Usabilitat d'una aplicació informàtica dins el sector del programari mèdic

L'objectiu principal d'aquest treball de final de carrera és estudiar la usabilitat en el programari en general i específicament quina relació té amb el programari mèdic.

Regulatory Reform of the International Education Sector and the Student Immigration Regime

Ireland has a strong reputation for delivery of high-quality education services both to our own citizens and those who come here from abroad. A degree from an Irish university, Institute of Technology or high-quality private sector provider is an indicator of significant educational achievement, highly valued by our students and employers alike. Ireland is also a specialist in high-quality English Language tuition. Many thousands of students from the EU and around the world come to Ireland for full-time or short-term programmes.

The Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector - Report of the Forum's Advisory Group

The fact that 96 percent of primary schools in Ireland are under denominational patronage is unique among developed countries. The reasons for this are deeply rooted in history and in the belief system of the population. With the establishment of the National (Primary) School system in 1831 the State provided financial support to local patrons for primary school provision, on the condition that patrons observed the regulations of the newly established Commissioners of National Education. While the State favoured applications from patrons of mixed denominations, what evolved, in practice, was that the great majority of schools came under the patronage of individual clergymen of different denominations.

Análisis y diseño de un motor de reglas IF - THEN para dispositivos móviles

El TFC consisteix en l'anàlisi i disseny d'un sistema que permeti administrar les regles d'una organització. Les regles de negoci són importants per a les empreses, ja que descriuen com aquestes realitzen les seves activitats. En aquest TFC es proposa un sistema que permetrà gestionar les esmentades regles.

Substance Misuse Among People Over 55 - Perspectives from the Community and Voluntary sector in Belfast

The Belfast Health Development Unit (BHDU) was established as a Ministerial priority in March 2010, co-locating staff from The Public Health Agency (PHA), Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT) and Belfast City Council (BCC). One of the strategic priorities for the BHDU is: an integrated approach to planning and delivery of services for older people in the city.The PHA and the BHDU had identified a need to examine the extent of substance misuse issues within the older population of the city of Belfast and to explore early intervention programmes targeting this population. It is envisioned that this piece of work will inform and support the Belfast Healthy Ageing Strategic Partnership on older people and its multi-sectoral action plan and will influence the work and priorities of the Belfast Strategic Partnership and its constituent stakeholders in taking drug and alcohol work forward in Belfast.The aim of this research was to review knowledge, awareness and evidence of the impact of substance misuse on the older population (aged 55+) and to review good practice in reducing substance related harm within this population which has been done by undertaking a review of available research, data and information sources. However, the main focus of the research involved consulting with a broad range of community and voluntary sector organisations working in the Belfast area to assess their views and perceptions of the prevalence and extent of substance misuse within the older population and the services currently in place to address this issue.�

Aproximación a la Usabilidad en el e-Commerce español : Diseño centrado en el Usuario para el sector hotelero

Mitjançant l'anàlisi d'un cas 'redisseny del web de l'hotel Jucamar' es porta a terme una aproximació a la situació actual de la usabilitat en el comerç electrònic espanyol.

Beclin 1 mitigates motor and neuropathological deficits in genetic mouse models of Machado-Joseph disease.

Machado-Joseph disease or spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, the most common dominantly-inherited spinocerebellar ataxia, results from translation of the polyglutamine-expanded and aggregation prone ataxin 3 protein. Clinical manifestations include cerebellar ataxia and pyramidal signs and there is no therapy to delay disease progression. Beclin 1, an autophagy-related protein and essential gene for cell survival, is decreased in several neurodegenerative disorders. This study aimed at evaluating if lentiviral-mediated beclin 1 overexpression would rescue motor and neuropathological impairments when administered to pre- and post-symptomatic lentiviral-based and transgenic mouse models of Machado-Joseph disease. Beclin 1-mediated significant improvements in motor coordination, balance and gait with beclin 1-treated mice equilibrating longer periods in the Rotarod and presenting longer and narrower footprints. Furthermore, in agreement with the improvements observed in motor function beclin 1 overexpression prevented neuronal dysfunction and neurodegeneration, decreasing formation of polyglutamine-expanded aggregates, preserving Purkinje cell arborization and immunoreactivity for neuronal markers. These data show that overexpression of beclin 1 in the mouse cerebellum is able to rescue and hinder the progression of motor deficits when administered to pre- and post-symptomatic stages of the disease.

