The influence of social capital on risk-taking propensity. A study on Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs

This paper studies the influence of social capital on immigrant entrepreneurs’ risk-taking propensity. The paper has a particular focus on Chinese immigrants and also explores the effects of the so-called “guanxi”, a specific form of social capital for Chinese communities. The empirical research is based on a survey conducted in 2012 on Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Andalusia (Spain). An ordinal logistic regression specification was employed to test the hypotheses. The results show that the Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs with greater structural, relational and cognitive social capital and better “guanxi” have a higher risk-taking propensity in their business activity

Exploración del potencial de la espectroscopía Raman portátil en la caracterización de los vinos

Las técnicas espectroscópicas presentan grandes ventajas para el estudio de la naturaleza físico-química de los materiales (composición-estructura) por su rapidez analítica, su carácter no destructivo y su versatilidad de uso. A pesar de esto, no han sido muy utilizadas en la caracterización de vinos y licores, sin embargo, por lo apuntado más arriba, el potencial de estas para el uso en esta área es enorme. En este trabajo, se tratará de hacer un estudio preliminar de vinos y licores usando fundamentalmente técnicas espectroscópicas vibracionales (IR y Raman). Se han estudiado diversas muestras de vinos blancos y tintos con diferente estado de degradación con el objeto de determinar productos principales asociados con este proceso. También se han estudiado productos de destilación con el objetivo de estimar espectroscópicamente el grado alcohólico y compararlo con métodos tradicionales, así como identificar otros posibles productos que no se detectan con los métodos tradicionales.Grado en Físic

Optimising Humanness: Designing the best human-like Bot for Unreal Tournament 2004

This paper presents multiple hybridizations of the two best bots on the BotPrize 2014 competition, which sought for the best humanlike bot playing the First Person Shooter game Unreal Tournament 2004. To this aim the participants were evaluated using a Turing test in the game. The work considers MirrorBot (the winner) and NizorBot (the second) codes and combines them in two different approaches, aiming to obtain a bot able to show the best behaviour overall. There is also an evolutionary version on MirrorBot, which has been optimized by means of a Genetic Algorithm. The new and the original bots have been tested in a new, open, and public Turing test whose results show that the evolutionary version of MirrorBot apparently improves the original bot, and also that one of the novel approaches gets a good humanness level.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A Model-Driven approach for functional test case generation

Test phase is one of the most critical phases in software engineering life cycle to assure the final system quality. In this context, functional system test cases verify that the system under test fulfills its functional specification. Thus, these test cases are frequently designed from the different scenarios and alternatives depicted in functional requirements. The objective of this paper is to introduce a systematic process based on the Model-Driven paradigm to automate the generation of functional test cases from functional requirements. For this aim, a set of metamodels and transformations and also a specific language domain to use them is presented. The paper finishes stating learned lessons from the trenches as well as relevant future work and conclusions that draw new research lines in the test cases generation context.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-46928-C3-3-

Concurrent sampling: a view from the experience of the Spanish sampling programme

Working document presented at RCM NAIEO has been asked by RCM NA to provide an evaluation of the concurrent sampling carried out from 2009 following EU Data Collection Framework. Given that IEO has always applied the concurrent sampling on board (as part of the Discards Sampling Programme), the present document refers exclusively to the on-shore sampling. It has to be noted that some of these considerations were already presented to the Workshop on Implementation Studies on Concurrent Length Sampling (WKISCON2) as requested by ICES. So some figures are taken from the work developed there, based on the 2008-2014 data series provided by IEO. Considerations on quality issues (not addressed by WKISCON2) are presented as part of a case study focused on the Northern Spanish coastal small-scale gillnets fleet

El impacto innovador de la reforma de planes de estudio en la licenciatura de Pedagogía de la Universidad de Granada

El desarrollo de la reforma de las enseñanzas universitarias en España desde 1983 ha supuesto incuestionables avances, aunque también importantes desajustes de tipo, fundamentalmente estructural y organizativo. En este contexto podemos, pues, situar el presente estudio de corte empírico en el que tomando como objeto la Licenciatura de Pedagogía de la Universidad de Granada se ha verificado la escasa innovación pedagógica asociada a la implantación de los nuevos planes de estudio en relación con tres elementos claves del currículum: objetivos y metodologías de enseñanza, así como estrategias de evaluación del aprendizaje

On the internationalization of SMEs and its contribution to Spain’s image abroad

Este artículo reivindica el papel de las PYME como actores estratégicos en la conformación de una buena imagen exterior de España. En el actual escenario de globalización, en el que la nacionalidad de las grandes corporaciones tiende a diluirse, las PYME podrían llegar a contribuir más establemente a la marca España por su vinculación más permanente y estrecha al territorio. Igualmente, en algunos contextos, como en el caso de Latinoamérica, las PYME podrían coadyuvar a una imagen más amable de España en el exterior. El trabajo presenta algunos rasgos esenciales del grado y tendencias de internacionalización de la PYME española. Desde esta perspectiva, el artículo analiza los mecanismos y condicionantes que delimitan la contribución potencial que las PYME pueden realizar a la marca España. Asimismo, se señalan algunas ventajas de asociar la imagen exterior de España a las PYME y algunas posibles iniciativas para mejorar la contribución de las PYME internacionalizadas a la marca España.This article vindicates the role of SMEs as strategic actors in shaping a good image of Spain abroad. In the current framework of globalization, the nationality of corporations tends to fade. Hence, SMEs could contribute more stably to improving the nation brand of Spain due to its more permanent and close linkage to the territory. Similarly, in some specific contexts, as in the case of Latin America, SMEs could contribute to a more friendly image of Spain abroad. The paper presents some essential characteristics and trends of the internationalization of Spanish SMEs. From this perspective, the article analyzes the mechanisms and factors which delimit the potential contribution that SMEs can make to the nation brand of Spain. Furthermore, the article points out some advantages of associating the external image of Spain with SMEs and some possible initiatives to enhance the contribution of internationalized SMEs to Spain’s national branding project

Influence of the Surface Viscosity on the Breakup of a Surfactant-Laden Drop

We examine both theoretically and experimentally the breakup of a pendant drop loaded with an insoluble surfactant. The experiments show that a significant amount of surfactant is trapped in the resulting satellite droplet. This result contradicts previous theoretical predictions, where the effects of surface tension variation were limited to solutocapillarity and Marangoni stresses.We solve numerically the hydrodynamic equations, including not only those effects but also those of surface shear and dilatational viscosities. We show that surface viscosities play a critical role to explain the accumulation of surfactant in the satellite droplet.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad DPI2013-46485-C3-1-R, TRA2013- 45808-RJunta de Extremadura GR1004

Low density polyethylene/silica nanocomposite foams. Relationship between chemical composition, particle dispersion, cellular structure and physical properties

Postprint (author's final draft