On the Utility of the Inverse Gamma Distribution in Modeling Composite Fading Channels

We introduce a general approach to characterize composite fading models based on inverse gamma (IG) shadowing. We first determine to what extent the IG distribution is an adequate choice for modeling shadow fading, by means of a comprehensive test with field measurements and other distributions conventionally used for this purpose. Then, we prove that the probability density function and cumulative density function of any IG-based composite fading model are directly expressed in terms of a Laplace-domain statistic of the underlying fast fading model, and in some relevant cases, as a mixture of well-known state-of-the-art distributions. We exemplify our approach by presenting a composite IG/two-wave with diffuse power fading model, for which its statistical characterization is directly attained in a simple form.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Model ensembles of ecosystem services fill global certainty and capacity gaps

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) NE/W005050/1 NE/T00391X/1 ES/R009279/1 ES/T007877/1 ES/V004077/1 ES/R006865/1National Science Foundation (NSF) NSF - Office of the Director (OD) 08695Next Generation European Union fundsUKCEHSpanish Government DGE-213989

Vehicle pose estimation using G-Net: multi-class localization and depth estimation

In this paper we present a new network architecture, called G-Net, for 3D pose estimation on RGB images which is trained in a weakly supervised manner. We introduce a two step pipeline based on region-based Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for feature localization, bounding box refinement based on non-maximum-suppression and depth estimation. The G-Net is able to estimate the depth from single monocular images with a self-tuned loss function. The combination of this predicted depth and the presented two-step localization allows the extraction of the 3D pose of the object. We show in experiments that our method achieves good results compared to other state-of-the-art approaches which are trained in a fully supervised manner.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Performance analysis of MIMO-OFDM systems using complex Gaussian quadratic forms

En este trabajo se proponen aportaciones originales para el análisis de prestaciones en sistemas multiantena con múltiples portadoras, mediante el desarrollo de nuevas técnicas matemáticas para el cálculo de probabilidades de error. Así, ha sido posible analizar el efecto de no idealidades (estimación de canal imperfecta, offset de continua, desbalanceo I/Q…) en las prestaciones de sistemas de comunicaciones móviles e inalámbricas

Are Floods Becoming a More Expensive Hazard? A Damages Review of the Southeastern Spanish Coast (1996–2016).

Over the last few decades, an increasing economic and social flooding damages trend has been recorded worldwide. Although this situation was initially associated with climate change, recently different institutions and scientific papers have related this trend to two main reasons: (i) a human population increase and (ii) the number of assets located in floodable areas. In this regard, this paper analyses evolutions in flood damages and their causes in a Mediterranean area, the provinces of Alicante and Murcia, between 1996 and 2016. The duration of this period, from a flood risk management policy point of view, is very important because it encompasses one of the most important legislative periods at a national and European level. As a main result, this paper establishes a temporal and spatial pattern related to increases in flood damages and their main influence on coastal areas, respectively, due to certain economic, spatial and temporal factors. As a conclusion, these trends demonstrate the inefficiency of flood risk management policies, especially those connected with spatial planning.Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Construction of a taxonomy for requirements engineering commercial-off-the-shelf components

This article presents a procedure for constructing a taxonomy of COTS products in the field of Requirements Engineering (RE). The taxonomy and the obtained information reach transcendental benefits to the selection of systems and tools that aid to RE-related actors to simplify and facilitate their work. This taxonomy is performed by means of a goal-oriented methodology inspired in GBRAM (Goal-Based Requirements Analysis Method), called GBTCM (Goal-Based Taxonomy Construction Method), that provides a guide to analyze sources of information and modeling requirements and domains, as well as gathering and organizing the knowledge in any segment of the COTS market. GBTCM claims to promote the use of standards and the reuse of requirements in order to support different processes of selection and integration of components.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Characterization of TrxC, an Atypical Thioredoxin Exclusively Present in Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria form a diverse group of oxygenic photosynthetic prokaryotes considered to be the antecessor of plant chloroplast. They contain four different thioredoxins isoforms, three of them corresponding to m, x and y type present in plant chloroplast, while the fourth one (named TrxC) is exclusively found in cyanobacteria. TrxC has a modified active site (WCGLC) instead of the canonical (WCGPC) present in most thioredoxins. We have purified it and assayed its activity but surprisingly TrxC lacked all the classical activities, such as insulin precipitation or activation of the fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. Mutants lacking trxC or over-expressing it were generated in the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and their phenotypes have been analyzed. The ΔtrxC mutant grew at similar rates to WT in all conditions tested although it showed an increased carotenoid content especially under low carbon conditions. Overexpression strains showed reduced growth under the same conditions and accumulated lower amounts of carotenoids. They also showed lower oxygen evolution rates at high light but higher Fv’/Fm’ and Non-photochemical-quenching (NPQ) in dark adapted cells, suggesting a more oxidized plastoquinone pool. All these data suggest that TrxC might have a role in regulating photosynthetic adaptation to low carbon and/or high light conditions.España, MINECO BIO2016-75634-PJunta de Andalucía P12-BIO-1119 , BIO-28

Acoplamiento flexible de seguridad frente a impactos

Número de publicación: ES2470915 A1 (24.06.2014) También publicado como: ES2470915 B2 (20.01.2015) Número de Solicitud: Consulta de Expedientes OEPM (C.E.O.) P201300030 (21.12.2012)Acoplamiento flexible de seguridad frente a impactos, del tipo de los utilizados en eslabones de brazos robóticos y que incorporan algún mecanismo que permite variar el nivel de carga a partir del cual entra en funcionamiento la flexibilidad del acoplamiento. El acoplamiento incorpora una pieza (1) y una pieza (2) cilíndricas huevas enfrentadas por sus bases, las cuales disponen de una multitud de hendiduras (5) y protuberancias (6) que insertan perfectamente. Un resorte helicoidal (3) apoya en la cara interior de la base de la pieza (1) y en el otro extremo del resorte (3) se fija el extremo de un cable (8), el cual atraviesa las bases de las piezas (1) y (2). El otro extremo del cable (8) se fija a la cabeza de un tornillo (7) roscado a la base de la pieza (2) y que permite tensar el cable (8) y comprimir el resorte (3).Universidad de Almerí

Detection of Communities within the Multibody System Dynamics Network and Analysis of Their Relations

Multibody system dynamics is already a well developed branch of theoretical, computational and applied mechanics. Thousands of documents can be found in any of the well-known scientific databases. In this work it is demonstrated that multibody system dynamics is built of many thematic communities. Using the Elsevier’s abstract and citation database SCOPUS, a massive amount of data is collected and analyzed with the use of the open source visualization tool Gephi. The information is represented as a large set of nodes with connections to study their graphical distribution and explore geometry and symmetries. A randomized radial symmetry is found in the graphical representation of the collected information. Furthermore, the concept of modularity is used to demonstrate that community structures are present in the field of multibody system dynamics. In particular, twenty-four different thematic communities have been identified. The scientific production of each community is analyzed, which allows to predict its growing rate in the next years. The journals and conference proceedings mainly used by the authors belonging to the community as well as the cooperation between them by country are also analyzed