Estudio y análisis de la accesibilidad para personas con discapacidad física en el acceso a comercios y locales de la ciudad de Murcia

With a worldwide percentage of people with disabilities around 15%, universal accessibility is a fundamental consideration in the habitable design of buildings. Moreover, due to the current aging of the population, especially in Spain, this will be a key factor of sustainability from the human point of view. This paper presents a case study of accessibility in the entrance to shops in the city of Murcia, Spain. First, the applicable accessibility regulations and the criteria of the users obtained from the Regional Federation FAMDIF are exposed, and then the extensive field work carried out is described; more than 650 commercial and service premises have been analyzed in situ by technical personnel. By volume, it is one of the largest studies to date. As a result, it has been obtained that only 1/5 of the premises are accessible in the entrance, while almost 3/4 do not comply with current regulations. We believe that this work will help raise awareness to improve physical accessibility in the future.Con un porcentaje mundial de personas con discapacidad del 15%, la accesibilidad universal resulta una consideración fundamental en el diseño habitable de los edificios. Además, debido al envejecimiento de la población, especialmente en España, este será un factor clave de la sostenibilidad desde el punto de vista humano. Este artículo presenta un caso de estudio de la accesibilidad en el acceso a comercios de la ciudad de Murcia. En primer lugar, se expone la normativa de accesibilidad aplicable y los criterios de los usuarios a través de la Federación Murciana FAMDIF, para después describir el extenso trabajo de campo llevado a cabo, donde se han analizado in situ más de 650 comercios y locales de servicios por personal técnico. Por su volumen, se trata de uno de los mayores estudios realizados hasta la fecha. Como resultado, se ha obtenido que solo 1/5 de los locales son accesibles en la entrada, mientras que casi 3/4 no cumplen las normativas vigentes. Creemos que este trabajo ayudará a concienciar y a mejorar la accesibilidad física en el futuro

Cooperative learning of requirements engineering through an international educational scenario enabled by the MOY programme

The International Excellence Campus for Higher Education and Research of the Region of Murcia, and the Mediterranean Office for Youth (MOY) programme are new initiatives that offer opportunities for designing educational activities in which can take part international students enrolled in academic degrees at different universities. Besides, a significant rise in distributed and collaborative software development has been observed in recent years (Global Software Development, GSD), which involves space, time and socio-cultural distances and requires new techniques, tools and practices to meet new challenges and opportunities. In addition, poor requirements are one of the most common causes of project failure in any domain. Projects which devote more resources to Requirements Engineering (RE) result in lower costs and lower deviations of their planning. Therefore, the relevance of education and training the future systems and software professionals in RE activities and techniques, in particular in GSD environments, must be stressed. We have conducted an educational innovation activity based on teaching RE in co-located and GSD contexts. This activity has been carried out in the form of an experiment with students. This paper presents the scenario in which this educational activity is framed as well as some preliminary results of this experiment

Design and Development of a Mobile App for Accessible Beach Tourism Information for People with Disabilities

The global increase in the proportion of the population with disabilities has caused a greater awareness toward guaranteeing their use of public services. In particular, there is emphasis on the accessibility and inclusivity of tourism resources, to improve the enjoyment and well-being for people with motor disabilities. This paper presents a case study on accessibility to beaches in the Region of Murcia, Spain, which is one of the main tourist areas in the country. First, the most important elements that allow for the accessible use of beaches are analyzed and exposed in detail. Then, an extensive field-work in the area of interest has been carried out and its results are evaluated. Finally, the development of a new mobile app is described. The objective of this tool is to provide updated, accurate, and reliable accessibility information regarding the beaches. As a result, more than a third of the beaches analyzed had a high level of accessibility, while almost another third are totally inaccessible. The proposed application is a valuable tool, not only to help people with physical and motor disabilities, but also to raise awareness among local authorities to create and improve accessible services.This work was supported by the Spanish MICINN, as well as European Commission FEDER funds, under grants RTI2018-098156-B-C53 and RTI2018-098309-B-C33. The authors thank Manuel García-Hernández and Salvador Parada-Sarabia for their participation in the collection of data of the study, Khalil Merzouki for the contribution in the software development of the proposed system, and the Federation of Associations of People with Physical and Organic Disability of Murcia (FAMDIF) for the extensive support in carrying out this work

Aprendiendo enfermería médico-quirúrgica en un entorno web: una experiencia piloto

[SPA]Introducción: Este trabajo presenta los resultados de una experiencia piloto que propone un entorno web en el proceso de aprendizaje de la materia Enfermería Medico-Quirúrgica (EMQ) de una titulación universitaria de enfermería, en concreto en los seminarios prácticos. El objetivo es conocer la opinión de los alumnos que participan en el proyecto, valorando la carga que les puede suponer y en especial si les ha motivado y ayudado en el aprendizaje de los contenidos. Metodología: Se utilizó una herramienta web de evaluación automática llamada Mooshak, y un cuestionario según una escala de tipo Likert de 5 puntos, combinado con una lista de preguntas abiertas. Resultados: La muestra fue de 54 alumnos que participaron de forma voluntaria. Un total de 16 (28.57%) alumnos respondieron a una encuesta on-line, 15 de los cuales indicaron que la experiencia había sido satisfactoria o muy satisfactoria, obteniendo la actividad on-line una calificación media de 7.96 sobre 10. Conclusiones: la percepción que tienen de la tecnología los alumnos de enfermería como herramienta que les ayuda en 120 su aprendizaje es muy satisfactoria. Se ha demostrado que el enfoque favorece el aprendizaje autónomo, y los alumnos se sienten motivados y partícipes de su propio aprendizaje. [ENG]Introduction: This paper presents the results of a pilot project which proposes a web environment in the process of learning medical surgical nursing in an undergraduate nursing degree, particularly, practical seminars. The aim is to know the opinion of the students participating in the experience, by assessing the workload, motivation and performance of the learning outcome. Methodology: An automatic assessment tool called Mooshak and a five-scale Likert-type questionnaire combined with open questions were used. Results: The sample size was 54 students, all of which were voluntarily recruited. A total of 16 (28.57%) students completed an on-line survey, 15 of which evaluated positively or very positively the e-learning activities, achieving the on-line activity an average rating of 7.96 out 10. Conclusions: The perception that nursing students have about technology as a learning aid instrument is very satisfactory. Our approach promotes autonomous learning, motivates students to learn, and allows students to take charge of their own learning.Campus Mare Nostrum, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Universidad de Murcia, Región de Murcia

An empirical study of neural network-based audience response technology in a human anatomy course for pharmacy students.

This paper presents an empirical study of a formative neural network-based assessment approach, by using mobile technology to provide pharmacy students with intelligent diagnostic feedback. An unsupervised learning algorithm was integrated with an audience response system called SIDRA, in order to generate states that collect some commonality in responses to questions and add diagnostic feedback for guided learning. A total of 89 pharmacy students enrolled on a Human Anatomy course were taught using two different teaching methods. Forty-four students employed intelligent SIDRA (i-SIDRA), whereas 45 students received the same training but without using i-SIDRA. A statistically significant difference was found between the experimental group (i-SIDRA) and the control group (traditional learning methodology), with T (87)=6.598, p < 0.001. In four MCQs tests, the difference between the number of correct answers in the first attempt and in the last attempt was also studied. A global effect size of 0.644 was achieved in the meta-analysis carried out. The students expressed satisfaction with the content provided by i-SIDRA and the methodology used during the process of learning anatomy (M=4.59). The new empirical contribution presented in this paper allows instructors to perform post hoc analyses of each particular student's progress to ensure appropriate training

Energy efficiency in software: A case study on sustainability in personal health records

