Sistema de vigilància

El present projecte, de caire teòric, pretén ser una aproximació als conceptes de vigilància tecnològica o intel·ligència competitiva, la seva relació amb la gestió del coneixement, el que signifiquen i quina és la situació d'aquestes disciplines en el nostre entorn proper. Tan mateix, i partint d'aquesta base de coneixement teòric, també s'ha treballat en el plantejament del que podria ser una metodologia d'aplicació en una organització del concepte d'inteligència competitiva, les seves etapes a seguir i el que cal coordinar o tenir present en cadascuna d'elles.

Presidents and parties in regional politics: Italy and Spain compared

This article examines the relationship between political parties and regional presidents in Italy and Spain, adopting a comparative case study approach based on extensive archival analysis and in-depth interviews with regional politicians. The findings confirm a strong pattern of growing presidentialism at regional level, regardless of whether there are formal mechanisms for direct election, and regardless of the partisan composition of regional government. Regional presidents tend to exert their growing power through a personalised control of regional party organisations, rather than governing past parties in a direct appeal to the electorate. Nevertheless, parties can still present a significant constraint on regional presidents, so successful regional presidents tend to maintain a mediating form of leadership and fully exploit the opportunities for party patronage to build up their support and smooth governing tensions. An autonomist drive helps presidents hold together disparate coalitions or loose parties at regional level, but their lack of internal coherence presents major problems when it comes to political succession.

Varicella zoster virus reactivation during or immediately following treatment of tegumentary leishmaniasis with antimony compounds

Antimony compounds are the cornerstone treatments for tegumentary leishmaniasis. The reactivation of herpes virus is a side effect described in few reports. We conducted an observational study to describe the incidence of herpes zoster reactivation during treatment with antimony compounds. The global incidence of herpes zoster is approximately 2.5 cases per 1,000 persons per month (or 30 cases per 1,000 persons per year). The estimated incidence of herpes zoster in patients undergoing antimony therapy is higher than previously reported.

ApplicationMap : Administración web y comercio electrónico en entornos de software libre

Este proyecto tiene como objetivo desarrollar las herramientas necesarias para poder crear un mapa conceptual de las aplicaciones de una organización, representar gráficamente este mapa y controlar el estado de cada aplicación. En concreto, se trata de desarrollar un formato XML que permita identificar y describir una aplicación, detallar con qué tecnología está desarrollada, qué componentes utiliza, especificar las interacciones o dependencias con otros sistemas, etc.

Neutralising antibodies for Mayaro virus in Pantanal, Brazil

The Pantanal hosts diverse wildlife species and therefore is a hotspot for arbovirus studies in South America. A serosurvey for Mayaro virus (MAYV), eastern (EEEV), western (WEEV) and Venezuelan (VEEV) equine encephalitis viruses was conducted with 237 sheep, 87 free-ranging caimans and 748 equids, including 37 collected from a ranch where a neurologic disorder outbreak had been recently reported. Sera were tested for specific viral antibodies using plaque-reduction neutralisation test. From a total of 748 equids, of which 264 were immunised with vaccine composed of EEEV and WEEV and 484 had no history of immunisation, 10 (1.3%) were seropositive for MAYV and two (0.3%) for VEEV using criteria of a ≥ 4-fold antibody titre difference. Among the 484 equids without history of immunisation, 48 (9.9%) were seropositive for EEEV and four (0.8%) for WEEV using the same criteria. Among the sheep, five were sero- positive for equine encephalitis alphaviruses, with one (0.4%) for EEEV, one (0.4%) for WEEV and three (1.3%) for VEEV. Regarding free-ranging caimans, one (1.1%) and three (3.4%), respectively, had low titres for neutralising antibodies to VEEV and undetermined alphaviruses. The neurological disorder outbreak could not be linked to the alphaviruses tested. Our findings represent strong evidence that MAYV and all equine encephalitis alphaviruses circulated in the Pantanal.

Structure-based drug design studies of the interactions ofent-kaurane diterpenes derived from Wedelia paludosa with the Plasmodium falciparumsarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase PfATP6

Malaria is responsible for more deaths around the world than any other parasitic disease. Due to the emergence of strains that are resistant to the current chemotherapeutic antimalarial arsenal, the search for new antimalarial drugs remains urgent though hampered by a lack of knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms of artemisinin resistance. Semisynthetic compounds derived from diterpenes from the medicinal plant Wedelia paludosawere tested in silico against the Plasmodium falciparumCa2+-ATPase, PfATP6. This protein was constructed by comparative modelling using the three-dimensional structure of a homologous protein, 1IWO, as a scaffold. Compound 21 showed the best docking scores, indicating a better interaction with PfATP6 than that of thapsigargin, the natural inhibitor. Inhibition of PfATP6 by diterpene compounds could promote a change in calcium homeostasis, leading to parasite death. These data suggest PfATP6 as a potential target for the antimalarial ent-kaurane diterpenes.

