Electronic government and online tasks: Towards the autonomy and empowerment of senior citizens

The use of the Internet by the senior citizens in order to manage operations with the government and companies requires further study. The objective of this work is to take a close look at the reasons why older people make limited use of e-administration and online procedures. Using a qualitative methodology, based on four focus groups, we analyze the motivations and problems they find when using such procedures. The results indicate acceptance of electronic resources for simple and routine tasks due to the speed and convenience they offer, which simultaneously promotes the independence and empowerment of older people. However, there is a series of factors which have a negative effect on their use, and these must be dealt with in order to favor greater digital inclusion of this age demographi

3D photogrammetry as a tool for studying erosive processes at a Roman coastal site: the case of the Roman fish-salting plant at Sobreira (Vigo, Spain)

Rising sea levels, along with other biological and human factors, have increased erosion rates at a number of important sites located along the Atlantic coastline. Project GaltFish implemented a series of contingency measures to record some of these sites before they degraded further or totally disappeared. This process involved detailed photogrammetric recording of some of the sites under threat over a set period of time. One of the sites selected for this project was Sobreira (Vigo, Galicia): a Roman fish-salting factory which was partially destroyed by building activity in the 1980s and the remains of which are under threat from marine erosion and human action. In order to study the site, two photogrammetric models were created to examine the effect of erosive processes across the course of one year. The results illustrate that photogrammetry is an efficient tool for recording and analysing the issue of erosion. The data compiled helped in designing additional action in the factory, which was subject to a rescue excavation to record and help protect the site from further damage. This paper presents the results of this project, as well as the methodology used to produce the models, the data generated and their analysis. It is argued that the methodology can be used to collect and analyse data from other sites, and that this data could inform the political/administrative decision-making processes which concern the future management and preservation of archaeological sites under threat.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. RYC2018-024131-

Electronic government and online tasks: Towards the autonomy and empowerment of senior citizens

El uso de internet por parte de las personas mayores para realizar gestiones con la administración pública y las empresas no ha sido suficientemente estudiado. El objetivo de este trabajo es profundizar en las razones del empleo limitado de la administración electrónica y los trámites online por parte de los internautas mayores. A través de una metodología cualitativa, basada en cuatro grupos de discusión, se analizan las motivaciones y frenos en la utilización de tales trámites. Los resultados indican una aceptación del empleo de los recursos electrónicos para las tareas más rutinarias y sencillas debido a la rapidez y comodidad que proporcionan, al tiempo que fomentan la autonomía y el empoderamiento de las personas mayores. Si bien, se plantea una serie de aspectos que condicionan negativamente su utilización, sobre los que se debe incidir para favorecer una mayor inclusión digital de este grupo poblacional. AbstractThe use of the Internet by the senior citizens in order to manage operations with the government and companies requires further study. The objective of this work is to take a close look at the reasons why older people make limited use of e-administration and online procedures. Using a qualitative methodology, based on four focus groups, we analyze the motivations and problems they find when using such procedures. The results indicate acceptance of electronic resources for simple and routine tasks due to the speed and convenience they offer, which simultaneously promotes the independence and empowerment of older people. However, there is a series of factors which have a negative effect on their use, and these must be dealt with in order to favor greater digital inclusion of this age demographic

Sistema urbano y sociedad del conocimiento: hacia una tipología de las ciudades españolas

El artículo aborda una revisión de los principales conceptos que relacionan el desarrollo urbano con el conocimiento y propone la identificación de cuatro componentes para medir su inserción en la sociedad del conocimiento, en función de su estructura económica, capital humano, esfuerzo innovador y conexión a redes digitales. A partir de esa base, se hace un análisis comparativo sobre la situación de las ciudades españolas en relación con esos componentes, que considera su grado de concentración espacial, las asociaciones espaciales entre variables y finaliza con el establecimiento de una tipología de ciudades que identifica diversas trayectorias locales de inserción

Mercury and selenium retention in fly ashes: Influence of unburned particle content

7 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables.-- Printed version published Sep 2007.-- Issue title: "The 6th European Conference on Coal Research and its Applications".Mercury and selenium are present as trace elements in coal and may be emitted to the environment in gas phase during coal conversion processes or be partially retained on the fly ashes. The present work explores the possibility that selenium may contribute to mercury capture in fly ashes in two different situations: firstly the power station itself, in order to evaluate the influence of typical working conditions, and secondly in a fixed bed of fly ashes enriched with Se, in order to study the capture of mercury in more severe conditions. It was found that the presence of selenium in fly ashes may improve their capacity to capture mercury. However, in the four fly ashes of different origin studied, selenium is not the most important component for mercury retention. In fact, the presence of selenium in fly ash samples enriched in unburned carbon does not have any significant effect on mercury retention.The results of this work were obtained as part of the projects PPQ2001-2359-C02-02 and CTM2004-04252.CO2-02/TECNO.Peer reviewe

Las ciudades de Andalucía ante la sociedad del conocimiento

La relación entre competitividad económica y posicionamiento de los territorios en la sociedad del conocimiento cobra cada vez mayor protagonismo. Despiertan así especial interés aquellos ámbitos que realizan un esfuerzo por incrementar la producción, difusión y aplicación de conocimiento para mejorar el funcionamiento de sus empresas y la calidad de vida de sus habitantes. Por su parte, las ciudades se consideran actores esenciales para avanzar en un desarrollo territorial más equilibrado y sostenible, frente a la fragmentación impulsada por la globalización. Conocer la posición de las ciudades en el marco de la sociedad del conocimiento se convierte, pues, en una línea de investigación relevante que integra ambos planteamientos. Con este marco de referencia, el objetivo del presente artículo es analizar la situación de las ciudades andaluzas desde esa perspectiva, aportando una reflexión teórica y analizando indicadores que permitan establecer tipologías de comportamientos.The relationship between the economic competitiveness and the position of the territories in the knowledge society acquires a very important role. The areas which make an effort in order to increase the application of knowledge to improve the works of their companies and the quality of life of people, who live there, are becoming the protagonists increasingly. In addition, the cities are considered to be the main characters to further in a more balanced, sustainable and territorial development, whereas the fragmentation is stimulated by the globalization process. The acknowledgement of the position of the cities in the frame of the knowledge society turns into a relevant matter of research that includes both approaches. In this reference context, the aim of this study is to analyze the situation of the Andalusian cities and provide a theoretical inside and an analysis of the indicators which contribute to establish a typology of cities

Aplicación de la Metodología BPM para mejorar el proceso logístico de la empresa Hydro Press Service S.A.C Lima 2022

El presente proyecto tuvo como objetivo aplicar la metodología BPM para mejorar el proceso logístico de la empresa HYDROPRESS SERVICE SAC Lima 2022, pues presentaban problemas relacionados con la logística, gestión y mantenimiento, que conlleva un deficiente proceso logístico. Fue un estudio de tipo aplicada, con un enfoque cuantitativo, nivel explicativo y un diseño pre experimental, que utiliza como muestra un periodo de 12 semanas para el pre test y 12 semanas para el post test que se obtendrá de la cantidad de facturas y servicios que se realicen en ese periodo de tiempo. Mediante la aplicación de la herramienta Bizagi Modeler a través del diseño, modelado, ejecución y monitoreo de procesos se mejoró el indicador de entregas perfectamente recibidas (EPR) en 19.5%, un incremento de la rotación de inventario de 6.08%, mientras que para el indicador exactitud de inventario se obtuvo una mejora de 0.42% y un incremento del indicador entregas perfectas de 13.97%. En conclusión, mediante la aplicación de la metodología BPM se logró una reducción de proceso logístico, lo cual se corroboró mediante análisis descriptivo e inferencial de la información obtenida de los indicadore

The influence of carbon particle type in fly ashes on mercury adsorption

Recent research has shown that certain fly ash materials produced in coal combustion for power generation have an affinity for the mercury compounds present in flue gases. However, the exact nature of Hg–fly ash interactions is still unknown and the different variables that influence mercury adsorption need to be identified. In this work the microscopic components of fly ashes derived from the combustion of different types of feed blends of different coal rank and mercury adsorption were investigated. The aim of this research was to establish relationships between Hg retention and the type of unburned carbons present in various fly ashes. The fly ashes and fly ash fractions studied were used as sorbent beds for high mercury concentrations, conditions in which mercury retention is highly favored. From the results obtained it was confirmed that the role of the unburned carbon components in mercury capture may depend, among other factors, on the type of unburned carbon. Fly ashes capture different species of mercury depending on their nature and the type of anisotropic particles.The results of this work were obtained as part of the projects PPQ2001-2359-C02-02 and CTM2004-04252.CO2-02/TECNO.Peer reviewe

Administración electrónica y comercio electrónico como instrumentos para un envejecimiento activo.