A personal health record is an eHealth technology in which users can observe their progress over time for a given condition. A research gap was identified in the literature concerning the study of the amount of energy that these systems need for their operation, and the energy efficiency that may be attained depending on their design. After the selection of five representative personal health records, a total of 20 tasks commonly done, and based on previous work, were performed with regard to two proposed scenarios, namely patient use and health personnel usage. The power consumption of the main components of a host machine was measured during the performance of the proposed duties. To that end, a hardware tool called the Energy Efficiency Tester was employed. The data collected were analyzed statistically, and significant differences were found in the respective consumption of the display (χ2 (4) = 23.782, p = 0.000), the processor (χ2 (4) = 29.018, p = 0.000) and the whole PC (χ2 (4) = 28.582, p = 0.000). For all of these components, NoMoreClipBoard was the personal health record that required the least energy (57.699 W for the display, 3.162 W for the processor and 181.113 W for the whole PC). A total of two strong correlations were found in the energy consumption between the hard disk and the graphics card (r = 0.791, p < 0.001), and the processor and the PC (r = 0.950, p < 0.001). Some features generated special amounts of power consumption, such as the news wall found on PatientsLikeMe, or the use of load icons that had an impact on most PC components. In addition, an in-depth analysis of the user interfaces was performed. A discussion was carried out on the design of the user interfaces, also taking into account recommendations drawn from the literature, checking for their implementation in the personal health records selected. With the aim of promoting sustainability among software developers, a best practice guideline on sustainable software design was proposed. Basic sustainability recommendations were collected for professionals to consider when developing a software system in general, and a personal health record in particular.Un registro de salud personal es una tecnología de salud electrónica en la que los usuarios pueden observar su progreso a lo largo del tiempo para una condición determinada. Se identificó un vacío de investigación en la literatura referente al estudio de la cantidad de energía que estos sistemas necesitan para su funcionamiento, y la eficiencia energética que se puede alcanzar dependiendo de su diseño. Después de la selección de cinco registros de salud personales representativos, se realizaron un total de 20 tareas comúnmente realizadas, y con base en trabajos previos, con respecto a dos escenarios propuestos, a saber, el uso del paciente y el uso del personal de salud. Se midió el consumo de energía de los principales componentes de una máquina host durante el desempeño de las tareas propuestas. Para ello, se empleó una herramienta de hardware denominada Energy Efficiency Tester. Los datos recopilados fueron analizados estadísticamente,2 (4) = 23.782, p = 0.000), el procesador (χ 2 (4) = 29.018, p = 0.000) y toda la PC (χ 2(4) = 28.582, p = 0.000). Para todos estos componentes, NoMoreClipBoard fue el registro de salud personal que requirió la menor cantidad de energía (57.699 W para la pantalla, 3.162 W para el procesador y 181.113 W para toda la PC). Se encontraron un total de dos fuertes correlaciones en el consumo de energía entre el disco duro y la tarjeta gráfica (r = 0.791, p < 0.001), y el procesador y la PC (r = 0.950, p < 0.001). Algunas características generaron cantidades especiales de consumo de energía, como el muro de noticias que se encuentra enpatientslikeme, o el uso de íconos de carga que tuvieron un impacto en la mayoría de los componentes de la PC. Además, se realizó un análisis en profundidad de las interfaces de usuario. Se realizó una discusión sobre el diseño de las interfaces de usuario, teniendo en cuenta también las recomendaciones extraídas de la literatura, comprobando su implantación en las historias clínicas personales seleccionadas. Con el objetivo de promover la sostenibilidad entre los desarrolladores de software, se propuso una guía de mejores prácticas sobre diseño de software sostenible. Se recopilaron recomendaciones básicas de sustentabilidad para que los profesionales las consideren al desarrollar un sistema de software en general y un registro de salud personal en particular

Healthcare workers hospitalized due to COVID-19 have no higher risk of death than general population. Data from the Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

Aim To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20-65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.211, 95%CI 0.067-0.667, p = 0.008). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality

Evaluating requirements engineering tools and atalogue-based reuse of natural-language requirements in global software engineering = Evaluación en ingeniería global de software de herramientas de ingeniería de requisitos y de la reutilización de requisitos en lenguaje natural basada en catálogos

