Soporte a tres alturas para equipos de medida de parámetros ambientales

Número de publicación: 2 661 542 Número de solicitud: 201600846 51 Int. CI.: F16M 11/42 (2006.01) B25H 1/10 (2006.01)Soporte para equipos de medida de parámetros ambientales, del tipo de los que permiten la colocación de equipos de medida en tres alturas y ajustar dichas posiciones en altura. El soporte incorpora un mástil (1) vertical y tres barras-soporte (2) colocadas en posición horizontal y a distintas alturas. Dichas barras-soporte (2) pueden desplazarse verticalmente por medio de sus respectivos mecanismos piñón-cremallera (3). El mecanismo piñón-cremallera (3) incorpora un gatillo (8) para evitar el desplazamiento de la barra-soporte (2) debido a su propio peso. La barra-soporte (2) presenta en toda su longitud una multitud de agujeros (9) destinados a la ubicación de instrumentos de medida.UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMERÍ

Distributed network for measuring climatic parameters in heterogeneous environments: Application in a greenhouse

In Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe, the climatic conditions are usually favourable to cultivate greenhouse vegetables but not always for workers. The aim of this study was to design a network of weather stations capable of gathering data of environmental parameters related to the wellbeing of workers in greenhouses in south-eastern Spain. The unevenness of the thermal environment was studied both vertically as well as horizontally following guideline ISO 7726. The results indicate that the greenhouse should be considered a heterogeneous environment, implying that, for an evaluation of the environmental conditions related to thermal stress of the workers inside the greenhouse, measurements should be taken at different points within the greenhouse at three heights (ankle, abdomen, and head).Comment: 47 pages, 15 figure

Ultraviolet Index (UVI) inside an Almería-Type Greenhouse (Southeastern Spain)

Greenhouse workers, despite being in a space beneath a plastic cover, may be susceptible to risks associated to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in skin and eyes. The present work focuses on experimentally analysing this risk throughout a complete year. For this purpose, a network of sensors has been designed, comprising 12 UV radiation measuring stations inside the greenhouse and one outside. It is shown that the UVI risk limit established by World Health Organization (WHO) is exceeded for some particular dates and times, thus there exist risk of damage caused by UV radiation for greenhouse workers. The results allow to identify the UV risk periods for the location studied. A diagram called “UVIgram” has been created which offers weather and UV radiation information for a particular location, for each month, and also in general for the whole year. Finally, a series of recommendations and protection measures are given, highlighting the whitening of the plastic cover of the greenhouse and an alarm system which has been designed to alert workers when UV risk exists

Distributed network for measuring climatic parameters in heterogeneous environments: Application in a greenhouse

En los países mediterráneos del sur de Europa, las condiciones climáticas suelen ser favorables para el cultivo de hortalizas de invernadero, pero no siempre para los trabajadores. El objetivo de este estudio fue diseñar una red de estaciones meteorológicas capaces de recoger datos de parámetros ambientales relacionados con el bienestar de los trabajadores de invernaderos en el sureste de España. Los desequilibrios del ambiente térmico fueron estudiados tanto vertical como horizontalmente siguiendo la norma ISO 7726. Los resultados indican que el invernadero debe ser considerado un ambiente heterogéneo, lo que implica que, para una evaluación de las condiciones ambientales relacionadas con el estrés térmico de los trabajadores, las mediciones se deben tomar a tres alturas (tobillo, abdomen y cabeza) en el interior del invernadero

Glutamate Excitoxicity Is the Key Molecular Mechanism Which Is Influenced by Body Temperature during the Acute Phase of Brain Stroke

Glutamate excitotoxicity, metabolic rate and inflammatory response have been associated to the deleterious effects of temperature during the acute phase of stroke. So far, the association of temperature with these mechanisms has been studied individually. However, the simultaneous study of the influence of temperature on these mechanisms is necessary to clarify their contributions to temperature-mediated ischemic damage. We used non-invasive Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy to simultaneously measure temperature, glutamate excitotoxicity and metabolic rate in the brain in animal models of ischemia. The immune response to ischemia was measured through molecular serum markers in peripheral blood. We submitted groups of animals to different experimental conditions (hypothermia at 33°C, normothermia at 37°C and hyperthermia at 39°C), and combined these conditions with pharmacological modulation of glutamate levels in the brain through systemic injections of glutamate and oxaloacetate. We show that pharmacological modulation of glutamate levels can neutralize the deleterious effects of hyperthermia and the beneficial effects of hypothermia, however the analysis of the inflammatory response and metabolic rate, demonstrated that their effects on ischemic damage are less critical than glutamate excitotoxity. We conclude that glutamate excitotoxicity is the key molecular mechanism which is influenced by body temperature during the acute phase of brain stroke

Evaluation of Dram Score as a Predictor of Poor Postoperative Outcome in Spine Surgery

