El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar la prevalencia de la parasitación por Demodex en el perro mediante una técnica de PCR en tiempo real (RT-PCR). Fueron utilizados 100 perros procedentes del Centro de Acogida y Protección Animal del Maresme (Mataró-Barcelona) que no presentaban signos clínicos compatibles con demodicosis y en cuyas historias tampoco constaba que hubieran padecido esta enfermedad. Se recogieron muestras de pelo de cada animal (250-300 pelos) de cinco localizaciones distintas (cabeza, dorso, miembros anteriores y posteriores y abdomen) y se llevó a cabo una técnica de RT-PCR para detectar el DNA de Demodex. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron un 17% de positividad, de los cuales 58,82% eran machos y 41,18% eran hembras. 64,71% animales de pelo largo y 35.29% de pelo corto. La ubicación del ácaro correspondió en su mayoría a abdomen (50%) y cabeza (33,33%), seguida de miembros posteriores (25%) y en igual proporción dorso y miembros anteriores (16,66%). Estos hallazgos confirman en un amplio muestreo de campo, la teoría de que los perros clínicamente sanos pueden albergar Demodex en sus folículos pilosos, y que por ende, las lesiones aparecen cuando la carga parasitaria aumenta significativamente. Se hace necesario continuar con este tipo de estudios para determinar si Demodex está presente sólo en una parte de la población canina (reservorios) que no supera el 20% o si por el contrario permanece en un pequeño número en la mayoría de perros, tal vez en migración constante, por lo que su detección se hace muy difícil.

Se estudiaron las nociones de “significado musical” y “comunicación musical” en el contexto de la música popular usando una metodología cualitativa. Dos canciones de una banda de Funk-rock y 2 canciones de una banda de Jazz fueron usadas como estímulo. Seis integrantes de las bandas y un grupo de 14 participantes escucharon las canciones individualmente y se les pidió que indicaran qué momentos de la música llamaron su atención y luego que explicaran cuál era el significado de cada canción. Los principales resultados fueron: a) mientras escuchaban las canciones ni los músicos ni los oyentes no percibieron que la música expresara ideas o emociones la mayor parte del tiempo; b) el significado atribuido a las piezas dependió de las características objetivas de los objetos musicales que a su vez eran vinculadas con referentes semánticos por los participantes; c) esos referentes semánticos fueron proveídos frecuentemente por la letra de las canciones. Estos resultados fueron interpretados como evidencia de que el significado musical no es fijo sino contingente y que la comunicación de intenciones, ideas o emociones de músicos a oyentes no está garantizada, pero puede tener éxito si se cumplen algunas condiciones.

A literature review disclosed that even under very strict caries preventive control, in young Swedish people many initial approximal lesions slowly progress. A study was performed to investigate if the same trend could be seen in young Danish adults. In 1996 a group of Danish military conscripts were investigated clinically and radiographically. Based on the radiographs, one lesion with radiolucency up to one third in the dentine was randomly selected from each conscript. Contact was established with these former conscripts in 2002 and radiographs taken around 2002 were used to investigate the state of the selected lesions in terms of regression, stabilization or progression. It was observed that about 60% of the selected lesions had progressed during the 5 to 6 year period. Therefore there was a need to look for other preventive measures than those traditionally used in a Danish context, such as instructions in flossing and local application of fluoride. Looking through the literature, it was realized that sealing of occlusal lesions was highly effective but this procedure was not used on approximal surfaces. The next step was to investigate if it was technically possible to seal approximal lesions and if so what material should be used. A laboratory study was conducted in which 6 dental materials were compared in relation to: their handling, presence at the surface of the lesion, and ability to penetrate into a lesion. Based on that study Gluma One Bond® (Heraeus Kulzer) was selected to be used in further studies. The final step was an 18-month clinical investigation to evaluate the effect of sealing approximal lesions. About 80 young adults from Denmark and Colombia participated in this investigation; each had at least 2 initial approximal lesions. One lesion was selected for sealing; the other one acted as control. Baseline radiographs were taken by means of special equipment so new radiographs could be taken in the same position after 18 months. The sealing procedure was performed in accordance with the guideline designed in the laboratory study. The patient was instructed to floss all sealed and non-sealed approximal lesions. Radiographs were used to assess caries progression in the test and control lesions in three ways: by comparing baseline with final scoring of the lesions on the individual conventional radiographs, by reading the conventional radiographs as pairs and finally using subtraction radiography of digitized images. The examiner was blind to lesion type (test or control) for all comparisons and also blind to whether radiographs were baseline or follow up in the case of examinations of the single radiographs and paired comparison. Repeat assessment of the radiographs was conducted on 20% of the radiographs and the subtraction images. For the paired comparison of radiographs and subtraction radiography assessment significantly more control lesions progressed (47.2%; 85%) than test lesions (22.2%; 43%) (P-values<0.05). For the independent examination of the radiographs a similar pattern was seen but the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (P=0.06). In conclusion, many approximal lesions seemed to progress on young adults irrespective of the preventive regime they were advised to take. This study has developed and investigated a technique for sealing early approximal lesions which seems to be more effective at preventing lesion progression than conventional interventions such as brushing and flossing. There is a need however, for defining more precisely criteria at selecting lesions to be sealed; for developing better materials in terms of better penetration skill and that they stay there, and for clinical investigations which evaluate the long term effect of sealing the approximal lesions.

