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In the automatic diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT), Deep Learning (DL) has arisen as a powerful and promising approach for diagnosis. However, despite the good performance of the models, decision rules should be interpretable to elicit trust from the medical community. Therefore, the development of an evaluation methodology to assess DL models based on interpretability methods is a challenging task that is necessary to extend the use of AI among clinicians. In this work, we propose a novel methodology to quantify the similarity between the decision rules used by a DL model and an ophthalmologist, based on the assumption that doctors are more likely to trust a prediction that was based on decision rules they can understand. Given an eye fundus image with OT, the proposed methodology compares the segmentation mask of OT lesions labeled by an ophthalmologist with the attribution matrix produced by interpretability methods. Furthermore, an open dataset that includes the eye fundus images and the segmentation masks is shared with the community. The proposal was tested on three different DL architectures. The results suggest that complex models tend to perform worse in terms of likelihood to be trusted while achieving better results in sensitivity and specificity.

La lesión pulmonar aguda (LPA) relacionada con la transfusión TRALI (transfusion related acute lung injury) se define como una lesión pulmonar que se desarrolla durante o dentro de las primeras seis horas post-transfusionales, con una PaO2/FiO2 igual o menor de 300 mmHg, en ausencia de edema pulmonar cardiogénico, o de otro factor de riesgo de LPA. Es una complicación subestimada en niños enfermos críticamente debido a que se asocia los síntomas a la enfermedad de base, siendo la causa principal de muerte relacionada con la transfusión. Presentamos un caso de TRALI grave en un niño durante la transfusión de un concentrado de hematíes, procedente de una donadora multípara, en una Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos, con resultado favorable. El tratamiento es de soporte en función de la gravedad del cuadro clínico y la prevención se centra en tres estrategias: selección de donantes, actuación sobre el almacenamiento de los productos hemáticos y evitar las transfusiones innecesarias. Es importante incluir casos pediátricos de TRALI en la literatura médica para avanzar en la comprensión de esta complicación transfusional en los niños.

Abstract Percutaneous cardiac intervention is an invasive diagnostic and therapeutic technique which carries a significant complication rate. Although the usefulness of EFAST protocol is widely recognised, this paper will attempt to explore a modified approach involving a focused examination on the retroperitoneal (r-EFAST). We have provided examples of 3 cases where r-EFAST was used to detect retroperitoneal bleeding in critical situations.

We present a case of iliopsoas abscess secondary to inflammatory bowel disease associated to glycogen storage disease 1b in a 12-year-old boy. To the best of our knowledge, a similar case has not been reported in medical literature.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an essential tool for clinical practice in recent years. It should be considered as an extension of the standard physical examination, which complements and enriches it without substituting it. POCUS enables the physician to answer specific clinical questions about the diagnosis, to understand better the pathophysiological context, to orientate the treatment, and to perform invasive procedures more safely. Despite its current use in many centres, and in most paediatric sub-specialties, there are currently no specific recommendations addressing educational aims in the different training areas, as well as methodology practice and the certification process in paediatrics. These ingredients are essential for POCUS implementation in daily practice, with a quality guarantee in terms of efficiency and safety.Several POCUS experts in different paediatric medicine environments performed a non-systematic review addressing the main paediatric POCUS applications in paediatrics. The lack of educational programmes in POCUS in Spain is also discussed, and the experience in the United States of America in this topic is provided.Considering the current situation of POCUS in paediatrics, we strongly believe that it is urgent to establish evidence-based recommendations for POCUS training that should be the base to develop educational programmes and to include POCUS in the paediatric residency training. Resumen: La ecografía a pie de cama (EPC) se ha convertido en los últimos años en una herramienta imprescindible para la práctica clínica. La EPC debe entenderse como una extensión de la exploración física habitual que, sin sustituirla, la complementa y la enriquece. La EPC permite al clínico responder preguntas concretas sobre el diagnóstico, entender mejor la fisiopatología, orientar el tratamiento o realizar procedimientos invasivos con mayor seguridad. A pesar de su integración en muchos centros y en las diferentes subespecialidades pediátricas, no disponemos de recomendaciones específicas que establezcan los objetivos formativos en las distintas áreas de capacitación, la metodología de entrenamiento o la certificación de competencias en pediatría. Estos elementos son imprescindibles para que la EPC pueda implementarse en la práctica diaria con garantías de eficiencia y seguridad.Este artículo aborda las principales aplicaciones de la EPC en pediatría mediante una revisión no sistemática por parte de expertos en diferentes áreas de la práctica clínica en España. Además, se discute acerca de la falta de planes formativos a nivel estatal, contando con la aportación de la experiencia de Estados Unidos.En vista de la situación actual de la EPC, en nuestra opinión es urgente que se establezcan recomendaciones basadas en la evidencia para el entrenamiento en EPC que sirvan como base para el desarrollo de planes formativos y la integración de la EPC en el programa formativo de la especialidad.

