European periphery crises, international financial markets, and democracy: moving towards a globalized neofeudalism?

This paper analyzes the origin and causes of the recent economic and financial crises, mainly for the countries located in the periphery of the European Union (EU), as well as their evolution and transformation into social, political, and institutional crises. After explaining the differential impact of the crises on EU member economies and critically analysing the unsuccessful orthodox neoclassical policies implemented by governments and international institutions to try to manage and resolve them, we propose some alternative economic policy measures for the EU. Furthermore, we analyze how the economic policies developed thus far not only are unable to resolve the current crisis pattern but also actually entail a risk to the present democratic models by transferring the legitimate control over governments from citizens and democratic parliaments to unelected, non-representative international financial markets.

A Validation of Minecraft

UID/HIS/04666/2019The use of world-simulation videogames for cultural heritage (CH) communication presents one of the greatest opportunities for engaging people with the safeguarding of cultural resources. However, not all simulation videogames have the capacity to transmit heritage values efficiently. This article reviews the use of serious and commercial videogames in CH to frame and properly identify characteristics for the selection and assessment of videogames in the context of cultural communication. Based on the analysis of the capacities of videogames to motivate, immerse and represent reality, the videogame Minecraft is identified as one of the optimal solutions to represent and promote engagement with the cultural built environment. As such, the authors assessed the capacity of the videogame Minecraft to be used as an efficient tool to communicate built heritage environments, considering identified criteria on immersion, motivation, and fidelity on simulation.publishersversionpublishe

Recidivism and neighborhood institutions: evidence from the rise of the evangelical church in Chile

Rehabilitating convicted criminals is challenging; indeed, an important share of them return to prison only a few years after their release. Thus, finding effective ways of encouraging crime desistance, particularly among young individuals, has become an important policy goal to reduce crime and incarceration rates. This paper provides causal evidence that the local institutions of the neighborhood that receives young individuals after prison matter. Specifically, we show that the opening of an Evangelical church reduces twelve-months re-incarceration rates among property crime offenders by more than 10 percentage points. This effect represents a drop of 16% in the probability of returning to prison for this group of individuals. We find smaller and less precise effects for more severe types of crime. We discuss two classes of mechanisms that could explain our results: religiosity and social support. We provide evidence that the social support provided by evangelical churches is an important driver of our findings. This suggests that non-religious local institutions could also play an important role in the rehabilitation of former inmates

Mechanical properties of treadmill surfaces compared to other overground sport surfaces

The mechanical properties of the surfaces used for exercising can affect sports performance and injury risk. However, the mechanical properties of treadmill surfaces remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the shock absorption (SA), vertical deformation (VD) and energy restitution (ER) of different treadmill models and to compare them with those of other sport surfaces. A total of 77 treadmills, 30 artificial turf pitches and 30 athletics tracks were assessed using an advanced artificial athlete device. Differences in the mechanical properties between the surfaces and treadmill models were evaluated using a repeated-measures ANOVA. The treadmills were found to exhibit the highest SA of all the surfaces (64.2 ± 2; p < 0.01; effect size (ES) = 0.96), while their VD (7.6 ± 1.3; p < 0.01; ES = 0.87) and ER (45 ± 11; p < 0.01; ES = 0.51) were between the VDs of the artificial turf and track. The SA (p < 0.01; ES = 0.69), VD (p < 0.01; ES = 0.90) and ER (p < 0.01; ES = 0.89) were also shown to differ between treadmill models. The differences between the treadmills commonly used in fitness centers were much lower than differences between the treadmills and track surfaces, but they were sometimes larger than the differences with artificial turf. The treadmills used in clinical practice and research were shown to exhibit widely varying mechanical properties. The results of this study demonstrate that the mechanical properties (SA, VD and ER) of treadmill surfaces differ significantly from those of overground sport surfaces such as artificial turf and athletics track surfaces but also asphalt or concrete. These different mechanical properties of treadmills may affect treadmill running performance, injury risk and the generalizability of research performed on treadmills to overground locomotion.Sin financiación3.275 JCR (2019) Q1, 15/64 Instruments & Instrumentation; Q2, 22/86 Chemistry, Analytical, 77/266 Engineering, Electrical & Electronic0.653 SJR (2019) Q1, 38/374 Instrumentation; Q2, 41/126 Analytical Chemistry, 107/683 Information Systems, 207/1409 Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 993/2754 Medicine (miscellaneous), 60/231 Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics; Q3, 239/456 BiochemistryNo data IDR 2019UE

