Growth in an oil abundant economy: The case of Venezuela

This paper has been presented at DEGIT-X held in México 2005.-- Revised: 2008-08.

Dynamics of Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotypes Causing Acute Otitis Media Isolated from Children with Spontaneous Middle-Ear Drainage over a 12-Year Period (1999–2010) in a Region of Northern Spain

10 p.

Descripción de empresas en crisis financiera: el caso de Argentina en las décadas del 1990 y 2000

[ES]Las investigaciones sobre la predicción de quiebras empresariales que se han venido dando en los últimos cincuenta años han indicado que la crisis financiera de las empresas ha sido y es un tema de preocupación en el mundo, también en Argentina. El horizonte de análisis de este trabajo comprende dos períodos de estabilidad económica en la década de 1990 y la del 2000, con la intención de comparar los indicadores financieros que explican la crisis empresarial en cada uno de ellos. De esta manera, se procura continuar con el aporte de evidencia empírica en esta línea de investigación, mediante el análisis de los indicadores, que según la literatura, influyen en el pronóstico de riesgo de crisis financiera. Estos estudios descriptivos previos a los inferenciales pueden ser replicados en otras economías emergentes, como herramienta de diagnostico de la vulnerabilidad financiera de las empresas.

Habilidades sociales y contextos de la conducta social

[Es] Las habilidades sociales, o habilidades interpersonales, han sido objeto de creciente interés durante los últimos años en psicología social, clínica y educativa; y, sin embargo, tanto su evaluación como la intervención psicológica para su mejora se topan con una desconcertante proliferación de clasificaciones o categorías divergentes de las mismas. En este trabajo, y como resultado de sucesivos análisis factoriales, se proponen cinco grandes categorías de habilidades sociales (Interacción con personas desconocidas en situaciones de consumo, Interacción con personas que atraen, Interacción con amigos y compañeros, Interacción con familiares, y Hacer y rechazar peticiones a los amigos/as) que responden a distintos contextos de interacción social. Las cinco escalas, correspondientes a tales categorías, de un nuevo instrumento de medida, el Cuestionario de Dificultades Interpersonales (CDI), con alta consistencia interna (·= 0,896), explican el 47,47% de la varianza total. Los análisis correlacionales entre el CDI y el Test de Autoverbalizaciones en la Interacción Social (SISST) de Glass, Merluzzi, Biever y Larsen (1982) revelan diferencias cognitivas significativas entre los sujetos de alta y baja habilidad social, dándose una mayor frecuencia de autoverbalizaciones positivas y una menor frecuencia de autoverbalizaciones negativas en los sujetos de alta habilidad social que en los sujetos de baja habilidad social.

Cannabis use and involuntary admission may mediate long-term adherence in first-episode psychosis patients: a prospective longitudinal study

Background: This study aimed to examine factors associated with treatment adherence in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients followed up over 8 years, especially involuntary first admission and stopping cannabis use. Methods: This prospective, longitudinal study of FEP patients collected data on symptoms, adherence, functioning,and substance use. Adherence to treatment was the main outcome variable and was categorized as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Cannabis use during follow-up was stratified as continued use, stopped use, and never used. Bivariate and logistic regression models identified factors significantly associated with adherence and changes in adherence over the 8-year follow-up period. Results: Of the 98 FEP patients analyzed at baseline, 57.1% had involuntary first admission, 74.4% bad adherence,and 52% cannabis use. Good adherence at baseline was associated with Global Assessment of Functioning score (p = 0.019), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (p = 0.017) and voluntary admission (p < 0.001). Adherence patterns over 8 years included: 43.4% patients always bad, 26.1% always good, 25% improved from bad to good. Among the improved adherence group, 95.7% had involuntary first admission and 38.9% stopped cannabis use. In the subgroup of patients with bad adherence at baseline, involuntary first admission and quitting cannabis use during follow up were associated with improved adherence. Conclusions: The long-term association between treatment adherence and type of first admission and cannabis use in FEP patients suggest targets for intervention to improve clinical outcomes.

Global Self-Organization of the Cellular Metabolic Structure

Background: Over many years, it has been assumed that enzymes work either in an isolated way, or organized in small catalytic groups. Several studies performed using "metabolic networks models'' are helping to understand the degree of functional complexity that characterizes enzymatic dynamic systems. In a previous work, we used "dissipative metabolic networks'' (DMNs) to show that enzymes can present a self-organized global functional structure, in which several sets of enzymes are always in an active state, whereas the rest of molecular catalytic sets exhibit dynamics of on-off changing states. We suggested that this kind of global metabolic dynamics might be a genuine and universal functional configuration of the cellular metabolic structure, common to all living cells. Later, a different group has shown experimentally that this kind of functional structure does, indeed, exist in several microorganisms. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we have analyzed around 2.500.000 different DMNs in order to investigate the underlying mechanism of this dynamic global configuration. The numerical analyses that we have performed show that this global configuration is an emergent property inherent to the cellular metabolic dynamics. Concretely, we have found that the existence of a high number of enzymatic subsystems belonging to the DMNs is the fundamental element for the spontaneous emergence of a functional reactive structure characterized by a metabolic core formed by several sets of enzymes always in an active state. Conclusions/Significance: This self-organized dynamic structure seems to be an intrinsic characteristic of metabolism, common to all living cellular organisms. To better understand cellular functionality, it will be crucial to structurally characterize these enzymatic self-organized global structures.

Sentence comprehension before and after 1970: Topics, debates and techniques

[EN] Language Down the Garden Path traces the lines of research that grew out of Bever's classic paper. Leading scientists review over 40 years of debates on the factors at play in language comprehension, production, and acquisition (the role of prediction, grammar, working memory, prosody, abstractness, syntax and semantics mapping); the current status of universals and narrow syntax; and virtually every topic relevant in psycholinguistics since 1970. Written in an accessible and engaging style, the book will appeal to all those interested in understanding the questions that shaped, and are still shaping, this field and the ways in which linguists, cognitive scientists, psychologists, and neuroscientists are seeking to answer them.

Lessons from History for Transitions to a Low Carbon Economy

4 p.

The Slow Search for Solutions: Lessons from Historical Energy Transitions by Sector and Service

28 p.

Long Run Trends in Energy-Related External Costs

30 p.

Lehiaketa motor baten direkzio piparen diseinua

[EU]Hurrengo orrialdeetan aurkezten den proiektu honetan, lehiaketa motor baten direkzio piparen diseinua proposatzen da zeinak Moto Engineering Foundation fundazioak sustatutako nazioarteko Motostudent txapelketan parte hartzeko motorrera egokituta egon beharko den. Honako helburu honekin beraz, direkzio piparen diseinu egoki bat egin ahal izateko piezak sufrituko dituen karga egoerak aurreikusi beharko ditugu hauen arabera jasan beharreko tentsio egoerak aztertu ahal izateko. Piezaren tentsioen analisia aurrera eraman beharko da beraz, diseinaturiko piezaren funtzionamendu egokia ziurtatu ahal izateko. Historian zehar existitutako diseinu modelo ezberdinak eta baita gaur egunean gehien erabilitakoak ere aurkeztu eta gero, gure kasura hobekien moldatuko zaion adibidetik ekingo zaio diseinuari, aldez aurretik eskuratutako datu eta errodamenduetatik abiatuz. Horrenbestez, oinarritzat hartutako direkzio sistema modeloa eta bestelako elementuen neurriak datutzat hartuta, tija zein norabide ardatzarena esate baterako, direkzio piparen hasierako geometria definituko da. Eskuragarri ditugun analisi metodo ezberdinak aztertu eta gure kasura hobekien moldatzen dena aukeratu eta eraikitako piezari aplikatuko zaio. Lorturiko emaitzen arabera hasiera batean planteaturiko diseinua onartu edo baztertzea erabaki beharko dugu. Beraz, gure diseinua optimizatuz joateko aukera izango dugu, baldintzak eta betebeharrak egiztatuko dituen amaierako pieza diseinua lortu arte. Bukatzeko, proiektuari itxiera emango dion atala aurkeztuko da, hala nola, proiektuaren garapenean zehar lorturiko emaitzak eta ondorioak biltzen dituen atala non lorturiko direkzio piparen funtzionamendu egokia bermatzen dituzten parametroak aurkeztuko diren. Gainera, direkzio sistemaren funtsezko atala izango diren errodamenduen kalkulu eta aukeraketa bideratuko da baita ere.

Gestión de recursos humanos en empresas cooperativas

ESPAÑOL Desde 2008, a causa de la crisis internacional, Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa se ve obligado a emplear ciertas políticas de gestión de los recursos humanos para sobrevivir a esa situación. La finalidad de este trabajo es identificar dichas políticas y valorar si realmente ofrecen los resultados esperados, analizando minuciosamente la relación entre el absentismo laboral y el compromiso y la motivación de los trabajadores. Este estudio propone que en situaciones de recesión económica, las políticas de formación y empleo y las prestaciones cubiertas por Lagun-Aro EPSV aumentan la motivación de los empleados y en consecuencia reducen la tasa de absentismo. La investigación se fundamenta en la lectura de artículos académicos, memorias de Lagun-Aro y una detallada entrevista realizada al que fue jefe de contabilidad en Eroski durante 9 años y director administrativo y responsable de las participadas de Lagun-Aro EPSV durante 30 años. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la existencia de una relación inversa entre el compromiso y la motivación y el absentismo laboral. Además se comprueba la eficiencia de las políticas llevadas a cabo por las cooperativas de Mondragón y se destaca el principio de intercooperatividad para la efectividad de esas políticas.

Segregation: theoretical approach. an empirical analysis of gender segregation in undergraduate studies at the University of the Basque Country.

The aim of this study is to analyze the gender segregation in undergraduate studies in the University from Basque Country (UPV/EHU). We use data from UPV/EHU for the period 2003-2013. We focus on the period from 2003 to 2013 to analyze the changes in the segregation over ten years. We analyze the tendencies of the men and the women inside undergraduate studies. Undergraduate studies are decomposed into five fields: Legal and social sciences, experimental sciences, engineering, arts and humanities, and health sciences. We draw segregation curves and compute the Gini segregation index within the Lorenz approach. Our results show that the gender segregation in undergraduate studies in the UPV/EHU has decreased from 2003 to 2013.

Traditional budgeting during financial crisis

[EN] This study examines the evolution of budgeting practices in the extremely difficult Spanish economic environment. In order to analyse if companies are still maintaining their budgeting process and if, right now, they are facing more difficulties in forecasting accurate indicators, two similar web surveys were addressed over two periods of time, firstly in 2008 at the beginning of the financial crisis, and secondly in 2013 after five years of a downward trend. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted to investigate how companies brought more flexibility to their budgeting process in order to cope with environmental uncertainty. The survey indicates that 97% of respondents are still using a traditional budgeting process being this result similar to the one found in 2008. However, 2013 showed that the reliance on forecasted information is being increasingly questioned. Furthermore the study revealed that the respondents are bringing more flexibility to their processes, being able to modify the objectives once the budget is approved and to obtain new resources outside the budgeting process. This paper contributes to revealing information about difficulties in setting reliable objectives in a turbulent environment and provides data about the evolution of budgeting practices over five years during an austere economic crisis.

The impact of the great recession on employment polarization in Spain

This article analyzes changes in the occupational employment share in Spain for the period 1997-2012 and the way particular sociodemographic groups adapt to those changes. There seems to be clear evidence of employment polarization between 1997 and 2012 that accelerates over the recession. Changes in the composition of the labour supply cannot explain the increase in the share of occupations at the low end of the wage distribution. Sector reallocation may have partially contributed to explain the polarization process in Spain during the years of expansion (1997-2007) but it is a minor factor during the recession. The polarization of occupations within sectors observed, especially during the recession, appears to be related to a decline in routine tasks which is compensated by an increase in occupations with non-routine service contents, which are found both in the low and high end of the wage distribution. Instead, jobs with a higher degree of abstract contents do not appear to increase their share in total employment during these 15 years. The paper finds that this process has affected males more strongly than females because of their higher concentration in occupations more focused on routine tasks. Among males, for workers under 30 years old, we find a decrease in the share of occupations with more routine tasks which turns into increases in those with more abstract content and particularly with more non-routine service content. Instead, male workers over 30 years old seem to remain in declining occupations to a greater extent. Females of different ages are not affected by the abovementioned changes.