Introduzione

Per comprendere le dinamiche attuali e prospettiche della Mobile Wallet Industry negli USA, ma non solo, occorre soffermarsi sull’intricato intreccio di relazioni che si instaurano tra i diversi attori sul lato della domanda e su quello dell’offerta. Compito, questo, non semplice perché non è agevole l’identificazione univoca dei diversi soggetti che interagiscono in questo ecosistema. Sul lato della domanda bisogna distinguere le due componenti, quella degli user e dei merchant che esprimono preferenze diffe-renti anche se complementari; dall’altro accanto ai provider tradizionali, vi sono anche i merchant, che seppur attivi sul versante demand, possono essere Payment Service Provider

IT Governance: Who Cares More? First Evidence from EU Banks and Supervisors

Even if first scientific research regarding the concept of IT governance was developed in the 1960s, only in the late 1990s did this topic obtain systematic attention from scholars. From then on, the concept of IT governance has become an object of greater attention and has been analysed in the broader context of corporate governance mechanisms. The literature provides various definitions and a range of constructs to describe the concept of IT governance in the form of different structures, processes, domains, facets, and elements, analogous to the study of corporate governance in general. It is important to note however that IT governance merits distinct attention within other corporate governance mechanisms for two reasons: – most organizations in today’s complex and competitive business environment rely heavily on IT to improve operating efficiency and sustain competitive advantage (Mata et al. 1995); – IT governance can help firms to arrange and specify an efficient IT decision making structure for a range of IT-related topics, such as IT investment, IT principles, and IT infrastructure management (Sambamurthy and Zmud 1999; Weill and Ross 2004; Xue et al. 2008, 2011). Therefore, the effective governance of IT can support organizations in generating value-added objectives on top of IT, thereby contributing to the broader objectives of corporate governance (Weill and Ross 2004). IT, as for other industries, is an intrinsic component of banks’ operational functioning too; and has become the backbone of almost all banking processes considering the growing role assumed in: a) supporting management in strategic decisions; b) facilitating the automated control environment on which core banking data are based; c) developing new products and services to compete in the financial markets; and d) the improvement of distribution channels. While IT has emerged as a strategic resource in today’s banking business environment, it can also raise critical issues, such as effective IT decision making and management control, IT investment priorities, and IT risk management. Regarding the latter, one lesson learned from the financial crisis that began in 2008 was that banks’ IT and data architectures were, on the one hand, necessary to improve banks’ efficiency and risk management process, and, on the other, deeply inadequate to support the broad management of financial risks. Banks’ capacity to capture robust data for timely and automated risk identification increasingly relies on data and technology infrastructures. Two are the relationships between risk management and IT that are most relevant: – risk management in banks is increasingly supported by IT: for instance, databases allow the recording and analysis of risk events, systems support models for risk quantification, internal rating models, etc.; – the more that IT penetrates the banking processes, the greater the dependence of business activities on IT, which, in turn, increases the relevance of IT risk management. The lack of the ability of many banks to efficiently and effectively provide Senior Management with a true picture of the risks the organization faces-more evident during the global financial crisis has led to a renewed attention on IT management from regulators. For instance, at the international level BCBS and EBA have intervened defining a set of new rules (e.g. Basel III framework) and guidelines (e.g. Principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting) which affect—albeit indirectly— IT governance. However, regulators do not specifically address banks requisites for effective IT governance and risk management systems, even so these changes likely result in strategy overhaul, process review and IT systems impact on the banking industry. Given the awareness that risk management systems have failed in many cases due to inadequate corporate governance mechanism rather than the failure of IT systems strictu sensu, in this chapter we wish to highlight if banks have begun to ascribe greater importance to the coordinated management of all IT resources, in other words to IT governance. We explore the attention payed to IT governance in four EU countries by a sample of banks and national Supervisors, to point out if, after the crisis, the interest on this topic as well as the level of investments in IT has increased. In contrast to previous studies which use case studies and/or questionnaires to investigate IT governance practices, we base our analysis on banks’ public disclosure. We root our research on the largely shared assumptions that firms with good IT governance tend to disclose more on related mechanisms (e.g. Clarkson et al. 2004). To observe if the attention to IT governance has increased in the last few years, we develop an original descriptive framework of IT governance (ITGF) disclosure tailored to the banking sector. Using the ITGF we perform a content analysis to measure the level of attention on IT governance through the years (2008–2015) and cross countries from both banks and Supervisors. This study, to the extent that constitutes a pilot study, provides several insights into the academic debate within the macro strand of literature on corporate governance mechanisms, and more specifically on the less analysed topic of IT governance focusing on the banking sector. The chapter is organized as follows: Sect. 4.2 provides the background of the research, including the existing literature and development of research questions, Sect. 4.3 describes the research methodology and the sample and data collection, the main results are presented in Sect. 4.4; finally, Sect. 4.5, presents the conclusions and outlines areas for future research

Making the Move: Migrating the Boston College Law School Library

Moving an institutional repository is no small feat. There are costs and benefits to every platform and to the migration process itself. However, Boston College Law Library\u27s partnership with Ubiquity Press has shown that this process can be approachable and create opportunities for improvement and growth of the repository. Members of the Boston College Law Library team will describe our decision process behind making the choice to move and selecting our new platform, outline the migration process itself, and discuss some of the changes that were enabled by this move to improve and modernize our repository

Korelasi antara Kualitas Sistem Informasi Penjualan dengan Kinerja Pengguna

The research aims to determine whether there is a relationship between the quality of sales information systems and user performance. The research method uses survey correlation techniques. Data are collected using a questionnaire previously calibrated to test the validity (product moment) and instrument reliability (Alpha Cronbach). The population used is users of information systems that are sales employees. There is a total sample of 20 people obtained, with Non-Probability Sampling that is saturated sampling / survey. Data analysis is performed using regression techniques of simple linear and simple correlation. Prior to analysis, test of analysis requirements need to be done, which are normality and homogeneity test. The results show acorrelation coefficient of 0:51 or 51% which means that there is a positive relationship on medium level between the Effectiveness of sales Information Systems with Users performance. The coefficient of determination is 0:26or 26%. This means that 26% of the variation in user performance can be explained by the variable Effectiveness of Sales Information Systems. Meanwhile, the remainder which is 74% consists of factors (variables), such as leadership style, work environment, salary and others. It can be concluded from this research that there is a positive correlation (relationship) at medium level which is significant between the Effectiveness of Sales Information System with User Performance, which means that the higher the level of effectiveness of Sales Information System is, the higher the level of user performance will be

Epidermal growth factor receptor silencing blunts the slow force response to myocardial stretch

Background-Myocardial stretch increases force biphasically: the Frank-Starling mechanism followed by the slow force response (SFR). Based on pharmacological strategies, we proposed that epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR or ErbB1) activation is crucial for SFR development. Pharmacological inhibitors could block ErbB4, a member of the ErbB family present in the adult heart. We aimed to specifically test the role of EGFR activation after stretch, with an interference RNA incorporated into a lentiviral vector (small hairpin RNA [shRNA]-EGFR). Methods and Results-Silencing capability of p-shEGFR was assessed in EGFR-GFP transiently transfected HEK293T cells. Four weeks after lentivirus injection into the left ventricular wall of Wistar rats, shRNA-EGFR-injected hearts showed -60% reduction of EGFR protein expression compared with shRNA-SCR-injected hearts. ErbB2 and ErbB4 expression did not change. The SFR to stretch evaluated in isolated papillary muscles was ≈130% of initial rapid phase in the shRNA-SCR group, while it was blunted in shRNA-EGFR-expressing muscles. Angiotensin II (Ang II)-dependent Na+/H+ exchanger 1 activation was indirectly evaluated by intracellular pH measurements in bicarbonate-free medium, demonstrating an increase in shRNA-SCR-injected myocardium, an effect not observed in the silenced group. Ang II- or EGF-triggered reactive oxygen species production was significantly reduced in shRNA-EGFR-injected hearts compared with that in the shRNA-SCR group. Chronic lentivirus treatment affected neither the myocardial basal redox state (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) nor NADPH oxidase activity or expression. Finally, Ang II or EGF triggered a redox-sensitive pathway, leading to p90RSK activation in shRNA-SCR-injected myocardium, an effect that was absent in the shRNA-EGFR group. Conclusions-Our results provide evidence that specific EGFR activation after myocardial stretch is a key factor in promoting the redox-sensitive kinase activation pathway, leading to SFR development.Centro de Investigaciones CardiovascularesFacultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Cognitive Outcomes and Relationships with Phenylalanine in Phenylketonuria: A Comparison between Italian and English Adult Samples