Experimental infection of Rio Mamore hantavirus in Sigmodontinae rodents

This study shows an experimental spillover infection of Sigmodontinae rodents with Rio Mamore hantavirus (RIOMV). Necromys lasiurus and Akodon sp were infected with 103 RNA copies of RIOMV by intraperitoneal administration. The viral genome was detected in heart, lung, and kidney tissues 18 days after infection (ai), and viral excretion in urine and faeces began at four and six ai, respectively. These results reveal that urine and faeces of infected rodents contain the virus for at least 18 days. It is possible that inhaled aerosols of these excreta could transmit hantavirus to humans and other animals.

Spain in Europe 2004-2008

In March of 2004, the Observatory of European Foreign Policy published a special monograph about Spain in Europe (1996-2004) in digital format. The objective of the monograph was to analyse Spain’s foreign policy agenda and strategy during the period of José María Aznar’s presidency. As the title suggests, one of the initial suppositions of the analysis is the Europeanization of Spanish foreign activities. Is that how it was? Did Aznar’s Spain see the world and relate to it through Brussels? The publication was well received, considering the number of visits received and above all the institutions which asked to link the publication to their web pages. Among these, the EUobserver published the introduction to the piece in English titled Aznar: thinking locally, acting in Europe (described by the EUobserver as a paper of utmost importance). The fact that the elections were held three days after the tragic events of the 11th of March dramatically increased interest in Spain and the implications for Europe. This publication is the second of its type, in this case analysing the period of the Zapatero government (2004-2008). Once again the starting premise (the Europeanization of the agenda and the methods employed) has been considered by the analysts. And once again the articles collected in this publication serve to “triangulate” the analysis. Spain and Europe are two vertices (more or less distant, in essence and in form) which the authors handle in their analysis of the case (third vertex).

Análise dos determinantes da lealdade às lojas temáticas de torcedores do Atlético e do Cruzeiro

Na pesquisa aqui apresentada teve-se por objetivo identificar e analisar as variáveis que influenciam o processo de lealdade dos torcedores atleticanos e cruzeirenses em Belo Horizonte em relação ao consumo dos produtos oficiais dessas equipes. Estruturada em modelo teórico usado para identificar os atributos de lealdade, a investigação foi desenvolvida com 300 clientes-torcedores, cujos dados foram submetidos a análises uni e multivariadas. Os resultados, obtidos por meio da modelagem de equações estruturais, confirmaram que a oferta de produtos e serviços impacta de forma positiva no investimento, no sentimento de dependência e na confiança. Verificou-se que: quanto maior o investimento no relacionamento comercial, maior é o sentimento de dependência do cliente; quanto mais intensa a troca de informações, maior é o sentimento de confiança; quanto maiores a dependência e a confiança, maior é o comprometimento do cliente no relacionamento comercial; e quanto maior o comprometimento, maior é a lealdade à empresa. O modelo proposto explicou 53,6% das inter-relações entre os construtos e desses com suas variáveis manifestas. O modelo de mensuração explicou 53,1% da variabilidade dos construtos e o modelo estrutural explicou 54,1% dessas mesmas variáveis. Tendo em vista que se trata de uma pesquisa social, em que o controle das respostas é mais restrito, esses resultados foram considerados satisfatórios, por conseguirem explicar mais da metade da variabilidade das variáveis avaliadas.

Ab initio absorption spectrum of NiO combining molecular dynamics with the embedded cluster approach in a discrete reaction field

We developed a procedure that combines three complementary computational methodologies to improve the theoretical description of the electronic structure of nickel oxide. The starting point is a Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulation to incorporate vibrorotational degrees of freedom into the material model. By means ofcomplete active space self-consistent field second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) calculations on embedded clusters extracted from the resulting trajectory, we describe localized spectroscopic phenomena on NiO with an efficient treatment of electron correlation. The inclusion of thermal motion into the theoretical description allowsus to study electronic transitions that, otherwise, would be dipole forbidden in the ideal structure and results in a natural reproduction of the band broadening. Moreover, we improved the embedded cluster model by incorporating self-consistently at the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) level a discrete (or direct) reaction field (DRF) in the cluster surroundings. The DRF approach offers an efficient treatment ofelectric response effects of the crystalline embedding to the electronic transitions localized in the cluster. We offer accurate theoretical estimates of the absorption spectrum and the density of states around the Fermi level of NiO, and a comprehensive explanation of the source of the broadening and the relaxation of the charge transferstates due to the adaptation of the environment

Disseny i implementació d'eines didàctiques per facilitar l'aprenentatge de principis de la física

Estudi de dues possibilitats de disseny i implementació d'eines didàctiques amb les biblioteques Physlets i Java3D, per a ser utilitzades en una pàgina web d'electromagnetisme. Com a resultat d'aquest estudi s'han desenvolupat dues aplicacions basades en el principi físic d'inducció magnètica i les seves aplicacions. L'estudi de les biblioteques Physlets i Java3D serveix per comprovar les seves virtuts i limitacions, i a la vegada sospesar la capacitat matemàtica de la primera amb les possibilitats gràfiques i disseny en 3D de la segona.