Playful interaction for learning collaboratively and individually

Playful interactions facilitate the development of engaging applications for different purposes. This aspect is very important for serious games, and especially when these games are for children. Another aspect to consider is the interaction among children, which could be a great reinforcement in learning environments. Children enjoy playing, and they like playing with other children. This relationship could encourage their motivation and their learning outcomes. In this paper, a playful interaction system for learning about a period of history is presented. The interaction of the system was achieved using natural gestures and the visuali-zation was autostereoscopic. A study was carried out to determine whether their learning outcomes were greater playing collabo-ratively or playing individually. Forty six children from 7 to 10 years old participated in the study. The analysis of the pre-tests and the post-tests indicate that the children increased their knowledge about historical periods after playing with the two modes. Therefore, the game could be used as an effective transmitter of knowledge both collaboratively and individually. When the post-knowledge scores for the two modes were compared, statistically significant differences were found in favor of the collaborative mode. Therefore, the collaborative mode facilitates learning to a greater extent than the individual mode. The rest of the questions indicated that the children had a lot of fun while playing the game; they found the game easy to play; they would recommend the game to their friends; and they scored the game as a mean of 9.57 over 10. Finally, we believe that the combination of playful interaction and autostereoscopy is an option that should be exploited not only for the development of computer-supported learning systems, but also for the development of systems for different purposesThis work was funded by the Spanish APRENDRA project (TIN2009-14319-C02-01).Martín San José, JF.; Juan Lizandra, MC.; Torres, E.; Vicent López, MJ. (2014). Playful interaction for learning collaboratively and individually. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments. 6(3):295-311. https://doi.org/10.3233/AIS-140257S2953116

Activación alcalina de metacaolín. Efecto de la adición de silicato soluble y de la temperatura de curado

El objetivo del presente trabajo es determinar el efecto que la cantidad de sílice soluble presente en la disolución activadora (relación molar SiO2/Na2O entre 0 y 0.69) y la temperatura de curado (85ºC, 150ºC y 200ºC) ejercen sobre las propiedades físico-mecánicas y las características mineralógicas y microestructurales de los productos formados por activación alcalina de metacaolín. Para ello se determinaron los valores de resistencia mecánica a compresión de los materiales objeto de estudio y se realizó un estudio mineralógico y microestructural de los mismos por DRX, SEM-EDX, 29Si RMN-MAS y porosimetría de mercurio. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la resistencia mecánica del material guarda una estrecha relación con la naturaleza, microestructura y composición química de los productos de reacción así como con las condiciones de curado. En todos los casos se genera, como principal producto de reacción, un polímero inorgánico alcalino con propiedades cementantes (gel N-A-S-H) responsable, en mayor medida, de las propiedades mecánicas del material. Como productos secundarios se forman algunas zeolitas cuya proporción y tipo (sodalita, zeolita A, faujasita, …) dependen tanto de la naturaleza del activador como de las condiciones de curado. La presencia de sílice soluble en la disolución activadora conduce a la formación de geles con una mayor relación Si/Al y a la ralentización de la zeolitización, factores, ambos, con un efecto positivo sobre la resistencia mecánica. Con respecto a la temperatura de curado, existe un valor umbral, en función de la composición del material, a partir del cual un incremento en dicha temperatura deja de tener efectos positivos sobre la evolución de la resistencia mecánicaThis study has been undertaken to determine the effect that the soluble silica content in the activating solution (molar ratio SiO2/Na2O between 0 and 0.69) and curing temperature (85ºC, 150ºC, and 200ºC) have on the physico-mechanical properties and mineralogical and microstructural characteristics of products formed by alkaline activation of metakaolin. The compression strength of the materials obtained was determined and a mineralogical and microstructural study of these materials was conducted by XRD, SEM-EDX, 29Si MAS-NMR, and mercury porosimetry. The results show that the mechanical strength of the material is closely related to the nature, microstructure, and chemical composition of the reaction products, as well as to the curing conditions. In all cases, the main reaction product that forms is an inorganic alkaline polymer with cementing properties (N-A-S-H gel), which is largely responsible for the mechanical properties of the material. Some zeolites form as by-products, whose quantity and type (sodalite, zeolite A, faujasite, etc.) depend on the nature of the activator and the curing conditions. The presence of soluble silica in the activating solution leads to the formation of gels with a larger Si/Al ratio and slower zeolitisation, these both being factors with a positive effect on mechanical strength. The curing temperature exhibits a threshold value that depends on the composition of the material, beyond which an increase in curing temperature ceases to positively affect the evolution of the material’s mechanical strengt

