Online payment systems

RESUMEN: Vivimos en un mundo conectado en el que el comercio electrónico cada vez es más importante. El uso de e-commerce se ha incrementado y forma parte del hábito de compra en nuestro día a día. El comercio electrónico ha sufrido un gran crecimiento tanto en el volumen de transacciones como en la cantidad de usuarios. Como consecuencia los comercios necesitan elegir los medios de pago que ofrecerán a sus clientes, pensando en atraer a un mayor número de consumidores y obteniendo cierta rentabilidad. En el presente trabajo, en primer lugar, se contextualizará el tema objeto de estudio y se desarrollarán conceptos relacionados con el comercio electrónico. Posteriormente se analizarán tanto los medios de pago tradicionales como los nuevos medios de pago online, los cuales tienen más relevancia en la actualidad. En este punto se explicarán las principales características y métodos de funcionamiento, y cómo influyen en el mercado del comercio electrónico. Más adelante se detallarán temas relacionados con la seguridad de dichos medios, la cual debe estar presente para certificar un correcto funcionamiento en las transacciones. Se puntualizará cuestiones sobre la confiabilidad que presentan los consumidores hacia los medios de pago online. Los usuarios deben de tener una suficiente confianza para utilizar los medios de pago y realizar transacciones con los comercios, en caso contrario no será posible establecer un medio de pago online como herramienta de cobro. A continuación, se presentará una comparativa en cuanto al hábito de uso de los sistemas de pago online en España y en Europa. Se presentarán cifras y varios informes y se realizará un breve análisis acerca de ello.Por último, se terminará presentando una serie de conclusiones aprendidas a lo largo de la realización del trabajo.ABSTRACT: Today we live in an “online” world where e-commerce is becoming more and more important through the years. The use of e-commerce has been increased, and we can see it quite often in our daily life.E-commerce has suffered a big increasment both in volume of transactions and number of users. As a result, the enterprises need to choose the payment systems they will offer their customers, in order to attract the most quantity of consumers and get the best profitability.In this project, first of all, we will introduce the main object we are studying, and we will develop other concepts related to e-commerce. After that, both traditional paying systems and new online payment systems will also be developed. At this point, we will explain how they work and the main charactectristics, and the way they affect the e-commerce. Then, issues related to the security of online payments will be detailed. That details must be present to assure the correct working of the transactions. We will deal with questions about the reliability that consumers present towards online payment methods. If customers don’t have confidence in the online payment systems, it won’t be possible to establish this kind of online relations with them.Later on, a comparison will be presented regarding the habit of using online payment systems in Spain and Europe, and we will make an analysis of that.To sum up, we will expose some conclusions we have obtained developing this study.Máster en Empresa y Tecnologías de la Informació

El desarrollo de la identidad lingüística en una lengua adicional en contextos de no inmersión.

En los últimos años, la enseñanza de idiomas ha ido colocando en el centro del proceso de aprendizaje al estudiante, teniendo en cuenta no solo el desarrollo de la competencia lingüística y comunicativa, sino también otros aspectos más individualizados como la competencia intercultural y existencial. Dentro de esta tendencia, destaca el interés por que los aprendientes conecten con la lengua y cultura que están aprendiendo hasta el punto de que sean integradas y adoptadas como propias, lo que entendemos como un proceso de construcción identitaria en esta nueva lengua. Esta tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo principal comprobar si los aprendientes de lenguas adicionales (concretamente el español), cuyo proceso de enseñanza se realiza en contextos de no inmersión lingüística, son capaces de construir su identidad conectada con la lengua y cultura o culturas metas. Para ello, hemos llevado a cabo una investigación de carácter descriptivo con un enfoque mixto (cualitativo – cuantitativo) que hace uso de distintas herramientas metodológicas (encuesta digital, entrevista sociolingüística y dosier). Se ha contado con la participación de 50 informantes de entre 18 y 25 años, que se identifican con el género masculino o femenino y cuyo nivel de domino de lengua es A2 o B según el MCER. La recogida de datos se ha realizado en cinco universidades de tres países diferentes (Bélgica, Polonia y Brasil). En lo referente al análisis de los resultados obtenidos, cabe destacar el bajo nivel de efectividad en las interacciones en lengua meta, llegando solo al 50% del total, debido a problemas comunicativos, pragmáticos o emocionales (los sujetos no son capaces de expresarse acorde a su personalidad e identidad hasta el punto de que prefieren no expresar nada en lengua meta). Teniendo en cuenta la nacionalidad, los sujetos brasileños son los que muestran un mayor desarrollo identitario en español, pues el 40% logra sus objetivos comunicativos y emocionales en 3 o en las 4 situaciones comunicativas en las que les pedimos que interactuasen. En el caso del factor género, son las mujeres las que obtienen un índice de logro comunicativo mayor, llegando al 53,6% de efectividad general en sus intervenciones totales. Por último, observando el nivel de dominio de lengua, son los informantes de nivel B los que obtienen mejores resultados con un 55,3% de efectividad en sus intervenciones en español. Aun así, los resultados están muy lejos de ser positivos, lo que nos indica que hay espacio para la mejora y la reflexión por parte de las comunidades docentes en este ámbito

Recommendations for the measurement of sexual steroids in clinical practice. A position statement of SEQCML/SEEN/SEEP

Immunoassay; Sexual steroids; TestosteroneImmunoassaig; Esteroides sexuals; TestosteronaInmunoensayo; Esteroides sexuales; TestosteronaThe proper clinical approach to a wide range of disorders relies on the availability of accurate, reproducible laboratory results for sexual steroids measured using methods with a high specificity and sensitivity. The chemiluminescent immunoassays currently available have analytical limitations with significant clinical implications. This position statement reviews the current limitations of laboratory techniques for the measurement of estradiol and testosterone and their impact on diverse clinical scenarios. A set of recommendations are provided to incorporate steroid hormone analysis by mass spectrometry in national health systems. International societies have recommended this methodology for a decade

Catálogo (Glosario) de voces y términos de relaciones internacionales y comercio internacional: Herramienta práctica para estudiante de estas disciplinas

Se pretende crear un Catálogo de voces de Relaciones Internacionales y Comercio Internacional sobre los principales temas que componen la agenda internacional del siglo XXI, reforzando el aprendizaje teórico-practico de ambas titulaciones

Prevalence of acromegaly in patients with symptoms of sleep apnea

Acromegaly is a rare disease with nonspecific symptoms with acral enlargement being almost universally present at diagnosis. The estimated prevalence is 40–125 cases/million but targeted universal screening studies have found a higher prevalence (about 10 fold). The aim of the ACROSAHS study was to investigate the prevalence of acromegaly and acromegaly comorbidities in patients with sleep apnea symptoms and acral enlargement. ACROSAHS was a Spanish prospective non-interventional epidemiological study in 13 Hospital sleep referral units. Facial and acral enlargement symptoms including: ring size and shoe size increase, tongue, lips and jaws enlargement, paresthesia or carpal tunnel syndrome and widening of tooth spaces, as well as other typical acromegaly comorbidities were recorded with a self-administered questionnaire of patients who attended a first visit for sleep apnea symptoms between 09/2013 and 07/2014. Serum insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF1) was measured in patients with ≥1 acral symptom to determine the prevalence of acromegaly. Of the 1557 patients enrolled, 1477 with complete data (72% male) were analyzed. 530 patients (36%) reported at least 1 acral enlargement symptom and were tested for IGF-1, 41 were above range, persisted in 7, and among those, 2 cases of acromegaly were diagnosed (prevalence of at least 1.35 cases/1000). Overall, 1019 patients (69%) had ≥2 acromegaly symptoms and should have been screened according to guidelines; moreover 373 patients (25%) had ≥1 symptom of acral enlargement plus ≥3 other acromegaly symptoms. In conclusion, in patients with sleep apnea symptoms and acral enlargement, we found an acromegaly prevalence of at least 1.35 cases per 1000 and a high prevalence of typical acromegaly symptoms. It is important that sleep specialists are aware of acromegaly symptoms to aid with acromegaly diagnosis.The study was investigator initiated and was partially sponsored by Ipsen Pharma, S.A., Spai

Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of pegvisomant for the treatment of acromegaly: a systematic review and economic evaluation

Background: Acromegaly, an orphan disease usually caused by a benign pituitary tumour, is characterised by hyper-secretion of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1). It is associated with reduced life expectancy, cardiovascular problems, a variety of insidiously progressing detrimental symptoms and metabolic malfunction. Treatments include surgery, radiotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Pegvisomant (PEG) is a genetically engineered GH analogue licensed as a third or fourth line option when other treatments have failed to normalise IGF-1 levels. Methods: Evidence about effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of PEG was systematically reviewed. Data were extracted from published studies and used for a narrative synthesis of evidence. A decision analytical economic model was identified and modified to assess the cost-effectiveness of PEG. Results: One RCT and 17 non-randomised studies were reviewed for effectiveness. PEG substantially reduced and rapidly normalised IGF-1 levels in the majority of patients, approximately doubled GH levels, and improved some of the signs and symptoms of the disease. Tumour size was unaffected at least in the short term. PEG had a generally safe adverse event profile but a few patients were withdrawn from treatment because of raised liver enzymes. An economic model was identified and adapted to estimate the lower limit for the cost-effectiveness of PEG treatment versus standard care. Over a 20 year time horizon the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was pound81,000/QALY and pound212,000/LYG. To reduce this to pound30K/QALY would require a reduction in drug cost by about one third. Conclusion: PEG is highly effective for improving patients' IGF-1 level. Signs and symptoms of disease improve but evidence is lacking about long term effects on improved signs and symptoms of disease, quality of life, patient compliance and safety. Economic evaluation indicated that if current standards (UK) for determining cost-effectiveness of therapies were to be applied to PEG it would be considered not to represent good value for money

Prevalence and risk factors of the metabolic syndrome in young adults with childhood-onset hypopituitary growth hormone deficiency

PurposeThis study evaluated the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and risk factors for metabolic derangement in young adults with childhood-onset hypopituitary growth hormone deficiency (ACOHGHD).MethodsThirty patients with ACOHGHD who were treated with hormone-replacement therapy, aged 18 to 29 years, who visited the Seoul National University Children's Hospital between September 2009 and February 2010 were enrolled. Height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and blood pressure were measured, and the clinical and hormonal features were reviewed retrospectively. We evaluated measures of metabolic derangement in the enrolled patients and in the data of healthy adults aged 20 to 29 years taken from the 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) as part of the National Cholesterol Education Program-the Adult Treatment Panel III.ResultsCompared with the KNHANES participants, patients with ACOHGHD had significantly large waist circumference (men and women), high systolic blood pressure (BP) (women) and diastolic BP (men), and high serum triglyceride levels (women). The duration of illness correlated significantly with central obesity (r2=0.546, P=0.003). The prevalence of MetS was 10% in patients with ACOHGHD and 2.3% in KNHANES participants. The prevalence of central obesity and MetS was higher in patients with ACOHGHD than in KNHANES participants (P<0.001 and P=0.042, respectively).ConclusionAbdominal obesity correlated with the duration of illness in patients with ACOHGHD. Waist circumference should be measured in the clinic to prevent MetS, particularly in patients with a long history of ACOHGHD, regardless of age or sex

Molecular characterization of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and medical treatment related-genes in non-functioning pituitary neuroendocrine tumors

Different medical therapies have been developed for pituitary adenomas. However, Non-Functioning Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors (NF-PitNET) have shown little response to them. Furthermore, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been linked to resistance to medical treatment in a significant number of tumors, including pituitary adenomas. We aimed to evaluate the expression of EMT-related markers in 72 NF-PitNET and 16 non-tumoral pituitaries. To further explore the potential usefulness of medical treatment for NF-PitNET we assessed the expression of somatostatin receptors and dopamine-associated genes. We found that SNAI1, SNAI2, Vimentin, KLK10, PEBP1, Ki-67 and SSTR2 were associated with invasive NF-PitNET. Furthermore, we found that the EMT phenomenon was more common in NF-PitNET than in GH-secreting pituitary tumors. Interestingly, PEBP1 was overexpressed in recurrent NF-PitNET, and could predict growth recurrence with 100% sensitivity but only 43% specificity. In parallel with previously reported studies, SSTR3 is highly expressed in our NF-PitNET cohort. However, SSTR3 expression is highly heterogeneous among the different histological variants of NF-PitNET with very low levels in silent corticotroph adenomas. NF-PitNET showed an enhanced EMT phenomenon. SSTR3 targeting could be a good therapeutic candidate in NF-PitNET except for silent corticotroph adenomas, which express very low levels of this receptor. In addition, PEBP1 could be an informative biomarker of tumor regrowth, useful for predictive medicine in NF-PitNET

Low Circulating IGF-I Bioactivity in Elderly Men is associated with Increased Mortality

Context: Low IGF-I signaling activity prolongs lifespan in certain animal models, but the precise role of IGF-I in human survival remains controversial. The IGF-I kinase receptor activation assay (IGF-I KIRA) is a novel method for measuring IGF-I bioactivity in human serum. We speculated that determination of circulating IGF-I bioactivity is more informative than levels of immunoreactive IGFI. Objective: To study IGF-I bioactivity in relation to human survival. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: A clinical research center at a university hospital. Study participants: 376 healthy elderly men (aged 73 to 94 years). Main outcome Measures: IGF-I bioactivity was determined by the IGF-I KIRA. Total and free IGF-I were determined by IGF-I immunoassays. Mortality was registered during follow-up (mean 82 months). Results: During the follow-up period of 8.6 years 170 men (45%) died. Survival of subjects in the highest quartile of IGF-I bioactivity was significantly better than in the lowest quartile, both in the total study group (HR = 1.8, (95% CI: 1.2 − 2.8, p = 0.01) as well as in subgroups having a medical history of cardiovascular disease (HR = 2.4 (95% CI: 1.3 − 4.3, p = 0.003) or a high inflammatory risk profile (HR = 2.3 (95% CI: 1.2 − 4.5, p = 0.01). Significant relationships were not observed for total or free IGF-I. Conclusion: Our study suggests that a relatively high circulating IGF-I bioactivity in elderly men is associated with extended survival and with reduced cardiovascular risk