Search

This paper explores Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA). Graphical methods are used to gain insights in EDA and these insights can be useful for forming tentative hypotheses when performing a root cause analysis (RCA). The topic of EDA is well addressed in the literature; however, empirical studies of the efficacy of EDA are lacking. We therefore aim to evaluate EDA by comparing one group of students identifying salient features in a table against a second group of students attempting to identify salient features in the same data presented in the form of a run chart, and then extracting relevant conclusions from such a comparison. Two groups of students were randomly selected to receive data; either in the form of a table or a run chart. They were then tasked with visually identifying any data points that stood out as interesting. The number of correctly identified values and the time to find the values were both evaluated by a two-sample t-test to determine if there was a statistically significant difference. The participants with a graph found the correct values that stood out in the data much quicker than those that used a table. Those using the data in the form of a table too much longer and failed to identify values that stood out. However, those with a graph also had far more false positives. Much has been written on the topic of EDA in the literature; however, an empirical evaluation of this common methodology is lacking. This paper confirms with empirical evidence the effectiveness of EDA.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how sustainability orientation influences economic, environmental and social sustainability performance and the moderating role of environmental hostility on these relationships. This study aims to deepen the consequences of the strategic commitment to sustainability of tourism firms located in the World Heritage Cities of Cusco, Lima and Arequipa in Peru. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis was conducted on a sample of 238 tourism firms. The authors implemented structural equation modelling technique to contrast the hypothesis. Findings: The results shows that sustainability orientation has a positive effect on social and environmental performance mainly, but also on both financial and non-financial economic performance. The authors also detect a significant negative moderating effect of environmental hostility, which is accentuated in the case of social and economic-financial performance. Practical implications: This study provides interesting practical implications in the tourism sector. Firms should develop a strategic commitment to sustainability, even in hostile environments, to improve their competitive position while reducing the negative impact of their activity on the natural and social environment. Institutions should encourage firms to commit to sustainability to achieve more sustainable and competitive urban tourism destinations. Originality/value: This study advances the controversial debate on whether sustainability orientation of tourism firms leads to better economic performance. Moreover, from triple bottom line approach, it provides a holistic view of how sustainability orientation affects sustainability performance in all its dimensions. Finally, this paper delves into the complexities and challenges of sustainable urban tourism.

Background:Latin America has registered cases in children under 14 years of age, which seem few compared to older age groups but are relevant since the child and youth population have been indirectly receiving the most decisive impact of the pandemic. Ensuring the most significant protection for this age group is essential. Methods:This is an ecological study of 10 Latin American and the Caribbean countries to study protecting children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the information from UNICEF, a coverage analysis was done, and a new variable score was proposed. Also, a multiple linear regression model was tailored to evaluate the relationship between confirmed cases by 100k of COVID-19 (0–14 year population) and the performance of the countries and some key indicators. Results:A strong and statistically significant correlation (r= 0.79; pvalue 0.005) between the increased coverage of child helplines and a greater number of school closures. Relationship of confirmed cases by COVID-19 and stringency index with a coef B = −2163.6, [CI −3122.1; −1205.1]; pvalue = 0.010. Cases and healthcare access with a coef B = −17459.7, [CI −25630.1; −9289.5]. Conclusions:Experts say other pandemics will come, and this emergency must be turned into an opportunity. It is vital to strengthen protection programs for the population, especially vulnerable people, such as children and young people. Resumo

