Home Automation System based on Intelligent Transducer Enablers

This paper presents a novel home automation system named HASITE (Home Automation System based on Intelligent Transducer Enablers), which has been specifically designed to identify and configure transducers easily and quickly. These features are especially useful in situations where many transducers are deployed, since their setup becomes a cumbersome task that consumes a significant amount of time and human resources. HASITE simplifies the deployment of a home automation system by using wireless networks and both self-configuration and self-registration protocols. Thanks to the application of these three elements, HASITE is able to add new transducers by just powering them up. According to the tests performed in different realistic scenarios, a transducer is ready to be used in less than 13 s. Moreover, all HASITE functionalities can be accessed through an API, which also allows for the integration of third-party systems. As an example, an Android application based on the API is presented. Remote users can use it to interact with transducers by just using a regular smartphone or a tablet.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures, accepted version of Sensors journal articl

Design and Empirical Validation of a LoRaWAN IoT Smart Irrigation System

[Abstract] In some parts of the world, climate change has led to periods of drought that require managing efficiently the scarce water and energy resources. This paper proposes an IoT smart irrigation system specifically designed for urban areas where remote IoT devices have no direct access to the Internet or to the electrical grid, and where wireless communications are difficult due to the existence of long distances and multiple obstacles. To tackle such issues, this paper proposes a LoRaWAN-based architecture that provides long distance and communications with reduced power consumption. Specifically, the proposed system consists of IoT nodes that collect sensor data and send them to local fog computing nodes or to a remote cloud, which determine an irrigation schedule that considers factors such as the weather forecast or the moist detected by nearby nodes. It is essential to deploy the IoT nodes in locations within the provided coverage range and that guarantee good speed rates and reduced energy consumption. Due to this reason, this paper describes the use of an in-house 3D-ray launching radio-planning tool to determine the best locations for IoT nodes on a real medium-scale scenario (a university campus) that was modeled with precision, including obstacles such as buildings, vegetation, or vehicles. The obtained simulation results were compared with empirical measurements to assess the operating conditions and the radio planning tool accuracy. Thus, it is possible to optimize the wireless network topology and the overall performance of the network in terms of coverage, cost, and energy consumption.This work was funded by Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2016-045, ED431G/01) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Gobierno de España (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE), Project RTI2018-095499-B-C31Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/0

Wireless Channel Assessment of Auditoriums for the Deployment of Augmented Reality Systems for Enhanced Show Experience of Impaired Persons

[Abstract] Auditoriums and theaters are buildings in which concerts, shows, and conferences are held, offering a diverse and dynamic cultural program to citizens. Unfortunately, people with impairments usually have difficulties in fully experiencing all the provided cultural activities, since such environments are not totally adapted to their necessities. For example, in an auditorium, visually impaired users have to be accompanied to their seats by staff, as well as when the person wants to leave the event in the middle of the show (e.g., to go to the toilet), or when he/she wants to move around during breaks. This work is aimed at improving the autonomy of disabled people within the mentioned kinds of environments, as well as enhancing their show experiences by deploying wireless sensor networks and wireless body area networks connected to an augmented reality device (Microsoft HoloLens smart glasses). For that purpose, intensive measurements have been taken in a real scenario (the Baluarte Congress Center and Auditorium of Navarre) located in the city of Pamplona. The results show that this kind of environment presents high wireless interference at different frequency bands, due to the existing wireless systems deployed within them, such as multiple WiFi access points, wireless microphones, or wireless communication systems used by the show staff. Therefore, radio channel simulations have been also performed with the aim of assessing the potential deployment of the proposed solution. The presented work can lead to the deployment of augmented reality systems within auditoriums and theaters, boosting the development of new applications.Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; , ED431G/01Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; RTI2018-095499-B-C3

Iberian acid peatlands: types, origin and general trends of development.

