Eye tracking for on-screen reading

A medida que avanza la tecnolog a, cada vez son m as comunes los libros digitales. Por eso, existen varias formas de mejorar la experiencia de lectura del usuario, como mostrar la de nici on de una palabra que resulte dif cil, o resaltar lo importante del texto cuando se pasa la vista por encima. En este proyecto, se ha investigado la base de esto con la ayuda de un Eye Tracker. Se ha implementado una clasi caci on en palabras f aciles y dif ciles dependiendo de c omo una persona lee, y una forma de saber si se est a leyendo el texto o pasando la vista por encima.

Procedural Meaning Explicatures in the Development of New Subordination Strategies in Romance

The sociocultural changes that led to the genesis of Romance languages widened the gap between oral and written patterns, which display different discoursive and linguistic devices. In early documents, discoursive implicatures connecting propositions were not generally codified, so that the reader should furnish the correctinterpretation according to his own perception of real facts; which can still be attested in current oral utterances. Once Romance languages had undergone several levelling processes which concluded in the first standardizations, implicatures became explicatures and were syntactically codified by means of univocal new complexconjunctions. As a consequence of the emergence of these new subordination strategies, a freer distribution of the information conveyed by the utterances is allowed. The success of complex structural patterns ran alongside of the genesis of new narrative genres and the generalization of a learned rhetoric. Both facts are a spontaneous effect of new approaches to the act of reading. Ancient texts were written to be read to a wide audience, whereas those printed by the end of the XV th century were conceived to be read quietly, in a low voice, by a private reader. The goal of this paper is twofold, since we will show that: a) The development of new complex conjunctions through the history of Romance languages accommodates to four structural patterns that range from parataxis tohypotaxis. b) This development is a reflex of the well known grammaticalization path from discourse to syntax that implies the codification of discoursive strategies (Givón 2 1979, Sperber and Wilson 1986, Carston 1988, Grice 1989, Bach 1994, Blackemore 2002, among others]

Exploration of geological variability and possible processes through the use of compositional data analysis: an example using scottish metamorphosed

Developments in the statistical analysis of compositional data over the last twodecades have made possible a much deeper exploration of the nature of variability,and the possible processes associated with compositional data sets from manydisciplines. In this paper we concentrate on geochemical data sets. First we explainhow hypotheses of compositional variability may be formulated within the naturalsample space, the unit simplex, including useful hypotheses of subcompositionaldiscrimination and specific perturbational change. Then we develop through standardmethodology, such as generalised likelihood ratio tests, statistical tools to allow thesystematic investigation of a complete lattice of such hypotheses. Some of these tests are simple adaptations of existing multivariate tests but others require specialconstruction. We comment on the use of graphical methods in compositional dataanalysis and on the ordination of specimens. The recent development of the conceptof compositional processes is then explained together with the necessary tools for astaying- in-the-simplex approach, namely compositional singular value decompositions. All these statistical techniques are illustrated for a substantial compositional data set, consisting of 209 major-oxide and rare-element compositions of metamorphosed limestones from the Northeast and Central Highlands of Scotland.Finally we point out a number of unresolved problems in the statistical analysis ofcompositional processes

Convex linear combination processes for compositions

Aitchison and Bacon-Shone (1999) considered convex linear combinations ofcompositions. In other words, they investigated compositions of compositions, wherethe mixing composition follows a logistic Normal distribution (or a perturbationprocess) and the compositions being mixed follow a logistic Normal distribution. Inthis paper, I investigate the extension to situations where the mixing compositionvaries with a number of dimensions. Examples would be where the mixingproportions vary with time or distance or a combination of the two. Practicalsituations include a river where the mixing proportions vary along the river, or acrossa lake and possibly with a time trend. This is illustrated with a dataset similar to thatused in the Aitchison and Bacon-Shone paper, which looked at how pollution in aloch depended on the pollution in the three rivers that feed the loch. Here, I explicitlymodel the variation in the linear combination across the loch, assuming that the meanof the logistic Normal distribution depends on the river flows and relative distancefrom the source origins

Intelligent PCA contribution analysis for quality estimation in batch processes. Application in a sequencing batch reactor for wastewater treatment

