39936 research outputs found
Sort by
Parental support and diversity in sibling personality
No full textPersonality is associated with important life outcomes such as occupational status, and there is continued interest in understanding how family processes shape people's character. Previous research has shown that despite being exposed to a common family environment, sibling personalities differ substantially. We test one explanation of this phenomenon: differential parental support within families. Fitting family fixed-effects models to data from the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP), we find that, even within families, differences in parental support contribute to explain the personality of adolescent children. However, this association declines when children reach early adulthood. We interpret these results as demonstrating the importance of within-family factors for shaping personality, and how the influence of parent-child relationships varies over the life course.This research has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 758600)
Confused about careers? Untangling occupational mobility, miscoding and distance
No full textOccupational mobility and its relation with economic fundamentals is obscured by mistakes when assigning occupational codes. We correct (‘de-garble’) occupation patterns, using the heterogeneous probabilities with which a worker in a certain occupation appears as working in another. This leads to stronger empirical patterns of occupational mobility with ‘task distance’ based on O*NET, across age, the business cycle and with wage changes. Miscoding between occupation pairs reflects task similarities and can be used as a distance measure itself, and appears helpful to distinguish among occupations close in task space. Overall, taking into account miscoding, occupations and tasks tend to matter (even) more for economic outcomes than standard approaches suggest.Ludo Visschers gratefully acknowledges grants CEX2021-001181-M and ATR2023-145734 funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 (Unidades de Excelencia Maria de Maeztu, and Programa ATRAE, of theSpanish Government)
Advances in Instance Segmentation: Technologies, Metrics and Applications in Computer Vision
Full text linkInstance segmentation is an advanced technique in computer vision that focuses on identifying and classifying each individual object in an image at the pixel level. Unlike semantic segmentation, which groups pixels of similar objects without distinguishing between different instances, instance segmentation assigns unique labels to each object, even if they are of the same class. This makes it possible not only to detect the presence and category of objects in an image but also to locate each specific instance and clearly distinguish them from each other. This problem not only advances the technical and theoretical understanding of how machines see and process digital images, but also has a direct impact on various industries and sectors where computer vision is an essential part of the system. In this paper, we present the current deep learning-based technologies, the metrics used for their evaluation, and a review of general and concrete datasets in general and drone-specific contexts. The results of this study provide a compendium of easily deployable deep learning-based technologies. This review paper aims to accelerate the process of understanding and using instance segmentation technologies for the reader.The foundations of this study were funded by the public research projects of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation PID2020-118249RB-C22 and PDC2021–121567-C22 - AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the project under the call PEICTI 2021–2023 with the identifier TED2021–131520B-C22
A priori verification method for curl-conforming basis functions in simplices
No full textThe construction of (hierarchical) curl-conforming basis functions has been a hot topic in the last decades in the finite element community. Especially, functions applied to simplices have been quite popular after the work by Nédélec in 1980. Many mixed-order and full-order families have been provided in the last years, but sometimes, it is difficult to assess if they belong to the original space proposed by Nédélec (especially when orthogonalization procedures are applied). Here, a tool to determine if a family of basis functions belongs to the Nédélec space is provided. Since affine coordinates are the most frequent choice for simplices, particularities about its use with this kind of coordinates are detailed. A detailed survey of existing families is provided, and the practical application of the tool to a representative set of these families is discussed. The tool is also available for the community in a public repository.This work was supported by the Regional Government of Madrid under Project MIMACUHSPACE-CM-UC3M
World Population 1800-1938
No full textThis is a revised version of Federico, Giovanni; Tena-Junguito, Antonio (2023): How many people on earth? World population 1800-1938. Working Papers in Economic History 23-01/ Instituto Figuerola Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10016/36431 (also available as WP 16/2023 Maddison). We have revised some series; we have re-estimated the margin of error, and we have dropped the estimate of demographic effects of migrations and Sections on population shocks and demographic transition. We have estimated the population series for all polities from 1800 to 1938 at historical and 1991 borders.The number of people is one of the most basic facts about any society, but it is difficult to ascertain. The data are missing for most of human history and scarce until the early 19th century for advanced countries and the early 20th century for the rest of the world until. Yet, historical demographers have tried hard and often successfully to estimate population in the past, but their results have been neglected largely in the most common general historical databases. Our research project fills this gap in our knowledge. We have estimated the population series for all polities from 1800 to 1938 at historical and 1991 borders, using firsthand sources and country-specific literature. In this working paper we survey the previous estimates, list our sources, describe the methods of estimation in general and their application to each polity, sketch out main trends and discuss the reliability of our data, estimating their margin of erro
Economic vulnerability and emotions toward climate change: A case study of Spain
Full text linkEmotional reactions to climate change facilitate behavioral reactions. Individuals who experience negative emotions toward climate change are more likely to support and implement mitigation actions and policies than otherwise. Due to this link between emotions and behaviors, several studies have analyzed negative emotions toward global change. However, scant work has explored the influence of individual and contextual economic vulnerabilities. We argue that individuals who experience objective deprivation or reside in left-behind areas are cognitively and emotionally predisposed to link climate change to negative emotions. These groups endure greater economic hardship, anxiety and fear, enhancing their perception of external threats. This heightened perception enables them to more readily identify the local problems caused by climate change and link these problems to negative emotions. We test this expectation through a case study of Spain, a country particularly affected by climate change. Employing multilevel models and a novel online survey (N = 15,059) conducted in Spain, we assess whether individuals who experience greater objective economic deprivation, as well as those who live in counties with higher unemployment, fewer basic services or lower urbanization levels, display greater fear and anxiety toward climate change. The evidence partially supports our expectation. Individuals with greater economic deprivation report more climate fear and climate anxiety. In addition, individuals in high-unemployment counties also report more climate fearThis research was funded by a Starting Grant from Aarhus University's Research Foundation awarded to the first autho
pyLAIS: A Python package for Layered Adaptive Importance Sampling
Full text linkOriginal software publicationCurbelo, E., Martino, L., & Delgado-Gómez, D. (2025). Corrigendum to “pyLAIS: A python package for layered adaptive importance sampling” [SoftwareX 29 (2025), 101976]. SoftwareX, 29(102025), 102025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2024.102025Monte Carlo (MC) techniques are widely used to draw from complex distributions and/or for the calculation of related integrals. The most famous families of MC methods are Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and importance sampling (IS). There are many separate implementations and packages, available online regarding MCMC or IS methods. Moreover, both techniques present different drawbacks and advantages. In this paper, we introduce a flexible Python implementation of the so-called layered adaptive importance sampling (LAIS) algorithm. LAIS combines the benefits of MCMC and IS schemes: the exploration of the state space by Markov chains and the low variance estimations provides by advanced and modern IS schemes. More precisely, LAIS allows the sampling of complex distributions and/or approximation of integrals involving complex distributions, through the combination of ¿ possibly sophisticated ¿ MCMC schemes and multiple importance sampling (MIS) techniques. In addition, the modular nature of the algorithm itself provides a great flexibility in choosing the desired MCMC techniques, invariant distributions, proposal densities and MIS approaches.The work was partially supported by Agencia Estatal de Investigación AEI, Spain with project SP-GRAPH, ref. num. PID2019-105032GB-I00, and project POLI-GRAPH, Grant PID2022-136887NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, by Programa de Excelencia-Convenio Plurianual entre Comunidad de Madrid y la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (ref. num. Y158/DF007003/30-06-2020, ref. num F840), by the project GANESHA - “Uncertainty propagation methods for collision avoidance in autonomous navigation” (ref. N629092412095) awarded by Office of the Naval Research Global, by project Starting Grant for Rttb, BA-GRAPH “Efficient Bayesian inference for graph-supported data”, of the University of Catania, and by the project LikeFree-BA-GRAPH funded by “PIAno di inCEntivi per la RIcerca di Ateneo 2024/2026” of the University of Catania, Italy
Analysis of Acoustic Emission Waveforms by Wavelet Packet Transform for the Detection of Crack Initiation Due to Fretting Fatigue in Solid Railway Axles
Full text linkRailway axles are among the most safety-critical components in rolling stock, as their failure can lead to catastrophic consequences. One of the most subtle damage mechanisms affecting these components is fretting fatigue, which is a particularly challenging damage mechanism in these components, as it can initiate cracks under real service conditions and is difficult to detect in its early stages, which is vital to ensure operational safety and to optimize maintenance strategies. This paper focuses on the development of fretting fatigue damage in solid railway axles under realistic service-like conditions. Full-scale axle specimens with artificially induced notches were subjected to loading conditions that promote fretting fatigue crack initiation and growth. Acoustic emission techniques were used to monitor the damage progression, and post-processing of the emitted signals, by using wavelet-based tools, was conducted to identify early indicators of crack formation. The experimental findings demonstrate that the proposed approach allows for reliable identification of fretting-induced crack initiation, contributing valuable insights into the in-service behavior of railway axles under this damage mechanism
Linking spatial metaphors to body size perception: Different roles of top-down associations and multisensory contributions when mapping auditory cues to finger length
Full text linkSpecial Issue 'From Bodies to Spaces': a neurocognitive/neuropsychological...': Research ReportTemporospatial and semantic multisensory aspects contribute to bodily and spatial perception. An informative paradigm to study this is the Auditory Pinocchio Illusion, in which participants perceive an elongation of their finger upon vertically pulling their finger and hearing a concurrent upward pitch glissando. This arguably relies on anchoring (i.e., associating) the ecologically unrelated upward pitch glissando to the finger and allows to separately assess the role of semantic and multisensory contributions. However, what is needed for this anchoring to occur is unknown. In a first Experiment, we manipulated top-down attention to the finger upon which either an ascending or descending sound would be produced. In a second experiment, we compared how different bottom-up multisensory cues (arising from actions performed on the finger) concurrent to the ascending or descending pitch affected finger length perception. Participants either pulled, touched or stretched their finger. Through a perceptual judgment task of finger landmark localization and questionnaire ratings, we measured participants' perceived finger length in both studies and separately assessed their sensory imagery skills. Our results show that attention alters finger length perception according to questionnaire ratings but not perceptual judgements, while concurrent multisensory signals similarly affect both measures. No relationship between these effects and participants¿ sensory imagery was found. We suggest that while top-down associations between pitch and verticality are necessary and affect questionnaire ratings, they are not sufficient to affect perceptual judgements. Bottom-up somatosensory cues seem to be additionally needed to impact such judgements in this illusion.This project was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101002711) and the MICIU/AEI (project PID2023-150259OB-C21). The article processing costs were covered by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Agreement CRUE-Madroño 2025). Funding for article processing fees: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (agreement CRUE-Madroño 2025)
Interplay between iron metabolism, inflammation, and EPO-ERFE-hepcidin axis in RDEB-associated chronic anemia
Full text linkRecessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a genodermatosis characterized by severe cutaneous and mucosal fragility, and frequently complicated by multifactorial chronic anemia that responds poorly to conventional therapies. This cross-sectional study investigates the factors contributing to anemia in RDEB by analyzing a representative cohort, that was stratified by disease severity, anemia, and iron status, to examine their hematological parameters, cytokine profile, and the erythropoietin-erythroferrone-hepcidin (EPO-ERFE-hepcidin) axis. Anemia was present in 50% of the cohort. Hemoglobin levels showed a strong negative correlation with the percentage of body surface area affected and C-reactive protein levels (CRP), identifying these as anemia risk factors in RDEB. Moderate-severe inflammation (CRP ≥ 15 mg/L) was observed in all patients with anemia, but no specific cytokine profile was linked with anemia risk because of variability in interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1β, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor, and interferon-γ levels. The regulation of the EPO-ERFE-hepcidin axis showed discrepancies with the patterns expected based on patients’ anemia severity and iron status. According to the reticulocyte production index, an inadequate bone marrow response was observed in 90% of patients with anemia, irrespective of EPO levels. Patients with functional or true iron deficiency had higher ERFE levels, although ERFE showed no consistent correlation with EPO and was elevated in both patients with anemia and those without anemia. Elevated hepcidin was primarily linked to the highest ferritin levels, mostly in patients with a history of iron infusions and/or transfusions. These findings highlight the need for personalized, targeted approaches that address the complex interplay between inflammation and iron dysregulation, to improve anemia management in RDEB and other chronic inflammatory conditions.This study was funded by the Hospital Universitario La Paz Dermatology Service; by Foundation for Biomedical Research of La Paz University Hospital (FIBHULP) (EC_5215; I4V-MC-JAIP); and projects granted by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain PID2020-119792RB-I00, PID2020-1230680B-100, and PID2021-123068OB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER; Unión Eurpea (UE); and by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), Spain, cofinanced by the European Union (NextGenerationEU): La Red Española de Terapias Avanzadas (RICORS-TERAV) RD21/0017/0033 and RD21/0017/0010. M.J.E. was the recipient of a contract funded by DEBRA Austria, cofunded by DEBRA Sweden and EB-LOPPET, and supported by EB Research Network (León-1)