Planificación : preparando las clases, el jefe propone... y los alumnos disponen.

Contiene: Vol. I. Modules A, C, D - Vol. II. Modules B. Trabajo financiado por el MEC al amparo del Concurso Nacional para la elaboración de materiales curriculares

Integración : beyond the linguistic skills.

Contiene: Vol. III. Modules A, C, D - Vol. IV. 1er. ciclo ESO: Modules B - Vol. V. 2o. ciclo ESO: Modules B. Trabajo financiado por el MEC al amparo del Concurso Nacional para la elaboración de materiales curriculares

Evaluación : una asignatura pendiente.

Contiene: Vol. VI. Modules A, C, D - Vol. VII. Modules B. Trabajo financiado por el MEC al amparo del Concurso Nacional para la elaboración de materiales curriculares

Nuevas funcionalidades de LocalGIS-DOS

LocalGIS-DOS es la nueva versión oficial de LocalGIS, el Sistema de Información Territorial Software Libre para Entidades Locales que surgió a iniciativa del Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio y que está englobado dentro del Plan Avanza. La nueva versión LocalGIS-DOS, que estará disponible en marzo de 2010 coincidiendo con las IV Jornadas de SIG Libre de Girona, va a contar con nuevos módulos que dotarán a LocalGIS de importantes mejoras tecnológicas y funcionales de Gestión Municipal. LocalGIS-DOS incluye un nuevo módulo de Enrutamiento y Cálculo de rutas, tanto en el Módulo de Editor GIS como en la Guía Urbana, que permitirá calcular caminos óptimos y zonas de influencia. El nuevo módulo de Movilidad facilitará la gestión de información municipal desde dispositivos móviles, con herramientas para la edición y visualización de la misma y para su correcta replicación con la base de datos central. LocalGIS-DOS permitirá gestionar varios municipios con intereses comunes de forma simultánea, creando el concepto de Entidad Supramunicipal, pudiendo así gestionar de forma conjunta capas, estilos y usuarios. Esta nueva versión incorpora también la Variable Temporal a las capas de información, permitiendo a los usuarios seleccionar por fechas la información que desean visualizar, facilitando así la elaboración de estudios temporales georreferenciados y el versionado histórico de mapas. También incluye un nuevo Módulo de Gestión de la Ciudad, desde donde se gestionarán avisos, mantenimientos y obras ubicadas en el suelo público. Finalmente indicar que a nivel tecnológico LocalGIS-DOS contará, entre otras, con mejoras relativas al acceso a bases de datos externas, al canal cifrado de comunicación, firma digital de documentos y mejoras en la generación de informes

Signergias: red de coordinación de proyectos de SIG libre

La creciente importancia del uso de las aplicaciones SIG en las administraciones públicas, tanto españolas como europeas, ha dado lugar al surgimiento de diversos proyectos de desarrollo de software basados en licencias libres, cada uno de los cuales se dirige a un sector determinado de usuarios. Además, cada uno de estos proyectos define un modelo conceptual de datos para almacenar la información, servicios o módulos para el acceso a esa a información y funcionalidad que se le ofrece al usuario. La mayor parte de las veces estos proyectos se desarrollan de forma independiente a pesar de que existen interrelaciones claras entre todos ellos tales como compartir partes del modelo de datos, el interés común en dar soporte a aplicaciones de gestión municipal o el hecho de utilizar como base los mismos componentes. Estos motivos recomiendan buscar la confluencia entre los proyectos con el objetivo de evitar desarrollos duplicados y favorecer su integración e interoperabilidad. Por este motivo, en Enero de 2009 se constituyó la red signergias que busca mantener en contacto a los responsables de arquitectura y de desarrollo de estos proyectos con el fin de analizar las posibilidades de confluencia y de llegar a acuerdos que permitan compartir modelos de datos, definir de forma conjunta servicios y funcionalidades, o intercambiar componentes de software. En este artículo se describe la motivación de la creación de la red, sus objetivos, su forma de funcionamiento y los resultados alcanzados

Entorno virtual para el aprendizaje y la evaluación automática en bases de datos

La enseñanza y evaluación automática a través de un sistema Computer Based Assessment (CBA) requiere de software especializado que se adapte a la tipología de actividades a tratar y evaluar. En esta tesis se ha desarrollado un entorno CBA que facilita el aprendizaje y evaluación de los principales temas de una asignatura de bases de datos. Para ello se han analizado las herramientas existentes en cada uno de estos temas (Diagramas Entidad/Relación, diagramas de clases, esquemas de bases de datos relacionales, normalización, consultas en álgebra relacional y lenguaje SQL) y para cada uno de ellos se ha analizado, diseñado e implementado un módulo de corrección y evaluación automática que aporta mejoras respecto a los existentes. Estos módulos se han integrado en un mismo entorno al que hemos llamado ACME-DB.

