Actividades de I+D en el campo de la accesibilidad en CETTICO

[Resumen] En este artículo se hará un breve descripción del Centro de Transferencia Tecnológica en Informática y Comunicaciones (CETTICO), de sus secciones y, sobre todo, se hará hincapié en las principales actividades de I+D sobre accesibilidad que se realizan en dicho centro

Análisis de la estructura porosa y ciclo de vida de morteros de reparación en base cemento con polímeros

Los morteros de reparación deben ser capaces de reproducir, o incluso superar, las prestaciones del soporte en términos de resistencia y durabilidad. Además, los morteros de reparación deben tener una adherencia al soporte suficiente para garantizar el buen comportamiento de la estructura reparada. Se presentan los resultados de una campaña experimental llevada a cabo con dos morteros de reparación de base cemento, uno de los cuales ha sido formulado con un contenido de polímero de un 3,2% de la masa total. Los morteros han sido evaluados conforme a los estándares de la norma europea UNE-EN 1504 para morteros estructurales R4; además, se ha estudiado el comportamiento de ambos morteros en estado fresco y su estructura porosa y microestructura mediante porosimetría por intrusión de mercurio; adicionalmente, se han realizado ensayos de propiedades durables. Los resultados obtenidos indican un refinamiento de poros en el mortero con polímeros, mejorando sus prestaciones. Por último, se incluye un análisis comparativo del ciclo de vida de ambos morteros en dos ambientes con distinto nivel de agresividad, con objeto de evaluar la sostenibilidad y la repercusión a lo largo de la vida útil de la incorporación de polímero a los morteros de reparación

Krylov's solver based technique for the cascade connection of multiple n-port multimodal scattering matrices

“© 2013 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.”In this paper, a novel technique for cascading generalized scattering matrices based on a Krylov's iterative solver is presented. This new technique is fully general, since it can be applied to solve the connection of an arbitrary number of networks, each one with an arbitrary number of ports, and it is easy to implement. This technique is able to compute, not only the modal spectra at the free ports of the global network, but also the modal spectra at the connected ports, so that the field inside the full network can be computed for an arbitrary incidence. In addition, this technique can also be used to evaluate the scattering parameters of the global network.Belenguer Martínez, Á.; Díaz Caballero, E.; Esteban González, H.; Lucas Borja, A.; Cascon Lopez, J. (2013). Krylov's solver based technique for the cascade connection of multiple n-port multimodal scattering matrices. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. 61(2):720-726. doi:10.1109/TMTT.2012.2231696S72072661

A Legal and Forensic Medicine Approach to Police Physical Intervention Techniques in High-Risk Situations

Background: The physical intervention techniques (PITs) typically used by the police in troublesome situations are examined in terms of injuring potential depending on whether they target a body zone of high, medium or low vulnerability. Based on legal and forensic considerations, and principles of congruence, opportunity and proportionality, a need exists to favor opponent locking and arrest techniques targeting non-vulnerable zones to minimize the risk of severe damage. Methods: A search of the training manuals for the different kind of law of enforcement officers was carried out. Revision of injuries was available from electronic databases of academic o medical journals. Results: Three different locking and arrest PITs based on operational tactical procedures (OTP) that avoid zones of high or medium vulnerability are proposed. The new techniques use blocking, diverting and grabbing of the upper and lower limbs, followed by dislocation and locking of the same targets. Conclusions: The damaging potential of such PITs was assessed in terms of anatomical region and most were found to have a high risk of severe damage. The alternative PITs proposed here, which rely on OTP, improve in legal and forensic medical terms on existing choices and dramatically reduce the risk of injuring arrestees

Highly efficient heterogeneous modal superposition method for the full-wave analysis of arbitrarily shaped H-plane structures fed through rectangular waveguides

