Architectural Indoor Analysis: A Holistic Approach to Understand the Relation of Higher Education Classrooms and Academic Performance

The influence of learning space on users has been broadly accepted and tested. However, the literature has focused on single factor research, instead of holistic approaches. Additionally, lower educational levels have been the focus of interest, while higher education is moving towards multi-method teaching. This paper focuses on how learning spaces for different purposes (practice and lecture rooms) may influence academic performance from a holistic approach of learning physical environment perception. For this, the iPEP scale (Indoor physical environment perception) is used and validated through Cronbach Alpha and Exploratory Factorial Analysis. Then, multiple linear regression is conducted. The results indicate that iPEP measures near to 63 percent of the construct, which is structured in six factors. Moreover, linear regression analyses support previous literature concerning the influence of learning physical environment on academic performance (R2 = 0.154). The differences obtained between practice and lecture room in terms of predictor variables bring to the light the need to diagnose learning environments before designing changes in educational buildings. This research provides a self-reported way to measure indoor environments, as well as evidence concerning the modern university, which desires to combine several teaching methods

UNA GENERACIÓN DE ENSEÑANZA BILINGÜE: RESULTADOS DE UN ESTUDIO A GRAN ESCALA DE PROFESORES AICLE

The bilingual turn required education systems to undergo structural changes in order to adapt to the new situations. These adjustments included better language training for teachers, the adoption of alternative teaching methods, the increased use of ICT and self-designed materials, the curricular integration of content and language and the creation of competence-based assessment guidelines. In order to evaluate the depth of this transformation and the actual effect that it had on students and schools, a sustained observation covering a sufficiently wide timespan needed to be performed. Two decades after the inception of bilingual education in Andalusia—Southern Spain—, this paper will describe the configuration of the Bilingual Program as perceived by the change agents: the school teachers. L1 Spanish teachers, L2 teachers and content teachers adopted different practices and therefore hold slightly divergent opinions. Nevertheless, there exists a consensus on the general benefits of CLIL bilingual education. Drawing from their perceptions, which will be presented for each of the above-mentioned aspects, this paper Will counter the most recurrent criticisms that CLIL education meets.El auge del bilingüismo ha hecho necesario que los sistemas educativos experimenten cambios estructurales para adaptarse a las nuevas situaciones. Entre estos ajustes se encuentran la mejora de la formación lingüística del profesorado, la adopción de métodos docentes alternativos, el aumento del uso de las TIC y de materiales propios, la integración curricular de lenguas y contenidos y la creación de criterios de evaluación basados en competencias. Para evaluar la profundidad de esta transformación y el verdadero efecto que ha tenido en los estudiantes y los centros educativos, se necesita una observación prolongada que abarque un periodo de tiempo lo suficientemente amplio. Tras dos décadas de educación bilingüe en Andalucía —la comunidad autónoma del sur de España—, este artículo pretende describir la implantación del Programa Bilingüe tal y como la perciben los agentes del cambio: el profesorado. Los profesores de Lengua Española (L1), los de Lengua Inglesa (L2) y los de áreas no lingüísticas han adoptado diferentes prácticas y manifiestan por tanto opiniones ligeramente distintas. Sin embargo, existe un consenso generalizado en cuanto a los beneficios que ofrecen la metodología AICLE y la educación bilingüe. En este artículo presentaremos las percepciones del profesorado del Programa Bilingüe de Andalucía sobre cada uno de los aspectos anteriores y, basándonos en estas, defenderemos la metodología AICLE de las críticas más recurrentes de sus detractores.The bilingual turn required education systems to undergo structural changes in order to adapt to the new situations. These adjustments included better language training for teachers, the adoption of alternative teaching methods, the increased use of ICT and self-designed materials, the curricular integration of content and language and the creation of competence-based assessment guidelines. In order to evaluate the depth of this transformation and the actual effect that it had on students and schools, a sustained observation covering a sufficiently wide timespan needed to be performed. Two decades after the inception of bilingual education in Andalusia—Southern Spain—, this paper will describe the configuration of the Bilingual Program as perceived by the change agents: the school teachers. L1 Spanish teachers, L2 teachers and content teachers adopted different practices and therefore hold slightly divergent opinions. Nevertheless, there exists a consensus on the general benefits of CLIL bilingual education. Drawing from their perceptions, which will be presented for each of the above-mentioned aspects, this paper Will counter the most recurrent criticisms that CLIL education meets

Diseño y cálculo de unas patas articuladas que sirvan para el movimiento de una máquina tipo ROV

This work is defined as an engineering development. In particular, a modular ROV is designed from scratch, with special emphasis on the mechanical study of the movement system. In this project, the problem to be solved is the inspection of a cement pipe that has vertical and horizontal sections with slight turning radius. In addition, the longest pipe is ten meters long and it is necessary to monitor the inside of the pipe. Each pre-designed component is proposed following mechanical, geometric, dimensional and functional rules. As for the movement system, its design is based on a bar linkage or mechanism supplied by a lead screw. In addition, the control of the ROV's movement is possible thanks to the load cells that are attached to the bars. Thus, the load cells command three stepper motors that transmit energy to the lead screws. In addition, the working stress states, the stress instructions from the load cells to the motors (for switching from one step to another), and the resistance of the motion system are calculated. Finally, it is worth mentioning a spring design due to its unusual tensions and arrangement, being a joint

