Between the Profiles Pay Per View and the Protection of Personal Data: the Product is You

Perhaps in the past was difficult to imagine that the moment in which someone could register each purchase that has been made, each book that has been read or each thing that has been said would come. That there would be companies storing data about our physical activity, behaviors, preferences and choices all the time. Most of the personal data comes from acts as daily as installing an application, completing a form, purchasing a product or requesting a service. This information provided sometimes consciously, voluntarily and with relative knowledge of the destination that will have, contrasts with situations in which data are inferred, deduced, extracted and manipulated.  In this sense, within a context in which the only access to the database has been left behind to give way to the creation of these by third parties, we wonder about the possible denaturation of the personal data and sensitive information that when get transformed in raw material through the analysis of existent connections and extraction of new data implicit in the multitude of information compiled in public or private databases, would convert  people into an essential product for the market; while the development of citizen profiles pay per view would allow predicting behaviors, selections and multiple deployments in different aspects of our lives. It is probable that in the defenselessness condition where we are now for having passed from personal space to social one and from there to the market many times without our knowledge and consent makes necessary to reconsider the current forms of protection and mechanisms of  legal protection around our personal data

Datafication genealogies beyond algorithmic fairness: making up racialised subjects

A growing scholarship has discussed how datafication is grounded on algorithmic discrimination. However, these debates only marginally address how racialised classification or race categories are enforced through quantification and neglect its political and historical conceptualisation. In this work, we argue that literature partially fails to show that datafication reinforces racial profiling beyond the creation of racial categories as features. This article casts a new light on datafication by retracing its genealogy focusing on identification procedures in the colony and at the border. Such a genealogy foregrounds how datafication enforces racialised profiles by showing that it is part of a longer historical trajectory of modes of racialising individuals beyond algorithms and racial categories. Building on archival material, it develops this argument through two case studies. First, it focuses on the study of datafication of colonised bodies through biometrics by Francis Galton during the 19th-century. Second, it takes into account police identification procedures about unauthorised migrants, enforced by the French police at the Italian border in the 20th-century. These two cases show that although race categories as variables have been historically used to translate individuals into data, datafication processes as such also produce racialised profiles. A genealogical approach highlights continuities as well as quantitative and qualitative shifts between analogue and digital datafication. The article concludes arguing that datafication mechanisms have historically enforced legal and political measures by states in the name of science and objectivity and debates around algorithmic fairness should bring this key aspect back to the core of their critiques

How fair can we go in machine learning? Assessing the boundaries of fairness in decision trees

Fair machine learning works have been focusing on the development of equitable algorithms that address discrimination of certain groups. Yet, many of these fairness-aware approaches aim to obtain a unique solution to the problem, which leads to a poor understanding of the statistical limits of bias mitigation interventions. We present the first methodology that allows to explore those limits within a multi-objective framework that seeks to optimize any measure of accuracy and fairness and provides a Pareto front with the best feasible solutions. In this work, we focus our study on decision tree classifiers since they are widely accepted in machine learning, are easy to interpret and can deal with non-numerical information naturally. We conclude experimentally that our method can optimize decision tree models by being fairer with a small cost of the classification error. We believe that our contribution will help stakeholders of sociotechnical systems to assess how far they can go being fair and accurate, thus serving in the support of enhanced decision making where machine learning is used

Intervenciones de enfermería y aplicación de los cuidados durante la atención del parto de bajo riesgo según normas y protocolo en el C/S Tomas Borge Martínez de Ciudad Sebaco Departamento de Matagalpa, II semestre 2016

Las intervenciones de enfermería tienen inmersos todos los cuidados independientes para cumplir el objetivo de llegar de forma satisfactoria a las pacientes, el propósito de la investigación es analizar las intervenciones de enfermería según normativa y aplicación de cuidados durante la atención del parto de bajo riesgo en el centro de salud Tomas Borge Martínez de Ciudad Sébaco, Matagalpa II semestre 2016, es de importancia porque se obtiene conocimiento acerca de la eficacia y eficiencia de las intervenciones aplicadas en los cuidados con las pacientes en estudio, logra involucrar al personal de salud y estudiantes en el manejo de los cuidados de enfermería aplicando correctamente las normas y protocolos de bajo riesgo, donde las principales conclusiones fueron: a). Se documentaron las intervenciones de enfermería durante la atención del parto de bajo riesgo en la Normativa 011 (2015), en la normativa 042 (2009) en Schwartz (2008- 2010) por cada periodo del parto. b) Se compararon las intervenciones de enfermería en los tres periodos del parto con el cuidado aplicado durante la atención en las pacientes en estudio las cuales en su mayoría se realizaron de forma incorrecta. c) Se evaluaron las intervenciones aplicadas en el cuidado a las pacientes en estudio y dieron como resultado insatisfactorio. Palabras claves: Parto, Cuidados, Intervenciones de enfermería, satisfactorio, insatisfactorio, parto de bajo riesg

