Smart roundabout

[CATALÀ] Cada dia per anar de casa al treball haig de circular de mitjana per 11 rotondes, em permet sentir el tediós que resulta haver d'aturar-se de forma brusca és degut a la poca visibilitat d'aquestes i la imprevisibilitat de les traçades d'alguns conductors. Això provoca que a més de fer un consum superior innecessari de frens també ho fem de combustible per introduir-nos a la rotonda, en alguns casos accelerant amb la mateixa innecessària violència. Tots dos casos generen la majoria de partícules contaminants a l’aire de les ciutats. També pretén evitar els accidents derivats d’aquests actes. El meu objectiu tracta d'evitar aquestes situacions, sent les mesures aplicables de forma immediata, senzilla i econòmica. La rotonda intel·ligent té un grup de sensors electromagnètics capaços de detectar velocitat i dimensions, a més porta instal·lats senyals de velocitat lluminoses programables que indicaran la velocitat que els vehicles hauran de circular per fer una entrada a la rotonda de la forma més eficient possible. Els coneixements que he adquirit durant el grau em permet fer ús del software LabVIEW per a programar el control i un simulador que sigui capaç de mostrar el funcionament. El control ha sigut satisfactori amb una freqüència de 2160 vehicles per hora, aquesta freqüència és considerada baixa. La simulació i el control aplicat té un error de ± 2,23 metres, aquest error en un control real pot ser eliminat, considerant que un humà és capaç de rectificar aquesta variació considero que és assumible.[ANGLÈS] Every single day to go from home to work, I have to drive on average through 11 roundabouts. It allows me to feel how much cumbersome is to stop brusquely because of the low visibility or the unpredictability of the traces of “some drivers”. In addition to unnecessary braking, we also use too much fuel to speed up enough to go inside, in some cases with the same unnecessary violence. Both cases generate the majority of environmental pollution in cities. It also aims to avoid accidents arising from these acts. My objective is to avoid these situations, being the measures applicable immediately, simply and economically. Smart roundabout has a group of electromagnetic loops sensors capable of detecting speed and size installed about 30 meters away. Also, has installed programmable luminous speed signals that indicate the speed that the vehicles will have to circulate with to make the entrance as efficient as possible. The knowledge I have acquired during the degree allows me to choose the LabVIEW software to program the control and a simulator capable of showing the behaviour. The control has been satisfactory with a vehicle frequency of 2160 per hour, it’s considered low. The simulation and the applied control has an error of ± 2,23 meters, this can be eliminated in a real control, considering that a person is able to rectify this variation I consider that it is acceptable

Estudio de satisfacción de usuarios en la red de Bibliotecas del Instituto Cervantes

It presents a study about the users satisfaction made in July 2006 in order to provide qualitative data for the elaboration of the Plan Director de la Red de Bibliotecas del Instituto Cervantes. The article summarises the used methodology and the analysis of the most relevant results, their possible causes and consequences. The annex includes the survey used for the study

Inteligencia Emocional con mayores en un contexto de educación formal

L’experiència educativa se situa en l’assignatura de Vida Social i Cultural (Seminari) i on s’incorporen metodologies de treball de l’exercici professional, amb la intenció d’unir les diverses fonts teòriques de les quals emana la pràctica professional amb la particular experiència vivencial. S’exposa una visió funcional de la intervenció emocional, fugint d’establir doctrina en un món tan desconegut com el de les emocions, que actualment estan tan de moda a la nostra societat.Educative experience resides within Social and Cultural Life subject (Seminar), where practice methodologies will also be used, in order to combine the different theoretical sources of professional practice with the particular lived experience. Emotional intervention is presented in a functional vision, in order to avoid making a statement about the unknown world of emotions, although nowadays they are in fashion in our societyLa experiencia educativa se sitúa en la asignatura de Vida Social y Cultural (Seminario) y donde se incorporan metodologías de trabajo del ejercicio profesional, con la intención de unir las diversas fuentes teóricas de las que emana la práctica profesional con la particular experiencia vivencial. Se expone una visión funcional de la intervención emocional, huyendo de sentar doctrina en un mundo tan desconocido como el de las emociones, que actualmente están tan en boga en nuestra sociedad

Diagnóstico de las vibraciones del barrilete y de los elementos combustibles en los PWRs de Ringhals, Suecia

El diagnóstico de las estructuras internas de los PWR, en particular del barrilete del núcleo y su soporte se pueden realizar por medio del análisis de las señales de los detectores de neutrones extra-nucleares. Se han elaborado varios procedimientos que se han usado en diversas plantas en todo el mundo [1], [2]. El objetivo es la vigilancia de la integridad de la estructura del núcleo y la detección temprana y la cuantificación de signos de fatiga, desgaste, etc en las diferentes estructuras tales como el muelle, la placa de sujeción del barrilete del núcleo, etc. Esta vigilancia se ha venido realizando en las tres unidades PWR 2, 3 y 4 de la central sueca de Ringhals desde 1970. Durante las últimas dos décadas el trabajo se ha llevado a cabo en el contexto de un contrato de colaboración entre la Universidad de Chalmers y Ringhals. Esta actividad de colaboración ha consistido tanto en el desarrollo de nuevos métodos, la mejora de éstos así como su aplicación continuada para diagnóstico, vigilancia, incluyendo un análisis de tendencia a lo largo del tiempo. Este trabajo describe el desarrollo realizado en los últimos años con un énfasis especial en los tres últimos

Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Cancer Therapy

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are among the most frequently used cell type for regenerative medicine. A large number of studies have shown the beneficial effects of MSC-based therapies to treat different pathologies, including neurological disorders, cardiac ischemia, diabetes, and bone and cartilage diseases. However, the therapeutic potential of MSCs in cancer is still controversial. While some studies indicate that MSCs may contribute to cancer pathogenesis, emerging data reported the suppressive effects of MSCs on cancer cells. Because of this reality, a sustained effort to understand when MSCs promote or suppress tumor development is needed before planning a MSC-based therapy for cancer. Herein, we provide an overview on the therapeutic application of MSCs for regenerative medicine and the processes that orchestrates tissue repair, with a special emphasis placed on cancer, including central nervous system tumors. Furthermore, we will discuss the current evidence regarding the double-edged sword of MSCs in oncological treatment and the latest advances in MSC-based anti-cancer agent delivery systems.Junta de Andalucía PI-0272-2017Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universdad CD16/00118, CP19/00046, PI16/00259, BFU2017-83588-P, CP14/00105, PI18/01590, PI17/02104, PIC18/0010, IC19/0052Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (USA) 2-SRA-2019-837-S-BFundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología 2018-00023

Restriction of cytosolic Acetyl-CoA to promote healthy aging

Motivation: During the last century humans have reached the longest lifespan in History. However, the increase on lifespan is associated to the development of age-related diseases that limit the quality of life of aged individuals (1). Therefore, there is a current need to determine the molecular mechanisms underlining age-related pathologies and to develop novel effective therapies for these diseases. Acetyl-CoA (Ac-CoA) is a central metabolite in energy metabolism involved in protein acetylation, fatty acid synthesis and cholesterol synthesis (2,3), which may play a significant role modulating the intrinsic processes of aging. In this work, we studied the effects of 4 cytosolic Ac-CoA reducing agents; two inhibitors of the ATP citrate lyase; SB-204990 (SB) and hydroxycitric acid (HCA), an inhibitor of Ac-CoA synthase; allicin, and a inhibitor of the citrate isocitrate carrier; 1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC).Methods: Mice were fed a Standard Diet (STD) or a High Fat Diet (HFD) supplemented with SB for 15 weeks. After in vivo studies, we performed WB on metabolic tissues. In liver tissue we performed a proteomic analysis by iTRAQ (Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification). In parallel, we have initiated a longevity assay using HCA. Necropsies have been performed to determine the cause of death. Finally, we are currently investigating the effects of BTC and allicin in murine physiology using three experimental approaches; a healthy STD, a prophylactic treatment using an obesogenic/diabetogenic HFD and a therapeutic treatment used in obese mice.Results: Preliminary in vivo results have shown improvements in metabolic health on mice treated with SB. Ex vivo analyses have indicated that SB modulates lipid metabolism. Proteomic analyses revealed a decrease in the expression of proinflammatory proteins in SB-treated and HFD-fed mice. HCA supplementation in healthy STD-fed mice has resulted in delayed early mortality in mice. Additionally, HCA treatment revealed potential benefits in muscle strength in wirehang test. Our research using BTC and allicin will generate results in the nearly future.Conclusions: Results of SB-treated and HFD-fed mice show a robust modulation in lipid metabolism and in inflammatory pathways, suggesting that the intervention could rescue the phenotype associated to a metabolic deregulation. The improvements observed in HCA-treated mice suggest that HCA could have geroprotective effects in early mortality

Recent advances in polymer-metallic composites for food packaging applications

Background: The use of metallic micro- and/or nanoparticles as inorganic fillers for the improvement of polymer properties is an active trend. This has led to the development of polymer-metallic composites with high potential to be applied in food packaging, due to the enhanced antimicrobial, gas barrier, light-blocking and antioxidant effect in addition to the polymer intrinsic properties. The increasing number of investigations of novel polymer-metallic composites with promising potential and/or already applied as food packaging has raised concern over their efficacy, but also toxicity and environmental impact. Scope and approach: In this review a critical evaluation of current investigations on polymer-metallic composites, as food packaging options, is assessed. This evaluation emphasizes the enhanced properties provided by the metallic fillers onto the polymer packaging itself, and indirectly in food shelf life, safety and quality. Moreover, awareness regarding the toxicity and environmental impact is also evaluated and related to the migration behaviour. Key findings and conclusions: Without question, the addition of these type of fillers has the enormous potential to enhance the package properties and, therefore, the food shelf life. Usually, their addition is made alone or in complementation with other fillers allowing a broad spectrum of enhanced properties in the composite film. Despite the advantages, special attention must be paid to the migration form of the filler, in the ionic or the particulate form, that is related to the toxicity and environmental impact of such materials. In overall, the strengths and weaknesses are critically organized, allowing guidance decisions on the implementation of such materials in food packaging.Diogo Videira-Quintela thanks the University of Alcalá for his PhD scholarship (FPI-UAH). This work was supported by the University of Alcalá [Grant No. CCG2018/EXP-039]; and the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain [Grant No. MAT2014-57557-R]

Técnicas de visión estereoscópica para determinar la estructura tridimensional de la escena

En este trabajo se realiza un estudio sobre la efectividad de una serie de métodos de correspondencia estereoscópica. La correspondencia estereoscópica constituye uno de los pasos esenciales dentro de la visión estereoscópica en los sistemas robotizados, de ahí su importancia. El objetivo se centra en el estudio de la viabilidad de los mismos de cara a su implementación en sistemas estereoscópicos que han de operar en entornos de exterior y bajo condiciones del entorno adversas. La motivación del trabajo proviene de la necesidad derivada de una serie de proyectos de investigación dentro de las actividades del grupo ISCAR. En este trabajo se han realizado diversas pruebas experimentales orientadas a la identificación de los métodos más prometedores en el ámbito de la correspondencia estereoscópica con la finalidad indicada. Se han estudiado varias técnicas existentes en la literatura y se han establecido las pautas a seguir en el futuro a tenor de los resultados obtenidos para su implementación en sistemas reales. [ABSTRACT] In this work we have studied several stereovision matching approaches with the aim of testing its effectiveness. The main step in robotized systems, equipped with stereovision, is the correspondence, here is its relevance. The goal of this work is focused on the study of the viability of such methods with the aim that they can be implemented in stereoscopic vision-based systems working in adverse outdoor environmental conditions. This work is motivated because the ISCAR group is currently working in several research projects where the stereovision is a crucial system. In this work several experimental tests have been carried out oriented toward the identification of the most promising correspondence methods with the above expressed goal. Several existing approaches in the literature have been studied and, as a result, some guidelines have been established based on the results reported, so that the research is oriented toward future implementations in real systems

OntoLing annotizer: una herramienta de ayuda para la anotación lingüística

El objetivo del presente proyecto es desarrollar una herramienta (OntoLing Annotizer) destinada a la anotación semántica de documentos. La anotación semántica de documentos, tiene un papel principal dentro de la Web Semántica, pues explicita el significado o la semántica de los recursos de la web, para que este pueda ser “entendido” por los computadores. OntoLing Annotizer explicita la semántica de los documentos mediante anotaciones, las cuales son añadidas en un documento distinto del original, teniendo así el texto y las anotaciones separadas. El sistema de anotación se sustenta en cuatro tipos de ontologías lingüísticas: la de unidades, la de atributos, la de valores y la de relaciones. Cada una de las anotaciones pertenece a un concepto de la ontología de unidades. Estas unidades pueden tener unos atributos y estos atributos toman unos valores. Finalmente, las unidades (y por tanto, las anotaciones) pueden relacionarse unas con otras. [ABSTRACT] This project aims at developing a tool for the semantic annotation of documents, called "OntoLing Annotizer”. The semantic annotation of documents has an important role in the Semantic Web, since it makes explicit the meaning or the semantics of web resources. Thus, it can be ‘understood’ by computers. OntoLing Annotizer makes the meaning of documents explicit by means of annotations, which are included into a different document from the original one, keeping the original text and its annotations separated. The annotation process is based on four different types of ontologies, related to linguistic units, attributes, values and relationships respectively. Each of the annotations belongs to a concept of the ontology of units. These units may have some attributes and these attributes can take certain values. Finally, units (and, hence, annotations) can be interrelated as well

La cooperación científica interinstitucional en el terreno de la documentación americanista dentro de la red europea REDIAL : algunas realizaciones prácticas

The European network REDIAL have been working in interinstitutional cooperative projects from 1989. Some examples of cooperative works are described, in which some Spanish libraries and documentation centers have participated: diffusion of journals summaries, comparative lexicon on denominations of ethnic groups and elaboration of a directory of spanish congresses about Latin American Studies. On the basis of these experiences this paper proposes the necessity of a pragmatic approach to carry out this type of cooperations