Relación entre el Índice de Precios del Productor (IPP) y el Indice de Precios al Consumidor

En este documento se da un breve resumen teórico de índices de precios, como también se describe las diferencias en la composición del IPC e IPP colombianos. Mediante técnicas econométricas se establecieron relaciones de largo plazo entre componentes de los dos indicadores, y se realizaron pruebas de causalidad, con el fin de indagar tanto la magnitud como el sentido de la relación. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que no hay evidencia de una relación directa entre el IPC total e IPP total, sin embargo, al excluir los componentes no comunes (servicios en IPC y consumo intermedio en IPP) la evolución de los dos indicadores es muy similar, y la causalidad en el sentido de Granger se da en ambos sentidos. A un nivel más desagregado(alimentos y medicamentos) también se encontraron vínculos entre los indicadores.

Hunting long-lived gluinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory

A ps version of the paper with high resolution figures is available at: http://www.hep.physics.neu.edu/staff/doqui/rhadron_highres.psEventual signals of split sypersymmetry in cosmic ray physics are analyzed in detail. The study focusses particularly on quasi-stable colorless R-hadrons originating through confinement of long-lived gluinos (with quarks, anti-quarks, and gluons) produced in pp collisions at astrophysical sources. Because of parton density requirements, the gluino has a momentum which is considerable smaller than the energy of the primary proton, and so production of heavy (mass ~ 500 GeV) R-hadrons requires powerful cosmic ray engines able to accelerate particles up to extreme energies, somewhat above 10^{13.6} GeV. Using a realistic Monte Carlo simulation with the AIRES engine, we study the main characteristics of the air showers triggered when one of these exotic hadrons impinges on a stationary nucleon of the Earth atmosphere. We show that R-hadron air showers present clear differences with respect to those initiated by standard particles. We use this shower characteristics to construct observables which may be used to distinguish long-lived gluinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory.Peer reviewe

Algunas consideraciones sobre el canal del crédito y la transmisión de tasas de interés en Colombia

Para un Banco Central (BC), es importante identificar los mecanismos por los cuales las medidas de política monetaria afectan sus objetivos finales, bien sea de crecimiento, inflación o empleo. Dichos mecanismos son llamados canales de transmisión, entendiéndolos como aquellos procesos y caminos mediante los cuales las decisiones de política de un BC afectan las variables finales mencionadas. Uno de los canales de transmisión que identifica la teoría económica es el de crédito bancario. Según ésta teoría, los incrementos (descensos) en las tasas de interés de intervención del BC, se trasladan a las tasas de mercado de igual y mayor plazo (tanto de captación como de colocación), generando un descenso (incremento) en la demanda de crédito y, como resultado, los beneficiarios reducen (aumentan) el consumo y la inversión, produciendo una caída (aumento) en la demanda agregada y en los precios2. No obstante, el razonamiento es válido si se cumplen dos supuestos: i) que no exista otra fuente de financiación alternativa que sea sustituta perfecta del crédito bancario y, ii) que dentro del balance de los bancos, no haya otro activo que sea sustituto perfecto del crédito a las empresas. En la medida que estos supuestos no se cumplan, la transmisión de las tasas de intervención del BC hacia las de mercado es menor, el canal del crédito pierde eficiencia, y se hace más difícil para un BC obtener sus objetivos de inflación a través de éste canal de transmisión. En este contexto, el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo detectar los efectos que generan los cambios en las tasas de interés de intervención del Banco de la República (BR) sobre las diferentes tasas de interés del sistema financiero: activas y pasivas3. Es importante aclarar que el alcance de este trabajo es limitado, ya que sólo pretende encontrar las relaciones que existen entre dichas tasas, sin llegar hasta al efecto final que pueda tener sobre la demanda agregada y la inflación. No obstante, las conclusiones del documento puedan servir como punto de partida para un estudio más amplio sobre el canal de crédito. Para tal efecto, en la segunda sección se hace un breve resumen sobre los objetivos y metas de la política monetaria y el canal de crédito bancario. En la tercera se da una descripción de la evolución de los activos del sistema financiero, análisis que permite evaluar si la cartera y los títulos en poder del los bancos son sustitutos imperfectos. También se muestra la evolución de la emisión de los títulos de las principales empresas del sector real, para observar si hay una sustitución de financiamiento por parte de dichas empresas. En la cuarta sección se describen las diferentes tasas de interés que existen en Colombia y se plantea una hipótesis sobre el mecanismo de transmisión de las tasas de intervención del BR hacia las de mercado. Usando la metodología de modelos VAR se valida dicha hipótesis. En la última sección se concluye.

Addressing Cooperation between Mobile Operators in Telecommunication Networks via Optimization: A Lexicographic Approach and Case Study in Colombia

Cooperation between Telecommunications (Telco) operators has been limited both by regulation and competition in previous years. However, cooperation could not only allow an overall growth in quality of service (QoS) but also may benefit companies with under exploited nodes in their network infrastructure. This way, both fully deployed infrastructure by single Telco companies, as well as smaller companies with increasing service demand but low infrastructure deployment could potentially benefit from cooperation agreements. This article proposes a lexicographic mixed-integer linear optimization model for Telco cooperation composed by two phases: Phase 1 maximizes the number of services connected to the current infrastructure assuming cooperation between operators while Phase 2 minimizes the costs of connecting such services. We built a simple base scenario that allowed us to validate the intuition behind our model. Furthermore, to demonstrate the applicability of our lexicographic optimization model for cooperation between mobile operators, we present a real-world case study in a rural area in Colombia that allowed us to find the marginal costs of additional national roaming connections, as well as marginal profits under the cooperation schema. Our results could help mobile operators to benefit from cooperation and, since the model adapts to the local necessities of the company, cooperation could be restricted to any desired level

Influence of the Improvement in Thermal Expectation Levels with Adaptive Setpoint Temperatures on Energy Consumption

A sustainable use of active heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is crucial for minimum energy consumption. Currently, research studies are increasingly applying adaptive setpoint temperatures, thus reducing considerably the energy consumption without influencing comfort levels excessively. Most of them, however, are focused on the limit values of adaptive comfort standards without considering the tolerance in users’ adaptation capacity. This research study analyzed various tolerance ranges in the recent adaptive thermal comfort model from EN 16798-1:2019 used in setpoint temperatures. The study focused on the south of Europe, considering 47 cities in Spain, 18 cities in Portugal, 13 cities in Greece, and 20 cities in Italy. In addition, such cities were analyzed in three climate scenarios: present time, 2050, and 2100. The results showed that values prefixed by EN 16798-1:2019 for new buildings (tolerance of 0.00 °C) produced significant savings with respect to the static model and that each progressive improvement in users’ thermal expectations in 0.25 °C increased the energy consumption between 6.57 and 9.31% in all scenarios analyzed. Even applying a thermal tolerance of 1.50 °C, energy savings are currently produced with respect to the static model. This tendency increases in future scenarios until a thermal tolerance of 1.75 °C. The results of this paper provide greater knowledge about the possible energy increase that the improvement in users’ expectations would produc

Prediction of Fuel Poverty Potential Risk Index Using Six Regression Algorithms: A Case-Study of Chilean Social Dwellings

In recent times, studies about the accuracy of algorithms to predict different aspects of energy use in the building sector have flourished, being energy poverty one of the issues that has received considerable critical attention. Previous studies in this field have characterized it using different indicators, but they have failed to develop instruments to predict the risk of low-income households falling into energy poverty. This research explores the way in which six regression algorithms can accurately forecast the risk of energy poverty by means of the fuel poverty potential risk index. Using data from the national survey of socioeconomic conditions of Chilean households and generating data for different typologies of social dwellings (e.g., form ratio or roof surface area), this study simulated 38,880 cases and compared the accuracy of six algorithms. Multilayer perceptron, M5P and support vector regression delivered the best accuracy, with correlation coefficients over 99.5%. In terms of computing time, M5P outperforms the rest. Although these results suggest that energy poverty can be accurately predicted using simulated data, it remains necessary to test the algorithms against real data. These results can be useful in devising policies to tackle energy poverty in advance

Influence of future climate changes scenarios on the feasibility of the adaptive comfort model in Japan

Adaptive comfort models have emerged as a sustainable way of providing comfort in connection with local climate. Additionally, climate change has posed an additional challenge. In previous studies, the authors clarified how climate change would affect the feasibility of the adaptive comfort model at a worldwide scale, but local considerations for some countries remained unsolved. This study presents the first comprehensive research on the applicability of the adaptive comfort model in Japan not only for current, but also for future scenarios considering the climate change. Remarkable differences across Japanese regions were found, especially between the Northern underpopulated regions of Hokkaidō and Tōhoku and the cities that belong to the Taiheiyō Belt. In general, the adaptive comfort model will find application both in current and future scenarios, but natural ventilation will not play an important role. Special attention should be drawn to the potentials saving of cooling degrees that can be achieved if adaptive setpoint temperatures become commonplace in the future in the Kantō region. These results pave the way for the consideration of the adaptive comfort model as a resilient strategy to adapt to the future changes in climate scenarios for the building industry