Comparación da efectividade do vendaxe funcional, vendaxe neuromuscular e das ortesis plantares en pacientes con pé pronado

[Resumen] Objetivos. Comparar el nivel de efectividad existente del tratamiento a nivel de un vendaje funcional, un vendaje neuromuscular y una ortesis plantar como medidas correctoras de la pronación a nivel del pie en adulto así como de su capacidad para modificar su sintomatología. Para ello se ha realizado una revisión de la literatura científica. Material y método. Se realizó una búsqueda en las bases de datos Medline, Scopus, PEDro y DIALNET delimitando los resultados desde enero de 2010 hasta mayo de 2016, siendo ensayos clínicos de habla inglesa y española. Las palabras clave utilizadas fueron “pronation”, “flatfoot”, “tape”, “kinesio” y “orthosis”. Resultados. Se obtuvieron un total de 14 artículos, de los cuales 10 corresponden al tratamiento por parte del vendaje: divididos en 5 de vendaje funcional, 3 de vendaje neuromuscular y 2 del vendaje en general. En el otro lado, encontramos 4 artículos que se centran en el tratamiento por ortesis plantares. Conclusiones. El vendaje funcional y las ortesis plantares han resultado efectivos para el control de la pronación a nivel de retropié, mientras que el vendaje neuromuscular y las ortesis plantares han resultado útiles para paliar el dolor. En la práctica clínica, la elección de tratamiento antipronación debe basarse en las características propias del paciente, el tipo de actividad que vaya a desarrollar, su prioridad personal y nuestra preferencia clínica.[Abstract] Objectives. To compare the effectiveness of taping, kinesiotaping and plantar orthosis as corrective pronation measures and their hability to modificate symtons on adult foot, for it has conducted a review of the scientific literature. Material and method. The search was done in Medline, Scopus, PEDro and DIALNET databases. The results were between January 2010 to May 2016, with English and Spanish articles. Results. Fourteen articles were chosen. Ten of them show an effective treatment of taping: five functional taping articles, three kinesiotaping articles and two both taping articles. On the other side, four plantar orthosis articles were analyzed. Discussion. The taping and plantar orthotics have proven effective for control of rearfoot pronation, while the neuromuscular bandage and plantar orthotics have proven useful to relieve pain. In clinical practice, the choice of antipronation treatment should be based on patient characteristics, type of activity that will develop, his personal priority and our clinical preference.[Resumo] Obxectivos. Comparar o nivel de efectividade existente do tratamento utilizando un vendaxe funcional, un vendaxe neuromuscular e una ortesis plantar como medidas da corrección da pronación nun pé adulto así como a súa capacidade de modificar a sintomatoloxía. Para responder a isto realizouse unha revisión da literatura científica. Material e métodos. Realizóuse una búsqueda nas bases de datos Medline, Scopus, PEDro y DIALNET delimitando os resultados dende Xaneiro de 2010 ata Maio de 2016, sendo de fala inglesa e española. As palabras clave utilizadas foron “pronation”, “flatfoot”, “tape”, “kinesio” y “orthosis”. Resultados. Obtivéronse un total de 14 artigos, dos cales 10 corresponden ó tratamiento eficaz por parte do vendaxe: divididos en 5 de vendaxe funcional, 3 de vendaxe neuromuscular e 2 do vendaxe en xeral. No outro lado, encontramos 4 artículos que se centran no tratamiento por ortesis plantares. Discusión. O vendaxe funcional e las ortesis plantares foron efectivas para o control de la pronación a nivel de retropé, mentres que o vendaxe neuromuscular e as ortesis plantares foron útiles para paliar el dolor. En la práctica clínica, la elección de tratamiento antipronación debe basarse en las características propias del paciente, el tipo de actividad que vaya a desarrollar, su prioridad personal y nuestra preferencia clínica.Traballo fin de grao (UDC.FCS). Fisioterapia. Curso 2015/2016

Estudio, desarrollo y evaluación de técnicas de aprendizaje automático en tareas de clasificación y/o predicción: detección de exoplanetas

[ES] El trabajo consiste en la detección de exoplanetas a partir de observaciones de la evolución de la luminosidad de las estrellas obtenidas mediante el telescopio Kepler. La base de datos, importada desde Kaggle, contiene datos para un conjunto amplio de estrellas de las que se sabe si tienen o no un planeta orbitando a su alrededor. Para ello, se ha separado el conjunto de datos total en un conjunto de training y otro de test y se han aplicado técnicas de Machine Learning para llevar a cabo la clasificación: regresión logística, support vector machines, árboles de decisión, random forests, modelos k-NN y modelos de combinación. Además, debido al desequilibrio entre instancias positivas (estrellas con exoplaneta) y negativas (estrellas sin exoplaneta) del conjunto de datos, se han implementado dos técnicas de compensación: el submuestreo aleatorio y el sobremuestreo SMOTE. El trabajo incluye tanto el fundamento teórico de los métodos de clasificación utilizados como su aplicación sobre el conjunto de datos

