Management learning in the context of Mexican micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) : an exploratory study

This research was dedicated to the exploration of how learning about management could be facilitated among Mexican owner-managers of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The rationale for the research arose from the recognition that the vast majority of Mexican MSMEs struggle to survive, despite the fact they play an important role in the economy and society. The research was based on the assumption that it was managerial weakness which lay at the heart of MSMEs failure. In order to understand how management learning could be best facilitated in the context of MSMEs, some frameworks of ideas (management development, experiential learning, organisational learning, adult learning theory and situated learning) were reviewed in order to develop five theoretical dimensions of management learning (assumptions about the learners, assumptions about the learning process, preferred pedagogical setting, development orientation and learning mode orientation). The fieldwork of the research project (January - May 2002) was informed by the ideas of Action Learning and involved two learning sets of six participants each. The discussions of learning set participants' were analysed by disaggregating each transcript into the five theoretical dimensions of management learning. The analysis of the transcripts suggested that, in the context of Mexican MSMEs, it is appropriate to facilitate management learning by encouraging a guided approach (as opposed to a self-directed approach); by encouraging learning through the concept of “community of practice”; by encouraging the accomplishment of personal goals in group settings; by focusing on problems and projects as if they were related to the enterprise (rather than to the individuals); and by encouraging owner-managers to put into practice the managerial issues they learn. The research led to a range of contributions including recommendations for how learning about management could be facilitated among Mexican owner-managers of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)

Metodología ISO 9001:2015 en la industria del calzado

This research is part of the document that integrates a proposal of organizational efficiency with the theme of quality management systems in the footwear industry of Guanajuato. Shoe companies are not benefiting from internationally accepted quality models and used to ensure the quality of their processes and products. As part of updating the contents of the research, we investigated the methodology that will help organizations move from the 2008 version to the latest version in 2015 of the ISO 9001 model, with the aim of providing the procedures to be formulated through a clear and simple process to continue with the certification of the design and manufacturing processes of footwear companies in the region. The steps followed in the research are described graphically in a process where the footwear industry in the State of Guanajuato was established as a contextual or referential theoretical framework, as well as the problematization of it in reference to quality, making the documentary analysis of nine cases of studies carried out from 2012 to 2015 by specialized institutions in the shoe industry.La presente investigación forma parte del documento que integra una propuesta de eficiencia organizacional con el tema de sistemas de gestión de la calidad en la industria del calzado de Guanajuato. Las empresas de calzado no se están beneficiando de los modelos de calidad internacionalmente aceptados y utilizados para asegurar la calidad de sus procesos y productos. Como parte de actualización de los contenidos de la investigación, se indagó en la metodología que ayudará a las organizaciones a transitar de la versión 2008 a la más reciente versión en 2015 del modelo ISO 9001, con el objetivo de aportar los procedimientos para formular mediante un proceso claro y sencillo a continuar con la certificación de los procesos de diseño y manufactura de las empresas del calzado en la región. Los pasos que se siguieron en la investigación, se encuentran descritos gráficamente en un proceso donde se estableció a la industria del calzado en el Estado de Guanajuato como marco teórico contextual o referencial, así como la problematización de la misma en referencia a la calidad, realizando el análisis documental de nueve casos de estudios llevado a efecto desde el año 2012 al 2015 aportados por instituciones especializadas en el ramo del calzado

Path Planning in Rough Terrain Using Neural Network Memory

Learning navigation policies in an unstructured terrain is a complex task. The Learning to Search (LEARCH) algorithm constructs cost functions that map environmental features to a certain cost for traversing a patch of terrain. These features are abstractions of the environment, in which trees, vegetation, slopes, water and rocks can be found, and the traversal costs are scalar values that represent the difficulty for a robot to cross given the patches of terrain. However, LEARCH tends to forget knowledge after new policies are learned. The study demonstrates that reinforcement learning and long-short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks can be used to provide a memory for LEARCH. Further, they allow the navigation agent to recognize hidden states of the state space it navigates. This new approach allows the knowledge learned in the previous training to be used to navigate new environments and, also, for retraining. Herein, navigation episodes are designed to confirm the memory, learning policy and hidden-state recognition capabilities, acquired by the navigation agent through the use of LSTM

Main Cross-Cutting Training Contents of LEISURE and Free Time Schools: Acceptance of Groups Involved in the Leisure Time Instructor Courses

Time atomisation trends, leisure economy, and social and technological changes are causing a reframe of the leisure and free-time industry. This study aims to analyse the assessment of nine cross-cutting contents by the main agents involved in leisure-time instructor courses, and a group of young subjects in Spain. The study sample consisted of 1049 individuals, including management and technical teams, leisure and free-time schoolteachers, leisure and free-time school students (receiving the leisure-time instructor course), and finally a group of external young subjects. An ad hoc questionnaire was used, and the results were analysed through a correlational study using contingency tables and chi-square and Somers’ D statistics, Spearman’s correlation to determine within-population correlations, and the Kruskal–Wallis test to establish that these relationships were not randomly established. The results show that all the analysed agents valued the training proposal of cross-cutting contents as a consolidated item. This indicates that the nine cross-cutting contents should be maintained in these courses. Social Skills content was crowned as the defining content of this training, and there was dissonance in the ICT-Use content, which was not highly valued by main agents but was highly valued by young people, leading to the need to review this content to adjust it to the real needs of the young populatio

Cellular uptake mechanisms and endosomal trafficking of supercharged proteins

Supercharged proteins can deliver functional macromolecules into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells with potencies that exceed those of cationic peptides. The structural features of supercharged proteins that determine their delivery effectiveness and the intracellular fate of supercharged proteins once they enter cells have not yet been studied. Using a large set of supercharged GFP(scGFP) variants, we found that the level of cellular uptake is sigmoidally related to net charge, and that scGFPs enter cells through multiple pathways including clathrin-dependent endocytosis and macropinocytosis. Supercharged proteins activate Rho and ERK1/2, and also alter the endocytic transport of transferrin and EGF. Finally, we discovered that the intracellular trafficking of endosomes containing scGFPs is altered in a manner that correlates with protein delivery potency. Collectively, our findings establish basic structure-activity relationships of supercharged proteins and implicate the modulation of endosomal trafficking as a determinant of cell-penetration and macromolecule-delivery efficiency.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Gestión de calidad de la Escuela de Nivel Medio Superior ENMS de León

The International Standard ISO 10014: 2006 "Quality Management-Guidelines for obtaining financial and economic benefits", has as its purpose that the top management of organizations self-assessment on these benefits derived from the application of quality management.In the present work, the obtaining of benefits within the ENMSL was established by applying the eight principles of quality management. Two objectives were set, the first related to the measurement of the level of maturity degree of the ENMSL related to compliance with the eight principles; and the second, the recommendation of methods and tools for obtaining benefits. The methodology used applies a questionnaire of eight quality principles and three questions referenced.The study was carried out to the teaching, administrative and directive staff of the institution, obtaining the level of maturity, its graphic representation, the prioritization of opportunities for improvement, the analysis of the results of the surveys and the results of the level of competitiveness of the institution.The level of maturity is between zero (0) to five (5). The principle "staff participation" is positioned with the lowest score (3.5), and the "mutually beneficial relationship with the provider" occupies the highest position (4.8). The staff is the essence of an organization. You must have motivated people, committed to the organization that generate innovation and creativity to promote the objectives of the organization being responsible for their own performance and participating in continuous improvement.La Norma Internacional ISO 10014:2006 “Gestión de la Calidad–Directrices para la obtención de beneficios financieros y económicos”, tiene como propósito que la alta dirección de las organizaciones se autoevaluación sobre estos beneficios derivados de la aplicación de la gestión de la calidad. En el presente trabajo se estableció la obtención de beneficios al interior de la ENMSL aplicando los ocho principios de gestión de la calidad. Se fijaron dos objetivos, el primero relacionado con la medición del nivel de grado de madurez de la ENMSL relacionados al cumplimiento de los ocho principios; y el segundo, la recomendación de métodos y herramientas para la obtención de beneficios.  La metodología utilizada aplica un cuestionario de ocho principios de calidad y tres preguntas referenciadas. El estudio se realizó al personal docente, administrativo y directivo de la institución, obteniéndose el nivel de madurez, su representación gráfica, la priorización de las oportunidades de mejora, el análisis de los resultados de las encuestas y los resultados del nivel de competitividad de la institución.  El nivel de madurez se localiza entre cero (0) a cinco (5). El principio  “participación del personal” se posiciona con el menor puntaje (3.5), y el “relación mutuamente beneficiosa con el proveedor” ocupa la posición más alta (4.8). El personal  es la esencia de una organización. Se debe contar con personas motivadas, comprometidas en la organización que generen innovación y creatividad al promover los objetivos de la organización siendo responsables de su propio desempeño y participando en la mejora continua

Gluten proteins and rheology of Mexican bread wheats as affected by environmental and genotypic factors

