Foreigner? Want to study in Spain? The integration process at universities

The student exchange programs being carried out at universities for over 50 years, have led to changes in the institutions, which had to adapt to accommodate these students. Despite those changes, the integration of foreign students not coming from the aforementioned exchange programs that come to our country to study at the University has been neglected. These students face many barriers (language, cultural and origin customs mainly), so a clear and detailed information would be highly desirable in order to facilitate the necessary arrangements This study aims to show the deficiencies in the integration process and hosting programs faced by a foreign student at University. The study is performed by means of an analysis of statistical data from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the Civil Engineering School over the last 12 school years (1999 - 2000 to 2010 - 2011), as well as surveys and interviews with some of these students. The study is enhanced with the analysis of the measures and integration methods of the various minorities, which had been implemented by the foremost public universities in Spain, as well as other public and private universities abroad. It illustrates the existing backlog at the Spanish universities with regards to supporting the integration of diversity among foreign students, providing data concerning the growth of such population and its impact at the university, and on the institutions in particular. In an increasingly globalized world, we must understand and facilitate the integration of minorities at University, supplying them, from the first day, and before the enrollment process, the essential elements that will allow their adequate adaptation to the educational process at University. It concludes by identifying the main subjects that need to be tackled to endorse such integration.

Análisis espectral de señales cardiacas mediante frecuencia dominante

La Ingeniería Biomédica surgió en la década de 1950 como una fascinante mezcla interdisciplinaria, en la cual la ingeniería, la biología y la medicina aunaban esfuerzos para analizar y comprender distintas enfermedades. Las señales existentes en este área deben ser analizadas e interpretadas, más allá de las capacidades limitadas de la simple vista y la experiencia humana. Aquí es donde el procesamiento digital de la señal se postula como una herramienta indispensable para extraer la información relevante oculta en dichas señales. La electrocardiografía fue una de las primeras áreas en las que se aplicó el procesado digital de señales hace más de 50 años. Las señales electrocardiográficas continúan siendo, a día de hoy, objeto de estudio por parte de cardiólogos e ingenieros. En esta área, las técnicas de procesamiento de señal han ayudado a encontrar información oculta a simple vista que ha cambiado la forma de tratar ciertas enfermedades que fueron ya diagnosticadas previamente. Desde entonces, se han desarrollado numerosas técnicas de procesado de señales electrocardiográficas, pudiéndose resumir estas en tres grandes categorías: análisis tiempo-frecuencia, análisis de organización espacio-temporal y separación de la actividad atrial del ruido y las interferencias. Este proyecto se enmarca dentro de la primera categoría, análisis tiempo-frecuencia, y en concreto dentro de lo que se conoce como análisis de frecuencia dominante, la cual se va a aplicar al análisis de señales de fibrilación auricular. El proyecto incluye una parte teórica de análisis y desarrollo de algoritmos de procesado de señal, y una parte práctica, de programación y simulación con Matlab. Matlab es una de las herramientas fundamentales para el procesamiento digital de señales por ordenador, la cual presenta importantes funciones y utilidades para el desarrollo de proyectos en este campo. Por ello, se ha elegido dicho software como herramienta para la implementación del proyecto. ABSTRACT. Biomedical Engineering emerged in the 1950s as a fascinating interdisciplinary blend, in which engineering, biology and medicine pooled efforts to analyze and understand different diseases. Existing signals in this area should be analyzed and interpreted, beyond the limited capabilities of the naked eye and the human experience. This is where the digital signal processing is postulated as an indispensable tool to extract the relevant information hidden in these signals. Electrocardiography was one of the first areas where digital signal processing was applied over 50 years ago. Electrocardiographic signals remain, even today, the subject of close study by cardiologists and engineers. In this area, signal processing techniques have helped to find hidden information that has changed the way of treating certain diseases that were already previously diagnosed. Since then, numerous techniques have been developed for processing electrocardiographic signals. These methods can be summarized into three categories: time-frequency analysis, analysis of spatio-temporal organization and separation of atrial activity from noise and interferences. This project belongs to the first category, time-frequency analysis, and specifically to what is known as dominant frequency analysis, which is one of the fundamental tools applied in the analysis of atrial fibrillation signals. The project includes a theoretical part, related to the analysis and development of signal processing algorithms, and a practical part, related to programming and simulation using Matlab. Matlab is one of the fundamental tools for digital signal processing, presenting significant functions and advantages for the development of projects in this field. Therefore, we have chosen this software as a tool for project implementation.

Terremoto 2010 en Chile y vivienda social: resultados y aprendizajes para recomendación de políticas públicas

El territorio chileno esta propenso, desde antes que se constituyera como nación, al impacto del comportamiento de la naturaleza que le es inherente y que también le produce daños. Está representado en los seísmos, los más dañinos. Todavía, la sociedad chilena no termina de comprender que esos daños, son parte de un desequilibrio de una convivencia armoniosa entre ella y esa naturaleza, puesto que el ser humano que vive y habita sobre ella, también lo es. Así entonces, cada vez que el territorio y su espacio son remecidos por los seísmos, la naturaleza, manifestada en la sociedad, adquiere nuevos aprendizajes para mejorar la respuesta al próximo evento. El terremoto 2010 de 8.8° Richter, fue el segundo de mayor magnitud después del otro que hasta ahora, es el más grande del planeta, y que pudo ser medido. Aquel, fue el terremoto de Valdivia de 9,5° Richter, ocurrido el 22 de mayo de 1960. Las sociedades no son estáticas, cambian, son dinámicas. Esta vez el seísmo del 2010, ocurrió en una sociedad que hace ya 35 años, adoptó un modelo de economía de libre mercado. La pobreza que tenía a 1990, era de aproximadamente, un 40%. La del 2010, de un 14%. Durante la dictadura militar hubo otro seísmo de 7,8° Richter, recién instalándose el modelo aludido. El del 2010, permite sacar conclusiones en el contexto de este modelo económico. Los resultados aparentemente son interesantes en cuanto a que hubo pocas víctimas pero por otra parte, hubo un gran daño económico. La tesis profundiza en el impacto del seísmo en la dimensión del parque habitacional construido y de la vivienda social y en los habitantes más pobres y vulnerables. Es la primera investigación sobre seísmos y vivienda social en Chile. Se asume la hipótesis que ciertas variables por una parte, y una cultura antisísmica por otra, están presentes y han penetrado en los sectores populares durante los últimos 50 años y que ello, podría estar en la base de los resultados obtenidos. Se plantea una suerte de “matrimonio bien avenido” entre el habitante y políticas públicas en vivienda. De ello, se derivan recomendaciones para mejorar los avances en el problema investigado que se contextualizan en referencia al marco teórico elaborado. Sin embargo, y no obstante lo investigado, lo ya avanzado no garantiza buenos resultados en el próximo evento, Por ello, los aprendizajes nutren a otros, nuevos, que acompañarán a la sociedad chilena en su esencia e identidad como nación. ABSTRACT Long before its establishment as an independent nation, the Chilean territory has been prone to the impact of nature, which is an inherent and damaging feature of this land. Such an impact is represented by earthquakes, which are regarded as the most damaging natural disasters. Today, the Chilean society is still unable to understand that these impacts are part of an unbalanced coexistence between individuals and nature since human beings, who live and inhabit this space, are also an element of nature. Therefore, each time this territory is hit by earthquakes, nature —represented by society— learns new lessons in order to provide a better response to future events. The 2010 earthquake, which rated 8.8 on the Richter scale, was the second largest earthquake after the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Such an event was the Valdivia earthquake of May 22, 1960, which rated 9.5 on the Richter scale. Societies are not static as they are changing and dynamic. The 2010 earthquake took place within a context in which society operated under a free market economy model that had been running for 35 years. As of 1990, 40 per cent of the population lived in poverty; in 2010, such a figure was reduced to 14 per cent. Likewise, a magnitude 7.8 quake struck the country during the military regime period in the early days of the above model. The 2010 earthquake allows us to draw some conclusions within the context of this economic model. Results are interesting since there were few fatalities but significant economic loss. This thesis provides insights into the impact of the 2010 earthquake on the housing stock, social housing and those living in poverty and vulnerability. This is the first research on earthquakes and social housing conducted in Chile. The hypothesis is that certain variables and anti-seismic culture have permeated popular segments of the population over the last 50 years. The latter may be at the basis of the results obtained during this research. Likewise, this study proposes a certain “happy marriage” between the inhabitant and public policies on housing. The above offers some recommendations intended to further explore this issue; these suggestions are contextualized according to the theoretical framework developed in this research. However, current progress on this matter does not ensure positive results in the event of an earthquake. This is why these lessons will serve as models for future events, which are intrinsically tied to local society and Chilean identity.