Netflix in Spain, Spain in Netflix

The arrival of Netflix in Spain represents a complete revolution in the distribution and consumption of audiovisual content. The platform has not limited its offer to what is already available in its catalogue, but has boosted the international distribution of some Spanish productions, which were already available on local channels. At the same time the platform has established alliances with relevant production companies in Spain to create new products, providing them with the imprimatur of Netflix. The two-way relationship between Netflix and Spain, to which this chapter applies an ample and up-to-date analysis, offers an interesting glimpse at the penetration and influence of the one of the largest providers of video on-demand in the Spanish audiovisual panorama, which it is essential for understanding not only the sphere of Spanish television but also more broadly the European context.

’I Urge You To See This...’. Clickbait as One of the Dominant Features of Contemporary Online Headlines

With the arrival of the Internet the already-existing mass media have undergone a complete revolution. Among the most affected subtypes one could easily distinguish the press, which had to find its own place within the new medium. The fierce competition in the realm of online publishing has engendered a number of idiosyncratic linguistic devices used to lure the readers. One of the most popular ones is the phenomenon recognized as clickbait, i.e. an umbrella term for a number of techniques used to attract attention and arouse curiosity. In the following paper, we shall investigate the presence of the said phenomenon in online headlines. In order to do that we shall perform a corpus-based analysis of the data acquired from the most popular American social news outlets on the Internet, namely Buzzfeed, TMZ and E!Online. Apart from establishing the extent to which clickbait has dominated online headlines, we shall also pinpoint and discuss the specific linguistic techniques used to attract potential readers.

Robo-Advisory: The New Paradigm in Asset Management or a Millennial Fad?

The extent to which technology has penetrated every aspect of our lives cannot be overemphasized. Finance and technology are inching closer to convergence by the day; while older investors may be reluctant to have robots doing their investing for them, many millennials are jumping unto the new asset management bandwagon. Thus, allowing algorithms to predict and recommend investment plans and automatically balance portfolios for them based on information such as age, risk tolerance level, investment goals, etc. Robo-advisory software programs periodically buy and sell securities to keep the mix matched to investors’ risk tolerance. This study shows that the emerging issues around fintech only serve to signal that the asset management industry is set for a massive overhaul as more investors seek to substitute the human asset manager for robots and algorithms. Personal finance management especially for low net worth individuals is in a nascent stage of undergoing a complete revolution as these technologies continue to develop. Adventurous investors are encouraged to try robo-advisory services. Although robo-advisory is still at a very rudimentary level especially in developing countries, asset management companies need to recognize the impending disruption and use it to their advantage or risk being smothered by the technology.

Motion Planning for Handspring Maneuver Using a Two Link Robot

Motion planning and control to generate human like walking with bipedal robots has been an active area of research for several decades. Besides walking, humans are capable of performing several other complex maneuvers using their limbs. A handspring is one such maneuver. During this acrobatic move, a person performs a complete revolution of the body by first placing her hands as if in a handstand, then pushing off of the floor with her hands to return to a standing position. Often, acrobats leverage the momentum from one handspring to perform a series of continuous back-to-back handsprings. In this paper, we present handspring trajectory planning for a simple two link robot using numerical optimization. We are able to generate near-periodic perpetual handspring-like maneuvers using two different actuation strategies (i) a constant torque at the hip joint, and (ii) an impulsive actuation to the imminent free leg.

Vaccine Nanocarriers

Vaccination has undergone a complete revolution over the past ten decades. With the progress in biotechnology, the present scientific world has witnessed the emergence of a novel vaccine delivery system, called nanovaccines, for eliciting effective humoral, cellular, and mucosal immunity as compared to the conventional vaccination strategies. This novel approach bears innovative methodologies for effective vaccination by arousing beneficial host responses. The different forms of nanovaccine delivery are either microspheres or nanobeads. This chapter discusses in detail the variant forms of nanoparticulate vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems, their interaction with the immune system, and their clinical trial results. Many nanovaccines licensed for human use have proved to be effective carriers for antigens. These immunopotentiators like virosome-based carriers, Immunostimulating Complexes (ISCOMs), polymeric particles, etc. can be formulated as new vaccination methods for curing diseases like HIV, malaria, hepatitis, cancer, etc., thereby cementing the future of the next generation vaccines.

