Design and validation of a questionnaire to measure research skills: experience with engineering students

Universities in Latin American countries are undergoing major changes in its institutional and academic settings. One strategy for continuous improvement of teaching and learning process is the incorporation of methods and teaching aids seeking to develop scientific research skills in students from their undergraduate studies. The aim of this study is the validation of a questionnaire to measure research skills with engineering students. Questionnaire validation was performed by: literature review, semantic and content validation by experts from three Latin American universities, finishing with a factorial and reliability validation. The instrument was applied to 150 students (75,3% men and 24,7% women) that were enrolled in the basic level of engineering. The validated questionnaire has 20 items. The correlations between factors of the instrument, show relationship and dependence between them, indicating the validity of the questionnaire. The reliability of the instrument was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which reached a value of .91 in the total scale. The statistical results to validate the questionnaire have been significant, allowing us to propose this experience as a starting point to implement further studies about the development of research skills in university’s students from other areas of knowledgePeer Reviewe

Propiedades fotoelectroquímicas y físicas de películas de óxido de Ti obtenidas por Sputtering: hacia una nueva celda solar nanocristalina sensibilizada con colorante

En la presente tesis se obtienen películas de óxido de Ti por la técnica de DC sputtering (llamado en castellano evaporación catódica reactiva) para ser empleadas como electrodos de trabajo en celdas solares sensibilizadas por colorante. Las películas fueron sensibilizadas con la molécula cis-ditiocianato-bis(2,2´-bipiridil-4,4´dicarboxilato) rutenio II, que hasta el momento es el compuesto más utilizado para el uso de este tipo de nuevas celdas solares. Las películas de óxido de titanio fueron caracterizadas por microscopía electrónica de barrido, de fuerza atómica y se determinó la correlación del espesor con la rugosidad de estas, así como su dependencia con el área disponible para la interacción con la molécula del colorante sensibilizador. Las características fotoelectroquímicas de las celdas solares se evaluaron por técnicas como la medición de la eficiencia cuántica, medida para la incidencia de luz frontal y posterior en las celdas, y la voltametría cíclica, por medio de las cuales se obtuvo la correlación de la morfología de las películas de óxido de titanio con la eficiencia cuántica de las celdas solares.Suecia. International Science Programme (IPPS

An empirical comparison of the performance of alternative option pricing models

Published as an article in: Investigaciones Economicas, 2005, vol. 29, issue 3, pages 483-523.option pricing, conditional volatility, SNN Nonparametric estimator

La creatividad y el emprendimiento en tiempos de crisis

El estudio de la creatividad como elemento básico del desarrollo humano desde sus inicios ha dado claves para el desarrollo de competencias y habilidades en las personas que les permita desenvolverse con autonomía en entornos cada vez más cambiantes por las dinámicas sociales, económicas y laborales en las que se encuentran inmersos los países actualmente. Para diferentes investigadores y para los propios mercados laborales la creatividad está relacionada con la innovación y las respuestas a los problemas que surgen de las nuevas demandas de los consumidores. La educación empresarial se presenta como una oportunidad para que las personas emprendedoras puedan trabajar y desarrollar su creatividad. Este tipo de educación más el apoyo institucional por medio de políticas de desarrollo del emprendimiento y autoempleo pueden consolidar el tejido productivo y empresarial español por medio de una red de personas innovadoras que afronten el desafío que esta generando la crisis económica que afecta actualmente a los países. La creatividad aplicada por medio de la educación empresarial, puede generar mejoras en el proceso de transición profesional que realizan los/as trabajadores/as desde que finalizan o abandonan los estudios hasta que se incorporan al mercado de trabaj

Social movements: development actors in Bolivia? : a case study of how "Cocaleros" movements perceive their role in Bolivian development processes

Masteroppgave development management- Universitetet i Agder 2010In the last decades the Bolivian social movements started gaining force and raising their voices against the injustices and the inefficiency of the governments to give solution to their problems. During the last 20 years the movements have started to gain control and force, but many of the movements have a longer history. One of them is the cocaleros movement, the coca leaf growers’ movement. They spent more than thirty years fighting for what they considered to be their rights; they practically started form cero and created a strong organization that represents not only their particular interests, but the collective identity of their people. This thesis, based on a six months research among the cocaleros communities, academicians and civil society shows how this social movement emerged, how it has evolved over time and how its leaders managed to create perhaps the strongest social movement in the history of Bolivia. The cocaleros movement was the first social movement that created a ‘political instrument’ (the political party MAS), a party that won for the second time in the Bolivian history, with majority, the national presidential elections. As such, the movement has truly assisted in giving Bolivia its first indigenous president, the former cocalero leader Evo Morales. This thesis explores how the members of the cocaleros movement perceive their role in the Bolivian society; how they feel the impacts of their actions have changed Bolivia. The thesis will also discuss whether they are really changing the Bolivian context or if they are merely following a political discourse. Finally, the thesis also describes the way this social movement is seen by other sectors of society, sectors who may or may not agree with the new government that is somehow closely related to the cocaleros social movement

Disminución de mortalidad en hemopatías malignas con un nuevo método de acondicionamiento para trasplante alogénico mieloablativo

