Antecedents and consequences of bank reputation: a comparison of the United Kingdom and Spain

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to identify the key antecedents and consequences of bank reputation and whether their relative importance varies across countries. Design /methodological approach – The sample consists of 900 bank customers, representative of the national populations in the United Kingdom (500) and Spain (400), two of the countries in which the weight of the financial system on the GDP is much bigger than that of other European countries. The research hypotheses were tested by conducting a multi-group analysis with covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM). Findings: – In contrast with previous studies, it was discovered that the most important cognitive antecedent of banks’ reputation is reliability/financial strength. This study reinforces the prominence of satisfaction as a key emotional aspect of reputation. Differences between the United Kingdom and Spain were found in the impact of employer branding and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The positive effect of bank reputation on consumer behaviour (loyalty and word of mouth) and the existence of cross-country differences as regards loyalty were also confirmed. Originality/value: – This is a systematic cross-country analysis of corporate reputation which includes not only cognitive antecedents but also emotional determinants that have been repeatedly ignored. This paper sheds light on whether the antecedents and consequences of corporate reputation vary across countries. The choice of the banking sector provides a unique opportunity to observe the determinants and outcomes of corporate reputation following an unstable time in the banking sector

Improved flexibility and equity for airspace users during demand-capacity imbalance - an introduction to the user-driven prioritisation process

ATFM slot-swapping represents the first step towards the participation of airspace users (AUs) in air traffic management and airport collaborative processes. SESAR is advancing this through development of the user driven prioritisation process (UDPP) to achieve additional flexibility for AUs to adapt their operations in a more cost-efficient manner in the presence of unforeseen demand and capacity imbalances that require the application of delays to flights. The contribution of this paper is twofold: (i) to present the challenges achieved so far with respect to UDPP concepts, in particular regarding fleet delay apportionment and selective flight protection; (ii) to pave the way towards future UDPP concepts through the introduction of enhanced selective flight protection

On algebraic construction of certain integrable and super-integrable systems

We propose a new construction of two-dimensional natural bi-Hamiltonian systems associated with a very simple Lie algebra. The presented construction allows us to distinguish three families of super-integrable monomial potentials for which one additional first integral is quadratic, and the second one can be of arbitrarily high degree with respect to the momenta. Many integrable systems with additional integrals of degree greater than two in momenta are given. Moreover, an example of a super-integrable system with first integrals of degree two, four and six in the momenta is found.Comment: 37 page

Fractura de quinta vértebra lumbar : nueva técnica de reducción

En este trabajo pretendemos describir una técnica de fijación externa, con la que se reduce e inmoviliza una fractura en la quinta vertebral lumbar. Usamos un fijador externo tipo II doble de Meynar.In this essay we want to describe a method of external fixation by which you can fixate and inmobilize afracture in the 5th lumbar vertebrae. We use the double external fixators type II of Meynar

Aportes al diagnóstico ecográfico : 17 casos

En este trabajo se relacionan diecisiete casos, con los cuales queremos mostrar las grandes posibilidades de la ecografía como medio de diagnóstico, en las distintas patologías que en él se citan.In this work we find seventeen cases correlated, with which we want to show the great diagnostic possibilities of the echography as well as the source of information it proves to be for the different pathologies mentioned

A simple example of "Quantum Darwinism": Redundant information storage in many-spin environments

As quantum information science approaches the goal of constructing quantum computers, understanding loss of information through decoherence becomes increasingly important. The information about a system that can be obtained from its environment can facilitate quantum control and error correction. Moreover, observers gain most of their information indirectly, by monitoring (primarily photon) environments of the "objects of interest." Exactly how this information is inscribed in the environment is essential for the emergence of "the classical" from the quantum substrate. In this paper, we examine how many-qubit (or many-spin) environments can store information about a single system. The information lost to the environment can be stored redundantly, or it can be encoded in entangled modes of the environment. We go on to show that randomly chosen states of the environment almost always encode the information so that an observer must capture a majority of the environment to deduce the system's state. Conversely, in the states produced by a typical decoherence process, information about a particular observable of the system is stored redundantly. This selective proliferation of "the fittest information" (known as Quantum Darwinism) plays a key role in choosing the preferred, effectively classical observables of macroscopic systems. The developing appreciation that the environment functions not just as a garbage dump, but as a communication channel, is extending our understanding of the environment's role in the quantum-classical transition beyond the traditional paradigm of decoherence.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, RevTex 4. Submitted to Foundations of Physics (Asher Peres Festschrift

Comparative pan-genome analysis of Piscirickettsia salmonis reveals genomic divergences within genogroups

Indexación: Scopus.Piscirickettsia salmonis is the etiological agent of salmonid rickettsial septicemia, a disease that seriously affects the salmonid industry. Despite efforts to genomically characterize P. salmonis, functional information on the life cycle, pathogenesis mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment, and control of this fish pathogen remain lacking. To address this knowledge gap, the present study conducted an in silico pan-genome analysis of 19 P. salmonis strains from distinct geographic locations and genogroups. Results revealed an expected open pan-genome of 3,463 genes and a core-genome of 1,732 genes. Two marked genogroups were identified, as confirmed by phylogenetic and phylogenomic relationships to the LF-89 and EM-90 reference strains, as well as by assessments of genomic structures. Different structural configurations were found for the six identified copies of the ribosomal operon in the P. salmonis genome, indicating translocation throughout the genetic material. Chromosomal divergences in genomic localization and quantity of genetic cassettes were also found for the Dot/Icm type IVB secretion system. To determine divergences between core-genomes, additional pan-genome descriptions were compiled for the so-termed LF and EM genogroups. Open pan-genomes composed of 2,924 and 2,778 genes and core-genomes composed of 2,170 and 2,228 genes were respectively found for the LF and EM genogroups. The core-genomes were functionally annotated using the Gene Ontology, KEGG, and Virulence Factor databases, revealing the presence of several shared groups of genes related to basic function of intracellular survival and bacterial pathogenesis. Additionally, the specific pan-genomes for the LF and EM genogroups were defined, resulting in the identification of 148 and 273 exclusive proteins, respectively. Notably, specific virulence factors linked to adherence, colonization, invasion factors, and endotoxins were established. The obtained data suggest that these genes could be directly associated with inter-genogroup differences in pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions, information that could be useful in designing novel strategies for diagnosing and controlling P. salmonis infection. © 2017 Nourdin-Galindo, Sánchez, Molina, Espinoza-Rojas, Oliver, Ruiz, Vargas-Chacoff, Cárcamo, Figueroa, Mancilla, Maracaja-Coutinho and Yañez.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00459/ful

Improving the Accuracy of a Two-Stage Algorithm in Evolutionary Product Unit Neural Networks for Classification by Means of Feature Selection

This paper introduces a methodology that improves the accuracy of a two-stage algorithm in evolutionary product unit neural networks for classification tasks by means of feature selection. A couple of filters have been taken into consideration to try out the proposal. The experimentation has been carried out on seven data sets from the UCI repository that report test mean accuracy error rates about twenty percent or above with reference classifiers such as C4.5 or 1-NN. The study includes an overall empirical comparison between the models obtained with and without feature selection. Also several classifiers have been tested in order to illustrate the performance of the different filters considered. The results have been contrasted with nonparametric statistical tests and show that our proposal significantly improves the test accuracy of the previous models for the considered data sets. Moreover, the current proposal is much more efficient than a previous methodology developed by us; lastly, the reduction percentage in the number of inputs is above a fifty five, on average.MICYT TIN2007-68084-C02-02MICYT TIN2008-06681-C06-03Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-374

The Proteome of Biologically Active Membrane Vesicles from Piscirickettsia salmonis LF-89 Type Strain Identifies Plasmid-Encoded Putative Toxins

Indexación: Scopus.Piscirickettsia salmonis is the predominant bacterial pathogen affecting the Chilean salmonid industry. This bacterium is the etiological agent of piscirickettsiosis, a significant fish disease. Membrane vesicles (MVs) released by P. salmonis deliver several virulence factors to host cells. To improve on existing knowledge for the pathogenicity-associated functions of P. salmonis MVs, we studied the proteome of purified MVs from the P. salmonis LF-89 type strain using multidimensional protein identification technology. Initially, the cytotoxicity of different MV concentration purified from P. salmonis LF-89 was confirmed in an in vivo adult zebrafish infection model. The cumulative mortality of zebrafish injected with MVs showed a dose-dependent pattern. Analyses identified 452 proteins of different subcellular origins; most of them were associated with the cytoplasmic compartment and were mainly related to key functions for pathogen survival. Interestingly, previously unidentified putative virulence-related proteins were identified in P. salmonis MVs, such as outer membrane porin F and hemolysin. Additionally, five amino acid sequences corresponding to the Bordetella pertussis toxin subunit 1 and two amino acid sequences corresponding to the heat-labile enterotoxin alpha chain of Escherichia coli were located in the P. salmonis MV proteome. Curiously, these putative toxins were located in a plasmid region of P. salmonis LF-89. Based on the identified proteins, we propose that the protein composition of P. salmonis LF-89 MVs could reflect total protein characteristics of this P. salmonis type strain. © 2017 Oliver, Hernández, Tandberg, Valenzuela, Lagos, Haro, Sánchez, Ruiz, Sanhueza-Oyarzún, Cortés, Villar, Artigues, Winther-Larsen, Avendaño-Herrera and Yáñez.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00420/ful