ICT investment in Spanish SMEs of service and retail sectors. Is it determined by managers gender?

This study investigates the role of the entrepreneur’s gender on digitalization strategies undertaken by SMEs in the service and retail sectors. Specifically, we aim at testing how the gender of the entrepreneur may affect investment in software and equipment related to information and communication technologies (ICT). We use a sample of 1,041 Spanish businesses and estimate a bivariate probit model for these two decisions, controlling for other entrepreneurial and business characteristics. Results indicate a higher probability of male entrepreneurs to invest in software and ICT equipment, as compared to women. Furthermore, we find that entrepreneurial risk-taking and business’ innovation capabilities are important drivers for engaging in these two digitalisation strategies, regardless of the gender of the entrepreneur, and that entrepreneurial proactiveness is especially important for women entrepreneurs, since the positive impact of entrepreneurial proactiveness on the probability to engage in digitalisation strategies is stronger in women-led businesses.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Una tabla inédita de Nicolau Falcó y la iconografía de La aparición de Cristo resucitado a su madre con los padres del Limbo

En el presente trabajo damos a conocer una tabla inédita del pintor valenciano Nicolau Falcó, conservada en una colección particular de Barcelona. De procedencia desconocida, representa la Aparición de Cristo resucitado a la Virgen acompañado de los patriarcas rescatados del limbo, una iconografía no extraña, aunque poco habitual, en la pintura del tardogótico y el Renacimiento. Junto al estudio estilístico de la obra y su inserción en el contexto de la pintura valenciana de inicios del siglo XVI, se aborda también el análisis de las noticias documentales conocidas sobre la saga de los Falcó. Por otra parte, se ahonda en el análisis iconográfico de la representación y de las fuentes textuales que le dan soporte. Entre ellas destaca la Vita Christi de Isabel de Villena, que describe con detalle dicho pasaje y que, a partir de su editio princeps de 1497, contribuyó a la difusión del episodio en los ciclos pictóricos valencianos.In this paper we present a previously unpublished painting by the Valencian painter Nicolau Falcó, held in a private collection in Barcelona. Of unknown origin, it represents the risen Christ's appearance to the Virgin accompanied by the patriarchs rescued from limbo. It is not a strange iconography, although it is unusual in late Gothic and Renaissance painting. Besides the stylistic study of the work and its place in the context of the Valencian painting in the early sixteenth century, this paper analyzes the documents known about the saga of the Falcó. Moreover, this study delves into the iconographic representation of the painting and textual sources that support it. These include the Vita Christi by Isabel de Villena, which describes in detail the passage and, from its editio princeps of 1497, contributed to the episode broadcast in Valencian pictorial cycles

Effects of central and peripheral fatigue on impact characteristics during running

Fatigue and impact can represent an injury risk factor during running. The objective of this study was to compare the impact transmission along the locomotor system between the central and peripheral fatigued states during running. Tibial and head acceleration as well as shock attenuation in the time- and frequency-domain were analyzed during 2-min of treadmill running in the pre- and post-fatigue state in eighteen male popular runners (N = 18). The impact transmission was measured before and after a 30-min central fatigue protocol on the treadmill or a peripheral fatigue protocol in the quadricep and hamstring muscles using an isokinetic dynamometer. The time-domain acceleration variables were not modified either by peripheral or central fatigue (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, central fatigue increased the maximum (p = 0.006) and total (p = 0.007) signal power magnitude in the high-frequency range in the tibia, and the attenuation variable in the low- (p = 0.048) and high-frequency area (p = 0.000), while peripheral fatigue did not cause any modifications in the frequency-domain variables (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the attenuation in the low (p = 0.000)- and high-frequency area was higher with central fatigue than peripheral fatigue (p = 0.003). The results demonstrate that central fatigue increases the severity of impact during running as well as the attenuation of low and high components

Are the HI deficient galaxies on the outskirts of Virgo recent arrivals?

The presence on the Virgo cluster outskirts of spiral galaxies with gas deficiencies as strong as those of the inner galaxies stripped by the intracluster medium has led us to explore the possibility that some of these peripheral objects are not newcomers. A dynamical model for the collapse and rebound of spherical shells under the point mass and radial flow approximations has been developed to account for the amplitude of the motions in the Virgo I cluster (VIC) region. According to our analysis, it is not unfeasible that galaxies far from the cluster, including those in a gas-deficient group well to its background, went through its core a few Gyr ago. The implications would be: (1) that the majority of the HI-deficient spirals in the VIC region might have been deprived of their neutral hydrogen by interactions with the hot intracluster medium; and (2) that objects spending a long time outside the cluster cores might keep the gas deficient status without altering their morphology.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 4 pages, 3 figures. Uses emulateapj

Gestión de proyecto de cooperación al desarrollo: desarrollo social en la juventud de Bab Taza (Marruecos)

[ES] El objeto del presente trabajo final de carrera, es desarrollar y gestionar un proyecto de cooperación en materia de educación social. Específicamente, el objetivo general es identificar y formular un proyecto para contribuir a mejorar la calidad de vida de los jóvenes y de la población en general de la localidad de Bab Taza, en Marruecos. Además, se estudiará la viabilidad de este plan, para la posible implantación posterior del proyecto de cooperación. La metodología del proyecto será la del Enfoque del Marco Lógico en la cooperación, donde a partir de cada una de sus fases, se identificaran los problemas existentes, se diseñará el programa a seguir, se programará su ejecución y se establecerán mecanismos de seguimiento y control. Además se incluirá un capítulo referido a la financiación que podría obtener el proyecto.Vaño Sanchis, A. (2014). Gestión de proyecto de cooperación al desarrollo: desarrollo social en la juventud de Bab Taza (Marruecos). http://hdl.handle.net/10251/45451.Archivo delegad

