El componente formativo en los contratos de aprendizaje

Nos hallamos ante un estudio que permite profundizar de modo operativo en los efectos de la gestión de recursos humanos sobre la inserción y promoción profesionales. Su objeto es el análisis del impacto de la formación sobre la emplea­bilidad. En concreto, de la formación recibida por los «aprendices» contratados al amparo del Real Decreto-Ley 18/1993 (de Medidas Urgentes de Fomento de la Ocupación), que constituyen el colectivo con mayores dificultades de inserción en el mercado laboral. Más allá de la transitoriedad de las medidas políticas que definen las condiciones del contrato de aprendizaje, el estudio se centra en variables que permiten determinar la influencia de la formación teórica y práctica de los trabajadores sobre su carrera profesional. El Modelo Operativo que determina los grados de inserción profesional constituye una importante contribución a los estudios sobre empleo, al proporcionar indicadores precisos que permiten analizar variables habitualmente consideradas desde una perspectiva meramente contextual, y -no pocas veces- inconsistente. Los datos recogidos sobre la población de aprendices, y sobre los agentes formadores, sometidos a las más rigurosas pruebas estadísticas, revelan aspectos novedosos sobre la aplicación práctica de las acciones formativas realizadas en cumplimiento de las medidas propugnadas por el gobierno. El soporte teórico y metodológico proporciona un fundamento sólido para futuras investigaciones sobre el papel de los sistemas de desarrollo de recursos humanos en la mejora de la reglamentación laboral y la emplea­bilidad

A novel single-use SU-8 microvalve for pressure-driven microfluidic applications

A novel microfluidic single-use valve for fluid injection and extraction in pressure-driven applications is presented in this paper. The device consists of a thin SU-8 membrane crossed by a resistor that withstands a mechanical stress induced by a pressure difference. When the resistor heats up the membrane, the SU-8 fracture strength drastically decreases causing the valve activation. This device has been designed, fabricated using inexpensive SU-8 and printed circuit board technologies and finally characterized. The hybrid thermal–mechanical microvalve operation principle has been demonstrated and experimental results have shown the device characteristics and performance. Specifically, this design was functional at pressures of 0.8 MPa and opened in less than 3.2 s with an applied power of 280 mW. The simple fabrication process and the absence of moving mechanical parts have made the valve suitable for large-scale integration in lab-on-chip microfluidic platforms

Perception of employers and employees regarding the attitude of businesses toward the environment: a qualitative analysis

Commitment and involvement from the different members of an organization are two key elements for an organization to achieve its environmental excellence. Firstly, businesses are aware of the close relationship between their activities and the environment, for they are not only polluting agents but also agents with the capacity to reduce adverse environmental impacts. Secondly, the fact that employees can play a relevant role in terms of the socially responsible measures to be taken by organizations has started to become an irrefutably important issue. This piece of research is intended to help gain knowledge concerning the attitude of the two main actors in productive activity toward the environmental, that is, employers and employees; as well, this research intends to identify factors determining behaviour towards the environmental. For this, we have gathered the ideas and assessments contained in the discourse of a group of small and medium-sized businesses, large company owners and officers, employees, and work related risk prevention representatives. Qualitative work consisted of in-depth interviews and the creation of discussion groups

Characterisation of the fabrication process of freestanding SU-8 microstructures integrated in printing circuit board in microelectromechanical systems

The characterisation of the fabrication process to develop freestanding SU-8 structures integrated in printing circuit board in microelectromechanical systems (PCBMEMS) technology is presented. SU-8 microcantilevers, microbridges, microchannels and micromembranes have been fabricated following the described procedure. Adherence between FR4 substrate and SU-8 has been examined using the destructive blister method, evaluating the surface energy. Residual thermal stress has also been analysed for this integration and compared when using other substrates. Moreover, an estimation of the copper wet etching with cupric chloride has been performed in order to understand how this isotropic etching affects the geometry of the copper structures. Finally, stiction has been observed and examined, estimating the adhesion energy responsible for this effect

