Retail policy and local development in metropolitan space: Some lessons from the case of Tres Cantos (Madrid) new town

Urban development, as comprehensive concept, involves a wide set of components, and it would imply a reasonably well balanced growth of differents urban functions and activities. The strong spatial competition between firms and localities in metropolitan areas yields unequal spatial impacts on the growth of retail activities. An usual scenery in western suburban areas is the presence of great retail facilities dominating the surrounding market. This situation negatively affects to little and lower-medium settlements that, in this way, play a dominated role, seen as undesirable by local agents and provoking emergent policies. Grounded on this basis this paper tackles the case of a lower medium new town located near Madrid (Tres Cantos), where the local government and retail organisations have reacted against its dominated role and have promoted a set of measures to overcome the problems detected, mainly the local consumer leakeage, the limited success or failure of new retail firms and, in a wider sense, the underdevelopment of the local retail sector. The study describes the main findings of a wider report conducted to evaluate the implemented measures, its effectiveness and the local market agents' valuation. This experience also illustrates the problems of objective setting and policy implementation, when the public and the private sector participate in a joint decision. Keywords: new town development, retail system, urban retail policy Suitable for Conference Themes: D (Metropolitan processes and policies) or parhaps, H (Services, small enterprises ....)

Enhancing smart environments with mobile robots

Sensor networks are becoming popular nowadays in the development of smart environments. Heavily relying on static sensor and actuators, though, such environments usually lacks of versatility regarding the provided services and interaction capabilities. Here we present a framework for smart environments where a service robot is included within the sensor network acting as a mobile sensor and/or actuator. Our framework integrates on-the-shelf technologies to ensure its adaptability to a variety of sensor technologies and robotic software. Two pilot cases are presented as evaluation of our proposal.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

THE MEXICAN AMERICAN VIETNAM WAR SERVICEMAN: THE MISSING AMERICAN

The Vietnam War brought many changes to society in that it soon became one of the most controversial wars in United States history. There was a tremendous loss of life as well as a rift in the nation with the rise of anti-war protest. Those drafted for the war primarily came from low-income and ethnic minority communities. While all who served deserve to be recognized, there is one group that has gone largely unrepresented in the history of the war. Mexican American serviceman served and died in large numbers when compared to their population. In addition, they also received high honors for their valor in the battlefield. Yet, the history of the war has been largely focused on the experience of the Anglo and Black soldier. This is due in part to the existing black-white paradigm of race that has existed in United States society, which places all other ethnic minority groups in the margins of major historical events. Biased Selective Service Boards contributed to the already existing race and class discrimination that existed among the elite class in society. This study utilizes interviews, oral histories, autobiographies and anthologies as its main source of information of Mexican American Vietnam War servicemen. Due to the lack of historical material in this area, most information on participation and casualty rates are estimates conducted by professors such as Ralph Guzman, from the University of Santa Cruz. Guzman took the number of Spanish surnamed casualties in the southwestern states to calculate an approximate number of total casualties. The major aim is to highlight the contribution of the Mexican American serviceman in Vietnam and to emphasize the patriotism that existed in the Mexican American community as much as it did in the Black and Anglo communities. By providing information in the area of American identity, race relations, the draft and volunteerism as well as the sacrifice of Mexican American lives at the time of the Vietnam War, this study hopes to initiate the inclusion of Mexican Americans in the general history of the war. Keywords: Mexican American, Chicano/a, Selective Service , draft boards, whiteness, New Standards Men, Project 100,000, Lyndon Johnson, League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC), Medal of Honor, sacrifice, patriotism

Experimental identification of model parameters for SMA wires

Shape Memory Alloys are extensive applied in Medical Robotics nowadays as active ele-ments. They could be used as actuators, which are abie to perform accurate movements in minimal invasive surgery (MIS). In MIS the precision of the incisions has to be guar-anteed. The need of precision leads to try to find a reliable approach that describes the behav-ior of SMA. Departing from the knowledge of the characteristics of SMA, a survey of Models available is performed. This models describe the response of the SX/IA under different conditions. Finally the goal is to determine the most important features in the model and compar

Accurate Stereo Visual Odometry with Gamma Distributions

Point-based stereo visual odometry systems typically estimate the camera motion by minimizing a cost function of the projection residuals between consecutive frames. Under some mild assumptions, such minimization is equivalent to maximizing the probability of the measured residuals given a certain pose change, for which a suitable model of the error distribution (sensor model) becomes of capital importance in order to obtain accurate results. This paper proposes a robust probabilistic model for projection errors, based on real world data. For that, we argue that projection distances follow Gamma distributions, and hence, the introduction of these models in a probabilistic formulation of the motion estimation process increases both precision and accuracy. Our approach has been validated through a series of experiments with both synthetic and real data, revealing an improvement in accuracy while not increasing the computational burden.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Project "PROMOVE: Advances in mobile robotics for promoting independent life of elders", funded by the Spanish Government and the "European Regional Development Fund ERDF" under contract DPI2014-55826-R

Exploring outcome measures for adults with myotonic dystrophy type 1

PhD ThesisMyotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multisystem progressive disorder with high heterogeneity. Novel emerging therapies require assessment tools that can effectively assess the effects of an intervention. The Outcome Measures in 5 Myotonic Dystrophy (OMMYD) Consortium has proposed a battery of functional outcome measures (FOM) identified as relevant for clinical trials in DM1. However, due to the variable nature of the disease and a scarcity of resources, there is a lack of systematic research that properly explores the use of these FOM. The current study examined three of these FOM and one extra related to 10 patients’ daily life performance. These are: (1) the ten-meters walk test; (2) the ten-meters walk/run test; (3) the 30-seconds sit and stand test; and, (4) a tri-axial accelerometer. By exploring the reliability, validity and responsiveness of these outcomes, we aimed to establish reference values and standard methodologies that could serve as guidance for clinical trials in DM1. A cohort of DM1 adults 15 screened for the two largest-to-date trials in DM1 (OPTIMSITIC and PHENO-DM1) were examined in relation to a set of pre-specified assessments and disease-burden scores. The results of this thesis supply disease-specific evidence of their validity, reliability and feasibility. The FOM, have shown to be psychometrically robust measures of functionality in DM1 and to be feasible for 20 clinical trials; they can provide a picture of patients’ muscle strength and perceived mobility and participation in life. The accelerometer can objectively quantify joints accelerations when walking at different speeds and summarise a DM1 patient’s habitual physical activity. The final choice of an outcome measure for a clinical trial in DM1 should be guided by disease domain that an intervention 25 is likely to impact on; but, a disease-specific study like this one will reduce the burden of protocol design whilst providing evidence supporting the decision-making process.the Medical Research Council Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia of Mexico and the Barbour Foundation.

Salud laboral en población emigrante española en Alemania

La satisfacción laboral afecta a la salud laboral y ésta a la salud general de una persona. El objetivo de este estudio es profundizar en el análisis de la satisfacción laboral (SL) en españoles emigrantes en Alemania, en base a su burnout en el trabajo y otras características laborales. Se analiza una muestra de 200 migrantes en Alemania procedentes de diferentes lugares de España. Las variables evaluadas son: satisfacción laboral, burnout, características del puesto y ajuste laboral. Los resultados muestran que mujeres y varones tienen niveles similares en SL, cinismo y agotamiento; los hombres se perciben más autoeficaces. Las clases sociales inferiores y los trabajadores con menores ingresos puntúan menos en SL y autoeficacia. El cinismo, la autoeficacia, la sobrecualificación y las características del puesto predicen tanto la SL extrínseca como la intrínseca. El agotamiento entra también en el modelo predictivo de la SL extrínseca. Este estudio contribuye al conocimiento de la realidad laboral de los trabajadores españoles en un país europeo, y en general que puede ser utilizado para mejorar su calidad de vida.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

An innovative cooperative model for the Master Degree Project of Architecture. Overcoming the traditional system.

http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.6713Although the Bologna’s process has highlighted the need to develop deep and structural changes in the educational institutions, there is a scarce bibliography on innovation projects in Master Degree Projects, specifically in the field of Architecture. This paper is part of a educational innovative reaserch project that is proposing a cooperative process-and-product model-based for MDP. The model is developed in three stages, from collaborative learning action groups to indivual project. At the end of the process the student has developed three documents: a presentation, a product and a daily-portfolio. Finally, MDP assessment is the sum of three evaluationsUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech