Non-linear adjustment of import prices in the European Union

This paper focuses on the non-linear adjustment of import prices in national currency to shocks in exchange rates and foreign prices measured in the exporters' currency of products originating outside the euro area and imported into European Union countries (EU-15). The paper looks at three different types of non-linearities: a) non-proportional adjustment (the size of the adjustment grows more than proportionally with the size of the misalignments); b) asymmetric adjustment to cost-increasing and cost-decreasing shocks, and c) the existence of thresholds in the size of misalignments below which no adjustment takes place. There is evidence of more than proportional adjustment towards long-run equilibrium in manufacturing industries. In these industries, the adjustment is faster the further away current import prices are from their implied long-run equilibrium. In contrast, a proportional linear adjustment cannot be rejected for some other imports (especially within agricultural and commodity imports). There is also strong evidence of asymmetry in the adjustment to long-run equilibrium. Deviations from long-run equilibrium due to exchange rate appreciations of the home currency result in a faster adjustment than those caused by a home currency depreciation. Finally, we also find that adjustment takes place in the industries in our sample only when deviations are above certain thresholds and that these thresholds tend to be somewhat smaller for manufacturing industries than for commodities.exchange rate adjustment; monetary union;

Maximum photosynthetic assimilation in quinoa varieties (Chenopodium quinoa) from different geographic origins, and its relation to leaf morphology

Este trabajo brinda datos sobre las diferentes respuestas fisiológicas y morfológicas de seis variedades de Chenopodium quinoa Willd, de diferentes orígenes geográ- ficos, cultivadas bajo las mismas condiciones ambientales. Se analizaron el intercambio de gases (asimilación fotosintética máxima, Amax; conductancia estomática, gs, transpiración, Tr, concentración interna de CO2, Ci y eficiencia intrínseca en el uso del agua EUAi, anatomía foliar (densidad estomática, DE, tamaño estomático, TE, espesor de los tejidos, ET), área foliar específica, AFE y contenido de pigmentos fotosintéticos y protectores. Las experiencias se realizaron en una región árida del Noroeste Argentino (Amaicha del Valle, 22º31’S, 65º 59’ W, 1.985 m) bajo condiciones de sequía. Las variedades utilizadas fueron: Kancolla (Perú) y Sayaña (Altiplano Boliviano, 3.850 m), Quinoa Blanca (Cochabamba, Bolivia, 2.570 m), Quinoa Roja (Cangrejillos, Argentina, 3.700 m), CICA (originalmente obtenida en Perú pero ahora cultivada en Argentina a 2.000 m) y CO-407, una variedad de Chile, de zonas bajas (140 m). En general, los datos muestran que gs es una variable importante en el control de Amax pero la magnitud de este control depende de la variedad considerada. El valor más alto de Amax fue registrado para la variedad CICA (31 µmol m-2 s-1) y el más bajo para la variedad CO-407 con 19 µmol m-2 s-1. En relación a la capacidad de carboxilación y EUAi, los datos obtenidos permiten inferir que las variedades de altura (Sayaña y Kancolla) poseen valores altos de EUAi y capacidad de carboxilación en relación a las variedades provenientes de media y baja altitud (CO-407 y CICA). El valor de AFE no mostró variaciones de significación entre las variedades estudiadas. Todas resultaron ser anfiestomáticas con DE mayor en la epidermis inferior. Se encontró una correlación lineal positiva entre Amax y DE. Los resultados obtenidos aportan datos de valor biológico que pueden ser utilizados para los estudios relacionados al mejoramiento y/o selección varietal en ambientes de media y alta montaña. Palabras clave: Fotosíntesis, quinoa, tejidos foliares.Leaf gas exchange (Maxima photosynthetic assimilation, Amax; stomatal conductance, gs; leaf transpiration, Tr; internal CO2, and Ci concentration, and anatomical leaf data (stomatal density and size, tissue thickness), specific leaf area (SLA), photosynthetic and protection pigments in six quinoa varieties from dif ferent origins were analysed. Trials were carried out in an arid region of Argentina’s Nor thwest (Amaicha del Valle, 22º31’S, 65º59’ W, 1,985 m asl) under drought conditions. The varieties used were: Kancolla (Perú) and Sayaña (from Bolivian Altiplano, 3,850 m asl), Quinoa Blanca (from Cochabamaba, Bolivia, 2,570 m asl), Quinoa Roja (from Cangrejillos, Argentina, 3,700 m asl), CICA (originally form Perú but currently cultivated at 2,000 m asl in Argentina) and CO-407 a lowland Chilean variety (140 m asl). In general, our data showed that gs is an important variable in the net CO2 assimilation (Amax) but this control magnitude depends on the considered variety. Highest (31 µmol m-2 s-1 ) and lowest (19 µmol m-2 s-1) Amax values were recorded for CICA and CO-407 varieties. Regarding the carboxylic capacity and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE), it may be inferred from the obtained data, that the high altitude varieties (Sayaña and Kancolla) have both, the highest iWUE and carboxylation capacity in relation to other varieties from middle and low altitude (CO-407 and CICA). SLA value did not vary significantly among the studied varieties. Every analysed variety was amphiestomatic with higher stomatal density (SD) on the lower epidermis. A positive linear correlation between Amax and SD was found. The obtained results provide data of unquestionable biological value, which can be useful to varietal breeding studies in middle and high mountain environments.Fil: González, Juan A.. Fundación Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Ponessa, Graciela I.. Fundación Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Buedo, Sebastia. E.. Fundación Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Mercado, Maria Ines. Fundación Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Prado, Fernando Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Catedra de Fisiologia Vegetal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Responses in soil carbon and nitrogen fractionation after prescribed burning in the Montseny biosphere reserve (NE Iberian Peninsula)

