Developing an Open-Source, Low-Cost, Radon Monitoring System

[Abstract] The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have declared Radon gas a human carcinogen. Spain has several regions with high radon concentrations, Galicia (northwestern Spain) being one with the highest Radon concentration. In this work, we present the development of an open-source and low-cost radon monitoring and alert system. The system has two parts: devices and the backend. The devices integrate a Radon sensor, capable of measuring Radon levels every 10 min, and several environmental sensors capable of measuring temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and air pollution. The devices send all the information to the backend, which stores it, exposes it in a web interface, and uses the historical data to predict the radon levels for the following hours. If the radon levels are predicted to overpass the threshold in the next hour, the system issues an alert via several channels (email and MQTT) to the configured recipients for the corresponding device, allowing them to take measures to lower the Radon concentration. The results of this work indicate that the system allows the radon levels to be greatly reduced and makes the development of a low cost and open-source radon monitoring system feasible. The system scalability allows a network of sensors to be created that can help mitigate the health hazard that high radon concentrations create

Metodología para el desarrollo de sistemas de extracción de concimiento en RNA

[Resumen] Las Redes de Neuronas Artificiales (RR,NN.AA.) son de fácil implementación y utilización, así como otras características que las hacen idóneas para resolver problemas en muchos campos, sin embargo muchos desarrolladores e investigadores evitan su uso porque se consideran "cajas negras", es decir, son sistemas donde a partir de una serie de entradas produce unas salidas de respuesta y el proceso o explicación de por qué produce esas salidas es desconocido. Hasta ahora se han utilizado diferentes técnicas de extracción de reglas a partir de RNA, pero en la gran mayoría de los casos aplicados exclusivamente a RR.NN.AA., multicapa genéricas o sobre ciertos algoritmos de entrenamiento de redes multicapa o recurrentes. Estas limitaciones son debidas a que son más fáciles de tratar los procesos de extracción sobre ciertas arquitecturas o sobre ciertos algoritmos de entrenamiento particulares. En esta tesis se propone una metodología para la obtención del conocimiento de las RR.NN.AA., independientemente de su arquitectura: multicapa o recurrente. En cuanto a las RR.NN.AA., recurrentes la extracción de reglas se complica de forma exponencial debido a que intervienen estados pasados en las activaciones de las neuronas, y su capacidad de conocimiento distribuido es considerablemente muy superior a las RR.NN.AA., multicapa puesto que no existen restricciones en la conectividad entre neuronas. En esta tesis se aplica la Programación Genética (PG) para la extracción del conocimiento de las RR.NN.AA. La utilización de la PG conlleva la ventaja de que la forma de representación y estructuración de la información se realiza mediante un árbol semántico. Esta representación en árbol es la forma natural de representación de una regla simbólica

Genetic programming to improvement FIB model: bond and anchorage of reinforcing steel in structural concrete

[Abstract] Starting from the FIB database, this work is aimed to analyze the current equations which predict the main datum that can be provided by bond tests: the ultimate bar stress when the failure is reached. Furthermore, Genetic Programming (GP) techniques are also applied in order to enhance the expression of the FIB, which achieves the best adjustment so far, giving rise to the new Model Code 2010. The final result shown is a highly predictive equation. The results are compared with those included in the Model Code and it is showed the influence of the main variables on the phenomenon (concrete strength, yield strength of steel, concrete cover, transverse reinforcement and diameter of the bar).Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; BIA2010-21551Galicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10MDS014CTGalicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10TMT042EGalicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10TMT118004PRGalicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10TMT034

Optimization of existing equations using a new genetic programming algorithm: application to the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams

[Abstract] A method based on Genetic Programming (GP) to improve previously known empirical equations is presented. From a set of experimental data, the GP may improve the adjustment of such formulas through the symbolic regression technique. Through a set of restrictions, and the indication of the terms of the expression to be improved, GP creates new individuals. The methodology allows us to study the need of including new variables in the expression. The proposed method is applied to the shear strength of concrete beams. The results show a marked improvement using this methodology in relation to the classic GP and international code procedures.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; BIA2007-60197Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; BIA2010-21551Xunta de Galicia; 08TMT005CTXunta de Galicia; 10TMT034

