Feature selection algorithms: a survey and experimental evaluation

In view of the substantial number of existing feature selection algorithms, the need arises to count on criteria that enables to adequately decide which algorithm to use in certain situations. This work reviews several fundamental algorithms found in the literature and assesses their performance in a controlled scenario. A scoring measure ranks the algorithms by taking into account the amount of relevance, irrelevance and redundance on sample data sets. This measure computes the degree of matching between the output given by the algorithm and the known optimal solution. Sample size effects are also studied.Postprint (published version

Activity and learning contexts in educational transmedia

The idea of transmedial organisation emerged as the form adopted by much of today's storytelling, combining different media, at different points in time, placing the user in a new situation with a much more active attitude, having to work out how to understand a set of message and having to engage in the understanding of the story (Jenkins, 2006). Transmediality has some educational consequences that set it apart from other approaches, even outside specific learning contexts. Some of the ideas discussed led to the creation of a project entitled The Ancestral Letter, a transmedia story, designed and produced specifically for 15-year-old students. The project was implemented in two secondary schools in Barcelona in order to verify the interest in this concept. The journey we have made, from a few starting principles and theoretical problems to a complex case of transmedia storytelling, clearly highlights the difficulty involved in addressing the question of learning between contexts, and through them, especially if it is carried out in a simple and simplified manner; that is, without having a much more elaborate theory of learning contexts, nor a rigorously designed descriptive language. The Ancestral Letterand other transmedia examples offer us a more understandable and effective way of coordinating between the school-based and informal settings, between the digital setting and everyday life (analogical, not mediated by screens), both in terms of the organisation of content and in respect of time-based narrative. Unfortunately, we still do not have enough knowledge about this or about activity contexts (whether or not learning takes place within them)

Basque society facing terrorism. Closed windows (1977-2011)

El artículo se centra en una cuestión muy debatida como es la reacción social que se produjo en el País Vasco frente a ETA y el apoyo que la sociedad prestó a las víctimas. A este respecto se distinguen distintos períodos, desde una primera y larga etapa en la que el rechazo social a ETA fue ocasional y las víctimas no existían públicamente, a una última, ya muy reciente, en el que las cosas cambiaron y se fue manifestando la repulsa a la organización terrorista. Asimismo, el texto sirve para analizar los grupos que más firmemente se le opusieron, los mecanismos de ETA para extender el miedo y la estigmatización de una parte de la sociedad, o las políticas de algunos partidos y movimientos frente a la banda

El rumor de lo cotidiano. Estudios sobre el País Vasco contemporáneo

La observación desde diferentes ángulos de la vida cotidiana del País Vasco contemporáneo es el objeto central de este libro. Al poner la mirada sobre lo cotidiano no se busca un relato que se limite a describir superficialmente aspectos banales de la vida de las gentes, sino indagar sobre temas que a veces son marginados por la historia y que resultan cruciales para comprender el funcionamiento y las reglas de aquella sociedad. En el libro se pasa revista a cuestiones muy diversas, abordándose puntos como la expansión de las ciudades modernas, la sociabilidad y el ocio, las condiciones de vida de los humildes, la historia de las mujeres, el mundo de las percepciones y la política, etc. Los textos son una muestra de algunas de las orientaciones que adopta la historiografía vasca contemporánea y su voluntad de examinar nuevas facetas de nuestro pasado

Victims of terrorism. The question of the narrative

A lo largo del texto se pasa revista al tratamiento que están recibiendo las víctimas del terrorismo en Euskadi y las distintas opciones que se están poniendo en juego. Se hace hincapié en el riesgo de equiparar las violencias, o de hacer una lectura benévola y acomodaticia del pasado. En el trasfondo del artículo late la idea de historizar cualquier relato que se haga del pasado, reclamándose el necesario papel que debe tener el historiador a la hora explicar los hechos recientes.The text reviews the treatment being received by the victims of terrorism in the Basque Country and the different options that are being put into play. Emphasis is placed on the risk of equating different types of violence, or of making a benevolent and accommodating reading of the past. Underlying the article is the idea that any narrative construction of the past must be placed in historical context, which underscores the necessary role of the historian when it comes to explaining recent events

A comprehensive analysis of genome composition and codon usage patterns of emerging coronaviruses

An outbreak of atypical pneumonia caused by a novel Betacoronavirus (βCoV), named SARS-CoV-2 has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. In order to gain insight into the emergence, evolution and adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 viruses, a comprehensive analysis of genome composition and codon usage of βCoV circulating in China was performed. A biased nucleotide composition was found for SARS-CoV-2 genome. This bias in genomic composition is reflected in its codon and amino acid usage patterns. The overall codon usage in SARS-CoV-2 is similar among themselves and slightly biased. Most of the highly frequent codons are A- and U-ending, which strongly suggests that mutational bias is the main force shaping codon usage in this virus. Significant differences in relative synonymous codon usage frequencies among SARS-CoV-2 and human cells were found. These differences are due to codon usage preferences.ANII; CSI

Creando vínculos entre Universidad y Comunidad : el proyecto Shere Rom, una experiencia de aprendizaje servicio en la Facultad de Psicología de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

En este trabajo se describe el proyecto Shere Rom, un entramado de vínculos entre la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, comunidades gitanas y escuelas públicas del área metropolitana de Barcelona. En el análisis de la experiencia se destacan dos elementos clave del aprendizaje servicio: a) el proyecto promueve el retorno social de la universidad a la sociedad, dando respuesta a necesidades reales mediante la intervención psicoeducativa desarrollada en el marco de proyectos de investigación; b) promueve en los estudiantes la adquisición de conocimientos y el desarrollo de competencias propias de su currículum formativo a través de la participación en un proyecto real y la implicación en la comunidad. Después de 16 años, participando cada curso entre 110 y 140 estudiantes de la UAB y entre 250 y 300 niñas y niños de distintas minorías étnicas, podemos describir las potencialidades que el proyecto ofrece a cada uno de sus participantesIn this article we describe the project Shere Rom, a network of links between the Autonomous University of Barcelona, gypsie communities and public schools in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The analysis of the experience highlights two key elements of service learning: a) the project promotes the social return of the university to society, responding to real needs through educational intervention that is developed under the frame of research projects; b) promotes, in college students, the acquisition of knowledge and the development of its own training curriculum skills through participation in a real project and community involvement. After 16 years, with a participation each year between 110 and 140 UAB students and between 250 and 300 children from different ethnic minorities, we can describe the potential that the project offers to each of its participant