A Cooperation Infrastructure For Communication Between Public Bodies; The Friuli Venezia Giulia Case

Long ago, Italian Public Administrations started a process to increase the efficiency of their administrative procedures, adopting ICT technologies and tools in place of paperwork, but the approach was not structured nor synchronized. The result now is that Public Authorities’ legacy systems are based upon heterogeneous and vendor specific solutions. To increase their efficiency is one of the most challenging issues that Public Administrations are facing in the latest years in order to ensure a faster communication among public bodies, avoid data redundancy and improve the service provided to citizens. The key element is to increase the cooperation among public bodies allowing a seamless communication which will not modify the already existing systems. The Friuli Venezia Giulia Region interoperability framework, presented in this paper, provides a layer which ensure the communication between Administrations increasing the efficiency of administrative procedures, through the adoption of secure electronic communication, and lead to the delivery of a better public service in terms of content and response tim

Soil Carbon Decomposition in Grass Based Biofuels

Biofuels from cellulosic bioenergy crops, which include perennial prairie grasses such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) pose as a promising potential resource to help mitigate climate change. Ecological sustainability necessitates that growing these crops for bioenergy production promotes soil carbon (C) sequestration, such that their production contributes to removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Soil C sequestration is driven by the quantity of C that plants release into soil and by the quantity of this C that is decomposed by soil microorganisms and subsequently respired back into the atmosphere. Our previous research has ascertained that the quantity of C released into soil differs between switchgrass and big bluestem, but we are uncertain about loss of this C from soil through decomposition processes. This knowledge gap makes it difficult to predict long-term soil C sequestration in these biofuel cropping systems. This project asks if there are significant differences in soil C decomposition dynamics between two grass based biofuels? We are performing a long-term controlled laboratory incubation study with soils derived from switchgrass and big bluestem bioenergy cropping systems which were collected in 2018. The field experiment was initiated in 2008 at the Fermilab National Environmental Research Park, in northeastern Illinois, USA. Soils will be homogenized by sieving, weighed (20g) into airtight incubation chambers, wetted to 60% of water holding capacity and stored in a dark environment at 20oC for 480 days. We will quantify decomposition of soil C by measuring microbial CO2 respiration on days 1, 3, 7, 15, 30, 60, 120, 240, and 480. We will be able to disentangle whether respired C was derived from switchgrass or big bluestem versus the soil C that was present in the soil prior to planting these crops, by using the natural isotopic difference between C4 plants and the soil in which they had grown for 10 years, which was reflective of C3 plants. Understanding differences in the decomposition of C derived from switchgrass and big bluestem will help us determine which one of these species will offer a more promising solution to mitigating climate change

Just a few years left for us : non-nationalist political actors in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1989-1991) /

Premi Extraordinari de Doctorat concedit pels programes de doctorat de la UAB per curs acadèmic 2017-2018El objetivo de esta tesis es explorar el papel de los actores políticos no nacionalistas en la República Socialista de Bosnia y Herzegovina entre 1989 y 1991, periodo que coincide con las fases cruciales de la transición multipartidista en Bosnia y en la Federación yugoslava. Se dedica especial atención a los dos principales partidos no nacionalistas, la Liga de los Comunistas (SKBiH) y la Alianza de Fuerzas Reformistas de Yugoslavia (SRSJ), aunque otras organizaciones cívicas, juveniles y social-liberales, también son objeto de análisis. Estos movimientos pretendían representar los intereses de todos los ciudadanos independientemente de su pertenencia nacional, y defendían un concepto secular y culturalmente no exclusivista para Bosnia-Herzegovina. El trabajo examina los discursos, prácticas, estrategias e interconexiones mutuas entre estos actores, para llegar a explicar los factores que les llevaron a una aplastante derrota en términos de estrategia política, apoyo popular, y votos en las elecciones de noviembre de 1990, las cuales representan el punto de inflexión de la transición en Bosnia. Los tres partidos nacionalistas (el musulmán SDA, el serbio SDS y el croata HDZ) obtuvieron una inesperada y aplastante victoria. La "etnificación" de la esfera social y política que comenzó en el año 1990, y el completo fracaso del reparto de poder entre partidos nacionalistas después del voto, son factores determinantes en el camino hacia la guerra de Bosnia-Herzegovina en el marco de la disolución de Yugoslavia. Sin embargo, cabe resaltar que, en aquel momento histórico, este resultado estaba lejos de ser previsible. Se estimaba que la SKBiH aún tenía un respaldo social, además de mantener una sólida organización territorial; por otro lado, la SRSJ contaba con un proyecto político innovador, basado en un yugoslavismo liberal y en el amplio carisma generado por su líder, el primer ministro Ante Marković, que gozaba de una reputación como "salvador de la patria" por su papel en las reformas políticas y sociales. El potencial aparentemente muy alto de una opción no nacionalista en Bosnia-Herzegovina, comúnmente definida como la "pequeña Yugoslavia" (donde las estimaciones positivas de las relaciones interétnicas y el apoyo a la unidad del país no eran solo un lugar común sino que eran confirmadas por estudios sociales y encuestas) requiere re-examinar el contexto bosnio de 1989-1991. ¿Cómo abordaron los comunistas bosnios la oleada de eventos globales y estatales de 1989-90 y los consecuentes dilemas del proceso de democratización? ¿Cómo se desarrolló en Bosnia la opción liberal y reformista personificada por Marković? ¿Cuál es el papel de los movimientos cívicos que se formaron fuera del marco del régimen? ¿Qué soluciones para la crisis yugoslava, en sus diferentes etapas, plantearon estos actores? ¿Ocurrieron realmente unas "polarizaciones en clave étnica" en la sociedad bosnia, y si fue así, afectaron al declive de una opción no-nacionalista, o bien ocurrió lo contrario? ¿En qué medida eventos y actores fuera de Bosnia influyeron en la transición republicana? Estas son algunas de las preguntas que esta investigación quiere abordar, buscando nuevas perspectivas sobre dos grandes temas que han quedado al margen de la literatura, no obstante muy extensa, sobre la disolución de Yugoslavia: las alternativas al etno-nacionalismo en el conjunto de Yugoslavia, y la transición tardo- y post-comunista en Bosnia. Para este trabajo se utilizaron una variedad de fuentes locales (fuentes hemerográficas, documentos políticos de los movimientos no-nacionalistas, entrevistas con líderes, activistas y observadores que vivieron aquel contexto político) que hasta el momento no han sido utilizadas o bien no han sido tenidas en cuenta. Estas fuentes se han recogido durante largas estancias de investigación en Sarajevo y estancias más breves en otras ciudades de la antigua YugoslaviaThis thesis aims to explore the role of non-nationalist political actors in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1989 and 1991, a period which coincides with the multi-party transition in Bosnia and in the Yugoslav federation. The research pays particular attention to the two main non-nationalist parties, the League of Communists (SKBiH-SDP) and the Alliance of Reformist Forces of Yugoslavia (SRSJ), although other civic, youth and social-liberal organisations will be also analysed. All these movements claimed to represent the interests of all the citizens, regardless of their national belonging, and defended a secular and non-exclusivist concept for Bosnia-Herzegovina. The research aims, on the one hand, to examine the discourses, practices, and mutual interconnections of the non-nationalist actors; on the other hand, to explain the factors that led these actors to suffer such a heavy defeat in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian transition, in terms of political strategy, of popular support and of votes in the 1990 elections, which are the turning point of the whole process. The three nationalist parties (the Muslim SDA, the Serb SDS and the Croat HDZ) obtained an unexpectedly large triumph, securing 84% of seats in Parliament. The ethnification of political and social sphere that began in 1990, and the complete failure of power-sharing agreements between national parties after the vote, are among the leading factors that led to the Bosnian war within the context of the Yugoslav dissolution. However, at that time, such outcome was far from predictable. The SKBiH was believed to enjoy a certain social consensus and still had a considerable organisational structure; the SRSJ counted on an innovative political project based on liberal Yugoslavism, as well as on the huge charisma as the "saviour of the country" of its leader, the Federal Prime Minister Ante Marković, for his role in introducing economic reforms in the country. The apparently high potential of a non-national option in Bosnia-Herzegovina, commonly depicted as "little Yugoslavia" (where positive assessments of inter-ethnic relations and support for the country's unity, beyond the commonplaces, were revealed by social studies and polls) calls for a re-examination of the 1989-1991 Bosnian context. How did the Bosnian Communists tackle the 1989-90 wave of global and state-wide events, and the consequent dilemmas of democratisation? How did the liberal-reformist option embodied by Marković operate in the Bosnian scenario? What is the role of the civic, non-regime alternatives: what kind of relationship did they establish with the Communist rule, and how did they face the increasing ethnification? What solutions for the Yugoslav crisis, in its various stages, did these actors envision? Did some alleged "polarisation along ethnic lines" occur in Bosnian society and, if so, did it affect the decline of non-nationalist actors, or was it rather the opposite? To what extent did the events and the actors out of Bosnia-Herzegovina influence the path of the transition in the republic? These are some key questions raised by this research, which aims to offer a fresh perspective on two fields which have been understudied in the (yet very extensive) literature about the dissolution of Yugoslavia: the alternatives to ethno-nationalism, and the late- and post- Communist transition in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This work uses a variety of local sources (press reports; political documents issued by non-nationalist actors; selected interviews with former politicians, activists and observers of that political context - journalists, academics - ) which have been either unused or overlooked by scholars until now. These sources have been collected during several long research stays in Sarajevo and shorter stays in other cities of former Yugoslavia

As competências como factor de legitimação para o recrutamento e o exercício de funções públicas de funcionários e dirigentes na administração pública portuguesa

Comunicação apresentada no XV Congresso Internacional del CLAD sobre la Reforma del Estado y de la Administración Pública em Santo Domingo, República Dominicana, de 9 a 12 de Novembro de 2010

Novel human anti-claudin 1 mAbs inhibit hepatitis C virus infection and may synergize with anti-SRB1 mAb

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic hepatitis and liver carcinoma and new therapies based on novel targets are needed. The tight junction protein claudin 1 (CLDN-1) is essential for HCV cell entry and spread, and anti-CLDN-1 rat and mouse mAbs are safe and effective in preventing and treating HCV infection in a human liver chimeric mouse model. To accelerate translation of these observations into a novel approach to treat HCV infection and disease in humans, we screened a phage display library of human single-chain antibody fragments by using a panel of CLDN-1-positive and -negative cell lines and identified phage specifically binding to CLDN-1. The 12 clones showing the highest levels of binding were converted into human IgG4. Some of these mAbs displayed low-nanomolar affinity, and inhibited infection of human hepatoma Huh7.5 cells by different HCV isolates in a dose-dependent manner. Cross-competition experiments identified six inhibitory mAbs that recognized distinct epitopes. Combination of the human anti-SRB1 mAb C-1671 with these anti-CLDN-1 mAbs could either increase or reduce inhibition of cell culture-derived HCV infection in vitro. These novel human anti-CLDN-1 mAbs are potentially useful to develop a new strategy for anti-HCV therapy and lend support to the combined use of antibodies targeting the HCV receptors CLDN-1 and SRB1, but indicate that care must be taken in selecting the proper combination

Categorical structure analysis of ISO 18104 standard in nursing documentation

OBJECTIVE: To verify whether categorical structure of the ISO 18104 standard is adequate to support electronic documentation of nursing actions and nursing diagnoses and to facilitate the development of nursing diagnoses and nursing actions expressions. METHODS: A cross-sectional design with two use cases in electronic records from two teaching hospitals that employ different nursing terminologies. RESULT: Case A included 40 diagnostic expressions and 97 interventions. All records for nursing diagnoses included focus, judgment, or clinical finding. All interventions were recorded using action verbs and targets. Few other qualifiers were used. Case B provided two diagnoses and 371 expressions for nursing actions. Diagnoses included focus and judgment. All interventions, except one, were documented using action verbs and targets. CONCLUSION: ISO 18104 was adequate to support documentation of nursing actions and diagnoses expressions.OBJETIVO: Verificar se a estrutura categorial da Norma ISO 18104 é adequada para apoiar a documentação eletrônica de diagnósticos e ações de enfermagem e auxiliar na formação de expressões diagnósticas e ações de enfermagem. MÉTODOS: Desenho transversal com dois casos de uso nos registros eletrônicos de dois hospitais universitários que utilizam diferentes terminologias de Enfermagem. RESULTADO: O caso de uso A forneceu 40 expressões diagnósticas e 97 intervenções. Todos os registros para diagnósticos de enfermagem continham foco, julgamento ou achado clínico. As intervenções foram registradas usando verbo de ação e alvo. Os demais qualificadores foram pouco empregados. O caso de uso B forneceu dois diagnósticos e 371 expressões para ações de enfermagem. Os diagnósticos possuíam foco e julgamento. Todas as intervenções, exceto uma, foram documentadas usando verbos de ação e alvo. CONCLUSÃO: A Norma ISO18104 mostrou-se adequada para apoiar a documentação de expressões diagnósticas e de ação de enfermagem.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de EnfermagemUniversidade de São Paulo Escola de EnfermagemUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaUNIFESP, EPESciEL