Innovation policy instruments through the lens of open innovation. An analysis in the Spanish context

Open innovation (OI) involves the deliberate use of external and internal knowledge flows by organisations in order to accelerate their innovations and expand the markets for the external use of innovations. Despite the relevance of OI for firms’ competitiveness, firms’ abilities to leverage and combine internal and external knowledge flows cannot be taken for granted. In this context, innovation policies can play a crucial role in stimulating firms’ OI strategies. The objective of this research is to examine the degree to which existing public innovation policies promote open innovation by companies. In doing so, we review the set of innovation policy instruments developed by governments within the Spanish national and regional innovation systems and examine the extent to which they support open innovation by companies, either by facilitating firms’ open innovation practices or by acting on the external factors that influence them. Our results show that innovation policies in Spanish national and regional settings partially promote firms’ open innovation, since governments base their actions on the interaction between science, industry and government, sometimes with intermediaries that promote it. We propose the development of instruments to encourage firms to implement open innovation practices in such a way that they complement the existing ones and can fully achieve the benefits associated with open innovation

Women entrepreneurs: are there gender differences?

This paper studies business women and their opinions in order to find out whether or not there is evidence of gender discrimination. The study is based on a survey of women-owned businesses in Spain, across a wide range of industrial sectors. We examine the difficulties that female entrepreneurs encounter when creating their own companies and their opinions about gender discrimination. The results show that female entrepreneurs do not perceive gender disadvantage in their professional lives although they consider that it persists in society. There are no differences in this perception with respect to the age or the education of women

The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial-interglacial oceanic forcing

Observations suggest that during the last decades the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has experienced a gradually accelerating mass loss, in part due to the observed speed-up of several of Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers. Recent studies directly attribute this to warming North Atlantic temperatures, which have triggered melting of the outlet glaciers of the GrIS, grounding-line retreat and enhanced ice discharge into the ocean, contributing to an acceleration of sea-level rise. Reconstructions suggest that the influence of the ocean has been of primary importance in the past as well. This was the case not only in interglacial periods, when warmer climates led to a rapid retreat of the GrIS to land above sea level, but also in glacial periods, when the GrIS expanded as far as the continental shelf break and was thus more directly exposed to oceanic changes. However, the GrIS response to palaeo-oceanic variations has yet to be investigated in detail from a mechanistic modelling perspective. In this work, the evolution of the GrIS over the past two glacial cycles is studied using a three-dimensional hybrid ice-sheet-shelf model. We assess the effect of the variation of oceanic temperatures on the GrIS evolution on glacial-interglacial timescales through changes in submarine melting. The results show a very high sensitivity of the GrIS to changing oceanic conditions. Oceanic forcing is found to be a primary driver of GrIS expansion in glacial times and of retreat in interglacial periods. If switched off, palaeo-atmospheric variations alone are not able to yield a reliable glacial configuration of the GrIS. This work therefore suggests that considering the ocean as an active forcing should become standard practice in palaeo-ice-sheet modelling

Estudio de las interacciones de FurA y otros reguladores transcripcionales implicados en el metabolismo del hierro y del nitrógeno

Las proteínas Fur (ferric uptake regulator) son una superfamilia de reguladores de la transcripción presentes en la mayoría de los organismos procariotas. Tienen un papel clave en la regulación del metabolismo del hierro y en otros procesos celulares clave, como la defensa frente al estrés oxidativo, la regulación del metabolismo del nitrógeno, la diferenciación de heterocistos en cianobacterias o la virulencia en los patógenos. Se han abordado dos objetivos principales referidos a las proteínas Fur. Por un lado se han estudiado las interacciones entre las proteínas de la familia Fur presentes en Anabaena sp. PCC 7120: FurA, FurB y FurC in vivo. Los resultados obtenidos indican que las proteínas FurA, FurC y en menor medida, FurB, forman homodímeros, y que es muy posible que las tres proteínas interaccionen entre sí. Por otro lado se ha purificado la proteína Fur de Erwinia amylovora y se ha realizado una caracterización parcial. E. amylovora es la bacteria que causa el fuego bacteriano, una enfermedad de las plantas muy extendida y que ha causado graves problemas fitosanitarios y económicos. La captación de hierro en el hospedador es uno de los principales mecanismos de patogenicidad de esta enfermedad por lo que el estudio de Fur permitirá conocer mejor el mecanismo de infección de E. amylovora y aplicar posibles soluciones para remediar el fuego bacteriano. Se ha purificado Fur de E. amylovora por columna de afinidad a Cu2+, se ha hecho un estudio de oligomerización y se ha detectado zinc estructural en su forma reducida

Estudio descriptivo sobre el recuerdo del paciente tras la comunicación del diagnóstico y del pronóstico en oncología

