Public Service Broadcasting's Participation in the Reconfiguration of Online News Content1

This article analyses public service broadcasting in Europe, looking at public broadcasters' role as promoters of participative processes. Computer‐mediated communication and studies rooted in mediated human interactivity are used to explore participative elements provided by digital technology, and how these can be incorporated into the news websites, through an empirical study of 5 case studies in the European market. The analysis is based on the methodology of content analysis with the goal of outlining the particularities of the participative elements implemented by each broadcaster and revealing the most common participative strategies. The findings suggest that although public service broadcasters offer a wide variety of possibilities, encouraging audiences to take on more active roles, their role is still peripheral and complementary.     

Use of Ozonated Water for Disinfecting Gastrointestinal Endoscopes

The reprocessing of endoscopes is a complex procedure due to their structural design. In the constant search for new antimicrobial substances, recent studies with ozone have yielded great benefits. The present study evaluated the effects of ozonated water used to disinfect endoscopes comparing its efficacy with the conventional technique (2% glutaraldehyde). According to the results obtained, when ozonated water was used (330 mg.min.L^?1), induced a 2 log reduction of the viable microorganisms under the conditions tested. Ozonated water was a potent gastrointestinal endoscopic sanitizer, suggesting it is a feasible alternative for disinfection.     

Particle swarm optimization algorithm driven by multichaotic number generator

In this paper, the utilization of different chaotic systems as pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) for velocity calculation in the PSO algorithm are proposed. Two chaos-based PRNGs are used alternately within one run of the PSO algorithm and dynamically switched over when a certain criterion is met. By using this unique technique, it is possible to improve the performance of PSO algorithm as it is demonstrated on different benchmark functions.     

A smartphone-based system for detecting hand tremors in unconstrained environments

The detection of tremors can be crucial for the early diagnosis and proper treatment of some disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. A smartphone-based application has been developed for detecting hand tremors. This application runs in background and distinguishes hand tremors from common daily activities. This application can facilitate the continuous monitoring of patients or the early detection of this symptom. The evaluation analyzes 1770 accelerometer samples with cross-validation for assessing the ability of the system for processing unknown data, obtaining a sensitivity of 95.8 % and a specificity of 99.5 %. It also analyzes continuous data for some volunteers for several days, which corroborated its high performance.     

Software for simulating dichromatic perception of video streams

We have designed a configurable stand‐alone Matlab‐based software to simulate dichromatic perception of video streams. The algorithm used is an extension for video streams of the “corresponding pair algorithm” by Capilla and coworkers for simulation of dichromatic perception of images. The software allows the user to upload a video sequence and to process it using different dichromatic color vision models and viewing conditions. The output video may be generated in different spatial and temporal resolutions and file formats. The functions for Matlab environment and a stand‐alone application may be downloaded from the Repository of the University of Alicante. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 486–491, 2014     

Solid lubricant behavior of MoS2 and WSe2-based nanocomposite coatings

Abstract

Tribological coatings made of MoS₂ and WSe₂ phases and their corresponding combinations with tungsten carbide (WC) were prepared by non-reactive magnetron sputtering of individual targets of similar composition. A comparative tribological analysis of these multiphase coatings was done in both ambient air (30–40% relative humidity, RH) and dry nitrogen (RH<7%) environments using the same tribometer and testing conditions. A nanostructural study using advanced transmission electron microscopy of the initial coatings and examination of the counterfaces after the friction test using different analytical tools helped to elucidate what governs the tribological behavior for each type of environment. This allowed conclusions to be made about the influence of the coating microstructure and composition on the tribological response. The best performance obtained with a WSe_x film (specific wear rate of 2 × 10^?8 mm³ N^–1m^–1 and a friction coefficient of 0.03–0.05) was compared with that of the well-established MoS₂ lubricant material.     

Effect of Combined Natural Antimicrobials on Spoilage Microorganisms and Listeria Innocua in a Whey Cheese “Ricotta”

The effect of nisin alone and in combination with Microgard? on the natural microbial flora of ricotta cheese and in post-process contamination with Listeria innocua was studied. Microbial groups studied were mesophilic, psychrotrophic, proteolytic, lactic acid and coliform bacteria, and total molds and yeasts. Considering the evolution of all microbial groups and failure criteria adopted for mesophilic and coliform bacteria, this product reached the end of its shelf life before 5 days, which is insufficient time for product commercialization. The combined use of nisin and Microgard? proved to be more effective than the individual application on these microbial groups, resulting in a 13 days shelf life extension. Additionally, the combined treatment reduced the growth of L. innocua as a post-process contamination.     

A bill of materials-based approach for end-of-life decision making in design for the environment

Re-use, recycling or remanufacturing of products and components are good alternatives for reducing the environmental problems resulting from the huge amounts of waste currently arriving at landfills. A new approach is proposed in this paper for enhancing these alternatives from the earliest stages of product design. Given the product structure (obtained from its bill of materials (BOM)) and the joining and geometrical relationships among the components (obtained from the three-dimensional, computer-aided design representation), a model is proposed that will determine the EOL (EOL) strategy, i.e. the depth of disassembly inside the structure and the final end (re-use, recycle, remanufacture or disposal) for each disassembled part leading to the highest profit. A scatter search (SS) metaheuristic is used to determine the disassembly cost at each level of the BOM. The model presents a number of major improvements with respect to previous research. It addresses the problems of simultaneously determining both the best EOL strategy and the disassembly sequence, as well as allowing removal of components not only over the two or three Cartesian axes and affording the possibility of modifying the encountered strategy in a further step so as to fulfil other business criteria (such as disassembly time, resources availability or maximum waste generation rate).