Self-Referencing Fiber-Optic Intensity Sensors Using Ring Resonators and Fiber Bragg Gratings

An improved ring resonator self-referencing technique in a new reflection configuration for remote fiber-optic intensity sensors is demonstrated using fiber Bragg gratings. Sensor sensitivity doubles and a single fiber lead is used. The sensor is interrogated at two subcarrier frequencies having a high rejection of interference from laser source intensity fluctuations and loss in the fiber lead. We experimentally demonstrate the efficiency of the new reflection configuration, the usefulness of the theoretical model proposed, and discuss design parameters for optimum insertion lossesThis work was supported in part by CICYT (TIC2003-03783 and TEC2006-13273-C03-03-MIC), in part by UC3M (FAVICOBIS), in part by CAM (FACTOTEM-CM:S-0505/ESP/000417), and in part by COST 299.Publicad

La estrategia del caracol. Un breve recorrido por la cooperación cinematográfica de la UE con otras regiones

El presente trabajo defiende la idea de que la política audiovisual europea debe aprender a mirar hacia fuera, replanteando necesariamente sus relaciones externas, ya que hasta el momento ha buscado definir su identidad conforme a una serie de condicionantes que pudiesen hacerla competitiva frente a la estadounidense, ignorando de este modo que el nuevo imaginario cultural (internacional-popular) impone nuevos espacios de cooperación e intercambio de productos que superan las actuales fronteras nacionales y regionales. En esta vuelta de tuerca, reclamamos para la Unión Europea no sólo el papel de potencia económica competitiva frente a los Estados Unidos, sino también el ejercicio de una función de liderazgo en la defensa por la diversidad cultural de nuestras pantallas. Dicho ejercicio pasa necesariamente por fortalecer las políticas nacionales de cultura, así como por avanzar en procesos de integración y cooperación interregionales, donde la industria cinematográfica puede jugar un papel esencial. En este articulo, llevaremos a cabo una evaluación de los programas de cooperación audiovisual que la UE mantiene hoy en día con otras regiones del planeta, un espacio aún por desarrollar, lastrado por todo tipo de condicionantes e intereses, pero que ofrece una salida viable y un complemento necesario e interesante a su política proteccionista

Rethinking the definition of participatory video at the interface of theory and practice

Since at least the 1960s, participatory video (PV) has aimed to readdress film’s traditional focus on entertainment and the media’s interest in global news with the intention of promoting local and community development. This has usually meant empowering communities to work via consensus to elaborate different audiovisual products which reflect community problems and aspirations in various ways. In the words of Shirley White, author of Participatory Video. Images that Transform and Empower, PV acts as “a powerful force for people to see themselves in relation to the community (…). It brings about a critical awareness that forms the foundation for creativity and communication” (White, 2003: 64). This paper addresses the concept of PV comprehensively by mobilizing critically both academic takes on the subject and the professional views of a variety of practitioners and experts. It aims to outline a number of uses and modes which coexist within PV with the aim of generating a more fruitful discussion on its defining features and the relation between canonical and marginal examples of participatory videomaking. To that effect, our methodological approach combines a literature review (including key works in English as well as theoretical contributions in the field of Latin American critical communication studies) with data obtained from a number of in-depth interviews with experts and experienced practitioners. Three key areas are identified as major elements within a PV experience: process, communication and results. Focusing on the analysis of how productive tensions between participants and facilitators play out in each of these areas, we propose a broad instrumental definition in the hope of contributing to the ongoing theoretical discussion on PV. Finally, the main areas of debate as perceived by video practitioners -format, genre and the role of the Internet- are discussed with a view to establish how these issues are currently being negotiated within the field

Mesenchymal stem cells and cell-free preparations for treating atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic cutaneous inflammatory disease caused by an interaction between genetic, immune and epidermal barrier factors. Several treatments can be used to treat this disease but there are patients that do not respond to actual drugs. So, there is a need to develop effective therapies for AD. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are non-hematopoietic multipotent adult progenitor cells with immunomodulatory power and self-regenerating capacity to repair tissue damage, so they could be a potential effective treatment for AD. MSCs-Conditioned Medium (CM) and MSCs-exosomes are cell-free preparation with molecules secreted by stem cells that could be also beneficial for AD. This viewpoint reviews the actual development of MSCs, MSCs-CM and MSCs-exosomes for treating patients with AD

