Information systems offshore outsourcing: a descriptive analysis

Purpose - The present paper has as its aim to deepen in the study of Information Systems Offshore Outsourcing, proposing three essential steps to make this decision: weighing up the advantages and risks of Offshore Outsourcing; analysing the taxonomy of this phenomenon; and determining its current geography. Design/Methodology/Approach - With that objective in mind, it was decided to base the research work on the literature about this topic and the review of reports and statistics coming from different sources (consultants, the press, public institutions, etc.). Findings - Offshore Outsourcing has grown vertiginously in recent years. Its advantages exceed even those of onshore outsourcing, though it also involves greater risks derived from the (cultural and physical) distance existing between customer and provider. Various types of services and customer-provider relationships hide under the umbrella of Offshore Outsourcing; i.e. it is not a homogeneous phenomenon. The main Offshore Outsourcing customers can be found in the USA and Europe, mainly in the UK but also in other countries such as Germany and France. As for provider firms, most of them are located in Asia −outstandingly in India but also in China and Russia. At present, there are important providers scattered in other continents as well. Originality/Value - The conclusions suggest that the range of potential Offshore Outsourcing destinations must be widened and that the search for a provider cannot be based exclusively on cost savings; other considerations such as quality, security and proximity of the provider must also be taken into consideration. That is precisely the reason why the study of new countries like Spain as Offshore Outsourcing destinations is proposed

"Los Roseros" de Ocotlán de Mórelos, Oaxaca, México: anticipación y coexistencia

En el present document es realitza la descripció, l`anàlisi i interpretació de la festivitat dels Roseros, celebrada del 22-24 i del 29 de desembre cada any, en Ocotlán, Oaxaca, Mèxic. El ritual té dues lectures que conflueixen en el temps i l’espai; una, la de l`Església com institució i l´altra, la de la comunitat. Per a la primera la cerimònia representa una oportunitat per a la reflexió, el sacrifici, la penitència, el dolor i la perfecció. Per a la segona, el ritual té un sentir diferent i un sifnicat integrador, una expressió dinàmica que reconstitueix tant elements de l`experiència religiosa quotidiana autòctona, com el teixit social. Això facilita una forma de situar-se en la realitat viscuda, on la l’alegria comunitària té moments cabdals, en la muntaya i carrers de la localitat en el qual es balla, es beu i es comparteix. Així els rituals en la comunitat articulen processos que assoleixen l’anticipació i la coexistència de dues perspectivas religioses: la catòlica i la indígena

Procesos educativos y redes solidarias en comunidades devastadas por el huracán Stan

Este documento describe las experiencias vividas durante una brigada de apoyo solidario a las Comunidades Chiapanecas devastadas por el huracán Stan durante el mes de diciembre 2005. La brigada "Tortuga" fue construida de manera espontánea por un grupo de estudiantes de licenciatura, quienes con el apoyo de diversos profesores de la Universidad Iberoamericana-Puebla recibieron entrenamiento y soporte para responder al llamado de diversas organizaciones de la región afectada. El documento alterna un formato testimonial y académico y reproduce el espíritu de la experiencia misma: la colaboración entre los actores (estudiantes y funcionarios universitarios) que buscan tejer una forma de situarse en la realidad. El objetivo que persigue este trabajo es la sistematización de la manera en que se articuló la construcción de un tejido de relaciones y esfuerzos solidarios motivados por la necesidad de generar conocimiento pertinente para la formación de actores universitarios capaces de incidir en realidades emergentes. Las labores de gestión universitaria continuamente orientadas a la búsqueda de diseños educativos que privilegien escenarios reales de formación obligan a los funcionarios universitarios a mantener una activa construcción de tejidos y relaciones solidarias con actores diversos.This document is the description of the experiences Developer by a solidarity support brigada working with Chiapas communities devastated by the Stan hurricane in December 2005. The "Tortugas" brigada was integrated by a group of collage students trained by Universidad Iberoamericana-Puebla sholars in response to the call of local organization in the damaged region. The presentation incluides testimonial and academia aspects and reproduces the spirit of the experience collaboration between academics and students in creating the strategic support approach. It offers the way that it was created linking motivation and abilities to knowledge building needed to confront unexpected troubles. The experience has been the search for educational approaches that look for actual training settings building solidarity networks with actors involved in facing social challenges

Agencias de consejo de votación (sobre la oportunidad de una convención internacional)

