New properties about the intersection of rotational quadratic surfaces and their applications in Architecture

A graphic conjecture is presented based on a singular property stated by Archimedes [287-212 B.C.] in his work On Conoids and Spheroids. This ancient text constitutes the starting argument for graphic research that has revealed an unknown property regarding the intersection of rotational quadratic surfaces which they share one of their foci. This article shows the heuristic geometric reasoning carried out stemming from Archimedes’ text transcriptions and a conjecture that can be deduced when the initial property is generalised for the rest of the quadratic surfaces. Moreover, an explanation is offered for the possibilities of this property to be used for the discretisation of architectural surfaces through the use of parametric design and digital fabrication

Control charts based on MATLAB statistical and visualization tools as a compatible with e-learning methodology in the context of quality control

[EN] The advanced tools for statistical process control in the context of management and quality control are very important for students of technology degrees, even more so in the current industry 4.0 context and considering the new strategies and quality philosophies like Six Sigma. This work shows a learning activity compatible with e-learning methodology based on the use of Matlab® to improve the teaching-learning process for quality control based on the generation of different random datasets in matrix form so that they are processed by each student using different statistical and data visualization tools. Three different real situations are addressed based on the nature of the data: one case of a fully statistically controlled process, one case of a process with a violation in the variability, and finally, one case of a process with violation either in the centering and variability. A pilot study with a small group of students is addressed and subsequently the perception of the activity is evaluated using a questionnaire. The activity was perceived by the students as useful and scalableS

De la Geometría Descriptiva a la Geometría Arquitectónica: aportaciones de autores clásicos al nuevo paradigma

The use of computation for architectural design, together with the application of digital fabrication techniques for materialisation, has brought a new paradigm where contributions by classic authors linked to Descriptive Geometry might seem inappropriate. This paper shows a case study of a full-scale prototype which proves how some of the classic geometric theorems and procedures can still play a role in the design computation era. Objectives: identify and analyse the usefulness of classic Descriptive Geometry contents within the computational design paradigm through the case study of a particular project. Methodology: Analysis of the conception, development and materialization processes, to identify the application and potential benefits of classic geometric contents. Results: at the different stages analysed, some classic geometric theorems and procedures were found to be useful and efficient. Practical implications: The implications of these findings involve both architectural practice and the academic sphere. Originality / value: Although initially bound to this case study, the methodology could be extrapolated to more complex projects to obtain more simple and efficient design algorithms.El uso de la computación en el diseño arquitectónico, junto con la aplicación de técnicas de fabricación digital para la materialización, ha traído un nuevo paradigma donde las aportaciones de los autores clásicos vinculados a la Geometría Descriptiva podrían parecer inadecuadas. Esta comunicación muestra un estudio de caso sobre un prototipo a escala natural que demuestra cómo algunos de los teoremas y trazados clásicos aún pueden tener un papel en la era de la computación. Objetivos: analizar la utilidad de contenidos de la Geometría Descriptiva clásica dentro del paradigma del diseño computacional a través del estudio de caso de un proyecto concreto. Metodología: Análisis de los procesos de concepción, desarrollo y materialización, para identificar la aplicación y beneficios potenciales de contenidos geométricos clásicos. Resultados: en las diferentes etapas analizadas, algunos procedimientos y teoremas geométricos clásicos resultaron ser útiles y eficientes. Repercusiones prácticas: Las repercusiones de los resultados obtenidos atañen tanto a la profesión arquitectónica como al ámbito académico. Originalidad / Valor: La metodología usada en este estudio de caso, podría extrapolarse a proyectos más complejos para obtener algoritmos de diseño más simples y eficiente

Improving Scalability of Application-Level Checkpoint-Recovery by Reducing Checkpoint Sizes

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in New Generation Computing. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00354-013-0302-4[Abstract] The execution times of large-scale parallel applications on nowadays multi/many-core systems are usually longer than the mean time between failures. Therefore, parallel applications must tolerate hardware failures to ensure that not all computation done is lost on machine failures. Checkpointing and rollback recovery is one of the most popular techniques to implement fault-tolerant applications. However, checkpointing parallel applications is expensive in terms of computing time, network utilization and storage resources. Thus, current checkpoint-recovery techniques should minimize these costs in order to be useful for large scale systems. In this paper three different and complementary techniques to reduce the size of the checkpoints generated by application-level checkpointing are proposed and implemented. Detailed experimental results obtained on a multicore cluster show the effectiveness of the proposed methods to reduce checkpointing cost.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; TIN2010-16735Galicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10PXIB105180P

The Caterpillar Gallery: Quadric Surface Theorems, Parametric Design and Digital Fabrication

The use of certain quadratic surface theorems has mainly been associated in architecture with the design of classical vaults, domes and piping. The work presented by the authors is intended to explore the potential of these theorems to be used in the generation law for more complex shapes in contemporary architecture. The paper shows the case study of a built full-scale prototype, The Caterpillar gallery, a project stemming from the combination of geometric research and teaching innovation. Formal and structural experimentation take place in this project where, by starting from geometrical considerations, an efficient way of generating longitudinal spaces is proposed. One of the mentioned theorems applied to rotational cones provides the starting point for the generation of a set of concatenated surfaces that, once assembled, constitute a very stable self-supporting structure with a variety of possible applications

Adaptación de la asignatura de ingeniería de fabricación a un modelo semipresencial basado en la metodología b-learning

Memoria ID-151. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2020-2021

Evolución de las inundaciones en Catalunya en los últimos quinientos años

El presente trabajo muestra los resultados alcanzados tras el análisis de la documentación relativa a inundaciones, obtenida directamente de archivos municipales y eclesiásticos de diferentes lugares de Cataluña. En algunos casos dicha información se ha complementado con documentación privada o bibliografía. Finalmente, y con el objetivo de poder realizar un estudio comparativo de algunos episodios se ha recurrido a información instrumental procedente de la estación meteorológica de Barcelona, desde 1780. Todo ello ha permitido reconstruir las series de Barcelona, Tortosa y Gerona, desde 1389 hasta 1971, así como confeccionar nueve series secundarias correspondientes a otras tantas localidades, con el fin de analizar las características regionales. En primer lugar se ha realizado una clasificación de las inundaciones atendiendo a los daños producidos, lo que ha permitido confeccionar diferentes índices cuantitativos. En segundo lugar se ha analizado la evolución temporal de tales índices, con resolución anual y mensual. El trabajo se ha completado con el análisis de anomalías, análisis de tendencias y análisis espectral de un índice representativo de toda Cataluña. El objetivo final del presente trabajo es la identificación y caracterización de la dinámica de las inundaciones desde el siglo XV hasta nuestros días. Palabras clave: series históricas, inundaciones, clima y agua, análisis temporal, análisis espectral, riesgo, vulnerabilidad, Cataluña

Del modelo de desarrollo económico al paradigma del desarrollo humano: una apuesta al papel del arte y las humanidades en el pensamiento de Martha Nussbaum

This document encapsulates the thinking emanating from the permanent seminar: "Resignification of the Humanities in Higher Education" held at the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Santo Tomas, Bucaramanga, Colombia, held this time in the reading book: Not for profit: Why democracy needs the humanities, from the Martha C. Nussbaum (2010). Allows a critical approach to the situation of the humanities and the arts in democracies, silent and gradually permeated by the models of economic development, while eliciting a careful review of the role of the humanities in the context of higher education and moves the action from the humanities at the university.Este documento condensa las reflexiones derivadas del seminario permanente, “Resignificación de las Humanidades en la Educación Superior”, realizado por los profesores del Departamento de Humanidades de la Universidad Santo Tomás, Bucaramanga, Colombia, a través de la lectura del libro Sin fines de lucro: por qué la democracia necesita de las humanidades, de Martha Nussbaum (2010). Desde una mirada crítica, se revisa el papel de las humanidades y las artes en el aporte a las democracias que están permeadas, silenciosa y progresivamente, por los modelos de desarrollo económico. Plantea así, una revisión cuidadosa del papel de las humanidades en el contexto de la educación superior

Tailings desiccation process studied in environmental chamber experiment

Case studies and numerical simulations show that the long-term stability of tailings dams largely depends on the evolution of their water content. Therefore, desiccation is one of the critical processes influencing the tailing dam's safety. In this work, the air-drying of tailings, starting from a sludge condition, is studied using a fully instrumented column experiment, performed in an environmental chamber with temperature and relative humidity control. Based on the experimental observations, a conceptual model for the desiccation process is proposed. The model consists of the combination of two mechanisms driven by evaporation: shrinkage and capillary rise. The latter is only activated after a granular structure develops (shielding skeleton), capable of sustaining the suction-induced intergranular forces. This evidence explains the tendency of real deposits to develop an unsaturated, dry tailings crust enclosing a body of mud-consistency tailings. In addition, the role of dissolved salts in the desiccation process was observed. Solutes in pore water limit the evaporation rate throughout the test by increasing osmotic suction. Moreover, salt precipitation was observed to cause an interruption of the desiccation process on two occasions during the experiment: first, by the formation of a superficial precipitation crust and later by pore clogging within a shallow layer.The authors would like to thank Cristóbal García for the knowledge provided on the Cartagena - La Unión mining region, and the research team of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain for their collaboration in the collection of tailings samples at the San Cristóbal mine. We would also like to thank the staff of the Soil Mechanics Laboratory of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain. Finally, we would like to thank the European Commission (CORDIS) through the project FP7-PEOPLE-IRSES-2008, Marie Curie Action "GEO-engineering EXChanges between Europe and Latin-America" for the financial collaboration in this work.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Adding TQ-BOT into a Third-party Learning Management System

Intelligent Tutoring Systems are computer programs that aim at providing personalized instruction to students. In recent years, artificial intelligence conversational robots, usually known as chatterbots, have become very popular in the Internet. In this paper we show how chatterbots can be integrated in e-Learning Systems. To perform such an integration the Service Oriented Architecture paradigm is adopted and e-learning standardization initiatives are considered. A middleware is provided to enable the integration and reuse of chatterbots by e-Learning systems enabling a tight control of their operation. Such middleware takes to account several issues such as authorising users, creating instances, transferring data to and from the chatterbot, assigning permissions to users, and subscribing to events. Our approach is applied to the specific case of TQ-Bot, which is use to track and supervise the student progress and to provide answers orienting the student to the more appropriate course contents