Economic Fluctuations, Child Mortality and Policy Considerations in the Least Developed Countries

Between 1990 and 2010 child mortality decreased in general terms in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), although the differences between countries over time are significant. This paper examines the relationship between short-term economic fluctuations and changes in child mortality in the LDCs during the period 1990-2010. Unlike other studies, we consider a large group of LDCs and provide empirical evidence of the asymmetrical effects of variations in Gross Domestic Product per capita on the evolution of child mortality rate in periods of economic recession and expansion. The significance of said effects diminishes when other relevant socio-economic control variables are considered, and some development policy considerations are addressed in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 target

Impacto del ciclo económico sobre la evolución de la supervivencia infantil en el mundo en desarrollo. Determinantes de la pobreza infantil en Europa

El presente trabajo se corresponde con dos investigaciones relacionadas con la infancia en situación de riesgo y vulnerabilidad. A) Examinamos la correspondencia entre las fluctuaciones económicas cíclicas y la evolución de la mortalidad infantil en los Países Menos Adelantados (PMA) durante el periodo 1990-2010, poniendo de manifiesto efectos asimétricos de las fluctuaciones económicas sobre la evolución de la mortalidad infantil en periodos de recesión y expansión económica. B) Valoramos en qué medida las diferencias en la tasa de pobreza infantil entre los países europeos pueden explicarse simultáneamente por características de los hogares (perspectiva micro) y por factores específicos de cada país (perspectiva macro), tales como prestaciones económicas en el ámbito de la protección a la infancia o situación socio-laboral general.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Impacto del ciclo económico sobre la evolución de la supervivencia infantil en los países menos adelantados

Entre 1990 y 2010 la mortalidad infantil ha decrecido en los Países Menos Adelantados (PMA) en términos generales, aunque con significativas diferencias entre países y entre periodos. Obviamente, dicha evolución se ha visto afectada por la situación económica de los países. Este trabajo examina la relación a corto plazo entre las fluctuaciones económicas y la evolución de la mortalidad infantil en los PMA durante el periodo 1990-2010. Para ello, realizamos un análisis de varianza discriminando entre periodos con crecimiento y decrecimiento en el Producto Interior Bruto (PIB) per cápita, que complementamos con un análisis de regresión para datos de panel con objeto de comprobar los efectos asimétricos de las variaciones del PIB per cápita sobre las tasas de mortalidad infantil en periodos de recesión y expansión económica. La significatividad de los efectos de los cambios en la coyuntura económica se reduce cuando consideramos variables control como el nivel educativo de las mujeres, la prevalencia del SIDA y la tasa bruta de natalidad.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Modelling the enantioresolution capability of cellulose tris(3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamate) stationary phase in reversed phase conditions for neutral and basic chiral compounds

[EN] To the best of our knowledge, the prediction of the enantioresolution ability of polysaccharides-based stationary phases in liquid chromatography for structurally unrelated compounds has not been previously reported. In this study, structural information of neutral and basic compounds is used to model their enantioresolution levels obtained from an immobilised cellulose tris(3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamate) stationary phase in reversed phase conditions. Thirty-four structurally unrelated chiral drugs and pesticides, from seven families, are studied. Categorical enantioresolution levels (RsC, 0 = no baseline enantioresolution and 1 = baseline enantioresolution) are established from the experimental enantioresolution values obtained at a fixed experimental conditions. From 58 initial structural variables, three topological parameters (two of them connected to the chiral carbon), and six molecular descriptors (one of them also related with the chiral carbon), are selected after a discriminant partial least squares refinement process. The molar total charge of the molecule at the working pH is the most important variable. The relationships between RsC and the most important structural variables and the drug/pesticide family are evaluated. An explicit model is proposed to anticipate the RsC levels, which provides 100% of correct anticipations. A criterion is introduced to alert about the compounds that should not be anticipated.The authors acknowledge the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the financial support (Project CTQ2015-70904-R, MINECO/FEDER, UE).Martin-Biosca, Y.; Escuder-Gilabert, L.; Medina-Hernandez, MJ.; Sagrado Vives, S. (2018). Modelling the enantioresolution capability of cellulose tris(3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamate) stationary phase in reversed phase conditions for neutral and basic chiral compounds. Journal of Chromatography A. 1567:111-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2018.06.061S111118156

Regresión tumoral espontánea. A propósito de dos casos

Two cases of spontaneous tumor regression (STR) occurring in a patient with non Hodgkin lymphoma and in another patient with squamous carcinoma of the lung are presented. Both cases fulfill the criteria of STR defined by Everson and Cole. Recent results obtained in basic and clinical studies have indicated that immunological mechanisms could play an important role in STR. The mediator effects more frequently referred are: 1) generation of antineoplastic cytotoxic cells; 2) production of immunoregulatory cytokines by lymphocytes and monocytes, and 3) possible cross reaction between tumor and bacterial antigens. These mechanisms of action are discussed in relation to the presented case

Endothelium-dependent relaxation of human saphenous veins in response to vasopressin and desmopressin

Purpose:The goal of this study was to determine the effects of vasopressin and the selective V2-receptor agonist desmopressin on human saphenous veins, with special emphasis on endothelium-mediated responses.Methods:Human saphenous vein segments were obtained from 35 patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery. Paired segments, one normal and the other deendothelized by gentle rubbing, were mounted for isometric recording of tension in organ baths. Concentration-response curves to vasopressin and desmopressin were determined in the presence and in the absence of either the V,-receptor antagonist d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP (10−6 mol/L), the V1-V2 receptor antagonist desGly-d(CH2)5D-Tyr(Et)ValAVP (10−6 mol/L), indomethacin (10−6 mol/L), or NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME, 10−4 mol/L).Results:In vein rings under resting tension, vasopressin produced concentration-dependent, endothelium-independent contractions with a concentration of vasopressin producing-half-maximal contractions (EC50) of 3.44 × 10−8 mol/L. The vasopressin V1-receptor antagonist (10−6 mol/L) displaced the control curve to vasopressin 9.86-fold to the right in a parallel manner. In precontracted vein rings previously treated with the V1-antagonist (10−6 mol/L), vasopressin caused endothelium-dependent relaxations. This relaxation was reduced significantly by indomethacin (10−6 mol/L) and unaffected by the V1-V2-receptor antagonist (10−6 mol/L) or by L-NAME (10−4 mol/L). Desmopressin caused endothelium-dependent relaxations in precontracted vein rings that were inhibited by the mixed V1-V2-receptor antagonist and by indomethacin, but not by the V1-antagonist or by pretreatment with L-NAME.Conclusions:These observations indicate that vasopressin exerts contractile effects on human saphenous vein by V1-receptor stimulation. Vasopressin causes dilatation of human saphenous vein only if V1-receptor blockade is present. This relaxation appears to be mediated by the release of relaxant Prostaglandins, probably derived from endothelial cells, and is independent of V2-receptor stimulation or release of nitric oxide. Desmopressin elicits relaxation that is largely dependent on V2-receptor stimulation, which may bring about the release of dilating Prostaglandins from the endothelial cells

Design of a case management model for people with chronic disease (Heart Failure and COPD). Phase I: modeling and identification of the main components of the intervention through their actors: patients and professionals (DELTA-ICE-PRO Study

Background Chronic diseases account for nearly 60% of deaths around the world. The extent of this silent epidemic has not met determined responses in governments, policies or professionals in order to transform old Health Care Systems, configured for acute diseases. There is a large list of research about alternative models for people with chronic conditions, many of them with an advanced practice nurse as a key provider, as case management. But some methodological concerns raise, above all, the design of the intervention (intensity, frequency, components, etc). Methods/Design Objectives: General: To develop the first and second phases (theorization and modeling) for designing a multifaceted case-management intervention in people with chronic conditions (COPD and heart failure) and their caregivers. Specific aims: 1) To identify key events in people living with chronic disease and their relation with the Health Care System, from their point of view. 2) To know the coping mechanisms developed by patients and their caregivers along the story with the disease. 3) To know the information processing and its utilization in their interactions with health care providers. 4) To detect potential unmet needs and the ways deployed by patients and their caregivers to resolve them. 5) To obtain a description from patients and caregivers, about their itineraries along the Health Care System, in terms of continuity, accessibility and comprehensiveness of care. 6) To build up a list of promising case-management interventions in patients with Heart Failure and COPD with this information in order to frame it into theoretical models for its reproducibility and conceptualization. 7) To undergo this list to expert judgment to assess its feasibility and pertinence in the Andalusian Health Care. Design: Qualitative research with two phases: For the first five objectives, a qualitative technique with biographic stories will be developed and, for the remaining objectives, an expert consensus through Delphi technique, on the possible interventions yielded from the first phase. The study will be developed in the provinces of Almería, Málaga and Granada in the Southern Spain, from patients included in the Andalusian Health Care Service database with the diagnosis of COPD or Heart Failure, with the collaboration of case manager nurses and general practitioners for the assessment of their suitability to inclusion criteria. Patients and caregivers will be interviewed in their homes or their Health Centers, with their family or their case manager nurse as mediator. Discussion First of a series of studies intended to design a case-management service for people with heart failure and COPD, in the Andalusian Health Care System, where case management has been implemented since 2002. Accordingly with the steps of a theoretical model for complex interventions, in this study, theorization and intervention modeling phases will be developed.This research was carried out with the support of one research grant, awarded by the Regional Health Ministry of Andalusia (Exp. 0222/2008

Dark Energy Accretion onto black holes in a cosmic scenario

In this paper we study the accretion of dark energy onto a black hole in the cases that dark energy is equipped with a positive cosmological constant and when the space-time is described by a Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. It is shown that, if confronted with current observational data, the results derived when no cosmological constant is present are once again obtained in both cases.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

AVATAR - Machine Learning Pipeline Evaluation Using Surrogate Model

© 2020, The Author(s). The evaluation of machine learning (ML) pipelines is essential during automatic ML pipeline composition and optimisation. The previous methods such as Bayesian-based and genetic-based optimisation, which are implemented in Auto-Weka, Auto-sklearn and TPOT, evaluate pipelines by executing them. Therefore, the pipeline composition and optimisation of these methods requires a tremendous amount of time that prevents them from exploring complex pipelines to find better predictive models. To further explore this research challenge, we have conducted experiments showing that many of the generated pipelines are invalid, and it is unnecessary to execute them to find out whether they are good pipelines. To address this issue, we propose a novel method to evaluate the validity of ML pipelines using a surrogate model (AVATAR). The AVATAR enables to accelerate automatic ML pipeline composition and optimisation by quickly ignoring invalid pipelines. Our experiments show that the AVATAR is more efficient in evaluating complex pipelines in comparison with the traditional evaluation approaches requiring their execution