Are soft skills conditioned by conflicting factors? A multiobjective programming approach to explore the trade-offs

Despite the relevance of noncognitive skills (i.e. soft skills) for individual development and for certain forms of employment, they tend to be overlooked in studies centred on educational performance. This study brings an additional contribution to the growing interest on these skills by exploring their main determinants and by providing an additional understanding of how they are influenced by socio-economic and family background. To this end, a multiobjective programming model has been developed, whose coefficients are instantiated by the results of several econometric estimations, in which distinct (and conflicting) aspects of multiple soft skills are considered. Hence, by coupling econometric with multiobjective optimisation modelling approaches we provide an overarching framework for assessing the trade-offs between the different dimensions of noncognitive skills. Data from the most populated region of Spain are used. Overall, our findings highlight the trade-off between different soft skills, which are particularly conditioned by students’ gender.This work has been partly supported by FEDER funding (under Research Project PY20-00228); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (under Research Project PID2020-119471RB-I00); the Andalusian Regional Government (SEJ-645); the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under project grant UID/MULTI/00308/2020 and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (under Projects UID/MULTI/00308/2020 and UIDB/05037/2020). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBUA

Do school preferences differ between mothers and fathers? International evidence from PISA

A sizeable literature – spanning education, sociology and economics – has investigated the issue of parental school preferences and school choice. A notable gap in the existing evidence base is an exploration of how such preferences differ between mothers and fathers. We present new cross-national findings on this matter, drawing on survey data collected from more than 300,000 parents across 25 countries. Our findings suggest that mothers rate the school environment – whether the school is safe and has a pleasant atmosphere – to be more important than fathers. Differences are also observed with respect to the school’s reputation and whether it has a high level of achievement. Clearer evidence of such differences emerges for industrialised Western nations than for countries that are not members of the OECD. In most countries, mothers’ and fathers’ preferences do not vary substantially between sons and daughters

The influence of weekly instruction on student’s academic performance in Spain

Students attend compulsory school lessons every week, and this time should be used in such a way that it improves students’ competences; otherwise, it may be wasted. However, although parents suppose that their children are always learning in these lessons, this might not be the case in Spain. In order to analyse whether the weekly instruction time received by Spanish students is useful for their learning or not, data from PISA 2018 for 15 year-old students have been employed. In addition, we intend to go beyond correlation by the use of student fixed-effects within-student between-subjects. With this approach, those variables which are fixed within-students might be controlled. Our results indicate that weekly instruction time does not seem to influence students’ academic performance. Many robustness checks, which split the sample according to several conditional variables, have supported these results. Building on these results, we suggest the rearrangement of students’ weekly instruction time and its efficient use in the new Spanish education law.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Predictors of administrative innovation: functions and organizational methods - Mexican and Colombian hospitals

Objectiv e To determine to what extent functions and organizational methods influence on administrative innovation. Design/methodology/approach This research is quantitative approach, with a not experimental and transversal design. The hypothesis was supported by using a transactional study with a sample of Mexican and Colombian hospitals through the perception of their high and medium level managers. The hospital sampling was by convenience. Findings Organizational functions and methods are associated and are predictors of administrative innovation. Practical implications As long as the hospital encourages the development of training and knowledge methods, autonomy methods for employees are developed, and when performance appraisal takes place in hospital, new methods will be able to develop and organize the routines and the management procedures, allocation of responsibilities and power among employees could be developed, as well as to develop new structure concepts for workplace, organizational practices and external relationships

Ictiólogos de la Argentina: Sara Beatriz Sverlij

En esta serie se mencionan a todos aquellos que, a través de sus pequeños o grandes aportes, contribuyeron a la consolidación de la disciplina en nuestro país. El plan general de esta contribución consiste en la elaboración de fichas individuales que contengan una lista de trabajos de los diferentes autores, acompañadas por bibliografía de referencia y, cuando ello fuera posible, por imágenes personales y material adicional. Se tratará de guardar un orden cronológico, pero esto no es excluyente, ya que priorizaremos las sucesivas ediciones al material disponible. Este es otro camino para rescatar y revalorizar a quienes en diversos contextos históricos sentaron las bases de lo que hoy es la ictiología nacional. Considero que este es el comienzo de una obra de mayor magnitud en la que se logre describir una parte importante de la historia de las ciencias naturales de la República Argentina.This series will include all those people who, by means of their contributions, great and small, played a part in the consolidation of ichthyology in Argentina. The general plan of this work consists of individual factsheets containing a list of works by each author, along with reference bibliography and, whenever possible, personal pictures and additional material. The datasheets will be published primarily in chronological order, although this is subject to change by the availability of materials for successive editions. This work represents another approach for the recovery and revalorization of those who set the foundations of Argentine ichthyology while in diverse historical circumstances. I expect this to be the beginning of a major work that achieves the description of such a significant part of the history of natural sciences in Argentina.Fil: Lopez, Hugo Luis. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Padin, Oscar Horacio. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Ponte Gomez, Justina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

Ictiólogos de la Argentina: Sara Beatriz Sverlij

En esta serie se mencionan a todos aquellos que, a través de sus pequeños o grandes aportes, contribuyeron a la consolidación de la disciplina en nuestro país. El plan general de esta contribución consiste en la elaboración de fichas individuales que contengan una lista de trabajos de los diferentes autores, acompañadas por bibliografía de referencia y, cuando ello fuera posible, por imágenes personales y material adicional. Se tratará de guardar un orden cronológico, pero esto no es excluyente, ya que priorizaremos las sucesivas ediciones al material disponible. Este es otro camino para rescatar y revalorizar a quienes en diversos contextos históricos sentaron las bases de lo que hoy es la ictiología nacional. Considero que este es el comienzo de una obra de mayor magnitud en la que se logre describir una parte importante de la historia de las ciencias naturales de la República Argentina.This series will include all those people who, by means of their contributions, great and small, played a part in the consolidation of ichthyology in Argentina. The general plan of this work consists of individual factsheets containing a list of works by each author, along with reference bibliography and, whenever possible, personal pictures and additional material. The datasheets will be published primarily in chronological order, although this is subject to change by the availability of materials for successive editions. This work represents another approach for the recovery and revalorization of those who set the foundations of Argentine ichthyology while in diverse historical circumstances. I expect this to be the beginning of a major work that achieves the description of such a significant part of the history of natural sciences in Argentina.Fil: Lopez, Hugo Luis. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Padin, Oscar Horacio. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Ponte Gomez, Justina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

ATM regulates ATR chromatin loading in response to DNA double-strand breaks

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are among the most deleterious lesions that can challenge genomic integrity. Concomitant to the repair of the breaks, a rapid signaling cascade must be coordinated at the lesion site that leads to the activation of cell cycle checkpoints and/or apoptosis. In this context, ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and ATM and Rad-3–related (ATR) protein kinases are the earliest signaling molecules that are known to initiate the transduction cascade at damage sites. The current model places ATM and ATR in separate molecular routes that orchestrate distinct pathways of the checkpoint responses. Whereas ATM signals DSBs arising from ionizing radiation (IR) through a Chk2-dependent pathway, ATR is activated in a variety of replication-linked DSBs and leads to activation of the checkpoints in a Chk1 kinase–dependent manner. However, activation of the G2/M checkpoint in response to IR escapes this accepted paradigm because it is dependent on both ATM and ATR but independent of Chk2. Our data provides an explanation for this observation and places ATM activity upstream of ATR recruitment to IR-damaged chromatin. These data provide experimental evidence of an active cross talk between ATM and ATR signaling pathways in response to DNA damage

Ubicación óptima de capacitores, reguladores de tensión y generadores distribuidos en sistemas eléctricos de distribución

Context: With the advent of the smart grid paradigm, electrical distribution network (EDN) operators are making efforts to modernize their power grids through the optimal implementation of distributed generators (DGs) and other devices such as capacitors (CAs) and voltage regulators (VRs). The optimal allocation of such devices is a challenging task involving discrete and integer decision variables. Method: This paper presents an approach for the optimal placement of CAs, VRs and DGs in EDNs. The distinctive feature of the proposed model is the fact that it can be used to optimize the allocation of all of these elements together, in pairs, or separately. The optimal implementation of these elements is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem, and it is solved by means of a specialized genetic algorithm (SGA). Results: The proposed methodology was tested on the IEEE 69-bus test system. The results were compared with previous works from the specialized literature, showing the effectiveness and robustness of the model. Conclusions: It was found that the appropriate allocation of CAs, VRs, and DGs results in a significant power loss reduction. It was also found that the proposed model is faster than other techniques proposed in the specialized literature. Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the Colombia Científica program, within the framework of the Ecosistéma Científico (Contract No. FP44842- 218-2018). The authors also acknowledge the support of the State University of Londrina and Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira (UTP).Contexto: Con la llegada del paradigma de las redes inteligentes, los operadores de redes de distribución eléctrica (RDE) están haciendo esfuerzos para modernizar sus redes a través de la implementación óptima de generadores distribuidos (GDs) y otros dispositivos como condensadores (CAs) y reguladores de tensión (VRs). La ubicación óptima de estos dispositivos es una tarea desafiante que involucra variables de decisión discretas y enteras. Método: Este artículo presenta una metodología para la colocación óptima de CAs, VRs y GDs en RDEs. La característica distintiva del modelo propuesto es el hecho de que se puede utilizar para optimizar la ubicación de todos estos elementos a la vez, en pares o por separado. La implementación óptima de estos elementos se formula como un problema de programación no lineal de enteros mixta (PNLEM), y se resuelve mediante un algoritmo genético especializado (AGE). Resultados: La metodología propuesta se probó en el sistema de prueba IEEE de 69 barras. Los resultados se compararon con trabajos previos de la literatura especializada, mostrando la efectividad y robustez del modelo. Conclusiones: Se encontró que la ubicación adecuada de CAs, VRs y GDs resulta en una reducción importante de pérdidas de energía. También se encontró que el modelo propuesto es más rápido que otras técnicas propuestas en la literatura especializada. Agradecimientos: Los autores agradecen el financiamiento del programa Colombia Científica, en el marco de la convocatoria Ecosistema Científico (Contrato No. FP44842- 218-2018). Los autores también agradecen el apoyo de la Universidad de Estadual de Londrina y la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira (UTP)