NAFTA: Will it ever have an EU profile? Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 7 No. 3 April 2007

[Introduction]. Based on the experiences of regionalization and integration processes, this paper identifies the main transformations North America has undergone as a result of the implementation of NAFTA. The main argument is that the operation of NAFTA has set in motion a process of regionalization in North America and gradually an increasing number of policies encompass a regional dimension. In such process, the pivotal actor is the United States, while Canada and Mexico are reactive partners who seek to defend their domestic interests as well as accommodate themselves in the regional dynamic led by the United States. The emerging regionalism in North America reflects that NAFTA has accomplished some of its goals. Nonetheless, there is an ongoing discussion with regard to the expanded agenda of the region and several proposals have been brought to the academic and political debate. In this regard, five main sections are considered to asses the regionalization of North America. The first introduces some analytical elements about the regionalization in North America; the second shows perceptions of public opinion with regard to the regional agenda; the third refers to the effects of NAFTA, while the fourth evaluates the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SSP) Summits. The fifth presents the case of alternative models for the future of NAFTA

Una historia contada con sombras

En el presente texto se analiza el relato cinematográfico de suspenso, sus directices, particularidades y, sobre todo, el impacto generado en el espactador, así como lo que deriva de la comunicación entre relato y lector/espectador. Se utilizan como ejemplo dos cintas: Psicosis (1960), Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, y Los otros (2001), Dir. Alejandro Amenábar

Editorial - Evolving Trends in Supply Chain Management: Complexity, New Technologies, and Innovative Methodological Approaches

Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación DPI201680750

Chern correspondence for higher principal bundles

The classical Chern correspondence states that a choice of Hermitian metric on a holomorphic vector bundle determines uniquely a unitary 'Chern connection'. This basic principle in Hermitian geometry, later generalized to the theory of holomorphic principal bundles, provides one of the most fundamental ingredients in modern gauge theory, via its applications to the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck-Yau Theorem. In this work we study a generalization of the Chern correspondence in the context of higher gauge theory, where the structure group of the bundle is categorified. For this, we define connective structures on a multiplicative gerbe and propose a natural notion of complexification for an important class of 2-groups. Using this, we put forward a new notion of higher connection which is well-suited for describing holomorphic principal 2-bundles for these 2-groups, and establish a Chern correspondence in this way. As an upshot of our construction, we unify two previous notions of higher connections in the literature, namely those of adjusted connections and of trivializations of Chern-Simons 2-gerbes with connection.Comment: 48 page

The role of individual and group level variables in healthcare profissionals' hand hygiene compliance: a multi-level perspective

Literature shows that non-compliance with hand hygiene increases hospital-acquired infections and research in this area is far from synthesized. This work aims to conciliate the contributions of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Precede-Proceed model and the safety climate approach to analyse (1) this problematic during the education of future healthcare professionals; (2) hand hygiene as arising from micro-systems (e.g. care-delivery teams); (3) the specificities of compliance between different categories of professionals; and (4) the importance of work experience in constraining intention to comply. We also intend to analyse the impact of the moral norm and the vulnerability perception. The former as a behavioural intention predictor will be tested as an inhibitor of compliance; the latter, will be used as a multi-level moderator to explore its role in the relationship between team safety climate and compliance. Furthermore, we will also analyse self-reported and observed compliance. We present five studies whose results indicate that (1) TPB behavioural intention predictors function as significant mediators in transferring the impact of team safety climate to intention; (2) social influence is an important predictor enhancing the relevance of role models; (3) professionals present multi-faceted moral prerogatives that inhibit compliance, particularly physicians and medical students; 4) reported compliance appears to be an adequate way to measure hand hygiene due to its consistency with observed compliance. In the end, predisposing, enabling and reinforcing variables are presented to link the empirical evidence of this work with its practical dimension by defining measures to design future interventions.A literatura demonstra que a não adesão à higiene das mãos aumenta as infecções hospitalares, contudo a investigação nesta área permanece dispersa. Este trabalho pretende conciliar os contributos da Teoria da Acção Planeada (TAP), modelo Precede-Proceed e abordagem de clima de segurança para analisar esta problemática (1) durante a formação de futuros profissionais de saúde; (2) a higiene das mãos como um comportamento que emerge de micro-sistemas (e.g. equipas de trabalho); (3) as especificidades entre diferentes categorias de profissionais; e (4) o impacto da experiência de trabalho na intenção de aderir. Pretende-se ainda aferir o papel da norma moral enquanto preditora da intenção, sendo testada como inibidora da adesão; e da percepção de vulnerabilidade como moderadora numa relação multinível para explorar o seu papel entre o clima de segurança de equipa e a adesão. Para além disso, iremos também avaliar a adesão reportada e observada. Serão apresentados cinco estudos cujos resultados indicam que (1) os preditores da intenção da TAP funcionam como mediadores transferindo o impacto do clima de segurança de equipa para a intenção; (2) a influência social é um preditor importante reforçando o papel dos “role models”; (3) os profissionais apresentam prerrogativas morais multi-facetadas que inibem a adesão, particularmente os médicos e estudantes de medicina; (4) a adesão reportada parece ser uma medida adequada para avaliar este comportamento devido à sua consistência com a adesão observada. No final, as variáveis que predispõem, facilitam e reforçam a adesão serão apresentadas relacionando a evidência empírica deste trabalho com a sua dimensão prática pela apresentação de medidas de intervenção

Large nucleotide-dependent conformational change in Rab28

AbstractRab GTPases are essential regulators of membrane trafficking. We report crystal structures of Rab28 in the active (GppNHp-bound) and inactive (GDP-3′P-bound) forms at 1.5 and 1.1Å resolution. Rab28 is a distant member of the Rab family. While the overall fold of Rab28 resembles that of other Rab GTPases, it undergoes a larger nucleotide-dependent conformational change than other members of this family. Added flexibility resulting from a double-glycine motif at the beginning of switch 2 might partially account for this observation. The double-glycine motif, which is conserved in the Arf family, only occurs in Rab28 and Rab7B of the Rab family, and may have a profound effect on their catalytic activities