Iosephi Stephani episcopi vestani... In causam Henrici Borbonii ad Episcopos, et presbyteros, ceterusq. catholicos regni Francorum paraenesis

Pie de imp. tomado de colofón

Entrevista a Enrique Alarcón Álvarez

Enrique Alarcón Álvarez responde a diversas preguntas sobre su vocación técnica y sus comienzos en el ejercicio de su profesión, su percepción de la Real Academia de Ingeniería y su papel en la misma, así como otros aspectos relativos a los Colegios Profesionales, el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior y la situación de la ingeniería en España. Ya que en los momentos en que se realiza la entrevista es el Presidente de la Real Academia de Ingeniería muchas preguntas giran respecto a esta institución: las iniciativas surgidas en la década de los 90 que culminaron con su creación, los fines fundamentales a partir de los cuáles se crea y se estructura, sus relaciones con el ámbito docente, colegial, empresarial y con otras instituciones similares a nivel internacional.

Providing 3D video services: the challenge from 2D to 3DTV quality of experience

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) video has decisively burst onto the entertainment industry scene, and has arrived in households even before the standardization process has been completed. 3D television (3DTV) adoption and deployment can be seen as a major leap in television history, similar to previous transitions from black and white (B&W) to color, from analog to digital television (TV), and from standard definition to high definition. In this paper, we analyze current 3D video technology trends in order to define a taxonomy of the availability and possible introduction of 3D-based services. We also propose an audiovisual network services architecture which provides a smooth transition from two-dimensional (2D) to 3DTV in an Internet Protocol (IP)-based scenario. Based on subjective assessment tests, we also analyze those factors which will influence the quality of experience in those 3D video services, focusing on effects of both coding and transmission errors. In addition, examples of the application of the architecture and results of assessment tests are provided.

Network assisted content protection architectures for a connected world

Content protection is a key component for the success of a multimedia services platform, as proven by the plethora of solutions currently on the market. In this paper we analyze a new network scenario where permanent bidirectional connectivity and video-aware encryption technologies allow a trustful operation of ubiquitous end devices. We propose new scalable models for a content protection architecture that may achieve dramatic improvement in robustness, reliability, and scalability. Selective ciphering and countermeasures are included in those models, together with several examples of their application.

Memorial, que con lamentables sollozos y tiernos gemidos presentan las benditas y afligidas almas del Purgatorio ante la piedad cristiana, y catolica devocion, : para encenderlos en el fervoroso afecto, que deben tener siempre a las abrasadas Esposas de Cristo /[Juan Jose Olmedo]

Segun Aguilar Piñal VI, 1124, el autor es Juan José Olmedo

Aridity modulates N availability in arid and semiarid Mediterranean grasslands

While much is known about the factors that control each component of the terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycle, it is less clear how these factors affect total N availability, the sum of organic and inorganic forms potentially available to microorganisms and plants. This is particularly true for N-poor ecosystems such as drylands, which are highly sensitive to climate change and desertification processes that can lead to the loss of soil nutrients such as N. We evaluated how different climatic, abiotic, plant and nutrient related factors correlate with N availability in semiarid Stipa tenacissima grasslands along a broad aridity gradient from Spain to Tunisia. Aridity had the strongest relationship with N availability, suggesting the importance of abiotic controls on the N cycle in drylands. Aridity appeared to modulate the effects of pH, plant cover and organic C (OC) on N availability. Our results suggest that N transformation rates, which are largely driven by variations in soil moisture, are not the direct drivers of N availability in the studied grasslands. Rather, the strong relationship between aridity and N availability could be driven by indirect effects that operate over long time scales (decades to millennia), including both biotic (e.g. plant cover) and abiotic (e.g. soil OC and pH). If these factors are in fact more important than short-term effects of precipitation on N transformation rates, then we might expect to observe a lagged decrease in N availability in response to increasing aridity. Nevertheless, our results suggest that the increase in aridity predicted with ongoing climate change will reduce N availability in the Mediterranean basin, impacting plant nutrient uptake and net primary production in semiarid grasslands throughout this region.

Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands

The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elements by biological and geochemical processes. Climatic controls on biogeochemical cycles are particularly relevant in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems (drylands) because their biological activity is mainly driven by water availability. The increase in aridity predicted for the twenty-first century in many drylands worldwide may therefore threaten the balance between these cycles, differentially affecting the availability of essential nutrients. Here we evaluate how aridity affects the balance between C, N and P in soils collected from 224 dryland sites from all continents except Antarctica. We find a negative effect of aridity on the concentration of soil organic C and total N, but a positive effect on the concentration of inorganic P. Aridity is negatively related to plant cover, which may favour the dominance of physical processes such as rock weathering, a major source of P to ecosystems, over biological processes that provide more C and N, such as litter decomposition. Our findings suggest that any predicted increase in aridity with climate change will probably reduce the concentrations of N and C in global drylands, but increase that of P. These changes would uncouple the C, N and P cycles in drylands and could negatively affect the provision of key services provided by these ecosystems.