Integració 3D de detectors de píxels híbrids

La miniaturització de la industria microelectrònica és un fet del tot inqüestionables i la tecnologia CMOS no n'és una excepció. En conseqüència la comunitat científica s'ha plantejat dos grans reptes: En primer lloc portar la tecnologia CMOS el més lluny possible ('Beyond CMOS') tot desenvolupant sistemes d'altes prestacions com microprocessadors, micro - nanosistemes o bé sistemes de píxels. I en segon lloc encetar una nova generació electrònica basada en tecnologies totalment diferents dins l'àmbit de les Nanotecnologies. Tots aquests avanços exigeixen una recerca i innovació constant en la resta d'àrees complementaries com són les d'encapsulat. L'encapsulat ha de satisfer bàsicament tres funcions: Interfície elèctrica del sistema amb l'exterior, Proporcionar un suport mecànic al sistema i Proporcionar un camí de dissipació de calor. Per tant, si tenim en compte que la majoria d'aquests dispositius d'altes prestacions demanden un alt nombre d'entrades i sortides, els mòduls multixip (MCMs) i la tecnologia flip chip es presenten com una solució molt interessant per aquests tipus de dispositiu. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és la de desenvolupar una tecnologia de mòduls multixip basada en interconnexions flip chip per a la integració de detectors de píxels híbrids, que inclou: 1) El desenvolupament d'una tecnologia de bumping basada en bumps de soldadura Sn/Ag eutèctics dipositats per electrodeposició amb un pitch de 50µm, i 2) El desenvolupament d'una tecnologia de vies d'or en silici que permet interconnectar i apilar xips verticalment (3D packaging) amb un pitch de 100µm. Finalment aquesta alta capacitat d'interconnexió dels encapsulats flip chip ha permès que sistemes de píxels tradicionalment monolítics puguin evolucionar cap a sistemes híbrids més compactes i complexes, i que en aquesta tesi s'ha vist reflectit transferint la tecnologia desenvolupada al camp de la física d'altes energies, en concret implantant el sistema de bump bonding d'un mamògraf digital. Addicionalment s'ha implantat també un dispositiu detector híbrid modular per a la reconstrucció d'imatges 3D en temps real, que ha donat lloc a una patent.

Collaboration between infection control and occupational health in three continents: a success story with international impact

Globalization has been accompanied by the rapid spread of infectious diseases, and further strain on working conditions for health workers globally. Post-SARS, Canadian occupational health and infection control researchers got together to study how to better protect health workers, and found that training was indeed perceived as key to a positive safety culture. This led to developing information and communication technology (ICT) tools. The research conducted also showed the need for better workplace inspections, so a workplace audit tool was also developed to supplement worker questionnaires and the ICT. When invited to join Ecuadorean colleagues to promote occupational health and infection control, these tools were collectively adapted and improved, including face-to-face as well as on-line problem-based learning scenarios. The South African government then invited the team to work with local colleagues to improve occupational health and infection control, resulting in an improved web-based health information system to track incidents, exposures, and occupational injury and diseases. As the H1N1 pandemic struck, the online infection control course was adapted and translated into Spanish, as was a novel skill-building learning tool that permits health workers to practice selecting personal protective equipment. This tool was originally developed in collaboration with the countries from the Caribbean region and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Research from these experiences led to strengthened focus on building capacity of health and safety committees, and new modules are thus being created, informed by that work. The products developed have been widely heralded as innovative and interactive, leading to their inclusion into “toolkits” used internationally. The tools used in Canada were substantially improved from the collaborative adaptation process for South and Central America and South Africa. This international collaboration between occupational health and infection control researchers led to the improvement of the research framework and development of tools, guidelines and information systems. Furthermore, the research and knowledge-transfer experience highlighted the value of partnership amongst Northern and Southern researchers in terms of sharing resources, experiences and knowledge.

The effectiveness of assessment learning objects produced using pair programming

Pair Programming is a technique from the software development method eXtreme Programming (XP) whereby two programmers work closely together to develop a piece of software. A similar approach has been used to develop a set of Assessment Learning Objects (ALO). Three members of academic staff have developed a set of ALOs for a total of three different modules (two with overlapping content). In each case a pair programming approach was taken to the development of the ALO. In addition to demonstrating the efficiency of this approach in terms of staff time spent developing the ALOs, a statistical analysis of the outcomes for students who made use of the ALOs is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the ALOs produced via this method.

