Austrian Way of Life

While still in the midst of their study abroad experiences, students at Linfield College write reflective essays. Their essays address issues of cultural similarity and difference, compare lifestyles, mores, norms, and habits between their host countries and home, and examine changes in perceptions about their host countries and the United States. In this essay, Vanessa Zea-Ledesma describes her observations during her study abroad program at the Austro-American Institute of Education in Vienna, Austria

Hedging Alternatives for the Mortgage Stabilization Fund (FRECH) European Cap Options for the Real Interest Rate

The World Bank has proposed an alternative hedging instrument to be offered by the FRECH, instead of the collar- swap currently available. The suggested derivate corresponds to a European Cap option for the real interest rate, which could give greater flexibility to the hedging mechanism, allowing it to be tailored for the specific needs of each Colombian Mortgage Bank (BECH). This paper finds the value of this derivative and analyses the critiques that have been made about the pricing of the collar-swap.

Derivative Markets' Impact on Colombian Monetary Policy

Derivatives are contingent claims that complete financial markets. Their use allow agents and firms to ameliorate the impact over con- sumption, production and investment given a change in relative prices induced by an active monetary policy. In this sense, derivatives gene- rate in some cases a loss in the effectiveness of the traditional monetary transmission channels in the short run, and in others, they promote an increase in the speed of transmission itself. Using an investment model, the impact of the use of interest rate and exchange rate derivatives in the dilution of colombian monetary channels is verified. Empirical exercises suggest that monetary policy has lost effectiveness in the short run.In spite of the surprise this result may offer given the relative im- matureness of domestic derivative markets, the marginal effect of these instruments appears to be significant, in the face of local financial mar- kets' imperfections. In addition, not only the hedge directly taken by firms with access to this instruments matter; there could be hedging spill-overs whenever commercial banks use derivatives, which allow for a more stable and cheap credit supply for firms with no access to those markets. The natural recommendation deriving from this conclusion suggests an urgent analysis of the derivatives impact over the speed of monetary transmission in Colombia.Derivatives; Monetary Policy Transmission Channels;Investment

Development of an interactive virtual teaching system for the recognition of common minerals

El estudio de los minerales ocupa una parte importante del módulo básico materia Geología, prestándose dichos contenidos muy bien a un estudio descriptivo. Como actividad individual no presencial del alumno se propone en este trabajo la utilización de una aplicación informática que debe contribuir a la adquisición de destrezas y habilidades sobre el material geológico que nos rodea. Para programar la aplicación informática se construyó, en primer lugar, una base de datos y el material audiovisual necesario. Una vez realizado el programa informático, se sometió éste a un grupo crítico de usuarios y, finalmente, se realizó un periodo de pruebas para un grupo de alumnos de cursos superiores, a fin de afinar, fundamentalmente, sobre la facilidad de uso del programaThe study of minerals occupies an important part of the basic module of the subject of Geology, the said content lending itself very well to a descriptive study. As an individual, off-campus study activity, this project proposes the use of a computer application that contributes to the acquisition of skills concerning the geological material that surrounds us. To programme the computer application, firstly, a database and the necessary audiovisual material were compiled. Once the software was completed it was submitted to a user critique group and, finally, was put through a test period by a group of students in higher level courses, with the main aim of fine tuning the user-friendliness of the softwar

ACTIVIDAD ANTIMICROBIANA DE PRODUCTOS NATURALES CONTRA Helicobacter pylori

Desde el hallazgo e identificaci\uf3n de Helicobacter pylori en material de tejido g\ue1strico por Marshall y Warrant en 1983, nuestro conocimiento sobre esta infecci\uf3n ha evolucionado notablemente. Se acepta al momento actual, su rol dentro de la multifactoriedad de la patolog\ueda ulcero p\ue9ptica gastroduodenal y el adenocarcinoma g\ue1strico. En la actualidad, numerosas terapias a base de antibi\uf3ticos est\ue1n disponibles, Sin embargo, estas terapias tienen varios problemas, incluyendo la aparici\uf3n de resistencia y los efectos adversos asociados a los antibi\uf3ticos, el riesgo de re-infecci\uf3n y el alto costo de dicho tratamiento. Este trabajo resume y analiza los estudios recientes m\ue1s relevantes de plantas con actividad anti Helicobacter pylori. Las especies vegetales se presentan como una fuente muy diversa para la obtenci\uf3n de compuestos activos con potencial bactericida, as\ued como para el desarrollo de nuevas terapias dise\uf1adas para el control de H pylori. Palabras clave: Helicobacter pylori, Productos naturales, Actividad antimicrobiana, Agentes derivados de plantas. ABSTRACT Since its discovery and identification in gastric tissue by Marshall and Warren in 1983, our knowledge about the effects of Helicobacter pylori infection has grown considerably. Its role in the multifactorial pathology of peptic ulcer disease (gastroduodenal ulcer disease), gastric adenocarcinoma, is now widely accepted. Currently, numerous antibiotic-based therapies are available. However, these therapies have several problems, including the appearance of resistance to the antibiotics used and associated adverse effects, the risk of re-infection and the high cost of treatment. This paper summarizes and analyzes the most important recent studies of plants with anti H. pylori activity. Plants species are presented as a very diverse source of bactericidal compounds, as well as for the development of new therapies for H. pylori control. Key words: Helicobacter pylori, natural products, antimicrobial activity, plant-derived agents. <br

Cryptographic salting for security enhancement of double random phase encryption schemes

Security in optical encryption techniques is a subject of great importance, especially in light of recent reports of successful attacks. We propose a new procedure to reinforce the ciphertexts generated in double random phase encrypting experimental setups. This ciphertext is protected by multiplexing with a 'salt' ciphertext coded with the same setup. We present an experimental implementation of the 'salting' technique. Thereafter, we analyze the resistance of the 'salted' ciphertext under some of the commonly known attacks reported in the literature, demonstrating the validity of our proposal.Fil: Velez Zea, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas; ArgentinaFil: Barrera Ramírez, John Fredy. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Torroba, Roberto Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Uidet Grupo de Ensayos Mecanicos Aplicados.; Argentin

Filosofar desde la realidad americana

Fil: Zea, Leopoldo

Information Systems for Enterprise Architecture

(Received: 2014/02/14 - Accepted: 2014/03/25)Enterprise Architecture (EA) has emerged as one of the most important topics to consider in Information System studies and has grown to become an essential business management activity to visualize and evaluate the future direction of a company. Nowadays in the market there are several software tools that support Enterprise Architects to work with EA. In order to decrease the risk of purchasing software tools that do not fulfill stakeholder´s needs is important to assess the software before making an investment. In this paper a literature review of the state of the art of EA will be done. Furthermore evaluation initiatives and existing information systems are analyzed which can support decision makers in the appropriate software tools for their companies