Towards using Thermal Cameras in Birth Detection

In recent years, thermal imaging has been used in numerous applications due to its ability to capture and visualize the thermal radiation emitted by objects. Thermal cameras can be employed as non-invasive systems for detecting variations in temperatures while protecting privacy in case people are involved. Due to this, thermal imaging is especially suitable in surveillance and medical applications. However, the accuracy of commercial uncooled thermal cameras is usually too low to provide the user with a precise temperature value of a target object under real-world conditions. This paper aims to investigate the challenges of performing accurate temperature measurements when using thermal imaging during birth scenarios. Our results demonstrate that temperature estimates are susceptible to several factors when measuring in delivery room environments.acceptedVersio

Cooperative Learning vs. Projecto Based Learning a practical case

The Bologna Declaration and the implementation of the European Higher Education Area are promoting the use of active learning methodologies such as cooperative learning and project based learning. This study was motivated by the comparison of the results obtained after applying Cooperative Learning (CL) and Project Based Learning (PBL) to a subject of Computer Engineering. The fundamental hypothesis tested was whether the academic success achieved by the students of the first years was higher when CL was applied than in those cases to which PBL was applied. A practical case, by means of which the effectiveness of CL and PBL are compared, is presented in this work. This study has been carried out at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, where these mechanisms have been applied to the Operating Systems I subject from the Technical Engineering in Computer Systems degree (OSIS) and to the same subject from the Technical Engineering in Computer Management degree (OSIM). Both subjects have the same syllabus, are taught in the same year and semester and share also formative objectives. From this study we can conclude that students' academic performance (regarding the grades given) is greater with PBL than with CL. To be more specific, the difference is between 0.5 and 1 point for the individual tests. For the group tests, this difference is between 2.5 and 3 points. Therefore, this study refutes the fundamental hypothesis formulated at the beginning. Some of the possible interpretations of these results are referred to in this stud

Submandibular puncture with injection needle in mice: comparison between two different procedures

La punción del plexo venoso a nivel submandibular en ratones es una técnica aceptada para la obtención de volúmenes de sangre adecuados para análisis de rutina. Si bien se recomienda el uso de lancetas comerciales, en Argentina no están disponibles, por lo tanto pueden sustituirse por agujas de inyección. El objetivo de este trabajo fue comparar el uso de agujas 21G x 1? utilizando dos procedimientos de punción submandibular en ratones BALB/c de 8 semanas deedad: G1) con capuchón cortado a 10 mm (restringiendo la profundidad de la punción) y G2) sin capuchón para determinar: a) volumen de sangre obtenido, b) datos hematológicos y glucemia y c) daño tisular. El volumen de sangre obtenido por la punción submandibular con aguja sin capuchón fue significativamente mayor que el colectado con capuchón. Los valores hematológicos y la glucemia fueron normales para ambos procedimientos. No se observaron daños histológicos en ninguno de los procedimientos empleados. En conclusión, se recomienda el uso de aguja como procedimiento de refinamiento para la obtención de sangre submandibular dado que es económico, práctico, permite obtener un volumen sanguíneo moderado sin provocar daño tisular y asegura la recuperación de los animales.The puncture of the venous plexus in the submandibular region in mice is an accepted technique to obtain blood volumes suitable for routine clinical analysis. Although the use of commercial lancets is recommended, in Argentina they are not available and they could be replaced by injection needles. The aim of this study was to compare the use of 21G x 1" needles using two different submandibular puncture procedures in 8-week-old BALB/c mice: G1) with cap cut to 10 mm (restricting the depth of the puncture) and, G2) without cap to determine: a) blood volume obtained, b) hematological data and glycaemia and c) tissue damage. The blood volume obtained by submandibular needle puncture without cap was significantly higher than the one collected with cap. Hematological values and glycaemia were normal for both procedures. No histological damage was observed in any of the procedures used. In conclusion, it is recommended the use of needle without cap as a refining procedure to collect submandibular blood since it is cheapest, practical, allows to obtain moderate volumes no causing tissue damage and ensuring the animal recovery.Fil: Fernandez, Vanesa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Dominguez, Maria Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Jorge P.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Sanidad Animal y Medicina Preventiva. Laboratorio de Inmunoquímica y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Estein, Silvia Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; Argentin