Long – Term Interest Rate and Fiscal Policy

The financial crisis of 2008, the subsequent fiscal stimulus, and damage to the fiscal

Exposure to Feminist Humor and the Proclivity to Collective Action for Gender Equality: The Role of Message Format and Feminist Identification

Previous research has pointed out that feminist humor or subversive humor against sexism is an important precursor to collective action for gender equality. This effect has been found contrasting subversive humor with neutral humor, however, to date, no study has explored the impact of the message format. Thus, we conducted two experiments to analyze the effect of exposure to a subversive humorous vignette against sexism (vs. subversive serious information against sexism and neutral humorous vignette) on involvement in collective action for gender equality, considering participants’ feminist identification. In Study 1 (n = 135 men and n = 198 women), participants with lower feminist identification reported a greater proclivity toward collective action after being exposure to both a subversive humorous vignette and subversive serious vignette (vs. neutral humorous vignette). In Study 2 (n = 157 men and 188 women), we replaced the subversive serious vignette with a subversive serious discourse. The results revealed that exposure to a subversive humorous vignette (vs. subversive serious discourse and neutral humorous vignette) increased participants’ collective action proclivity, but only in participants with weaker feminist identification. Both studies highlight a new pathway to motivate collective action for gender equality, as well as the potential effect of humor to promote a change in attitudes.The present research was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under Grants Ref. Project PID2019-104239 GB-I00 and Ref. PID2022-138665NB-I00

Perturbative S-matrix unitarity and higher-order Lorentz violation

We investigate the preservation of unitarity in a Lorentz and CPT-violating QED model containing higher-order operators. In particular, we consider modifications in the fermion sector with dimension-five operators. The higher-order operators lead to an indefinite metric and a pseudo-unitarity relation for the $S$-matrix. However, we show that the pseudo-unitarity condition can be promoted to a genuine unitarity relation by i) restricting the energies to the effective region far below the Planck mass and ii) considering stable particles to have positive metric. In the context of the optical theorem, we focus on the one-loop Bhabha and Compton scattering processes. We show that no ghost states get propagated through the cuts, thus satisfying the unitarity condition. Further, we show that discontinuities of propagators are equivalent to replacing physical Dirac functionals in the cutting equation. The physical Dirac functionals are defined to select only mode solutions of stable particles. The provided extension of Cutkosky rule may be helpful for analyzing perturbative unitarity in higher-order diagrams.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

La sociedad del cansancio en tiempos de pandemia: una reflexión filosófica sobre el pensamiento de Byung-Chul Han

El presente trabajo se centra en la filosofía de Byung-Chul Han y su relevancia en el contexto actual. Han aborda temas como la sociedad del cansancio, la hiperconectividad y la cultura del rendimiento. A través de su análisis crítico, el autor explora cómo el exceso de positividad y la falta de otredad en nuestra sociedad contemporánea afectan nuestra salud emocional, nuestras relaciones sociales y nuestra percepción del poder. Además, se examinan conceptos como la autoexplotación, la alienación y la deshumanización en el contexto de la sociedad actual. El COVID-19 ha exacerbado estos problemas, evidenciando la fatiga informativa causada por la sobreexposición a la información, la propagación de la desinformación en las redes sociales y las preocupaciones sobre la privacidad y la vigilancia. Este trabajo busca profundizar en las ideas de Han y reflexionar sobre su aplicación en nuestra realidad, ofreciendo una visión enriquecedora y provocadora sobre los desafíos y posibilidades de nuestro tiempo.Departamento de Filosofía (Filosofía, Lógica y Filosofía de la Ciencia, Teoría e Historia de la Educación, Filosofía Moral, Estética y Teoría de las Artes)Grado de Filosofí

Entrevistas a los capitanes de la plantilla del centenario del Elche C.F.

Entrevista con Gonzalo Verdú, capitán de la plantilla centenaria del Elche Club de Fútbol

La adaptación de la estadística en el campo censal: problemas y soluciones

El Instituto Nacional de Estadística en nuestro país carece de una base de datos nacional, a diferencia de otroa países de Europa o el mundo. Por lo tanto, los Ayuntamientos no están intercomunicados entre sí. Los cambios en los Padrones de Habitantes tardan varios meses en realizarse y eso provoca multitud de problemas. Pero también hay soluciones. Eso se intenta exponer en este artículo

Efeitos do solo e clima numa vinha de uva de mesa com cultura de cobertura. Gestão da rega utilizando redes de sensores

