New system for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s developed

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This new system, developed by researchers of the University of Granada, has enhanced successful early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease up to 90 percent, which is an important progress within this area of study.

To test this new automated computer-assisted diagnosis, the researchers of the University of Granada used SPECT and PET tomographies from three different databases. he first database contains 97 de-identified SPECT images, which were labeled by experts and provided by Dr. Manuel Gomez-Río and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, university hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain.

The second database contains 60 PET images provided by the company PET- Cartuja (Seville).

The third was the largest database, and it had 219 PET images provided by ADNI (United States).

These databases included brain CT scans from aged patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or with normal development patterns.

A series of algorithms were developed, which allowed the identification of brain areas affected by the disease, and helped in distinguishing diseased patients from healthy ones.

The three methods presented in this study attained 90 percent success rate in identifying Alzheimer through CT -both PET and SPECT.

These results were partially published in the journals Information Sciences (2010), Neuroscience Letters (2009) and Electronics Letters (2009).

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Anxiety affects our attention span

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Being of a nervous disposition and being anxious at a given moment affects our attention to what happens around us, found a new study at the University of Granada.

The finding will help improve the treatment of anxiety disorders, so common in our days.

In fact, anxiety has become one of the most common conditions among the population, which can explain the negative connotations usually associated to this term.

Developed by Antonia Pilar Pacheco-Unguetti and colleagues, the study stated that there are two types of anxiety— trait anxiety, which is a quality of personality that indicates a tendency to feel anxiety and restlessness; and state anxiety, which is an emotional reaction raised in response to a stressful situation or context.

Thus, the later it is of a more immediate and ephemeral nature.

However, the difference between trait and state anxiety has not been identified or established for decades, on the grounds that both types of anxiety make individuals more receptive to negative information, to the detriment of positive or neutral information.

The researchers have evaluated whether these subtypes of anxiety affect attention differently.

For the study, an attention test prepared by the researchers was provided to some participants with high and low trait anxiety values, and to other groups of students that had been previously induced to a high state of anxiety or to a positive emotional state.

The results revealed double dissociation in attentional performance.

Cognitive control networks of participants with high trait anxiety values showed a deficient attentional performance.

Cognitive control networks are responsible for conflict resolution and voluntary action control, functions which are related to the prefrontal cortex.

On the other hand, the participants with high state anxiety presented an over-functioning of the alerting and orienting networks, which are attention networks more heavily influenced by the process of analysis of stimuli.

The results obtained provide first evidence that trait and state anxiety affect attention processes differently.
In addition, the results also indicate that such influence is present in situations where emotional information processing is not required.

This dissociation may help develop specific therapies allowing patients with anxiety disorders to control themselves.

The aim is to help patients reinforce efficient mechanisms to focus on the demands of the situation by inhibiting distracting information.

The study will be published in the next issue of the prestigious journal Psychological Science.

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New System Developed For Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Researchers of the University of Granada have developed a new computer program that allows early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease through processed images. This new system has enhanced successful early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease up to 90%, which is an important progress within this area of study.

The study was conducted by professor Ignacio Alvarez Illán, a member of SIPBA (Signal Processing and Biomedical Applications) TIC-010 of the University of Granada, and supervised by professors Juan Manuel Górriz Sáez, Javier Ramírez Pérez de Inestrosa and Carlos García Puntonet.

Scientists of the University of Granada have validated some new techniques for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease through a series of processed images. These techniques were successfully tested, and promising results were obtained. This study is part of a wider project ¬–still under development– which purpose is developing a complete software for clinical use in hospitals. It is being developed in cooperation with the companies PET-Cartuja and PTEC, and it belongs to the prizewinning project PETRI-DENCLASES, which was rewarded at the III Premios Andalucía Sociedad de la Información 2010 edition, a prize awarded by the Andalusian Regional Government to companies contributing to an enhanced information society.

The research group has cooperated with the international project ADNI (Alzheimer’s Disease NeuroImaging Initiative), which confers an international character to the study, and has enabled the use of one of the largest database in the world concerning Alzheimer’s disease.

