MIRACLE’s Hybrid Approach to Bilingual and Monolingual Information Retrieval

The main goal of the bilingual and monolingual participation of the MIRACLE team in CLEF 2004 was to test the effect of combination approaches on information retrieval. The starting point was a set of basic components: stemming, transformation, filtering, generation of n-grams, weighting and relevance feedback. Some of these basic components were used in different combinations and order of application for document indexing and for query processing. A second order combination was also tested, mainly by averaging or selective combination of the documents retrieved by different approaches for a particular query.

Effect of five enological practices and of the general phenolic composition on fermentation-related aroma compounds in Mencia young red wines

The effects of five technological procedures and of the contents of total anthocyanins and condensed tan- nins on 19 fermentation-related aroma compounds of young red Mencia wines were studied. Multifactor ANOVA revealed that levels of those volatiles changed significantly over the length of storage in bottles and, to a lesser extent, due to other technological factors considered; total anthocyanins and condensed tannins also changed significantly as a result of the five practices assayed. Five aroma compounds pos- sessed an odour activity value >1 in all wines, and another four in some wines. Linear correlation among volatile compounds and general phenolic composition revealed that total anthocyanins were highly related to 14 different aroma compounds. Multifactor ANOVA, considering the content of total anthocy- anins as a sixth random factor, revealed that this parameter affected significantly the contents of ethyl lactate, ethyl isovalerate, 1-pentanol and ethyl octanoate. Thus, the aroma of young red Mencia wines may be affected by levels of total anthocyanins

Comparisson of hydrogen applications for storage and energy vector

For the decades to come can be foreseen that electricity and water will keep be playing a key role in the countries development, both can be considered the most important energy vectors and its control can be crucial for governments, companies and leaders in general. Energy is essential for all human activities and its availability is critical to economic and social development. In particular, electricity, a form of energy, is required to produce goods, to provide medical assistance and basic civic services in education, to assure availability of clean water, to create conducive environment for prosperity and improvement, and to keep an acceptable quality of life. The way in which electricity is generated from different resources varies through the different countries. Nuclear energy controlled within reactors to steam production, gas, fuel-oil and coal fired in power stations, water, solar and wind energy among others are employed, sometimes not very efficiently, to produce electricity. The so call energy mix of an individual country is formed up by the contribution of each resource or form of energy to the electricity generation market of the so country. During the last decade the establishment of proper energy mixes for countries has gained much importance, and energy drivers should enforce long term plans and policies. Hints, reports and guides giving tracks on energy resources contribution are been developed by noticeable organisations like the IEA (International Energy Agency) or the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the WEC (World Energy Council). This paper evaluates energy issues the market and countries are facing today regarding energy mix scheduling and panorama. This paper revises and seeks to improve methodology available that are applicable on energy mix plan definition. Key Factors are identified, established and assessed through this paper for the common implementation, the themes driving the future energy mix methodology proposal. Those have a clear influence and are closely related to future environmental policies. Key Factors take into consideration sustainability, energy security, social and economic growth, climate change, air quality and social stability. The strength of the Key Factors application on energy system planning to different countries is contingent on country resources, location, electricity demand and electricity generation industry, technology available, economic situation and prospects, energy policy and regulation

Las Infraestructuras de Datos Espaciales (IDE) como un recurso educativo TIC . Estrategias de formación y difusión para el profesorado de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria

Desde mediados de los 90, gracias a las posibilidades de la World Wide Web, se liberó la cartografía de su dependencia del medio físico, posibilitando el acceso y visualización de millones de mapas almacenados en formatos gráficos a través de Internet. En este contexto, el papel de la Información Geográfica (IG) en la vida cotidiana adquirió relevancia en la medida que el acceso a la misma resultaba cada vez más fácil gracias a múltiples herramientas y aplicaciones para distribuir y acercar los mapas en distintos formatos a la sociedad en general. Sin embargo, dado que esa información enseguida pasaba a estar desactualizada, surgió una demanda desde distintos ámbitos (seguridad, medio ambiente transporte, servicios, etc.) y de la sociedad en general para disponer de la información más actual. Como respuesta a esta demanda, surgen las iniciativas denominadas Infraestructuras de Datos Espaciales (IDE). Estas iniciativas, mediante la acción coordinada de un conjunto de tecnologías, estándares, normas y políticas, brindan la posibilidad a los usuarios de acceder, a través de Internet, a IG actualizada producida por instituciones y organismos oficiales, en un marco colaborativo y sustentada en una estructura organizativa. En este contexto, el ámbito educativo no ha permanecido ajeno representando uno de los espacios más propicios para la difusión de las potencialidades y usos de las IDE. En esta tesis se propone la utilización de las IDE en el contexto educativo, específicamente en la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO). Utilizar las IDE en el contexto educativo implica asignarle un papel en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y en el marco de esta tesis se presentan los fundamentos teóricos que permiten afirmar que las IDE son un re-curso educativo que responde a las características de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC). Esto se explicita a través de un concepto más amplio que hemos denominado “recurso educativo TIC”. En este contexto se analizan las posibilidades que ofrece las IDE para alcanzar los objetivos de aprendizaje de asignaturas de la ESO relacionadas con IG y se identifican contenidos susceptibles de ser abordados utilizándolas. Por otra parte, atendiendo al modelo educativo del aprendizaje basado en competencias, se exponen las posibilidades y potencialidades que ofrecen las IDE para desarrollar la competencia digital. Una vez planteado el marco teórico se desarrollaron dos estrategias de formación y difusión de las IDE orientadas al profesorado de la ESO. En primer lugar, utilizando el Modelo de Diseño Instruccional ADDIE, se diseñaron, desarrollaron, implementaron y evaluaron tres cursos e-learning para el profesorado de ESO de las asignaturas Ciencias Sociales, Ciencias de la Naturaleza y Tecnología. En segundo lugar, con objetivo de complementar los resultados obtenidos de los cursos e-learning, se realizó una actividad en dos Institutos de Educación Secundaria orientada a difundir las IDE. La puesta en práctica de estas estrategias ofreció al profesorado la información necesaria sobre qué son las IDE y proporcionó ejemplos concretos de uso de las mismas en su asignatura, permitiéndoles disponer de los conocimientos e información para emitir una valoración sobre las posibilidades que ofrecen las IDE como un recurso educativo TIC. Since about the middle of the 1990 decade, owing to the potential of the World Wide Web, cartography freed itself from its dependence on its physical support, enabling the access and visualisation of millions of maps stored in graphical formats through the Internet. In this context, the role of Geographic Information (GI) in daily life became relevant in as much as its access turned out to be ever easier due to multiple tools and applications to distribute and bring maps in different formats closer to society in general. Yet, since the information available often became outdated, a demand for updated information arose from different specific fields (security, environment, transport, services, etc.) and from the general public. As a response to this demand, the so-called Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) initiatives arose which, through the coordinated action of a set of technologies, stan-dards, and policies, enabled users to access updated GI created by organisations and official institutions, through the Internet, within a cooperative framework and an organisational structure. In this context the educational world has not remained aloof, since it represented one of the most propitious scope for the dissemination of the potentials and uses of SDI. In this thesis the utilization of SDI in the educational context is proposed, specifically in the Spanish Compulsory Secondary Education (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria – ESO). This utilization implies assigning SDI a role in the teaching-learning process; here the theo-retical foundation is presented which allows asserting that SDI is an educational resource fitting in with the characteristics of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This is made explicit by means of a broader concept we have called “ICT educa-tional resource”. The possibilities offered by SDI to reach the objective of learning ESO subjects related to GI are analyzed, and contents apt to be addressed by using them are identified. On the other hand, attending to the educational model of learning based on competences, the possibilities and potentials the SDI offer to develop the digital compe-tence are exposed. After having set forth the theoretical frame, two strategies of training and dissemination of SDI were developed, oriented to the ESO teaching staff. First, using the ADDIE Instruc-tional Design Model, three learning courses were designed, developed, implemented and evaluated for the ESO teaching staff in the subjects of Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Technology. In the second place, with the purpose of supplementing the results ob-tained from the e-learning courses, an activity was carried out in two High Schools, ori-ented to disseminate the SDI. The implementation of these strategies offered the teaching staff the needed information concerning the SDI and provided specific instances of utilisa-tion thereof in their subject, thus enabling them to acquire the knowledge and information to issue an assessment of the possibilities the SDI offer as an ICT educational resource

A new way of teaching different subjects in a foreign language in the Building Engineering Degree at the Universidad Politécnica.