Skates are cartilaginous fish whose body plan features enlarged wing-like pectoral fins, enabling them to thrive in benthic environments1,2. However, the molecular underpinnings of this unique trait remain unclear. Here we investigate the origin of this phenotypic innovation by developing the little skate Leucoraja erinaceaas a genomically enabled model. Analysis of a high-quality chromosome-scale genome sequence for the little skate shows that it preserves many ancestral jawed vertebrate features compared with other sequenced genomes, including numerous ancient microchromosomes. Combining genome comparisons with extensive regulatory datasets in developing fins—including gene expression, chromatin occupancy and three-dimensional conformation—we find skate-specific genomic rearrangements that alter the three-dimensional regulatory landscape of genes that are involved in the planar cell polarity pathway. Functional inhibition of planar cell polarity signalling resulted in a reduction in anterior fin size, confirming that this pathway is a major contributor to batoid fin morphology. We also identified a fin-specific enhancer that interacts with several hoxagenes, consistent with the redeployment of hoxgene expression in anterior pectoral fins, and confirmed its potential to activate transcription in the anterior fin using zebrafish reporter assays. Our findings underscore the central role of genome reorganization and regulatory variation in the evolution of phenotypes, shedding light on the molecular origin of an enigmatic trait.

Bacteremia caused by gram-positive cocci (GPC) remains challenging, particularly in assessing the risk of infective endocarditis (IE). Various scoring systems have been developed to guide the use of echocardiography. The HANDOC score was specifically designed for non-β-hemolytic streptococci (NBHS). This study aimed to validate the HANDOC score in a cohort across diverse geographic settings.

Background: Vision depends on the interplay between photoreceptor cells of the neural retina and the underlying retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Most genes involved in inherited retinal diseases display specific spatiotemporal expression within these interconnected retinal components through the local recruitment of cis-regulatory elements (CREs) in 3D nuclear space. Results: To understand the role of differential chromatin architecture in establishing tissue-specific expression at inherited retinal disease loci, we mapped genome-wide chromatin interactions using in situ Hi-C and H3K4me3 HiChIP on neural retina and RPE/choroid from human adult donor eyes. We observed chromatin looping between active promoters and 32,425 and 8060 candidate CREs in the neural retina and RPE/choroid, respectively. A comparative 3D genome analysis between these two retinal tissues revealed that 56% of 290 known inherited retinal disease genes were marked by differential chromatin interactions. One of these was ABCA4, which is implicated in the most common autosomal recessive inherited retinal disease. We zoomed in on retina- and RPE-specific cis-regulatory interactions at the ABCA4locus using high-resolution UMI-4C. Integration with bulk and single-cell epigenomic datasets and in vivo enhancer assays in zebrafish revealed tissue-specific CREs interacting with ABCA4. Conclusions: Through comparative 3D genome mapping, based on genome-wide, promoter-centric, and locus-specific assays of human neural retina and RPE, we have shown that gene regulation at key inherited retinal disease loci is likely mediated by tissue-specific chromatin interactions. These findings do not only provide insight into tissue-specific regulatory landscapes at retinal disease loci, but also delineate the search space for non-coding genomic variation underlying unsolved inherited retinal diseases. Graphical Abstract:

We studied the impact of field temperature on the emergence of Telenomus podisiAshmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) after being released as either protected (encapsulated) or unprotected pupae close to adult emergence. Two independent bioassays (protected pupae vs. unprotected pupae) were carried out in a randomized block experimental design in a 2 (parasitoid rearing temperature regimes) ×4 (release positions within plant canopy) factorial scheme. One of the T. podisicolonies was reared at a constant temperature (25 °C) and 12:12 h L:D (Light: Dark) photoperiod. The second T. podisicolony was reared at fluctuating temperatures (20 °C during 12 h D and 30 °C during 12 h of L). Each bioassay had five replicates. Each replicate contained 40 pupae from each rearing temperature and release position within plant canopy. Parasitoid pupae were released in the bottom third, middle third, or upper third of the plant’s canopy, as well as between planting lines. Each bioassay was repeated six times (in different plant developmental stages: R1, R2, R3,R4, R5and R6). There was no difference in emergence of parasitoids between colonies reared at different temperatures after exposure to field conditions. Emergence of T. podisiwas reduced after pupae exposure to temperatures above 35 °C in the field, regardless of the rearing temperature. Telenomus podisitolerates temperature fluctuations for emergence as long as they fit the optimal range (20 to 30 °C).

