Adaptive Comfort Models Applied to Existing Dwellings in Mediterranean Climate Considering Global Warming

Comfort analysis of existing naturally ventilated buildings located in mild climates, such as the ones in the Mediterranean zones, offer room for a reduction in the present and future energy consumption. Regarding Spain, most of the present building stock was built before energy standards were mandatory, let alone considerations about global warming or adaptive comfort. In this context, this research aims at assessing adaptive thermal comfort of inhabitants of extant apartments building in the South of Spain per EN 15251:2007 and ASHRAE 55-2013. The case study is statistically representative housing built in 1973. On-site monitoring of comfort conditions and computer simulations for present conditions have been carried out, clarifying the degree of adaptive comfort at present time. After that, additional simulations for 2020, 2050, and 2080 are performed to check whether this dwelling will be able to provide comfort considering a change in climate conditions. As a result, the study concludes that levels of adaptive comfort can be considered satisfactory at present time in these dwellings, but not in the future, when discomfort associated with hot conditions will be recurrent. These results provide a hint to foresee how extant dwellings, and also dwellers, should adapt to a change in environmental conditions

Academic Performance and ICT. A Study with Educational Websites at the University of Murcia, Spain

Se analizan las relaciones entre implicación del alumno en la utilización de webs didácticas de asignatura (a través del número de accesos) y rendimiento académico (calificaciones). Todo ello en 189 alumnos de 3 asignaturas de la Universidad de Murcia. Se comprueba como esa implicación de los estudiantes con la utilización de la web didáctica de su asignatura se relaciona positivamente con sus resultados académicos (analizando los datos tanto con técnicas correlaciónales como con técnica de ANOVA). El resultado supone un paso más allá de la constatación previa existente de la buena acogida que los alumnos hacen de estas herramientas didácticas.Connections between the student's involvement in the usage of teaching webs (via access count) and academic performance (grades) are analyzed in 189 students of 3 subjects at the University of Murcia. It can be observed that involvement of students with the use of teaching webs is positively related to their academic performance (data was analyzed using both correlational and ANOVE techniques). This result is a step beyond the previous acknowledgement of the favorable reception of those didactical tools by the students.Universidad de Murci

Revisiting the minimum-norm problem

The design of optimal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) coils is modeled as a minimum-norm problem (MNP), that is, as an optimization problem of the form min(x is an element of R) parallel to x parallel to, where R is a closed and convex subset of a normed space X. This manuscript is aimed at revisiting MNPs from the perspective of Functional Analysis, Operator Theory, and Banach Space Geometry in order to provide an analytic solution to the following MRI problem: min(psi is an element of R) parallel to psi parallel to(2), where R:= {psi is an element of R-n : parallel to A psi-b parallel to infinity/parallel to b parallel to(infinity) 0, and b is an element of R-m \ {0}.This work has been supported by the Research Grant PGC-101514-B-I00 awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and partially funded by ERDF, by the Andalusian Research, Development and Innovation Programme (PAIDI 2020) under the Research Grant PY20_01295, and by the Research Grant FEDER-UCA18-105867 awarded by the 2014-2020 ERDF Operational Programme of the Department of Economy, Knowledge, Business and University of the Regional Government of Andalusia. The APCs have been paid by the Mathematics Department of the University of Cadiz

Considerations on the physical and mechanical properties of lime-stabilized rammed earth walls and their evaluation by ultrasonic pulse velocity testing

This study examines the influence of moulding moisture content on the compressive strength, dry density and porosity of a rammed earth wall, using ultrasound as a complementary technique. Non-parametric and multivariate statistical techniques were applied to analyse the behaviour of variables with a sufficiently large population. The statistical analysis demonstrated that excessive or insufficient moulding moisture content directly determines the physical-mechanical properties of such walls. Ultrasound was confirmed as a valid technique for assessing the quality of a wall, since its response, albeit with certain limitations, was consistent with physical-mechanical properties

Conocimientos sobre Síndrome de X Frágil de los maestros de audición y lenguaje y los logopedas de la Región de Murcia

El síndrome de X Frágil (SXF) es la primera causa de discapacidad intelectual de origen hereditario y la segunda de origen genético después del síndrome de Down. Se produce por una mutación en el gen FMR1 en el brazo largo del cromosoma X. Su fenotipo es muy variado, presentando rasgos físicos característicos, junto con problemas de conducta, relacionados con hiperactividad y ansiedad social. Un área habitualmente afectada durante el desarrollo del niño es el lenguaje, en todas sus dimensiones, mostrándose rasgos propios en cada una de ellas. Por ello, estos niños siempre son atendidos por logopedas y maestros de audición y lenguaje, en los que sería deseable un amplio conocimiento de las características del síndrome. En este trabajo se analiza si los profesionales del lenguaje poseen esos conocimientos. Para ello se diseñó un instrumento para recabar información sobre formación y experiencia con SXF y evaluar el conocimiento del profesional en algunas de sus características más habituales. El instrumento lo cumplimentaron, voluntariamente vía online, 35 maestros de audición y lenguaje y 49 logopedas. Se compararon los resultados de ambos grupos profesionales en función de variables como experiencia previa con el SXF o formación sobre él. Ambos grupos de profesionales presentan carencias importantes en sus conocimientos sobre esas características del SXF, no encontrándose diferencias significativas entre maestros y logopedas. Además, se constata que la formación recibida mejora el conocimiento sobre el SXFFragile X syndrome is the principal hereditary cause of intellectual disability and the second genetic cause after Down syndrome. It is caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene found in the long arm of the X chromosome. Its phenotype is very varied, presenting characteristic physical aspect and behavioral problems related to hyperactivity and social anxiety. An area usually affected during the child’s development is language, in all its dimensions, showing its own characteristics in each of them. Therefore, these children are always cared for by speech therapists and hearing and language teachers, in whom extensive knowledge of the characteristics of the syndrome would be disposable., This study analyzes whether language professionals have this knowledge. In order to do this, an instrument was designed to collect information on training and experience with SXF and assess the professional’s knowledge of some of its most common characteristics. The instrument was completed, voluntarily online, by 35 hearing and language teachers and 49 speech therapists. The results obtained of both professional groups were compared according to variables such as previous experience with SXF or training in it. Both groups of professionals present important concerns in their knowledge about these characteristics of the SXF, we did not find specific differences between teachers and speech therapists. In addition, it is verified that the training received improves knowledge about the SX

Valoración de la necesidad de extensión de los servicios de Atención Temprana al ámbito hospitalario

In this paper we analyzed the information obtained by 147 questionnaires performing by parents of children with early intervention needs. These questionnaires recording information about the hospitalization request by the children in their first six years of life. Recording information about neonatal hospitalization and sporadic or repeated postnatal hospitalizations, duration, admission cause and possible behavioral or psychosomatic repercussions. Results point out that these children frequently request long time both neonatal and over two years of age hospitalizations. The need to establish effective mechanisms for the coordination and cooperation between both early intervention and pediatric and nurse services is concluded by give continuity to the intervention of the child in this early childhood and to palliate possible negative consequences of the hospitalization experience in the child.En este trabajo analizamos la información obtenida por 147 encuestas administradas a padres de niños con necesidades de Atención Temprana. Dichas encuestas hacían referencia a las hospitalizaciones requeridas por el niño en sus primeros 6 años de vida. Recogían información sobre hospitalización neonatal y hospitalizaciones esporádicas o reiteradas postnatales, su duración, motivos de ingreso y posibles repercusiones a nivel conductual y psicosomático. Los resultados indican que estos niños requieren con frecuencia hospitalizaciones de larga duración, tanto neonatales como por encima de los dos años de edad. Se concluye la necesidad de arbitrar mecanismos eficaces para la coordinación y cooperación entre los servicios de intervención temprana que atienden al niño y los servicios de pediatría y enfermería hospitalarios, con el fin de dar cierta continuidad a la atención que recibe el niño y paliar posibles consecuencias negativas de la hospitalización en estas edades claves de la infancia

Challenges for the Adoption of Model-Driven Web Engineering Approaches in Industry

Model-driven web engineering approaches have become an attractive research and technology solution for Web application development. However, after 20 years of development, they have attracted little attention from the Industry due to the mismatch between technical versus research requirements. In this joint work between academia and industry, the authors present the current problems of using these approaches in scale and provide guidelines to convert them into viable industry solutions.Ministerio de ciencia e Innovación TIN2016-76956-C3-2-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2015-71938-RED

Methods and Tools for Objective Assessment of Psychomotor Skills in Laparoscopic Surgery

Training and assessment paradigms for laparoscopic surgical skills are evolving from traditional mentor–trainee tutorship towards structured, more objective and safer programs. Accreditation of surgeons requires reaching a consensus on metrics and tasks used to assess surgeons’ psychomotor skills. Ongoing development of tracking systems and software solutions has allowed for the expansion of novel training and assessment means in laparoscopy. The current challenge is to adapt and include these systems within training programs, and to exploit their possibilities for evaluation purposes. This paper describes the state of the art in research on measuring and assessing psychomotor laparoscopic skills. It gives an overview on tracking systems as well as on metrics and advanced statistical and machine learning techniques employed for evaluation purposes. The later ones have a potential to be used as an aid in deciding on the surgical competence level, which is an important aspect when accreditation of the surgeons in particular, and patient safety in general, are considered. The prospective of these methods and tools make them complementary means for surgical assessment of motor skills, especially in the early stages of training. Successful examples such as the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery should help drive a paradigm change to structured curricula based on objective parameters. These may improve the accreditation of new surgeons, as well as optimize their already overloaded training schedules

Response of the Spanish Early Intervention to the Lockdown Situation due to COVID-19

The extraordinary situation of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the lockdown and interruption of the usual Early Intervention (EI) services, although families and children still needed support. The Spanish professionals reacted quickly, reorganizing the intervention, experimenting with the possibilities of tele-intervention and sharing knowledge and experiences. This work reviews the resources generated, in relation to EI, during the first five weeks of lockdown (from March 13). This work also reviews opinions and feelings that were shared by professionals. 72 resources were identified, provided through social networks: documents (33), videoconferences and online seminars (32) and applications or web resources (8). Its characteristics, timing, orientation to families or professionals, and its alignment with a paradigm of intervention centered on the family or the child are analyzed. The opinions and feelings of the professionals are analyzed in reference to the resources provided, the needs observed in the families, the problems in tele-intervention and in the face of the approach to return to a "new normality". The results obtained complement the vision of families about the situation generated by the lockdown, which has been collected in other works. It concludes on the good health of EI in Spain and the need to deepen the proactive involvement of the family in the intervention team.La situación extraordinaria de pandemia COVID-19 llevó al confinamiento y a la interrupción de los servicios habituales de Atención Temprana (AT), aunque familias y niños seguían necesitando apoyo. Los profesionales españoles reaccionaron rápidamente, reorganizando la intervención, experimentando con las posibilidades de teleintervención y compartiendo conocimientos y experiencias. Este trabajo revisa los recursos generados, en relación con AT, durante las cinco primeras semanas de confinamiento (desde del 13 de marzo), así como opiniones y sentimientos compartidos por los profesionales. Se identificaron un total de 72 recursos, facilitados a través de redes sociales: documentos (33), videoconferencias y seminarios online (32) y aplicaciones o recursos web (8). Se analizan sus características, temporización, orientación hacia familias oprofesionales y su alineación con un paradigma de intervención centrado en la familia o en el niño. Las opiniones y sentimientos de los profesionales se analizan en referencia a los recursos facilitados, las necesidades observadas en las familias, los problemas en la teleintervención y ante el planteamiento de vuelta a una 'nueva normalidad'. Los resultados obtenidos complementan la visión de las familias sobre la situación generada por el confinamiento, que ha quedado recogida en otros trabajos. Se concluye sobre la buena salud de la AT en España y la necesidad de profundizar en la implicación proactiva de la familia en el equipo de intervención

Non-Linear Inner Structure of Topological Vector Spaces

Inner structure appeared in the literature of topological vector spaces as a tool to characterize the extremal structure of convex sets. For instance, in recent years, inner structure has been used to provide a solution to The Faceless Problem and to characterize the finest locally convex vector topology on a real vector space. This manuscript goes one step further by settling the bases for studying the inner structure of non-convex sets. In first place, we observe that the well behaviour of the extremal structure of convex sets with respect to the inner structure does not transport to non-convex sets in the following sense: it has been already proved that if a face of a convex set intersects the inner points, then the face is the whole convex set; however, in the non-convex setting, we find an example of a non-convex set with a proper extremal subset that intersects the inner points. On the opposite, we prove that if a extremal subset of a non-necessarily convex set intersects the affine internal points, then the extremal subset coincides with the whole set. On the other hand, it was proved in the inner structure literature that isomorphisms of vector spaces and translations preserve the sets of inner points and outer points. In this manuscript, we show that in general, affine maps and convex maps do not preserve inner points. Finally, by making use of the inner structure, we find a simple proof of the fact that a convex and absorbing set is a neighborhood of 0 in the finest locally convex vector topology. In fact, we show that in a convex set with internal points, the subset of its inner points coincides with the subset of its internal points, which also coincides with its interior with respect to the finest locally convex vector topology