Employability skills developed by non-traditional students along their undergraduate program

This paper was developed in the context of the European project EMPLOY (Enhancing the employability of non-traditional students in higher education, Erasmus Plus Program 2015-2017), a qualitative, interdisciplinary and biographical research focusing on nontraditional university students and graduates from six European countries (Sweden, Poland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal and Spain). The project aims are, among others: a) to understand the employability from the perspective of students and graduates; b) to increase knowledge and understanding of the factors that promote or hinder employability; c) to explore the impact of age, gender, social class, ethnicity and disability in employment prospects of students; etc. In spite of the fact that university graduates are in better conditions when accessing to the labor market, non-traditional students might experience special difficulties related to their specific characteristics. We lack of disaggregated information related to employment rates for higher education graduates and there is not specific research which deepens in the transition process of non-traditional groups. Our study is concerned with identifying which employability skills have been developed by non-traditional students during their stay at the University of Seville. For this purpose we consider the formal learning associated to their syllabuses, the extracurricular training they have been involved in, as well as the previous work experiences. We have carried out seven biographical in-depth interviews with students of the University of Seville (4 females, 3 males), all of them studying degrees in different areas of knowledge: Pedagogy, Philosophy, Mechanical Engineering, Pharmacy, Biology and Business Management. All participants were in the final year of their undergraduate program. In addition, all of them represented different characteristics of non-traditional students: adult and mature students (3), immigrants (2) and learners with low economic and cultural capital (2). As for the results and following the classification of professional competences raised by Bunk (1994), we note that through the university syllabuses students developed the methodological competence, that is the reaction from previous experiences and problem solving skills. However, work experience and extracurricular activities promoted social competence, one that enables them to collaborate with others in a communicative and constructive way, showing interpersonal understanding. In addition, in the three training fields, the specific skills or qualifications of the job, technical competence, were also developed. Finally, it can be noted that in the three areas considered in our analysis, there is a lack in the development of the participatory competence, which refers to coordination and organisational skills, leadership and ability to make decisions and take responsibility.Unión Europea 2014-1-UK01-KA203-00184

DC-Voltage-Ratio Control Strategy for Multilevel Cascaded Converters Fed With a Single DC Source

Recently, a multilevel cascaded converter fed with a single DC source has been presented. An analysis of the steady-state working limits of this type of converter is presented in this paper. Limits of the maximum output voltage and the minimum and maximum loading conditions for stable operation of the converter are addressed. In this paper, a way to achieve any DC voltage ratio (inside the stable operation area of the converter) between the H-bridges of the single-DC-source cascaded H-bridge converter is presented. The proposed DC-voltage-ratio control is based on a time-domain modulation strategy that avoids the use of inappropriate states to achieve the DC-voltage-ratio control. The proposed technique is a feedforward-modulation technique which takes into account the actual DC voltage of each H-bridge of the converter, leading to output waveforms with low distortion. In this way, the dc voltage of the floating H-bridge can be controlled while the output voltage has low distortion independently of the desired DC voltage ratio. Experimental results from a two-cell cascaded converter are presented in order to validate the proposed DC-voltage-ratio control strategy and the introduced concepts.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TEC2006-03863Junta de Andalucía EXC/2005/TIC-117

Escenarios demográficos para La Habana en el período 2017-2040. / Demographic scenarios for Havana in the period 2017-2040.

The objective of this work is to update the projections of the population of Havana in the period 2017-2040, with the aim of making recommendations that serve as the basis for the proper attention of the Havana population, taking into account past behavior, present and future of the main demographic variables: fertility, mortality and migrations. A study of the demographic perspectives of the population of Havana in the period 2017-2040 is shown, based on the construction of six projection scenarios, as well as the creation of updated Own Mortality Model Tables for Havana in the period 2015- 2017 by sex and five-year age groups. The results of the work have shown that what would happen in the capital if a certain demographic trend occurs in the period of analysis. The Havana population tends to decrease in the six projection scenarios proposed resulting from the combination of the different hypotheses about demographic components. The fertility and migration variables seem to be the most likely to influence population dynamics in the future and an increase in the degree of aging in the province would be observed, which is essential in future demographic evolution. / RESUMEN El trabajo tiene el objetivo de realizar una actualización de las proyecciones de población de La Habana en el período 2017-2040, con la finalidad de hacer recomendaciones que sirvan de base para la debida atención de la población habanera si se tiene en cuenta el comportamiento pasado, presente y futuro de las principales variables demográficas: fecundidad, mortalidad y migraciones. Se muestra un estudio de las perspectivas demográficas de la población de La Habana en el período 2017-2040 a partir de la construcción de seis escenarios de proyección, así como la creación de Tablas Modelo de Mortalidad Propias actualizadas para La Habana en el período 2015-2017 por sexo y grupos quinquenales de edad. Los resultados del trabajo han permitido mostrar qué pasaría en la capital si se presenta determinada tendencia demográfica en el período de análisis. La población habanera tiende a decrecer en los seis escenarios de proyección propuestos, resultantes de la combinación de las diferentes hipótesis sobre los componentes demográficos. Las variables fecundidad y migración parecen ser las que más pudieran incidir en la dinámica poblacional en el futuro y se observaría un aumento del grado de envejecimiento en la provincia, lo cual resulta esencial en la evolución demográfica futura

The research observatory on the massive online open courses: MOOCSERVATORIO®

The new modality of expansion of knowledge (MOOCs), the Massive, Open and Online Courses, which are part of the new educational contexts of most international prestigious universities, can be considered as a dymanic curricular element in the biotic ecosystems of educational institutions, limited in time and space and frequently reserved for social elites. In this way, it will be possible to transcend to new ubiquitous, connective, informal, and horizontal learning scenarios that facilitate the digital inclusion of the most disadvantaged people. Currently, the extraordinary increase in the educational offer of MOOC courses could lead, in most cases, to students’ disorientation. In this sense, the object of this article is to justify the need to design and elaborate a research observatory on MOOCs: MOOCservatorio®, in order to expand scientific knowledge and social empowerment

Impacto de la tomografía computada en el manejo de la diverticulitis aguda del colon

Introducción: La diverticulitis aguda colónica (DAC) ha incrementado su incidencia durante las últimas décadas. La Tomografía Computada (TC) es el estándar de oro para su diagnóstico, ya que permite la identificación temprana de formas severas y de complicaciones. Objetivo: Comparar variables demográficas, clínicas, radiológicas y pronósticas en pacientes con DAC con manejo médico o quirúrgico. Material y métodos: De enero de 2006 a agosto de 2008, se incluyeron consecutivamente a todos los pacientes adultos con DAC corroborado por medio de TC atendidos en un hospital de tercer nivel de atención privada de la ciudad de Monterrey. Se registraron variables demográficas (edad y género), clínicas, de laboratorio, uso de antimicrobianos y pronósticas. La TC se realizó en todos los pacientes durante las 12 horas inmediatas a su ingreso. Se realizó análisis estadístico descriptivo y comparativo, considerando una diferencia significativa para valores de p < 0.05. Resultados: Se incluyeron 49 pacientes, hombres y mujeres, media de edad 55.2 ± 13.4. Con respecto al manejo, el 28.6% (n=14) fueron manejados quirúrgicamente y el 71.4% (n = 35) tuvo manejo médico. Con respecto a la gravedad, el 89.7% (n = 44) tuvo un episodio leve, requiriendo cirugía el 26.5%(n = 13). No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos con respecto al número de episodios previos de DAC ni a la estancia hospitalaria. No hubo defunciones. Conclusiones: La mayoría de los cuadros de DAC fueron leves. La decisión de la realización de una cirugía no dependió en base a los hallazgos de la TC. El tratamiento con antibióticos es muy heterogéneo y no parece influir en la decisión terapéutica, aunque en el caso de aquellos con cirugía existe una tendencia para el empleo de mayor número. La conducta de manejo quirúrgico es peculiar y no se aproxima a las guías nacionales o internacionales

On the Core-Halo Mass Relation in Scalar Field Dark Matter Models and its Consequences for the Formation of Supermassive Black Holes

Scalar-field dark matter (SFDM) halos exhibit a core-envelope structure with soliton-like cores and CDM-like envelopes. Simulations without self-interaction (free-field case) report a core-halo mass relation $M_c\propto M_{h}^{\beta}$, with either $\beta=1/3$ or $\beta=5/9$, which can be understood if core and halo obey certain energy or velocity scalings. We extend the core-halo mass relations to include SFDM with self-interaction (SI), either repulsive or attractive, and investigate its implications for the gravitational instability and collapse of solitonic cores, leading to supermassive black hole (SMBH) formation. For SFDM parameters that make $\sim$ Kpc-sized cores and CDM-like structure formation on large scales but suppressed on small scales, cores are stable for all galactic halos of interest, from the free-field to the repulsive SI limit. For attractive SI, however, halos masses $M_h\sim (10^{10}-10^{12}) M_\odot$ have cores that collapse to SMBHs with $M_{SMBH}\sim 10^{6}-10^8 M_\odot$, as observations seem to require, while smaller-mass halos have stable cores, for particle masses $m\simeq (2.14\times 10^{-22}-9.9\times 10^{-20})\rm{eV}/c^2$, if the free-field has $\beta=1/3$, or $m = 2.23\times 10^{-21}-1.7\times 10^{-18}\rm{eV}/c^2$, if $\beta=5/9$. For free-field and repulsive cases, however, if previous constraints on particle parameters are relaxed to allow much smaller (sub-galactic scale) cores, then halos can also form SMBHs, for the same range of halo and BH masses, as long as $\beta = 5/9$ is correct for the free-field. In that case, structure formation in SFDM would be largely indistinguishable from Cold Dark Matter (CDM). Such SFDM models might not resolve the small-scale structure problems of CDM, but they would explain the formation of SMBHs quite naturally. Since CDM, itself, has not yet been ruled out, such SFDM models must also be viable (Abbreviated).Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by PR

FRET-Capture: A Sensitive Method for the Detection of Dynamic Protein Interactions

The FRET-Capture approach exploits a bound solvatochromic fluorophore, 4-N,N-dimethylamino-1,8-naphthalimide, as a FRET donor in both inter- and intramolecular energy transfer. A unique feature of this method is the additional level of signal selectivity as the FRET signal is only turned on when the donor is specifically bound to the protein of interest, eliminating high background and false positive signals.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 EB010246