Manganese and zinc in acidic agricultural soils from Central Spain: Distribution and phytoavailability prediction with chemical extraction tests

The extractability and distribution of manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) were evaluated in acidic agricultural soils from Central Spain. Both single (0.1 M hydrochloride [HCl] and 0.05 M ethylenediaminetetraacetate [EDTA]) and sequential extraction procedures (SEP) (modified Tessier procedure and Community Bureau of Reference [BCR] protocol) were applied to 29 representative soils that belong to the Alfisol, Inceptisol, and Entisol orders. Average relative Mn extractabilities with respect to the total content (16.6% for HCl and 31.9% for EDTA) were higher than those of Zn (7.7% for HCl and 6.5% for EDTA). Manganese was mainly released in the oxide-bound phase of both SEP (33.1% for modified Tessier and 48.9% for BCR), whereas Zn was predominantly found in the residual fraction (49.1% for modified Tessier and 31.4% for BCR). Significant correlations were only found between the amounts of extractable Zn and the oxide-bound fraction in both SEP. Few relationships were established between Zn fractions extracted by the BCR procedure and those obtained with the Tessier method. Both metal concentrations in spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L., cv Beka) grown in 11 selected soils and the calculated soil/plant transfer coefficients (soil/plant concentration factor (CF), mean values of 31.2 for Mn and 196 for Zn) were poorly (or not at all) correlated with the different extracted soil fractions (single and sequential). A number of empirical equations have been obtained by regression analyses to predict the Mn and Zn uptake by barley, with soil metal forms and some soil characteristics as components (pH for Mn and organic matter for Zn). Values of R2 in the equations were relatively low (<68%). Single-extraction techniques produced worse results than SEP for the evaluation of Mn phytoavailability. The modified Tessier procedure provided better predictions of Zn uptake by plants than BCR, but not better than those obtained with the HCl extraction method

Measures to reduce school failure from school and classroom on the stage of secondary education

El fracaso escolar es una problemática de dimensión internacional que afecta a todos los sistemas educativos y que en España sigue siendo una preocupación vigente. Para estudiarlo nos planteamos la siguiente finalidad: descubrir y analizar situaciones de fracaso escolar vividas por diferentes agentes, a fin de comprenderlas y averiguar la posible responsabilidad de la propia escuela y el docente para, apoyándonos en lo aprendido de la experiencia, derivar acciones de mejora. En este trabajo nos centraremos en presentar la segunda parte de la finalidad descrita. Se ha desarrollado mediante una metodología cualitativa de corte fenomenológico. Los sujetos participantes están constituidos por: profesorado en activo, profesores jubilados, estudiantes que viven fracaso escolar y sujetos integrados en el mundo laboral que experimentaron situaciones de fracaso escolar. El instrumento utilizado para la recogida de información ha sido la “entrevista semiestruturada en profundidad. Los resultados se han obtenido a partir de “análisis de contenido” y, con ayuda del programa cualitativo Nvivo 11 Plus, presentamos una serie de medidas y recomendaciones útiles para la escuela y el docente en la reducción del fracaso escolarSchool failure is an issue of international scope which affects all education systems, it is a current concern still unsolved in Spain. The following aim is addressed to tackle this matter: identification and analysis of the school failure circumstances lived by different individuals in order to understand and determine the possible liabilities of the school and teachers and follow actions for improvement based on experience. This research has been carried out following a qualitative phenomenological methodology. The inquired participants are: working teachers, retired teachers, students with school failure and active individuals that experienced school failure situations. Data has been gathered developing a “deep semistructured interview”. The results have been obtained from "content analysis" and, with the help of the qualitative program Nvivo 11 Plus, we present a series of measures and recommendations that are useful for the school and the teacher in reducing school failur

Level-of-service And Traffic Safety Relationship: An Exploratory Analysis Of Signalized Intersections And Multiland High-speed Arterial Corridors

