UN MODELO CAUSAL DE COMPETITIVIDAD EMPRESARIAL PLANTEADO DESDE LA VBR: CAPACIDADES DIRECTIVAS, DE INNOVACIÓN, MARKETING Y CALIDAD

El propósito de esta investigación es desarrollar un modelo explicativo de la competitividad empresarial a partir de factores internos a la empresa. Para ello se identifican los factores de competitividad más importantes en el caso de las empresas manufactureras vascas, así como las variables que permiten caracterizarlos, utilizando técnicas cualitativas basadas en entrevistas con directivos. Los factores resultantes son las capacidades directivas, las capacidades de innovación, las capacidades de marketing y las capacidades de calidad. Tras analizar estos factores bajo la Visión de la empresa Basada en Recursos (VBR), y definir sus escalas de medida, se plantea un modelo causal que relaciona cada uno de ellos con la competividad de la empresa. Este modelo otorga una importancia especial a las capacidades directivas al plantear este factor como precedente del resto de capacidades de la empresa. El modelo es contrastado a través de la técnica de modelado con ecuaciones estructurales utilizando una muestra representativa de la población de empresas manufactureras vascas formada por 861 empresas

Near barrier scattering of 8He on 208Pb

The exotic nucleus 8He is investigated by means of the measurement of the angular distributions of the elastic channel and the 6He and 4He fragment yields produced in the collision with a 208Pb target at two energies around the Coulomb barrier, 16 and 22 MeV. The experiment was performed at the GANIL-SPIRAL facility, with the aim of extracting information about the structure of 8He and the relevant reaction mechanisms. In this contribution, details of the experimental setup and preliminary data on elastic cross sections are reporte

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions

Enantiomeric analysis of limonene and carvone by direct introduction of aromatic plants into multidimensional gas chromatography

Analysis of chiral compounds in complex mixtures is achieved by multidimensional gas chromatography using heptakis-(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β- cyclodextrin stationary phase as the main column of the system to separate specific selected cuts containing components unresolved in the first dimension. The proposed procedure allows rapid analysis of both solid and liquid matrices by direct introduction, into the programmed temperature vaporizer (PTV) of a gas chromatograph, of either the plant material or the essential oil, respectively. A comparison between enantiomeric excesses data obtained, from plant leaves (or plant seeds) and the corresponding essential oils, by direct injection (i.e., without sample pretreatment or concentration step) into the multidimensional system is also included. Reported data demonstrate that no racemization occurs during analysis as identical enantiomeric excesses are obtained in both cases for specific chiral compounds. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.Peer Reviewe

A quick method for identifying radiolytic hydrocarbons in low-fat-containing food

Background: As radiation-induced alterations of the lipid fraction of foods are related to their initial fat content, concentrations of fat degradation products used as irradiation markers are expected to be lower when irradiating low-fat-containing foods. Thus the sensitivity required when applying analytical methods for identifying irradiation markers in foods eventually depends on their respective amounts of fat. The aim of this study was to perform the qualitative analysis of characteristic hydrocarbons resulting from irradiation of samples with a fat content as low as 25 g kg-1. Results: A rapid extraction using a small amount of ethyl acetate was the unique sample pretreatment required to accomplish the analysis of radiolytic markers by using on-line coupling of reverse phase liquid chromatography and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection (RPLC/GC/MS). Efficient elimination of the large volumes (up to 2170 μL) directly transferred from LC to GC was achieved by optimising the operation mode of the through-oven transfer adsorption/desorption system used as interface. Conclusion: The reported procedure allowed confirmation, in less than 65 min, of the occurrence of up to five irradiation markers, namely n-pentadecane, 1-hexadecene, 1,7-hexadecadiene, n-heptadecane and 8-heptadecene, in cooked ham irradiated at doses as low as 2 kGy. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.Peer Reviewe

A general modular approach for the solubility tagging of BODIPY dyes

We describe a general and practical strategy for the direct one-step incorporation of a tunable solubility module at the boron atom of F-BODIPY dyes. The tethering reaction uses easy-to-handle reagents, has broad functional group compatibility and proceeds under mild conditions without requiring any pre-functionalization of the starting F-BODIPY to yield the solubility-tagged O-BODIPY derivative in 51–86% yield. The module can be introduced at the end of the synthetic route without perturbing the fluorophore scaffold, thus minimizing difficulties in product isolation. Its orthogonal geometrical arrangement with respect to the plane of the BODIPY chromophore hampers intermolecular aggregation processes that quench fluorescence, while the covalent attachment to the boron atom has a minimal effect on the absorption properties. Fully water-soluble and hydrolytically stable BODIPYs were prepared by incorporating either neutral (tetra- and octaethylene glycol chains) or zwitterionic (sulfobetaine) hydrophilic tags in the module. The new dyes are valuable live cell imaging probes that ameliorate the undesired partitioning into lipophilic compartments that is often observed for standard BODIPYs. This strategy can be readily adapted to the general and highly practical post-synthetic introduction of new functionalities into F-BODIPY dyes, including phase-tagging, by appropriately choosing the nature of the chemical tags attached to the module.We gratefully acknowledge the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO, projects MAT2017-83856-C3-1-P, MAT2017-83856-C3-3-P, and MAT2015-68837-REDT), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (CIBERONC) and Gobierno Vasco (IT912-16) for financial support. A. B.-M. and R. P. M. thank MINECO and UPV-EHU for a FPI predoctoral contract and predoctoral fellowship, respectively.Peer Reviewe

Modular synthesis of O-BODIPY dyes for cell microscopy

ISDP: Modern Colorants; The Synthesis and Applications of π-Systems, Melia Sevilla, Seville, Spain, 8-11 September 2019We have developed a general post-synthetic strategy for the direct one-step incorporation of hydroxy acids and diacids at the boron atom of F-BODIPY dyes. The tethering reaction uses easy-to-handle reagents, has broad functional group compatibility and proceeds under mild conditions without requiring any prefunctionalization of the starting F-BODIPY to afford the corresponding O-BODIPY derivative in good yield. The orthogonal geometrical arrangement of the hydroxy acid or diacid moiety with respect to the mean plane of the BODIPY chromophore hampers intermolecular aggregation processes that quench fluorescence, while the covalent attachment to the boron atom has a minimal effect on the absorption properties of the chromophore. We have applied this strategy to the one-step tagging of BODIPYs for the custom modification of their solubility properties and to the preparation of fluorescent functional probes for mitochondria targeting. In the first application, water-soluble and hydrolytically stable BODIPYs were prepared in a single step by incorporating a hydroxy acid solubility module having either neutral (tetra- and octaethylene glycol chains) or switterionic (sulfobetaine) hydrophilic tags. The resulting BODIPYs are valuable live cell imaging probes. In the second application, we have designed the first fluorescent probes that are actively channelled into the mitochondrial matrix through the carnitine system in living cells. Our functional probes have a minimalist structural design based on the BODIPY chromophore and carnitine as a biotargeting element. The new probes selectively label mitochondria regardless of their membrane potential and in an enantioespecific way