A platform for the development of patient applications in the domain of personalized health

Personalized health (p-health) systems can contribute significantly to the sustainability of healthcare systems, though their feasibility is yet to be proven. One of the problems related to their development is the lack of well-established development tools for this domain. As the p-health paradigm is focused on patient self-management, big challenges arise around the design and implementation of patient systems. This paper presents a reference platform created for the development of these applications, and shows the advantages of its adoption in a complex project dealing with cardio-vascular diseases.

Lifetime maximization for beamforming applications in wireless sensor networks

Energy efficiency is a major design issue in the context of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). If data is to be sent to a far-away base station, collaborative beamforming by the sensors may help to dis- tribute the load among the nodes and reduce fast battery depletion. However, collaborative beamforming techniques are far from opti- mality and in many cases may be wasting more power than required. In this contribution we consider the issue of energy efficiency in beamforming applications. Using a convex optimization framework, we propose the design of a virtual beamformer that maximizes the network's lifetime while satisfying a pre-specified Quality of Service (QoS) requirement. A distributed consensus-based algorithm for the computation of the optimal beamformer is also provided

Freeform optics applications in photovoltaic concentration

Freeform surfaces are the key of the state-of-the-art nonimaging optics to solve the challenges in concentration photovoltaics. Different families (FK, XR, FRXI) will be presented, based on the SMS 3D design method and Köhler homogenization.

Integrated learning of production engineering software applications in a shipbuilding context

Acourse focused on the acquisition of integration competencies in ship production engineering, organized in collaboration with selected industry partners, is presented in this paper. The first part of the course is dedicated to Project Management: the students acquire skills in defining, using MS-PROJECT, the work breakdown structure (WBS), and the organization breakdown structure (OBS) in Engineering projects, through a series of examples of increasing complexity with the final one being the construction planning of a vessel. The second part of the course is dedicated to the use of a database manager, MS-ACCESS, in managing production related information.Aseries of increasing complexity examples is treated, the final one being the management of the piping database of a real vessel. This database consists of several thousand pipes, for which a production timing frame is defined connecting this part of the course with the first one. Finally, the third part of the course is devoted to working withFORAN,an Engineering Production application developed bySENERand widely used in the shipbuilding industry. With this application, the structural elements where all the outfittings will be located are defined through cooperative work by the students, working simultaneously in the same 3D model. In this paper, specific details about the learning process are given. Surveys have been posed to the students in order to get feedback from their experience as well as to assess their satisfaction with the learning process, compared to more traditional ones. Results from these surveys are discussed in the paper.

A telematics solution for the remote follow-up of malnourished children in underserved areas

The identification of malnourished children living under extreme poverty conditions in isolated areas is crucial to trigger urgent interventions like supplementary or therapeutic feeding. This work aims to strengthen the task of following-up malnourished maternal-child population in rural areas of developing countries like Nicaragua. The solution facilitates low-cost health nutritional remote monitoring to support rural communities at the point of care. Thus, the system allows medical staff to communicate with brigades, who transmit anthropometric measurements, such as weight and height of the children, from communities which are sited about 12 km. far away. A hybrid WiMAX/WiFi architecture was deployed to provide affordable communications between the isolated communities and the health center. Furthermore, a free PBX software and an open information system, installed at the health center, support WiFi based mobile communications and information management to support the care needs of maternal-child population at risk.

Cálculo de la recarga natural en grandes áreas, en función de la litología y la precipitación = Calculation of natural recharge in large areas, as a function of lithology and rainfall