Resumen: La ecografía a pie de cama (EPC) se ha convertido en los últimos años en una herramienta imprescindible para la práctica clínica. La EPC debe entenderse como una extensión de la exploración física habitual que, sin sustituirla, la complementa y la enriquece. La EPC permite al clínico responder preguntas concretas sobre el diagnóstico, entender mejor la fisiopatología, orientar el tratamiento o realizar procedimientos invasivos con mayor seguridad. A pesar de su integración en muchos centros y en las diferentes subespecialidades pediátricas, no disponemos de recomendaciones específicas que establezcan los objetivos formativos en las distintas áreas de capacitación, la metodología de entrenamiento o la certificación de competencias en pediatría. Estos elementos son imprescindibles para que la EPC pueda implementarse en la práctica diaria con garantías de eficiencia y seguridad.Este artículo aborda las principales aplicaciones de la EPC en pediatría mediante una revisión no sistemática por parte de expertos en diferentes áreas de la práctica clínica en España. Además, se discute acerca de la falta de planes formativos a nivel estatal, contando con la aportación de la experiencia de Estados Unidos.En vista de la situación actual de la EPC, en nuestra opinión es urgente que se establezcan recomendaciones basadas en la evidencia para el entrenamiento en EPC que sirvan como base para el desarrollo de planes formativos y la integración de la EPC en el programa formativo de la especialidad. Abstract: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an essential tool for clinical practice in recent years. It should be considered as an extension of the standard physical examination, which complements and enriches it without substituting it. POCUS enables the physician to answer specific clinical questions about the diagnosis, to understand better the pathophysiological context, to orientate the treatment, and to perform invasive procedures more safely. Despite its current use in many centres, and in most paediatric sub-specialties, there are currently no specific recommendations addressing educational aims in the different training areas, as well as methodology practice and the certification process in paediatrics. These ingredients are essential for POCUS implementation in daily practice, with a quality guarantee in terms of efficiency and safety.Several POCUS experts in different paediatric medicine environments performed a non-systematic review addressing the main paediatric POCUS applications in paediatrics. The lack of educational programs in POCUS in Spain is also discussed, and the experience in the United States of America in this topic is provided.Considering the current situation of POCUS in paediatrics, we strongly believe that it is urgent to establish evidence-based recommendations for POCUS training that should be the base to develop educational programs and to include POCUS in the paediatric residency training.

Introducción: En el Hospital de Clínicas de Paraguay, el proceso actual de búsqueda de terminologías para la codificación médica en estándares de salud toma mucho tiempo ya que se realiza manualmente. Se propone, optimizar el proceso actual de búsqueda a través de la implementación de un servidor de terminología médica utilizando servicios web y una librería de motor de búsqueda de texto.Método: Se propone una arquitectura cliente - servidor de tres capas (también conocida como arquitectura multi-nivel), organizada de la siguiente manera: capa de presentación, de negocios y capa de datos. Se eligió utilizar este patrón por la independencia entre las capas y la clara definición de cada una de ellas en cuanto al objetivo que persigue. El servidor de terminología se encuentra representado en la capa de negocios. Está compuesta por un conjunto de servicios web de tipo REST y una librería de motor de búsqueda de texto, denominada Apache Lucene.Experimentos y Resultados: Fueron realizados dos experimentos acordes a los objetivos específicos mencionados anteriormente. El servidor de terminología implementado responde hasta 19 veces más rápido que el proceso actual de búsqueda y resultó ser bastante competitivo contra Metamorphosys. Si bien ambas herramientas presentan un tiempo de respuesta promedio similar, el servidor de terminología es hasta 5 veces más rápido que Metamorphosys en sus valores atípicos.Conclusiones: El servidor de terminología implementado reduce el tiempo de búsqueda del proceso actual siendo más rápido que el proceso actual de búsqueda. Finalmente, ante la comparación del servidor implementado contra el buscador Metamorphosys, el servidor implementado se muestra competitivo contra dicho buscador ya que tienen tiempos de respuesta similares.Palabras clave: servidor de terminología, Metamorphosys codificación médica.

Panoramic dental radiography is one of the most used images of the different dental specialties. This radiography provides information about the anatomical structures of the teeth. The correct evaluation of these radiographs is associated with a good quality of the image obtained. In this study, 598 patients were consecutively selected to undergo dental panoramic radiography at the Department of Radiology of the Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Nacional de Asunción. Contrast enhancement techniques are used to enhance the visual quality of panoramic dental radiographs. Specifically, this article presents a new algorithm for contrast, detail and edge enhancement of panoramic dental radiographs. The proposed algorithm is called Multi-Scale Top-Hat transform powered by Geodesic Reconstruction for panoramic dental radiography enhancement (MSTHGR). This algorithm is based on multi-scale mathematical morphology techniques. The proposal extracts multiple features of brightness and darkness, through the reconstruction of the marker (obtained by the Top-Hat transformation by reconstruction) starting from the mask (obtained by the classic Top-Hat transformation). The maximum characteristics of brightness and darkness are added to the dental panoramic radiography. In this way, the contrast, details and edges of the panoramic radiographs of teeth are improved. For the tests, MSTHGR was compared with the following algorithms: Geodesic Reconstruction Multiscale Morphology Contrast Enhancement (GRMMCE), Histogram Equalization (HE), Brightness Preserving Bi-Histogram Equalization (BBHE), Dual Sub-Image Histogram Equalization (DSIHE), Minimum Mean Brightness Error Bi-Histogram Equalization (MMBEBHE), Quadri-Histogram Equalization with Limited Contrast (QHELC), Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and Gamma Correction (GC). Experimentally, the numerical results show that the MSTHGR obtained the best results with respect to the Contrast Improvement Ratio (CIR), Entropy (E) and Spatial Frequency (SF) metrics. This indicates that the algorithm performs better local enhancements on panoramic radiographs, improving their details and edges.

Current computing platforms encourage the integration of thousands of processing cores, and their interconnections, into a single chip. Mobile smartphones, IoT, embedded devices, desktops, and data centers use Many-Core Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) to exploit their compute power and parallelism to meet the dynamic workload requirements. Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) lead to scalable connectivity for diverse applications with distinct traffic patterns and data dependencies. However, when the system executes various applications in traditional NoCs—optimized and fixed at synthesis time—the interconnection nonconformity with the different applications’ requirements generates limitations in the performance. In the literature, NoC designs embraced the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) strategy to evolve into an adaptable interconnection solution for future chips. However, the works surveyed implement a partial Software-Defined Network-on-Chip (SDNoC) approach, leaving aside the SDN layered architecture that brings interoperability in conventional networking. This paper explores the SDNoC literature and classifies it regarding the desired SDN features that each work presents. Then, we described the challenges and opportunities detected from the literature survey. Moreover, we explain the motivation for an SDNoC approach, and we expose both SDN and SDNoC concepts and architectures. We observe that works in the literature employed an uncomplete layered SDNoC approach. This fact creates various fertile areas in the SDNoC architecture where researchers may contribute to Many-Core SoCs designs.