En aquest treball, es proposa un nou mètode per estimar en temps real la qualitat del producte final en processos per lot. Aquest mètode permet reduir el temps necessari per obtenir els resultats de qualitat de les anàlisi de laboratori. S'utiliza un model de anàlisi de componentes principals (PCA) construït amb dades històriques en condicions normals de funcionament per discernir si un lot finalizat és normal o no. Es calcula una signatura de falla pels lots anormals i es passa a través d'un model de classificació per la seva estimació. L'estudi proposa un mètode per utilitzar la informació de les gràfiques de contribució basat en les signatures de falla, on els indicadors representen el comportament de les variables al llarg del procés en les diferentes etapes. Un conjunt de dades compost per la signatura de falla dels lots anormals històrics es construeix per cercar els patrons i entrenar els models de classifcació per estimar els resultas dels lots futurs. La metodologia proposada s'ha aplicat a un reactor seqüencial per lots (SBR). Diversos algoritmes de classificació es proven per demostrar les possibilitats de la metodologia proposada.

A Formal Framework for Specifying, Reusing and Implementing Learning Processes. First level

This file contains the ontology of patterns of educational settings, as part of the formal framework for specifying, reusing and implementing educational settings. Furthermore, it includes the set of rules that extend the ontology of educational scenarios as well as a brief description of the level of patters of such ontological framework.

The chemical variability at the surface of Mars: implications for exogenic processes

The chemical composition of sediments and rocks, as well as their distribution at theMartian surface, represent a long term archive of processes, which have formed theplanetary surface. A survey of chemical compositions by means of Compositional DataAnalysis represents a valuable tool to extract direct evidence for weathering processesand allows to quantify weathering and sedimentation rates. clr-biplot techniques areapplied for visualization of chemical relationships across the surface (“chemical maps”).The variability among individual suites of data is further analyzed by means of clr-PCA,in order to extract chemical alteration vectors between fresh rocks and their crusts andfor an assessment of different source reservoirs accessible to soil formation. Bothtechniques are applied to elucidate the influence of remote weathering by combinedanalysis of several soil forming branches. Vector analysis in the Simplex provides theopportunity to study atmosphere surface interactions, including the role andcomposition of volcanic gases

The analysis of the framing processes of the Basque peace movement: The way Lokarri and Gesto por la Paz changed society

During more than 20 years organisations like Gesto por la Paz and Lokarri had been trying to change the social approach to violence, instilling values of peace and dialogue. This working paper defends the idea that the work of these two organisations is key to understand the end of ETA violence and the lack of support that political violence has in the Basque Country. It develops the Basque peace frame generated by this movement and explains how this frame is present in the different levels of Basque society, changing the way political collective identities are negotiated in the Basque Country. Ultimately, their effort is to propose another way of doing politics, one where nationalism and violence are not intrinsically united, escaping from the polarization and confrontation that were in place during the 80s-90s.

Continuous-time formulation of reaction-diffusion processes on heterogeneous metapopulations

We present the derivation of the continuous-time equations governing the limit dynamics of discrete-time reaction-diffusion processes defined on heterogeneous metapopulations. We show that, when a rigorous time limit is performed, the lack of an epidemic threshold in the spread of infections is not limited to metapopulations with a scale-free architecture, as it has been predicted from dynamical equations in which reaction and diffusion occur sequentially in time

Irreversible thermodynamics of Poisson processes with reaction

A kinetic model is derived to study the successive movements of particles, described by a Poisson process, as well as their generation. The irreversible thermodynamics of this system is also studied from the kinetic model. This makes it possible to evaluate the differences between thermodynamical quantities computed exactly and up to second-order. Such differences determine the range of validity of the second-order approximation to extended irreversible thermodynamics

Speed of reaction-transport processes

We present an approach to determining the speed of wave-front solutions to reaction-transport processes. This method is more accurate than previous ones. This is explicitly shown for several cases of practical interest: (i) the anomalous diffusion reaction, (ii) reaction diffusion in an advective field, and (iii) time-delayed reaction diffusion. There is good agreement with the results of numerical simulations

Slope processes in changing permafrost environments: a geomorphological and sedimentological approach

Estudi realitzat a partir d’una estada al Centro de Estudos Geograficos de la Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, entre 2011 i 2012. En aquest grup he desenvolupat la meva recerca focalitzada en ambients polars en presència de permafrost, concretament centrada en l’extrem nord-occidental de la Península Antàrtica (Shetland del Sud) i a l’Alt Àrtic (Svalvard). Ambdós àrees han registrat un augment de temperatura molt significatiu les darreres dècades. La meva recerca ha contemplat l’anàlisi de registres sedimentaris (lacustres, eòlics, vessant) i la monitorització de processos geomorfològics actuals a fi efecte d’entendre la dinàmica ambiental present i passada (i.e. clima). Amb aquesta finalitat he realitzat tres campanyes de treball de camp a l’Antàrtida i dues a l’Àrtic. El posterior treball de laboratori i d’oficina està propiciant nombroses publicacions que donen fe dels èxits assolits. A més, cal enfatitzar altres activitats desenvolupades durant la BP-A: coneixement de com organitzar i gestionar una campanya antàrtica, docència universitària, participació en comitès, associacions i tribunals de tesis doctorals, organització i participació en nombroses conferències, treball de camp en noves àrees d’estudi, referee per revistes internacionals, etc. Tanmateix, la concessió del projecte de recerca HOLOANTAR, del qual en sóc l’Investigador Responsable, ha estat l’èxit més important d’aquesta estada. Aquest projecte m’està conferint la capacitat de gestionar i integrar la recerca de 16 investigadors de diferents nacionalitats des d’una perspectiva multidisciplinar. Tothora, cal remarcar que no s’ha assolit un dels èxits que pretenia el meu projecte de BP-A: la transferència del bagatge i coneixement adquirit al sistema de recerca català. Malgrat haver presentat la meva candidatura per un contracte BP-B per tal que aquest background après a l’estranger revertís a Catalunya, el procés de selecció emprat en la convocatòria ho ha impedit i m’obliga a continuar la meva recerca a l’estranger.

Competències i factors clau per a l’èxit educatiu des de la perspectiva dels estudiants universitaris fills/es dels immigrants

L’estudi realitzat ha abordat quines són les competències i els factors clau que estudiants universitaris d’origen immigrant consideren que han estat claus per arribar a la universitat, assolint així l’èxit educatiu. S’han escollit estudiants que haguessin fet l’escolaritat obligatòria total o parcialment a Catalunya.Per dur a terme la recerca s’ha treballat amb relats de vida (un total de 13 escrits) i narracions audiovisuals (amb un total de 4 produccions), essent finalment 17 les evidències vàlides. Finalment, s’ha elaborat, administrat i processat un qüestionari d’opinió que s’ha remès a 2472 estudiants de la Universitat de Barcelona, dels quals hem aconseguit 128 respostes considerades vàlides. Els relats s’han analitzat amb un procediment inductiu, procedint a una lectura exhaustiva de les paraules dels participants i anant identificant quines són les competències i els factors clau que ells consideraven que els havien ajudat a arribar a la universitat o que, tot i no ser ells conscients, nosaltres identificàvem com a tals. Pel que fa a les narracions audiovisuals, es va dur a terme una anàlisi tant del contingut, tenint com a referència els resultats obtinguts als relats escrits, com d’aspectes més tècnics, centrats en la imatge i el so. Per acabar, els qüestionaris s’han analitzat a partir de processos bàsics d’estadística descriptiva. Pel que fa als resultats obtinguts, respecte a l’eix de competències, la més destacada és la d’autonomia i iniciativa personals, lligada a la responsabilitat i autoexigència. Respecte a l’eix d’èxit educatiu, destaca el paper del professorat, tant pel suport que els ofereixen com per les expectatives que dipositen en ells. I, per acabar, respecte a l’eix d’inclusió social, els aspectes que l’afavoreixen es centren sobretot en el recolzament de la família, en l’entorn més immediat i en el fet d’entendre la possibilitat de viure amb altres cultures com un enriquiment.

On the term structure of Interbank interest rates: Jump-diffusion processes and option pricing

In this paper we study the dynamic behavior of the term structureof Interbank interest rates and the pricing of options on interest ratesensitive securities. We posit a generalized single factor model withjumps to take into account external influences in the market. Daily datais used to test for jump effects. Qualitative examination of the linkagebetween Monetary Authorities' interventions and jumps are studied. Pricingresults suggests a systematic underpricing in bonds and call options ifthe jumps component is not included. However, the pricing of put optionson bonds presents indeterminacies.