In Colombia the petrol supply sector lags well behind other sectors such as electricity supply, ports, and motorways, in undertaking an open policy. However, freeing the petrol supply market is considered necessary in order to release the state from the economic burden that it would otherwise have. This situation is particularly true in the oil industry, which is one of the most capital-intensive businesses. This thesis assesses the petrol supply chain in Colombia identifying the key driving factors, the companies involved and the challenges they are facing in the light of world and regional trends. In this way, a comparative assessment of the Colombian Oil Company (Ecopetrol) is undertaken looking at how other state-owned companies such as the Venezuelan, Brazilian, Mexican and the Argentinian are tackling similar problems. In addition, the thesis will assess what is the best trade off between importing and/or refining for supplying petrol to Colombia regarding three different schemes under three different scenarios of demand. The analysis considers environmental, institutional, technical and economic issues; the latter is assessed using a Linear Programming (LP) model. The paper concludes that the Colombian government should elaborate a white paper to restructure Ecopetrol. Administratively, the chairman should be appointed for a fixed period of time with the provide it with autonomy for selecting its most convenient business strategy. Ecopetrol should be opened up to both international competition and foreign partnership in order to compete in the global market. This would involve improving its competitiveness, pursuing international standards of efficiency and using benchmarking targets for its planning and development. In addition, the government and Ecopetrol should separate their accountancy; thus, subsidies for middle distillates consumed by low income groups should be funded through the national budget and not charged to Ecopetrol. Similarly, the government must commit to a policy of not withdrawing economic resources from Ecopetrol to finance independent projects. After undertaking this first series of measures, the next step should be setting a legal and stable framework for the capitalization and opening of Ecopetrol. In this way Ecopetrol should be listed in the stock exchange market both in the country and abroad initially offering a minority stake of its shares in the search for fresh capital, should reduce its political dependency and form strategic alliances to scale up its businesses and improve its efficiency.

Abstract: Geographical Indication (GI) contains a number of economic tools and, due to the close relationship with their territory of origin, GIs are used as a mechanism to reach and benefit local communities through the increased remunerative value associated with their agricultural, handicraft and artisan production. Empirical evidence indicates GIs provide economic, social, and environmental effects over their territory of origin although; the grade of impact differs from case to case. Inadequate structures and weak governance also generate unexpected outcomes such as; abandonment of traditional practices, or the destruction of biodiversity —especially in developing countries where scarcity of economic resources and the inability of sustaining long–term commitments has been evident. GIs require a careful analysis of the circumstances in which the product is embedded under GI recognition, as well as the study of resources available for its implementation. GIs are a legitimate form of intellectual property —a status which guarantees the owner’s right to economically exploit it. Due to connection to the land, GIs could also generate social and environmental impacts over local communities that are not trivial. This paper aims to outline a GI implementation process that has a wider scope of variables, in order to obtain not only economic, but social and environmental benefits for the region to which the GI is linked. This paper is organized in two parts of three sections each. The first section describes the objectives, structure, and methodology used by the author. In the second, a “state of the art” for GI is explained; outlining some expected benefits and challenges. The third section establishes a legal basis for GIs, providing a background of the international legal schemes and current discussions. In Part 2, Section 4 analyses five existing GI cases; describing the circumstances and focus undertaken by GI policy makers. In the analysis that follows, specific patterns and relationships between variables and outcomes are discussed. Section 5 outlines an implementation process—including precise objectives, variables, and suggestions that can be adapted to specific circumstances. Section 6 summarises the main findings and final conclusions. Resumen: Las indicaciones geográficas (GIs por sus siglas in ingles) contienen un gran numero de herramientas, que debido a su estrecha relación con el territorio de origen, son utilizadas como un mecanismo que beneficia a las comunidades del lugar donde son producidas, este beneficio es generalmente concebido a través del mayor valor que el productor percibe dado el trabajo agrícola y artesanal relacionado con el GI. Aunque sus impactos difieren de caso a caso, evidencia empírica indica que GIs producen efectos económicos, sociales y ambientales sobre sus territorios de origen. Sin embargo, estructuras inadecuadas y pobre gobernanza pueden generar resultados inesperados tales como: abandono de practicas tradicionales o incluso, destrucción de la biodiversidad de la región – especialmente en países en desarrollo donde han sido evidentes la escases de recursos económicos y la inhabilidad de sostener compromisos al largo plazo. Por lo anterior, es claro que GIs requieren de un análisis cuidadoso sobre las circunstancias en las cuales el producto objeto de reconocimiento de GI es enmarcado, así como también, requiere de un estudio minucioso sobre los recursos disponibles para su implementación. GIs son una forma legitima de propiedad intelectual – un estatus que le garantiza al dueño del derecho a explotarlo económicamente. Debido a su estrecha conexión con la tierra, las GI también pueden generar impactos sociales y ambientales sobre las comunidades locales, adyacentes a su lugar de producción. Este documento tiene como objetivo establecer un proceso de implementación de GIs que logre obtener beneficios no solo económicos sino también sociales y ambientales a las regiones ligadas a las GIs. Este documento esta organizado en dos partes, cada uno con tres secciones. En la primera parte, la primera sección describe los objetivos, estructura y metodología utilizada por el autor. En la segunda sección, el “estado de arte” de GIs es explicado, resaltando algunos de los beneficios y retos que estas contienen. La tercera sección establece un base legal para las GIs, proporcionando un análisis general de los esquemas legales internacionales y las discusiones que se están llevando a cabo en el momento.