Carlos Enrique, Conde d'Estaing [Material gráfico] Caballº de las Ordenes del Rey de Frcia., Tente. Gen. de sus Exercitos Vice-Almirante de Francia...

Resumen: Descripción: retrato enmarcado en óvalo. En ángulo izquierdo, dos niños indios mostrando un documento:"Carta de América", y en el derecho un ancla inclinada

José Antonio Corrales. Iglesia de la Resurrección en Elviña. Las constantes de una arquitectura transparente

La iglesia parroquial de la Resurrección del Señor fue la última intervención de José Antonio Corrales en el polígono Elviña de A Coruña. En este templo puede reconocerse una manera de enfrentarse al proyecto propia de Corrales, alejada de toda relación con la tradición, y trazada desde el reconocimiento de la arquitectura como una disciplina que puede afrontar con sus herramientas la realización de cualquier edificio sin necesidad de recurrir a la historia. De este modo, el punto de partida del arquitecto deben ser las condiciones del lugar y las determinaciones que exige el programa. Se entienden los principios desde los que ha sido proyectada y se puede leer la lógica interna que ha guiado las decisiones del arquitecto. En la iglesia de Elviña puede apreciarse una línea común que une varios proyectos de Corrales y Molezún. Un gesto radical y potente define un sistema arquitectónico. Una cubierta ligera, metálica, bajo la que se desarrolla el edificio y que unifica los espacios. La estructura portante se ordena en una trama geométrica lo suficientemente genérica y adaptable para no interferir en la distribución de los espacios interiores. La cubierta está concebida no sólo para resolver los requisitos funcionales de cubrimiento y evacuación de agua, sino que integra los elementos que permiten la iluminación y el paso de las instalaciones. El plano del suelo se acomoda a los desniveles del terreno. Unos muros de hormigón definen los espacios y acotan el edificio. Una atenta lectura desvela la compleja y adecuada resolución del programa, así como la profundidad litúrgica del espacio creado.

Spatial Planning Measures for the Enhancement of Urban Resilience Against Flooding Risk

Dentro del campo de la ciudad como lugar se analiza el concepto de planificación territorial y planeamiento espacial. Flooding is one of the main risks associated to many urban settlements in Spain and, indeed, elsewhere. The location of cities has traditionally ignored this type of risk as other locational criteria prevailed (communications, crop yields, etc.). Defence engineering has been the customary way to offset the risk but, nowadays, the opportunity costs of engineering works in urban areas has highlighted the interest of “soft measures” based on prevention. Early warning systems plus development planning controls rank among the most favoured ones. This paper reflects the results of a recent EU-financed research project on alternative measures geared to the enhancement of urban resilience against flooding. A city study in Spain is used as example of those measures.

Using lecture recordings to support curriculum changes in the European convergence process

The aim of this paper is to present the experience of using lecture recordings to support curriculum changes within the framework of the European convergence process, mainly courses that need to be promoted or discontinued. We will explain an integrated solution for recording lectures consisting of a web portal, a videoconferencing tool and an economical and easily transportable kit. The validation process was performed recording three different courses at the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid (UPM) and using different diffusion channels, such as Moodle, an open source web portal called GlobalPlaza that supports streaming and recordings and the YouTube UPM channel. To assess the efficiency of our solution, a formal evaluation was conducted and will be also presented in this paper. The results show that lecture recordings allow teachers to support discontinued and new courses and enable students from remote areas to participate in international educational programmes, also the resulting recordings will be used as learning objects for future virtual courses.

Flooding through the lens of mobile phone activity

Natural disasters affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide every year. Emergency response efforts depend upon the availability of timely information, such as information concerning the movements of affected populations. The analysis of aggregated and anonymized Call Detail Records (CDR) captured from the mobile phone infrastructure provides new possibilities to characterize human behavior during critical events. In this work, we investigate the viability of using CDR data combined with other sources of information to characterize the floods that occurred in Tabasco, Mexico in 2009. An impact map has been reconstructed using Landsat-7 images to identify the floods. Within this frame, the underlying communication activity signals in the CDR data have been analyzed and compared against rainfall levels extracted from data of the NASA-TRMM project. The variations in the number of active phones connected to each cell tower reveal abnormal activity patterns in the most affected locations during and after the floods that could be used as signatures of the floods - both in terms of infrastructure impact assessment and population information awareness. The epresentativeness of the analysis has been assessed using census data and civil protection records. While a more extensive validation is required, these early results suggest high potential in using cell tower activity information to improve early warning and emergency management mechanisms.