Evaluation of impact-shock on gait after the implementation of two different training programs in older adults

Gait is negatively affected with increasing age. It is widely accepted that training produces physical-functional improvements in older adults, which can be assessed with numerous physical-functional tests. However, very few studies have been carried out using accelerometry to analyse the training effect on kinetic and kinematic variables in older adults, and there is no one that investigate the effects of two different training programs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the effects of an interval-walking program and a multicomponent program on the acceleration impacts, shock attenuation, step-length, stride frequency, and gait speed in older adults. Methods: 23 participants were divided into multicomponent training group [n = 12, 7 female, 71.58 (4.56) years] and interval-walking group [n = 11, 6 female, 69.64 (3.56) years]. We evaluated the participants using three triaxial accelerometers, placing one on the distal end of each tibia and one on the forehead. Findings: After 14 weeks' of training, the maximum acceleration values both for the head accelerometer and for the non-dominant tibia, as well as the attenuation in the same leg, increased in the multicomponent training group. The maximum acceleration values for the head and the stride frequency also increased in the intervalwalking group. Lower limb strength improved in both groups. Interpretation: Given the benefits we found for each of these programs, we encourage their consideration when planning older adults training programs and suggest that multicomponent programs should be introduced prior to the start of walking-based programs

Validity and Reliability of an Instrumented Treadmill with an Accelerometry System for Assessment of Spatio-Temporal Parameters and Impact Transmission

Running retraining programs focused on concurrent feedback of acceleration impacts have been demonstrated to be a good strategy to reduce running-related injuries (RRI), as well as to improve running economy and reduce acceleration impacts and injury running incidence. Traditionally, impacts have been registered by mean of accelerometers attached directly to the athletes, which is inaccessible to the entire population, because it requires laboratory conditions. This study investigated the validity and reliability of a new device integrated directly into the treadmill, compared to a traditional acceleration impact system. Thirty healthy athletes with no history of RRI were tested on two separate days over the instrumented treadmill (AccTrea) and simultaneously with an acceleration impact system attached to the participant (AccAthl). AccTrea was demonstrated to be a valid and reliable tool for measuring spatio-temporal parameters like step length (validity intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.94; reliability ICC = 0.92), step time (validity ICC = 0.95; reliability ICC = 0.96), and step frequency (validity ICC = 0.95; reliability ICC = 0.96) during running. Peak acceleration impact variables showed a high reliability for the left (reliability ICC = 0.88) and right leg (reliability ICC = 0.85), and peak impact asymmetry showed a modest validity (ICC = 0.55). These results indicated that the AccTrea system is a valid and reliable way to assess spatio-temporal variables, and a reliable tool for measuring acceleration impacts during running.This research was funded by Bodytone International Sport, S.L., grant number CFE-BODYTONE-03-18

Modification of Angular Kinematics and Spatiotemporal Parameters during Running after Central and Peripheral Fatigue

Fatigue causes kinematics modifications during running, and it could be related to injuries. The aim was to identify and compare the effects of central and peripheral fatigue on angular kinematics and spatiotemporal parameters during running. Angular kinematics and spatiotemporal parameters were evaluated using an infrared motion capture system and were registered during 2 min treadmill running in pre- and post-fatigue states in eighteen male recreational runners. Central fatigue was induced by a 30 min running fatigue protocol on a treadmill, while peripheral fatigue in quadriceps and hamstrings muscles was induced by an isokinetic dynamometer fatigue protocol. Central fatigue increased the anterior shank oscillation during the initial contact, knee flexion during the maximum absorption, posterior shank oscillation during propulsion, and stance time (p < 0.05). Peripheral fatigue decreased ankle dorsiflexion during initial contact and increased knee flexion and posterior shank oscillation during propulsion (p < 0.05). Moreover, central fatigue increased to a greater extent the hip and knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion during initial contact and maximum absorption as well as stance time and propulsion time (p < 0.05). These results suggested that central fatigue causes greater increases in the range of movements during the midstance than peripheral fatigue

Demanda y escalas de equivalencia: evidencia para España

El objetivo de este trabajo es plantear teoricamente el estudio de los efectos que los hijos imponen sobre las decisiones de demanda del hogar (los costes de los hijos, por ejemplo), tanto desde el punto de vista dinamico como estatico, utilizando el concepto de separabilidad demografica. Ademas, establecer la relacion entre ambos conceptos teoricos nos permitira investigar el grado de imprecision o el sesgo que se produce cuando se utiliza una medida estatica frente a una medida intertemporal. El ejercicio empirico se lleva a cabo utilizando un panel de datos extraido de la Encuesta Continua de Presupuestos Familiares, que cubre el periodo 1985-1995. Se estima un sistema de demanda Marshalliana para diversos bienes de adultos (y se contrasta la hipotesis de separabilidad demografica), asi como un sistema de demanda Frischsiana. Con los resultados de la estimacion se simula el coste relativo y absoluto de los hijos. Los resultados indican la importancia de la consideracion de los efectos dinamicos de los hijos en el calculo de escalas de equivalencia. Finalmente, se comparan las escalas de equivalencia estimadas con las implicitas en el Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas [email protected]

Strategic behaviour in Schelling dynamics: Theory and experimental evidence

In this paper we experimentally test Schelling's (1971) segregation model and confirm the striking result of segregation. In addition, we extend Schelling's model theoretically by adding strategic behavior and moving costs. We obtain a unique subgame perfect equilibrium in which rational agents facing moving costs may find it optimal not to move (anticipating other participants' movements). This equilibrium is far from full segregation. We run experiments for this extended Schelling model, and find that the percentage of strategic players dramatically increases with the cost of moving and that the degree of segregation depends on the distribution of strategic subjects