Adaptive Governance Model with a Sociotechnical Approach

Digitalisation is imposing a strong pace of change on the business ecosystem, which implies the need for an adaptive governance model that moves away from the mechanistic approach of Command & Control. In this sense, we have considered complexity thinking and sociotechnical systems design as the key elements for designing such a governance model. Using an action-research approach with international Spanish organisations, we have developed a governance model based on Agile Portfolio Management. Our conclusions show that it is possible to use this approach to create an adaptive governance model, which allows to take on business transformation initiatives, regardless of their level of complexity. At the same time, the organisation is encouraged to embrace a new working mindset, one that is more organic, more transparent and gives autonomy to staf

Los sistemas de información geográfica en turismo

[Resumo] A internet converteuse nun dos lugares máis populares para publicar e buscar case calquera tipo de información. En particular, a información turística gañou moita atención na rede durante os últimos anos, e non só a información sobre viaxes, recursos, lugares, museos ou monumentos, senón tamén sobre turismo cultural. Neste artigo presentamos as posibilidades que ofrecen os sistemas de información xeográfica (SIX) para a publicación de información turística e o acceso a ela, a través de interfaces coa capacidade de xerar mapas interactivos que presenten información asociada a cada elemento de interese que apareza neles. Ademais, describimos como caso de estudo a viaxe virtual que se nos propón na Biblioteca Virtual Galega (http://bvg.udc.es), un sistema accesible a través da web que, por medio de tecnoloxías SIX, permite acceder a calquera información turística ou cultural de Galicia de xeito sinxelo.[Resumen] Internet se ha convertido en uno de los lugares más populares para publicar y buscar casi cualquier tipo de información. En particular, la información turística ha ganado mucha atención en la red durante los últimos años, no sólo información sobre viajes, recursos, lugares, museos o monumentos, sino también sobre turismo cultural. En este artículo presentamos las posibilidades que ofrecen los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) en la publicación y acceso a información turística, a través de interfaces con capacidades de generación de mapas interactivos con información asociada a cada elemento de interés presentado en los mapas. Además, describimos como caso de estudio el Viaje Virtual de la Biblioteca Virtual Gallega (http://bvg.udc.es), un sistema accesible a través de la Web que, utilizando tecnologías SIG, permite acceder a cualquier información turística o cultural de Galicia de manera sencilla.[Abstract] The Internet has become one of the most popular places to publish and search for almost any type of information. In particular, tourist information has received much attention in the Internet over the past few years, not only information about travel, resources, places, museums or monuments, but also about cultural tourism. In this article we discuss the potential offered by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the publication of and access to tourist information, through interfaces capable of generating interactive maps with information associated with each element of interest shown in the maps. In addition, as a case study, we describe the Virtual Trip of the Galician Virtual Library (http://bvg.udc.es), an Internet-accessible system which makes it possible, using GIS technologies, to easily access any tourist or cultural information about Galicia

An Architecture for Software Engineering Gamification

[Abstract] Gamification has been applied in software engineering to improve quality and results by increasing people's motivation and engagement. A systematic mapping has identified research gaps in the field, one of them being the difficulty of creating an integrated gamified environment comprising all the tools of an organization, since most existing gamified tools are custom developments or prototypes. In this paper, we propose a gamification software architecture that allows us to transform the work environment of a software organization into an integrated gamified environment, i.e., the organization can maintain its tools, and the rewards obtained by the users for their actions in different tools will mount up. We developed a gamification engine based on our proposal, and we carried out a case study in which we applied it in a real software development company. The case study shows that the gamification engine has allowed the company to create a gamified workplace by integrating custom-developed tools and off-the-shelf tools such as Redmine, TestLink, or JUnit, with the gamification engine. Two main advantages can be highlighted: (i) our solution allows the organization to maintain its current tools, and (ii) the rewards for actions in any tool accumulate in a centralized gamified environment

