Civitates, elites and mining from the Roman Republic to the Early Empire in the Upper Guadalquivir: the Eastern Sierra Morena

Agradecimientos Este trabajo se enmarca dentro de los siguientes proyectos investigación: «La minería romana en Sierra Morena oriental», PGI de la Junta de Andalucía; el Proyecto I+D+i IP. L. Arboledas «Explotación y comercio del metal del sureste de la península ibérica en la Antigüedad» (PGC2018-098665-A-100), IP. L. Arboledas y el Proyecto I+D+i - Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014-2020 «Producción y comercialización de los metales del sureste de la península ibérica en la Antigüedad» (A-HUM-392-UGR18) IP. L. Arboledas y F. Contreras. Asimismo, queremos dar las gracias a Abelardo Tornero Rascón por facilitarnos una foto del precinto con la marca S.C. aparecido en Castulo que depositó en el Museo Arqueológico de Linares.Las minas de Sierra Morena oriental fueron explotadas intensamente entre el siglo II a. C. e inicios del siglo II d. C., como atestiguan los restos arqueomineros, los textos clásicos y la epigrafía. Dicha explotación se ha relacionado con Castulo, aunque de momento no se ha podido documentar este papel estructurador. Por tanto, en este trabajo se analiza qué papel jugaron las ciudades del Alto Guadalquivir en la explotación de estas minas y la relación de las élites de estos núcleos con la producción del metal, a partir del análisis epigráfico de la diferente documentación relacionada con esta actividad procedente de este territorio.Les mines de Sierra Morena oriental van ser explotades intensament entre el segle II a. C. i inicis del segle II d. C., com testifiquen les restes arqueomineres, els textos clàssics i l’epigrafia. Aquesta explotació s’ha relacionat amb Castulo, encara que de moment no s’ha pogut documentar aquest paper estructurador. Per tant, en aquest treball s’analitza quin paper van jugar les ciutats de l’Alt Guadalquivir en l’explotació d’aquestes mines i la relació de les elits d’aquests nuclis amb la producció del metall, a partir de l’anàlisi epigràfica de la diferent documentació relacionada amb aquesta activitat procedent d’aquest territori.The mines of the eastern Sierra Morena were exploited intensively between the 2nd c. B.C. and the beginning of the 2nd c. AD., as archaeological remains of mining, classical texts and epigraphy attest. This exploitation has been linked to Castulo, though it has not been possible so far to document its role in the development of these activities. This paper, therefore, analyses the role the cities of the Upper Guadalquivir played in the exploitation of these mines as well as the relationship of the social elites of these urban cores with regard to the production of metals, based on the epigraphic analysis of the various types of documentary evidence related to this activity within this territory.Proyecto Investigación: «La minería romana en Sierra Morena oriental», PGI de la Junta de AndalucíaProyecto I+D+i «Explotación y comercio del metal del sureste de la península ibérica en la Antigüedad» (PGC2018-098665-A-100)Proyecto I+D+i - Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014-2020 «Producción y comercialización de los metales del sureste de la península ibérica en la Antigüedad» (A-HUM-392-UGR18

Two-Dimensional-Based Hybrid Shape Optimisation of a 5-Element Formula 1 Race Car Front Wing under FIA Regulations

Front wings are a key element in the aerodynamic performance of Formula 1 race cars. Thus, their optimisation makes an important contribution to the performance of cars in races. However, their design is constrained by regulation, which makes it more difficult to find good designs. The present work develops a hybrid shape optimisation approach to obtain an optimal five-element airfoil front wing under the FIA regulations and 17 design parameters. A first baseline design is obtained by parametric optimisation, on which the adjoint method is applied for shape optimisation via Mesh Morphing with Radial Basis Functions. The optimal front wing candidate obtained outperforms the parametric baseline up to a 25% at certain local positions. This shows that the proposed and tested hybrid approach can be a very efficient alternative. Although a direct 3D optimisation approach could be developed, the computational costs would be dramatically increased (possibly unaffordable for such a complex five-element front wing realistic shape with 17 design parameters and regulatory constraints). Thus, the present approach is of strong interest if the computational budget is low and/or a fast new front wing design is desired, which is a frequent scenario in Formula 1 race car design.The authors want to acknowledge the financial support from the Ramón y Cajal 2021 Excellence Research Grant action from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (FSE/AGENCIA ESTATAL DE INVESTIGACIÓN), the UMA18-FEDERJA-184 grant, and the Andalusian Research, Development and Innovation Plan (PAIDI—Junta de Andalucia) fundings. Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Creating Engaging Experiences in MOOCs through In-Course Redeemable Rewards

