Technical University of Cartagena

Background: This work explores the current use of technologies and the perception of their impact on people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other comorbidities—Chronic Anxiety (CA) and Chronic Depression (CD). Autistic people often experience anxiety and/or depression. These mental health issues are exacerbated by social stigma, affecting their quality of life (QoL) and well-being. Aims: The study aims to analyze how emerging technologies can reduce communication difficulties, as well as stress, anxiety, and depression, and thus improve QoL for individuals with ASD and comorbidities like CA and CD. Methods: This study analyzes data from the secondary questionnaire ‘Encuesta de Discapacidad, Autonomía Personal y situaciones de Dependencia (EDAD)’ developed in 2020–2021 by the ‘Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)’ for people with ASD (n = 241), ASD and CA (n = 61), and ASD and CD (n = 29). The analysis includes Pearson correlation tests to examine the relationship between various factors affecting QoL. Results: The results highlight differences in difficulties affecting the QoL of ASD persons. Pearson correlation analysis showed significant negative correlations in communication and learning for ASD patients, with similar patterns in the separate analyses of CA and CD. More significant variables were found in the ‘Learning’ and ‘Communication’ indices for ASD, while CA and CD represented more significant variables in ‘Mobility’ index. Conclusions: This work suggests that technological interventions, such as the integration of advanced technologies, could enhance emotional regulation and social skills in individuals with ASD. In this sense, the quantum computing approach could help in the emerging technologies impact evaluation, analyzing devices adapted to the user to optimize their QoL and well-being.

A bstract We describe the results of a haloscope axion search performed with an 11.7 T dipole magnet at CERN. The search used a custom-made radio-frequency cavity coated with high-temperature superconducting tape. A set of 27 h of data at a resonant frequency of around 8.84 GHz was analysed. In the range of axion mass 36.5676 μ eV to 36.5699 μ eV, corresponding to a width of 554 kHz, no signal excess hinting at an axion-like particle was found. Correspondingly, in this mass range, a limit on the axion to photon coupling-strength was set in the range between g aγ ≳ 6.3 × 10 ⁻¹³ GeV ⁻¹ and g aγ ≳ 1.59 × 10 ⁻¹³ GeV ⁻¹ with a 95% confidence level.

The analysis of anthropic impacts on the environment from a territorial perspective is possibly one of the most important fields of study in the current context of climate change. The evolution of land space demonstrates the shift of land use types from natural and semi-natural land (e.g., forest land and cropland) to built-up land, altering ecosystem cycling patterns and leading to degradation of ecosystem services in terms of regulation, provisioning and support. At the same time, production and living space crowding out ecological space brings high potential threats, such as soil erosion, forest productivity decline and habitat fragmentation. Accordingly, in response to the problems of imbalanced territorial space development, inefficient resource utilization and ecological environment degradation, how to improve the diversity, stability and sustainability of ecosystems is an urgent issue to promote modernization and green development in the new era of territorial space evolution.

On the coast of South-Eastern Spain, in the Mar Menor area, a tourist route is proposed that begins and ends at two coastal towers that in the 16th century were used to defend the population that settled in the coastal area against Berber attacks from North Africa. This route, designed for cycling or walking, would be about 10 km long, starting at the Negro Tower, going towards the sea, visiting a mountain of volcanic origin and continuing through a natural wetland parallel to the Mar Menor of great natural value and ending at the Rame Tower. Along this tour, there are around twenty points of interest, which include architectural elements, such as windmills, historical elements, such as ancient Roman metallurgical sites, but also natural elements of interest such as unique flora and fauna, geological formations of interest and points with different types of soil. The digital reconstruction of the Negro Tower and the Rame Tower has been carried out, proposing flexible uses for both residents and tourists, making a meeting place for both. The intervention of both towers is a key and fundamental issue to avoid their loss. In the case of the Negro Tower, an integral rehabilitation is proposed, considering the vertical communication between floors, the construction of the vault of the first and first floors and the staircase between them to reach the walkable roof and an external staircase for access to the first floor. Also acting on the surrounding land by establishing rest areas, information areas with information panels on the history of the building and its various uses over the last five centuries and a car park for bicycles that want to make the route. In the case of the Rame Tower, a BIM of the tower has been created so that it can accompany the building in its management and maintenance for the rest of its life, and the rehabilitation of an adjoining house has also been designed to serve as a cafeteria for both residents and tourists following the route. A space for local economic development and local crafts is generated to promote responsible tourism.