The Folded Normal Distribution: A New Model for the Small-Scale Fading in Line-of-Sight (LOS) Condition

(c) 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.[EN] In this paper, a novel form of the folded normal (FN) distribution has been proposed to model the small-scale fading in wireless communications. From a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) measurement campaign conducted in a lab environment with the line-of-sight (LOS) conditions at both the 60 and the 94 GHz bands, the authors obtain the parameters of the Rician, FN, and kappa-mu distributions. These parameters have been calculated by using the least square (LS) approximation and with techniques of statistical inference. The FN distribution provides the best fitting to the experimental results using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test for the inferred estimators with values of the ful llment of 100% and 69.82% at the 60 and 94 GHz bands, respectively, for a significance level of 1%.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under the national projects TEC2017-86779-C2-2-R and TEC2016-78028-C3-2-P, through the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).Reig, J.; Rodrigo Peñarrocha, VM.; Rubio Arjona, L.; Martínez-Inglés, MT.; Molina-García-Pardo, JM. (2019). The Folded Normal Distribution: A New Model for the Small-Scale Fading in Line-of-Sight (LOS) Condition. IEEE Access. 7:77328-77339. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2921340S7732877339

An Evaluation of the environmental factors for supply chain strategy decisions using grey systems and composite indicators

The purpose of this work is to assess the importance of environmental factors in a supply chain with four partners as a preliminary step to select the competitive strategies and objectives. To achieve this purpose, a real case study was carried out in a footwear supply chain, in which two approaches were used: the grey system theory and uncertainty analysis tools for composite indicators. In order to validate both approaches, a seven-phase research methodology was developed and applied to our case study. In addition, the priorization of environmental factors was calculated individually for each partner. The results allow managers to establish the competitive strategy that best suits the prioritization of the most relevant factors and to define the most appropriate objectives where the supply chain should invest its efforts and resources

Inteligencia emocional en alumnado de formación profesional : diferencias en función del curso, del género y de la edad

En nuestra sociedad, la inteligencia emocional (IE) posee un papel relevante a la hora de gestionar el ajuste personal. Debido a la variedad existente entre los estudiantes de formación profesional, interesaría comprobar diferencias en IE de alumnos pertenecientes a programas de cualificación profesional inicial (PCPI) y ciclos formativos (CF). Por todo ello, el objetivo de la presente investigación fue conocer la existencia de diferencias estadísticamente significativas en los niveles de IE de los alumnos en función del género (hombre o mujer), del grupo (PCPI y CF) y de la edad (15-17 años, 18-20 años y 21 años o más). Los participantes de este estudio fueron 201 alumnos españoles de la Comunidad Valenciana de PCPI y CF, y los datos se obtuvieron mediante los cuestionarios TMMS-24 y EQ-i-S. A su vez, se utilizó un método correlacional con diseño ex post facto retrospectivo comparativo para analizar los datos: un ANOVA (edad) y dos pruebas t (género y grupo). Los resultados obtenidos permitieron identificar diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la categoría interpersonal en función del curso y reparación en función del género. Por último, se encontraron diferencias en las categorías reparación y humor general en función de las edades.A la nostra societat, la intel·ligència emocional (IE) té un paper determinant a l'hora de gestionar l'ajust personal. En relació amb la varietat existent entre els estudiants de formació professional, interessaria comprovar diferències en IE d'alumnes dels programes de qualificació professional inicial (PQPI) i cicles formatius (CF). Per tant, l'objectiu d'aquesta investigació fou conèixer l'existència de diferències estadísticament significatives en els nivells d'IE dels alumnes en funció del gènere (home o dona), del grup (PQPI i CF) i l'edat (15-17 anys, 18-20 anys i 21 anys o més). Els participants d'aquest estudi foren 201 alumnes espanyols de la Comunitat Valenciana de PQPI i CF i les dades es van obtindre dels qüestionaris TMMS-24 i EQ-i-S. A més, es va utilitzar un mètode correlacional amb disseny ex post facto retrospectiu comparatiu per analitzar-ne les dades: un ANOVA (edat) i dos proves t (gènere i grup). Els resultats obtinguts permeten identificar diferències estadísticament significatives en la categoria interpersonal en funció del curs i en la categoria reparació en funció del gènere. Per últim, es van mostrar diferències en les categories reparació i humor general en funció de les edats.In today's society, emotional intelligence (EI) plays an important role in managing personal adjustment. Given the existing variety among students in vocational training, the aim of this research was to identify differences in the levels of EI of students from Initial Professional Qualification Programs (IPQP) and Upper-Level Training Cycles (ULTC) according to gender, group (IPQP and ULTC) and age (15-17, 18-20 and >21 years old). A total of 201 Spanish IPQP and ULTC students from the Community of Valencia participated in the study. The data was obtained from TMMS-24 and EQ-i-S questionnaires and analyzed using a correlational method and a comparative retrospective ex post facto design with ANOVA (age) and two t-tests (group and sex). The results helped to identify statistically significant differences in the interpersonal category according to groups and in the repair category according to gender. Finally, the sample revealed differences in the repair and humour categories depending on age

Production of potential land use maps using remote sensing data for landscape archaelogy research: protohistoric societies in the Guadiana Menor River Valley (Eastern Andalusia)

Trabajo presentado al VII Congreso Ibérico de Arqueometría (CIA): S4 "Prospección geofísica y teledetección", celebrado en Madrid del 8 al 10 de octubre de 2017.[ES]: Se presenta la elaboración, a partir de imagen Landsat e información geográfica auxiliar, de un mapa digital que muestre la distribución de los usos del suelo potenciales más adecuados para economías paleotécnicas. Dicho mapa está concebido para su utilización, mediante tecnología SIG, en análisis de arqueología del paisaje dirigidos al estudio de la ubicación de asentamientos pre y protohistóricos, como el análisis de captación económica. El procedimiento de elaboración consta de dos fases: elaboración de un mapa de cubiertas actuales a partir de la imagen de satélite y conversión de dicho mapa en otro de usos potenciales mediante la utilización de la información auxiliar. Dicho trabajo se enmarca en una investigación sobre la evolución de la sociedad protohistórica en el valle del Guadiana Menor (Andalucía oriental).[EN]: This paper presents the production, using Landsat image and ancillary geographic data, of a digital map that comprises the distribution of potential land uses that are more suitable for paleotechnic economies. This map is conceived to be used, through GIS technology, in landscape archaeology analyses devoted to the study of pre and protohistoric settlement location, like site catchment analysis. Production procedure has two stages: generating a map of current coverages using satellite images and transforming it into a potential land use map by means of ancillary data. This work belongs to the framework of an ongoing research about the evolution of protohistoric societies in the Guadiana Menor valley (eastern Andalusia).Peer reviewe

Inteligencia emocional en alumnado de formación profesional. Diferencias en función del curso, del género y de la edad

En nuestra sociedad, la inteligencia emocional (IE) posee un papel relevante a la hora de gestionar el ajuste personal. Debido a la variedad existente entre los estudiantes de formación profesional, interesaría comprobar diferencias en IE de alumnos pertenecientes a programas de cualificación profesional inicial (PCPI) y ciclos formativos (CF). Por todo ello, el objetivo de la presente investigación fue conocer la existencia de diferencias estadísticamente significativas en los niveles de IE de los alumnos en función del género (hombre o mujer), del grupo (PCPI y CF) y de la edad (15-17 años, 18-20 años y 21 años o más). Los participantes de este estudio fueron 201 alumnos españoles de la Comunidad Valenciana de PCPI y CF, y los datos se obtuvieron mediante los cuestionarios TMMS-24 y EQ-i-S. A su vez, se utilizó un método correlacional con diseño ex post facto retrospectivo comparativo para analizar los datos: un ANOVA (edad) y dos pruebas t (género y grupo). Los resultados obtenidos permitieron identificar diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la categoría interpersonal en función del curso y reparación en función del género. Por último, se encontraron diferencias en las categorías reparación y humor general en función de las edades

Millimeter Wave Channel Measurements in an Intra-Wagon Environment

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permissíon from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertisíng or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works."[EN] In this correspondence, useful measurement results of the propagation channel characteristics in an intra-wagon environment at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies are presented. The measurements were collected inside an underground convoy from 25 to 40 GHz in the frequency domain. A broadband radio over fiber (RoF) link was used in order to avoid the high losses introduced by cables at these frequencies, thus allowing long distances between the transmitter and receiver antennas. Values of the path loss exponent and delay spread are reported at the potential 26, 28 and 38 GHz bands to deploy the future fifth-generation (5G) systems. These results allow us to have a better knowledge of the path loss and time dispersion characteristics of the propagation channel in this particular environment, characterized by rich-scattering with long delays.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under the National Projects TEC2016-78028-C3-2-P and TEC2017-86779-C2-2-R, through the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo deDesarrollo Regional (FEDER). The review of this article was coordinated by Prof. J. F. Paris. The authors would like to thank the staff of FGV who have facilitated the realization of the measurements campaing, in particular J. Iserte Villalba and F. M. Brox López.Rubio Arjona, L.; Rodrigo Peñarrocha, VM.; Molina-García-Pardo, JM.; Juan Llacer, L.; Pascual Garcia, J.; Reig, J.; Sanchis Borrás, C. (2019). Millimeter Wave Channel Measurements in an Intra-Wagon Environment. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. 68(12):12427-12431. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVT.2019.2947205S1242712431681

Wireless channel analysis between 25 and 40 GHz in an intra-wagon environment for 5G using a ray-tracing tool

Metro and railway systems are one of the most used transportation systems for people in almost all countries. Nevertheless, the access to high throughput wireless services is still very limited inside the wagons (cars). A deep analysis of the wireless channel inside wagons is needed to deploy new efficient and high throughput networks as the ones provided by fifth-generation (5G) systems. Although several works have analyzed the intra-wagon channel, some limitations are usually present: only certain user equipment-access point situations were considered, the number of studied propagation mechanisms was limited, and only some channel parameters were extracted. For these reasons, in this work the wireless channel in an intra-wagon environment is thoroughly analyzed using simulations performed with a ray-tracing tool calibrated and validated with wideband measurements. Thanks to the accurate ray-tracing tool the main replicas are identified in different typical user equipment-access point positions; the contribution of each propagation mechanism to the total power is extracted; and the angular spread in azimuth and elevation for the direction of arrival and departure are obtained. This analysis is performed in the frequency range from 25 to 40 GHz, where spectrum for several 5G bands has been already allocated.This work was supported in part by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of the Spanish Government through the National Projects under Grant PID2019-107885GB-C33 and in part by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) under Grant PID2020-119173RB-C21

Millimeter Wave MISO-OFDM Transmissions in an Intra-Wagon Environment

[EN] In this paper, the maximum achievable throughput is analyzed in the intra-wagon channel when multiple-input single-output (MISO) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), MISO-OFDM, techniques are used. This analysis is performed from real wideband propagation channel measurements at 28 and 37 GHz, two potential frequency bands to deploy the future fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications networks. Four different scenarios in terms of the access point (AP) and user equipment (UE) positions inside the wagon have been considered, using 4 and 8 antennas at the AP. The performance of both quasi-orthogonal space-time block code (QSTBC), combined with Hadamard matrices, and transmit beamforming techniques is studied and evaluated from simulation results. The simulation results take into account the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the antenna correlation for each antenna array configuration at the AP. These results provide useful insight to better understand the intra-wagon channel properties and deploy the future 5G wireless networks in this particular scenario at mmWave frequencies, where high-data-rates are expected to support different types of digital applications.This work was supported in part by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad MINECO, Spain, under Grant TEC2016-78028C3-2-P and Grant TEC2017-86779-C2-2-R and in part by the European FEDER Funds.Sanchis Borrás, C.; Molina-García-Pardo, J.; Rubio Arjona, L.; Pascual-García, J.; Rodrigo Peñarrocha, VM.; Juan Llacer, L.; Reig, J. (2021). Millimeter Wave MISO-OFDM Transmissions in an Intra-Wagon Environment. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. 22(8):4899-4908. https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2020.2983028S4899490822