In this article, we consider rectangular microchannels composed of glass and thin polymeric walls with different roughness in which opposed walls are of the same material but adjacent walls are not. We propose a model for fluid capillary transport into these rectangular microchannels when horizontally positioned and focus our research on how the microchannel aspect ratio modifies the motion during the initial viscous regimes. The model relies on an effective static contact angle and an effective friction coefficient that averages local magnitudes in the cross section. An extensive experimental investigation with different microchannels enabled us to obtain these coefficients for different aspect ratios. While for low aspect ratios, the effective contact angle presents the smallest values, the effective friction coefficient shows the larger ones. With rough surfaces, the spontaneous occurrence of pinning and depinning events associated with sharp wall defects notably reduces the effective static contact angle even when high aspect ratios are used. The obtained values of the effective friction coefficient show good agreement with previous literature investigations for rough and smooth lateral wall surfaces. Finally, we propose a nondimensional time to establish when contact angle effects dominate the dynamics. We found that for the materials and fluid properties used in this work, these effects become negligible for times larger than t∼ 1 s.

Total process management of an organization is posing several critical challenges for quality professionals. The three quality tools adopted by a plastics manufacturer of Portugal to identify the interactions among its processes are examined.

ABSTRACT Since they were created in 1987, the ISO 9000 standards provide a unique experience of voluntary adoption and certification of entities, covering at present organizations of all sizes, sectors [...]

ABSTRACT Based upon an empirical study made with the goal of getting a better understanding of Portuguese higher education institutions--in particular, regarding strategic and quality management, innovation practices and tools [...]

To analyze the psychological and functional sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults living in long term care facilities (LTCFs).

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic may affect youth’s physical and mental well-being, partially because of the countries’ rules to contain the virus from spreading. However, there is still uncertainty about the impact of physical distancing on youth’s mental health. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of feeling agitated, anxious, down, sad, or low mood (FNF) due to physical distance measures and verify which factors are associated with young Portuguese and Brazilian people. Methods:We used cross-sectional data from the instrument “COVID-19 Barometer: Social Opinion” in Portugal (March 2020 and September 2021) and from “COVID-19 Social Thermometer” in Brazil (August 2020 to April 2021); these surveys included data regarding the health and socioeconomic impact on the population. The health and sociodemographic variables of the two countries were summarized as absolute and relative frequencies. A multivariable logistic regression model was fit by country to estimate the relation between FNF and selected variables of interest. Results:Approximately 36% of the sample studied reported anxiety, agitation, sadness, or low mood almost every day in Portugal and 52% in Brazil due to physical distancing. In Portugal, having more than two comorbidities represented a greater chance of experiencing FNF every day or almost every day (odds ratio [OR] = 1.51 [CI: 1.22–1.87]) than those without comorbidities. In contrast, having a university education level represented a protector factor (OR = 0.76 [CI: 0.67–0.88]). In Brazil, being unemployed increased the chance of FNF compared to students (OR = 11.2). Conclusions:Physical distancing measures have impacted the mental well-being of the young population in Portugal and Brazil. The countries must make a quick effort to attend to and protect young people’s well-being and mental health in the changing context of the current pandemic.

This paper presents an overview of the main developments of cryptocurrencies and discusses their future perspectives. First, it briefly reviews the history of cryptocurrencies since the creation of Bitcoin, presents the main market trends, and discusses the key features of cryptocurrencies in the context of blockchain. Second, it analyses current cryptocurrency projects, like the Libra project, and other applications of the blockchain technology. Third, it presents a systematic economics and financial literature review on cryptocurrencies. Fourth, it examines the challenges, benefits, and future perspectives of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, with a focus on the environmental issues and central bank digital currencies.

El aprendizaje del residente se realiza a través del trabajo que desarrolla en diferentes contextos laborales como: la planta del hospital, el quirófano, el centro de salud, la participación en congresos o en comisiones, etc. Aun así, este desempeño tiene que complementarse con metodologías que conlleven actividades específicas para desarrollar aquellas competencias que no se pueden trabajar de forma planificada y explícita en el día a día como el pensamiento crítico, el trabajo cooperativo, la gestión de las emociones, etc. Más allá de las clásicas sesiones clínicas de casos o bibliográficas, existen otras metodologías activas dirigidas a favorecer estos aprendizajes para alcanzar una formación integral, como el aprendizaje basado en problemas, el método de caso y de proyectos, los incidentes críticos, la gamificación, los juegos de rol o el libro del residente. Destacamos las competencias que cada una de ellas ayudan a adquirir.

Analizar si la presencia de anemia incrementa el riesgo de mortalidad a largo plazo asociado al estado de fragilidad y discapacidad en adultos mayores.

Byline: Maria Jose Ruiz-Ortega, Pedro Manuel Garcia-Villaverde In this paper, we develop an empirical study on the factors that influence entry timing for technology-oriented new ventures. In this sense, we analyse a sample of 104 new ventures of a high technology industry, the Information and Communications Technology sector in Spain. We demonstrate that in highly hostile environments, the availability of marketing capabilities will encourage a pioneer behaviour by technology-oriented new ventures. By contrast, the availability of managerial and technical capabilities will encourage technology-oriented new ventures to develop a follower behaviour. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that when the level of imitation in the environment is high, the availability of managerial capabilities will encourage technology-oriented new ventures to develop a pioneer behaviour. With regard to the implications for managers, we consider that new ventures' managers must evaluate whether their firms have the suitable capabilities to take advantage of first mover advantages, given unfavourable environmental conditions.

El envejecimiento de la población y los avances científicos hacen imprescindible una formación específica en Geriatría para todos los estudiantes de Medicina. Existen distintas recomendaciones internacionales sobre la docencia de Geriatría en el pregrado, que aún está lejos de ofrecerse de forma generalizada. El objetivo de este trabajo fue desarrollar un listado nacional de recomendaciones sobre la docencia de la medicina geriátrica en el pregrado.

•X-rays of the hand/wrist have been the ‘gold standard’ for skeletal age estimation.•Non-ionising modalities such as MRI and ultrasound have been considered recently.•Combining physical examinations with imaging is the most accurate approach.•Software is now available and can be utilised to estimate skeletal age.

La rehabilitación oral con implantes es en la actualidad la mejor opción para el tratamiento de pacientes parcial o totalmente edéntulos. Sin embargo, no es un procedimiento exento de complicaciones. La aparición de carcinoma epidermoide en la encía circundante de los implantes, aunque infrecuente puede ser una de ellas y aunque no hay muchos casos descritos en la literatura, sería conveniente establecer qué relación, si es que existiera, pueden tener los implantes en el desarrollo de esta enfermedad.

Abstract The modeling of the perceptual properties of texture plays a fundamental role in tasks where some interaction with subjects is needed. In order to face the imprecision related to these properties, fuzzy sets defined on the domain of computational measures of the corresponding property are usually employed. In this sense, the most interesting approaches show that the combination of different measures as reference sets improve the texture characterization. However, the main drawback of these proposals is that they do not take into account the subjectivity associated with human perception. For example, the perception of a texture property may change depending on the user, and in addition, the image context may influence the global perception of a given property. In this paper, we propose to solve these problems by combining the use of several computational measures in a reference set with adaptation to the subjectivity of human perception. To do this, we propose a generic methodology that automatically transforms any multidimensional fuzzy set modeling a texture property to the particular perception of a new user or to the image context. For this purpose, the information given by the user, or extracted from the textures present in the image, are employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many developed countries are placing resources to combat the growing threats in cyberspace, and emerging nations are no different. Since 2016, the Dominican Republic is undergoing massive changes within the current government to prioritize cybersecurity through laws, policies, and doctrine. This initiative is causing politicians, industry, and even government entities such as the national police to start the journey to begin to fully understand what are the issues in cybersecurity as they apply to the nation. It is essential that the security challenges and problems identified are addressed through a process of discovery while mitigating risks. This paper is to present those challenges and offer solutions that can be used to achieve an acceptable level of cyber risk.

The coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampeiFerrari, 1876 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is considered the most serious pest of the coffee crop and is controlled primarily with the use of chemical insecticides. An alternative to this control method is the use of the entomopathogenic bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensisBerliner, 1911. Therefore, the objective of this work was to select strains of B. thuringiensisvirulent against H. hampeiand characterize them by morphological and molecular methods to identify possible genes for the production of genetically modified plants. To achieve this objective, 34 strains of B. thuringiensisunderwent a selective bioassay to evaluate their toxicity to H. hampeifirst-instar larvae. Among the strains tested, 11 and the standard B. thuringiensissubspecies israelensis(IPS-82) caused mortality above 90%. Then, the median lethal concentration (LC50) was estimated for these strains followed by characterization using morphological, biochemical and molecular methods. The lowest LC50was obtained for strain BR58, although this concentration did not differ significantly from that of the standard strain IPS-82 or from that of strains BR137, BR80 and BR67. The molecular characterization detected cry4A, cry4B, cry10, cry11and cyt1genes in 10 of the most virulent strains (BR58, BR137, BR80, BR81, BR147, BR135, BR146, BR138, BR139, BR140). Strain BR67 differed completely from the others and amplified only the cry3gene. This strain was more virulent than BR135, BR146, BR138, BR139 and BR140, but it did not differ from BR58, BR137, BR80, BR81 and BR147. The protein profile revealed proteins of 28, 65, 70 and 130kDa, and the morphological analysis identified spherical crystalline inclusions in all strains. The results showed that the 11 strains studied have potential for use as a gene source for insertion into coffee plants for the control H. hampei, especially the cry3, cry4A, cry4B, cry10, cry11and cyt1genes, that were repeated in the most virulent isolates.

This study delves in the controversy about the nature and the sign of the effect of interorganizational relationships on entrepreneurial orientation. The paper analyses the effects of networks of interorganizational relationships at firm level. Specifically, we study the influence of closure of interorganizational relationships in entrepreneurial orientation and the mediating role of dynamic capabilities. The empirical analysis was developed on a sample of 292 Spanish agri-food firms. We detect a positive mediating effect of the closure of interorganizational relationships, mainly cooperative relationships, on entrepreneurial orientation through dynamic capabilities. It highlights the emergence of a suppression effect uncovering the dark side of closed interorganizational relationships in several dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation - proactiveness, autonomy and risk-taking –. This paper contributes to link three theoretical approaches – social capital, entrepreneurship and dynamic capabilities – to probe further into the implications of interorganizational relationships.

Los dispositivos internos de distracción maxilar han sido poco utilizados debido a la dificultad que supone su colocación precisa. Esto se debe a que pequeñas imprecisiones en su orientación dan lugar a grandes imprecisiones en la posición final del hueso distraído. En este sentido, la cirugía asistida por ordenador es una herramienta de gran ayuda para alcanzar la máxima precisión. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar nuestro protocolo de planificación de la posición de distractores internos, así como un nuevo objeto CAD/CAM para transferir los datos al campo quirúrgico.

Laryngoscope is a key tool in anesthetic practice. Direct laryngoscopy is a crucial moment and inadequate laryngoscope's light can lead to catastrophic consequences. From our experience laryngoscope's light is assessed in a subjective manner and we believe a more precise evaluation should be used. Our objective is to compare the accuracy of a smartphone compared to a lux meter. Secondly we audited our Operating Room laryngoscopes.

O laringoscópio é uma ferramenta essencial na prática anestésica. A laringoscopia direta é um momento crucial e uma luz inadequada do laringoscópio pode levar a consequências catastróficas. De acordo com nossas pesquisas, a luz do laringoscópio é avaliada de forma subjetiva e acreditamos que uma avaliação mais precisa deve ser feita. Nosso objetivo foi comparar a precisão de um smartphonecom a de um luxímetro. Depois, fizemos uma auditoria de nossos laringoscópios em sala de operação.

