Students’ dedication in a cooperative, project-based learning context: measurements, analysis and implications

Discovering the effort students devote to their studies is of key importance for an appropriate design of courses and syllabus. Although over the last years many studies have been carried out in this respect, few of them have focused on the more complex cases of cooperative and project-based learning. The main contributions of our work are: (i) the investigation of the connection between students’ work habits and the learning methodologies being used; (ii) the usage of a web application to make easier data gathering and analysis; and (iii) the validation of students-provided data so that better conclusions can be derived

Facial recognition and augmented reality system for mobile devices

[EN] The aim of thispaperistoexplaintheproblems of using facial recognition featuresontoday¿s Mobile devices and provide a possiblesolutionbasedon a client-server design.[ES] El objetivo de este artículo es explicar la problemática de utilizar las funciones de reconocimiento facial en los dispositivos móviles actuales, así como dar una posible solución basándonos en un diseño cliente-servidor.Martínez Pérez, JV.; Linares Pellicer, JJ. (2012). Sistema de reconocimiento facial y realidad aumentada para dispositivos móviles. 3c Tic. (1):7-16. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/34375S716

High perfomance graphics: a game engine comparison

[EN] The aim of this article consists of showing the results of a comparative analysis of features of the most important current game and real time graphics development engines.[ES] El objetivo del presente artículo consiste en presentar una comparativa de prestaciones y características de las más importantes herramientas de generación de juegos y aplicaciones gráficas en tiempo real del momento.Linares Pellicer, JJ.; Martínez Pérez, JV.; Candela Moltó, A. (2012). Gráficos a la máxima potencia: Una comparativa entre motores de juegos. 3c Tic. (2):51-65. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/34372S5165

De tumba a iglesia. Análisis arqueológico y arquitectónico del complejo funerario del Reino Antiguo (QH34h) y su transformación en iglesia cristiana bizantina en la necrópolis de Qubbet el Hawa (Asuán, Egipto)

The archaeological site of Qubbet el Hawa contains one of the largest necropolis in southern Egypt. At this burial site the governors and high officials of the southernmost province of Egypt were buried from the Late Old Kingdom to the Late 12th Dynasty. This study aims to analyze one of the largest funerary complexes (QH34h), belonging to the local governor Khunes, and other annexed tombs of his relatives. This large funerary complex, with a great funerary chapel, includes an ascending stairway and a monumental courtyard. It was built during the last part of the reign of Pepy II (2216-2153 BC). It underwent a set of architectural transformations throughout its history, including several collapses and, centuries later, it was chosen by a Coptic community to establish a Christian church and other monastic places. The main aim of the present paper is to analyze how the sacred space changed over time and the architectonic spaces were used with different purposes.El yacimiento arqueológico de Qubbet el-Hawa alberga una de las mayores necrópolis del sur de Egipto. En ella se enterraron los altos dignatarios y los nobles que gobernaron la provincia más meridional de Egipto desde el Reino Antiguo (al menos la VI dinastía) hasta el Reino Medio (Dinastía XII). Se han llegado a documentar más de 70 hipogeos, alguno de los cuales aún siguen sin ser investigados en profundidad. El trabajo que aquí presentamos trata de comprender uno de los complejos funerarios más grandes y antiguos de la necrópolis, compuesto por la tumba conocida como QH34h, que perteneció al gobernador Khunes y las tumbas anexas de sus familiares. Fue construido hacia el final del reinado de Pepy II (2216-2153 a. C.), sufrió una serie de transformaciones arquitectónicas a lo largo de su historia, derrumbes importantes y finalmente fue elegido por una comunidad monástica para establecer en él una iglesia cristiana en el siglo VI. El objetivo principal de este artículo es analizar cómo un espacio sagrado cambió a lo largo del tiempo y los diferentes espacios arquitectónicos fueron usados en diferentes propósitos

Interferometric method of determining the refraction index of two-dimensional sonic crystals

[EN] Sonic crystals are defined as materials consisting of periodic distributions of acoustic scatterers in another medium with different elastic properties. These materials present two main acoustical features: they present ranges of frequencies where the acoustic wave propagation is forbidden and, moreover, they can be used to construct acoustical refractive devices. We present here an interferometric method of characterizing directly the refraction index of these materials. We focused our research on sonic crystals constructed with a periodic distribution of rigid cylinders in air. The interferometric method used is based on the acoustical analog of an optical device called Fresnel’s biprism. Our numerical predictions are in good agreement with the experimental results obtained and allow us to estimate the refraction index for very low frequencies. Moreover, in this range we show the nonlinear behavior in the dispersion relation refraction index versus frequency. Finally, we analyze the relationship between the refraction index and some typical sonic crystal parameters. In view of the results we can conclude that this method offers certain advantages with respect to the classical method used to obtain the refraction index in sonic crystals with airborne propagation: the phase delay method.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education Project No. MAT2007-03097 and partially supported by Generalitat Valenciana Project GV/2007/191. We would like to thank the R+D +i Linguistic Assistance Office at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia for their help in revising this paper.Romero García, V.; Fuster García, E.; García-Raffi, LM.; Sánchez Pérez, JV.; Uris Martínez, A. (2007). Interferometric method of determining the refraction index of two-dimensional sonic crystals. Physical Review B. 75:2243051-2243058. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.75.224305S224305122430587

Técnicas pedagógicas y estudio de resultados para la enseñanza de MS-DOS y lenguaje ensamblador en primer curso de I.T. Informática gestión/sistemas

