A Causal Analysis of Life Expectancy at Birth. Evidence from Spain

Background: From a causal point of view, there exists a set of socioeconomic indicators concerning life expectancy. The objective of this paper is to determine the indicators which exhibit a relation of causality with life expectancy at birth. Methods: Our analysis applies the Granger causality test, more specifically its version by Dumitrescu–Hurlin, starting from the information concerning life expectancy at birth and a set of socioeconomic variables corresponding to 17 Spanish regions, throughout the period 2006–2016. To do this, we used the panel data involving the information provided by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare (MHCSW) and the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). Results: Per capita income, and the rate of hospital beds, medical staff and nurses Granger-cause the variable “life expectancy at birth”, according to the Granger causality test applied to panel data (Dumitrescu–Hurlin’s version). Conclusions: Life expectancy at birth has become one of the main indicators able to measure the performance of a country’s health system. This analysis facilitates the identification of those factors which exhibit a unidirectional Granger-causality relationship with life expectancy at birth. Therefore, this paper provides useful information for the management of public health resources from the point of view of the maximization of social benefits

Life Expectancy at Birth in Europe: An Econometric Approach Based on Random Forests Methodology

The objective of this work is to identify and classify the relative importance of several socioeconomic factors which explain life expectancy at birth in the European Union (EU) countries in the period 2008–2017, paying special attention to greenhouse gas emissions and public environmental expenditures. Methods: The Random Forests methodology was employed, which allows classification of the socioeconomic variables considered in the analysis according to their relative importance to explain health outcomes. Results: Per capita income, the educational level of the population, and the variable AREA (which reflects the subdivision of Europe into four relatively homogeneous areas), followed by the public expenditures on environmental and social protection, are the variables with the highest relevance in explaining life expectancy at birth in Europe over the perip.1 he peusto el correo e inciod 2008–2017. Conclusions: We have identified seven sectors as the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions: Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply; manufacturing; transportation and storage; agriculture, forestry, and fishing; construction; wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; and mining and quarrying. Therefore, any public intervention related to environmental policy should be aimed at these economic sectors. Furthermore, it will be more effective to focus on public programs with higher relevance to the health status of the population, such as environmental and social protection expenditures

Locating Two Transfer Points on a Network with a Trip Covering Criterion and Mixed Distances

In this paper we consider a set of origin-destination pairs in a mixed model in which a network embedded in the plane represents an alternative high-speed transportation system, and study a trip covering problem which consists on locating two points in the network which maximize the number of covered pairs, that is, the number of pairs which use the network by acceding and exiting through such points. To deal with the absence of convexity of this mixed distance function we propose a decomposition method based on formulating a collection of subproblems and solving each of them via discretization of the solution set.Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia e Innovación MTM2009-14243Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2012-37048Junta de Andalucía P09-TEP-5022Junta de Andalucía P10-FQM-584

A general approach for the location of transfer points on a network with a trip covering criterion and mixed distances

In this paper we consider a trip covering location model in a mixed planar-network space. An embed- ded network in the plane represents an alternative transportation system in which traveling is fasterthan traveling within the plane. We assume that the demand to be covered is given by a set of origin- destination pairs in the plane, with some traffic between them. An origin-destination pair is covered bytwo facility points on the network (or transfer points), if the travel time from the origin to destinationby using the network through such points is not higher than a given acceptance level related to the traveltime without using the network. The facility location problems studied in this work consist of locatingone or two transfer points on the network such that, under several objective functions, the traffic throughthe network is maximized. Due to the continuous nature of these problems, a general approach is pro- posed for discretizing them. Since the non-convexity of the distance function on cyclic networks alsoimplies the absence of convexity of the mixed distance function, such an approach is based on a decom- position process which leads to a collection of subproblems whose solution set can be found by adaptingthe general strategy to each problem considered.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2012-37048Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2015-67706-PJunta de Andalucía P10-FQM-584

La investigación educativa en el aula hospitalaria: estudio de un caso de intervención escolar, de glioma óptico infantil mediante videoconferencia

Abordamos el artículo con dos partes claramente diferenciadas. En la primera, nos situamos ante el tumor específico: características del glioma óptico infantil y sus efectos condicionantes para el caso que nos ocupa. En la segunda, presentamos algunos aspectos que -desde su consideración y valoración de la respuesta (innovadora y excepcional) desarrollada e investigada- permiten "reivindicar" la videoconferencia como alternativa escolar, bien como recurso o estrategia, como técnica o medio de trabajo y como contenido o enfoque apropiado para el desarrollo del trabajo escolar desde las aulas hospitalarias.In this paper is included by two parts clearly differenced. At this first, we are focusing on a specific tumour: characteristics optic tumour in childhood and its determinant results for this some innovative and interesting aspects as a result of different developed research. At this time, the videoconference has been an alternative, not only as a resource or strategy but also as a point of view for the development of schoolwork at hospital room

Gravitational lensing by wave dark matter halos

Wave Dark Matter (WaveDM) has recently gained attention as a viable candidate to account for the dark matter content of the Universe. In this paper we explore the extent to which dark matter halos in this model, and under what conditions, are able to reproduce strong lensing systems. First, we analytically explore the lensing properties of the model -- finding that a pure WaveDM density profile, a soliton profile, produces a weaker lensing effect than other similar cored profiles. Then we analyze models with a soliton embedded in an NFW profile, as has been found in numerical simulations of structure formation. We use a benchmark model with a boson mass of $m_a=10^{-22}{\rm eV}$, for which we see that there is a bi-modality in the contribution of the external NFW part of the profile, and actually some of the free parameters associated with it are not well constrained. We find that for configurations with boson masses $10^{-23}$ -- $10^{-22}{\rm eV}$, a range of masses preferred by dwarf galaxy kinematics, the soliton profile alone can fit the data but its size is incompatible with the luminous extent of the lens galaxies. Likewise, boson masses of the order of $10^{-21}{\rm eV}$, which would be consistent with Lyman-$\alpha$ constraints and consist of more compact soliton configurations, necessarily require the NFW part in order to reproduce the observed Einstein radii. We then conclude that lens systems impose a conservative lower bound $m_a > 10^{-24}$ and that the NFW envelope around the soliton must be present to satisfy the observational requirements.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, Publishe

Alteration mechanisms on the stones of the Cathedral of Granada (Spain)

Español: Se analizan los diversos mecanismos de alteración que actúan sobre los materiales pétreos usados en la Catedral de Granada. Se estudia con detalle la acción del agua, influencia antropogénica, oscilaciones térmicas, factores de incompatibilidad, movimientos sísmicos y factores de tipo biológico. Inglés: Alteration mechanisms on the stones of the Catedral of Granada, Spai

Entrevista con José María Martín Pereda: "La microelectrónica en España casi no existe"

Desde el pasado mes de diciembre, un catedrático de la Escuela Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación tiene la responsabilidad de confeccionar, desde la Caicyt, el Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica y Desarrollo Tecnológico que prevé la Ley de la Ciencia, recientemente aprobada por el Congreso de los Diputados. Se trata de José Antonio Martín Pereda, que también es, junto a Fernando López, Subdirector General de Industrias Informáticas, representante español en el Programa Esprit. En la siguiente entrevista, Actualidad Electrónica ha hablado con Martín Pereda sobre la viabilidad del Plan, el futuro tecnológico de nuestro país y las oportunidades que se le presentan a España en la segunda fase del Esprit

Embedment of metal nanoparticles in GaAs and Si for plasmonic absorption enhancement in intermediate band solar cells

The high near-field enhancement occurring in the vicinity of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) sustaining surface plasmons can only be fully exploited in photovoltaic devices if the MNPs are placed inside their semiconducting material, in the photoactive region. In this work an experimental procedure is studied to embed MNPs in gallium arsenide (GaAs) and silicon (Si), which can be applied to other semiconductor host materials. The approach consists in spin-coating colloidal MNPs dispersed in solution onto the substrate surface. Then a capping layer of the same material as the substrate is deposited on top to embed the MNPs in the semiconductor. The extinction spectra of silver (Ag) and gold (Au) MNPs embedded in GaAs and Si is modeled with Mie theory for comparison with optical measurements. This contribution constitutes the initial step towards the realization of quantum-dot intermediate band solar cells (QD-IBSC) with MN

Robust mean absolute deviation problems on networks with linear vertex weights

This article deals with incorporating the mean absolute deviation objective function in several robust single facility location models on networks with dynamic evolution of node weights, which are modeled by means of linear functions of a parameter. Specifically, we have considered two robustness criteria applied to the mean absolute deviation problem: the MinMax criterion, and the MinMax regret criterion. For solving the corresponding optimization problems, exact algorithms have been proposed and their complexities have been also analyzed.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MTM2007-67433-C02-(01,02)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MTM2009-14243Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MTM2010-19576-C02-(01,02)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación DE2009-0057Junta de Andalucía P09-TEP-5022Junta de Andalucía FQM-584