Analysis of the space debris problem: tracking, control and removal

The amount of space debris currently orbiting the Earth poses a risk to all spacecraft, and is a particular concern for vehicles with humans on board suchas the International Space Station, space shuttles and other manned spacecraft. ESA estimates that there are currently more than 26000 objects in space, of which only 2800 have any function. However, despite technological evolutions and scientific advances, there is still no definitive method to solve the space debris problem by capturing end-of-life satellites still in orbit around the Earth. The activities that have been carried out so far and will be analysed in this project are divided into monitoring, mitigation and disposal. The intention of this work is to expose the importance of knowing and analysing our space past and then to move on to the understanding of why it is so important to eradicate space debris by studying some possible theoretical solutions proposed during the last decades that focus on reduction and eliminatio

Bearing assessment tool for longitudinal bridge performance

This work provides an unsupervised learning approach based on a single-valued performance indicator to monitor the global behavior of critical components in a viaduct, such as bearings. We propose an outlier detection method for longitudinal displacements to assess the behavior of a singular asymmetric prestressed concrete structure with a 120 m high central pier acting as a fixed point. We first show that the available long-term horizontal displacement measurements recorded during the undamaged state exhibit strong correlations at the different locations of the bearings. Thus, we combine measurements from four sensors to design a robust performance indicator that is only weakly affected by temperature variations after the application of principal component analysis. We validate the method and show its efficiency against false positives and negatives using several metrics: accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score. Due to its unsupervised learning scope, the proposed technique is intended to serve as a real-time supervision tool that complements maintenance inspections. It aims to provide support for the prioritization and postponement of maintenance actions in bridge management.Authors would like to acknowledge the discussions with Marcos Pantaleón from APIA XXI, Ambher Monitoring Systems and Banobras S.N.C. This work has received funding from the European’s Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the grant agreement No 690660 (RAGTIME Project) and No 769373 (FORESEE Project). This paper refects only the author’s views. The European Commission and INEA are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. David Pardo has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 777778 (MATHROCKS), the European POCTEFA 2014-2020 Project PIXIL (EFA362/19) by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg V-A Spain-France-Andorra program, the Project of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation with reference PID2019-108111RBI00 (FEDER/AEI), the BCAM “Severo Ochoa” accreditation of excellence (SEV-2017-0718), and the Basque Government through the BERC 2018-2021 program, the two Elkartek projects 3KIA (KK2020/00049) and MATHEO (KK-2019-00085), the grant "Artifcial Intelligence in BCAM number EXP. 2019/00432", and the Consolidated Research Group MATHMODE (IT1294-19) given by the Department of Education

Mapping the sustainable development goals into the EDINSOST sustainability map of bachelor engineering degrees

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, 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 component of this work in other works.This Research to Practice Work in Progress paper presents the work conducted on the use of the Sustainability Map of Bachelor Engineering Degrees (a tool developed by the EDINSOST project) to analyze how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are developed in each Degree. Over recent years, there has been a growth in the importance of working sustainability based on the SDGs. To identify which learning objective of each SDG corresponds to each learning outcome of the EDINSOST Sustainability Map, a correspondence matrix has been defined. The matrix contains the learning outcomes of the EDINSOST Sustainability Map in its rows, and the 17 SDGs in the columns. The cells of the matrix contain the learning objectives of the SDGs that correspond to each learning outcome of the EDINSOST Sustainability Map. This work in progress presents the first results of the process of mapping the SDGs into the EDINSOST Sustainability Map of Engineering Bachelor Degrees. Early results show that some of the 169 learning objectives are not applicable to Engineering Degrees. Likewise, we have seen that learning objectives have been defined more for policy makers than for engineers, and therefore adaptation is not an easy task. However, the work done has helped us to verify that the EDINSOST Sustainability Map can help in the introduction of the SDGs into the curriculum.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A learning tool to develop sustainable projects