Applying the mixed-mode with an adaptive approach to reduce the energy poverty in social dwellings: The case of Spain

Fuel poverty is a pressing issue in several European countries, and Spain is no exception. Traditionally, it has been associated with cold conditions, but recent studies in the field have stressed its prevalence in warm countries too, during summer. Further, forecasts of climate change for these territories predict more severe summers. This envisages a scenario where low-income families might suffer from fuel poverty due to their inability to afford the energy bill to cool their homes, for tackling which the European Union and its member states are devising strategies. Adaptive comfort models have emerged as a sustainable and resilient approach in this regard. This study aims at clarifying how a change in the behavioural patterns of users, following the adaptive model might reduce the incidence of fuel poverty, compared to the static model based solely on active cooling. For this purpose, a common typology of social dwelling has been simulated in 10 cities representative of the diverse climates of Spain; both the current and future climate change scenarios have been considered. Results indicate that the mixed-mode is effective in alleviating fuel poverty not only in the present scenario, but also in 2050 and 2100, except for the most underprivileged households earning less than 500 € per month. The outcomes of this study will be of use to policy makers, designers, and stakeholders in targeting families in need for specific subsidies to afford a comfortable environment during summer.Fuel poverty is a pressing issue in several European countries, and Spain is no exception. Traditionally, it has been associated with cold conditions, but recent studies in the field have stressed its prevalence in warm countries too, during summer. Further, forecasts of climate change for these territories predict more severe summers. This envisages a scenario where low-income families might suffer from fuel poverty due to their inability to afford the energy bill to cool their homes, for tackling which the European Union and its member states are devising strategies. Adaptive comfort models have emerged as a sustainable and resilient approach in this regard. This study aims at clarifying how a change in the behavioural patterns of users, following the adaptive model might reduce the incidence of fuel poverty, compared to the static model based solely on active cooling. For this purpose, a common typology of social dwelling has been simulated in 10 cities representative of the diverse climates of Spain; both the current and future climate change scenarios have been considered. Results indicate that the mixed-mode is effective in alleviating fuel poverty not only in the present scenario, but also in 2050 and 2100, except for the most underprivileged households earning less than 500 € per month. The outcomes of this study will be of use to policy makers, designers, and stakeholders in targeting families in need for specific subsidies to afford a comfortable environment during summer

Analysing the inequitable energy framework for the implementation of nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB) in Spain

Most countries from the European Union work towards a low-carbon horizon in the building sector. As for Spain, the last modification of the Spanish Building Technical Code in 2020 establishes that every building ensuring the fulfilment of the regulation will obtain the category of nearly zero energy building. However, the limit values of the thermal properties of envelopes only distinguish 6 variations according to the winter climate zone. For this reason, this study analyses the potential risk of the existence of energy inequalities due to the fulfilment of the regulation as regards energy efficiency in Spain. A total of 48,786 energy simulations were performed by taking the 8131 municipalities of the country into account, as well as the previous and current regulation. The results considered heating and cooling demands, cluster analyses, and their impact on population, showing that the improvement of thermal properties could guarantee buildings with a better energy performance for a greater number of inhabitants. There was, however, a limitation in the current climate classification, so a more detailed climate classification with new limit values is required. The results also showed the limitations of use of the thermal transmittance to reduce the cooling energy consumption. This study could be the starting point to establish new regulatory parameters to reduce energy consumption equitably, considering the importance of cooling consumption in future climate change scenarios

Analysis of Energy Consumption in Di erent European Cities: The Adaptive Comfort Control Implemented Model (ACCIM) Considering Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) Scenarios

Reports of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have set various greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, through which the evolution of the temperature of the planet can be estimated throughout the 21st century. The reduction of the emissions from the different activities carried out by mankind is crucial to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most significant activities is users’ behaviour within buildings, particularly the use of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning systems. Modifying users’ behaviour patterns to guarantee acceptable thermal conditions inside buildings could lead to considerable energy saving percentages, and adaptive thermal comfort models could be an opportunity to achieve important savings. For this reason, this study analyzes the potential to apply adaptive thermal comfort models to use artificial air-conditioning systems by modifying setpoint temperatures. The analysis was conducted in five major European cities (Barcelona, Berlin, Bern, Rome, and Vienna) and in five climate change scenarios in the year 2050. The results showed that, in general, the energy saving achieved by adaptive strategies was larger in the cities with a greater cooling demand. Also, in both Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) considered, the energy saving were decreased in the cities of Barcelona and Rome, with values lower than those of the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) scenarios considered, whereas in the cities of Berlin, Bern, and Vienna, the saving in the RCP scenarios is greater than those in the other scenarios