Tomograms

To test this new automated computer-assisted diagnosis, the researchers of the University of Granada used SPECT and PET tomographies from three different databases. The first database contains 97 de-identified SPECT images which were labeled by experts and provided by Dr. Manuel Gómez-Río and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, university hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain. The second database contains 60 PET images provided by the company PET- Cartuja (Seville). The third was the largest database, and it had 219 PET images provided by ADNI (United States).

These databases included brain CT scans from aged patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or with normal development patterns. A series of algorithms were developed, which allowed the identification of brain areas affected by the disease, and helped in distinguishing diseased patients from healthy ones.

The three methods presented in this study attained 90% success rate in identifying Alzheimer through CT –both PET and SPECT. At present, a computer software is being developed jointly with the company PTEC (Malaga) to translate these results into a software that can be used in hospitals. Thus, neurologists will have a tool as precise as a team of experts.

These results were partially published in the journals Information Sciences (2010), Neuroscience Letters (2009) and Electronics Letters (2009).

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New computer program allows early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

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Researchers of the University of Granada have developed a new computer program that allows early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease through processed images. This new system has enhanced successful early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease up to 90%, which is an important progress within this area of study.

The study was conducted by professor Ignacio Alvarez Ill-n, a member of SIPBA (Signal Processing and Biomedical Applications) TIC-010 of the University of Granada, and supervised by professors Juan Manuel G-rriz S-ez, Javier Ram-rez P-rez de Inestrosa and Carlos Garc-a Puntonet.

Scientists of the University of Granada have validated some new techniques for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease through a series of processed images. These techniques were successfully tested, and promising results were obtained. This study is part of a wider project –still under development- which purpose is developing a complete software for clinical use in hospitals. It is being developed in cooperation with the companies PET-Cartuja and PTEC, and it belongs to the prizewinning project PETRI-DENCLASES, which was rewarded at the III Premios Andaluc-a Sociedad de la Informaci-n 2010 edition, a prize awarded by the Andalusian Regional Government to companies contributing to an enhanced information society.

The research group has cooperated with the international project ADNI (Alzheimer’s Disease NeuroImaging Initiative), which confers an international character to the study, and has enabled the use of one of the largest database in the world concerning Alzheimer’s disease.

Tomograms

To test this new automated computer-assisted diagnosis, the researchers of the University of Granada used SPECT and PET tomographies from three different databases. The first database contains 97 de-identified SPECT images which were labeled by experts and provided by Dr. Manuel G-mez-R-o and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, university hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain. The second database contains 60 PET images provided by the company PET- Cartuja (Seville). The third was the largest database, and it had 219 PET images provided by ADNI (United States).

These databases included brain CT scans from aged patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or with normal development patterns. A series of algorithms were developed, which allowed the identification of brain areas affected by the disease, and helped in distinguishing diseased patients from healthy ones.

The three methods presented in this study attained 90% success rate in identifying Alzheimer through CT -both PET and SPECT. At present, a computer software is being developed jointly with the company PTEC (Malaga) to translate these results into a software that can be used in hospitals. Thus, neurologists will have a tool as precise as a team of experts.

These results were partially published in the journals Information Sciences (2010), Neuroscience Letters (2009) and Electronics Letters (2009).

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New system for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s developed

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This new system, developed by researchers of the University of Granada, has enhanced successful early diagnosis of Alzheimer»s disease up to 90 percent, which is an important progress within this area of study.

To test this new automated computer-assisted diagnosis, the researchers of the University of Granada used SPECT and PET tomographies from three different databases.

The first database contains 97 de-identified SPECT images, which were labeled by experts and provided by Dr. Manuel Gomez-Rio and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, university hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain.

The second database contains 60 PET images provided by the company PET- Cartuja (Seville).

The third was the largest database, and it had 219 PET images provided by ADNI (United States).

These databases included brain CT scans from aged patients suffering from Alzheimer»s disease or with normal development patterns.

A series of algorithms were developed, which allowed the identification of brain areas affected by the disease, and helped in distinguishing diseased patients from healthy ones.

The three methods presented in this study attained 90 percent success rate in identifying Alzheimer through CT -both PET and SPECT.

These results were partially published in the journals Information Sciences (2010), Neuroscience Letters (2009) and Electronics Letters (2009).

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Anxiety affects attention processes

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A research conducted at the University of Granada has identified the different effects of being of a nervous disposition and being anxious at a given moment on what happens around us. Being of a nervous disposition and being anxious at a given moment affects our attention to what happens.

