Feature Selection for Speech Emotion Recognition in Spanish and Basque: On the Use of Machine Learning to Improve Human-Computer Interaction

Study of emotions in human-computer interaction is a growing research area. This paper shows an attempt to select the most significant features for emotion recognition in spoken Basque and Spanish Languages using different methods for feature selection. RekEmozio database was used as the experimental data set. Several Machine Learning paradigms were used for the emotion classification task. Experiments were executed in three phases, using different sets of features as classification variables in each phase. Moreover, feature subset selection was applied at each phase in order to seek for the most relevant feature subset. The three phases approach was selected to check the validity of the proposed approach. Achieved results show that an instance-based learning algorithm using feature subset selection techniques based on evolutionary algorithms is the best Machine Learning paradigm in automatic emotion recognition, with all different feature sets, obtaining a mean of 80,05% emotion recognition rate in Basque and a 74,82% in Spanish. In order to check the goodness of the proposed process, a greedy searching approach (FSS-Forward) has been applied and a comparison between them is provided. Based on achieved results, a set of most relevant non-speaker dependent features is proposed for both languages and new perspectives are suggested.

Front pages of No. 49, 1991, Spanish version

Front cover. Title page. Photo of Prince Philip.

A transitividade verbal: uma revisão semântico-pragmática

Esta tese aborda o tema Transitividade Verbal em construções predicativas encontradas em corpus construído com textos jornalísticos impressos do Brasil. Os verbos são estudados segundo ocorrências retiradas de jornais de grande circulação em três capitais. Toma-se a semântica, a pragmática e a sintaxe como determinantes potenciais da transitividade verbal e aborda-se o tema segundo perspectiva histórica, ou seja, procura-se desenhar o percurso do tema nos estudos de língua portuguesa desde a sua primeira gramática, chegando-se, então, a reflexões mais atuais e também ao tratamento dispensado aos verbos e sua construção predicativa em dicionários e em gramáticas pedagógicas. O confronto com estudos acerca da língua espanhola também é motivo de atenção, devido à proximidade que o tema apresenta nas duas línguas. A partir desses estudos, buscou-se elaborar quadro sistemático e mais coerente dos verbos segundo a transitividade e construção predicativa, procurando aliar-se a base teórica consistente, apresentada pela tradição dos estudos gramaticais, às reflexões técnico-científicas acordadas com a realidade lingüística levantada a partir do corpus

Front pages with contents of No. 51, 52, 53, 1994, Spanish version

Cover. Contents.

Front pages with contents of No. 54 and 55, 1995, Spanish version

Cover. Contents.

Front pages with contents of No. 56 and 57, 1997, Spanish version

Front cover. Contents.

European Newspapers’ Digital Transition: New Products and New Audiences

The adaptation of traditional newspapers to new digital media and its interface, far from being a mere technical transformation, has contributed to a gradual change in the media themselves and their audiences. With a sample including the top general information pay newspaper in each of the 28 countries of the European Union, this research has carried out an analysis using 17 indicators divided in 4 categories. The aim is to identify the transformations that the implementation of digital media have brought to the top European newspapers. In general terms, the results show that most dailies have managed to keep their leadership also in online environment. Moreover, an emerging group of global media is growing up, based in preexisting national media. Digital and mobile media have contributed to the appearance of new consumption habits as well, where users read more superficially and sporadically. The audience uses several formats at a time, and digital devices already bring the biggest amount of users to many media. The Internet-created new information windows –search engines, social networks, etc. –are also contributing to the change in professional work routines.

The Spanish corporate structure through interlocking directorates

[EN] The aim of this paper is to determine to what extent globalization pressures are changing interlocking directorate networks modeled on continental capitalism into Anglo-Saxon models. For this purpose we analyse the Spanish network of interlocks, comparing the present structure (2012) with that of 1993 and 2006. We show how, although Spanish corporative structure continues to display characteristics of the continental economies, some major banks are significantly reducing industrial activity. Nevertheless, the financial organizations continue to maintain a close relationship with sectors such as construction and services. The analysis of the network of directorates shows a retreat in activity of industrial banking in Spain. Two large Spanish financial institutions, BSCH and La Caixa, continue to undertake activities of industrial banking in 2006, but this activity is significantly reduced in 2012. According to the theories on the role of the interlocking directorates, the companies in these sectors assure their access to banking credit by incorporating advisors from financial organizations to their board of directors. We cannot conclude that the structure of the Spanish corporate network has become a new case of Anglo-Saxon structure, but we got indications that are becoming less hierarchic as banks seem to slowly abandon centrality positions. This is especially salient if we compare the networks of 2006 and 2012, which show a continuing decrease of the role of banks and insurance companies in the network.

Humanism after the Spanish Civil War: Gernika (1945-53), a Humanities and Social Sciencesbasque magazine

Espainiako Gerra Zibilaren eta II. Mundu Gerrarren ostean Gerra Hotza heldu zen. Testuinguru larri horretan humanismoan ikusi zuten hainbatek zibilizazio-krisiari irtenbidea topatzeko bidea. Gernika aldizkariak (1945-53) bere burua humanistatzat zeukan. Bertako idazleek gai horren inguruan zer adierazi zuten jasotzen saiatu gara, euskarazko zein erdarazko artikuluetan agertzen diren iritziak sailkatuz.

Analysis of Body Composition and Food Habits of Spanish Celiac Women

The purpose of the present work was both to analyze composition of Spanish celiac women and to study the food habits and gluten-free diet of these celiac patients, in order to determine whether they achieve a balanced and healthy diet as well as to highlight nutritional qualitative and/or quantitative differences. 54 adult celiac women (34 +/- 13 years) took part in the six-month study. Height, weight and body composition were measured. An analysis of energy consumption and of the macronutrient distribution of their diet was carried out. Their fulfillment of micronutrient intake recommendations was verified. Participants showed a Body Mass Index of 21.6 +/- 2.4 kg/m(2). Energy Intake was slightly lower than the Dietary Reference Intakes. Excessive protein apart from over-consumption of fat was observed. More than three quarters of participants consumed meat in excess. Carbohydrate consumption along with that of fiber was below recommended levels. Vitamin D, iron, and iodine had a low percentage of recommendation compliance. In general, participants followed the recommendations of dairy products and fruit intake whereas vegetable consumption was not enough for the vast majority. We conclude that although the diet of celiac women does not differ much from the diet of general population, some considerations, such as reducing fat and protein consumption and increasing fiber intake, must be taken into account.

The Spanish Pension System: Overview and Long-Term Projections

In the middle of the so-called pension crisis, the ageing of population and the sharp decrease in affiliations to Social Security are threatening the well-functioning of the Spanish public pension system. The purpose of this paper is to present the main challenges to be faced by the Spanish pension system, as well as to shed light on the main determinants that will condition the evolution of pension expenditure over GDP along the following decades. This quantitative analysis, which considers the 2011 and 2013 pension reforms, uses the latest data on the Spanish demographic, labor market and institutional factors in order to project the evolution of the system from the expenditure side up to 2060. For the purpose of analyzing the dynamics and the underlying drivers of pension expenditure, the so-called aggregate accounting approach will be utilized. The alternative scenarios proposed allow for exploring the robustness of the results within the baseline scenario, which constitutes the reference point of projections in the exercise. The analysis concludes that, by the end of the projected period, Spain will count on a similar public pension expenditure ratio as the current one.

The acquisition of Tense and Aspect in Spanish

280 p.

The acquisition of gender agreement in L3 English by Basque/Spanish bilinguals

211 p.