Análisis de la calidad del servicio de agencias de viajes y su relación con la satisfacción y la lealtad : canal tradicional vs. canal digital

[Resumen] El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido analizar la calidad del servicio en las agencias de viajes y su relación con la satisfacción y la lealtad, realizándose simultáneamente una comparativa entre los usuarios del canal tradicional o agencias de viaje tradicionales - o AVT- y agencias de viaje virtuales -o AVV-. Para ello, se ha realizado una revisión de los principales trabajos relacionados con esta temática y una investigación de mercados. La investigación previa ha concluído que una mayor calidad del servicio influye muy positivamente en la satisfacción y a su vez en la lealtad. La influencia de la calidad del servicio sobre la satisfacción será tanto mayor cuanto mayor sea el diferencial entre el cumplimiento de las expectativas –o performance- y las expectativas previamente generadas. Los resultados de la investigación de mercados han confirmado esta premisa. Adicionalmente, se ha contrastado que los usuarios del canal de AVT muestran unas mayores expectativas de calidad, una mayor satisfacción y lealtad que los usuarios del canal virtual. Este hallazgo revela que los costes de cambio, al igual que ha sido demostrado por la investigación previa, son menores en el canal virtual que en el canal tradicional. Asimismo, se ha encontrado un resultado sobresaliente y es que a pesar de que los clientes de agencias de viajes muestran niveles razonables de satisfacción, existe un grupo considerable de usuarios que cambian de agencia y no permanecen en una única entidad. Este dato revela que es necesario potenciar la fidelización de los clientes así como ofrecer nuevos o mejores servicios ya que la predisposición a cambiar es alta. Se trata de implantar una nueva filosofía de gestión como es el marketing relacional. Esta escuela busca incrementar la satisfacción y crear vínculos con el cliente en el largo plazo. Entre los servicios añadidos que los clientes están demandando se pueden destacar una mayor cobertura de riesgos, mayor confidencialidad y una gestión más personal del servicio.[Abstract] This study was aimed to analyse the quality of customer service in travel agencies and its relationship with costumer satisfaction and loyalty, simultaneosly comparing users of traditional distribution channels or TTA (traditional travel agencies) with those of online distribution channels or OTA (online travel agencies). For this purpose, the most relevant studies on this topic were reviewed and a marketing research was carried out. The preliminary research concluded that a higher quality of costumer service has a very positive impact on satisfaction and in turn loyalty. The impact of the quality of customer service on satisfaction will be higher the greater the difference between the costumer´s fulfilled expectations (performance) and the previously generated expectations. This premise was confirmed by the results of the marketing research. In addition, it has been found that users of the TTA channeldemand a higher quality of customer service and show greater satisfaction and loyalty than users of OTAs. This shows that the cost of switching agencies, as it was proved by the preliminary research, is lower in OTAs than in TTAs. It has also been remarkably found that even though customers of travel agencies show reasonable levels of satisfaction, there is a large group of customers who switch agencies and do not remain in just one establishment. This finding reveals the need to enhance customer loyalty and provide new or improved services since there is a strong inclination to switch agencies. Therefore, there is a need to implement a relationship marketing approach, a new management philosophy that seeks to increase customer satisfaction and create links with the customer in the long run. Additional services that can be offered include travel benefits, increased cover against risk, increased confidenciality, and a closer approach in costumer service.Traballo fin de grao (UDC.ECO). ADE. Curso 2014/201

Is location a significant parameter in the layer dependent dissection properties of the aorta?

Proper characterisation of biological tissue is key to understanding the effect of the biomechanical environment in the physiology and pathology of the cardiovascular system. Aortic dissection in particular is a prevalent and sometimes fatal disease that still lacks a complete comprehension of its progression. Its development and outcome, however, depend on the location in the vessel. Dissection properties of arteries are frequently studied via delamination tests, such as the T-peel test and the mixed-mode peel test. So far, a study that performs both tests throughout different locations of the aorta, as well as dissecting several interfaces, is missing. This makes it difficult to extract conclusions in terms of vessel heterogeneity, as a standardised experimental procedure cannot be assured for different studies in literature. Therefore, both dissection tests have been here performed on healthy porcine aortas, dissecting three interfaces of the vessels, i.e., the intima-media, the media-adventitia and the media within itself, considering different locations of the aorta, the ascending thoracic aorta (ATA), the descending thoracic aorta and the infrarenal abdominal aorta (IAA). Significant differences were found for both, layers and location. In particular, dissection forces in the ATA were the highest and the separation of the intima-media interface required significantly the lowest force. Moreover, dissection in the longitudinal direction of the vessel generally required more force than in the circumferential one. These results emphasise the need to characterise aortic tissue considering the specific location and dissected layer of the vessel

Incidencia de factores académicos en el fracaso escolar. Reflexiones derivadas de la experiencia de profesores jubilados

Resumen:El estudio trata el tema del fracaso escolar centrado en el contexto educativo como posible marco generador del mismo, interesando averiguar el papel que tanto la escuela, -en cuanto institución mediante su organización y funcionamiento-, como el profesor, -a través de su actuación en el aula-, puedan jugar en su presencia y desarrollo. Se aborda desde una metodología cualitativa pretendiendo comprender el problema del fracaso escolar en profundidad, situándonos en Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y apoyándonos en relatos de profesores jubilados con amplia experiencia en situaciones de fracaso escolar. Los instrumentos de recogida de datos han sido las entrevistas. El análisis de los datos se ha realizado con ayuda del programa QRS Nvivo 11 Plus. Los resultados presentan posibles factores que, desde las propias instituciones educativas, pueden contribuir a generar fracaso escolar. Aparecen organizados en dos bloques: derivados de la escuela y su organización; derivados de la intervención docente.Resumen: El estudio trata el tema del fracaso escolar centrado en el contexto educativo como posible marco generador del mismo, interesando averiguar el papel que tanto la escuela, -en cuanto institución mediante su organización y funcionamiento-, como el profesor, -a través de su actuación en el aula-, puedan jugar en su presencia y desarrollo. Se aborda desde una metodología cualitativa pretendiendo comprender el problema del fracaso escolar en profundidad, situándonos en Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y apoyándonos en relatos de profesores jubilados con amplia experiencia en situaciones de fracaso escolar. Los instrumentos de recogida de datos han sido las entrevistas. El análisis de los datos se ha realizado con ayuda del programa QRS Nvivo 11 Plus. Los resultados presentan posibles factores que, desde las propias instituciones educativas, pueden contribuir a generar fracaso escolar. Aparecen organizados en dos bloques: derivados de la escuela y su organización; derivados de la intervención docente.Abstract:The study addresses the issue of school failure focused on the educational context as possible under the same generator, interesting to figure out the role that both the school as an institutionin through their organization and operation-, as the teacher, -through its performance in the classroom-, they can play in their presence and development. It is approached from a qualitative methodology pretending to understand the problem of school failure in depth, placing ourselves in Secondary Education and relying on accounts of retired teachers with extensive experience in situations of school failure. The instruments were the interviews. The data analysis was performed using the QRS NVivo 11 Plus program. The results show possible factors, from the educational institutions can contribute to the generation school failure. They are organized in two blocks: derived from the school and its organization; derived from the educational intervention

Incidence of academic factors in school failure. Reflections derived from experience of retired teachers

El estudio trata el tema del fracaso escolar centrado en el contexto educativo como posible marco generador del mismo, interesando averiguar el papel que tanto la escuela, -en cuanto institución mediante su organización y funcionamiento-, como el profesor, -a través de su actuación en el aula-, puedan jugar en su presencia y desarrollo. Se aborda desde una metodología cualitativa pretendiendo comprender el problema del fracaso escolar en profundidad, situándonos en Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y apoyándonos en relatos de profesores jubilados con amplia experiencia en situaciones de fracaso escolar. Los instrumentos de recogida de datos han sido las entrevistas. El análisis de los datos se ha realizado con ayuda del programa QRS Nvivo 11 Plus. Los resultados presentan posibles factores que, desde las propias instituciones educativas, pueden contribuir a generar fracaso escolar. Aparecen organizados en dos bloques: derivados de la escuela y su organización; derivados de la intervención docente.The study addresses the issue of school failure focused on the educational context as possible under the same generator, interesting to figure out the role that both the school as an institution-in through their organization and operation-, as the teacher, -through its performance in the classroom-, they can play in their presence and development. It is approached from a qualitative methodology pretending to understand the problem of school failure in depth, placing ourselves in Secondary Education and relying on accounts of retired teachers with extensive experience in situations of school failure. The instruments were the interviews. The data analysis was performed using the QRS NVivo 11 Plus program. The results show possible factors, from the educational institutions can contribute to the generation school failure. They are organized in two blocks: derived from the school and its organization; derived from the educational intervention.Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Didáctica y Organización Escolar. Grupo FORCE (HUM386

The antihypertensive drug hydralazine activates the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis and causes DNA damage in leukemic T cells

Epigenetic therapies have emerged as promising anticancer approaches, since epigenetic modifications play a major role in tumor initiation and progression. Hydralazine, an approved vasodilator and antihypertensive drug, has been recently shown to act as a DNA methylation inhibitor. Even though hydralazine is already tested in clinical cancer trials, its mechanism of antitumor action remains undefined. Here, we show that hydralazine induced caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death in human p53-mutant leukemic T cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that hydralazine triggered the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis by inducing Bak activation and loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Hydralazine treatment further resulted in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, whereas a superoxide dismutase mimetic inhibited hydralazine-induced cell death. Interestingly, caspase-9-deficient Jurkat cells or Bcl-2- and Bcl-xL-overexpressing cells were strongly resistant to hydralazine treatment, thereby demonstrating the dependence of hydralazine-induced apoptosis on the mitochondrial death pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrate that hydralazine treatment triggered DNA damage which might contribute to its antitumor effect.Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia, Junta de Andalucía (Grant CTS-6183, Proyectos de Investigación de Excelencia 2010)University of Granada (Grant PP2012-PI13, Proyectos de Investigación Precompetitivos del Plan Propio

The 4q25 variant rs13143308T links risk of atrial fibrillation to defective calcium homoeostasis

Aims: Single nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 4q25 have been associated with risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) but the exiguous knowledge of the mechanistic links between these risk variants and underlying electrophysiological alterations hampers their clinical utility. Here, we tested the hypothesis that 4q25 risk variants cause alterations in the intracellular calcium homoeostasis that predispose to spontaneous electrical activity. Methods and results: Western blotting, confocal calcium imaging, and patch-clamp techniques were used to identify mechanisms linking the 4q25 risk variants rs2200733T and rs13143308T to defects in the calcium homoeostasis in human atrial myocytes. Our findings revealed that the rs13143308T variant was more frequent in patients with AF and that myocytes from carriers of this variant had a significantly higher density of calcium sparks (14.1¿±¿4.5 vs. 3.1¿±¿1.3 events/min, P¿=¿0.02), frequency of transient inward currents (ITI) (1.33¿±¿0.24 vs. 0.26¿±¿0.09 events/min, P¿<¿0.001) and incidence of spontaneous membrane depolarizations (1.22¿±¿0.26 vs. 0.56¿±¿0.17 events/min, P¿=¿0.001) than myocytes from patients with the normal rs13143308G variant. These alterations were linked to higher sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium loading (10.2¿±¿1.4 vs. 7.3¿±¿0.5¿amol/pF, P¿=¿0.01), SERCA2 expression (1.37¿±¿0.13 fold, P¿=¿0.03), and RyR2 phosphorylation at ser2808 (0.67¿±¿0.08 vs. 0.47¿±¿0.03, P¿=¿0.01) but not at ser2814 (0.28¿±¿0.14 vs. 0.31¿±¿0.14, P¿=¿0.61) in patients carrying the rs13143308T risk variant. Furthermore, the presence of a risk variant or AF independently increased the ITI frequency and the increase in the ITI frequency observed in carriers of the risk variants was exacerbated in those with AF. By contrast, the presence of a risk variant did not affect the amplitude or properties of the L-type calcium current in patients with or without AF. Conclusions: Here, we identify the 4q25 variant rs13143308T as a genetic risk marker for AF, specifically associated with excessive calcium release and spontaneous electrical activity linked to increased SERCA2 expression and RyR2 phosphorylation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Gelsilox: a novel strategy for the study of dynamics alteration in the thiol redox proteome