Cyberspace war is a new domain that complements conventional warfare as a means of dominating opponents in resource management and international relations. The geopolitical rivalry has extended into cyberspace, with states engaging in cyberattacks to influence international relations. Consequently, countries have increasingly viewed cybersecurity as an arms race, developing cyber capabilities. This study examines the relationship between geopolitical risks and cybersecurity during 2005:01-2023:12 using wavelet analysis. The results indicate that geopolitical risks and cybersecurity are correlated across several sub-sample periods. Furthermore, the findings show that cyber risk is primarily influenced by geopolitical risks during periods of geopolitical turmoil, when strategic competition, and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. It is noted, however, that introducing energy security into the relationship impacts geopolitical risks in the medium to long run, which indicates that the relationship is more likely to be established permanently. Geopolitical risks and cybersecurity, with a particular focus on energy infrastructure, should be monitored and evaluated by policymakers.

Social robots are increasingly being used in therapeutic contexts, especially as a complement in the therapy of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Because of this, the aim of this study is to understand how children with ASD perceive and interpret the gestures made by the robot Pepper versus human instructor, which can also be influenced by verbal communication. This study analyzes the impact of both conditions (verbal and nonverbal communication) and types of gestures (conversational and emotional) on gesture recognition through the study of the accuracy rate and examines the physiological responses of children with the Empatica E4 device. The results reveal that verbal communication is more accessible to children with ASD and neurotypicals (NT), with emotional gestures being more interpretable than conversational gestures. The Pepper robot was found to generate lower responses of emotional arousal compared to the human instructor in both ASD and neurotypical children. This study highlights the potential of robots like Pepper to support the communication skills of children with ASD, especially in structured and predictable nonverbal gestures. However, the findings also point to challenges, such as the need for more reliable robotic communication methods, and highlight the importance of changing interventions tailored to individual needs.

One of the major challenges of modern physics is the detection of dark matter and the study of its composition. For this purpose, there are several experiments where microwave technology is present. In this work, we describe experiments for the detection of dark matter axions and the most important design features that microwave devices must have for this application.

In recent years, reduced summer precipitation frequencies related to climate change have raised the probability of water scarcity, even in the Po Valley of Italy, thus requiring an optimization of the irrigation management for walnut cultivation which has become very present in the area. The aim of the present study was to evaluate, during four consecutive seasons (2018–2021), the physiological (stem water potential Ψw, leaf photosynthesis A and stomatal conductance gs), yield (nut weight, shelled yield, kernel colour) and water use efficiency (WUE) responses of walnut trees to different irrigation levels (100% ETc, 75% ETc, and 50% ETc) in order to obtain an improved water balance model, fit for walnut production under Emilia Romagna conditions. Water supply in 100% ETc (CTRL) was managed according to the IRRIFRAME water balance model. CTRL trees generally showed higher stem Ψw at midday, than those irrigated at 75% (DI75) and 50% ETc (DI50). Less sensitivity was found for gs and A, than for Ψw, to the different water regimes: in fact, differences among treatments occurred only in the first two years, when yield was reduced by 50% ETc irrigation, compared to 100% and 75% ETc. No differences were registered for shelled yield and kernel colour during the experimental period. On the contrary, irrigation treatments affected WUE in all the seasons, with CTRL being the less efficient treatment, followed by DI75 and DI50.

Most European Union governments and numerous railway operators have announced plans to replace most of their diesel units by 2030–2040. However, a significant portion of the rail network remains non-electrified. In some cases, the proposed solution has been to close certain tracks, but this approach entails considerable societal costs for small cities and represents a loss of prior railway investments. Consequently, hybrid locomotives and multiple units (either new or refurbished) emerge as a viable solution during this transitional period to enhance energy efficiency and preserve services on these lines, particularly for freight operations. These hybrid units can operate on both electrified and non-electrified tracks and can also serve as “railway prosumers”, contributing to both storage and generation in fully or partially electrified areas. However, implementing these “prosumer tasks” faces challenges, such as the rapid power demand fluctuations during acceleration and the loss of energy recovery potential during braking in hybrid or fully electric units. These losses may also impact the overall power system. This paper presents an alternative approach to modeling double-layer capacitors (supercapacitors) combined with electrical equivalent models for lithium-ion batteries. The Differential Transformation Method (DTM) is used to solve the non-linear ordinary differential equations governing the supercapacitor model, while parameter optimization is achieved through a grid search approach, demonstrating high accuracy compared with laboratory trials. This framework highlights the potential of hybrid units, as illustrated through simulations that analyze storage sizing, energy management, increased energy recovery, and changes in unit performance. These models facilitate a pre-feasibility evaluation of energy storage systems for hybrid railway applications.

