Sustainable Marketing: An Exploratory Study of the Perceptions of Marketing Managers in International Spanish Hotels

Sustainable marketing is one of the main challenges facing firms over the next few years because of its potential impact on both the growth of firms and the image of business people, hence the need for executives to manage its implementation. This article explores how hotel marketing managers in Spain perceive and manage the role of marketing in improving sustainable business management and the changes needed to make sustainable marketing work. The study contributes twenty-four empirical cases to discover what corporate changes managers consider necessary in order to make the hotel industry sustainable. The main research contribution is an initial framework of four fields in which executives set company management priorities with a view towards implementing sustainable marketing

Sustainable Marketing: An Exploratory Study of the Perceptions of Marketing Managers in International Spanish Hotels

Sustainable marketing is one of the main challenges facing firms over the next few years because of its potential impact on both the growth of firms and the image of business people, hence the need for executives to manage its implementation. This article explores how hotel marketing managers in Spain perceive and manage the role of marketing in improving sustainable business management and the changes needed to make sustainable marketing work. The study contributes twenty-four empirical cases to discover what corporate changes managers consider necessary in order to make the hotel industry sustainable. The main research contribution is an initial framework of four fields in which executives set company management priorities with a view towards implementing sustainable marketing

¡Ha desaparecido un ratón! ¿Nos ayudáis a buscar al culpable? : Análisis del impacto didáctico y emocional de un encargo ficticio

Se analiza el impacto didáctico y emocional de la contextualización de los contenidos de un curso de verano de biología molecular. Se propuso a tres grupos de estudiantes de educación secundaria un encargo ficticio. Consistía en descubrir al culpable del robo de un ratón de laboratorio a partir del análisis de muestras biológicas encontradas en el lugar de la desaparición. Resolver el caso requería diseñar experimentos, aplicar técnicas básicas de biología molecular, analizar los resultados y preparar una comunicación científica. Se valoró el aprendizaje de 20 conceptos clave de biología molecular al inicio y al final del curso, lo que demostró la efectividad didáctica de este tipo de contextos. Además, se evidenció que el alumnado mejoró su percepción sobre la naturaleza de la ciencia y que se generaron emociones positivas.S'analitza l'impacte didàctic i emocional de la contextualització dels continguts d'un curs d'estiu de biologia molecular. Es va proposar a tres grups d'estudiants d'educació secundària un encàrrec fictici. Consistia a descobrir al culpable del robatori d'un ratolí de laboratori a partir de l'anàlisi de mostres biològiques oposades en el lloc de la desaparició. Resoldre el cas requeria dissenyar experiments, aplicar tècniques bàsiques de biologia molecular, analitzar els resultats i preparar una comunicació científica. Es va valorar l'aprenentatge de 20 conceptes clau de biologia molecular a l'inici i al final del curs, la qual cosa va demostrar l'efectivitat didàctica d'aquest tipus de contextos. A més, es va evidenciar que l'alumnat va millorar la seva percepció sobre la naturalesa de la ciència i que es van generar emocions positives.Educational and emotional impact of contents contextualization of a summer course in molecular biology is analyzed. A simulated mission of discovering the guilty of stealing a laboratory mouse from biological samples was proposed to three groups of high school students. Solving the case required to design experiments, apply basic molecular biology techniques, analyze data and prepare a scientific communication. The level of 20 key concepts of molecular biology learning was assessed at the beginning and at the end of the course, demonstrating the effectiveness of this teaching approach. Moreover, the students' improvement on their vision of the nature of science was evidenced and positive emotions were generated

Update on Glässer’s disease: How to control the disease under restrictive use of antimicrobials

Antimicrobials have been commonly used to control bacterial diseases in farm animals. The efficacy of these drugs deterred the development of other control measures, such as vaccines, which are currently getting more attention due to the increased concern about antimicrobial resistance. Glässer’s disease is caused by Glaesserella (Haemophilus) parasuis and affects pork production around the world. Balance between colonization and immunity seems to be essential in disease control. Reduction in antimicrobial use in veterinary medicine requires the implementation of preventive measures, based on alternative tools such as vaccination and other strategies to guarantee a beneficial microbial colonization of the animals. The present review summarizes and discusses the current knowledge on diagnosis and control of Glässer’s disease, including prospects on alternatives to antimicrobials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Repetitive Control to Improve Users’ Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in Buildings

The development of control systems to reach and maintain optimal thermal comfort inside buildings is a research topic which has received great attention in the last several years because people’s productivity is linked to their comfort. The main weakness of these control systems is that they do not take into account that people affect their own thermal comfort, since humans are heat sources that increase the temperature inside buildings. For this reason, people can be considered as disturbances to thermal comfort control systems. Usually, people follow a timetable along the week, so they enter and leave buildings at the same time every day. Taking this behavior into account can be very useful in improving people’s thermal comfort. In this paper, a repetitive control (RC) approach that makes use of this information to anticipate the effects of people on indoor temperature is presented. Besides that, the control system includes a proportional–integral (PI) controller in charge of counteracting the non-periodic disturbances. Simulation results obtained with this control system through a room simulator are presented in order to show its efficiency.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación español DPI2014-56364-C2-1-R y DPI2015-69286-C3-2-RFondos UE-FEDER DPI2014-56364-C2-1-R y DPI2015-69286-C3-2-

