Administration Model 4.0 and its Impact on the Improvement of Public Services

The present investigation analyzed the relationship between the satisfaction of the users of a public company in charge of the vehicle registration process in the city of Babahoyo, province of Los Ríos, Ecuador, and the implementation of an administration model 4.0 carried out through a system of management information in the area of license plate issuance, given the increase in users of this service and the need to guarantee and improve their satisfaction. For this purpose, some models related to management information systems and the public administration model 4.0 were analyzed. Later, analyzing the results of a survey applied to a sample of service users and officials of the public company, it was possible to diagnose the situation of the company’s registration area. The investigation evidenced the existence of unfriendly systems with the information needs of the institution, in addition to a low level of commitment on the part of the staff, which is demonstrated in the reduced or non-existent post-service follow-up, all of which causes user dissatisfaction. It is concluded that it is advisable to design and apply customer relationship management under the 4.0 public administration model that allows an increase in the level of user satisfaction. Keywords: CRM, quality management, users’ service, public management, transportation. Resumen La presente investigación analizó la relación entre la satisfacción de los usuarios de una Empresa pública encargada del proceso de matriculación vehicular en la ciudad de Babahoyo, provincia de Los Ríos, Ecuador y la implementación de un modelo de administración 4.0 realizada a través de un sistema de información gerencial en el área de emisión de matrículas, ante el incremento de usuarios de este servicio y la necesidad de garantizar y mejorar su satisfacción. Para el efecto se analizaron algunos modelos relacionados con los sistemas de información gerencial y el modelo de administración pública 4.0, y posteriormente, analizando los resultados de una encuesta aplicada a una muestra de usuarios del servicio y a funcionarios de la Empresa pública, se pudo diagnosticar la situación del área de matriculación de la empresa. La investigación evidenció la existencia de sistemas poco amigables con las necesidades de información de la institución, además de un bajo nivel de compromiso por parte del personal, que se demuestra en el reducido o inexistente seguimiento post servicio, todo lo cual provoca insatisfacción de los usuarios. Se concluye que es recomendable diseñar y aplicar un sistema de gestión de relaciones con el cliente bajo el modelo de administración pública 4.0 que permita el incremento del nivel de satisfacción de los usuarios. Palabras Clave: CRM, gestión de calidad, atención al usuario, administración pública, transportación. How t

Improved 3D sparse maps for high-performance SFM with low-cost omnidirectional robots

We consider the use of low-budget omnidirectional platforms for 3D mapping and self-localisation. These robots specifically permit rotational motion in the plane around a central axis, with negligible displacement. In addition, low resolution and compressed imagery, typical of the platform used, results in high level of image noise (_ ∽ 10). We observe highly sparse image feature matches over narrow inter-image baselines. This particular configuration poses a challenge for epipolar geometry extraction and accurate 3D point triangulation, upon which a standard structure from motion formulation is based. We propose a novel technique for both feature filtering and tracking that solves these problems, via a novel approach to the management of feature bundles. Noisy matches are efficiently trimmed, and the scarcity of the remaining image features is adequately overcome, generating densely populated maps of highly accurate and robust 3D image features. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated under a variety of scenarios in experiments conducted with low-budget commercial robots

A novel heteroditopic terpyridine-pincer ligand as building block for mono- and heterometallic Pd(II) and Ru(II) complexes

A palladium-catalyzed Stille coupling reaction was employed as a versatile method for the synthesis of a novel terpyridine-pincer (3, TPBr) bridging ligand, 4'-{4-BrC6H2(CH2NMe2)(2)-3,5}-2,2':6',2 ''-terpyridine. Mononuclear species [PdX(TP)] (X = Br, Cl), [Ru(TPBr)(tpy)](PF6)(2), and [Ru(TPBr)(2)](PF6)(2), synthesized by selective metalation of the NCNBr-pincer moiety or complexation of the terpyridine of the bifunctional ligand TPBr, were used as building blocks for the preparation of heterodi- and trimetallic complexes [Ru(TPPdCl)(tpy)](PF6)(2) (7) and [Ru(TPPdCl)(2)]-(PF6)(2) (8). The molecular structures in the solid state of [PdBr(TP)] (4a) and [Ru(TPBr)(2)](PF6)(2) (6) have been determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Electrochemical behavior and photophysical properties of the mono-and heterometallic complexes are described. All the above di- and trimetallic Ru complexes exhibit absorption bands attributable to (MLCT)-M-1 (Ru -> tpy) transitions. For the heteroleptic complexes, the transitions involving the unsubstituted tpy ligand are at a lower energy than the tpy moiety of the TPBr ligand. The absorption bands observed in the electronic spectra for TPBr and [PdCl(TP)] have been assigned with the aid of TD-DFT calculations. All complexes display weak emission both at room temperature and in a butyronitrile glass at 77 K. The considerable red shift of the emission maxima relative to the signal of the reference compound [Ru(tpy)(2)](2+) indicates stabilization of the luminescent (MLCT)-M-3 state. For the mono- and heterometallic complexes, electrochemical and spectroscopic studies (electronic absorption and emission spectra and luminescence lifetimes recorded at room temperature and 77 K in nitrile solvents), together with the information gained from IR spectroelectrochemical studies of the dimetallic complex [Ru(TPPdSCN)(tpy)](PF6)(2), are indicative of charge redistribution through the bridging ligand TPBr. The results are in line with a weak coupling between the {Ru(tpy)(2)} chromophoric unit and the (non)metalated NCN-pincer moiety

COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean: Experts Examining Legal Responses

Since March 2020, a group of librarians, professors, and legal professionals have been monitoring legal responses to COVID-19 throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Each member of the project is currently following various countries within this region. In this article, the authors will describe how the project was created and highlight the initial challenges in terms of securing and evaluating trustworthy sources of information in the middle of a pandemic. The authors will summarize the legal responses and any disinformation issues within the countries they have been monitoring: Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Finally, the article will conclude with the authors enumerating the achievements of the group as well as future plans for the project. Depuis mars 2020, un groupe de bibliothécaires, de professeurs et de professionnels du droit suit les réponses juridiques à la COVID-19 émises dans toute l\u27Amérique latine et les Caraïbes. Chaque membre du projet suit actuellement divers pays de cette région. Dans cet article, les auteurs décrivent comment le projet a été créé et soulignent les défis initiaux en termes de sécurisation et d\u27évaluation de sources d\u27information fiables au milieu d\u27une pandémie. Les auteurs résument les réponses juridiques et les problèmes de désinformation dans les pays qu\u27ils ont surveillés : Argentine, Chili, Uruguay, Pérou, Bolivie et Paraguay. Enfin, les auteurs concluent en énumérant les réalisations du groupe ainsi que les plans futurs du projet

Streptococcus pneumoniae TIGR4 flavodoxin: Structural and biophysical characterization of a novel drug target

Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) strain TIGR4 is a virulent, encapsulated serotype that causes bacteremia, otitis media, meningitis and pneumonia. Increased bacterial resistance and limited efficacy of the available vaccine to some serotypes complicate the treatment of diseases associated to this microorganism. Flavodoxins are bacterial proteins involved in several important metabolic pathways. The Sp flavodoxin (Spfld) gene was recently reported to be essential for the establishment of meningitis in a rat model, which makes SpFld a potential drug target. To facilitate future pharmacological studies, we have cloned and expressed SpFld in E. coli and we have performed an extensive structural and biochemical characterization of both the apo form and its active complex with the FMN cofactor. SpFld is a short-chain flavodoxin containing 146 residues. Unlike the well-characterized long-chain apoflavodoxins, the Sp apoprotein displays a simple two-state thermal unfolding equilibrium and binds FMN with moderate affinity. The X-ray structures of the apo and holo forms of SpFld differ at the FMN binding site, where substantial rearrangement of residues at the 91-100 loop occurs to permit cofactor binding. This work will set up the basis for future studies aiming at discovering new potential drugs to treat S. pneumoniae diseases through the inhibition of SpFld.We acknowledge financial support from BFU2010-16297 and BFU2010-19504 [Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Spain], BFU2013-47064-P, BIO2014-57314-REDT and CTQ2013-44367-C2-2-P [Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain], and DGA (Protein Targets B89). We also thank synchrotron radiation sources DLS (Oxford), and in particular beamline I04-1 (experiment number MX8035-3 and MX8035-11). The research leading to these results has also received funding from the FP7 (2007–2013) under BIOSTRUCTX-7687. A.R.C. was funded by a Banco Santander Central Hispano/Universidad de Zaragoza predoctoral fellowship. M. C-G was recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from the Government of Aragón.Peer Reviewe

Power effect on the properties of copper nitride films as solar absorber deposited in pure nitrogen atmosphere

Nowadays, the copper nitride (Cu3N) is of great interest as a new solar absorber material, flexible and lightweight thin film solar cells. This material is a metastable semiconductor, non-toxic, composed of earth-abundant elements, and its band gap energy can be easily tunable in the range 1.4 to 1.8 eV. For this reason, it has been proposed for many applications in the solar energy conversion field. The main aim of this work is to evaluate the properties of the Cu3N thin films fabricated by reactive radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at different RF power values to determine its potential as light absorber. The Cu3N films were fabricated at room temperature (RT) from a Cu metallic target at the RF power ranged from 25 to 200 W onto different substrates (silicon and glass). The pure nitrogen flux was set to 20 sccm, and the working pressures were set to 3.5 Pa and 5 Pa. The XRD results showed a transition from (100) to (111) preferred orientations when RF power increased; the AFM images revealed a granular morphology, while FTIR and Raman spectra exhibited the characteristics peaks related to Cu-N bonds, which became narrower when the RF power increased. Finally, to stablish the suitability of these films as absorber, the band gap energy was calculated from transmission spectra

An algebraic SU(1,1) solution for the relativistic hydrogen atom

The bound eigenfunctions and spectrum of a Dirac hydrogen atom are found taking advantage of the $SU(1, 1)$ Lie algebra in which the radial part of the problem can be expressed. For defining the algebra we need to add to the description an additional angular variable playing essentially the role of a phase. The operators spanning the algebra are used for defining ladder operators for the radial eigenfunctions of the relativistic hydrogen atom and for evaluating its energy spectrum. The status of the Johnson-Lippman operator in this algebra is also investigated.Comment: to appear in Physics Letters A (2005). We corrected a misprint in page 7, in the paragraph baggining with "With the value of ..." the ground state should be |\lambda, \lambda>, not |\lambda, \lambda+1

Assessing the potential of photosensitizing flavoproteins as tags for correlative microscopy

Photosensitizing flavoproteins have great potential as tags for correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM). We examine the photostability of miniSOG mutants and their ability to photo-oxidize diaminobenzidine, both key aspects for CLEM. Our experiments reveal a complex relation between these parameters and the production of different reactive oxygen species. ¸ 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry