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The contemporary university has evolved into a multifaceted institution, serving not only as a hub for research, professional training, and knowledge dissemination, but also as a pivotal component of economic machinery and societal advancement, especially within the context of globalization and intense competition. These institutions are now expected to significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of their surroundings, striving for excellence and competing within an increasingly interconnected global framework. To meet these heightened expectations, universities have undergone profound transformations over recent decades. This period of change is particularly notable within the Spanish context, mirroring the broader societal shifts since the onset of the democratic transition in 1975 through to the present day in 2024. This era has necessitated substantial reforms in university governance, equipping these institutions with the requisite tools to navigate and address emerging challenges effectively. A pivotal moment in this transformative journey was the enactment of the University Reform Law of 1983. Grounded in constitutional principles, this law marked a significant milestone in updating and revitalizing university education in Spain. After this, the Organic Law on Universities of 2001 further aligned the Spanish university framework with the broader European educational landscape, reinforcing the integration and competitiveness of Spanish institutions on a continental scale. However, to comprehensively grasp the magnitude and implications of these changes, it is essential to extend our analysis beyond the immediate past and explore the historical trajectory of Spanish universities over previous centuries. By examining this extensive historical context, we can better understand the foundational elements that have shaped the current state of higher education. This article aims to meticulously analyze the evolution of the Spanish university system, delineating the chronological progress, identifying persistent challenges, and engaging in a critical discourse on potential solutions. Through this examination, the article seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of the interplay between historical legacies and contemporary reforms, offering insights that are essential for shaping the future trajectory of higher education in Spain.

Natural background gamma rays and their effects on human health are essential components of both radiation protection and public concern. In the frame of these aspects, the mapping of the natural gamma dose rate values of the Province of Asti is given. The Asti Fire Brigade Command approved a project relating to the mapping of gamma radiation from the natural background in the territory of Asti. The project engaged both the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, and Radiological (NBCR) and Topography Applied to Rescue (TAS) components of the Asti Command. Skilled personnel, comprising level 1 TAS operators for data collection and level 2 TAS operators for cartographic analysis, were deployed across the six working days. The methodology involved the use of two digital handheld radiation G-M detectors, in conjunction with a portable GPS unit, including the Global Mapper software. One of the significant findings of this study is the observation that the natural gamma dose rate levels were 201.25% higher in the streets of the city center compared to other areas, predominantly because the building materials in these locations contain a higher amount of natural radionuclides. The results indicated that the level of natural gamma dose rates in the studied region is close to the global average value.

In the present work, we investigate the concentration of radon and its alpha-emitting progeny at the archaeological site of Huaca 20 in Lima, Peru. The site holds significant cultural and historical importance as an ancient pre-Inca ruin, providing valuable insights into the lives and rituals of its former inhabitants. We quantified the radon levels accurately with passive CR-39TM detectors deployed within specially designed chambers at the site for 28 days. In a controlled laboratory environment, we processed the detectors afterward, examining and analyzing the resulting tracks using advanced microscopy and the ImageJ analysis software. The ground-level concentration of radon and its alpha-emitting progeny was determined, revealing elevated levels ranging from (2.4 ± 0.6) to (8.9 ± 0.9) (kBq/m^3). These findings underscore the unique presence of radon at Huaca 20 and highlight the potential impact on microorganisms at ground level. Likewise, these results can contribute to studies on the radiological risks faced by visitors, excavators, and archaeologists. Finally, we show the spatial distribution of radon concentrations within the site by creating an iso-concentration map. The iso-concentration map reveals a relation between areas with elevated radon levels and the good preservation of funerary contexts.

This research work introduces a novel, nonintrusive method for the automatic identification of Smith–Magenis syndrome, traditionally studied through genetic markers. The method utilizes cepstral peak prominence and various machine learning techniques, relying on a single metric computed by the research group. The performance of these techniques is evaluated across two case studies, each employing a unique data preprocessing approach. A proprietary data “windowing” technique is also developed to derive a more representative dataset. To address class imbalance in the dataset, the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) is applied for data augmentation. The application of these preprocessing techniques has yielded promising results from a limited initial dataset. The study concludes that the k-nearest neighbors and linear discriminant analysis perform best, and that cepstral peak prominence is a promising measure for identifying Smith–Magenis syndrome.

The world has lived an exceptional time period caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. To limit Covid-19 propagation, governments required people to wear a facial mask outside. In facial data analysis, mask-wearing on the human face creates predominant occlusion hiding the important oral region and causing more challenges for human face recognition and categorisation. The appropriation of existing solutions by taking into consideration the masked context is indispensable for researchers. In this paper, we propose an approach for mask-wearing prediction and adaptive facial human-gender classification. The proposed approach is based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Both mask-wearing and gender information are crucial for various possible applications. Experimentation shows that mask-wearing is very well detectable by using CNNs and justifies its use as a prepossessing step. It also shows that retraining with masked faces is indispensable to keep up gender classification performances. In addition, experimentation proclaims that in a controlled face-pose with acceptable image quality' context, the gender attribute remains well detectable. Finally, we show empirically that the adaptive proposed approach improves global performance for gender prediction in a mixed context.

The measurement of computational thinking ability among computer science (CS) university students is of paramount importance. This study introduces UniCTCheck, a novel method designed to assess the main components of computational thinking in CS students. Utilising two key instruments, namely, the web application CTScore and the psychometric scale CTProg, this research aims to precisely evaluate seven core components of computational thinking and six programming concepts skills essential for CS students. The study, conducted at Rey Juan Carlos University and Atlantic Technological University Galway, involved a diverse sample of students from different year levels and programme specialisations. Through a rigorous research design, including sampling strategies and data collection tools, this study seeks to address critical research questions related to the measurement of variations in students’ computational thinking and programming skills by gender, university level, and location. By shedding light on the significance of computational thinking and programming in the educational realm, this research contributes to the existing literature and underscores the essential role of computational skills in the modern era.