Background The literature has studied different personal variables and their possible relationship with absenteeism. These variables are age, gender, tenure in the firm, professional category, type of disability, and type of contract. This paper addresses the study of these variables from the perspective of people with disabilities and how they can affect this group. Objective The study of absenteeism is of great importance since it is considered one of the problems that negatively influence production and, therefore, the success of the organization. However, there are currently few contributions relating absenteeism to work within the group of people with disabilities. Consequently, this research aims to fill this research gap and examines the factors affecting absenteeism in a Special Employment Center (SEC), a company where around 90% of its employees have disabilities, to determine how personal characteristics can affect absenteeism (among the group with disabilities) and help establish some possible human resource policies for managing this situation. Methods The methodology used in the research is observational as no intervention or manipulation is performed by the researchers. The study is statistical and longitudinal, focusing on measuring the variables presented over a period of three years. Thus, this paper presents an empirical analysis of the real levels of absence among a group of employees in an SEC in the city of Cartagena (Murcia, Spain) from the data provided by a historical series between the years 2019 and 2021. The absenteeism rates have been calculated according to various personal variables to identify which of them are representative of absenteeism levels. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 ® and Microsoft Excel 365 ® . This study follows the STROBE guidelines. Results Significant differences were found among absenteeism rates for the variables “tenure in the firm” (pvalue = 0.0022) in the group of employees with more than 21 years’ seniority. For the “professional category” variable (pvalue = 0.016), the second and third officers’ groups showed differences from the other groups, and “type of disability” (pvalue = 0.0302) showed differences for the mental and physical groups. Other variables, such as age (55 to 67-year-old employees had the highest absenteeism rates), gender (absenteeism was more prevalent among men), and type of contract (absenteeism was higher among employees with permanent contracts), were also analyzed. In these cases, however, the absenteeism rates were not statistically significant (pvalue = 0.06443 for age; pvalue = 0.3911 for gender; and pvalue = 0.2935 for type of contract). Conclusions When applying human resource policies at the company level, variables with significant differences in absenteeism levels should be monitored. This would allow human resources practitioners to concentrate on these variables and groups with the highest rates of absenteeism and adequately adjust their policies. Some recommendations are to create an inclusive organizational culture where more vulnerable people are the priority. For example, additional support should be given to mentally and physically disabled workers through the use of buddy systems, and interviews could determine their difficulties and the adjustments the firm must provide. Work-life balance policies that can help reduce absenteeism are also mentioned in the paper.

Despite progress in reducing global hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and imbalanced diets linked to urbanization remain pressing health threats. Protected cultivation offers a promising avenue for sustainable intensification of vegetable production. Additionally, indoor and vertical farming have recently emerged as cutting‐edge strategies, particularly in densely populated urban areas and mega‐cities. However, research has focused on maximizing yield, neglecting the impact of pre‐harvest conditions on produce quality. Here, we explore strategies for manipulating environmental factors within protected cultivation systems to enhance vegetable nutritional value. Research suggests moderate stress can positively influence nutrient composition while plants exhibit stage‐specific metabolic responses to environmental factors. For instance, seedlings thrive under a higher blue‐to‐red ratio, while green light benefits leafy vegetables. Additionally, increased blue light or supplemental UV‐A benefits flowering and fruiting vegetables. When other environmental factors are optimal, light intensity significantly impacts vegetable nutritional quality, followed by CO2 levels, light spectrum, temperature, and humidity. Further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms, the complex interplay of environmental factors, and their interaction with genetic material and cultural practices on nutritional quality.

The direction of the relationship between economic growth and income (social) inequality remains an open area of research, with theoretical models suggesting the possibility of positive or negative covariations. This study contributes to the debate by examining the case of Mexico, a country characterized by significant income disparities. Our analysis introduces several innovations. First, we adopt a regional approach with data at the level of states, which provides a more suitable framework for comparison in regard to cross-country studies. Second, we employ three distinct measures of income inequality—the Palma ratio (P90/40), the P90/50 ratio, and the Gini index—offering a more comprehensive perspective in terms of income distribution deciles. Additionally, we incorporate a panel data approach that accounts for spatial neighborhood effects in inequality influencing growth. Our findings reveal a strong significant positive covariation between inequality and growth: periods of rising inequality coincide with accelerated economic growth, whereas periods of declining inequality align with growth slowdowns. Interestingly, the model is able to capture both positive and negative covariations for groups of states along the period of analysis, 2005–2019, highlighting the importance of considering regional heterogeneity when running national-level investigations. The effects of spatial inequality clusters on growth seem to be important too, affecting both northern and southern states. These results suggest that Mexico’s growth model appears structurally unequal, which can help to explain the persistent inequality situation shown by the country in the last decades.

Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Imaging (HypMRI) offers valuable insights into dynamic physiological processes in vivo . We introduce hyperpolarized ¹⁵ N,d 9 -Betaine (trimethyl- ² H 9 - ¹⁵ N-glycine) as an endogenous MRI contrast agent with a long-lived signal suited for comprehensive molecular tracking. With a detectable in vivo signal lasting more than 14 minutes and high polarization efficiency, ¹⁵ N,d 9 -Betaine supports both real-time and delayed-phase MRI from a single dose, enabling flexible, multi-phase imaging. In preclinical models, renal ¹⁵ N,d 9 -Betaine images were acquired with strong signal-to-noise ratios across various resolutions. This extended imaging window facilitates tracking of molecular distribution, assessing tissue perfusion, and monitoring cellular uptake relevant to betaine’s roles in cellular protection. By extending MRI capabilities across time scales, hyperpolarized ¹⁵ N,d 9 -Betaine holds promise for applications such as organ function assessment, disease monitoring and real-time evaluation of therapeutic interventions, advancing non-invasive molecular imaging.

In a regional innovation ecosystem, society plays a fundamental role in the relationships between companies, universities, and governments. This cooperation model emerges with the quadruple helix, where the influence of civil society in innovation processes and regional systems is visualized. Despite numerous N-Helix models, a significant gap exists in understanding society’s role, necessitating a robust conceptual framework. This study addresses this gap by focusing on society’s role in regional innovation ecosystems within triple and quadruple helix models, advancing innovation dynamics understanding and cooperation insights among companies, universities, governments, and civil society. The research employs a systematic literature review on the N-Helix, examining society’s role in innovation. A two-step methodological approach includes bibliometric analysis from the Web of Science database and a systematic literature review. Three hundred fifty-seven articles were analyzed, addressing questions on the importance of society in N-Helix studies, main research lines, and emerging research areas. In the review, several challenges with civil society stand out in strategic lines defined mainly by their contributions to emerging matters. We organize these strategic lines in three dimensions: management and public policy, users of innovation (relations with the N-Helix), and emerging technologies. This study aids public agents in understanding civil society interactions in regional innovation systems, facilitating more participatory public policies. The participation of civil society is essential for developing and effectively implementing innovation policies. Active involvement in innovation processes positions civil society as a key player, contributing to policy development and implementing multi-helix models, thus enhancing interconnections between government, companies, universities, and civil society.

The aim of this research is to understand the relationship between sustainability and entrepreneurship of small tourism enterprises in an area of high environmental value (tourist environment) which has been threatened in different ways (e.g., COVID-19, tourist pressure, natural phenomena, pollution, etc.), considering the mediating effect of the values of the entrepreneur and the tourist environment. This is a quantitative study, using a multivariate second-order hierarchical component model. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used for the analysis. The results indicate that sustainability alone is not sufficient for entrepreneurship. However, if sustainability is mediated by the values of the entrepreneur and the tourism environment, it does have a positive impact on entrepreneurship. Furthermore, these variables have a positive effect on entrepreneurship, therefore these values of the entrepreneur are revealed as a driver of a sustainable economic model. This work has significant implications for decision-making regarding the importance of sustainable entrepreneurship in an environmentally threatened coastal area. It is recommended that tourism companies invest in sustainable tourism actions to preserve the local environment because of its positive influence on stakeholders. This research fills a gap in the literature on the relationship between sustainability, entrepreneur values, environment and entrepreneurship. It highlights the importance of context-specific contingencies for sustainability and the impact of entrepreneurship. The study provides a novel framework for understanding the process of social change towards sustainable tourism led by the entrepreneur and his or her values. The study is limited to a very specific area of high ecological value, so we consider that it can be extrapolated to similar areas.

Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) is a traditional component of the Mediterranean diet, and an important source of bioactive and nutritional compounds (phenolic compounds, inulin, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.). However, an important amount of artichoke by-products is discarded during industrial processing, whose waste represents a rich source of bioactive and nutritional compounds. A current trend for food engineering is the valorization of these rich plant by-products to contribute to the circular economy model and resource optimization. However, the edible part of the artichoke and its by-products have different compositions and behave differently when subjected to several food manufacturing operations. This behavior has not been deeply studied in many cases and especially for artichoke by-products. To contribute to that, the first part of this review deeply reviewed the bioactive and nutritional profile of artichoke by-products, as well as its comparison with the artichoke edible part. In the second part, we reviewed the effects of industrial operations (conditioning, transformation, preservation) on the bioactive and nutritional compounds of artichoke by-products and edible parts. Therefore, we hope that this review will be a valuable tool for food engineering to develop new processes for the conservation and revaluation of these important bioactive and nutritional compounds, both from the edible part of the artichoke and its by-products.

The increasing advancement of ophthalmic procedures such as refractive surgeries, phakic lens implantations, and the management of corneal diseases has emphasized the critical nature of obtaining precise measurements of morpho-geometric parameters associated with the anterior eye segment, particularly the cornea. Despite the availability of numerous devices capable of measuring these parameters, none of them can be designated as a “gold standard”, making it particularly important to objectively characterize the differences in measurement between different devices, and the potential causes that generate them. This study seeks to evaluate possible interchangeability between measurements of the same morphological parameter in human corneas taken with two distinct technologies: the Scheimpflug Sirius tomographer and the Optical Coherence Tomographer (OCT) MS-39, both manufactured by CSO Italy. Ten healthy eyes from five adult males were selected for the study. Each eye underwent three tomographic measurements, with only those passing the devices' self-diagnostic quality test being recorded. Various morpho-geometric parameters related to the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces, as well as corneal volume, were then measured and extracted according to a validated method. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis was conducted to determine the distribution and variability of the data, followed by tests for normality and statistical comparisons. The findings suggest that while some parameters, such as anterior corneal area, demonstrate agreement between the devices, others such posterior corneal area or total corneal volume do not. In conclusion, results suggest possible interchangeably for some 3D morpho-geometrical parameters, but further study using a higher sample would be needed to confirm this evidence. Keywords: Volume, Elevation Maps, Thickness, Cornea.

Acoustic signals, which have been utilized for decades in the spatial localization of objects, have found applications in fields as diverse as sonar for underwater navigation, communication, and object detection. Traditional methods often rely on arrays of transducers, which necessitate the use of expensive hardware and processing algorithms. An emerging alternative is the Acoustic Leaky Wave Antenna (ALWA), which is inspired by electromagnetic leaky wave antennas. ALWA technology employs a single transducer to emit directional beams that scan angular space by frequency manipulation. Conventional arrays offer cost-effectiveness and simplicity of design, but ALWAs have the advantage of operating on the principle of energy leakage, which is achieved by various mechanisms, such as uniform apertures or slits periodic along the waveguide. This technology, applicable to underwater and airborne communications, offers compact and energy-efficient solutions, which facilitate the development of the “Underwater Internet of Things” and autonomous communication systems for underwater vehicles. This work presents a parametric study of this type of antennas with axisymmetric geometry by means of a numerical solution based on the Finite Element Method. Together with analytical studies, the physical phenomenology underlying this technology will be described, including directivity, transmission and reflection parameters, beam scanning and dispersion curve. Finally, the design is validated through experiments.

ETSI has considered a new set of services for the Release 2, which cannot be implemented using the single control channel. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate the operation of applications on multiple channels, what is called Multi-Channel Operation (MCO). In this case the interference from the first adjacent channel is not negligible and is recommended to manage it by congestion control mechanisms. We propose an elastic channel usage scheme for MCO, based on an optimal scheduler whose goal is to maximize the traffic on the channels while minimizing the adjacent channel interference generated by that load and controlling the congestion. We formulate the interference and congestion control as a constrained convex optimization problem and derive as solution a distributed algorithm called MINOS (MultI-chaNnel operation Optimal Scheduler). MINOS seamlessly work when vehicles have a different number of network interfaces available, and constraints and priorities can be set individually and dynamically, which provides flexibility to implement more sophisticated services on top of the framework. Our results show that MINOS effectively controls the congestion and reduces the interference, achieving an increased packet reception ratio across all channels and a higher allocated traffic, compared to other proposals.