[ENG] TThe use of mulches in vineyards and orchards is a traditional agricultural practice used with the aim of saving moisture, reducing weed growth and improving organic matter content in the soil. In table grape vineyards trained to overhead system in Puglia region (Southeastern Italy), plastic sheets covering the canopy are often used to either advance ripening or delay harvest. In this environment, the living mulches could contribute to the modification of the microclimate around the canopy below the plastic sheets. This condition has an influence on the climatic demand and on both the vegetative and productive activities, mainly in stages with a high evapotranspiration. However, the presence of living mulches could increase the demand of available water and nutrient resources and this could cause a lower yield. The aim of this study was to acquire a suitable knowledge to manage irrigation and verify the influences of living mulches on the vine by using wireless sensor networks to measure the vapor pressure deficit, soil water potential and content.[POR] A utilização de coberturas do solo em vinhas e pomares é uma prática agrícola tradicional, utilizada com o objetivo de preservar a humidade do solo, reduzir o crescimento de infestantes e melhorar o teor de matéria orgânica no solo. Em vinhas de uva de mesa, conduzidas em sistema de pérgula na região de Puglia (sudeste da Itália), são frequentemente usadas coberturas de plástico para promover o avanço da maturação ou o atraso da colheita. Neste ambiente a utilização de enrelvamentos pode contribuir para a modificação do microclima do copado. Esta condição pode influenciar a demanda atmosférica, bem como a atividade vegetativa e reprodutiva da videira, principalmente em períodos de elevada evapotranspiração. No entanto, a presença do enrelvamento pode originar um aumento da demanda dos recursos disponíveis, nomeadamente água e nutrientes, o que poderá provocar uma quebra de produção. O objetivo deste estudo foi adquirir conhecimento para a gestão da rega e, simultaneamente, verificar a influência dos enrelvamentos na atividade da videira, usando para o efeito redes de sensores “sem fio” para medir o déficit de pressão de vapor, o potencial e o conteúdo de água no solo.The development of this work was supported by: The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the project RIDEFRUT (ref. AGL2013-49047-C2-1-R), the “Fundacion Seneca, Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnologia” of the Region of Murcia under the “Excelence Group Program”, and the Technical University of Cartagena under the PMPDI Program

¡No solo ecuaciones! la potencia del lenguaje algebraico: actividades de investigación para el aula

La introducción y adquisición del lenguaje algebraico nos brinda una magnífica oportunidad para trabajar actividades ricas en el aula. El trabajo del álgebra no se puede limitar a la resolución ecuaciones, sino que debemos presentar toda su potencia con actividades motivadoras. En esta comunicación presentamos una selección de actividades del blog Banco de recursos del FEM Matemàtiques (http://bancfm.blogspot.com.es/) que permiten a los alumnos trabajar el álgebra de una manera significativa a partir de las investigaciones que se les proponen

Contribución a las redes de sensores inalámbricas. Estudio e implementación de soluciones hardware para agricultura de precisión.

[SPA] En las regiones áridas y semiáridas, como el sureste español, la escasez de los recursos hídricos está causando importantes problemas de abastecimiento que afectan principalmente a la agricultura. Además, las predicciones sobre los efectos de cambio climático en estas regiones auguran un progresivo empeoramiento de la situación actual. Por tanto, uno de los objetivos prioritarios en el manejo y gestión de los recursos hídricos destinados al riego, debe ser el desarrollo e incorporación de nuevas tecnologías, así como de métodos que permitan conseguir una mayor eficiencia del uso del agua. Uno de los métodos más conocidos, y utilizados, para estimar, evaluar y entender las variaciones existentes en los cultivos es la agricultura de precisión. Este método se beneficia de numerosas tecnologías, entre las que se pueden citar los sistemas de posición global, las comunicaciones inalámbricas y los sistemas de instrumentación. Estas tecnologías permiten realizar tareas de monitorización de los cultivos almacenando los datos adquiridos, junto con las coordenadas geográficas del punto en el que se realizó la medida. Las redes de sensores inalámbricas constituyen una tecnología emergente de adquisición de datos que recientemente está atrayendo gran interés gracias a sus posibilidades, siendo aplicadas en numerosos ámbitos científicos e industriales para la realización de estudios y control de procesos. El uso de comunicaciones inalámbricas permite que los dispositivos sensores que la forman sean emplazados, así como reubicados, fácilmente sobre el terreno. Esta tesis se plantea con el objetivo global de estudiar, diseñar e implementar una arquitectura hardware, basada en redes de sensores inalámbricas, que pueda servir de herramienta a los ingenieros agrónomos para monitorizar, y así estimar, evaluar y entender las variaciones existentes en los cultivos, con objeto de determinar con mayor exactitud las necesidades de fertilizantes y riego, las fases de desarrollo y maduración de los productos, así como los puntos óptimos de siembra y recolección, que son los principales objetivos del método de la agricultura de precisión. Teniendo en cuenta las premisas de la arquitectura propuesta, durante el desarrollo de esta Tesis se han diseñado y construido diferentes prototipos de dispositivos inalámbricos (motes), los cuales han sido progresivamente depurados y mejorados a lo largo del transcurso de este trabajo, para poder ser validados en despliegues de redes de sensores, ubicadas en plantaciones agrícolas con diferentes cultivos. El resultado de este proceso ha concluido con el diseño de un dispositivo inalámbrico multi-entorno (MEWiN), con objeto de disminuir el número de elementos necesarios para configurar una red determinada y poder realizar tareas de monitorización mediante un único dispositivo. Los resultados que se derivan del desarrollo de esta tesis pueden ser aprovechados en nuevos trabajos de investigación aplicada, no sólo en el ámbito de la agricultura de precisión, sino también en contextos más diversos, como la monitorización en entornos marinos, o la vigilancia preventiva de partículas nocivas en ambientes industriales. [ENG] Water and food are the main resources that meet the needs of human beings. Agriculture provides most of the food but it also consumes most of the Earth’s available fresh water. In arid and semiarid regions, as Southern Spain, the water supply is an important factor that considerably affects agriculture. Development of innovative irrigation systems that efficiently use water is a high priority. In these regions, farmers must irrigate their crops efficiently; therefore, they must find new solutions and methods that improve the irrigation programming systems, taking into account not only the state of the soil and the plants but also information relating to the climate. All these data must be properly interpreted to decide the most suitable actions to carry out. Precision Agriculture is a set of techniques that provide a suitable solution to these problems because it aims to optimize field-level management with regard to crop science by matching farming practices more closely to crop needs. Economic advantages are also obtained by boosting competitiveness through more efficient practices (e.g. better management of water usage and costs). On the other hand, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) are used to acquire information about the crop needs. Precision Agriculture techniques use this information to achieve the proposed objectives, in particular, intensive monitoring of crops, data analysis, decision making and application of control actions. Sensor Networks is a technology to carry out the intensive monitoring of crops using both wired and wireless nets. Wired solutions have been used since the 90s, whereas Wireless Sensors Networks (WSNs) are more recent (from the year 2000). In Agriculture, WSN‟s are more suitable because costs are reduced and the final solution is more reliable, since wires can be damaged by farming machinery in the crop. The simple redeployment of the devices provides high network versatility, so it is also another advantage to consider. Furthermore, WSN’s are proving to be a promising technology, and many WSN solutions are being successfully designed in several areas. The interest aroused by WSN technology has prompted the appearance on the market of various hardware platforms (sensor nodes or motes) for the development of new applications (hospitals, unfriendly environments and mobile control applications, among others), and research works (e.g. energy-efficient optimization or target tracking). Worth noting among these platforms are MICAz, TelosB, IRIS, Imote2 and others. It should be noted that these motes, and others not mentioned here, are devices that normally include embedded low-cost sensors whose specifications (precision, resolution, drift, etc.) are not the same as those of the instruments that are normally required in Precision Agriculture applications. For instance, the TelosB that includes the temperature sensor Sensirion SHT11 has no protection level. Moreover the temperature accuracy of this sensor is very dependent on environmental conditions compared to the HMP41 Vaisala sensor, widely used in precision agriculture. Moreover, many of these motes have only been used in laboratory or research applications and are not robust enough for use in real agricultural environments. In fact, many theoretical references about WSN based applications in Precision Agriculture can be found in scientific literature, but very few real deployments had been carried out, due to the scarcity of resources and the high cost of technology in the agricultural sector. Therefore, cost reduction is necessary to guarantee the success of WSN based applications in Precision Agriculture. Another important aspect of the motes is their capacity for connection to external instruments. There is a large group of external outdoor sensors used in the field of Precision Agriculture. Consequently, if motes are to be used in real agricultural applications, they first of all need to incorporate the necessary electronic interface to connect with external quality instruments. This feature together with robustness, autonomy and the possibility of connecting different types of instruments must be prioritized, as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), have been frequently used in Precision Agriculture. However WSN’s are not yet popular. Therefore, the development of new low cost hardware devices (motes) is necessary because they can measure the state of the crops in real time and provide the essential support to Precision Agriculture. Furthermore, these devices must be reliable in both indoor and outdoor conditions. They must be designed using an open architecture to facilitate the connection between different sensors and actuators required by the farming application. The main objective of this Thesis is the study and implementation of a hardware architecture based on WSN’s and their application in Precision Agriculture, particularly in real-time crops monitoring. Specifically, using Precision Agriculture to get an optimal crops production involves carrying out the following stages: Monitoring crops by acquiring data from sensors, analyzing obtained data, making decisions, applying control actions.[ENG] Water and food are the main resources that meet the needs of human beings. Agriculture provides most of the food but it also consumes most of the Earth’s available fresh water. In arid and semiarid regions, as Southern Spain, the water supply is an important factor that considerably affects agriculture. Development of innovative irrigation systems that efficiently use water is a high priority. In these regions, farmers must irrigate their crops efficiently; therefore, they must find new solutions and methods that improve the irrigation programming systems, taking into account not only the state of the soil and the plants but also information relating to the climate. All these data must be properly interpreted to decide the most suitable actions to carry out. Precision Agriculture is a set of techniques that provide a suitable solution to these problems because it aims to optimize field-level management with regard to crop science by matching farming practices more closely to crop needs. Economic advantages are also obtained by boosting competitiveness through more efficient practices (e.g. better management of water usage and costs). On the other hand, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) are used to acquire information about the crop needs. Precision Agriculture techniques use this information to achieve the proposed objectives, in particular, intensive monitoring of crops, data analysis, decision making and application of control actions. Sensor Networks is a technology to carry out the intensive monitoring of crops using both wired and wireless nets. Wired solutions have been used since the 90s, whereas Wireless Sensors Networks (WSNs) are more recent (from the year 2000). In Agriculture, WSN‟s are more suitable because costs are reduced and the final solution is more reliable, since wires can be damaged by farming machinery in the crop. The simple redeployment of the devices provides high network versatility, so it is also another advantage to consider. Furthermore, WSN’s are proving to be a promising technology, and many WSN solutions are being successfully designed in several areas. The interest aroused by WSN technology has prompted the appearance on the market of various hardware platforms (sensor nodes or motes) for the development of new applications (hospitals, unfriendly environments and mobile control applications, among others), and research works (e.g. energy-efficient optimization or target tracking). Worth noting among these platforms are MICAz, TelosB, IRIS, Imote2 and others. It should be noted that these motes, and others not mentioned here, are devices that normally include embedded low-cost sensors whose specifications (precision, resolution, drift, etc.) are not the same as those of the instruments that are normally required in Precision Agriculture applications. For instance, the TelosB that includes the temperature sensor Sensirion SHT11 has no protection level. Moreover the temperature accuracy of this sensor is very dependent on environmental conditions compared to the HMP41 Vaisala sensor, widely used in precision agriculture. Moreover, many of these motes have only been used in laboratory or research applications and are not robust enough for use in real agricultural environments. In fact, many theoretical references about WSN based applications in Precision Agriculture can be found in scientific literature, but very few real deployments had been carried out, due to the scarcity of resources and the high cost of technology in the agricultural sector. Therefore, cost reduction is necessary to guarantee the success of WSN based applications in Precision Agriculture. Another important aspect of the motes is their capacity for connection to external instruments. There is a large group of external outdoor sensors used in the field of Precision Agriculture. Consequently, if motes are to be used in real agricultural applications, they first of all need to incorporate the necessary electronic interface to connect with external quality instruments. This feature together with robustness, autonomy and the possibility of connecting different types of instruments must be prioritized, as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), have been frequently used in Precision Agriculture. However WSN’s are not yet popular. Therefore, the development of new low cost hardware devices (motes) is necessary because they can measure the state of the crops in real time and provide the essential support to Precision Agriculture. Furthermore, these devices must be reliable in both indoor and outdoor conditions. They must be designed using an open architecture to facilitate the connection between different sensors and actuators required by the farming application. The main objective of this Thesis is the study and implementation of a hardware architecture based on WSN’s and their application in Precision Agriculture, particularly in real-time crops monitoring. Specifically, using Precision Agriculture to get an optimal crops production involves carrying out the following stages: Monitoring crops by acquiring data from sensors, analyzing obtained data, making decisions, applying control actions.Universidad Politécnica de Cartagen