Pressure Measurements at the Tie-Ballast Interface in Railroad Tracks Using Granular Material Pressure Cells

It has been desirable for years to develop a reasonably simple, direct, accurate, and reliable method to measure pressure distributions in railroad trackbeds, especially the pressure magnitudes and distributions at the tie-ballast interface. In this study, specially-designed granular material pressure cells were used to measure pressure magnitudes and distributions. The cells were placed directly under the rail-tie intersection at the tie-ballast interface. Initially, a MTS test machine was used to conduct a series of laboratory tie-ballast box tests for a wide variation of ballast types and loading configurations. The adequacy of the cells for in-track measurements was verified with a series of very controlled laboratory tests and measurements using simulated trackbed sections and loading conditions. Excellent correlations were obtained comparing applied machine pressures and measured transferred cell pressures indicating that this type of pressure cell is suitable for in-track tie-ballast pressure measurements. This preliminary testing sequence is briefly described. A series of in-track wood tie tests were conducted on a yard lead track on a shortline railroad, Transkentucky Transportation, to optimize the in-track installation procedures and to obtain pressure measurements using repeated passes of low-speed locomotives and cars. A normalized pressure distribution was obtained by using metal shims when necessary to fill voids between the ties and pressure cells to insure continuous tie-ballast contact. This test sequence is presented and described. Additional in-track tests were conducted on Norfolk Southern Railway’s heavy tonnage concrete tie Class 4 mainline with train speeds of up to 64 km/h. Data was obtained for numerous passages of revenue trains over a period of several months for variable weights and types of locomotives and freight cars at typical train speeds. The average pressure intensities at the tie-ballast interface were acquired for six consecutive ties comprising a complete revolution of the wheels. This data is presented and the results discussed.

Les cartes de l'Afrique au XIXe siècle et Joseph Conrad: perceptions d'une révolution cartographique (Maps of Africa in the 19th century and Joseph Conrad: Perceptions of a Cartographic Revolution)

La communication proposée aura pour but de s’interroger sur la notion de « carte mentale ». Qu’est-ce qu’une carte mentale ? Comment se construit-elle ? Comment et pourquoi faire des recherches sur les cartes mentales? Cette réflexion théorique sera accompagnée d’une étude sur les représentations cartographiques de l’empire britannique au tournant du vingtième siècle. Comment retrouver les cartes mentales de l’empire britannique au moment de son apogée à partir des discours des géographes et des cartes présentes dans les atlas, les manuels scolaires et les revues des sociétés de géographie? Tout d’abord, ces cartes présentent un empire relié au monde grâce à de nombreux liens de communication. C’est un empire qui est compris comme un véritable résumé du monde. Les cartes affirment aussi la puissance symbolique d’un empire associé à la couleur rouge, couleur qui confère une certaine homogénéité à cette construction impériale et qui suggère ainsi une identité impériale. Cependant, si de nombreuses cartes construisent l’image d’un empire unifié, certaines laissent entrevoir la diversité des statuts des différents territoires qui en font partie. D’autres encore tentent de représenter, aux côtés de l’empire formel en rouge, un empire informel commercial, c’est-à-dire la partie invisible de l’iceberg. Enfin, la plupart des cartes de l’empire britannique utilisent la projection de Mercator. Quelle image de l’empire est transmise par cette projection et quelles sont les tentatives entreprises par les géographes du début du vingtième siècle pour changer cette image? L’analyse de ces variations autour des portraits cartographiques de l’empire britannique permettra ainsi de voir comment les cartes influencent la perception d’un espace dont les territoires sont éparpillés sur les cinq continents. Cette étude conduira enfin à considérer les cartes comme des « lieux de mémoire », comme des images qui contribuent à inscrire des territoires dans les mémoires.At the end of the nineteenth century, the maps of Africa underwent a complete revolution. The blanks that they used to show were covered in a few years by the colours of the European powers colonizing the continent. The aim of this article is to study the perception of that cartographic revolution by mapreaders at the time, including one of the most famous: Joseph Conrad. In his work Heart of Darkness, published in 1899, at the close of a century of geographical progress, he dealt both with the blanks on the maps of Africa and the European colours that replaced them. His fascination for maps led him to create a very powerful literary map of Africa where the rainbow colours of the Europeans are surrounded by darkness. That oxymoronic image enables him not only to symbolically reflect a consciousness of space but also of time, summarizing the proud certainties of the imperialism and nationalism of European powers with their colours and announcing the uncertainties and the darkness of the first half of the twentieth century. Ultimately, this article aims at showing that it is necessary to replace the literary work of Joseph Conrad in its historical context in order to understand how much his inspiration was linked both to his own experience and to a zeitgeist shared by his contemporaries.

Vaccine Nanocarriers

Vaccination has undergone a complete revolution over the past ten decades. With the progress in biotechnology, the present scientific world has witnessed the emergence of a novel vaccine delivery system, called nanovaccines, for eliciting effective humoral, cellular, and mucosal immunity as compared to the conventional vaccination strategies. This novel approach bears innovative methodologies for effective vaccination by arousing beneficial host responses. The different forms of nanovaccine delivery are either microspheres or nanobeads. This chapter discusses in detail the variant forms of nanoparticulate vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems, their interaction with the immune system, and their clinical trial results. Many nanovaccines licensed for human use have proved to be effective carriers for antigens. These immunopotentiators like virosome-based carriers, Immunostimulating Complexes (ISCOMs), polymeric particles, etc. can be formulated as new vaccination methods for curing diseases like HIV, malaria, hepatitis, cancer, etc., thereby cementing the future of the next generation vaccines.