A geological model for the management of subsurface data in the urban environment of Barcelona and surrounding area

The overdevelopment of cities since the industrial revolution has shown the need to incorporate a sound geological knowledge in the management of required subsurface infrastructures and in the assessment of increasingly needed groundwater resources. Additionally, the scarcity of outcrops and the technical difficulty to conduct underground exploration in urban areas highlights the importance of implementing efficient management plans that deal with the legacy of heterogeneous subsurface information. To deal with these difficulties, a methodology has been proposed to integrate all the available spatio-temporal data into a comprehensive spatial database and a set of tools that facilitates the analysis and processing of the existing and newly added data for the city of Barcelona (NE Spain). Here we present the resulting actual subsurface 3-D geological model that incorporates and articulates all the information stored in the database. The methodology applied to Barcelona benefited from a good collaboration between administrative bodies and researchers that enabled the realization of a comprehensive geological database despite logistic difficulties. Currently, the public administration and also private sectors both benefit from the geological understanding acquired in the city of Barcelona, for example, when preparing the hydrogeological models used in groundwater assessment plans. The methodology further facilitates the continuous incorporation of new data in the implementation and sustainable management of urban groundwater, and also contributes to significantly reducing the costs of new infrastructures.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Goal-driven agent-oriented software processes

The quality of software processes is acknowledged as a critical factor for delivering quality software systems. Any initiative for improving the quality of software processes requires their explicit representation and management. A current representational metaphor for systems is agent orientation, which has become one of the recently recognized engineering paradigms. In this article, we argue for the convenience of representing the software process using an agent-oriented language to model it and a goal-driven procedure to design it. Particularly we propose using the i* framework which is both an agent- and a goal-oriented modeling language. We review the possibilities of i* as a software process modeling language, and we also show how success factors can be made explicit in i* representations of the software processes. Finally, we illustrate the approach with an example based on the development of a set of ergonomic and safety software tools.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

On-site H2O2 electrogeneration at a CoS2-based air-diffusion cathode for the electrochemical degradation of organic pollutants

This work reports, for the first time, the manufacture and use of an air-diffusion cathode containing CoS2 nanoparticles to enhance the H2O2 electrogeneration. Hydrothermal synthesis allowed the formation of crystalline CoS2 with pyrite structure, either unsupported or supported on carbon nanotubes. Both kinds of catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction and FE-SEM combined with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The use of carbon nanotubes as support led to a remarkable enhancement of the CoS2 stability, as deduced from cyclic voltammetry analysis. The electrochemical activity of the CoS2-based materials towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acidic medium was examined by potentiodynamic techniques using a rotating disk electrode. Both catalysts showed activity towards the ORR, being predominant the two-electron pathway to form H2O2 as main product. A novel CoS2-on-carbon nanotubes catalyzed air-diffusion cathode, as well as an uncatalyzed one made for comparison, was manufactured to electrogenerate H2O2 under galvanostatic conditions in an undivided two-electrode cell. A concentration of 56.9 mM was found with the former cathode at constant j of 100 mA cm-2, much greater than 32.0 mM found with the uncatalyzed cathode. This informs about the high performance of the CoS2 nanoparticles to promote the two-electron ORR. Finally, the treatment of aqueous solutions of the anaesthetic tetracaine at pH 3.0 and 100 mA cm-2 by electro-oxidation and photoelectro-Fenton processes demonstrated the viability of the manufactured CoS2-based cathode for water treatment

Effectiveness of a pharmacogenetic tool at Improving treatment efficacy in major depressive disorder: A meta-analysis of three clinical studies

Several pharmacogenetic tests to support drug selection in psychiatric patients have recently become available. The current meta-analysis aimed to assess the clinical utility of a commercial pharmacogenetic-based tool for psychiatry (Neuropharmagen®) in the treatment management of depressive patients. Random-effects meta-analysis of clinical studies that had examined the effect of this tool on the improvement of depressive patients was performed. Effects were summarized as standardized differences between treatment groups. A total of 450 eligible subjects from three clinical studies were examined. The random effects model estimated a statistically significant effect size for the pharmacogenetic-guided prescription (d = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.11-0.56, p-value = 0.004), which corresponded to approximately a 1.8-fold increase in the odds of clinical response for pharmacogenetic-guided vs. unguided drug selection. After exclusion of patients with mild depression, the pooled estimated effect size increased to 0.42 (95% CI = 0.19-0.65, p-value = 0.004, n = 287), corresponding to an OR = 2.14 (95% CI = 1.40-3.27). These results support the clinical utility of this pharmacogenetic-based tool in the improvement of health outcomes in patients with depression, especially those with moderate-severe depression. Additional pragmatic RCTs are warranted to consolidate these findings in other patient populations