Study of the optimal harvesting control and the optimality system for an elliptic problem

An optimal harvesting problem with concave non-quadratic cost functional and a diffusive degenerate elliptic logistic state equation type is investigated. Under certain assumptions, we prove the existence and uniqueness of an optimal control. A characterization of the optimal control via the optimality system is also derived, which leads to approximate the optimal control.Ministerio de Ciencia y TecnologíaJunta de AndalucíaDirección General de Enseñanza Superior e Investigación Científic

Optimal control for the degenerate elliptic logistic equation

We consider the optimal control of the harvesting of the diffusive degenerate elliptic logistic equation. Under certain assumptions, we prove the existence and uniqueness of an optimal control. Moreover, the optimality system and a characterization of the optimal control are also derived. Sub-supersolution method, singular eigenvalue problem and differentiability with respect to the positive cone are the techniques used to get our results.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y TecnologíaJunta de AndalucíaDirección General de Enseñanza Superior e Investigación Científic

Church-State struggles in the Spanish democratic transition

Comprender este momento de la Transición en el interior de la Iglesia, como catalizador para un cambio preparado nos hace tener la mirada puesta en el Concilio Vaticano II –en concreto de la declaración Dignitatis humanae–, donde la Iglesia Católica pasó del Estado confesional, como modelo, a la proclamación de la libertad religiosa. Propiciado por este concilio y por figuras como la del Cardenal Tarancón al que no le preocupaba la aconfesionalidad del Estado sino que la libertad religiosa formase parte de las libertades públicas. La Iglesia tuvo un importante papel en este camino hacia la democracia, con una destacada contribución a la reconciliación y la reinstauración de derechos y libertades. La sensación histórica es la de un capítulo aún sin cerrar, dando motivos para la tensión, la discusión (demasiado acalorada) y el cuestionar como se realizaron, y como se actualizan esas actuaciones de la Transición. Algo nos hace intuir que no está bien realizado todo (algo muy humano) y que el revisionismo no siempre es para crecer.Understanding this moment of the Spanish transition period within the Church, as a catalyst for a prepared change, makes us look to the Second Vatican Council II - the Dignitatis humanae declaration - where the Catholic Church passed from the confessional state, as Model, to the proclamation of religious freedom. Propitiated by this council and by figures such as those of Cardinal Tarancón who was not worried about the non-denominational state but of religious freedom, he was part of public liberties. The Church played an important role in this path towards democracy, with an outstanding contribution to reconciliation and the restoration of rights and freedoms. According to history, this is a chapter that has not been closed yet, as if the waves of these events continued -becoming less and less- giving reasons for tension, discussion (too heated) and questioning how they were carried out, and how are those actions of the Spanish transition updated. Something makes us intuit that everything is not well done (something very human) and that revisionism is not always made to grow

Reinforcement and Curriculum Learning for Off-Road Navigation of an UGV with a 3D LiDAR

This paper presents the use of deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) for autonomous navigation of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) with an onboard three-dimensional (3D) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor in off-road environments. For training, both the robotic simulator Gazebo and the Curriculum Learning paradigm are applied. Furthermore, an Actor–Critic Neural Network (NN) scheme is chosen with a suitable state and a custom reward function. To employ the 3D LiDAR data as part of the input state of the NNs, a virtual two-dimensional (2D) traversability scanner is developed. The resulting Actor NN has been successfully tested in both real and simulated experiments and favorably compared with a previous reactive navigation approach on the same UGV.Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Análise das eleições na Colômbia e Venezuela 2015 através de análise de sentimento e Twitter

Este artículo presenta un análisis de las cuentas de los principales candidatos de las elecciones regionales del 25 de octubre de 2015 en Colombia (Bogotá, Medellín y Cali) y los hashtag oficiales de los dos partidos pincipales para las elecciones parlamentarias del 6 de diciembre de 2015 en Venezuela (MUD y PSUV), con el fin de determinar las tendencias positivas o negativas y compararlas con los resultados de las respectivas elecciones. Para el desarrollo del análisis se recurrió a la técnica de análisis de sentimiento, propio de la minería de datos, y al uso de estadísticas descriptivas; se concluye que el análisis de sentimiento para la estimación de tendencias requiere de procesos que permitan controlar los retweets, si se quieren resultados aceptables.This paper presents an analysis of the accounts of the main candidates in the regional elections on October 25, 2015 in Colombia (Bogotá, Medellin and Cali) and the official hashtags of the two main parties for parliamentary elections on December 6, 2015 in Venezuela (PSUV and MUD) in order to determine the positive or negative trends and compare them with the results of the respective elections. To develop the analysis, we resorted to the technique of sentiment analysis own of data mining and the use of descriptive statistics, concluding that sentiment analysis for estimating trends requires processes to monitor retweets, if you want acceptable results.Este artigo apresenta uma análise das contas dos principais candidatos às eleições regionais de 25 de Outubro, 2015, em Colômbia (Bogotá, Medellín e Cali) e os hashtag oficiais dos dois principais partidos para as eleições parlamentares de 06 de dezembro de 2015 na Venezuela ( MUD e PSUV), a fim de determinar as tendências positivas ou negativas e compará-las com os resultados das respectivas eleições. Para o desenvolvimento da análise foi utilizada a técnica de análise de sentimento, típica da mineração de dados, bem como estatísticas descritivas; conclui-se que a análise de sentimento para estimar tendências, requer processos que permitam monitorar os retweets, a fim de esperar resultados aceitáveis

Atención integral a la mujer con cardiopatía isquémica tras el alta hospitalaria

Las Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (ECV) suponen en la actualidad la primera causa de mortalidad en ambos sexos en todo el mundo, a pesar de las campañas preventivas que se vienen llevando a cabo para controlar los Factores de Riesgo Cardiovascular (FRCV). Además las consecuencias de estas patologías se suelen evaluar mediante parámetros cuantitativos como las tasas de mortalidad o morbilidad, el coste o impacto económico que generan, etc; aunque cada vez se hace más evidente la necesidad de emplear instrumentos de valoración cualitativos que nos ayuden a comprender cómo perciben los individuos la enfermedad. Esta visión posibilitaría una mejora en la asistencia prestada y en el enfoque que se le da a estas patologías. En el caso concreto de la enfermedad coronaria en la mujer se han detectado una serie de diferencias en aspectos como el esfuerzo terapéutico o al diagnóstico, por ejemplo. La cuestión que suscita o motiva este trabajo es la siguiente: ¿qué ocurre tras el alta hospitalaria? ¿qué tipo de cobertura le ofrece el sistema sanitario a una mujer que ha tenido un infarto de miocardio y es dada de alta hospitalaria? ¿qué posibilidades le ofrece nuestra red asistencial sanitaria tras abandonar el hospital? Y lo que tal vez sea más importante ¿se contempla realmente la diversidad de esferas psicológica, social, cultural y física en las que la paciente debe"reintegrarse"? Este texto propone la implantación de un programa de atención integral a la mujer con cardiopatía isquémica tras abandonar el recinto hospitalario, tratando de cubrir las necesidades que se puedan generar tras el proceso asistencial en las diversas esferas del individuo, para asegurar la prestación de unos cuidados desde el punto de vista holístico. Nowadays, in spite of the preventive campaigns that have been made in order to control heart risk factors, heart diseasesare the first cause of mortality in the world in both men and women. Moreover, the consequences of these pathologies are usually assessed by using quantitative parameters such as the mortality or morbidity rate, the economic cost or impact which they generate, etc. Although it is clearly evident that we need to use qualitative control instruments which help us understand how people sense the disease. This view would facilitate an improvement of the assistance given and of the approach which is givento these pathologies. As for the heart disease in women, there have been some differences in aspects like the therapeutic effort or the diagnosis.The point which motivates this research is the following one: What happens after the discharge from hospital?What kind of assistance does the Health System offer to a woman who has suffered a heart attack and has been discharged from hospital?What kind of possibilities does our Health System offer to patients once they have been discharged from hospital? Or what"s more, Are the different psychological, social, cultural and physical spheres to which the patient must 'return' being considered? This text p roposes the introduction of a comprehensive assistance programme for women with ischaemic heart disease after they have been discharged from hospital and tries to meet the necessities which can be generated after the assistance process in all the individual spheres in order to guarantee the assistance care as far the holistic point of view is concerned