This paper analyzes citizens’ expectations on social responsibility of public administration organizations in comparison to other public and private organizations, and argues that the mission attributed to different institutions in society might guide citizens’ perceptions and thresholds of satisfaction with sustainability standards. Three different survey studies were carried out to analyze citizens’ expectations of social responsibility of public administration organizations, private companies and a public university in the same Spanish region. A list of indicators defining internal and external social responsibility practices was developed to compare expectations in the three institutional contexts, and MANOVA was used to test differences between participants in the three surveys. Results support the notion that citizens’ expectations of social responsibility are related to perceived organizational goals in private and public contexts and the specific dimension of responsibility considered. Particularly, participants displayed higher expectations of external social responsibility in public administration organizations than in private companies and the public university analyzed, whereas citizens’ expectations of internal social responsibility were more homogeneous in public and private contexts. Implications of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Como parte de los estudios realizados por la Facultad de Ciencias Técnicas, el Centro de Mecanización Agropecuaria (CEMA) de la Universidad Agraria de la Habana (UNAH) y el Instituto de Ciencia Animal (ICA), sobre la evaluación de conjuntos agrícolas para la producción de alimento animal, se desarrolló esta investigación, cuyo objetivo consiste en determinar los costos energéticos de la picadora de forraje MF IIMA modelo EM- 01 perfeccionada, de fabricación nacional,con accionamiento eléctrico. Se determina que los costos energéti - cos totales dependen en mayor medida de la energía secuestrada en electricidad (ESe) con un valor de 17,23 MJ/h, para el mayor porcentaje de 64% y la energía secuestrada en materiales, fabricación y transporte (ESm) representó la menor dependencia con un valor de 2,25 MJ/h para un porcentaje de 8,35%; los costos energéticos horarios totales (EST) de la picadora MF IIMA modelo EM-01 perfeccionada ascienden a 26,93 MJ/h y los costos energéticos totales por unidad de masa procesada (ESt) a 84,15 MJ/t.

We present a partial panoramic view of possible contexts and applications of the fractional calculus. In this context, we show some different applications of fractional calculus to different models in ordinary differential equation (ODE) and partial differential equation (PDE) formulations ranging from the basic equations of mechanics to diffusion and Dirac equations.

The superformula generates curves called Gielis curves, which depend on a small number of input parameters. Recovering parameters generating a curve that adapts to a set of points is a non-trivial task, thus methods to accomplish it are still being developed. These curves can represent a great variety of forms, such as living organisms, objects and geometric shapes. In this work we propose a method that uses a genetic algorithm to minimize a combination of three objectives functions: Euclidean distances from the sample points to the curve, from the curve to the sample points and the curve length. Curves generated with the parameters obtained by this method adjust better to real curves in relation to the state of art, according to observational and numeric comparisons.

The principal aim of this paper is to identify the factors that define students’ perceptions of university social responsibility (USR) in a Spanish university, and analyse the impact of that view on their perceptions of satisfaction and quality of service. Particularly, it is hypothesized that the overall perception of university social responsibility has a positive effect on students’ experiences of satisfaction, partially mediated by the assessment regarding the quality of university services. In doing that, a self-report study was conducted with a total sample of 400 undergraduate students of the University of León, in Spain. Structural equation modeling with PLS was used to test the students’ overall perception of USR in order to achieve higher standards of quality of service and satisfaction. Results supported a structure of six factors explaining students’ views regarding university social responsibility, of which only internal management affects the overall perception. Likewise, quality of service and satisfaction are strongly correlated among them. Implications of these findings for marketing in university settings are discussed.

Membrane proteins are largely dependent for their function on the phospholipids present in their immediate environment, and when they are solubilized by detergent for further study, residual phospholipids are critical, too. Here, brominated phosphatidylcholine, a phospholipid which behaves as an unsaturated phosphatidylcholine, was used to reveal the kinetics of phospholipid exchange or transfer from detergent mixed micelles to the environment of a detergent-solubilized membrane protein, the paradigmatic P-type ATPase SERCA1a, in which Trp residues can experience fluorescence quenching by bromine atoms present on phospholipid alkyl chains in their immediate environment. Using dodecylmaltoside as the detergent, exchange of (brominated) phospholipid was found to be much slower than exchange of detergent under the same conditions, and also much slower than membrane solubilization, the latter being evidenced by light scattering changes. The kinetics of this exchange was strongly dependent on temperature. It was also dependent on the total concentration of the mixed micelles, revealing the major role for such exchange of the collision of detergent micelles with the detergent-solubilized protein. Back-transfer of the brominated phospholipid from the solubilized protein to the detergent micelle was much faster if lipid-free DDM micelles instead of mixed micelles were added for triggering dissociation of brominated phosphatidylcholine from the solubilized protein, or in the additional presence of C12E8 detergent during exchange, also emphasizing the role of the chemical nature of the micelle/protein interface. This protocol using brominated lipids appears to be valuable for revealing the possibly slow kinetics of phospholipid transfer to or from detergent-solubilized membrane proteins. Independently, continuous recording of the activity of the protein can also be used in some cases to correlate changes in activity with the exchange of a specific phospholipid, as shown here by using the Drs2p/Cdc50p complex, a lipid flippase with specific binding sites for lipids.

Mirizzi syndrome is defined as an obstruction of the hepatic duct by an impacted biliary stone in the Hartmann's pouch of the gallbladder or in the cystic duct (Mirizzi type I). The gallstone may erode the bile duct causing a cholecystobiliary fistula (Mirizzi type II). This very rare complication of long standing cholelithiasis is mainly reported in adults. We report an exceptional case of a type I Mirizzi syndrome in a 3-year-old boy, incidentally discovered during a computed tomography study. Ultrasonography and cholangioresonance confirmed the diagnosis. At laparoscopy, partial fusion between the Hartmann's pouch and the hepatic duct was found. Despite difficult dissection, a total laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed. Preoperative diagnosis of this syndrome is difficult owing to unspecific clinical presentation and low sensitivity of the standard radiological studies. To detect and correctly identify the type of Mirizzi syndrome during surgery is very important in order to avoid serious complications and to perform the most adequate surgical treatment. Open subtotal cholecystectomy is the recommended procedure in Mirizzi type I, laparoscopic total cholecystectomy being possible in some cases. Although this entity is exceptional in children, it must be known and considered by the Pediatric Surgeon because its development is possible.