An Integrated Traffic and Pedestrian Model_based Vision System

The paper describes a novel integrated vision system in which two autonomous visual modules are combined to interpret a dynamic scene. The first module employs a 3D model-based scheme to track rigid objects such as vehicles. The second module uses a 2D deformable model to track non-rigid objects such as people. The principal contribution is a novel method for handling occlusion between objects within the context of this hybrid tracking system. The practical aim of the work is to derive a scene description that is sufficiently rich to be used in a range of surveillance tasks. The paper describes each of the modules in outline before detailing the method of integration and the handling of occlusion in particular. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the performance of the system in a dynamic outdoor scene involving cars and people.

Development and illustrative outputs of the Community Integrated Assessment System (CIAS), a multi-institutional modular integrated assessment approach for modelling climate change.

This paper describes the development and first results of the “Community Integrated Assessment System” (CIAS), a unique multi-institutional modular and flexible integrated assessment system for modelling climate change. Key to this development is the supporting software infrastructure, SoftIAM. Through it, CIAS is distributed between the community of institutions which has each contributed modules to the CIAS system. At the heart of SoftIAM is the Bespoke Framework Generator (BFG) which enables flexibility in the assembly and composition of individual modules from a pool to form coupled models within CIAS, and flexibility in their deployment onto the available software and hardware resources. Such flexibility greatly enhances modellers’ ability to re-configure the CIAS coupled models to answer different questions, thus tracking evolving policy needs. It also allows rigorous testing of the robustness of IA modelling results to the use of different component modules representing the same processes (for example, the economy). Such processes are often modelled in very different ways, using different paradigms, at the participating institutions. An illustrative application to the study of the relationship between the economy and the earth’s climate system is provided.

Adaptation of the Integrated Nitrogen Model for Catchments (INCA) to seasonally snow-covered catchments

Testing of the Integrated Nitrogen model for Catchments (INCA) in a wide range of ecosystem types across Europe has shown that the model underestimates N transformation processes to a large extent in northern catchments of Finland and Norway in winter and spring. It is found, and generally assumed, that microbial activity in soils proceeds at low rates at northern latitudes during winter, even at sub-zero temperatures. The INCA model was modified to improve the simulation of N transformation rates in northern catchments, characterised by cold climates and extensive snow accumulation and insulation in winter, by introducing an empirical function to simulate soil temperatures below the seasonal snow pack, and a degree-day model to calculate the depth of the snow pack. The proposed snow-correction factor improved the simulation of soil temperatures at Finnish and Norwegian field sites in winter, although soil temperature was still underestimated during periods with a thin snow cover. Finally, a comparison between the modified INCA version (v. 1.7) and the former version (v. 1.6) was made at the Simojoki river basin in northern Finland and at Dalelva Brook in northern Norway. The new modules did not imply any significant changes in simulated NO3- concentration levels in the streams but improved the timing of simulated higher concentrations. The inclusion of a modified temperature response function and an empirical snow-correction factor improved the flexibility and applicability of the model for climate effect studies.

KNIME: the Konstanz Information Miner

The Konstanz Information Miner is a modular environment which enables easy visual assembly and interactive execution of a data pipeline. It is designed as a teaching, research and collaboration platform, which enables easy integration of new algorithms, data manipulation or visualization methods as new modules or nodes. In this paper we describe some of the design aspects of the underlying architecture and briefly sketch how new nodes can be incorporated.

Categorisation of synoptic environments associated with mesoscale convective systems over the UK

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are relatively rare events in the UK but, when they do occur, can be associated with weather that is considered extreme with respect to climatology (as indicated by the number of such events that have been analysed as case studies). These case studies usually associate UK MCSs with a synoptic environment known as the Spanish plume. Here a previously published 17 year climatology of UK MCS events is extended to the present day (from 1998 to 2008) and these events classified according to the synoptic environment in which they form. Three distinct synoptic environments have been identified, here termed the classical Spanish plume, modified Spanish plume, and European easterly plume. Detailed case studies of the two latter, newly defined, environments are presented. Composites produced for each environment further reveal the differences between them. The classical Spanish plume is associated with an eastward propagating baroclinic cyclone that evolves according to idealised life cycle 1. Conditional instability is released from a warm moist plume of air advected northeastwards from Iberia that is capped by warmer, but very dry air, from the Spanish plateau. The modified Spanish plume is associated with a slowly moving mature frontal system associated with a forward tilting trough (and possibly cut-off low) at 500 hPa that evolves according to idealised life cycle 2. As in the classical Spanish plume, conditional instability is released from a warm plume of air advected northwards from Iberia. The less frequent European easterly plume is associated with an omega block centred over Scandinavia at upper levels. Conditional instability is released from a warm plume of air advected westwards across northern continental Europe. Unlike the Spanish plume environments, the European easterly plume is not a warm sector phenomena associated with a baroclinic cyclone. However, in all environments the organisation of convection is associated with the interaction of an upper-level disturbance with a low-level region of warm advection.