L’eficiència relativa de l’ensenyament a través de la videoconferència respecte a l’ensenyament tradicional

En el present article hem fet un estudi aplicant la metodologia quantitativa, per tal de poder analitzar si el fet de rebre la docència mitjançant videoconferència pot o no afectar el rendiment acadèmic dels estudiants. Per assolir aquest objectiu hem utilitzat assignatures de diferents estudis i al llarg de diversos cursos acadèmics, per tal que els resultats tinguin una fiabilitat elevada. Com a variables de control del model, hem inclòs a l’estudi l’edat dels alumnes, el sexe, la nota de selectivitat i la procedència (batxillerat, cicles de grau superiors, accés de més grans de 25 anys, llicenciats i diplomats previs), entre altres. Els resultats indiquen que la videoconferència no afecta en cap cas de forma significativa el rendiment acadèmic dels alumnes i, per tant, és una eina totalment útil per ser utilitzada en l’àmbit de l’educació superior.En el presente artículo hemos realizado un estudio aplicando la metodología cuantitativa, para poder analizar si el hecho de recibir la docencia mediante videoconferencia puede o no afectar al rendimiento académico de los estudiantes. Para lograr tal objetivo hemos utilizado asignaturas de diferentes estudios y a lo largo de varios cursos académicos, con el objetivo que los resultados tengan una fiabilidad elevada. Como variables de control del modelo, hemos incluido en el estudio, la edad de los alumnos, el sexo, la nota de selectividad, la procedencia (bachillerato, ciclos de grado superiores, acceso de mayores de 25 años, licenciados y diplomados previos) entre otras. Los resultados indican que la videoconferencia no afecta en ningún caso y de forma significativa al rendimiento académico de los alumnos y por lo tanto es una herramienta totalmente útil por ser utilizada en el ámbito de la educación superior

Trastornos de la conducta alimentaria y consumo de drogas en población adolescente

El estudio tuvo como objetivos demostrar si existía relación entre el consumo de drogas y los trastornos de conducta alimentaria, así como qué tipo de drogas son las más utilizadas y si estas se utilizan para suprimir el apetito. Se desarrolló una escala «ad hoc» formada por los ítems de la Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale, cuyo objeto es detectar los casos de riesgo de padecer algún tipo de Trastorno de la Conducta Alimentaria, y por ítems cuyo objeto era evaluar el consumo de drogas en una muestra de 446 adolescentes estudiantes de 1º de la enseñanza secundaria obligatoria a 2º de Bachillerato de distintos Institutos de Educación Secundaria de la Comunidad Valenciana, con edades comprendidas entre los 13 y 18 años de edad. Se encontró una relación entre los adolescentes que consumían drogas y el encontrarse en algunos de los umbrales de riesgo de la escala utilizada (χ2(1, N=444)=3.87; p=.049) no habiendo relación estadísticamente significativa con la variable “tipo de droga” (Alcohol, estimulantes, tabaco u otras). No obstante se aprecia una relación significativa entre la variable “utilizar algún tipo de droga como supresora del apetito” y estar en riesgo de padecer un Trastorno de la Conducta Alimentaria siendo el tabaco la droga más utilizada (66% de los englobados en el umbral de riesgo de la Eating Disorder Diagnotic Scale). Se concluyó que los adolescentes de la muestra analizada que se engloban en alguno de los umbrales de riesgo consumen más drogas que los adolescentes que no se engloban en dicho umbral de la Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale, siendo las drogas de tipo estimulante las más utilizadas por estos adolescentes con el objeto de suprimir el apetito.The aim of the study was to show whether there was a connection between drug use and Eating Disorders, as well as to identify the type of drugs most widely used and to ascertain whether they are used to suppress appetite. An “ad hoc” scale was developed using the items of the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale, whose aim is to detect cases at risk of certain types of eating disorder, and items for assessing drug use. This scale was applied to samples of teenagers (n=446) aged 13-18 from various secondary schools in the Valencia Region (Comunidad Valenciana) in Spain. An association was found between teenagers that use drugs, and particularly between the variable “use of some kind of drug as an appetite suppressant,” and being at risk of having an eating disorder. Tobacco was the drug most commonly used (accounting for 66% of those within the risk threshold of the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale). We conclude that those teenagers from the sample who fall within any of the risk thresholds consume more drugs than those who do not fall within the risk threshold of the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale. Stimulant-type drugs are those most widely used by these teenagers with the aim of suppressing appetit

