of AUD and alcohol-attributable mortality. Statistical methods included the concentration index, logistic and Cox proportional hazards models and causal mediation analysis. Abstinence was higher among lower socioeconomic groups than in higher socioeconomic groups in Finland and Chile, while heavy episodic drinking was modestly higher among people with lower SES in Finland. Estimated prevalence of 12-month AUD in Finland decreased from 4.6% in 2000 to 2.0% in 2011. We did not find evidence to support the existence of educational differences in AUD in 2000 or 2011. Participants in the lowest income quintile experienced 2.1 times higher risk of alcohol-attributable mortality, despite reporting lower levels of alcohol use. Alcohol biomarkers explained a very small fraction of the socioeconomic differences in alcohol-attributable mortality. We found strong joint (or interactive) effects for SES and alcohol use and SES and smoking. However, smoking, body mass index and their joint effects with income explained a relatively small proportion (18%) of the effect of income on alcohol-attributable mortality. Our findings confirm the existence of the alcohol harm paradox in Finland and support the need for targeted alcohol policies for lower socioeconomic groups and a broader policy agenda for tackling structural determinants of health.Harmful alcohol use is a global public health challenge. The differences between socioeconomic groups in the harm caused by alcohol are higher than in mortality for any cause. Finland has one of the highest socioeconomic differences in the harm caused by alcohol in European countries. People in lower socioeconomic groups typically experience greater harm caused by alcohol, despite reporting lower levels of alcohol use. This “alcohol harm paradox” can be the result of differences in how socioeconomic groups report their alcohol use, higher vulnerability to the effects of alcohol or reverse causality. What explains the alcohol harm paradox remains largely unknown. This study investigated the socioeconomic differences in the volume of alcohol use (amount of alcohol drank) and drinking patterns (how was alcohol drank) in Finland and Chile (two countries with high alcohol use and harm); examined changes in the proportion of people with alcohol use disorders (AUD) in Finland between 2000 and 2011 and changes in these proportion in different socioeconomic groups; examined whether people from different socioeconomic groups reported differently their alcohol use (using biological markers of alcohol use as objective measures of alcohol use) and examined whether the behavioural risk factors and their joint effects with each other and with socioeconomic status (SES) could explain the alcohol harm paradox. We used data from national health surveys in Finland and also Chile in Sub-study I. The study population were adults residing permanently in Finland. Income and education were used as indicators of SES. Central measurements included alcohol use (volume and heavy episodic drinking), alcohol biomarkers (GGT, CDT, ALT and AST), smoking, body mass index as well as sociodemographic factors. We used structured interviews to assess the proportion of people with AUD in the last 12 months and during their lifetime and linked data from population surveys to mortality data. Outcomes were indicators of alcohol use, the proportion of people with AUD in the last 12 months and during their lifetime and deaths caused by alcohol. Statistical methods included the concentration index, logistic and Cox proportional hazards models and causal mediation analysis. We found that the proportion of non-drinkers was higher in the lower socioeconomic groups than in higher socioeconomic groups in Finland and Chile, while heavy episodic drinking (drinking a high amount of alcohol on a single occasion) was modestly higher among people with lower SES in Finland. The proportion of people with AUD in the past 12 months in Finland decreased from 4.6% in 2000 to 2.0% in 2011. We did not find evidence to support the existence of educational differences in AUD in 2000 or 2011. Participants in the lowest income quintile experienced 2.1 times higher risk of death caused by alcohol, despite reporting lower levels of alcohol use. Biological markers of alcohol use explained a very small fraction of the socioeconomic differences in deaths caused by alcohol. We found strong joint effects (or interactive) for SES and alcohol use and SES and smoking. However, smoking, body mass index and their joint effects with income explained a relatively small proportion (18%) of the effect of income on deaths caused by alcohol. Our findings confirm the existence of the alcohol harm paradox in Finland and support the need for alcohol policies designed specifically for lower socioeconomic groups and a broader policy agenda for tackling structural conditions that affect health

Prensa Gráfica y Discurso Social. El lugar de las artes en el periódico de información en Córdoba

Fil: Peña, Sebastián. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación; Argentina.La exposición da cuenta del lugar y los modos de contar las artes en la prensa gráfica en Córdoba durante el año 2014. A partir del relevamiento, análisis y sistematización de la diversas formas de aparición del discurso sobre las artes en la prensa gráfica; desde lo informativo a la crítica; desde el lugar que ocupa este discurso en el medio: columna, página, suplemento, etc., proponemos una aproximación sociosemiótica a la divulgación/traducción/ y banalización doxológicas de los discursos esotéricos (Angenot:1982). Esta propuesta se encuadra en un trabajo de investigación más amplio “Prensa Gráfica y Discurso Social. El lugar de la ciencias y la artes en el periódico de Información – Córdoba 2014”.http://www.alaic2015.eci.unc.edu.ar/publicaciones/Fil: Peña, Sebastián. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación; Argentina.Otras Comunicación y Medio

Eficiencia Técnica y Escalas de Operación en Pesca Pelágica: Un Análisis de Fronteras Estocásticas

This paper examines estimations of technical catch efficiency for a sample of 204 industrial vessels operating at the pelagic grounds of Southern-Central Chile during the 1985-95 period. We consider a Translog stochastic frontier model à-la Battese-CoelliStochastic production frontiers, technical efficiency, panel estimation, chilean pelagic fischeries

Fusion de résultats en recherche d'information : application aux documents manuscrits en-ligne

Ce travail présente les résultats d'une étude sur la combinaison des deux approches majeures existantes pour la recherche de documents manuscrits en-ligne. La première approche consiste à appliquer des méthodes de recherche d'information (RI) aux documents issus d'un processus de reconnaissance. La deuxième, quant à elle, ne nécessite pas de reconnaissance explicite et utilise un algorithme de word spotting. La fusion permet d'améliorer les performances de la recherche. Les résultats montrent que pour des textes ayant un taux d'erreur au niveau mot inférieur à 23 %, les performances après fusion sont comparables à celles obtenues avec la vérité terrain. De plus, pour des textes fortement dégradés, des améliorations sont également observées

The Global Viralization of Policies to Contain the Spreading of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analyses of School Closures and First Reported Cases

Background On January 30(th) 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a international health emergency due to the unprecedented phenomenon of COVID-19. After this declaration countries swiftly implemented a variety of health policies. In this work we examine how rapid countries responded to this pandemic using two events: the day in which the first case of COVID-19 was reported, and first day in which countries used school closure as one of the measures to avoid outbreaks. We also assessed how countries\u27 health systems, globalization, economic development, political systems, and economic integration to China, Republic of Korea and Italy increased the speed of adoption. Methods We compiled information from multiple sources, from December 31(st) 2019 to June 1(st) 2020, to trace when 172 countries reported their first COVID-19 case and implemented school closure to contain outbreaks. We applied cross-national Weibull survival analysis to evaluate the global speed of detection of first COVID-19 reported cases and school closure. Results Ten days after WHO declared COVID-19 to be an international emergency, relative to seven days from this declaration, countries were 28 (95% CI: 12-77) times more likely to report first COVID-19 cases and 42 (95% CI: 22-90) times more likely to close schools. One standard deviation increase in the epidemic security index rises the rate of report first cases by 37% (Hazard Ratio (HR) 1.37 (95% CI: 1.09-1.72) and delays the adoption for school closures by 36% (HR 0.64 (95% CI:0.50-0.82). One standard deviation increase in the globalization index augments the adoption for school closures by 74% (HR 1.74 (95% CI:1.34-2.24). Conclusion After the WHO declared a global emergency, countries were unprecedently acting very rapidly. While countries more globally integrated were swifter in closing schools, countries with better designed health systems to tackle epidemics were slower in adopting it. More studies are needed to assess how the speed of school closures and other policies will affect the development of the pandemic

Evaluating Health in All Policies Comment on “Developing a Framework for a Program Theory-Based Approach to Evaluating Policy Processes and Outcomes: Health in All Policies in South Australia”

Abstract Health in All Policies (HiAP) has gained attention as a potential tool to address complex health and societal challenges at global, regional, national and subnational levels. In a recent article, Lawless et al propose an evaluation framework developed in the context of the South Australia HiAP initiative. Strategies, mediators, activities and impacts identified in the framework could potentially be useful for evaluating HiAP in other settings. Creating and sustaining political will, managing conflicts of interest and achieving financially, politically and conceptually sustainable HiAP initiatives are challenges that could be further strengthened in the current framework

Abstención electoral en las elecciones presidenciales, afectaciones al sistema democrático colombiano, elecciones presidenciales periodo 1994-2010

RESUMEN: El sistema democrático moderno como forma de organización política, tiene como base el sufragio universal, puesto que, mediante el voto personal, el ciudadano tiene la facultad de participar en la dirección de los asuntos públicos, de designar quienes serán las autoridades y quienes sus representantes en los niveles nacional, territorial y local. La injerencia de la ciudadanía se expresa de este modo en lo administrativo y legislativo. No obstante lo anterior, las tasas de participación en las elecciones colombianas han sido bajas, mientras que las de abstención son altas, entre el 50% y el 60%, con lo cual se desvirtúa la expresión popular. Teniendo en cuenta este fenómeno, se pretende en este trabajo estudiar los efectos ocasionados al sistema democrático por el abstencionismo en las elecciones presidenciales para el periodo 1994-2010. Analizando las cifras oficiales sobre el abstencionismo, se llega a conclusiones importantes que se refieren a la existencia de causas sociales, políticas y económicas que afectan la participación mediante el voto. Además, se llega a la conclusión de la existencia de una deficitaria cultura política ciudadana en Colombia que posibilita que la abstención margine al ciudadano, generando mayores cifras de abstención, afectando así el sistema democrático colombian