Efficiency of university education: A partial frontier analysis

This article investigates the efficiency of the university education using two linked databases (Saber Pro and Saber 11) from the Colombian Institute for Evaluation of Education (ICFES) corresponding to 2014. We use a non-parametric frontier approach that combines the "order m" technique with the concept of a meta-frontier to disaggregate students' total efficiency in generic skills in quantitative reasoning, critical reading, and written communication, into the parts attributable to the students themselves and the university. The analysis is performed by academic programme and by education sector (public vs. private). Results indicate that most of the inefficiency of students in the assessment of generic skills in higher education is attributable to the students themselves and a significant number of students could improve their performance in the assessment in each of the academic programmes if they performed as efficiently as those located on the frontier. Furthermore, the inefficiency share of students varies between academic programmes and university sectors, with students in the private sector more inefficient than those in the public sector in some and less inefficient in others. This research constitutes the first application of the technique of "order m" with the approach of the meta-frontier for the analysis of educational efficiency using data at the student and university levels

Los efectos de la formación ocupacional: ¿Importa la duración de las acciones?

En este artículo se evalúa el Plan FIP desarrollado en Cataluña durante 2005 a partir de datos de registro administrativo. Dada su heterogeneidad, los cursos se dividen en tres grupos según su duración. Utilizando como técnica de evaluación el propensity score matching y como grupo de control a los parados registrados no formados, los resultados muestran que los cursos de duración media y larga son los que más aumentan la probabilidad de ocupación en los ocho trimestres siguientes a la participación. También se obtienen diferencias sustanciales en los efectos según sexo, edad, duración del desempleo y percepción de prestaciones.evaluación microeconómica, políticas del mercado de trabajo, formación ocupacional.

Linear Strain Tensors on Hyperbolic Surfaces and Asymptotic Theories for Thin Shells

We perform a detailed analysis of the solvability of linear strain equations on hyperbolic surfaces. We prove that if the surface is a smooth noncharacteristic region, any first order infinitesimal isometry can be matched to an infinitesimal isometry of an arbitrarily high order. The implications of this result for the elasticity of thin hyperbolic shells are discussed

Serial Changes in Plasma Levels of Cytokines in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Roberto H Heinisch1, Carlos R Zanetti1, Fabiano Comin1, Juliano L Fernandes2, José A Ramires2, Carlos V Serrano Jr21Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil; 2Heart Institute (InCor), University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, BrazilObjectives: Inflammation is known to be a major determinant of the progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). In the present study we have evaluated the plasma levels of cytokines – tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF), interleukin-1α (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interferon-γ (IFN), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) – to examine the association between these cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with CAD.Methods: Patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS; n = 20) were compared with patients with stable angina (SA; n = 20) and with control volunteers (C; n = 20). Blood samples were collected at the time of admission from all patients and 15 and 30 days thereafter.Results: CRP levels (20.8 ± 8.8 mg/L) (mean ± SEM) were higher at baseline in ACS than SA patients (4.1 ± 0.8 mg/L) or the control subjects (5.1 ± 1.8 mg/L) (p < 0.05). At admission, IL-6 was detected in 50% of the ACS patients and 5% of the SA patients or control subjects, while TNF was detected in 35% of the ACS and SA patients but only in 5% of control subjects. Subsequently, IL-6 levels declined and were no longer detectable, while TNF levels increased among ACS patients at all time periods tested when compared with other patients. The presence of IL-1 and IL-10 were not detectable in the blood samples examined, and IFN could only be detected in the ACS group. A significant correlation was observed between IL-6 and CRP levels (r = 0.4; p < 0.01) in all groups. There were no correlations among any of the other cytokines and CRP levels.Conclusions: Our study demonstrates raised levels of TNF, IL6, IFN, and CRP in patients with ACS and a positive correlation between IL6 and CRP but not with the other cytokines. Keywords: cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, coronary artery diseas

Situación actual del personal técnico-deportivo en las empresas del sector en la Comunidad Valenciana

Actualmente, el tema de los recursos humanos está produciendo un fuerte impacto en España y sólo hay que acercarse a la bibliografía empresarial para comprobar que el estudio del sector de la actividad física y el deporte representa un campo de interés científico y social que requiere ser investigado. Mediante una metodología cuantitativa de corte descriptivo y mediante el empleo de la entrevista estandarizada como instrumento de recogida de información se reproducen aquellas características más relevantes observadas en la Comunidad Valenciana. Los resultados explican que las personas que trabajan en funciones físico-deportivas en empresas del sector son mayoritariamente hombres jóvenes que desarrollan una amplia variedad de las mismas, con situaciones laborales en las que no existe contratación y manifestando una elevada temporalidad. Asimismo, el estudio revela que más de la mitad de las personas desempeñan su trabajo con una duración laboral que no supera los cuatro años, existiendo personas sin titulación oficial de actividad física y deporte, y siendo el aspecto más importante para encontrar trabajo los contactos personales

Geochemical constraints on the Hadean environment from mineral fingerprints of prokaryotes

The environmental conditions on the Earth before 4 billion years ago are highly uncertain, largely because of the lack of a substantial rock record from this period. During this time interval, known as the Hadean, the young planet transformed from an uninhabited world to the one capable of supporting, and inhabited by the first living cells. These cells formed in a fluid environment they could not at first control, with homeostatic mechanisms developing only later. It is therefore possible that present-day organisms retain some record of the primordial fluid in which the first cells formed. Here we present new data on the elemental compositions and mineral fingerprints of both Bacteria and Archaea, using these data to constrain the environment in which life formed. The cradle solution that produced this elemental signature was saturated in barite, sphene, chalcedony, apatite, and clay minerals. The presence of these minerals, as well as other chemical features, suggests that the cradle environment of life may have been a weathering fluid interacting with dry-land silicate rocks. The specific mineral assemblage provides evidence for a moderate Hadean climate with dry and wet seasons and a lower atmospheric abundance of CO2 than is present today.Fil: Novoselov, Alexey A.. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Silva, Dailto. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Schneider, Jerusa. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Abrevaya, Ximena Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Chaffin, Michael S.. State University Of Colorado Boulder; Estados UnidosFil: Serrano, Paloma. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre For Polar And Marine Research,; AlemaniaFil: Navarro, Margareth Sugano. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Conti, Maria Josiane. André Tosello Institute; BrasilFil: Souza Filho, Carlos Roberto de. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasi

Valor del índice de resistencia arterial medido por Doppler en la función del injerto renal a mediano y largo plazos

Objective: To evaluate the association between the value of the arterial resistance index (RI) measured by Doppler at the month after transplantation, and the loss of graft. Secondary outcomes of loss greater than or equal to 50% of renal function, eath with functioning graft, biopsy findings (inflammation, hyalinosis, rejection, interstitial fibrosis - tubular atrophy, IFTA) are reported. Methods: A cohort study of 66 patients, who underwent renal transplantation at San José Hospital of Bogotá between October 2007 and April 2011. The RI of the hilar artery was measured by Doppler ultrasound at the month post-transplant. Most patients had follow-up until the second year. We describe the cumulative incidence of renal graft loss, loss greater than or equal to 50% of the glomerular filtration rate. At the second year after transplantation, rejection, IFTA, hyalinosis and documented inflammation were reported in protocol biopsies. Association analysis was performed on the histological outcomes. Results: only 2 cases of renal graft loss were reported, belonging to the group with normal RI (3.8%). At 3 years of follow-up, 5 patients had lost more than 50% of GFR compared to baseline, 4 occurred in patients with RI <0.8, 2 of them (3.7%) ocurred in the first year and only one patient with RI> 0.8 ocurred at 3 years. The median GFR at 3 years of follow-up in both groups is greater than 60 ml / min. In the first year of follow-up 22 (47%) patients with normal RI had IFTA, and 7 (54%) with RI> 0.8 had IFTA. Hyalinosis was reported for 23% with RI> 0.8 and 25.5% with RI <0.8. Conclusion: the outcome of the grafts depends not only on RI, but also on factors such as cold ischemia, induction and maintenance immunosuppressive treatment, degree of incompatibility between donor and recipient. Histopathological changes such as IFTA, inflammation, hyalinosis, were observed in both groups, suggesting that there are other factors stronger than the RI, which correlates with the occurrence of these findings.Objetivo: evaluar la asociación entre el valor del índice de resistencia arterial (IR) medido por doppler al mes postrasplante y la pérdida de injerto. Se reportan los desenlaces secundarios de pérdida mayor o igual al 50% de la función renal, muerte con injerto funcionante, hallazgos de la biopsia (inflamación, hialinosis, rechazo, fibrosis intersticial - atrofia tubular, IFTA, por sus siglas en inglés). Métodos: se realizó un estudio de cohorte de 66 pacientes, que recibieron trasplante renal, del Hospital San José de Bogotá, entre octubre de 2007 y abril de 2011; se midió el IR de la arteria hilar por ecografía doppler al mes postrasplante. La mayoría de los pacientes fueron seguidos hasta el segundo año. Se describe la incidencia acumulada de pérdida del injerto renal, pérdida mayor o igual al 50% de la tasa filtración glomerular; al segundo año postrasplante se reporta el rechazo, IFTA, hialinosis e inflamación documentada en las biopsias de protocolo. Se realizó análisis de asociación en los desenlaces histológicos. Resultados: solo se reportaron 2 casos de pérdida del injerto renal, pertenecientes al grupo con IR normal (3.8%). A los 3 años de seguimiento 5 pacientes habían perdido más del 50% de la TFG respecto a la basal, 4 ocurrieron en los pacientes con IR <0.8, 2 de ellos (3.7%) fueron al primer año y solo un paciente con IR >0.8 a los 3 años. La mediana de la TFG a los 3 años de seguimiento en ambos grupos es mayor de 60 ml/ min. En el primer año de seguimiento 22 (47%) pacientes con IR normal presentaron IFTA y 7 (54%) con IR >0.8 presentaron IFTA; la hialinosis con un 23% para IR >0.8 y 25.5% para IR <0.8. Conclusión: los desenlaces de los injertos no solo dependen del IR, hay otros factores que pueden influir como es el tiempo de isquemia fría, esquema de tratamiento inmunosupresor de inducción y mantenimiento, grado de incompatibilidades entre donante, receptor. Cambios histopatológicos como IFTA, inflamación, hialinosis, se observaron en cualquiera de los 2 grupos, lo que sugiere que hay otros factores más fuertes que el IR, que se correlaciona con la aparición de estos hallazgos

Gaidropsarus gallaeciae (Gadiformes: Gaidropsaridae), a New Northeast Atlantic Rockling Fish, with Commentary on the Taxonomy of the Genus

A new species of rockling fish genus Gaidropsarus is described based on six specimens collected in Galicia and Porcupine Banks, in Atlantic European waters. An analysis of morphological characters has confirmed the specific status of specimens of a previously described clade by comparison of DNA sequences. Gaidropsarus gallaeciae sp. nov. it is distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: 43–44 vertebrae; 54–60 third dorsal fin rays; 44–52 anal fin rays; 21–23 pectoral fin rays; head length 21.1–25.2% of standard length (SL); length of the pelvic fin 16.2–19% SL; length of the first dorsal fin ray 15.8–27% of head length (%HL); eye diameter 15.8–20.5% HL; and interorbital space 21.7–28% HL. Using the nucleotide sequence of the 5’ end of the mitochondrial COI gene as a molecular marker, the genetic p-distance between the new species and its congeners far exceeds the usual 2%, granting the former the status of an independent taxon, which is in accordance with the morphological identification. A comparison with the other 12 valid species of the genus is presented. The study also highlights the morphological diversity resulting from the meristic and biometric variability of Gaidropsarus species and lays the groundwork for future taxonomic studies on this genus.Versión del editor5,82

A First Approach to Build Product Lines of Multi-organizationalWeb Based Systems (MOWS)

From the recent past and current state of the Internet, it is possible to forecast a wide growing of Multi Organizational Web–based Systems (MOWS). Therefore, the reduction of both costs and time–to–market is desirable. On the other hand, the success of building software in Product Lines (PL) is being demonstrated in different contexts reducing both time–to–market and costs. However, research on PL topics has not been oriented to include web–based assets. In this article, we propose a first approach to use PL methodologies to build MOWS.We identify quality aspects as a key point when building Product Lines of MOWS and we give a way to specify quality aspects in PL.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC 2003-02737-C02-0