We aimed to assess if the same cognitive batteries can be used cross-nationally to monitor the effect of Phenylketonuria (PKU). We assessed whether a battery, previously used with English adults with PKU (AwPKU), was also sensitive to impairments in Italian AwPKU. From our original battery, we selected a number of tasks that comprehensively assessed visual attention, visuo-motor coordination, executive functions (particularly, reasoning, planning, and monitoring), sustained attention, and verbal and visual memory and learning. When verbal stimuli/or responses were involved, stimuli were closely matched between the two languages for psycholinguistic variables. We administered the tasks to 19 Italian AwPKU and 19 Italian matched controls and compared results from with 19 English AwPKU and 19 English matched controls selected from a previously tested cohort. Participant election was blind to cognitive performance and metabolic control, but participants were closely matched for age and education. The Italian AwPKU group had slightly worse metabolic control but showed levels of performance and patterns of impairment similar to the English AwPKU group. The Italian results also showed extensive correlations between adult cognitive measures and metabolic measures across the life span, both in terms of Phenylalanine (Phe) levels and Phe fluctuations, replicating previous results in English. These results suggest that batteries with the same and/or matched tasks can be used to assess cognitive outcomes across countries allowing results to be compared and accrued. Future studies should explore potential differences in metabolic control across countries to understand what variables make metabolic control easier to achieve

Antioxidant activity in teas, tinctures and essential oils of native species from Patagonia Argentina