This publication addresses the influence of irrigation scheduling on water use, plant growth, and development for young pongamia trees (Millettia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi). Written by Daniel Palacios, Sandra M. Guzmán, Amir Rezazadeh, Liliana M. Cano, Lorenzo Rossi, and Alan Wright, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, November 2023.

Summary: Background: Natural killer (NK) cells have a unique capability of spontaneous cytotoxicity against malignant cells and hold promise for off-the-shelf cell therapy against cancer. One of the key challenges in the field is to improve NK cell homing to solid tumors. Methods: To gain a deeper understanding of the cellular mechanisms regulating trafficking of NK cells into the tumor, we used high-dimensional flow cytometry, mass cytometry, and single-cell RNA-sequencing combined with functional assays, creating a comprehensive map of human NK cell migration phenotypes. Findings: We found that the chemokine receptor repertoire of peripheral blood NK cells changes in a coordinated manner becoming progressively more diversified during NK cell differentiation and correlating tightly with the migratory response of the distinct NK cell subsets. Simultaneous ligation of CXCR1/2 and CX3CR1, synergistically potentiated the migratory response of NK cells. Analysis of 9471 solid cancers from publicly available TCGA/TARGET repositories revealed dominant chemokine patterns that varied across tumor types but with no tumor group expressing ligands for more than one chemokine receptor present on mature NK cells. Interpretation: The finding that chemokine stimulation can elicit a synergistic migratory response in NK cells combined with the identified lack of naturally occurring pairs of chemokines-chemokine receptors in human cancers may explain the systematic exclusion of NK cells from the tumor microenvironment and provides a basis for engineering next-generation NK cell therapies against malignancies. Funding: The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the National Science Centre, Poland, The Norwegian Cancer Society, the Norwegian Research Council, the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, The Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Children's Cancer Foundation, The Swedish Research Council, The Center of Excellence: Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and National Cancer Institute.

Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS) are regions where wind-driven coastal upwelling brings deep cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface and may be characterized by a coastal ‘footprint’ of sea surface temperature (SST) cooler than their surroundings. Previous studies have shown that EBUS coastal temperatures are responding differently to global ocean warming, warming slowly or not at all. However, the spatial dynamics of coastal upwelling footprints have yet to be investigated. In this paper, we use 20 years of high-resolution SST data derived from satellites (MUR SST) to test the null hypothesis that the extent of coastal upwelling footprints have remained stable over the period 2002–2022, consistent with the idea that these regions are thermal refugia. We investigate linear trends at different time scales, finding that the Humboldt and Iberian/Canary EBUS show no contraction of this footprint on annual or seasonal scales. The Benguela EBUS shows no change in its central and poleward subregions, but it exhibits contraction of the footprint in the equatorward subregion in the austral winter and spring. The California EBUS behaves differently: on the annual scale only the equatorward subregion shows contraction of the SST footprint, while on the seasonal scale, the entire EBUS show contraction during the fall or summer/fall. Summarizing the last two decades, most coastal habitats of EBUS (>80% of the areas tested) are remaining cool and may be acting as regional refugia from global warming, but this is true for some regions only during certain seasons. However, the declines in areal extent of upwelling in subregions of the California and Benguela EBUS indicate potential consequences for marine life and may help to explain changes in abundance, productivity, and redistributions of populations in these regions.

Gender classification of human faces is a trending topic and a remarkable biometric task. This research area has useful applications in several fields, such as automated border control (ABC) and forensic work. There are many approaches to gender classification in the literature; the classical approaches usually use real faces. Although good performances have been achieved, data collection remains a problem. Additionally, the privacy of individuals must be included in many existing works. These drawbacks can be overcome by using fake faces. Recently, the creation of a robust fake face corpus using machine learning has become possible. Our main contribution in the present paper is to experimentally investigate the ability of an artificial deepfake corpus to be a substitute for real corpora in facial gender classification tasks. We propose a deep learning-based approach using convolutional neural networks trained with fake faces and tested on real faces. By exploiting artificial faces, data collection obstacles are resolved for the training step, and privacy is highly preserved. Four classifiers based on popular convolutional neural network architectures were implemented. In the test phase, we used faces of real identities extracted from well-known experimental databases such as Face Recognition Technology (FERET), Faculdade de Engenharia Industrial (FEI) faces, Face Recognition and Artificial Vision (FRAV) and Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW). The results achieved are very promising. We obtained high accuracy rates and low EER scores. They are similar to those of research works using real faces. As a result of this work, we propose a gender-labeled deepfake facial dataset containing more than 200k deepfake corpora that we will make available upon request for research purposes.

Presentation attacks are one of the many dangers facing law enforcement today. In addition, material science is constantly advancing and criminals, aware of this fact, are taking advantage of new composites to manufacture new artifacts that allow them to cross borders by breaching border control points. This article presents the creation of several presentation attacks using make-up, hyper-realistic latex, and prosthetic masks. It is worth noting that such attacks do not receive adequate attention, due to the difficulty in their elaboration. The work of professionals in the make-up sector is required. Each stage of processing is analyzed for any artifacts that would facilitate the detection of the attack, using a multispectral approach in the visible and thermal spectra. The methodology evaluates three different face recognition systems (FRS), the different stages of impersonation, i.e. when a specific part of the face such as nose, cheekbones, jaw, or eyes is incorporated. The results show that certain parts of the face improve impersonation and make it more difficult for the algorithms to detect possible impersonation. However, other parts of the face, such as the jaw, not only do not improve impersonation but also significantly worsen performance. Using OpenFace as an FRS example, which is one of the FRS employed in this research work, the bonafide comparison of the target yields a score of 0.304, while with the make-up attack before applying make-up to the jaw, it gives 0.291, and after applying make-up, it gives 0.421.