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of environmental and genotypic factors on industrial quality and on the monomeric and polymeric protein contents and ratio of 24 rainfed bread wheat recombinant lines. The cultivation was done in five environmental conditions generated by agronomic management in the autumn-winter 2006/2007 cycle, at Roque, Guanajuato, Mexico. The mixing time (TMA), strength (ALVW) and extensibility (ALVPL) of the dough, gliadin (50PS) and glutenin (50PI) rich fractions, and their ratio (50PS/50PI), were evaluated. The best combinations of high and low molecular weight glutenins for TMA and ALVW were 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b; 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; and 2*, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b; for ALVPL it was 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; and for 50PS they were 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; and 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b. The 50PS/50PI ratio was higher in genotypes with 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b. TMA is higher when temperature increases, and the best ALVPL is found under normal environmental conditions. Gliadin fraction and the 50PS/50PI ratio are higher when sulphur fertilization is done, and 50PI increases with drought and higher temperatures during grain-filling stage.El objetivo de este estudio fue conocer el efecto de factores ambientales y genotípicos sobre los parámetros de calidad industrial y sobre la cantidad y relación de proteínas monoméricas y poliméricas del gluten en 24 líneas recombinantes de trigos harineros de temporal. El cultivo se desarrolló en cinco condiciones ambientales generadas por manejo agronómico, ciclo otoño-invierno 2006/2007, en Roque, Guanajuato, México. Se evaluaron el tiempo de amasado (TMA), fuerza (ALVW), extensibilidad (ALVPL) de la masa, fracción rica en gliadina (50PS) y en glutenina (50PI), y su relación (50PS/50PI). Las mejores combinaciones de gluteninas de alto y bajo peso molecular para TMA y ALVW fueron los genotipos con 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b; 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b, y 2*, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b; para ALVPL, 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; para 50PS, 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; y 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b. La relación 50PS/50PI fue mayor en genotipos con 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b. El TMA es mayor cuando aumenta la temperatura y la mejor ALVPL se obtiene en el ambiente bajo condiciones normales. La fracción 50PS y la relación 50PS/50PI son mayores cuando se realiza la fertilización con azufre, y se obtiene incremento de 50PI con riego limitado y aumento de temperaturas durante el llenado de grano.The objective of this study was to determine the effect of environmental and genotypic factors on industrial quality and on the monomeric and polymeric protein contents and ratio of 24 rainfed bread wheat recombinant lines. The cultivation was done in five environmental conditions generated by agronomic management in the autumn-winter 2006/2007 cycle, at Roque, Guanajuato, Mexico. The mixing time (TMA), strength (ALVW) and extensibility (ALVPL) of the dough, gliadin (50PS) and glutenin (50PI) rich fractions, and their ratio (50PS/50PI), were evaluated. The best combinations of high and low molecular weight glutenins for TMA and ALVW were 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b; 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; and 2*, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3c, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b; for ALVPL it was 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; and for 50PS they were 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b; and 1, 17+18, 5+10/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3h, Glu-D3b. The 50PS/50PI ratio was higher in genotypes with 2*, 17+18, 2+12/Glu-A3e, Glu-B3g, Glu-D3b. TMA is higher when temperature increases, and the best ALVPL is found under normal environmental conditions. Gliadin fraction and the 50PS/50PI ratio are higher when sulphur fertilization is done, and 50PI increases with drought and higher temperatures during grain-filling stage

EPOS (European Plate Observation System)

[EN] EPOS (European Plate Observation System) (https://www.epos-ip.org/) is now established as the only European multidisciplinary and global research infrastructure in Earth Sciences. It integrates several hundred national observatories for the observation and measurement of the internal and dynamic structure of the planet, and in particular in Europe, distributed in 25 European countries, including Spain. The EPOS project, included in the 2008 ESFRI Roadmap, has been recognized by ESFRI in 2016 as a priority project for its implementation, because of its strategic relevance in the European Research Area.[ES] EPOS (European Plate Observation System) (https://www.epos-ip.org/) se constituye actualmente como la única Infraestructura europea de Investigación multidisciplinar y global en Ciencias de la Tierra. Integra varios cientos de observatorios nacionales para la observación y medición de la estructura interna y dinámica del planeta, y en particular en Europa, distribuidos en 25 países de Europa, entre ellos España. El proyecto EPOS, incluido en la Hoja de Ruta ESFRI de 2008, ha sido reconocido por ESFRI en 2016 como proyecto prioritario para su implementación, por su relevancia estratégica en el ERA (European Research Area).Este trabajo ha sido sufragado por los proyectos EPOS Implementation Phase (EPOS IP) (Grant agreement no:676564-EPOS IP) del EU VII Framework Program, ESFRI y Red Temática “EPOS ESPAÑA” (CGL2016- 81965-REDT) y Clúster de cálculo y servicio en remoto del nodo español de EPOS Espacio (UCMA15-EE3294), del Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, España.Fernández, J.; Gallart, J.; Carbonell, R.; Díaz, J.; Villaseñor, A.; Azor, A.; Gonzalez-Matesanz, F.... (2017). EPOS (European Plate Observation System). En Primer Congreso en Ingeniería Geomática. Libro de actas. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 127-134. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIGeo2017.2017.6615OCS12713