Percepción de la pertinencia de los programas académicos de Magíster en Administración en egresados titulados y empleadores en Bogotá

El propósito de esta investigación es describir la percepción de los egresados titulados y empleadores acerca de la pertinencia de la formación de programas académicos de Magíster en Administración ofrecidos por las Instituciones de Educación Superior en Bogotá. Además a través de esta investigación es posible determinar su importancia en el desarrollo y potencialización de las capacidades, habilidades y destrezas directivas y gerenciales necesarias para desempeñarse dentro de una empresa perdurable, coherentes con la realidad social, laboral, cultural y ambiental. Para ello, se hace un análisis del grado de satisfacción de los egresados titulados y empleadores permitiendo conocer las fortalezas y debilidades del programa. En consecuencia fue posible proponer recomendaciones y conclusiones para mejorar el programa, asegurando un camino para aportar “el estado del arte “ de la Administración para los futuros estudiantes y en beneficio de las compañías.

UK innovation systems for new and renewable energy technologies: drivers, barriers and systems failures

A better understanding of the systemic processes by which innovation occurs is useful, both conceptually and to inform policymaking in support of innovation in more sustainable technologies. This paper analyses current innovation systems in the UK for a range of new and renewable energy technologies, and generates policy recommendations for improving the effectiveness of these innovation systems. Although incentives are in place in the UK to encourage innovation in these technologies, system failures—or ‘gaps’—are identified in moving technologies along the innovation chain, preventing their successful commercialisation. Sustained investment will be needed for these technologies to achieve their potential. It is argued that a stable and consistent policy framework is required to help create the conditions for this. In particular, such a framework should be aimed at improving risk/reward ratios for demonstration and pre-commercial stage technologies. This would enhance positive expectations, stimulate learning effects leading to cost reductions, and increase the likelihood of successful commercialisation.

Present bias predicts participation in payments for environmental services: evidence from a behavioral experiment in Uganda

Farmers are necessary agents in global efforts to conserve the environment now that croplands and pastures together constitute the largest terrestrial system on Earth – covering some 48% of ice-free land surface. Whereas standard economic models predict that farmers will participate in conservation programs so long as they are profitable, empirical findings from behavioral economics point to a number of normally unobservable preferences that may influence the decision-making process. This study tests, for the first time, whether heterogeneity in behavioral preferences correlates with decisions to participate in Payments for Environmental Services (PES) programs. We elicit individual trust and time preferences using economic experiments and link resulting measures to household survey data and participation decisions in a Ugandan PES program. We find that farmers who exhibit a preference for proximate gains – present-biased preferences – are 47.7% more likely to participate in the program than those who show time-consistent or future-biased preferences. This result has implications for ongoing and planned PES programs involving farmers, particularly in Africa, by highlighting a potential relationship between payment timing and participation, and further validates the use of behavioral experiments in explaining real-world decisions.

Maternal weaning modulates emotional behavior and regulates the gut-brain axis

Evidence shows that nutritional and environmental stress stimuli during postnatal period influence brain development and interactions between gut and brain. In this study we show that in rats, prevention of weaning from maternal milk results in depressive-like behavior, which is accompanied by changes in the gut bacteria and host metabolism. Depressive-like behavior was studied using the forced-swim test on postnatal day (PND) 25 in rats either weaned on PND 21, or left with their mother until PND 25 (non-weaned). Non-weaned rats showed an increased immobility time consistent with a depressive phenotype. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed non-weaned rats to harbor significantly lowered Clostridium histolyticum bacterial groups but exhibit marked stress-induced increases. Metabonomic analysis of urine from these animals revealed significant differences in the metabolic profiles, with biochemical phenotypes indicative of depression in the non-weaned animals. In addition, non-weaned rats showed resistance to stress-induced modulation of oxytocin receptors in amygdala nuclei, which is indicative of passive stress-coping mechanism. We conclude that delaying weaning results in alterations to the gut microbiota and global metabolic profiles which may contribute to a depressive phenotype and raise the issue that mood disorders at early developmental ages may reflect interplay between mammalian host and resident bacteria.

Do private sectors deficits matter?

Includes bibliography

A gestão das políticas do ensino médio integrado: um estudo de caso

A presente pesquisa trata da gestão das políticas do ensino médio integrado e objetiva analisa-la na rede de escolas tecnológicas do Pará – EETEPA no município de Belém, e, em particular na Escola de Educação Tecnológica Professor Anísio Teixeira, com vistas a verificar de que modo a gestão tem contribuído para a implementação dessa política. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida por meio de um estudo de caso numa perspectiva crítica, tendo como instrumento de coleta de dados a pesquisa documental e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Atualmente, no Brasil, o ensino médio tem sido objeto de transformações por meio de diversas políticas, dentre as quais destacamos a política de ensino médio integrado, cuja proposta é articular a educação profissional técnica de nível médio e o ensino médio num processo formativo que possibilite o acesso ao conhecimento científico e profissional. Uma das questões principais que essa pesquisa tenciona responder é se a gestão tem contribuído para a implantação das políticas de formação profissional integrada ao ensino médio na rede de escolas de educação tecnológica do Pará, no município de Belém. Acreditamos que a gestão é um dos meios pelos quais as ações em busca de melhorias e transformações são materializadas no interior da escola. É nesse contexto que nossa pesquisa identificou que o modelo de gestão que vem sendo praticado pela Secretaria de Educação do Estado do Pará, através da rede EETEPA é unilateral, e, atualmente, não tem conseguido mobilizar os princípios do ensino integrado, diferente da escola lócus da pesquisa que, por meio do exercício da gestão democrática vem tentando consolidar a política de Ensino Médio Integrado, mesmo diante de um quadro de “perseguição” ao corpo técnico e docente da Escola e poucos incentivos. Os aspectos que puderam ser constatados na conclusão da pesquisa evidenciam que todo o fundamento teórico dessa política está sustentada no referencial marxiano e marxista, e que a gestão democrática por meio dos seus princípios foram elementos importantes no momento de implementação da política e contribuíram na construção de sua consolidação, mas não tem sido o suficiente para a sua manutenção, uma vez que a gestão da rede EETEPA que parte de uma perspectiva unilateral, tem prejudicado as ações e projetos de Ensino Médio Integrado no “chão da escola”.

Ein, zwei Punkte zu Nichtkommutativer Geometrie und Quantenfeldtheorie auf diskreten Räumen

Über viele Jahre hinweg wurden wieder und wieder Argumente angeführt, die diskreten Räumen gegenüber kontinuierlichen Räumen eine fundamentalere Rolle zusprechen. Unser Zugangzur diskreten Welt wird durch neuere Überlegungen der Nichtkommutativen Geometrie (NKG) bestimmt. Seit ca. 15Jahren gibt es Anstrengungen und auch Fortschritte, Physikmit Hilfe von Nichtkommutativer Geometrie besser zuverstehen. Nur eine von vielen Möglichkeiten ist dieReformulierung des Standardmodells derElementarteilchenphysik. Unter anderem gelingt es, auch denHiggs-Mechanismus geometrisch zu beschreiben. Das Higgs-Feld wird in der NKG in Form eines Zusammenhangs auf einer zweielementigen Menge beschrieben. In der Arbeit werden verschiedene Ziele erreicht:Quantisierung einer nulldimensionalen ,,Raum-Zeit'', konsistente Diskretisierungf'ur Modelle im nichtkommutativen Rahmen.Yang-Mills-Theorien auf einem Punkt mit deformiertemHiggs-Potenzial. Erweiterung auf eine ,,echte''Zwei-Punkte-Raum-Zeit, Abzählen von Feynman-Graphen in einer nulldimensionalen Theorie, Feynman-Regeln. Eine besondere Rolle werden Termini, die in derQuantenfeldtheorie ihren Ursprung haben, gewidmet. In diesemRahmen werden Begriffe frei von Komplikationen diskutiert,die durch etwaige Divergenzen oder Schwierigkeitentechnischer Natur verursacht werden könnten.Eichfixierungen, Geistbeiträge, Slavnov-Taylor-Identität undRenormierung. Iteratives Lösungsverfahren derDyson-Schwinger-Gleichung mit Computeralgebra-Unterstützung,die Renormierungsprozedur berücksichtigt.

Provenance signature of a forearc basin modified by spreading ridge subduction: Detrital zircon geochronology and detrital modes from the Paleogene Arkose Ridge Formation, southern Alaska

Upper Paleocene–Eocene boulder conglomerate, cross-stratified sandstone, and laminated carbonaceous mudstone of the Arkose Ridge Formation exposed in the southern Talkeetna Mountains record fluvial-lacustrine deposition proximal to the volcanic arc in a forearc basin modified by Paleogene spreading ridge subduction beneath southern Alaska. U-Pb ages of detrital zircon grains and modal analyses were obtained from stratigraphic sections spanning the 2,000 m thick Arkose Ridge Formation in order to constrain the lithology, age, and location of sediment sources that provided detritus. Detrital modes from 24 conglomerate beds and 54 sandstone thin sections aredominated by plutonic and volcanic clasts and plagioclase feldspar with minor quartz, schist, hornblende, argillite, and metabasalt. Westernmost sandstone and conglomerate strata contain <5% volcanic clasts whereas easternmost sandstone and conglomerate strata contain 40 to >80% volcanic clasts. Temporally, eastern sandstones andconglomerates exhibit an upsection increase in volcanic detritus from <40 to >80% volcanic clasts. U-Pb ages from >1400 detrital zircons in 15 sandstone samples reveal three main populations: late Paleocene–Eocene (60-48 Ma; 16% of all grains), Late Cretaceous–early Paleocene (85–60 Ma; 62%) and Jurassic–Early Cretaceous (200–100 Ma; 12%). A plot of U/Th vs U-Pb ages shows that >97% of zircons are <200 Ma and>99% of zircons have <10 U/Th ratios, consistent with mainly igneous source terranes. Strata show increased enrichment in late Paleocene–Eocene detrital zircons from <2% in the west to >25% in the east. In eastern sections, this younger age population increases temporally from 0% in the lower 50 m of the section to >40% in samples collected >740 m above the base. Integration of the compositional and detrital geochronologic data suggests: (1) Detritus was eroded mainly from igneous sources exposed directly north of the Arkose Ridge Formation strata, mainly Jurassic–Paleocene plutons and Paleocene–Eocenevolcanic centers. Subordinate metamorphic detritus was eroded from western Mesozoic low-grade metamorphic sources. Subordinate sedimentary detritus was eroded from eastern Mesozoic sedimentary sources. (2) Eastern deposystems received higher proportions of juvenile volcanic detritus through time, consistent with construction of adjacent slab-window volcanic centers during Arkose Ridge Formation deposition. (3)Western deposystems transported detritus from Jurassic–Paleocene arc plutons that flank the northwestern basin margin. (4) Metasedimentary strata of the Chugach accretionaryprism, exposed 20-50 km south of the Arkose Ridge Formation, did not contribute abundant detritus. Conventional provenance models predict reduced input of volcanic detritus to forearc basins during exhumation of the volcanic edifice and increasing exposure ofsubvolcanic plutons (Dickinson, 1995; Ingersoll and Eastmond, 2007). In the forearc strata of these conventional models, sandstone modal analyses record progressive increases upsection in quartz and feldspar concomitant with decreases in lithic grains, mainly volcanic lithics. Additionally, as the arc massif denudes through time, theyoungest detrital U-Pb zircon age populations become significantly older than the age of forearc deposition as the arc migrates inboard or ceases magmatism. Westernmost strata of the Arkose Ridge Formation are consistent with this conventional model. However, easternmost strata of the Arkose Ridge Formation contain sandstone modes that record an upsection increase in lithic grains accompanied by a decrease in quartz and feldspar, and detrital zircon age populations that closely match the age of deposition. This deviation from the conventional model is due to the proximity of the easternmost strata to adjacent juvenile volcanic rocks emplaced by slab-window volcanic processes. Provenance data from the Arkose Ridge Formation show that forearc basins modified by spreading ridge subduction may record upsection increases in non-arc, syndepositional volcanic detritusdue to contemporaneous accumulation of thick volcanic sequences at slab-window volcanic centers. This change may occur locally at the same time that other regions of the forearc continue to receive increasing amounts of plutonic detritus as the remnant arc denudes, resulting in complex lateral variations in forearc basin petrofacies and chronofacies.

A Simple Theory of Increasing Penalties for Repeat Offenders

A feature of many penal codes is that punishments are more severe for repeat offenders, yet economic models have had a hard time providing a theoretical justification for this practice. This paper offers an explanation based on the wage penalty suffered by individuals convicted of crime. While this penalty probably deters some first-timers from committing crimes, it actually hampers deterrence of repeat offenders because of their diminished employments opportunities. We show that in this setting, an escalating penalty scheme is optimal and time consistent.

Mass balance and acceleration of the Greenland ice sheet

Within the last decade, the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its surroundings have experienced record high surface temperatures (Mote, 2007, doi:10.1029/2007GL031976; Box et al., 2010), ice sheet melt extent (Fettweis et al., 2011, doi:10.5194/tc-5-359-2011) and record-low summer sea-ice extent (Nghiem et al., 2007, doi:10.1029/2007GL031138). Using three independent data sets, we derive, for the first time, consistent ice-mass trends and temporal variations within seven major drainage basins from gravity fields from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE; Tapley et al., 2004, doi:10.1029/2004GL019920), surface-ice velocities from Inteferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR; Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006, doi:10.1126/science.1121381) together with output of the regional atmospheric climate modelling (RACMO2/ GR; Ettema et al., 2009, doi:10.1029/2009GL038110), and surface-elevation changes from the Ice, cloud and land elevation satellite (ICESat; Sorensen et al., 2011, doi:10.5194/tc-5-173-2011). We show that changing ice discharge (D), surface melting and subsequent run-off (M/R) and precipitation (P) all contribute, in a complex and regionally variable interplay, to the increasingly negative mass balance of the GrIS observed within the last decade. Interannual variability in P along the northwest and west coasts of the GrIS largely explains the apparent regional mass loss increase during 2002-2010, and obscures increasing M/R and D since the 1990s. In winter 2002/2003 and 2008/2009, accumulation anomalies in the east and southeast temporarily outweighed the losses by M/R and D that prevailed during 2003-2008, and after summer 2010. Overall, for all basins of the GrIS, the decadal variability of anomalies in P, M/R and D between 1958 and 2010 (w.r.t. 1961-1990) was significantly exceeded by the regional trends observed during the GRACE period (2002-2011).

Geochemistry of basement carbonates from ODP Site 801 in the western Pacific Ocean

Many studies argue, based partly on Pb isotopic evidence, that recycled, subducted slabs reside in the mantle source of ocean island basalts (OIB) (Hofmann and White, 1982, doi:10.1016/0012-821X(82)90161-3; Weaver, 1991 doi:10.1016/0012-821X(91)90217-6; Lassiter, and Hauri, 1998, doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(98)00240-4). Such models, however, have remained largely untested against actual subduction zone inputs, due to the scarcity of comprehensive measurements of both radioactive parents (Th and U) and radiogenic daughter (Pb) in altered oceanic crust (AOC). Here, we discuss new, comprehensive measurements of U, Th, and Pb concentrations in the oldest AOC, ODP Site 801, and consider the effect of subducting this crust on the long-term Pb isotope evolution of the mantle. The upper 500 m of AOC at Site 801 shows >4-fold enrichment in U over pristine glass during seafloor alteration, but no net change to Pb or Th. Without subduction zone processing, ancient AOC would evolve to low 208Pb/206Pb compositions unobserved in the modern mantle (Hart and Staudigel, 1989 [Isotopic characterization and identification of recycled components, in: Crust/Mantle Recycling at Convergence Zones, Eds. S.R. Hart, L. Gqlen, NATO ASI Series. Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences 258, pp. 15-28, D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Boston, 1989]). Subduction, however, drives U-Th-Pb fractionation as AOC dehydrates in the earth's interior. Pacific arcs define mixing trends requiring 8-fold enrichment in Pb over U in AOC-derived fluid. A mass balance across the Mariana subduction zone shows that 44-75% of Pb but <10% of U is lost from AOC to the arc, and a further 10-23% of Pb and 19-40% of U is lost to the back-arc. Pb is lost shallow and U deep from subducted AOC, which may be a consequence of the stability of phases binding these elements during seafloor alteration: U in carbonate and Pb in sulfides. The upper end of these recycling estimates, which reflect maximum arc and back-arc growth rates, remove enough Pb and U from the slab to enable it to evolve rapidly (<<0.5 Ga) to sources suitable to explain the 208Pb/206Pb isotopic array of OIB, although these conditions fail to simultaneously satisfy the 207Pb/206Pb system. Lower growth rates would require additional U loss (29%) at depths beyond the zones of arc and back-arc magmagenesis, which would decrease upper mantle kappa (232Th/238U) over time, consistent with one solution to the "kappa conundrum" (Elliott et al., 1999, doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(99)00077-1). The net effects of alteration (doubling of l [238U/204Pb]) and subduction (doubling of omega [232Th/204Pb]) are sufficient to create the Pb isotopic signatures of oceanic basalts.

European antitrust control and standard setting. Bruegel Working Paper 2013/01, February 2012

Standards reduce production costs and increase products’ value to consumers. Standards however entail risks of anti-competitive abuse. After the adoption of a standard, the chosen technology normally lacks credible substitutes. The owner of the patented technology might thus have additional market power relative to locked-in licensees, and might exploit this power to charge higher access rates. In the economic literature this phenomenon is referred to as ‘hold-up’. To reduce the risk of hold-up, standard-setting organisations often require patent holders to disclose their standard-essential patents before the adoption of the standard and to commit to license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. The European Commission normally investigates unfair pricing abuse in a standard-setting context if a patent holder who committed to FRAND ex-ante is suspected not to abide to it ex-post. However, this approach risks ignoring a number of potential abuses which are likely harmful for welfare. That can happen if, for example, ex-post a licensee is able to impose excessively low access rates (‘reverse hold-up’) or if a patent holder acquires additional market power thanks to the standard but its essential patents are not encumbered by FRAND commitments, for instance because the patent holder did not directly participate to the standard setting process and was therefore not required by the standard-setting organisations to commit to FRAND ex-ante. A consistent policy by the Commission capable of tackling all sources of harm should be enforced regardless of whether FRAND commitments are given. Antitrust enforcement should hinge on the identification of a distortion in the bargaining process around technology access prices, which is determined by the adoption of the standard and is not attributable to pro-competitive merits of any of the involved players.

A Knowledge-Oriented Technology of System-Objective Analysis and Modelling of Business-Systems

A new original method and CASE-tool of system analysis and modelling are represented. They are for the first time consistent with the requirements of object-oriented technology of informational systems design. They essentially facilitate the construction of organisational systems models and increase the quality of the organisational designing and basic technological processes of object application developing.

Isotopic measurements of 3 foraminifer species from ODP Hole 171-1050C

Analysis of 944 single specimens of three species of late Maastrichtian planktonic foraminifera (Racemiguembelina fructicosa, Contusotruncana contusa, and Rugoglobigerina rugosa) from 38 samples spanning the last 3 Myr of the Cretaceous shows consistent isotopic trends through time, consistent isotopic differences among taxa, and high within-sample isotopic variability throughout. Within-sample variability does not change systematically through time for any taxon, but average d18O values decrease by approx. 1.5 per mill, and average d13C values diverge up section. Comparing taxa, average d18O values are similar within most samples, but average d13C values generally decrease from R. fructicosa to R. rugosa to C. contusa. In addition, the within-sample variability of individual d13C measurements is larger for R. fructicosa than for either C. contusa or R. rugosa, an observation which is consistent with a photosymbiotic habitat for R. fructicosa. In terms of Maastrichtian paleoceanography the negative d18O trend of approx. 1.5 per mill corresponds to a temperature increase of approx. 6°C, and the divergence of d13C values up section suggests an increasingly stratified water column in the western Atlantic through the late Maastrichtian. We suggest that these trends are best explained by increasing import of South Atlantic waters into the North Atlantic and an intensification of the Northern Hemisphere polar front.

How consistent is the new Common Agricultural Policy with the challenges it faces?

The latest reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has recently been accepted, identifying important challenges for EU agriculture, but proposing only limited changes to the previous CAP. Now it is time for the implementation of the new measures. However, from a theoretical point of view, it seems that the CAP can hardly meet the challenges it faces due to the inconsistencies between the predefined challenges and the measures proposed to meet them. The aim of the paper is to systematically analyse the consistency between the challenges of European agriculture and the policy measures aimed at meeting them. It seems that not all measures are consistent with the challenges.