Collaborative perception architecture in smart cities

Autonomous Driving Systems have become a reality in our society. Everyday, progress is made to increase vehicles' autonomy to drive without restrictions in roads and cities. To achieve that, researchers are always seeking for new methods to ensure the safety of the vehicles. A promising strategy is to improve the quality of the collected perception data as it directly influences the overall performance of the autonomous system. However, despite the advances achieved in detection methods and algorithms, perception is currently physically restricted by the available on-board sensors and their line-of-sight. To overcome this limitation, the autonomous system should not only capture on-board perception data, but also enhance it with data exchanged with other agents in the environment. This is known in research as Collaborative Perception, where mobile and stationary agents share object detection and sensor data inside an Intelligent Transport Systems network. This master's thesis brings together a collection of ETSI standards with the goal of developing a well-defined architecture for future implementation of a Secure Collaborative Perception Network in the context of Smart Cities. The architecture has been designed using the open-source software Capella Arcadia following a Model Based Software Engineering methodology

Protein unfolding and aggregation near an hydrophobic interface [TFG]

Treballs Finals de Grau de Física, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2020, Tutor: Giancarlo FranzeseThe behaviour of proteins in a crowded environment is a relevant matter of study for biological and medical purposes. Previous results show that, when the protein concentration increases, the proteins unfold and, at higher concentration, aggregate. Here we study if the presence of a hydrophobic surface affects this sequence of events. To this goal, we simulate a coarse-grained model of a particular sequence of amino acids, with a known native structure, near an ideal hydrophobic surface in aqueous environment. We discuss how the protein folding and the aggregation depends on the temperature and the protein concentration. We find that the sequence of events of unfolding and aggregation is not affected by the hydrophobic interface for this specfic sequence of amino acids. This work opens the way for further systematic studies on this topic, with possible relevant implications in biotechnology

Family-based intervention program for parents of substance-abusing youth and adolescents

Theuse of drugs among adolescents/youth often results in a high degree of distress for the familymembers who live with them. This in turn can lead to a deterioration of mental (psychological) health, hindering any attempt to successfully cope with the situation. The goal of our research was to study the effect of the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) program on parents of adolescents/young adult drug users. Study volunteers (\u1d45b�� = 50) were parents fromValencia (Spain) that were divided into two groups. The experimental group (\u1d45b�� = 25) was made up of parents whose sons and daughters exhibited problems with drug use and the constructed noncausal baseline group (\u1d45b�� = 25) was made up of parents whose sons and daughters did not show any substance abuse problems. For both groups, self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), depression (BDI-II), anxiety (STAI), and anger (STAXI-II) were evaluated before and after the application of the CRAFT program. Results show a significant improvement in the experimental group’s self-esteem, depression, and anger state and a decrease in negative moods. These changes in parents produce a positive effect on their substance-using sons and daughters: of the 25 participants, 15 contacted specialized addiction treatment resources for the first time.Theuse of drugs among adolescents/youth often results in a high degree of distress for the familymembers who live with them. This in turn can lead to a deterioration of mental (psychological) health, hindering any attempt to successfully cope with the situation. The goal of our research was to study the effect of the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) program on parents of adolescents/young adult drug users. Study volunteers (\u1d45b = 50) were parents fromValencia (Spain) that were divided into two groups. The experimental group (\u1d45b = 25) was made up of parents whose sons and daughters exhibited problems with drug use and the constructed noncausal baseline group (\u1d45b = 25) was made up of parents whose sons and daughters did not show any substance abuse problems. For both groups, self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), depression (BDI-II), anxiety (STAI), and anger (STAXI-II) were evaluated before and after the application of the CRAFT program. Results show a significant improvement in the experimental group’s self-esteem, depression, and anger state and a decrease in negative moods. These changes in parents produce a positive effect on their substance-using sons and daughters: of the 25 participants, 15 contacted specialized addiction treatment resources for the first time

The Impact of an Experimental Guaranteed Income on Crime and Violence

Would unconditional cash payments reduce crime and violence? This paper examines data on crime and violence in the context of an understudied social experiment from the late 1970s called the Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment, or Mincome. We combine town-level crime statistics for all medium-sized Canadian Prairie towns with town-level socio-demographic data from the census to study how an experimental guaranteed income impacted both violent crime and total crime. We find a significant negative relationship between Mincome and both outcomes. We also decompose total crime and analyze its main components, property crime and “other” crime, and find a significant negative relationship between Mincome and property crime. While the impact on property crime is theoretically straightforward, we close by speculating on the mechanisms that might link the availability of guaranteed annual income payments with a decline in violence, focusing in on the mechanisms that impact patterns of domestic violence

BCB Based Packaging for Low Actuation Voltage RF MEMS Devices

This paper outlines the issues related to RF MEMS packaging and low actuation voltage. An original approach is presented concerning the modeling of capacitive contacts using multiphysics simulation and advanced characterization. A similar approach is used concerning packaging development where multi-physics simulations are used to optimize the process. A devoted package architecture is proposed featuring very low loss at microwave range