Automatic code generation for ATLAS communications drivers

ATLAS is a software development platform created in our Department. Among other benefits, it provides support to easily distribute applications over a network. In these applications, communications issues among the different processes should be faced. Pursuing to isolate application developers from the intricacies of these issues, communication drivers are automatically generated from an interface declaration of each process. This automatic code generation --not unlike the generation of stubs in CORBA from the IDL specification-- is the main topic of this report.Postprint (published version

Cambios políticos y sus repercusiones jurídicas

Traballo fin de grao (UDC.DER). Dereito. Curso 2012/201

Valoración del estado nutricional en la población mayor de 65 años en el municipio de Pontedeume

[Resumen] Introducción: El aumento del envejecimiento poblacional se está convirtiendo en uno de los fenómenos más importantes del S.XXI. Este aumento de la esperanza de vida no supone un aumento en la calidad de la misma por lo que promover el envejecimiento saludable es un importante reto para los profesionales sanitarios. Las personas de edad avanzada son vulnerables a padecer trastornos nutricionales por lo que una de las principales funciones de la enfermería es la educación sanitaria en nutrición a través de la puesta en marcha de planes de promoción de la salud y fomento de hábitos de vida saludables. Para que estos planes sean efectivos, se debe conocer previamente el perfil de las enfermedades, comorbilidad y factores asociados de la población a la que van dirigidos. El presente estudio permite una aproximación a la situación nutricional de las personas mayores de 65 años en el municipio de Pontedeume, para la puesta en marcha de iniciativas encaminadas a la promoción de un envejecimiento saludable. Objetivos: - Determinar el estado nutricional en base a la aplicación del Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) en una muestra de individuos de 65 o más años en el municipio de Pontedeume, A Coruña. - Conocer la influencia de las variables estudiadas en el estado nutricional de dicha muestra analizada aplicando el Score de Charlson y conocer el grado de adherencia a la Dieta Mediterránea en base a la aplicación del Cuestionario de Adherencia a la Dieta Mediterránea (PREDIMED). Metodología: Estudio observacional de prevalencia realizado en el municipio de Pontedeume (A Coruña). La muestra a estudio se basa en una cohorte de 356 personas (α=0.05; precisión= 5%). Los datos necesarios para el estudio se recogerán en una ficha creada exclusivamente para la realización del mismo donde consten las variables a estudiar. Los datos correspondientes a la valoración del estado nutricional se obtendrán de la aplicación del cuestionario MNA, la adherencia a la dieta mediterránea será valorada con la aplicación del cuestionario PREDIMED y los datos de comorbilidad se obtendrán de la aplicación del Score de Charlson. Los datos recogidos se volcarán en una base de datos Excel. Se realizará un análisis descriptivo de los datos y un análisis multivariado de regresión logística. El estudio contará con la autorización del comité ético de Galicia y se realizará bajo consentimiento informado firmado.[Resumo] Presentación: O aumento do envellecemento da poboación está a converterse nun dos fenómenos máis importantes do século XXI. Este incremento na esperanza de vida non significa un aumento na súa calidade, polo tanto, promover un envellecemento saudable é un desafío importante para os profesionais da saúde. As persoas de idade avanzada son vulnerables a padecer trastornos nutricionais polo que unha das principais funcións de enfermería é a educación sanitaria en nutrición a través da posta en marcha de plans de promoción da saúde e fomento de hábitos de vida saudables. Para que estes plans sexan efectivos, débese coñecer previamente o perfil das enfermidades, comorbilidade e factores asociados a poboación a que van dirixidos. O presente estudo permite unha aproximación a situación nutricional das persoas maiores de 65 anos no municipio de Pontedeume, para a posta en marcha de iniciativas encamiñadas a promoción dun envellecemento saudable. Obxectivos: - Determinar o estado nutricional en base a aplicación do cuestionario Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) nunha mostra de individuos de 65 ou mais anos no municipio de Pontedeume, A Coruña. - Coñecer a influencia das variables estudadas no estado nutricional de dita mostra analizada aplicando o Score de Charlson e coñecer o grao de adherencia a Dieta Mediterránea en base a aplicación do Cuestionario De Adherencia a Dieta Mediterranea (PREDIMED). Metodoloxía: Estudo observacional de prevalencia realizado no municipio de Pontedeume (A Coruña). A mostra do estudo está baseada nunha cohorte de 356 persoas (α=0.05; precisión= 5%) . Os datos necesarios para o estudo recopilaranse nun ficheiro creado exclusivamente para a realización dos mesmos onde se atopen as variables a estudar. Os datos correspondentes o estado nutricional obteranse da aplicación do cuestionario MNA, a adherencia a dieta mediterránea valorarase coa aplicación do cuestionario PREDIMED e os datos de comorbilidade obteranse da aplicación do Score de Charlson. Os datos obtidos almacenaranse nunha base de datos de Excel. Realizarase unha análise descritiva dos datos e unha análise multivariada de regresión loxística. O presente estudo contará coa aprobación do Comité Ético de Galicia e realizarase baixo consentimento informado firmado.[Abstract] Introduction: One of the most important event of the XXI century is the population aging. The challenge of the health experts is to raise the quality of life at the same time that the life expectancy is raising. The elderly have a bigger risk regarding nutritional disorder and the nursing has the job to prevent this risk through the nutritional education in health campaigns and promotion of nutritional customs. The efficacy of these plans depends of the knowledge regarding the diseases and healthy factors in this interest group. The current study allows a nearness to the situation of a typical group of people older than 65 years, located in Pontedeume, with the intent of a healthy age promotion. Targets: - Determine the nutritional state in base to the application of the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) in a sample of individuals of 65 or more years in the municipality of Pontedeume, A Coruña. - To know the importance of each studied variable applying the Score of Charlson and the influence of the Mediterranean diet using the PREMINED cuestionary. Metodology: Observational study of prevalence in the municipality of Pontedeume (A Coruña). The study sample is based on a cohort of 356 people (α = 0.05; precision = 5%). The data required for the study will be collected on a tab created exclusively for the realization of the same with list of variables to study. Data for the assessment of nutritional status will be obtained from the application of the MNA questionnaire, adherence to the Mediterranean diet will be valued with the application of the PREDIMED questionnaire and comorbidity data will be obtained from the application of the Charlson Score. The collected data will be dumped in an Excel database. A descriptive analysis of the data and a multivariate logistic regression analysis will be done. The study will be under signed informed consent and will be with the permission of the Ethics Committee of Galicia.Traballo fin de grao (UDC.FEP). Enfermaría. Curso 2017/201

Demystifying Emergence:A New Exploration Through Scientific Case Studies

In this thesis I argue that a modified version of Jessica Wilson’s subset view, what I call the Holistically Defined Modal view, is the most promising nonreductive physicalist account to accommodate not only mental causation but also other kinds of higher-level causation. In this thesis I do not endeavour to demonstrate nonreductive physicalism’s superiority against competitors, such as reductive physicalism or strong emergence. Rather, my goal is to investigate how nonreductive physicalism should be spelled out assessing what I consider the most interesting and successful candidates for the best nonreductive physicalist account. The three candidates are Jessica Wilson’s subset view, Sydney Shoemaker’s mereological version of the subset view, and Carl Gillett’s mutualism.In Chapter 1, I first provide historical context to the concept of emergence, and I explain its interpretation within this thesis to disambiguate it from alternative definitions or uses. I then introduce Jaegwon Kim’s Causal Exclusion Argument, which is one of the most potentially damning and recurrent objections against nonreductive physicalism. In Chapter 2, I present the subset view as well as Wilson’s response to Kim’s argument. The subset view proposes that for higher-level properties to be causally efficacious in a significant way it is sufficient that they have a distinct set of powers (or causal profile) vis-à-vis their realisers. In this chapter I also defend the subset view against Sara Bernstein’s version of Kim’s objection.In Chapter 3 I present Shoemaker’s version of the subset view and conclude that Wilson’s account is superior to it. In Chapter 4 I introduce Gillett’s account, as well as Gillett’s Problem of Qualitative Distinctness against the subset view. Gillett claims that science explains the behaviour of special science entities in terms of the joint behaviour of their constituents. From this claim he builds an argument to show that special science properties of composites are realised by the properties of its constituents, which leads him to conclude that properties at different levels do not share any powers ––i.e., they are qualitatively distinct. That claim is a direct threat to the subset view, which requires power sharing, and according to Gillett it makes it an untenable view.To assess Gillett’s objection, I focus on whether realisation is a many-to-one relation – what I refer to as realisationM-O – or a one-to-one relation – realisationO-O. Gillett argues that it must be many-to-one, given that this is the only way to preserve qualitative distinctness between realiser and realisee. Wilson’s way to deal with the apparent many-to-one nature of realisation of special science properties is to provide an ontologically lightweight structural property that bridges the many properties of constituents and the higher-level realised property of the composite. She refers to this kind of properties as “middleman properties”. In the last section of Chapter 4 I argue that Wilson has not provided a successful response to Gillett’s threat, and that the existence of middleman properties is not properly justified. The chapter, therefore, is inconclusive as to whether realisation has a one-to-one or many-to-one structure. Chapter 5 serves as a linking chapter, emphasizing the importance of case studies in elucidating the nature of realisation and discussing their treatment in Wilson’s and Gillett’s works. Chapters 6 and 7 present two scientific case studies and assess whether any of the two kinds of realisation, realisationM-O or realisationO-O, can account for them.In Chapter 6, I explain how statistical mechanics derives and defines entropy, which is a property of thermodynamic systems from the properties of the particles composing the systems. In Chapter 7, I explain how one of the most influential scientific theories of consciousness, the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory, explains how conscious states arise from brain states.This thesis concludes that the realisation relation that accounts for both the realisation of entropy and conscious properties is realisationO-O, whereas realisationM-O can, at best, only partially account for them. Hence, realisationO-O is the most general account of realisation. This conclusion is based on one main finding: in both case studies there are scientific grounds to accept the genuine existence of middleman properties. However, the case studies also unveil that Wilson’s definition of “middleman property” –and thus her view– needs to be substantially modified. In Chapters 6 and 7 I present and discuss the modified version of the subset view: the Holistically Defined Modal view –the HDM view. According to this view, a realiser is a holistically defined modal property. I define both the modal aspect and the holistic aspect of the view in a broad sense, that also encompasses cases where a narrow definition applies. The holistic aspect of the view entails that the realiser is defined in terms of properties and states of the system, where those properties and states of the system might or might not be further defined in terms of compositional principles and Boolean operations on its constituents. The modal aspect of the view entails that the realiser has a modal aspect, namely, it considers possible states the system could be in. In a broad sense, there are cases where the only possible states of the system considered are actual states, which nonetheless are possible states of the system. The Entropy Case Study is an example of a realiser that is a holistically defined modal property in a narrow sense for both aspects, whereas the Neuronal Global Workspace presents an example of a realiser that is holistically defined in a narrow sense and is modal in a broad sense.<br/

Predicting fuel energy consumption during earthworks

This research contributes to the assessment of on-site fuel consumption and the resulting carbon dioxide emissions due to earthworks-related processes in residential building projects, prior to the start of the construction phase. Several studies have been carried out on this subject, and have demonstrated the considerable environmental impact of earthworks activities in terms of fuel consumption. However, no methods have been proposed to estimate on-site fuel consumption during the planning stage. This paper presents a quantitative method to predict fuel consumption before the construction phase. The calculations were based on information contained in construction project documents and the definition of equipment load factors. Load factors were characterized for the typical equipment that is used in earthworks in residential building projects (excavators, loaders and compactors), taking into considering the type of soil, the type of surface and the duration of use. We also analyzed transport fuel consumption, because of its high impact in terms of pollution. The proposed method was then applied to a case study that illustrated its practical use and benefits. The predictive method can be used as an assessment tool for residential construction projects, to measure the environmental impact in terms of on-site fuel consumption. Consequently, it provides a significant basis for future methods to compare construction projects.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Monitoring and evaluation of Terni (Central Italy) air quality through spatially resolved analyses

A study of spatial variability of PM10 elemental components was conducted in Terni city (Central Italy), situated in an intramountain depression characterized by the presence of several particulate matter emission sources. The meteorological conditions of Terni basin limit the dispersion and enhance the accumulation of the atmospheric pollutants. Thanks to the utilization of new samplers (Smart Sampler), used for the first time and working in parallel at 23 sampling sites, spatially resolved data were obtained. Localizations of the samplers were chosen in order to evaluate the impact of different local PM10 sources. Chemical composition of the samples was determined in combination with a chemical fractioning procedure, that allowed us to discriminate watersoluble and residual fractions of analyzed elements in which proved to be a valuable approach for increasing selectivity of elements as source tracers. Spatial variability of elements underlined the contribution of local emission sources and the different dispersion capacity of each element. Terni city resulted to be an ideal area to test and validate a new experimental method for the acquisition of spatially resolved data providing the possibility to properly evaluate the spatial variability of PM10 and its chemical components

La representación de las mujeres trabajadoras en las series de máxima audiencia emitidas en España (2010)

En este artículo, presentamos un análisis de contenido realizado sobre las 16 series de más audiencia emitidas en España y producidas en idioma español, durante el año 2010. En total se han analizado 143 personajes masculinos y 144 femeninos. Veremos que los primeros resultados del análisis nos muestran que no existe una equiparación de género en las representaciones de estas series. El dominio del espacio público sigue perteneciendo a los personajes masculinos y las mujeres siguen ocupando en muchos casos profesiones menos prestigiosas y tradicionalmente femeninas, centradas en el cuidado del prójimo y al servicio de los demás.In this article we present a content analysis conducted on the 16 highest-rated tv series broadcasted in Spain and produced in Spanish language in 2010. We have analyzed a total of 143 male and 144 female characters. We present the first results of the analysis demonstrating that there is no gender equality in the representations of these series. The dominance in the public space still belongs to the male characters and women are still often occupying less prestigious and traditionally female-centered professions related to serving and taking care of others