This finding will help improve the treatment of anxiety disorders, so common in our days. In fact, anxiety has become one of the most common conditions among the population, which can explain the negative connotations usually associated to this term.

The study was developed by Antonia Pilar Pacheco-Unguetti, Alberto Acosta, Alicia Callejas and Juan Lupianez, from the department of Experimental Psychology and Behavioural Physiology of the University of Granada. It will be published in the next issue of the prestigious journal Psychological Science.

There are two types of anxiety: trait anxiety, which is a quality of personality that indicates a tendency to feel anxiety and restlessness; and state anxiety, which is an emotional reaction raised in response to a stressful situation or context. Therefore, the later it is of a more immediate and ephemeral nature.

However, the difference between trait and state anxiety has not been identified or established for decades, on the grounds that both types of anxiety make individuals more receptive to negative information, to the detriment of positive or neutral information.

The researchers from the University of Granada have evaluated whether these subtypes of anxiety affect attention differently. To the purpose of this study, an attention test prepared by the researchers was provided to some participants with high and low trait anxiety values, and to other groups of students that had been previously induced to a high state of anxiety or to a positive emotional state.

The results revealed double dissociation in attentional performance. Cognitive control networks of participants with high trait anxiety values showed a deficient attentional performance. Cognitive control networks are responsible for conflict resolution and voluntary action control, functions which are related to the prefrontal cortex. Conversely, the participants with high state anxiety presented an overfunctioning of the alerting and orienting networks, which are attention networks more heavily influenced by the process of analysis of stimuli.

The results obtained provide first evidence that trait and state anxiety affect attention processes differently. Further, from these results, it can be concluded that such influence is present in situations where emotional information processing is not required. This dissociation may help develop specific therapies allowing patients with anxiety disorders to control themselves. The aim is to help patients reinforce efficient mechanisms to focus on the demands of the situation by inhibiting distracting information.

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New system developed for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

Escrito por

Researchers of the University of Granada have developed a new computer program that allows early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease through processed images. This new system has enhanced successful early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease up to 90%, which is an important progress within this area of study.

The study was conducted by professor Ignacio Alvarez Illan, a member of SIPBA (Signal Processing and Biomedical Applications) TIC-010 of the University of Granada, and supervised by professors Juan Manuel Gorriz Saez, Javier Ramirez Perez de Inestrosa and Carlos Garcia Puntonet.

Scientists of the University of Granada have validated some new techniques for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease through a series of processed images. These techniques were successfully tested, and promising results were obtained. This study is part of a wider project – still under development – which purpose is developing a complete software for clinical use in hospitals. It is being developed in cooperation with the companies PET-Cartuja and PTEC, and it belongs to the prizewinning project PETRI-DENCLASES, which was rewarded at the III Premios Andalucia Sociedad de la Informacion 2010 edition, a prize awarded by the Andalusian Regional Government to companies contributing to an enhanced information society.

The research group has cooperated with the international project ADNI (Alzheimer’s Disease NeuroImaging Initiative), which confers an international character to the study, and has enabled the use of one of the largest database in the world concerning Alzheimer’s disease.

To test this new automated computer-assisted diagnosis, the researchers of the University of Granada used SPECT and PET tomographies from three different databases. The first database contains 97 de-identified SPECT images which were labelled by experts and provided by Dr Manuel Gomez-Rio and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, university hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain. The second database contains 60 PET images provided by the company PET- Cartuja (Seville). The third was the largest database, and it had 219 PET images provided by ADNI (United States).

These databases included brain CT scans from aged patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or with normal development patterns. A series of algorithms were developed, which allowed the identification of brain areas affected by the disease, and helped in distinguishing diseased patients from healthy ones.

The three methods presented in this study attained 90% success rate in identifying Alzheimer through CT – both PET and SPECT. At present, a computer software is being developed jointly with the company PTEC (Malaga) to translate these results into a software that can be used in hospitals. Thus, neurologists will have a tool as precise as a team of experts.

These results were partially published in the journals Information Sciences (2010), Neuroscience Letters (2009) and Electronics Letters (2009).

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Olive Oil Diet Reduces Aging at Cellular Level

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Researchers at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology at the University of Granada, together with specialists of the Hospital de Jaén, Institute of Biochemistry University  in Ancona, Italy, and University Lleida have revealed the anti-aging beneficial effects of virgin olive oil, compared to other fat sources. These results, published in the journal Mechanisms in Ageing and Development, show that rats fed with this type of fat live longer than others whose diet is based on sunflower oil.

Granada researchers worked to establish the possible molecular mechanisms by which olive oil alone, and supplementation with coenzyme Q, an antioxidant compound, exerts its influence on the signs of aging, causing changes in the structure and function of cells, reports Andalucía Innova.

Experts studied how fat intake affects the cells, because if there is a negative relationship between the two factors (type of fat cell function), modifying the diet can reduce certain processes. In particular, researchers focused on how olive oil affects the mitochondria, an organelle inside the cell that is responsible for producing energy. They study examined the effects of fat on three levels: oxidative stress, the functionality of the organelle, and its structure. “The diet based on olive oil in old age causes less damage to accumulate at these three levels,” says the head of the investigation, José Luis Quiles.

Oxidative stress refers to the process by which cells generate quantities of compounds called free radicals. These are generated naturally by the body but in excess, are harmful. These are some agents that are created in energy production that occur within cells. In this process of burning fat, free radicals are released and act as torches in relation to body tissues, then burn everything they touch. “Olive oil reduces oxidative stress, i.e. the generation of free radicals and therefore makes the tissues grow older more slowly, “says Quiles.

As for the functionality of mitochondria, studies have shown that oxidative stress impairs the ability of this organelle to produce energy, and alters its appearance. ” As we age, they swell and lose their waterproofing that allows electrochemical balance between inside and outside the cell,” said Quiles.

Different diets

To support these findings, experts have fed rats diets differing in fat source (olive oil, sunflower or fish and / or supplementation with coenzyme Q) throughout his life.

The analysis suggests that if the animal eats a fat throughout its life, the composition of their cell membranes reflects the fat ingested. Thus, virgin olive oil generated health conditions in mitochondria and oxidative stress favoring the later appearance of the phenotype of aging, when compared with individuals who have taken other fats such as sunflower oil. To prove it, researchers have developed the so-called survival curves. In these studies, rodents that eat olive oil only live longer than the rest.

Also, if the diet is supplemented based on sunflower oil with Coenzyme Q, we get the same benefits with olive oil. However, the latter type of supplement oil with coenzyme Q did not improve their beneficial effect, the researchers said. This demonstrates the fragile balance that occur at the cellular level. “The experiments show that it is necessary to supplement the diet of olive oil with Coenzyme Q if you take a varied diet based on virgin olive oil (with other types of oils), because not only do you not increase the effect, but could upset the balance of the cell and may be counterproductive,” warns Quiles.

The experts are exploring what is now called nutrigenomics, i.e. the relationship between diet and gene expression. The next step is to find strategies to link a specific gene to the origin of the death of rats. In this sense, they hope not only to verify that rats fed with virgin olive oil are living longer, but to identify the associated cause of death of the animal (for example, which organs are affected in the aging process, and which tumors are generated) .

Contact: Jose Luis Quiles. Phone: 958 241000 ext. 20 316. Email: jlquiles@ugr.es

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Anxiety Affects Attention Processes

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A research conducted at the University of Granada has identified the different effects of being of a nervous disposition and being anxious at a given moment on what happens around us. Being of a nervous disposition and being anxious at a given moment affects our attention to what happens.

This finding will help improve the treatment of anxiety disorders, so common in our days. In fact, anxiety has become one of the most common conditions among the population, which can explain the negative connotations usually associated to this term.

The study was developed by Antonia Pilar Pacheco-Unguetti, Alberto Acosta, Alicia Callejas and Juan Lupiáñez, from the department of Experimental Psychology and Behavioural Physiology of the University of Granada. It will be published in the next issue of the prestigious journal Psychological Science.

Two Types of Anxiety

There are two types of anxiety: trait anxiety, which is a quality of personality that indicates a tendency to feel anxiety and restlessness; and state anxiety, which is an emotional reaction raised in response to a stressful situation or context. Therefore, the later it is of a more immediate and ephemeral nature.

