Innovation, R&D Investment and Productivity in Chile

This paper uses two sources of information and different methodologies to analyze the causal effect of product and process innovation on productivity in the Chilean manufacturing industry during the past decade. In general, the evidence suggests there is not a contemporaneous effect of product innovation on productivity, but there is a positive effect of process innovation. This notsignificant effect of product innovation contrasts with evidence of studies for other countries. However, the results show the presence of lagged effects product innovation on productivity two years after innovation. Compared with the case of developed countries, this evidence might be consistent with a very slow process of “learning by doing” on the part of Chilean firms with regard to mastering new technologies. These slow and frequently uncertain gains in productivity could help to explain the low levels of investment in research and development (R&D) activities by Chilean firms.Productivity, Innovation, Investment, Research and development, Chile

Water’s unusual thermodynamics in the realm of physical Chemistry

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUGWhile it is known since the early work by Edsall, Frank and Evans, Kauzmann, and others that the thermodynamics of solvation of nonpolar solutes in water is unusual and has implications for the thermodynamics of protein folding, only recently have its connections with the unusual temperature dependence of the density of solvent water been illuminated. Such density behavior is, in turn, one of the manifestations of a nonstandard thermodynamic pattern contemplating a second, liquid−liquid critical point at conditions of temperature and pressure at which water exists as a deeply supercooled liquid. Recent experimental and computational work unambiguously points toward the existence of such a critical point, thereby providing concrete answers to the questions posed by the 1976 pioneering experiments by Speedy and Angell and the associated “liquid−liquid transition hypothesis” posited in 1992 by Stanley and co-workers. Challenges of this phenomenology to the branch of Statistical Mechanics remain.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2020-115722GB-C2

When brand meaning gets personal: understanding the prevalence and antecedents of brand idiosyncrasy

Despite a rich stream of qualitative research demonstrating that brands gain meaning as individual consumers engage in relationships with them, most branding research and practice proceeds on the assumption that brand meaning is predominantly consensual and shared across consumers. The assumption of consensus underpins the branding practices used by most companies today, which strive for consistency, simplicity, and clarity in a brand’s positioning. Still, this assumption has not been empirically validated by systematic research. Hence we do not know whether brand meaning is predominantly consensual, as generally assumed, or idiosyncratic to individual consumers. Based on a conceptual model inspired by the Social Relations Model for interpersonal perception, three empirical studies with more than 50 brands in nine consumption domains test the assumption of consensus and find that, contrary to prevailing wisdom, a brand’s meaning is predominantly idiosyncratic rather than consensual. Managers miss a lot of what brands mean to consumers when they focus only on meanings that are shared across individuals. Managing idiosyncratic meanings requires different tools than managing consensus, but managers are ill-equipped for this task because no prior research has investigated what makes brand meaning more or less idiosyncratic or how managerial actions can influence idiosyncrasy. This dissertation first explores which brand characteristics are associated with higher idiosyncrasy. Two studies suggest that brands are more idiosyncratic as they become more familiar to consumers and when consumed in private rather than in public. Secondly, four studies investigate how marketer-led interactions between consumers and brands, in the forms of marketing communications and direct experience, impact brand idiosyncrasy. Results suggest that narrative communications lead to more idiosyncratic meaning than argument-based communications. They also indicate that increased brand experience results in higher idiosyncrasy. Overall, this pattern of results suggests that brands become more or less idiosyncratic depending on how and how much they interact with consumers. Based on the findings that brands are predominantly idiosyncratic rather than consensual and that brand idiosyncrasy can be measured, predicted, and managed, this research argues for a reconsideration of current theories and practices related to brand positioning and meaning management.2017-06-30T00:00:00

Concentrations of N, P, and K in the corn leaf as affected by weather indexes and selected soil and management factors

The major objectives of this research were: (1) to test and select weather indexes relative to various periods of the growing season in the presence of soil and management factors for each of the N, P, and K corn leaf concentrations; (2) to use and evaluate a summation technique to relate each leaf nutrient to weather indexes computed for various time periods; and (3) to develop a regression prediction model for each leaf nutrient on weather, soil, and management variables. Concentrations of N, P, and K in the corn leaf at the silking stage and related data were from 1927 observations in 15 Iowa counties representing most soil association areas;A number of excess moisture, moisture stress, and precipitation indexes for various periods of the growing season were evaluated by correlation and regression analysis. A summation technique was applied to 5-day moisture stress and precipitation indexes to assess their effects on the leaf nutrients as well as those of their interactions with selected soil and management variables;The early-season moisture and precipitation indexes had negative effects on the leaf nutrients, while less moisture stress and higher rainfall just prior to silking increased both leaf N and P and midseason rainfall increased leaf K. The summation technique was useful to describe the effects of the weather indexes and of their interactions with other variables on leaf nutrients;The final leaf N model had 76 variates and an R(\u272) of 0.419. From the explained variability in leaf N, 8.6% was due to the weather indexes, 4.5% to their interactions with other variables, and 1.8% to interactions between soil and management variables;The final leaf P model had 75 variates and an R(\u272) of 0.512. From the explained variability in leaf P, 8.8% was due to the weather indexes, 3.3% to their interactions with other variables, and 4.2% to interactions between soil and management variables;The final leaf K model had 58 variates and an R(\u272) of 0.683. From the explained variability in leaf K, 3.5% was due to the weather indexes, 1.1% to their interactions with other variables, and 2.1% to interactions between soil and management variables

Macroelement modeling of SSI effects on offshore wind turbines subject to large number of loading cycles

In this paper, the hypoplastic macroelement formulation proposed by [1] has been modified in order to extend its range of applicability to offshore structures subject to cyclic loads with very high number of cycles, with particular attention to fatigue phenomena and cyclic displacement accumulation. A series of FE analysis has been performed to model the soil–foundation interaction processes of a prototype of offshore wind turbine, for which the geometrical characteristic of the superstructure and foundation, the soil conditions and the predicted environmental (wave and wind) loads were known. The study, carried out in parametric form, has allowed to better understand the role played by the modified cyclic part of the macroelement model in reproducing the shake–down effects as observed in small–scale model tests.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

PENGARUH AUDIT INTERNAL DAN KUALITAS SISTEM INFORMASI AKUNTANSI PENJUALAN TERHADAP EFEKTIVITAS PENJUALAN (Studi Pada 3 Perusahaan BUMN Sektor Jasa di Kota Bandung)

Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh audit internal, dan kualitas sistem informasi akuntansi penjualan terhadap efektivitas penjualan secara parsial maupun secara simultan. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah dengan menggunakan instrument kuesioner. Penelitian ini menggunakan data primer. Subjek penelitian ini adalah tiga (3) Persusahaan BUMN Sektor Jasa di Kota Bandung dan objek penelitiannya yaitu audit internal, kualitas sistem informasi akuntansi penjualan, dan efektivitas penjualan. Teknik pengambilan sampel yang digunakan adalah simple random sampling dengan jumlah responden sebanyak 57 orang. Analisis statistik yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah uji asumsi klasik, analisis regresi, korelasi, analisis koefisien determinasi dan uji hipotesis yang diolah dengan menggunakan program SPSS 23,0 for windows. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) secara parsial pengaruh audit internal sebesar 25,90% dan kualitas sistem informasi akuntansi sebesar 33% terhadap efektivitas. (2) secara simultan audit internal dan kualitas sistem informasi akuntansi penjualan terhadap efektivitas penjualan sebesar 58,9%, sedangkan sisanya sebesar 41,1% merupakan pengaruh faktor lain di luar variabel independen yang diteliti. Seperti Efektivitas Pengendalian Internal, Pengetahuan Akuntansi, Operasi Penjualan, Sistem Pengendalian Intern Penjualan, Efektivitas Pengendalian Piutang. Kata Kunci: Audit Internal, Kualitas Sistem Informasi Akuntansi Penjualan, Efektivita