Gamification strategies have been proposed to mitigate student disengagement and dropouts in massive online environments, due to the positive results shown by these strategies at lower scales. Among various gamification strategies, redeemable rewards have been identified as an effective element to intrinsically motivate students and increase their engagement in educational settings, including MOOCs. Yet, effective design, implementation and enactment of this gamification strategy in MOOC contexts might face new challenges, given the unique characteristics of these learning settings such as massiveness. As an attempt to help teachers use redeemable rewards in MOOCs, this paper analyzes the characteristics of MOOCs that influence its integration and presents a proposal of a system supporting the design, implementation and enactment of such rewards. The envisioned system is illustrated by a scenario that describes the main features of this system for teachers and students.This research has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, under project grants TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R and TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R, and the Regional Goverment of Castilla y Leo ́n together with the European Regional Development Fund, under project grant VA082U16. The authors thank the rest of the GSIC-EMIC research team for their valuable ideas and support

Aprendizaje colaborativo en entornos híbridos: dos casos en Interacción Persona-Ordenador

Las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) pueden ser muy eficaces para apoyar el trabajo en grupo, pero presentan limitaciones cuando se trata de actividades de aprendizaje colaborativo en entornos híbridos, en los que hay interacción síncrona entre estudiantes y profesorado in situ y a distancia. En este trabajo se describe un diseño de aprendizaje para Interacción Persona-Ordenador basado en el patrón jigsaw y su implementación en dos actividades de aprendizaje híbridas apoyadas por TIC. Se presentan los resultados de un estudio sobre la percepción del alumnado y profesorado acerca de ambas implementaciones. De este estudio se extrae una serie de retos por resolver para que el potencial de las TIC sea aprovechado en el apoyo al aprendizaje colaborativo en entornos híbridos.Information and communication technologies (ICT) can be very effective in supporting group work, but have limitations when it comes to collaborative learning activities in hybrid environments,understood as those in where there is synchronous interaction between students and faculty in situ and at a distance. This paper describes a learning design for Human-Computer Interaction based on the jigsaw pattern and its implementation in two hybrid learning activities supported by ICT. The results of a study on the perception of students and teachers about both implementations are presented. From this study, a series of challenges to be solved is extracted so that the potential of ICT is used to support collaborative learning in hybrid environments.Esta investigación es parte del proyecto de I+D+i PID2020-112584RB-C32 financiado por MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

Experimental Assessment of a Centralised Controller for High-RES Active Distribution Networks

This paper assesses the behaviour of active distribution networks with high penetration of renewable energy sources when the control is performed in a centralised manner. The control assets are the on-load tap changers of transformers at the primary substation, the reactive power injections of the renewable energy sources, and the active and reactive power exchanged between adjacent feeders when they are interconnected through a DC link. A scaled-down distribution network is used as the testbed to emulate the behaviour of an active distribution system with massive penetration of renewable energy resources. The laboratory testbed involves hardware devices, real-time control, and communication infrastructure. Several key performance indices are adopted to assess the effects of the different control actions on the system’s operation. The experimental results demonstrate that the combination of control actions enables the optimal integration of a massive penetration of renewable energy.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ENE2015-69597-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad PCIN-2015-043Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ENE2017-84813-

TRADE BALANCE AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN JORDAN

This paper presents theoretical and empirical evidence on the nature of the relationship between trade balance and unemployment rate in Jordan for the period 2000:Q1-2012:Q2. The major finding of this paper indicates an absence of a long-term relationship between the variables of interest. However, the results show that deficit in trade balance causes unemployment, and unemployment causes a deficit in trade balance in the short-run. This indicates that, in the short-run, trade liberalization is able to increase aggregate productivity in some sectors and able to increase efficiency of economic performance in terms of employment opportunities in Jordan

Understanding student behavior and perceptions toward earning badges in a gamified MOOC

Producción CientíficaDespite the advantages of MOOCs, such as the open and free access to education, these courses are criticized for students’ lack of motivation and their high dropout rates. Gamification is a technique used to increase student motivation and engagement in small-scale educational contexts. However, the effects of gamification on student engagement have been scarcely explored in MOOC environments, and the findings so far are inconsistent. To address this gap, this research work examines the students’ behavior toward earning badges and how it relates to their engagement in a gamified MOOC. According to the results, the behaviors toward badges of the active students were generally positive and significantly correlated with other variables measuring their engagement (e.g., pageviews, submitted tasks, forum posts), although this positive behavior seems to decrease throughout the course. Additionally, students that reported high motivation by badges at the end of the course showed a higher engagement level than those that were not appealed by badges.European Regional Development Fund, under project grants TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R and TIN2017-85179-C3-2-RJunta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. Project VA082U16 and VA257P18)European Commission, under project grant 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL-EPPKA2-KA