The role of self-concept and expectations in academic achievement: A preliminary study

As early career students face new challenges at university, the relationship between L2 skills and academic success depends upon self-perception to a greater extent than previously assumed. Up to the moment, most levelling courses have focused on developing students’ skills in specific subjects in order to bridge the gap between the knowledge that the high school alumni have and university teachers expect them to possess. Yet, early academic failure remains elevated. For this reason, we have decided to focus our English Degree levelling course on academic strategies, expectations and procedures with the aim to disclose the role of students’ self-perception on L2 performance in an academic context. We have designed a two-staged method consisting of a survey and a standardized placement test to measure learners’ self-perception. The results of both stages are measured by following a mixed method procedure, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses. Results show that there is a close relationship between students’ self-concepts, academic expectations, and final outcomes. When the learning of new contents occurs by means of a foreign language, the implications of learners’ confidence and their academic awareness are even clearer. Therefore, we conclude that learners’ self-concepts, and awareness of their academic expectations should play a key role in initial undergraduate training.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía TEC

Kolmogorov's axioms for probabilities with values in hyperbolic numbers

We introduce the notion of a probabilistic measure which takes values in hyperbolic numbers and which satisfies the system of axioms generalizing directly Kolmogorov's system of axioms. We show that this new measure verifies the usual properties of a probability; in particular, we treat the conditional hyperbolic probability and we prove the hyperbolic analogues of the multiplication theorem, of the law of total probability and of Bayes' theorem. Our probability may take values which are zero--divisors and we discuss carefully this peculiarity

Local polynomial regression with truncated or censored response

Truncation or censoring of the response variable in a regression model is a problem in many applications, e.g. when the response is insurance claims or the durations of unemployment spells. We introduce a local polynomial re­gression estimator which can deal with such truncated or censored responses. For this purpose, we use local versions of the STLS and SCLS estimators of Powell (1986) and the QME estimator of Lee (1993) and Laitila (2001). The asymptotic properties of our estimators, and the conditions under which they are valid, are given. In addition, a simulation study is presented to investigate the finite sample properties of our proposals.Non-parametric regression; truncation; censoring; asymptotic properties

Nonlinear model predictive control methodology for efficiency and durability improvement in a fuel cell power system

The main contribution of this work is the improvement of the efficiency of a PEMFC power system while guaranteeing conditions that also improve its durability. Adopting the NMPC scheme with the distributed parameter model and the nonlinear observer, the efficiency of the PEMFC-based system can be maximized guaranteeing at the same time the appropriate internal gas concentration profiles to avoid global and local hydrogen and oxygen starvation and proper membrane humidification.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The Teodorescu operator in Clifford analysis

Euclidean Clifford analysis is a higher dimensional function theory centred around monogenic functions, i.e., null solutions to a first order vector valued rotation invariant differential operator called the Dirac operator. More recently, Hermitian Clifford analysis has emerged as a new branch, offering yet a refinement of the Euclidean case; it focuses on the simultaneous null solutions, called Hermitian monogenic functions, to two Hermitian Dirac operators and which are invariant under the action of the unitary group. In Euclidean Clifford analysis, the Teodorescu operator is the right inverse of the Dirac operator . In this paper, Teodorescu operators for the Hermitian Dirac operators and are constructed. Moreover, the structure of the Euclidean and Hermitian Teodorescu operators is revealed by analyzing the more subtle behaviour of their components. Finally, the obtained inversion relations are still refined for the differential operators issuing from the Euclidean and Hermitian Dirac operators by splitting the Clifford algebra product into its dot and wedge parts. Their relationship with several complex variables theory is discussed

Nonlinear observation in fuel cell systems: a comparison between disturbance estimation and High-Order Sliding-Mode techniques

© . This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This paper compares two Nonlinear Distributed Parameter Observers (NDPO) for the observation of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). Both NDPOs are based on the discretisation of distributed parameters models and they are used to estimate the state profile of gas concentrations in the anode and cathode gas channels of the PEMFC, giving detailed information about the internal conditions of the system. The reaction and water transport flow rates from the membrane to the channels are uncertainties of the observation problem and they are estimated throughout all the length of the PEMFC without the use of additional sensors. The first observation approach is a Nonlinear Disturbance Observer (NDOB) for the estimation of the disturbances in the NDPO. In the second approach, a novel implementation of a High-Order Sliding-Mode (HOSM) observer is developed to estimate the true value of the states as well as the reaction terms. The proposed observers are tested and compared through a simulation example at different operating points and their performance and robustness is analysed over a given case study, the New European Driving Cycle.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Development of a computer-based tool to manage via web the teaching assignment

Sometimes, the way a thing has always been done is not the best one, or the most efficient. For instance, in the Department of Electronic Engineering at ETSEIB, the staff has always managed the teaching assignment for the next year using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Each professor has to fill this file and send it to the person in charge of this task. Then, each time this person receives it, he has to send it to the next professor in a predefined list and control that every professor is filling it correctly. This project has the purpose of developing a computer-based tool to make this task easier and faster. The solution has to be able to upload and download files with the teaching information, allow the teaching staff to choose their classes taking into account established criteria and send automatic emails when needed. With this goal, a web application has been designed, developed and tested. For the visual part, HTML5, some Javascript commands, CSS and a very popular framework called Bootstrap, that helps with the task of creating the interface, have been used. Moreover, the server and the functional part have been implemented in PHP language and SQL in order to manage the corresponding database

Stomatal abundance and distribution in Prosopis strombulifera plants growing under different Iso-Osmotic salt

Changes in several environmental parameters are thought to affect stomatal development. Under salt stress, plants can regulate their transpiration flux through a better control of the stomatal opening (as a short-term response) and through modifications of leaf anatomy (as a long-term response). We investigate how leaf micromorphology (stomatal abundance and distribution) of the halophyte Prosopis strombulifera (a spiny shrub particularly abundant in high-salinity areas of central Argentina) responds to different water status when plants are subjected to different salt treatments (NaCl, Na2SO4 and their iso-osmotic mixture). Different salt treatments on P. strombulifera plants influenced leaf micromorphological traits differently. In this study, Na2SO4-treated plants showed an increase in stomatal density (SD) and epidermal cell density (ECD) (with smaller stomata) at moderate and high salinity (−1.9 and −2.6 MPa), whereas in NaCl and NaCl + Na2SO4 treated plants, a decrease in these variables was observed. In Na2SO4-treated plants, transpiration was the highest at moderate and high salinity, with the highest content of ABA registered. A possible explanation is that, despite of these high ABA levels, there is no inhibition in stomatal opening, resulting in increased water loss, growth inhibition, and acceleration of senescence processes. We demonstrate that P. strombulifera responds to progressive salt stress by different salts changing the leaf development, particularly in Na2SO4-treated plants, leading to structural modifications in leaf size and micro-morphology of leaf cells.Fil: Reginato, Mariana Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular. Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Reinoso, Herminda Elmira. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Llanes, Analia Susana. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular. Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Luna, Maria Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular. Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Bilingual education program´s effectiveness based on learners´ reading comprehension and writing skills

This study explores the effectiveness of Bilingual Education Program (BEP) under the MEC-BC Program based on students´ reading and writing samples in both English and Spanish. The results indicate that there is a significant difference between students who are under BEP and those who are in a non-bilingual program (NBP). Furthermore, they reveal that students in BEP perform better in both tasks and languages thereby supporting previous studies on bilingual education or immersion programs. Nevertheless, there are other factors and stakeholders that must be considered in order to have an over-all picture whether BEP indeed is effective. It is hope that from this study, more schools will offer BEP as a program for all secondary students considering the many benefits it can offer to them.Departamento de Filología InglesaMáster en Profesor de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanzas de Idioma