Desenvolvimento, reestruturação da despesa pública e as parcerias público-privadas

This paper analyzes the welfare effects of improvements in investment in education and infrastructure with public-private participation, in a fiscal framework of a small and open economy for the Colombian economy. A DSGE model is built where families make decisions on human capital and the government finances megaprojects by placing infrastructure bonds. The results suggest greater effects in the long-term adjustment and improvements in social welfare when public spending is focused on sectors with higher levels of employment and technological and innovation improvements are introduced.Este artículo analiza los efectos de bienestar de mejoras en la inversión en educación e infraestructura con participación público-privada, en un marco fiscal de economía pequeña y abierta para la economía colombiana. Se construye un modelo DSGE donde las familias toman decisiones de capital humano y el gobierno financia megaproyectos colocando bonos de infraestructura. Los resultados sugieren mayores efectos en el ajuste de largo plazo y mejoras del bienestar social cuando el gasto público se focaliza en sectores con mayores niveles de empleo y se introducen mejoras tecnológicas y de innovación.Este trabalho analisa os efeitos do bem-estar de melhorias no investimento em educação e infraestrutura com a participação público-privada, em um contexto fiscal de economia pequena e aberta para a economia colombiana. É construído um modelo DSGE onde as famílias tomam decisões de capital humano e o governo financia megaprojetos colocando bônus de infraestrutura. Os resultados sugerem maiores efeitos no ajuste a longo prazo e melhorias do bem-estar social quando a despesa pública se focaliza em setores com maiores níveis de emprego e são introduzidas melhorias tecnológicas e de inovação

Sistema Contable basado en NIIF para PYMES, en la empresa Hotel Maná del Cielo del municipio de Matagalpa, en el I semestre del año 2015

El siguiente estudio abarca la temática Sistema Contable basado en NIIF para PYMES en las empresas del departamento de Matagalpa, en el 2015, planteando como subtema de estudio Sistema Contable basado en NIIF para PYMES, en la empresa Hotel Maná del Cielo del municipio de Matagalpa, en el I semestre del año 2015, teniendo como propósito la evaluación del subtema ya descrito. La importancia de este nuevo marco de referencia aplicado a los sistemas contables, se basa en la calidad de las operaciones registradas que tengan incidencia sobre la situación financiera de la empresa, colaborando de esta forma a utilizar la contabilidad como una herramienta para la toma de decisiones, estableciendo también los parámetros para llevar una información contable entendible a nivel mundial. En base al desarrollo del documento, se logró identificar el Sistema Contable utilizado por el Hotel Maná del Cielo, siendo este computarizado conocido como Mónica y basado en los Principios de Contabilidad Generalmente Aceptados, se pudo determinar que este marco ofrece una serie de ventajas a quienes las utilicen, en el caso del Hotel la elaboración de los Estados Financieros propuestos, conllevaría el conocer a profundidad toda su situación económica y financiera y por último se identificaron las secciones de las NIIF para PYMES estudiadas, que aplican al Hotel Maná del Cielo siendo estas: Pequeñas y Medianas Entidades, Presentación de Estados Financieros, Estado de Cambio en el Patrimonio, Inventarios y Transición a las NIIF para PYMES, entre otras

New Technique for Probing the Protecting Character of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase as a Critical but Elusive Property for Pursuing Long Cycle Life Lithium-Ion Batteries

The formation of a protecting nanolayer, so-called solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), on the negative electrode of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) from product precipitation of the cathodic decomposition of the electrolyte is a blessing since the electrically insulating nature of this nanolayer protects the electrode surface, preventing continuous electrolyte decomposition and enabling the large nominal cell voltage of LIBs, e.g., 3.3−3.8 V. Thus, the protection performance of the nanolayer SEI is essential for LIBs to achieve a long cycle life. Unfortunately, the evaluation of this critical property of the SEI is not trivial. Herein, a new, cheap, and easily implementable methodology, the redox-mediated enhanced coulometry, is presented to estimate the protecting quality of the SEI. The key element of the methodology is the addition of a redox mediator in the electrolyte during the degassing step (after the SEI formation cycle). The redox mediator leads to an internal self-discharge process that is inversely proportional to the protecting character of the SEI. Also, the self-discharge process results in an easily measurable decrease in Coulombic efficiency. The influence of vinylene carbonate as an electrolyte additive in the resulting SEI is used as a case study to showcase the potential of the proposed methodology.The author acknowledges the financial support from the Spanish Government (MINECO) through the Research Challenges Programme (Grant RTI2018-099228-A-I00) and Ramón y Cajal award (RYC2018-026086-I) as well as the NanoBat project. NanoBat has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement no. 861962

CRISPR Content Correlates with the Pathogenic Potential of Escherichia coli

Guide RNA molecules (crRNA) produced from clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) arrays, altogether with effector proteins (Cas) encoded by cognate cas (CRISPR associated) genes, mount an interference mechanism (CRISPR-Cas) that limits acquisition of foreign DNA in Bacteria and Archaea. The specificity of this action is provided by the repeat intervening spacer carried in the crRNA, which upon hybridization with complementary sequences enables their degradation by a Cas endonuclease. Moreover, CRISPR arrays are dynamic landscapes that may gain new spacers from infecting elements or lose them for example during genome replication. Thus, the spacer content of a strain determines the diversity of sequences that can be targeted by the corresponding CRISPR-Cas system reflecting its functionality. Most Escherichia coli strains possess either type I-E or I-F CRISPR-Cas systems. To evaluate their impact on the pathogenicity of the species, we inferred the pathotype and pathogenic potential of 126 strains of this and other closely related species and analyzed their repeat content. Our results revealed a negative correlation between the number of I-E CRISPR units in this system and the presence of pathogenicity traits: the median number of repeats was 2.5-fold higher for commensal isolates (with 29.5 units, range 0–53) than for pathogenic ones (12.0, range 0–42). Moreover, the higher the number of virulence factors within a strain, the lower the repeat content. Additionally, pathogenic strains of distinct ecological niches (i.e., intestinal or extraintestinal) differ in repeat counts. Altogether, these findings support an evolutionary connection between CRISPR and pathogenicity in E. coli.This work was supported by Grant BIO2011-24417 from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/min​eco/idi), and Grant ACOMP/2014/135 from the Conselleria D'Educació, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana (http://www.cece.gva.es/es/)

Too Lucky to Be a Victim? An Exploratory Study of Online Harassment and Hate Messages Faced by Social Media Influencers

Influencers are persistently exposed through social media. Once almost unapproachable, celebrities are now open to daily interaction with the public. From comments, polls, emails, and even private messages, the public can engage with their celebrities with a mere click. While this engagement provides influencers with advantages, it also renders them particularly susceptible to online harassment and toxic critics. This paper investigates the characteristics, impact, and reactions to cyber victimisation among social media influencers. To accomplish this objective, the paper presents the findings of two studies: a self-reported online victimisation survey conducted among Spanish influencers and an online ethnography. The results indicate that over 70% of influencers have encountered some form of online harassment and toxic critics. Cyber victimisation, its effects, and reactions vary across socio-demographic characteristics and the influencers’ profiles. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis of the online ethnography reveals that harassed influencers can be classified as non-ideal victims. The implications of these findings for the literature are discussed

La inversión financiera en la empresa: modelo expansionista basados en capitales permanentes

La función financiera de la empresa tiene como objetivo fundamental la obtención de recursos económicos para la realización de su objeto social con garantías de éxito. No obstante, dicha función puede tener diversos enfoques, dependiendo de la finalidad concreta que se persiga en cuanto a la utilización de los recursos obtenidos. En este sentido, en el presente trabajo nos planteamos la evaluación del volumen de recursos financieros necesario para poder propiciar el crecimiento de la unidad económica respecto a ejercicios venideros, teniendo en cuenta determinadas restricciones tales como la capacidad de autofinanciación de la empresa, el mantenimiento de una política de dividendos adecuada, su ratio de endeudamiento, etc..., debiéndose recurrir para efectuar el mencionado estudio a métodos cuantitativos que nos permitan la estimación de parámetros y contraste de test de normalidad de las variables, conjugando las técnicas estadísticas y de programación lineal con la utilización de herramientas informáticas adecuadas (fundamentalmente “hojas de cálculo”), al objeto de poder analizar la financiación empresarial a través capitales permanentes, según las distintas políticas económico-financieras que pueden aplicarse por parte de las empresas. En definitiva se pretende la obtención de un modelo que permita asegurar el crecimiento máximo de la unidad económica a través de las diversas formas de financiación mediante las que es posible obtener recursos económicos, sujetas a las restricciones que aseguren su supervivencia

CRISPR-spacer integration reporter plasmids reveal distinct genuine acquisition specificities among CRISPR-Cas I-E variants of Escherichia coli

Prokaryotes immunize themselves against transmissible genetic elements by the integration (acquisition) in clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) loci of spacers homologous to invader nucleic acids, defined as protospacers. Following acquisition, mono-spacer CRISPR RNAs (termed crRNAs) guide CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins to degrade (interference) protospacers flanked by an adjacent motif in extrachomosomal DNA. During acquisition, selection of spacer-precursors adjoining the protospacer motif and proper orientation of the integrated fragment with respect to the leader (sequence leading transcription of the flanking CRISPR array) grant efficient interference by at least some CRISPR-Cas systems. This adaptive stage of the CRISPR action is poorly characterized, mainly due to the lack of appropriate genetic strategies to address its study and, at least in Escherichia coli, the need of Cas overproduction for insertion detection. In this work, we describe the development and application in Escherichia coli strains of an interference-independent assay based on engineered selectable CRISPR-spacer integration reporter plasmids. By using this tool without the constraint of interference or cas overexpression, we confirmed fundamental aspects of this process such as the critical requirement of Cas1 and Cas2 and the identity of the CTT protospacer motif for the E. coli K12 system. In addition, we defined the CWT motif for a non-K12 CRISPR-Cas variant, and obtained data supporting the implication of the leader in spacer orientation, the preferred acquisition from plasmids harboring cas genes and the occurrence of a sequential cleavage at the insertion site by a ruler mechanism.This work was funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BIO2011-24417)

Remote Laboratories for Teaching and Training in Engineering

Typical mechatronic systems are a combination of advanced technologies involving several disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach to the development of industrial applications provides great opportunities for the implementation of e-learning environments and collaborative schemes. Engineering education, in particular, benefits from many of these advances, among which, virtual instrumentation is a useful tool for the development of virtual environments, e-learning spaces and, particularly, remote laboratories. This chapter describes the implementation of web-based laboratories that allow the remote operation of experiments used as training exercises in undergraduate engineering courses. The remote laboratories were developed using LabVIEW® software, and they enable remote control and monitoring of laboratory equipment, allowing engineering students to perform experiments in real time, at their own pace, from anywhere, and whenever is suitable for them. Besides the experimental training that the web-based laboratories provide to students, the system is also a powerful teaching tool since real-time demonstrations of the experiments can be performed, and they also can be simultaneously monitored by a group of students. This approach is highly beneficial for engineering schools in developing countries, as resources can be shared through the Internet. A description of the system and three proposed experiments is presented, together with the experimental results

Contratos civiles y mercantiles

En la tercera edición de “Contratos civiles y mercantiles” los autores han pretendido poner al día la fenomenología contractual tanto en su teoría general como en el desarrollo de los particulares contratos contenidos en los Códigos Civil y Mercantil. En dicha obra se han ajustado, ampliado y mejorado temas que incorporan las nuevas meditaciones que sobre la doctrina se han realizado, ajustándola a su realidad y a la cada vez más cambiante práctica negocial globalizad

Simultaneous Estimation of Vehicle Roll and Sideslip Angles through a Deep Learning Approach

Presently, autonomous vehicles are on the rise and are expected to be on the roads in the coming years. In this sense, it becomes necessary to have adequate knowledge about its states to design controllers capable of providing adequate performance in all driving scenarios. Sideslip and roll angles are critical parameters in vehicular lateral stability. The later has a high impact on vehicles with an elevated center of gravity, such as trucks, buses, and industrial vehicles, among others, as they are prone to rollover. Due to the high cost of the current sensors used to measure these angles directly, much of the research is focused on estimating them. One of the drawbacks is that vehicles are strong non-linear systems that require specific methods able to tackle this feature. The evolution in Artificial Intelligence models, such as the complex Artificial Neural Network architectures that compose the Deep Learning paradigm, has shown to provide excellent performance for complex and non-linear control problems. In this paper, the authors propose an inexpensive but powerful model based on Deep Learning to estimate the roll and sideslip angles simultaneously in mass production vehicles. The model uses input signals which can be obtained directly from onboard vehicle sensors such as the longitudinal and lateral accelerations, steering angle and roll and yaw rates. The model was trained using hundreds of thousands of data provided by Trucksim® and validated using data captured from real driving maneuvers using a calibrated ground truth device such as VBOX3i dual-antenna GPS from Racelogic®. The use of both Trucksim® software and the VBOX measuring equipment is recognized and widely used in the automotive sector, providing robust data for the research shown in this article.This work was supported by the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (EAI) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain through the project RTI2018-095143-B-C21