Acoustic Rock Art Landscapes: A comparison between the Acoustics of three Levantine Rock Art areas in Mediterranean Spain

This article focuses on the relationship between acoustics and rock art in Levantine art in Mediterranean Spain. It takes as a case study three rock art areas where Levantine-style rock art was produced: the Valltorta Gorge, the Mortero Gorge and the Godall mountains. The study centres on the analysis of reverberation and echoes. In each area a comparison was made between the acoustic properties of sections of the area with rock art and of others with none. Different sounds were also tested in order to identify which possible instruments had the best chance of producing a sensory reaction. Although we cannot hypothesise on the specific practices that may have taken place in these areas, we conclude with the proposition that the acoustic properties of a site indicate a sacred use of the landscape, in which sound was a key element of ritual performance

The Spiral that Vanished: The Application of Non-Contact Recording Techniques to an Elusive Rock Art Motif at Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria

This article describes the recording of stone 11 of the Castlerigg stone circle in Cumbria through two different non-contact techniques: laser scanning and ground-based remote sensing. Despite the unproblematic recording of modern graffiti, neither technique was able to document the spiral photographed and rubbed in 1995. It is concluded that the spiral was most probably painted and has since faded away due to natural events. The discovery and loss of of the spiral motif in Castlerigg is seen as a cautionary tale. In particular, it seems to suggest that it is time to take advantage of the novel technologies based on the digitisation of 3D surfaces with millimetre and submillimetre accuracy such as laser scanning and ground-based remote sensing. They offer many advantages to the recording of prehistoric carvings. In addition to avoiding direct contact with the rock surface eliminating the preservation concerns raised by other techniques, both produce high quality images (laser scaning offering a greater potential for this, but at higher cost) having a much higher level of objectivity, and precision and accuracy far beyond those of traditional recording methods such as wax rubbings and scale drawings

Estudi per l'aplicació de l'aprenentatge basat en el treball (work based learning) a les enginyeries a partir de l'experiència del programa de l'educació en alternança (educació compartida universitat-empresa)

El propòsit de l’estudi és valorar la viabilitat de l’aplicació del model d’aprenentatge basat en el treball (work based learning) en les enginyeries, a partir dels resultats del programa Educació en Alternança (EA) que es du a terme en l’Escola Politècnica Superior d’Enginyeria de Vilanova i la Geltrú (EPSEVG) des de febrer de 2002, i de l’estudi d’altres iniciatives exitoses d’educació compartida. Els objectius són: • Establir un sistema multidimensional d’avaluació del programa EA • Aplicar el sistema d’avaluació de resultats del programa per a la seva millora • Identificar les condicions de viabilitat per la implantació de l’educació compartida en les enginyeries. La població objecte de l’estudi ha estat de 91 estudiants que han participat en el programa des de l’inici. Sobre el total dels 91 estudiants s’ha realitzat l’anàlisi del rendiment. La valoració de les competències professionals s’han realitzat sobre la població de 56 estudiants del programa en alternança que han realitzat un període de pràctiques durant el quadrimestre 2004-2005, i s’han utilitzat qüestionaris que han contestat els propis estudiants, els tutors acadèmics i supervisors de l’empresa. D’altra banda, l’estudi de la carrera professional s’han efectuat sobre els 55 estudiants participants en el programa que en juliol de 2005 ja s’havien titulat, obtenint finalment 39 entrevistes telefòniques. Pel que fa als resultats respecte la carrera professional, el 44% dels titulats van ser contractats per les empreses on desenvolupaven les pràctiques, i 36 titulats consideren la seva participació en el programa positiva per a la seva inserció laboral. En quant a les competències, s’observen puntuacions altes i agrupades per part dels tres avaluadors (mitja de puntuació de les competències de 3.6 sobre 5, la mitjana de 3, 63 i la moda de 3, 67, amb una desviació típica de 0,61)

Acoustic effects at prehistoric landscapes: an archaeoacoustics analysis of rock art sites from Western Mediterranean

Many pre-state societies around the world give special importance to places where distinctive acoustic effects are generated. These places often receive special treatment including the production of rock paintings in them. In the Western Mediterranean, it seems that outstanding acoustic effects such as directional echoes, augmented audibility and long reverberation time are present in some rock art areas with Neolithic depictions made between the 7th and 4th millennia BC. These have been painted in different styles that have been given the name of Macroschematic, Levantine and Schematic rock art styles. On the basis of the results of our acoustic tests, we argue that there is a strong probability of acoustics having been used as a method by Neolithic artists to select the shelters in which to produce rock art. This paper presents the results of the ongoing ARTSOUNDSCAPES ERC Project on archaeoacoustics. This project seeks to explore the role of sound in the creation and use of rock art sites. he authors discuss the results of previous fieldwork in three countries (Spain, France and Italy) and the development of an innovative set of research methods that include 3D Ambisonic recordings, GIS soundshed analysis, and Transmission Loss measurements

Aplicación de un tratamiento cognitivo-comportamental para la fibromiálgia en una Unidad de Salud Mental. Un estudio piloto.

Introducción: Una Unidad de Salud Mental (USM) es un dispositivo al que acuden con frecuencia pacientes diagnosticados de fibromialgia (FM) derivados por los servicios de atención primaria. Pese a la existencia de tratamientos cognitivo-comportamentales (TCC) específicos para la FM, en las USM no suelen instaurarse este tipo de protocolos. Los pacientes con FM suelen recibir tratamiento dirigido a las psicopatologías conco-mitantes pero no específicamente para la FM. Pensamos que la TCC está especialmente indicada para ser aplicada en las USM, ya que son programas de tratamiento grupales con un número limitado de sesiones, lo que resulta muy atractivo desde un punto de vista de coste-beneficio. Metodología: En el presente estudio, pretendemos compro-bar, en forma de un estudio piloto, la posibilidad de implantar un programa de trata-miento psicológico (TCC) en grupo en una USM, con el fin de explorar si los pacientes con FM pueden lograr beneficios en variables psicológicas que impliquen una mejora en el manejo del dolor crónico y, por tanto, en la calidad de vida. En el estudio partici-paron 13 mujeres que recibieron la TCC en 12 sesiones. Resultados: Los resultados en el post-tratamiento indicaron que el impacto de la FM en la vida de las pacientes, la intensidad e interferencia de la fatiga, la interferencia del dolor y la calidad de vida mejoraron. Además aumentó la persistencia en la tarea y la búsqueda de apoyo social. Conclusiones: Nuestro trabajo aporta datos preliminares que apoyan la utilidad de los TCC en el tratamiento de la FM en el contexto de una USM.Introduction: A Mental Health Unit (MHU) is a service that patients diagnosed with fi-bromyalgia (FM) frequently attend to. These patients are referred to the MHU from their Primary Care Centres (PCC). In spite of the existence of Cognitive Behavioural Thera-pies (CBT) which are specific to FM, it is not usual to establish this kind of protocols in MHU. Patients with FM generally receive treatment focused on the concurrent patholo-gies but not on the treatment of FM itself. We believe that CBT is particularly suitable for application in the MHU, as it is based on group treatment programs with a limited number of sessions. It seems to be very attractive from a cost-efficacy point of view. Method: In the present study we intend to prove, as a pilot study, the possibility of implementing a CBT in groups at USM, in order to explore whether patients with FM can achieve ben-efits in psychological variables as an improvement in the management of chronic pain and therefore the quality of life. 13 women participated in the study, and they all re-ceived CBT group program in 12 sessions. Results: The results at post-treatment indi-cated that the impact of FM in the lives of patients, intensity, and interference of fatigue, pain interference and quality of life improved. Task persistence and seeking social sup-port also increased. Conclusions: Our study provides preliminary data supporting the utility of CBT treating FM in the context of MHU

Review of Tranquebar―Whose History? Transnational Cultural Heritage in a Former Danish Trading Colony in South India, by Helle Jørgensen, New Delhi, Orient BlackSwan, 2014, xi + 356pp., $40/£42, Hardcover, ISBN 9788125053453

Jørgensen examines the emergence of Tranquebar as a heritage town in post-colonial India through the diverse, sometimes competing interests and claims of local residents, state-oriented institutions, scholars and policy makers, non-governmental organisations, and private entrepreneurs. Tharangambadi, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, colloquially known as Tranquebar, is a fishing community of about 23000 people on the Coromandel Coast of India. Tranquebar was one of two trading posts that the Danish East India Company established in the 1600s, and that were taken over by the Danish Crown in 1650. The British East India Company acquired Denmark‟s Indian territories in 1845, and they were subsequently taken over in 1857 by the British Crown when the Company was dissolved. These territories were transferred to the Indian national government in 1947, when India gained independence from the British Crown. Jørgensen investigates the use of the past, that is, the making of Tranquebar into a destination for heritage tourism based on its Danish colonial history. The study takes place in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean earthquake on December 26, 2004. This major seismic event centred in the west coast of Sumatra, resulted in a powerful tsunami that radiated from there toward each country that shares a coastline on the Indian Ocean. The tsunami inundation in turn, caused the destruction of infrastructure, towns and villages, the displacement of coastal communities and the loss of human life. Tranquebar was severely impacted and since the tsunami, initiatives to promote economic growth in the town have intensified

Asterias: integrated analysis of expression and aCGH data using an open-source, web-based, parallelized software suite

Asterias (http://www.asterias.info) is an open-source, web-based, suite for the analysis of gene expression and aCGH data. Asterias implements validated statistical methods, and most of the applications use parallel computing, which permits taking advantage of multicore CPUs and computing clusters. Access to, and further analysis of, additional biological information and annotations (PubMed references, Gene Ontology terms, KEGG and Reactome pathways) are available either for individual genes (from clickable links in tables and figures) or sets of genes. These applications cover from array normalization to imputation and preprocessing, differential gene expression analysis, class and survival prediction and aCGH analysis. The source code is available, allowing for extention and reuse of the software. The links and analysis of additional functional information, parallelization of computation and open-source availability of the code make Asterias a unique suite that can exploit features specific to web-based environments

Study of the variation of the Malassezia load in the interdigital fold of dogs with pododermatitis

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICThe yeast Malassezia pachydermatis is a common inhabitant of the skin and mucosae of dogs. However, under certain circumstances this yeast can overgrow and act as an opportunistic pathogen causing otitis and dermatitis in dogs. Canine pododermatitis is a common disorder in dogs in which M. pachydermatis acts as an opportunistic pathogen. In the present study, the presence of Malassezia yeasts was assessed and quantified in samples collected from the interdigital space of dogs with pododermatitis before and after treatment, and from healthy dogs. The samples were subjected to two different cytological examinations, culture on Sabouraud glucose agar and modified Dixon's agar and a quantitative PCR targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) genomic region. A selection of samples was analyzed by next generation sequencing (NGS) using the D1D2 domain of the large subunit of the ribosomal DNA as target. The pododermatitis samples before treatment showed higher cell counts, colony-forming units and ITS copies than the rest of samples. The NGS analysis revealed that Ascomycota was the main phylum in the healthy and post-treatment samples. However, Basidiomycota and M. pachydermatis was more abundant in the pododermatitis samples before treatment. These results support M. pachydermatis as an opportunistic agent in canine pododermatitis by a variety of methods, and demonstrate the correlation between cytologic and molecular methods for quantification

Asterias: A Parallelized Web-based Suite for the Analysis of Expression and aCGH Data

The analysis of expression and CGH arrays plays a central role in the study of complex diseases, especially cancer, including finding markers for early diagnosis and prognosis, choosing an optimal therapy, or increasing our understanding of cancer development and metastasis. Asterias (http://www.asterias.info) is an integrated collection of freely-accessible web tools for the analysis of gene expression and aCGH data. Most of the tools use parallel computing (via MPI) and run on a server with 60 CPUs for computation; compared to a desktop or server-based but not parallelized application, parallelization provides speed ups of factors up to 50. Most of our applications allow the user to obtain additional information for user-selected genes (chromosomal location, PubMed ids, Gene Ontology terms, etc.) by using clickable links in tables and/or figures. Our tools include: normalization of expression and aCGH data (DNMAD); converting between different types of gene/clone and protein identifiers (IDconverter/IDClight); filtering and imputation (preP); finding differentially expressed genes related to patient class and survival data (Pomelo II); searching for models of class prediction (Tnasas); using random forests to search for minimal models for class prediction or for large subsets of genes with predictive capacity (GeneSrF); searching for molecular signatures and predictive genes with survival data (SignS); detecting regions of genomic DNA gain or loss (ADaCGH). The capability to send results between different applications, access to additional functional information, and parallelized computation make our suite unique and exploit features only available to web-based applications

Estudi previ en l'avaluació per competències dels estudiants en alternança de l'EPSEVG

A l’any 2001-2002/2 es va iniciar a l’EPSEVG el programa educatiu de l’Educació en Alternança. L’Alternança ofereix als alumnes que opten per aquesta modalitat una formació global, que compagina o alterna períodes de formació convencional a la Universitat amb períodes i estades a l’empresa, adquirint una formació pràctica i professional que culmina amb la realització del projecte de fi de carrera a l’empresa. Dos anys després de la seva implantació i amb els primers estudiants titulats, cal conèixer l’impacte real del programa en les competències dels estudiants i en l’entorn. Cal establir un mecanisme d’avaluació que permeti millorar la qualitat del programa i adaptar-lo a les necessitats del seu entorn. Els mètodes d’avaluació convencional no ofereixen una visió global ni ajustada de l’Alternança, de manera que cal dissenyar-ne una basada en les competències, capacitats i processos directament lligades amb el treball i vinculades als perfils professionals. L’objectiu principal és dissenyar un sistema d’avaluació específic per l’Educació en Alternança que sigui útil per la seva monitorització i que permeti valorar el grau d’assoliment dels dos propòsits principals del programa: l’adquisició per part dels alumnes participants de competències crítiques per a la seva carrera professional i d’altra banda l’impacte sobre la xarxa de relacions de l’EPSEVG amb els agents econòmics i educatius del seu entorn