La importancia de aplicar las competencias transversales trabajo en equipo (CTE) y sostenibilidad (CTS) en los tres Grados impartidos en la Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Barcelona

La integración en los planes de estudio de los preceptos que conforman el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) sefundamenta en el modelo enseñanza-aprendizaje y en la adquisición de un conjunto de competencias. Con su implementación en los grados impartidos en la Facultad de Bellas Artes (UB) –Bellas Artes, Diseño y Conservación de bienes culturales yRestauración– el alumnado desarrolla más actividades autónomas. Esta libertad se traduce en la posibilidad de trabajar enaulas, talleres y laboratorios artísticos en horarios flexibles, en ocasiones, sin el soporte del personal técnico o docente. Estanueva realidad conlleva la necesidad de implantar actividades de grupo que permitan al alumnado progresar en laresponsabilidad del trabajo en común de forma segura y sostenible. Se presenta entonces, la urgencia de sistematizar eldesarrollo de las competencias transversales Trabajo en Equipo (CTE) y Sostenibilidad (CTS). Para garantizar en los diferentesámbitos de Bellas Artes el equilibrio de recursos, el respeto al medio ambiente, la salud y la seguridad de los alumnos. Y, asímismo, facilitar y mejorar las posibilidades de inserción laboral de los mismos, incentivando y potenciando en la práctica académica sus habilidades colaborativas.

Efficacy of virtual reality for triggering smoking craving: relation with level of presence and nicotine dependence

Virtual Reality environments that reproduce typical contexts associated with tobacco use may be useful for aiding smoking cessation. The main objective of this study was to assess the capacity of eight environments to produce the craving to smoke and determine the relation of craving to nicotine dependence and level of presence. The results show that all the environments were able to generate the desire to smoke; a direct relation was found between sense of presence and craving.

Predictors of smoking craving during virtual reality exposure

Cue exposure treatment (CET) consists of controlled and repeated exposure to drugrelated stimuli in order to reduce cue-reactivity. Virtual reality (VR) has proved to be a promising tool for exposition. However, identifying the variables that can modulate the efficacy of this technique is essential for selecting the most appropriate exposure modality. The aim of this study was to determine the relation between several individual variables and self-reported craving in smokers exposed to VR environments. Fortysix smokers were exposed to seven complex virtual environments that reproduce typical situations in which people smoke. Self-reported craving was selected as the criterion variable and three types of variables were selected as the predictor variables: related to nicotine dependence, related to anxiety and impulsivity, and related to the sense of presence in the virtual environments. Sense of presence was the only predictor of self-reported craving in all the experimental virtual environments. Nicotine dependence variables added predictive power to the model only in the virtual breakfast at home. No relation was found between anxiety or impulsivity and self-reported craving. Virtual reality technology can be very helpful for improving CET for substance use disorders. However, the use of virtual environments would make sense only insofar as the sense of presence was high. Otherwise, the effectiveness of exposure might be affected. © 2012 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Equivalent representation form of oscillators with elastic and damping nonlinear terms

In this work we consider the nonlinear equivalent representation form of oscillators that exhibit nonlinearities in both the elastic and the damping terms. The nonlinear damping effects are considered to be described by fractional power velocity terms which provide better predictions of the dissipative effects observed in some physical systems. It is shown that their effects on the system dynamics response are equivalent to a shift in the coefficient of the linear damping term of a Duffing oscillator. Then, its numerical integration predictions, based on its equivalent representation form given by the well-known forced, damped Duffing equation, are compared to the numerical integration values of its original equations of motion. The applicability of the proposed procedure is evaluated by studying the dynamics response of four nonlinear oscillators that arise in some engineering applications such as nanoresonators, microresonators, human wrist movements, structural engineering design, and chain dynamics of polymeric materials at high extensibility, among others

Architecture as a landscape

Postprint (published version)

Urban space and industrial heritage

Postprint (published version)

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor as a potential biomarker of cognitive recovery in schizophrenia

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been proposed as a biomarker of schizophrenia and, more specifically, as a biomarker of cognitive recovery. Evidence collected in this review indicates that BDNF is relevant in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and could play a role as a marker of clinical response. BDNF has been shown to play a positive role as a marker in antipsychotic treatment, and it has been demonstrated that typical antipsychotics decrease BDNF levels while atypical antipsychotics maintain or increase serum BDNF levels. Furthermore, BDNF levels have been associated with severe cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia. Consequently, BDNF has been proposed as a candidate target of strategies to aid the cognitive recovery process. There is some evidence suggesting that BDNF could be mediating neurobiological processes underlying cognitive recovery. Thus, serum BDNF levels seem to be involved in some synaptic plasticity and neurotransmission processes. Additionally, serum BDNF levels significantly increased in schizophrenia subjects after neuroplasticity-based cognitive training. If positive replications of those findings are published in the future then serum BDNF levels could be definitely postulated as a peripheral biomarker for the effects of intensive cognitive training or any sort of cognitive recovery in schizophrenia. All in all, the current consideration of BDNF as a biomarker of cognitive recovery in schizophrenia is promising but still premature.

Extending the roughness of the data via transitive closures of similarity indexes

One main assumption in the theory of rough sets applied to information tables is that the elements that exhibit the same information are indiscernible (similar) and form blocks that can be understood as elementary granules of knowledge about the universe. We propose a variant of this concept defining a measure of similarity between the elements of the universe in order to consider that two objects can be indiscernible even though they do not share all the attribute values because the knowledge is partial or uncertain. The set of similarities define a matrix of a fuzzy relation satisfying reflexivity and symmetry but transitivity thus a partition of the universe is not attained. This problem can be solved calculating its transitive closure what ensure a partition for each level belonging to the unit interval [0,1]. This procedure allows generalizing the theory of rough sets depending on the minimum level of similarity accepted. This new point of view increases the rough character of the data because increases the set of indiscernible objects. Finally, we apply our results to a not real application to be capable to remark the differences and the improvements between this methodology and the classical one

El karaoke como recurso en el aula

This article has a twofold aim: on the one hand, to present an educational activity and, on the other, to analyse the use of karaoke in the music classroom for learning new songs and promoting strategies to encourage students to play a more active role. The method for this research work is based on two projects carried out by two different groups. One group studies songs by copying them; the other group learns the songs by means of karaoke. The process and the findings suggest that karaoke can be used as a motivating tool that boosts students’ confidence and let them pretend they are 'real famous singers'. However, the findings also show that karaoke is not the best resource for learning songs

Comiat al professor Lluis A. Santaló

Article de comiat al matemàtic gironí Lluís Antoni Santaló i Sors, que va morir a Buenos Aires el 22 de novembre de 2001

Evaluación ergonómica: Jefe de taller mecánico

El presente documento tiene como objetivo analizar los riesgos a los que se ven sometidos los trabajadores de un pequeño taller mecánico. Para ello se planificó una evaluación de riesgos ergonómica la cual se ejecutó dentro de unos plazos marcados.El análisis está basado en la detección de las situaciones de riesgo mediante la observación in-situ del desarrollo del trabajo. Con esa finalidad se realizaron dos visitas al taller. La primera de ellas, tenía como objetivo detectar aquellas tareas que su ejecución representaba un riesgo para la salud del trabajador. Una vez detectadas las tareas, y previamente a la segunda visita, se realizó un pequeño estudio para determinar qué métodos ergonómicos se emplearían para realizar el estudio, conociendo de esa manera, que datos serían necesarios recoger al realizar una segunda visita. Seguidamente, se realizó una segunda visita al taller para realizar la observación de las tareas concretada previamente, y la medición de los datos.Finalmente, se procedió a procesar toda la información siguiendo las instrucciones pautadas por los métodos ergonómicos, comparando los resultados obtenidos con los niveles de riesgo admisibles, para extraer unas conclusiones del estudio, las cuales definían las condiciones laborales en las que se encontraba el trabajador. Como muchas de ellas, eran prácticamente inevitables para la ejecución de la tarea, se estudiaron una serie de medidas preventivas para reducir el nivel de riesgo. Una vez analizadas, fueron explicadas a los trabajadores mediante una pequeña formación con la finalidad de que las condiciones de trabajo mejoraran.

Comparison of a deterministic and a data driven model to describe MBR fouling

Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are a combination of activated sludge bioreactors and membrane filtration, enabling high quality effluent with a small footprint. However, they can be beset by fouling, which causes an increase in transmembrane pressure (TMP). Modelling and simulation of changes in TMP could be useful to describe fouling through the identification of the most relevant operating conditions. Using experimental data from a MBR pilot plant operated for 462days, two different models were developed: a deterministic model using activated sludge model n°2d (ASM2d) for the biological component and a resistance in-series model for the filtration component as well as a data-driven model based on multivariable regressions. Once validated, these models were used to describe membrane fouling (as changes in TMP over time) under different operating conditions. The deterministic model performed better at higher temperatures (>20°C), constant operating conditions (DO set-point, membrane air-flow, pH and ORP), and high mixed liquor suspended solids (>6.9gL-1) and flux changes. At low pH (<7) or periods with higher pH changes, the data-driven model was more accurate. Changes in the DO set-point of the aerobic reactor that affected the TMP were also better described by the data-driven model. By combining the use of both models, a better description of fouling can be achieved under different operating conditions

Pharmaceuticals occurrence in a WWTP with significant industrial contribution and its input into the river system

Occurrence and removal of 81 representative Pharmaceutical Active Compounds (PhACs) were assessed in a municipal WWTP located in a highly industrialized area, with partial water reuse after UV tertiary treatment and discharge to a Mediterranean river. Water monitoring was performed in an integrated way at different points in the WWTP and river along three seasons. Consistent differences between therapeutic classes were observed in terms of influent concentration, removal efficiencies and seasonal variation. Conventional (primary and secondary) treatment was unable to completely remove numerous compounds and UV-based tertiary treatment played a complementary role for some of them. Industrial activity influence was highlighted in terms of PhACs presence and seasonal distribution. Even if global WWTP effluent impact on the studied river appeared to be minor, PhACs resulted widespread pollutants in river waters. Contamination can be particularly critical in summer in water scarcity areas, when water flow decreases considerably

Towards integrated operation of membrane bioreactors : effects of aeration on biological and filtration performance

Two experimental studies evaluated the effect of aerobic and membrane aeration changes on sludge properties, biological nutrient removal and filtration processes in a pilot plant membrane bioreactor. The optimal operating conditions were found at an aerobic dissolved oxygen set-point (DO) of 0.5mgO2L-1 and a membrane specific aeration demand (SADm) of 1mh-1, where membrane aeration can be used for nitrification. Under these conditions, a total flow reduction of 42% was achieved (75% energy reduction) without compromising nutrient removal efficiencies, maintaining sludge characteristics and controlled filtration. Below these optimal operating conditions, the nutrient removal efficiency was reduced, increasing 20% for soluble microbial products, 14% for capillarity suction time and reducing a 15% for filterability. Below this DO set-point, fouling increased with a transmembrane pressure 75% higher. SADm below 1mh-1 doubled the values of transmembrane pressure, without recovery after achieving the initial conditions

Primer "speed net-working" a la Facultat de Farmàcia de la Universitat de Barcelona

Un dels objectius plantejats pel Comissionat per a la Participació, Ocupabilitat i Emprenedoria Social de la Universitat de Barcelona és desenvolupar, conjuntament amb els centres i les facultats, estratègies i accions encaminades a millorar l’ocupabilitat i la inserció laboral i professional d’estudiants i egressats. A més, l’ equip deganal de la Facultat de Farmàcia té com a una de les seves prioritats implementar accions per a la Millora de les competències professionals dels estudiants del Grau de Farmàcia.