Fair value on commons-based intellectual property assets: Lessons of an estimation over Linux kernel.

Open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials, spreading development burden amongst individuals and companies. This model has resulted in a large and efficient ecosystem and unheralded software innovation, freely available to society. Open source methods are also increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavour, such as biotechnology or cultural production. But under financial reporting framework, general volunteer activity is not reflected on financial statements. As a result, there is not value of volunteer contributions and there is also no single source for cost estimates of how much it has taken to develop an open source technology. This volunteer activity encloses not only individuals but corporations developing and contributing open source products. Standard methodology for reporting open source asset valuation is needed and must include value creation from the perspective of the different stakeholders.FLOSS, commons, accounting standards, financial reporting

La accesibilidad como la necesidad más percibida por las personas con parálisis cerebral en proceso de envejecimiento

En este estudio se recogen las necesidades que presentan las personas con parálisis cerebral (PC) en proceso de envejecimiento. Un total de 260 personas con PC de diferentes comunidades cumplimentan una entrevista semiestructurada que recoge información sobre cómo perciben las personas con PC su propio envejecimiento, cuáles son sus necesidades y de qué forma las encuentran satisfechas. Respecto a las preocupaciones presentadas, las más elegidas, con un total de 640 respuestas han sido las relacionadas con la existencia de barreras, principalmente las barreras arquitectónicas, el acceso al transporte y las barreras sociales. La accesibilidad se convierte en un factor indispensable para la igualdad de oportunidades. Este análisis permite diseñar propuestas para atender estas necesidades en la población con PC que envejece, ya que la accesibilidad es una condición previa a la participación en la sociedad y la economía. El diseño para todos es una obligación que se deriva del derecho a la accesibilidad universal, para ello hay que concienciar a la sociedad sobre la relevancia de hacer un mundo accesible que sea capaz de incluir la gran diversidad humana.In this study the needs presented by people with cerebral palsy (CP) in the aging process are collected. A total of 260 people with CP from different communities filled in a semistructured interview that collects information about how people with CP perceive their own aging, what their needs are and how those are met. Regarding the concerns raised, the most chosen responses, of a total of 640, were concerns about the existence of barriers, mainly architectural barriers, access to transportation and social barriers. Accessibility becomes an indispensable factor on the equality of opportunity. This analysis allows designing proposals to address these needs in the aging population with PC, since accessibility is a prerequisite for the participation in the society and the economy. Design for everybody is an obligation that derives from the right to universal accessibility. In order to that public awareness about the importance of making an accessible world able to include the great human diversity is required

Brainiac Caspases: Beyond the Wall of Apoptosis

For the last two decades, caspases, a family of cysteine-aspartic proteases, have evolved from being considered solely as regulators of apoptosis or inflammation to having a wider range of functions. In this mini review, we focus on the most recent "non-apoptotic" roles of caspases in the CNS, particularly in neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Non-apoptotic caspase functions in microglia have already been reviewed extensively elsewhere. Here we discuss the involvement of caspases in the activation of the inflammasome, autophagy, and non-apoptotic forms of cell death such as necroptosis and pyroptosis. Also, we review the involvement of caspases in synapses and the processing of aggregates key to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases. Likewise, we mention the recently described involvement of caspases in mitochondrial biogenesis, which is a function independent of the enzymatic activity. We conclude discussing the relevance that "new" functions of caspases have in the CNS and the future of this field of researchEspaña Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad SAF2015-64171- R (MINECO/FEDER, EU)España Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Programa Ramón y Cajal: RYC-2017-21804

Cooperatives versus corporates in the Spanish agricultural sector: non-parametric estimation of technical efficiency

The technical efficiency of small firms is central to the debate about the role of small-scale industries in generating growth and employment in developing economies. Some studies find small firms to be more efficient than large firms in some industrial sectors but not in others, while other studies find them to be less efficient overall. This paper focuses on agricultural enterprises in the northern part of Spain. It compares the distributions of efficiency and identifies most important correlates. It can have important implications for political decisions because this mixed evidence sends conflicting signals to policy makers. It also studies the variation across the two principal forms of business organization focused on ownership, cooperative and corporate firms. Variation in the efficiency may take place between firms that are organised in different ways and result in changes from one form of business organisation to another. This analysis allows us to know what firms are most efficient in the sector considered. Non-parametrical techniques are used in the analysis, concretely Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Highly efficient firms have distinct characteristics that distinguish them from inefficient firms: investments in technology, workforce, automation, organizational practices. . . This analysis allows us to know what firms are most efficient in the sector considered if so why

Seasonal dynamic factor analysis and bootstrap inference : application to electricity market forecasting

Year-ahead forecasting of electricity prices is an important issue in the current context of electricity markets. Nevertheless, only one-day-ahead forecasting is commonly tackled up in previous published works. Moreover, methodology developed for the short-term does not work properly for long-term forecasting. In this paper we provide a seasonal extension of the Non-Stationary Dynamic Factor Analysis, to deal with the interesting problem (both from the economic and engineering point of view) of long term forecasting of electricity prices. Seasonal Dynamic Factor Analysis (SeaDFA) allows to deal with dimensionality reduction in vectors of time series, in such a way that extracts common and specific components. Furthermore, common factors are able to capture not only regular dynamics (stationary or not) but also seasonal one, by means of common factors following a multiplicative seasonal VARIMA(p,d,q)×(P,D,Q)s model. Besides, a bootstrap procedure is proposed to be able to make inference on all the parameters involved in the model. A bootstrap scheme developed for forecasting includes uncertainty due to parameter estimation, allowing to enhance the coverage of forecast confidence intervals. Concerning the innovative and challenging application provided, bootstrap procedure developed allows to calculate not only point forecasts but also forecasting intervals for electricity prices

