Patrones metodológicos en la investigación española sobre evaluación de programas educativos

Este estudio pretende realizar inferencias sobre el campo de la Evaluación de Programas Educativos (E.P.E.), sintetizando ciertos patrones relativos a la metodología de sus investigaciones.En concreto, sobre el paradigma de fundamentación epistemológica, la metodologíade investigación específica, el modelo evaluativo empleado, las técnicas de muestreo, los instrumentos empleados para la recogida de información y las técnicas de análisis de datos, el diseños de investigación, las amenazas a su validez, los agentes evaluadores y otras características metodológicasconsideradas. Para ello, se revisaron 208 trabajos realizados y/o publicados en España desde el año 1975 al 2000, publicados la mayoría como artículos en revistas científicas especializadas. Obtenidos a partir de una búsqueda en diversas bases de datos, complementada con una búsqueda manual de referencias cruzada

Session-based concurrency, declaratively

Session-based concurrency is a type-based approach to the analysis of message-passing programs. These programs may be specified in an operational or declarative style: the former defines how interactions are properly structured; the latter defines governing conditions for correct interactions. In this paper, we study rigorous relationships between operational and declarative models of session-based concurrency. We develop a correct encoding of session 휋-calculus processes into the linear concurrent constraint calculus (횕회회), a declarative model of concurrency based on partial information (constraints). We exploit session types to ensure that our encoding satisfies precise correctness properties and that it offers a sound basis on which operational and declarative requirements can be jointly specified and reasoned about. We demonstrate the applicability of our results by using our encoding in the specification of realistic communication patterns with time and contextual information

Patrones de citación en la investigación española sobre evaluación de programas educativos (1975-200)

This study is a scienciometric review whose aim is to synthesize, according to citation indicators, a series of the primary Spanish studies found dealing with program evaluation into the educational field during the period 1975-2000. Considering an isomorphism between research and publication of the corresponding reports in the form of articles in specialised journals, we begin with a literature retrieval in the ISOC-CSIC data base and proceed with other cross–references retrieved. In this way, a review was made with 138 studies published as research papers in Spanish educational scientific journals. Several citation indicators were obtained which could help us to infer some considerations on the evaluation of educational programs in this field and period of time.Este estudio es una revisión cienciométrica que trata de sintetizar, utilizando indicadores de citación, las realizaciones de la investigación educativa española sobre evaluación de programas educativos durante el periodo 1975-2000. Tras asumir un isomorfismo entre investigación y publicación de su informe como artículo en revistas especializadas, se parte de una búsqueda de tales informes fundamentalmente en la base de datos del ISOC/CSIC (Instituto de Información y Documentación en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades), complementada con búsquedas cruzadas manuales, para realizar la revisión de 138 estudios recuperados y publicados como artículos de investigación en revistas científicas españolas del campo de la Educación. Al efecto, se elaboran y examinan una serie de indicadores cientimétricos de citación, que permiten inferir ciertas consideraciones sobre la evaluación de programas educativos en este campo y periodo

Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y la Transición exterior: la prioridad europea

Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo played an important role in Spain’s transition to democracy, serving as minister and later prime minister. His political career was closely linked to Foreign Affairs and to the process of the “Foreign Transition” as he liked to call it. This paper, largely based upon his personal archives, analyses his thought, and how his idea of Europe played an important role in the formulation and execution of his policy. Calvo-Sotelo’s ideas and achievements are compared with those of other political leaders of the time, such as Adolfo Suárez and Felipe González. The conclusions show the nature and characteristics of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo’s pro-European ideas.Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo desempeñó importantes responsabilidades ejecutivas en los gobiernos de la Transición, incluida la presidencia del Gobierno. Su gestión estuvo intensamente vinculada a las relaciones exteriores, dentro del proyecto que él mismo denominó «transición exterior». El artículo, basado en buena medida en documentación conservada en su archivo personal, analiza cuáles fueron sus principales ideas y en qué medida su concepto de Europa desempeñó un papel relevante en la formulación y ejecución de su política. Analiza esos hechos en relación con otros dirigentes del momento, especialmente Adolfo Suárez y Felipe González. Las conclusiones permiten conocer en qué consistió el europeísmo del principal protagonista de estos hechos