Since its inception in 1965, the Level-of-Service (LOS) has proved to be an important and practical quality of service indicator for transportation facilities around the world, widely used in the transportation and planning fields. The LOS rates these facilities\u27 traffic operating conditions through the following delay-based indicators (ordered from best to worst conditions): A, B, C, D, E and F. This LOS rating has its foundation on quantifiable measures of effectiveness (MOEs) and on road users\u27 perceptions; altogether, these measures define a LOS based on acceptable traffic operating conditions for the road user, implying that traffic safety is inherent to this definition. However, since 1994 safety has been excluded from the LOS definition since it cannot be quantified nor explicitly defined. The latter has been the motivation for research based on the LOS-Safety relationship, conducted at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Using data from two of the most studied transportation facility types within the field of traffic safety, signalized intersections and multilane high-speed arterial corridors, the research conducted has the following main objectives: to incorporate the LOS as a parameter in several traffic safety models, to extend the methodology adopted in previous studies to the subject matter, and to provide a platform for future transportation-related research on the LOS-Safety relationship. A meticulous data collection and preparation process was performed for the two LOS-Safety studies comprising this research. Apart from signalized intersections\u27 and multilane-high speed arterial corridors\u27 data, the other required types of information corresponded to crashes and road features, both obtained from FDOT\u27s respective databases. In addition, the Highway Capacity Software (HCS) and the ArcGIS software package were extensively used for the data preparation. The result was a representative and robust dataset for each LOS-Safety study, to be later tested and analyzed with appropriate statistical methods. Regarding the LOS-Safety study for signalized intersections, two statistical techniques were used. The Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs), the first technique, was used for the analyses considering all periods of a regular weekday (i.e. Monday through Friday): Early Morning, A.M. Peak, Midday, P.M. Peak and Late Evening; the second technique considered was the Negative Binomial, which was used for performing an individual analysis per period of the day. On the other hand, the LOS-Safety study for multilane high-speed arterial corridors made exclusive use of the Negative Binomial technique. An appropriate variable selection process was required for the respective model building and calibration procedures; the resulting models were built upon the six following response variables: total crashes, severe crashes, as well as rear-end, sideswipe, head-on and angle plus left-turn crashes. The final results proved to be meaningful for the understanding of traffic congestion effects on road safety, and on how they could be useful within the transportation planning scope. Overall, it was found that the risk for crash occurrence at signalized intersections and multilane high-speed arterial corridors is quite high between stable and unacceptable operating conditions; it was also found that this risk increases as it becomes later in the day. Among the significant factors within the signalized intersection-related models were LOS for the intersection as a whole, cycle length, lighting conditions, land use, traffic volume (major and minor roads), left-turn traffic volume (major road only), posted speed limit (major and minor roads), total number of through lanes (major and minor roads), overall total and total number of left-turn lanes (major road only), as well as county and period of the day (dummy variables). For multilane-high speed arterial corridors, the final models included LOS for the road section, average daily traffic (ADT), total number of through lanes in a single direction, total length of the road section, pavement surface type, as well as median and inside shoulder widths. A summary of the overall results per study, model implications and each LOS indicator is presented. Some of the final recommendations are to develop models for other crash types, to perform a LOS-Safety analysis at the approach-level for signalized intersections, as well as one that incorporates intersections within the arterial corridors\u27 framework

Guidance that we have, we want the guidance, in the university field

Con la implantación del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES), el alumnado se convierte en el referente del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, y el profesorado deja de ser un mero transmisor de conocimientos, para convertirse en mediador, facilitador o guía de dicho proceso. Los nuevos grados llevan consigo la implantación de Sistemas de Garantía de Calidad, y concebimos, pues, a la orientación educativa como parte integrante de planes estratégicos, que conduzcan a la mejora de la calidad en nuestro ámbito de trabajo, en la universidad. Creemos, pues, que es muy necesario que existan en este nivel educativo servicios de orientación, en cada universidad e, incluso, en cada facultad, que puedan contribuir a la mejora de los procesos de enseñanza- aprendizaje y no sólo relacionados con la orientación profesional. Ya que, como hemos indicado anteriormente, los consideramos de capital importancia en esta nueva concepción del EEES. El procedimiento que hemos seguido ha sido el análisis de lo que a día de hoy está implementado en la Universidad de Málaga, desde los servicios que hay creados, centrándonos en la realidad actual de la situación en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación y en el Centro adscrito de Magisterio “María Inmaculada” de Antequera. Y también comentaremos los servicios implementados en la Universidad de Granada, en concreto, referidos a la Facultad de Educación y Humanidades de Melilla. Del resultado de dicho análisis, concluiremos que la orientación que tenemos no es la que queremos, pero intentaremos ofrecer las pautas de cómo nos gustaría que fuera.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Assisting learning in e-assessment: A closer look at educational supports

his study analyses the educational support offered through information and communication technology during formative assessment in two different cases in higher education. We analysed one blended and one virtual case from two different universities. The study aimed at identifying specific patterns of educational support intended to foster two interaction processes: (1) the promotion of greater autonomy in the students and (2) the construction of more appropriate meanings by them. The analysis showed that these two processes were achieved with different attainment levels in each of the two study cases. Specific patterns of support mediated by technology were found underlying these different results. This led us to identify 'suitable' and 'undesirable' patterns of support in e-assessment practices