Planar Chirality: A Mine for Catalysis and Structure Discovery

[EN] Planar chirality is one of the most fascinating expressions of chirality, which is exploited by nature to lock three-dimensional chiral conformations and, more recently, by chemists to create new chiral reagents, catalysts, and functional organic materials. Nevertheless, the shortage of procedures able to induce and secure asymmetry during the generation of these unique chiral entities has dissuaded chemists from exploiting their structural properties. This Minireview intends to illustrate the limited but remarkable catalytic methods that have been reported for the production of planar chirality in strained molecules and serve as a source of inspiration for the development of new unconventional procedures, which are expected to appear in the near future.We thank the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFIQOSYC 11/22), the Basque Government (grant IT-1236-19) and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovation (grant PID2019-109633GB-C21), Spain, for their continuous financial support

Ejercicios preventivos de hombros en jugadoras de vóley

En el presente trabajo se realizó un programa de ejercicios preventivos de hombro en 12 jugadoras de vóley del Club Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata en la categoría Damas División Honor. El mismo se llevó a cabo durante tres semanas, una vez finalizado se realizó una valoración subjetiva del esfuerzo. Sobre la base de datos obtenido de dicho programa se intenta demostrar la importancia del entrenamiento preventivo del hombro para el gesto del ataque en las jugadoras de vóley.Departamento de Educación Físic

Anomalies and inflow on D-branes and O-planes

We derive the general form of the anomaly for chiral spinors and self-dual antisymmetric tensors living on D-brane and O-plane interesections, using both path-integral and index theorem methods. We then show that the anomalous couplings to RR forms of D-branes and O-planes in a general background are precisely those required to cancel these anomalies through the inflow mechanism. This allows, for instance, for local anomaly cancellation in generic orientifold models, the relevant Green-Schwarz term being given by the sum of the anomalous couplings of all the D-branes and O-planes in the model.Comment: 24 pages, LaTex file, no figure

Design and Demonstration of Embedded Inductors for High-Voltage Integrated Voltage Regulators

Increased functionalities and computational capacity of today’s electronic systems have resulted in the need for higher power density. Current multi-stage 48 V to 1 V power delivery networks shows efficiencies of 75% or lower. Substrate-embedded inductors can enable the miniaturization of power modules and Integrated Voltage Regulators (IVRs) making possible single-stage down-conversion of 12 V to 1 V or 48 V to 1 V, improving both the system efficiency and regulation bandwidth. The design rules of inductor for single-stage high-conversion-ratio IVRs are quite different and challenging compared to low voltage converter like 1.7 V to 1 V. With extensive design exploration and experimentation, we have validated a novel inductor and fabrication technology along with a novel design methodology. We have demonstrated over 42 fabricated embedded inductors with 7 different designs and 6 different magnetic materials spanning an inductance range from 10 nH to over 500 nH, DC resistance from 14 mOhm to 40 mOhm, and saturation current from 100 mA to over 5 A. We have proposed and validated a new inductor power loss calculation method that includes the effect of frequency, duty cycle, and large-signal (or hysteresis) losses, and only circuit quantities such as inductance and resistance, current ripple, and power loss need to be measured. This new method evolves in an inductor design framework that allows predicting the performance of complex embedded inductors using a discrete toroidal inductor that takes only one day to fabricate. We have demonstrated an inductor with 60 nH, density of 12 nH/mm2, 23 mOhm of DC resistance, a maximum current of 5A, a current density of 1 A/mm2, and an inductance to DC resistance ratio of 2850 nH/Ohm. However, for 12 V to 1 V single-stage IVRs, more advances need to be made for the magnetic materials. We have determined that the required magnetic material needs a relative permeability of 65, loss tangent less than 0.015, saturation field over 6 kA/m, and large to small signal losses ratio of 4. Finally, a scalable small-signal SPICE model is presented. This model allows obtaining an ultra-wide-bandwidth inductor circuit representation with any amount of inductance (for a given magnetic material) using a single model to measurement fitting. We believe these new technologies will allow obtaining improved designs of inductors, magnetic materials, and IVRs to power the next generation of high-performance computing (HPC) platforms.Ph.D