CAD of Stacked Patch Antennas Through Multipurpose Admittance Matrices From FEM and Neural Networks

In this work, a novel computer-aided design methodology for probe-fed, cavity-backed, stacked microstrip patch antennas is proposed. The methodology incorporates the rigor of a numerical technique, such as finite element methods, which, in turn, makes use of a newly developed procedure (multipurpose admittance matrices) to carry out a full-wave analysis in a given structure in spite of certain physical shapes and dimensions not yet being established. With the aid of this technique, we form a training set for a neural network, whose output is the desired response of the antenna according to the value of design parameters. Last, taking advantage of this neural network, we perform a global optimization through a genetic algorithm or simulated annealing to obtain a final design. The proposed methodology is validated through a real design whose numerical results are compared with measurements with good agreement

Biochemical and cytological studies of genetic transfer from the Mv genome of Aegilops ventricosa into hexaploid wheat

A double interspecific oross {Triticum turgidum (AB) var. rubroatrum H-l-1 x Ae. ventvicosa (DM°) AP-l} x T.aestivum (ABD) cv. Almatense H-10-1S was carried out in 1950 by M. Alonso Peña (Cuenca, Spain) and 70 Unes were devived from it by vepeated selfing (Unes H-93-1 thvough 70). Pveliminavy biochemical evidence indicated genetic tvansfev fvom the M° genome of Ae.ventvicosa into some of these Unes. A more detailed biochemical and cytological characteriza tion of the H-93- Unes was undertaken. A progress report of these studies is presented here. Fourten biochemical systems, each representing a set of up to 4 homoeologous loci, weve investigated in the vavental material, in the H-93- Unes, and in Ae. squavrosa (DD), Ae. comosa (MM) and Ae. uniaristata (M^-M11). Biochemical markers controlled by the A or B genomes of one or both wheat parents weve distributed in the H-93- Unes as expected if the egcells fvom the self-stevile ABDM0 hybvid, rescued by the ABD polen, cavvied the complete A and B genomes from T. tuvgidum. The distvibution of biochemical mavkevs contvolled by the D genomes of one ov both D genome parents indicated that most of the eggcells from the ABDM0 hybrid carvied most of the D genome, i.e. 3 out of 8 markers of the former tupe were absent in a few Unes each, ind.icating incomplete homology between the two D genomes, non-homologous transfer or deletion. Biochemical characters present in Ae. ventricosa (DM°), Ae. comosa (M), Ae. uniaristata (M11) and absent in T. aestivum (ABD), Ae. squarrosa (D) and T. tuvgidum (AB) were selected as M° genome markers. Two of these markers were not transmited to the H-93- Unes, three were tvansmitted with low fvequency and one with a high fvequency. Resistance to Erisiphe graminis was determined by Dosba and Doussinault at Rennes and was found to be transmitted with low fvequency. Somatic chromosome numbers of the H-93- Unes were counted and all weve found to be hexaploid. Meiosis was studied in Unes cavvying M° genome mavkevs and in their hybrids with the T. aestivum parent, to determine the máximum numbev of alien chvornosornespvesent in each Une. The joint considevation of the biochemical and the cytological evidence se^me to indícate that the genetic tvansfev has taken place by chvomosome substitution and by vecombination

Estudio sobre dos técnicas de pulsación en la guitarra clásica mediante registro EMG de superficie

