Music Learning Tools for Android Devices

In this paper, a musical learning application for mobile devices is presented. The main objective is to design and develop an application capable of offering exercises to practice and improve a selection of music skills, to users interested in music learning and training. The selected music skills are rhythm, melodic dictation and singing. The application includes an audio signal analysis system implemented making use of the Goertzel algorithm which is employed in singing exercises to check if the user sings the right musical note. This application also includes a graphical interface to represent musical symbols. A set of tests were conducted to check the usefulness of the application as musical learning tool. A group of users with different music knowledge have tested the system and reported to have found it effective, easy and accessible.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

RALF/LRX monitor cell wall integrity during tomato fruit formation

Plant developmental processes depend largely on a correct communication between cells, together with the ability to respond to such communication. Traditionally cell to cell communication has been studied through the action of phytohormones such as auxin, ethylene, etc. However, in the past decade, Small Signaling Peptides (SSPs) have been identified as key regulators coordinating an extensive range of developmental and stress processes. Plant cells perceive SSPs at the cell wall by Receptor-Like Kinases (RLKs), activating a huge range of biochemical and physiological processes. SSPs from Rapid Alkalinization Factor (RALFs) family are ubiquitous in dicot plants and they have been associated to cell wall integrity during cell wall remodeling. RALFs peptides can bind two types of receptors: Leucine-Rich Repeat Extensin proteins (LRXs), and Catharanthus roseus RLK1-Like (CrRLK1L). All recent discoveries remark the importance of RALF/LRX/CrRLK1L module regulating cell wall status. A tomato fruit formation is a perfect model to further understand the role of this mechanism, since requires a tightly regulation during the cell wall softening phase. It has already been reported that some members of CrRLK1Ls regulate fruit ripening in few species like tomato, strawberry or apple, remarking the importance of these receptors and their ligands sensing changes produced in the cell wall during the ripening process. Here, we initiate a biochemical and phenotypical characterization of RALF/LRX proteins in order to elucidate their role during tomato ripening process

Estudi de les competències treballades al grau d'educació social. La veu dels estudiants i dels docents

La recerca consisteix en la identificació i reconeixement de les competències transversals i específiques en el Grau d'Educació Social de la Facultat de Pedagogia (UB) per part d'estudiants i professorat. Vam planificar un estudi diagnòstic amb un disseny de tipus mixt. La triangulació dels resultats, ha permès analitzar les coincidències i divergències pels dos col·lectius. Les conclusions indiquen la necessitat de repensar les competències tant en la seva definició, com en la implementació

Eye drop Self-medication: Comparative Questionnaire-based study of two Latin American cities.

A broad spectrum of ocular symptoms are treated by self-medication with commercial eye-drops.  This behavior threatens individuals' visual health. In Latin America, evidence is poor. Objective:  To  detect,  characterize  and  compare  patterns  of  ophthalmic  self-medication  between  Córdoba (Argentina) and Barranquilla (Colombia).Design:  Analytic, cross-sectional and comparative population-based study. Setting: Two private tertiary care ophthalmology centers from Córdoba, Argentina, and Barranquilla, Colombia.Participants:  Patients 18 years of age or older who consulted for the first time in this two institutions duringAugust-November 2009, were included. A number of 570 patients were enrrolled.Methods:  Data collected through a semi-structured questionnaire. Main outcome measure: To determine thefrequency of self-medication with eyedrops on a specific population of two cities in Latin America.Results:  Comparable  rates  of  ocular  self-medication  were  found  (25.6%  and  25.7%  for  Cordoba  and Barranquilla, respectively). The percentage of men and women who self-medicated was not significantly different between both samples. The major source of eye drops recommendation in the Argentineans patients was the pharmacist (31%); while the social source was predominant in Colombian individuals (53%). In Cordoba, the most frequently used product was a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drop in combination with a vasoconstrictive agent (32%); while in Barranquilla, antibiotic eye drops were preferred (33%). Self-medication was higher between the ages of 31 and 50 years old in Argentinean citizens (28%) and between 18 to 31 years old in the Colombiancommunity (39%). This habit was found mostly in patients who completed university studies in Cordoba (33%); in Barranquilla, individuals with lower educational level practice more this behavior (36%).Conclusion:  In both populations, patients commonly treat ocular conditions by self-medicating. Currently, anincreasing number of eye drops are obtainable without prescription and a high percentage of self-medicated patients in both samples ignore the possible side effects of the used medication.Fil: Marquez, Gabriel. Fundación VER; ArgentinaFil: Hildegard Piñeros-Heilbron. Fundación Oftalmológica del Caribe; ColombiaFil: Sanchez, Victoria M.. Fundación VER; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Victor Eduardo Roque. Fundación VER; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad; ArgentinaFil: Gramajo, Ana L.. Fundación VER; ArgentinaFil: Juarez, Claudio P.. Fundación VER; Argentina. Fundación Oftalmológica del Caribe; ColombiaFil: Peña, Fernando. Fundación Oftalmológica del Caribe; ColombiaFil: Luna, José D.. Fundación VER; Argentin

Efectos de la Membrana de Intercambio de Protones en el Desempeño de una Celda de Combustible H 2/O 2 .

