The role of environmental accounting in organizational change: An exploration of Spanish companies

Critique originated by earlier theorization of environmental accounting, as a way of building environmentalist visibility of business, led Gray et al., to study environmental accounting in the dynamics of organizational change. They concluded that environmental accounting is being used to ``negotiate the conception of the environment'' by companies that have not significantly changed. In order to investigate whether Gray et al.'s model and conclusions apply to a different cultural context, we have conducted nine case studies in Spain. We found that Spanish organizations are not truly changing their conventional perception of the environment, even in those cases where generalized structural and organizational changes are taking place. Moreover, the use of environmental accounting is coupled with an attempt to negotiate and control the environmental agenda

Remuneration Sensitivity Analysis in Prosumer and Aggregator Strategies by Controlling Electric Vehicle Chargers

The efficient use of energy resources is profoundly changing power grid regulation and policy. New forms of power generation coupled with storage and the presence of new, increasingly flexible loads such as electric vehicles enable the development of multi-agent planning systems based on new forms of interaction. For instance, consumers can take advantage of flexibility by interacting directly with the grid or through aggregators that bridge the gap between these end-users and traditional centralised markets. This paper aims to provide insight into the benefits for aggregators and end-users from a financial perspective by proposing a methodology that can be applied to different scenarios. End-users may provide flexibility services related to private vehicle charging stations or battery storage systems. The paper will analyse different remuneration levels for end-users by highlighting the most beneficial scenarios for aggregators and end-users and providing evidence on potential conflict of interests. The numerical results show that some consumers may benefit more from aggregation. This is because if taken individually, consumption habits do not allow the same flexibility when considering clusters of consumers with different behaviour. It is also shown that there are cases in which consumers do not seem to benefit from the presence of intermediate parties. We provide extensive numerical results to gain insight for better decision making

Línea jurisprudencial. Intervención de la víctima en el Proceso Penal -Ley 906 de 2004-

La participación de la víctima como interviniente especial en el interior del proceso penal –sistema penal acusatorio– ley 906 de 2004- recientemente modificada por la leyes 1395 de 2010 y 1453 de 2011-, se encuentra orientada a garantizar y hacer efectivos sus derechos en igualdad de condiciones al imputado y las demás partes e intervinientes, en tanto se la dota de la facultades en orden a desarrollar todas las actividades que le faciliten el logro de sus derechos a la verdad, justicia y reparación

Exploration of Human Serum Albumin Binding Sites by Docking and Molecular Dynamics Flexible LigandProtein Interactions

Five-nanosecond molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed on human serum albumin (HSA) to study the conformational features of its primary ligand binding sites (I and II). Additionally, 11 HSA snapshots were extracted every 0.5 ns to explore the binding affinity (Kd) of 94 known HSA binding drugs using a blind docking procedure. MD simulations indicate that there is considerable flexibility for the protein, including the known sites I and II. Movements at HSA sites I and II were evidenced by structural analyses and docking simulations. The latter enabled the study and analysis of the HSA–ligand interactions of warfarin and ketoprofen (ligands binding to sites I and II, respectively) in greater detail. Our results indicate that the free energy values by docking (Kd observed) depend upon the conformations of both HSA and the ligand. The 94 HSA–ligand binding Kd values, obtained by the docking procedure, were subjected to a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study by multiple regression analysis. The best correlation between the observed and QSAR theoretical (Kd predicted) data was displayed at 2.5 ns. This study provides evidence that HSA binding sites I and II interact specifically with a variety of compounds through conformational adjustments of the protein structure in conjunction with ligand conformational adaptation to these sites. These results serve to explain the high ligandpromiscuity of HSA

Metodología tribológica para grupos de equipos aplicable a pequeñas y medianas industrias

El objetivo principal de la monografía es simplemente aplicar los medios existentes, que nos brinda el conocimiento de los mecanismos, su funcionamiento, su cometido, su importancia en el proceso, sus problemas, etc. y el desarrollo de los diferentes lubricantes con sus aplicaciones específicas para conseguir: - Garantizar una elevada Disponibilidad para Producción. - Reducir los Desgastes propios de la maquinaria en uso. Esto significa conseguir un ADECUADO SERVICIO DE FUNCIONAMIENTO de la instalación en las condiciones requeridas en cada momento

Caracterização de um clone selecionado a partir de biblioteca de cDNA de verme adulto com anticorpos anti-Schistosoma mansoni dissociados de imunocomplexos

Considering the scarcity of defined antigens, actually useful and reliable for use in the field studies, we propose an alternative method for selection of cDNA clones with potential use in the diagnosis of schistosomiasis. Human antibodies specific to a protein fraction of 31/32 kDa (Sm31/32), dissociated from immune complexes, are used for screening of clones from an adult worm cDNA library. Partial sequencing of five clones, selected through this strategy, showed to be related to Schistosoma mansoni: two were identified as homologous to heat shock protein 70, one to glutathione S-transferase, one to homeodomain protein, and one to a previously described EST (expressed sequence tag) of S. mansoni. This last clone was the most consistently reactive during the screening process with the anti-Sm31/32 antibodies dissociated from the immune complexes. The complete sequence of this clone was obtained and the translation data yielded only one ORF (open reading frame) that code for a protein with 57 amino acids. Based on this amino acid sequence two peptides were chemically synthesized and evaluated separately against a pool of serum samples from schistosomiasis patients and non-schistosomiasis individuals. Both peptides showed strong reactivity only against the positive pool, suggesting that these peptides may be useful as antigens for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni.Considerando a escassez de antígenos quimicamente definidos, realmente úteis e confiáveis para aplicação na soroepidemiologia da esquistossomose em larga escala, foi proposto, neste trabalho, um método alternativo para a seleção de clones de cDNA que expressam proteínas com putativo potencial diagnóstico na esquistossomose. Empregando anticorpos específicos contra uma fração proteica de 31/32 kDa (Sm31/32), purificados através da dissociação de imunocomplexos, foram selecionados cinco clones de cDNA a partir de genoteca de verme adulto de Schistosoma mansoni. O seqüenciamento parcial destes clones demonstrou que todos eram relacionados ao S. mansoni: dois apresentaram homologia com a proteína de choque térmico de 70 kDa e os demais com glutationa S-transferase, "homeodomain protein" e uma etiqueta de seqüência expressa (EST). Este último foi o clone que melhor reagiu, durante o processo de seleção, com os anticorpos anti-Sm31/32 dissociados de imunocomplexos. Baseado na seqüência de aminoácidos deste clone, dois peptídeos foram quimicamente sintetizados e analisados separadamente frente a misturas de soros de indivíduos normais e de pacientes com esquistossomose mansoni. Ambos os peptídeos demonstraram uma intensa reatividade somente contra a mistura de soros positivos, sugerindo que estes peptídeos podem ser úteis como antígenos para o diagnóstico da esquistossomose mansoni