Active filter design is a mature topic that provides good solutions that can be implemented using discrete devices or integrated circuit technology. For instance, when the filter topologies are implemented using commercially available operational amplifiers (opamps), one can explore varying circuit parameters to tune the central frequency or enhance the quality (Q) factor. We show the addition of a feedback loop in the signal flow graph of a biquadratic filter topology, which enhances Q and highlights that a sensitivity analysis can be performed to identify which circuit elements influence central frequency, Q, or both. In this manner, we show the opamp-based implementation of a biquadratic bandpass filter, in which Q is enhanced through performing a sensitivity analysis for each circuit element. Equations for the central frequency and Q are provided to observe that there is not a direct parameter that enhances them, but we show that from sensitivity analysis one can identify the circuit elements that better enhance Q-factor.

The perception of textures is based on high-level features such as symmetry, brightness, color or direction. Texture characterization is a widely studied topic in the image processing community. The normalized volume of morphological series is used as a texture descriptor in RGB images. However, the correlation between different color channels is not exploited with this descriptor. We propose the usage of inter-channel measures in addition to the volume, to enhance the descriptors potential to discriminate textures. The experiments show that standard texture classification techniques increase between 3%−10% in performance when using our descriptor instead of other state of the art descriptors that do not use inter-channel measures.

Smart buildings are equipped with sensors that allow monitoring a range of building systems including heating and air conditioning, lighting and the general electric energy consumption. Thees data can then be stored and analyzed. The ability to use historical data regarding electric energy consumption could allow improving the energy efficiency of such buildings, as well as help to spot problems related to wasting of energy. This problem is even more important when considering that buildings are some of the largest consumers of energy. In this paper, we are interested in forecasting the energy consumption of smart buildings, and, to this aim, we propose a comparative study of different forecasting strategies that can be used to this aim. To do this, we used the data regarding the electric consumption registered by thirteen buildings located in a university campus in the south of Spain. The empirical comparison of the selected methods on the different data showed that some methods are more suitable than others for this kind of problem. In particular, we show that strategies based on Machine Learning approaches seem to be more suitable for this task.

Discrete entropy is used to measure the content of an image, where a higher value indicates an image with richer details. Infrared images are capable of revealing important hidden targets. The disadvantage of this type of image is that their low contrast and level of detail are not consistent with human visual perception. These problems can be caused by variations of the environment or by limitations of the cameras that capture the images. In this work we propose a method that improves the details of infrared images, increasing their entropy, preserving their natural appearance, and enhancing contrast. The proposed method extracts multiple features of brightness and darkness from the infrared image. This is done by means of the multiscale top-hat transform. To improve the infrared image, multiple scales are added to the bright areas and multiple areas of darkness are subtracted. The method was tested with 450 infrared thermal images from a public database. Evaluation of the experimental results shows that the proposed method improves the details of the image by increasing entropy, also preserving natural appearance and enhancing the contrast of infrared thermal images.

Constitutive or regulated membrane protein trafficking is a key cell biology process. Transient receptor potential channels are somatosensory proteins in charge of detecting several physical and chemical stimuli, thus requiring fine vesicular trafficking. The membrane proximal or pre-S1 domain (MPD) is a highly conserved domain in transient receptor potential channels from the vanilloid (TRPV) subfamily. MPD shows traits corresponding to protein-protein and lipid-protein interactions, and protein regulatory regions. We have expressed MPD of TRPV1 and TRPV2 as green fluorescente protein (GFP)-fusion proteins to perform an in vitro biochemical and biophysical characterization. Pull-down experiments indicate that MPD recognizes and binds Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor Attachment Protein Receptors (SNARE). Synchrotron radiation scattering experiments show that this domain does not self-oligomerize. MPD interacts with phosphatidic acid (PA), a metabolite of the phospholipase D (PLD) pathway, in a specific manner as shown by lipid strips and Trp fluorescence quenching experiments. We show for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, the binding to PA of an N-terminus domain in TRPV channels. The presence of a PA binding domain in TRPV channels argues for putative PLD regulation. Findings in this study open new perspectives to understand the regulated and constitutive trafficking of TRPV channels exerted by protein-protein and lipid-protein interactions.

En este artículo se estudia el problema ético de la industria Metalúrgica y Metalmecánica de la Región Zuliana Venezolana, atendiendo a su estructura y rasgos internos. Se realiza una evaluación de las condiciones de la industria y su relación con los miembros que conforman su estructura contrastando los valores adoptados con los practicados por las organizaciones, incursionando en el problema ético como elemento central del artículo. Se incorpora adicionalmente un pequeño análisis sobre las calificación ético-ambiental-social de la industria. Finalmente se establecen opciones estratégicas para enfrentar el problema de la ética empresarial como parte del tipo de industria sujeto a estudio, desagregando tales iniciativas desde la perspectiva de éstas, del sector y el gobierno, como factor interviniente en el proceso.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer and is caused by the uncontrolled growth of atypical melanocytes. In recent decades, computer aided diagnosis is used to support medical professionals; however, there is still no globally accepted tool. In this context, similar to state-of-the-art we propose a system that receives a dermatoscopy image and provides a diagnostic if the lesion is benign or malignant. This tool is composed with next modules: Preprocessing, Segmentation, Feature Extraction, and Classification. Preprocessing involves the removal of hairs. Segmentation is to isolate the lesion. Feature extraction is considering the ABCD dermoscopy rule. The classification is performed by the Support Vector Machine. Experimental evidence indicates that the proposal has 90.63 % accuracy, 95 % sensitivity, and 83.33 % specificity on a data-set of 104 dermatoscopy images. These results are favorable considering the performance of diagnosis by traditional progress in the area of dermatology.

Quality processes are characterized as being actions with clear and defined beginnings and ends. The UNE_EN ISO 9000-2000 norm points out that the process is “the set of interrelated activities or activities that interact, that transform input elements in outcomes”. The board of Castilla y León (2004) understands process as any consequence of interrelated actions which are ordered to provide service to the user or client and that contributes to creating added value in the organization they are developed. Actually, what happens is that is not well known what is in the “middle”, in other words, the nucleus of the process. This article presents the conceptualization, the development and the implementation of a process for achieving quality and proposes a defined process in order to its planning, update, review and evaluation. Although each organization may plan and implement the process as it considers appropriate, the exemplification of the mentioned pretends only to facilitate new procedure designs, their prioritization, selection and their implementation up to their evaluation.

A protocol for extraction of yellow mealworm larvae proteins was established, conditions were evaluated and the resulting protein extract was characterised. The freeze-dried yellow mealworm larvae contained around 33% fat, 51% crude protein and 43% true protein on a dry matter basis. The true protein content of the protein extract was about 75%, with an extraction rate of 70% under optimised extraction conditions using 0.25 M NaOH, a NaOH solution:ethanol defatted worm ratio of 15:1 mL/g, 40°C for 1 h and extraction twice. The protein extract was a good source of essential amino acids. The lowest protein solubility in distilled water solution was found between pH 4 and 5, and increased with either increasing or decreasing pH. Lower solubility was observed in 0.5 M NaCl solution compared with distilled water. The rheological tests indicated that temperature, sample concentration, addition of salt and enzyme, incubation time and pH alterations influenced the elastic modulus of yellow mealworm protein extract (YMPE). These results demonstrate that the functional properties of YMPE can be modified for different food applications.

This paper aims to present a model on the perception of University Social Responsibility (USR) by students and to analyse its usefulness to predict two dimensions of university experience, namely quality of service and satisfaction. To this end, after reviewing the previous literature on USR, a survey study was conducted with a sample of 200 last-year students at the University of León (Spain). Data were analysed through factor and PLS (Partial Least Squares) techniques. Factor analysis identified a solution of six factors defining the students’ perception regarding university impacts, whereas only three of them influenced their overall perception regarding USR. Furthermore, this perception acted as an antecedent of quality of service and satisfaction. The analysis of the obtained results allows significant implications for the design of marketing strategies focused on students’ retention and attraction, as universities that use USR strategies will have a competitive advantage as a tool for improving the university experience.

Purpose—Based on the new face of business in the twenty first century, this general review is aimed at analyzing the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as social technologies by Spanish enterprises in the European context, as a result of recent policy frameworks set at communitarian and national levels. Design/methodology/approach—The paper reviews the guidelines marked by European common policies with regards to ICT update in business, just as the translation of such standards in the Spanish area. From this framework, implications of ICT adoption in the social relationships with consumers, employees, business partners and public authorities are analyzed by providing some figures in the Spanish context in comparison with the European average.Findings—The analysis supports a positive effect of national policies on Spanish enterprises’ use of social technologies in the interactions with their internal and external stakeholders, while some differences can be reported attending size and sector criteria. In this respect, ICT penetration seems to be widespread in Spanish enterprises longer than ten employees, specially within informatics, telecommunications and audiovisuals, whereas automation of interactions is moderated in micro-enterprises in the manufacture, building, retailing, and transportation sectors.Research limitations/implications—The paper offers a general overview of the use of ICT as social technologies in Spanish enterprises based on public reports. However, further research should be oriented to analyze more in deep the impact of public policies on ICT adoption and usage in business, by explaining their determining factors and comparing different clusters of counties and major regions of the world.Practical implications—The analysis reported point to the need of reinforcing the Spanish positioning in the ICT European sector in the long term. In this sense, future policy measures should be devoted to overcome barriers to more advanced ICT use in business, by fostering the generation of technological solutions adapted to different business models, increasing e-skills enhancing, and facilitating the access to financing sources.Originality/Value—This paper offers an alternative analysis of ICT deployment in the European and Spanish business sectors based on the discussion of how surrounding enterprises are driven to restructure the way which information is generated and shared inside and outside them, thus defining a new way of technology mediated social transactions with clients, employees and external stakeholders.

This study aims to suggest best practices for improving the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education programs in the European area, based on their impact on expected attitudes of undergraduate students towards business startup as a career choice. Particularly, the paper presents some results from a study carried out in two Spanish universities aimed at validating a structure of entrepreneurship education based on a double component of curricular teaching and extracurricular support, and to analyze their effect upon undergraduates’ entrepreneurial selfefficacy and outcome expectations as immediate antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors. Sample was comprised of 800 university students, and statistical treatment of data was based on factorial and regression analyses. Findings underline the very limited involvement of Spanish universities in entrepreneurship education as perceived by students, together with the existence of different effects of curricular and extracurricular elements when fostering entrepreneurial careers among future graduates. Implications of these results and limitations of the study are discussed.

La búsqueda de los factores determinantes de la calidad de los servicios públicos facilita la prestación de los servicios a los ciudadanos, cuando y donde estos los necesiten. En el presente trabajo se trata de contribuir a la mejora de las relaciones entre las pequeñas administraciones públicas locales y los ciudadanos a través del análisis de la relación entre la calidad y la satisfacción, además de examinar cómo se vinculan con la credibilidad que los usuarios de los servicios tienen de las instituciones. Por medio de las opiniones vertidas por los ciudadanos, los resultados obtenidos permiten plantear una serie de propuestas y políticas públicas para la mejora de la calidad de los servicios de las administraciones, que reviertan directamente en la satisfacción y credibilidad.

