A Comparison of Agricultural Productivity in the European Union Regions

This paper is concerned with the estimation of productivity and technical progress based on DEA applied to complete panel data (intertemporal-DEA). Instead of assuming unchanged technology, this paper presents a formulation of technical change that allows the decomposition of productivity scores obtained using intertemporal-DEA. The assumption here is that the technology level in period t for each country is the maximum productivity index obtained until this period. The model assumes that improvements over earlier productivity levels are due to technical progress and that productivity scores below the earlier maximum productivity level are due to inefficiency. The methodology is applied to the analysis of agricultural productivity in the European Union regions in the 1985-97 period. The major source of data is Cronos in Eurostat. This database is used to obtain the disaggregated outputs, intermediate inputs, and depreciation, in current and constant 1990 prices, and labor in annual work units. Capital is measured by depreciation. Land is agricultural area in hectares. Outputs are aggregated in two categories: crops and animal products. Intermediate inputs are grouped into two major categories: feedstuffs and other materials. Aggregation uses national price indices and regional production structures, using the translog price formula. All output, intermediate input and depreciation data, originally reported in local currencies was converted into ECUs, using the 1990 exchange rates. The discriminatory power of the analysis is higher than those with only contemporary analysis of technical efficiency, giving less than 10% of observations in the reference set. Further discrimination is explored using super-efficiency analysis. Radial efficiency measures give only a particular form of inefficiency that can be explained by a proportional contraction in input usage. The paper studies particular output and input efficiencies. As examples, animal products inefficiency is usual only in southern regions. Inefficiency in intermediate consumption usage is pervasive, suggesting the possibility of reducing agricultural production costs. Labor and capital inefficiencies arise in different regions. Land slacks are common in the southern and the westernmost regions.

Interdependent Preferences for Seafood Consumption

This paper considers interdependence in seafood consumption exploiting data on consumer expenditures in Spain, using dominance models. Interdependence is modeled by making parameters in both the participation and the consumption equations dependent upon current consumption in the reference group of a particular consumer. The estimates of a parsimonious model using latent variables reflecting interdependencies seem better in parameters as important as expenditure elasticity or correlation between decision to purchase seafood and the level of seafood consumption

Regional Preferences in the Spanish Meat and Seafood Consumption

In the study of a geographically aggregated market, the choice of a representative household leads to consider the whole territory as a single, homogeneous one. However, there are reasons to believe that regional preference differences do exist when there are important cultural and climatic differences among regions, and, historically, most of them have developed and enriched their own cuisines and food preferences, as in Spain. The econometric analysis of separate demand systems of meat and seafood consumption for the aggregate Spain and for three regions, shows that differences are reflected in the patterns of0 complementarity and substitution

Price and Quantity Indices for Aquaculture Production in Europe

This paper considers the modelling of aggregate price and quantity of aquaculture production in the European countries since mid-80s. In general, the evolution of aquaculture production only considers the evolution of total value and total weight. The heterogeneity of aquaculture production is neglected. As a consequence, the unit value ('price') of cultured fish seems to be increasing due to the increasing trend towards more valued fish species. The right way to aggregate heterogeneous goods in economics is by using index numbers. In general, it is observed that the quantity indices increase much more than the weight of cultured fish. The trend for price indices is very different between countries, but in the EU-15 as an aggregate is decreasing, contrary to the trend with unit values

Blood Biomarker Panels for the Early Prediction of Stroke‐Associated Complications

Background Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are potentially life-threatening complications in patients experiencing stroke during hospitalization. We aimed to test whether blood biomarker panels might predict these complications early after admission. Methods and Results Nine hundred thirty-eight patients experiencing ischemic stroke were prospectively recruited in the Stroke-Chip study. Post-stroke complications during hospitalization were retrospectively evaluated. Blood samples were drawn within 6 hours after stroke onset, and 14 biomarkers were analyzed by immunoassays. Biomarker values were normalized using log-transformation and Z score. PanelomiX algorithm was used to select panels with the best accuracy for predicting ADHF and RTI. Logistic regression models were constructed with the clinical variables and the biomarker panels. The additional predictive value of the panels compared with the clinical model alone was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curves. An internal validation through a 10-fold cross-validation with 3 repeats was performed. ADHF and RTI occurred in 19 (2%) and 86 (9.1%) cases, respectively. Three-biomarker panels were developed as predictors: vascular adhesion protein-1 >5.67, NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) >4.98 and d-dimer >5.38 (sensitivity, 89.5%; specificity, 71.7%) for ADHF; and interleukin-6 >3.97, von Willebrand factor >3.67, and d-dimer >4.58 (sensitivity, 82.6%; specificity, 59.8%) for RTI. Both panels independently predicted stroke complications (panel for ADHF: odds ratio [OR] [95% CI], 10.1 [3-52.2]; panel for RTI: OR, 3.73 [1.95-7.14]) after adjustment by clinical confounders. The addition of the panel to clinical predictors significantly improved areas under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curves in both cases. Conclusions Blood biomarkers could be useful for the early prediction of ADHF and RTI. Future studies should assess the usefulness of these panels in front of patients experiencing stroke with respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea

Thrombectomy within 8 hours after symptom onset in ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of thrombectomy for the treatment of stroke in a trial embedded within a population-based stroke reperfusion registry. METHODS: During a 2-year period at four centers in Catalonia, Spain, we randomly assigned 206 patients who could be treated within 8 hours after the onset of symptoms of acute ischemic stroke to receive either medical therapy (including intravenous alteplase when eligible) and endovascular therapy with the Solitaire stent retriever (thrombectomy group) or medical therapy alone (control group). All patients had confirmed proximal anterior circulation occlusion and the absence of a large infarct on neuroimaging. In all study patients, the use of alteplase either did not achieve revascularization or was contraindicated. The primary outcome was the severity of global disability at 90 days, as measured on the modified Rankin scale (ranging from 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]). Although the maximum planned sample size was 690, enrollment was halted early because of loss of equipoise after positive results for thrombectomy were reported from other similar trials. RESULTS Thrombectomy reduced the severity of disability over the range of the modified Rankin scale (adjusted odds ratio for improvement of 1 point, 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 2.8) and led to higher rates of functional independence (a score of 0 to 2) at 90 days (43.7% vs. 28.2%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1 to 4.0). At 90 days, the rates of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage were 1.9% in both the thrombectomy group and the control group (P = 1.00), and rates of death were 18.4% and 15.5%, respectively (P = 0.60). Registry data indicated that only eight patients who met the eligibility criteria were treated outside the trial at participating hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with anterior circulation stroke who could be treated within 8 hours after symptom onset, stent retriever thrombectomy reduced the severity of post-stroke disability and increased the rate of functional independence

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Mar Menor: una laguna singular y sensible. Evaluación científica de su estado.

Este libro recopila las aportaciones que equipos de investigación de la Universidad de Murcia, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Instituto Geológico-Minero de España, Universidad de Alicante, el Instituto Español de Oceanografía y otros organismos hicieron en las Jornadas Científicas del Mar Menor, celebradas en diciembre de 2014.La información recogida en este libro se estructura en dos grandes bloques, uno de Biología y Ecología del Mar Menor (capítulos 1 al 8) y otro de Condiciones fisicoquímicas e impacto de actividades humanas en la laguna (capítulos 9 al 14). El primer bloque resume buena parte de los estudios ecológicos realizados en el Mar Menor, que han servido para mejorar su conocimiento y también para cambiar antiguas asunciones sobre la naturaleza y el funcionamiento de estos ecosistemas lagunares (Capítulo 1). El segundo capítulo muestra que esta laguna alberga en zonas someras de su perímetro hábitats fundamentales para mantener y conservar tanto especies migratorias como residentes, que es necesario conocer para paliar el impacto de las actividades humanas que les afectan. En este sentido la reducción de la carga de nutrientes y contaminantes orgánicos e inorgánicos que fluyen hacia el Mar Menor puede ayudar a preservar la laguna en mejores condiciones, bien sea tratando las escorrentías (plantas de tratamiento, humedales artificiales u otras técnicas) y recuperar este agua para uso agrícola o evitar su descarga en la laguna (Capítulo 3). Estas actuaciones serán clave para la conservación de especies emblemáticas como el caballito de mar (Capítulo 4) y reducir el impacto de las proliferaciones masivas de medusas que se producen en la laguna desde 1993 (Capítulo 5). En este mismo sentido los cambios acaecidos en la laguna han favorecido la incursión de invertebrados marinos alóctonos (Capítulo 6) y han afectado a la respuesta de la dinámica poblacional de las aves acuáticas a distintas escalas (Capítulo 7). Para completar este bloque se ofrece una perspectiva histórica de la importancia que ha tenido la investigación sobre acuicultura realizada en esta laguna, que ha servido de base para su gran desarrollo actual (Capítulo 8). El segundo bloque se inicia con una evaluación del origen y evolución del Mar Menor desde el punto de vista geológico, y evidencia su vulnerabilidad ante el deterioro que puede sufrir la desaparición de la barrera de cierre y/o su colmatación (Capítulo 9). En el Capítulo 10 se describe la relevancia que tiene la interacción de los acuíferos del Campo de Cartagena con la laguna, que se produce no sólo a nivel superficial sino también subterráneo. Esta interacción permite el acceso de nutrientes a la laguna, a pesar de la cierta capacidad de depuración de los humedales que le circundan, y también de metales traza por los aportes de residuos mineros (Capítulo 11). De hecho los metales traza están presentes en los sedimentos de la laguna, y su distribución se ha caracterizado en la columna sedimentaria relacionándola con la granulometría y el contenido de materia orgánica del sedimento (Capítulo 12). Posteriormente se describe la entrada de diversos contaminantes orgánicos, incluyendo pesticidas y fármacos a través de la rambla del Albujón, y su distribución estacional en agua y sedimento de la laguna (Capítulo 13). Este segundo bloque finaliza con el Capítulo 14 en el que se describe la bioacumulación de hidrocarburos aromáticos policíclicos, pesticidas y fármacos en moluscos y peces del Mar Menor, así como los efectos biológicos que la carga contaminante que accede a través de la rambla del Albujón produce en los organismos que allí habitan. El libro concluye con un breve epílogo redactado por los editores de este libro.Versión del edito