Caracterización de un modelo de sistema de información interorganizacional para el sector de la edificación domótica

El sector de la edificación es uno de los principales sectores económicos con grandes repercusiones en el conjunto de la sociedad y en los valores culturales que entraña el patrimonio arquitectónico y, sin embargo, carece de una regulación acorde. La imparable evolución de las TIC y la cultura de la competencia han provocado la aparición de nuevos servicios y operadores. Por ello, el presente estudio, basado en un trabajo de investigación empírico, propone la caracterización de un sistema de información interorganizacional (SIIO) entre los diversos agentes que configuran la cadena de valor del sector de la edificación. El objetivo es la mejora de gestión en las interrelaciones entre los diferentes agentes de cara a abordar proyectos de edificación más complejos, contribuyendo, en particular, a la mejora de la calidad de la vivienda y, por tanto, a la calidad de vida de la sociedad en general

Inter-organizational information systems adoption for service innovation in building sector

The building sector has experienced a significant decline in recent years in Spain and Europe as a result of the financial crisis that began in 2007. This drop accompanies a low penetration of information and communication technologies in inter-organizational oriented business processes. The market decrease is causing a slowdown in the building sector, where only flexible small and medium enterprises (SMEs) survive thanks to specialization and innovation in services, which allow them to face new market demands. Inter-organizational information systems (IOISs) support innovation in services, and are thus a strategic tool for SMEs to obtain competitive advantage. Because of the inherent complexity of IOIS adoption, this research extends Kurnia and Johnston's (2000) theoretical model of IOIS adoption with an empirical model of IOIS characterization. The resultant model identifies the factors influencing IOIS adoption in SMEs in the building sector, to promote further service innovation for competitive and collaborative advantages. An empirical longitudinal study over six consecutive years using data from Spanish SMEs in the building sector validates the model, using the partial least squares technique and analyzing temporal stability. The main findings of this research are the four ways an IOIS might contribute to service innovation in the building sector. Namely: a) improving client interfaces and the link between service providers and end users; b) defining a specific market where SMEs can develop new service concepts; c) enhancing the service delivery system in traditional customer?supplier relationships; and d) introducing information and communication technologies and tools to improve information management

Presente y futuro de los sistemas recomendadores en la web 2.0

En una Web dominada por los medios sociales para la información, la relación y la comunicación, la dinámica que se establece entre contenidos, personas y tecnología cambia radicalmente. Ante la relevancia que cobra el contenido generado por usuarios en este escenario –esencialmente relacional-, la localización de las mejores fuentes de información requiere sistemas recomendadores que incorporen la naturaleza social de una Web que va más allá de la primigenia internet. Se revisan las aproximaciones actuales a los procesos de recomendación, poniéndolas en el contexto de las tendencias asociadas al fenómeno del social computing. Asimismo, se destacan algunas líneas de actuación en la redefinición del problema de la recomendación en un panorama dominado por las redes sociales y la generación de contenidos por los usuario

Production costs from iron and steel industry in the EU and third countries

This report provides an overview of the production costs in the iron and steel industry in the EU and third countries. The cost breakdowns are provided for two typical products of the integrated and recycling routes (hot rolled coil as a proxy of flat products and wire rod as a proxy of long products). The analysis includes detailed information from 153 production facilities in the EU27 and 10 other countries (Russia, Turkey, United States, United Kingdom, Ukraine, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Brazil). The information is based on data from October 2019. This is the last available data before the COVID-19 pandemic affected the iron and steel industry. The results show that the EU27 has the third highest production costs for hot rolled coil via the integrated route (458 EUR/t). The main contributors to these costs are the raw material costs 65%, the ‘other costs’ 27% and energy costs 17%. The CO2 cost is included in ‘other costs’ and for the EU27 represents 2% of the total production costs. It is worth noting that the EU27 is among the world leaders in creating credits from recycling materials and energy. This shows a high optimisation of the integrated route processes in the European steel industry, as a result from cumulated investments in innovations over the years. The results also show that the EU27 has the second highest production costs for hot rolled coil via the recycling route, which is however only 6% higher than the lowest production cost of all the countries in the analysis. Finally, for the production of wire rod, the EU27 production costs are either the highest (when produced via the integrated route) or second highest (when produced via the recycling route). The materials cost in the EU27 are 68% and 58% of the production costs, for each of the two respective production routes. These shares for the material cost are similar in the rest of countries. The share of the energy costs in the EU in wire rod production in integrated route is 11%. This is close to the minimum observed share. In the recycling route the 20% is the highest share observed in any of the countries considered.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Neurite, a finite difference large scale parallel program for the simulation of the electrical signal propagation in neurites under mechanical loading

With the growing body of research on traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, computational neuroscience has recently focused its modeling efforts on neuronal functional deficits following mechanical loading. However, in most of these efforts, cell damage is generally only characterized by purely mechanistic criteria, function of quantities such as stress, strain or their corresponding rates. The modeling of functional deficits in neurites as a consequence of macroscopic mechanical insults has been rarely explored. In particular, a quantitative mechanically based model of electrophysiological impairment in neuronal cells has only very recently been proposed (Jerusalem et al., 2013). In this paper, we present the implementation details of Neurite: the finite difference parallel program used in this reference. Following the application of a macroscopic strain at a given strain rate produced by a mechanical insult, Neurite is able to simulate the resulting neuronal electrical signal propagation, and thus the corresponding functional deficits. The simulation of the coupled mechanical and electrophysiological behaviors requires computational expensive calculations that increase in complexity as the network of the simulated cells grows. The solvers implemented in Neurite-explicit and implicit-were therefore parallelized using graphics processing units in order to reduce the burden of the simulation costs of large scale scenarios. Cable Theory and Hodgkin-Huxley models were implemented to account for the electrophysiological passive and active regions of a neurite, respectively, whereas a coupled mechanical model accounting for the neurite mechanical behavior within its surrounding medium was adopted as a link between lectrophysiology and mechanics (Jerusalem et al., 2013). This paper provides the details of the parallel implementation of Neurite, along with three different application examples: a long myelinated axon, a segmented dendritic tree, and a damaged axon. The capabilities of the program to deal with large scale scenarios, segmented neuronal structures, and functional deficits under mechanical loading are specifically highlighted

El caolin y la arena silicea como materiales de construcción

El caolín es una arcilla, blanca procedente de la descomposición de rocas feldespáticas y puede venir mezclada con cuarzo, feldespato y minerales ferruginosos. El caolín que se trata en esta ponencia procede la compañía Caolina, ubicada en Arguisuelas - Cuenca (España). El objetivo es la explotación minera, lavado, concentración y comercialización de caolín y arena silícea, dado que los dos minerales aparecen conjuntamente en la explotación. Caolina explota a cielo abierto su recurso minero, para obtener un producto cuyas características sean aceptadas por grandes fabricantes de porcelana sanitaria y de esmaltes cerámicos. El valor añadido de los productos finales de Caolina se aporta en la planta de tratamiento, mediante procesos de molienda, lavado, cribado, hidrociclonado, filtrado, secado y extrusionado. El caolín es un mineral básico para la fabricación de la porcelana sanitaria y otros materiales cerámicos de construcción tales como baldosas, azulejos, tejas y sus correspondientes esmaltes. En Caolina el principal mercado es la porcelana sanitaria dadas las excelentes propiedades cerámicas del producto. El segundo mineral que se obtiene en Caolina, es un importante material de construcción, la arena silícea. Además de las aplicaciones en la industria de la cerámica, el vidrio y los abrasivos, la arena silícea es un constituyente de morteros y hormigones de alta resistencia a la abrasión. Caolina comercializa su arena silícea fundamentalmente para estos prefabricados de hormigón. Además, la arena silícea presenta muy buenas propiedades como material de construcción drenante y filtrante. El artículo describe detalladamente las aplicaciones del caolín de Caolina en los materiales cerámicos y de construcció

Actividad física y apoyo de la autonomía : el rol del profesor de Educación Física

El profesor de Educación Física (EF) ejerce un papel fundamental en la promoción de la actividad física (AF) desde su práctica docente. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la influencia que la percepción del apoyo de la autonomía por parte del profesor de EF ejerce en la práctica habitual de AF, tanto desde el punto de vista del alumnado como del profesorado. Participaron un total de 831 adolescentes y 18 profesores de EF de las ciudades de Huesca (España) y Tarbes (Francia). Se realizó un análisis de regresión lineal por pasos sucesivos, el cual mostró que tanto una mayor percepción de apoyo de autonomía del profesor de EF por parte de los alumnos, como una orientación altamente autónoma del profesor de EF, predicen de forma significativamente positiva una mayor práctica de AF habitual en los adolescentes. El desarrollo de un clima orientado a la autonomía en EF debe constituir uno de los pilares principales de todo proceso educativo. Ese clima propicio debe basarse en el discurso e intervención docente del profesor de EF como elementos determinantes del comportamiento de los adolescentes, pudiendo contribuir a su desarrollo como sujetos más activos en su tiempo libre.Physical Education (PE) teachers play an essential role in promoting physical activity (PA) with their teaching activity. The purpose of this study was to analyse the influence that perceived autonomy support from PE teachers exerts on regular engagement in PA, both from the students' and teachers' viewpoint. A total of 831 teenagers took part (M = 14.32; SD = .73; 372 boys and 459 girls) and 18 PE teachers (9 men and 9 women) from the cities of Huesca (Spain) and Tarbes (France). A linear regression analysis was performed in stages, which showed that both greater perceived autonomy support from the PE teachers by students, and highly autonomous orientation of the PE teachers positively predict greater engagement in regular PA in teenagers. The development of an autonomy-oriented climate in PE must make up one of the main pillars of the whole education process. This favourable climate must be based on the teaching intervention and discourse of the PE teachers as determining elements of the teenagers' behaviour, being able to contribute to their development as more active people in their free time.O ensino de Educação Física (EF) exerce um papel fundamental na promoção de actividade física (AF). O objectivo deste estudo foi analisar a influência que a percepção de apoio à autonomia que os professores de EF exercem na prática habitual de AF, tanto do ponto de vista dos alunos como dos professores. Participaram no estudo um total de 831 adolescentes (M = 14.32; DP = .73; 372 rapazes e 459 raparigas) e 18 professores de EF (9 homens e 9 mulheres) das cidades de Huesca (Espanha) e Tarbes (França). Realizou-se uma análise de regressão linear stepwise, a qual revelou que tanto uma maior percepção de apoio à autonomía dos professores de EF por parte dos alunos, como uma orientação altamente autónoma por parte dos professores de EF, predizem de forma positiva uma maior prática de AF habitual nos adolescentes. O desenvolvimento de um clima orientado para a autonomia em EF deve constituir um dos pilares principais do processo educativo. Esse clima propício deve basear-se no discurso e na intervenção docente dos professores de EF como elementos determinantes do comportamento dos adolescentes, podendo contribuir para o seu desenvolvimento enquanto pessoas mais activas no seu tempo livre

Improving Physical Activity Levels and Psychological Variables on University Students in the Contemplation Stage

This study aimed to investigate the effects of a physical activity intervention, based on self-determination theory and the transtheoretical model, on university students in the contemplation stage. Participants: 42 students, in the contemplation stage at baseline, were randomly assigned to an experimental group (16 women, 2 men; M age = 19.1 ± 1.15) and a control group (18 women, 2 men; M age = 20.1 ± 5.7). Methods: Physical activity was measured at different moments by accelerometry. Other cognitive variables were measured by self-reported scales. Results: We did not find any significant increases in students’ physical activity in favor of the intervention group. Intragroup analyses indicate that the intervention has an effect on physical activity (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), basic psychological needs, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Conclusions: Results partially demonstrate that applying social cognitive theories seems to be effective in improving physical activity and cognitive variables in university students in the contemplation stag

Desarrollo de un dispositivo para monitoreo en la línea del proceso de coagulación de la leche

