Internal and External Determinants of Radical and incremental Innovation in SMEs: the case of Catalonia

There is a major concern in economic literature about innovation, which is the interaction between internal and external factors.. In this paper those activities are hypothesized as being determined by some territorial characteristics like labour skills, technological infrastructure, educational facilities, agglomeration economies and industrial structure. This assumption allows understanding why those innovative activities are not spread across space and are located into specific areas. We use a detailed survey containing microdata for 497 SMEs located in Catalonia.

Stream Radio Community : comunitat web per la difusió de radio via streaming

Desenvolupament d'una aplicació web amb projecció a comunitat virtual d’usuaris, que també integra un sistema de transmissió de streaming. Mitjançant aquest sistema els usuaris són capaços d’emetre o d’escoltar un programa radiofònic en temps real o offline.

El fenomen del podcast : el cas de Catalunya Ràdio

El món dels mitjans de comunicació experimenta una gran transformació a causa de la introducció de les noves tecnologies de la comunicació i internet. Això obliga a replantejar els plantejaments teòrics del circuit de la cultura, on la divisió de funcionalitats entre els productes, els productors i els consumidors està molt més desdibuixada i barrejada. En aquest context l'estudi del fenomen del podcast, a partir del cas de Catalunya Ràdio, ens ajuda a veure com ha canviat aquest circuit al món de la cultura radiofònica.

M-Library in an m-University : changing Models in the Open University of Catalonia

The general perspective of M-technologies and M-Services at the Spanish universities is not still in a very high level when we are ending the first decade of the 21st century. Some Universities and some of their libraries are starting to try out with M-technologies, but are still far from a model of massive exploitation, less than in some other countries. A deep study is needed to know the main reasons, study that we will not do in this paper. This general perspective does not mean that there are no significant initiatives which start to trust in M-technologies from Universities and their libraries. Models based in M-technologies make more sense than ever in open universities and in open libraries. That's the reason why the UOC's Library began in late 90s its first experiences in the M-Technologies and M-Libraries developments. In 1999 the appropriate technology offered the opportunity to carry out the first pilot test with SMS, and then applying the WAP technology. At those moments we managed to link-up mobile phones to the OPAC through a WAP system that allowed searching the catalogue by categories and finding the final location of a document, offering also the address of the library in which the user could loan it. Since then, UOC (and its library) directs its efforts towards adapting the offer of services to all sorts of M-devices used by end users. Left the WAP technology, nowadays the library is experimenting with some new devices like e-books, and some new services to get more feedback through the OPAC and metalibrary search products. We propose the case of Open University of Catalonia, in two levels: M-services applied in the library and M-technologies applied in some other university services and resources.

The deployment of an e-book consultation and loan service : the experience of the Open University of Catalonia Library

La Biblioteca de la UOC (UOC Library) ha ofert durant tres mesos (octubre-desembre 09), en fase de prova pilot, un servei de consulta i préstec de lectors de llibres electrònics (e-readers). Aquest nou desplegament s'ha desenvolupat en consonància amb l'aposta general de la Universitat en innovació en tecnologies aplicades a l'educació, i la voluntat de potenciar les col·leccions de llibres electrònics i l'ús dels dispositius de lectura de llibres electrònics com una extensió més de la tecnologia del Campus 5.0, en el suport a l'aprenentatge dels seus estudiants durant la seva formació a la Universitat. Aquest treball presenta en detall les especificacions de la prova pilot, a més de contenir una anàlisi i avaluació dels resultats obtinguts: punts forts i punts febles, relació dels aspectes a millorar i modificar, de cara a la consolidació final del servei.

