Sensitivity analysis in calculus of variations. Some applications

This paper deals with the problem of sensitivity analysis in calculus of variations. A perturbation technique is applied to derive the boundary value problem and the system of equations that allow us to obtain the partial derivatives (sensitivities) of the objective function value and the primal and dual optimal solutions with respect to all parameters. Two examples of applications, a simple mathematical problem and a slope stability analysis problem, are used to illustrate the proposed method

Burnout, Resilience and Self-Esteem in School Teaching University Students

Burnout syndrome seems to involve fatigue that is characterised by loss of motivation, lack of energy, and some apathy as a consequence of continued exposure to stress in demanding performance circumstances. Background: The goal of the present study is to analyse the relationship between burnout in university students with a degree in Teaching and some variables that may be associated with it such as self-esteem, resilience or age. Methods: A total of 1547 graduate students enrolled in the career of Teaching in the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Granada, Spain, participated in the study. Of them, 337 (21.8%) were men, 1195 (77.3%) were women, 14 (0.9%) indicated other gender options, and 1 (0%) did not respond to this item. The mean age of the participants was 20.52. Results: The results show that low levels of self-esteem and resilience, are the variables that best predict the increase in burnout in students of Teaching. Conclusions: Findings are discussed regarding applied implications and the need for future research. Intervention initiatives focused on enhancing personal strengths such as resilience or self-esteem can help students to cope with the stress associated with demanding educational situations and thus reduce the presence of burnout

Horizontal transmission of streptococcus mutans in schoolchildren

Objetive: The aim of this study was to analyze possible horizontal transmission patterns of S. mutans among 6-7-yr-old schoolchildren from the same class, identifying genotypes and their diversity and relationship with caries disease status. Study Design: Caries indexes and saliva mutans streptococci and lactobacilli counts were recorded in 42 schoolchildren. Mutans streptococci colonies were identified by means of biochemical tests and all S. mutans strains were genotyped by arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction. A child was considered free of S. mutans when it could not be isolated in 3 samples at 1-week intervals. Results: S. mutans was isolated in 30 schoolchildren: 20 having one genotype and 10 two genotypes. Higher mutans streptococci and caries index values were found in those with two genotypes. Five genotypes were isolated in more than 1 schoolchild and one of these was isolated in 3 schoolchildren. Our results suggest that horizontal transmission may take place. Conclusion: Schoolchildren aged 6-7 yrs may be the source of mutual transmission of S. mutans

Self-Esteem and Resilience in Students of Teaching: Evolution Associated with Academic Progress

Resilience is the ability of the person to face adverse situations and emerge stronger from them. On the other hand, self-esteem is the general assessment that a person makes of himself. In the educational field, situations that can be related to both factors converge. Not too many studies have focused so far on knowing how these variables evolve during the training of future teachers. In the present study, we intend to check the levels of self-esteem and resilience in a sample of teaching students as well as to explore whether there is an association between the different levels of self-esteem and the resilience of the participants. (is is a crosssectional descriptive investigation through an evaluation instrument. (e sample consists of 1547 students aged 17–57 years. (e sample consisted of 916 primary education students (59.2%) and 631 early childhood education students (40.8%). Of these, 337 were men, 1195 were women, and 14 of them did not indicate their gender. (e results confirm a positive association between selfesteem and resilience. Furthermore, an increase in the levels of both variables has been found as students progress in their studies. (ese data verify that the students seem to be in a position to face adverse situations, as well as qualified to transfer these competencies during the performance of their future teaching work

Blockchain-Based Services Implemented in a Microservices Architecture Using a Trusted Platform Module Applied to Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Microservice architectures exploit container-based virtualized services, which rarely use hardware-based cryptography. A trusted platform module (TPM) offers a hardware root for trust in services that makes use of cryptographic operations. The virtualization of this hardware module offers high usability for other types of service that require TPM functionalities. This paper proposes the design of TPM virtualization in a container. To ensure integrity, different mechanisms, such as attestation and sealing, have been developed for the binaries and libraries stored in the container volumes. Through a REST API, the container offers the functionalities of a TPM, such as key generation and signing. To prevent unauthorized access to the container, this article proposes an authentication mechanism based on tokens issued by the Cognito Amazon Web Service. As a proof of concept and applicability in industry, a use case for electric vehicle charging stations using a microservice-based architecture is proposed. Using the EOS.IO blockchain to maintain a copy of the data, the virtualized TPM microservice provides the cryptographic operations necessary for blockchain transactions. Through a two-factor authentication mechanism, users can access the data. This scenario shows the potential of using blockchain technologies in microservice-based architectures, where microservices such as the virtualized TPM fill a security gap in these architectures.Infineon TechnologiesProgram “Digitalisierung der EnergiewendeBundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und EnergieTrusted Blockchains fur das offene, intelligente Energienetz der Zukunft (tbiEnergy)FKZ 03EI6029DEuropean Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) program under Grant Agreement No 101092950 (EDGELESS project)FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades under Project B-TIC-588-UGR20

Day-night Differences in Neural Activation in Histaminergic and Serotonergic Areas with Putative Projections to the Cerebrospinal Fluid in a Diurnal Brain

In nocturnal rodents, brain areas that promote wakefulness have a circadian pattern of neural activation that mirrors the sleep/wake cycle, with more neural activation during the active phase than during the rest phase. To investigate whether differences in temporal patterns of neural activity in wake-promoting regions contribute to differences in daily patterns of wakefulness between nocturnal and diurnal species, we assessed Fos expression patterns in the tuberomammillary (TMM), supramammillary (SUM), and raphe nuclei of male grass rats maintained in a 12:12 h light-dark cycle. Day-night profiles of Fos expression were observed in the ventral and dorsal TMM, in the SUM, and in specific subpopulations of the raphe, including serotonergic cells, with higher Fos expression during the day than during the night. Next, to explore whether the cerebrospinal fluid is an avenue used by the TMM and raphe in the regulation of target areas, we injected the retrograde tracer cholera toxin subunit beta (CTB) into the ventricular system of male grass rats. While CTB labeling was scarce in the TMM and other hypothalamic areas including the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which contains the main circadian pacemaker, a dense cluster of CTB-positive neurons was evident in the caudal dorsal raphe, and the majority of these neurons appeared to be serotonergic. Since these findings are in agreement with reports for nocturnal rodents, our results suggest that the evolution of diurnality did not involve a change in the overall distribution of neuronal connections between systems that support wakefulness and their target areas, but produced a complete temporal reversal in the functioning of those systems

Secure Sensor Prototype Using Hardware Security Modules and Trusted Execution Environments in a Blockchain Application: Wine Logistic Use Case

The security of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems is a challenge that needs to be addressed immediately, as the increasing use of new communication paradigms and the abundant use of sensors opens up new opportunities to compromise these types of systems. In this sense, technologies such as Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) become crucial for adding new layers of security to IIoT systems, especially to edge nodes that incorporate sensors and perform continuous measurements. These technologies, coupled with new communication paradigms such as Blockchain, offer a high reliability, robustness and good interoperability between them. This paper proposes the design of a secure sensor incorporating the above mentioned technologies—HSMs and a TEE—in a hardware device based on a dual-core architecture. Through this combination of technologies, one of the cores collects the data extracted by the sensors and implements the security mechanisms to guarantee the integrity of these data, while the remaining core is responsible for sending these data through the appropriate communication protocol. This proposed approach fits into the Blockchain networks, which act as an Oracle. Finally, to illustrate the application of this concept, a use case applied to wine logistics is described, where this secure sensor is integrated into a Blockchain that collects data from the storage and transport of barrels, and a performance evaluation of the implemented prototype is providedEuropean Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program through the funding project “Cognitive edge-cloud with serverless computing” (EDGELESS) under grant agreement number 101092950FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades under Project B-TIC-588-UGR2

Tratamiento del choque femoroacetabular mediante miniabordaje anterior. Resultados a corto plazo

El tratamiento quirúrgico del choque femoroacetabular (CFA) es un práctica clínica cada vez más frecuente en nuestra especialidad. Objetivo. Analizar los resultados clínicos y radiológicos de una primera serie de pacientes diagnosticados de CFA intervenidos mediante miniabordaje anterior. Material y métodos. Estudio prospectivo de 30 pacientes con una edad media de 36,2 años y un seguimiento mínimo de 12 meses. La valoración clínica se ha realizado mediante las escalas SF-36, WOMAC y NAHS. Evaluamos la corrección radiológica de la deformidad y la progresión o no del grado de coxartrosis. Resultados. Se obtuvo una corrección adecuada de la deformidad en el 93% de los casos, 27 de los 30 pacientes presentaron una mejoría clínica significativa en los test realizados. La complicación más frecuente fue la meralgia parestésica del femorocutáneo (5 casos), 1 paciente precisó de sustitución protésica por evolución del grado de coxartrosis. Conclusiones. El tratamiento del CFA mediante mini abordaje anterior es un procedimiento seguro y reproducible. Permite la corrección de las anormalidades anatómicas y la obtención de resultados clínicos satisfactorios en una cohorte de pacientes jóvenes.Surgical treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is an increasingly common clinical practice in our speciality. Aim. To analyze the clinical and radiological results of a first series of patients diagnosed with a FAI treated with anterior mini-open approach. Material and methods. Prospective study of 30 patients with a mean age of 36.2 years with a minimum follow-up of 12 months was made. Clinical assessment was performed using the SF-36, WOMAC and NAHS scales. We evaluate the correction of the radiologic deformity and progression of the osteoarthritis grade. Results. An adequate correction of the deformity in 93% of cases was obtained, 27 of the 30 patients showed significant clinical improvement in all tests performed. The most common complication was meralgia paresthesia of the femoro-cutaneous nerve (5 cases), 1 patient required prosthetic replacement for progression of the osteoarthritis grade. Conclusions. FAI treatment by mini-open approach is a safe and reproducible procedure. This technique allows correction of anatomical abnormalities and obtains satisfactory clinical outcomes in a cohort of young patients

Sistema web de detección de copias en prácticas de programación

Llegado el momento de corregir las prácticas de programación de una asignatura podemos encontrarnos con que algunos alumnos hayan copiado. Comparar archivos de texto completos es simple y suficiente para detectar copias completas exactas, sin embargo, la detección de copias parciales es una tarea más compleja. En este trabajo se presenta un sistema web que facilita el uso del servicio MOSS, de forma que el profesor pueda usarlo mediante una interfaz fácil e intuitiva, sin necesidad de saber lenguaje Perl ni teclear órdenes. El sistema propuesto facilita la gestión de los ficheros a comparar, realiza la petición a MOSS para que lleve a cabo la comparación, y por último muestra en una ventana del navegador los resultados de la comparación. El sistema propuesto se ha utilizado por primera vez en las prácticas de programación en ensamblador de Estructura de los Computadores I durante el curso 2005/2006 habiendo resultado muy eficaz en la detección de copias

Validity and reliability of an offline ultrasound measurement of bladder base displacement in women

[Abstract] The effect of different exercises on the position of pelvic organs in women has not been sufficiently assessed. The objective was to analyze the validity and reliability of a new two-dimensional ultrasound algorithm to measure offline the displacement of the bladder base during abdominal exercises. This algorithm could be a useful method to future studies in determine the most appropriate exercises in sports and in rehabilitative program for the pelvic floor in women. All subjects were tested by transverse transabdominal ultrasound. The measurements were conducted offline using a customized code written in MATLAB (Ecolab) for image-processing, and manually on the ultrasound monitor using electronic calipers. The agreement was assessed with a paired t-test, Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient (r), the Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), the intraclass correlation coefficient ICC (A,2) and a Bland–Altman plot. The reliability was confirmed by the interdays intra-rater ICC coefficient. The results were that Ecolab and ultrasound transducer measures did not differ statistically (p = 0.246). Furthermore, both methods showed a very strong relationship, and the Ecolab demonstrated to be a valid and reliable method. We concluded that Ecolab seemed to be a valid and reliable tool to assess the effect of abdominal contractions in the female pelvic floor.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); PID2020-113578RB-I00Xunta de Galicia; ED431C-2020/14Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/0