Application of the travel cost method to estimate the economic value of cultural goods: Blockbuster art exhibitions

In recent years a growing number of studies have started to apply non-market valuation methods to estimate the economic value of cultural goods. The majority of these studies use stated preference techniques, such as the contingent valuation method. This study discusses the application of the travel cost method to estimate the economic value of a specific type of cultural good: special exhibitions. The empirical work focuses on the touring exhibition the ‘Ages of Mankind’, one of the first and most representative examples of a blockbuster art exhibition in Spain. This is the first time, as far as we know, that this method has been applied to a large temporary exhibition and is one of the few applications of this method in the valuation of cultural goods.Blockbuster arts exhibitions, non-market valuation, revealed preferences, travel cost method, cultural economics.

Poor performance of mutual funds in Spain. 1991-2007

Over the past 10 and 16 years, the average return on mutual funds in Spain was lower than the average return on government bonds at any term. Over the past 10 years, the average return on the funds was lower than inflation. In spite of these results, on December 31, 2007, 8,264,240 investors held 238.7 billion euros in the 2,907 mutual funds then in existence. During 2007, the number of shareholders fell by 555,569 and the value of their assets, by 6.1%. Only 30 of the 935 mutual funds with a 10-year history outperformed the benchmark and only two of them outperformed the overall index of the Madrid Stock Exchange (ITBM). If in the past 16 years every mutual fund had achieved the benchmark return for its category, the gain in value would have been 180 billion euros, instead of the actual figure of 80 billion euros. Total fees and other expenses for the period amounted to 34 billion euros.mutual funds; return to shareholders; benchmark; appreciation of the funds:

Programari i escenaris de disseny

En aquest article l'autor intenta centrar l'interès en els diferents aspectes que actualment estan involucrats en el procés de disseny, per acabar remarcant la creixen importància del factor humà, el treball en equip i els recursos de programari. Aquests temes, influeixen definitivament en el tipus d'informació del nou enginyer, més semblant a un enginyer-artístic que a un científic racionalista. Els recursos tecnològics i el ritme d'avenç dels desenvolupaments de programari superen la capacitat d'assimilació de qualsevol enginyer, per la qual cosa cal un entorn col.laboratiu. D'altra banda, un petit equip d'enginyers ben dotat d'eines té un potencial de creació inimaginable anys enrera

Estudio de algoritmos automáticos para detección de atributos faciales y Soft Biometrics

Desbloquear tu teléfono móvil, acceder a un recinto o hacer una transacción en el banco son algunas de las muchas acciones cotidianas que gracias a la biometría se han vuelto más cómodas y rápidas. Así pues, la biometría, puede definirse como la disciplina que se encarga del estudio de los rasgos físicos y de comportamiento con el objetivo del reconocimiento de personas. La gran mayoría de los sistemas de reconocimiento se centra en el análisis de características propias de cada persona. La retina, el iris, la cara o las huellas dactilares son ejemplos de características físicas, mientras que la forma de andar o de escribir serían ejemplos de características dinámicas. Sin embargo, hay un conjunto de características propias de cada persona, como el género, la edad, la altura o el peso, que proporcionan alguna información sobre la identidad, pero que de por sí solas son insuficientes para lograr determinar dicha identidad. Estas características se denominan Soft Biometrics. Y aunque los Soft Biometrics por si solos no permiten detectar una identidad, el conocimiento de ellos puede permitir una mejora del rendimiento en el reconocimiento de personas. Así, ventajas como una mayor discriminación en el rango de búsqueda o una mayor fiabilidad en las comparaciones obtenidas permiten la fabricación de sistemas de reconocimiento biométrico más avanzados. En este Trabajo de Fin de Grado se ha realizado un estudio del rendimiento de dos sistemas comerciales destinados a la estimación automática de Soft Biometrics analizando su rendimiento y robustez a través de diferentes bases de datos. Una vez realizado dicho estudio, se ha explorado la utilidad de los Soft Biometrics como complemento a los sistemas de reconocimiento facial. Para ello se han empleado los resultados obtenidos de los dos sistemas de estimación automática junto con el resultado proporcionado por un sistema de estimación manual.Unlocking your mobile phone, accessing an enclosure or doing a transaction in the bank are some of the many everyday actions that thanks to biometrics have become more comfortable and faster. Thus, biometrics can be defined as the discipline that is responsible for the study of physical and behavioral traits with the aim of recognizing people. The vast majority of recognition systems focuses on the analysis of each person's own features. The retina, the iris, the face or the fingerprints are examples of physical characteristics, while the way of walking or writing would be examples of dynamic features. However, there are a set of characteristics of each person, such as gender, age, height or weight, which provide some information about identity, but alone are insufficient to determine that identity. These characteristics are called Soft Biometrics. And while Soft Biometrics alone cannot detect an identity, knowledge of them can allow improved performance in recognizing people. Thereby, advantages such as greater discrimination in the search range or greater reliability in the comparisons obtained, allow the manufacture of more advanced biometric recognition systems. In this Bachelor Thesis, a study of the performance of two commercial systems for the automatic estimation of Soft Biometrics has been carried out, analyzing its performance and robustness through different databases. Once the study was carried out, the use of Soft Biometrics was explored as a complement to facial recognition systems. For this purpose, we have used the results obtained from the two automatic estimation systems together with the result provided by a manual estimation syste

The usage of subgenera in mammalian taxonomy

In this note, I discuss the advantages of the usage of subgenera as a practical taxonomic rank in mammalian taxonomy. Use of this category preserves traditional usage, reduces nomenclatural instability and avoids unnecessary change of names. Subgenera are useful to label diagnosable clades of closely related species, especially in morphologically and ecologically diverse monophyletic genera, without alteration of traditional binomial usage. Contrary to informal names such as "divisions" or "groups", subgenera are governed by the rules of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), having usage constrained (and stability promoted) by typification and priority.Fil: Teta, Pablo Vicente. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Geographic variation in quantitative skull traits in the genus Myoprocta Thomas, 1903 (Rodentia, Dasyproctidae) and its taxonomic implications

The genus Myoprocta Thomas, 1903 includes two living species of medium-sized caviomorph rodents of the family Dasyproctidae, the red acouchi, Myoprocta acouchy (Erxleben 1777), and the green acouchi, Myoprocta pratti Pocock 1913. Whereas some recent revisionary work has considered both species to be allopatrically distributed, other reports suggest that both taxa co-occur in eastern Colombia. In this contribution, I revaluate some qualitative and quantitative skull traits within Myoprocta to clarify its taxonomy and distribution. Multivariate analyses of quantitative skull characters support the distinction between M. acouchy and M. pratti, contradicting the findings of some previous authors. Based on these results and the examination of ~100 skins, I concur with the hypothesis that the two species are allopatrically distributed.Fil: Teta, Pablo Vicente. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Topological analysis of the tumour microenvironment to study Neuroblastoma

Solid tumours and their tumour microenvironment (TME) can be considered as complex networks whose elements are in constant physical stress. All the elements of the TME, including tumour cells, stromal cells, immune and stem cells, blood/lymphatic vessels, nerve fibers and extracellular matrix components, belong to a highly balanced compressiontension molecular and cellular structure. Through mechanical signals, each element could affect its surroundings modulating tumour growth and migration. The analysis of these complex interactions and the understanding of the structural organization of a tumour requires the collaboration of different disciplines. In this thesis, we focus on a particular solid tumour: Neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer, originated during the embryo development. We apply computational and mathematical tools to analyse the topology of vitronectin, a glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix, in neuroblastoma tumours. Vitronectin has a particular interest in tumour biology where it is associated with cell migration, angiogenesis, and matrix degradation. Still, its role in Neuroblastoma is not clear. Here, we study the organization of vitronectin within the TME considering Neuroblastoma patient prognosis and tumoral aggressiveness. Combing graph theory and image analysis, we characterize histopathological images taken, from a human sample, by analysing different topological features that capture the organizational cues of vitronectin. By means of statistical analyses, we find that two topological features (Euler number and branching), related to the organization of the existing vitronectin within and surrounding the cells (territorial), correlates with risk pre-stratification group and genetic instability criterion. We interpret that a large amount of recently synthesized VN would create tracks to aid malignant neuroblasts to invade other organs, pinpointed by both topological features, which in turn would change, dramatically, the constitution and mechanics of the extracellular matrix, increasing tumour aggressiveness and worsen patient outcomes. Further studies will be required to assess the true potential of vitronectin as a future therapeutic target of neuroblastoma.Los tumores sólidos y su microambiente tumoral (TME) pueden ser vistos como redes complejas cuyos elementos están en constante estrés físico. Todos los elementos del TME, incluidas células tumorales, células del estroma, células inmunes y células troncales, vasos sanguíneos o linfáticos, fibras nerviosas y componentes de la matriz extracelular, pertenecen a una maquinaria molecular y celular de tensión-compresión altamente equilibrada. A través de señales mecánicas, cada elemento podría afectar su entorno modulando el crecimiento tumoral y la migración. El análisis de estas interacciones complejas y la comprensión de la organización estructural de un tumor requiere la colaboración de diferentes disciplinas. En esta tesis, nos centramos en un tumor sólido particular: el neuroblastoma, un cáncer considerado como ‘raro’, que se origina durante el desarrollo del embrión. Aplicando herramientas computacionales y matemáticas, analizamos la topología de la vitronectina, una glicoproteína de la matriz extracelular, en tumores de neuroblastoma. La vitronectina tiene un interés particular en la biología tumoral, ya que está asociada con migración celular, angiogénesis y degradación de la propia matriz. Aún así, su papel en el neuroblastoma no está claro. En este trabajo, estudiamos la organización de la vitronectina dentro del microambiente tumoral, considerando el pronóstico del paciente con neuroblastoma y su agresividad tumoral. Combinando la teoría de gráficos y el análisis de imagen, caracterizamos las imágenes histopatológicas tomadas de una muestra humana, mediante el análisis de diferentes características topológicas que capturan la organización de la vitronectina. Mediante análisis estadísticos, encontramos que dos características topológicas (número de Euler y ‘ramificación’), relacionadas con la organización de la vitronectina existente dentro y alrededor de las células (territorial), se correlacionan con el grupo de pre-estratificación de riesgo y la inestabilidad genética del paciente. En consecuencia, interpretamos que una gran cantidad de VN, sintetizada recientemente, crearía una especia de ‘caminos’ para ayudar a los neuroblastos malignos a invadir otros órganos, que a su vez cambiarían dramáticamente la constitución y la mecánica de la matriz extracelular, aumentando la agresividad del tumor y empeorando el pronóstico del paciente. Futuros estudios serán requeridos para evaluar el verdadero potencial de la vitronectina como una diana terapéutica del neuroblastoma a largo plazo