A pesar de que la reutilización de requisitos y la globalización son dos cuestiones relevantes, y la utilidad de la reutilización de requisitos ya ha sido confirmada en varios estudios, hasta donde sabemos, no existen en la actualidad propuestas que aborden la reutilización de requisitos y la Ingeniería Global de Software (IGS) conjuntamente. Creemos que si se definen mecanismos adecuados basados en reutilización para la especificación de requisitos en lenguaje natural, la eficacia y la productividad de los proyectos de IGS podrían verse enormemente favorecidos. La hipótesis de esta tesis doctoral es, por lo tanto, la siguiente: Si se definieran técnicas adecuadas de reutilización basada en catálogos y una herramienta de soporte automatizado para la especificación de requisitos en lenguaje natural cuando los interesados están distribuidos globalmente, entonces se obtendrían ganancias relevantes de eficacia y productividad en los proyectos de desarrollo de software. Objetivos Con el fin de probar la hipótesis anterior, definimos el siguiente objetivo general para esta tesis doctoral: Proponer técnicas de reutilización basada en catálogos y una herramienta de soporte automatizado para la especificación de requisitos en lenguaje natural en IGS, y validarlas empíricamente. Este objetivo general se desglosa en los siguientes objetivos específicos: • Objetivo 1. Proponer técnicas basadas en reutilización para la especificación de requisitos en lenguaje natural en IGS. • Objetivo 2. Proporcionar un soporte automatizado para las técnicas de reutilización de requisitos por medio de un prototipo de herramienta. • Objetivo 3. Validar empíricamente las técnicas y el prototipo en un escenario de IGS. Metodología Los métodos empíricos han convertido en una parte integral de la investigación y la práctica en Ingeniería del Software (IS). Los estudios empíricos se suelen clasificar en tres grupos: encuesta, caso de estudio y experimento. Dos de estas técnicas se han aplicado en esta tesis doctoral, a saber encuesta y experimento. La encuesta permite describir una situación o fenómeno a partir de datos obtenidos a través de entrevistas o cuestionarios administrados a una muestra representativa de la población objeto de estudio. Por otra parte, el experimento proporciona un alto nivel de control, ya que permite la manipulación de variables y la medición de sus efectos. La Revisión Sistemática de la Literatura (RSL) también se ha utilizado en esta tesis doctoral. Es un medio para sintetizar de forma rigurosa la literatura científica en relación a una pregunta formulada por el investigador. Esta técnica permite caracterizar la evidencia sobre un tema en particular y ayuda a identificar las brechas en el estado del arte, con el fin de establecer las bases de una nueva actividad de investigación. Otros métodos de investigación son más específicos y se adaptan muy bien a la investigación llevada a cabo en determinados campos del conocimiento. DESMET es un método diseñado para evaluar los métodos y herramientas de IS. Por esta razón, se ha aplicado también en esta tesis doctoral. Conclusiones La gestión del conocimiento en escenarios distribuidos globalmente es una tarea difícil. Esta tesis se centra principalmente en un método de Ingeniería de Requisitos (IR) basado en reutilización para IGS que especifica el conocimiento en forma de requisitos en lenguaje natural. Se propone el uso de un repositorio para organizar en catálogos conjuntos de requisitos reutilizables interrelacionados, con la finalidad de gestionar el conocimiento de los requisitos. Hasta donde sabemos, no hay otras propuestas que aborden ambas cuestiones, IGS y reutilización de requisitos, de manera conjunta. Nuestra contribución clave en el contexto del método mencionado anteriormente radica en: (1) las técnicas de especificación requisitos; (2) la herramienta prototípica de soporte automatizado; y (3) la validación empírica de la propuesta.   ABSTRACT Even though requirements reuse and globalisation are two relevant issues, and the usefulness of requirements reuse has already been confirmed in several studies, to the best of my knowledge, there are no proposals addressing both natural language (NL) requirements reuse and Global Software Engineering (GSE) together. I believe that if adequate reuse-based mechanisms for natural-language requirements specification are defined, effectiveness and productivity of GSE projects could be greatly favoured. The hypothesis of this doctoral dissertation is thus as follows: If adequate catalogue-based reuse techniques and an automated tool support were defined for natural-language requirements specification when stakeholders are globally distributed, then relevant gains of effectiveness and productivity in software development projects would be obtained. Goals In order to test the previous hypothesis, the following overall goal was defined for this dissertation: Propose catalogue-based reuse techniques and an automated tool support for natural-language requirements specification in GSE, and validate them empirically. This general objective is broken down into the following specific goals: • Goal 1. Devise reuse-based techniques for natural-language requirements specification in GSE. • Goal 2. Provide automated support for the requirements reuse techniques by using a prototypical tool. • Goal 3. Validate the techniques and the prototype empirically in a GSE scenario. Methodology Empirical methods have become an integral part of research and practice in Software Engineering (SE). Empirical studies are usually classified into three groups: survey, case study and experiment. Two of these techniques have been applied in this doctoral thesis, namely survey and experiment. The survey allows describing a situation or phenomenon using data obtained through interviews or questionnaires administered to a representative sample of the population under study. On the other hand, the experiment provides a high level of control, as it enables manipulation of variables and measurement of their effects. The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) has also been used in this dissertation. It is a means to rigorously synthesise the scientific literature in relation to a question asked by the researcher. This technique allows characterising the evidence on a particular issue and helps identify gaps in the state-of-the-art, in order to establish the basis of a new research activity. Other research methods are more specific and fit very well to the research carried out in certain fields of knowledge. DESMET is a method designed for evaluating SE methods and tools. For this reason, it has been also applied in this doctoral thesis so as to evaluate RE tools. Conclusions Knowledge management in globally distributed settings is a challenging task. This thesis primarily focuses on a reuse-based Requirements Engineering (RE) method for GSE that specifies knowledge in the form of natural language requirements. The use of a repository is proposed to arrange into catalogues sets of interrelated reusable requirements, with the purpose of managing requirements knowledge. To the best of my knowledge, there are no other proposals which tackle both issues, GSE and NL requirements reuse, jointly. My key contribution in the context of the previously mentioned method lies in: (1) devising the requirements specification techniques; (2) developing the prototypical automated tool support, based on an extensive study of the RE tools market; and (3) performing the empirical validation of the proposal

A Computer-Aided Detection System for Digital Chest Radiographs

Computer-aided detection systems aim at the automatic detection of diseases using different medical imaging modalities. In this paper, a novel approach to detecting normality/pathology in digital chest radiographs is proposed. The problem tackled is complicated since it is not focused on particular diseases but anything that differs from what is considered as normality. First, the areas of interest of the chest are found using template matching on the images. Then, a texture descriptor called local binary patterns (LBP) is computed for those areas. After that, LBP histograms are applied in a classifier algorithm, which produces the final normality/pathology decision. Our experimental results show the feasibility of the proposal, with success rates above 87% in the best cases. Moreover, our technique is able to locate the possible areas of pathology in nonnormal radiographs. Strengths and limitations of the proposed approach are described in the Conclusions