Introducción: las plantas aromáticas y medicinales son una fuente potencial de componentes antioxidantes. La Patagonia Argentina presenta un ambiente diverso en especies nativas, las cuales deberían ser estudiadas en mayor profundidad debido a su potencial farmacéutico, así como para contribuir a fomentar su conservación. Objetivos: estudiar la actividad antioxidante de infusiones, tinturas y aceites esenciales de las siguientes especies nativas de la Patagonia Argentina: Acantholippia seriphioides (A. Gray) Moldenke, Adesmia boronioides Hook. f., Buddleja globosa Hope, Fabiana imbricata Ruiz & Pav., Solidago chilensis Meyen. Identificar los componentes volátiles presentes en los aceites esenciales. Métodos: se obtuvieron infusiones y tinturas por la guía de las normas de la Farmacopea Argentina VI edición. Los aceites esenciales se obtuvieron por hidrodestilación con un aparato tipo Clevenger. El análisis de los componentes volátiles se realizó mediante cromatografía de gases-espectrometría de masas. Los ensayos de actividad antioxidante se realizaron por el método del difenil-picrilhidrazilo. Resultados: las especies presentaron el siguiente orden de actividad antioxidante: B. globosa > S. chilensis ≥ F. imbricata ≥ A . seriphioides > A. boronioides. Las infusiones de B. globosa, S. chilensis y A. seriphioides, presentaron una actividad antioxidante similar a Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze (“té verde”) y superior a Ginkgo biloba (L.) Mant (especies reconocidas por su alto contenido de antioxidantes). La actividad encontrada para el aceite esencial de A. seriphioides se deba a sus contenidos en timol y carvacrol. En cuanto a la actividad de S. chilensis podría adjudicarse a su alto porcentaje de limoneno. Conclusiones : este trabajo es el primero que estudia la actividad antioxidante de plantas medicinales y aromáticas en la región noroeste de la Patagonia Argentina; los resultados obtenidos demuestran que las especies estudiadas de dicha región son una fuente rica en compuestos antioxidantes y de potencial valor como suplemento dietario.Introduction: medicinal and aromatic plants have potential as sources of antioxidant compounds. There is a great diversity of native species in Patagonia Argentina. It is worthy to study them because of its pharmaceutical potential and to help promote conservation. Objectives: to analyze antioxidant activities of herbal teas, tinctures and essential oils of native species from Patagonia Argentina: Acantholippia seriphioides (A. Gray) Moldenke, Adesmia boronioides Hook. f., Buddleja globosa Hope, Fabiana imbricata Ruiz & Pav., Solidago chilensis Meyen. Identify essential oils compounds. Methods: infusions and tinctures were obtained according to Pharmacopoeia Argentina VIth edition. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger apparatus. Volatiles compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Antioxidant activity assays were performed by difenil-picrilhidrazilo method. Results: antioxidant activity order was: B. globosa > S. chilensis ≥ F. imbricata ≥ A. seriphioides > A. boronioides. Infusions of B. globosa, S. chilensis and A. seriphioides presented an antioxidant activity similar to Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze ("green tea") and higher than Ginkgo biloba (L.) Mant. The A. seriphioides essential oil activity was probably obeyed to thymol and carvacrol presence. S. chilensis activity could be owing to its high limonene content. Conclusions: this study is the first report about antioxidant activity of medicinal and aromatic plants in the northwest region of Patagonia Argentina. The results showed that analyzed species are a rich source of antioxidant compounds and have potential value as a dietary supplement.Fil: Gastaldi, Bruno. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Assef, Yanina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Van Baren, Catalina Maria. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Di Leo Lira, Paola Maria del Rosario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Retta, Daiana Sabrina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bandoni, Arnaldo Luis. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: González, Silvia Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Challenging Social Media Threats using Collective Well-being Aware Recommendation Algorithms and an Educational Virtual Companion

Social media (SM) have become an integral part of our lives, expanding our inter-linking capabilities to new levels. There is plenty to be said about their positive effects. On the other hand however, some serious negative implications of SM have repeatedly been highlighted in recent years, pointing at various SM threats for society, and its teenagers in particular: from common issues (e.g. digital addiction and polarization) and manipulative influences of algorithms to teenager-specific issues (e.g. body stereotyping). The full impact of current SM platform design -- both at an individual and societal level -- asks for a comprehensive evaluation and conceptual improvement. We extend measures of Collective Well-Being (CWB) to SM communities. As users' relationships and interactions are a central component of CWB, education is crucial to improve CWB. We thus propose a framework based on an adaptive "social media virtual companion" for educating and supporting the entire students' community to interact with SM. The virtual companion will be powered by a Recommender System (CWB-RS) that will optimize a CWB metric instead of engagement or platform profit, which currently largely drives recommender systems thereby disregarding any societal collateral effect. CWB-RS will optimize CWB both in the short term, by balancing the level of SM threat the students are exposed to, as well as in the long term, by adopting an Intelligent Tutor System role and enabling adaptive and personalized sequencing of playful learning activities. This framework offers an initial step on understanding how to design SM systems and embedded educational interventions that favor a more healthy and positive society

Echocardiographic Normal Reference Ranges for Non-invasive Myocardial Work Parameters in Pediatric Age: Results From an International Multi-Center Study

This international multi-center study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of non-invasive myocardial work (MW) parameters in the pediatric population, and to provide normal reference ranges for this useful echocardiographic tool in this specific subset of patients