Este trabajo describe el estudio de un dispositivo para monitorizar la coagulación enzimática o ácida de la leche. El instrumento está compuesto por un calefactor/sensor de platino, un sensor de temperatura por termoresistencia de platino, un electrodo de pH, una fuente de corriente continua constante, un sistema de adquisición de señales analógicas ligado a un programa de aplicación desarrollado que corre sobre un ordenador personal. El calefactor/sensor se construyó con un alambre de platino de 0,025 mm de diámetro, bobinado alrededor de una base cerámica cilíndrica y embebida en una termovaina protectora, lo cual permite monitorizar los cambios físicos de la leche. Las pruebas realizadas bajo condiciones de aire quieto y temperatura ambiente (25 °C), mostraron que el calefactor/sensor puede soportar una corriente continua de, por lo menos, 190 mA. Ensayos a diferentes valores de corriente continua permitieron seleccionar la corriente constante apropiada de 130 mA. Con esta corriente continua constante el experimento probó ser altamente reproducible y con una baja relación señal/ruido. El análisis de la transferencia de calor sobre la superficie de la vaina protectora del calefactor/sensor demostró que la temperatura superficial es menor a 50 °C, con lo cual no existe riesgo de desnaturalizar proteínas solubles. Los efectos de la temperatura, pH, concentración enzimática y el agregado de CaCl2 sobre las respuestas tiempo de coagulación –CT–, Tmax y firmeza “viscosidad” fueron similares a las obtenidas con otros métodos. El tamaño reducido del sensor lo hace no intrusivo, robusto, fácil de limpiar in situ o esterilizar por medio de vapor, para lo cual no necesita ser removido durante las operaciones de elaboración. Cumple con las normas sanitarias 3-A y EHEDG, lo cual permite que sea usado tanto en las líneas de producción de queso como de yogurt.In this investigation we studied a device for monitoring the enzymatic or acid coagulation of milk. The instrument consists of a platinum heater/sensor, a Platinum Resistance Temperature Detector (PRTD) temperature sensor, a pH electrode, a direct constant current source, a digital acquisition system that, with the developed software runs on a Personal Computer. The heater/sensor was build with a 0.025 mm diameter platinum wire coiled around a ceramic structure and immersed in a small protective thermowell, allowed monitoring the physical changes of milk. Under conditions of quiet air and room temperature (25°C), tests showed that this probe was able to withstand a DC current of at least 190 mA. Different tests performed with different values of DC constant current allowed to select the appropriate current (130 mA). Using this DC constant current, this experiment proved to be highly reproducible, with low signal to noise ratio. Heat transfer analysis also showed temperatures of <50°C on the heater/sensor thermowell surface, with no risk of soluble protein denaturation. The effects of temperature, pH, enzyme concentration and CaCl2 addition, on the responses CT, Tmax and firmness, were similar to those obtained with other methods. The small size of this sensor make it a non-invasive, though robust enough device, easy to clean in place or to sterilize using steam in place, which does not need to be removed during cheesemaking operations. In addition, the instrument meets the sanitary requirements of the 3-A and EHEDG standard, which allows it to be used on cheese or yogurt production lines.Fil: Sbodio, Oscar Alberto. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Tecnología de los Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Elbio Dante Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Tercero, E. J.. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Tecnología de los Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Didier, Mario Jose Julian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Revelli, G.R. Cooperativa Tambera y Agropecuaria Nueva Alpina Ltda.; Argentin

Policy challenges for agroforestry implementation in Europe

Agroforestry (AF) is a sustainable land use practice and system that increases the ecosystem services delivery from agricultural lands compared with treeless systems. Agroforestry can be considered a practice when linked to plot scale (silvoarable, silvopasture, homegarden, woody linear landscape strips, and forest farming), and a system when associated with the global farm scale. The enhancement of the ecosystem services is associated with the use and promotion of the biodiversity caused by the presence of trees that optimizes the use of the resources if adequate species are mixed. Agroforestry can be implemented at temporal and spatial scales. At the temporal scale, the use of woody perennials to increase soil fertility is a traditional technique that improves soil health and reduces the need of using herbicides (e.g., the legume Ulex sown for 10 years in between crop cultivation). Five agroforestry practices can be implemented at the plot level: silvopasture, silvoarable/alley cropping, homegardens/kitchengardens, woody linear landscape strips, and forest farming. A farm including these practices is considered an agroforestry system working at the landscape level when several farms are mixed. In spite of the acknowledgment that AF has at the European level for being included as part of Pillars I and II, the spread of AF is limited across Europe. Four challenges, linked with technical, economic, educational, and policy development, have been identified by the AFINET thematic network that, if addressed, may foster policy adoption across the EU. This article proposes 15 different policy recommendations to overcome them and the need of developing an AF strategy for the EU.We acknowledge funding through Grant 101086563 from the European Commission (Project AF4EU, HEUROPE). This study was supported by National Funds by the FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UIDB/04033/2020. NF-D was funded by the Pilot Program of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) for the hiring of distinguished research staff—call 2021, funded under the collaboration agreement between USC and Banco Santander, for the years 2021–2024. JJS-F was supported by the USC and the Spanish Ministry of Universities through the “Convocatoria de Recualificación del Sistema Universitario Español” on its modality “Margarita Salas”; Ministry of Universities - Recovery Transformation and Resilience Plan (funded by the European Union through the NextGenerationEU).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio