A Family of Heat Functions as Solutions of Indeterminate Moment Problems

We construct a family of functions satisfying the heat equation and show how they can be used to generate solutions to indeterminate moment problems. The following cases are considered: log-normal, generalized Stieltjes-Wigert, and q-Laguerre

Malthusianism of the 21st century

This paper has arisen from a reflection of the current reality in terms of the postulations about what is known as the Malthusian economy. Since the Industrial Revolution to the present day, despite there having been a high increase in world population, technology has played a fundamental role in the increase in the level of wealth per capita. However, the continued growth of the population and the future forecasts indicate that technology with have the responsibility of continually being the key piece of economic growth. This paper seeks to analyse the future scenarios in order to better understand the conditioning factors of the sustainability of our population growth. If technology were not able to maintain production growth rates higher than the population growth rates, we would return to the scenario described by Malthus

Sadyt: A Successful Business Case 1995–2019

This paper seeks to explain the internationalization process of Sadyt from 1995 (date of foundation) to the present day. This company, belonging to the Sacyr de Vallehermoso group, began its international expansion in markets such as Algeria, Tunisia, and Australia. Carrying out this case study focused on one of the companies is justified by its substantial improvement in the global ranking of desalination companies. The history of this case of business success is relevant because ten of the twenty companies that lead the global desalination market are Spanish and this fact is completely unknown outside of the sector. We will analyze in detail the main elements of the company such as its customers, strategies, suppliers, and the theories that explain the internationalization of Sadyt.This research was financed by the Office of the Vice President of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Alicante, Spain (Marcos García-López has a scholarship for The Training of University Teachers from the University of Alicante, UAFPU2019-16), by the Water Chair of the University of Alicante-Alicante Provincial Council (2020), by the University Institute of Water and Environmental Sciences of the University of Alicante and by the Hábitat5U network of excellence

Water Pricing Policy as Tool to Induce Efficiency in Water Resources Management

This research seeks to determine and analyze the reaction to an increase in the water invoice with the aim of introducing improvements in wastewater treatments. To this end, the purification situation is analyzed and the price elasticities of demand are obtained through Ordinary Minimum Squares. The results show that there are several small noncompliant treatment plants, as well as a complex interaction among consumption, price, and income. In many cases, the results offer small or significant differences without a clear pattern. However, it highlights the number of household members as it is strongly related to consumption and price and not considering it in the elaboration or modification of the water tariff would lead to inefficiencies. A reduction in revenue has also been found due to the strong consumer reaction, so it is necessary to assess in more depth what kind of price change would be most appropriate, as well as whether such measures would be best suited to address the problem.This research was financed by the Office of the Vice President of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Alicante, Spain (Marcos García-López has a scholarship for The Training of University Teachers from the University of Alicante, UAFPU2019-16)

Household energy consumption and the financial feasibility of self-consumption through photovoltaic panels in Spain

Energy consumption is one of the main costs faced by households, both financially and environmentally. This article analyses the energy consumption of Spanish households and the cost of installing solar panels in order to determine the potential of this form of energy production on a household level. The results show that households with a larger number of members have a higher total consumption but a lower consumption per person. The composition of the household is therefore a key determinant of the potential savings from solar panels. This alternative is financially viable, as the unit price paid for energy in these households is between €0.28 and €0.29 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while the average cost per kWh obtained from the panels is between €0.15 and €0.21. However, the current public subsidies for the installation of solar panels in Spain are inaccessible to 68% of the country’s households, and there are difficulties in the distribution of energy in neighbouring communities. In other words, although in financial terms home PV self-consumption is a financially viable option, the inability to obtaining subsidies makes the initial investment a major barrier for many households.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was financed by the Office of the Vice President of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Alicante, Spain (Marcos García-López has a scholarship for The Training of University Teachers from the University of Alicante (UAFPU2019-16)

Alternative tariff structures and household composition: Evidence from Spain's Valencia region

Water pricing is one of the fundamental tools for water resources management. However, the current tariff structure in Spain has associated problems in relation to the composition of households. This paper analyses the current tariffs of Spain's Valencia region and studies the effect of alternative tariff structures. The results show an imbalance irrespective of the tariff applied even when the number of household members is considered, as the relationship between the number of household members and water consumption is not linear. Therefore, the problem is not the tariff structure per se but not including the composition of the household in the tariff.This work was financed by the Office of the Vice President of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Alicante, Spain (Marcos García-López has a scholarship for The Training of University Teachers from the University of Alicante (UAFPU 2019-16)

Financing of water policy: cost recovery of the Hydrographic Confederations of Spain

The shortage of water resources and the complex institutional framework in Spain have originated several different organizations responsible for devising water policy measures that have to share the funding. With this distribution of functions, each organization is responsible for some tasks and with funding to perform them. However, taking into account that in Spain the full financing of all aspects of water policy is not achieved, it is understandable that the Hydrographic Confederations are not capable of recovering the costs of their activities. We must add that the distribution of financial resources may not be the most appropriate, which would leave the Hydrographic Confederations in a complicated situation, this paper intends to examine the current financial situation of these organizations. The results of the analysis show that there is a lack of recovery of financial costs in the main activities, which would be offset by a transfer of external funds to the water policy, since this must necessarily be financed. This also implies that, if the environmental costs are added to the financial costs, the result is a very low cost recovery. In addition, there are activity plans that are not being carried out due to the lack of financing, so it seems appropriate to suggest an increase in prices or water pricing to compensate for this lack of funding

Desarrollo del teclado virtual “Mokey” basado en gestos para personas con movilidad reducida: capa de sistema

La Realidad Aumentada forma parte de múltiples proyectos de investigación desde hace varios años. La unión de la información del mundo real y la información digital ofrece un sinfín de posibilidades. Las más conocidas van orientadas a los juegos pero, gracias a ello, también se pueden implementar Interfaces Naturales. En otras palabras, conseguir que el usuario maneje un dispositivo electrónico con sus propias acciones: movimiento corporal, expresiones faciales, etc. El presente proyecto muestra el desarrollo de la capa de sistema de una Interfaz Natural, Mokey, que permite la simulación de un teclado mediante movimientos corporales del usuario. Con esto, se consigue que cualquier aplicación de un ordenador que requiera el uso de un teclado, pueda ser usada con movimientos corporales, aunque en el momento de su creación no fuese diseñada para ello. La capa de usuario de Mokey es tratada en el proyecto realizado por Carlos Lázaro Basanta. El principal objetivo de Mokey es facilitar el acceso de una tecnología tan presente en la vida de las personas como es el ordenador a los sectores de la población que tienen alguna discapacidad motora o movilidad reducida. Ya que vivimos en una sociedad tan informatizada, es esencial que, si se quiere hablar de inclusión social, se permita el acceso de la actual tecnología a esta parte de la población y no crear nuevas herramientas exclusivas para ellos, que generarían una situación de discriminación, aunque esta no sea intencionada. Debido a esto, es esencial que el diseño de Mokey sea simple e intuitivo, y al mismo tiempo que esté dotado de la suficiente versatilidad, para que el mayor número de personas discapacitadas puedan encontrar una configuración óptima para ellos. En el presente documento, tras exponer las motivaciones de este proyecto, se va a hacer un análisis detallado del estado del arte, tanto de la tecnología directamente implicada, como de otros proyectos similares. Se va prestar especial atención a la cámara Microsoft Kinect, ya que es el hardware que permite a Mokey detectar la captación de movimiento. Tras esto, se va a proceder a una explicación detallada de la Interfaz Natural desarrollada. Se va a prestar especial atención a todos aquellos algoritmos que han sido implementados para la detección del movimiento, así como para la simulación del teclado. Finalmente, se va realizar un análisis exhaustivo del funcionamiento de Mokey con otras aplicaciones. Se va a someter a una batería de pruebas muy amplia que permita determinar su rendimiento en las situaciones más comunes. Del mismo modo, se someterá a otra batería de pruebas destinada a definir su compatibilidad con los diferentes tipos de programas existentes en el mercado. Para una mayor precisión a la hora de analizar los datos, se va a proceder a comparar Mokey con otra herramienta similar, FAAST, pudiendo observar de esta forma las ventajas que tiene una aplicación especialmente pensada para gente discapacitada sobre otra que no tenía este fin. ABSTRACT. During the last few years, Augmented Reality has been an important part of several research projects, as the combination of the real world and the digital information offers a whole new set of possibilities. Among them, one of the most well-known possibilities are related to games by implementing Natural Interfaces, which main objective is to enable the user to handle an electronic device with their own actions, such as corporal movements, facial expressions… The present project shows the development of Mokey, a Natural Interface that simulates a keyboard by user’s corporal movements. Hence, any application that requires the use of a keyboard can be handled with this Natural Interface, even if the application was not designed in that way at the beginning. The main objective of Mokey is to simplify the use of the computer for those people that are handicapped or have some kind of reduced mobility. As our society has been almost completely digitalized, this kind of interfaces are essential to avoid social exclusion and discrimination, even when it is not intentional. Thus, some of the most important requirements of Mokey are its simplicity to use, as well as its versatility. In that way, the number of people that can find an optimal configuration for their particular condition will grow exponentially. After stating the motivations of this project, the present document will provide a detailed state of the art of both the technologies applied and other similar projects, highlighting the Microsoft Kinect camera, as this hardware allows Mokey to detect movements. After that, the document will describe the Natural Interface that has been developed, paying special attention to the algorithms that have been implemented to detect movements and synchronize the keyboard. Finally, the document will provide an exhaustive analysis of Mokey’s functioning with other applications by checking its behavior with a wide set of tests, so as to determine its performance in the most common situations. Likewise, the interface will be checked against another set of tests that will define its compatibility with different softwares that already exist on the market. In order to have better accuracy while analyzing the data, Mokey’s interface will be compared with a similar tool, FAAST, so as to highlight the advantages of designing an application that is specially thought for disabled people