Developing a Secure Low-Cost Radon Monitoring System

[Abstract] Radon gas has been declared a human carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Several studies carried out in Spain highlighted the high radon concentrations in several regions, with Galicia (northwestern Spain) being one of the regions with the highest radon concentrations. The objective of this work was to create a safe and low-cost radon monitoring and alert system, based on open source technologies. To achieve this objective, the system uses devices, a collection of sensors with a processing unit and a communication module, and a backend, responsible for managing all the information, predicting radon levels and issuing alerts using open source technologies. Security is one of the largest challenges for the internet of things, and it is utterly important in the current scenario, given that high radon concentrations pose a health risk. For this reason, this work focuses on securing the entire end-to-end communication path to avoid data forging. The results of this work indicate that the development of a low-cost, yet secured, radon monitoring system is feasible, allowing one to create a network of sensors that can help mitigate the health hazards that high radon concentrations pose.This project was funded by the Consolidation and Structuring of Competitive Research Units-Competitive Reference Groups (ED431C 2018/49) and Accreditation, Structuring, and Improvement of Consolidated Research Units and Singular Centers (ED431G/01), funded by the Ministry of Education, University and Vocational Training of the Xunta de Galicia endowed with EU FEDER funds. This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, R & D National Plan, via the project BIA2017-86738-R. This research and the APC were also supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, grant number PI17/01826 (Collaborative Project in Genomic Data Integration (CICLOGEN) funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III from the Spanish National plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013–2016 and the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER)—“A way to build Europe.”. This project was also supported by the General Directorate of Culture, Education and University Management of Xunta de Galicia ED431D 2017/16 and “Drug Discovery Galician Network” Ref. ED431G/01 and the “Galician Network for Colorectal Cancer Research” (Ref. ED431D 2017/23), and finally by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the funding of the unique installation BIOCAI (UNLC08-1E-002, UNLC13-13-3503) and the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER) by the European UnionXunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2018/49Xunta de Galicia; ED431D 2017/16Xunta de Galicia; ED431D 2017/2

Obtendo información útil para a mellora dunha materia a partir dos resultados dos exames de resposta múltiple

[Resumo] Os procesos de avaliación, deben aplicarse ós docentes e mesmo á materia en si, non só ós alumnos. Con esta finalidade formúlase unha análise dos resultados acadados polo alumnado durante a proba de avaliación empregada na materia de Marcos de Desenvolvemento (Grao en Enxeñaría Informática – Facultade de Informática). O exame é de resposta múltiple (4 opcións por pregunta, só unha válida e restando puntos as respostas erróneas). Os exames analízanse en dúas ramas: por unha banda, estúdanse as taxas de acerto/fallo/en branco de cada unha das preguntas; por outra, a porcentaxe de opcións (a,b,c,d, branco) en cada pregunta. Este sinxelo estudo, automatizado mediante o emprego dunha folla de cálculo, permite, non obstante, obter interesantes conclusións: • Detecta ambigüidades ou erros na formulación das preguntas que, polo xeral, se derivan nunha elevada porcentaxe de respostas en branco. • Detecta lagoas de coñecemento nalgunha das áreas da materia, que orixinan preguntas cunha elevada taxa de erros. Cada pregunta está asociada a un bloque teórico, polo que se podes establecer en qué aspectos os alumnos presentan máis ou menos coñecementos. Ambos aspectos poden ser empregados para detectar erros na formulación da materia e/ou exame e facer posible así a definición de plans de mellora de cara ós vindeiros cursos académicos

Approach of Genetic Algorithms With Grouping Into Species Optimized With Predator-Prey Method for Solving Multimodal Problems

[Abstract] Over recent years, Genetic Algorithms have proven to be an appropriate tool for solving certain problems. However, it does not matter if the search space has several valid solutions, as their classic approach is insufficient. To this end, the idea of dividing the individuals into species has been successfully raised. However, this solution is not free of drawbacks, such as the emergence of redundant species, overlapping or performance degradation by significantly increasing the number of individuals to be evaluated. This paper presents the implementation of a method based on the predator-prey technique, with the aim of providing a solution to the problem, as well as a number of examples to prove its effectiveness

Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis Image Registration Using Block-Matching Techniques and Deformation Models

[Abstract] Block-matching techniques have been widely used in the task of estimating displacement in medical images, and they represent the best approach in scenes with deformable structures such as tissues, fluids, and gels. In this article, a new iterative block-matching technique—based on successive deformation, search, fitting, filtering, and interpolation stages—is proposed to measure elastic displacements in two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D–PAGE) images. The proposed technique uses different deformation models in the task of correlating proteins in real 2D electrophoresis gel images, obtaining an accuracy of 96.6% and improving the results obtained with other techniques. This technique represents a general solution, being easy to adapt to different 2D deformable cases and providing an experimental reference for block-matching algorithms.Galicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10MDS014CTGalicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10SIN105004PRInstituto de Salud Carlos III; PI13/0028