Geoquímica y sistemática isotópica de rocas metamórficas del Paleozoico inferior. Noroeste de Argentina y Norte de Chile (21°-27° S)

Más del 95% de los afloramientos del basamento metamórfico del Paleozoico inferior en el Noroeste de A rgentina y Norte de Chile están compuestos por rocas félsicas. Los contenidos de elementos mayores, trazas y las composiciones isotópicas de Pb, Rb-Sr y Sm-Nd son típicos de las rocas que conforman la corteza superior. Las edades modelos Sm-Nd de las rocas estudiadas son de ca 1.8 Ga. Estas rocas han sido afectadas por un evento principal de metamorfismo del Paleozoico temprano (ca. 500 Ma). Se considera que el reciclado de la corteza, con un importante evento de metamorfismo durante el Paleozoico temprano, es el proceso dominante en la generación de muchos de los magmas con composiciones graníticas originados desde el Paleozoico temprano hasta el Reciente. Las espesas secuencias sedimentarias ordovícicas son derivadas también de esa misma corteza en común. Los xenolitos félsicos de la corteza inferior extraídos por el magmatismo perteneciente al sistema del Rift Salta, son muy similares composicionalmente al basamento del Paleozoico inferior. Se estima que la composición de la corteza desde la parte superior hasta la inferior sería principalmente félsica. Las rocas máficas tienen muy poco volumen y forman principalmente diques. Sus edades modelos Sm-Nd revelan dos grupos, uno con edades de ca 1.8 Ga y otro con edades de ca £ 1.0 Ga No ha sido posible realizar una interpretación ajustada del ambiente geodinámico en donde se ha desarrollado este magmatismo básico.Felsic rocks comprise more than 95% of the outcropping Early Paleozoic metamorphic basement. Their major and trace element contents and Pb, Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotope compositions are typical for upper crustal rocks. Sm-Nd model ages are ca 1.8 Ga. The principal ages of high-grade metamorphism is Early Paleozoic (ca 500 Ma). Recycling of this crust is the dominating process in the formation of granitoid magmatic rocks from Early Paleozoic to Recent. Ordovician sediments are also derivates of this crust. Felsic lower crustal xenoliths from the Salta Rift system are compositionally very similar compared to the early Paleozoic basement. The crustal composition from top to the bottom seems mainly felsic. Early Paleozoic mafic rocks are of minor volume and form mainly dikes. Their Sm-Nd model ages reveal two groups; one with ages of ca 1.8 Ga another with ages of £ 1.0 Ga. A meaningful interpretation of their geodynamic setting is not possible

Proposal for a modified cost-optimal approach by introducing benefits evaluation

The recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive introduced the concept of nearly-zero energy building and encouraged setting the nearly-zero energy target with a view to cost-optimal level - the energy performance that leads to the lowest cost during the building estimated economic lifecycle. To searching this regard, the cost-optimal methodology based on the global cost was defined providing a tool to assess different nearly-zero energy scenarios. Nowadays, the cost-optimal analysis is used as a decision-making tool between different energy design alternatives mostly on a theoretical level; but it has spread little among the professional field. The aim of this paper is to give a more holistic and all-comprehensive approach to the cost-optimal methodology. This paper proposes and applies a modified approach of the cost-optimal evaluation, which will lead to the achievement of more interesting results for all the actors involved, including investors and final users. This study highlights the usefulness of including not only costs but also benefits that can derive from each energy design scenario. Choosing different energy efficiency solutions, the related benefits evaluation could turn the tables. Different kinds of benefits could be considered as the increase of the real estate market value, the enhancement of the indoor comfort, the reduction of CO2 emissions and others. Thus, a proposal of how quantifying these qualitative benefits in monetary terms is shown to introduce them in the global cost formula. Actually, benefits conversion into monetary values is the most challenging issue. Precisely, this paper shows a list of benefits that can affect the choice of different envelope and HVAC system solutions, pointing out their influence on the global cost evaluation. Certainly, introducing benefits in the global cost formula means using a more holistic and complete approach, while the already complex degree of the cost-optimal methodology – due to the numerous input data –increases. To validate the reviewed global cost formula, it will be necessary to apply it to various case studies

Environmental performances in green labels for hotels – a critical review

The global attention towards climate change has led national governments and the international community to the definition of plans aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in all economic sectors. Recently, attention has focused also on the tourism sector, and especially on the lodging industry, which consumes high amounts of resources and energy to satisfy guests expectations in terms of offered services and comfort conditions. In this sector, eco-certifications or green labels are spreading, perceived as useful marketing tools to communicate the hoteliers’ environmental efforts to consumers, who are becoming more and more sensitive to ecological matters. However, the wide offer of green labels and the lack of appropriate information are contributing to increase costumers’ confusion and perception of real “green”. The present paper focuses its attention on a set of currently available tools to evaluate the environmental performances of hotels, in order to enquire if and to which extent they are able to inform about the sustainability of accommodation structures. Starting from the wide number of certification schemes available on the market, 19 multi-attribute, third-party green labels were compared, aiming to explore the role that energy efficiency measures play in the certification procedure

Communicative Interactions Improve Visual Detection of Biological Motion

BACKGROUND: In the context of interacting activities requiring close-body contact such as fighting or dancing, the actions of one agent can be used to predict the actions of the second agent. In the present study, we investigated whether interpersonal predictive coding extends to interactive activities--such as communicative interactions--in which no physical contingency is implied between the movements of the interacting individuals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants observed point-light displays of two agents (A and B) performing separate actions. In the communicative condition, the action performed by agent B responded to a communicative gesture performed by agent A. In the individual condition, agent A's communicative action was substituted with a non-communicative action. Using a simultaneous masking detection task, we demonstrate that observing the communicative gesture performed by agent A enhanced visual discrimination of agent B. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our finding complements and extends previous evidence for interpersonal predictive coding, suggesting that the communicative gestures of one agent can serve as a predictor for the expected actions of the respondent, even if no physical contact between agents is implied

A methodological framework for the economic assessment of ict-tools for occupants’ engagement

The concept of smartness in building dates to the 1970s, but, in face of the breakthrough technological developments, a new notion of smart building is currently recognized. We talk about ambient intelligence, referring to a building which is responsive to the needs of the occupants and of the energy system. An ambient-intelligent building is human-centric; new services and interfaces are provided to the buildings occupants to learn and set their preferences, with a positive impact on their comfort level and satisfaction with the indoor environmental quality. ICT and IoT are part of the enabling technologies to exploit the potentials of smart buildings, by unlocking the capability of buildings to interact with the system they belong to. To bolster the diffusion of new technologies, methodologies to get quantitative results proving their effectiveness should be provided. In this paper the application of a well-established economic evaluation tool, the so-called Cost-Benefit Analysis, to the case of the deployment of new ICT-tools for occupants’ engagement is presented. The methodology is adopted within the H2020 Mobistyle project, where two levels of the evaluation are identified: the whole project level and the single demo case one. The purpose of the methodology is to assess the effectiveness of the adoption of the ICT-tools in producing economic value in terms of benefits for the occupants and the society. Some preliminary results of its application to the Italian case study are also presented, showing a positive socio-economic balance since the beginning of the deployment

Exploitation of dynamic simulation to investigate the effectiveness of the Smart Readiness Indicator: application to the Energy Center building of Turin

To achieve the energy and emissions reduction goals for the building sector, actions are needed to improve energy efficiency and occupants’ wellbeing. To increase the uptake of smart technologies and the awareness upon their benefits, in line with the smart building revolution that is starting, the EPBD recast introduced the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) as a tool to evaluate the capability of buildings to easily adapt to both energy systems and occupants’ needs. However, there is a growing interest in studying the SRI features in terms of performance assessment, and, thus, dynamic simulation models can be exploited to better analyze its points of strength and weakness. The Energy Center building of Turin was chosen as case study. By means of EnergyPlus modeling, the current situation was simulated, as well as different scenarios of energy management and control, evaluating to what extent these actions can influence the overall SRI assessment. The analysis allowed to deepen and comment on the effectiveness of the SRI of being a real tool of building behavior assessment, able to link the indicator itself with the energy needs of the building and to understand if and how the indicator is sensible to energy needs variations

Energy, SBS symptoms, and productivity in Swiss open-space offices: Economic evaluation of standard, actual, and optimum scenarios

The fundamental aspiration of new-generation high-performing buildings is to reduce energy use while securing indoor environmental quality conducive to human health and productivity. However, existing frameworks for identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of buildings are sporadic and limited to a few parameters. Based on two Swiss open-space buildings, this paper demonstrates an economic comparison combining three KPIs: health (represented by sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms), occupants' productivity (based on the thermal environment and ventilation), and operational energy for heating (based on building simulations using measured inputs). Monetization translated various criteria into the same unit currency and compared them on equal terms. Three scenarios for human- and energy-related performance analysis were actual (considering measured data), standard (using parameters from the national standard), and optimal (maximized productivity). The actual environment in case studies measured in the Fall and Winter seasons was relatively warm, with poor ventilation in one of the two buildings as no mechanical ventilation was on. Therefore, there was some loss of productivity (0.11-0.4%) and SBS symptoms (e.g., dry eyes, fatigue) present in both buildings resulting in up to 2 times the difference between the energy and human costs. The minimum energy costs for the standard scenario indicated that standard settings prioritize energy objectives. Oppositely, energy costs were the highest (47.6-69.6%) in the optimal scenario minimizing the human-related costs but not the weekly SBS symptoms. The analysis presented highlights the conflicting goals when one parameter is prioritized over another one, thus demonstrating the importance of a multi-criteria approach

Ultrasonic techniques to obtain dental pulp from impacted third molars

In the dental clinic impacted teeth are frequent findings, especially upper and lower third molars, leading to their exodontia. Among surgical techniques piezosurgery is advantageous for delicate structures in the oral cavity. Extracted teeth, usually di

Descripción geoquímica y geocronológica de secuencias volcánicas neógenas de Trasarco, en el extremo oriental de la Cadena Volcánica Transversal del Quevar (Noroeste de Argentina)

Se realizaron 34 nuevas dataciones K/Ar y 39 análisis geoquímicos de elementos mayoritarios, trazas y tierras raras, que implican nuevas aportaciones sobre las secuencias volcánicas neógenas de trasarco pertenecientes a la cadena volcánica transversal del Quevar. Esta cadena volcánica parte del arco volcánico actual con dirección W N W-ESE hasta las cercanías de la localidad de San Antonio de los Cobres. Se han reconocido y estudiado centros volcánicos ubicados en el extremo oriental de la misma. Los diferentes pulsos detectados en cada uno de estos centros (Aguas Calientes, Acay, El Morro-Orrganullo y Tocomar) son geoquímica y petrogr á ficamente homogéneos. Se interpreta que las cámaras magmáticas involucradas no han estado estratificadas composicionalmente ni han tenido sectores enriquecidos en cristales. Como excepción, el centro eruptivo Acay muestra un rango composicional desde términos andesíticos a riolíticos. En este caso, se interpreta un fraccionamiento de la cámara magmática en pulsos de edad similar. La composición isotópica del centro eruptivo Aguas Calientes indica una fuerte componente cortical en la formación de los magmas. Es posible explicar su origen a partir de fusión cortical. Las determinaciones geocronológicas realizadas muestran pulsos volcánicos a los 17-19 Ma, 13-12 Ma, 10 Ma, 7-6 Ma, 1-0.5 Ma en esta región de los Andes Centrales.New geochronological data (34) and 39 new geochemical analyses have been made in the Neogene backarc volcanic sequences in the “El Quevar Transversal Volcanic Chain” defined by Viramonte et al (1984a). This chain starts at the present N-S arc with WNW-ESE trend. New volcanic centres have been recognised and analysed at the eastern end of this chain. The different pulses from each volcanic centre (Aguas Calientes, Acay, El Morro - Organullo and Tocomar) are petrographically and geochemically homogeneous. This suggests that the magma chambers related in each volcano, were geochemically homogeneous and did not have crystal enriched sectors. The Acay eruptive centre is an exception of this assumption; a compositionally differentiated magmatic chamber could be inferred. The isotopic composition of the Aguas Calientes emission centre has a crust signature in its origin, related with melts generated by crustal fussion. The geochronological determinations show volcanic pulses at 17-19 Ma, 13-12 Ma, 10 Ma, 7-6 Ma, 1-0.5 Ma in this region of the Central Andes

Descripción geoquímica y geocronológica de secuencias volcánicas neogenas de Trasarco, en el extremo oriental de la Cadena Volcánica Transversal del Quevar (Noroeste de Argentina)

Se realizaron 34 nuevas dataciones K/Ar y 39 análisis geoquímicos de elementos mayoritarios, trazas y tierras raras, que implican n u evas aportaciones sobre las secuencias volcánicas neógenas de trasarco pertenecientes a la cadena volcánica transversal del Queva r. Esta cadena volcánica parte del arco volcánico actual con dirección W N W-ESE hasta las cercanías de la localidad de San Antonio de los Cobres. Se han reconocido y estudiado centros volcánicos ubicados en el extremo oriental de la misma. Los diferentes pulsos detectados en cada uno de estos centros (Aguas Calientes, Acay, El Morro-Organullo y Tocomar) son geoquímica y petrogr á ficamente homogéneos. Se interpreta que las cámaras magmáticas involucradas no han estado estratificadas composicionalmente ni han tenido sectores enriquecidos en cristales. Como excepción, el centro eru p t ivo A c ay muestra un rango composicional desde términos andesíticos a riolíticos. En este caso, se interpreta un fraccionamiento de la cámara magmática en pulsos de edad similar. La composición isotópica del centro eruptivo Aguas Calientes indica una fuerte componente cortical en la formación de los magmas. Es posible explicar su origen a partir de fusión cortical. Las determinaciones geocronológicas realizadas muestran pulsos volcánicos a los 17-19 Ma, 13-12 Ma, 10 Ma, 7-6 Ma, 1-0.5 Ma en esta región de los Andes Centrales