Structural Capital Management: A Guide For Indicators

Intellectual Capital is of vital importance, both for the scientific community and business reality. For this reason, over the past decades its relevance has rapidly increased. Within Intellectual Capital (from here on IC), Structural Capital (from here on, SC) plays an outstanding paper, given that is represents the part of knowledge that the organization is able to explicit, systematize and internalize and that, initially, is latent in employees or teams. This type of capital allows for organizational effectiveness improvement through the transmission of knowledge.The objectives of this paper is, first, to identify the elements of IC that help to guarantee the success of companies belonging to a given sector, paying special attention to the contributions of SC to IC. Second, and after observing that most existing papers are centered only on the measurement of SC and, therefore, leave aside elements regarding its management, our proposal fills this gap and includes various general indicators for SC that may help to manage it adequately. The basic aim is to allow managers themselves to choose the most adequate indicators within those presented, taking into account, of course, characteristics, objectives and strategies of the companies they manage

New Plaster Composite with Mineral Wool Fibres from CDW Recycling

Over the last decade the intense activity of the building sector has generated large quantities of construction and demolition waste (CDW). In particular, in Europe around 890 million tons of CDW is generated every year; however, only 50% of them are recycled. In Spain, over the last years 40 millions of tons of construction and demolition waste have been generated. On the other hand, since the implementation of the Technical Building Code regulation the use of mineral wools as building insulation materials has become a widespread solution in both rehabilitation and new construction works, and because of that, this kind of insulation waste is increasing. This research analyzes the potential of a new composite (gypsum and fiber waste) including several mineral wools waste into a plaster matrix. For this purpose, an experimental plan, characterizing the physical and mechanical behaviour as well as the Shore C hardness of the new composite, was elaborated fulfilling UNE Standards

Abnormal expression of cerebrospinal fluid cation chloride cotransporters in patients with Rett Syndrome

Objective: Rett Syndrome is a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder caused mainly by mutations in the gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2. The relevance of MeCP2 for GABAergic function was previously documented in animal models. In these models, animals show deficits in brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease. Neuronal Cation Chloride Cotransporters (CCCs) play a key role in GABAergic neuronal maturation, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor is implicated in the regulation of CCCs expression during development. Our aim was to analyse the expression of two relevant CCCs, NKCC1 and KCC2, in the cerebrospinal fluid of Rett syndrome patients and compare it with a normal control group. Methods: The presence of bumetanide sensitive NKCC1 and KCC2 was analysed in cerebrospinal fluid samples from a control pediatric population (1 day to 14 years of life) and from Rett syndrome patients (2 to 19 years of life), by immunoblot analysis. Results: Both proteins were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid and their levels are higher in the early postnatal period. However, Rett syndrome patients showed significantly reduced levels of KCC2 and KCC2/NKCC1 ratio when compared to the control group. Conclusions: Reduced KCC2/NKCC1 ratio in the cerebrospinal fluid of Rett Syndrome patients suggests a disturbed process of GABAergic neuronal maturation and open up a new therapeutic perspective

ADSORCION DE DIOXIDO DE CARBONO Y AMONIACO EN UN CARBONIZADO DE CASCARON DE COCO

Las caracteristicas adsortivas de an carbon activado dependen en gran medida do una serie de formatos como: materia prima y carbonizado obtenido de la misma, temperatura de activación, agente activante, tiempo de activación1-4 etc. En nuestro laboratorio se han caracterizado carbones activados (CA) procedentes de diferentes materias primas 54. De uno de ellos (obtenido por activación física, en flujo de aire y vapor de agua8, de un precarbonizado de cascarón de coco) se publicaron Ios resultados de la adsorión de amoniaco. En el presente se comunican los resultados de la adsorción de NH3 y CO2 (no estudiada anteriormente) que se hicieron al precarbonizado (CP) a partir del cual se obtuvo el carbón activado antes de mencionado8

Can the Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) Be Used as a Suicide Risk Scale? An Exploratory Study

The objective of this research was to examine whether the Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale, a life event scale, can be used to identify suicide attempters. The Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale\u27s ability to identify suicide attempters was tested in 1183 subjects (478 suicide attempters, 197 psychiatric inpatients, and 508 healthy controls) using the Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis and traditional psychometric methods. The Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis outperformed traditional psychometric approaches (area under the curve: 0.85 vs. 0.78; p \u3c 0.05) and indicated that this scale may be used to identify suicide attempters. The life events that better characterized suicide attempters were change in frequency of arguments, marital separation, and personal injury. The Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale may help identify suicide attempters

Exposure to Morphine and Cocaine Modify the Transcriptomic Landscape in Zebrafish Embryos

Morphine and other opioid analgesics are the drugs of election to treat moderate-to-severe pain, and they elicit their actions by binding to the opioid receptors. Cocaine is a potent inhibitor of dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline reuptake, as it blocks DAT, the dopamine transporter, causing an increase in the local concentration of these neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft. The molecular effects of these drugs have been studied in specific brain areas or nuclei, but the systemic effects in the whole organism have not been comprehensively analyzed. This study aims to analyze the transcriptomic changes elicited by morphine (10 uM) and cocaine (15 uM) in zebrafish embryos. An RNAseq assay was performed with tissues extracts from zebrafish embryos treated from 5 hpf (hours post fertilization) to 72 hpf, and the most representative deregulated genes were experimentally validated by qPCR. We have found changes in the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism, chemokine receptor ligands, visual system, hemoglobins, and metabolic detoxification pathways. Besides, morphine and cocaine modified the global DNA methylation pattern in zebrafish embryos, which would explain the changes in gene expression elicited by these two drugs of abuse.post-print3160 K

Televisión digital en 2010: El reto de la interoperabilidad

En este artículo se plantea la situación actual de despliegue de la televisión digital en España desde el punto de vista de la necesaria interoperabilidad que debe haber entre los eslabones de la cadena de valor en un mercado horizontal, con especial atención, por una parte, a la navegación y la presentación de la información de programación y, por otra, a la accesibilidad de las personas con discapacidad. Los patentes problemas de interoperabilidad existentes se han producido a pesar de la existencia de un completo conjunto de disposiciones legales y normas técnicas, lo que sugiere la necesidad además de laboratorios de interoperabilidad que supongan un punto de encuentro entre los actores del sector, con el apoyo de las administraciones públicas (Utray 2009: 211‐225

The Spanish Epidemological Surveillance Services webpages as an information dissemination tool in 2006

BACKGROUND: Taking into account that one of the Spanish National Epidemological Surveillance Network's missions is that of providing information for taking action, it is then absolutely essential that its information be disseminated in a timely manner. This study is aimed at ascertaining what information is being published on the National Epidemology Center webpages and on those of the Municipal and Autonomous Community Epidemiological Surveillance Services and assessing the timeliness of the information published. METHODS: A review was conducted of the contents of the Surveillance Services webpages of April 3 - May 5, 2006. The information was considered to be "timely" if the information read on the webpage during Week 17 provided the epidemological week 15 bulletin. RESULTS: A total of ninety percent (90%) of the Services have a webpage, fifty percent (50%) of which provide the listing of the compulsorily reportable disease and the case definition, a total of 44% having protocols for taking action and 11% having dynamic tables. The epidemological bulletins can be accessed via eight-three percent (83%) of the pages, six percent of which are updated in a timely manner. A total of seventy-seven (77%) of the pages provide weekly influenza information, seventy-eight percent (78%) in week 15. A total seventy-two percent (72%) have a search system as well as links to other Surveillance Services. CONCLUSIONS: The information provided by the Epidemological Surveillance Services has been found to vary to a certain degree. Influenza information is being disseminated in a timely manner, this however not being the case for the Epidemiological Bulletin. Fundamento: Teniendo en cuenta que una de las misiones de la Red Nacional de Vigilancia Epidemiológica es aportar información para la acción, se hace imprescindible su difusión en tiempo oportuno. El objetivo de este trabajo es conocer el contenido de las páginas web del Centro Nacional de Epidemiología y de los Servicios de Vigilancia Epidemiológica de las Ciudades y Comunidades Autónomas y evaluar su oportunidad en el tiempo. Métodos: Se realizó una revisión del contenido de las páginas web de los Servicios de Vigilancia durante el período del 3 de abril al 5 de mayo de 2006. La difusión de la información se consideró «en tiempo oportuno» si la consulta durante la semana 17 ofrecía el boletín de la semana epidemiológica 15. Resultados: El 90% de los Servicios de Vigilancia epidemiológica tiene página web. El 50% ofrece el listado de las enfermedades de declaración obligatoria y la definición de caso. Protocolos de actuación el 44% y tablas dinámicas el 11%. En el 83% de las páginas se tiene acceso a los boletines epidemiológicos, el 6% está actualizado en tiempo oportuno. El 77% de las páginas ofrece la información semanal de la gripe y de ellas el 78% en la semana 15. El 72% tiene un sistema de búsqueda, así como enlaces con otros Servicios de Vigilancia. Conclusiones: La información difundida por los Servicios de Vigilancia Epidemiológica a través de las páginas web es variable. Es oportuna la difusión de la información de la gripe, no así para el Boletín Epidemiológico

Personality Disorders and Health Problems Distinguish Suicide Attempters from Completers in a Direct Comparison

Background Whether suicide attempters and completers represent the same population evaluated at different points along a progression towards suicide death, overlapping populations, or completely different populations is a problem still unresolved. Methods 446 Adult suicide attempters and knowledgeable collateral informants for 190 adult suicide probands were interviewed. Sociodemographic and clinical data was collected for both groups using semi-structured interviews and structured assessments. Univariate analyses and logistic regression models were conducted to explore the similarities and differences between suicide attempters and completers. Results Univariate analyses yielded significant differences in sociodemographics, recent life events, impulsivity, suicide intent, and distribution of Axis I and II disorders. A logistic regression model aimed at distinguishing suicide completers from attempters properly classified 90% of subjects. The most significant variables that distinguished suicide from attempted suicide were the presence of narcissistic personality disorder (OR=21.4; 95% CI=6.8–67.7), health problems (OR=20.6; 95% CI=5.6–75.9), male sex (OR=9.6; 95% CI=4.42–20.9), and alcohol abuse (OR=5.5; 95% CI=2.3–14.2). Limitations Our study shares the limitations of studies comparing suicide attempters and completers, namely that information from attempters can be obtained from the subject himself, whereas the assessment of completers depends on information from close family or friends. Furthermore, different semi-structured instruments assessed Axis I and Axis II disorders in suicide attempters and completers. Finally, we have no data on inter-rater reliability data. Conclusions Suicide completers are more likely to be male and suffer from alcohol abuse, health problems (e.g. somatic illness), and narcissistic personality disorder. The findings emphasize the importance of implementing suicide prevention programs tailored to suicide attempters and completers

Stability of childhood anxiety disorder diagnoses: a follow-up naturalistic study in psychiatric care

Few studies have examined the stability of major psychiatric disorders in pediatric psychiatric clinical populations. The objective of this study was to examine the long-term stability of anxiety diagnoses starting with pre-school age children through adolescence evaluated at multiple time points. Prospective cohort study was conducted of all children and adolescents receiving psychiatric care at all pediatric psychiatric clinics belonging to two catchment areas in Madrid, Spain, between 1 January, 1992 and 30 April, 2006. Patients were selected from among 24,163 children and adolescents who received psychiatric care. Patients had to have a diagnosis of an ICD-10 anxiety disorder during at least one of the consultations and had to have received psychiatric care for the anxiety disorder. We grouped anxiety disorder diagnoses according to the following categories: phobic disorders, social anxiety disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), stress-related disorders, and "other" anxiety disorders which, among others, included generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Complementary indices of diagnostic stability were calculated. As much as 1,869 subjects were included and had 27,945 psychiatric/ psychological consultations. The stability of all ICD-10 anxiety disorder categories studied was high regardless of the measure of diagnostic stability used. Phobic and social anxiety disorders showed the highest diagnostic stability, whereas OCD and "other" anxiety disorders showed the lowest diagnostic stability. No significant sex differences were observed on the diagnostic stability of the anxiety disorder categories studied. Diagnostic stability measures for phobic, social anxiety, and "other" anxiety disorder diagnoses varied depending on the age at first evaluation. In this clinical pediatric outpatient sample it appears that phobic, social anxiety, and stress-related disorder diagnoses in children and adolescents treated in community outpatient services may have high diagnostic stability