This paper is a preprint of a paper submitted to IET Microwaves Antennas and Propagation and is subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. If accepted, the copy of record will be available at IET Digital LibraryA new fully modal characterisation procedure is proposed to reduce the number of unknowns needed to characterise the ports of an arbitrary H-plane device in rectangular waveguide, so that no equivalent currents will be involved in the characterisation of the ports. Moreover, since no currents are needed to characterise the ports, the weights of the scattered modes can be unknowns of the resulting system of equations. This is an important fact, since, to find the wanted modal weights, a subsequent projection step is not necessary anymore. The new method is then advantageous when compared to other hybrid alternatives in the literature, not only because the ports are solved using fewer unknowns, which is the main advantage of the proposal, but also because the scattering parameters can be computed directly, once the system of equations is posed.This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spanish Government, under Research Project TEC2007-67630-C03-01 and by the Autonomous Government of Castilla-La Mancha under Research Project PPII10-0047-0220.Belenguer Martínez, Á.; Esteban González, H.; Boria Esbert, VE.; Lucas Borja, A.; Cascón López, J. (2011). Highly efficient heterogeneous modal superposition method for the full-wave analysis of arbitrarily shaped H-plane structures fed through rectangular waveguides. IET Microwaves Antennas and Propagation. 5(7):747-755. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-map.2010.0297S74775557Thiele, G., & Newhouse, T. (1975). A hybrid technique for combining moment methods with the geometrical theory of diffraction. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 23(1), 62-69. doi:10.1109/tap.1975.1141004Burnside, W.D., and Pathak, P.H.: ‘A summary of hybrid solutions involving moment methods and GTD’, Strait, B.J., Applications of the method of moments to electromagnetic fields, (SCEEE Press, St. Cloud, FL 1980), p. 629–636Theron, I. P., Davidson, D. B., & Jakobus, U. (2000). Extensions to the hybrid method of moments/uniform GTD formulation for sources located close to a smooth convex surface. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 48(6), 940-945. doi:10.1109/8.865227Dong-Ho Han, Polycarpou, A. C., & Balanis, C. A. (2002). Hybrid analysis of reflector antennas including higher order interactions and blockage effects. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 50(11), 1514-1524. doi:10.1109/tap.2002.803952Tiberi, G., Rosace, S., Monorchio, A., Manara, G., & Mittra, R. (2003). Electromagnetic scattering from large faceted conducting bodies by using analytically derived characteristic basis functions. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 2, 290-293. doi:10.1109/lawp.2003.822203Belenguer, A., Esteban, H., Boria, V. E., Bachiller, C., & Morro, J. V. (2010). Hybrid Mode Matching and Method of Moments Method for the Full-Wave Analysis of Arbitrarily Shaped Structures Fed Through Canonical Waveguides Using Only Electric Currents. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 58(3), 537-544. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2010.2040353Wu, X. H., & Kishk, A. A. (2008). Hybrid of Method of Moments and Cylindrical Eigenfunction Expansion to Study Substrate Integrated Waveguide Circuits. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 56(10), 2270-2276. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2008.2004255Balanis, C.A.: ‘Antenna theory: analysis and design’, 2nd(John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 1997)Clemmow, P.C.: ‘The plane wave spectrum representation of electromagnetic fields’, (IEEE Press/OUP 1996),ser. IEEE Press/OUP Series on Electromagnetic Wave TheoryHarrington, R.F.: ‘Field computation by moment methods’, (IEEE Press/OUP 1993),ser. IEEE Press/OUP Series on Electromagnetic Wave TheoryMorro, J. V., Esteban, H., Boria, V. E., Bachiller, C., & Belenguer, A. (2008). Optimization techniques for the efficient design of low-cost satellite filters considering new light materials. International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering, 18(2), 168-175. doi:10.1002/mmce.20264Marcuvitz, N.: ‘Waveguide handbook’, (IEE Electromagnetic Wave Series 21, London 1986)Peterson, A.F., Ray, S.L., and Mittra, R.: ‘Computational methods for electromagnetics’, (IEEE Press/OUP 1997),ser. IEEE Press/OUP Series on Electromagnetic Wave TheoryBachiller, C., Gonzalez, H. E., Esbert, V. E. B., Martinez, A. B., & Morro, J. V. (2007). Efficient Technique for the Cascade Connection of Multiple Two-Port Scattering Matrices. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 55(9), 1880-1886. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2007.90407

An integrative framework to validate the Need-Supportive Teaching Style Scale (NSTSS) in secondary teachers through exploratory structural equation modeling