Abstract: Proxy advisory firms are relatively new entities in the corporate landscape particularly in the general context of shareholders’ voting devices. Firms of the kind were established with the aim of assisting investors/shareholders with their expertise in how to vote their shares. These third-party consultants are not regulated by any government agency in most of the countries and not even required to disclose the methodology used to render their recommendations. The lack of accountability of proxy advisors but also the possible conflict of interests spotted in their activities have been constant concerns since the kinetic force of international commerce will certainly spread firms of the type all over the world. In this context it may be appropriate to start considering an international convention on the matter. Resumen: Las agencias de consejo de votación son entidades relativamente nuevas en el panorama corporativo, especialmente en el contexto de los mecanismos de voto de los accionistas. Las agencias de este tipo fueron creadas con el ánimo de asistir a los inversionistas/accionistas con su consejo en cómo votar sus acciones. Este tipo de consultores no se encuentran regulados por agencia alguna en la mayoría de los países ni se les requiere informar sobre la metodología utilizada para llevar a cabo sus recomendaciones. La falta de imputabilidad de las agencias de consejo de votación, así como los posibles conflictos de intereses que han sido identificados en el desarrollo de sus actividades son preocupaciones constantes, puesto que la fuerza cinética del comercio internacional dispersará a empresas de este tipo en todo el mundo. En este contexto, parece apropiado comenzar a considerar una convención internacional en la materia

Cuarenta minutos de diferencia

Estoy perfectamente acomodada y abrigada sobre mi cama. Supongo que duermo hasta que una fuerza extraña abre mi ojo y veo luz por la rendija de la puerta. ¿Será que ya me debo levantarme?, pienso medio dormida y medio despierta. El citófono suena. Como un resorte voy al baño. Agarro mi celular que dejo cargando adentro pues una de las tantas cucarachas que caracterizan mi carácter hipocondríaco es la idea de que me puede dar cáncer si duermo con electrodomésticos al lado. Me había asegurado anoche de subirle el volumen a la alarma, de cuadrarla para que sonara a las 5:25 a.m. y dejar la puerta del baño entreabierta para que saliera la voz de Enya que hace menos difícil la levantada. Ninguna de las precauciones tomadas sirve pues al prender el celular veo que son las seis y seis minutos. Ya es tarde. Andrés está en el citófono. Calculo que lleva seis minutos esperando. Lo llamo y le digo que se vaya pues me da vergüenza que me espere; al fin y al cabo, me está haciendo un favor hoy, día de pico y placa. Reflexiono sobre mi pensamiento: Tengo pico y placa o sea que si no me voy con él, no llego a clase de Humanidades. Le ruego que me dé unos minuticos, me “medio” baño, me visto y me pongo una bocanada de crema de dientes. No me agradaría matar a la gente con mi aliento de dragón matutino

Double-difference Relocation of the Aftershocks of the Tecomán, Colima, Mexico Earthquake of 22 January 2003

On 22 January 2003, the M_w = 7.6 Tecomán earthquake struck offshore of the state of Colima, Mexico, near the diffuse triple junction between the Cocos, Rivera, and North American plates. Three-hundred and fifty aftershocks of the Tecomán earthquake with magnitudes between 2.6 and 5.8, each recorded by at least 7 stations, are relocated using the double difference method. Initial locations are determined using P and S readings from the Red Sismológica Telemétrica del Estado de Colima (RESCO) and a 1-D velocity model. Because only eight RESCO stations were operating immediately following the Tecomán earthquake, uncertainties in the initial locations and depths are fairly large, with average uncertainties of 8.0 km in depth and 1.4 km in the north–south and east–west directions. Events occurring between 24 January and 31 January were located using not only RESCO phase readings but also additional P and S readings from 11 temporary stations. Average uncertainties decrease to 0.8 km in depth, 0.3 km in the east–west direction, and 0.7 km in the north–south direction for events occurring while the temporary stations were deployed. While some preliminary studies of the early aftershocks suggested that they were dominated by shallow events above the plate interface, our results place the majority of aftershocks along the plate interface, for a slab dipping between approximately 20° and 30°. This is consistent with the slab positions inferred from geodetic studies. We do see some upper plate aftershocks that may correspond to forearc fault zones, and faults inland in the upper plate, particularly among events occurring more than 3 months after the mainshock

Degradation of Single Stranded Nucleic Acids by the Chemical Nuclease Activity of the Metal Complex [Cu(phen)(nal)]+