Los conciertos didácticos en el entorno universitario: el caso de los alumnos de maestro en Educación Musical

Los conciertos didácticos han tenido una enorme difusión en la última década. Este tipo de actuaciones se ha constituido como la forma más adecuada de acercar a los alumnos y alumnas de las distintas etapas educativas a la música en vivo. Observamos cómo forman parte de las actividades curriculares complementarias que se ofertan en los distintos centros apoyando, reforzando y sirviendo de complemento a la labor educativa desarrollada por los profesores de música. Debido al valor que dicha herramienta puede tener en la práctica docente, consideramos adecuado realizar un análisis sobre las experiencias, ideas preconcebidas y percepciones personales que los futuros profesores especialistas de música tienen sobre los conciertos didácticos. Para obtener información al respecto se realizó una encuesta a alumnos y alumnas de la Universidad de Sevilla matriculados en el último curso de la titulación de Maestro especialista en Educación Musical. El análisis de los resultados trata de establecer un posible marco de actuación dentro del currículo de la titulación, para fomentar una mayor sensibilización en relación a estos contenidos tan relevantes dentro la formación como maestro especialista en Educación musicalThe idea of educational concerts has become very widespread over the last ten years. This type of performance has developed into one of the most appropriate ones to achieve a closer relationship between students of different educational levels and live music. We can observe how they form part of the complementary curricular activities offered in different schools, backing up, strengthening and complementing the educational work carried out by the music teachers. Owing to the potential significance of these concerts in teaching, we believe it is worthwhile analysing the experience, preconceived ideas and personal viewpoints that the future specialised music teachers have on the subject of educational concerts. To obtain this information a survey was carried out among the students of the University of Seville enrolled in the last year of the Course in Teachers of Music. On analysing the results, we endeavoured to establish a possible programme of activities within the curriculum of the course that would encourage a greater awareness to these highly relevant concerts in the training of teachers specialised in music

Estudio exploratorio de las características de personalidad y estrategias de afrontamiento en jugadoras de baloncesto femenino

In the sport context there are relevant differences in psychological and emotional variables depending on the level of competition and years of practice. The aim of this study was firstly compare the existence of differences in several personality variables such as competitiveness, competitive anxiety, and coping strategies, between two female basketball teams of different leagues. Secondly, the aim was to analyze the relationships between psychological variables and the years of practice. 20 female athletes completed a battery of questionnaires. The results showed that the team which played at a higher level in a more difficult and competitive league, was more competitive and showed higher anxiety levels, being more perseverant and meticulous in their decision-making than the players of team of minor league. Finally, the most years in competition, the most competitiveness, active coping and energy reported. In conclusion, it is recommended to extend the sample and deepen the psychological characteristics of female basketball players

Haemophilus parasuis VtaA2 is involved in adhesion to extracellular proteins

Haemophilus parasuis is part of the microbiota of the upper respiratory tract in swine. However, virulent strains can cause a systemic disease known as Glässer’s disease. Several virulence factors have been described in H. parasuis including the virulence-associated trimeric autotransporters (VtaAs). VtaA2 is up-regulated during infection and is only found in virulent strains. In order to determine its biological function, the vtaA2 gene was cloned with its native promotor region in pACYC184, and the transformed Escherichia coli was used to perform functional in vitro assays. VtaA2 was found to have a role in attachment to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and collagen. As other VtaAs from H. parasuis, the passenger domain of VtaA2 contains collagen domains. In order to examine the contribution of the collagen repeats to VtaA2 function, a recombinant vtaA2 without the central collagen domains was obtained and named vtaA2OL. VtaA2OL showed similar capacity than VtaA2 to adhere to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and plasma but a reduced capacity to adhere to collagen, suggesting that the collagen domains of VtaA2 are involved in collagen attachment. No function in cell adhesion and invasion to epithelial alveolar cell line A549 or unspecific binding to primary alveolar macrophages was found. Likewise VtaA2 had no role in serum or phagocytosis resistance. We propose that VtaA2 mediates adherence to the host by binding to the mucin, found in the upper respiratory tract mucus, and to the extracellular matrix proteins, present in the connective tissue of systemic sites, such as the serosa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Haemophilus parasuis VtaA2 is involved in adhesion to extracellular proteins

International audienceAbstractHaemophilus parasuis is part of the microbiota of the upper respiratory tract in swine. However, virulent strains can cause a systemic disease known as Glässer’s disease. Several virulence factors have been described in H. parasuis including the virulence-associated trimeric autotransporters (VtaAs). VtaA2 is up-regulated during infection and is only found in virulent strains. In order to determine its biological function, the vtaA2 gene was cloned with its native promotor region in pACYC184, and the transformed Escherichia coli was used to perform functional in vitro assays. VtaA2 was found to have a role in attachment to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and collagen. As other VtaAs from H. parasuis, the passenger domain of VtaA2 contains collagen domains. In order to examine the contribution of the collagen repeats to VtaA2 function, a recombinant vtaA2 without the central collagen domains was obtained and named vtaA2OL. VtaA2OL showed similar capacity than VtaA2 to adhere to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and plasma but a reduced capacity to adhere to collagen, suggesting that the collagen domains of VtaA2 are involved in collagen attachment. No function in cell adhesion and invasion to epithelial alveolar cell line A549 or unspecific binding to primary alveolar macrophages was found. Likewise VtaA2 had no role in serum or phagocytosis resistance. We propose that VtaA2 mediates adherence to the host by binding to the mucin, found in the upper respiratory tract mucus, and to the extracellular matrix proteins, present in the connective tissue of systemic sites, such as the serosa

Estudo geoquímico e de contaminantes emergentes na bacia do lago Paranoá

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Geociências, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências Aplicadas, 2014.Neste trabalho foi realizado o estudo geoquímico e de contaminantes emergentes na bacia do lago Paranoá. Teve como objetivo avaliar a qualidade, identificando quais as principais fontes dos elementos e substâncias, distinguindo o natural do antrópico. A bacia do lago Paranoá está localizada na região central do Distrito Federal entre as latitudes 15º 35' e 15º 59' a sul e longitudes 47º 47' e 48º 05', tendo como afluentes principais os ribeirões do Riacho Fundo, Gama e Cabeça de Veado ao sul e os ribeirões do Bananal e Torto ao norte e outros pequenos tributários. A determinação das amostras de água utilizou técnicas de espectrometria de emissão ótica com plasma indutivamente acoplado (ICP/OES), espectrometria de Absorção Atômica (AAS), cromatografia iônica (IC) com condutividade suprimida, cromatografia líquida acoplada à espectrometria de massa (LCMS-IT-TOF) e métodos volumétricos. A interpretação dos resultados utilizou análises estatísticas multivariadas como a análise de componentes principais e agrupamento hierárquico, além do índice de estado trófico. O estudo pode determinar a principal origem dos compostos na água, sendo que HCO3-, Ca2+ e Mg2+ são oriundos da lixiviação da construção civil e a entrada de efluentes domésticos é indicada por meio de Na+, Cl-, SO42- e NO3-. Identificou-se que processos litológicos controlam cor e turbidez e que a entrada de matéria orgânica reflete na distribuição da comunidade zooplactônica e fitoplanctônica ao lago, no qual encontra-se mesotrófico. Todos os compostos emergentes estudados estão dentro das faixas mundiais e de um limiar de toxicidade, exceto o bisfenol A que está acima da NPEC do Canadá, onde as principais fontes são os esgotos domésticos e os efluentes das ETE's. Indica-se que a cafeína, bezafibrato e nonilfenol podem estar associados a matéria orgânica. Baseado em estudos anteriores observa-se aumento gradativo das alterações da qualidade das águas da bacia do Lago Paranoá desencadeada por atividades antrópicas ao longo das principais drenagens. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTAn emerging contaminants and geochemical study on the Lake Paranoá basin was made in this article. The aims of this study were: to evaluate the water quality; to identify and to distinguish the main natural and anthropogenic sources of the elements and substances; to assess the actual lake’s throphic state . The Lake Paranoá basin is located in the central part of the Federal District between the latitudes 15 º 35 'and 15 º 59' south and longitude 47 º 47 'and 48 º 05'. It is supplied for five main tributaries: Riacho Fundo, Gama and Cabeça de Veado streams on the south and Bananal and Torto streams on the north, beyond other small tributaries. The determination of water samples used the following techniques: Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP / OES), Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), Ion chromatography (IC) with suppressed conductivity, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LCMS-IT-TOF) and volumetric methods. The interpretation of the data used multivariate statistical analyzes such as principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering, beyond the trophic state index. The study determined the principal sources of the compounds in water, indicating that HCO3-, Ca2+ and Mg2+ are associated to civil construction leaching and Na+, Cl-, SO42- and NO3- are related to the entry of domestic effluent. It was identified that the color and turbidity are controlled by the lithological processes and that organic substances inputs reflected the distribution of the phytoplanktonic and zooplactonic community in the lake, which is actually assed as mesotrophic. All emerging compounds studied are within the global tracks and a threshold of toxicity, except the bisphenol A which is above the Canada NPEC, where the main sources are domestic sewage and effluents from WWTP. It indicates that the caffeine, bezafibrate and nonylphenol may be associated with organic substances. Considering previous studies and the results obtained in this work, it is possible to observe a gradual increase of the water quality of the lake Paranoá basin triggered by anthropogenic activities along of its major drainages