The Persistent Gender Earnings Gap in Colombia, 1994-2006

This paper surveys gender earnings gaps in Colombia from 1994 to 2006, using matching comparisons to examine the extent to which individuals with similar human capital characteristics earn different wages. Three sub-periods are considered: 1994-1998; 2000-2001; and 2002- 2006, corresponding to the economic cycle of the Colombian economy. The gaps dropped from the first to the second period but remained almost unchanged between the second and the third. The gender earnings gap remains largely unexplained after controlling for different combinations of socio-demographics and job-related characteristics, reaching between 13 and 23 percent of average female earnings. That gap is lower at the middle of the wage distributions than the extremes, possibly due to a gender-equalizing effect of the minimum wage. Moreover, the gap is more pronounced for low-productivity workers and those who need flexibility to participate in labor markets. This suggests that policy interventions in the form of labor market regulations may have little impact on reducing gender earnings gaps.gender, ethnicity, wage gaps, Latin America, Colombia, matching

The Persistent Gender Earnings Gap in Colombia, 1994-2006

This paper surveys gender wage gaps in Colombia from 1994 to 2006, using matchingcomparisons to examine the extent to which individuals with similar human capitalcharacteristics earn different wages. Three sub-periods are considered: 1994-1998; 2000-2001; and 2002- 2006. The gaps dropped from the first to the second period but remained almost unchanged between the second and the third. The gender wage gap remains largely unexplained after controlling for different combinations of socio-demographics and job-related characteristics, reaching between 13 and 23 percent of average female wages. That gap is lower at the middle of the wage distributions than the extremes, possibly due to a gender-equalizing effect of the minimum wage. Moreover, the gap is more pronounced for low-productivity workers and those who need flexibility to participate in labor markets. This suggests that policy interventions in the form of labor market regulations may have little impact on reducing gender wage gaps.gender, ethnicity, wage gaps, Latin America, Colombia, matching

Kurt Gödel: el límite lógico de la Modernidad

The formalist project devised by Hilbert is indebted to a philosopher that we can consider as the founding father of modernity: Descartes. In this paper I suggest to interpret the restriction theorem of Kurt Gödel, which shows the impossibility of this project as a critique of modernity.El proyecto formalista ideado por Hilbert es deudor de un filósofo que podemos considerar como el padre fundador de la modernidad: Descartes. En este escrito se buscará interpretar el teorema de limitación de Kurt Gödel, que muestra la imposibilidad de dicho proyecto, como una crítica a la modernidad

Georg Trakl y la melancolía

This paper identifies some of the decisive aspects of Georg Trakl’s poetry, taking as the starting point the author’s awareness about God’s death, from Nietzsche’s approach. Emphasis is placed on melancholy, support of the creation, testimony and acknowledgement of failure and grief of mankind, from which the author was able to express his discouragement upon the downfall and decline of the West.Se identificaron algunos aspectos determinantes de la obra poética de Georg Trakl, tomando como punto de partida la conciencia del escritor acerca de la muerte de Dios, desde la perspectiva de Nietzsche. Se hizo un énfasis sobre la melancolía, soporte de la creación, testimonio y reconocimiento del errar y el duelo del hombre, a partir de la cual el autor pudo expresar el desconsuelo por la ruina y el ocaso de Occidente

La pirámide invertida – Rol legislativo del SII

Los profesionales del área tributaria trabajamos en base a la normativa que genera la Autoridad Tributaria a través de oficios y es la cita de tales oficios - en lugar de la norma legal inexistente o, al menos, manifiestamente insuficiente para resolver la situación impositiva de que se trate -, la que respalda nuestros informes, escritos de reclamación, recursos y demás documentos que se generan en la actividad profesional. Si bien no existe ninguna novedad en la afirmación anterior, ni en cuanto al rol que han pasado a ocupar los indicados oficios en nuestro quehacer profesional, parece no haberse tomado conciencia de la significación que tiene el rol legislativo que ha asumido la Administración. La generación de la normativa tributaria a través de la jurisprudencia administrativa, es aceptada y asumida en todos los ámbitos, sin cuestionar la trascendencia, gravedad e implicancias del fenómeno, no sólo frente al principio de la legalidad de los impuestos, sino que en todo el funcionamiento de nuestro sistema tributario. Además de consignar pruebas y demostraciones fehacientes de la situación que se denuncia y de alertar respecto a su gravedad, el presente trabajo pretende establecer los orígenes del fenómeno, aportar antecedentes y sugerir alternativas de solución. Se incursiona en la búsqueda de responsables, que contrariamente a lo que pudiera asumirse, son muy lejanos al Servicio de Impuestos Internos, al que no cabe participación alguna en esta anomalía de nuestro sistema impositivo, y que, por el contrario, ha hecho todo lo posible por suplir las falencias de quienes tienen el deber constitucional de generar las normas que regulen el funcionamiento de los impuestos y, en general, la trascendencia o efectos tributarios de los hechos económicos o jurídicos que tienen lugar en la actividad del país