However, the difference between trait and state anxiety has not been identified or established for decades, on the grounds that both types of anxiety make individuals more receptive to negative information, to the detriment of positive or neutral information.

The researchers from the University of Granada have evaluated whether these subtypes of anxiety affect attention differently. To the purpose of this study, an attention test prepared by the researchers was provided to some participants with high and low trait anxiety values, and to other groups of students that had been previously induced to a high state of anxiety or to a positive emotional state.

The results revealed double dissociation in attentional performance. Cognitive control networks of participants with high trait anxiety values showed a deficient attentional performance. Cognitive control networks are responsible for conflict resolution and voluntary action control, functions which are related to the prefrontal cortex. Conversely, the participants with high state anxiety presented an overfunctioning of the alerting and orienting networks, which are attention networks more heavily influenced by the process of analysis of stimuli.

The results obtained provide first evidence that trait and state anxiety affect attention processes differently. Further, from these results, it can be concluded that such influence is present in situations where emotional information processing is not required. This dissociation may help develop specific therapies allowing patients with anxiety disorders to control themselves. The aim is to help patients reinforce efficient mechanisms to focus on the demands of the situation by inhibiting distracting information.

References:

Bishop, S.J. (2009). Trait anxiety and impoverished prefrontal control of attention. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 92-98.

Bishop, S.J., Jenkins, R., y Lawrence, A.D. (2007). Neural processing of fearful faces: Effects of anxiety are gated by perceptual capacity limitations. Cerebral Cortex, 17, 1595-1603.

Callejas, A., Lupiáñez, J., y Tudela, P. (2004). The three attentional networks: On their independence and interactions. Brain and Cognition, 54(3), 225-227.

Pacheco-Unguetti, A. P., Acosta, A., Callejas, A., y Lupiáñez, J. (en prensa). Attention and anxiety: Different attentional functioning under state and trait anxiety. Psychological Science.

Pacheco-Unguetti, A. P., Lupiáñez, J., y Acosta, A. (2009). Atención y ansiedad: relaciones de la alerta y el control con la ansiedad rasgo. Psicológica, 30, 1-25.

Posner, M. I., y Petersen, S. E. (1990). The attention system of the human brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 13, 25-42.

Source: Department of Experimental Psychology and Behavioural Physiology, University of Granada

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New System Developed For Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Researchers of the University of Granada have developed a new computer program that allows early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease through processed images. This new system has enhanced successful early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease up to 90%, which is an important progress within this area of study.

The study was conducted by professor Ignacio Alvarez Illán, a member of SIPBA (Signal Processing and Biomedical Applications) TIC-010 of the University of Granada, and supervised by professors Juan Manuel Gorriz Saez, Javier Ramírez Perez de Inestrosa and Carlos Garcia Puntonet.

Scientists of the University of Granada have validated some new techniques for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease through a series of processed images. These techniques were successfully tested, and promising results were obtained. This study is part of a wider project – still under development – which purpose is developing a complete software for clinical use in hospitals. It is being developed in cooperation with the companies PET-Cartuja and PTEC, and it belongs to the prizewinning project PETRI-DENCLASES, which was rewarded at the III Premios Andalucía Sociedad de la Información 2010 edition, a prize awarded by the Andalusian Regional Government to companies contributing to an enhanced information society.

The research group has cooperated with the international project ADNI (Alzheimer’s Disease NeuroImaging Initiative), which confers an international character to the study, and has enabled the use of one of the largest database in the world concerning Alzheimer’s disease.

Tomograms

To test this new automated computer-assisted diagnosis, the researchers of the University of Granada used SPECT and PET tomographies from three different databases. The first database contains 97 de-identified SPECT images which were labeled by experts and provided by Dr. Manuel Gómez-Río and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, university hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain. The second database contains 60 PET images provided by the company PET- Cartuja (Seville). The third was the largest database, and it had 219 PET images provided by ADNI (United States).

These databases included brain CT scans from aged patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or with normal development patterns. A series of algorithms were developed, which allowed the identification of brain areas affected by the disease, and helped in distinguishing diseased patients from healthy ones.

The three methods presented in this study attained 90% success rate in identifying Alzheimer through CT -both PET and SPECT. At present, a computer software is being developed jointly with the company PTEC (Malaga) to translate these results into a software that can be used in hospitals. Thus, neurologists will have a tool as precise as a team of experts.