ABSTRACT: In the present study we reviewed the genesis, development and classification of peatlands in the Iberian 1. The region has a wide variety of peatlands which are classified according to their biogeochemical, geomorphological and ecological characteristics into different types of bogs and fens. 2. Most of the peatlands occur in the Atlantic region followed by the Mediterranean and Alpine regions. Fens are more widely distributed than bogs, and blanket and raised bogs are mainly found in the Eurosiberian biogeographical region. 3. In many of the fens, the last active peat-forming cycle occurred during the Late Holocene (43 %). In most of the bogs, the peat-forming cycle occurred in the Middle Holocene (70 %), although in a substantial proportion of blanket bogs these processes occurred in the Early Holocene (30 %). 4. The peat formed in the last active cycle is, on average, thicker in raised bogs (322 cm) than in blanket bogs (257 cm) and fens (156 cm). 5. Vertical peat accumulation rates varied between 16 and 30 yr cm-1 in more than 40 % of the peatlands. The accumulation rates differed significantly between the different types of peatlands and were highest in the raised bogs. The accumulation rates were very variable in the fens. 6. The genesis, evolution and types of Iberian peatlands are similar to those observed in peatlands in northern latitudes in Europe and North America.Our research has been made possible by the following project grants: INCITE09-200-019-PR (Xunta de Galicia Government); DESIRÈ-HAR2013-43701-P (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness); and Relictflora-P11-RNM-7033 (Excellence Research Projects Program from the Andalusian Government)

Building Decentralized Fog Computing-Based Smart Parking Systems: From Deterministic Propagation Modeling to Practical Deployment

[Abstract] The traditional process of finding a vacant parking slot is often inefficient: it increases driving time, traffic congestion, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. To address such problems, smart parking systems have been proposed to help drivers to find available parking slots faster using latest sensing and communications technologies. However, the deployment of the communications infrastructure of a smart parking is not straightforward due to multiple factors that may affect wireless propagation. Moreover, a smart parking system needs to provide not only accurate information on available spots, but also fast responses while guaranteeing the system availability even in the case of lacking connectivity. This article describes the development of a decentralized low-latency smart parking system: from its conception, design and theoretical simulation, to its empirical validation. Thus, this work first characterizes a real-world scenario and proposes a fog computing and Internet of Things (IoT) based communications architecture to provide smart parking services. Next, a thorough analysis on the wireless channel properties is carried out by means of an in-house developed deterministic 3D-Ray Launching (3D-RL) tool. The obtained results are validated through a real-world measurement campaign and then the communications architecture is implemented by using ZigBee sensor nodes. The implemented architecture also makes use of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, an Android app, a decentralized database and fog computing gateways, whose performance is evaluated in terms of response latency and processing rate. Results show that the proposed system is able to deliver information to the drivers fast, with no need for relying on remote servers. As a consequence, the presented development methodology and communications evaluation tool can be useful for future smart parking developers, which can determine the optimal locations of the wireless transceivers during the simulation stage and then deploy a system that can provide fast responses and decentralized services.Xunta de Galicia; ED431G2019/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain; TEC2016-75067-C4-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain; RED2018-102668-TAgencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain; PID2019-104958RB-C42Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; RTI2018-095499-B-C3

Lipofundin-Induced Hyperlipidemia Promotes Oxidative Stress and Atherosclerotic Lesions in New Zealand White Rabbits

Atherosclerosis represents a major cause of death in the world. It is known that Lipofundin 20% induces atherosclerotic lesions in rabbits, but its effects on serum lipids behaviour and redox environment have not been addressed. In this study, New Zealand rabbits were treated with 2 mL/kg of Lipofundin for 8 days. Then, redox biomarkers and serum lipids were determined spectrophotometrically. On the other hand, the development of atherosclerotic lesions was confirmed by eosin/hematoxylin staining and electron microscopy. At the end of the experiment, total cholesterol, triglycerides, cholesterol-LDL, and cholesterol-HDL levels were significantly increased. Also, a high index of biomolecules damage, a disruption of both enzymatic and nonenzymatic defenses, and a reduction of nitric oxide were observed. Our data demonstrated that Lipofundin 20% induces hyperlipidemia, which promotes an oxidative stress state. Due to the importance of these phenomena as risk factors for atherogenesis, we suggest that Lipofundin induces atherosclerosis mainly through these mechanisms

Design and Empirical Validation of a Bluetooth 5 Fog Computing Based Industrial CPS Architecture for Intelligent Industry 4.0 Shipyard Workshops

[Abstract] Navantia, one of largest European shipbuilders, is creating a fog computing based Industrial Cyber-Physical System (ICPS) for monitoring in real-time its pipe workshops in order to track pipes and keep their traceability. The deployment of the ICPS is a unique industrial challenge in terms of communications, since in a pipe workshop there is a significant number of metallic objects with heterogeneous typologies. There are multiple technologies that can be used to track pipes, but this article focuses on Bluetooth 5, which is a relatively new technology that represents a cost-effective solution to cope with harsh environments, since it has been significantly enhanced in terms of low power consumption, range, speed and broadcasting capacity. Thus, it is proposed a Bluetooth 5 fog computing based ICPS architecture that is designed to support physically-distributed and low-latency Industry 4.0 applications that off-load network traffic and computational resources from the cloud. In order to validate the proposed ICPS design, one of the Navantia’s pipe workshops was modeled through an in-house developed 3D-ray launching radio planning simulator that allows for estimating the coverage provided by the deployed Bluetooth 5 fog computing nodes and Bluetooth 5 tags. The experiments described in this article show that the radio propagation results obtained by the simulation tool are really close to the ones obtained through empirical measurements. As a consequence, the simulation tool is able to reduce ICPS design and deployment time and provide guidelines to future developers when deploying Bluetooth 5 fog computing nodes and tags in complex industrial scenarios.Auto-ID for Intelligent Products research line of the Navantia-UDC Joint Research Unit (Grant Number: IN853B-2018/02) 10.13039/100014440-Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci??n y Universidades (Grant Number: RTI2018-095499-B-C31

Analysis, Design and Empirical Validation of a Smart Campus Based on LoRaWAN

[Abstract] Internet of Things (IoT) applications for smart environments demand challenging requirements for wireless networks in terms of security, coverage, availability, power consumption, and scalability. The technologies employed so far to cope with IoT scenarios are not yet able to manage simultaneously all these demanding requirements, but recent solutions like Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) have emerged as a promising alternative to provide low-cost and low-power consumption connectivity to nodes spread throughout a wide area. Specifically, the Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) standard is one of the most recent developments, receiving attention from both industry and academia. This work presents a comprehensive case study on the use of LoRaWAN under a realistic scenario within a smart city: a smart campus. Such a medium-scale scenario has been implemented through an in-house-developed 3D ray launching radio planning simulator that takes into consideration traffic lights, vehicles, people, buildings, urban fixtures, and vegetation. The developed tool is able to provide accurate radio propagation estimations within the smart campus scenario in terms of coverage, capacity, and energy efficiency of the network. These results are compared with an empirical validation in order to assess the operating conditions and the system accuracy. Moreover, the presented results provide some guidelines for IoT vendors, network operators, and city planners to investigate further deployments of LoRaWAN for other medium-scale smart city applicationsXunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación; TEC2016-75067-C4-1-

¿Tienen una personalidad distinta los adolescentes consumidores de psicoestimulantes?

El consumo de psicoestimulantes tiene una especial importancia en nuestro medio por su notable incremento entre los más jóvenes. El objetivo del presente estudio es determinar si hay diferencias entre menores de edad consumidores y no consumidores de psicoestimulantes (cocaína y éxtasis) en función de las características de personalidad evaluadas con el MACI. La muestra está formada por 398 jóvenes entre 14 y 17 años que fueron seleccionados con un muestreo aleatorio en los domicilios de los entrevistados y en lugares de ocio y diversión. Los resultados confirman la existencia de importantes diferencias en las características de personalidad de ambos. Los jóvenes que han consumido psicoestimulantes se caracterizan por tener los prototipos de personalidad Rebelde, Rudo, Oposicionista y Tendencia límite. Do adolescents who use stimulants have a different personality? Stimulant consumption is especially important in our context because its use has greatly increased in recent years. The aim of the present study is to analyze the differences between stimulant users and nonusers (under 18 years old) in personality characteristics assessed with the MACI. The sample comprises 398 youths between 14 and 17 years old who were selected through random sampling in their homes or in recreational night spots. Results show important differences in personality features between stimulant users and nonusers. Stimulant users are characterized by having unruly, forceful, oppositional and borderline-tendency personality prototypes