Una celda de combustible convierte directamente la energía química de un combustible en electricidad. Su desempeño depende de diferentes parámetros tales como el espesor de la membrana intercambiadora de protones, el contenido de humedad y la temperatura de la celda. Para realizar un estudio sistemático sobre como la variación de estos parámetros afectan la performance de la celda se propone un modelo matemático de poro simple y se aplica en la simulación de las curvas experimentales que muestran la variación del potencial de la celda cuando se drena corriente.Se observa que la variación del contenido de humedad y el espesor de la membrana intercambiadora de protones tienen un efecto tan pronunciado sobre la curva de polarización a diferencia de la temperatura de funcionamiento de la celda

Transcriptional activation of the proapoptotic bik gene by E2F proteins in cancer cells

AbstractBH3-only proteins are required for execution of apoptotic cell death. We have found that one of these proteins, Bik, is strongly induced in cancer cells treated with chemotherapeutic agents. Furthermore, we showed that chemotherapy-induced expression of bik is independent of p53. Consistent with its pro-apoptotic activity, blockade of bik expression reduces the adriamycin-mediated apoptotic cell death. We also found that the bik gene is transcriptionally activated by E2F proteins. Consistently, adriamycin induces the E2F-bik pathway. In addition, E2Fs transactivate bik by a p53-independent mechanism. Thus, our data indicate that transcriptional regulation of bik contributes to the efficient apoptotic response to chemotherapeutic agents

An Efficient Strategy for Electroreduction Reactor Outlet Fractioning into Valuable Products

In this work, two industrial dual-step pressure swing adsorption (PSA) processes were designed and simulated to obtain high-purity methane, CO2, and syngas from a gas effluent of a CO2 electroreduction reactor using different design configurations. Among the set of zeolites that was investigated using Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations, NaX and MFI were the ones selected. The dual-PSA process for case study 1 is only capable of achieving a 90.5% methane purity with a 95.2% recovery. As for case study 2, methane is obtained with a 97.5% purity and 95.3% recovery. Both case studies can produce CO2 with high purity and recovery (&gt;97 and 95%, respectively) and syngas with a H2/CO ratio above 4. Although case study 2 allows methane to be used as domestic gas, a much higher value for its energy consumption is observed compared to case study 1 (64.9 vs 29.8 W h molCH4-1).</p

Laceration of the muscle ventral serrato

La presentación es informar al profesional veterinario sobre el desgarro bilateral del músculo serrato ventral, una afección de escasa incidencia en la clínica de pequeños animales, a través de la descripción detallada de un caso clínico y su resolución quirúrgica exitosa.The presentation of the work has as objective to inform the veterinary professional on an affection of scarce incidence in the clinic of the small animals, like is the bilateral laceration of the muscle ventral serrato, describing a clinical case in detail, its successful surgical resolution and carrying out an upgrade of this illness.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Sistema informático móvil para el apoyo al cese tabáquico mediante mensajes motivacionales personalizados

El proyecto SmokeFreeBrain estudia la efectividad de una variedad de intervenciones con el objetivo de dejar de fumar usando diferentes técnicas. Uno de los métodos consiste en la aplicación de un protocolo de intervención basado en terapia del comportamiento mediante el uso de aplicaciones móviles, gamificación y envío de mensajes motivacionales de apoyo al paciente en tratamiento para el cese tabáquico o al usuario que está intentando dejar de fumar. Se pretende aprovechar el uso generalizado de los dispositivos móviles en el día a día como una herramienta de control y apoyo, aplicando teoría de juegos al progreso del usuario en su cese tabáquico, y con el uso de un sistema recomendador para seleccionar mensajes motivacionales acordes al perfil del usuario. El sistema desarrollado contempla la creación de una aplicación móvil para llevar a cabo dicho protocolo de intervención, así como el servidor que gestione las peticiones de los usuarios, contenga el sistema recomendador diseñado, tenga la capacidad de mandar mensajes motivacionales a los usuarios y recoja información de uso sobre la aplicación para su futuro análisis.The SmokeFreeBrain studies the effectiveness of a variety of interventions with the goal of quitting smoking by using different techniques. One of the methods consists in the application of an intervention protocol based on behavioral therapy, applying mobile applications, gamification and sending motivational messages of support, both to the patient in treatment for smoking cessation and, to the user who is trying to quit smoking independently. It aims to take advantage of the widespread daily use of mobile devices as a tool for monitor and support, applying game theory to the user progress in their smoking cessation, and recommendation systems for the selection of motivational messages according to the user profile. The system developed for this purpose consists of a mobile application that allows carrying out the intervention protocol as well as the server that manages user requests, implements the recommender system, send motivational messages to users and register usage data to analyze effectiveness.Plan Propio de la Universidad de Sevilla Proyecto: 2017/0000096