Boosting Perturbation-Based Iterative Algorithms to Compute the Median String

[Abstract] The most competitive heuristics for calculating the median string are those that use perturbation-based iterative algorithms. Given the complexity of this problem, which under many formulations is NP-hard, the computational cost involved in the exact solution is not affordable. In this work, the heuristic algorithms that solve this problem are addressed, emphasizing its initialization and the policy to order possible editing operations. Both factors have a significant weight in the solution of this problem. Initial string selection influences the algorithm’s speed of convergence, as does the criterion chosen to select the modification to be made in each iteration of the algorithm. To obtain the initial string, we use the median of a subset of the original dataset; to obtain this subset, we employ the Half Space Proximal (HSP) test to the median of the dataset. This test provides sufficient diversity within the members of the subset while at the same time fulfilling the centrality criterion. Similarly, we provide an analysis of the stop condition of the algorithm, improving its performance without substantially damaging the quality of the solution. To analyze the results of our experiments, we computed the execution time of each proposed modification of the algorithms, the number of computed editing distances, and the quality of the solution obtained. With these experiments, we empirically validated our proposal.This work was supported in part by the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica - Programa de Formación de Capital Humano Avanzado (CONICYT-PCHA)/Doctorado Nacional/2014-63140074 through the Ph.D. Scholarship, in part by the European Union's Horizon 2020 under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie under Grant 690941, in part by the Millennium Institute for Foundational Research on Data (IMFD), and in part by the FONDECYT-CONICYT under Grant 1170497. The work of ÓSCAR PEDREIRA was supported in part by the Xunta de Galicia/FEDER-UE refs under Grant CSI ED431G/01 and Grant GRC: ED431C 2017/58, in part by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Postgraduate Studies of the Universidad Católica de Temuco, VIPUCT Project 2020EM-PS-08, and in part by the FEQUIP 2019-INRN-03 of the Universidad Católica de TemucoXunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2017/58Chile. Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica; 2014-63140074Chile. Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica; 1170497Universidad Católica de Temuco (Chile); 2020EM-PS-08Universidad Católica de Temuco (Chile); 2019-INRN-0

Multilevel Modeling of Geographic Information Systems Based on International Standards

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] Even though different applications based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide different features and functions, they all share a set of common concepts (e.g., spatial data types, operations, services), a common architecture, and a common set of technologies. Furthermore, common structures appear repeatedly in different GIS, although they have to be specialized in specific application domains. Multilevel modeling is an approach to model-driven engineering (MDE) in which the number of metamodel levels is not fixed. This approach aims at solving the limitations of a two-level metamodeling approach, which forces the designer to include all the metamodel elements at the same level. In this paper, we address the application of multilevel modeling to the domain of GIS, and we evaluate its potential benefits. Although we do not present a complete set of models, we present four representative scenarios supported by example models. One of them is based on the standards defined by ISO TC/211 and the Open Geospatial Consortium. The other three are based on the EU INSPIRE Directive (territory administration, spatial networks, and facility management). These scenarios show that multilevel modeling can provide more benefits to GIS modeling than a two-level metamodeling approach.Xunta de Galicia; IN852A 2018/14Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/01This work has been partially funded by grants: MICIU/FEDER-UE, MAGIST: PID2019-105221RB-C41; MICIU/FEDER-UEBIZDEVOPSGLOBAL: RTI-2018-098309-B-C32, Xunta de Galicia/FEDER-UE, ConectaPeme, GEMA: IN852A 2018/14; MINECOAEI/FEDER-UE Datos 4.0: TIN2016-78011-C4-1-R; MINECOAEI/FEDER-UE Velocity: TIN2016-77158-C4-3-R; CITIC research center funded by XUNTA and EU through the European Regional Development Fund- Galicia 2014-2020 Program, grant ED431G 2019/01. Funding for open access charge: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG

Selección espacial de pivotes dispersos para la búsqueda por similitud en espacios métricos