Análisis y apuntes acerca del contrato celebrado entre el Gobierno Nacional y Edmond Brochon, dueño de la Ferrería y huelleras de Pacho, en enero de 1910. El documento es enviado por el Ministro de obras públicas al Senado de la República, con el fin de que se apruebe la compra. A lo largo del informe, se puede encontrar información sobre tipos de armas y municiones cotizadas, así como la justificación de cada una de las piezas solicitadas.

The purpose of this degree project is to propose a design for the strengthening of project management for the company Mota Engil Colombia through a diagnosis of the methodology currently being developed, in order to facilitate the company’s to project management structured based on the PMI (Project Management Institute, per its acronym in English) approach, which will improve the results of projects on issues of cost, scope, time and quality, as well as improve their profitability, since the proposal agrees to reduce reprocesses and better manage resources.

The investigation consisted of identifying the factors that have influenced some sixth category municipalities in Colombia to have advanced more than others in the implementation of the ICT component for Open Government of the Online Government Strategy. Theoretically, it is guided by the Governance paradigm, which is considered the base scheme of Open Government, understood as a new approach to government, which has at its disposal the ICT tools of electronic government to facilitate its implementation. The methodology used in the first part was based on a quantitative-­descriptive analysis, from which three municipalities were selected, which were the subject of a qualitative-­explanatory analysis. The results show a quite negative progress of the selected municipalities in relation to the implementation of the Open Government component of the GEL Strategy. It is verified that this situation is due to the lack of resources of these entities, to the lack of political will and to the digital gap that still exists in the country.

In the period between 2008 and 2016, the definition of the Health Benefits Plan has had the participation of different actors organized in cause coalitions according to the interests they defend, where the government has been fundamental in the formulation and implementation of public policy, supplying a series of changes over time in order to compty with the provisions of current regulations and as ordered by the Honorable Constitutional Court, and including participation mechanisms that involve the different actors of the General Security System Social in Health, as well as the general public, who managed to bring their interests to the core of the policy in terms and conditions that not in all cases responded to the general needs of the Colombian population and / or that had adequate technical support , requiring over the years the establishment of standard procedures and methodologies agreements for the definition and updating of the Health Benefit Plan agreed with the different actors, which would allow the evaluation of health technologies in a technical and structured way to guarantee the effective enjoyment of the right and protection of health.

It is an investigation in CTeI to fulfill the requirement to apply for the title of Magister in Government and Public Policies. Sustained in theoretical and conceptual references of the development of institutional capacities including public investment, institutional arrangements and project management, mainly. Supported methodologically in authors who refer to the abductive method of Peirce who is according to William James, the founder of pragmatism. It was developed to establish the incidence of the departmental capacities of CTeI in the execution of C & I projects of the SGR, with empirical evidence for a sample of 15 projects, and based on the public information available from the system through the Monitoring, Follow-up System, Control and Evaluation; normatively established scheme for the SGR projects. The questioning is solved: What is the impact of the departmental capacities of CT &I in the execution of CTeI projects financed with royalty funds? with the discussion of the hypothesis and achievement of the objectives. Data and performance information are presented, a comparison between projects from the project management approach and the analysis of the relationships between the departmental capacities of CTeI and the performance in the execution of those.