iGenda : an event scheduler for common users and centralised systems

The world is walking towards an aged society as a consequence of the increasing rate of longevity in modern cultures. With age comes the fact that memory decreases its efficiency and memory loss starts to surge.Within this context, iGenda is a Personal Memory Assistant (PMA) designed to run on a personal computer or mobile device that tries to help final-users in keeping track of their daily activities. In addition, iGenda has included a Centralised Management System (CMS) on the side of an hospital-like institution, the CMS stands a level above the PMA and the goal is to manage the medical staff (e.g. physicians and nurses) daily work schedule taking into account the patients and resources, communicating directly with the PMA of the patient. This paper presents the platform concept, the overall architecture of the system and the key features on the different agents and components

Studies of Polymerization of Acrylic Monomers Using Luminescence Probes and Differential Scanning Calorimetry

A fiber optic system has been designed to couple calorimeter and fluorimeter equipment for in situ monitoring of polymerization reactions by both techniques simultaneously. Two acrylic monomers (cyclohexyl methacrylate, CHM, and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, EHA) were studied at different temperatures. Pyrene (Py) was employed at a low concentration (≤10⁻⁴ mol/L) as a fluorescence probe. The emission spectrum of pyrene shows a broad band peaking at 390 nm, whose intensity grows with polymerization progress. A correlation with conversion degree could be established by collecting fluorescence intensity through the optical fiber at different polymerization times. For the more flexible polymer formed, poly(ethylhexyl acrylate) (PEHA), Py emission sharply increases only when high conversions are reached and continues increasing for a long time after the limiting conversion is attained. For CHM polymerizations, S-shaped curves are found. Isochronal plots of intensity vs. scaled conversion allow elaboration of master curves for the peak emission. Data at 50°C for CHM cannot be fitted to the master curve, and this is explained in terms of vitrification.The authors acknowledge the financial support of this work by the Consejeria de Educación of Comunidad de Madrid (CAM 247 /92) and the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (MAT93-0823)

DOCUMENTATION OF RISIS DATASETS - RISIS Patent Database

The RISIS Patent database derives from the EPO PATSTAT. The database is designed for the analysis of technological knowledge creation, using patent as a proxy. It thus focuses on ‘priority patents’

Synthesis and characterization of polysulfone/layered double hydroxides nanocomposite membranes for fuel cell application

In the present study, sulfonated polysulfone (SPSU)/layered double hydroxide (LDH) composite membranes for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) were investigated. Polysulfone (PSU) was sulfonated with trimethylsilyl chlorosulfonate in 1,2 dichloroethane at room temperature. Composite membranes were prepared by blending different amount (0, 1, 2, and 5%) of LDH nanoparticles with SPSU in dimethylacetamide (DMAc). The membranes were prepared by the casting method and the samples obtained were characterized by XRD, FTIR spectroscopy. The thermal behavior for all samples was evaluated by thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA). Finally electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to study the membranes electrical properties. The EIS measurements were carried out with the membranes in contact with HCl solutions at different concentrations (103 ≤ c ≤101). Results show a clear dependence of the membrane electrical resistance with the sulfonation degree and the amount of the LDH addedAuthors thanks financial support received from the regional government (Comunidad de Madrid through MATERYENER S2009 PPQ-1626), and Spanish Government,MICINN (MAT2010-19837-CO6)

Evolutionary system for prediction and optimization of hardware architecture performance

The design of computer architectures is a very complex problem. The multiple parameters make the number of possible combinations extremely high. Many researchers have used simulation, although it is a slow solution since evaluating a single point of the search space can take hours. In this work we propose using evolutionary multilayer perceptron (MLP) to compute the performance of an architecture parameter settings. Instead of exploring the search space, simulating many configurations, our method randomly selects some architecture configurations; those are simulated to obtain their performance, and then an artificial neural network is trained to predict the remaining configurations performance. Results obtained show a high accuracy of the estimations using a simple method to select the configurations we have to simulate to optimize the MLP. In order to explore the search space, we have designed a genetic algorithm that uses the MLP as fitness function to find the niche where the best architecture configurations (those with higher performance) are located. Our models need only a small fraction of the design space, obtaining small errors and reducing required simulation by two orders of magnitude.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Reply to Comment on Cobo-Cuenca, A.I.; Laredo-Aguilera, J.A.; Rodríguez-Borrego, M.-A.; Santacruz-Salas, E.; Carmona-Torres, J.M. Temporal Trends in Fecal Occult Blood Test: Associated Factors (2009–2017). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 2120

In this study [...

Temporal Trends in Fecal Occult Blood Test: Associated Factors (2009–2017)

A cross-sectional study with 27,821 records of non-institutionalized people in Spain aged between 50–69 years old (59.94 ± 5.8 years), who participated in the European Health Survey in Spain (2009, 2014) and National Health Survey (2011/12, 2017). Fecal occult testing, the reason for performing the test, age, sex, nationality, social status, marital status, education level, body mass index (BMI), and place of residence. Overall, 54% were women, 93.9% were Spanish, 47.8% had a secondary study, and 66.4% were married. Across the years, the rate of the fecal occult blood test (FOBT) increased significantly (p < 0.001). This increase can be accounted for a letter campaign advising testing (45%, p < 0.001). FOBT was associated with more age (odds ratio—OR 1.04, 95% confidence interval—CI 1.04–1.05, p < 0.001), Spanish nationality (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.25–2.93, p = 0.003), being married (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.02–1.25, p = 0.025), having a higher level of education (OR 2.46, 95% CI 2.17–2.81, p < 0.001), belonging to high social classes (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.12–1.64, p = 0.001), and BMI <25 (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.25–2.37). Frequency of FOBT has increased in recent years. Performing FOBT is associated with age, nationality, marital status, higher education level, and social class

Perspectivas del MERCOSUR ante la incorporación de Venezuela

El trabajo analiza críticamente las principales experiencias de integración regional existentes en un contexto de creciente globalización asimétrica. Una caracterización del bolivarianismo permite revisar la política exterior de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela. De allí, se examinan las posibles consecuencias de la admisión de Venezuela al MERCOSUR, no sólo para ese país, sino para toda América Latina.This paper analyzes critically the mayor experiences of regional integration that exist in a context of increasing asymmetric globalization. A characterization of the "bolivarianism" allows a review of the foreign policy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Then the possible consequences of the admission of Venezuela in MERCOSUR, not only for Venezuela but for Latin America are examined.Instituto de Integración Latinoamericana (IIL