Comunicaciones a congreso

Standardization of the dimensions of a portable weighing lysimeter designed to be applied to vegetable crops in Mediterranean climates

The progress made in developing information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the fact that water resources are becoming increasingly scarce make precision agriculture a very valuable tool for efficient and sustainable crop management, particularly for irrigation and fertilisation. In line with this, the water balance estimate is considered one of the most accurate methods for estimating crops’ water requirements. The Agromotic Engineering and Sea Research Group of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Spain) has worked in this direction to obtain portable weighing lysimeters with improved functions compared to traditional measurement systems. This study analysed the most important vegetable crops in south-eastern Spain to standardise suitable dimensions so that these portable weighing lysimeters can monitor practically all of today’s vegetable and herbaceous crops in Mediterranean climates. The dimensions established for the cultivation tank are 150 cm long, 45 cm wide, and 50 cm deep, with an equipment resolution of up to 0.09 mm expressed as water lamina. The validation over seven irrigation events established that the structural system achieved here allows precise monitoring of the water exchanges produced in the cultivation tank, so this portable weighing lysimeter can be useful for the efficient management of fertigationResearch and development project with reference IDI-20190146, entitled “Development and implementation of a weighing lysimeter ferticontrol equipment for use in intensive agriculture”, in collaboration with the company AGROSOLMEN, S.L., cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Spanish Multiregional Operational Programme 2014–2020. Preciriego (RTC-2017-6365-2) project co-financed by FEDER and AEI-Spain

Diseño de un sistema de microfluídica para la simulación de la formación de la placa de ateroma

The aim of this work is to design a microfluidic device that reproduces the different conditions and parameters of blood flow that appear both in the physiological range of a coronary artery and in the pathological range, in the process of generation and development of an atheroma plaque.El objetivo de este trabajo es el diseño de un dispositivo de microfluídica que reproduzca las diferentes condiciones y parámetros del flujo sanguíneo que aparecen tanto en el rango fisiológico de una arteria coronaria como en el patológico, en el proceso de generación y desarrollo de la placa de ateroma

Mirador basado en la tecnología Realidad Aumentada para su ubicación en yacimientos arqueológicos

[ES] La finalidad de esta comunicación es la introducción al mundo de la realidad aumentada para su utilización de forma práctica en el ámbito de la puesta en valor de los conjuntos arqueológicos. De esta forma, se hace un recorrido por los estudios más significativos que se han realizado en este campo. A continuación, se propone el Mirador basado en la tecnología Realidad Mezclada o Aumentada como una solución concreta y factible para su ubicación en determinados puntos estratégicos de yacimientos arqueológicos. Finalmente se concluye indicando las ventajas y el valor añadido que aporta dicho sistema al campo de la arqueología.[EN] The purpose of this communication is the introduction to the world of the augmented reality for its use in a practical way for conferring value to archaeological sites. In this way, we make a revision of the most significant researches that have been done in this field. Then, we propose the ViewPoint based on the Augmented or Mixed Reality technology: a specific solution for its location in strategic places on archaeological sites. Finally, we conclude showing the added value and advantages that this system provides to the field of archaeology.Acién Martínez, F.; Barrios Aragón, E.; Ruiz Aguilar, A.; Vázquez Fernández-Baca, JL. (2010). Mirador basado en la tecnología Realidad Aumentada para su ubicación en yacimientos arqueológicos. Virtual Archaeology Review. 1(2):47-49. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2010.4685OJS474912ALONSO, N., BALAGUER, A., BORI, S., FERRÉ, G., JUNYENT, E., LAFUENTE, A., LÓPEZ, J.B., LORÉS, J., MUÑOZ, D., SENDÍN, M. Y TARTERA, E. (2001): "Análisis de escenarios de futuro en realidad aumentada. Aplicación al yacimiento arqueológico de Els Vilars", Actas Interacción Persona-Ordenador (INTERACCIÓN'2001), Salamanca, 2001.DÄHNE, P., KARIGIANNIS, J., (2002) "Archeoguide: System Architecture of a Mobile Outdoor Augmented Reality System," ismar,pp.263, International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR'02), 2002 http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ismar.2002.111510