Measures of Science & Technology in Ecuador

One of the structural problems in Latin-American has been the lower innovative capacity and lower generation of economically exploitable knowledge. This phenomenon has been produced by the absence of government’s incentives and strategies in order to be competitive inside the Knowledge Based Economy. More concretely, political, institutional and social factors have contributed negatively within this reality. As a consequence, the knowledge generation in this region is insufficient not only to satisfy its necessities but also to be competitive in the global context. At difference, the developing regions have recognized the significance impact of Science and Technology (S&T) and Education in their sustainable growth. In the Latin-American context, this analysis requires robust indicators that help to evidence the causes of this problematic. In this respect, the absence of harmonized politics and common variables that allows studying the evolution of S&T in the Latin-American region is the main limitation for this analysis. Based on that, this report brings an exploratory analysis that allows identifying the critical factors and the possible solutions of this S&T problematic. In parallel, the case of the National Innovation System implanted in Ecuador is presented and evaluated.Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Innovation

Retrospectiva del desempeño de las políticas científicas impulsadas en Ecuador

This article presents a reconstruction of the scientific policies established in Ecuador in the years between 1979 and 2007. The purpose is double: on the one hand, it seeks to understand the process of institutionalization of the System of Science and Technology, on the other hand analysing the achievements of three scientific policies established during this period. Hence, the reconstruction is split into three stages: from 1979 to 1994 when the first scientific policy was in place; from 1994 to 2004 the second policy; and between 2005 and 2007 the third policy. To obtain the objective, some of the most relevant normative aspects during each stage are reviewed, as well as institutional statistical records related to Science and Technology

Uprolides N, O and P from the Panamanian Octocoral Eunicea succinea.

Three new diterpenes, uprolide N (1), uprolide O (2), uprolide P (3) and a known one, dolabellane (4), were isolated from the CH₂Cl₂-MeOH extract of the gorgonian octocoral Eunicea succinea, collected from Bocas del Toro, on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Their structures were determined using spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) together with molecular modeling studies. Compounds 1-3 displayed anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting production of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and Interleukin (IL)-6 induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine macrophages

Evaluación del conocimiento didáctico y científico del profesorado : el caso del sistema educativo de Panamá

La investigación que se presenta en este artículo parte de la realización de un estudio sobre el profesorado que enseña Ciencias (Gairín (coord.), 2009) en el contexto del Plan de Evaluación de los Aprendizajes de Ciencias y Matemática que se inició en el año 2008 por parte de la Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT) de Panamá. Una vez reconocidos los conocimientos didácticos y científicos de una muestra del profesorado panameño, se pretende identificar las debilidades en los saberes de los profesores con la finalidad de orientar políticas de formación y desarrollo profesional.The research presented in this paper derives from a broad study of Panamanian science teachers carried out in the context of the Plan de Evaluación de los Aprendizajes de Ciencias y Matemática. This plan stars in 2008 and was held by Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT) from Panama. The goal was to evaluate not only the science education knowledge but also the scientific one of a Panamanian science teacher sample. The ultimate goal was to identify the weaknesses in teachers knowledge to orientate the government in the in service teacher programs

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Latinamerican Scoreborard: The impact of University-Industry Cooperation in Ecuador

One of the structural problems in Latin-American has been the lower innovative capacity and lower generation of economically exploitable knowledge. This phenomenon has been produced by the absence of government’s incentives and strategies in order to be competitive inside the Knowledge Based Economy. More concretely, political, institutional and social factors have contributed negatively within this reality. As a consequence, the knowledge generation in this region is insufficient not only to satisfy its necessities but also to be competitive in the global context. At difference, the developing regions have recognized the significance impact of R&D investment and Education in their sustainable growth.This report uses the methodology proposed by the European Commission in the study about the “European Innovation Scoreboard 2007”. Specifically, this methodology is adapted at the Latin-American reality. In summary, the results will provide the current picture of the innovation and entrepreneurship in Latin-American Countries.Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth

Pymes, innovación y desarrollo

Este artículo analiza la evolución del emprendimiento durante una década del Proyecto GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor). Los hallazgos principales del estudio muestran que el Total de Actividad Emprendedora Temprana (TEA, 0-42 meses) aumenta en épocas de bonanza económica. En 2009, Panamá fue uno de los países con la mayor cuota de emprendedores nacientes optimistas en términos de hacer crecer sus negocios. La Tasa de Actividad Emprendedora (TEA) de Panamá está conformada casi en su totalidad por emprendimiento naciente (0 a 3 meses). La mayoría de los emprendedores procede de clase social media-alta. Los emprendedores jóvenes (que oscilan entre 18-24 años), son más frecuentes en Panamá que en otros países, en donde este bloque de emprendedores es predominante, y el número de emprendedores decrece a medida que la edad avanza. Entre los demás países, las empresas panameñas muestran un bajo grado de innovación. Panamá también exhibe una de las discrepancias más grandes entre un nivel alto de TEA, y muy bajo de negocios consolidados. Estos últimos son un tercio de TEA, sugiriendo que si bien existe efusividad por la creación de empresas, las actividades tienen una sostenibilidad limitada en el tiempo. Solo algunos negocios permanecen. Los rangos de discontinuidad emprendedora causada por falta de rentabilidad son particularmente altos. Muchas empresas mueren en el intento. El estudio demuestra una gran efusividad por la creación de empresas en el país, pero a su vez apuntan a la necesidad de hacer énfasis en medidas para la maduración, robustecimiento y fortalecimiento empresarial.Postprint (published version

g-engineering in hybrid rotaxanes to create AB and AB2 electron spin systems: EPR spectroscopic studies of weak interactions between dissimilar electron spin qubits

Hybrid [2]rotaxanes and pseudorotaxanes are reported where the magnetic interaction between dissimilar spins is controlled to create AB and AB2 electron spin systems,allowing independent control of weakly interacting S =1=2 centers

HEH-BMAC: hybrid polling MAC protocol for WBANs operated by human energy harvesting

This paper introduces human energy harvesting medium access control (MAC) protocol (HEH-BMAC), a hybrid polling MAC suitable for wireless body area networks powered by human energy harvesting. The proposed protocol combines two different medium access methods, namely polling (ID-polling) and probabilistic contention access, to adapt its operation to the different energy and state (active/inactive) changes that the network nodes may experience due to their random nature and the time variation of the energy harvesting sources. HEH-BMAC exploits the packet inter-arrival time and the energy harvesting rate information of each node to implement an efficient access scheme with different priority levels. In addition, our protocol can be applied dynamically in realistic networks, since it is adaptive to the topology changes, allowing the insertion/removal of wireless sensor nodes. Extensive simulations have been conducted in order to evaluate the protocol performance and study the throughput and energy tradeoffs.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Análisis para el financiamiento de estudios de posgrados a los partícipes de FONDOPROViDA, mediante una línea de crédito

La presente investigación se enfoca en el análisis de las principales necesidades financieras tanto del Fondoprovida como de sus socios en lo referente a financiar estudios de cuarto nivel para así determinar las mejores alternativas de crédito que el fondo podría ofrecer con el fin de dar mayor facilidad a sus socios cumpliendo todas sus expectativas en un contexto de continuos cambios y nuevas tecnologías de la sociedad moderna.EconomistaCuenc