Impact of introducing ecoinnovation measures on productivity in transport sector companies

The transport and storage sector, like other sectors of the Spanish economy, is experiencing the effects of the current economic crisis. The Annual Services Survey prepared by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows that between 2008 and 2013 there was an 11.9% reduction in turnover and an 18.3% reduction in paid workers in companies in sector. However, in the same period, there was a 7.8% increase in labour productivity. The main aim of this study was to determine the impact of factors related to innovation and the environment, among others, on labour productivity in the Spanish transport and storage sector. Few studies are available on this topic, which is most likely due to the scant statistical information available for the sector analysed. The structural analysis model used in this study was an extended version of the wellknown Cobb‐Douglas production function applied to data obtained from the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC). PITEC is a panel type database (for 2003‐2013), which was developed jointly by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Design of an Anthropomorphic, Compliant, and Lightweight Dual Arm for Aerial Manipulation

This paper presents an anthropomorphic, compliant and lightweight dual arm manipulator designed and developed for aerial manipulation applications with multi-rotor platforms. Each arm provides four degrees of freedom in a human-like kinematic configuration for end effector positioning: shoulder pitch, roll and yaw, and elbow pitch. The dual arm, weighting 1.3 kg in total, employs smart servo actuators and a customized and carefully designed aluminum frame structure manufactured by laser cut. The proposed design reduces the manufacturing cost as no computer numerical control machined part is used. Mechanical joint compliance is provided in all the joints, introducing a compact spring-lever transmission mechanism between the servo shaft and the links, integrating a potentiometer for measuring the deflection of the joints. The servo actuators are partially or fully isolated against impacts and overloads thanks to the ange bearings attached to the frame structure that support the rotation of the links and the deflection of the joints. This simple mechanism increases the robustness of the arms and safety in the physical interactions between the aerial robot and the environment. The developed manipulator has been validated through different experiments in fixed base test-bench and in outdoor flight tests.Unión Europea H2020-ICT-2014- 644271Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad DPI2015-71524-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad DPI2017-89790-

Cooperative Virtual Sensor for Fault Detection and Identification in Multi-UAV Applications

This paper considers the problem of fault detection and identification (FDI) in applications carried out by a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with visual cameras. In many cases, the UAVs have cameras mounted onboard for other applications, and these cameras can be used as bearing-only sensors to estimate the relative orientation of another UAV. The idea is to exploit the redundant information provided by these sensors onboard each of the UAVs to increase safety and reliability, detecting faults on UAV internal sensors that cannot be detected by the UAVs themselves. Fault detection is based on the generation of residuals which compare the expected position of a UAV, considered as target, with the measurements taken by one or more UAVs acting as observers that are tracking the target UAV with their cameras. Depending on the available number of observers and the way they are used, a set of strategies and policies for fault detection are defined. When the target UAV is being visually tracked by two or more observers, it is possible to obtain an estimation of its 3D position that could replace damaged sensors. Accuracy and reliability of this vision-based cooperative virtual sensor (CVS) have been evaluated experimentally in a multivehicle indoor testbed with quadrotors, injecting faults on data to validate the proposed fault detection methods.Comisión Europea H2020 644271Comisión Europea FP7 288082Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad DPI2015-71524-RMinisterio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad DPI2014-5983-C2-1-RMinisterio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FP

Macht oder Vernunft. Die Religion im öffentlichen Bereich. Zugleich ein Dialog über Habermas' postsäkulare Gesellschaft

Der zweifache Urteilsspruch des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte im Fall “Lautsi gegen Italien” hat sich zum Paradigma der Schwierigkeiten entwickelt, welche Europa bei der adäquaten Ansiedlung der Religion im öffentlichen Bereich erfährt. Die Lösung kann sich ändern, wenn, anstatt dem politischen Problem (wann ist die Ausübung von Macht erlaubt) einzuräumen, die Möglichkeit einer praktischen Vernunft und ihre Verträglichkeit mit dem religiösen Glauben zum Ausgangspunkt gemacht wird. Diese würde zweifelsfrei zu einer politischen Fragestellung zu einer Präsenz der Religion im öffentlichen Bereich einladen, die auf eine positive Laizität mehr Rücksicht nimmt, dabei den Laizismus ablehnt, der darauf drängt, die Rationalität zur Macht auch einen nicht kognitivistischen Code zu reduzieren

