Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

After the 2008 crisis, gender gaps in workers' health and well-being have persisted in different EU countries. Using 2010 and 2015 data from the European Working Conditions Survey, this paper estimates synthetic indicators by gender, considering workers' health status as well as environmental, organisational and psychosocial factors at work, by means of the P2distance measure. The study attempts to answer questions such as which countries evidenced the largest and smallest gender gaps in both years and where these gaps widened or narrowed in addition to what mechanisms support these results. Policies aimed at preventing and addressing occupational risks –in particular, psychosocial risks–would therefore be desirable to reduce these gaps.

The 2030 Agenda implicitly establishes a series of economic policies that give the State a prominent role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper delves into some of the key elements of the Agenda from an economic policy perspective. Specifically, it focuses on three elements: i) the compatibility/incompatibility relationships between the SDGs; ii) the instruments necessary to maximize the possibilities of achieving them; and iii) the key role of public intervention. The results show that it is still difficult to establish multidimensional strategies that enhance the comprehensiveness of the SDGs, that the State must play a key role in the productive field, in addition to the social and environmental spheres, and that it must pursue expansionary monetary and fiscal policies to set a proper economic landscape, as well as commercial and labor policies that foster redistributive efforts and environmental sustainability, in order to maximize SDGs accomplishments.

The paper identifies and prioritizes the drivers of innovation and development of agribusinesses in China. By applying systemic and logical approaches, as well as the decomposition analysis method, the authors classified innovation drivers in the agribusiness sector and projects implementing various digital tools in agriculture. Statistical and other calculations were used to estimate innovation growth rates. The research findings can be applied by: central and local governments to develop programs for recombining innovation opportunities, as well as training programs for farmers.

El libro de Pedro Fresco se centra en ofrecer una panorámica sobre los retos globales que se presentarán en las próximas décadas a raíz del cambio en el sistema energética mundial. Esta revisión presenta las ideas de mayor interés del autor siguiendo en gran medida la propia estructura del libro

En este estudio se analizan las inundaciones de finales del siglo XIX en la Provincia de Santiago en el contexto del despliegue burocrático del Estado de Chile decimonónico. Para ello, se hace uso de la noción de poder infraestructural de Mann (2007) y de la dimensión socionatural de Latour (2007). Mediante el análisis cualitativo de fuentes primarias y prensa escrita de la época, así como también de bibliografía secundaria relativa al problema estudiado, se evalúa la solidez del poder del Estado de Chile ejercido en la Provincia de Santiago. Tanto los efectos de las precipitaciones en la infraestructura hídrica y urbana, como la reacción burocrática y su despliegue de recursos ante esta emergencia natural, evidenciarían que el poder infraestructural del Estado decimonónico habría sido menor al estimado habitualmente.

This study investigated the production and properties of lightweight hemp composites produced using waste industrial hemp stems cultivated in Turkey. Hemp stems were separated from their fibers and fragmented to obtain hemp shiv aggregates in the laboratory. Twelve mixtures were prepared with varied volumetric ratios of hemp: cement (H:C) and hemp: water (H: W) using different sizes of hemp shiv. The influence of mix proportions on the physical and mechanical properties of hemp composites were investigated. Besides, microstructure of hemp composites was examined. The hemp composites produced were in the apparent density range of 312 to 928 kg/m3 and exhibited 0.20 to 1.24 MPa compressive strength. The water absorptions of samples were in the range of 3.47 and 8.50 kg/m2.h1/2. The apparent density and compressive strength of hemp composites decreased with the increase of H:C ratio, but this situation is the opposite for increase of H: W ratio and hemp shiv size. Besides, increase in H:C ratio or hemp shiv size caused higher water absorptions.

Delay is one of the most common and complex issues that adversely affect the performance of construction pro-jects. Although much research exists on project delay, only some studies have systematically summarized and compared the causes of delay by the project type. In addition, few studies have quantitatively combined the variability across studies and related them to the responsibilities of project stakeholders. This study conducted a meta-analysis to provide quantitative and reliable evidence on delay causes combining previous research. This study categorized the top ten causes of delay published in primary research studies, calculated the average aggregate relative important index (RII) of these causes, quantitatively summarized their impact on building and road projects using meta-analysis techniques, and linked them to stakeholder responsibility. Based on an initial 160 top ten-delay causes reported, the study aggregated them into sixteen factors and seven management areas. This research found a different prioritization of delays by project type. Overall, while "site management & technical processes" was the most critical delay factor for building projects, "external issue" was for road projects. The comparison by region shows that "skills, knowledge & experience" was the most critical factor for African studies, but "late delivery and material-equipment issues" was for Asian studies. These factors were related to project stakeholders for defining mitigation actions that led to better project performance. Finally, this study provides a first taxonomy of delays, where the previous causes reported in the literature were clustered into factors and management areas.

The mechanical properties of concrete were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and fuzzy logic. The aggregate portion of the concrete was replaced with recycled aggregate to address the environmental problems caused by building demolition wastes. The essential key factors that influenced the suitability of recycled aggregate in concrete applications are the compressive strength (CS), flexural strength (FS), and the split tensile strength (STS). The experiments were designed with nine combinations of two input factors (percentage of coarse and fine recycled aggregates) at different levels 30, 60, and 100%. Furthermore, optimization techniques were used to determine the strong correlations between the variables and the mechanical parameters. Such optimization techniques helped to identify the optimistic maximum strength for replacing 44% coarse and 65% fine recycled aggregate. Using RSM, the maximum strength results were found to be: CS at 7, 28, 56, and 90 days were 23.61, 35.04, 40.02, and 43.63 N/mm2, respectively, FS 3.6 N/mm2 and STS 2.0 N/mm2. The maximum strength parameters were found using fuzzy logic: CS at 7, 28, 56, and 90 days were 23.5, 35.8, 41, and 46.7 N/mm2, respectively, FS 4.13 N/mm2 and STS 1.97 N/mm2. Such optimization can be carried out to lower the material wastage, energy consumption, and expenses for the production.