Analysing teamwork in higher education: an empirical study on the antecedents and consequences of team cohesiveness

Uno de los factores más importantes del trabajo en equipo es la cohesión entre sus miembros. Sin embargo, escasos trabajos analizan sus antecedentes y consecuencias. El presente estudio utiliza el modelo Input-Process-Output para analizar el impacto de factores individuales y de la tarea sobre la cohesión del equipo, así como la influencia de la cohesión del equipo sobre la eficacia del mismo. En base a una encuesta a 160 alumnos que realizaron trabajos en grupo, los resultados muestran que el grado de cooperación y el comportamiento colaborativo tienen una influencia positiva en la cohesión del equipo, mientras que la carga de trabajo y la complejidad de la tarea tienen una influencia negativa en la misma. Además, la cohesión del equipo influye positivamente en el aprendizaje percibido, la satisfacción con el trabajo en equipo y la calidad esperada. Finalmente, tanto el aprendizaje percibido como la calidad esperada predicen la satisfacción con el trabajo en equipo.One of the most important components of effective teamwork is cohesiveness. However, few empirical studies on the antecedents and consequences of group cohesiveness exist. In response to this gap, the current study draws on the Input-Process-Output model of team effectiveness to investigate the impact of individual and task factors on team cohesiveness, as well as the influence of team cohesiveness on students’ perceived learning, satisfaction with teamwork, and expected quality in the outcome. Based on a survey of 160 undergraduate students who worked in groups, the findings show that cooperativeness and collaborative behaviour have a positive influence on team cohesiveness, while workload and task complexity have a negative influence on it. Additionally, team cohesiveness is positively related to perceived learning, satisfaction with teamwork, and expected quality. Finally, both perceived learning and expected quality predict satisfaction with teamwork

Session D7: The Most Evaluated Fishway in Spain: A New Lesson Every Year

Abstract: Salto de San Fernando” hydropower plant is placed at River Tormes, just upstream of Santa Teresa reservoir (Salamanca, Spain). The dam is 13 m high and it has a pool and weir with bottom orifice fish ladder to let potamodromous fish (Iberian barbel – Luciobarbus bocagei–, Nothern straightmouth nase –Pseudochondrostoma duriense– and brown trout –Salmo trutta–) overcome the obstacle. This fish ladder is being monitored since 2012: daily trapping and counting fish that reach the last pool; fish passage video recording through orifices and spillways; tagging fish (PIT, Tbar and others) and studying passage metrics (location, entrance, passage time, performance). Results have been analyzed as a function of physical –discharge, temperature, atmospheric pressure– and biological variables –species, sex, size, competition–. Downstream migration is also analyzed to locate fish routes and understand fish behavior. After every research, passage improvement options are detected, accomplished and assessed on next migration season. At this moment, this overall approach has quintupled fish ladder efficiency and it offers lot of information about Iberian fish behavior and their preference under different hydraulic conditions

Fishways as downstream routes in small hydropower plants: Experiences with a potamodromous cyprinid

Producción CientíficaFish need to move upstream and downstream through rivers to complete their life cycles. Despite the fact that fishways are the most commonly applied solution to recover longitudinal connectivity, they are not considered viable for downstream migration. Therefore, alternative facilities are recommended to facilitate downstream migration. However, a few recent studies have disagreed with this general assumption, showing the potential for bidirectional movements. This study advances our understanding of the potential of fishways for downstream migration by studying their efficiency in a run-of-the-river hydropower plant in the Duero River (Spain). To achieve this, downstream movements of the Iberian barbel (n = 299) were monitored in a stepped fishway for two years with passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tag technology, considering the effect of fish origin and release zone. The results showed that 24.9% of barbels descended through the fishway, with the origin and release zone affecting the fishway location. In addition, downstream movements were observed throughout the whole year, except in winter. The study concludes that, under specific scenarios, fishways could act as safe alternative routes for downstream migration.Unión Europea H2020 - (grant 727830)Ayudas Torres Quevedo - (grants PTQ2018-010162 and PTQ2016-08494)Universidad de Valladolid - (grant PIF-UVa 2017

Automatización del proceso de auditoría a las tecnología de La información y las comunicaciones

Este trabajo aborda los procedimientos de auditoría informática relacionados con la extracción y análisis de datos con el fin de desarrollar una herramienta que automatice estos procedimientos y que además agilice la tarea del auditor informático.El primer capítulo de este documento muestra los objetivos propuestos en esta investigación.El segundo capítulo trata de la base conceptual de la investigación: la definición de sistema, sistema informático y sistema de información, daremos a conocer la diferencia que existe entre sistema informático y sistema de información, las actividades básicas del sistema de información y los tipos de sistemas de información dentro del área de auditoría informática, también presentaremos la definición de la auditoría informática, objetivo undamental, los tipos de auditoría, así como también sus fases, normas, técnicas y procedimientos, luego definiremos cada una de las herramientas que se utilizaron tanto para el análisis como para el diseño de nuestro proyecto, también presentaremos una pequeña introducción a lo que son los programas de Extracción y Análisis de datos.Los resultados obtenidos de esta investigación se presentan en el capítulo 3, donde se incluyen la estrategia de prueba para el análisis de datos generados en los sistemas de información, las técnicas y procedimientos de auditoría aplicadas a la herramienta, los objetivos de control para la información y tecnologías relacionadas (Cobit 4.0), también daremos a conocer las herramientas CASE utilizadas para el diseño de la erramienta.En el capítulo 4 se expondrán los criterios de factibilidad técnica, económica y operacional, relacionadas con el desarrollo e implementación de nuestra herramienta

Fishway attraction efficiency during upstream and down-stream migration: field tests in a small hydropower plant with run-of-the-river configuration

Producción CientíficaUnderstanding fishway attraction is one of the main open challenges in fishways research, and unraveling the mechanisms and relationships that trigger it is crucial to improve the performance of fishways. Furthermore, attraction is usually understood in terms of upstream migration; however, taking into account the possible bidirectional use of fishways, it is equally important to study this phenomenon during downstream migration, although this is usually considered negligible. Therefore, this study aims to advance our understanding of fishway attraction efficiency by considering both upstream and downstream movements in a key small hydropower plant scheme in the Iberian Peninsula. To achieve this, one of the most common Iberian fish species, the Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei, Steindachner), was monitored via telemetry in a stepped fishway. The studied fishway, considering the specialized literature, would be classified as poor in attraction, i.e., difficult to find due to its low competing discharge and the long distance between the main river flow and both fishway entrances. Fish were PIT tagged and released in different upstream and downstream locations and on different dates. The results showed that a significant proportion of the tagged barbels was able to successfully locate the fishway from both sides, in spite of the mentioned localization drawbacks, with inter-annual variability and with repeated events throughout the years. This suggests that even a fishway with a theoretical poor attraction can still be localized by fish, allowing their use as a two-way migration route, at least with species and HPP schemes such as those already studied

Effect of thermo‐velocity barriers on fish: influence of water temperature, flow velocity and body size on the volitional swimming capacity of northern straight‐mouth nase (Pseudochondrostoma duriense)

Producción CientíficaWater temperature and flow velocity directly affect the fish swimming capacity, and thus, both variables influence the fish passage through river barriers. Nonetheless, their effects are usually disregarded in fishway engineering and management. This study aims to evaluate the volitional swimming capacity of the northern straight-mouth nase (Pseudochondrostoma duriense), considering the possible effects of water temperature, flow velocity and body size. For this, the maximum distance, swim speed and fatigue time (FT) were studied in an outdoor open-channel flume in the Duero River (Burgos, Spain) against three nominal velocities (1.5, 2.5 and 3 m s−1) and temperatures (5.5, 13.5 and 18.5°C), also including the changes between swimming modes (prolonged and sprint). Results showed that a nase of 20.8 cm mean fork length can develop a median swim speed that exceeds 20.7 BL s−1 (4.31 m s−1) during a median time of 3.4 s in sprint mode, or 12.2 BL s−1 (2.55 m s−1) for 23.7 s in prolonged mode under the warmest scenario. During prolonged swimming mode, fish were able to reach further distances in warmer water conditions for all situations, due to a greater swimming speed and FT, whereas during sprint mode, warmer conditions increased the swim speed maintaining the FT. In conclusion, the studied temperature range and flow velocity range influence fish swimming performance, endurance and distance travelled, although with some differences depending on the swimming mode. The provided information goes a step forward in the definition of real fish swimming capacities, and in turn, will contribute to establish clear passage criteria for thermo-velocity barriers, allowing the calculation of the proportion of fish able to pass a barrier under different working scenarios, as well designing of the optimized solutions to improve the fish passage through river barriers.Junta de Castilla y León (proyecto VA299B11-2)Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 10103202

Upstream movement capacity of invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) under different environmental and biometric factors

Producción CientíficaThe spread of invasive crayfish species is a major threat to endemic species worldwide. This threat affects native crayfish as well as flora and fauna species in general. In order to limit their dispersal, different methods have been used, the most promising of which are those related to physical barriers. For their design, it is essential to know the limits in the capacity of crayfish to move under different hydraulic scenarios, although to date, there are few studies on this topic. The present work analyzes the volitional upstream movement capacity of the signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) in a laboratory open flume, with different configurations of environmental and hydraulic variables (bed roughness, flow velocity, water temperature, times of day) and accounting for the possible effect of biometric factors (carapace length, sex). Twenty-four different trials with five individuals per trial were carried out, tracking all crayfish movements individually by visual tags and with a video monitoring system. Data were analyzed using survival analysis techniques and parametric models were developed, considering as response variables the maximum distance traveled and the movement speed. The results showed that the combination of bed roughness and flow velocity were the best predictors to explain crayfish movement performance, with a flow velocity greater than 0.8 m/s together on a non-rough bed being the limiting factor; the water temperature and the sex also have a significant effect. This information can serve as a basis for the design of future barriers to the dispersal of invasive crayfish species in the Iberian Peninsula

Política fiscal en el manejo de los recursos hidráulicos: Un modelo de equilibrio general computable

We examine the impact of fiscal policy in the management of water resources by using a computable general equilibrium model. Several comparative static exercises are carried out to assess the effects of a particular fiscal policy on economic welfare. Finally, we state a set of fiscal policy recommendations for the efficient management of water in the production process for the Mexican case.

Intervention Program to Improve Grief-Related Symptoms in Caregivers of Patients Diagnosed With Dementia

The objectives of the present study were to adapt a grief intervention program to family caregivers of patients with dementia, and assess its effectiveness in improving the symptoms of grief and other health-related variables. The intervention was based on Shear and Bloom’s grief intervention program, with the necessary adaptations for use in the grieving process for a family member’s illness. A total of 52 family caregivers of individuals with dementia participated. They were evaluated using a battery of self-report measures assessing grief, overload, resilience, post-traumatic growth, experiential avoidance, health-related quality of life, and benefits of care. The results suggest that the program is effective in improving grief symptoms, caregiver burden, resilience, post-traumatic growth, and quality of life of family caregivers. It is necessary to create and implement interventions targeting caregivers’ feelings andmanifestations of ambiguous grief, because there is a lack of programs providing an efficient solution for the mental and physical health of caregivers, and because of the human and socioeconomic cost involved in neglecting this group