La búsqueda por similitud es una operación fundamental en aplicaciones que trabajan con fuentes de datos no estructuradas. En este artículo proponemos un nuevo método de búsqueda por similitud basado en pivotes, que denominamos Sparse Spatial Selection (SSS). La principal característica de SSS es que garantiza una buena selección de pivotes con un coste computacional más bajo que otros métodos propuestos anteriormente. Además, SSS se adapta por sí sólo a la dimensionalidad del espacio métrico con el que estamos trabajando, sin que sea necesario especificar de antemano el número de pivotes que se van a extraer. Por otro lado, SSS es dinámico, es decir, es capaz de soportar inserciones de objetos en la base de datos sin que su eficiencia se vea reducida, puede usar tanto distancias continuas como discretas y se adapta bien a memoria secundaria. En este trabajo proporcionamos resultados experimentales que confirman las ventajas del método con distintos espacios vectoriales y métricos. Demostramos también que nuestra propuesta tiene una eficiencia similar a otras ya existentes en espacios vectoriales, aunque es mejor en espacios métricos generales.Similarity search is a fundamental operation for applications that deal with unstructured data sources. In this paper we propose a new pivot-based method for similarity search, called Sparse Spatial Selection (SSS). The main characteristic of this method is that it guarantees a good pivot selection with a lower computational cost than other methods previously proposed. In addition, SSS adapts itself to the dimensionality of the metric space we are working with, without being necessary to specify in advance the number of pivots to extract. Furthermore, SSS is dynamic, this is, it is capable to support object insertions in the database without getting its ef ciency reduced, it can work with both continuous and discrete distance functions, and it is suitable for secondary memory storage. In this work we provide experimental results that con rm the advantages of the method with several vectorial and metric spaces. We also show that the ef ciency of our proposal is similar to that of other existing ones over vectorial spaces, although it is better over general metric spaces.III Workshop de Ingeniería de Software y Bases de Datos (WISBD)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Selección espacial de pivotes dispersos para la búsqueda por similitud en espacios métricos

La búsqueda por similitud es una operación fundamental en aplicaciones que trabajan con fuentes de datos no estructuradas. En este artículo proponemos un nuevo método de búsqueda por similitud basado en pivotes, que denominamos Sparse Spatial Selection (SSS). La principal característica de SSS es que garantiza una buena selección de pivotes con un coste computacional más bajo que otros métodos propuestos anteriormente. Además, SSS se adapta por sí sólo a la dimensionalidad del espacio métrico con el que estamos trabajando, sin que sea necesario especificar de antemano el número de pivotes que se van a extraer. Por otro lado, SSS es dinámico, es decir, es capaz de soportar inserciones de objetos en la base de datos sin que su eficiencia se vea reducida, puede usar tanto distancias continuas como discretas y se adapta bien a memoria secundaria. En este trabajo proporcionamos resultados experimentales que confirman las ventajas del método con distintos espacios vectoriales y métricos. Demostramos también que nuestra propuesta tiene una eficiencia similar a otras ya existentes en espacios vectoriales, aunque es mejor en espacios métricos generales.Similarity search is a fundamental operation for applications that deal with unstructured data sources. In this paper we propose a new pivot-based method for similarity search, called Sparse Spatial Selection (SSS). The main characteristic of this method is that it guarantees a good pivot selection with a lower computational cost than other methods previously proposed. In addition, SSS adapts itself to the dimensionality of the metric space we are working with, without being necessary to specify in advance the number of pivots to extract. Furthermore, SSS is dynamic, this is, it is capable to support object insertions in the database without getting its ef ciency reduced, it can work with both continuous and discrete distance functions, and it is suitable for secondary memory storage. In this work we provide experimental results that con rm the advantages of the method with several vectorial and metric spaces. We also show that the ef ciency of our proposal is similar to that of other existing ones over vectorial spaces, although it is better over general metric spaces.III Workshop de Ingeniería de Software y Bases de Datos (WISBD)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Spatial selection of sparse pivots for similarity search in metric spaces

Similarity search is a fundamental operation for applications that deal with unstructured data sources. In this paper we propose a new pivot-based method for similarity search, called Sparse Spatial Selection (SSS). The main characteristic of this method is that it guarantees a good pivot selection more efficiently than other methods previously proposed. In addition, SSS adapts itself to the dimensionality of the metric space we are working with, without being necessary to specify in advance the number of pivots to use. Furthermore, SSS is dynamic, that is, it is capable to support object insertions in the database efficiently, it can work with both continuous and discrete distance functions, and it is suitable for secondary memory storage. In this work we provide experimental results that confirm the advantages of the method with several vector and metric spaces. We also show that the efficiency of our proposal is similar to that of other existing ones over vector spaces, although it is better over general metric spaces.Facultad de Informátic

GNIP1 E3 ubiquitin ligase is a novel player in regulating glycogen metabolism in skeletal muscle.

Background: Glycogenin-interacting protein 1 (GNIP1) is a tripartite motif (TRIM) protein with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity that interacts with glycogenin. These data suggest that GNIP1 could play a major role in the control of glycogen metabolism. However, direct evidence based on functional analysis remains to be obtained. Objectives: The aim of this study was 1) to define the expression pattern of glycogenin-interacting protein/ Tripartite motif containing protein 7 (GNIP/TRIM7) isoforms in humans, 2) to test their ubiquitin E3 ligase activity, and 3) to analyze the functional effects of GNIP1 on muscle glucose/glycogen metabolism both in human cultured cells and in vivo in mice. Results: We show that GNIP1 was the most abundant GNIP/TRIM7 isoform in human skeletal muscle, whereas in cardiac muscle only TRIM7 was expressed. GNIP1 and TRIM7 had autoubiquitination activity in vitro and were localized in the Golgi apparatus and cytosol respectively in LHCN-M2 myoblasts. GNIP1 overexpression increased glucose uptake in LHCN-M2 myotubes. Overexpression of GNIP1 in mouse muscle in vivo increased glycogen content, glycogen synthase (GS) activity and phospho-GSK-3α/β (Ser21/9) and phospho-Akt (Ser473) content, whereas decreased GS phosphorylation in Ser640. These modifications led to decreased blood glucose levels, lactate levels and body weight, without changing whole-body insulin or glucose tolerance in mouse. Conclusion: GNIP1 is an ubiquitin ligase with a markedly glycogenic effect in skeletal muscle

Tracking the antibody immunome in sporadic colorectal cancer by using antigen self-assembled protein arrays

© 2021 by the authors.Sporadic Colorectal Cancer (sCRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death in the Western world, and the sCRC patients presenting with synchronic metastasis have the poorest prognosis. Genetic alterations accumulated in sCRC tumor cells translate into mutated proteins and/or abnormal protein expression levels, which contribute to the development of sCRC. Then, the tumor-associated proteins (TAAs) might induce the production of auto-antibodies (aAb) via humoral immune response. Here, Nucleic Acid Programmable Protein Arrays (NAPPArray) are employed to identify aAb in plasma samples from a set of 50 sCRC patients compared to seven healthy donors. Our goal was to establish a systematic workflow based on NAPPArray to define differential aAb profiles between healthy individuals and sCRC patients as well as between non-metastatic (n = 38) and metastatic (n = 12) sCRC, in order to gain insight into the role of the humoral immune system in controlling the development and progression of sCRC. Our results showed aAb profile based on 141 TAA including TAAs associated with biological cellular processes altered in genesis and progress of sCRC (e.g., FSCN1, VTI2 and RPS28) that discriminated healthy donors vs. sCRC patients. In addition, the potential capacity of discrimination (between non-metastatic vs. metastatic sCRC) of 7 TAAs (USP5, ML4, MARCKSL1, CKMT1B, HMOX2, VTI2, TP53) have been analyzed individually in an independent cohort of sCRC patients, where two of them (VTI2 and TP53) were validated (AUC ~75%). In turn, these findings provided novel insights into the immunome of sCRC, in combination with transcriptomics profiles and protein antigenicity characterizations, wich might lead to the identification of novel sCRC biomarkers that might be of clinical utility for early diagnosis of the tumor. These results explore the immunomic analysis as potent source for biomarkers with diagnostic and prognostic value in CRC. Additional prospective studies in larger series of patients are required to confirm the clinical utility of these novel sCRC immunomic biomarkers.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Health Institute Carlos III (ISCIII) for the grants: FIS PI14/01538, FIS PI17/01930 and CB16/12/00400. We also acknowledge Fondos FEDER (EU) “Una manera de hacer Europa” and Junta Castilla-León (COVID19 grant COV20EDU/00187). Fundación Solórzano FS/38-2017. The Proteomics Unit belongs to ProteoRed, PRB3-ISCIII, supported by grant PT17/0019/0023, of the PE I + D + I 2017-2020, funded by ISCIII and FEDER. CNPq-National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Brazil) (306258/2019-6) and FAPERJ-Foundation for Research Support of Rio de Janeiro State for the financial support (E-26/201.670/2017 and 210.379/2018). M. González-González is supported by MINECOPTA2019-017870-I.A. Landeira-Viñuela is supported by VIII Centenario-USAL PhD Program. P.J.-V. is supported by JCYL PhD Program and scholarship JCYL-EDU/601/2020. P.D. and E.B. are supported by a JCYL-EDU/346/2013 Ph.D. scholarship