The communication doctor – patient plays a fundamental role in their relationship. Bad communication can imply a negative influence between patient and his family. The aim of this work is to obtain better insight in the process of the information that is contributed by the medical oncologist and to check whether the patients remembers this information after fifteen days. The information we present corresponds with the second phase of the “descriptive study on the process of communicating the diagnosis and the prognosis in oncology”. Cohort consisted in 71 cancer patients, who remembered the initial interview and performed a second one. The results obtained show that data collection is depending on the complexity of the transmitted information as well as of its emotional impact; which means that, the simpler and the more emotional impact, better to remember. Therefore this information supports the idea that communication is an evolutionary and continuing process, and is not limited to certain situations, being able to attend the needs both of the patient and his family, facilitating the patient a better adaptation to the oncological disease.La comunicación juega un papel fundamental en la relación médico-paciente. La mala comunicación así mismo, puede llegar a tener una influencia negativa en el paciente y sus familiares. El objetivo de este trabajo es profundizar en el proceso de información aportada por el médico oncólogo y el recuerdo que mantiene el paciente de dicha información transcurridos quince días. Los datos que presentamos se corresponden con la segunda fase del “estudio descriptivo sobre el proceso de comunicar el diagnóstico y el pronóstico en oncología”. La muestra esta formada por 71 pacientes, todos ellos realizaron una segunda entrevista y recordaban la entrevista inicial. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el recuerdo está en función de la complejidad de la información transmitida así como del impacto emocional de la misma; es decir, a mayor simplicidad y mayor impacto emocional, mejor recuerdo. Por tanto estos datos apoyan la necesidad de que la comunicación sea un proceso evolutivo, y continuado, y no se reduzca a un momento puntual, atendiéndose a las necesidades tanto del paciente como de sus familiares, facilitándose así una mejor adaptación al proceso oncológico

Exploring the impact of atmospheric forcing and basal drag on the Antarctic Ice Sheet under Last Glacial Maximum conditions

Little is known about the distribution of ice in the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Whereas marine and terrestrial geological data indicate that the grounded ice advanced to a position close to the continental-shelf break, the total ice volume is unclear. Glacial boundary conditions are potentially important sources of uncertainty, in particular basal friction and climatic boundary conditions. Basal friction exerts a strong control on the large-scale dynamics of the ice sheet and thus affects its size and is not well constrained. Glacial climatic boundary conditions determine the net accumulation and ice temperature and are also poorly known. Here we explore the effect of the uncertainty in both features on the total simulated ice storage of the AIS at the LGM. For this purpose we use a hybrid ice sheet shelf model that is forced with different basal drag choices and glacial background climatic conditions obtained from the LGM ensemble climate simulations of the third phase of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP3). Overall, we find that the spread in the simulated ice volume for the tested basal drag parameterizations is about the same range as for the different general circulation model (GCM) forcings (4 to 6 m sea level equivalent). For a wide range of plausible basal friction configurations, the simulated ice dynamics vary widely but all simulations produce fully extended ice sheets towards the continental-shelf break. More dynamically active ice sheets correspond to lower ice volumes, while they remain consistent with the available constraints on ice extent. Thus, this work points to the possibility of an AIS with very active ice streams during the LGM. In addition, we find that the surface boundary temperature field plays a crucial role in determining the ice extent through its effect on viscosity. For ice sheets of a similar extent and comparable dynamics, we find that the precipitation field determines the total AIS volume. However, precipitation is highly uncertain. Climatic fields simulated by climate models show more precipitation in coastal regions than a spatially uniform anomaly, which can lead to larger ice volumes. Our results strongly support using these paleoclimatic fields to simulate and study the LGM and potentially other time periods like the last interglacial. However, their accuracy must be assessed as well, as differences between climate model forcing lead to a large spread in the simulated ice volume and extensión

Un estudio en RED: Guía observacional en el Prácticum Grados Infantil y Primaria

El trabajo que se presenta está enmarcado en la RED Diseño y desarrollo de una Guía observacional para la implementación del Prácticum de los Grados de Infantil y Primaria, dentro del Programa de REDES de investigación en docencia universitaria del ICE/ Universidad de Alicante. Tomando como referencia las competencias de la asignatura Prácticum que se desarrolla a lo largo de varios periodos, se han establecido una serie de indicadores de observación a nivel de centro y de aula, que nos permitan configurar una Guía observacional como instrumento de observación y análisis de la realidad escolar durante el desarrollo del Prácticum. La metodología utilizada se ha centrado en el trabajo colaborativo de los integrantes de la RED, desde sus diversas experiencias y aportaciones en sus campos profesionales. Los primeros resultados han determinado los seis grandes bloques de indicadores de esta Guía: la organización y gestión del centro; la organización y gestión del aula; el clima del aula y el alumnado; el planteamiento metodológico y la evaluación; la atención a las n.e.e.; y la participación de las familias

Indicadores de observación y competencias en el Prácticum Grados Infantil y Primaria: centro y aula

El trabajo que se presenta está enmarcado en la RED Diseño y desarrollo de una Guía observacional para la implementación del Prácticum de los Grados de Infantil y Primaria, dentro del Programa de REDES de investigación en docencia universitaria del ICE/ Universidad de Alicante. Tomando como referencia las competencias de la asignatura Prácticum que se desarrolla a lo largo de varios periodos, se han establecido una serie de indicadores de observación a nivel de centro y de aula, que nos permitan configurar una Guía observacional como instrumento de observación y análisis de la realidad escolar durante el desarrollo del Prácticum. La metodología utilizada se ha centrado en el trabajo colaborativo de los integrantes de la RED, desde sus diversas experiencias y aportaciones en sus campos profesionales. Los primeros resultados han determinado los seis grandes bloques de indicadores de esta Guía: la organización y gestión del centro; la organización y gestión del aula; el clima del aula y el alumnado; el planteamiento metodológico y la evaluación; la atención a las n.e.e.; y la participación de las familias