Foods like quinoa (or quinua) and amaranth are consumed for centuries in the Andes regions. An example of this is that in tombs more than 4,000 years old remains of these products are found which consumption is demonstrated by cultures like the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas, thereby leaving an important food legacy linked to the consumption thereof. In countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Peru consumption is very common and rooted in the basic diet.
Did you know that one of its main nutrients are proteins?
Proteins are molecules formed by amino acids that are necessary for the growth of the organism and perform bio regulator functions (form enzymes), the body’s defense (antibodies are proteins), homeostatic (collaborate to regulate the body’s pH), among others.
As you can see is very important protein intake to help the proper functioning of the body.
And where you can find it?
Dietary sources include proteins are meat, eggs, legumes, nuts, vegetables and dairy products.
Did you know that our body is unable to synthesize all the amino acids necessary for its correct functioning?
These amino acids are called “essential amino acids” and are ten; valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, methionine, threonine, histidine (essential for infants), lysine, arginine (semi essential). For a protein is considered complete should contain all the essential amino acids, which is why the food we eat should contain, but most foods contain some of these, being necessary for it to use mixes of food, which in its set covering the daily intake of these amino acids. Foods that can mention which are complete proteins are meat, fish, soy, spirulina, quinoa and amaranth among others.
Consumption of quinoa and amaranth began in Europe relatively few years ago, attracted by the existing biodiversity in other regions to provide products with high nutritional value. France has a high consumption of quinoa while in Spain has not yet become widespread. One of the groups that increased consumption of these products have, are celiacs because they do not contain gluten and therefore is used as substitutes for the wheat. In Europe and the United States is consumed as whole grains, flakes, general flour, wholemeal toasted amaranth, amaranth popped the popcorn style, pre-gel powders amaranth, oils Amaranth, cereal bars, breads amaranth, tortillas amaranth and corn, among others.
Quinoa is recognized by the World Health Organization as a great source of nutrients and in 2013 was declared the International Year of Quinoa. NASA procures its crew with quinoa for extended space missions, because it is a very nutritious food. Quinoa is not only used for human consumption but serves as fodder for animal feed because of its nutritional value.
Here are some products that have been developed in other countries on the basis of Quinoa and amaranth.
Already exists wide variety of products containing quinoa and amaranth, and we believe this can be expanded much more if we trust in the capabilities of research centers such as CARTIF that are in continuous search for alternative methodologies to help alleviate various problems, they search for new applications for traditional products or obtaining products with high added value of raw materials and agricultural food waste.
At a time when the technologies are present in all areas of people lives, ICT accessibility is essential to ensure equal opportunities for all people in the use and access to resources, products and services.
In Spain, according to the report on Spanish Disability Strategy, 8.5% of the population claims to have a disability.
Take into account this data, the tendency to create rules and standards for companies to offer accesible products can convert it, not just a social good, but also a market opportunity.
Large companies place and begin to direct their projects towards disability. In this March, Microsoft has addressed an informative day focused on the “European Accessibility Standard and its impact on the ICT industry.”
On this day, experts from national associations and public and private entities have gathered with Alex Li, an expert on accessibility and analyst standards in Microsoft.
Together, they have analyzed the implications of this standard, its implementation in the Spanish government and the creation of mechanisms to ensure its compliance.
The European Accessibility Standard was approved in February 2014 and has been adapted in Spain from the European standard EN 301 549: “Accessibility requirements suitable for procurement of ICT products and services in Europe accessibility“.
With this standard it describes the functional requirements in order to ensure ICT products and services are accessible to all people. In addition, the European standard describes the test procedures and the evaluation methodology of each.
Although being aware of the importance of the rule and its contribution to fundamental rights, it is not mandatory, so it urges both administration and private companies to take responsibility for its implementation in the ICT industry.
The involvement of the administration is to include accessibility in tenders and their hiring criteria and ensuring compliance. The private enterprises by offering products with accessibility integrated from the beginning of design.
The most remarkable points of the conclusions of the conference can be summarized as follows:
• “The standard will bring the technology to a greater number of people “(Alex Li – Microsoft) • “Design for all should be incorporated as standard”. (Miguel Ángel Valero -CEAPAT) • “The standard establishes minimums. The responsibility for implementation is for everyone”. (Loïc Marínez – Equipo redactor de la norma) • “The integration of accessibility is also a moral obligation” (Miguel Ángel Valero – CEAPAT) • “Accessible design is a market opportunity that companies must seize” (Jesús Hernández – Fundación ONCE)
As for open debates, highlights the reference to the accessibility warranty and certification of the product. On the one hand, there are those who believe that there should be an external certification to ensure accessibility of products. On the other hand, those who believe that every company must self-certify its product.
Another open debate is the one that refers to surveillance the administration of the standard compliance. Li supports the idea of sanction for breach of contract. For this, in the contract or bid should be clearly included the accessibility of the product or service.
In addition, if accessibility guidelines are included among the criteria for public procurement, the companies that will offer it have competitive advantage over the rest, and the administration has in his hand ensure accessibility of the product.
We have before us the possibility to avoid future sanctions, the market opportunity and satisfaction of creating and selling socially inclusive products.
Human nature relativizes disadvantages and problems in depending on what they affect us, personally or our environment. With respect to Accessibility and Universal Design, today, we can find the idea that these are problems that only persons related with disability scope must engage.
At the disability world, we can say that general mentality is quite advanced, although not enough yet, and less what concerns to mental health. The changes of attitude towards disability people started at the Renaissance. In Spain, Isabel of Castile created hospitals for soldiers in which prosthesis and therapeutic device were provided them. Even so, disability did not begin to be seen with clinic eyes until the middle of s. XIX, in order to know the causes and suggest possible improvements. But this issue was addressed from social services. People with disabilities were seen as people null, from the point of view social and productive skills.
At mid-twentieth century, in 1955, during the International Labor Conference, a recommendation about “Rehabilitation and Employment of the Disabled” was presented. In this moment, it was considered “the need to make available to people with average disability professional adaptation medias of independently their origin, nature or age, always they can be prepared to exercise adequate employment and they have a reasonable prospect of obtaining and maintaining employment”. Although it has analyzable nuances still, it can be considered as the forerunner of the social and labor integration of people with disabilities.
Following the Convention, Laws that try to go adapting to reality, with more or less success, emerge. And, when have we started to talk about Accessibility? In 2007, the first resolutions concerning access and use of public spaces appear in Law on Equal Opportunities, Non-Discrimination and Universal Accessibility, known as LIOUNDAU. The First National Accessibility Plan 2004-2012 appeared and was published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The main objective is “to achieve universal access for all environments, products and services to overcome barriers that discriminate against persons with disabilities”.
This legislation has support in different international and national standards and regulations related to interface ergonomics, accessibility of hardware and software, subtitling, audio description and web accessibility, such as
Regarding Universal Design or Design for all, it is necessary to clarify that this concept does not cover all possible cases. As Stephanidis said in 2001, “universal design does not necessarily imply that a single design should be suitable for all users, but it should be treated as a design philosophy that tries to meet the needs of accessibility for the greatest number of potential users”.
After this collection of Laws, regulations and related aspects accessibility in the field of computer science, is clear that the design and accessible development is not an option. Accessibility is an obligation, in legal terms. The problem is that ‘accessibility’ is not understood as part of design – few universities considering ‘accessibility’, and only as an optional subject. This makes that accessible systems development needs accessibility experts and it increases the costs in time and money of any technology project.
We should consider whether these savings offset, in cost or quality, spending necessary to adapt or redo designs, in the event that the Laws of digital accessibility were applied with the same rigor as those affecting architectural designs. Is built a new building without access to level?
Finally, if we are talking about “meet the needs of the most number of users” we should keep in mind that we are opening the market expectations of the products we develop. Where we see an obligation, cannot we have a good business?
Diets are a fashion and they are always changing. Almost without respite, we passed the liquids’ diet, the lingual mesh and many more. And now, it is the gluten’s turn.
It seems that the main guilty of all kind of fat problems is the gluten. But, is it true? For centuries, we have consumed bread, pasta and pastries. However, the ‘devastating’ gluten effects are more recent. We know some people who suffered stomachaches, headaches or other symptoms when they ate bread or derived products. When they asked their doctors, they said them that they were celiac or gluten intolerant, so they must consume a gluten-free diet. We have started to realize that our friends are losing weight with this kind of diet, and we have had the idea to prove it. But, is it so simple? Could you say goodbye to fatness without the gluten? I suspect not.
From the Spanish Celiacs Associations Federation recommend not start a gluten-free diet without having a bowel biopsy showing intolerance to gluten. Celiacs have to stop eating gluten because if they do it, lymphocytes attack the tissue of the intestine, causing the disappearance of the hair of it and having consequently poor absorption of nutrients.
Nutrition experts are cautious and they advise us against eating without gluten, because of the negative effects it could have on our health. Make a gluten-free diet, without professional assistance, can lead to an unbalanced and inadequate diet with more disadvantages than advantages.
Do you know that oats and barley (food with gluten) are high in soluble fiber?
Soluble fiber is formed by compounds which capture much water and are capable of forming viscous gels, help the growth of bacterial flora and decrease and slow the absorption of sugars and fats in food. This contributes to lower cholesterol and glucose blood. Therefore, it is necessary to consume foods such as oats and barley, which also have gluten. Here we only mention fiber, but foods rich in gluten also provide other essential nutrients for humans like proteins, vitamins and essential minerals.
For all these reasons, it is advisable to stay away from the pastries and the precooked and make a healthier lifestyle with a balanced diet. We must try to replace these products with other homemade foods and fewer calories and, as my mother said, eat a bit of everything but without excesses. In addition, it is important to relying on innovation to solve the problems of people with intolerances or special needs.
In CARTIF, we work on several projects in order to replace the use of industrial additives for other natural and animal fats for healthy compounds. These technological contributions work and help us to eat better. You may not have a perfect figure but, undoubtedly, you will be healthier.
LIFE Smart Hospital project researchers explain us how a normal hospital can turn into a smart hospital, in Euranet radio (audio only available in Spanish).
Can a robot have feelings? According to the science fiction world, the answer would clearly be affirmative. Films like Blade Runner; 2001: A Space Odyssey; I, Robot or ex Machina, show machines able to experience human feelings such as fear, anger or love. Despite the growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and the many discussions about the implications of the development of machines endowed with an greater intelligence than humans (also known as strong AI) it seems clear, however, that current technology is far from reaching the levels of “near-human” behavior that science fiction authors show in their films.
Strong AI is therefore, a hypothetical type of artificial intelligence that would surpass the AI known so far. It would be an artificial intelligence which purpose would be to emulatethe human intelligence, allowing the troubleshooting of general problems. It has to be noted that the term “general” means that instead of specializing in solving one type of problem (as current AI does), the system would be able to emulate what any human being can do.
Admitting that technology had reached a sufficient level of development as to reach an AI able to go beyond human intelligence in solving problems and daily activities, could such AI be able to feel emotions? Recent advances in the field of affective computing show machines with more and more elaborated “emotional intelligence” (although still very basic when compared to human intelligence) and have caused that an increasing number of researchers believe it is only a matter of time to merge “fiction” and science as emotional intelligence is concerned. However, many are still convinced that advances in AI will as much allow to “simulate” human emotions. And that even when we would be able to build machines endowed with strong AI, these systems’ intelligence will not be more than that: a clever way of simulation.
But, what are emotions? Emotions are psycho-physicological reactions that represent modes of adaptation to certain stimuli when we perceive an object, person, place, or event.Psychologically, emotions alter attention and activate relevant associative networks in memory. Physiologically, the emotions organize the answers of different biological systems, including facial expressions, muscles, voice, endocrine system, to establish an optimal internal environment for a more effective behavior. Behaviorally, emotions serve to establish our position regarding our environment, and move us towards certain people, objects, actions, ideas while taking us away from others. The emotions also act as deposits of innate and learned influences, and have certain invariable characteristics and others that vary between individuals, groups and cultures.
Given the definition of emotion, it is clear that an emotional reaction from a physiological point of view requires more than just an advanced Artificial Intelligence. However, it seems clear that with an appropriate level of technological development it would be possible to create a machine able to adapt to external stimuli, to change its behavior by activating various internal systems and generate sounds, expressions, and other changes in its components to be able to perform a more effective behavior. In short, to create an emotional reaction to external stimuli. Whether this emotional reaction is real or shall be considered as a mere simulation of human behavior is a current hot debate. A debate that will gain interest as we get closer to the levels of technological development that allow us to develop “sensitive” machines.
