The effect of nature on designers' creativity, according to their personality profile

The aim of this work is to demonstrate whether natural environments, either real or simulated, tend to enhance designers' creativity, and whether the effects differ depending on their personality profile. Numerous studies have been conducted on the variables that shape the work environment and affect the designer's creativity, but few take into account the interaction between the work environment and the designer's personality profile. The aim of this study is to carry out a practical experiment in which a certain number of individuals solve conceptual design problems in different work environments, followed by an assessment of the creativity of the results. The results show higher values of creativity for both types of natural setting than in a neutral scenario. The personality of the designers determines whether the highest values are achieved in real or in artificial nature

Choice of Metrics used in Collaborative Filtering and their Impact on Recommender Systems

The capacity of recommender systems to make correct predictions is essentially determined by the quality and suitability of the collaborative filtering that implements them. The common memory-based metrics are Pearson correlation and cosine, however, their use is not always the most appropriate or sufficiently justified. In this paper, we analyze these two metrics together with the less common mean squared difference (MSD) to discover their advantages and drawbacks in very important aspects such as the impact when introducing different values of k-neighborhoods, minimization of the MAE error, capacity to carry out a sufficient number of predictions, percentage of correct and incorrect predictions and behavior when attempting to recommend the n-best items. The paper lists the results and practical conclusions that have been obtained after carrying out a comparative study of the metrics based on 135 experiments on the MovieLens database of 100,000 ratios

A New Multi-Objective Approach for Molecular Docking Based on RMSD and Binding Energy

Ligand-protein docking is an optimization problem based on predicting the position of a ligand with the lowest binding energy in the active site of the receptor. Molecular docking problems are traditionally tackled with single-objective, as well as with multi-objective approaches, to minimize the binding energy. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-objective formulation that considers: the Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD) difference in the coordinates of ligands and the binding (intermolecular) energy, as two objectives to evaluate the quality of the ligand-protein interactions. To determine the kind of Pareto front approximations that can be obtained, we have selected a set of representative multi-objective algorithms such as NSGA-II, SMPSO, GDE3, and MOEA/D. Their performances have been assessed by applying two main quality indicators intended to measure convergence and diversity of the fronts. In addition, a comparison with LGA, a reference single-objective evolutionary algorithm for molecular docking (AutoDock) is carried out. In general, SMPSO shows the best overall results in terms of energy and RMSD (value lower than 2A for successful docking results). This new multi-objective approach shows an improvement over the ligand-protein docking predictions that could be promising in in silico docking studies to select new anticancer compounds for therapeutic targets that are multidrug resistant.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The production process in basketball: Empirical evidence from Spanish league

The main objective of this paper is to provide an empirical assessment of the production process in a basketball team. We estimate a logit model in which the output produced by a team is the game outcome (win or loss) and the inputs are those play characteristics that impact on that outcome. From the results obtained it is clear that, on average, there is a substantial difference between the impact of each play characteristic on a basketball team’s winning probability and that probability varies as the quality/quantity of the inputs used changes, albeit not proportionally.sports economics, team sport, professional basketball, productive process, logit model

Economic evaluation of small desalination plants from brackish aquifers. Application to Campo de Cartagena (SE Spain)

The Campo de Cartagena (Eastern Spain) is one of Europe’s driest areas with a mean precipitation of around 300 mm. One of the main challengesin the region is to secure a reliable water supply in both quantity and quality terms, to provide a water supply and agricultural irrigation, while water desalination has become an extensively applied solution, and one of the most sustainable solutions to the water scarcity problem. As water availability is lacking and groundwater quality is poor, the agricultural sector in Campo de Cartagena has developed small private brackish groundwater desalination plants (15-20 m3/h) through already existing agricultural wells. Costs and benefits (C-B) for citrus cultivation (1 ha) in three such plants have been assessed. The results indicate that for the studied cases, current agricultural management is feasible and costs outweigh benefits, with a positive NPV and a cost/benefit ratio higher than 1. The internal rate of return is also positive and higher than 11%. The results evidence practical and theoretical implications as to how to increase water resources in areas where water is scarce by closing the loop, ensuring farmers’ profitability and encouraging private sector investments.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

La Importancia de los Pequeños Detalles de Diseño de la Presa de las Navas del Marqués

En esta presa de gravedad de planta curva se han introducido una serie de pequeños detalles constructivos que inciden favorablemente sobre la seguridad estructural, la funcionalidad de la explotación y la estética de la obra, con un incremento porcentual insignificante del costo. En el artículo se describe cada una de estas actuaciones, el objetivo de las mismas, y su repercusión sobre el costo

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells transplantation produces a tissue recovery in hydrocephalic mice

In congenital hydrocephalus, cerebrospinal fluid accumulation is associated to ischemia/hypoxia, metabolic impairment, neuronal damage and astrocytic reaction, which cause significant mortality and life-long neurological complications. Currently, there are no effective therapies for congenital hydrocephalus. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) are considered as a potential therapeutic tool for neurodegenerative diseases due to their ability for migrating and producing neuroprotector factors when they are transplanted. The aim of this research was to study the ability of BM-MSC to reach the degenerated regions and to detect their neuroprotector effects, using an animal model of congenital hydrocephalus, the hyh mouse. Fluorescent BM-MSC were analyzed by flow-cytometry and multilineage cell differentiation. BM-MSC were brain-ventricle injected into hyh mice. Wild-type and saline-injected hyh mice were used as controls. Inmunohistochemical, RT-PCR and High Resolution Magic Angle Spinning spectroscopy (HRMAS) analyses were carried out. After administration, integrated BM-MSC were identified inside the periventricular astrocyte reaction. They were detected producing glial-derived neuroprotector factor (GDNF), neural growth factor (NGF), and brain-derived neuroprotector factor (BDNF). Tissue recovery was detected with a reduction of apoptotic cells in the periventricular walls and of the levels of glutamate, glutamine, taurine, and creatine, all of them markers of tissue damage in hydrocephalus.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. ISCIII PI15/00619 y FEDE

Binaural Sound to Enhance Listening Comprehension in Language Tests

[EN] The use of new digital formats in language learning and testing improves both the learning and acquisition skills development process of language tests. The process of listening comprehension is considered one of the most complex in the field of Computer Aided Learning Language (CALL) because it relates to multimodal learning channels and brain sound perception in an unfamiliar communication environment (the foreign language) for the learner. This article stresses the possibilities of using binaural sound in the design and implementation of tests as well as the cognitive issues that might be involved in the process of learning and assessment of a foreign language.Magal-Royo, T.; García Laborda, J. (2020). Binaural Sound to Enhance Listening Comprehension in Language Tests. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM). 14(1):4-14. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v14i01.11739S41414