A projection model of the contributory pension expenditure of the spanish social security system: 2004-2050

The need for long-term fiscal projections is self evident. Of these projections, pension expenditure is one of the most important since firstly it represents a large share of total expenditure, and secondly because of the positive correlation between this variable and demographic ageing. In this paper, we develop a model to project contributory pension expenditures in the Spanish Social Security System disaggregating the results by pension category, social security regime and sex. The most salient of the results obtained is the expected steady growth of total expenditure in contributory pensions. This would lie around 15% of GDP around 2045 compared to its initial level of barely 8% even though the baseline scenario incorporates a substantial recovery of employment and female participation rates. By pension categories, retirement pensions are those that determine the tendency of total expenditure evolution. Interesting conclusions can also be extracted from the analysis by sex. For instance, even accounting for an increase in female retirement pensions due to their higher participation, the corresponding increase in widow male pensions implies a higher total increase of the total number of contributory pensions accruing to men.Pensions system, sustainability, public expenditure.

Knowing What to Respond in the Future Does Not Cancel the Influence of Past Events

Everyday tasks seldom involve isolate actions but sequences of them. We can see whether previous actions influence the current one by exploring the response time to controlled sequences of stimuli. Specifically, depending on the response-stimulus temporal interval (RSI), different mechanisms have been proposed to explain sequential effects in two-choice serial response tasks. Whereas an automatic facilitation mechanism is thought to produce a benefit for response repetitions at short RSIs, subjective expectancies are considered to replace the automatic facilitation at longer RSIs, producing a cost-benefit pattern: repetitions are faster after other repetitions but they are slower after alternations. However, there is not direct evidence showing the impact of subjective expectancies on sequential effects. By using a fixed sequence, the results of the reported experiment showed that the repetition effect was enhanced in participants who acquired complete knowledge of the order. Nevertheless, a similar cost-benefit pattern was observed in all participants and in all learning blocks. Therefore, results of the experiment suggest that sequential effects, including the cost-benefit pattern, are the consequence of automatic mechanisms which operate independently of (and simultaneously with) explicit knowledge of the sequence or other subjective expectancies

Electromagnetismo en medios materiales con monopolos magnéticos

Els monopols es defineixen, teòricament, com càrregues que generen camps amb divergència diferent de cero. Malgrat això, les entitats amb comportament mimètic al dels monopols magnètics, segueix sent compatible amb ∇·B=0, han estat detectades experimentalment en gels d'espín ('spin-ices'). Aquesta aparent contradicció pot generar confusió i, per tant, requereix explicació. D'altra banda, s'estudien propietats duals del materials amb càrregues magnètiques efectives tals com la 'magnetricity' en els 'spinices' (conductivitat de les càrregues magnètiques davant un camp magnètic extern). Com una conseqüència de la magnetricitat, l'apantallament del camp magnètic en materials amb càrregues magnètiques és analitzat. Estudio la propagació d'ones electromagnètiques transversals en medis materials infinits i en plasmes magnètics diluïts davant la presència de camps elèctrics externs constants. Aquesta propagació és dual a la propagació d'ones en plasmes de càrregues elèctriques davant la presència de camps magnètics externs, constants. Finalment, estudio el frenat elèctric d'un conductor de càrregues magnètiques amb un efecte dual al frenat magnètic en conductors elèctrics.Los monopolos se definen teóricamente como cargas que generan campos cuya divergencia es diferente de cero. Sin embargo, las entidades con comportamiento mimético al de los monopolos magnéticos, siendo compatible con ∇·B=0, han sido detectadas experimentalmente en hielos de espín ("spinices"). Esta aparente contradicción puede generar confusión y, por lo tanto, requiere explicación. Por otro lado, se estudian propiedades duales de los materiales con cargas magnéticas efectivas. Hago una descripción de la "magnetricity" en los "spin-ices" (conductividad de cargas magnéticas ante el campo magnético exterior). Como una consecuencia de la magnetricidad, analizo el posible apantallamiento del campo magnético en materiales con cargas magnéticas. Analizo la propagación de ondas electromagnéticas transversales en medios infinitos y en plasmas magnéticos diluidos ante la presencia de campos eléctricos externos constantes. Esta propagación es la dual de la existente en plasmas de cargas eléctricas ante la presencia de campos magnéticos externos, constantes e intensos. Por último, estudio el frenado eléctrico de un conductor de cargas magnéticas como efecto dual del frenado magnético en conductores eléctricos.The monopoles are theoretically defined as sources of fields with null divergence. However, the structural entities with mimetic behavior to that of magnetic monopoles, which have been detected in the spin-ices, are compatible with the fact of generating magnetic field whose divergence is null. This apparent and confuse contradiction requires to be explained, which is an objective of this work. On the other hand, dual properties of materials with effective magnetic charges are analyzed. The magnetricity, which is the conductivity of magnetic charges under external magnetic fields, is described. As a consequence of magnetricity, the magnetic field shielding by materials with magnetic charges is pondered. The propagation of transversal electromagnetic waves in both infinite material media magnetic and dilute plasmas under the presence of electric constant and strong fields is studied. This is a dual property of the same condition propagation of EM transversal waves in electric plasmas. Finally, the electric braking dual of the standard magnetic one is outlined