Macroeconomic implications of EMU at the regional level

With no doubt, the main cost of joining a currency area is the loss of monetary policy instruments at a national level (e.g. the exchange rate) as stabilisation mechanisms against macroeconomic disturbances that only affect one country of the area or affect them in different manners. As this kind of macroeconomic disturbances, known as “asymmetric shocks”, cannot be dealt by a common monetary policy, alternative adjustment mechanisms are needed to achieve macroeconomic stabilisation. However, the evidence for Europe has shown that European countries have a lower response capacity than other currency areas. For this reason, several studies have examined to what extent asymmetric shocks have been relevant in Europe in the past, mainly at a national level. However, the regional dimension is relevant for this analysis. Not all the regions are equally affected by the problem of asymmetric shocks. The consideration of the fact that European regions did not have sovereignty to apply their own autonomous policy implies that, inside every national state, there could have been regions adversely affected by the national single monetary policy in presence of asymmetric shocks. In this sense, the consideration of the effects of taking part in the Economic and Monetary Union necessarily involves to consider the relative situation of every region inside their own country. If the relationships between every region and the European aggregates are as intense as the relationships with the previous national aggregate, the relative position of the region in this new macroeconomic framework will be similar to the previous one. In this paper, we analyse macroeconomic effects of EMU at a regional level using the Eurostat Regio database. The results show that there are big differences among regions: there will be winners and losers.

Algunas novedades acerca de la pintura flamenca del siglo XVI en España: Pieter de Witte y Denis Calvaert

A Johannes Sadeler engraving after a painting by the flemish artist Pieter de Witte -or Pietro Candido as he was known in Italy- has made known at least four versions of the aforesaid painting, and we are probably in presence of the original one. On the other hand, an extremely beautiful painting commonly atributed to Pedro de Campaña seems to be -and so we are trying to demostrate- a work of Denis Calvaert, a flemish painter living in Bolonia, whose works and theories were conclusive during the first bolognese baroque period. Likewise, an enigmatic painting, by Calvaert for all we know, presumably represents "Saint John With Veronica's cloth".Un grabado de Johannes Sadeler sobre una pintura del artista flamenco Pieter de Witte -o Pietro Candido, como se lo conocía en Italia- ha dado a conocer al menos cuatro versiones de la misma, siendo probablemente la versión original una ante la que nos hallamos. Por otra parte, una bellísima pintura tradicionalmente atribuida a Pedro de Campaña nos parece, y así tratamos de demostrarlo, obra de Denis de Calvaert, flamenco afincado en Bolonia, cuya obra y actividad teórica fue decisiva en el primer barroco boloñes. Se presenta además una enigmática pintura, de Calvaert a nuestro juicio, que presumiblemente representa a "San Juan con el paño de la Verónica"

Dinámica de meandros y riesgos hidrogeomorfológicos en Alcalá de Ebro y Cabañas de Ebro (Zaragoza)

[Resumen] Alcalá de Ebro y Cabañas de Ebro constituyen los enclaves de máximo riesgo hidrogeomorfológico del curso medio del Ebro. Las dos localidades se ubican dentro de la llanura de inundación y en sendas orillas cóncavas de meandros pronunciados. Se analiza la dinámica reciente del cauce de meandros libres en este sector aguas arriba de Zaragoza, así como los riesgos derivados de dicha dinámica, que han requerido sucesivas actuaciones de defensa[Abstract] Alcalá de Ebro & Cabañas de Ebro are the most threatened places with hydrogeomorphological risk in the middle Ebro. Both towns are placed in the floodplain and on each concave bank of sharp meanders. The recent dynamics of the free meanders river bed upstream from Zaragoza is analysed, as well as the risks derived that dynamics, which have required several successive protection works

The Influence of Motivation in the Foreign Language Learning Process

XIX Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la Facultat de Ciències Humanes i Socials (Any 2014)Foreign Language Learning is currently becoming one of the most relevant issues to take into account in education. The globalisation process and its worldwide movement towards economy, finance, trade, immigration and communication among others, make inevitable to get into contact and communicate with people from different countries and cultures. This situation requires Foreign Language Learning skills, knowledge and motivation. Motivation plays an important role in the Foreign Language Learning process because it provides the first push to initiate a successful language learning process. This project is focused on some motivational strategies to maximize students’ language learning skills. The implementation of communicative, group and participative activities will help students to be motivated in the language classroom. The article analyses a group of students belonging to an Intermediate Level Trade Course who were exposed to a teaching unit that combined both traditional methods (course book) and modern methods. Firstly, I will introduce the current situation in secondary education and the role of motivation to achieve success in the Foreign Language classroom. Later, I will explain the practical application in an Intermediate Level Trade Course at a high school. I will also comment on the methodology and the activities carried out with the above mentioned group in order to enhance motivation. I will finally conclude about the effectiveness of creating a lesson plan and the use of relevant methodologies to enhance motivation in the Foreign Language classroom