Thermophilic and mesophilic temperature phase anaerobic codigestion (TPAcD) compared with single-stage co-digestion of sewage sludge and sugar beet pulp lixiviation

The performance of temperature phase anaerobic co-digestion (TPAcD) for sewage sludge and sugar beet pulp lixiviation (using the process of exchanging the digesting substrate between spatially separated thermophilic and mesophilic digesters) was tested and compared to both single-stage mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion. Two Hydraulic Retention Times (HRT) were studied in the thermophilic stage of anaerobic digestion in two temperature phases, maintaining the optimum time of the mesophilic stage at 10 days, obtained as such in single-stage anaerobic co-digestion. In this way, we obtained the advantages of both temperature regimes. Volatile solids removal efficiency from the TPAcD system depended on the sludge exchange rate, but fell within the 72.6e64.6% range. This was higher than the value of 46.8% obtained with single-stage thermophilic digestion and that of 40.5% obtained with mesophilic digestion. The specific methane yield was 424e468 ml CH4 per gram of volatile solids removed, similar to that of single-stage mesophilic anaerobic digestion. The increase in microbial activity inside the reactor was directly proportional to the organic loading rate (OLR) (or inversely proportional to the HRT) and inversely proportional to the size of the microbial population in single-stage anaerobic co-digestion systems

Braquiterapia en el cáncer de mama.

La radioterapia es un tratamiento fundamental del cáncer de mama. Frente a la técnica clásica de Irradiación Completa de la Mama, que se mantiene como opción estándar aceptada, ha surgido un interés creciente por la irradiación parcial de la mama (APBI -Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation-) mediante diferentes técnicas. Los últimos estudios subrayan la no inferioridad de la APBI mediante braquiterapia multicatéter instersticial frente a la radioterapia externa con boost en el lecho tumoral, siempre y cuando se lleve a cabo una adecuada selección de las pacientes candidatas. La APBI se convierte así en una alternativa razonable a la técnica estándar en mujeres que cumplan los siguientes criterios de inclusión: ≥50 años, con tumores ≤3cm, márgenes quirúrgicos negativos y sin invasión linfovascular. Entre las principales ventajas de esta técnica destacan la reducción de la toxicidad, la mejora del resultado cosmético y la satisfacción de las pacientes. No obstante, se requieren más estudios acerca de la toxicidad y diferentes modalidades de APBI, así como un seguimiento a largo plazo de estas pacientes para que los resultados sean comparables con los de seguimientos prolongados de mujeres tratadas con Irradiación Completa.Grado en Medicin

Study about students behaviour in the development of written works

El presente trabajo muestra los resultados de un estudio sobre la realización, preferencias y comportamiento del alumnado en el desarrollo de los trabajos escritos asignados en clase. En concreto el estudio se dirigió a alumnos de distintas titulaciones de Ingeniería y del Grado de Comercio y Marketing, pertenecientes a distintos niveles académicos (primero, segundo y quinto) durante dos cursos académicos. Los objetivos que se persiguen con el desarrollo de este estudio son conocer las pautas de comportamiento de nuestros alumnos en el proceso de realización de los trabajos escritos, así como la obtención de unos puntos de referencia acerca de sus preferencias sobre el manejo de herramientas clásicas o Web en la realización y los motivos que les inducen a la selección de unas u otras; con especial atención al efecto del grado de difusión de los contenidos a sus compañeros o a un público más amplio, así como la relación que la difusión de los resultados pueda ejercer sobre la copia y el plagio de fuentes. Un mayor grado de conocimiento respecto a las preferencias y comportamiento del alumnado en el proceso de atribución y realización de los trabajos escritos permitirá una serie de conclusiones que, sin duda, contribuirán a mejorar la asignación, planificación y ejecución de los trabajos escritos por parte de nuestros estudiantes.The current work shows the results of an inquiry about students fulfilment, preferences and behaviour in the development of writing assignments. The study was conducted on students of first, second and final year on Commerce & Marketing Degree and Engineering Degrees, for two academic years. The objectives pursued by this study are to understand the patterns of behaviour of our students in the process of completing written assignments; but also to earn some points of reference about their preferences for classic or Web tools as well as reasons which cause them to the selection of one or another. We also pay attention to the effect of the degree of diffusion of the contents to their classmates or to a wider public as well as to the relationship that the dissemination of results could put on copying and plagiarism of sources. A greater degree of knowledge about the preferences and behaviour of the students in the processes of attribution and fulfilment will allow us to achieve conclusions in order to improve allocation, planning and carrying out of writing assignments by our students

La contribución empresarial al software libre como actividad socialmente responsable

Firms' commitment to openness on software development means sharing technology and resources with communities worldwide to mitigate the digital divide, create economic opportunity, and foster equal access to technology. Opening up a technology allows others to contribute innovations that individual local companies might never have devised on their own. Consequently, free software development could be seen as a matter of social responsibility. An adequate level of reporting could enhance corporate contributions to free software projects.El compromiso empresarial con la apertura y libertad en el desarrollo de software significa compartir tecnología y recursos con comunidades de todo el planeta y así contribuir a la reducción de la brecha digital, crear nuevas oportunidades de negocio y promover la igualdad de oportunidades en el acceso a la tecnología. Liberar una tecnología permite generar innovaciones que de otro modo las compañías locales no habrían podido desarrollar. En consecuencia, el desarrollo de software libre debe ser visto como una actividad socialmente responsable. Un adecuado nivel de reconocimiento en los informes corporativos podría estimular las aportaciones empresariales a los proyectos de software libre