One-seller assignment markets with multi-unit demands

We consider one-seller assignment markets with multi-unit demands and prove that the associated game is buyers-submodular. Therefore the core is non-empty and it has a lattice structure which contains the allocation where every buyer receives his marginal contribution. We prove that in this kind of market, every pairwise-stable outcome is associated to a competitive equilibrium and viceversa. We study conditions under which the buyers-optimal and the seller-optimal core allocations are competitive equilibrium payoff vectors. Moreover, we characterize the markets for which the core coincidences with the set of competitive equilibria payoff vectors. When agents behave strategically, we introduce a procedure that implements the buyers-optimal core allocation as the unique subgame perfect Nash equilibrium outcome.

Actividades de aprendizaje y evaluación a través del Campus Virtual. Experiencia en Fisiología y Fisiopatología I del Grado de Farmacia

[spa] Nuestro objetivo consiste en fomentar, entre alumnos internos del Departamento de Fisiología, el autoaprendizaje, el trabajo autónomo y en equipo, espíritu crítico y habilidad para buscar y analizar información. A la vez se pretende iniciar a estos alumnos en los sistemas de transferencia de resultados de la investigación básica a la investigación aplicada. Para ello a los alumnos se les proporciona materiales que contienen información sobre las materias objeto de aprendizaje y enlaces a diferentes sitios webs de interés relacionados con el tema. En ellos se promueve la exposición de trabajos y la participación en jornadas especializadas. El uso de estos materiales bajo supervisión del profesorado, ha permitido la mejora del conocimiento en Fisiología y la creación de equipos especializados en diferentes aspectos de la Fisiología. Además, la transferencia de información entre alumnos, ha propiciado que puedan adquirir una visión clara y amplia sobre qué es un trabajo de investigación básica o un trabajo de investigación aplicada, así como la importancia del trabajo en equipo, lo que ha posibilitado que pudieran diseñar pequeños experimentos y estudiar su aplicabilidad. Al final del periodo de formación, los alumnos demostraron haber adquirido las competencias genéricas CG1, CG3, CG5, CG6, CG11, CG13 y CG15 incluidas en la ficha Verifica para el Grado en Farmacia, así como las competencias específicas para el módulo 5 (Medicina y Farmacología) CEM5.8, CEM5.9 y CEM5.11, concluyendo así que la aplicación de métodos de enseñanza basados en el autoaprendizaje (bajo supervisión de equipos docentes) constituye una excelente herramienta para la promoción de la adquisición de competencias generales y específicas en el Grado en Farmacia.

MgO/Ag(001) interface structure and STM images from first principles

The interface of MgO/Ag(001) has been studied with density functional theory applied to slabs. We have found that regular MgO films show a small adhesion to the silver substrate, the binding can be increased in off-stoichiometric regimes, either by the presence of O vacancies at the oxide film or by a small excess of O atoms at the interface between the ceramic to the metal. By means of theoretical methods, the scanning tunneling microscopy signatures of these films is also analyzed in some detail. For defect free deposits containing 1 or 2 ML and at low voltages, tunnelling takes place from the surface Ag substrate, and at large positive voltages Mg atoms are imaged. If defects, oxygen vacancies, are present on the surface of the oxide they introduce much easier channels for tunnelling resulting in big protrusions and controlling the shape of the image, the extra O stored at the interface can also be detected for very thin films.

Pk-yrityksen liiketoimintasuunnitelman päivittäminen - case Acon Finland Oy

Tutkimuksessa liiketoimintasuunnitelmaa käsitellään jo olemassa olevan yrityksen näkökulmasta ja tarpeista käsin. Tavoitteena on kuvata liiketoimintasuunnitelman päivittämisen vaikutuksia liiketoiminnan kehittämisessä sekä esitellä tähän kehittämiseen soveltuvia työkaluja. Tutkimus toteutetaan toimintatutkimuksena. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa käynnistyy case-yrityksenä olevan Acon Finland Oy:n koko henkilökunnalle tehtävällä pilotti kyselyllä painopistealueiden löytämiseksi. Varsinainen tutkimus toteutetaan yrityksen omistaja-johtajille kanssa käytävillä teemahaastatteluilla. Tutkimuksen tuloksena saatiin työkaluja yrityksen toiminnan analysoimiseen ja kehittämiseen. Teoreettisten työkalujen avulla havaittiin case-yrityksessä lukuisia kehittämiskohteita ja muutostarpeita sekä suuntaviivoja muutoksen suunnalle.

