Parallel Hierarchical Radiosity on Hybrid Platforms

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11227-011-0592-6[Abstract] Achieving an efficient realistic illumination is an important aim of research in computer graphics. In this paper a new parallel global illumination method for hybrid systems based on the hierarchical radiosity method is presented. Our solution allows the exploitation of systems that combine independent nodes with multiple cores per node. Thus, multiple nodes work in parallel in the computation of the global illumination for the same scene. Within each node, all the available computational cores are used through a shared-memory multithreading approach. The good results obtained in terms of speedup on several distributed-memory and shared-memory configurations show the versatility of our hybrid proposal.[Resumo] Acadar unha eficiente iluminación realista é un importante obxectivo no campo dos gráficos por computadora. Neste traballo preséntase un novo método de iluminación global paralelo para sistemas híbridos baseado no modelo de radiosidade jerárquica. A nosa solución permite a explotación de sistemas que combinen nodos de cómputo independentes con múltiples núcleos de execución en cada nodo. Deste xeito, varios nodos traballan en paralelo na computación da iluminación global dunha mesma escea. Dentro de cada nodo, todos os núcleos computacionais dispoñibles son aproveitados mediante unha aproximación multifío en memoria compartida. Os bos resultados obtidos en canto a aceleración en distintas configuracións de memoria compartida e distribuída dan mostra da versatilidade da nosa proposta híbrida.Xunta de Galicia; INCITE08PXIB105161PRMinisterio de Educación y Ciencia; MEC TIN 2010-16735Xunta de Galicia; 08TIC001206P

Public Health Observatories: a learning community model to foster knowledge transfer for sustainable cities

[EN] A Public Health Observatory (PHO) is a platform to provide “health intelligence” as a service for a specific population. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies the primary purposes of PHOs as “monitoring health situations and trends, including assessing progress toward agreed-upon health-related targets; producing and sharing evidence; and, supporting the use of such evidence for policy and decision making” For the purposes of the PULSE project, create an observatory to function as a unique point of access to the PULSE technology for people both inside and outside the project consortium.Specifically, we create a platform for e-learning and knowledge sharing that it can be easily navigated by lay persons that are interested in learning about or participating in the PULSE project. We targeted specifically policymakers, clinicians, as well as leaders and citizens in other cities. As a concept, it reflects the principles participation, sustainability, and collaboration across sectors and levels of government The Observatory leverages on the Health in All Policies (HiAP) framework. HiAP is a cross-sectoral approach to public policy that systematically takes into account the health implications of decisions, seeks synergies, and avoids harmful health impacts in order to improve population health and health equity.PULSE project has been founded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and it is documented in the grant agreement No 727816. Specifically. PULSE has been founded under the call H2020-EU-3.1.5. in the topic SCIPM-18-2016-Big Data supporting Public Health policies. More information on http://www.project-pulse.euVito, D.; Ottaviano, M.; Cabrera, MF.; Teriús Padrón, JG.; Casella, V.; Bellazzi, R. (2020). Public Health Observatories: a learning community model to foster knowledge transfer for sustainable cities. En 6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. (30-05-2020):1383-1390. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd20.2020.11285OCS1383139030-05-202

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Propuesta de marco tecnológico para la autogestión de enfermedades crónicas afectadas por la exposición a factores de calidad del aire usando el paradigma de Internet de las Cosas

Hoy en día, las grandes ciudades se encuentran afectadas por altos niveles de contaminación del aire. El tráfico vehicular, el transporte público ineficiente, y las calefacciones, entre otros, son las fuentes de contaminantes que más afectan a la salud. Aproximadamente, el 80% de los países del mundo, no cumple con los estándares de calidad del aire establecidos. Por otro lado, las enfermedades crónicas representan el 70% de las muertes a nivel mundial. Las enfermedades cardiovasculares, respiratorias, y neurodegenerativas repercuten en el gasto sanitario europeo en 115 billones de euros anuales. Estudios recientes muestran la estrecha relación entre las enfermedades crónicas y la contaminación ambiental, en donde las partículas contaminantes afectan directamente al pulmón, el cerebro y el corazón. Para el tratamiento de la cronicidad, existen programas que ayudan a los pacientes a autogestionar su enfermedad lo que permite empoderarlos en el control de su salud desde sus hogares y contribuye descargar a los sistemas sanitarios al reducir el número de ingresos por emergencia y visitas a hospitales por parte de estos pacientes. Sin embargo, estos programas no contemplan el factor calidad del aire como parte de contenido programático para preparar a sus pacientes, debido a la falta de tecnología que permita ayudar al paciente a gestionar su exposición a alto niveles de contaminación. Es por ello por lo que esta tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo principal proponer un marco tecnológico para la autogestión de enfermedades crónicas afectadas por la exposición a factores de calidad del aire usando el paradigma de Internet de las Cosas. La definición del marco tecnológico toma como referencia en el Modelo Innovative Care of Chronic Conditions, creado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud, el cual ofrece una hoja de ruta para mejorar la forma en la que las enfermedades crónicas son prevenidas o tratadas y el Chronic Diseases Self-Management Program, el programa de autogestión de enfermedades crónicas más difundido y utilizado. Para la validación de esta propuesta se han diseñado, desarrollado y evaluado soluciones tecnológicas IoT para tres escenarios planteados en los cuales un paciente hace uso de la tecnología para autogestionar su condición crónica. Estos escenarios son: (1) dentro de un entorno inteligente por medio de distintos sensores, (2) en interiores o exteriores con tecnología portable o vestible, y (3) en una ciudad inteligente usando tecnología móvil. Adicionalmente, el marco tecnológico ha sido validado por potenciales usuarios y un panel de expertos multidisciplinar especialistas en Epidemiología Ambiental, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Medio Ambiente y Salud, Medicina Legal y Forense, Medicina familiar, Oncología, Cardiología y Neumología. Las contribuciones originales de esta tesis doctoral incluyen: (1) Definición del nicho de innovación; (2) Un marco tecnológico para la autogestión de enfermedades crónicas partiendo de la detección de niveles de contaminación en el aire; (3) Diseño y desarrollo de prototipos para la autogestión de calidad del aire en entornos domóticos y con dispositivos IoT portables o vestibles y tecnología móvil para cada uno de los escenarios planteados; y (4) Evaluación y validación del marco tecnológico. ----------ABSTRACT---------- Nowadays, major cities are affected by high levels of air pollution. Vehicular traffic, inefficient public transport, charcoal heating, among others, are the sources of pollutants that most affect health. Approximately 80% of the world's countries do not meet established air quality standards. On the other hand, chronic diseases account for 70% of deaths globally. Cardiovascular, respiratory and neurodegenerative diseases have an impact on European health spending by 115 billion Euros per year. Recent studies show the close relationship between chronic diseases and air pollution, where polluting particles directly affect the lung, brain and heart. For the treatment of chronicity, there are programs that help patients to self-manage their disease which allows to empower them in the control of their health from their homes reducing the number of emergency admissions and visits to hospitals by these patients. However, these programs do not consider air quality factor as part of programmatic content to prepare their patients due to the lack of technology that allows to help the patient manage their exposure to high levels of pollution. That is why this doctoral thesis has as its main objective to propose a technological framework for the self-management of chronic diseases affected by exposure to environmental factors of air quality using the paradigm of the Internet of Things. The definition of the technological framework is based on the Innovative Care of Chronic Conditions Model, created by the World Health Organization, which offers a roadmap to improve the way in which chronic diseases are prevented or treated, and the Chronic Diseases Self-Management Program, the most widespread and used patient program. For the validation of this proposal, IoT technological solutions have been designed, developed and evaluated in three scenarios in which a patient will make use of technology to self-manage their chronic condition. These scenarios are: (1) within a smart environment; (2) indoors or outdoors with portable or wearable technology; and (3) in a smart city using mobile technology. Additionally, the technological framework has been validated by potential users and a panel of multidisciplinary experts specialized in Environmental Epidemiology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Environment and Health, Legal and Forensic Medicine, Family Medicine, Oncology, Cardiology and Pulmonology. The original contributions of this doctoral thesis includes: (1) Definition of the innovation niche; (2) A technological framework for the self-management of chronic diseases based on the detection of levels of pollution in the air; (3) Design and development of prototypes for the self-management of air quality in home automation environments and with portable or wearable IoT devices and mobile technology for each of the scenarios proposed; and (4) Evaluation and validation of the technological framework

El currículo basado en competencias y su implementación en cursos de ingeniería

En este trabajo se muestra un análisis del currículo basado en competencias, a partir de su defi nición, clasifi cación e implementación didáctica. Se resalta que para el desarrollo y evaluación de las competencias, se requiere la aplicación de métodos activos de aprendizaje. En estudios realizados en la FIME, de la UANL, se detecta que los profesores valoran positivamente la necesidad de las competencias en el egresado, sin embargo, consideran bajo su nivel de desarrollo en sus propias clases y en todo el plan de estudio. Para demostrar cómo los métodos activos permiten el desarrollo de competencias se describen las actividades de dos cursos, en los cuales, aplicando estos métodos, se promueve el desarrollo y evaluación de competencias genéricas y específi cas. Se dan evaluaciones de la aceptación, por los estudiantes, de estas aplicaciones. ABSTRACT An analysis of the competence-based curriculum is shown in this work, from its defi nition, classifi cation and didactic implementation. It is emphasized that for the development and evaluation of the competences, the application of active methods of learning is required. In studies carried out in the FIME, of UANL, it was detected that the teachers valued positively the need of the competences in the graduate, nevertheless they consider defi cient their development in their own classes and in all the plan of study. To show how the active methods allow the development of competences, are described the activities of two courses, in which, applying these methods, the development and evaluation of specifi c and generic competences is promoted. Evaluations of the acceptance, by the students, of these applications are give