En una región amplia como España se demuestra —mediante inferencias estadísticas sobre una muestra completa de 875 manantiales en los que se conoce su caudal medio y la litología de su área de alimentación y que han sido agrupados en regiones de distinta pluviometría— que la recarga media anual es una fracción fija de la precipitación media para cada litología. Se han establecido así unas tasas de recarga respecto de la precipitación para seis grupos litológicos de diferente permeabilidad: arenas, gravas y formaciones aluviales en general, 8.3%; conglomerados, 5.6%; areniscas, 7.3%; calizas y dolomías, 34.3%; margas, margocalizas, limos y arcillas, 3.3%; otras rocas, 1.3%. Teniendo en cuenta la representatividad de España, la cual tiene una gran variabilidad de litología, pluviometría, topografía, etcétera, estas tasas de recarga respecto de la precipita-ción son probablemente valores cuasi universales que pueden ser utilizados para estimar la recarga media o los recursos hídricos subterráneos medios de regiones amplias en cualquier parte del mundo, salvo en regiones especiales, como las que tienen permafrost, por ejemplo. En todo caso, estas tasas de recarga podrían ser retocadas para cada región según sus particulares características. Los datos de precipitación y litología son muy corrientes, por lo que el método puede ser ampliamente utilizado para completar balances hidráulicos.In a region as large as Spain, annual mean recharge is shown to be a fixed proportion of the mean rainfall for each lithology. This determination is based on statistical inferences from a complete sample of 875 springs for which mean flow and catchment areas are known and which have been grouped into distinct rainfall regions. Recharge rates have thus been established with respect to rainfall for six lithological groups with different permeability: sands, gravels and generally alluvial formations, 8.3%; conglomerates, 5.6%; sandstones, 7.3%; limestone and dolomite 34.3%; marls, marly limestones, silts and clays, 3.3%; and hard rocks, 1.3%. Considering the representativeness of Spain, which is large in size and has a highly varied lithology, topography and rainfall, these recharge rates for rainfall are probably quasi-universal values that can be used to estimate average recharge or average groundwater resources of large regions in any part of the world (except in special cases such as areas with permafrost, for example). For any case, these recharge rates can be adapted to each region according to its particular characteristics. Rainfall and lithology data are very common, and so the method can be widely used to calculate hydraulic balances.

Typological/Placement possibilities and limitations of ductile behavior of bridges in seismic areas

Consideraciones sobre la ductilidad en zonas sísmicas. This paper analyses the ductile behavior of a highway overpass located in a seismic zone. The paper presents the results of a pushover analysis that enables the design engineer to estimate the behavior of the bridge’s columns in two directions in an independent manner. The differences with the theoretical bilinear behavior are described and explained. Indications are given on the need and possibilities of taking advantage of ductility in different seismic events scenarios.

New Schizosaccharomyces applications in red wines alcoholic fermentation

The Schizosaccharomyces strains consumed less primary amino nitrogen and produced less urea and more pyruvic acid than other Saccharomyces species. Further, three of the four Schizosaccharomyces strains completed the breakdown of malic acid by day 4 of fermentation. The main negative effect of the use of Schizosaccharomyces was strong acetic acid production. The Schizosaccharomyces strains that produced most pyruvic acid (938 and 936) were associated with better ?wine? colour than the remaining yeasts. The studied Schizosaccharomyces could therefore be of oenological interest.

Moving object detection strategy for augmented-reality applications in a GPGPU by using CUDA

A spatial-color-based non-parametric background-foreground modeling strategy in a GPGPU by using CUDA is proposed. This strategy is suitable for augmented-reality applications, providing real-time high-quality results in a great variety of scenarios.

Moving object detection for real-time augmented reality applications in a GPGPU

The last generation of consumer electronic devices is endowed with Augmented Reality (AR) tools. These tools require moving object detection strategies, which should be fast and efficient, to carry out higher level object analysis tasks. We propose a lightweight spatio-temporal-based non-parametric background-foreground modeling strategy in a General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU), which provides real-time high-quality results in a great variety of scenarios and is suitable for AR applications.

Methodology for kinematic cycle characterization of vehicles with fixed routes in urban areas

This paper analyses the driving cycles of a fleet of vehicles with predetermined urban itineraries. Most driving cycles developed for such type of vehicles do not properly address variability among itineraries. Here we develop a polygonal driving cycle that assesses each group of related routes, based on microscopic parameters. It measures the kinematic cycles of the routes traveled by the vehicle fleet, segments cycles into micro-cycles, and characterizes their properties, groups them into clusters with homogeneous kinematic characteristics within their specific micro-cycles, and constructs a standard cycle for each cluster. The process is used to study public bus operations in Madrid.

Recent progress in research on tungsten materials for nuclear fusion applications in Europe

The current magnetic confinement nuclear fusion power reactor concepts going beyond ITER are based on assumptions about the availability of materials with extreme mechanical, heat, and neutron load capacity. In Europe, the development of such structural and armour materials together with the necessary production, machining, and fabrication technologies is pursued within the EFDA long-term fusion materials programme. This paper reviews the progress of work within the programme in the area of tungsten and tungsten alloys. Results, conclusions, and future projections are summarized for each of the programme´s main subtopics, which are: (1) fabrication, (2) structural W materials, (3) W armour materials, and (4) materials science and modelling. It gives a detailed overview of the latest results on materials research, fabrication processes, joining options, high heat flux testing, plasticity studies, modelling, and validation experiments.

