Importance of creativity and learning in preservice teachers

Introduction: Currently, the review of the scientific literature highlights the interrelation between creativity and learning; being learning a creative process that implies significant new personal fundamental changes in all educational stages, but above all in higher education, promoting the employability of university students. The objective of this research is to analyce the relationship between creativity and academic performance as a measure of learning. Method: The sample was conformed by 100 university students of the Degree of Primary Education of the University of Castilla la Mancha (UCLM) (40% boys and 60% girls) with ages between 19 and 24 years. All participants are administered the PICA test to assess creativity and self-report of the university entrance test to measure the grades academic performance. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used. Results: The results obtained show a significant positive correlation between the university access grade and general creativity, narrative, fantasy, fluency and flexibility. In addition, general and narrative creativity as well as fantasy, fluency and flexibility predict academic performance. Discussion or Conclusion: These findings have educational implications to enhance the learning of future teachers, aimed at teaching creative strategies and their employability.Introducción. Actualmente, la revisión de la literatura científica pone de manifiesto la interrelación entre la creatividad y el aprendizaje; siendo el aprendizaje, un proceso creativo que implica nuevos cambios significativamente personales fundamentales en todas las etapas educativas, pero sobretodo en la educación superior, promoviendo la empleabilidad del alumnado universitario. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la relación entre la creatividad y el rendimiento académico como medida del aprendizaje. Método. La muestra estuvo conformada por 100 estudiantes universitarios del Grado de Educación Primaria de la Universidad de Castilla La Mancha (UCLM) (40% chicos y 60% chicas) con edades comprendidas entre 19 y 24 años. A todos los participantes se les administra la prueba PICA para evaluar creatividad y las calificaciones de la asignatura de matemáticas y de acceso a la universidad para el rendimiento académico. Se emplearon estadísticos descriptivos, correlación de Pearson y regresión lineal múltiple. Resultados. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian correlación significativa positiva entre la nota de acceso a la universidad y la creatividad general, creatividad narrativa, fantasía, fluidez y flexibilidad; y correlación significativa positiva entre la nota de matemáticas y la creatividad general, creatividad narrativa, elaboración, fluidez y flexibilidad. Además, la creatividad y algunos componentes predicen el rendimiento académico. Discusión y conclusiones. Estos hallazgos tienen implicaciones educativas para potenciar el aprendizaje de los futuros maestros, dirigidas a la enseñanza de estrategias creativas y a su empleabilidad

The decline of Spain (1500–1850): conjectural estimates

This article attempts to quantify the decline of Spain over the period 1500–1850. In contrast to earlier estimates that focus almost exclusively on Castilian agriculture, we look at trends in urbanisation and construct new measures of agricultural and aggregate output at both regional and national levels. A distinctive long-run behaviour is found across Spanish regions that rejects the identification between Castile and Spain. Per capita income grew in the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries, while contraction and stagnation occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the long run, output per head did not improve until the early nineteenth century. At the time of its imperial expansion Spain was a relatively affluent nation and, by 1590, was only behind the Low Countries and Italy in terms of per capita income. Spain's decline has its roots in the seventeenth century while its backwardness deepened in the first half of the nineteenth century.Publicad

The rise and fall of Spain (1270-1850)

Two distinctive regimes are distinguished in Spain over half-a-millennium. A first one (1270s-1590s) corresponds to a high land-labour ratio frontier economy, pastoral, trade-oriented, and led by towns. Wages and food consumption were relatively high. Sustained per capita growth occurred from the Reconquest’s end (1264) to the Black Death (1340s) and resumed from the 1390s only broken by late- 15th century turmoil. A second regime (1600s-1810s) corresponds to a more agricultural and densely populated low-wage economy which grew along a lower path. Contrary to preindustrial Western Europe, Spain achieved her highest living standards in the 1340s, not by mid-15th century. Although its population toll was lower, the Plague had a more damaging impact on Spain and, far from releasing non-existent demographic pressure, destroyed the equilibrium between scarce population and abundant resources. Pre-1350 per capita income was reached by the late 16th century but only overcome after 1820.Preindustrial Spain, Frontier economy, Reconquest, Black Death, Rise, Decline, Western Europe

Còpia Temporal i Al·lucinació Local per Video inpainting

Video inpainting is the task of removing objects from videos. In particular, the goal is not only to fill every frame with plausible content but also to maintain a temporal consistency so that no abrupt changes can be perceived. The current state of the art in video inpainting, which builds upon deep neural network, suffers from the problem of handling large amounts of frames when working with decent resolution frames. In our work, we propose to tackle the problem of video inpainting by dividing it into two independent sub-tasks. The first, a Dense Flow Prediction Network (DFPN) capable of predicting the movement of the background by taking into account the movement of the object to remove. And the second, a Copy-and-Hallucinate Network (CHN) that uses the output of the previous network to copy the regions that are visible in reference frames while hallucinating those that are not. Both networks are trained independently and mixed using one of our three algorithm proposals: the Frame-by-Frame (FF) algorithm, the Inpaint-and-Propagate (IP) algorithm or the Copy-and-Propagate (CP) algorithm. We analyze our results by taking both an objective and a subjective approach in two different data sets. In both cases, we realize that our models are close to the state of the art but do not overpass it.Video inpainting es la tarea de borrar objetos de vídeos. En particular, el objetivo no es solo rellenar cada fotógrafa con contenido adecuado, sino también mantener cierta consistencia temporal para que no se perciban cambios abruptos. El estado del arte en video inpainting, basado en redes neuronales profundas, sufre del problema de gestionar grandes cantidades de fotogramas cuando se utilizan con resoluciones decentes. En nuestro trabajo, proponemos abordar el problema dividiéndolo en dos tareas independientes. La primera, una Dense Flow Prediction Network (DFPN) capaz de predecir el movimiento del fondo teniendo en cuenta el del objeto a eliminar. Y la segunda, una Copy-and-Hallucinate Network (CHN) que utiliza la salida del módulo anterior para copiar las regiones que son visibles en fotogramas auxiliares y alucinar aquellas que no lo son. Ambas redes son entrenadas independientemente y unidas utilizando una de nuestras tres propuestas de algoritmos: el algoritmo Frame-by-Frame (FF), el algoritmo Inpaint-and-Propagate (IP) o el algoritmo Copy-and-Propagate (CP). Analizamos nuestros resultados utilizando métodos objetivos y subjetivos en dos bases de datos diferentes. En ambos casos, concluimos que nuestros modelos están cerca del estado del arte pero no lo superan.Vídeo inpainting és la tasca d'esborrar objectes de vídeos. En particular, l'objectiu no és només omplir cada fotograma amb contingut adequat, sinó també mantenir certa consistència temporal per tal de no percebre canvis abruptes. L'estat de l'art en vídeo inpainting, basat en xarxes neuronals profundes, pateix del problema de gestionar grans quantitats de fotogrames quan aquests són de resolucions decents. En el nostre treball, proposem abordar el problema dividint-lo en dues tasques independents. La primera, una Dense Flow Prediction Network (DFPN) capaç de predir el moviment del fons tenint en compte el de l'objecte a eliminar. I la segona, una Copy-and-Hallucinate Network (CHN) que utilitza la sortida de la xarxa anterior per copiar les regions que són visibles en fotogrames auxiliars i al·lucinar les que no ho són. Les dues xarxes són entrenades independentment i unides fent servir una de les nostres tres propostes d'algoritmes: l'algoritme Frame-by-frame (FF), l'algoritme Inpaint-and-Propagate (IP) o l'algoritme Copy-and-Propagate (CP). Analitzem els nostres resultats utilitzant mètodes objectius i subjectius en dues bases de dades diferents. En tots dos casos, concloem que els nostres models s'apropen a l'estat de l'art però no el superen

Influence of the type of fiber on the structural response and design of FRC slabs

Most codes for the design of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) structures are based on the experience achieved throughout the years with steel fibers. Recent codes include the possibility of applying the same considerations for FRC structures with plastic fiber. However, the consequences of assuming identical design considerations regardless of the type of fiber is scarcely known in terms of the structural behavior of full-scale elements. The main goal of this paper is to assess the influence of the type of fiber on the performance of full-scale concrete slabs, emphasizing on the consequences of using a common design approach. For that, a comparative experimental study was conducted in order to expose differences regarding the crack pattern and load-deflection behavior. Then, finite element simulations were performed using the constitutive equations from the Model Code 2010. The results indicate distinct levels of overestimation of the structural behavior measured experimentally, confirming that specific design considerations are required depending on the type of fiber used. Based on the findings, correction factors are proposed for the design of FRC slabs with each fiber.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Strategic alliances, organisational learning and new product development: the cases of Rover and Seat.

The importance of the automotive industry in the global economy is widely recognised. The sector has undergone enormous changes in order to prepare for the fierce competition of the 21st century. Among these transformations, the most relevant are those technologies developed for the rapid evolution of activities linked to new designs, new products, and new manufacturing processes and systems. Innovative Japanese carmakers have stimulated international performance comparisons in these activities. International technology alliances may be one way of gaining access to new competitive technologies. Risks and costs associated with new product development can be shared among the partners and more effective use can be made of manufacturing facilities and production capabilities. Sometimes, an alliance agreement may lead to the deployment of new capabilities. However, in spite of this potential, the literature presents the success rate of alliances at less than 50%. Our study considers two examples of companies that developed international joint ventures (IJVs): Rover with Honda, and Seat with Volkswagen. Since these two European peripheral companies, Rover and Seat, no longer remain as independent firms, we are interested in identifying the reasons leading to the success or failure of these IJVs as regards the New Product Development (NPD) process. In particular, in both cases the paper looks at the problems of the weaker partner becoming increasingly dependent on the other partner and the need for a well-defined strategy to benefit from IJVs.Alianzas estratégicas; desarrollo de productos; Rover; Seat;

Poisson-Lie T-duality

A description of dual non-Abelian duality is given, based on the notion of the Drinfeld double. The presentation basically follows the original paper \cite{KS2}, written in collaboration with P. \v Severa, but here the emphasis is put on the algebraic rather than the geometric aspect of the construction and a concrete example of the Borelian double is worked out in detail.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, Lecture given at Trieste conference on S-duality and mirror symmetry, June 1995, (signs in Eqs. (10,11) corrected, 1 reference added

Design issues and experimental characterization of a continuously-tuned adaptive CMOS LNA

This paper presents the design implementation and experimental characterization of an adaptive Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) intended for multi-standard Radio Frequency (RF) wireless transceivers. The circuit —fabricated in a 90-nm CMOS technology— is a two-stage inductively degenerated common-source topology that combines PMOS varactors with programmable load to make the operation of the circuit continuously tunable. Practical design issues are analyzed, considering the effect of circuit parasitics associated to the chip package and integrated inductors, capacitors and varactors. Experimental measurements show a continuous tuning of NF and Sparameters within the 1.75-2.23GHz band, featuring NF19.6dB and IIP3> −9.8dBm, with a power dissipation < 23mW from a 1-V supply voltage.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (FEDER) TEC2007-67247-C02-01/MICJunta de Andalucía, Consejo Regional de Innovación, ciencia y empresa TIC-253

La antigüedad clásica en la España Sagrada del Padre Henrique Flórez de Setién y Huidobro

Junta de Andalucía HUM40