Grounded in self-determination theory and achievement goal theory, the objective of this study was to validate the Need-Supportive Teaching Style Scale (NSTSS) to evaluate teachers’ perception of their interpersonal styles. Using an adaptation to teachers of the items of the Motivational Climate in Physical Education Scale (MCPES) validated in students, the NSTSS proposed a four-factor structure, made up of task climate support, ego climate support, autonomy support and relatedness support. With a sample of 584 secondary teachers, the results obtained from the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and from the exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) supported the four-factor structure for the NSTSS. The results also supported composite reliability, measurement invariance across gender and type of school (public or private), as well as nomological validity (in relation to measures of motivation to teach, engagement at work and burnout at work) of NSTSS ratings. The results are discussed by arguing the importance that creating a scale to evaluate teachers’ perception of their need-supportive teaching styles using an integrative approach may have, discussing theoretical, methodological and practical contributions

Aprendizaje Basado en Problemas tutorizado en asignaturas de Grado y Máster en Ingenierías Industriales

Una nueva metodología docente que combina el aprendizaje basado en problemas (ABP) y la tutoría colectiva ha sido aplicada con éxito a nivel de grado en la asignatura de Introducción a la Ingeniería Química y a nivel de máster en la asignatura Formación Complementaria en Ingeniería Química y Termofluidos. Ambas asignaturas comparten como competencia específica los conocimientos sobre los balances de materia y energía de procesos químicos industriales. Los estudiantes resuelven de forma pautada un balance másico y energético complejo aplicado a un proceso industrial real. Durante este curso 2016/2017 se ha seleccionado el proceso de reformado de metano con vapor de agua para producir hidrógeno. El problema se plantea en base a una serie de objetivos que permiten a los estudiantes una resolución progresiva e integradora de conocimientos. Con la finalidad de dar apoyo a los estudiantes en su resolución se planifican dos tutorías colectivas, una inicial de carácter orientativo y una intermedia para ver el grado de avance conseguido por los estudiantes. El empleo de esta estrategia combinada de ABP y tutoría colectiva ha permitido que los alumnos afiancen los contenidos teóricos propios de la asignatura (proceso, balances de materia, balances de energía, equilibrio) y desarrollen simultáneamente determinadas competencias de carácter transversal como son la capacidad de análisis y síntesis, la resolución de problemas, la toma de decisiones, la utilización de herramientas informáticas aplicadas a la resolución de problemas (Excel o Matlab) y el trabajo colaborativo. Los buenos resultados académicos corroboran la efectividad de esta técnica docente.Ingeniería Química y Tecnología del Medio Ambient

Mutation Prevalence of Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Genes in Spanish Patients

Objective: To study the molecular genetic and clinical features of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCM) in a cohort of Spanish patients. Methods: We analyzed the CCM1, CCM2, and CCM3 genes by MLPA and direct sequencing of exons and intronic boundaries in 94 familial forms and 41 sporadic cases of CCM patients of Spanish extraction. When available, RNA studies were performed seeking for alternative or cryptic splicing. Results: A total of 26 pathogenic mutations, 22 of which predict truncated proteins, were identified in 29 familial forms and in three sporadic cases. The repertoire includes six novel non-sense and frameshift mutations in CCM1 and CCM3. We also found four missense mutations, one of them located at the third NPXY motif of CCM1 and another one that leads to cryptic splicing of CCM1 exon 6. We found four genomic deletions with the loss of the whole CCM2 gene in one patient and a partial loss of CCM1and CCM2 genes in three other patients. Four families had mutations in CCM3. The results include a high frequency of intronic variants, although most of them localize out of consensus splicing sequences. The main symptoms associated to clinical debut consisted of cerebral haemorrhage, migraines and epileptic seizures. The rare co-occurrence of CCM with Noonan and Chiari syndromes and delayed menarche is reported. Conclusions: Analysis of CCM genes by sequencing and MLPA has detected mutations in almost 35% of a Spanish cohort (36% of familial cases and 10% of sporadic patients). The results include 13 new mutations of CCM genes and the main clinical symptoms that deserves consideration in molecular diagnosis and genetic counselling of cerebral cavernous malformations.Instituto de Salud Carlos III CP10/00526Junta de Andalucía P07-CVI-02790Fundación José Luis Castañ

Bioactive compounds and techno-functional properties of high-fiber co-products of the cacao agro-industrial chain

The cacao shell (CS) and cacao pod husk (CPH), two of the most promising high-fiber co-products of the cacao agro-industrial chain, were evaluated to determine their potential incorporation into food products. This research determined bioactive compounds and techno-functional properties of CS and CPH, and was evaluated the enzymatic inactivation by thermal treatments in CPH. We found that CS is rich in protein, lipids, dietary fiber (48.1 ± 0.3 g 100 gdw−1), and antioxidant molecules such as epicatechin (1.10 ± 0.02 mg g−1) and isoquercetin (1.04 ± 0.09 mg g−1). Moreover, in CS a positive effect of hydration mechanism occur; in fact, it was observed a reduction of Lightness (L∗) value and a remarkable color difference (ΔE∗,18.8 ± 0.7) (CIEL∗a∗b∗ color space), between hydrated and dry CS samples; so, it could be used as a potential natural colorant in foods. CPH resulted equally rich in dietary fiber (35.3–37.4%) and flavonoids (2.9 ± 0.1 mg RE g−1); in this co-product, the rapid enzymatic inactivation by thermal treatments was essential to obtain the highest antioxidant activity and polyphenols content; regarding the techno-functional properties, it was found that CPH flour had high hydration capacity, so CPH can use it as a replacement for emulsifiers or water holding additives while incorporating the fiber and abundantly found antioxidants

EVALUACIÓN DE ENTORNOS INMERSIVOS 3D COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE B-LEARNING

This work has been developed within the framework of a project ofeducational innovation aimed at adapting the University of Almeria to theEuropean Higher Education Area. Its general objective was to investigate the feasibility of applying 3D immersive environments for distance teaching and learning. In this sense, the use of the widely known platform Second Life has been evaluated with regards to efficiently complementing the traditional faceto-face learning method applied in the subject of Computer Aided Design, maintaining insofar as possible the feeling of belonging to a classroom for all the classmates involved.The study was conducted throughout three different phases. In the firstone, the procedure for experimental research was designed and planned. In the second stage, several working sessions focused on putting the proposed method into practice were carried out, later obtaining the opinion of the students through a specific questionnaire. Within the third phase, an adapted version of the well-known Kano’s model was applied to quantitatively assess student satisfaction with both the 3D immersive environment interface and the synchronous and distance learning method tested. Overall, the student response in relation to the theoretical component of the subject has been broadly positive, although they clearly preferred face-to-face teaching in the case of the purely practical component (CAD laboratory). The findings obtained in this study may be useful for teachers/researchers who are interested in the design of similar virtual classrooms. It can also help progress towards effective strategies for promoting the use of B-Learning experiences supported by 3D immersive environments.El presente trabajo se ha desarrollado en el marco de un proyecto de innovación educativa para la adaptación de la Universidad de Almería al EEES. Tiene como objetivo general el estudio del potencial de los entornos inmersivos 3D para la enseñanza-aprendizaje a distancia. En este sentido se ha evaluado el uso de la plataforma Second Life para complementar y reforzar las clases presenciales de la asignatura Diseño Asistido por Ordenador mediante una alternativa eficaz y ágil para la comunicación a distancia a través de la WWW, manteniendo, en la medida de lo posible, el sentimiento de pertenencia a una clase de todas las personas participantes.El estudio se llevó a cabo a lo largo de tres fases diferenciadas. En la primera, se diseñó y planificó el procedimiento para la investigación experimental. En la segunda, se llevaron a cabo las diferentes sesiones programadas en el marco del proyecto y se procedió a la obtención de las valoraciones del alumnado. En la tercera fase se adaptó y aplicó el conocido modelo de Kano para obtener una evaluación cuantitativa de la satisfacción del grupo de estudiantes tanto con la interfaz del entorno inmersivo 3D empleado como con el propio método de enseñanza síncrona a distancia.En líneas generales la respuesta del alumnado participante en relación a la componente teórica de la asignatura ha sido ampliamente positiva, inclinándose por una docencia presencial en el caso de la componente puramente práctica o aplicada. Los hallazgos obtenidos en este estudio pueden ser de utilidad para el profesorado/personal investigador  interesado en el diseño y recreación de aulas virtuales análogas, así como para avanzar en estrategias que promuevan de una forma efectiva la enseñanza B-Learning apoyada en entornos inmersivos 3D