Information systems outsourcing in public administration: an emergent research topic

After reviewing the most relevant academic sources, we believe that there is still little academic literature on information systems (IS) outsourcing specialized for public administration (PA). In this paper we present the few we have discovered references while deriving and expanding some analysis from them. The sparse results of this analysis are then summarized and classified. This situation contrasts with the clear importance of PA as an IS consumer and often as a change leader in IS management practices, which is also depicted in the paper. As an example of what future research questions could be posed and of what findings could be expected from this research domain, we present a real IS outsourcing case of study which appears to be rather original in the approach taken by the involved PA. Hence, with all the issues outlined in this preliminary research work, we believe that it is possible to justify an interest in researching this topic and to encourage new scientific activities resulting from it, such as new proposals for PA of specific IS outsourcing frameworks, methods or in-depth case studies like the one introduced here.Postprint (published version

Uncoupled seasonal variability of transparent exopolymer and Coomassie stainable particles in coastal Mediterranean waters: Insights into sources and driving mechanisms

Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) and Coomassie stainable particles (CSP) are gel-like particles, ubiquitous in the ocean, that affect important biogeochemical processes including organic carbon cycling by planktonic food webs. Despite much research on both groups of particles (especially TEP) over many years, whether they exist as distinctly stainable fractions of the same particles or as independent particles, each with different driving factors, remains unclear. To address this question, we examined the temporal dynamics of TEP and CSP over 2 complete seasonal cycles at 2 coastal sites in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, the Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory (BBMO) and the L’Estartit Oceanographic Station (EOS), as well as their spatial distribution along a coast-to-offshore transect. Biological, chemical, and physical variables were measured in parallel. Surface concentrations (mean + standard deviation [SD]) of TEP were 36.7 + 21.5 µg Xanthan Gum (XG) eq L–1 at BBMO and 36.6 + 28.3 µg XG eq L–1 at EOS; for CSP, they were 11.9 + 6.1 µg BSA eq L–1 at BBMO and 13.0 + 5.9 µg BSA eq L–1 at EOS. Seasonal variability was more evident at EOS, where surface TEP and CSP concentrations peaked in summer and spring, respectively, and less predictable at the shore-most station, BBMO. Vertical distributions between surface and 80 m, monitored at EOS, showed highest TEP concentrations within the surface mixed layer during the stratification period, whereas CSP concentrations were highest before the onset of summer stratification. Phytoplankton were the main drivers of TEP and CSP distributions, although nutrient limitation and saturating irradiance also appeared to play important roles. The dynamics and distribution of TEP and CSP were uncoupled both in the coastal sites and along the transect, suggesting that they are different types of particles produced and consumed differently in response to environmental variability

Abstención sexual durante la Cuaresma en Andalucía a lo largo del siglo XX y su impacto en la estacionalidad de los nacimientos

A religious precept that forbids sexual intercourse during Lent has remained in effect for centuries in Catholic populations. This interdiction produces a decrease of conceptions and a rebound after that period, which are difficult to detect because in populations that did not exercise effective control of the fecundity a peak of conceptions is observed during the spring. At present, this precept has disappeared as a result of a process of erosion that we do not know enough. With the anonymized data of all the people surviving at the beginning of 2003 and born in Andalusia (n=8,397,206), this paper aims to determine the importance of this interdiction and its vanishing process throughout the twentieth century. This process takes part with the decrease of fertility and the erosion of seasonality of births. Finally, it is also analyzed to what extent this transition to modernity is the result of a process of diffusion that has gone from municipalities with a big population size to small municipalities.Durante siglos ha permanecido vigente en las poblaciones católicas un precepto religioso que prohibía las relaciones sexuales durante la Cuaresma. Esta interdicción repercutía en una disminución de concepciones y en un repunte tras dicho periodo, ambos difíciles de detectar porque, en poblaciones que no ejercían un control efectivo de la fecundidad, también se registraba un pico de concepciones durante la primavera. En la actualidad este precepto ha desaparecido como consecuencia de un proceso de erosión que no conocemos suficientemente. Con los datos anonimizados de todas las personas nacidas en Andalucía y supervivientes a 1 de enero de 2003 (n=8.397.206), este trabajo pretende determinar la importancia de esta interdicción y su desaparición a lo largo del siglo XX, coincidiendo con el descenso de la fecundidad y la desestacionalización de los nacimientos. Finalmente, también se analiza hasta qué punto esta transición hacia la modernidad es resultado de un proceso de difusión que ha ido desde municipalidades de gran tamaño poblacional a municipalidades pequeñas

Topical administration of bosentan prevents retinal neurodegeneration in experimental diabetes

Experimental evidence suggests that endothelin 1 (ET-1) is involved in the development of retinal microvascular abnormalities induced by diabetes. The effects of ET-1 are mediated by endothelin A- and B-receptors (ETA and ETB). Endothelin B-receptors activation mediates retinal neurodegeneration but there are no data regarding the effectiveness of ETB receptor blockage in arresting retinal neurodegeneration induced by diabetes. The main aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of topical administration of bosentan (a dual endothelin receptor antagonist) in preventing retinal neurodegeneration in diabetic (db/db) mice. For this purpose, db/db mice aged 10 weeks were treated with one drop of bosentan (5 mg/mL, n = 6) or vehicle (n = 6) administered twice daily for 14 days. Six non-diabetic (db/+) mice matched by age were included as the control group. Glial activation was evaluated by immunofluorescence using specific antibodies against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL method. A pharmacokinetic study was performed in rabbits. We found that topical administration of bosentan resulted in a significant decrease of reactive gliosis and apoptosis. The results of the pharmacokinetic study suggested that bosentan reached the retina through the trans-scleral route. We conclude that topical administration of bosentan was effective in preventing neurodegeneration in the diabetic retina and, therefore, could be a good candidate to be tested in clinical trials

