Non-University Higher Education and the Relationship of Its Graduates and the World of Work: Colombia

The non-university sector has been part of the Colombian higher education system for more than 50-years. Despite its long years of existence, it has never occupied such an important role within the education system as the one it is having today. Therefore, the aim of this work is to analyze the development of the non-university sector in the framework of the country’s social, educational and economic demands. Likewise, its actual situation and certain aspects of the relationship between its graduates and the world of work, i.e., graduates’ employment characteristics, the relationship of higher education studies and their work, as well as their early career success, are examined. In order to generate the required information, a graduate survey was carried out in Atlántico (Colombia). The target population was graduates from higher education institutions registered in Atlántico who were awarded a technical, technological or professional degree in 2008 from any of the following knowledge areas: Fine Arts, Health Science, Economy-Administration-Accountancy and similar, and Engineering-Architecture-Urban planning and similar. Besides, interviews with academic and administrative staff from non-university institutions were carried out, and higher education related documents were analyzed. As a whole, the findings suggest that the non-university sector is expanding and may help to achieve some of the goals, for which it is widely promoted i.e., access expansion for under-represented groups, enhancement of the higher education system, and the provision of programs pertinent to the needs of the market. Nevertheless, some aspects require further consideration, e.g., the sector’s consolidation within the system and its quality. As for the relationship between non-university higher education and the world of work, it was found to be close; particularly in those aspects related to the use of knowledge and skills in the work, and the relationship between graduates’ studies and their work. Additionally, the analysis of the graduates’ in their early career stages exposes the significant role that the socioeconomic stratum plays in their working life, particularly in their wages. This indicates that apart from education, other factors like the graduates’ economic or social capital may have an impact on their future work perspectives

Análisis evolutivo de la coordinación visomotora y sus relaciones con inteligencia, estilo cognitivo y atención = Developmental analysis of visualmotor coordination and its relationship to intelligence, cognitive style and attention.

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African easterly wave variability and its relationship to Atlantic tropical cyclone activity

Automatic tracking of vorticity centers in European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyses has been used to develop a 20-yr climatology of African easterly wave activity. The tracking statistics at 600 and 850 mb confirm the complicated easterly wave structures present over the African continent. The rainy zone equatorward of 15 degreesN is dominated by 600-mb activity, and the much drier Saharan region poleward of 15 degreesN is more dominated by 850-mb activity. Over the Atlantic Ocean there is just one storm track with the 600- and 850-mb wave activity collocated. Based on growth/decay and genesis statistics, it appears that the 850-mb waves poleward of 15 degreesN over land generally do not get involved with the equatorward storm track over the ocean. Instead, there appears to be significant development of 850-mb activity at the West African coast in the rainy zone around (10 degreesN, 10 degreesW), which, it is proposed, is associated with latent heat release. Based on the tracking statistics, it has been shown that there is marked interannual variability in African easterly wave (AEW) activity. It is especially marked at the 850-mb level at the West African coast between about 10 degrees and 15 degreesN, where the coefficient of variation is 0.29. For the period between 1985 and 1998, a notable positive correlation is seen between this AEW activity and Atlantic tropical cyclone activity. This correlation is particularly strong for the postreanalysis period between 1994 and 1998. This result suggests that Atlantic tropical cyclone activity may be influenced by the number of AEWs leaving the West African coast, which have significant low-level amplitudes, and not simply by the total number of AEWs.

Biodegradation of the herbicide mecoprop-p with soil depth and its relationship with class III tfdA genes

Mecoprop-p [(R)-2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy) propanoic acid) is widely used in agriculture and poses an environmental concern because of its susceptibility to leach from soil to water. We investigated the effect of soil depth on mecoprop-p biodegradation and its relationship with the number and diversity of tfdA related genes, which are the most widely known genes involved in degradation of the phenoxyalkanoic acid group of herbicides by bacteria. Mecoprop-p half-life (DT50) was approximately 12 days in soil sampled from <30 cm depth, and increased progressively with soil depth, reaching over 84 days at 70–80 cm. In sub-soil there was a lag period of between 23 and 34 days prior to a phase of rapid degradation. No lag phase occurred in top-soil samples prior to the onset of degradation. The maximum degradation rate was the same in top-soil and sub-soil samples. Although diverse tfdAα and tfdA genes were present prior to mecoprop-p degradation, real time PCR revealed that degradation was associated with proliferation of tfdA genes. The number of tfdA genes and the most probable number of mecoprop-p degrading organisms in soil prior to mecoprop-p addition were below the limit of quantification and detection respectively. Melting curves from the real time PCR analysis showed that prior to mecoprop-p degradation both class I and class III tfdA genes were present in top- and sub-soil samples. However at all soil depths only tfdA class III genes proliferated during degradation. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis confirmed that class III tfdA genes were associated with mecoprop-p degradation. Degradation was not associated with the induction of novel tfdA genes in top- or sub-soil samples, and there were no apparent differences in tfdA gene diversity with soil depth prior to or following degradation.

Does the regional nature of multinationals affect the multinationality and performance relationship?

The traditional independent variable in the multinationality and performance literature is the ratio of foreign (F) to total (T) sales, (F/T). This can now be supplemented by a new regional variable, the ratio of regional (R) to total (T) sales, i.e. (R/T). Data are presented on both (F/T) and (R/T) for both sales and assets for a 5-year period, 2001–2005. New tests are reported on (R/T) as it affects a financial measure of performance, the Tobin's Q. Implications are drawn for future research on the S-curve relationship between multinationality and performance in the light of this regional phenomenon.

Differences in glutamic acid and 5'-ribonucleotide contents between flesh and pulp of tomatoes and the relationship with umami taste

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Deterministic equalization and results of a DVB-T multipath equalizer for both 16-QAM and 64-QAM operation

Recent developments in the UK concerning the reception of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) have indicated that, as it currently stands, DVB-T receivers may not be sufficient to maintain adequate quality of digital picture information to the consumer. There are many possible reasons why such large errors are being introduced into the system preventing reception failure. It has been suggested that one possibility is that the assumptions concerning the immunity to multipath that Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (COFDM) is expected to have, may not be entirely accurate. Previous research has shown that multipath can indeed have an impact on a DVB-T receiver performance. In the UK, proposals have been made to change the modulation from 64-QAM to 16-QAM to improve the immunity to multipath, but this paper demonstrates that the 16-QAM performance may again not be sufficient. To this end, this paper presents a deterministic approach to equalization such that a 64-QAM receiver with the simple equalizer presented in this paper has the same order of MPEG-2 BER performance as that to a 16-QAM receiver without equalization. Thus, alleviating the requirement in the broadcasters to migrate from 64-QAM to 16-QAM Of course, by adding the equalizer to a 16-QAM receiver then the BER is also further improved and thus creating one more step to satisfying the consumers(1).

The philosophy of W. Ross Ashby and its relationship to 'The Matrix'

Ashby was a keen observer of the world around him, as per his technological and psychiatrical developments. Over the years, he drew numerous philosophical conclusions on the nature of human intelligence and the operation of the brain, on artificial intelligence and the thinking ability of computers and even on science in general. In this paper, the quite profound philosophy espoused by Ashby is considered as a whole, in particular in terms of its relationship with the world as it stands now and even in terms of scientific predictions of where things might lead. A meaningful comparison is made between Ashby's comments and the science fiction concept of 'The Matrix' and serious consideration is given as to how much Ashby's ideas lay open the possibility of the matrix becoming a real world eventuality.