The chemical design of metal complexes of the type [Cu(phen)(antib)]+ (where antib is a quinolone or a fluoroquinolone) has been carried out in an approach to better understand how the coordination of their components affect the activity of quinolones. The ability of [Cu(phen)(nal)]+ to interact with DNA in vivo and its capacity to promote the degradation of plasmid and chromosomal DNA, under reductive conditions has been previously reported. However whether this compound utilizes other intracellular targets to promote bacterial killing was a question that deserved to be answered. In this paper, the studies of the chemical nuclease properties encoded by the metal complex [Cu(phen)(nal)]+ were extended by using different types of single chain nucleic acids, i.e, ribosomal and tumor mosaic virus RNAs as well as poly-dA-dT. Our results showed that degradation of the nucleic acids occurred only under reductive conditions. Although MPA and [3-mercaptoethanol were the chemical reducers that best assisted the nuclease reaction, other biological compounds such as citric and succinic acid also were shown to act like reducers in that reaction. All.hough the nuclease activity of [Cu(phen)(nal)]+ was comparable to that exhibited by bis copper phenanthroline [Cu(phen)z]2+our results showed that none of the individual components of [Cu(phen)(nal)]+ was able to promote the degradation of either the RNAs or poly(dA-dT). These results strongly support the hypothesis that the metal complex [Cu(phen)(nal)] uses not only DNA but also RNA as targets to promote bacterial killing

¿Una mujer entera no necesita media naranja?. Representación del amor de pareja como mecanismo de violencia contra las mujeres en la telenovela mexicana Los Aparicio

El 19 de abril de 2010 comenzó a transmitirse en México la telenovela Las Aparicio, producto televisivo que presenta a sus protagonistas, la madre y sus tres hijas, como mujeres transgresoras, que no vinieron a este mundo a sufrir, que son contemporáneas, urbanas y decididas a tomar el control de su vida. Estas mujeres comparten un esquema familiar muy peculiar: todas dan a luz exclusivamente a niñas y todas han quedado viudas en circunstancias extraordinarias y por su condición de viudez, “han aprendido a no necesitar a los hombres para sobrevivir, pues ahora los tienen porque quieren y porque pueden”.694 La frase central con la que Las Aparicio se dio a conocer y se vendió fue Una mujer entera no necesita media naranja, sin embargo, en esta historia se reproduce el estereotipo de género de las mujeres dependientes de sus parejas a nivel emocional, y que establecen vínculos amorosos aún en el contexto de la violencia de género. Ante lo anterior, este trabajo pretende evidenciar de qué forma, en los vínculos amorosos de pareja de las hermanas Aparicio, Alma, Mercedes y Julia, están presenten acciones u omisiones propios de la violencia contra las mujeres. Las herramientas teóricometodológica base de este trabajo son la perspectiva de género feminista y la concepción estructural de la cultura propuesta por John B. Thompson

Characterization of the anaerobic metabolism of Sphingopyxis macrogoltabida TFA strain

Motivation: Sphingopyxis macrogoltabida TFA strain is an alphaproteobacteria which is able to degrade the contaminant compound tetralin, found in multiple substances such as coal tar and petroleum (1). Tetralin biodegradation has been characterized under aerobic conditions, however no anaerobic growth has ever been observed in Sphingomonadaceae family. Many nitrate-respiring bacteria are able to transform nitrate to nitrite using nar genes, and eventually to gas nitrogen in a process called denitrification (2). Computer analysis of the genome sequence of TFA has shown different genes whose encoded proteins might be involved in anaerobic respiration pathways in TFA: three fixLJ pairs of genes, an fnrL gene and a fixK gene. It would be interesting to determine whether TFA is able to grow with no oxygen and to characterize this growth. Therefore, the objectives of this project are the characterization of the anaerobic metabolism of TFA and to determine growth rate under anaerobic conditions.Aims: In order to determine whether TFA is able to grow under anaerobic conditions we will use nitrate, nitrite, fumarate and DMSO as final electron acceptors at different concentrations. We will design two insertion mutants in fnrL and fixK genes in order to test their anaerobic growth. The phenotype of some fixLJ mutants will be determined.Results: We have successfully observed anaerobic growth of TFA reaching OD600 of 0.9 with some terminal electron acceptors. No anaerobic growth was observed using nitrite, fumarate or DMSO as sole electron acceptors. None of the mutants in fixLJ1 and fixLJ2 showed significant differences in their growth compared to the wild type strain