En el presente artículo se recoge la experiencia docente en la enseñanza de MS-DOS y lenguaje ensamblador a alumnos de primer curso de las ingenierías técnicas de Informática de Gestión y de Sistemas, los aspectos pedagógicos y un estudio estadístico detallado de los resultados obtenidos

Faunal study from Abrigo de la Quebrada level IV and its contribution to the knowledge of the economy and human behaviour in the Middle Palaeolithic of iberian mediterranean region

El Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia) es un yacimiento con varios niveles de ocupación del Paleolítico medio. El nivel IV, con dos dataciones de 43.930 ± 750 BP (Beta-244002) y >51,6 ka BP (OxA-24855), se caracteriza por su estructura de palimpsesto y la elevada densidad de restos arqueológicos (industria lítica, fauna, carbones y estructuras de combustión). El conjunto óseo se compone de 100.907 restos, con una mayor presencia de las familias Bovidae, Equidae, Cervidae y Testudinidae. La presencia de fracturas frescas, muescas de percusión y marcas de corte confirma el carácter antrópico de la muestra, así como las termoalteraciones. Dada la elevada fragmentación de la muestra (1% de identificados), se ha llevado a cabo también el análisis de las esquirlas óseas de <3cm, las cuales han reafirmado los datos del estudio arqueozoológico y tafonómico de los restos identificados. El trabajo aporta nuevos datos económicos en el marco del Paleolítico medio de la zona mediterránea de la Península ibérica.The site of Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia) is a shelter with several levels with Middle Palaeolithic occupations. The level IV, with two dates of 43,930 ± 750 BP (Beta-244002) and >51.6 ka BP (OxA-24855), has a palimpsest structure and a high density of archaeological remains (lithic industry, fauna, charcoals and combustion structures). The bone sample contains 100,907 remains, with a better representation of Bovidae, Equidae, Cervidae and Testudinidae families. The presence of fresh fractures, percussion notches and cut marks confirms the anthropogenic character of the sample, as well as the thermoalterations. Given the high fragmentation of the bones (1% of identified), a specific analysis of the bone chips (less than <3cm) has been carried out. The results have confirmed the data obtain from the archaeozoological and taphonomical study of the identifiable remains. The current work contributes with new economic data to the Middle Palaeolithic framework of the Iberian Mediterranean region.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación HAR2011-24978 HAR2014-52671-P HAR-2017-85153-PGeneralitat Valenciana PROMETEOII/ 2013/016 PROMETEO/2017/06

Singlet oxygen triggers chloroplast rupture and cell death in the zeaxanthin epoxidase defective mutant aba1 of Arabidopsis thaliana under high light stress

[EN] The two Arabidopsis thaliana mutants, aba1 and max4, were previously identified as sharing a number of coregulated genes with both the flu mutant and Arabidopsis cell suspension cultures exposed to high light (HL). On this basis, we investigated whether aba1 and max4 were generating high amounts of singlet oxygen (1O2) and activating 1O2-mediated cell death. Thylakoids of aba1 produced twice as much 1O2 as thylakoids of max4 and wild type (WT) plants when illuminated with strong red light. 1O2 was measured using the spin probe 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone hydrochloride. 77-K chlorophyll fluorescence emission spectra of thylakoids revealed lower aggregation of the light harvesting complex II in aba1. This was rationalized as a loss of connectivity between photosystem II (PSII) units and as the main cause for the high yield of 1O2 generation in aba1. Upregulation of the 1O2 responsive gene AAA-ATPase was only observed with statistical significant in aba1 under HL. Two early jasmonate (JA)-responsive genes, JAZ1 and JAZ5, encoding for two repressor proteins involved in the negative feedback regulation of JA signalling, were not up-regulated to the WT plant levels. Chloroplast aggregation followed by chloroplast rupture and eventual cell death was observed by confocal imaging of the fluorescence emission of leaf cells of transgenic aba1 plants expressing the chimeric fusion protein SSU-GFP. Cell death was not associated with direct 1O2 cytotoxicity in aba1, but rather with a delayed stress response. In contrast, max4 did not show evidence of 1O2-mediated cell death. In conclusion, aba1 may serve as an alternative model to other 1O2-overproducing mutants of Arabidopsis for investigating 1O2-mediated cell death

Magnetocaloric effect enhancement driven by intrinsic defects in Ni-Mn-Sn- Co alloys

[EN] The influence of mechanically-induced defects on the magnetostructural properties is analyzed in a Ni-Co-Mn-Sn alloy subjected to soft milling and subsequent annealing treatments. It is found that, opposite to what occurs in Ni-Mn-Sn ternary alloys, the annealing treatment affects the magnetic properties in a different way in martensite and in austenite. In particular, the saturation magnetization significantly increases in martensite after annealing whereas just a very slight variation is observed in austenite. This leads to the interesting fact that the presence of microstructural defects, far for worsening, makes the magnetocaloric effect to be higher in the as-milled state than after annealing. This behavior is explained as the result of the combination of the effect of defects on the Mn-Mn distance, the effect of Co on the magnetic exchange coupling between Mn atoms, and the effect of defects on the vibrational entropy change at the martensitic transformation.This work has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (Projects number MAT2015-65165-C2-R) and of the Basque Government (Grant No. IT-1005-16). We also acknowledge ILL and SpINS for beam time allocation: experiments 5-24-591 (https://doi.org/10.5291/ILL-DATA.5-24-591) and CRG-2352. J. López-García acknowledges ILL for his Ph. D. contract and I. Unzueta also wants to thank the Basque Government Grant No. PRE-2014-1-214