ResumenIntroducciónEl trasplante alogénico de células progenitoras hematopoyéticas (TACPH) es el tratamiento de elección para diversas hemopatías malignas. Sin embargo, la morbimortalidad asociada al procedimiento limita su uso.ObjetivosDescribir la supervivencia de pacientes adultos mexicanos sometidos a un TACPH utilizando BUCY 2 reducido.MétodosEstudio de cohorte retrospectivo de octubre de 1999 a diciembre del 2014. Se evaluaron las características clínicas, la mortalidad asociada a trasplante, la supervivencia libre de enfermedad y la supervivencia global (SG) de 35 pacientes sometidos a TACPH con este nuevo método de acondicionamiento.ResultadosSe incluyó a 35 pacientes sometidos a TACPH, de donador relacionado HLA idéntico, acondicionados con BUCY 2 reducido, con una mediana de edad de 33 años (rango 16-49). El 60% de los pacientes fueron hombres. El diagnóstico más frecuente fue: síndrome mielodisplásico 14 pacientes (40%), leucemia mieloide crónica 9 pacientes (25.7%), leucemias agudas 10 pacientes (23.5%) y hemoglobinuria paroxística 2 pacientes (5.7%). La mediana de células CD34+transfundidas fue de 2.04×106/kg. La mediana de recuperación de neutrófilos y plaquetas fue de 21 y 18 días, respectivamente. La toxicidad más frecuente fue mucositis (91.4%). La mortalidad relacionada al trasplante fue del 5.7% y la SG a 5 años fue del 72.5%.ConclusionesEl método de acondicionamiento BUCY2 reducido conserva un efecto citotóxico que permite erradicar la clona maligna y lograr el injerto con mínima morbimortalidad, representando una mejor alternativa para el TACPH.AbstractIntroductionAllogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is the ideal treatment for haematological malignancies. However, the morbidity and mortality associated with the procedure limit its use.ObjectivesTo describe clinical characteristics, toxicity, and survival of adult Mexican patients undergoing ASCT using busulfan with a reduced dose of cyclophosphamide (BUCY 2) as a conditioning method.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted from October 1999 to December 2014, by performing an analysis of clinical characteristics, complications, and survival of 35 patients using this conditioning regimen.ResultsThe study included 35 patients undergoing ASCT with reduced BUCY 2. All of them had an HLA-matched related donor, with a median age of 33 years (range 16-49), and 60% were male. The patients had the following underlying diseases: myelodysplastic syndrome in 14 patients (40%), chronic myeloid leukaemia in 9 (25.7%), acute leukaemia in 10 (23.5%), and paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria in 2 (5.7%). The median of transfused CD34+cells was 2.04×106/kg. The median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 21 and 18 days, respectively. The most common toxicity was mucositis (91.4%). Transplant related mortality was 5.7%, and 5-year overall survival was 72.5%.ConclusionsThe conditioning method described earlier preserves a cytotoxic effect allowing eradication of the malignant clone, and achieving a graft with acceptable toxicity, and low transplant related mortality, representing a good alternative for ASCT

Pro-Science, Anti-Science and Neutral Science in Online Videos on Climate Change, Vaccines and Nanotechnology

Online video has become a relevant tool to disseminate scientific information to the public. However, in this arena, science coexists with non-scientific or pseudoscientific beliefs that can influence people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Our research sets out to find empirical evidence of the representation of pro-science, anti-science and neutral stances in online videos. From a search on Google videos, we conducted content analysis of a sample of videos about climate change, vaccines and nanotechnology (n = 826). Results indicate that a search through Google videos provides a relatively small representation of videos with an anti-science stance, which can be regarded as positive, given the high potential influence of this search engine in spreading scientific information among the public. Our research also provides empirical evidence of the fact that an anti-science stance is more frequent in user-generated content than in videos disseminated by other types of producers

Determinación de la tasa de descuento para evaluar la rentabilidad de un emprendimiento local de secado de frutas y vegetales

Proyecto de Graduación (Maestría en Administración de Empresas con énfasis en Finanzas) Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Escuela de Administración de Empresas, 2017.This project is a consequence of a previous Pre - feasibility and Marketing strategy studies developed by the authors for several courses of the Master in Business Admistration´s program. It offers to the reader a guide for obtaining an appropriate discount rate according to its industry and country. This will be useful for discount the net cash flows and give more quality to the finance information for the investor of an entrepreneur business located in Costa Rica, to achieve better decisions. The main objective was to define an optimums discount rate, structured by theoretical and methodological frameworks to achieve a final model conformed by indicators that allows conclude and give advices to both, our readers and potential investors. The theoretical framework embraces elements related to three main columns: the dehydrated food techniques, the capital cost and the financial valuation of projects. The financial analysis of the entrepreneur project using indicators such as: payback period, net present value, annualized cost-benefit, among others. The methodological strategy allowed obtain a final sampling of five corporations with similar products to those of the enterprise, all of them located in the United States of America. Its financial statements were analyzed and a finally a weighted average cost of capital was obtained specifically for this project. It concludes that the present projects represents a guide for establishing the optimums discount rate for an entrepreneurship, even related with different industries, because it gives a general guide for de analyst