From the Editors: Making Intangible Capital a better review in its third year

Con este número, Intangible Capital inicia su tercer año. Es un buen momento para reflexionar sobre cómo podemos mejorar la revista en este tercer volumen, y de reconsiderar los objetivos marcados en el segundo volumen.With this issue, Intangible Capital reaches its third year. It is a good moment to reflect on how can we make this review better one along this year, and to asses if we have achieved the second year’s goal

First human isolate of Mycobacterium madagascariense in the sputum of a patient with tracheobronchitis

Reports on the isolation and identification of unusual Mycobacteria species in humans, animals and plants have increased considerably recently due, largely, to the implementation of molecular biology methods which have higher discriminative powers than the classical phenotype-based techniques

Casi le dimos la vuelta a la enseñanza del desarrollo del software

In JENUI XIII (2007) we presented the paper “¿Podemos darle la vuelta a la enseñanza del desarrollo del software?)” proposing a top-down curricular reorganization of the software development area. The proposal was the result of the collective work of the faculty of the area, and the analysis of the reasons why the traditional approach was bottom-up (from programming to software engineering). Since then, the faculty involved has contributed to the design of the new Bachelor in Computer Science. This allowed us to see if the proposal (developed freely and independently of the context) could be adapted to the (finally rigid) legal framework for this Bachelor inSpain. The conclusions presented show that, as expected, we have lost some things on the way, but that the final result fits enough with our 2007 proposal. Furthermore, given that the implementation of the proposal began in 2010, today we have enough historical information to also present in this paper an initial analysis of its current implantation and impact on student learning and faculty teaching.En las XIII JENUI de 2007 presentamos la ponencia “¿Podemos darle la vuelta a la enseñanza del desarrollo del software?” en la que proponíamos una reorganización curricular descendente del ámbito del Desarrollo del Software, a partir del trabajo colectivo de los profesores del área y una vez analizados los motivos por los que el planteamiento habitual era el ascendente (de la programación al proceso de la ingeniería del software). Desde entonces, muchos de los profesores implicados en ese trabajo hemos contribuido al diseño e implantación de nuestro nuevo Grado en Informática, lo que nos ha permitido ver si aquella propuesta (planteada libre e independientemente de un contexto) se ha podido adaptar al (finalmente rígido) marco de este Grado en España. Las conclusiones que presentamos en cuanto al diseño demuestran que, como era de esperar, nos hemos dejado cosas en el camino de la adaptación pero que el resultado final encaja suficientemente con nuestra propuesta de 2007. Por otro lado, dado que la implantación de la propuesta se inició en 2010, hoy ya tenemos suficiente información histórica que nos permite también, en esta contribución, un primer análisis de su implementación real y de su impacto en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes y en la docencia del profesorado

Horizontal and Vertical Distributions of Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) in the NW Mediterranean Sea Are Linked to Chlorophyll a and O2 Variability

12 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, supplementary material http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.02159/full#supplementary-materialTransparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) are relevant in particle and carbon fluxes in the ocean, and have economic impact in the desalination industry affecting reverse osmosis membrane fouling. However, general models of their occurrence and dynamics are not yet possible because of the poorly known co-variations with other physical and biological variables. Here, we describe TEP distributions in the NW Mediterranean Sea during late spring 2012, along perpendicular and parallel transects to the Catalan coast. The stations in the parallel transect were sampled at the surface, while the stations in the perpendicular transect were sampled from the surface to the bathypelagic, including the bottom nepheloid layers. We also followed the short-term TEP dynamics along a 2-day cycle in offshore waters. TEP concentrations in the area ranged from 4.9 to 122.8 and averaged 31.4 ± 12.0 μg XG eq L−1. The distribution of TEP measured in transects parallel to the Catalan Coast correlated those of chlorophyll a (Chla) in May but not in June, when higher TEP-values with respect to Chla were observed. TEP horizontal variability in epipelagic waters from the coast to the open sea also correlated to that of Chla, O2 (that we interpret as a proxy of primary production) and bacterial production (BP). In contrast, the TEP vertical distributions in epipelagic waters were uncoupled from those of Chla, as TEP maxima were located above the deep chlorophyll maxima. The vertical distribution of TEP in the epipelagic zone was correlated with O2 and BP, suggesting combined phytoplankton (through primary production) and bacterial (through carbon reprocessing) TEP sources. However, no clear temporal patterns arose during the 2-day cycle. In meso- and bathypelagic waters, where phytoplanktonic sources are minor, TEP concentrations (10.1 ± 4.3 μg XG eq l−1) were half those in the epipelagic, but we observed relative TEP increments coinciding with the presence of nepheloid layers. These TEP increases were not paralleled by increases in particulate organic carbon, indicating that TEP are likely to act as aggregating agents of the mostly inorganic particles present in these bottom nepheloid layersThis work was funded by projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science STORM (CTM2009-09352/MAR), SUMMER (CTM2008-03309/MAR), DOREMI (CTM2012-34294), REMEI (CTM2015-70340-R), ANIMA (CTM2015-65720-R), PEGASO (CTM2012-37615), and Grup consolidat de Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya (2014SGR/1179)Peer Reviewe