Cognitive Fusion Mediates the Relationship between Dispositional Mindfulness and Negative Affects: A Study in a Sample of Spanish Children and Adolescent School Students

Nowadays, mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have experienced a remarkable development of studies among childhood and adolescent interventions. For this reason, dispositional mindfulness (DM) measures for children and adolescents have been developed to determine the e ectiveness of MBI at this age stage. However, little is known about how key elements of DM (for example, cognitive de/fusion or experiential avoidance that both confirm psychological inflexibility) are involved in the mechanisms of the children and adolescents’ mental health outcomes. This research examined the mediating e ect of cognitive fusion between DM and anxiety and other negative emotional states in a sample of 318 Spanish primary-school students (aged between 8 and 16 years, M = 11.24, SD = 2.19, 50.8% males). Participants completed the AFQ-Y (Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for youth), which is a measure of psychological inflexibility that encompasses cognitive defusion and experiential avoidance; CAMM (DM for children and adolescents), PANAS-N (positive and negative a ect measure for children, Spanish version of PANASC), and STAIC (an anxiety measure for children). The study accomplished ethical standards. As MBI relevant literature has suggested, cognitive defusion was a significant mediator betweenDMand symptoms of both negative emotions and anxiety in children and adolescents. However, experiential avoidance did not show any significant mediating relationship. Probably, an improvement of the assessment of experiential avoidance is needed. MBI programs for children and adolescents may include more activities for reducing e ects of the cognitive defusion on their emotional distress

Efecto de las Características del Problema, Captación de su Estructura y Uso de Analogías sobre el Éxito de los Estudiantes de Secundaria en la Resolución de Problemas

This study analyses the influence of academic level, academic itinerary, word problem's context and structure, capturing problem structure, and using analogies on problem-solving. A factorial design was used with one within-subjects variable and several between-subjects variables, which have been selected depending on the hypothesis in question. Two types of booklets containing two word problems and questions about capturing problem structure and using analogies in problem solving, were administered to a total of 181 grade-10 and grade-12 students. The results of non-parametric statistical tests showed that: a) Academic level and academic itinerary are decisive variables in problem solving, b) Capturing problem structure is needed to solve problems, but the use of analogies is not needed, and c) Problems increase in difficulty when they have complex structure and low familiarity context

Simultaneous data rate and transmission power adaptation in V2V communications: A deep reinforcement learning approach

In Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications, channel load is key to ensuring the appropriate operation of safety applications as well as driver-assistance systems. As the number of vehicles increases, so do their communication messages. Therefore, channel congestion may arise, negatively impacting channel performance. Through suitable adjustment of the data rate, this problem would be mitigated. However, this usually involves using different modulation schemes, which can jeopardize the robustness of the solution due to unfavorable channel conditions. To date, little effort has been made to adjust the data rate, alone or together with other parameters, and its effects on the aforementioned sensitive safety applications remain to be investigated. In this paper, we employ an analytical model which balances the data rate and transmission power in a non-cooperative scheme. In particular, we train a Deep Neural Network (DNN) to precisely optimize both parameters for each vehicle without using additional information from neighbors, and without requiring any additional infrastructure to be deployed on the road. The results obtained reveal that our approach, called NNDP, not only alleviates congestion, leaving a certain fraction of the channel available for emergency-related messages, but also provides enough transmission power to fulfill the application layer requirements at a given coverage distance. Finally, NNDP is thoroughly tested and evaluated in three realistic scenarios and under different channel conditions, demonstrating its robustness and excellent performance in comparison with other solutions found in the scientific literature.This work was supported in part by the AEI/FEDER/UE [Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), and Unión Europea (UE)] under Grant PID2020-116329GB-C22 [ARISE2: Future IoT Networks and Nano-networks (FINe)] and Grant PID2020-112675RB-C41 (ONOFRE-3), in part by the Fundación Séneca, Región de Murcia, under Grant 20889/PI/18 (ATENTO), and in part by the LIFE project (Fondo SUPERA COVID-19 through the Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas CSIC, Universidades Españolas, and Banco Santander). The work of Juan Aznar-Poveda was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (MECD) through the Formación de Personal Investigador (FPI) Predoctoral Scholarship under Grant BES-2017-08106

MDPRP: A Q-learning approach for the joint control of beaconing rate and transmission power in VANETs

Vehicular ad-hoc communications rely on periodic broadcast beacons as the basis for most of their safety applications, allowing vehicles to be aware of their surroundings. However, an excessive beaconing load might compromise the proper operation of these crucial applications, especially regarding the exchange of emergency messages. Therefore, congestion control can play an important role. In this article, we propose joint beaconing rate and transmission power control based on policy evaluation. To this end, a Markov Decision Process (MDP) is modeled by making a set of reasonable simplifying assumptions which are resolved using Q-learning techniques. This MDP characterization, denoted as MDPRP (indicating Rate and Power), leverages the trade-off between beaconing rate and transmission power allocation. Moreover, MDPRP operates in a non-cooperative and distributed fashion, without requiring additional information from neighbors, which makes it suitable for use in infrastructureless (ad-hoc) networks. The results obtained reveal that MDPRP not only balances the channel load successfully but also provides positive outcomes in terms of packet delivery ratio. Finally, the robustness of the solution is shown since the algorithm works well even in those cases where none of the assumptions made to derive the MDP model apply.This work was supported in part by the AIM Project [Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Unión Europea (UE)] under Grant TEC2016-76465-C2-1-R, in part by the Fundación Séneca, Región de Murcia, through the ATENTO Project, under Grant 20889/PI/18, and in part by the LIFE (Fondo SUPERA Covid-19 funded by the Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas CSIC, Universidades Españolas, and Banco Santander). The work of Juan Aznar-Poveda was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (MECD) for the FPI Grant BES-2017-081061

Is rhodamine 123 an appropriate fluorescent probe to assess P-glycoprotein mediated multidrug resistance in vinblastine-resistant CHO cells?

Cellular drug resistance, which involves several mechanisms such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp) overexpression, kinetic and metabolic quiescence, or the increase in the intracellular levels of glutathione, limits the effectiveness of cancer treatment. It has been reported that functional assessment of the cationic dye rhodamine 123 (Rho123) efflux reveals accurately the drug-resistant phenotype. To study cellular drug resistance, we have obtained a CHO-K1 derived cell line resistant to vinblastine by means of multistep selection. This cell line (CHOVBR) displays high reactivity with a monoclonal antibody (MAb) (C219) directed against an internal domain of P-gp, and an active Rho123 efflux, as shown by parallel flow cytometric and fluorometric assays. However, under similar experimental conditions, the drug-sensitive parental cell line CHO-K1 (as well as the myeloblastic KG1 and KG1a cell lines), was also able to pump Rho123 out. These parental CHO-K1 cells had a very low reactivity against the C219 Mab, as confirmed by Western blot analysis. Both vinblastine and verapamil inhibited Rho123 efflux in CHO-K1 cells, but had no effect on CHOVBR cultures. Also, deprivation of vinblastine for one month did not affect Rho123 efflux in these cells. Our results suggest that the activity of P-gp appears to be essential, but not sufficient to confer drug resistance, and that Rho123-based functional assays of drug resistance should be evaluated for each cellular experimental model

Approximate reinforcement learning to control beaconing congestion in distributed networks

In vehicular communications, the increase of the channel load caused by excessive periodical messages (beacons) is an important aspect which must be controlled to ensure the appropriate operation of safety applications and driver-assistance systems. To date, the majority of congestion control solutions involve including additional information in the payload of the messages transmitted, which may jeopardize the appropriate operation of these control solutions when channel conditions are unfavorable, provoking packet losses. This study exploits the advantages of non-cooperative, distributed beaconing allocation, in which vehicles operate independently without requiring any costly road infrastructure. In particular, we formulate the beaconing rate control problem as a Markov Decision Process and solve it using approximate reinforcement learning to carry out optimal actions. Results obtained were compared with other traditional solutions, revealing that our approach, called SSFA, is able to keep a certain fraction of the channel capacity available, which guarantees the delivery of emergency-related notifications with faster convergence than other proposals. Moreover, good performance was obtained in terms of packet delivery and collision ratios.This research has been supported by the projects AIM, ref. TEC2016-76465-C2-1-R, ARISE2 “Future IoT Networks and Nano-networks (FINe)” ref. PID2020-116329GB-C22, ONOFRE-3, ref. PID2020-112675RB-C41 [Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), European Union (EU)], ATENTO, ref. 20889/PI/18 (Fundación Séneca, Región de Murcia), and LIFE [Fondo SUPERA Covid-19, funded by Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidades Españolas and Banco Santander]. J.A.P. thanks the Spanish MECD for an FPI grant ref. BES-2017-081061. Finally, the authors acknowledge Laura Wettersten for her contribution in reviewing the grammar and spell of the manuscript

Educational expansion and early marriage in India : time and regional trends

El treball fou presentat, en format pòster, a la Population Association of America-PAA 2010 Annual Meeting. Dallas (EUA), del 15 al 17 d'abril de 2010.In India, the prevalence of adolescent marriages has been declining modestly over the last decades. Moreover, with regards to education, the country has made considerable progress towards universal literacy and raising schooling participation. Thus, in this article we aim to examine to what extent educational expansion explains the delay in the age at first marriage. Firstly, we will document social, regional, and time trends of Indian marriage prevalence at younger ages between 1983 and 2004. Secondly, a multilevel analysis will be conducted so as to investigate demographic trends at two levels of disaggregation: regional and individual. Thus, the universality of the changes that have been taking place as well as the relationship between the educational expansion and the delay in the age at first marriage will be illustrated. The analysis is based on Labour force survey microdata for India (1983, 1987, 1993, 1999 and 2004) made available by the Integrated Public Use of Microdata Series International Project (IPUMSi). Consistent with previous studies, there is no sign of a retreat from marriage over time, although a delay in the age at first marriage is noted. Among women, we observe a steady and spatially homogenous decline in the proportion of ever married at younger ages (15-19) over time. Among men, the decline is less pronounced and concentrated at the age group 20-24. In general, educational expansion does seem to explain a great deal of the marriage postponement taking place in India.A l'Índia, la prevalença de matrimonis adolescents ha disminuït lleugerament en les últimes dècades. D'altra banda i, pel que fa a l'educació, el país ha fet progressos considerables en la consecució de l'alfabetització universal i en l'augment de l'assistència de nens i nenes a l'escola. A l'article s'examina en quina mesura l'expansió educativa explica el retard a l'edat de la primera unió. Per això: 1) documentem les pautes socials, regionals, i temporals de la prevalença del matrimoni en aquest país, a edats joves, entre 1983 i 2004; 2) es du a terme un anàlisi multinivell amb la finalitat d'investigar les tendències demogràfiques en dos nivells de desagregació: regional i individual. Il·lustrem així la universalitat dels canvis que han tingut lloc, juntament amb la relació entre l'expansió de l'educació i el retard en l'edat a la primera unió. L'anàlisi es basa en les microdades de l'Enquesta sobre la Força Laboral per a l'Índia (1983, 1987, 1993, 1999 i 2004) posats a disposició pel Integrated Public Use of Microdata Series International Project (IPUMSi). D'acord amb estudis anteriors, no hi ha senyals que indiquin la disminució del matrimoni com a institució social, encara que el que sí que s'observa és un retard en l'edat a la primera unió. Entre les dones, es nota una disminució constant i homogènia i, especialment en la proporció d'alguna vegada casades a edats més joves (15-19). Entre els homes, la caiguda és menys pronunciada i es concentra en el grup d'edat 20-24. En general, l'expansió educativa sembla explicar gran part de la postergació a l'edat al matrimoni a l'Índia.En India, la prevalencia de matrimonios adolescentes ha disminuido ligeramente en las últimas décadas. Por otra parte, en lo que respecta a la educación, el país ha hecho progresos considerables hacia la alfabetización universal. En este artículo nos proponemos examinar en qué medida la expansión educativa explica el retraso en la edad a la primera unión. Por ello: 1) documentamos las pautas sociales, regionales, y temporales de la prevalencia del matrimonio indio a edades más jóvenes, entre 1983 y 2004; 2) se realiza un análisis multinivel para investigar las tendencias demográficas en dos niveles de desagregación: regional e individual. Ilustramos así la universalidad de los cambios que han tenido lugar y la relación entre la expansión educativa y el retraso en la edad a la primera unión. El análisis se basa en los microdatos de la encuesta sobre la Fuerza Laboral para India (1983, 1987, 1993, 1999 y 2004), puestos a disposición por el Integrated Public Use of Microdata Series International Project (IPUMSi). De acuerdo con estudios anteriores, no hay señales que indiquen una disminución del matrimonio como institución social, aunque sí se observa un retraso en la edad a la primera unión. Entre las mujeres, se nota una disminución constante y homogénea espacialmente en la proporción de alguna vez casadas a edades más jóvenes (15-19). Entre los hombres, la caída es menos pronunciada y se concentra en el grupo de edad 20-24. En general, la expansión educativa parece explicar gran parte de la postergación en la edad al matrimonio en India