Primary motor cortex inhibition in spinal cord injuries.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: Excitability changes in the primary motor cortex in 17 spinal-cord injured (SCI) patients and 10 controls were studied with paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation. The paired pulses were applied at inter-stimulus intervals (ISI) of 2 ms and 15 ms while motor evoked potentials (MEP) were recorded in the biceps brachii (Bic), the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and the tibialis anterior (TA) muscles. RESULTS: The study revealed a significant decrease in cortical motor excitability in the first weeks after SCI concerning the representation of both the affected muscles innervated from spinal segments below the lesion, and the spared muscles rostral to the lesion. In the patients with motor-incomplete injury, but not in those with motor-complete injury, the initial cortical inhibition of affected muscles was temporarily reduced 2-3 months following injury. The degree of inhibition in cortical areas representing the spared muscles was observed to be smaller in patients with no voluntary TA activity compared to patients with some activity remaining in the TA. Surprisingly, motor-cortical inhibition was observed not only at ISI 2 ms but also at ISI 15 ms. The inhibition persisted in patients who returned for a follow-up measurement 2-3 years later. CONCLUSION: The present data showed different evaluation of cortical excitability between patients with complete and incomplete spinal cord lesion. Our results provide more insight into the pathophysiology of SCI and contribute to the ongoing discussion about the recovery process and therapy of SCI patients.

L' univers femení del Jaufré : les dames, motor de l'acció cavalleresca

Els models literaris analitzats se centren quasi exclusivament en les obres de Chrétien de Troyes i en els lais de Maria de França. S'ha pretés en tot moment fer una lectura de la novel·la en clau femenina per tal de demostrar que la figura central de l'heroi actua i evoluciona generalment gràcies a o a causa de la voluntat, les decisions o les accions de les dones que troba en la seua aventura. No hi pot haver cavalleria sense amor; tot cavaller ha de lluitar per la seua dama tant al camp de batalla com a la cort.

El impacto de las TIC en la elección y comercialización del destino turístico de Benidorm

Este trabajo aborda el análisis del impacto de las TIC en la elección y comercialización del destino turístico de Benidorm. El hecho de que el turismo sea el motor de la economía de este destino turístico y uno de los motores de la economía española, así como un sector en el que Internet ha tenido un gran impacto, justifican el análisis del uso de Internet como herramienta de acceso a información turística y de contratación de servicios turísticos y su evolución en el tiempo. La elección de Benidorm como caso de estudio se debe a su notoriedad en el contexto turístico nacional e internacional.

Selecció i implementació d'un motor de cerca a la Biblioteca Virtual de la UOC

A partir de diferents enquestes de satisfacció institucional i de l'anàlisi de l'arxiu 'log' del servidor de la biblioteca respecte a l'ús i al comportament dels usuaris, es va detectar que cada cop era més complex accedir als continguts i serveis de manera proporcional al creixement d'aquests darrers i de l'augment del nombre d'usuaris. El creixement dels recursos i de les diferents aplicacions desenvolupats a la Biblioteca Virtual de la UOC (BUOC) va fer necessari la selecció i la implementació d'un motor de cerca que facilités de manera global l'accés als recursos d'informació i als serveis oferts a la comunitat virtual de la UOC d'acord amb la tipologia d'usuari, l'idioma i el seu entorn d'aprenentatge. En aquest article s'exposa el procés d'anàlisi de diferents productes i la implementació de Verity a la BUOC amb els desenvolupaments realitzats en les diferents aplicacions perquè el motor de cerca pugui fer la seva funció.

How to govern the urban hydrosocial cycle : archaeo-genealogy of hydromentalities in the Swiss urban water sector between 1850 and 1950

Switzerland appears to be a privileged place to investigate the urban political ecology of tap water because of the specificities of its political culture and organization and the relative abundance of drinking water in the country. In this paper, we refer to a Foucauldian theorization of power that is increasingly employed in the social sciences, including in human geography and political ecology. We also implement a Foucauldian methodology. In particular, we propose an archaeo-genealogical analysis of discourse to apprehend the links between urban water and the forms of governmentality in Switzerland between 1850 and 1950. Results show that two forms of governmentality, namely biopower and neoliberal governmentality, were present in the water sector in the selected period. Nonetheless, they deviate from the models proposed by Foucault, as their periodization and the classification of the technologies of power related to them prove to be much more blurred than Foucault's work, mainly based on France, might have suggested.

Does it pay to be socially responsible? Evidence from spanish retail banking sector

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of strategic competition in retail banking when some of the financial firms are non-profit organisations that invest in social activities. Banking literature about competition is fairly large, but the strategic interaction between profit maximizing and non profit maximizers has not been extensively analysed except for Purroy and Salas (1999). In this paper, a completely different approach is taken. An adaptation of Hotelling’s two stage model of spatial competition is developed to take into account consumer perceptions respect to the two different types of financial institutions. The empirical analysis confirms that consumers take into account other features different from the price, such as social contribution or closer service to make a deposit or mortgage decision. These conclusions are of interest in the debate about a firm’s social or ethical activities. It is shown that if consumers value social activities, firms can improv

ELECTROCORTICAL DYNAMICS OF MOTOR INHIBITORY CONTROL WITH AGING

Motor inhibitory control plays a central role in adaptive behaviors during the entire lifespan. Inhibitory motor control refers to the ability to stop all (global) or a part (selective) of a planned or ongoing motor action. Although the neural processing underlying the global inhibitory control has received much attention from cognitive neuroscientists, brain modulations that occur during selective inhibitory motor control remain unknown. The aim of the present thesis is to investigate the spatio-temporal brain processes of selective inhibitory motor control in young and old adults using high-density electroencephalography. In the first part, we focus on early (preparatory period) spatio-temporal brain processes involved in selective and global inhibitory control in young (study I) and old adults (study II) using a modified Go/No-go task. In study I, we distinguished global from selective inhibition in the early attentional stage of inhibitory control and provided neurophysiological evidence in favor of the combination model. In study II, we showed an under-recruitment of neural resources associated with preservation of performance in old adults during selective inhibition, suggesting efficient cerebral and behavioral adaptations to environmental changes. In the second part, we investigate beta oscillations in the late (post-execution period) spatio-temporal brain processes of selective inhibition during a motor Switching task (i.e., tapping movement from bimanual to unimanual) in young (study III) and old adults (study IV). In study III, we identified concomitant beta synchronization related (i) to sensory reafference processes, which enabled the stabilization of the movement that was perturbed after switching, and (ii) to active inhibition processes that prevented movement of the stopping hand. In study IV, we demonstrated a larger beta synchronization in frontal and parietal regions in old adults compared to young adults, suggesting age-related brain modulations in active inhibition processes. Apart from contributing to a basic understanding of the electrocortical dynamics underlying inhibitory motor control, the findings of the present studies contribute to knowledge regarding the further establishment of specific trainings with aging. -- Le contrôle de l'inhibition motrice joue un rôle central dans les adaptations comportementales quel que soit l'âge. L'inhibition motrice se réfère à la capacité à arrêter entièrement (globale) ou en partie (sélective) une action motrice planifiée ou en cours. Bien que les processus neuronaux sous-jacents de l'inhibition globale aient suscité un grand intérêt auprès des neurosciences cognitives, les modulations cérébrales dans le contrôle de l'inhibition motrice sélective sont encore peu connues. Le but de cette thèse est d'étudier les processus cérébraux spatio-temporels du contrôle de l'inhibition motrice sélective chez les adultes jeunes et âgés en utilisant l'électroencéphalogramme à haute densité. Dans la première partie, nous comparons les processus cérébraux spatio-temporels précoces (préparation motrice) de l'inhibition sélective et globale chez des adultes jeunes (étude I) et âgés (étude II) en utilisant une tâche Go/No-go modifiée. Dans l'étude I, nous avons distingué l'inhibition globale et sélective au niveau des processus attentionnels précoces du contrôle de l'inhibition et nous avons apporté des preuves neurophysiologiques de l'existence d'un modèle de combinaison. Dans l'étude II, nous avons montré une sous-activation neuronale associée à un maintien de la performance dans l'inhibition sélective chez les adultes âgés, suggérant des adaptations cérébrales et comportementales aux contraintes environnementales. Dans la seconde partie, nous examinons les processus cérébraux spatio-temporels tardifs (post-exécution motrice) de l'inhibition sélective pendant une tâche de Switching (tapping bimanuel vers un tapping unimanuel) chez des adultes jeunes (étude III) et âgés (étude IV). Dans l'étude III, nous avons distingué des synchronisations beta liées (i) au traitement des réafférences sensorielles permettant de stabiliser le mouvement perturbé après le switching, et (ii) aux processus d'inhibition active afin d'empêcher les mouvements de la main arrêtée. Dans l'étude IV, cette synchronisation beta était plus forte dans les régions frontales et pariétales chez les âgés par rapport aux jeunes adultes suggérant des modulations cérébrales de l'inhibition active avec l'âge. Outre la contribution fondamentale sur la compréhension des dynamiques électrocorticales dans le contrôle de l'inhibition motrice, les résultats de ces études contribuent à développer les connaissances pour la mise en place de programmes d'entraînements adaptés aux personnes âgées.