A lo largo de mi experiencia como guitarrista siempre me ha llamado enormemente la atención las grandes diferencias que existen entre las enseñanzas de un maestro y otro, con respecto a la pulsación del instrumento y, por consiguiente, a la obtención de un sonido guitarrístico de calidad. Básicamente y debido a esta desigualdad de opiniones o métodos, fue como nació mi curiosidad de obtener respuestas acerca de la calidad del sonido y de las diferentes formas de ataque de las cuerdas con la mano derecha, inherentes a aquél. Así, nos encontramos con dos modos de pulsar: apoyando, lo que significa que cuando el dedo pulsa una cuerda, éste se posa en la cuerda contigua y, tirando, lo que requiere que cuando el dedo pulsa una cuerda, éste no se apoya en ningún sitio, sino que se flexiona sobre sí mismo. Uno de los objetivos fundamentales durante el camino hacia un nivel profesional es conocer, desarrollar y, por último, perfeccionar las funciones motrices que intervienen en la ejecución guitarrística. Por lo tanto, las diversas formas de ataque de la mano derecha, para conseguir progresivamente una independencia de los dedos y una calidad sonora adecuada, forman parte del conjunto de elementos básicos asociados a la ejecución instrumental (Russell, 1993). De esta manera, fue cómo surgieron, a través de mis propias experiencias, las incógnitas que me llevaron a profundizar en el conocimiento de estas dos técnicas de pulsación. Desarrollo teórico. En general, la técnica y la interpretación musicales tienen sus raíces en metodologías de formación regidas por la tradición sonora y una pedagogía, en general, limitada por las convenciones y los valores estéticos que se transmiten de maestros a discípulos (Visentin y Shan, 2011). Partiendo de este punto de vista es necesario señalar que los métodos de guitarra existentes, donde se expone el aprendizaje de la técnica, se apoyan normalmente en una serie de consejos prácticos usualmente aceptados por ajustarse al sentido común porque han sido propuestos por maestros de reconocido prestigio. Esto, añadido a los pocos estudios empíricos con respecto a la técnica guitarrística, abunda en la pertinencia de este trabajo para que, a partir de los resultados encontrados en el mismo, podamos aportar información objetiva acerca de la ejecución de dicho instrumento y sus características. Shan y Visentin (2012) señalan que la electromiografía de superficie (EMG) resulta una tecnología atractiva para los investigadores porque proporciona de una manera no invasiva datos sobre los procesos fisiológicos que hacen que los músculos produzcan el movimiento. De esta manera, se puede capturar la actividad muscular durante cualquier movimiento del cuerpo al medir las convulsiones liberadas por los músculos cuando se activan. En consecuencia, las mediciones se utilizan normalmente para comprender la respuesta de un proceso del organismo, para obtener el tiempo de control de diferentes acciones y para examinar con detalle la coordinación entre los grupos musculares. Mientras las aplicaciones con la tecnología EMG en los campos del control motor y del aprendizaje motor han sido ampliamente desarrollados para mejorar el rendimiento deportivo, en el campo del análisis de la técnica instrumental existen escasos estudios. Sin embargo, Visentin y Shan (2011) señalan que a través de los trabajos científicos que se están desarrollando en esta materia, los músicos se pueden beneficiar en el proceso del aprendizaje instrumental y en el desempeño de habilidades técnicas de forma más eficiente. El propósito de este estudio consistió en describir y analizar el patrón de ejecución experto de los dedos índice y medio de la mano derecha de dos maestros profesionales de la guitarra clásica, durante la interpretación de una partitura musical con dos técnicas de pulsación (apoyando y tirando), mediante registro EMG de superficie, a partir de un nivel de calidad sonora estable en ambas técnicas determinado por expertos. En este sentido, esta investigación proporciona soporte empírico para comprender y conocer los procesos de control motor subyacentes a la técnica instrumental de la guitarra clásica y facilita un proceso para seguir profundizando en la ejecución y en la técnica instrumental. Se realizaron dos estudios de caso con guitarristas profesionales, los cuales interpretaron una partitura del repertorio clásico original para este instrumento y las ejecuciones fueron recogidas por un equipo de registro electromiográfico, dos cámaras de video y un equipo de grabación de sonido, de tal manera que facilitaran el posterior análisis de los dedos implicados en el estudio, con objeto de sincronizar los datos EMG con cada una de las acciones de los dedos durante la interpretación de tres dificultades técnicas propias del instrumento (movimiento transversal de la mano derecha o cambios de cuerdas, desplazamiento longitudinal de la mano izquierda y ejecución de ligados técnicos ascendentes y descendentes ejecutados por la mano izquierda.. Conclusiones. Los resultados pusieron de manifiesto el alto grado de estabilidad y consistencia en el nivel de requerimiento muscular, demostrando el grado de control motor que poseen los guitarristas expertos. Es relevante señalar que cada uno de ellos presentó un patrón EMG de superficie diferente para cada una de las dificultades técnicas analizadas, dedos considerados (índice y medio) y sistemas de pulsación estudiados (apoyando y tirando), pero similar en ambas repeticiones de todos los pasajes musicales. Bibliografía consultada. Russell, D. (1993). La técnica clásica. En M. Stimpson (Ed.). La guitarra, una guía para estudiantes y profesores (pp. 181-197). Madrid: Ediciones Rialp. Visentin, P., & Shan, G. (2011). Applications of EMG Pertaining to Music Performance - A Review. Arts BioMechanics, 1(1), 15-32. Shan, G., & Visentin, P. (2012). EMG Applications in Studies of Arts. Applications of EMG in Clinical and Sports Medicine. En Dr. Catriona Steele (Ed.). ISBN: 978-953-307-798-7, In Tech. Consultado el 15 de septiembre de 2013 en http://www.intechopen.com/book/applications-of-emg-in-clinical-and-sports-medicine/emg-applications-in-studies-of-art

Resistance to eyespot (Pseudocercosporella herpotricoides) and distribution of biochemical markers in hexaploid lines derived from double cross (Triticum turgidum x Aegilops ventricosa) x T. aestivum

There are not good intraspecific sources of resistance to the eyespot disea se of wheat, aaused by Cercosporella herpotrichoides Fvon . The -ínterspecifia transfer of genes for resistanoe from Aegitops ventricosa into hexaploid wheat has been only partially achieved, because the degree of resistanoe attained is not as high as that of the donor. We report here on the transfer of resistanoe in a double oross (Triticum turgidum var. rubroatrwv H-1-1 x Ae.ventricosa AP-D x T.aestivum cv. Almatense H-10-15. The high level of resistanoe in a high proportion of the lines strongly suggests a simple genetic control for this oharacter (possibly by one major gene). The gene(s) responsible for resistanoe in the selected lines must be associa ted with the D genome of Aegilops ventricosa on the basis of a detailed study of the distribution of biochemioal markers in the H-93 lines. These results do not exelude that genes with similar effeets might be looated in the M° genome

Towards Understanding the Dark Patterns That Steal Our Attention

Contemporary digital services often adopt mechanisms, e.g., recommendations and infinite scrolling, that exploit users' psychological vulnerabilities to maximize time spent and daily visits. While these attention-capture dark patterns might contribute to technology overuse and problematic behaviors, they are relatively underexplored in the literature. In this paper, we first provide a definition of what are attention-capture dark patterns based on a review of recent works on digital wellbeing and dark patterns. Then, we describe a set 5 of attention-capture dark patterns extracted from a 1-week-long auto-ethnography during which we self-monitored our mobile and web interactions with Facebook and YouTube. Finally, we report on an initial study (N=7) that explores whether and how a widespread mechanism, i.e., social investment, influence usage and users' perception of the Facebook website. We discuss the implications that our work may have on the design of technologies that better align with users' digital wellbeing

Coping with Digital Wellbeing in a Multi-Device World

While Digital Self-Control Tools (DSCTs) mainly target smartphones, more effort should be put into evaluating multi-device ecosystems to enhance digital wellbeing as users typically use multiple devices at a time. In this paper, we first review more than 300 DSCTs by demonstrating that the majority of them implements a single-device conceptualization that poorly adapts to multi-device settings. Then, we report on the results from an interview and a sketching exercise (N=20) exploring how users make sense of their multi-device digital wellbeing. Findings show that digital wellbeing issues extend beyond smartphones, with the most problematic behaviors deriving from the simultaneous usage of different devices to perform uncorrelated tasks. While this suggests the need of DSCTs that can adapt to different and multiple devices, our work also highlights the importance of learning how to properly behave with technology, e.g., through educational courses, which may be more effective than any lock-out mechanism

Designing Technology That Promotes Users' Digital Wellbeing

Existing tools for digital self-control strongly rely on users' self-regulation strategies and capabilities. Recent work, however, highlights the importance of proactively assisting users in learning how to use technology through customizable and adaptable interventions

Towards Multi-Device Digital Self-Control Tools

Users can nowadays take advantage of Digital-Self Control Tools (DSCT) to self-regulate their usage of applications and websites by means of interventions like timers and lockout mechanisms. However, DSCTs mainly focus on the interaction between users and a single device at a time, while people typically use more than one device, and in a concurrent way. This motivates the need of exploring tools that can adapt to multi-device settings. We present FeelHabits, a DSCT that allows users to set up, through a novel approach, multi-device intentions, i.e., contextual time and launch limits for the simultaneous and/or alternating use of the PC and the smartphone. Stemming from the defined intentions, FeelHabits employs different levels of severity to warn the user about a reached limit on the currently used device. A preliminary study on 7 participants suggests that FeelHabits might be effective for reducing some multi-device behaviors, and opens the way for further research

Understanding, Discovering, and Mitigating Habitual Smartphone Use in Young Adults

People, especially young adults, often use their smartphones out of habit: They compulsively browse social networks, check emails, and play video-games with little or no awareness at all. While previous studies analyzed this phenomena qualitatively, e.g., by showing that users perceive it as meaningless and addictive, yet our understanding of how to discover smartphone habits and mitigate their disruptive effects is limited. Being able to automatically assess habitual smartphone use, in particular, might have different applications, e.g., to design better “digital wellbeing” solutions for mitigating meaningless habitual use. To close this gap, we first define a data analytic methodology based on clustering and association rules mining to automatically discover complex smartphone habits from mobile usage data. We assess the methodology over more than 130,000 phone usage sessions collected from users aged between 16 and 33, and we show evidence that smartphone habits of young adults can be characterized by various types of links between contextual situations and usage sessions, which are highly diversified and differently perceived across users. We then apply the proposed methodology in Socialize, a digital wellbeing app that (i) monitors habitual smartphone behaviors in real time and (ii) uses proactive notifications and just-in-time reminders to encourage users to avoid any identified smartphone habits they consider as meaningless. An in-the-wild study with 20 users (ages 19–31) demonstrates that Socialize can assist young adults in better controlling their smartphone usage with a significant reduction of their unwanted smartphone habits

A Debugging Approach for Trigger-Action Programming

Nowadays, end users can customize their technological devices and web applications by means of trigger-action rules, defined through End-User Development (EUD) tools. However, debugging capabilities are important missing features in these tools that limit their large-scale adoption. Problems in trigger-action rules, in fact, can lead to unpredictable behaviors and security issues, e.g., a door that is unexpectedly unlocked. In this paper, we present a novel debugging approach for trigger-action programming. The goal is to assists end users during the composition of trigger-action rules by: a) highlighting possible problems that the rules may generate, and b) allowing their step-by-step simulation. The approach, based on Semantic Web and Petri Nets, has been implemented in a EUD tool, and it has been preliminary evaluated in a user study with 6 participants. Results provide evidence that the tool is usable, and it helps users in understanding and identifying problems in trigger-action rules