Modelos como la Teoría de la Motivación para la Protección (TMP) tratan de determinar las informaciones y variables consideradas por los individuos al plantearse un cambio de conducta, así como la mayor o menor importancia de unas y otras. Los responsables de marketing social necesitan comprender mejor las razones que llevan a adoptar o no el nuevo comportamiento sugerido. Se ha realizado un estudio exploratorio sobre los spots de TV en la lucha antitabaco que auspició el Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo español en 2006. Pese a sus limitaciones, se pone de manifiesto la presencia de argumentos unilaterales, más centrados en la amenaza que supone la conducta actual que en las ventajas del afrontamiento y subsecuente cambio de conducta. Asimismo se evidencia la mayor efectividad del autoconvencimiento para el cambio conductual, claramente superior al efecto de sanciones o presiones externas sobre el individuo.

The development of the public service modernization seeks to facilitate services delivery to citizens, when and where they need them. For it, management and utilization of service quality have special relevancy. In this paper, we are trying to contribute for improving the relations between the small public local administrations and citizens across analysis of the link between quality and satisfaction, beside of analyzing how they relate to citizen’s credibility on institutions. By means of opinions spilt by citizens, obtained results allow us to raise a series of public policies and offers for the improvement of administration service quality, which end up as directly satisfaction and credibility.

The diversity of natural and cultural resources are one of the key factors for success in the race for a successful sale of tourist services and attracting a large number of tourists. The District of Sliven is located in the South East planning region (NUT2) of Bulgaria. The development of tourism in the area is to the highest extent predetermined by its proximity to the Southern Black Sea coast. Specifically, the District has diverse natural and cultural resources that are a precondition for the organization of multiple alternative forms of tourism. This paper discusses the conditions for sustainable development of tourism on the territory of the District of Sliven based on statistic data for the activity of shelter points and places of accommodation in the area for the last 7 years. The used research methods are analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction.

This paper presents the results from a survey on Spanish youths intended to analyse the relationship between civic engagement and participation in voluntary associations and, by this mean, providing some insights to improve the recruitment and retention processes of active young people. Respondents were compared in four dimensions of civic engagement (civic duty, civic skills, social connection and civic participation) and principal components analysis and multivariate analysis of variance were used to validate the measures of the study and perform the group comparisons. Results support previous research on the causes and consequences of voluntary membership. In this sense, it is concluded that, beyond the potential impacts of voluntary membership on youth civic engagement, civic-minded young people with similar civic profiles are more likely to be recruited into associations and, accordingly, socialization effects emerge after a preceding selection, once members are confirmed and further stimulated in their initial goals.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and risk factors for overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) in women working at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS, per its abbreviation in Spanish) in Mexico City, using two different classification criteria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed from July 1999 to September 2000. It included 588 women 20 to 65 years of age and who were working at the IMSS. The criteria used to estimate the prevalence of OW and OB were the WHO criteria and the Mexican Official Norm (NOM) for the integrated management of obesity in Mexico. RESULTS: The frequency of OB, according to WHO criteria, was 27.6% (26% adjusted) and for OW 43.2% (40.2% adjusted). According to the NOM, the levels of OB in those with short height (1.50 m. Comparison of BMI between the two height groups showed no differences. The risk factor associated with OB and OW was age. Education and exercise were protective factors. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalences detected in this particular working group highlight the importance of prevention and control of OB in health personnel because it can result in a high number of disability and premature retirement due to disease. The use of the NOM criteria for the identification of women at risk may be useful for early detection of high-risk groups.OBJETIVO: Estimar la prevalencia de obesidad (OB) y sobrepeso (SP) en mujeres trabajadoras del IMSS en la Ciudad de México, aplicando dos criterios de clasificación y su asociación con algunos factores de riesgo. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal realizado entre julio de 1999 y septiembre de 2000 que incluyó a 588 mujeres trabajadoras en el IMSS entre 20 y 65 años. Los criterios utilizados para medir la prevalencia de OB y SP fueron los propuestos por la OMS y la Norma Oficial Mexicana para el manejo integral de la obesidad (NOM). RESULTADOS: La frecuencia de OB fue 27.6% (26% ajustada) y de SP de 43.2% (40.2% ajustada) al aplicar los criterios de la OMS. Conforme a la NOM, los niveles de OB en el grupo de talla baja (

OBJETIVO: El dengue hemorrágico en México es una enfermedad emergente desde 1994. La circulación de los cuatro serotipos incrementa el riesgo de epidemias de dengue hemorrágico. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se reportan los datos clínicos y epidemiológicos de los casos de dengue hemorr��gico confirmados y notificados por el IMSS de 1995 a 2003. Se analizaron las características clínicas y epidemiológicas entre grupos. Para el control y la evaluación final de las variables se utilizó un modelo multivariado. RESULTADOS: Los casos fueron asignados en dos grupos: 438 con dengue clásico, que incluye 109 casos con manifestaciones hemorrágicas sin trombocitopenia, y 977 casos de dengue hemorrágico con 79 defunciones. Los factores de riesgo asociados a las defunciones fueron: hematemesis (RR 2.6; IC 95% 1.4-4.6) y melena (RR 2.2; IC 95% 1.2-3.7). CONCLUSIONES: El cuadro clínico descrito para la población del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social permite identificar factores pronósticos que ayuden al clínico a prevenir y manejar adecuadamente los casos severos de dengue hemorrágico.OBJECTIVE: Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a public health problem in Mexico since 1994. With four serotypes circulating the risk of epidemic dengue hemorrhagic fever is increasing. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We describe the clinical features of confirmed cases in the social security health system (IMSS) from 1995 to 2003. Clinical picture and epidemiological features were compared and a multivariate model was fitted to evaluate associations. RESULTS: Cases were divided into two groups: 438 patients with dengue fever, including 109 cases with hemorrhagic manifestations without thrombocytopenia, and 977 cases with dengue hemorrhagic fever, including 79 deaths. The main risk factors associated with mortality were hematemesis (RR 2.6; CI 95% 1.4-4.6) and melena (RR 2.2; CI 95% 1.2-3.7). CONCLUSIONS: Our results characterize the clinical profile of dengue hemorrhagic fever cases in Mexico and identify prognostic factors to alert clinician for the prevention of a fatal evolution.

El artículo no presenta resumen.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B in pregnant women from several regions of Mexico, as well as the risk factors associated with its occurrence. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and August 2000. It included 9 992 pregnant women attending the health services of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social-IMSS) in five cities: Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Acapulco, Cancun, and Mexico City (northeast and southeast regions). RESULTS: The overall prevalence for confirmed cases was 1.65% (165/9 992). The prevalences for individual cities were as follows: Tijuana, 1.27%; Ciudad Juarez, 1.46%; Acapulco, 2.47%; Cancun, 0.93%; northeastern Mexico City, 1.20%, and southeastern Mexico City, 2.52%. The risk factors found to be associated with HBsAg were: age, age at first sexual intercourse, city (Acapulco and southeastern Mexico City), and marital status (single or divorced). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HBsAg in pregnant women (1.65%) was greater than that reported in previous studies and showed geographical differences. This high prevalence suggests that a considerable amount of cases of hepatitis B occurs perinatally and through contact with carriers in the general population. Vaccination of newborns of high-risk pregnant women should be considered.OBJETIVO: Determinar la seroprevalencia de hepatitis B en mujeres embarazadas de varias regiones de México e investigar factores de riesgo asociados. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Durante el periodo de mayo-agosto del año 2000 se realizó un estudio transversal en 9 992 mujeres embarazadas, con acceso a seguridad social (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) en cinco ciudades de México: Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Acapulco, Cancún y Distrito Federal (zona noreste y sureste). RESULTADOS: La prevalencia global para casos confirmados fue de 1.65% (165/9 992). Para las ciudades de estudio fue: 1.27% en Tijuana, 1.46% en Ciudad Juárez, 2.47% en Acapulco, 0.93% en Cancún, 1.2% en el noreste del Distrito Federal, y 2.52% en el sureste del Distrito Federal. Los factores de riesgo identificados fueron: edad, edad de inicio de vida sexual, ciudad (Acapulco y región sureste del Distrito Federal) y estado civil (solteras-divorciadas). CONCLUSIONES: La prevalencia de antígeno de superficie del virus de la hepatitis B (HBsAg, por sus siglas en inglés) en embarazadas (1.65%) es mayor a la reportada en investigaciones previas y muestra diferencias geográficas. Esta prevalencia elevada indica un número considerable de casos de hepatitis B ocasionados por vía perinatal y de portadores en nuestra población. Se debe considerar la vacunación en recién nacidos de mujeres embarazadas con alto riesgo.

El presente artículo aborda una relación entre la responsabilidad y las dimensiones de competitividad expresadas en requerimientos del cliente, información técnica, especificaciones exigidas, asistencia técnica, atención oportuna, entre otros; evidenciando como esta categoría permite fortalecer los cimientos, en el manejo de factores competitivos de las organizaciones, bajo espacios de mercados representados en el estudio, por la empresa metalmecánica zuliana. Siendo una investigación descriptiva, de campo, para el levantamiento de la información se adoptó un muestreo aleatorio estratificado, sobre la base del tamaño de las empresas, utilizando afijación proporcional. La muestra resultó de cuarenta y cinco (45) empresas, de las cuales veintitrés (23) son pequeñas, trece (13) son medianas y nueve (9) son grandes. Del conjunto de resultados, puede inferirse que existe una correlación positiva, dado que en la medida que aumenta el tamaño, aumenta la presencia de dimensiones competitivas, y a la vez se evidencia el cumplimiento del rasgo responsabilidad; presentando así, una correlación significativa global desde el punto de vista estadístico de 0,708. Se concluye, como en la medida en que aumenta el tamaño de la empresa se van generando elementos de confianza y credibilidad resultado de la responsabilidad de la empresa, frente a clientes internos y externos, convirtiendo tal fortaleza en una ventaja competitiva que expresa el posicionamiento en el mercado de consumidores.

Este artículo tiene el propósito de estudiar las iniciativas que en materia de calidad y dimensión ético-competitiva, son asumidas por la pequeña y mediana empresa metalmecánica zuliana, y explorar además sus posibilidades de mejora y propuestas para estimular el crecimiento. Se aplicó una entrevista estructurada a 23 gerentes de empresas pequeñas y 13 de empresas medianas, ubicadas en el estado Zulia, utilizando muestreo estratificado con afijación proporcional. Los resultados de investigación muestran que las empresas no presentan una instalación formal del modelo de calidad de gestión, sólo elementos relacionados con la confiabilidad y apego a especificaciones, elementos del sistema que son generados por factores externos a la organización, representados ante todo por las exigencias formales asumidas por la actividad petrolera, su principal cliente. Además, en su mayoría no cuentan con herramientas estratégicas escritas que sirvan de guía para su desarrollo futuro, situación que aunada a la limitada internalización de valores éticos-competitivos representados por calidad, excelencia, confiabilidad, entre otros; generan escasas posibilidades para incorporarse de manera adecuada a una labor sinérgica, en función del crecimiento del sector. Se concluye que es necesario adelantar acciones de mejora dentro del sector estudiado, compatibles con el modo de vida de cada estrato en particular; lo que incluye entender sus formas de organización, desarrollar propuestas de cambio desde cada empresa, y en todas ellas, para que en conjunto puedan superar sus debilidades, y poder buscar formas estratégicas de convivencia que garanticen su perpetuidad dentro del sector.

This paper is focused on the nature, origin and scope of innovative strategies in the management and development of rural and eco-tourism as sustainable alternatives to traditional tourism activities. Specifically, the management strategies in the Bulgarian region of Eastern Balkan Mountains have been under consideration. At this purpose, we assessed not only the natural and anthropogenic resources and hotel facilities infrastructure, but also concrete aspects of the strategies implemented in situ to promote the alternative tourism, as market segmentation and the profile of the tourists visiting this region of Bulgaria.

