Francisco González-Gómez

Gender differences in e-learning satisfaction

Student learning skills differ depending on gender. The importance of studying this situation in the classroom is that recommendations can be made taking gender into consideration. In e-learning, the roles of students and teachers change. In line with recent research, the question this paper raises is whether or not gender differences also exist in e-learning. The main contribution this research makes to the literature is to provide evidence on the issues male and female students consider important in their assessment of e-subjects. This study is based on a sample of 1185 students who are doing on-line courses at the Universidad de Granada in Spain. The main conclusion is that female students are more satisfied than male students with the e-learning subjects that make up the sample. Furthermore, we find that female students assign more importance to the planning of learning, as well as to being able to contact the teacher in various ways.

Decreased levels of circulating CD4 ÷ T lymphocytes during normal human pregnancy

Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) populations during human pregnancy have been investigated by many authors, although the different results obtained, principally in relation to T cells, are very discrepant. In this study we aimed to exclude all the possible causes of these discrepancies: small sample size; diurnal rhythm of CD4+ T cells; smoking habits; haemodilution which occurs during pregnancy and inappropriate statistical analysis; in order to determine whether gestation has a definite effect on PBMC populations. We found that the percentage of CD4+ T lymphocytes decreases in the first and second trimesters, returns to the non-pregnant level in the third trimester and remains there in the postpartum period. The percentages of CD3+ T lymphocytes run parallel to those of CD4+ while CD8+ T lymphocytes do not vary. The proportion of CD16+ cells, which include mature NK cells, diminishes in the second trimester and this reduction is maintained in the third trimester and the puerperium. No variation was found in the other PBMC studied (CD20+ lymphocytes, CD14+ monocytes and D/DR+ cells). When parity was considered no difference was seen between primiparous and multiparous women in any of the cell populations tested.

The role of environmental factors in water utilities’ technical efficiency. Empirical evidence from Spanish companies

This article computes input-specific scores of technical efficiency for a sample of water utilities located in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. In addition, differences in efficiency between different operating environments are investigated. Concerning the debate about ownership and efficiency, we find that privately owned companies outperform public utilities in their management of labour. Furthermore, technical efficiency is found to be greater among firms located in highly populated areas and for utilities providing water services to tourist municipalities. Finally, no empirical evidence supporting the greater technical efficiency of consortia of water utilities, a managerial strategy strongly encouraged by regional politicians, is found.

A Duration Model for the Estimation of the Contracting Out of Urban Water Management in Southern Spain

Research that tries to explain the decisions of local government in the contracting out of certain services frequently disregards the temporal dimension. In this article, the authors take time into account in the analysis, proposing a duration model as an alternative to discrete choice models. The objective is to analyze the explanatory factors in the contracting out of municipal services. This methodology is applied to the water services of 744 municipalities in southern Spain during the period from 1985 to 2006. From the results, the authors conclude that complexity in the environment, economies of scale, financial restrictions, and stability of the local government are determinants in the decision.

Can We Be Satisfied With Our Football Team? Evidence From Spanish Professional Football

This article assesses the sporting performance of Spanish professional football teams at competition level, namely, League, King’s Cup, and European competitions (Champions League and Union of European Football Associations [UEFA] Cup). Then, the gap between the result obtained by a team at the end of a season and that expected according to its potential is used as a proxy of the degree of satisfaction that fans should feel: the narrower the gap the greater the level of satisfaction. Regarding methodology, Data Envelopment Analysis techniques and directional distance functions are used. Results reveal that most teams perform rather differently across competitions, the lower average performance corresponding to the King’s Cup.

Constitutive Secretion of Interleukin-6 by Human Decidual Stromal Cells in Culture. Regulatory Effect of Progesterone

PROBLEM: Although several studies have demonstrated that decidual stromal cells (DSC) can secrete cytokines in culture, none of these studies documented the purity of the cultures. Since other cells of the decidua, such as macrophages and epithelial cells, also produce cytokines, it is important to ensure purity of the culture so that cytokine production can be ascribed with confidence to DSC.

Accounting for operating environments in measuring water utilities' managerial efficiency

In this paper adjusted input-specific scores of technical efficiency are computed for a sample of Spanish water utilities. Performance is adjusted by netting out efficiency scores from the effect of operating environments and statistical noise. The results show that computation of adjusted efficiency scores at the input level manifestly improves the assessment of utilities’ performance in our sample of water utilities. In addition, several environmental variables capable of affecting input-specific technical management are discovered, ownership or demand seasonality among them. Finally, distributions of conventional and adjusted scores of technical performance are found to be statistically different for some inputs.

Why Is Non-revenue Water So High in So Many Cities?

The efficient management of water resources is a growing necessity. Paradoxically, although people are aware of this need, non-revenue water is excessive in many cities in the world. Non-revenue water data indicate that there is much room for improvement in water resource management in cities and they also suggest a lack of motivation to solve the problem in the short-term. This paper investigates the reasons why non-revenue water is so high in many cities around the world. The lack of incentives for management units, the defence of private interests due to corruption, the lack of awareness of citizens-users of the water service and the lack of political willingness are the main causes.

Does a red shirt improve sporting performance? Evidence from Spanish football

Recent research has linked red shirts to sporting success. In this article, we analyse the relationship between the colour red and sporting performance in the Spanish Professional Football League. Our foremost conclusion is that once the effect of the different endowments of resources and the ability of managers have been discounted, teams with red shirts do not show greater performance than teams wearing shirts of other colours.

Measuring Water Affordability: A Proposal for Urban Centres in Developed Countries

Although water, at least for basic needs, should be accessible to everyone, many families have trouble paying their water bill. Assessments of water affordability inform the design of water tariffs aimed at ensuring universal access to water. In order to carry out such assessments, managers must have instruments available that accurately reflect the state of water affordability. In this article, a critique is presented of one of the indicators traditionally used to measure water affordability and a proposal of an alternative way of measuring water affordability is put forward. The empirical analysis is applied to data from 301 communities in southern Spain.