Priorization of Customer Needs for Paperboard Trays

The objectives of the study were to introduce current issues of chilled and frozen food packaging, priorize certain customer needs and review brand owners’ opinions and ways of actions. Packaging industry and packaged food markets were reviewed. Interviews of food industry brand owners are used as data sources. Analytic hierarchy process was used to prioritize the customer needs. Food packaging, special features of ready meals, chilled and frozen food packaging, packaging industry and packaged food markets in Europe are approached using literature and market reviews and forecasts. In empirical part the customer needs of paperboard trays are prioritized. The most important features for brand owners are related in product safety and environmental issues. Paperboard trays have benefits compared to its competing packaging solutions. Paperboard is recyclable, from renewable source and it has good printability. Emerging issues of packaging technology are biodegradable package, elderly friendly features such as easiness of opening and re-closing possibility, brand protection and tamper evident solutions.

La Ciudad como producto: aproximación a las estrategias de marketing del sector empresarial aplicadas en la gestión de la ciudad. La marca ciudad. el modelo de construcción de la marca ciudad en Sant Cugat

Los cambios socieoeconómicos acaecidos a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, marcan el inicio de una nueva forma de gestionar las ciudades. Ahora, los territorios pasan a formar parte de un nuevo mercado donde entran en competencia con otras ciudades para captar nuevas inversiones y atraer turismo. El ciudadano pasa de ser administrado a ser cliente, que ahora exige mayor calidad en los servicios. Es, en este nuevo entorno, cuando las ciudades son consideradas como producto y se introduce el marketing en la administración de las ciudades. Se focaliza la atención en el consumidor y se implantan estrategias propias del marketing utilizadas con éxito en el sector privado. La administración pública, sin embargo, presenta unas especificaciones determinadas que limita la adopción de estas herramientas ya que los fines del sector público no coinciden plenamente con los objetivos del sector privado basados en la obtención de beneficios y el aumento de las ventas. Una de las técnicas adoptadas por las ciudades que adquiere mayor protagonismo en los últimos 15 años consiste en la creación de una marca ciudad o city branding que tiene como objetivo dotar a la ciudad de una identidad, unos valores y una personalidad que le ayude a posicionarse en el mercado y a diferenciarse del resto de la competencia. Como otras muchas ciudades, la ciudad de Sant Cugat también está en proceso de creación de su marca que le ayude a destacar de sus competidoras para atraer turismo, inversión y nuevos habitantes.

La escultura de las villae de la zona del noreste hispánico: los ejemplos de Tarragona y Tossa

Se presenta en primer lugar un estudio de las esculturas procedentes del ager Tarraconensis que incluye también los nuevos descubrimientos. Se da a conocer un conjunto recuperado recientemente en la villa de Els Ametllers (Tossa de Mar, Gerona). En cuanto a la plástica del entorno de Tarraco, se ha podido constatar que existen dos grupos claramente diferenciados. Uno de ellos está constituido por hallazgos poco numerosos o aislados, las piezas son de dimensiones menores que el natural y, salvo algunas excepciones, de factura modesta y de temática relacionada con el entorno dionisiaco. El otro, que se corresponde con el importante conjunto de estatuas procedente de la villa de Els Munts, se caracteriza por las grandes dimensiones y por la buena calidad estilística de algunas de ellas, así como por la variedad de los tipos escultóricos representados. El conjunto de la villa de Els Ametllers da testimonio de su riqueza con una decoración escultórica más que notable en el siglo i d. de C. realizada en mármoles de gran calidad. En general, las esculturas de las villae de la zona del noreste hispánico nos dejan constancia del alto nivel social y del poder económico de los dueños de las mansiones y al mismo tiempo nos indican el lujo del que se querían y podían rodear las clases privilegiadas.

Why Women Rarely Rise to the Top: A Social Identity Model of Leader Prototypes.