Can small horticulture crops improve family farm incomes in mountains areas of Central America?

Small family farm in mountain areas can found in horticulture one alternative to increase incomes. Horticulture crop required more labour and increased the land intensification. Market of production will be the key factor in the future of this family farms.

Vector Boolean Functions: Applications in Symmetric Cryptography

Esta tesis establece los fundamentos teóricos y diseña una colección abierta de clases C++ denominada VBF (Vector Boolean Functions) para analizar funciones booleanas vectoriales (funciones que asocian un vector booleano a otro vector booleano) desde una perspectiva criptográfica. Esta nueva implementación emplea la librería NTL de Victor Shoup, incorporando nuevos módulos que complementan a las funciones de NTL, adecuándolas para el análisis criptográfico. La clase fundamental que representa una función booleana vectorial se puede inicializar de manera muy flexible mediante diferentes estructuras de datas tales como la Tabla de verdad, la Representación de traza y la Forma algebraica normal entre otras. De esta manera VBF permite evaluar los criterios criptográficos más relevantes de los algoritmos de cifra en bloque y de stream, así como funciones hash: por ejemplo, proporciona la no-linealidad, la distancia lineal, el grado algebraico, las estructuras lineales, la distribución de frecuencias de los valores absolutos del espectro Walsh o del espectro de autocorrelación, entre otros criterios. Adicionalmente, VBF puede llevar a cabo operaciones entre funciones booleanas vectoriales tales como la comprobación de igualdad, la composición, la inversión, la suma, la suma directa, el bricklayering (aplicación paralela de funciones booleanas vectoriales como la empleada en el algoritmo de cifra Rijndael), y la adición de funciones coordenada. La tesis también muestra el empleo de la librería VBF en dos aplicaciones prácticas. Por un lado, se han analizado las características más relevantes de los sistemas de cifra en bloque. Por otro lado, combinando VBF con algoritmos de optimización, se han diseñado funciones booleanas cuyas propiedades criptográficas son las mejores conocidas hasta la fecha. ABSTRACT This thesis develops the theoretical foundations and designs an open collection of C++ classes, called VBF, designed for analyzing vector Boolean functions (functions that map a Boolean vector to another Boolean vector) from a cryptographic perspective. This new implementation uses the NTL library from Victor Shoup, adding new modules which complement the existing ones making VBF better suited for cryptography. The fundamental class representing a vector Boolean function can be initialized in a flexible way via several alternative types of data structures such as Truth Table, Trace Representation, Algebraic Normal Form (ANF) among others. This way, VBF allows the evaluation of the most relevant cryptographic criteria for block and stream ciphers as well as for hash functions: for instance, it provides the nonlinearity, the linearity distance, the algebraic degree, the linear structures, the frequency distribution of the absolute values of the Walsh Spectrum or the Autocorrelation Spectrum, among others. In addition, VBF can perform operations such as equality testing, composition, inversion, sum, direct sum, bricklayering (parallel application of vector Boolean functions as employed in Rijndael cipher), and adding coordinate functions of two vector Boolean functions. This thesis also illustrates the use of VBF in two practical applications. On the one hand, the most relevant properties of the existing block ciphers have been analysed. On the other hand, by combining VBF with optimization algorithms, new Boolean functions have been designed which have the best known cryptographic properties up-to-date.

Development in Rural Areas Through Capacity Building and Education for Business

This paper is based on a case study located in Avila, central Spain. Its main objectives are to implement an entrepreneurship program and design a plan of capacity building and education for business in order to promote the development of rural areas. The methodological approach of the program is based on the use of tools that permit involving the various actors of the area from the early planning stages. The university's group that is carrying out the field work has relied on these participatory tools in very different areas and contexts for over 25 years. This has allowed the development of an advanced planning model called ?Working With People? that connects expert and experience knowledge in the territories where it is applied. With this methodological approach, the diagnosis of the territory and the design of the program's strategy has been carried out. Once completed the first phase of the program and in order to ensure the sustainability and applicability of future entrepreneurial initiatives, it is necessary to support and strengthen potential entrepreneurs through training activities and capacity building. It relies on ?How to learn from people who live there? to promote investment projects and to teach them with adequate educational skills. In this context, this article aims to study the implementation strategy of these training and capacity building activities studied from an academic perspective, as well as analyzing the potential effects of these actions in promoting entrepreneurship in the territories