El envejecimiento progresivo de la sociedad española intensifica la necesidad de proponer políticas activas que motiven una mayor autonomía de los mayores. Las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC), y especialmente Internet, posibilitan el desarrollo de gestiones administrativas, trámites y compras online, pero su uso no está extendido entre las personas mayores. Por ello, el objetivo de esta propuesta es profundizar en las razones que explican este limitado uso. Así, se propone una revisión exhaustiva de la literatura científica y de informes institucionales y empresariales que han explorado las motivaciones y los frenos en la utilización de Internet y las TIC para el desarrollo de tales tareas por parte de los mayores. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran una aceptación del uso de los medios electrónicos, por parte de este colectivo, para el desarrollo de tareas administrativas, trámites y compras sencillas y habituales online; además, se percibe un incremento en la sensación de autonomía, lo que conlleva la satisfacción por parte de este grupo social. No obstante, también se aprecian elementos que frenan su uso, especialmente vinculados al miedo y la inseguridad que los mayores sienten al desarrollar algunas de las mencionadas actividades, particularmente, aquellas relacionadas con el comercio electrónico

Characterization of the turbot Scophthalmus maximus (L.) myeloperoxidase. An insight into the evolution of vertebrate peroxidases

We have completed the characterization of the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) myeloperoxidase (mpx) gene and protein, which we partially described in a previous study. The turbot mpx gene has 15 exons that encode a protein of 767 aa, with a signal peptide, propeptide and light and heavy chains, and also with haem cavities, a Ca+2-binding motif and several N- and O-glycosylation sites. The mature protein forms homodimers of about 150 kDa and is very abundant in turbot neutrophils. In addition to the mpx (epx2a) gene, another three peroxidase genes, named epx1, epx2b1 and epx2b2, were identified in the turbot genome. Epx1, Epx2b1 and Epx2b2 proteins also have signal peptides and many structural characteristics of mammalian MPO and eosinophil peroxidase (EPX). Mpx was strongly expressed in head kidney, while epx2b1 and epx2b2 were strongly expressed in the gills, and epx1 was not expressed in any of the tissues or organs analysed. In vitro stimulation of head kidney leucocytes with the parasite Philasterides dicentrarchi caused a decrease in mpx expression and an increase in epx2b1 expression over time. In turbot infected experimentally with P. dicentrarchi a significant increase in mpx expression in the head kidney was observed on day 7 postinfection, while the other genes were not regulated. However, mpx, epx2b1 and epx2b2 were downregulated in the gills of infected fish, and epx1 expression was not affected. These results suggest that the four genes responded differently to the same stimuli. Interestingly, BLAST analysis revealed that Epx1 and Mpx showed greater similarity to mammalian EPX than to MPO. Considering the phylogenetic and synteny data obtained, we concluded that the epx/mpx genes of Gnathostomes can be divided into three main clades: EPX1, which contains turbot epx1, EPX2, which contains turbot mpx (epx2a) and epx2b1 and epx2b2 genes, and a clade containing mammalian EPX and MPO (EPX/MPO). EPX/MPO and EPX2 clades share a common ancestor with the chondrichthyan elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii) and the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) peroxidases. EPX2 was only found in fish and includes two sister groups. One of the groups includes turbot mpx and was only found in teleosts. Finally, the other group contains epx2b1 and epx2b2 genes, and epx2b1-2b2 loci share orthologous genes with other teleosts and also with holosteans, suggesting that these genes appeared earlier on than the mpx gene.This study was financially supported by grant AGL2017-83577-R awarded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, European Union), by grant ED431C2017/31 from the Xunta de Galicia (Spain) and by the PARAFISHCONTROL project, which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 634429. FF-I was contracted by a grant from the Xunta de Galicia (Plan I2C)S