Context:Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) favorably affects bone mineral density (BMD). Whether MHT also affects bone microarchitecture, as assessed by trabecular bone score (TBS), has never been evaluated.Objective:Our objective was to assess the effect of MHT on TBS and BMD before and after its withdrawal.Design:This was a cross-sectional study.Setting:This study included the general community.Patients or other participants:Data were collected from the OsteoLaus cohort (1500 women aged 50–80 years). After exclusion of women with bone-modulating treatments, 1279 women were categorized according to MHT status into current (CU), past (PU), and never (NU) users.Main outcome measure(s):Spine TBS and BMD at lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip were assessed by dual X-ray absorptiometry.Results:Age- and body mass index-adjusted analysis showed higher TBS values in CU vs PU or NU (1.31 ± 0.01, 1.29 ± 0.01, and 1.27 ± 0.01, respectively; P< .001). All BMD values were significantly higher in CU vs PU or NU. Compared to NU, PU exhibited higher lumbar spine (0.94 ± 0.01 vs 0.91 ± 0.01 g/cm2; P= .017) and total hip (0.86 ± 0.01 vs 0.84 ± 0.01 g/cm2; P= .026) BMD and a trend for higher TBS (P= .066). The 10-year loss of TBS and BMD at lumbar spine and total hip was significantly lower for both CU and PU vs NU. MHT duration had no effect on bone parameters. In PU, the residual effect on TBS and BMD was significantly more prominent in early discontinuers (<2 years).Conclusion:MHT is associated with bone microarchitecture preservation, as assessed by TBS. The effect of MHT on TBS and BMD persists at least 2 years after withdrawal.

The selectivity of five entomopathogens and a chemical insecticide (positive control) to pupae and adults of the egg parasitoid Telenomus remus(Nixon) was evaluated in the laboratory under controlled environmental conditions according to protocols established by the International Organization for Biological Control. Baculovirus anticarsia(Baculovirus AEE®), Bacillus thuringiensisvar. kurstaki(Thuricide®), Bacillus thuringiensisvar. aizawai(Agree®), Beauveria bassiana(Boveril®), Metarhizium anisopliae(Metarril®) and Trichoderma harzianum(Trichodermil®) are harmless to T. remuspupae, and adults. Thus, our results suggest that the insect control strategies applied here are compatible since entomopathogens were classified as harmless to T. remusin most examined cases and therefore facilitate a joint application to control different pests. Bacillus thuringiensisvar. kurstaki(Dipel®), despite being classified as slightly harmful in some of the evaluations, can still be considered compatible for use together with T. remus, especially when compared with chemical insecticides such as chlorpyrifos that might be considered harmful to the parasitoid survival.

Background: Predicting how natural and anthropogenic drivers shape different ecological indicators, such as plant populations along environmental gradients, can be a relevant tool for establishing management and conservation criteria of tropical wetlands. We aimed to assess the effects of seasonal flood disturbance, type of grasslands and topographical conditions on Croton trinitatispopulation distribution in a tropical wetland. Methods: The study was carried out in a seasonally flooded grassland (Central-West Brazil). We conducted samplings of soil on the dry and flood hydrophases of the Pantanal. We took the samples in eight seasonal ponds, with 1 km interval between them. Transects were marked during the flood period, observing the water level, one in the lowest zone, in the middle of the pond = low (ca. 60 cm deep), one at the pond edge = mid (ca. 30 cm deep) and one in the higher zone, on the external part = high (ca. 1 cm deep). Results: The results showed that the topography, seasonality, and types of grassland determine differences in the abundance patterns of adult plants and seedlings, and seed bank and seed predation. The abiotic factors can shape plant population-related ecological processes and patterns, with outputs (germination and predation) and inputs (local dispersion and from neighbouring areas) of proportional seeds for the population maintenance in this environment. Conclusion: We emphasize the importance of these findings, to show that abiotic factors are not the only ones to be considered in ecological studies of distribution and structuring of populations in habitats with extreme seasonal events.

