AbstractIn electoral systems with districts that vary in magnitude, the number of seats to be filled in each district will be even or odd. We argue that such a variation has crucial political consequences, called the 'odd–even effect'. In low‐magnitude districts, elections are more competitive when the district magnitude is odd than even; the incentives for coordination are thus stronger in the former scenario than in the latter. Employing quasi‐experimental data from 780 districts in Spain's lower house elections, we show that the number of parties is smaller in low‐magnitude districts with an odd number of seats than in low‐magnitude districts with an even number of seats. The elite‐ and voter‐level mechanisms driving the odd–even effect are examined using data on mobilisation efforts and wasted votes at the district level.
The increase in cultural tourism has revealed the vulnerability of the heritage resources during the phase of tourism exploitation and, thus, the need to set limits and to establish visitor management tools to ensure the conservation of the heritage resources and the visitors' satisfaction. This work focuses on the determination of the recreational carrying capacity of the Fort of Santiago monument located on the Island of Chikly (Tunisia), situated in the Northern Lagoon of Tunis, which is declared a Nature Reserve for its ornithological interest. Furthermore, it has always attracted people from many civilisations, as evidenced by the Phoenician, Punic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Spanish and Turkish remains discovered there. The Fort of Santiago is one of the most important monuments of 16th century. Emperor Charles I of Spain ordered the construction of the fort in 1535. A few years later, the fort passed into Turkish hands. Subsequent to transformation processes and changes of use, it was abandoned in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the monument was restored for tourism purposes. The results of this assessment specifically highlight the greater fragility of the island in relation to the Fort of Santiago, and the need to control the visitor use level. Thus, one group of 20 people per day would be an acceptable volume of visitors. Tourism management guidelines and environmental, cultural and social performance standards and monitoring indicators are also identified to guarantee the conservation and wise use of this valuable heritage site. ; Viñals Blasco, MJ.; Martínez, I.; Abdennadher, A.; Teruel Serrano, MD. (2014). A recreational carrying capacity assessment of the 16th century Spanish Fort of Santiago on the Island of Chikly, Tunisia. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment. 143:185-196. doi:10.2495/DSHF140161 ; S ; 185 ; 196 ; 143
Proceeding of: 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. EMBS 2007, Lyon, France, 22-26 August, 2007. ; Advances in Information and Communication Technologies, ICT, are bringing new opportunities and use cases in the field of systems and Personal Health Devices used for the telemonitoring of citizens in Home or Mobile scenarios. At a time of such challenges, this review arises from the need to identify robust technical telemonitoring solutions that are both open and interoperable. These systems demand standardized solutions to be cost effective and to take advantage of standardized operation and interoperability. Thus, the fundamental challenge is to design plug-&-play devices that, either as individual elements or as components, can be incorporated in a simple way into different Telecare systems, perhaps configuring a personal user network. Moreover, there is an increasing market pressure from companies not traditionally involved in medical markets, asking for a standard for Personal Health Devices, which foresee a vast demand for telemonitoring, wellness, Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and ehealth applications. However, the newly emerging situations imply very strict requirements for the protocols involved in the communication. The ISO/IEEE 11073 family of standards is adapting and moving in order to face the challenge and might appear the best positioned international standards to reach this goal. This work presents an updated survey of these standards, trying to track the changes that are being fulfilled, and tries to serve as a starting-point for those who want to familiarize themselves with them. ; This research work has been partially supported by projects TSI2005-07068-C02-01 and TSI2004-04940-C02-01 from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spanish Government), and a personal grant to M. Galarraga from Navarre Regional Government.
The present study was carried out to determination the frequency intestinal parasitisms and its associated sanitary hygienic factors in the rural localities Orinoco La Peña, Quebrada Seca and San Juan River. A total of 562 feces samples were analyzed, by different coproparasitological methods: microscopic evaluation in 0.85% physiological saline solution and lugol, Ritchie, as well as the Zielh-Neelsen stainin. The highest frequencies of intestinal parasites was found in Orinoco La Peña and Quebrada Seca. Blastocystis hominis (44.9%, 21.82%, 33.74%) and Giardia duodenalis (20.41%, 9.7%, 19.02%) were most commonly observed. The frequency of helminths varied depending on the studied community, but observing more frequently Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Ancylostomids. When evaluating the sanitary and hygienic factors associated to parasitosis we found a relationship between feces excretion (X2: 23,85***; p<0,001), water treatment (X2: 34,00***; p<0,001), and hygienic habits with presence of protozoans in individuals from QuebradaSeca, as well as with the presence of garbage disposal services (X2: 5,17*; p<0,05 ), presence of helminths were associated with the water source (X2: 13,97***; p<0,001) and hygienic habits. In Orinoco La Peña and San Juan River water treatment (X2: 11,56*; p<0,05; and X2: 21,5 **; p<0,01 ) wasassociate to presence of protozoans. The high frequencies of parasites indicates that the sanitary conditions and hygienic habits were favorable factors for the infection and infestation of parasites, combined to the environmental factors and deficiency health of services characteristic of these rural communities. Sanitary intervention from governmental authorities is necessary to improve environmental reparation and preventive sanitary education. ; El presente trabajo de investigación tuvo como objetivo general determinar la frecuencia de las parasitosis intestinales y su asociación con los factores higiénicos sanitarios en localidades rurales Orinoco La Peña, Quebrada Seca y Río San Juan. Se analizaron un total de 562 muestras de heces, por métodos coproparasitológicos: evaluación microscópica en solución salina fisiológica al 0,85% y lugol, Ritchie, además de la coloración de Zielh- Neelsen. La mayor frecuencia de parásitos intestinales se encontró en Orinoco La Peña y Río San Juan, seguido de Quebrada Seca. Blastocystis hominis fue el parásito mayor mente observado (44,9%, 21,82%, 33,74%) y como patógeno Giardia duodenalis (20,41%, 9,7%, 19,02%) para Orinoco La Peña, Quebrada Seca y Río San Juan respectivamente. Los helmintos variaron de acuerdo a la localidad de estudio, encontrándose presentes Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura y los Ancylostomídeos en mayores frecuencias. Al evaluar los factores higiénicos sanitarios se obtuvo asociación de la disposición de excretas (x 2:23,85***; p < 0,001), tratamiento del agua (x 2:34,00***; p < 0,001), hábitos higiénicos con protozoarios en individuos de Quebrada Seca, así como el servicio de aseo urbano (x 2: 5,17*; p < 0,05), mientras que los helmintos se asociaron con la fuente de agua (x 2:13,97***; p < 0,001) y hábitos higiénicos. En Orino co La Peña y Río San Juan resultó asociado el tratamiento de agua (x 2:11,56*; p < 0,05), (x 2:21,5**; p < 0,01) con los protozoarios. Las elevadas frecuencias de parásitos indican que las condiciones sanitarias e higiene son favorables para las infecciones parasitarias, además de factores ambientales propios de estas zonas rurales y a la carencia de servicios de salud; resultando indispensable la intervención de las autoridades sanitarias y gubernamentales para aplicar programas de saneamiento ambiental y educación sanitaria preventiva.
Proceeding of: European Medical and Biological Engineering and IFMBE Conference (EMBEC 2005). November 20-25, 2005. Prague, Czech Republic. ; This paper reviews the use of ISO11073/ IEEE1073 international standard in patient telemonitoring. The purpose of this family of standards is to allow interoperability between medical instrumentation devices and medical information systems. Its application in the field of telemonitoring can encourage telemedicine services and e-care, preventing failures and problems that are making difficult its spread (use problems, high costs of reconfigurations and actualizations). An application guide for the system engineer that want to apply them is proposed, showing the steps to follow, the benefits and handicaps in the standard implementation for different telemonitoring scenarios. The study also includes the conformity levels that have to be fulfilled, the main application points of the standard. ; This work was supported by projects G03/117 from Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (Spanish Government) and 41/2003 from Departamento de Salud (Navarra Regional Government), and a personal grant to Miguel Galarraga from Departamento de Salud (Navarra Regional Government). ; No publicado
The region has been holding competitive elections in the last years. But, have all those elections been held with the same electoral integrity? If there have been problems, which are those? Are there common problems to the region or are they similar to those of the rest of the world? Is there any pattern in the elections? How do we know it? Under which methodological approach we can answer those questions? In this article, we present the results of the first expert's survey on perceptions of election integrity to the global scale but with a specific attention to America. ; La región lleva celebrando elecciones competitivas en los últimos años. Pero, ¿se han celebrado todas las contiendas con la misma integridad electoral? Si ha habido problemas, ¿cuáles son? ¿Hay problemas comunes a la región o son parecidos a los del resto del mundo? ¿Se observa algún patrón en las elecciones? ¿Cómo lo sabemos? ¿Bajo qué enfoque metodológico podemos responder estas preguntas? En este artículo, presentamos los resultados de la primera encuesta de expertos sobre percepciones de integridad electoral a escala global, pero con atención especial a América.
A proof-of-concept design of a patient monitoring solution for intensive care unit environments has been presented. It is end-to-end standard-based, using ISO/IEEE 11073 (X73) in the bedside environment and EN13606 to communicate the information to an electronic healthcare record (EHR) server. At the bedside end, the system is a plug-and-play sensor network communicating with a gateway that collects medical information and sends the data to a monitoring server. The monitoring server transforms this information into an EN13606 extract to be stored on the EHR server. The system has been implemented to comply with the last X73 and EN13606 available versions and tested in a laboratory environment to demonstrate the feasibility of an end-to-end standard-based solution. ; This research work has been financially supported in part by projects PI05-0847, PI05-1416 and G03/117 from Fondo de investigaciones Sanitarias, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo (Spanish Government); TSI2005-07068-C02-01 and TSI2004-04940-C02-01 from Ministerio de Educatio´n y Ciencia (Spanish Government), and a personal grant to Miguel Galarraga from Departmento de Salud (Navarra Regional Government).
Proceeding of: 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), Cité Internationale, Lyon, France, August 23-26, 2007. ; This paper presents a proof-of-concept design of a patient monitoring solution for Intensive Care Unit (ICU). It is end-to-end standards-based, using ISO/IEEE 11073 (X73) in the bedside environment and EN13606 to communicate the information to an Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) server. At the bedside end a plug-and-play sensor network is implemented, which communicates with a gateway that collects the medical information and sends it to a monitoring server. At this point the server transforms the data frame into an EN13606 extract, to be stored on the EHR server. The presented system has been tested in a laboratory environment to demonstrate the feasibility of this end-to-end standardsbased solution. ; This research work has been partially supported by projects TSI2005-07068-C02-01 and TSI2004-04940-C02-01 from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spanish Government), and a personal grant to both M.Galarraga and M. Martínez-Espronceda from Navarre Regional Government.
Proceeding of: 29th Annual International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, (EMBS 2007), Lyon, France, 23-26th august 2007. ; Remote patient monitoring in e-Health is everyday closer to be a mature technology / service. However, there is still a lack of development in areas such as standardization of the sensor's communication interface, integration into Electronic Healthcare Record systems or incorporation in ambient-intelligent scenarios. This work identifies a set of use cases involved in the personal monitoring scenario and highlights the related features and functionalities, as well as the integration and implementation difficulties found when these are to be implemented in a system based on the ISO/IEEE11073 (X73) standard. It is part of a cooperative research effort devoted to the development of an end-to-end standards-based telemonitoring solution. Standardization committees are working towards adapting the X73 standard to this emerging personal health devices market and use case identification is essential to direct these revisions. ; This research work has been partially supported by projects TSI2005-07068-C02-01 and TSI2004-04940-C02-01 from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spanish Government), and a personal grant to both M.Galarraga and M. Martinez-Espronceda from Navarre Regional Government
13th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, GHGT-13, 14-18 November 2016, Lausanne, Switzerland ; Ca-Looping (CaL) has been demonstrated as a promising technology for CO2 capture in coal-fired power plants. A promising application is also in cement plants, where the CaO-rich material purged from the CaL process can replace part or all of the raw material used for clinker production. The aim of this work is to investigate two process integration options of the CaL system based on fluidized bed and entrained flow reactors in a clinker burning process. The main advantages, constrains and research questions of the two configurations are discussed, and the mass and energy balances of the whole processes are detailed and analyzed. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 641185 (CEMCAP). ; Peer reviewed