Purpose We propose a social identity model of leader prototypes to address why the maleness of leader prototypes is more pronounced among men than among women (e.g., Schein, 2001). Specifically, we argue that individuals project their ingroup prototype (e.g., a male prototype) onto a valued other category (e.g., leaders) (e.g., Wenzel, Mummendey, Weber, & Waldzus, 2003) in order to maintain a positive ingroup (e.g., gender) identity. We hypothesized that both women and men engage in ingroup projection of their gender prototype on their leader prototype, and we expected this effect to be stronger for men than women. We also investigated intelligence as a moderator of ingroup projection. Methodology Participants (276 students, University of Lausanne) assessed to what extent attributes on a list of gender traits were characteristic of a successful leader. We computed relative ingroup similarity scores (e.g., Waldzus & Mummendey, 2004) representing the difference between how characteristic ingroup traits are for a successful leader, and how characteristic outgroup traits are for a successful leader. Results Results showed that men engaged in ingroup projection while women engaged in outgroup projection, and that men engaged in ingroup projection to a greater extent. We also found a small, but positive effect of intelligence on ingroup projection among men. Limitations The use of a student sample might limit the external validity of our findings. Implications Our findings contribute to research on the under-representation of women in managerial roles, and introduce intelligence as a predictor of ingroup projection. Value Our study allows for a more fine-grained understanding of the cognitive representations of leaders of men and women.

Serlianas durante el Renacimiento italiano y español: del triunfo de la religión católica al lenguaje imperial

This article presents a panoramic view of the development of the so-called serliana or Serlian motif throughout the Italian Renaissance, focusing on the most relevant examples in the architecture of that period. The use of this motif during the Early Renaissance was pioneered by Filippo Brunelleschi in religious buildings. As its employment become widespread in a range of different settings, architects frequently incorporated local building traditions. It was only during the last twenty years of the Quattrocento that Giuliano da Sangallo and Leonardo da Vinci adopted the Serlian arch in residential architecture designed for the ruling elites. Thanks to Bramante and other artists such as Raphael, Baldassare Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and Giulio Romano, the motif was extraordinarily popular during the High Renaissance period. Ever-increasingly complex and monumental compositions eased the adaptation of the serliana to both exterior and interior spaces, and in works such as the design by Galeazzo Alessi in Genoa, the imperial connotation of the motif is clear. This process illustrates the progressive transfer from the religious to the courtly sphere, and, at the same time, the permeability between the sacred and the profane. During the sixteenth century, Spain too was at the European avant-garde, due to its contacts with Italy and the latest fashions, such as the employment of the serliana in residential architecture, were followed in the fortified palace at La Calahorra, the Vich palace in Valencia, or the palace of Charles V in Granada, as part of a complex iconography of power. Throughout the sixteenth century, the serliana featured in that specifically-Spanish typology, the monumental altarpiece or retablo, as well as in monumental tombs. Italy was certainly the leading force in the process and had an indisputable influence on Spanish art, but the latter would develop its own original solutions in the sixteenth century, which matched the innovative character of Italian creations.

Älykkäiden energiamittareiden mahdollistamat palvelut

Sähkönmittaus suoritetaan enenevissä määrin älykkäiden energiamittareiden avulla niin Suomessa kuin muuallakin maailmassa. Älykkäät energiamittarit mahdollistavat huomattavasti monipuolisemman mittaustiedon saannin kuin tavanomaisilla mittareilla saatavan pelkän kulutetun energian määrän. Mittauksesta vastuussa olevalle taholle syntyy kuluja mittareiden asennuksesta uusien tehokkaampien tietojärjestelmien ylläpitoon siirryttäessä uuteen älykkäämpään mittausjärjestelmään. Kulujen kattamiseksi olisi hyödyllistä, jos monipuolisempaa mittaustietoa voitaisiin käyttää laajemmin kuin pelkästään asiakkaiden laskutukseen. Tästä johtuen mittaustiedon tehokasta hyödyntämistä varten tulee kehittää uusia palveluja esimerkiksi raportoinnin, mittaustietojen analysoinnin sekä kysyntäjouston saralla. Tässä työssä esitellään älykkäisiin energiamittareihin liittyvää tekniikkaa ja syitä miksi älykkäämpiin sähkönmittausjärjestelmiin ollaan siirtymässä. Mittaroinnin nykytilannetta käydään läpi niin Suomen kuin eräiden muidenkin Euroopan maiden osalta. Työssä esitetään myös muutamia käytännön palvelumahdollisuuksia ja pohditaan millaiseksi sähkönmittausjärjestelmät tulevaisuudessa muotoutuvat.