Design of a mobile telecardiology system using GPRS/GSM technology

This paper presents the design and development of a portable electrocardiograph to allow the on-line remote monitoring and real-time cardiac diseases diagnostics of patients from the specialist. This prototype has been satisfactory implemented finding a good balance between optimal signal processing and power consumption using a GPRS/GSM modem and a SMT low voltage microprocessor board

"With your age, what do you expect?": Ageism and healthcare of older adults in Spain

Introduction: Ageism could influence the relationship between older patients' meeting needs and healthcare professionals' answers. Aims: To highlight the experience of older adults with healthcare systems, how they perceive ageism from their healthcare providers, and to explore the relationship between perceived ageism and self-perception of aging (SPA). Methods: We conducted an exploratory qualitative study. The participants were 14 women over 65 who lived alone in their homes. Results: Professional responses ignored the expression of preferences of the older patients and excluded them from decision-making processes. These answers influenced older patients' use of health services. Moreover, the negative aspects predominated in a SPA influenced by the internalization of stereotypes and a relationship weighed down by ageist behaviors on the part of health professionals. Conclusion: Explicit situations of ageism influence an imbalance in power relations between older patients and healthcare professionals, a misuse of health services, and a negative SPA.S

Accurate and Wide-Field-of-View MEMS-Based Sun Sensor for Industrial Applications

This paper describes the design, fabrication, sim- ulation, and experimental results of an improved miniaturized two-axis sun sensor for industrial applications, created by adapt- ing a technology used previously in satellite applications. The sensor for each axis is composed of six photodiodes integrated in a crystalline-silicon substrate and a layer of cover glass, which is used to protect the silicon and to hold the windows. The high precision is obtained by the subdivision of the field of view, which is ± 60 ◦ , with a resolution of 0.1 ◦ . Each region is controlled by an independent high-precision solar sensor. The sensor can be used for sun-tracking applications in a photovoltaic system, heliostat concentration plants, and lighting applications.Gobierno de España. AYA2009- 07188-E, ACI2010-1094, AIC-B-2011-0702 (Sensosol project)Junta de Andalucía (España) P08-TIC-03590 (Satsol project

MODASC: ASIC for mobile data acquisition systems using satellite communications

MODASC is an ASIC that performs wide area mobile data acquisition using satellite communication to provide global coverage. This circuit provides two operation modes: an autonomous mode, that periodically establishes connection with the control center, and a slave mode, working as a peripheral connected to a general purpose micro controller. This experiment has been realized under FUSE special action in collaboration with SAINSEL

A multidimensional Bayesian architecture for real-time anomaly detection and recovery in mobile robot sensory systems

peer reviewedFor mobile robots to operate in an autonomous and safe manner they must be able to adequately perceive their environment despite challenging or unpredictable conditions in their sensory apparatus. Usually, this is addressed through ad-hoc, not easily generalizable Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) approaches. In this work, we leverage Bayesian Networks (BNs) to propose a novel probabilistic inference architecture that provides generality, rigorous inferences and real-time performance for the detection, diagnosis and recovery of diverse and multiple sensory failures in robotic systems. Our proposal achieves all these goals by structuring a BN in a multidimensional setting that up to our knowledge deals coherently and rigorously for the first time with the following issues: modeling of complex interactions among the components of the system, including sensors, anomaly detection and recovery; representation of sensory information and other kinds of knowledge at different levels of cognitive abstraction; and management of the temporal evolution of sensory behavior. Real-time performance is achieved through the compilation of these BNs into feedforward neural networks. Our proposal has been implemented and tested for mobile robot navigation in environments with human presence, a complex task that involves diverse sensor anomalies. The results obtained from both simulated and real experiments prove that our architecture enhances the safety and robustness of robotic operation: among others, the minimum distance to pedestrians, the tracking time and the navigation time all improve statistically in the presence of anomalies, with a diversity of changes in medians ranging from ≃20% to ≃500%