Gender classification is an important biometric task. It has been widely studied in the literature. Face modality is the most studied aspect of human-gender classification. Moreover, the task has also been investigated in terms of different face components such as irises, ears, and the periocular region. In this paper, we aim to investigate gender classification based on the oral region. In the proposed approach, we adopt a convolutional neural network. For experimentation, we extracted the region of interest using the RetinaFace algorithm from the FFHQ faces dataset. We achieved acceptable results, surpassing those that use the mouth as a modality or facial sub-region in geometric approaches. The obtained results also proclaim the importance of the oral region as a facial part lost in the Covid-19 context when people wear facial mask. We suppose that the adaptation of existing facial data analysis solutions from the whole face is indispensable to keep-up their robustness.

Between 100,000 and 130,000 people were murdered during the war and dictatorship in Spain from 1936 onward. Thousands of bodies were buried in mass graves which were then monumentalized decades later. Since the year 2000, the commemorative practices surrounding the victims of the war and dictatorship changed radically: hundreds of exhumations took place and the rhetoric on human rights and dignity was generalized in the discourses. This phenomenon is associated with the idea of the “forensic turn”. However, the situation presents a double crisis: that of the popular forms of memorial based on honour and the monument, threatened by the scientific paradigm, and the lack of social recognition of the victims, of which the exhumations are not part of a judicial process, and how the ratios of identifications are low in the current model. Therefore, by means of an interdisciplinary approach to the context, this article contributes to the debate on the current crisis of the memory policies in the Kingdom of Spain demonstrating the limits of the “forensic turn” and the exhumation-based model promoted by the government of Spain.

This study evaluates radon exhalation rates and assesses the potential radiological risks of external exposure to primordial radionuclides in building materials employed in the Ica region of Peru, particularly those with high uranium content. The radon exhalation rates are currently measured using a combination of a closed chamber and an active monitor. We proposed a novel method that effectively ensured a hermetic seal for the closed chamber and guaranteed that the efficient maintenance of secular equilibrium. The obtained results ranged from below the detection limit (BDL) to a maximum of 52.3 mBq · kg−1h−1. Gamma spectrometry was employed to measure the concentrations of radionuclides by utilizing a 3′ × 3′ NaI detector. The analysis of cement samples revealed a strong positive correlation between the activity concentration of radium and the radon exhalation rate. The activity concentrations for radionuclides varied, with values ranging from BDL to 60.6 mBq · kg−1h−1 for 226Ra, BDL to 22.3 mBq · kg−1h−1 for 232Th, and BDL to 1074 mBq · kg−1h−1 for 40K. These findings contribute valuable insight to decision-making processes in the Peruvian construction industry, particularly regarding material safety and radiological risk management.

A problem of current interest is how to emulate nature by acquiring information in a neuromorphic-like fashion; namely, by using configurable hardware and electronic systems to emulate the information gathering and processing strategies of biological systems. In this paper, we introduce BioCAMSHIFT, an algorithm for a bio-inspired system that acquires information via a neuromorphic process and uses it to track multiple objects. The system consists of a silicon retina that simulates the behavior of the human eye together with a communication system that uses an Address-Event Representation protocol to transmit information in a way analogous to that of biological neural systems. An unsupervised procedure, based on the CAMSHIFT algorithm, is then used for multi-object tracking. It takes advantage of the retina’s high event rate to adapt to the changing sizes of the objects in its field of view. The proposed system has been experimentally validated using a data set from Freeway 210 in Pasadena, California, demonstrating a significantly better improvement in terms of multi-vehicle detection and tracking performance over the current state of the art.

Esta guía esta orientada para personal de extensión que pueda encontrar preguntas de los productores acerca del funcionamiento y precisión de sensores de humedad del suelo (SMSs) para producción de arboles frutales. La información en este documento permitirá a los especialistas de extensión responder algunas preguntas generales acerca de los SMSs. Esta publicación se enfoca en dos tipos de sensores portátiles usados actualmente en Florida para manejo de irrigación en cítricos y otros arboles: El oscilador de línea de transmisión (TLO) y el transmisometro en el dominio del tiempo (TDT) por sus siglas en ingles. Para detalles acerca de SMSs no descritos en esta publicación o alguna marca de SMS en particular, personal de extensión puede consultar los autores o un especialista de irrigación local.

In the year 2000 thirteen people were exhumed from a mass grave in Priaranza del Bierzo. This event has been established as the founding act of the movement called “Historical Memory” in the Kingdom of Spain. A movement which, despite claiming the recovery of the past within the framework of Human Rights rhetoric, has been marked by the exhumations of mass graves as its primary and most visible activity. These exhumations have always been portrayed positively by the media. This is framed within the so-called “forensic turn,” as a process in which scientists have been incorporated into the investigation of mass violence. However, this account has not addressed a number of issues, one of which is fundamental and relates to the fate of the bodies after exhumation. Another omission is the question of what to do when the graves are not found where they were believed to be. In this sense, the subject has been approached from an interdisciplinary perspective, starting from the history of art, making use of ethnographic techniques and taking samples from a qualitative-quantitative study which has been carried out over the last 4 years throughout the country. Therefore, the materials used to address the problem are organized into the following three parts. Firstly, the limitations of the forensic model and exhumations are discussed in detail. Secondly, monuments built after the exhumation of mass graves are examined. Thirdly, monuments constructed when the grave remained undiscovered, and the bodies could not be exhumed are also considered. In this regard, the experiences analysed have firstly clarified the limitations and dissatisfactions that have arisen around the “forensic turn.” The low rate of identifications, the lack of symbolic mediators and the lack of social recognition, lead to the fact that exhumations in themselves do not offer answers and that, on the contrary, they do not necessarily modify the meaning of the graves as tools of terror. Therefore, in the second section, some initiatives have been employed to illustrate the need to bury the bodies after exhumations, both for pragmatic and symbolic reasons. These monuments could also be the solution for those unable to locate the mass graves, as explained in the third section. The conclusion focuses on the origins of these “memorial monument solutions,” which have transcended the “forensic” model. Therefore, it is suggested that it would be relevant to continue researching these practices in the future, and not to see them as mere solutions to a technical problem, but as a new stage of memorial practices.

