Bach després de Bach : ressonàncies bachianes en obres posteriors de Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, Britten i Villa-Lobos

L’objectiu d’aquest projecte és estudiar la recepció de l’obra de Bach des de la seva vida fins l’actualitat. Es pretén, d’una banda, esbrinar quins són els motius que van produir que cada època històrica jutjés l’obra de Bach de diferent manera, quins van ser els mitjans de conservació de la seva obra així com quins canvis va patir la seva obra per tal d’encaixar amb cada època. D’altra banda pretén exemplificar aquesta diferència en la posició que cada època va atorgar a l’obra de Bach mitjançant obres de compositors posteriors (Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, Britten i Villa-Lobos) que, cadascuna de manera diferent, contenen alguna reminiscència de Bach. La metodologia utilitzada ha consistit en la seva major part en la recerca bibliogràfica però també en la comparació de versions d’obres musicals en partitures i gravacions. La conclusió principal que es pot extreure d’aquest treball és que cadascú és producte de la seva època amb el seu context particular i per tant, qualsevol interpretació que pugui fer d’una obra musical amb el seu estil compositiu ve fortament determinat per la ideologia del context que l’envolta. És normal, doncs, que el segle XVIII la decadència del pensament religiós comportés un rebuig per l’obra de Bach la qual és majoritàriament de caràcter religiós, mentre que el segle XIX amb l’emergència de la burgesia i els seus valors romàntics s’elevés la figura de Bach com l’heroi del poble alemany.

The effect of pesticides and alien invesive species on soil biota and litter decomposition rates in a Mediterrean-climate ecosystem of Western Australia

Ecosystems are complex systems and changing one of their components can alter their whole functioning. Decomposition and biodiversity are two factors that play a role in this stability, and it is vital to study how these two factors are interrelated and how other factors, whether of human origin or not, can affect them. This study has tested different hypotheses regarding the effects of pesticides and invasive species on the biodiversity of the soil fauna and litter decomposition rate. Decomposition was measured using the litterbags technique. Our results indicate that pesticides had a negative effect on decomposition whereas invasive species increased decomposition rate. At the same time, the diversity of the soil biota was unaffected by either factor. These results allow us to better understand the response of important ecosystem functions to human‐induced alterations, in order to mitigate harmful effects or restore them wherever necessary.

Combining phospholipases and a liquid lipase for one-step biodiesel production using crude oils

Background Enzymatic biodiesel is becoming an increasingly popular topic in bioenergy literature because of its potential to overcome the problems posed by chemical processes. However, the high cost of the enzymatic process still remains the main drawback for its industrial application, mostly because of the high price of refined oils. Unfortunately, low cost substrates, such as crude soybean oil, often release a product that hardly accomplishes the final required biodiesel specifications and need an additional pretreatment for gums removal. In order to reduce costs and to make the enzymatic process more efficient, we developed an innovative system for enzymatic biodiesel production involving a combination of a lipase and two phospholipases. This allows performing the enzymatic degumming and transesterification in a single step, using crude soybean oil as feedstock, and converting part of the phospholipids into biodiesel. Since the two processes have never been studied together, an accurate analysis of the different reaction components and conditions was carried out. Results Crude soybean oil, used as low cost feedstock, is characterized by a high content of phospholipids (900 ppm of phosphorus). However, after the combined activity of different phospholipases and liquid lipase Callera Trans L, a complete transformation into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs >95%) and a good reduction of phosphorus (P <5 ppm) was achieved. The combination of enzymes allowed avoidance of the acid treatment required for gums removal, the consequent caustic neutralization, and the high temperature commonly used in degumming systems, making the overall process more eco-friendly and with higher yield. Once the conditions were established, the process was also tested with different vegetable oils with variable phosphorus contents. Conclusions Use of liquid lipase Callera Trans L in biodiesel production can provide numerous and sustainable benefits. Besides reducing the costs derived from enzyme immobilization, the lipase can be used in combination with other enzymes such as phospholipases for gums removal, thus allowing the use of much cheaper, non-refined oils. The possibility to perform degumming and transesterification in a single tank involves a great efficiency increase in the new era of enzymatic biodiesel production at industrial scale.

Approximate polytope ensemble for one-class classification

In this work, a new one-class classification ensemble strategy called approximate polytope ensemble is presented. The main contribution of the paper is threefold. First, the geometrical concept of convex hull is used to define the boundary of the target class defining the problem. Expansions and contractions of this geometrical structure are introduced in order to avoid over-fitting. Second, the decision whether a point belongs to the convex hull model in high dimensional spaces is approximated by means of random projections and an ensemble decision process. Finally, a tiling strategy is proposed in order to model non-convex structures. Experimental results show that the proposed strategy is significantly better than state of the art one-class classification methods on over 200 datasets.

L’eficàcia de les suspensions judicials amb obligació de tractament de deshabituació. Factors que poden influir en la reducció o no de reincidència

Aquesta recerca està motivada per l’interès en les Mesures Penals Alternatives, concretament, en les suspensions judicials com a mesura més adient per a determinats subjectes amb perfils toxicològics i que requereixen d’una intervenció que es pot abordar en context comunitari. Per tal de valorar la seva eficàcia, l’equip d’investigadors s’ha centrat en els índexs de reincidència i aquells factors que poden influir a partir de l’anàlisi estadística d’una mostra de 237 subjectes sotmesos a l’obligació de tractament de deshabituació. Observant l’índex de reincidència, en funció de l’anàlisi de variables sociopersonals i judicials dels subjectes, es busquen aquells indicadors que poden ser eficaços per reduir la comissió de nous fets delictius. Del resultats obtinguts, es conclou que variables com una bona adherència familiar, una estabilitat laboral així com la finalització correcta d’un tractament de deshabituació aporten uns nivells de reincidència baixos. Igualment, es justifica l’atorgament de suspensions judicials com a eina punitiva més eficaç per a aquells subjectes amb característiques toxicològiques i necessitats rehabilitadores a causa de la seva addicció, atès que els nivells de reincidència obtinguts en aquesta recerca aporten uns índexs més baixos que els nivells actuals de reincidència penitenciària (cal tenir en compte, però, la diferència de perfils). Es conclou que aquestes mesures penals alternatives són una eina més integradora ja que es desenvolupen en l’entorn comunitari.

La eficacia de las suspensiones judiciales con obligación de tratamiento de deshabituación. Factores que pueden influir en la reducción o no de reincidencia

Esta investigación está motivada por el interés por las suspensiones judiciales como medida más adecuada para determinados sujetos con perfiles toxicológicos y que requieren una intervención que se puede abordar en un contexto comunitario. Con el fin de valorar su eficacia, el equipo de investigadores se ha centrado en los índices de reincidencia y aquellos factores que pueden influir a partir del análisis estadístico de una muestra de 237 sujetos sometidos a la obligación de tratamiento de deshabituación. Observando el índice de reincidencia, en función del análisis de variables sociopersonales y judiciales de los sujetos, se buscan aquellos indicadores que pueden ser eficaces para reducir la comisión de nuevos hechos delictivos. De los resultados obtenidos, se concluye que variables como una buena adherencia familiar, la estabilidad laboral o la finalización correcta de un tratamiento de deshabituación aportan unos niveles de reincidencia bajos Asimismo, se justifica el otorgamiento de suspensiones judiciales como herramienta punitiva más eficaz para aquellos sujetos con características toxicológicas y necesidades rehabilitadoras debido a su adicción, dado que los niveles de reincidencia obtenidos en esta investigación aportan unos índices más bajos que los niveles actuales de reincidencia penitenciaria (siempre teniendo en cuenta la diferencia de perfiles). Se concluye en este estudio que la aplicación de estas medidas penales alternativas son una herramienta más integradora debido a que se desarrolla dentro del entorno comunitario.

Determinants of science-based cooperation: evidence in a sample of small and micro firms

We study the determining factors of cience-based cooperation in the case of small and micro firms. In this research, we propose an analytical framework based on the resource-based view of the firm and we identify a set of organisational characteristics, which we classify as internal, external and structural factors. Each factor can be linked to at least one reason, from the firm¿s point of view, to cooperate with universities and public research centres. Each reason can, in turn, be used as an indicator of a firm¿s organisational needs or organisational capacities. In order to validate the theoretical model, we estimate a logistic regression that models the propensity to participate in science-based cooperation activities within a sample of 285 small and micro firms located in Barcelona. The results show the key role played by the absorptive capacity of new and small companies.

Going with the consumer towards the social Web environment : a review of extant knowledge

The social Web environment cannot be explained without taking into account the use made by consumers of the web technologies in the field of e-commerce. Starting with a systematic background of the growing body of research on marketing and consumer behaviour on the Web; this article presents a critical review of the main contributions on this theme, integrating also the research field of consumer behaviour in the social Web environment. It concludes with some managerial guidelines for successful use of the social Web in the commercial activities and in the establishment of fruitful relationships between the consumers and the brand.

Catalogación y valoración de las webquests desde el área de educación física y el tratamiento de temáticas transversales

Gears of the current millennium have been activated by the hit entry into the information society that has generated a whole range of social and educational changes, it is difficult to stay out of their influence, such as: the dizzying presence of new technologies (NNTT) and the entrenchment of a crisis of values. Physical education has been affected by this avalanche of developments that have sparked the birth of original teaching and learning tools that can be applied in the classroom. In this sense, WebQuests have been configured as a unifying and educational activities that allow addressing the treatment of specific thematic area that we are dealing with the work of certain cross¿cutting. But how do you know what product we have before us, what is its effectiveness? What criteria will allow us to classify it as a fit and capable of being applied in our particular educational context? To clarify these and other issues that any teacher could arise before the election of a multimedia educational materials, our particular object of study has a double claim on the one hand, developing two tools: the card catalog and the heading of Valuation of WebQuests and secondly, to apply these tools in order to find out / determine the degree of quality of a sample of WebQuests. In this article sets forth, in summary form, the various stages of what our research has gone since the establishment of a synthesized theoretical basis, via the definition of the basic guidelines for the design of the exhibition and research results and ending with The list of the ideas and proposals arising from thework.

Analyzing hidden semantics in social bookmarking of open educational resources

Web 2.0 services such as social bookmarking allow users to manage and share the links they find interesting, adding their own tags for describingthem. This is especially interesting in the field of open educational resources, asdelicious is a simple way to bridge the institutional point of view (i.e. learningobject repositories) with the individual one (i.e. personal collections), thuspromoting the discovering and sharing of such resources by other users. In this paper we propose a methodology for analyzing such tags in order to discover hidden semantics (i.e. taxonomies and vocabularies) that can be used toimprove descriptions of learning objects and make learning object repositories more visible and discoverable. We propose the use of a simple statistical analysis tool such as principal component analysis to discover which tags createclusters that can be semantically interpreted. We will compare the obtained results with a collection of resources related to open educational resources, in order to better understand the real needs of people searching for open educational resources.

JXTAnonym: An anonymity layer for JXTA services messaging

With the evolution of the P2P research eld, new problems, such as those related with information security, have arisen. It is important to provide security mechanisms to P2P systems, since it has already become one of the key issues when evaluating them. However, even though many P2P systems have been adapted to provide a security baseline to their underlying applications, more advanced capabilities are becoming necessary. Speci cally, privacy preservation and anonymity are deemed essential to make the information society sustainable. Unfortunately, sometimes, it may be di cult to attain anonymity unless it is included into the system's initial design. The JXTA open protocols speci cation is a good example of this kind of scenario. This work studies how to provide anonymity to JXTA's architecture in a feasible manner and proposes an extension which allows deployed services to process two-way messaging without disclosing the endpoints'identities to third parties.

Memòria justificativa de recerca de la convocatòria MQD: PRESENT@: sala de graus virtual multidisciplinar

Un treball final de carrera (TFC) és un dels últims passos de molts estudis, com per exemple els graus d'enginyeria. Els estudiants solen presentar els resultats del seu projecte final en una presentació pública, on un comitè avalua el seu treball. Els estudiants, en aquesta activitat, s'ocupen de competències com ara: fer presentacions orals efectives en entorns públics, en una situació estressant. Però, es pot assolir aquesta competència en un entorn virtual?A la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), una universitat 100% virtual, es proposa una solució basada en les presentacions en vídeo que es pugen en una eina, Present@, que els permet compartir les presentacions i permet fer preguntes i escriure les respostes en un entorn obert.Present@ ofereix una eina millorada per pujar vídeos, que simplifica el procés i fa que sigui apropiada per als estudiants de qualsevol àrea de coneixement. Però treballar amb vídeos va un pas més enllà i requereix també la tecnologia adequada per donar suport a aquest tipus d'arxius. Així, s'ha afegit al Present@ un servei d'"streaming", Kaltura. Amb aquest servei els estudiants poden pujar fàcilment gairebé qualsevol format de vídeo i és possible fer comentaris en vídeo.131 estudiants han estat usant el Present@ durant 4 semestres. Per avaluar l'eina, els estudiants han contestat un qüestionari i de les respostes rebudes es conclou que aquest enfocament permet als estudiants virtuals adquirir la major part de les competències relacionades amb el TFC i, en concret, amb la dissertació virtual en entorns virtuals. Potser l'única característica a què no s'enfronten és la tensió de les preguntes.És important assenyalar que, gràcies a les millores introduïdes, el Present@ està present, actualment en més de 100 aules a UOC i s'utilitza no només per al TFC, sinó també per explicar assignatures per ajudar els estudiants

Maintaining unlinkability in group based P2P environments

In the wake of the success of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networking, security has arisen as one of its main concerns, becoming a key issue when evaluating a P2P system. Unfortunately, some systems' design focus targeted issues such as scalabil-ity or overall performance, but not security. As a result, security mechanisms must be provided at a later stage, after the system has already been designed and partially (or even fully) implemented, which may prove a cumbersome proposition. This work exposes how a security layer was provided under such circumstances for a specic Java based P2P framework: JXTA-Overlay.

Securing a Java P2P framework: The JXTA-Overlay case

In the wake of the success of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networking, security has arisen as one of its main concerns, becoming a key issue when evaluating a P2P system. Unfortunately, some systems' design focus targeted issues such as scalabil-ity or overall performance, but not security. As a result, security mechanisms must be provided at a later stage, after the system has already been designed and partially (or even fully) implemented, which may prove a cumbersome proposition. This work exposes how a security layer was provided under such circumstances for a specic Java based P2P framework: JXTA-Overlay.

Técnicas de Anonimato para Securizar Redes Móviles Ad Hoc

Las redes móviles ad hoc son redes formadas por lainterconexión de terminales inalámbricos que de manera autónoma,sin ninguna administración central, establecen enlaces decomunicación entre ellos. La infraestructura de red la componenlos propios terminales de usuarios que actúan de gestores yencaminadores de paquetes. Así, un usuario cualquiera puedeconectarse con un terminal remoto a través de una conexiónmultisalto entre diferentes usuarios. En este tipo de redes tanabiertas, uno de los retos prioritarios es proteger el anonimatode los sujetos y sus localizaciones. En este artículo hacemos unrepaso de las técnicas existentes a través de los protocolos que sehan propuesto en la literatura, y exponemos los problemas queaun quedan abiertos.