Considering plant functional connectivity in landscape conservation and restoration management

Landscape connectivity has traditionally been studied for animal species rather than for plants, especially under a multispecies approach. However, connectivity can be equally critical for both fauna and flora and, thus, an essential point in the selection of key management areas and measures. This paper explores a spatially explicit framework to assess the contribution of habitat patches in the conservation and enhancement of plant functional connectivity and habitat availability in a multispecies context. It relies on graph theory and a habitat availability index and differentiates between two management scenarios: (i) conservation; and (ii) restoration, by considering current and potential species distribution based on species distribution models together with a vegetation survey. The results mapped at high spatial resolution priority target areas to apply management measures. We found that intervening in a small proportion of the study area may lead to double the average overall landscape connectivity of the studied species. This study aimed at proposing an innovative methodology that allows studying connectivity for multiple plant species at landscape scale while integrating their individual characteristics. The proposed framework is a step toward incorporating connectivity concerns into plant biodiversity management, based on a better understanding of landscape structure and functionality. Here, we illustrated its significant potential for local conservation and restoration planning and resource optimizatio

AIM-Mobile Learning Platform 3.0: Design of new functionalities to integrate smartphones in the teaching-learning process

[EN] The combination of Learning Management Systems (LMS) with smartphones is gaining importance in Higher Education studies. Therefore, we have designed a responsive virtual environment, AIM-Mobile Learning Platform, focus on integrating smartphones in class. It permits teachers to send real time questions and learning packets with multimedia resources to students through their smartphones. As the environment instantaneously processes every student response their continuous progress is automated. Moreover, the environment permits to manage teachers, subjects and students by means of a generic interface that can be applied in many educational disciplines. The new version includes more functionalities to promote their consolidation in Education. It integrates an installation and configuration package to provide high flexibility for Institutions as they can intall it in their own servers. Besides, we have complemented the existing quantitative evaluation system with a qualitative functionality based on positives and negatives taking into account the participation of students in class. Finally, the new version allows students to design questions with the aim to build knowledge. These strategies seek to increase the motivation, implication and attention of students in subjects, promoting a constant feedback inside class, which helps students to be more conscious of their self-learning process.This work has been funded by the University of Valladolid, Teaching Innovation Groups 2016-2017Merayo, N.; Medina, A.; Goyanes, G.; De Miguel, I.; Aguado, JC.; Durán, RJ.; Fernández, P.... (2017). AIM-Mobile Learning Platform 3.0: Design of new functionalities to integrate smartphones in the teaching-learning process. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 259-267. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.5166OCS25926

Experimental assessment of a cognitive mechanism to reduce the impact of outdated TEDs in optical networks

Producción CientíficaWe have recently proposed and demonstrated, by means of simulation, the benefits of a simple yet effective cognitive technique to enhance stateless Path Computation Element algorithms with the aim of reducing the connection blocking probability when relying on a potentially non-up-to-date traffic engineering database. In this paper, we employ that technique, called elapsed time matrix (ETM), in the framework of the CHRON (Cognitive Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Optical Network) architecture and, more importantly, validate and analyze its performance in an emulation environment (rather than in a simulation environment) supporting impairment-aware lightpath establishment. Not only dynamic lightpath establishment on demand has been studied, but also restoration processes when facing optical link failures. Emulation results demonstrate that ETM reduces the blocking probability when establishing lightpaths on demand, and increases the percentage of successful restorations in case of optical link failure. Moreover, the use of that technique has little impact on lightpath setup time and lightpath restoration time, respectively.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Projects TEC2010-21178-C02-02 and TEC2014-53071-C3-2-P)European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] CHRON project (Cognitive Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Optical Network) under grant agreement no 25864

International Conference on Broadband Communications, Networks and Systems

Producción CientíficaNetwork Function Virtualization (NFV) is considered to be one of the enabling technologies for 5G. NFV poses several challenges, like deciding the virtual network function (VNF) placement and chaining, and adding backup resources to guarantee the survivability of service chains. In this paper, we propose a genetic algorithm that jointly solves the VNF-placement, chaining and virtual topology design problem in WDM metro ring network, with the additional capacity of providing node protection. The simulation results show how important is to solve all of these subproblems jointly, as well as the benefits of using shared VNF and network resources between backup instances in order to reduce both the service blocking ratio and the number of active CPUs.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (grant TEC2017-84423-C3-1-P)Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo (grant BES 2015-074514)INTERREG V-A España-Portugal (POCTEP) (grant 0677_DISRUPTIVE_2_E)

A testbed and a simulation laboratory for training engineering students in optical access network technologies

Producción CientíficaEngineering profiles focused on next-generation optical networks are gaining immense importance due to new emerging services and the amount of data expected in future network scenarios. In fact, not only are optical access networks leading to a major revolution in the network industry, but passive optical networks are the most widely deployed access networks worldwide today. This should be a strong incentive for universities to train their students in these innovative and recent technologies. In this vein, we propose the deployment of an optical communication laboratory with on-site experimental sessions in which students work with commercial equipment and realistic working environments. These working environments are necessary to train professionals in the area of optical networks. However, due to the high cost of the optical communications equipment, it is not possible to have a working place for each group and we combine these experimental sessions with some simulation sessions to complete the training. We present the design of this lab and a qualitative and quantitative study aimed at analyzing students’ experiences, the skills they have acquired, and the potential impact on their future careers. This study shows that students have a very positive perception of the lab, emphasizing that working with real equipment helps them improve technical skills and assimilate theoretical knowledge. They also point out they would like a higher number of subjects in their degrees to employ this type of lab. Finally, students perceive these sessions as very useful for their professional future.Unión Europea a través del programa INTERREG V-A España-Portugal (project 0677_DISRUPTIVE_2_E)Junta de Castilla y León (grant VA085G19)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (grants TEC2017-84423-C3-1-P and RED2018-102585-T

Venographic comparison of subcutaneous low-molecular weight heparin with oral anticoagulant therapy in the long-term treatment of deep venous thrombosis

Producción CientíficaPurpose: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate with venography the rate of thrombus regression after a fixed dose of low–molecular weight heparin (LMWH) per day for 3 months compared with oral anticoagulant therapy for deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Secondary endpoints were the comparisons of the efficacy and safety of both treatments. Methods: This study was designed as an open randomized clinical study in a university hospital setting. Of the 165 patients finally enrolled in the study, 85 were assigned LMWH therapy and 80 were assigned oral anticoagulant therapy. In the group randomized to oral anticoagulant therapy, the patients first underwent treatment in the hospital with standard unfractionated heparin and then coumarin for 3 months. Doses were adjusted with laboratory monitoring to maintain the international normalized ratio between 2.0 and 3.0. Patients in the LMWH group were administered subcutaneous injections of fixed doses of 40 mg enoxaparin (4000 anti-Xa units) every 12 hours for 7 days, and after discharge from the hospital, they were administered 40 mg enoxaparin once daily at fixed doses for 3 months without a laboratory control assay. A quantitative venographic score (Marder score) was used to assess the extent of the venous thrombosis, with 0 points indicating no DVT and 40 points indicating total occlusion of all deep veins. The rate of thrombus reduction was defined as the difference in quantitative venographic scores after termination of LMWH or coumarin therapy as compared with the scores obtained on the initial venographic results. The efficacy was defined as the ability to prevent symptomatic extension or recurrence of venous thromboembolism (documented with venograms or serial lung scans). The safety was defined as the occurrence of hemorrhages. Results: After 3 months of treatment, the mean Marder score was significantly decreased in both groups in comparison with the baseline score, although the effect of therapy was significantly better after LMWH therapy (49.4% reduction) than after coumarin therapy (24.5% reduction; P < .001). LMWH therapy and male gender were independently associated with an enhanced resolution of the thrombus. A lower frequency of symptomatic recurrent venous thromboembolism was also shown in patients who underwent treatment with LMWH therapy (9.5%) than with oral anticoagulant therapy (23.7%; P < .05), although this difference was entirely a result of recurrence of DVT. Bleeding complications were significantly fewer in the LMWH group than in the coumarin group (1.1% vs 10%; P < .05). This difference was caused by minor hemorrhages. Coumarin therapy and cancer were independently associated with an enhanced risk of complications. Subcutaneous heparin therapy was well tolerated by all patients. Conclusion: The patients who were allocated to undergo enoxaparin therapy had a significantly greater improvement in their quantitative venographic score, a significantl

Spatially-nested hierarchical species distribution models to overcome niche truncation in national-scale studies