Inter-spikes-intervals exponential and gamma distributions study of neuron firing rate for SVITE motor control model on FPGA

This paper presents a statistical study on a neuro-inspired spike-based implementation of the Vector-Integration-To-End-Point motor controller (SVITE) and compares its deterministic neuron-model stream of spikes with a proposed modification that converts the model, and thus the controller, in a Poisson like spike stream distribution. A set of hardware pseudo-random numbers generators, based on a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR), have been introduced in the neuron-model so that they reach a closer biological neuron behavior. To validate the new neuron-model behavior a comparison between the Inter-Spikes-Interval empirical data and the Exponential and Gamma distributions has been carried out using the Kolmogorov–Smirnoff test. An in-hardware validation of the controller has been performed in a Spartan6 FPGA to drive directly with spikes DC motors from robotics to study the behavior and viability of the modified controller with random components. The results show that the original deterministic spikes distribution of the controller blocks can be swapped with Poisson distributions using 30-bit LFSRs. The comparative between the usable controlling signals such as the trajectory and the speed profile using a deterministic and the new controller show a standard deviation of 11.53 spikes/s and 3.86 spikes/s respectively. These rates do not affect our system because, within Pulse Frequency Modulation, in order to drive the motors, time length can be fixed to spread the spikes. Tuning this value, the slow rates could be filtered by the motor. Therefore, this SVITE neuro-inspired controller can be integrated within complex neuromorphic architectures with Poisson-like neurons

Prospecting for and Isolation of Microalgae in South Texas

Microalgae is a very important microorganism that can be used for beneficial purposes for humans. One way to show the importance of algae in this planet is the contribution of Oxygen it provides to the atmosphere, which many organisms rely on (Medeiros et al., 2015). Carbon footprint has been one of the greatest causes for global warming and it is due to the use of fossils to create diesel. One of the ways to avoid contamination is to replace those fuels that are used on daily basis, such as for transportation. The microalgae are able to produce lipids that can be used to create biofuels. These biofuels do not leave a carbon footprint since it is a source of green energy. By replacing the fuels with biofuels, it is necessary to find an efficient way to stress algae to produce a good yield of lipids to be transformed into those desired biofuels. Many microalgae have not been tested that might be great candidates for this, and by prospecting the area of Edinburg here in Texas it is possible to find a good candidate for lipid production

Contribution to the theoretical description of N2 dynamics on W(100).

124 p.Elementary processes at the gas-solid interface are of great interest in many scientific domains. This molecule-surface reactions play a key role in the study of: heterogeneous catalysis processes, plasma-wal interactions in the context of thermonuclear fusion or atmospheric re-entries technologies, chemistry of atmospheric media, astrochemistry, surface funcionalization, etc. ... The main goal of this thesis work is to analyse the dynamics of several processes that occur when N2 molecules collide with a W (100) surface. The N2/w system constitutes one of the most emblemathic benchmark system in the surface science field.Quasi-classical molecular dynamics are performed making use of a potential energy surface based on density functional theory calculations that include non-local interactions such as van der Waals forces. Among the reactive processes studied, we focus on the characterization of the dissoviative and non-dissociative adsorption, non-reactive scattering and Eley-Rideal recombination. The non-adiabaticity of the dynamics was accounted for by introducing energy disspation channels to surface phonons and electron-hole pair excitations in the simulations

Contribution to the theoretical description of N2 dynamics on W(100).

124 p.Elementary processes at the gas-solid interface are of great interest in many scientific domains. This molecule-surface reactions play a key role in the study of: heterogeneous catalysis processes, plasma-wal interactions in the context of thermonuclear fusion or atmospheric re-entries technologies, chemistry of atmospheric media, astrochemistry, surface funcionalization, etc. ... The main goal of this thesis work is to analyse the dynamics of several processes that occur when N2 molecules collide with a W (100) surface. The N2/w system constitutes one of the most emblemathic benchmark system in the surface science field.Quasi-classical molecular dynamics are performed making use of a potential energy surface based on density functional theory calculations that include non-local interactions such as van der Waals forces. Among the reactive processes studied, we focus on the characterization of the dissoviative and non-dissociative adsorption, non-reactive scattering and Eley-Rideal recombination. The non-adiabaticity of the dynamics was accounted for by introducing energy disspation channels to surface phonons and electron-hole pair excitations in the simulations