Net Neutrality: Measuring the Problem, Assessing the Legal Risks

Network neutrality is a growing policy controversy. Traffic management techniques affect not only high-speed, high-money content, but by extension all other content too. Internet regulators and users may tolerate much more discrimination in the interests of innovation. For instance, in the absence of regulatory oversight, ISPs could use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to block some content altogether, if they decide it is not to the benefit of ISPs, copyright holders, parents or the government. ISP blocking is currently widespread in controlling spam email, and in some countries in blocking sexually graphic illegal images. In 1999 this led to scrutiny of foreclosure of Instant Messaging and video and cable-telephony horizontal merger. Fourteen years later, there were in 2013 net neutrality laws implemented in Slovenia, the Netherlands, Chile and Finland, regulation in the United States and Canada , co-regulation in Norway, and self-regulation in Japan, the United Kingdom and many other European countries . Both Germany and France in mid-2013 debated new net neutrality legislation, and the European Commission announced on 11 September 2013 that it would aim to introduce legislation in early 2014. This paper analyses these legal developments, and in particular the difficulty in assessing reasonable traffic management and ‘specialized’ (i.e. unregulated) faster services in both EU and US law. It also assesses net neutrality law against the international legal norms for user privacy and freedom of expression

Structure-Based, Rational Design of T Cell Receptors.

Adoptive cell transfer using engineered T cells is emerging as a promising treatment for metastatic melanoma. Such an approach allows one to introduce T cell receptor (TCR) modifications that, while maintaining the specificity for the targeted antigen, can enhance the binding and kinetic parameters for the interaction with peptides (p) bound to major histocompatibility complexes (MHC). Using the well-characterized 2C TCR/SIYR/H-2K(b) structure as a model system, we demonstrated that a binding free energy decomposition based on the MM-GBSA approach provides a detailed and reliable description of the TCR/pMHC interactions at the structural and thermodynamic levels. Starting from this result, we developed a new structure-based approach, to rationally design new TCR sequences, and applied it to the BC1 TCR targeting the HLA-A2 restricted NY-ESO-1157-165 cancer-testis epitope. Fifty-four percent of the designed sequence replacements exhibited improved pMHC binding as compared to the native TCR, with up to 150-fold increase in affinity, while preserving specificity. Genetically engineered CD8(+) T cells expressing these modified TCRs showed an improved functional activity compared to those expressing BC1 TCR. We measured maximum levels of activities for TCRs within the upper limit of natural affinity, K D = ∼1 - 5 μM. Beyond the affinity threshold at K D < 1 μM we observed an attenuation in cellular function, in line with the "half-life" model of T cell activation. Our computer-aided protein-engineering approach requires the 3D-structure of the TCR-pMHC complex of interest, which can be obtained from X-ray crystallography. We have also developed a homology modeling-based approach, TCRep 3D, to obtain accurate structural models of any TCR-pMHC complexes when experimental data is not available. Since the accuracy of the models depends on the prediction of the TCR orientation over pMHC, we have complemented the approach with a simplified rigid method to predict this orientation and successfully assessed it using all non-redundant TCR-pMHC crystal structures available. These methods potentially extend the use of our TCR engineering method to entire TCR repertoires for which no X-ray structure is available. We have also performed a steered molecular dynamics study of the unbinding of the TCR-pMHC complex to get a better understanding of how TCRs interact with pMHCs. This entire rational TCR design pipeline is now being used to produce rationally optimized TCRs for adoptive cell therapies of stage IV melanoma.

E-hankinta ja sen käyttö ja hyödyntäminen teollisuusyrityksessä

Tässä tutkimuksessa olen selvittänyt sähköisten työkalujen hyödyntämisen mandollisuuksista teollisuusyrityksessä epäsuorissa hankinnoissa. Tutkimuksessa olen paneuduttu e-hankinnan terminologiaan ja menetelmiin, joita markkinoilla on käytössä. E-hankinta on keskeisin tutkimusalue. Toimittajien etsintään ja niiden hallinnointiin keskittyvät työkalut olen rajannut pois tutkimuksestani. Tutkimuksessa olen selvittänyt e-hankinnan keskeisiä haasteita ja onnistumisen elementtejä, jotta e-hankinnan käyttöönotto olisi mandollisimman helposti tehtävissä. Lukuisten esimerkkien avulla pyrin kartoittamaan e-hankinnan levinneisyyttä ja lisäksi tuon esille niitä potentiaalisia säästökohteita ja kustannusten leikkauksia, joita on mandollista toteuttaa ottamalla käyttöön sähköisen hankintamallin. Tutkimuksen loppuosassa keskityn tutkimaan Perloksen hankintavolyymeja ja löytämään sieltä ne hankintakategoriat, joille tämä sähköinen hankintamalli olisi mandollista ottaa käyttöön. Tässä tutkimuksessa tulen esittämään sähköisen hankintamallin käyttöönottoa ja samalla merkittävän kehityshankkeen toteuttamista lähitulevaisuudessa. Lopullisen päätöksen sähköisen hankintamallin käyttöönotosta ja projektin toteuttamisesta tekee yrityksen johto. Yrityksen johdolle sitten lopulta jää punnittavaksi, kuinka strategisena ja ajankohtaan nähden sopivana tämän tyyppisen kehitysprojektin toteuttaminen nähdään.

Facilitating coordination improvement efforts in cross-functional process development programs

Business process improvement is a common approach in increasing the effectiveness of an organization. It can be seen as an effort to increase coordination between units. Process improvement has proved to be challenging, and most management consultation firms facilitate organizations in this kind of initiatives. Cross-functional improvement is one of the main areas for internal consultants as well. However, the needs, challenges and means of cross-functional help have been rarely discussed in the literature. The objective of this thesis is on one hand to present a conceptual and descriptive framework to help understand the challenges of facilitating coordination improvement efforts in cross-functional improvement programs, and on the other hand to develop and test feasible solutions for some facilitation situations. The research questions are: 1. Why and in what kind of situations do organizations need help in developing coordination in cross-functional processes? 2. How can a facilitator help organizations in improving coordination to develop cross-functional processes? The study consists of two parts. The first part is an overview of the dissertation, and the second part comprises six research publications. The theoretical background for the study are the differentiation causing challenges in cross-functional settings, the coordination needed to improve processes, change management principles, methods and tools, and consultation practises. Three of the publications introduce tools for helping in developing prerequisites, planning responsibilities and supporting learning during the cross-functional program. The three other papers present frameworks to help understand and analyse the improvement situation. The main methodological approaches used in this study are design science research, action research and case research. The research data has been collected from ten cases representing different kinds of organizations, processes and developing situations. The data has been collected mainly by observation, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The research contributes to the rare literature combining coordination theories and process improvement practises. It also provides additional understanding of a holistic point of view in process improvement situations. The most important contribution is the addition to the theories of facilitating change in process improvement situations. From the managerial point of view, this study gives advice to managers and consultants in planning and executing cross-functional programs. The main factors increasing the need for facilitation are the challenges for differentiation, challenges of organizational change in general, and the novelty of initiatives and improvement practices concerning process development. Organizations need help in creating the prerequisites to change, in planning initiatives, easing conflict management and collaboration between groups, as well as supporting the learning of cross-functional improvement. The main challenges of facilitation are combining the different roles as a consultant, maintaining the ownership for the improvement project with the client, and supporting learning in the client organization.

Las escalas de calidad de vida familiar (cdvf-e). Apoyo y orientación para la intervención

The aim of this paper is to present cDVF-E scales for families with children of 0-18 years, on one hand, and over 18 years, on the other, that researchers from five spanish universities have recently validated and standardized to the spanish population. To this end, first, the importance of the construct of quality of family life and its implications for research and practice should be emphasized. Afterwards, we introduce the first international initiatives measuring the quality of family life developed in the first decade of this century. Then the features, dimensions and psychometric properties of the scales are synthetically presented. Finally, the authors encourage practitioners and organizations to use these tools in the context of family-centered model and provides, as a conclusions, some considerations