These results were partially published in the journals Information Sciences (2010), Neuroscience Letters (2009) and Electronics Letters (2009).

Reference: Ignacio Alvarez Illán. Group SIPBA (Signal Processing and Biomedical Applications), TIC-010 of the University of Granada.

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Jafar Panahi en la IV edición del «Festival Cines del Sur»

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El pasado marzo, cuando tuvo lugar el encarcelamiento del cineasta Jafar Panahi, los responsables del Festival decidieron hacerle un homenaje como gesto de compromiso con su cine y, por extensión, con el cine que se ve amenazado por la falta de libertad de expresión.
El homenaje, que tendrá lugar en los días del festival, contará con la proyección:
*De una de sus películas no estrenada en España, Crimson Gold:
17:00 – Domingo, 13 de Junio- teatro Isabel La Católica
22:30 – Jueves, 17 de Junio- Cinema 2000 Sala 8
19:00 – Viernes, 18 de Junio- Teatro Isidoro Máiquez CajaGranada
*De una película documental, Red, White and the Green, que nos sumerge en los terrores y euforias desatadas durante las elecciones presidenciales de 2009 en Irán y en la que Jafar Panahi es una de las personas entrevistadas.
20:00 – Sábado 12 Junio – Cinema 2000 Sala 8
17:30 – Martes 15 Junio – Cinema 2000 Sala 8
21:30 – Viernes, 18 de Junio – Teatro Isidoro Máiquez CajaGranada
*Y contará con la presencia de la actriz iraní Fatemah Motamedarya, de fama internacional, protagonista de Shirin, de Abbas Kiarostami, el jueves 17 de junio.
Más información:  http://www.cinesdelsur.com

La UGR y la constructora ANFRASA investigarán para buscar soluciones arquitectónicas bioclimáticas

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El objetivo de este acuerdo es desarrollar efectivos sistemas de diseño arquitectónico, basados en la optimización energética y de la orientación del edificio, disposición de huecos y comportamiento térmico de materiales

La Universidad de Granada, a través de la Fundación General de la Universidad de Granada, y la empresa constructora ANFRASA han firmado un contrato de investigación en virtud del cual ambas instituciones estudiarán soluciones arquitectónicas bioclimáticas.

Los responsables de este proyecto son los profesores de la UGR Antonio Espín Estrella (departamento de Ingeniería Civil) y Javier Suárez Medina (departamento de Mecánica de Estructuras e Ingeniería Hidráulica).

ANFRASA tiene una amplia conciencia medioambiental que se manifiesta en este proyecto, ofreciendo a sus clientes un producto que aproveche los medios disponibles con responsabilidad.

Según lo establecido en la directiva 2002/91/CE del Parlamento Europeo, se entiende por arquitectura bioclimática aquella que orienta el diseño arquitectónico hacia el aprovechamiento de las condiciones climatológicas del entorno, con la finalidad de conseguir una cierta independencia de la vivienda respecto a las redes centralizadas de suministro energético.

Mejorar las líneas actuales

En épocas pasadas, cuando la preocupación energética era menor, se desarrollaron numerosos sistemas mecánicos y eléctricos para la climatización de la vivienda, olvidándose del estudio de la influencia de la epidermis del edificio en el confort ambiental.

El convenio firmado ahora por la UGR y ANFRASA va encaminado a tratar de mejorar las líneas actuales, marcadas por un fuerte incremento del coste energético y por la importancia de reducir emisiones, dentro de nuestra responsabilidad medioambiental.

Así, se investigará para desarrollar nuevos sistemas de diseño arquitectónico, basados en la adecuada orientación del edificio, disposición de huecos y comportamiento térmico de materiales que se conocen en su conjunto como sistemas de diseño pasivo (passivhaus) pero adaptado al clima mediterráneo. Además, los investigadores trabajarán también en el estudio del ahorro energético en piscinas y en la calificación energética de edificios.

En la imagen, el gerente de Anfrasa, Francisco Hernández Valdivia, y los profesores de la UGR responsables de la investigación, Antonio Espin y Javier Suarez.

Contacto: Antonio Espín Estrella. Departamento de Ingeniería Civil de la UGR. Teléfono: 958 249456. Correo electrónico: aespin@ugr.es