The Influence of Framing and Recent Experience on Farmer Choices in Experimental Games Depicting Risk-Reducing Agricultural Technologies

Climate change is a major threat to food security, particularly in low and middle-income countries that are highly dependent on staple crops for subsistence. The vulnerability of staple crops, like maize, in the face of climate change, is increasing due to the increasing frequency of droughts. This thesis aims to evaluate two mechanisms through which farmers may be more willing to adopt new technologies that increase their resilience to climate change: First, I evaluate the effectiveness of a new virtual maize farming game as a learning tool to teach farmers about the outcomes they could obtain under different weather events when adopting new technologies, specifically drought tolerant maize seeds and satellite-based index insurance. Second, I test the effectiveness of framing messages that induce farmers to evaluate prospects not just by the individual utility they provide but also in terms of the utility they may perceive through their family and community well-being. Thus, both, the game and framing messages created for this thesis are meant to nudge farmers’ behaviors, inducing farmers to choose the new resilience-enhancing technologies. As part of a bigger research project, the game was developed and tested with a sample of maize farmers in Mozambique in the form of a framed field experiment. Local data were collected to calibrate key parameters of the simulated game. Enumerators collected sociodemographic data of farmers participating in the experiment through a survey. A subset of the sample for the survey data was randomly selected to participate in one of the three versions of the virtual game, where each version differs by the framing message to which the farmer was exposed. A paired t-test and multinomial logit models were used to test the role of experience in the game and the framing messages in changing farmers’ behavior in the short term, within the game itself. I find that experience within the virtual maize farming game produces changes in farmers’ in-game behavior. Notably, experience with simulated drought events are determinant in the learning process. Additionally, those exposed to the framing messages related to family and community domains are more likely to adopt the new technologies compared to those exposed just to the framing related to the individual domain. Moreover, the impact of the framing varies depending on farmers’ experiences with droughts in the real world as well as during the game. These results indicate that simulated experiences through games could be useful tools to introduce new technologies to small farmers. Furthermore, introducing framing messages in these games can intensify the rate of acceptance and adoption of technologies that may help farmers to be more resilient in the face of climate change. These results only show changes in farmers’ behaviors in the short term. Further research is needed to evaluate the long-term impacts of this experiment

Capability curve analysis of photovoltaic generation systems

The present article assesses the study of the PV generator capability curves for use in large scale photovoltaic power plants (LS-PVPPs). For this purpose, the article focuses on three main aspects: (i) the modelling of the main components of the PV generator, (ii) the operational limits analysis of the PV array together with the inverter, and (iii) the capability curve analysis considering variable solar irradiance and temperature. To validate this study a PVPP of 1 MW is designed, modelled and simulated in DIgSILENT PowerFactory®. The results for each case scenario shows that the capability curve and the limitations are directly affected by: the solar irradiance, temperature, dc voltage, and the modulation index.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

As dificultades de incorporación das mulleres matemáticas á universidade

[RESUMO] Votamos una ollada as primeiras mulleres matemáticas no eido universitario en Europa dende finais do século XIX, analizamos tamén a situación actual en datos porcentuais facendo especial fincapé nas mulleres españolas e nas galegas. Destacamos as singularidades dalgunhas mulleres que nun ámbito desfavorable sobresaíron polos seus logros académicos e/ou científicos

La recepción de la jurisprudencia sobre la protección social de los trabajadores a tiempo parcial y discriminación indirecta por razón de sexo

En el presente trabajo se realiza un análisis crítico de la jurisprudencia europea y nacional dictada a lo largo de las últimas décadas en materia de protección social de los trabajadores a tiempo parcial, así como de las sucesivas modificaciones que dicha jurisprudencia ha provocado en la legislación española. Antes de abordar en profundidad los pronunciamientos recaídos en la materia, y como paso previo imprescindible para comprender el razonamiento de los tribunales, se lleva a cabo un estudio de la situación del contrato a tiempo parcial en España en términos numéricos y de género, así como de la regulación inicial de la Seguridad Social relativa a esta modalidad contractual. En España siempre se ha computado la vida laboral de los trabajadores a tiempo parcial, en el ámbito de la Seguridad Social, de una forma distinta a la empleada para los trabajadores a tiempo completo, pues su tiempo de cotización se veía reducido mediante la aplicación de complejas fórmulas. Ello les ha dificultado, por un lado, el acceso a prestaciones como la pensión de jubilación y, por otro, el reconocimiento de una cuantía de estas adecuada al período realmente trabajado y cotizado. Además, el trato diferencial en materia de protección por desempleo, en cuanto a la determinación de la duración de la prestación, ha perjudicado durante años a los trabajadores a tiempo parcial vertical. El Tribunal de Justicia y el Tribunal Constitucional han destacado en diversas sentencias que esto es contrario al principio de igualdad de trato entre trabajadores a tiempo parcial y a tiempo completo, y también a la prohibición de discriminación indirecta por razón de sexo, ya que las mujeres representan alrededor del 75% del total de contratados a tiempo parcial en nuestro país, y por tanto son las principales afectadas de ese trato desigual

Diseño de un sistema de control interno para la Compañía Aérea Amazonia Verde Cía Ltda., cantón Morona, provincia de Morona Santiago

El presente trabajo de titulación propone diseñar un Sistema de Control Interno para la Compañía Aérea Amazonia Verde Cía. Ltda., Cantón Morona, Provincia de Morona Santiago, con la finalidad de ser una herramienta administrativa que asegure un crecimiento constante y sostenible y así optimizar los recursos de la compañía. Las técnicas de investigación que se utilizaron fueron la observación para la verificación visual de los puntos elementales e identificar los pasos a cumplir en cada una de las actividades, guía de entrevistaquefue aplicada al representante legal paraconocer cómo se realizan las actividades internas, también se realizó las encuestas a los empleados con la finalidad de conocer si el tema planteado es viable y si este es un aporte para el correcto funcionamiento de la organización. Los hallazgos encontrados fueron: la estructura orgánica no está bien definida, hay una ausencia total de funciones definidas por cargo por lo que se desconoce cuáles son las responsabilidades que tienen cada uno de ellos, los procesos de la empresa no son presentados a los empleados en forma de flujogramas. La presente propuesta contiene un manual de procesos, procedimientos además un manual administrativo y contable así como mecanismos de evaluación e indicadores. Se recomienda realizar evaluaciones periódicas con la finalidad de conocer si los procesos se han realizado adecuadamente en el caso de no ser así tomar las medidas correctivas a tiempo.This titling work proposes to design an Internal Control System for the Amazonia Verde Air Company. Ltda., Canton Morona, Morona Santiago Province, to be an administrative tool that ensures constant and sustainable growth and thus optimizes the company`s resources. The investigation techniques used were the observation for the visual verification of the elementary points and to identify the steps to be fulfilled in each one of the activities, an interview guide that was applied to the legal representative to know how the internal activities are carried out. Also, employee surveys were carried out to know if the issue raised is viable and if this is a contribution to the proper functioning of the organization. The findings were: the organic structure is not well defined, there is a total absence of functions defined by charge, so it is unknown what the responsibilities of each of them are, the company processes are not presented to employees in Flowchart form. This proposal contains a process manual, procedures as well as an administrative and accounting manual as well as evaluation mechanisms and indicators. It is recommended to carry out periodic evaluations to know if the processes have been carried out properly in the case of not being able to take corrective measures on time

Resolving Sets Tolerant to Failures in Three-Dimensional Grids

[Abstract] An ordered set S of vertices of a graph G is a resolving set for G if every vertex is uniquely determined by its vector of distances to the vertices in S. The metric dimension of G is the minimum cardinality of a resolving set. In this paper we study resolving sets tolerant to several failures in three-dimensional grids. Concretely, we seek for minimum cardinality sets that are resolving after removing any k vertices from the set. This is equivalent to finding (k+1)-resolving sets, a generalization of resolving sets, where, for every pair of vertices, the vector of distances to the vertices of the set differs in at least k+1 coordinates. This problem is also related with the study of the (k+1)-metric dimension of a graph, defined as the minimum cardinality of a (k+1)-resolving set. In this work, we first prove that the metric dimension of a three-dimensional grid is 3 and establish some properties involving resolving sets in these graphs. Secondly, we determine the values of k≥1 for which there exists a (k+1)-resolving set and construct such a resolving set of minimum cardinality in almost all cases.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk lodowska-Curie grant agreement No 734922. M. Mora is supported by projects H2020-MSCA-RISE-2016-734922 CONNECT, PID2019-104129GB-I00/MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and Gen.Cat. DGR2017SGR1336; M. J. Souto-Salorio is supported by project PID2020-113230RB-C21 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUECSIC agreement with Springer NatureGeneralitat de Catalunya; DGR2017SGR133

Resolving Sets Tolerant to Failures in Three-Dimensional Grids

[Abstract] An ordered set S of vertices of a graph G is a resolving set for G if every vertex is uniquely determined by its vector of distances to the vertices in S. The metric dimension of G is the minimum cardinality of a resolving set. In this paper we study resolving sets tolerant to several failures in three-dimensional grids. Concretely, we seek for minimum cardinality sets that are resolving after removing any k vertices from the set. This is equivalent to finding (k+1)-resolving sets, a generalization of resolving sets, where, for every pair of vertices, the vector of distances to the vertices of the set differs in at least k+1 coordinates. This problem is also related with the study of the (k+1)-metric dimension of a graph, defined as the minimum cardinality of a (k+1)-resolving set. In this work, we first prove that the metric dimension of a three-dimensional grid is 3 and establish some properties involving resolving sets in these graphs. Secondly, we determine the values of k≥1 for which there exists a (k+1)-resolving set and construct such a resolving set of minimum cardinality in almost all cases.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk lodowska-Curie grant agreement No 734922. M. Mora is supported by projects H2020-MSCA-RISE-2016-734922 CONNECT, PID2019-104129GB-I00/MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and Gen.Cat. DGR2017SGR1336; M. J. Souto-Salorio is supported by project PID2020-113230RB-C21 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUECSIC agreement with Springer NatureGeneralitat de Catalunya; DGR2017SGR133