In this paper, we address the problem of simulating the human perception of texture properties in images. In particular, we have focused our study on the properties of coarseness, contrast and directionality, that play a fundamental role in the human perception of texture. The objective is not to precisely identify, classify or discriminate between different textures as a whole, but to be able to assess the presence of each texture property in the image. For this purpose, fuzzy sets defined on the domain of different groups of measures are employed in order to model each property by using parametric membership functions. The corresponding parameters are obtained by learning a functional relationship between the computational values given by the measures and the human perception. The performance of each fuzzy set is analyzed and tested with the human assessments, and a ranking of subsets of measures is obtained according to their ability to represent the perception of the property, allowing us to identify the most suitable combination of measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of the perceptual properties of texture plays a fundamental role in tasks like semantic description of images, content-based image retrieval using linguistic queries, or expert systems design based on low level visual features. In this paper, we propose a methodology to model texture properties by means of fuzzy sets defined on bidimensional spaces. In particular, we have focused our study on the fineness property that is considered as the most important feature for human visual interpretation. In our approach, pairwise combinations of fineness measures are used as a reference set, which allows to improve the ability to capture the presence of this property. To obtain the membership functions, we propose to learn the relationship between the computational values given by the measures and the human perception of fineness. The performance of each fuzzy set is analyzed and tested with the human assessments, allowing us to evaluate the goodness of each model and to identify the most suitable combination of measures for representing the fineness presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La orientación emprendedora ha sido uno de los aspectos que mayor interés ha suscitado en los últimos años en el campo del entrepreneurship.La revisión de la literatura nos permite señalar la necesidad de abordar la ambigüedad y la complejidad de la relación entre la orientación emprendedora y los resultados empresariales. En este trabajo planteamos esta relación desde un enfoque configuracional, abordando la coherencia de factores relacionales —capital social— y organizativos —capacidades tecnológicas y de marketing— con la orientación emprendedora. El objetivo del trabajo consiste en desarrollar un modelo configuracional que explique el efecto moderador conjunto del capital social y las capacidades empresariales sobre la efectividad de la orientación emprendedora. Se establecen 3 modelos teóricos —universal, contingente y configuracional— que se definen mediante proposiciones teóricas. Exploramos y ejemplificamos empíricamente las relaciones establecidas mediante un estudio de casos de empresas agroalimentarias españolas. Finalmente, extraemos diversas conclusiones a partir de los modelos planteados y proponemos futuras líneas de investigación.

El presente artículo analiza la figura de la responsabilidad patrimonial del Estado legislador que, a diferencia de la responsabilidad de la administración pública y de la administración de justicia, previstas en la Constitución española, en el caso del legislador, su desarrollo en cuanto a principales características y requisitos, ha sido realizado por el Tribunal Supremo, tomando en cuenta, en cuanto fuere necesario, el derecho de la Unión Europea. Esta responsabilidad del Estado legislador puede tener dos orígenes, dependiendo esencialmente del canon de control que se utilice para contrastar la ley en cuestión, es decir, la Constitución española o el derecho de la Unión Europea.

Dado que la movilidad es una necesidad básica en la sociedad actual, el presente trabajo analiza la estructura que, en el período 2008-2010, presentan las empresas que conforman el sector del transporte urbano de viajeros por carretera en España, reflejando las principales características del sector y deteniéndose en el estudio de la situación y de la evolución de los principales estados contables.

