Comparative analysis of the transition from early childhood education to primary education: factors affecting continuity between stages

p. 411-454The educational transition between early childhood education and primary education is a complex moment of change with repercussions throughout the academic life of the students. For this reason, it is important to seek continuity between both educational stages. A successful transition produces for the social, cognitive and emotional well-being of the student. The aim of this study is to find out how transition-related factors apply in ten European Union (EU) countries. The factors analyzed are the age of onset of transition, the teacher-student ratio, types of clustering, financing of the stage, responsibility, and both initial and in-service teacher training. The methodology followed in this study is documentary analysis and the main source of data search has been the European Commission's Eurydice portal. The results show differences in stage change within each country, especially in the explicit consideration of a transition period. The main conclusion is that there is a great difference between the northern and southern countries. The main differences between countries in the transitions from early childhood education to primary education in the EU are in the years of compulsory education, the teacher/student/unit ratio, the initial teacher training, and the decentralization of education.S

Perceived Video Quality Estimation from Spatial and Temporal Information Contents and Network Performance Parameters in IPTV

The paper proposes a model for estimation of perceived video quality in IPTV, taking as input both video coding and network Quality of Service parameters. It includes some fitting parameters that depend mainly on the information contents of the video sequences. A method to derive them from the Spatial and Temporal Information contents of the sequences is proposed. The model may be used for near real-time monitoring of IPTV video quality

Evaluación de forjados de madera reforzados con recrecidos de hormigones ligeros estructurales

El refuerzo de forjados existentes de madera incrementando su capacidad resistente y/o su rigidez es una intervención estructural muy extendida. El refuerzo mediante recrecidos de hormigón unidos solidariamente a las viguetas de madera mediante conexiones metálicas presenta las siguientes ventajas: Incremento de la resistencia y rigidez del forjado inicial; el forjado se transforma en un diafragma rígido frente a las acciones horizontales y, cuando es posible ejecutar el refuerzo sin necesidad de apuntalar, puede mantenerse el uso de la zona inferior al forjado que se está reforzando. El principal inconveniente de la técnica radica en la carga añadida por el peso del hormigón. El empleo de hormigones ligeros estructurales (HLE) constituye una alternativa atractiva frente a los hormigones convencionales (HC), al aunar todas las ventajas de la técnica y disminuir considerablemente los inconvenientes debido al menor peso del hormigón ligero. Se han comparado los resultados obtenidos en la evaluación de forjados de madera de distintas luces, secciones y sobrecargas, reforzados con recrecidos de HC y de HLE. En concreto se han estudiado 3 luces (4.0, 4.5 y 5.0m) y 2 sobrecargas de uso (2kN/m2 y 3kN/m2). En todos los casos la sección de la madera se ha obtenido con criterios antiguos de dimensionamiento, utilizando las luces y acciones de los forjados a evaluar

Logarithmical hopping encoding: a low computational complexity algorithm for image compression

LHE (logarithmical hopping encoding) is a computationally efficient image compression algorithm that exploits the Weber–Fechner law to encode the error between colour component predictions and the actual value of such components. More concretely, for each pixel, luminance and chrominance predictions are calculated as a function of the surrounding pixels and then the error between the predictions and the actual values are logarithmically quantised. The main advantage of LHE is that although it is capable of achieving a low-bit rate encoding with high quality results in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and image quality metrics with full-reference (FSIM) and non-reference (blind/referenceless image spatial quality evaluator), its time complexity is O( n) and its memory complexity is O(1). Furthermore, an enhanced version of the algorithm is proposed, where the output codes provided by the logarithmical quantiser are used in a pre-processing stage to estimate the perceptual relevance of the image blocks. This allows the algorithm to downsample the blocks with low perceptual relevance, thus improving the compression rate. The performance of LHE is especially remarkable when the bit per pixel rate is low, showing much better quality, in terms of PSNR and FSIM, than JPEG and slightly lower quality than JPEG-2000 but being more computationally efficient

Non-Invasive Archaeological Methodologies for the Analysis of the Port Structures of Portus Ilicitanus (Santa Pola, Alicante)

The traditional identification of the ancient port of Ilici with the current town of Santa Pola in Alicante (Spain) has been based on a small number of punctual, unconnected, and too partial archaeological interventions. Since 2017, a program of geophysical surveys has been performed with a Stream X model multi-channel georadar IDS. This program has been focused mainly on the so-called Mercado de Viguetes, an area in which archaeological excavations have hardly been carried out. The geophysical surveys have allowed us to draw part of the urban fabric of the central core of the Portus Ilicitanus, revealing a set of structures that can be assimilated into a port area: warehouses, houses, open spaces, and decantation basins to produce salted fish, and the probable eastern boundary of the complex identified with the port dock. Altogether, two predominant alignments can be assimilated into the Early Imperial and Late Imperial construction phases. Non-invasive archaeological methodologies have become the main resource for archaeological analysis and heritage protection in view of the current impossibility of carrying out archaeological excavations in this area of Santa Pola.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, grant number PID2019-107264GB-I00 and PGC2018-099843-B-I00

Small and medium hotels cluster analysis in Huatulco, Mexico, as a tool to develop a cross sector network

En este estudio se realiza un diagnóstico sobre el sistema de calidad implantado en hoteles pequeños y medianos. A partir del mismo se realiza un análisis cluster para segmentar los mismos, como paso previo para desarrollar una estrategia común de calidad como primer escalón para desarrollar una red turística multiagente de destino. Bahías de Huatulco, México se presenta como estudio de caso.In order to develop a cross sector network hotels within the region must foster it due to their comparative size. This paper presents an investigation on the quality system implemented in small and medium hotels in the Bahias de Huatulco area. Segmentation is based on a cluster analysis. This is considered the first step in order to develop a cross sector network. Bahías de Huatulco, México, is a study case

Link layer Connectivity as a Service for Ad-hoc Microservice Platforms

Microservice platforms have brought many advantages to support the deployment of light-weight applications at both near the edge and data centers. Still, their suitability to support telecommunication and vertical services beyond the network edge is far from being a reality. On one hand, their flat networking approach does not support the establishment of link-layer connectivity among the different components of telecommunication and vertical services (e.g., access points, routers, specific-purpose servers, etc.) due to their reliance on high-level APIs. On the other hand, their networking approach has not been designed to operate over ad hoc networks built by the resource-constrained devices that may be available beyond the network edge. This can lead to suboptimal behaviors for the delivery of data traffic between microservices. This article presents the results of a research collaboration between Universidad Carlos III of Madrid and Telefónica: L2S-M. Our solution provides a programmable data plane that enables the establishment of on-demand link layer connectivity between microservices on ad hoc networks. This solution has the flexibility to execute different algorithms to build traffic paths between microservices, as well as to react against temporary link breakdowns, which could be present in these types of networks. The article presents a proof of concept for a functional validation of L2S-M, using an aerial ad hoc network deployed at 5TONIC Laboratory in collaboration with Telefonica. The validation results showcase the proper operation of L2S-M as a networking service for microservice platforms in ad hoc networks, including its ability to reconfigure the programmable data plane when link disruptions occur.This article has been supported by the TRUE5G (PID2019-108713RB681) project funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/5011000110) and by the H2020 FISHY Project (Grant agreement ID: 952644)

Opinión del profesorado sobre las actuaciones efectivas para reducir el abandono escolar temprano

El abandono escolar temprano (AET) es una de las mayores preocupaciones de los países miembros de la Unión Europea (UE). Los últimos datos proporcionados por EUROSTAT sitúan a España como el país con la mayor tasa de AET de la UE. El objetivo del presente estudio se centra en conocer la opinión que tiene el profesorado de Educación Primaria, Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y Bachillerado sobre las actuaciones que consideran más efectivas, desde el punto de vista de la intervención, para reducir el AET. La muestra de este estudio se compuso por 97 profesores de las diferentes comunidades autónomas de España que contestaron a la pregunta ¿Qué actuaciones serían las más efectivas para reducir el AET? Las respuestas han sido analizadas mediante la técnica de análisis de contenido, utilizando el software MAXQDA. Tras este proceso de codificación, se han obtenido 181 unidades de análisis procedentes de las 97 respuestas. El profesorado ha dado mayor peso a los factores relacionados con el centro y profesorado, seguido del estudiante y la familia. Se concluye que las actuaciones más efectivas para reducir el AET se deben centrar en la mejora de aspectos tanto académicos como no académicos

Comprehensive characterization of industrial wastewaters using EEM fluorescence, FT-IR and 1H NMR techniques

The organic matter present in six industrial wastewaters (pulp and paper mill, brewery, textile, dairy, slaughterhouse effluents and a municipal landfill leachate) has been studied in this work using three analytical techniques: excitation-emission matrix fluorescence (EEMF), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The pulp and paper mill effluent shows characteristic signals of the presence of lignins, carbohydrates and carboxylic acids, as well as sulfate, carbonate and sulfonates (coming from surfactants used in the cleaning of tanks). The main constituents of the brewery effluent are peptides and proteins coming mainly from spent yeast and diatomite filters (the presence of the latter was confirmed by Sisingle bondO bands in the FTIR spectrum). The municipal landfill leachate is characterized by the majority presence of humic substances (typical of an old landfill) and a residual presence of small peptides, amino acids and carboxylic acids. Additionally, several inorganic compounds were identified by FTIR, such as nitrate, sulfate, phosphate and cyanide ions. The textile effluent from a cotton-based industry contains carbohydrates, carboxylic acids and sulfonates, which can act as auxochromes in the textile industry. The dairy effluent comprises amino acids and small peptides coming from the biodegradation of milk and whey in addition to carbohydrates (lactose) and carboxylic acids (mainly lactic acid). The presence of tyrosine-like peaks B in the EEMF spectrum of the slaughterhouse effluent indicates the existence of small peptides and amino acids coming from the biodegradation of blood proteins. Additionally, residual glucose, fatty acids, phosphate and sulfate were also identified in this effluent

A Comparative Study of Virtual Infrastructure Management Solutions for UAV Networks

Proceeding of 7th Workshop on Micro Aerial Vehicle Networks, Systems, and Applications (DroNet) (Dronet'21), June 24, 2021, Virtual, WI, USA, co-located with ACM MobiSys 2021.The promising combination of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with network virtualisation technologies has positively shown many advantages enabling the deployment of communication services over aerial networks, that is, networks conformed by a set of interconnected UAVs. However, this synergy may certainly involve diverse challenges that must be carefully considered. In this respect, this paper compares some of the most common virtual infrastructure management solutions that could potentially be used to deal with virtualised payloads over aerial networks, identifying their main strength and limitations. The paper also presents a preliminary exploration on the utilisation of the Kubernetes virtual infrastructure management platform to support value-added services over UAV networks, showing off its potential as a suitable platform to this purpose.We would like to thank Andrew Mcgregor, Bob Briscoe and Rubén Cuevas Rumín for providing helpful information and comments. The work of Anna Maria Mandalari has been funded by the EU FP7 METRICS (607728) project. The work of Marcelo Bagnulo has been funded by the EU FP7 Trilogy2 (317756) project.Publicad