The Network Company in Catalonia : ICT, Productivity, Competitiveness, Salaries and Performance in Catalonia's Companies. Research report (synthesis document)

Resum en anglès del projecte de recerca L'empresa xarxa a Catalunya. TIC, productivitat, competitivitat, salaris i beneficis a l'empresa catalana té com a objectiu principal constatar que la consolidació d'un nou model estratègic, organitzatiu i d'activitat empresarial, vinculat amb la inversió i l'ús de les TIC (o empresa xarxa), modifica substancialment els patrons de comportament dels resultats empresarials, en especial la productivitat, la competitivitat, les retribucions dels treballadors i el benefici. La contrastació empírica de les hipòtesis de treball l'hem feta per mitjà de les dades d'una enquesta a una mostra representativa de 2.038 empreses catalanes. Amb la perspectiva de l'impacte de la inversió i l'ús de les TIC no s'aprecia una relació directa entre els processos d'innovació digital i els resultats de l'activitat de l'empresa catalana. En aquest sentit, hem hagut de segmentar el teixit productiu català per a buscar les organitzacions en què el procés de coinnovació tecnològica digital i organitzativa és més present i en què la intensitat de l'ús del coneixement és un recurs molt freqüent per a poder copsar impactes rellevants en els principals resultats empresarials. Això és així perquè l'economia catalana, avui, presenta una estructura productiva dual.

E-Governance and Citizen Information : The Generalitat of Catalonia in the International Context. Research report (synthesis document)

Aquest estudi té com a objectiu principal analitzar les transformacions que s'esdevenen al voltant de la incorporació d'innovacions tecnològiques de l'entorn de les TIC en els processos d'atenció al ciutadà per part de les administracions públiques. Les transformacions que hem analitzat tenen a veure amb tres dimensions que hem considerat bàsiques. D'una banda, ens hem centrat en els canvis que es produeixen en la forma en què els ciutadans (com a principals, tot i que no únics, usuaris) i l'administració es relacionen entre sí. De l'altra hem analitzat les transformacions que s'esdevenen en el funcionament intern i en la pròpia organització de l'administració arran de les transformacions dels canals de comunicació amb els usuaris. Per últim, hem considerat els canvis en la forma de gestionar (dissenyar, planificar, organitzar i dur a terme) el canvi i la innovació, tenint en compte especialment els rols dels diferents actors (no només públics) que hi participen. La recerca es recolza en un ampli estudi empíric sobre la Generalitat de Catalunya i en un estudi compartiu internacional sobre el Quebec, Emillia-Romagna i Escòcia.

Breast cancer incidence and overdiagnosis in Catalonia (Spain)

Early detection of breast cancer (BC) with mammography may cause overdiagnosis andovertreatment, detecting tumors which would remain undiagnosed during a lifetime. The aims of this study were: first, to model invasive BC incidence trends in Catalonia (Spain) taking into account reproductive and screening data; and second, to quantify the extent of BC overdiagnosis. We modeled the incidence of invasive BC using a Poisson regression model. Explanatory variables were:age at diagnosis and cohort characteristics (completed fertility rate, percentage of women that use mammography at age 50, and year of birth). This model also was used to estimate the background incidence in the absence of screening. We used a probabilistic model to estimate the expected BC incidence if women in the population usedmammography as reported in health surveys. The difference between the observed and expected cumulative incidences provided an estimate of overdiagnosis.Incidence of invasive BC increased, especially in cohorts born from 1940 to 1955. The biggest increase was observed in these cohorts between the ages of 50 to 65 years, where the final BC incidence rates more than doubled the initial ones. Dissemination of mammography was significantly associated with BC incidence and overdiagnosis. Our estimates of overdiagnosis ranged from 0.4% to 46.6%, for women born around 1935 and 1950, respectively.Our results support the existence of overdiagnosis in Catalonia attributed to mammography usage, and the limited malignant potential of some tumors may play an important role. Women should be better informed about this risk. Research should be oriented towards personalized screening and risk assessment tools

Impacte de la crisi econòmica en una destinació de sol i platja: cas Platja d’Aro