[EN] The Distress Risk Assessment Method (DRAM) was presented by Main, Wood and Hillis in 1992 as a simple means of assessing the risk of failure due to psychosocial factors in spine surgery. To our knowledge, it has not been used in our setting. The aim of this study was to analyse the usefulness of the Spanish translation of this instrument to predict poor outcomes. Methods: A prospective blind study was conducted including 65 patients undergoing spine surgery. We created two groups of patients based on DRAM score: not distressed (NDRAM) or distressed (DDRAM). A visual analogue scale for pain and the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) were used at baseline, 6 weeks and 6 months. Results: 24 patients were classified as DDRAM and 38 as NDRAM, with 3 patients not completing the questionnaires. The analysis found no significant differences in the demographic or clinical variables at baseline. At 6 weeks and 6 months, the NDRAM group showed improvements in low back pain (p < 0.001; p = 0.005), leg pain (p < 0.001; p = 0.017), physical health (p = 0.031; p = 0.003) and mental health (p = 0.137; p = 0.049). In contrast, in the DDRAM group, though leg pain score improved (p < 0.001; p = 0.002), there was no improvement at 6 weeks or 6 months in low back pain (p = 0.108; p = 0.287), physical health (p = 0.620; p = 0.263) or mental health (p = 0.185; p = 0.329). Conclusions: In our setting, the DRAM is a useful screening tool, and it has allowed the creation of a program between psychiatry and spine surgeryS

On air temperature distribution and ISO 7726-defined heterogeneity inside a typical greenhouse in Almería

Los estudios sobre la temperatura del aire en el interior de los invernaderos suelen centrarse en el crecimiento de los cultivos. Sin embargo, el ambiente térmico dentro de los invernaderos puede afectar a la seguridad de los trabajadores y también su productividad. Este trabajo se centra en el estudio de las condiciones de temperatura del aire respecto de los trabajadores siguiendo los requisitos y métodos recogidos en la norma ISO 7726, que indica que las mediciones deben realizarse en diferentes puntos tanto en dirección horizontal como vertical para estudiar ambientes térmicos heterogéneos. Para el presente trabajo, los datos fueron recogidos mediante la Red de Sensores Inalámbricos (WSN) diseñada en un trabajo previo y ampliada mediante una campaña experimental realizada durante un año completo en un invernadero típico de Almería. El objetivo es realizar un estudio a largo plazo de la temperatura del aire dentro de un invernadero, así como la evaluación de la heterogeneidad de la temperatura del aire. Los resultados, que permiten caracterizar la temperatura del aire en el interior del invernadero, prueban la existencia de patrones de heterogeneidad en función de la incidencia de la luz solar y la hora del día. Durante el período analizado, la heterogeneidad de la temperatura del aire está presente principalmente en las horas centrales del día y es mayor en la dimensión horizontal que en la vertical. Además, se ha observado que la gran mayoría de días homogéneos se correlacionan con días nublados. Finalmente, en base a los resultados obtenidos se presentan algunas recomendaciones para evaluar el ambiente térmico de los invernaderos

Impacto formativo de una experiencia educativa diseñada desde la sostenibilidad y la etnobotánica

Artículo presentado en el Encuentro de Centros Innovadores 10-3-21 Se lleva a cabo el diseño y puesta en práctica de una experiencia educativa desde el ámbito no formal basada en el método científico y la investigación aplicada a la Etnobotánica. Dicha propuesta parte del área de Botánica de la Universidad de Extremadura y se lleva a cabo en el I.E.S. "Los Moriscos" en la localidad de Hornachos (Badajoz) con alumnos/as de 3ºE.S.O. Posteriormente, se analiza el impacto producido por esta iniciativa en el aprendizaje de los alumnos y de su motivación hacia el estudio de las ciencias, en concreto de la Botánica. Se concluye que el uso de experiencias educativas no formales basadas en metodologías activas proporciona un recurso interesante para generar conocimientos dentro de la educación no formal

Low-cost oblique illumination: an image quality assessment

P. 1-14We study the effectiveness of several low-cost oblique illumination filters to improve overall image quality, in comparison with standard bright field imaging. For this purpose, a dataset composed of 3360 diatom images belonging to 21 taxa was acquired. Subjective and objective image quality assessments were done. The subjective evaluation was performed by a group of diatom experts by psychophysical test where resolution, focus, and contrast were assessed. Moreover, some objective nonreference image quality metrics were applied to the same image dataset to complete the study, together with the calculation of several texture features to analyze the effect of these filters in terms of textural properties. Both image quality evaluation methods, subjective and objective, showed better results for images acquired using these illumination filters in compari-son with the no filtered image. These promising results confirm that this kind of illumination filters can be a practical way to improve the image quality, thanks to the simple and low cost of the design and manufacturing process.S

MEGARA Optical design: the new integral field unit and multi-object spectrograph for the GTC 10m telescope

We describe the optical design of MEGARA, the future optical Integral Field Unit (IFU) and Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) for the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC). MEGARA is being built by a Consortium of public research institutions led by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM, Spain) that also includes INAOE (Mexico), IAA-CSIC (Spain) and UPM (Spain)