HbbTV-compliant Platform for Hybrid Media Delivery and Synchronization on Single- and Multi-Device Scenarios

[EN] The combination of broadcast and broadband (hybrid) technologies for delivering TV related media contents can bring fascinating opportunities. It is motivated by the large amount and diversity of media contents, together with the ubiquity and multiple connectivity capabilities of modern consumption devices. This paper presents an end-to-end platform for the preparation, delivery, and synchronized consumption of related hybrid (broadcast/broadband) media contents on a single device and/or on multiple close-by devices (i.e., a multi-device scenario). It is compatible with the latest version of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) standard (version 2.0.1). Additionally, it provides adaptive and efficient solutions for key issues not specified in that standard, but that are necessary to successfully deploy hybrid and multidevice media services. Moreover, apart from MPEG-DASH and HTML5, which are the broadband technologies adopted by HbbTV, the platform also provides support for using HTTP Live Streaming and Real-time Transport Protocol and its companion RTP Control Protocol broadband technologies. The presented platform can provide support for many hybrid media services. In this paper, in order to evaluate it, the use case of multi-device and multi-view TV service has been selected. The results of both objective and subjective assessments have been very satisfactory, in terms of performance (stability, smooth playout, delays, and sync accuracy), usability of the platform, usefulness of its functionalities, and the awaken interest in these kinds of platforms.This work was supported in part by the "Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional" and in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through R&D&I Support Program under Grant TEC2013-45492-R.Boronat, F.; Marfil-Reguero, D.; Montagud, M.; Pastor Castillo, FJ. (2017). HbbTV-compliant Platform for Hybrid Media Delivery and Synchronization on Single- and Multi-Device Scenarios. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBC.2017.2781124S12

Pedro Miralles Claver's sideboard and dresser Poynton

[EN] Pedro Miralles Claver, Valencian architect and designer, with a brief career in which he managed to leave an extensive legacy, elegant and magnificent designs marked by his strong personality. He found its foundations in the rigor of Neoclassicism, and the formal and material sumptuousness Art Deco. Reflection, the timelessness, the perceived quality of the proportions, the rediscovery of classical types and quality materials are features which define each of his objects. One expression of this thought is the set of sideboard and dresser Poynton, which was designed to be part of the Azimut collection, promoted in 1988 by Artespaña. Taking as reference the aesthetic value of the late nineteenth century, Miralles created a set of furniture, for whose manufacture he specified a high quality materials like oak and ebony macassar, on which applied decorative-based of fine marquetry and inlays of precious materials, all worked using traditional methods, controlling even the most detail, and finished on top with a “trompe-l'oeil” drawing. The whole final design made evident the interest of Pedro to recover the constructive elements from ancient cultures and give them new meanings.[ES] Pedro Miralles Claver, arquitecto y diseñador valenciano, con una breve trayectoria profesional en la que consiguió dejar un amplio legado de diseños llenos de elegancia y sobriedad, marcados por su fuerte personalidad. Encontró sus propios fundamentos en la rigurosidad del neoclasicismo, y en la suntuosidad formal y material del Art Decó. La reflexión, la atemporalidad, la calidad percibida en las proporciones, el redescubrimiento de tipologías clásicas y materiales nobles, son características que definen a cada uno de sus objetos. Una de las expresiones de este pensamiento es el juego de aparador y comodita Poynton, diseñado para formar parte de la colección Azimut, promovida por Artespaña en 1988. Tomando como fuente de referencia el valor de la estética de finales del siglo XIX, Miralles creó un conjunto de muebles, para cuya manufactura precisó de materiales de alta calidad como madera de roble y ébano de macasar, sobre los que aplicó motivos decorativos a base de marquetería fina e incrustaciones de materiales preciosos, todo ello trabajado de manera artesanal, controlando hasta el más mínimo detalle, y rematado en la parte superior con el dibujo de un cruz romana mediante la técnica del trompe-l´oeil. El conjunto del diseño final dejó constancia del interés de Pedro por recuperar los elementos constructivos de antiguas culturas y dotarlos de nuevos significados.Mellado Lluch, MP.; Pastor Castillo, FJ. (2015). Aparador y comodita Poynton, de Pedro Miralles Claver. Res Mobilis: Revista Internacional de Investigación en Mobiliario y Objetos Decorativos. 4(4):156-166. doi:10.17811/rm.4.2015.157-166S1561664

La transición hacia la Universidad: un reto para no caer en el vacío

La importancia que la transición educativa alcanza en el acceso a la Universidad precisa de un trabajo de regulación que en estos momentos no existe. En base a la información previa obtenida de los centros de secundaria sobre la transición primaria – secundaria, y sobre las actividades que se realizan dentro del Plan de Acción Tutorial, se elabora una propuesta sobre la que generar un programa de transición secundaria – universidad. Contamos como recursos, con un centro de secundaria piloto, y el Programa de Acción Tutorial de la Universidad de Alicante. El Programa de Transición Universitaria establece una serie de actividades en coordinación, y recoge además actividades de intervención directa con el alumnado de secundaria. Una de ellas sería plan de intervención integral que incluye, además de los aspectos técnicos necesarios, aspectos personales. Se delimitan los contenidos, la metodología, los recursos, el calendario de aplicación y los responsables, y esta actividad generada desde la Universidad, estará incluida en el Plan de Acción Tutorial del Instituto

The pilot project of the mineral collections from the University of Barcelona: An opportunity to create updated teaching material to be shared with other universities

The Mineralogy teaching collection from the University of Barcelona has proved to be a successful tool for students. The urge of its renewal to meet the necessities of modernCindustry brought the idea to replicate this collection in order to offer high quality teaching material to other universities worldwide. This project has led to an international collaboration aiming to enhance international solidarity among universities and make evident the importance of Mineralogy in Geology studies

El proyecto de transición universitario: planificación e intervención

“El proyecto de transición universitario: planificación e intervención”, es el título que identifica a nuestra Red. Este proyecto, de nueva creación, se incluye dentro de la Modalidad III del Programa Redes de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria, y pretende ser un equipo de trabajo complementario a la Red “Cuarta transición educativa: Secundaria-Universidad. Necesidades y soluciones (III)”, para implementar y llevar a la práctica los resultados obtenidos en la investigación sobre la transición del alumnado de Educación Secundaria hacia la Universidad. Se trata de intervenir y de proponer trabajo para que esta cuarta transición educativa sea una realidad, sobre todo en cuanto a la orientación educativa y a la acción tutorial. Este proyecto lo planteamos como el punto de partida hacia la intervención en los Centros de Secundaria, colaborando con los Departamentos de Orientación, y como un ejercicio de planificación de propuestas de un plan integral de transición Secundaria-Universidad. Al ser una Red complementaría, parte de los contenidos ya elaborados por la primera Red y se fundamenta en ella. Y a la vez, se convierte en su brazo ejecutor. El equipo de trabajo tiene una estructura interdisciplinar e internivelar, integrándolo profesorado universitario y de educación secundaria y alumnado universitario

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Combination of inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section measurements using ATLAS and CMS data at √s = 7 and 8 TeV

ATLAS-CMS Collaboration: et al.A combination of measurements of the inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section performed by ATLAS and CMS in proton–proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV at the LHC is presented. The cross-sections are obtained using topquark pair decays with an opposite-charge electron–muon pair in the final state and with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 5 fb−1 at √s = 7 TeV and about 20 fb−1 at √s = 8 TeV for each experiment. The combined cross-sections are determined to be 178.5 ± 4.7 pb at √s = 7 TeV and 243.3+6.0−5.9 pb at √s = 8 TeV with a correlation of 0.41, using a reference top-quark mass value of 172.5 GeV. The ratio of the combined crosssections is determined to be R8/7 = 1.363 ± 0.032. The combined measured cross-sections and their ratio agree well with theory calculations using several parton distribution function (PDF) sets. The values of the top-quark pole mass (with the strong coupling fixed at 0.118) and the strong coupling (with the top-quark pole mass fixed at 172.5 GeV) are extracted from the combined results by fitting a next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-toleading-log QCD prediction to the measurements. Using a version of the NNPDF3.1PDF set containing no top-quark measurements, the results obtained are m pole t = 173.4+1.8−2.0 GeV and αs(mZ) = 0.1170+0.0021−0.0018.Article funded by SCOAP3 .Generalitat Valenciana; MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, ERDF “a way of making Europe”, and the Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia María de Maeztu, grant MDM-2017-0765 and Programa Severo Ochoa del Principado de Asturias (Spain). Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and Horizon 2020 Grant, contract Nos. 675440, 724704, 752730, 758316, 765710, 824093, 884104, and COST Action CA16108 (European Union).Peer reviewe

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation