Emerging Practices in Facebook at National Parks

The main purpose of this paper is to contribute to analyze recent data about the behavior of national park administrations on Facebook. As public organizations, they endeavor to proactively communicate information to citizens, promoting transparency and accountability. It is important to study the case of national parks because of their relevant role in preserving natural and cultural heritage and promoting a very rich scenario of policy-making and responsible local and global citizenship. Some insights have arisen for political management of these institutions. According to the analysis of the results, it is shown that there exists a significant presence of these entities in Facebook, even if this type of communication is perhaps in its infancy. The results suggest that a potential factor (country in which each park is located and the corresponding administration style) exists, in order to explain significant differences between parks.JEL Codes - D8; R5; Z1; Z

Fractional differencing in stock market price and online presence of global tourist corporations

Purpose – This work aims to explore the behavior of stock market prices according to the autoregressive fractional differencing integrated moving average model. This behavior will be compared with a measure of online presence, search engine results as measured by Google Trends. Design/methodology/approach – The study sample is comprised by the companies listed at the STOXX® Global 3000 Travel and Leisure.Google Finance and Yahoo Finance, along with Google Trends, were used, respectively, to obtain the data of stock prices and search results, for a period offive years (October 2012 to October 2017). To guarantee certain comparability between the two data sets, weekly observations were collected,with a total figure of 118 firms, two time series each (price and search results), around 61,000 observations. Findings – Relationships between the two data sets are explored, with theoretical implications for the field sof economics, finance and management. Tourist corporations were analyzed owing to their growing economic impact. The estimations are initially consistent with long memory; so, they suggest that both stock marketprices and online search trends deserve further exploration for modeling and forecasting. Significant differences owing to country and sector effects are also shown. Originality/value – This research contributes in two different ways: it demonstrate the potential of a new tool for the analysis of relevant time series to monitor the behavior of firms and markets, and it suggests several theoretical pathways for further research in the specific topics of asymmetry of information and corporate transparency, proposing pertinent bridges between the two fields.Objetivo - Este trabajo tiene como objetivo explorar el comportamiento de los precios del mercado de valores de acuerdo con el modelo de media móvil integrado de diferenciación fraccional autorregresiva. Este comportamiento se comparará con una medida de presencia en línea, los resultados del motor de búsqueda medidos por Google Trends. Diseño / metodología / enfoque - La muestra del estudio está compuesta por las empresas que figuran en STOXX® Global 3000 Travel and Leisure. Se utilizaron Google Finance y Yahoo Finance, junto con Google Trends, respectivamente, para obtener los datos de precios de las acciones y resultados de búsqueda, por un período de cinco años (octubre de 2012 a octubre de 2017). Para garantizar cierta comparabilidad entre los dos conjuntos de datos, se recopilaron observaciones semanales, con una cifra total de 118 empresas, dos series de tiempo cada una (precio y resultados de búsqueda), alrededor de 61.000 observaciones. Recomendaciones - Se exploran las relaciones entre los dos conjuntos de datos, con implicaciones teóricas para los campos de la economía, las finanzas y la gestión. Se analizaron las corporaciones turísticas por su creciente impacto económico. Las estimaciones son inicialmente consistentes con una memoria larga; por lo tanto, sugieren que tanto los precios del mercado de valores como las tendencias de búsqueda en línea merecen una mayor exploración para modelar y pronosticar. También se muestran diferencias significativas debido a los efectos por países y sectores. Originalidad / valor - Esta investigación contribuye de dos maneras diferentes: demuestra el potencial de una nueva herramienta para el análisis de series de tiempo relevantes para monitorear el comportamiento de empresas y mercados, y sugiere varias vías teóricas para futuras investigaciones en los temas específicos de asimetría de información y transparencia empresarial, proponiendo puentes pertinentes entre los dos campos

Sustainability in software engineering: a systematic literature review

Background: Supporting sustainability in software engineering is becoming an active area of research. We want to contribute the first Systematic Literature Review(SLR) in this field to aid researchers who are motivated to contribute to that topic by providing a body of knowledge as starting point, because we know from own experience, this search can be tedious and time consuming. Aim: We aim to provide an overview of different aspects of sustainability in software engineering research with regard to research activity, investigated topics, identified limitations, proposed approaches, used methods, available studies, and considered domains. Method: The applied method is a SLR in five reliable and commonly-used databases according to the (quasi-standard) protocol by Kitchenham et al. [1]. We assessed the 100 first results of each database ordered by relevance with respect to the search query. Results: Of 500 classified publications, we regard 96 as relevant for our research questions. We sketch a taxonomy of their topics and domains, and provide lists of used methods and proposed approaches. Most of the excluded publications were ruled out because of an unfitting usage of terms within the search query. Conclusions: Currently, there is little research coverage on the different aspects of sustainability in software engineering while other disciplines are already more active. Future work includes extending the study by reviewing a higher number of publications, including dedicated journal and workshop searches, and snowballing.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

University Students’ Behaviour towards Entrepreneurial Intention in Ecuador: Testing for the Influence of Gender

While the current global context of successive economic and health crises are punishing the economies of different countries in the world, it is particularly relevant to explore the business intentions of young university students, as potential entrepreneurs of opportunity. This matter is of the utmost importance, as it helps to facilitate the implementation of measures that can ensure the future recovery of the economy and the creation of new businesses. The objective of this paper is to study the institutional and psychological antecedents of entrepreneurial intention and the role of gender. The theory of planned behaviour is applied to assess how personal attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control can affect students′ intention of becoming an entrepreneur. In addition, organizational support and institutional barriers are tested as potentially significant antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, along with the influence of gender. The research carried out was based on survey responses from a sample of 740 students of economics, communications, and education at an Ecuadorian university. The research propositions were tested using a partial least squares approach. Results indicate that behaviour towards entrepreneurship does not change in relation to gender. In addition, personal attitudes and perceived behavioural control regarding entrepreneurship are positively related to students′ entrepreneurial intention. Organizational support is also found to be important for generating entrepreneurial intention. The paper adds to the current knowledge base on entrepreneurial intention by analysing the individual and joint influence of the principal elements of the theory of planned behaviour, as well as organizational support and institutional barriers on entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, the research provides a useful perspective on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention in an unexplored context such as Ecuador, by responding to the call focusing on entrepreneurial intention in different regions, cultures, and contexts

Instagram: Balancing Information Asymmetry of the Tourism Industry

This study focuses on the use of Instagram by tourism companies. Specifically, it aims to analyze how Instagram empowers individuals over corporations in the digital dialogue, thus balancing the information asymmetry between corporations and stakeholders. Four categories of metrics have been collected to analyze the use of Instagram by companies: presence, impact, conversation, and influence. Additionally, OLS regressions have been performed to identify potential explanatory factors to explain the different behavior of each firm and its corresponding communities. While the use of Instagram by the selected firms is still scarce, significant results are as follows: corporations are using Instagram as an additional channel in their current communication; some explanatory factors account for significant differences in countries, size, and industries; and users are somehow reactive to the stream of pictures and texts disclosed by firms. The presence and impact of companies on Instagram are a highly important source for driving stakeholders’ conversation within the digital arena

Importancia de la educación en las farmacias comunitarias respecto al consumo responsable de alcohol

El consumo de alcohol es uno de los factores de riesgo prevenible más ampliamente reconocido que se asocia con un aumento de la morbi y mortalidad en la población. En los países mediterráneos se bebe alcohol desde tiempos remotos, obteniéndose a partir de la fermentación de frutos, y más rara vez mediante destilación. En España, en general se sigue el llamado “patrón de consumo mediterráneo” caracterizado por un consumo ligado a las relaciones sociales en compañía de amigos, familiares o conocidos y que se produce actualmente de forma mayoritaria a través del canal de hostelería y menos en el hogar. Se asume que se trata de un consumo responsable moderado, no concentrado en los fines de semana y no asociado a ingesta de grandes cantidades de alcohol en periodos limitados de tiempo. Por otro lado, existe evidencia acerca de la relación beneficiosa que existe entre un consumo moderado de alcohol y la salud

Zoonotic implications of onchocerca species on human health

The genus Onchocerca includes several species associated with ungulates as hosts, although some have been identified in canids, felids, and humans. Onchocerca species have a wide geographical distribution, and the disease they produce, onchocerciasis, is generally seen in adult individuals because of its large prepatency period. In recent years, Onchocerca species infecting animals have been found as subcutaneous nodules or invading the ocular tissues of humans; the species involved are O. lupi, O. dewittei japonica, O. jakutensis, O. gutturosa, and O. cervicalis. These findings generally involve immature adult female worms, with no evidence of being fertile. However, a few cases with fertile O. lupi, O. dewittei japonica, and O. jakutensis worms have been identified recently in humans. These are relevant because they indicate that the parasite's life cycle was completed in the new host-humans. In this work, we discuss the establishment of zoonotic Onchocerca infections in humans, and the possibility of these infections to produce symptoms similar to human onchocerciasis, such as dermatitis, ocular damage, and epilepsy. Zoonotic onchocerciasis is thought to be an emerging human parasitic disease, with the need to take measures such as One Health Strategies, in order to identify and control new cases in humans

Distinct Microglial Responses in Two Transgenic Murine Models of TAU Pathology

Microglial cells are crucial players in the pathological process of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Microglial response in AD has been principally studied in relation to amyloid-beta pathology but, comparatively, little is known about inflammatory processes associated to tau pathology. In the hippocampus of AD patients, where tau pathology is more prominent than amyloid-beta pathology, a microglial degenerative process has been reported. In this work, we have directly compared the microglial response in two different transgenic tau mouse models: ThyTau22 and P301S. Surprisingly, these two models showed important differences in the microglial profile and tau pathology. Where ThyTau22 hippocampus manifested mild microglial activation, P301S mice exhibited a strong microglial response in parallel with high phospho-tau accumulation. This differential phospho-tau expression could account for the different microglial response in these two tau strains. However, soluble (S1) fractions from ThyTau22 hippocampus presented relatively high content of soluble phospho-tau (AT8-positive) and were highly toxic for microglial cells in vitro, whereas the correspondent S1 fractions from P301S mice displayed low soluble phosphotau levels and were not toxic for microglial cells. Therefore, not only the expression levels but the aggregation of phospho-tau should differ between both models. In fact, most of tau forms in the P301S mice were aggregated and, in consequence, forming insoluble tau species.We conclude that different factors as tau mutations, accumulation, phosphorylation, and/or aggregation could account for the distinct microglial responses observed in these two tau models. For this reason, deciphering the molecular nature of toxic tau species for microglial cells might be a promising therapeutic approach in order to restore the deficient immunological protection observed in AD hippocampus.CIBERNEDJunta de Andalucía. Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo CTS-2035Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el BuenoMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y UniversidadesInstituto de Salud Carlos III. Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. PI15/00957 PI15/00796Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional PI15/00957 PI15/0079

A packing computational method relating fractal particle size distribution and void fraction in granular media

The study of granular systems is of great interest to many fields of science and technology. The packing of particles affects to the physical properties of the granular system. In particular, the crucial influence of particle size distribution (PSD) on the random packing structure increase the interest in relating both, either theoretically or by computational methods. A packing computational method is developed in order to estimate the void fraction corresponding to a fractal-like particle size distribution