Detección de comunidades en redes sociales, estudio sobre las elecciones catalanas y elecciones generales de 2015

Twitter se ha convertido en un aspecto más de la web social como un reflejo de los temas de actualidad, permitiendo a los usuarios compartir ideas, noticias u opiniones. En materia de comunicación política cada vez más se está utilizando esta plataforma de microblogging como herramienta, convirtiéndose en objeto de análisis de los investigadores para averiguar su validez como indicador del comportamiento u opinión política de la población. Esta contribución se centra en el periodo de campaña en España durante las elecciones de Cataluña de Septiembre de 2015 (27s) y las elecciones generales de Diciembre de 2015 (20d), siguiendo la línea de anteriores investigaciones, contrastándolas y ampliándolas ligeramente. El objetivo de este trabajo es el análisis de la presencia de comunidades latentes a través de las distintas relaciones definidas en Twitter, sus propiedades y particularidades, la forma en la que estos subgrupos interactúan y tienen vínculos, su adecuación como comunidades de simpatizantes políticos, la correlación entre sus características y la estimación del voto y el estudio de la polaridad de opinión en el contexto de la independencia de Cataluña durante las elecciones. Para este estudio se extrajeron de Twitter alrededor de un millón y medio de tweets en el total de ambos escenarios de campaña electoral.Twitter has become an aspect of the social web as a reflection of the current issues, and allowing users to share ideas, news or opinions. This microblogging platform is being increasingly used as a political communication tool, becoming a subject of analysis for researchers, as to determine its validity as an indicator of behavior or political opinion of the population. This contribution focuses on the campaign period for Catalan parliamentary elections on September 2015 (27S) and Spanish general elections on December 2015 (20D), following the line of previous research, contrasting and extending them slightly. The aim of this paper is the analysis of the presence of latent communities through various defined relationships on Twitter, their properties and characteristics, the way that these subgroups interact and how they have connecting links, their fitness as communities of political supporters, the correlation between its characteristics and the vote estimate and the study of the opinion polarity in the context of the independence of Catalonia during the Catalan election. For this study we've extracted from Twitter about one million and a half tweets in total involving both scenarios during the election campaign

Dental management of patients taking novel oral anticoagulants (NOAs): dabigatran

A new group of oral anticoagulants (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban) with clear advantages over classic dicoumarin oral anticoagulants (warfarin and acenocoumarol) has been developed in recent years. Patients being treated with oral anticoagulants are at higher risk for bleeding when undergoing dental treatments. A literature search was conducted through April 2016 for publications in the ISI Web of Knowledge, PubMed and Cochrane Library using the keywords “dabigatran”, “rivaroxaban”, “apixaban”, “edoxaban”, “new oral anticoagulants”, “novel oral anticoagulants”, “bleeding” and “dental treatment”. There is no need for regular coagulation monitoring of patients on dabigatran therapy. Whether or not to temporarily discontinue dabigatran must be assessed according to the bleeding risk involved in the dental procedure to be performed. The number of patients under treatment with new oral anticoagulants will increase in the coming years. It is essential to know about the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of new oral anticoagulants and about their interactions with other drugs. It is necessary to develop clinical guidelines for the perioperative and postoperative management of these new oral anticoagulants in oral surgical procedures, and to carefully evaluate the bleeding risk of dental treatment, as well as the thrombotic risk of suppressing the new oral anticoagulant

Nanofabrication of chemically modified surfaces for large area molecular electronic devices.

Current silicon-based technology presents significant drawbacks from a technological and economical point of view. Therefore, molecular electronics is presented as a supporting tool; based on the use of organic or organometallic molecules as basic elements nanoelectronics. This Final Master Thesis aims at the formation of monolayers of a suitably functionalized organic compound, trough the transference of monolayers formed at the air water interface onto solid substrates and how the pH of the subphase can influence on the formation of them, as well as for the study of the surface behaviour of it.The formation of the monolayers has been carried out using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique and subsequently the films have been characterized both at the air-water interface (Langmuir films) and on the surface of a substrate (Langmuir-Blodgett films) by using a set of techniques such as surface pressure isotherms versus area per molecule, surface potential isotherms versus area per molecule, Brewster angle microscopy (BAM), UV-Vis reflection spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV) or quartz crystal microbalance (QCM).<br /

Depth-aware convolutional neural networks for accurate 3D pose estimation in RGB-D images

© 20xx IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Most recent approaches to 3D pose estimation from RGB-D images address the problem in a two-stage pipeline. First, they learn a classifier –typically a random forest– to predict the position of each input pixel on the object surface. These estimates are then used to define an energy function that is minimized w.r.t. the object pose. In this paper, we focus on the first stage of the problem and propose a novel classifier based on a depth-aware Convolutional Neural Network. This classifier is able to learn a scale-adaptive regression model that yields very accurate pixel-level predictions, allowing to finally estimate the pose using a simple RANSAC-based scheme, with no need to optimize complex ad hoc energy functions. Our experiments on publicly available datasets show that our approach achieves remarkable improvements over state-of-the-art methods.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft