Fractoluminescence characterization of the energy dissipated during fast fracture of glass

Fractoluminescence experiments are performed on two kinds of silicate glasses. All the light spectra collected during dynamic fracture reveal a black body radiator behaviour, which is interpreted as a crack velocity-dependent temperature rise close to the crack tip. Crack velocities are estimated to be of the order of 1300 m.s$^{-1}$ and fracture process zones are shown to extend over a few nanometers.Comment: Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letters; 5 pages; 4 figure

Motivational theories applied to assess EI programs: the EMOCARE’s Systematic Evaluation Model

Financial resources invested in treatment programs in Hospitals are limited; programs that work with the mental illness caregivers are not an exception. To prioritize those who will be included in programs is by establishing factors criteria: cognitive level, urgency, motivation to participate, intention to change and commitment to change. This chapter explores the adequacy of the EMOCARE’s Systematic Evaluation Model as a protocol to ensure that EMOCARE improves caregivers’ well-being as part of their education in Emotional Intelligence. The methodology follows a quasi-experimental pre-post design with two groups, one of them is a quasi-control group carried out during April to May of 2014. Sample size is 15 patients from the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital (Barcelona, Spain)-, 10 of them part of the experimental group (EG) -they attended the EMOCARE program for two months-. Results are discussed along with the theoretical framework, remarking EMOCARE’s Systematic Evaluation Model is adequate to assess the efficacy and effectiveness of the program; as well as EMOCARE improves caregivers’ well-being in terms of their satisfaction with life (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985)

ENOBIO - First tests of a dry electrophysiology electrode using carbon nanotubes

We describe the development and first tests of Enobio, a dry electrode sensor concept for biopotential applications. In the proposed electrodes, the tip of the electrode is covered with a forest of multi-walled CNTs that can be coated with Ag/AgCl to provide ionic-electronic transduction. The CNT brush-like structure is to penetrate the outer layers of the skin improving electrical contact as well as increae the contact surface area. In this paper, we report the results of the first tests of this concept -- immersion on saline solution and pig skin signal detection. These indicate performance on a par with state of the art research-oriented wet electrodes.Comment: Submitted and accepted at the 28th IEEE EMBS International Conference, New York City, August 31st-September 3rd, 2006. Figures updated with proper filtering and averagin

¿Es eficaz la formación en la Administración pública española?: Evaluación de la transferencia de los aprendizajes con el modelo FET

Is training in Spanish Public Administration effective?: evaluation of transfer of learning using the FET model». This paper analyses the efficacy of the continuous training attended by the Spanish public administration employees, in terms of learning transfer at the work- place. The analysis was conducted using the FET (Factors to Evaluate Transfer) model. Two questionnaires were applied to 1.148 trainees of training actions organized by four Spanish public administration schools; the data analysis included testing hypothesis and multiple regression models. Main results demonstrate that learning transfer is related to factors of the training and workplace context, and not to variables related to trainees’ profile

Estrategias de aprendizaje del profesorado europeo: género y etapa educativa [Learning strategies of European teachers: gender and period of teaching]

INTRODUCTION. The lack of teaching professionals with continuous training affects quality in educational systems and quality of teaching. That is why we believe that teachers must increase or improve their professional competences once they have finished their initial training. To do so, learning strategies are needed, but they vary according to training aspirations and gender. OCDE (2007) and Quesada-Pallarès, Fernández-de-Álava and Rebollar-Sánchez (2015) show differences between men and women. METHOD. This article uses the last data collected with the PIAAC survey, administered in 2012. 23 countries participated in the PIAAC survey, obtaining a total of 157,000 responses. We opt for a quantitative methodology for determining if the use of learning strategies of European teachers varies according to gender, and period of teaching. RESULTS. The main results of this article show that men, compared to women, and university and higher education teachers, compared to those who teach in other teaching periods, make greater use of learning strategies. DISCUSSION. These outcomes help towards the building of a unified framework for continuous training and learning strategies; pointing out that learning strategies are determined by work demands, and activities carried out by teachers according to their period of teaching. Likewise, the results pose some challenges related to the teacher profile, and the non-use of learning strategies by women for self-promotion

Risk Factors for Nosocomial Bacterremia Due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

In a prospective surveillance study (February 1990–December 1991) performed at a 1000-bed teaching hospital to identify risk factors for nosocomial methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia, 309 patients were found to be colonized (n=103; 33 %) or infected (n=206; 67 %) by MRSA. Sixty-three of them developed bacteremia. Compared with 114 patients who had nosocomial bacteremia caused by methicillin-sensitiveStaphylococcus aureus during the same period of time, MRSA bacteremic patients had more severe underlying diseases (p<0.01), were more often in intensive care units (p<0.01) and had received prior antibiotic therapy more frequently (p<0.01). To further identify risk factors for MRSA bacteremia, univariate and multivariate analyses of this series of 309 patients were performed using the occurrence of MRSA bacteremia as the dependent variable. Among 14 variables analyzed, intravascular catheterization, defined as one or more intravascular catheters in place for more than 48 h, was the only variable selected by a logistic regression model as an independent risk factor (OR=2.7, CI=1.1–6.6). The results of this study reinforce the concept that recent antibiotic therapy may predispose patients to MRSA infection and suggest that among patients colonized or infected by MRSA, those with intravascular catheters are at high risk of developing MRSA bacteremia

First human trials of a dry electrophysiology sensor using a carbon nanotube array interface

Fatigue, sleepiness and disturbed sleep are important factors in health and safety in modern society and there is considerable interest in developing technologies for routine monitoring of associated physiological indicators. Electrophysiology, the measurement of the electrical activity of biological origin, is a key technique for the measurement of physiological parameters in several applications, but it has been traditionally difficult to develop sensors for measurements outside the laboratory or clinic with the required quality and robustness. In this paper we report the results from first human experiments using a new electrophysiology sensor called ENOBIO, using carbon nanotube arrays for penetration of the outer layers of the skin and improved electrical contact. These tests, which have included traditional protocols for the analysis of the electrical activity of the brain--spontaneous EEG and ERP--indicate performance on a par with state of the art research-oriented wet electrodes, suggesting that the envisioned mechanism--skin penetration--is responsible. No ill side-effects have been observed six months after the tests, and the subject did not report any pain or special sensations on application of the electrode

Genetic algorithms to solve energetic global systems

La investigación sobre la optimización de sistemas energéticos (SE), se ha asentuado ultimamente en las metodologías de resolución para obtener buenos diseños por encima de la formulación de modelos cercanos a la realidad, debido a que la complejidad de los modelos reales requieren de un gran esfuerzo computacional y matemático. Por lo tanto, el diseño de SE se ha enfocado fundamentalmente en establecer puntos óptimos de las variables internas en condiciones ideales y para ello, las herramientas matemáticas clásicas han desempeñado un papel esencial; a medida que se involucran nuevas variables en el sistema, estas herramientas carecen de recursos para resolver el problema y se hace necesario implementar recursos computacionales heurísticos como los algortimos evolutivos o lógica difusa para obtener aproximaciones válidas. La implementacion de algoritmos genéticos (AG), como metodo computacional ha sido una salida clave para que se pueda tener informacion valiosa en los diseños de los sistemas de energia. La versatilidad de los AG, hace que estos no solo sean capaces de evaluar puntos óptimos de las variables internas del SE, sino que permiten adicionar variables externas con el fin de correlacionar información al modelo sobre las repercusiones al medio ambiente, teniendo en cuenta los intereses del evaluador o tomador de decisiones. Los intereses del evaluador pueden ser múltiples, por lo tanto se puede tener un modelo de sistema multiobjetivo (MO). Sin embargo, las soluciones presentadas por los AG son aproximaciones susceptibles de mejorar con un algoritmo de rectificación, el cual es una aproximación de los metodos numéricos computacionales tales como runge-kutta. La rectificación muestra mejoramientos de un orden por debajo del 5%, pero a nivel energético es un logro importante debido a que se reducen los recursos por combustible.Abstract. Research on optimization of energy systems (ES), has focused lately on the resolution methods to obtain good designs over the formulation of models close to reality, because the complexity of real models require a great mathematical and computational effort. Therefore, the ES design has focused primarily on establishing optimal points of internal variables in ideal conditions and for this, the classical mathematical tools have played an essential role, as they involve new variables in the system, these tools lack the resources to solve the problem and computational resources necessary to implement heuristics like evolutionary algorithms and fuzzy logic to obtain valid approaches. The implementation of genetic algorithms (GA) as a computational method has been a key output that can be valuable information in the design of energy systems. The versatility of the GA makes these not only be able to determine optimal points of the internal variables of the ES, but allow to add external variables in order to correlate information to model the impact on the environment, taking into account the interests the assessor or decision maker. The interests of the evaluator may be multiple, so you can have a system model multiobjective (MO). However, the solutions presented by the GA are approximations that might improve with a correction algorithm, which is an approximation of the numerical computational methods such as Runge-Kutta. The correction shows improvements of an order below 5%, but energy level is an important achievement because it reduces fuel resource