Trade in financial services : mobile banking in Southern Africa

The report will be discussed at a policy discussion workshop that will being together a select group of policy champions from each of the focus countries to discuss appropriate incentives that encourage innovative bank and non-bank led domestic and international m-banking solutions. In this Introduction, the authors summarize the layout of the report, and then touch upon two over-arching issues that need to be taken into account in reading the report. To set the context for m-banking services in the focus countries, chapter two reviews the demand for m-banking services in Southern Africa, particularly in relation to migrant remittances and cross-border payments of trade-related transactions. This analysis is complemented by some international comparisons set out in annex C. On the supply side, chapter three briefly describes the financial and telecommunications landscape in which the development of m-banking is set. The heart of this study is the country diagnostics set out in annex A, which examine, for each country the regulatory issues that are listed in annex B. For ease of reference, the results of the country diagnostics are summarized in chapter four. The country diagnostics include a number of recommendations to overcome the constraints on the development of accessible m-banking in each country and the region, which are developed further in the draft presentation for the workshop in annex D. The main threads of the key recommendations are brought together and summarized in chapter five.Banks&Banking Reform,Emerging Markets,Access to Finance,E-Business,Remittances

El nuevo modelo andaluz de ordenación territorial estudio teórico-jurídico del Plan de Ordenación Territorial de Andalucía (Decreto 206/2006 de 28 de noviembre)

La Ordenación del Territorio despliega una incidencia constatable en el desarrollo social, económico y medioambiental de una sociedad, así como en la actuación de las Administraciones públicas y de los propios particulares en su relación con el Medio. Así, las diversas bases teórico-conceptuales de la naturaleza, objetivos y principios de la Ordenación Territorial, tienden a configurarla como una herramienta de desarrollo equilibrado de las regiones cuya aspiración se plasma en las diversas (y a veces contrapuestas) concepciones más importantes de la materia existentes en la doctrina actual, siendo la más comúnmente aceptada la contenida en la Carta Europea de Ordenación del Territorio. Por otro lado, la configuración competencial en la materia en la Constitución Española de 1978 (artículo 148.1.3º), se caracteriza por la exclusividad de la misma para las Comunidades Autónomas, lo cual se refleja en su asunción en los Estatutos de Autonomía y sus Leyes autonómicas de Ordenación del Territorio en atención a las singularidades espaciales propias. En este contexto, en la Comunidad Autónoma andaluza se ha desarrollado además una particular tendencia normativa en la materia, ya que de forma contraria a como ha ocurrido en otras Comunidades Autónomas, la Ley de Ordenación del Territorio de Andalucía de 1994 y, casi una década después, el Plan de Ordenación Territorial de Andalucía (POTA), intentan cohesionar y coordinar la ya existente y profusa regulación sectorial. De hecho, el Plan establece los elementos básicos para la organización y usos del espacio andaluz, concretando el mapa de infraestructuras y equipamientos, zonas protegidas, y los límites y criterios de crecimiento urbano, siendo el marco de referencia para la intervención pública en la materia. Destaca en ese sentido la atención a elementos de notable interés jurídico de este instrumento de planificación, como su peculiar procedimiento de elaboración y aprobación, la distribución jerárquica de sus disposiciones o los efectos de su entrada en vigor sobre la planificación urbanística local. Ello evidencia la novedad e importancia que el Plan supone para el conjunto del Ordenamiento Jurídico andaluz, máxime teniendo en cuenta que, consecuentemente, su tardía aprobación supone una situación transitoria de los contenidos de los Planes territoriales de ámbito inferior ya vigentes, con el destacado efecto jurídico de que deberán adaptarse adecuadamente al POT

La fachada de ladrillo en la arquitectura contemporánea

El ladrillo es uno de los materiales más antiguos de la construcción, su uso se remonta a los orígenes de la civilización. El ladrillo ha acompañado en las construcción de grandes imperios y en la edificación de grandes edificios, iconos de la arquitectura moderna. En vista de la importancia a lo largo la historia, resulta algo extraño que el estudio del ladrillo no se haya reconocido como merece. La finalidad de este trabajo es, por un lado, hacer un repaso por la historia del ladrillo desde sus origenes. Y, por otro lado, comprender el uso de este material en el siglo XX y XXI, con algunas de las obras arquitectónica más representativas de este periodo que utilizan el ladrillo como material principal en sus diseños. <br /

IDENTIFICACIÓN DE LOS RIESGOS DE SALUD A LOS QUE SE ENFRENTA EL PERSONAL DE UNA UNIDAD DE INFANTERÍA ACORAZADA

Es conocido que para formar parte del Ejército de Tierra (ET) es necesaria una buena preparación física. Para ello, todos los soldados de las unidades se someten a duros entrenamientos diariamente con el fin de mejorar su instrucción y poder hacer frente a cualquier situación estresante o desfavorable que se le presente. A menudo se desconoce hasta dónde puede llegar este sobreesfuerzo, así como sus consecuencias, que a menudo se derivan en lesiones y otros problemas de salud, algunos de ellas de gravedad que podrían impedir la realización de su trabajo.Una de las especialidades fundamentales del ET es la infantería, que probablemente sea la que más exigencia física requiera, y dentro de la infantería se puede diferenciar entre infantería ligera, infantería mecanizada e infantería acorazada. Cada una de estas exige de una determinada formación y aptitudes. Este trabajo pretende identificar los distintos riesgos de salud a los que debe hacer frente una unidad de infantería acorazada. Los soldados que forman parte de este tipo de unidades realizan actividades propias de la infantería ligera, pero requieren además de un conocimiento más técnico y especifico debido a que su principal misión se desempeña dentro de un carro de combate.El personal de este tipo de unidades se enfrenta a condiciones de trabajo adversas, ya que pasan muchas horas dentro del carro, e incluso días si la misión lo demanda, lo que puede predisponer que sufran algunos problemas médicos incapacitantes. A su vez, la realización de formación física diariamente puede traer consigo sobrecargas o lesiones; aspecto que también será estudiado en este Trabajo de fin de grado. Por todo ello, convendría identificar las causas comunes de las distintas lesiones y riesgos de salud para poder plantear posibles medidas con el fin de reducirlos. <br /

Assessment of regional pulmonary blood flow using Ga-68-DOTA PET

Background: In vivo determination of regional pulmonary blood flow (PBF) is a valuable tool for the evaluation of many lung diseases. In this study, the use of Ga-68-DOTA PET for the in vivo quantitative determination of regional PBF is proposed. This methodology was implemented and tested in healthy pigs and validated using fluorescent microspheres. The study was performed on young large white pigs (n = 4). To assess the reproducibility and consistency of the method, three PET scans were obtained for each animal. Each radiotracer injection was performed simultaneously to the injection of fluorescent microspheres. PBF images were generated applying a two-compartment exchange model over the dynamic PET images. PET and microspheres values were compared by regression analysis and Bland-Altman plot. Results: The capability of the proposed technique to produce 3D regional PBF images was demonstrated. The correlation evaluation between Ga-68-DOTA PET and microspheres showed a good and significant correlation (r = 0.74, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Assessment of PBF with the proposed technique allows combining the high quantitative accuracy of PET imaging with the use of Ga-68/Ge-68 generators. Thus, Ga-68-DOTA PET emerges as a potential inexpensive method for measuring PBF in clinical settings with an extended use.This work was supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (SAF2014-58920-R) and a grant from the Carlos III Institute of Health (FIS-FEDER PI14-01427). C. Velasco is a recipient of a fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU014/01794). S. Espana and A. Santos are recipients of M+Vision Advanced fellowships from the community of Madrid. The CNIC is supported by the MINECO and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MINECO award SEV-2015-0505).S

Phosphatidylcholine-coated iron oxide nanomicelles for in vivo prolonged circulation time with an antibiofouling protein corona

We report the synthesis of micellar phosphatidylcholine-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as a new long circulation contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging. Oleic acid-coated Fe3 O4 nanoparticles were first prepared through thermal degradation and then encapsulated into small clusters with a phosphatidylcholine coating to obtain hydrophilic nanomicelles. A thorough characterization confirmed the chemical nature of the coating and the excellent colloidal stability of these nanomicelles in aqueous media. Magnetization and relaxivity properties proved their suitability as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent and in vitro cell viability data showed low toxicity. Vascular lifetime and elimination kinetics in the liver were assessed by blood relaxometry and by in vivo MRI in rats and compared with "control" particles prepared with a polyethylene glycol derivative. These micellar particles had a lifetime in blood of more than 10 h, much longer than the control nanoparticles (≈2 h), which is remarkable considering that the coating molecule is a small biocompatible zwitterionic phospholipid. The protein corona was characterized after incubation with rat serum at different times by high-throughput proteomics, showing a higher proportion of bound apolipoproteins and other dysopsonins for the phosphatidylcholine particles. The antibiofouling properties of this corona and its resistance to the adsorption of proteins corroborate the observed enhanced stability and prolonged systemic circulation.This study is supported by a grant from FP7 Marie Curie, Pulmonary imaging network (PINET), by Fundacio La Maratode TV3 (70/C/2012) and by a grant from the Comunidad de Madrid (S2010/BMD-2326, Inmunothercan-CM) and by Spanish Economy Ministry (MAT2013-47303-P). We thank E. Urones (Centro Nacional de Microscopia de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid) for the transmission electronic microscopy imaging; P. Morales (Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid) for the thermogravimetric and magnetization analysis and B. Salinas (Fundacion Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares and CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias) for the TEM picture of oleic acid coated Fe3 O4. The authors declare no competing financial interests.S

In vitro and in vivo anti-Candida activity of citral in combination with fluconazole

[EN] Background The ability of Candida to develop biofilms on inert surfaces or living tissues favors recalcitrant and chronic candidiasis associated, in many instances, with resistance to current antifungal therapy. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal activity of citral, a phytocompound present in lemongrass essential oil, in monotherapy and combined with fluconazole against azole-resistant Candida planktonic cells and biofilms. The effect of citral combined with fluconazole was also analysed with regard to the expression of fluconazole resistance-associated genes in Candida albicans and the effectiveness of the combination therapy in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of candidiasis. Results Citral reduced biofilm formation at initial stages and the metabolic activity of the mature biofilm. The combination of citral with fluconazole was synergistic, with a significant increase in the survival of C. elegans infected with Candida. RNA analysis revealed a reduction of the expression of the efflux pump encoded by MDR1, leading to a greater effect of fluconazole. Conclusion Citral in monotherapy and in combination with fluconazole could represent an interesting therapy to treat recalcitrant Candida infections associated to biofilms.This research was supported by Gobierno Vasco-Eusko Jaurlaritza [Eusko Jaurlaritza GIC15/78 IT-990-16] and by Fundacion ONCE "Oportunidad al Talento" and Fondo Social Europeo CM-A [C.M.-A.]; Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de Espan [PID2020-117983RB-I00]

New Biochemical Insights into the Mechanisms of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Humans

Diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is difficult due to the lack of specific clinical symptoms and biomarkers, especially at early stages. We compared plasma metabolic fingerprints of PAH patients (n = 20) with matched healthy volunteers (n = 20) using, for the first time, untargeted multiplatform metabolomics approach consisting of high-performance liquid and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to select metabolites that contribute most to groups' classification (21 from liquid in both ionization modes and 9 from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). We found metabolites related to energy imbalance, such as glycolysis-derived metabolites, as well as metabolites involved in fatty acid, lipid and amino acid metabolism. We observed statistically significant changes in threitol and aminomalonic acid in PAH patients, which could provide new biochemical insights into the pathogenesis of the disease. The results were externally validated on independent case and control cohorts, confirming up to 16 metabolites as statistically significant in the validation study. Multiplatform metabolomics, followed by multivariate chemometric data analysis has a huge potential for explaining pathogenesis of PAH and for searching potential and new more specific and less invasive markers of the disease.This research was supported by the Polish National Science Center (2014/13/N/NZ7/04231), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (SAF2014-58920R), by the Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-funding by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (PI14-01427), and by the quality-promoting subsidy from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland, Leading National Research Centre (KNOW programme 2012-2017). The CNIC is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Pro-CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MINECO award SEV-2015-0505). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.S

New biochemical insights into the mechanisms of pulmonary arterial hypertension in humans

Diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is difficult due to the lack of specific clinical symptoms and biomarkers, especially at early stages. We compared plasma metabolic fingerprints of PAH patients (n = 20) with matched healthy volunteers (n = 20) using, for the first time, untargeted multiplatform metabolomics approach consisting of high-performance liquid and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to select metabolites that contribute most to groups' classification (21 from liquid in both ionization modes and 9 from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). We found metabolites related to energy imbalance, such as glycolysis-derived metabolites, as well as metabolites involved in fatty acid, lipid and amino acid metabolism. We observed statistically significant changes in threitol and aminomalonic acid in PAH patients, which could provide new biochemical insights into the pathogenesis of the disease. The results were externally validated on independent case and control cohorts, confirming up to 16 metabolites as statistically significant in the validation study. Multiplatform metabolomics, followed by multivariate chemometric data analysis has a huge potential for explaining pathogenesis of PAH and for searching potential and new more specific and less invasive markers of the disease