Sempiterno

Treball Final de Grau en Ciències de la Comunicació Audiovisual. Codi: CA0932. Curs acadèmic 2016-2017Sempiterno es un cortometraje de ficción desarrollado por Petricor Films, una productora ficticia compuesta por cinco personas. Hemos seleccionado este formato por la libertad creativa que nos ofrece y, además, supone un reto muy atractivo para todos los componentes. Sempiterno es el resultado de un duro trabajo durante varios meses. Para llevarlo a cabo, los miembros de Petricor Films desarrollamos funciones diferentes en base a nuestras experiencias y preferencias, de manera que se trabajara de una forma eficiente y coordinada. Con este filme, hemos pretendido materializar una historia sobre el Alzheimer alejándonos al máximo de los tópicos y estigmas que rodean a las representaciones audiovisuales de esta enfermedad. Para ello, y tras una exhaustiva investigación científica y audiovisual, hemos decidido abarcar la enfermedad a partir de los aspectos formales y la composición de planos, tratando de evitar los recursos narrativos excesivamente dramáticos. El desarrollo del proyecto ha estado marcado por un aprendizaje continuo. Desde un primer momento, hemos intentado desarrollar un trabajo lo más cercano posible al ámbito profesional, para lo que ha sido crucial la comunicación y el trabajo en equipo. Por otro lado, Sempiterno también nos ha ofrecido la posibilidad de enfrentarnos a problemas y situaciones de crisis que pueden darse en una producción profesional, de las que hemos tenido que salir airosos mediante nuestras propias soluciones. Gracias a los conocimientos adquiridos en clase, hemos logrado afrontar de una manera muy cercana una producción real, de manera que comprendemos mejor las etapas del proceso de realización de un producto audiovisual. Con este cortometraje esperamos haber demostrado que hemos adquirido todos los conocimientos esenciales impartidos en el grado de Comunicación Audiovisual. Así, deseamos haber realizado un proyecto lo más profesional posible, que nos sirva como carta de presentación en el futuro.Sempiterno is a fiction short film developed by Petricor Films, a fictional production company composed of five people. We have selected this format for the creative freedom that it offers us and, in addition, it presents a very attractive challenge for all the components. Sempiterno is the result of hard work for several months. To carry it out, Petricor Films members developed different functions based on our experiences and preferences, so that we worked in an efficient and coordinated way. With this film, we have tried to materialize a story about Alzheimer's, moving away from the topics and stigmas surrounding the audiovisual representations of this disease. To this end, and after extensive scientific and audiovisual research, we have decided to cover the disease from the formal aspects and the composition of planes, trying to avoid overly dramatic narrative resources. The development of the project has been marked by continuous learning. From the outset, we have tried to develop a job as close as possible to the professional field, for which communication and teamwork have been crucial. On the other hand, Sempiterno has also offered us the possibility of facing problems and situations of crisis that can occur in a professional production, from which we have had to come through with our own solutions. Thanks to the knowledge acquired in class, we have been able to deal with real production in a very close way, so we understand in a better way the stages of the process of realization of an audiovisual product. With this short film, we hope to have demonstrated that we have acquired all the essential knowledge imparted in the degree of Audiovisual Communication. Thus, we wish to have made a project as professional as possible, to serve as a letter of presentation in the future

Nonideal optical response of liquid crystal variable retarders and its impact on their performance as polarization modulators

Liquid crystal variable retarders (LCVRs) will be used for the first time in a space instrument, the Solar Orbiter mission of the European Space Agency, as polarization states analyzers (PSAs). These devices will determine the Stokes parameters of the light coming from the Sun by temporal polarization modulation, using the so-called modulation matrix O. This is a matrix constituted by the first rows of properly selected PSA Mueller matrices. Calibrating a space instrument, in particular, finding O, is a critical point because in a spacecraft there is no possibility of physical access. Due to the huge difficulty in calibrating the complete instruments in all possible scenarios, a more complete calibration of the individual components has been done in ground in order to make extrapolations to obtain O in-flight. Nevertheless, apart from the individual calibrations, the experimental errors and nonideal effects that inhibit the system to reach the designed and theoretical values must be known. In this work, description and study of these effects have been done, focusing on the nonideal effects of the LCVRs and the azimuthal misalignments between the optical components of the PSA during the mechanical assembly. The Mueller matrix of a representative LCVR has been measured and mathematically decomposed by logarithm decomposition, looking for values of circular birefringence and fast axis angle variations as a function of voltage. These effects, in the absence of other nonidealities, affect the polarimetric performance, reducing the polarimetric efficiencies in some cases until 11%. Nevertheless, in this case, they are negligible if compared to the other nonideality studied, which are the azimuthal misalignments between the PSA optical components. The study presented in this work is key to extrapolate the PSA O matrix if the expected instrumental set-point temperatures are not reached in flight and can be used for the design and implementation of other polarimetric instruments

Enhanced electrocatalytic production of H2O2 at Co-based air-diffusion cathodes for the photoelectro-fenton treatment of bronopol

(Co, S, P)-decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been synthesized following a hydrothermal route as electrocatalysts to manufacture large surface area air-diffusion cathodes with carbon cloth as substrate. The enhanced electrocatalytic H2O2 production as compared with Co-free MWCNTs cathodes was demonstrated in a 2.5-L pre-pilot plant with either a RuO2-based or boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode, accumulating between 2- and 3-fold greater H2O2 contents with the catalyzed cathode. The good stability of this new material was ensured from the low Co leaching, with less than 9% Co released to solutions upon repeated usage. Aqueous solutions of the brominated organic preservative bronopol with 0.050 M Na2SO4 at pH 3.0 were comparatively treated by electro-oxidation (EO-H2O2), electro-Fenton (EF), UVA-assisted photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) and solar PEF (SPEF) at constant current density. SPEF with BDD anode and the catalyzed cathode showed the best performance, with total bronopol removal at 210 min and 94% mineralization after 360 min at 40 mA cm−2, thanks to the action of OH, BDD(OH) and sunlight. Formic acid was identified as main reaction by-product, whereas Br and N atoms were mainly converted to Br-, BrO3- and NO3-. Some unidentified organic by-product containing Br and N was formed as well

Ocean monitoring using GNSS-R techniques and microwave radiometry: The pau instrument concept

Peer Reviewe