El presente artículo analiza las evoluciones ideológicas que rodearon al Museo Internacional de la Resistencia Salvador Allende, desde su implantación en España en 1976, hasta el envío a Chile de las obras que lo conformaron, ya en 1991. Tras el golpe de Estado en este país, y como continuación del Museo de la Solidaridad (1972-1973), este «museo en el exilio» surgió como una manifestación artística de resistencia cultural contra la dictadura del general Augusto Pinochet. Pretendía apoyar la resistencia chilena desde el exterior con una colección de obras artísticas que viajarían en exposiciones itinerantes. Después de haber observado su carácter internacionalista y antifascista inicial, se mostrará cómo, paralelamente a la profundización de las políticas gubernamentales de la Transición en España, la gestión del Museo cambió su significado simbólico hacia un carácter memorialista y folclórico de izquierdas. En un último punto se explicita cómo la llegada de la colección a Chile acabó de consumir la ruptura con su legado reivindicativo y de transformación social originario. El artículo ha implicado la revisión de material documental en España, Chile y Francia, con el objetivo de documentar proceso, pero sobre todo de aportar un análisis crítico sobre la deriva de la solidaridad artística con Chile, desde España en general y en particular desde la Comunidad Valenciana, así como su estancia en el Museu d’Art Contemporani Vicente Aguilera Cerni de Vilafamés. / This article analyzes the ideological developments surrounding the Museo Internacional de la Resistencia Salvador Allende, from its establishment in Spain in 1976 until the time the works that constituted the museum were sent to Chile in 1991. After the coup d’état in Chile, and as a continuation of the Museo de la Solidaridad (1972-1973), this «museum in exile» emerged as an artistic manifestation of cultural resistance against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. It was intended to support Chilean resistance abroad with a collection of artistic works that would tour in travelling exhibitions. After an observation of its initial internationalist and anti-fascist nature, we will show how –as the governmental policies of the Spanish Transition advanced– the management of the Museum changed its symbolic meaning towards a left-wing memorial folkloric character. A final point explains how the arrival of the collection in Chile finally consummated the rupture with its original legacy of activism and social transformation. This article has required a review of documentary material in Spain, Chile and France in order to record the process; and above all, to provide a critical analysis of the drift of artistic solidarity with Chile coming from Spain in general and from the Valencian Community in particular, as well as its stay at the Museu d’Art Contemporani Vicente Aguilera Cerni in Vilafamés.

Lack of trust, lack of references and the confidential nature of cybersecurity projects make internationalization in companies from the cybersecurity sector a great challenge. The development of lean methodologies over recent years has presented a method to reduce time and effort, measure performance in each step and pivot when it is necessary to apply a process to a different field. Considering that internationalization resembles entrepreneurship, because of uncertainty and risk in a new market where the value proposition should be validated, the Lean Start-up philosophy will serve as a theoretical framework in which to operate. The study of international challenges of cybersecurity companies and elaboration of an ‘eight-step’ internationalization mechanism based on Lean Start-up methodology will imply a cost-effective solution for cybersecurity enterprises that want to achieve profitability and higher return on investment in internationalization. Resumen: La falta de confianza, la falta de referencias previas y la naturaleza confidencial de los proyectos de ciberseguridad hacen que la internacionalización de las empresas del sector sea un gran desafío. El desarrollo de metodologías lean en los últimos años ha presentado un método para reducir el tiempo y el esfuerzo en el proceso de internacionalización y permitir medir el rendimiento en cada paso y pivotar cuando sea necesario. Teniendo en cuenta que la internacionalización se asemeja a la iniciativa empresarial, debido a la incertidumbre y el riesgo en un nuevo mercado donde se debe validar la propuesta de valor, la filosofía Lean Start-up servirá como marco teórico en el que operar. El estudio de los desafíos internacionales de las empresas de ciberseguridad y la elaboración de un mecanismo de internacionalización de ocho pasos basado en la metodología Lean Start-up implicará una solución rentable para las empresas de ciberseguridad que desean lograr rentabilidad y un mayor retorno de la inversión en internacionalización.

Radon is the main source of natural radioactivity, and its measurement is considered extremely important in radioprotection, given its relationship with the occurrence of lung cancer. In the last two years, measurements of this radioactive gas were carried out in Lima considering a grid of 5 km2 and the population density to determine the number of measurements to be carried out. Cellulose nitrate nuclear track detectors exposed in bare mode and diffusion chamber mode were used to estimate 222Rn concentrations. In diffusion chamber mode, non-commercial monitors and commercial monitors were used. The monitoring results are presented for 43 districts of the Lima Province whose population is approximately ten million inhabitants occupying a total area of 2655.15 km2. Measurements were made obtaining an average concentration of 49 Bq·m−3 using bare detectors and 66 Bq·m−3 using non-commercial diffusion chambers. Average concentrations obtained by both detector exposure modes were below the maximum concentration recommended by the WHO. A radon (222Rn) map was also obtained as a visual representation of the 222Rn levels in the Lima province using inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation.

Mining generates significant amounts of waste that can represent a source of contamination for areas close to the extraction area, generating a negative impact both on the environment and the health of people. This study aims to evaluate the radiological risk derived from exposure to natural radionuclides contained in tailings from Peruvian gold mines and to establish whether the tailings can be used as raw materials in building materials. The mine tailings come from a mining project in the northern highlands of Peru. Radon exhalation was measured using Rad7 in a closed chamber and activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K radioisotopes by gamma spectrometry using NaI 3” × 3” detector. Maximum activity concentrations measured for 226Ra and 232Th were 15.38 Bq kg−1 and 11.9 Bq kg−1, respectively; meanwhile, activity concentration for 40K ranged from 182.7 Bq kg−1 to 770.8 Bq kg−1. All activity concentrations were below the worldwide average except for 40K. The radon exhalation rate varied from 2.8 to 7.2 mBq kg−1 h−1. The gamma index (Iγ), and radiological parameters, including the Radium equivalent activity (Raeq), and the external hazard index (Hex), being below the recommended levels by UNSCEAR, ensure the safe use of these mines tailing to produce a geopolymer cement.

Currently, the use of biometric identification, automated or semiautomated, is a reality. For this reason, the number of attacks has increased in such systems. One of the most common biometric attacks is the presentation attack (PA) because it is relatively easy to perform. Automated border control (ABC) is a clear target for phishers. Concerning biometric attacks, morphing is one of the most threatening attacks because authentication systems are usually unable to correctly detect them. In this attack, a fake face is generated with the morphing and blending of two different subjects (genuine and phisher), and the image result is stored in the passport. These attacks can generate risky situations in cases of border crossings where an ABC system should perform identification tasks. This research work proposes a de-morphing architecture that is founded on a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture. This technique is based on the use of two images: the potentially morphed image stored in the passport, and the snapshot of the person located in the ABC system. The goal of the de-morphing process is to unravel the chip image. If the chip image is a morphed one, the revealing process between the in vivo image and the morphed chip image will return a different facial identity to the person located in the ABC system, and the impostor will be uncovered in situ. If the chip image is a non-morphing image, the resulting image will be similar to a genuine passenger. Therefore, the information obtained is considered at the border crossing. The equal error rate (EER) achieved is very low compared to the literature values published to date. The accomplished outcomes endorse a robust method that provides high accuracy rates without taking into account the quality of images used. This key point is crucial to plausible deployment plans in areas such as ABC.

Patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease (PD) manifest relevant changes in their speech, consisting of specific landmarks in articulation, phonation, fluency, and prosody. Usually, phonation and articulation changes are estimated and evaluated using different methods and statistical frameworks. Speech is especially relevant as a vehicular mechanism to monitor neurological evolution using well-known features extracted from sustained phonations (mainly vowels), diadochokinetic exercises, or running speech. Recent studies have shown that acoustic neurostimulation using binaural beats influences the cognitive and neuromotor conditions of patients with PD, at least temporarily after stimulation. The aim of this study is to describe an added-value solution considering the cooperation of both previously mentioned methods: speech analysis-based monitoring called within the project, Monitoring Parkinson using Locution (MonParLoc), and acoustical neurostimulation, called within project neuro-Acoustic-stimulation Parkinson (AcousticPar). The applications designed in both projects are embedded into a global solution denominated Teca-Park which consists of four main activities: speech evaluation, neurostimulation, motor symptom longitudinally, and questionnaires. This framework is conceived to be a powerful tool for treating and monitoring longitudinally remotely and contact-free. MonParLoc was tested and validated in real scenarios involving patient associations. Validation results produced in these associations demonstrating the utility of this approach are given in the study, particularly in reference to protocol vulnerability and robustness. This paper proposes a complete framework (a mobile app and a scorecard solution) including different services for Parkinson's clinical monitoring and patient management using speech, movement, and acoustic stimulation.

Pathological voice characterization has received increasing attention over the last 20 years. Hundreds of studies have been published showing inventive approaches with very promising findings. Nevertheless, methodological issues might hamper performance assessment trustworthiness. This study reviews some critical aspects regarding data collection and processing, machine learning-oriented methods, and grounding analytical approaches, with a view to embedding developed clinical decision support tools into the diagnosis decision-making process. A set of 26 relevant studies published since 2010 was selected through critical selection criteria and evaluated. The model-driven (MD) or data-driven (DD) character of the selected approaches is deeply examined considering novelty, originality, statistical robustness, trustworthiness, and clinical relevance. It has been found that before 2020 most of the works examined were more aligned with MD approaches, whereas over the last two years a balanced proportion of DD and MD-based studies was found. A total of 15 studies presented MD characters, whereas seven were mainly DD-oriented, and four shared both profiles. Fifteen studies showed exploratory or prospective advanced statistical analysis. Eighteen included some statistical validation to avail claims. Twenty-two reported original work, whereas the remaining four were systematic reviews of others’ work. Clinical relevance and acceptability by voice specialists were found in 14 out of the 26 works commented on. Methodological issues such as detection and classification performance, training and generalization capability, explainability, preservation of semantic load, clinical acceptance, robustness, and development expenses have been identified as major issues in applying machine learning to clinical support systems. Other important aspects to be taken into consideration are trustworthiness, gender-balance issues, and statistical relevance.

Complex simultaneous neuropsychophysiological mechanisms are responsible for the processing of the information to be transmitted and for the neuromotor planning of the articulatory organs involved in speech. The nature of this set of mechanisms is closely linked to the clinical state of the subject. Thus, for example, in populations with neurodevelopmental deficits, these underlying neuropsychophysiological procedures are deficient and determine their phonation. Most of these cases with neurodevelopmental deficits are due to a genetic abnormality, as is the case in the population with Smith–Magenis syndrome (SMS). SMS is associated with neurodevelopmental deficits, intellectual disability, and a cohort of characteristic phenotypic features, including voice quality, which does not seem to be in line with the gender, age, and complexion of the diagnosed subject. The phonatory profile and speech features in this syndrome are dysphonia, high f0, excess vocal muscle stiffness, fluency alterations, numerous syllabic simplifications, phoneme omissions, and unintelligibility of speech. This exploratory study investigates whether the neuromotor deficits in children with SMS adversely affect phonation as compared to typically developing children without neuromotor deficits, which has not been previously determined. The authors compare the phonatory performance of a group of children with SMS (N = 12) with a healthy control group of children (N = 12) matched in age, gender, and grouped into two age ranges. The first group ranges from 5 to 7 years old, and the second group goes from 8 to 12 years old. Group differences were determined for two forms of acoustic analysis performed on repeated recordings of the sustained vowel /a/ F1 and F2 extraction and cepstral peak prominence (CPP). It is expected that the results will enlighten the question of the underlying neuromotor aspects of phonation in SMS population. These findings could provide evidence of the susceptibility of phonation of speech to neuromotor disturbances, regardless of their origin.

Desde el año 2000 se ha producido un nuevo proceso de exhumaciones de las fosas comunes de las personas asesinadas durante la Guerra y la Dictadura desde 1936. Sin embargo, hay una escasa visibilidad y reflexión en torno a la acción subsiguiente a las exhumaciones, que implica la reinhumación de los cuerpos. Este proceso tiene especial importancia dado que la mayor parte de los mismos no son identificados. En el presente artículo se aborda la acción de construir un monumento para alojar los cuerpos tras la exhumación. Se presentan resultados parciales de una investigación más amplia que combina técnicas histórico artísticas con etnográficas. Como conclusión se propone comprender estas acciones desde un punto de vista pragmático que a la vez puede ser interpretado como una voluntad de escritura de la historia por medio de la sepultura.

Lima City is situated on alluvial fan deposits of rivers flowing through geological formations that contain different levels of uranium. In this paper, a study is made on the average spatial and temporal behavior of radon gas in soils of Lima City. Radon concentration was determined using the LR-115 type 2 track detector during 36 periods, of 14 days each, in twenty holes distributed in the fifteen districts of Lima City. Radon concentration in soil pores ranged from 0.1 to 64.3 kBq/m3 with an average value of 5.6 kBq/m3. The average radon concentration in soil gas was about two times lower in winter than in the other seasons. High radon values during October/November 2017 were related to the earthquakes perceived in Lima City in that period. The highest radon concentrations were found in areas of alluvial deposits whose parental material has been removed from the Quilmaná and Huarangal volcanics by the Chillón and Huaycoloro Rivers. Soil gas radon concentrations were even higher in areas closer to volcanic and less distant from rivers. During the period of maximum flooding of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, due to the natural phenomenon “El Niño Costero”, anomalous high soil radon concentrations were observed in most of the measurement sites located near rivers. These high radon values were associated with ground vibrations caused by rock and debris avalanches in rivers and creeks.

Desde el año 2000 las fosas comunes han sido uno de los componentes centrales de los discursos generados en torno a la «Memoria Histórica». A través de una metodología interdisciplinar se plantea el análisis del significado de estas. Se atenderá a la fosa común en tanto que signo represivo, a cómo en los años setenta comenzaron a ser resignificadas a través de acciones de homenaje sobre las propias fosas comunes y eventualmente a su exhumación, a las acciones sobre las mismas acometidas desde el año 2000 ante el surgimiento de la noción de la «Memoria Histórica». Finalmente se pone en evidencia el carácter conflictivo de esas resignificaciones de la fosa común ante el rechazo a las mismas por diversos medios. Se concluye así que las acciones sobre las fosas comunes se han convertido en un campo para la disputa por el sentido del pasado.

AimThe present work proposes the study of the neuromotor activity of the masseter-jaw-tongue articulation during diadochokinetic exercising to establish functional statistical relationships between surface Electromyography (sEMG), 3D Accelerometry (3DAcc), and acoustic features extracted from the speech signal, with the aim of characterizing Hypokinetic Dysarthria (HD). A database of multi-trait signals of recordings from an age-matched control and PD participants are used in the experimental study.Hypothesis:The main assumption is that information between sEMG and 3D acceleration, and acoustic features may be quantified using linear regression methods.MethodsRecordings from a cohort of eight age-matched control participants (4 males, 4 females) and eight PD participants (4 males, 4 females) were collected during the utterance of a diadochokinetic exercise (the fast repetition of diphthong [aI]). The dynamic and acoustic absolute kinematic velocities produced during the exercises were estimated by acoustic filter inversion and numerical integration and differentiation of the speech signal. The amplitude distributions of the absolute kinematic and acoustic velocities (AKV and AFV) are estimated to allow comparisons in terms of Mutual Information.ResultsThe regression results show the relationships between sEMG and dynamic and acoustic estimates. The projection methodology may help in understanding the basic neuromotor muscle activity regarding neurodegenerative speech in remote monitoring neuromotor and neurocognitive diseases using speech as the vehicular tool, and in the study of other speech-related disorders. The study also showed strong and significant cross-correlations between articulation kinematics, both for the control and the PD cohorts. The absolute kinematic variables presents an observable difference for the PD participants compared to the control group.ConclusionKinematic distributions derived from acoustic analysis may be useful biomarkers toward characterizing HD in neuromotor disorders providing new insights into PD.

The neurobiological study of reward was launched by the discovery of intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS). Subsequent investigation of this phenomenon provided the initial link between reward-seeking behavior and dopaminergic neurotransmission. We re-evaluated this relationship by psychophysical, pharmacological, optogenetic, and computational means. In rats working for direct, optical activation of midbrain dopamine neurons, we varied the strength and opportunity cost of the stimulation and measured time allocation, the proportion of trial time devoted to reward pursuit. We found that the dependence of time allocation on the strength and cost of stimulation was similar formally to that observed when electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle served as the reward. When the stimulation is strong and cheap, the rats devote almost all their time to reward pursuit; time allocation falls off as stimulation strength is decreased and/or its opportunity cost is increased. A 3D plot of time allocation versus stimulation strength and cost produces a surface resembling the corner of a plateau (the "reward mountain"). We show that dopamine-transporter blockade shifts the mountain along both the strength and cost axes in rats working for optical activation of midbrain dopamine neurons. In contrast, the same drug shifted the mountain uniquely along the opportunity-cost axis when rats worked for electrical MFB stimulation in a prior study. Dopamine neurons are an obligatory stage in the dominant model of ICSS, which positions them at a key nexus in the final common path for reward seeking. This model fails to provide a cogent account for the differential effect of dopamine transporter blockade on the reward mountain. Instead, we propose that midbrain dopamine neurons and neurons with non-dopaminergic, MFB axons constitute parallel limbs of brain-reward circuitry that ultimately converge on the final-common path for the evaluation and pursuit of rewards.

Proyecto de esculturas site-specific basadas en datos climáticos capturados en el entorno de edificios concretos. Las esculturas ofrecen una visión alternativa del tales espacios, indagando en las cualidades únicas de cada uno y las relaciones que este establece con su entorno, así como la subjetividad de nuestra percepción del mismo. Creadas por la acumulación de cientos de piezas cuyas formas se basan en la arquitectura del propio edificio y aspectos básicos de nuestra percepción del entorno urbano (como son la luz y temperatura ambiente en diferentes puntos del mismo), cada pieza es un gráfico de visualización de datos en si misma. Apiladas, la escultura se convierte en una línea temporal (salida del Sol en la base y anochecer en el extremo superior), mientras los cambios de forma en su perímetro se corresponden a las variaciones recogidas por los dispositivos de captura (distribuidos en el perímetro del edificio durante un breve periodo). Maleables y sin forma fija, puedes retorcer las esculturas y alterar la forma resultante, sin embargo cada una de sus capas aun corresponderá a una visión precisa y analítica de la situación en el perímetro del edificio en el determinado momento que esta representa. En comparación con el estudio detallado de la información que las forma, la acumulación de todas sus capas crea una interpretación de los datos más allá de la visualización analítica; crea un volumen de forma subjetiva con el que podemos relacionarnos, una experiencia única y maleable, al igual que nuestra percepción de tal espacio.

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar de qué manera las políticas republicanas promulgadas a mediados del siglo XIX, puntualmente entre 1845 y 1863, afectaron a los indígenas en Antioquia en lo tocante a la disolución de los resguardos y a la libre enajenación de sus tierras. Se sostiene que la élite dirigente antioqueña jerarquizó a la población para lograr un dominio efectivo sobre la misma; a los indígenas, en consecuencia, se les tildó de salvajes e incivilizados con el propósito de privatizar sus terrenos de resguardo e insertarlos en el paradigma civilizatorio de la época. Los indígenas, lejos de ser actores pasivos frente a tales situaciones, apelaron a distintas formas de resistencia y agenciaron respuestas desde su forma mentis.

This article presents a selection of the outputs of a strategical analysis of the District Cultural and Sociocultural Centres of the Madrid City Council. It has been done regarding recognize the problems in relation to the lack of community participation. The analysis includes a definition of the centers, its social placement, life-cycle and diagnosis according categories. It is concluded with several recommendations for contribute to the debate on participation.

First-year computer science (CS1) university students traditionally have difficulties understanding how to program. This paper describes research introducing CS1 students to programming concepts using a Scratch programming language guided visual execution environment (VEE). The concepts addressed are those from an introductory programming course (sequences, variables, operators, conditionals, loops, and events and parallelism). The VEE guides novice students through programming concepts, explaining and guiding interactive exercises executed in Scratch by using metaphors and serious games. The objective of this study is, firstly, to investigate if a cohort of 124 CS1 students, from three distinct groups, studying at the same university, are able to improve their programming skills guided by the VEE. Secondly, is the improvement different for various programming concepts? All the CS1 students were taught the module by the same tutor in four 2-h sessions (8 h), and a qualitative research approach was adopted. The results show students significantly improved their programming knowledge, and this improvement is significant for all the programming concepts, although greater for certain concepts such as operators, conditionals, and loops than others. It also shows that students lacked initial knowledge of events and parallelism, though most had used Scratch during their high school years. The sequence concept was the most popular concept known to them. A collateral finding in this study is how the students’ previous knowledge and learning gaps affected grades they required to access and begin study at the university level.

This article suggests a theoretical differentiation of the issues of local development and community development applied to culture. The objective is to generate a reflexion on the community character of cultural development and the implications that participation in the management in cultural processes has in it. From this theoretical framework key cases are taken from Spain, Venezuela and Cuba. Thus it is proposed that only through participative management of culture and taking the community as main component the notion of cultural democracy is done.

The article proposes a research on the sociocultural centers of the Madrid City Council, the old Houses of Culture, for problematize the current status of its functioning which was historically conflictive in Spain. Taking as methodology of research the case study it is showed the managerial structure, the decision making processes, legal frameworks, finances and activities and services developed in the centre facing to recognize the faults of this kind of spaces with a exploratory and critical goal as they are dedicated to offer sociocultural activities organized by profitable private companies.

One of the current problems of the entrepreneurial world is the successful implementation of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), which is why it is interesting to study the variables that can influence its application in business. The main purpose of this paper is to establish a theoretical model through the literature review, that should consider the relationship between the transformational leadership among company staff (Avolio, Bass and Jung, 1999) and the empowerment of the rest of employees (Thomas and Velthouse, 1990 Spritzer, 1995) upon the achievement of an increased capacity for organizational learning in the implementation of the BSC in companies (Easterby-Smith & Araujo,1999) from the following perspectives: financial, customer, business process, learning and growth in major companies in the hotel sector, specifically in four and five-star hotels. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a strategic management model (Norton & Kaplan, 1992) that allows the measurement and control of the tangible and intangible objectives based on the company´s mission and vision statements. The implementation of BSC has a great influence on the predisposition, training and motivation in middle as well as executive management through empowerment and leadership, hence the importance of the analysis of these variables by means of the BSC.

This paper presents an application of a prioritized weighted aggregation operator based on ordered weighted averaging (OWA) to deal with stakeholders' constructive participation in water resources projects. They have different degree of acceptance or preference regarding the measures and policies to be carried out, which lead to different environmental and socio-economic outcomes, and hence, to different levels of stakeholders’ satisfaction. The methodology establishes a prioritization relationship upon the stakeholders, which preferences are aggregated by means of weights depending on the satisfaction of the higher priority policy maker. The methodology establishes a prioritization relationship upon the stakeholders, which preferences are aggregated by means of weights depending on the satisfaction of the higher priority policy maker. The methodology has been successfully applied to a Public Participation Project (PPP) in watershed management, thus obtaining efficient environmental measures in conflict resolution problems under actors’ preference uncertainties.

