Estadística y fútbol

La Estadística ha tenido un desarrollo vertiginoso a partir de principios del siglo XX. En particular su aplicación transversal en diversos sectores productivos y sociales, como por ejemplo las actividades deportivas. En este trabajo se presenta una metodología para observar distintos conceptos estadísticos contextualizados mediante el fútbol, con el fin de motivar el proceso de aprendizaje. Se muestran alternativas para introducir, de forma heurística, algunas definiciones fundamentales en Estadística pero que en su desarrollo teórico ofrecen cierta complejidad para alumnos entre 16 y 18 años

Freeze concentration of coffee extract: study of block and falling-film techniques

203 páginasCoffee is the most traded food in the world. The sensory and functional properties of the product are highly important for the consumers, and therefore, technologies that promote quality preservation are highly valued in coffee processing. In the production of freeze-dried coffee, freeze concentration is used to remove water from the extract. Water removal in freeze concentration is achieved by cooling the solution until ice crystals form and separate. Freeze concentration is a technology known for its ability to preserve the quality of the product thanks to low processing temperatures. Three techniques are used according to ice crystal growth: suspension, film (progressive or falling-film) and block (total or partial). Suspension freeze concentration is the most implemented technique at the industrial level, however, it requires complex systems for ice separation and many moving parts, which increases the initial and operating costs. For this reason, other techniques such as falling-film freeze concentration, and block freeze concentration are being developed seeking to reduce operational costs. In the present work, block and falling-film freeze concentration techniques used to concentrate aqueous coffee extract were studied. Equipment to study those techniques was designed and implemented. The effect of the operational variables of block and falling-film freeze concentration on separation efficiency was established. Preservation of bioactive compounds, volatile compounds, antioxidant activity, and sensory quality of the coffee extract when using freeze concentration was demonstrated. Finally, an operational strategy was proposed to integrate the studied techniques. Separation efficiency obtained with this process was comparable to industrial standards.Doctorado en BiocienciasDoctor en Biociencia

Functional Integration and Individuality in Prokaryotic Collective Organisations

Both physiological and evolutionary criteria of biological individuality are underpinned by the idea that an individual is a functionally integrated whole. However, a precise account of functional integration has not been provided so far, and current notions are not developed in the details, especially in the case of composite systems. To address this issue, this paper focuses on the organisational dimension of two representative associations of prokaryotes: biofilms and the endosymbiosis between prokaryotes. Some critical voices have been raised against the thesis that biofilms are biological individuals. Nevertheless, it has not been investigated which structural and functional obstacles may prevent them from being fully integrated physiological or evolutionary units. By contrast, the endosymbiotic association of different species of prokaryotes has the potential for achieving a different type of physiological integration based on a common boundary and interlocked functions. This type of association had made it possible, under specific conditions, to evolve endosymbionts into fully integrated organelles. This paper therefore has three aims: first, to analyse the organisational conditions and the physiological mechanisms that enable integration in prokaryotic associations; second, to discuss the organisational differences between biofilms and prokaryotic endosymbiosis and the types of integration they achieve; finally, to provide a more precise account of functional integration based on these case studies

Transdisciplinary Design: Tamed complexity through new collaboration

The following essay aims to expose the characteristics of Transdisciplinary Design and its relationship with design thinking, applying both as complex problem-solving strategies. In order to achieve this, we must briefly explore the characteristics of design thinking and non-uni-disciplinary strategies and subsequently describe the reasons why design can be considered as a privileged platform for problem-solving strategies for the more complex problematics of our contemporary society; ranging from transdisciplinary design as well as the differences with regard to design thinking model. Keywords: transdisciplinarity, design, complexity, design thinking, non-disciplinary approaches

Universally consistent estimation of the reach

The reach of a set $M \subset \mathbb R^d$, also known as condition number when $M$ is a manifold, was introduced by Federer in 1959 and is a central concept in geometric measure theory, set estimation, manifold learning, among others areas. We introduce a universally consistent estimate of the reach, just assuming that the reach is positive. A necessary condition for the universal convergence of the reach is that the Haussdorf distance between the sample and the set converges to zero. Without further assumptions we show that the convergence rate of this distance can be arbitrarily slow. However, under a weak additional assumption, we provide rates of convergence for the reach estimator. We also show that it is not possible to determine if the reach of the support of a density is zero or not based on a finite sample. We provide a small simulation study and a bias correction method for the case when $M$ is a manifold