This paper presents a tool developed to help engineers to design and develop sustainable projects. The tool has been designed to introduce and evaluate the sustainability of engineering projects in general, but here we show its application to assess the final project of an engineering degree. This tool is a guide for students to introduce and estimate the sustainability of their projects, but it also helps teachers to assess them. The tool is based on the Socratic Methodology and consists of a matrix where each cell contains several questions that students must consider during the project development and which they must answer in their project report. A positive or negative mark is assigned to every cell, and the sum of all marks states the project sustainability. However, the result is not as simplistic as a final number, but a descriptive sustainability analysis where questions are answered and every mark justified. A pilot test with some students has obtained good results, but the first Final Degree Project using this methodology will be read in July 2016.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

3,4-Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine induces in vivo regional up-regulation of central nicotinic receptors in rats and potentiates the regulatory effects of nicotine on these receptors

Nicotine (NIC), the main psychostimulant compound of smoked tobacco, exerts its effects through activation of central nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), which become up-regulated after chronic administration. Recent work has demonstrated that the recreational drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has affinity for nAChR and also induces up-regulation of nAChR in PC 12 cells. Tobacco and MDMA are often consumed together. In the present work we studied the in vivo effect of a classic chronic dosing schedule of MDMA in rats, alone or combined with a chronic schedule of NIC, on the density of nAChR and on serotonin reuptake transporters. MDMA induced significant decreases in [3H]paroxetine binding in the cortex and hippocampus measured 24 h after the last dose and these decreases were not modified by the association with NIC. In the prefrontal cortex, NIC and MDMA each induced significant increases in [3H]epibatidine binding (29.5 and 34.6%, respectively) with respect to saline-treated rats, and these increases were significantly potentiated (up to 72.1%) when the two drugs were associated. Also in this area, [3H]methyllycaconitine binding was increased a 42.1% with NIC + MDMA but not when they were given alone. In the hippocampus, MDMA potentiated the a7 regulatory effects of NIC (raising a 25.5% increase to 52.5%) but alone was devoid of effect. MDMA had no effect on heteromeric nAChR in striatum and a coronal section of the midbrain containing superior colliculi, geniculate nuclei, substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Specific immunoprecipitation of solubilised receptors suggests that the up-regulated heteromeric nAChRs contain a4 and b2 subunits. Western blots with specific a4 and a7 antibodies showed no significant differences between the groups, indicating that, as reported for nicotine, up-regulation caused by MDMA is due to post-translational events rather than increased receptor synthesis

A methodology to introduce sustainability into the Final Year Project to foster sustainable engineering projects

The introduction of sustainability skills into higher education curricula is a natural effect of the increasing importance of sustainability in our daily lives. Topics like green computing, sustainable design or environmental engineering have become part of the knowledge required by today’s engineers. Furthermore, we strongly believe that the introduction of this skill will eventually enable future engineers to develop sustainable products, services and projects. The Final Year Project is the last academic stage facing students and a step towards their future professional engineering projects. As such, it constitutes a rehearsal for their professional future and an ideal opportunity for reflecting on whether their Final Year Project is sustainable or not, and to what extent. It also provides a good tool for reviewing the lessons learned about sustainability during the degree course and for applying them in a holistic and integrated way. In this paper, we present a guide that allows both students and advisors to think carefully about the sustainability of engineering projects, in particular the Final Year Project.Postprint (author’s final draft

Locomotor activating effects and addiction-like features of MDPV as assessed in preclinical studies: a review.

Introducción: La 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (mdpv) es un componente de las denominadas sales de baño, aparecidas en el mercado a final de la década del 2000 debido a la falta de precursores de síntesis de mdma, y su uso va en aumento. El ob- jetivo de este trabajo es clarificar sus características farmacológicas y potencialidades adictivas. Método: Mediante búsquedas en PubMed, 21 estudios relacionados con la química, farmacología o potencial adictivo del mdpv fueron seleccionados. Resulta- dos: El mdpv muestra ser capaz de inducir una potente hiperlocomoción, preferencias condicionadas, sensibilización conductual, autoadministración y altos puntos de corte en pruebas de razón progresiva. Conclusión: Los estudios revisados apuntan a que el mdpv es un potente psicoestimulante con un potencial adictivo similar al de la cocaí- na o la metanfetamina. Su abuso continuado podría llevar a una epidemia de adictos al mdpv.Introduction: 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (mdpv) is a major component of the new psychoactive substances termed “bath salts”. These substances appeared on the drug market at the end of the last century given the lack of mdma precursors, caused by its worldwide prosecution by governments and police agencies, and its growing use. The goal of this work was to clarify its pharmacological features and addiction-like potentiali- ties. Methods: By PubMed searches, 21 studies related to mdpv chemistry, pharmaco logy or addictive features were selected. Results: mdpv is seen to be able to induce potent hyperlocomotion, conditioned place preference, behavioural sensitisation, self- administration and high breakpoints in progressive ratio schedules. Conclusion: The reviewed studies indicate that mdpv is a powerful psychostimulant with a similar addictive potential to that of cocaine or methamphetamine. Its abuse can lead to an epidemic of mdpv addicts

Sistema de Comunicación Oral para Personas Sordas

Este artículo describe el desarrollo y la evaluación de un sistema de comunicación para personas sordas en un ámbito de aplicación específico: la renovación del permiso de conducir. El sistema de comunicación desarrollado está compuesto por dos módulos que permiten la comunicación en los dos sentidos. El primer módulo es un traductor de voz en castellano a Lengua de Signos Española (LSE) y está formado por un reconocedor de voz, un traductor de palabras en castellano a una secuencia de signos y un tercer módulo de representación de los signos mediante un agente animado. El segundo módulo es un generador de voz en castellano a partir de una secuencia de signos, y está formado por una interfaz donde se especifican los signos, un traductor (para convertir la secuencia de signos en una secuencia de palabras) y un conversor de texto a voz. En los dos módulos de traducción entre lenguas, se integran tres tecnologías: una basada en ejemplos, una basada en reglas y un traductor estadístico. Este artículo describe la evaluación del sistema llevada a cabo en la Jefatura Provincial de Tráfico de Toledo implicando a funcionarios de dicha jefatura y personas sordas

Language Resources for Spanish - Spanish Sign Language (LSE) translation

This paper describes the development of a Spanish Spanish Sign Language (LSE) translation system. Firstly, it describes the first Spanish Spanish Sign Language (LSE) parallel corpus focused on two specific domains: the renewal of the Identity Document and Driver’s License. This corpus includes more than 4,000 Spanish sentences (in these domains), their LSE translation and a video for each LSE sentence with the sign language representation. This corpus also contains more than 700 sign descriptions in several sign writing specifications. The translation system developed with this corpus consists of two modules: a Spanish into LSE translation module that is composed of a speech recognizer (for decoding the spoken utterance into a word sequence), a natural language translator (for converting a word sequence into a sequence of signs) and a 3D avatar animation module (for playing back the signs). The second module is a Spanish generator from LSE made up of a visual interface (for specifying a sequence of signs in sign writing), a language translator (for generating the sequence of words in Spanish) and a text to speech converter. For each language translation, the system uses three technologies: an example based strategy, a rule based translation method and a statistical translator

El desarrollo de la competencia Sostenibilidad y Compromiso Social en la Facultat d’Informàtica de Barcelona

En este artículo se presenta una propuesta para desarrollar la competencia “Sostenibilidad y Compromiso Social” (SyCS) en estudios superiores de informática. La propuesta se basa en proporcionar al profesorado formación general en SyCS (y en particular en la relación entre ésta y la informática), material relacionado con SyCS para cada materia y métodos de evaluación de la competencia. Los autores defienden introducir esta competencia en una gran mayoría de las asignaturas, frente a otras propuestas que defienden asignaturas específicas dentro del plan de estudios. Se propone también la existencia de un mecanismo global de coordinación y evaluación de la competencia. Finalmente, se detalla la introducción de SyCS en el Grado en Ingeniería Informática de la Facultat d’Informàtica de Barcelona (FIB) y se muestran algunos ejemplos de cómo tratar SyCS en las asignaturas.Este trabajo ha sido realizado con el apoyo del programa STEP 2015 de la UPC, y de la Facultat d’Informàtica de Barcelona