Prescribed fire is one of the most widely-used management tools to recover encroached rangelands. Fire has been reported to cause changes in the soil physical and chemical properties. However, the legacy effects of former plant species on soil responses to fire remains unknown. The legacy effect of the former extant plant species on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fraction- ation distribution after prescribed burning in topsoil (0–5 cm and 5–10 cm) was investigated in Mediterranean shrublands in Montseny. We sampled soils under five vegetation patch types: Cytisus scoparius L., Calluna vulgaris L., Erica arborea L., Pteridium aquilinum L., and Cladonia biocrusts, pre- and post-burning. Multivariate analysis on soil C and N fractions showed that soils under the legume Cytisus and the biocrust were the most differentiated. Vegetation patch types tended to respond differently to burning, soils under Cytisus, Cladonia and Calluna showing the strongest response. Total C and N, and C and N in sand decreased after burning in the 0–5 cm soil layer. Conversely, C in silt, as well as N in clay and silt, increased with soil depth after burning. This study will be helpful for understanding ecological legacy effects and their possible consequences when planning prescribed burningThis study was developed through projects OPEN2PRESERVE (SOE2/P5E0804), from the EU SUDOE; and IMAGINE (CGL2017-85490-R), from the Spanish Science Foundatio

Uterine sarcomas: clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up, by Spanish group for research on sarcomas (GEIS)

Adenosarcoma; Guidelines; Uterine sarcomaAdenosarcoma; Pautas; Sarcoma uterinoAdenosarcoma; Pautes; Sarcoma uteríUterine sarcomas are very infrequent and heterogeneous entities. Due to its rarity, pathological diagnosis, surgical management, and systemic treatment are challenging. Treatment decision process in these tumors should be taken in a multidisciplinary tumor board. Available evidence is low and, in many cases, based on case series or clinical trials in which these tumors have been included with other soft tissue sarcoma. In these guidelines, we have tried to summarize the most relevant evidence in the diagnosis, staging, pathological disparities, surgical management, systemic treatment, and follow-up of uterine sarcomas

Serotypes and Clonal Composition of Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates Causing IPD in Children and Adults in Catalonia before 2013 to 2015 and after 2017 to 2019 Systematic Introduction of PCV13

Clones; Invasive pneumococcal disease; SerotypesClones; Enfermedad neumocócica invasiva; SerotiposClons; Malaltia pneumocòcica invasiva; SerotipsThe goal of this study was to investigate the distribution of serotypes and clonal composition of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates causing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in Catalonia, before and after systematic introduction of PCV13. Pneumococcal strains isolated from normally sterile sites obtained from patients of all ages with IPD received between 2013 and 2019 from 25 health centers of Catalonia were included. Two study periods were defined: presystematic vaccination period (2013 and 2015) and systematic vaccination period (SVP) (2017 to 2019). A total of 2,303 isolates were analyzed. In the SVP, there was a significant decrease in the incidence of IPD cases in children 5 to 17 years old (relative risk [RR] 0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.38 to 0.99), while there was a significant increase in the incidence of IPD cases in 18- to 64-year-old adults (RR 1.33; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.52) and adults over 65 years old (RR 1.23; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.38). Serotype 8 was the major emerging serotype in all age groups except in 5- to 17-year-old children. In children younger than 5 years old, the main serotypes in SVP were 24F, 15A, and 3, while in adults older than 65 years they were serotypes 3, 8, and 12F. A significant decrease in the proportions of clonal complexes CC156, CC191, and ST306 and an increase in those of CC180, CC53, and CC404 were observed. A steady decrease in the incidence of IPD caused by PCV13 serotypes indicates the importance and impact of systematic vaccination. The increase of non-PCV13 serotypes highlights the need to expand serotype coverage in future vaccines and rethink vaccination programs for older adults. IMPORTANCE We found that with the incorporation of the PCV13 vaccine, the numbers of IPD cases caused by serotypes included in this vaccine decreased in all of the age groups. Still, there was an unforeseen increase of the serotypes not included in this vaccine causing IPD, especially in the >65-year-old group. Moreover, a significant increase of serotype 3 included in the vaccine has been observed; this event has been reported by other researchers. These facts call for the incorporation of more serotypes in future vaccines and a more thorough surveillance of the dynamics of this microorganism

Effectiveness of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease in children aged 7-59 months. A matched case-control study

Estudis de control de casos; Pneumònia; Vacunació i immunitzacióEstudios de casos y controles; Neumonía; Vacunación e inmunizaciónCase-control studies; Pneumonia; Vaccination and immunizationBackground The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) was licensed based on the results of immunogenicity studies and correlates of protection derived from randomized clinical trials of the 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine. We assessed the vaccination effectiveness (VE) of the PCV13 in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children aged 7–59 months in a population with suboptimal vaccination coverage of 55%. Methods The study was carried out in children with IPD admitted to three hospitals in Barcelona (Spain) and controls matched by hospital, age, sex, date of hospitalization and underlying disease. Information on the vaccination status was obtained from written medical records. Conditional logistic regression was made to estimate the adjusted VE and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results 169 cases and 645 controls were included. The overall VE of ≥1 doses of PCV13 in preventing IPD due to vaccine serotypes was 75.8% (95% CI, 54.1–87.2) and 90% (95% CI, 63.9–97.2) when ≥2 doses before 12 months, two doses on or after 12 months or one dose on or after 24 months, were administered. The VE of ≥1 doses was 89% (95% CI, 42.7–97.9) against serotype 1 and 86.0% (95% CI, 51.2–99.7) against serotype 19A. Serotype 3 showed a non-statistically significant effectiveness (25.9%; 95% CI, -65.3 to 66.8). Conclusions The effectiveness of ≥1 doses of PCV13 in preventing IPD caused by all PCV13 serotypes in children aged 7–59 months was good and, except for serotype 3, the effectiveness of ≥1 doses against the most frequent PCV13 serotypes causing IPD was high when considered individually.This work was supported by the Plan Nacional I+D+I, ISCIII – Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria (Projects PI 11/02081, PI 11/2345) and cofounded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) and AGAUR (Grant 2014 SGR 1403)

What CoRoT tells us about Scuti stars: Existence of a regular pattern and seismic indices to characterize stars

Inspired by the so appealing example of red giants, where going from a handful of stars to thousands revealed the structure of the eigenspectrum, we inspected a large homogeneous set of around 1860 {\delta} Scuti stars observed with CoRoT. This unique data set reveals a common regular pattern which appears to be in agreement with island modes featured by theoretical non-perturbative treatments of fast rotation. The comparison of these data with models and linear stability calculations suggests that spectra can be fruitfully characterized to first order by a few parameters which might play the role of seismic indices for {\delta} Scuti stars, as {\Delta \nu} and {\nu_{max}} do for red giants. The existence of this pattern offers an observational support for guiding further theoretical works on fast rotation. It also provides a framework for further investigation of the observational material collected by CoRoT and Kepler. Finally, it sketches out the perspective of using {\delta} Scuti stars pulsations for ensemble asteroseismology.The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27th 2006, has been developed and is operated by the Centre Na- tional d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), with contributions from Aus- tria, Belgium, Brazil, the European Space Agency (RSSD and Science Programme), Germany and Spain. We ac- knowledge the support from the EC Project SpaceInn (FP7- SPACE-2012-312844). EM, KB, RS and DR acknowledge the support from the Programme de Physique Stellaire (PNPS). AGH acknowledges support from Fundação para a Ciên- cia e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through the fellowship SFRH / BPD / 80619 / 2011. JCS acknowledges funding support from Spanish public funds for research under project ESP201 5- 65712-C5-5-R (MINECO / FEDER), and under Research Fellow- ship program “Ramón y Cajal” (MINECO / FEDER

Evaluation of integrated care services in Catalonia:population-based and service-based real-life deployment protocols

BackgroundComprehensive assessment of integrated care deployment constitutes a major challenge to ensure quality, sustainability and transferability of both healthcare policies and services in the transition toward a coordinated service delivery scenario. To this end, the manuscript articulates four different protocols aiming at assessing large-scale implementation of integrated care, which are being developed within the umbrella of the regional project Nextcare (2016-2019), undertaken to foster innovation in technologically-supported services for chronic multimorbid patients in Catalonia (ES) (7.5M inhabitants).Whereas one of the assessment protocols is designed to evaluate population-based deployment of care coordination at regional level during the period 2011-2017, the other three are service-based protocols addressing: i) Home hospitalization; ii) Prehabilitation for major surgery; and, iii) Community-based interventions for frail elderly chronic patients. All three services have demonstrated efficacy and potential for health value generation. They reflect different implementation maturity levels. While full coverage of the entire urban health district of Barcelona-Esquerra (520k inhabitants) is the main aim of home hospitalization, demonstration of sustainability at Hospital Clinic of Barcelona constitutes the core goal of the prehabilitation service. Likewise, full coverage of integrated care services addressed to frail chronic patients is aimed at the city of Badalona (216k inhabitants).MethodsThe population-based analysis, as well as the three service-based protocols, follow observational and experimental study designs using a non-randomized intervention group (integrated care) compared with a control group (usual care) with a propensity score matching method. Evaluation of cost-effectiveness of the interventions using a Quadruple aim approach is a central outcome in all protocols. Moreover, multi-criteria decision analysis is explored as an innovative method for health delivery assessment. The following additional dimensions will also be addressed: i) Determinants of sustainability and scalability of the services; ii) Assessment of the technological support; iii) Enhanced health risk assessment; and, iv) Factors modulating service transferability.DiscussionThe current study offers a unique opportunity to undertake a comprehensive assessment of integrated care fostering deployment of services at regional level. The study outcomes will contribute refining service workflows, improving health risk assessment and generating recommendations for service selection.Trials registrationNCT03130283 (date released 04/06/2018), NCT03768050 (date released 12/05/2018), NCT03767387 (date released 12/05/2018).</p

A Role for Thrombospondin-1 Deficits in Astrocyte-Mediated Spine and Synaptic Pathology in Down's Syndrome

Down's syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation. Reduced number and aberrant architecture of dendritic spines are common features of DS neuropathology. However, the mechanisms involved in DS spine alterations are not known. In addition to a relevant role in synapse formation and maintenance, astrocytes can regulate spine dynamics by releasing soluble factors or by physical contact with neurons. We have previously shown impaired mitochondrial function in DS astrocytes leading to metabolic alterations in protein processing and secretion. In this study, we investigated whether deficits in astrocyte function contribute to DS spine pathology.Using a human astrocyte/rat hippocampal neuron coculture, we found that DS astrocytes are directly involved in the development of spine malformations and reduced synaptic density. We also show that thrombospondin 1 (TSP-1), an astrocyte-secreted protein, possesses a potent modulatory effect on spine number and morphology, and that both DS brains and DS astrocytes exhibit marked deficits in TSP-1 protein expression. Depletion of TSP-1 from normal astrocytes resulted in dramatic changes in spine morphology, while restoration of TSP-1 levels prevented DS astrocyte-mediated spine and synaptic alterations. Astrocyte cultures derived from TSP-1 KO mice exhibited similar deficits to support spine formation and structure than DS astrocytes.These results indicate that human astrocytes promote spine and synapse formation, identify astrocyte dysfunction as a significant factor of spine and synaptic pathology in the DS brain, and provide a mechanistic rationale for the exploration of TSP-1-based therapies to treat spine and synaptic pathology in DS and other neurological conditions