Resiliencia contable: gobierno corporativo y transparencia bancaria

The last two crises have shown two different sides of the banking system: while the financial crisis of 2008 revealed its vulnerability to excessive risk-taking policies, during the current pandemic banks are revealing courageous to mitigate the devas-tating economic effects, despite the risk that this policy entails. However, in both cases there is an underlying question of how to make the information provided by banks more transparent. In this paper we contrast the relationship between the structure of the board of directors and accounting disclosure (understood as recognition of risk through loan loss provisions) through a sample of 1,352 banks from 52 countries between 2000 and 2019. We obtain an inverse U-shaped rela-tionship with the size of the board, consistent with the idea of an optimal number of directors. Likewise, we find a positive influence of board independence, tenure, and diversity (in terms of female presence).Las dos últimas crisis (la financiera desencadenada a partir de 2008 y la actual provocada por la COVID-19) han mostrado dos facetas distintas del sistema bancario: mientras que aquella expuso su vulnerabilidad a los riesgos asumidos, esta última ha mostrado su denodado esfuerzo por atenuar los devastadores efectos económicos, a pesar del riesgo que esa política comporta. Sin embargo, en ambos casos subyace la cuestión sobre cómo fortalecer la arquitectura corporativa de los bancos para mejorar la información que proporcionan. En el presente trabajo estudiamos la relación existente entre la configuración del consejo de administración y la transparencia contable (entendida como reconocimiento del riesgo a través de la dotación a las provisiones por préstamos incobrables) de una muestra de 1.352 bancos de 52 países entre 2000 y 2019. Obtenemos una relación con el tamaño del consejo en forma de U invertida, coherente con la idea de un entorno óptimo del número de consejeros. Asimismo, encontramos un efecto positivo de la independencia, de la permanencia y de la diversidad (en términos de presencia femenina) de los consejos

Decarbonization of Distribution Transformers Based on Current Reduction: Economic and Environmental Impacts

[EN] Well-known industrial practice efficiency improvement techniques, such as reactive compensation, load balancing, and harmonic filtering, are used in this paper to reduce energy losses in distribution transformers, and therefore, to decrease carbon dioxide emissions and economic costs in the operation of these transformers. Load balancing is carried out by monitoring the values of the angles of the active and reactive components of the vector unbalanced power. Likewise, the application of Order 3/2020 of the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission is described, in detail, for the calculation of the economic costs derived from the transformer energy losses caused by the load currents and the penalties due to transformer energy deliveries with capacitive power factors. Finally, all these improvement techniques are applied to determine savings in carbon dioxide emissions and costs on the electricity bill of an actual 1000 kVA distribution transformer that supplies a commercial and night-entertainment area. The results of this application case reveal that cost reductions due to energy loss savings are modest, but the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and the savings in penalties for capacitive reactive supplies are significant.This research was funded by Generalitat Valenciana (grant number GV/2021/149) and the H2020 project SMEmPower (grant number 847132). The APC was funded by Generalitat Valenciana.León-Martínez, V.; Andrada-Monrós, C.; Molina-Cañamero, L.; Cano-Martinez, J.; Peñalvo-López, E. (2021). Decarbonization of Distribution Transformers Based on Current Reduction: Economic and Environmental Impacts. Energies. 14(21):1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14217207S122142

Diversity and decentralization in the democratization process in Spain

This paper will deal with the history of an important political change in Spain during the transition to democracy between 1976 and 1982: the transformation of a unitary and centralized state to one composed of several political units capable of self-government. The starting point of that process was the confirmation of regional diversity and of the existence of clearly differentiated political sensibilities in some of its territories. The researchers shall rely especially on the legacy of some of the principal actors, and explore the connection between such diversity and the political change that took place

Las provisiones legales de la banca europea: transparencia, discrecionalidad y buen gobierno

The aim of this paper is to analyse European banks’ legal provisions during the period 2008-2017. We consider these provisions as a disclosure tool that can improve the transparency of the company, but may also be driven by self-interest motivations. We use a sample of 92 systemic banks from 18 countries supervised by the Single Supervisory Mechanism of the European Central Bank. Three main results emerge from our research. First, we find a negative relationship between managerial discretional behaviour and legal provisions, suggesting that managers are reluctant to recogise risk. A second result is the moderating effect of the independence of the board of directors, which becomes an effective instrument for recognising risk through legal provisions. Third, our results support the effectiveness of an appropriate institutional environment (in terms of legal quality and investors protection), which is a necessary condition for the board of directors to carry out its task.Este trabajo ha obtenido un accésit del Premio «Estudios Financieros» 2020 en la modalidad de Contabilidad y Administración de Empresas. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar la política de dotación de provisiones legales de la banca europea durante el periodo 2008-2017. Dichas provisiones constituyen una herramienta para mejorar la transparencia de la empresa, pero pueden obedecer también a motivaciones discrecionales. Utilizando una muestra de 92 bancos sistémicos de 18 países supervisados por el Mecanismo Único de Supervisión del Banco Central Europeo, nuestra investigación propone tres resultados principales. En primer lugar, encontramos una relación negativa entre la discrecionalidad directiva y las provisiones legales, lo que sugiere una renuencia por parte de los directivos al reconocimiento del riesgo. Un segundo resultado es el efecto moderador de la independencia del consejo de administración, que se erige en instrumento que favorece la dotación de las correspondientes provisiones legales cuando la discrecionalidad directiva así lo aconseja. En tercer lugar, nuestros resultados avalan la eficacia de un entorno institucional adecuado (en términos de calidad legal y protección de los inversores), que constituye una condición necesaria para que el consejo de administración desarrolle su tarea

Experimental Infection and Detection of Necrotizing Hepatopancreatitis Bacterium in the American Lobster Homarus americanus

Necrotizing hepatopancreatitis bacterium (NHPB) is an obligated intracellular bacteria causing severe hepatopancreatic damages and mass mortalities in penaeid shrimp. The worldwide distribution of penaeid shrimp as alien species threatens the life cycle of other crustacean species. The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the possibility of experimentally infecting the American lobster (Homarus americanus) with NHPB extracted from shrimp hepatopancreas. Homogenates from infected shrimp were fed by force to lobsters. Other group of lobsters was fed with homogenates of NHPB-free hepatopancreas. After the 15th day from initial inoculation, the presence of NHPB was detected by polymerase chain reaction in feces and hepatopancreas from lobsters inoculated with infected homogenates. Necrotized spots were observed in the surface of lobster hepatopancreas. In contrast, lobsters fed on NHPB-free homogenates resulted negative for NHPB. Evidence suggests the plasticity of NHPB which can infect crustacean from different species and inhabiting diverse latitudes. Considering the results, the American lobster could be a good candidate to maintain available NHPB in vivo

Problem-based learning versus lectures : comparison of academic results and time devoted by teachers in a course on Dentistry in Special Patients

Objectives: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching-learning technique centred on the complete development of the student. It has been successfully implemented in several universities, notably in the health sciences. The process of creating the European Higher Education Area, initiated in Bologna, encourages European universities to use new methodologies in the teaching-learning process, including PBL. Our objectives were to analyze the results obtained by using PBL with fifth-year Dentistry students. Study design: Comparison of academic results between students receiving lectures and PBL participants, and assessment of differences between them in the time devoted to tasks by students and teachers. Results: PBL participants obtained higher grades compared to those receiving lectures only(p<0.05). The two student groups devoted the same amount of time to this subject but the time distribution of tasks was very different, with PBL students spending more time on group work and analysis of the literature. The teachers devoted much more time to the PBL group. Conclusions: PBL is a teaching-learning methodology that improves student academic results. PBL diverts student time to more complex tasks but requires a greater commitment from the teachers