Excellent fertility and prolificacy have been reported after non-surgical deep uterine transfers of fresh in vivo-derived porcine embryos. Unfortunately, when this technology is used with vitrified embryos, the reproductive performance of recipients is low. For this reason and because the embryos must be stored until they are transferred to the recipient farms, we evaluated the potential application of non-surgical deep uterine transfers with in vivo-derived morulae cultured for 24 h in liquid stage. In Experiment 1, two temperatures (25 °C and 37 °C) and two media (one fully defined and one semi-defined) were assessed. Morulae cultured in culture medium supplemented with bovine serum albumin and fetal calf serum at 38.5 °C in 5% CO2 in air were used as controls. Irrespective of medium, the embryo viability after 24 h of culture was negatively affected (P

The purpose of this communication is the introduction to the world of the augmented reality for its use in a practical way for conferring value to archaeological sites. In this way, we make a revision of the most significant researches that have been done in this field. Then, we propose the ViewPoint based on the Augmented or Mixed Reality technology: a specific solution for its location in strategic places on archaeological sites. Finally, we conclude showing the added value and advantages that this system provides to the field of archaeology.

En este artículo se estudia el problema ético de la industria Metalúrgica y Metalmecánica de la Región Zuliana Venezolana, atendiendo a su estructura y rasgos internos. Se realiza una evaluación de las condiciones de la industria y su relación con los miembros que conforman su estructura contrastando los valores adoptados con los practicados por las organizaciones, incursionando en el problema ético como elemento central del artículo. Se incorpora adicionalmente un pequeño análisis sobre las calificación ético-ambiental-social de la industria. Finalmente se establecen opciones estratégicas para enfrentar el problema de la ética empresarial como parte del tipo de industria sujeto a estudio, desagregando tales iniciativas desde la perspectiva de éstas, del sector y el gobierno, como factor interviniente en el proceso.

Las Parálisis Flácidas causadas por el consumo de los frutos de las plantas del género Karwinskia (tullidora) han emergido como un problema de salud pública en ciertas regiones de México. El objeto de este trabajo fue investigar los factores geográficos asociados a esta patología, en 72 casos reportados en México de 1990 a 1994. La distribución geográfica de casos coincide con las 11 especies reportadas de Karwinskia en México. La mayoría se relacionaron con la K. humboldtiana y, en menor medida, con K. mollis, K. parvifolia, K. johnstonii y K. rzedowskii. La presencia de casos es mayor en regiones con climas secos (79,2%), vegetación de Matorrales Aridos (41,7%) y altitudes menores de mil metros (54,1%). Se determinaron tres diferentes zonas de riesgo: la zona del río Balsas, la región norte del país, así como las zonas áridas y secas centrales de los estados de Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí y Querétaro. Las comunidades menores de 2.500 habitantes y con niveles de bienestar y de educación bajos son las más afectadasConsumption of fruits from the genus Karwinskia may cause a flaccid paralysis that can be confused with the Guillan-Barré syndrome or poliomyelitis. Paralysis resulting from consumption of such fruit has emerged as a public health problem in certain regions of Mexico. The purpose of this study was to investigate geographical factors associated with this intoxication in the 72 cases reported in Mexico from 1990 to 1994. Location of cases coincides with the distribution of the 11 reported species of Karwinskia in the country. The majority of reported cases were related to the consumption of K. humboldtiana, with a smaller number involving K. mollis, K. parvifolia, K. johnstonii, and K. rzedowskii. Most cases were located in regions with dry climates (79.2%), arid vegetation (41.7%), and altitudes under 1,000 meters above sea level (54.1%). The study establishes three different risk areas: the Balsas river region in the southwestern central part of the country; the arid northern area; and the arid and dry central area. Cases were from rural communities with low levels of schooling and poor socioeconomic conditions

Purpose—Based on the new face of business in the twenty first century, this general review is aimed at analyzing the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as social technologies by Spanish enterprises in the European context, as a result of recent policy frameworks set at communitarian and national levels.Design/methodology/approach—The paper reviews the guidelines marked by European common policies with regards to ICT update in business, just as the translation of such standards in the Spanish area. From this framework, implications of ICT adoption in the social relationships with consumers, employees, business partners and public authorities are analyzed by providing some figures in the Spanish context in comparison with the European average.Findings—The analysis supports a positive effect of national policies on Spanish enterprises’ use of social technologies in the interactions with their internal and external stakeholders, while some differences can be reported attending size and sector criteria. In this respect, ICT penetration seems to be widespread in Spanish enterprises longer than ten employees, specially within informatics, telecommunications and audiovisuals, whereas automation of interactions is moderated in micro-enterprises in the manufacture, building, retailing, and transportation sectors.Research limitations/implications—The paper offers a general overview of the use of ICT as social technologies in Spanish enterprises based on public reports. However, further research should be oriented to analyze more in deep the impact of public policies on ICT adoption and usage in business, by explaining their determining factors and comparing different clusters of counties and major regions of the world.Practical implications—The analysis reported point to the need of reinforcing the Spanish positioning in the ICT European sector in the long term. In this sense, future policy measures should be devoted to overcome barriers to more advanced ICT use in business, by fostering the generation of technological solutions adapted to different business models, increasing e-skills enhancing, and facilitating the access to financing sources.Originality/Value—This paper offers an alternative analysis of ICT deployment in the European and Spanish business sectors based on the discussion of how surrounding enterprises are driven to restructure the way which information is generated and shared inside and outside them, thus defining a new way of technology-mediated social transactions with clients, employees and external stakeholders.Research type: general review.

This paper presents a possibility to conceive the conceptual design of a Romanian public institution using a methodology known as the “Enterprise Architecture”. The Enterprise Architecture will be applied to any public institution, regardless of hierarchical level in the overall organizational structure. This Architecture can be divided into four components: Business Architecture, Information Architecture, Software Architecture and Technological Architecture. As a conclusion, the need for creating a generic, abstract Architecture is highlighted, as well as the need of future researches on exploring and identifying those patterns for application of Enterprise Architecture in the public sector with significant roles in the development of the specific software architectures that serve the goals of such a hierarchical system, as well as aiming to ensure the uniformity of the centralized information, at least at the level of national institutions.