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are metallic materials that have the capability to recover its original shape eliminating residual strains when subjected to adequate thermal process. This behavior is related to phase transformation induced either by stress or by. During the phase transformation process of an SMA component, large loads and/or displacements can be generated in a relatively short period of time making this component an interesting mechanical actuator. Because of such remarkable properties, SMAs have found a number of applications in different areas. The present contribution deals with the modeling, simulation and experimental analysis of SMA helical springs. Basically, it is assumed a one-dimensional constitutive model to describe its thermomechanical shear behavior and, afterwards, helical springs are modeled by considering classical approach. SMA helical spring thermomechanical behavior is investigated through experimental tests performed at different loads. Numerical results show that the model is in close agreement with experimental data. Since the thermal process has an essential importance in the performance of an SMA actuator, different cooling medium conditions are investigated, evaluating the actuators performance.

Welding is a fabrication process widely used in several industrial areas. The welding of metallic alloys presents some basic characteristics as the presence of a localized intensive heat input that promotes mechanical and metallurgical changes. Different from conventional welding processes, where macroscopic fusion is observed, friction welding is a solid state welding process where the joint is produced by the relative rotational and/or translational motion of two pieces under the action of compressive forces producing heat and plastic strain on the friction surfaces. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process has received much attention for its special characteristics, like the high quality of the joints. Although there are several experimental works on the subject, numerical modeling is not well stated, as the process is very complex involving the coupling of several non-linear phenomena. In this contribution a tridimensional finite element model is presented to study the temperature distribution in plates welded by the FSW process. A weld heat source is proposed to represent the heat generated during the process. The heat source model considers several contributions present in the process as the friction between the tool and the piece and the plastic power associated to the plastic strain developed. Numerical results show that the model is in close agreement with experimental results, indicating that the model is capable of capturing the main characteristics of the process. The proposed model can be used to predict important process characteristics, like the TAZ (Thermal Affected Zone), as a function of the welding parameters.

Welding is a complex process where localized and intensive heat is imposed to a piece promoting mechanical and metallurgical changes. Phenomenological aspects of welding process involve couplings among different physical processes and its description is unusually complex. Basically, three couplings are essential: thermal, phase transformation and mechanical phenomena. Welding processes can generate residual stress due to the thermal gradient imposed to the workpiece in association to geometric restrictions. The presence of tensile residual stresses can be especially dangerous to mechanical components submitted to fatigue loadings. The present work regards on study the residual stress in welded superduplex stainless steel pipes using experimental and a numerical analysis. A parametric nonlinear elastoplastic model based on finite element method is used for the evaluation of residual stress in superduplex steel welding. The developed model takes into account the coupling between mechanical and thermal fields and the temperature dependency of the thermomechanical properties. Thermocouples are used to measure the temperature evolution during welding stages. Instrumented hole drilling technique is used for the evaluation of the residual stress after welding process. Experimental data is used to calibrate the numerical model. The methodology is applied to evaluate the behavior of two-pass girth welding (TIG for root pass and SMAW for finishing) in 4 inch diameter seamless tubes of superduplex stainless steel UNS32750. The result shows a good agreement between numerical experimental results. The proposed methodology can be used in complex geometries as a powerful tool to study and adjust welding parameters to minimize the residual stresses on welded mechanical components.

Non-smooth systems are employed to model different cutting processes including milling and oil drilling. This article deals with the modeling of the micro-end-milling dynamics with inhomogeneous materials. The model considers a non-smooth system composed of a primary system that represents the tool and a secondary system, representing the workpiece. This system mimics micro-end-milling dynamics considering a progressive motion of the tool holder with tool run-out. The relative position of the tool holder and the chip is evaluated avoiding huge displacements of the tool tip when the tool is not in cutting. The simplified dynamics presented in this article is used as a methodology to calculate the cutting force and tool performance from the prescribed trajectory. The inhomogeneity is related to the description of the micro-machining process where material properties cannot be considered as constant due to grain structure as the tool moves for cutting. Numerical simulations consider a situation where the grain workpiece has austenitic, ferritic or ferritic-austenitic phases. Microscopic analysis is employed to obtain the property variations. The main goal is to establish a qualitative comprehension of the system dynamics comparing results with homogeneous material cutting process.