Opportunity cost of CO2 emission reductions: developing vs. developed economies

Presentamos evidencia empírica sobre convergencia en magnitudes medioambientales para países desarrollados y en vías de desarrollo. Además, partiendo de un modelo standard "putty-clay" de uso de energía, introducimos un stock de contaminación sobre el que se fija un objetivo de reducción de emisiones. El análisis teórico ofrece indicaciones sobre qué variables deberían ser objeto de futuros acuerdos de reducción de emisiones entre países heterogéneos.economía medioambiental, convergencia, reducción de emisiones, environment economy, convergence, emission reductions.

A Semi-Lagrangian scheme for a degenerate second order Mean Field Game system

In this paper we study a fully discrete Semi-Lagrangian approximation of a second order Mean Field Game system, which can be degenerate. We prove that the resulting scheme is well posed and, if the state dimension is equals to one, we prove a convergence result. Some numerical simulations are provided, evidencing the convergence of the approximation and also the difference between the numerical results for the degenerate and non-degenerate cases.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure

Energy performance forecasting of residential buildings using fuzzy approaches

The energy consumption used for domestic purposes in Europe is, to a considerable extent, due to heating and cooling. This energy is produced mostly by burning fossil fuels, which has a high negative environmental impact. The characteristics of a building are an important factor to determine the necessities of heating and cooling loads. Therefore, the study of the relevant characteristics of the buildings, regarding the heating and cooling needed to maintain comfortable indoor air conditions, could be very useful in order to design and construct energy-efficient buildings. In previous studies, different machine-learning approaches have been used to predict heating and cooling loads from the set of variables: relative compactness, surface area, wall area, roof area, overall height, orientation, glazing area and glazing area distribution. However, none of these methods are based on fuzzy logic. In this research, we study two fuzzy logic approaches, i.e., fuzzy inductive reasoning (FIR) and adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), to deal with the same problem. Fuzzy approaches obtain very good results, outperforming all the methods described in previous studies except one. In this work, we also study the feature selection process of FIR methodology as a pre-processing tool to select the more relevant variables before the use of any predictive modelling methodology. It is proven that FIR feature selection provides interesting insights into the main building variables causally related to heating and cooling loads. This allows better decision making and design strategies, since accurate cooling and heating load estimations and correct identification of parameters that affect building energy demands are of high importance to optimize building designs and equipment specifications.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

¿Puede la evaluación docente institucional convertirse en estrategia de aprendizaje profesional?

La evaluación de desempeño docente ha sido abordada más a nivel nacional que a nivel de las instituciones escolares. Los focos de análisis sobre el tema han estado en su orientación (calificación versus formación) y en la vinculación e incidencia de sus resultados en la carrera docente. Pocas veces los alumnos son considerados actores importantes en este proceso de evaluación del desempeño de los profesores. Este artículo da cuenta de la experiencia realizada en un centro educativo (de carácter privado, es decir no dependiente del Ministerio) en la que los alumnos son actores importantes de este proceso lo que genera tensiones y resistencias, pero también permite una mirada más centrada en la evaluación como instrumento o mecanismo que ayuda a la profesionalización. Se destaca el carácter participativo y dialogante de la experiencia que posibilita la generación de una cultura evaluativo, condición necesaria para encontrar sentido a la evaluación de desempeño y hacer que esta se convierta en instancia de aprendizaje profesiona

¿Puede la evaluación docente institucional convertirse en estrategia de aprendizaje profesional?

La evaluación de desempeño docente ha sido abordada más a nivel nacional que a nivel de las instituciones escolares. Los focos de análisis sobre el tema han estado en su orientación (calificación versus formación) y en la vinculación e incidencia de sus resultados en la carrera docente. Pocas veces los alumnos son considerados actores importantes en este proceso de evaluación del desempeño de los profesores. Este artículo da cuenta de la experiencia realizada en un centro educativo (de carácter privado, es decir no dependiente del Ministerio) en la que los alumnos son actores importantes de este proceso lo que genera tensiones y resistencias, pero también permite una mirada más centrada en la evaluación como instrumento o mecanismo que ayuda a la profesionalización. Se destaca el carácter participativo y dialogante de la experiencia que posibilita la generación de una cultura evaluativo, condición necesaria para encontrar sentido a la evaluación de desempeño y hacer que esta se convierta en instancia de aprendizaje profesiona

Review of real brain-controlled wheelchairs

This paper presents a review of the state of the art regarding wheelchairs driven by a brain-computer interface (BCI). Using a brain-controlled wheelchair (BCW), disabled users could handle a wheelchair through their brain activity, granting autonomy to move through an experimental environment. A classification is established, based on the characteristics of the BCW, such as the type of electroencephalographic (EEG) signal used, the navigation system employed by the wheelchair, the task for the participants, or the metrics used to evaluate the performance. Furthermore, these factors are compared according to the type of signal used, in order to clarify the differences among them. Finally, the trend of current research in this field is discussed, as well as the challenges that should be solved in the future

Benefits of connecting rfid and lean principles in health care

The performance management process in health care is far behind compared to the manufacturing and service industries. Although nowadays the health care organizations are able to deal with a greater rank diseases, their cost, quality and delivery has essentially not improved significantly, and the difference with the other industries even seems to have increased. As opposed to this situation health care has a tremendous opportunity to deploy lean principles to reduce internal/external costs, improve patient safety, increase profits, reduce litigation and decrease the dependence on Government and Insurance. The application of these principles is being facilitated by the use of the new technologies. A new technology allowing personnel to constantly "see" what's happening with regards to patients schedule, backlog, workflow, inventory levels, resource utilization, quality, etc., is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The aim of this paper is to analyse the benefits that can be derived from the joint use of lean principles and RFID technology in health care

Brain switch mode: an alternative to drive a brain-controlled wheelchair

To date, different control paradigms of low level navigation have been tested for brain-controlled wheelchairs, mainly divided into continuous or discrete control [1]. However, these paradigms have certain drawbacks such as the need to keep the mental tasks active for a long time, as in continuous mode, or the impossibility to freely choose any distance of the movement or the turn, as in the discrete mode. An alternative paradigm to solve these problems could be the use of the brain switch mode [2], which would allow a more flexible control of the distance, requiring a lower workload for the user.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech