Could the ease of doing business be considered a predictor of countries' socio-economic wealth? An empirical analysis using pls-sem

The wealth of nations differs significantly due to different factors. One of the reasons identified by previous studies is the level of entrepreneurship promotion by governments. This aspect has scarcely been studied empirically to date. Therefore, this paper sheds some light on this regard through building a construct out of ten Ease of Doing Business Index (EDBI) measures developed by the World Bank and relating it with a construct shaped by two measures of socio-economic wealth (SEW), namely gross domestic product and the Human Development Index. To this end, we conduct a structural equation model analysis using partial least squares (PLS-SEM) method with a 2018 database comprising secondary data from 190 countries. As the main contribution of this study, the results show that good performance in the EDBI ranking predicts good performance in the SEW ranking. Additionally, this study is pioneer in the use of these rankings to build composite constructs (latent variables) and relate them. For these reasons, our findings are useful for both academia and governments responsible for promoting entrepreneurship, as this latter is identified as the key enabler of economic development

BIM: a technology acceptance model in Peru

The purpose of this paper is to empirically study factors that facilitate the adoption of building information modelling (BIM) among practitioners using the unified theory of technology acceptance model (TAM). The factors identified in the TAM were examined using a quantitative approach. The empirical investigation has been conducted using a survey questionnaire. The data set has been obtained from 73 architects and engineers in Peru. Results show that Perceived Usefulness (PU) is the most important determinant of Behavioural Intention (BI), while Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) is found to have no significant effect on BI. The findings provide an excellent backdrop in the development of policy and a roadmap for BIM implementation in Peru. The original contribution and value of the paper is the use of TAM to provide empirical evidence on factors that facilitate BIM adoption in Peru

Is Gastronomy A Relevant Factor for Sustainable Tourism? An Empirical Analysis of Spain Country Brand

Tourism has become a fundamental industry for the economic growth of many countries. Due to this, there is growing competitiveness among the different destinations to attract as many tourists as possible. As a result, disciplines such as marketing have developed tools to differentiate some destinations from others and concepts such as place branding and country brand have emerged. One of the key factors forming the country brand is gastronomy, as food tourism is one way to reduce the growing problem of sustainability in tourism, as it impacts different aspects of the country’s environment. However, there is a great lack of scientific works that relate both variables. In this paper, we propose to establish that, in the case of Spain, tourists’ perception of Spanish gastronomy is a key element of its country brand. To do that, this study relies on the use of Partial Least Squares Structural Equations Modeling (PLS-SEM) using a 496 cases data set

Digitalization beyond technology: Proposing an explanatory and predictive model for digital culture in organizations

Continuous technological advancements and digitalization are transforming organizations’ resources and capabilities, yet many have not adapted their corporate culture accordingly. Aligning with a digital-oriented culture archetype is crucial for successful digital transformation. This paper presents a research model that predicts digital culture in organizations based on traditional culture archetypes. Using cutting-edge multivariate analysis techniques, such as PLS-SEM, IPMA, or PLS-Predict, on a sample of 285 managers from Spanish companies, the results indicate that a People-oriented culture archetype is the most important for digital culture, while values inherent to Norms or Goals culture archetypes hinder it. The paper contributes to the development of Functionalist and Structuralist Theories of culture, demonstrating the interplay of micro-cultures and cultural archetypes within an organization.Junta de Andalucía SEJ-57

An Intelligent Help-Desk Framework for Effective Troubleshooting

Nowadays, technological infrastructure requires an intelligent virtual environment based on decision processes. These processes allow the coordination of individual elements and the tasks that connect them. Thus, incident resolution must be efficient and effective to achieve maximum productivity. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of an intelligent decision-support system applied in technology infrastructure at the University of Seville (Spain). We have used a Case Based Reasoning (CBR) methodology and an ontology to develop an intelligent system for supporting expert diagnosis and intelligent management of incidents. This is an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to knowledge management in problem-solving processes that are related to environmental issues. Our system provides an automatic semantic indexing for the generating of question/answer pairs, a case based reasoning technique for finding similar questions, and an integration of external information sources via ontologies. A real ontology-based question/answer platform named ExpertSOS is presented as a proof of concept. The intelligent diagnosis platform is able to identify and isolate the most likely cause of infrastructure failure in case of a faulty operation

Thermal and light irradiation effect on the electrocatalytic performance of Hemoglobin modified Co3O4-g-C3N4 nanomaterials for oxygen evolution reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a key role in the water splitting process and a high energy conversion efficiency is essential for the definitive advance of hydrogen-based technologies. Unfortunately, the green and sustainable development of electrocatalysts for water oxidation is nowadays a real challenge. Herein, a successful mechanochemical method is proposed for the synthesis of a novel hemoglobin (Hb) modified Co3O4/g-C3N4 composite nanomaterial. The controlled incorporation of cobalt entities as well as Hb functionalization, without affecting the g-C3N4 nanoarchitecture, was evaluated using different physicochemical techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, N2-physisorption, scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The beneficial effect of the resulting ternary bioconjugate together with the influence of the temperature and light irradiation was investigated by electrochemical analysis. At 60 °C and under light exposition, this electrocatalyst requires an overpotential of 370 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA·cm−2, showing a Tafel slope of 66 mV·dec−1 and outstanding long-term stability for 600 OER cycles. This work paves a way for the controlled fabrication of multidimensional and multifunctional bio-electrocatalysts

Diseño de un sistema de mantenimiento proactivo basado en la metodología RCM como propuesta para el mantenimiento de las plantas eléctricas tipo GPU del GANCA

This article develops a proposal whose purpose was to design a maintenance alternative based on Reliability that leads to providing greater operational availability in the Ground Electric Power Supply Units for Aircraft (GPU) of the Caribbean Naval Group (GANCA) in the city of Barranquilla. As a result of applying the Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) methodology and recognizing, anticipating, and controlling failure modes through maintenance tasks, the following activities are required: i) collection, ii) classification, and iii) categorization (i.e., equipment, subsystems, and systems, down to the component level, development of matrices, criticality analysis, causes, and consequences). With this, GANCA will have a solution for the maintenance of its GPUs that will serve as a reference to impact the increase in availability and improve the effectiveness of maintenance, and that can be used as a reference for other equipment that provides ground support in Colombian Naval Aviation. From a practical point of view, it is recommended to use the scheme proposed in this work.En este artículo se desarrolló una propuesta de trabajo cuyo propósito fue diseñar una alternativa de mantenimiento basada en confiabilidad para brindar mayor disponibilidad operativa en las Unidades de alimentación de Potencia eléctrica a Aeronaves en Tierra (GPU), del Grupo Aeronaval del Caribe (GANCA) en la ciudad de Barranquilla. Como resultado de la aplicación de la metodología de Mantenimiento Centrado en Confiabilidad (RCM), se logró el desarrollo de matrices, análisis de criticidad, causas y consecuencias a partir de la recolección, clasificación y categorización de los equipos, subsistemas y sistemas hasta el nivel de componentes; esto con el fin de reconocer, anticipar y controlar los modos de falla a través de tareas de mantenimiento. Con esto, el GANCA tendrá una solución para el mantenimiento de sus GPU, que servirá de referencia para impactar en el aumento de la disponibilidad y con ello mejorar la efectividad de mantenimiento, que podrá ser usada como referencia para otros equipos de apoyo terrestre en la Aviación Naval de Colombia. Desde el punto de vista práctico, se recomienda usar el esquema propuesto en este trabajo

Demand Management Based on Model Predictive Control Techniques

Demand management (DM) is the process that helps companies to sell the right product to the right customer, at the right time, and for the right price. Therefore the challenge for any company is to determine how much to sell, at what price, and to which market segment while maximizing its profits. DM also helps managers efficiently allocate undifferentiated units of capacity to the available demand with the goal of maximizing revenue. This paper introduces control system approach to demand management with dynamic pricing (DP) using the model predictive control (MPC) technique. In addition, we present a proper dynamical system analogy based on active suspension and a stability analysis is provided via the Lyapunov direct method

An automatic weighting system for wild animals based in an artificial neural network: how to weigh wild animals without causing stress

This paper proposes a novel and autonomous weighing system for wild animals. It allows evaluating changes in the body weight of animals in their natural environment without causing stress. The proposed system comprises a smart scale designed to estimate individual body weights and their temporal evolution in a bird colony. The system is based on computational intelligence, and offers valuable large amount of data to evaluate the relationship between long-term changes in the behavior of individuals and global change. The real deployment of this system has been for monitoring a breeding colony of lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) in southern Spain. The results show that it is possible to monitor individual weight changes during the breeding season and to compare the weight evolution in males and females

With respect to world no tobacco day, can electronic cigarettes affect health and mental health?

Q4131–13