La crisi econòmica és un fet molt recent, però pel qual mai s’està preparat. El gran allau de notícies tant en mitjans televisius, com de radio, diaris, etc., els quals en parlen constantment, ha motivat la curiositat per esbrinar si la crisi econòmica està afectant al sector turístic i de quina manera. Com és sabut, des de fa ja uns anys es parla de les destinacions en crisi, d’un turisme de sol i platja en crisi, ja que les noves destinacions estan fent ombra a aquelles que durant els 70 i 80 van tenir un boom i una gran acceptació, la qual cosa fa pensar que la situació actual de la crisi econòmica pot fer agreujar aquest estat de davallada del turisme de masses

Bottled natural mineral water in catalonia: origin and geographical evolution of its consumption and production

During the second half of the nineteenth century a major mineral water bottling industry appeared in Catalonia which vigorously lasted until the first third of the 20th century. The fact that the industry appeared in Catalonia and in other parts of Europe and the United States almost at the same time and had not existed before can be explained by a series of factors which coincided in time. This situation encouraged producers to pack, transport and sell bottled water from their respective sources. Among these factors there is the rise of hygienism, very influential in Catalonia, the declining water quality due to industrialization, the increase in population density, the improvement in transport, the emergence of thermal tourism or the invention of better containers used to store water. This project aims to explain thoroughly all the mentioned factors, and to give some light to why, when and how the Catalan bottled water industry appeared.

Association between HIV status and HIV knowledge in the population attending Non-Governmental Organizations to perform the rapid HIV test in Catalonia

Human Immunodeficiency Virus continues to be a pandemic. Spain is one of the European countries with the highest incidence of HIV. Within Catalonia, Spain many projects have been implemented with the intention of improving HIV knowledge and lowering the incidence. HIV knowledge is also known to have a positive effect on lowering stigma and discrimination of the people living with HIV. However, few studies study the distribution of HIV knowledge and its association to HIV status, age, sex, geographical zone of origin and level of education within the same study. Objectives: To identify if HIV knowledge is associated with HIV status, age, sex, geographical zone of origin and level of education. Method: Quantitative, cross-sectional, centre-based study comprising of people receiving an HIV test in Catalonia, Spain. Data will be collected from the 11 HIV Non-Governmental Organisations in Catalonia, Spain. The Brief HIV Knowledge Scale will be used to assess HIV knowledge; information from the HIV test session will be used to assess HIV status, age, sex, geographic zone of origin and level of education. The association between HIV knowledge and the afore mentioned variables will then be calculated.

Medium access control messaging scheme for cognitive radio networks

Los sistemas de radio cognitivos son una solución a la deficiente distribución del espectro inalámbrico de frecuencias. Usando acceso dinámico al medio, los usuarios secundarios pueden comunicarse en canales de frecuencia disponibles, mientras los usuarios asignados no están usando dichos canales. Un buen sistema de mensajería de control es necesario para que los usuarios secundarios no interfieran con los usuarios primarios en las redes de radio cognitivas. Para redes en donde los usuarios son heterogéneos en frecuencia, es decir, no poseen los mismos canales de frecuencia para comunicarse, el grupo de canales utilizado para transmitir información de control debe elegirse cuidadosamente. Por esta razón, en esta tesis se estudian las ideas básicas de los esquemas de mensajería de control usados en las redes de radio cognitivas y se presenta un esquema adecuado para un control adecuado para usuarios heterogéneos en canales de frecuencia. Para ello, primero se presenta una nueva taxonomía para clasificar las estrategias de mensajería de control, identificando las principales características que debe cumplir un esquema de control para sistemas heterogéneos en frecuencia. Luego, se revisan diversas técnicas matemáticas para escoger el mínimo número de canales por los cuales se transmite la información de control. Después, se introduce un modelo de un esquema de mensajería de control que use el mínimo número de canales y que utilice las características de los sistemas heterogéneos en frecuencia. Por último, se comparan diversos esquemas de mensajería de control en términos de la eficiencia de transmisión.

Contextual effects on subjective national identity and nationalist vote in Catalonia

The important inflow of foreign population to western countries has boosted the study of acculturation processes among scholars in the last decades. By using the case of Catalonia, a receiver region of international and national migration since the fifties, this paper seeks to intersect a classic acculturation model and a newly reemerging literature in political science on contextual determinants on individual behavior. Does the context matters for understanding individual’s subjective national identity and, therefore, its voting behavior? Multilevel models show that environment matters. Percentage of Spain-born population in the town is statistically significant to account for variance in the subjective national identity and nationalist vote, even after controlling for age, sex, origin, language and left – right orientation and other contextual factors. This conclusion invites researchers not to underestimate the direct effect of the environment on individual outcomes such as feelings of belonging and vote orientation in contexts of rival identities.

(Endogenous) occupational choices and job satisfaction among recent PhD recipients: evidence from Catalonia

Drawing on data from two successive cohorts of PhD graduates, this paper analyses differences in overall job satisfaction and specific job domain satisfaction among PhDs employed in different sectors four years after completing their doctorate degrees. Covariate-adjusted job satisfaction differentials suggest that, compared to faculty members, PhD holders employed outside traditional academic and research jobs are more satisfied with the pecuniary facets of their work (principally, because of higher earnings), but significantly less satisfied with the content of their job and with how well the job matches their skills (and, in the case of public sector workers, with their prospects of promotion). The evidence regarding the overall job satisfaction of the PhD holders indicates that working in the public or private sectors is associated with less work well-being, which cannot be fully compensated by the better pecuniary facets of the job. It also appears that being employed in academia or in research centres provides almost the same perceived degree of satisfaction with the job and with its four specific domains. We also take into account the endogenous sorting of PhD holders into different occupations based on latent personal traits that might be related to job satisfaction. The selectivity-corrected job satisfaction differentials reveal the importance of self-selection based on unobservable traits, and confirm the existence of a certain penalisation for working in occupations other than academia or research, which is especially marked in the case of satisfaction with job content and job-skills match. The paper presents additional interesting evidence about the determinants of occupational choice among PhD holders, highlighting the relevance of certain academic attributes (especially PhD funding and pre-and-post-doc research mobility) in affecting the likelihood of being employed in academia, in a research centre or in other public or private sector job four years after completing their doctorate programme.

Health-related quality of life assessment in people with multiple sclerosis and their family caregivers. A multicenter study in Catalonia (Southern Europe)

Objectives: To measure the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and their caregivers, and to assess which factors can best describe HRQoL. Methods: A cross-sectional multicenter study of nine hospitals enrolled MS patients and their caregivers who attended outpatient clinics consecutively. The instruments used were the SF-36 for patients and the SF-12 and GHQ-12 for caregivers. Classification and regression tree analysis was used to analyze the explanatory factors of HRQoL. Results: A total of 705 patients (mean age 40.4 years, median Expanded Disability Status Scale 2.5, 77.8% with relapsing-remitting MS) and 551 caregivers (mean age 45.4 years) participated in the study. MS patients had significantly lower HRQoL than in the general population (physical SF-36: 39.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 39.1–40.6; mental SF-36: 44.4; 95% CI: 43.5–45.3). Caregivers also presented lower HRQoL than general population, especially in its mental domain (mental SF-12: 46.4; 95% CI: 45.5–47.3). Moreover, according to GHQ-12, 27% of caregivers presented probable psychological distress. Disability and co-morbidity in patients, and co-morbidity and employment status in caregivers, were the most important explanatory factors of their HRQoL. Conclusions: Not only the HRQoL of patients with MS, but also that of their caregivers, is indeed notably affected. Caregivers’ HRQoL is close to population of chronic illness even that the patients sample has a mild clinical severity and that caregiving role is a usual task in the study context