Lack of homogeneity in the product (LHP) is a problem when customers require homogeneous units of a single product. In such cases, the optimal allocation of inventory to orders becomes much more complex. Furthermore, in an MTS environment, an optimal initial allocation may become less than ideal over time, due to different circumstances. This problem occurs in the ceramics sector, where the final product varies in tone and calibre. This paper proposes a methodology for the reallocation of inventory to orders in LHP situation (MERIO-LHP) and a model-based decision-support system (DSS) to support the methodology, which enables an optimal reallocation of inventory to order lines to be carried out in real businesses environments in which LHP is inherent. The proposed methodology and model-based DSS were validated by applying it to a real case at a ceramics company. The analysis of the results indicates that considerable improvements can be obtained with regard to the quantity of orders fulfilled and sales turnover.

There is a close relationship between engineering and mathematics, which has led to the development of new techniques in recent years. Likewise the developments in technology and computers have led to new ways of teaching mathematics for engineering students and the use of modern techniques and methods. This research aims to provide insight on how to deal with mathematical problems for engineering students. This is performed by means of a fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis applied to conflict resolution of Public Participation Projects in support to the EU Water Framework Directive.

This study defines and proposes a measurement scale for social entrepreneurship (SE) in its broadest sense. The broad definition of SE covers for-profit firms that use social aims as a core component of their strategy. By pursuing social aims, these firms can boost the value of their products or services for consumers or exploit new business areas. Under this broad definition of SE, profit-seeking and the pursuit of social aims converge, thereby revealing a form of SE that has received little attention in either theoretical or empirical research. To fill this research gap, the present study proposes a measurement scale to measure broad SE in firms. The process used to build the scale draws upon research by Churchill (1979) and DeVellis (1991) and combines the Delphi technique, a pre-test questionnaire and structural equation modelling. The main aim of this research is to develop a scale capable of measuring broad SE in firms. The theoretical basis for the scale is supported by an empirical study in the hotel sector. The scale provides a valid, reliable instrument for measuring broad SE in firms. The scale meets all sociometric properties required of measurement scales in the social sciences, namely dimensionality, reliability and validity.

Automated border control systems are the first critical infrastructure point when crossing a border country. Crossing border lines for unauthorized passengers is a high security risk to any country. This paper presents a multispectral analysis of presentation attack detection for facial biometrics using the learned features from a convolutional neural network. Three sensors are considered to design and develop a new database that is composed of visible (VIS), near-infrared (NIR), and thermal images. Most studies are based on laboratory or ideal conditions-controlled environments. However, in a real scenario, a subject’s situation is completely modified due to diverse physiological conditions, such as stress, temperature changes, sweating, and increased blood pressure. For this reason, the added value of this study is that this database was acquired in situ. The attacks considered were printed, masked, and displayed images. In addition, five classifiers were used to detect the presentation attack. Note that thermal sensors provide better performance than other solutions. The results present better outputs when all sensors are used together, regardless of whether classifier or feature-level fusion is considered. Finally, classifiers such as KNN or SVM show high performance and low computational level.

Aim: The research described is intended to give a description of articulation dynamics as a correlate of the kinematic behavior of the jaw-tongue biomechanical system, encoded as a probability distribution of an absolute joint velocity. This distribution may be used in detecting and grading speech from patients affected by neurodegenerative illnesses, as Parkinson Disease.Hypothesis: The work hypothesis is that the probability density function of the absolute joint velocity includes information on the stability of phonation when applied to sustained vowels, as well as on fluency if applied to connected speech.Methods: A dataset of sustained vowels recorded from Parkinson Disease patients is contrasted with similar recordings from normative subjects. The probability distribution of the absolute kinematic velocity of the jaw-tongue system is extracted from each utterance. A Random Least Squares Feed-Forward Network (RLSFN) has been used as a binary classifier working on the pathological and normative datasets in a leave-one-out strategy. Monte Carlo simulations have been conducted to estimate the influence of the stochastic nature of the classifier. Two datasets for each gender were tested (males and females) including 26 normative and 53 pathological subjects in the male set, and 25 normative and 38 pathological in the female set.Results: Male and female data subsets were tested in single runs, yielding equal error rates under 0.6% (Accuracy over 99.4%). Due to the stochastic nature of each experiment, Monte Carlo runs were conducted to test the reliability of the methodology. The average detection results after 200 Montecarlo runs of a 200 hyperplane hidden layer RLSFN are given in terms of Sensitivity (males: 0.9946, females: 0.9942), Specificity (males: 0.9944, females: 0.9941) and Accuracy (males: 0.9945, females: 0.9942). The area under the ROC curve is 0.9947 (males) and 0.9945 (females). The equal error rate is 0.0054 (males) and 0.0057 (females).Conclusions: The proposed methodology avails that the use of highly normalized descriptors as the probability distribution of kinematic variables of vowel articulation stability, which has some interesting properties in terms of information theory, boosts the potential of simple yet powerful classifiers in producing quite acceptable detection results in Parkinson Disease.

This paper extends previous studies on the organizational impact of Internet technologies by analyzing factors affecting e-business use and its effect on organizational innovation in manufacturing Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs). In addition, the mediating effect of organizational innovation on the relationship between e-business and firm performance is analyzed. Grounded in the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) theory and the Knowledge-Based View (KBV), this paper develops an integrative research model which analyzes those relations using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling on a dataset of 175 Spanish manufacturing SMEs. Results suggest that e-business use emerges from technological and internal organizational resources rather than from external pressure. In addition, results show that e-business use contributes positively to firm performance through organizational innovation. First published online: 21 Sep 2015