Breaking vendors and city locks through a semantic-enabled global interoperable Internet-of-Things system: a smart parking case

The Internet of Things (IoT) is unanimously identified as one of the main technology enablers for the development of future intelligent environments. However, the current IoT landscape is suffering from large fragmentation with many platforms and vendors competing with their own solution. This fragmented scenario is now jeopardizing the uptake of the IoT, as investments are not carried out partly because of the fear of being captured in lock-in situations. To overcome these fears, interoperability solutions are being put forward in order to guarantee that the deployed IoT infrastructure, independently of its manufacturer and/or platform, can exchange information, data and knowledge in a meaningful way. This paper presents a Global IoT Services (GIoTS) use case demonstrating how semantic interoperability among five different smart city IoT deployments can be leveraged to develop a smart urban mobility service. The application that has been developed seamlessly consumes data from them for providing parking guidance and mobility suggestions at the five locations (Santander and Barcelona in Spain and Busan, Seoul and Seongnam in South Korea) where the abovementioned IoT deployments are installed. The paper is also presenting the key aspects of the system enabling the interoperability among the three underlying heterogeneous IoT platforms.This research was funded by European Union’s H2020 Programme for research, technological development and demonstration within the projects “Worldwide Interoperability for Semantics IoT (WISE-IoT)” (under grant agreement No 723156) and “Bridging the Interoperability Gap of the Internet of Things (BIG-IoT)” (under grant agreement No. 688038) and, in part, by the Spanish Government by means of the Project ADVICE “Dynamic Provisioning of Connectivity in High Density 5G Wireless Scenarios” under Grant TEC2015-71329-C2-1-R

STUDY ABOUT THE APPRECIATION OF TEACHING FROM THE CONTINUOUS TRAINING OF TEACHERS WHO WORK IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE NETWORK OF SERGIPE

A busca pela valorização do profissional docente compreende o enriquecimento de suas competências que se dá através da formação continuada, aumentando os atributos do professor em exercício bem como uma melhor qualidade de ensino no processo ensino-aprendizagem. O objetivo desse estudo foi obter um parâmetro entre os professores da rede pública e rede privada do estado de Sergipe sobre as dificuldades, impedimentos e as iniciativas pessoais para a busca da formação continuada. Para obter dados e resultados, optamos pelo método descritivo qualitativo e utilizamos como instrumento de pesquisa o questionário com perguntas objetivas e subjetivas, que alcançou sessenta docentes de ambas as redes de ensino. Os resultados apontaram que devido à falta de tempo disponível, à sobrecarga de responsabilidade, extensa jornada de trabalho, entre outros são as atuais provocações e impedimentos a superar. Os entrevistados em sua maioria apontaram que buscam por iniciativa própria atualizar-se principalmente através de palestras, cursos de capacitação, seminários, encontros, congressos e cursos de aperfeiçoamento; sendo os cursos a distância, colóquios e programas os menos procurados. As modalidades de formação continuada apontados como mais eficientes foram os cursos de aperfeiçoamento e os cursos de capacitação. É necessário, portanto a constante reflexão, a busca por novos conhecimentos e competências para melhor qualificar e valorizar o profissional docente, potencializando o ensino ao nível de qualidade na educação escolar.Continuing education comprises the constant search for knowledge and training for the execution of teaching practice, and especially, it aims at reflection for the transformation of this practice, promoting the appreciation of the profession and the quality of teaching in the teaching-learning process. The purpose of this work1 was to identify and compare personal initiatives, difficulties and impediments to participation in refresher courses, among other issues of Continuing Education. As a methodology, descriptive qualitative research was applied, with the application of sixty questionnaires distributed to teachers in nine private and public schools in the State of Sergipe. We have observed that the overload of responsibilities and the long working days result in the lack of available time for a better professional preparation and teacher appreciation, making these difficulties one of the challenges to overcome in the present time. We elucidate that the majority interviewees have sought on their own initiative to update themselves mainly through lectures, training courses and seminars; as to the meetings, congresses and courses of improvement seem like a second option. Other types of continuing education such as distance courses, colloquiums and programs are the least sought after. With regard to the most efficient continuous training modalities, training courses. Therefore, it is necessary that the teacher can constantly seek to improve his profession, adding new knowledge, skills, new knowledge, new skills, always seeking for reflection on his pedagogical practice, among other elements that we characterize the appreciation of the teaching profession.La búsqueda por la valorización del profesional docente comprende el enriquecimiento de sus competencias que se da a través de la formación continuada, aumentando los atributos del profesor en ejercicio, así como una mejor calidad de enseñanza en el proceso enseñanza-aprendizaje. El objetivo de este estudio fue obtener un parámetro entre los profesores de la red pública y red privada del estado de Sergipe sobre las dificultades, impedimentos y las iniciativas personales para la búsqueda por la formación continuada. Para obtener datos y resultados, optamos por el método descriptivo cualitativo, y utilizamos como instrumento de investigación el cuestionario con preguntas objetivas y subjetivas, que alcanzó sesenta docentes de ambas redes de enseñanza. Los resultados apuntaron que, debido a la falta de tiempo disponible, a la sobrecarga de responsabilidad, la extensa jornada de trabajo, entre otros, son las actuales provocaciones e impedimentos a qué superar. Los entrevistados en su mayoría apuntaron que buscan por iniciativa propia actualizarse principalmente a través de charlas, talleres de capacitación, seminarios, encuentros, congresos y cursos de perfeccionamiento; siendo los cursos a distancia, coloquios y programas los menos buscados. Las modalidades de formación continuada apuntadas como más eficientes fueron los cursos de perfeccionamiento y los cursos de capacitación. Es necesario, por lo tanto, la constante reflexión, la búsqueda por nuevos conocimientos y competencias para mejor calificar y valorar al profesional docente, potenciando la enseñanza al nivel de calidad en la educación escolar

Practical Lessons from the Deployment and Management of a Smart City Internet-of-Things Infrastructure: The SmartSantander testbed case

The smart cities vision is inexorably turning into a reality. Among the different approaches used to realize more intelligent and sustainable environments, a common denominator is the role that information and communication technologies will play. Moreover, if there is one of these technologies that emerges among the rest, it is the Internet-of-Things (IoT). The ability to ubiquitously embed sensing and actuating capabilities that this paradigm enables is at the forefront of the technologies driving the urban environments transformation. However, there are very little practical experiences of the IoT infrastructure deployment at a large scale. This paper presents practical solutions to the main challenges faced during the deployment and management of a city-scale IoT infrastructure, which encompasses thousands of sensors and other information sources. The experience we have gained during the deployment and operation of the IoT-based smart city infrastructure carried out at Santander (Spain) has led to a number of practical lessons that are summarized in this paper. Moreover, the challenges and problems examples, excerpted from our own real-life experience, are described as motivators for the adopted solutions.This work was supported in part by the research project SmartSantander through the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission under Grant FP7-ICT-2009-5 and in part by the Spanish Government by means of the project ADVICE "Dynamic provisioning of connectivity in high density 5G wireless scenarios" under Grant TEC2015-71329-C2-1-R

Informe técnico. “Determinación de causa/s de decomiso de vísceras en corderos faenados durante la zafra 2014-15 en Frigoríficos de Río Gallegos”

Históricamente, según los registros de SENASA, la proporción de vísceras rojas decomisadas en corderos era escasa o nula. Durante la última zafra 2014-15, hubo una importante cantidad de decomisos de vísceras rojas en corderos, realizada por el Servicio de Inspección Veterinaria de SENASA. El motivo de decomiso fue la observación macroscópica de lesiones atípicas, presentes principalmente en hígado y en menor cantidad en pulmón, corazón y peritoneo. Esta particularidad se presentó en las 4 (cuatro) plantas frigoríficas, en tropas de corderos de distintas razas (Corriedale, Merino y sus cruzas), procedentes de establecimientos ubicados en diferentes áreas ecológicas de la región. El objetivo del trabajo fue la determinación de las posibles causa/s de las mencionadas lesiones atípicas, que se presentaron principalmente en las vísceras rojas (hígado-pulmóncorazón), que fueron motivo de decomiso en los corderos faenados durante la última zafra 2014-15, en las plantas frigoríficas de ovinos de la ciudad de Río Gallegos.EEA Santa CruzFil: Santana, Jorge Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz. Agencia de Extensión Rural Río Gallegos; Argentina.Fil: Milicevic, Francisco. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz. Agencia de Extensión Rural Río Gallegos; Argentina.Fil: Soulés, Anabel. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (SENASA). Supervisión de Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. Río Gallegos; Argentina

Integrating a smart city testbed into a large-scale heterogeneous federation of future internet experimentation facilities: the SmartSantander approach

For some years already, there has been a plethora of research initiatives throughout the world that have deployed diverse experimentation facilities for Future Internet technologies research and development. While access to these testbeds has been sometimes restricted to the specific research community supporting them, opening them to different communities can not only help those infrastructures to achieve a wider impact, but also to better identify new possibilities based on novel considerations brought by those external users. On top of the individual testbeds, supporting experiments that employs several of them in a combined and seamless fashion has been one of the main objectives of different transcontinental research initiatives, such as FIRE in Europe or GENI in United States. In particular, Fed4FIRE project and its continuation, Fed4FIRE+, have emerged as "best-in-town" projects to federate heterogeneous experimentation platforms. This paper presents the most relevant aspects of the integration of a large scale testbed on the IoT domain within the Fed4FIRE+ federation. It revolves around the adaptation carried out on the SmartSantander smart city testbed. Additionally, the paper offers an overview of the different federation models that Fed4FIRE+ proposes to testbed owners in order to provide a complete view of the involved technologies. The paper is also presenting a survey of how several specific research platforms from different experimentation domains have fulfilled the federation task following Fed4FIRE+ concepts.This work was partially funded by the European project Federation for FIRE Plus (Fed4FIRE+) from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme with the Grant Agreement No. 732638 and by the Spanish Government (MINECO) by means of the projects ADVICE: Dynamic provisioning of connectivity in high density 5G wireless scenarios (TEC2015-71329-C2-1-R) and Future Internet Enabled Resilient Cities (FIERCE)

Informe actividades realizadas en XXVIIIº Fiesta Provincial Del Cordero y XVIIº Fiesta Nacional De La Carne Ovina. Concurso De Canales De Cordero, Río Gallegos 2015.

La evaluación de las canales a través de la determinación de su morfología o conformación, cobra importancia cuando se realiza con un objetivo económico (Feed, 2010), puesto que se puede definir a la conformación como el espesor de los planos musculares y tejido adiposo depositado dentro, entre y sobre los mismos (tejido subcutáneo). La conformación de la canal, pretende medir la cantidad de carne vendible, especialmente de los cortes más valiosos, a través de las mediciones objetivas (Bianchi, 2010). Para ello se utiliza el grado de compacidad de las canales, puesto que existe una buena relación entre la conformación, el desarrollo y la forma que adoptan los músculos (Carballo et al. 2005, citado por Feed, 2010).EEA Santa CruzFil: Santana, Jorge Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz. Agencia de Extensión Rural Río Gallegos; Argentina.Fil: Milicevic, Francisco. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz. Agencia de Extensión Rural Río Gallegos; Argentina.Fil: Pena, Sergio Osvaldo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina

A privacy-aware crowd management system for smart cities and smart buildings

Cities are growing at a dizzying pace and they require improved methods to manage crowded areas. Crowd management stands for the decisions and actions taken to supervise and control densely populated spaces and it involves multiple challenges, from recognition and assessment to application of actions tailored to the current situation. To that end, Wi-Fi-based monitoring systems have emerged as a cost-effective solution for the former one. The key challenge that they impose is the requirement to handle large datasets and provide results in near real-time basis. However, traditional big data and event processing approaches have important shortcomings while dealing with crowd management information. In this paper, we describe a novel system architecture for real-time crowd recognition for smart cities and smart buildings that can be easily replicated. The described system proposes a privacy-aware platform that enables the application of artificial intelligence mechanisms to assess crowds' behavior in buildings employing sensed Wi-Fi traces. Furthermore, the present paper shows the implementation of the system in two buildings, an airport and a market, as well as the results of applying a set of classification algorithms to provide crowd management information.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Government (MINECO) by means of the Project Future Internet Enabled Resilient CitiEs (FIERCE) under Grant RTI2018-093475-A-I00, and in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme through the European project Federated CPS Digital Innovation Hubs for the Smart Anything Everywhere Initiative (FED4SAE) under Grant 761708

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the small intestine. Case report and bibliography review

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor is an infrequent disease originated from the digestive tract nerve cells responsible for activating the contractions that propel alimentary content from the mouth to the anus. It represents less than 3% of digestive tumors, 25% of them appear in the small intestine. The most frequent symptom is pain or abdominal discomfort. Ultrasound and computed tomography with contrast are the most means used for diagnosis. It is usually diagnosed in patients older than 50 years. The treatment of choice is surgery and this will depend on the tumor clinical evolution. Because it is rare, it is presented a case of a 41-year-old patient of rural origin, with a history of apparent health, operated on for a stromal tumor of the small intestine. Immunohistochemical tests confirmed the diagnosis

Traveling with an invader: ectoparasitic mites of Hemidactylus frenatus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) in Colombia

Information about natural history of invasive species (such as parasitism) is a relevant issue in order to consider potential threats to native fauna. In this work we report two pterygosomatid mites for the first time in Colombia, Geckobia bataviensis and G. keegani, parasites of the invasive house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus. Although it has not been demonstrated that these mites may infest native gecko lizards, our study highlights the need to explore the prevalence of internal and external parasites in native and invasive geckos, to better evaluate the potential impact of invasive Hemidactylus lizards in Colombia.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Smart city services over a future Internet platform based on Internet of Things and cloud: the smart parking case

Enhancing the effectiveness of city services and assisting on a more sustainable development of cities are two of the crucial drivers of the smart city concept. This paper portrays a field trial that leverages an internet of things (IoT) platform intended for bringing value to existing and future smart city infrastructures. The paper highlights how IoT creates the basis permitting integration of current vertical city services into an all-encompassing system, which opens new horizons for the progress of the effectiveness and sustainability of our cities. Additionally, the paper describes a field trial on provisioning of real time data about available parking places both indoor and outdoor. The trial has been carried out at Santander’s (Spain) downtown area. The trial takes advantage of both available open data sets as well as of a large-scale IoT infrastructure. The trial is a showcase on how added-value services can be created on top of the proposed architecture.This work has been partially funded by the research project SmartSantander, under FP7-ICT-2009-5 of the 7th Framework Programme of the European Community. This work has been supported by the Spanish government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER) by means of the project ADVICE “Dynamic provisioning of connectivity in high density 5G wireless scenarios” (TEC2015-71329-C2-1-R)