Mapping of the binding domains of the axon guidance receptor Unc5B to Netrin-1 and FLRT3

Anàlisi de les interaccions, a nivell neuronal, que tenen lloc durant el desenvolupament embrionari entre el receptor Unc5B (receptor present a la membrana) i les proteïnes Netrin-1 i FLRT3 (fibronectin and leucine-rich transmembrane proteins). La interacció entre aquest receptor i Netrin-1 ha estat profundament estudiada fins al moment, de manera que es coneix que aquesta promou una repulsió en la guia d’axons durant el desenvolupament embrionari. A més, la interacció està implicada en la senyalització per a diferents processos com l’angiogènesi i la supervivència cel·lular. Per altra banda, la interacció entre neurones Unc5B positives i FLRT3, promou un retard en la migració de les neurones. Diversos estudis demostren que aquest retard en la migració està relacionat amb certes patologies mentals.

An Adaptive Remeshing Procedure for Proximity Maneuvering Spacecraft Formations

We consider a methodology to optimally obtain reconfigurations of spacecraft formations. It is based on the discretization of the time interval in subintervals (called the mesh) and the obtainment of local solutions on them as a result of a variational method. Applied to a libration point orbit scenario, in this work we focus on how to find optimal meshes using an adaptive remeshing procedure and on the determination of the parameter that governs it

The biophysical perspective of a middle income economy: material flows in Mexico

We analyse natural resource use dynamics in the Mexican economy during the last three decades. Despite low and uneven economic growth, the extraction and use of materials in the Mexican economy has continuously increased during the last 30 years. In this period, population growth rather than economic growth was the main driving force for biophysical growth. In addition, fundamental changes have taken place in the primary sectors, in manufacturing, and in household consumption and these are reflected in an increasing emphasis on the use of fossil fuels and construction materials. Mexico’s economy has been strongly influenced by international trade since the country commenced competing in international markets. In the 1970s, Mexico mainly exported primary resources. This pattern has changed and manufactured goods now have a much greater importance due to a boom in assembling industries. In contrast with other Latin American countries, Mexico has achieved a diversification of production, moving towards technology-intensive products and a better mix in its export portfolio. However, crude oil exports still represent the single most important export good. Mexico’s material consumption is still well below the OECD average but is growing fast and the current resource use patterns may well present serious social and environmental problems to the medium and long term sustainability of Mexico’s economy and community. Information on natural resource use and resource productivity could provide valuable guidance for economic policy planning in Mexico.

Real time GPS precise positioning of LEO satellites

Report for the scientific sojourn at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) , Germany, during June and July 2006. The main objective of the two months stay has been to apply the techniques of LEO (Low Earth Orbiters) satellites GPS navigation which DLR currently uses in real time navigation. These techniques comprise the use of a dynamical model which takes into account the precise earth gravity field and models to account for the effects which perturb the LEO’s motion (such as drag forces due to earth’s atmosphere, solar pressure, due to the solar radiation impacting on the spacecraft, luni-solar gravity, due to the perturbation of the gravity field for the sun and moon attraction, and tidal forces, due to the ocean and solid tides). A high parameterized software was produced in the first part of work, which has been used to asses which accuracy could be reached exploring different models and complexities. The objective was to study the accuracy vs complexity, taking into account that LEOs at different heights have different behaviors. In this frame, several LEOs have been selected in a wide range of altitudes, and several approaches with different complexity have been chosen. Complexity is a very important issue, because processors onboard spacecrafts have very limited computing and memory resources, so it is mandatory to keep the algorithms simple enough to let the satellite process it by itself.

Navegación, guiado y control de vehículos aeroespaciales

El objetivo del proyecto es diseñar una plataforma de ensayos para la simulación de vuelos de vehículos aeroespaciales. La plataforma permitirá diseñar y evaluar los algoritmos de navegación, guiado y control de los vehículos aeroespaciales modelados en la plataforma de simulación, focalizando el trabajo de los ingenieros en el modelado de vehículos y en el desarrollo de sistemas de control digital. La memoria recoge las fases de un proyecto de ingeniería del software, describiendo el plan de proyecto, el análisis del sistema, la especificación de requisitos y el diseño del mismo.

Avaluació de variables estàtiques i dinàmiques predictives del risc de reincidència en delinqüents sexuals: estudi d’una mostra dels interns de les presons de Catalunya

Aquest treball presenta un estudi sobre les variables de risc de reincidència d’un grup de 315 delinqüents sexuals. Els subjectes han estat obtinguts del total d’interns que van sortir en llibertat condicional o definitiva de les presons de Catalunya entre 1998 i 2003. La investigació té dues parts. Una primera quantitativa on s’analitza la capacitat predictiva de 18 variables representatives de la carrera delictiva, l’incompliment de les mesures de supervisió a la comunitat, la conflictivitat a la presó, el tractament i les condicions de la condemna. Durant un període de seguiment que va de tres anys i 10 mesos a nou anys i dos mesos s’ha enregistrat la reincidència en delictes sexuals, delictes violents, qualsevol tipus de delicte violent (tant sexual com no sexual) i reincidència general. A la segona part, qualitativa, s’han fet entrevistes semiestructurades a un grup de 14 delinqüents sexuals dels quals nou havien reincidit i cinc estaven en llibertat condicional. Si bé les variables més comunes a la investigació sobre delinqüència general han mostrat relació amb la reincidència general, només tres variables de la carrera delictiva han mostrat relació amb la reincidència sexual. L’estudi qualitatiu ha permès obtenir informació sobre la influència de les variables dinàmiques més importants. A partir de l’anàlisi del procés del delicte es configuren tres perfils de delinqüents sexuals que ja s’havien trobat a altres investigacions. A partir de la informació obtinguda es proposen algunes orientacions pels programes de tractament.

Flexible employment and cross- regional adjustment

Employment flexibility is commonly associated to greater labour mobility and thus faster cross-regional adjustments. The literature however offers very little hard evidence on this and quite limited theoretical guidance. This paper examines empirically the relationship between employment flexibility and cross-regional adjustment (migration) at the regional and local levels in the UK. Employment flexibility is associated to higher labour mobility (but only at a rather localised scale) and at the same time seems to reduce the responsiveness of migration to unemployment. This suggest that rising flexibility may be linked to higher persistence in spatial disparities, as intra-regional adjustments are strengthened while extraregional adjustments weakened. Keywords: Employment flexibility, regional migration, labour market adjustment JEL Codes: R11, R23, J08, J61

Educational pathways of minority youth in Norway: intersections of gender, ethnicity and social class

Educational aspirations during lower secondary school and choice of upper secondary education are important for young people’s future trajectories into higher education and labour market positions. In line with ideas about reflexive, autonomous individuals (Giddens, 1991), choice of education is often represented as a young person’ individual decision, and educational guidance as aimed at discovering what ‘fits’ an individual’s personality, interests and abilities. Educational aspirations and choices are also social patterns that are reproduced. Some population categories represent exceptions from expected patterns of social reproduction of educational level and professions. In several countries, one such category is young people from families with migration experiences (Lauglo, 2000; Modood, 2004). In Norway, students have a legal right to non-compulsory upper secondary schooling and 96 percent of the students continue from lower to upper secondary school. In spite of positive developments regarding minority youths’ completion of upper secondary and higher education in later years, studies still persistently show lower educational attainment among minority youth, particularly among boys (Fekjaer, 2006). However, in lower secondary school, minor ity youth tend to have markedly higher educational aspirations and stronger learning motivation than their majority peers, as well as greater effort in school and strong adherence to school values (Lauglo, 2000) despite lower educational attainment or lower socio-economic backgrounds. In addition, gender differences in educational aspirations seem to be smaller among minority youth. The principal objective of the study in progress that will be presented in this paper, is to describe how processes relating to gendered, ethnic and class-based identities influence young people’s educational choices. The study is undertaken as a PhD project in social anthropology. The methodological approach is ethnographic longitudinal fieldwork in two multicultural lower secondary schools in Oslo. The study is part of a larger project that also include quantitative analyses of longitudinal data covering 9th graders in Oslo 2006 through four data collections during lower and upper secondary school.

OnTheBus

El projecte OnTheBus pretén ser un sistema de guiatge gratuït, destinat per a la plataforma mòbil Android, per desplaçar-se d’un punt origen a un punt destí dins de la ciutat utilitzant la xarxa de transport metropolità. Aquesta memòria s’enllaça amb sis memòries més, dels companys que han realitzat el projecte OnTheBus. Es descriu el Mòdul de Dades (BDD), el qual recol·lecta i proporciona a l’aplicació tota la informació necessària del diferents sistemes d’autobusos, per a que aquesta pugui assolir el guiatge correctament.