Search results for "DISTIC"
showing 10 items of 96 documents
Do different models induce changes in mortality indicators? That is a key question for extending the Lee-Carter model
2021
[EN] The parametric model introduced by Lee and Carter in 1992 for modeling mortality rates in the USA was a seminal development in forecasting life expectancies and has been widely used since then. Different extensions of this model, using different hypotheses about the data, constraints on the parameters, and appropriate methods have led to improvements in the model's fit to historical data and the model's forecasting of the future. This paper's main objective is to evaluate if differences between models are reflected in different mortality indicators' forecasts. To this end, nine sets of indicator predictions were generated by crossing three models and three block-bootstrap samples with …
Bioaccessibility of tocopherols, carotenoids, and ascorbic acid from milk- and soy-based fruit beverages: Influence of food matrix and processing
2012
A study was made of the effect of high-pressure processing (HPP) and thermal treatment (TT) on plant bioactive compounds (tocopherols, carotenoids, and ascorbic acid) in 12 fruit juice-milk beverages and of how the food matrix [whole milk (JW), skimmed milk (JS), and soy milk (JSy)] modulates their bioaccessibility (%). HPP (400 MPa/40 °C/5 min) produced a significant decrease in carotenoid and ascorbic acid bioaccessibility in all three beverages and maintained the bioaccessibility of tocopherols in JW and JS while decreasing it in JSy. TT (90 °C/30 s) produced a significant decrease in tocopherol and carotenoid bioaccessibility in all three beverages and increased the bioaccessibility of …
Geostatistical Survey and Amelioration of an Inland Salt Affected Area in the Lake of Texcoco, Mexico
1999
The area formerly occupied by the Texcoco Lake, near Mexico City, was subjected to drainage since the past century, to prevent flooding of the city; however, the progressive desiccation and the geological origin of the area gave place to the appearance of strongly salt and sodium affected soils. Lacking vegetation, these soils are very susceptible to wind erosion, and has been attempted to provide the area with a plant cover, using mostly native species. However, there are extensive areas where the levels of salts and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) are so high that the introduction of plants has not been successful; in these places, some kind of amelioration is needed, but since a gen…
Why Do We Take Risks? Perception of the Situation and Risk Proneness Predict Domain-Specific Risk Taking
2021
[EN] Risk taking (RT) is a component of the decision-making process in situations that involve uncertainty and in which the probability of each outcome - rewards and/or negative consequences - is already known. The influence of cognitive and emotional processes in decision making may affect how risky situations are addressed. First, inaccurate assessments of situations may constitute a perceptual bias in decision making, which might influence RT. Second, there seems to be consensus that a proneness bias exists, known as risk proneness, which can be defined as the propensity to be attracted to potentially risky activities. In the present study, we take the approach that risk perception and r…
Modelling and forecasting mortality in Spain
2008
[EN] Experience shows that static life tables overestimate death probabilities. As a consequence of this overestimation the premiums for annuities, pensions and life insurance are not what they actually should be, with negative effects for insurance companies or policy-holders. The reason for this overestimation is that static life tables, through being computed for a specific period of time, cannot take into account the decreasing mortality trend over time. Dynamic life tables overcome this problem by incorporating the influence of the calendar when graduating mortality. Recent papers on the topic look for the development of new methods to deal with this dynamism. Most methods used in dyna…
Production of methylated mercury and lead by polar macroalgae — A significant natural source for atmospheric heavy metals in clean room compartments
1998
During August and September 1995 samples of different species of macroalgae were collected from the Kongsfjord on Spitsbergen. These macroalgae were cultivated in incubation vessels under polar conditions and the releasing rates of methylated heavy metal compounds for mercury, lead and cadmium were determined. The analysis of monomethyl and dimethyl mercury was carried out by a gas chromatographic system with atomic fluorescence detection after conversion of monomethyl mercury into the volatile methylethyl mercury compound. A differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetric method was used for the determination of trimethyl lead and monomethyl cadmium, respectively. The different species of…
A minimally invasive methodology based on morphometric parameters for day 2 embryo quality assessment.
2014
[EN] The risk of multiple pregnancy to maternal fetal health can be minimized by reducing the number of embryos transferred. New tools for selecting embryos with the highest implantation potential should be developed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of morphological and morphometric variables to predict implantation by analysing images of embryos. This was a retrospective study of 135 embryo photographs from 112 IVF ICSI cycles carried out between January and March 2011. The embryos were photographed immediately before transfer using Cronus 3 software. Their images were analysed using the public program ImageJ. Significant effects (P < 0.05), and higher discriminant power …
Influence of diet in urinary levels of metals in a biomonitoring study of a child population of the Valencian region (Spain)
2018
[EN] Pollution by trace elements and its possible effect on organisms has become a worldwide concern due to the increasing presence of trace elements in the environment and especially in the food chain. Exposure to chemicals has traditionally been measured using environmental samples, however, human biomonitoring brings a different perspective, in which all sources and exposure pathways are integrated. The objective of this paper is to discern the possible relationship between children's diet and the metals found in children urine. With this aim in mind, a total of 120 voluntaries participated in a diet survey carried out in a school-aged population (age 6-11) from the Valencian region. In …
Determining cut-off points in functional assessment scales in stroke
2015
[EN] BACKGROUND: A wide variety of well-validated assessment scales of functioning and disability have been developed for stroke population. However, these instruments have limitations in their interpretation. Therefore, determining cut-off points for their categorization becomes necessary. OBJECTIVES: To determine cut-off points for the BI, FIM and FAM scales to differentiate clinical disability categories and to establish the relationship between mRS and DOS scales. METHODS: One hundred and six adults with ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke were mainly recruited from a rehabilitation facility (Hospitales Nisa, Valencia, Spain). RESULTS: A high correlation was observed between the DOS and mRS…
Detecting spatio-temporal mortality clusters of European countries by sex and age.
2018
[EN] Background: Mortality decreased in European Union (EU) countries during the last century. Despite these similar trends, there are still considerable differences in the levels of mortality between Eastern and Western European countries. Sub-group analysis of mortality in Europe for different age and sex groups is common, however to our knowledge a spatio-temporal methodology as in this study has not been applied to detect significant spatial dependence and interaction with time. Thus, the objective of this paper is to quantify the dynamics of mortality in Europe and detect significant clusters of mortality between European countries, applying spatio-temporal methodology. In addition, th…