The European Union has been promoting linguistic diversity for many years as one of its main educational goals. This is an element that facilitates student mobility and student exchanges between different universities and countries and enriches the education of young undergraduates. In particular, a higher degree of competence in the English language is becoming essential for engineers, architects and researchers in general, as English has become the lingua franca that opens up horizons to internationalisation and the transfer of knowledge in today’s world. Many experts point to the Integrated Approach to Contents and Foreign Languages System as being an option that has certain benefits over the traditional method of teaching a second language that is exclusively based on specific subjects. This system advocates teaching the different subjects in the syllabus in a language other than one’s mother tongue, without prioritising knowledge of the language over the subject. This was the idea that in the 2009/10 academic year gave rise to the Second Language Integration Programme (SLI Programme) at the Escuela Arquitectura Técnica in the Universidad Politécnica Madrid (EUATM-UPM), just at the beginning of the tuition of the new Building Engineering Degree, which had been adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) model. This programme is an interdisciplinary initiative for the set of subjects taught during the semester and is coordinated through the Assistant Director Office for Educational Innovation. The SLI Programme has a dual goal; to familiarise students with the specific English terminology of the subject being taught, and at the same time improve their communication skills in English. A total of thirty lecturers are taking part in the teaching of eleven first year subjects and twelve in the second year, with around 120 students who have voluntarily enrolled in a special group in each semester. During the 2010/2011 academic year the degree of acceptance and the results of the SLI Programme have been monitored. Tools have been designed to aid interdisciplinary coordination and to analyse satisfaction, such as coordination records and surveys. The results currently available refer to the first and second year and are divided into specific aspects of the different subjects involved and into general aspects of the ongoing experience.

Integrated approach to foreign language in the building engineering degree at the Universidad Politécnica Madrid

The European Union has been promoting linguistic diversity for many years as one of its main educational goals. This is an element that facilitates student mobility and student exchanges between different universities and countries and enriches the education of young undergraduates. In particular,a higher degree of competence in the English language is becoming essential for engineers, architects and researchers in general, as English has become the lingua franca that opens up horizons to internationalisation and the transfer of knowledge in today’s world. Many experts point to the Integrated Approach to Contents and Foreign Languages System as being an option that has certain benefits over the traditional method of teaching a second language that is exclusively based on specific subjects. This system advocates teaching the different subjects in the syllabus in a language other than one’s mother tongue, without prioritising knowledge of the language over the subject. This was the idea that in the 2009/10 academic year gave rise to the Second Language Integration Programme (SLI Programme) at the Escuela Arquitectura Tecnica in the Universidad Politecnica Madrid (EUATM-UPM), just at the beginning of the tuition of the new Building Engineering Degree, which had been adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) model. This programme is an interdisciplinary initiative for the set of subjects taught during the semester and is coordinated through the Assistant Director Office for Educational Innovation. The SLI Programme has a dual goal; to familiarise students with the specific English terminology of the subject being taught, and at the same time improve their communication skills in English. A total of thirty lecturers are taking part in the teaching of eleven first year subjects and twelve in the second year, with around 120 students who have voluntarily enrolled in a special group in each semester. During the 2010/2011 academic year the degree of acceptance and the results of the SLI Programme are being monitored. Tools have been designed to aid interdisciplinary coordination and to analyse satisfaction, such as coordination records and surveys. The results currently available refer to the first semester of the year and are divided into specific aspects of the different subjects involved and into general aspects of the ongoing experience.

Comportamiento del paciente de la clínica dental. Modelo basado en la percepción de la calidad del servicio y fidelización del paciente

Esta tesis doctoral propone un modelo de comportamiento del paciente de la clínica dental, basado en la percepción de la calidad del servicio (SERVQUAL), la fidelización del paciente, acciones de Marketing Relacional y aspectos socioeconómicos relevantes, de los pacientes de clínicas dentales. En particular, el estudio de campo se lleva a cabo en el ámbito geográfico de la Comunidad de Madrid, España, durante los años 2012 y 2013. La primera parte del proceso de elaboración del modelo está basada en la recolección de datos. Para ello, se realizaron cinco entrevistas a expertos dentistas y se aplicaron dos tipos encuestas diferentes: una para el universo formado por el conjunto de los pacientes de las clínicas dentales y la otra para el universo formado el conjunto de los dentistas de las clínicas dentales de la Comunidad de Madrid. Se obtuvo muestras de: 200 encuestas de pacientes y 220 encuestas de dentistas activos colegiados en el Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos de la I Región Madrid. En la segunda parte de la elaboración del modelo, se realizó el análisis de los datos, la inducción y síntesis del modelo propuesto. Se utilizó la metodología de modelos gráficos probabilísticos, específicamente, una Red Bayesiana, donde se integraron variables (nodos) y sus dependencias estadísticas causales (arcos dirigidos), que representan el conocimiento obtenido de los datos recopilados en las encuestas y el conocimiento derivado de investigaciones precedentes en el área. Se obtuvo una Red Bayesiana compuesta por 6 nodos principales, de los cuales dos de ellos son nodos de observación directa: “Revisit Intention” y “SERVQUAL”, y los otros cuatro nodos restantes son submodelos (agrupaciones de variables), estos son respectivamente: “Attitudinal”, “Disease Information”, “Socioeconomical” y “Services”. Entre las conclusiones principales derivadas del uso del modelo, como herramientas de inferencia y los análisis de las entrevistas realizadas se obtiene que: (i) las variables del nodo “Attitudinal” (submodelo), son las más sensibles y significativas. Al realizarse imputaciones particulares en las variables que conforman el nodo “Attitudinal” (“RelationalMk”, “Satisfaction”, “Recommendation” y “Friendship”) se obtienen altas probabilidades a posteriori en la fidelidad del paciente de la clínica dental, medida por su intención de revisita. (ii) En el nodo “Disease Information” (submodelo) se destaca la relación de dependencia causal cuando se imputa la variable “Perception of disease” en “SERVQUAL”, demostrando que la percepción de la gravedad del paciente condiciona significativamente la percepción de la calidad del servicio del paciente. Como ejemplo destacado, si se realiza una imputación en la variable “Clinic_Type” se obtienen altas probabilidades a posteriori de las variables “SERVQUAL” y “Revisit Intention”, lo que evidencia, que el tipo de clínica dental influye significativamente en la percepción de la calidad del servicio y en la fidelidad del paciente (intención de revisita). (iii) En el nodo “Socioeconomical” (submodelo) la variable “Sex” resultó no ser significativa cuando se le imputaban diferentes valores, por el contrario, la variable “Age” e “Income” mostraban altas variabilidades en las probabilidades a posteriori cuando se imputaba alguna variable del submodelo “Services”, lo que evidencia, que estas variables condicionan la intención de contratar servicios (“Services”), sobretodo en las franjas de edad de 30 a 51 años en pacientes con ingresos entre 3000€ y 4000€. (iv) En el nodo “Services” (submodelo) los pacientes de las clínicas dentales mostraron altas probabilidades a priori para contratar servicios de fisiotrapia oral y gingival: “Dental Health Education” y “Parking”. (v) Las variables de fidelidad del paciente medidas desde su perspectiva comportamental que fueron utilizadas en el modelo: “Visit/year” “Time_clinic”, no aportaron información significativa. Tampoco, la variable de fidelidad del cliente (actitudinal): “Churn Efford”. (vi) De las entrevistas realizadas a expertos dentistas se obtiene que, los propietarios de la clínica tradicional tienen poca disposición a implementar nuevas estrategias comerciales, debido a la falta de formación en la gestión comercial y por falta de recursos y herramientas. Existe un rechazo generalizado hacia los nuevos modelos de negocios de clínicas dentales, especialmente en las franquicias y en lo que a políticas comerciales se refiere. Esto evidencia una carencia de gerencia empresarial en el sector. Como líneas futuras de investigación, se propone profundizar en algunas relaciones de dependencia (causales) como SERVQUALServices; SatisfactionServices; RelationalMKServices, Perception of diseaseSatisfaction, entre otras. Así como, otras variables de medición de la fidelidad comportamental que contribuyan a la mejora del modelo, como por ej. Gasto del paciente y rentabilidad de la visita. ABSTRACT This doctoral dissertation proposes a model of the behavior of the dental-clinic customer, based on the service-quality perception (SERVQUAL), loyalty, Relational Marketing and some relevant socio-economical characteristics, of the dental-clinic customers. In particular, the field study has been developed in the geographical region of Madrid, Spain during the years 2012 and 2013. The first stage of the preparation of the model consist in the data gathering process. For this purpose, five interviews where realized to expert dentists and also two different types of surveys: one for the universe defined by the set of dental-clinic patients and the second for the universe defined by the set of the dentists of the dental clinics of the Madrid Community. A sample of 200 surveys where collected for patients and a sample of 220 surveys where collected from active dentists belonging to the Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos de la I Región Madrid. In the second stage of the model preparation, the processes of data-analysis, induction and synthesis of the final model where performed. The Graphic Probabilistic Models methodology was used to elaborate the final model, specifically, a Bayesian Network, where the variables (nodes) and their statistical and causal dependencies where integrated and modeled, representing thus, the obtained knowledge from the data obtained by the surveys and the scientific knowledge derived from previous research in the field. A Bayesian Net consisting on six principal nodes was obtained, of which two of them are directly observable: “Revisit Intention” y “SERVQUAL”, and the remaining four are submodels (a grouping of variables). These are: “Attitudinal”, “Disease Information”, “Socioeconomical” and “Services”. The main conclusions derived from the model, as an inference tool, and the analysis of the interviews are: (i) the variables inside the “Attitudinal” node are the most sensitive and significant. By making some particular imputations on the variables that conform the “Attitudinal” node (“RelationalMk”, “Satisfaction”, “Recommendation” y “Friendship”), high posterior probabilities (measured in revisit intention) are obtained for the loyalty of the dental-clinic patient. (ii) In the “Disease Information” node, the causal relation between the “Perception of disease” and “SERVQUAL” when “Perception of disease” is imputed is highlighted, showing that the perception of the severity of the patient’s disease conditions significantly the perception of service quality. As an example, by imputing some particular values to the “Clinic_Type” node high posterior probabilities are obtained for the “SERVQUAL” variables and for “Revisit Intention” showing that the clinic type influences significantly in the service quality perception and loyalty (revisit intention). (iii) In the “Socioeconomical” variable, the variable “Sex” showed to be non-significant, however, the “Age” variable and “Income” show high variability in its posterior probabilities when some variable from the “Services” node where imputed, showing thus, that these variables condition the intention to buy new services (“Services”), especially in the age range from 30 to 50 years in patients with incomes between 3000€ and 4000€. (iv) In the “Services” submodel the dental-clinic patients show high priors to buy services such as oral and gingival therapy, Dental Health Education and “Parking” service. (v) The obtained loyalty measures, from the behavioral perspective, “Visit/year” and “Time_clinic”, do not add significant information to the model. Neither the attitudinal loyalty component “Churn Efford”. (vi) From the interviews realized to the expert dentists it is observed that the owners of the traditional clinics have a low propensity to apply new commercial strategies due to a lack of resources and tools. In general, there exists an opposition to new business models in the sector, especially to the franchise dental model. All of this evidences a lack in business management in the sector. As future lines of research, a deep look into some statistical and causal relations is proposed, such as: SERVQUALServices; SatisfactionServices; RelationalMKServices, Perception of diseaseSatisfaction, as well as new measurement variables related to attitudinal loyalty that contribute to improve the model, for example, profit per patient and per visit.