Spatial truncation in species distribution models (SDMs) might cause niche trunca-tion and model transferability issues, particularly when extrapolating models to non-analog environmental conditions. While broad calibration extents reduce truncationissues, they usually overlook local ecological factors driving species distributions at finerresolution. Spatially-nested hierarchical SDMs (HSDMs) address truncation by merg-ing (a) a global model calibrated with broadly extended, yet typically low-resolution,basic, and imprecise data; and (b) a regional model calibrated with spatially restrictedbut more precise and reliable data. This study aimed to examine HSDMs’ efficacy toovercome spatial truncation in national-scale studies. We compared two hierarchicalstrategies (‘covariate’, which uses the global model output as a covariate for the regionalmodel, and ‘multiply’, which calculates the geometric mean of the global and regionalmodels) and a non-hierarchical strategy. The three strategies were compared in terms ofniche truncation, environmental extrapolation, model performance, species’ predicteddistributions and shifts, and trends in species richness. We examined the consistencyof the results over two study areas (Spain and Switzerland), 108 tree species, and fourfuture climate scenarios. Only the non-hierarchical strategy was susceptible to nichetruncation, and environmental extrapolation issues. Hierarchical strategies, particu-larly the ‘covariate’ one, presented greater model accuracy than non-hierarchical strate-gies. The non-hierarchical strategy predicted the highest overall values and the lowestdecreases over time in species distribution ranges and richness. Differences betweenstrategies were more evident in Switzerland, which was more affected by niche trunca-tion issues. Spain was more negatively affected by climate change and environmen-tal extrapolation. The ‘covariate’ strategy exhibited higher model performance thanthe ‘multiply’ one. However, uncertainties regarding model temporal transferabilityadvocate for adopting and further examining multiple hierarchical approaches. Thisresearch underscores the importance of adopting spatially-nested hierarchical SDMsgiven the compromised reliability of non-hierarchical approaches due to niche trunca-tion and extrapolation issuesPID2021-124187NB-I00, TED2021-129589B-I0

2021 International Conference on Optical Network Design and Modeling (ONDM)

Producción CientíficaThe planning of multi-access edge computing (MEC) systems does not only consist in distributing MEC servers among the base stations (BSs) but also in designing the network to interconnect BSs, MEC resources and the wide area network (WAN) gateway. Due to their high bandwidth, fiber links are the best option for those connections in 5G environments. In contrast to previous works, which only solve the server placement problem, in this paper, an integer linear programming (ILP) formulation is proposed for solving both problems while reducing the installation cost (servers and fibers). The fiber deployment cost is especially important in sparsely populated areas as the distance between BSs are much longer than in urban environments. The model was tested using real BSs locations and population data showing that the formulation considerably reduces the installation cost.Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) programme 2014- 2020 (project 0667_DISRUPTIVE_2_E)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (projects TEC2017-84423-C3-1-P and RED2018- 102585-T)Junta de Castilla y León - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project VA231P20

FITCE 2017

Producción CientíficaThe following topics are dealt with: protocols; telecommunication computing; cloud computing; mean square error methods; 5G mobile communication; optical fibre subscriber loops; optical fibre networks; passive optical networks; optical time-domain reflectometry; computer aided instruction.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Projects TEC2014-53071-C3-2-P and TEC2015-71932-REDT

An Experimental SDN Proposal over Legacy GPONs to Allow Real-Time Service and Residential Network Reconfiguration

Producción CientíficaIn this paper we propose an experimental SDN (Software Defined Networking) solution over legacy GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) equipment that allow a control of the network configuration and its services. On the one hand, the proposal permits to move certain global bandwidth and service configuration policies outside the GPON so that they can be managed centrally by an SDN controller. In legacy PONs the real-time bandwidth allocation process is made inside the network infrastructure cycle by cycle between the OLT (Optical Line Terminal) and the ONTs (Optical Network Terminals) so the network performance could be adversely affected due to the latency between the SDN controller and the PON. In contrast, the control of some global DBA strategies by SDN techniques could lead to better network and management configuration and therefore our proposal is able to dynamically adjust these policies according to the real-time Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of residential users. On the other hand, the designed SDN proposal permits network subscribers to control the performance of their residential homes. In this way, they can set constraints and dynamically customize the bandwidth of their connected devices in a very transparent and efficient way.Junta de Castilla y León (Project VA085G19)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project TEC2017-84423-C3-1-P)INTERREG V-A España-Portugal (POCTEP) program (0677_DISRUPTIVE_2_E