Heterogeneity in pure microbial systems: experimental measurements and modeling

Cellular heterogeneity influences bioprocess performance in ways that until date are not completely elucidated. In order to account for this phenomenon in the design and operation of bioprocesses, reliable analytical and mathematical descriptions are required. We present an overview of the single cell analysis, and the mathematical modeling frameworks that have potential to be used in bioprocess control and optimization, in particular for microbial processes. In order to be suitable for bioprocess monitoring, experimental methods need to be high throughput and to require relatively short processing time. One such method used successfully under dynamic conditions is flow cytometry. Population balance and individual based models are suitable modeling options, the latter one having in particular a good potential to integrate the various data collected through experimentation. This will be highly beneficial for appropriate process design and scale up as a more rigorous approach may prevent a priori unwanted performance losses. It will also help progressing synthetic biology applications to industrial scale

Sociedades cooperativas de banca alternativa

Actualmente se evidencia en España una reorientación solidaria de una parte de la oferta de servicios financieros, que prioriza el compromiso social de su actividad sin descuidar, por ello, la viabilidad económica. Este modelo de hacer banca se identifica bajo la denominación genérica de banca alternativa, ética, social o solidaria y constituye un planteamiento bancario distinto del enfoque tradicional. Este trabajo pretende destacar la idoneidad de la sociedad cooperativa para el desarrollo de banca alternativa. Su naturaleza jurídica y sus normas de funcionamiento permiten potenciar la utilidad social de la actividad bancaria. La dualidad de sus socios elimina eslabones de la cadena de intermediación y destina los recursos propios a la financiación de proyectos socialmente responsables, en un camino en el que la economía financiera y la economía real avanzan muy próximos.Currently in Spain we are witnessing an ethical reorientation of a part of the offer of financial services which gives priority to the social commitment without losing economic viability. This banking model known as alternative banking also known as ethical, social or sustainable banking is distinct from traditional banking. This work wishes to highlight the ideal conditions of cooperatives for the development of alternative banking. Its legal nature and its functional regulations enhance the social utility of the banking activity. The double condition of the partners eliminates intermediaries and allocates directly equity towards financing socially responsible projects, in a way that the financial economy and the real economy advance together.Alternative banking; Credit co-operatives; Financial intermediation; Flexibility; Supervision Est manifeste actuellement en Espagne une réorientation solidaire d'une partie d'offre de services financiers que prioriza le compromis social de son activité sans négliger, par cela, la viabilité économique. Ce modèle de faire une banque s'identifie sous la dénomination générique de banque alternative, éthique, sociale ou solidaire et constitue une approche bancaire différente de l'objectif traditionnel. Ce travail cherche à détacher l'aptitude de la société coopérative pour le développement de banque alternative. Sa nature juridique et ses normes de fonctionnement permettent de promouvoir l'utilité sociale de l'activité bancaire. La dualité de ses associés élimine des chaînons de la chaîne d'intermédiation et destine les propres recours au financement de projets socialement responsables, dans un chemin dans lequel l'économie financière et l'économie réelle avancent très proches

Assessment, Design and Implementation of a Private Cloud for MapReduce Applications

[Abstract] Scientific computation and data intensive analyses are ever more frequent. On the one hand, the MapReduce programming model has gained a lot of attention for its applicability in large parallel data analyses and Big Data applications. On the other hand, Cloud computing seems to be increasingly attractive in solving these computing problems that demand a lot of resources. This paper explores the potential symbiosis between MapReduce and Cloud Computing, in order to create a robust and scalable environment to execute MapReduce workflows regardless of the underlaying infrastructure. The main goal of this work is to provide an easy-to-install interface, so as non-expert scientists can deploy a suitable testbed for their MapReduce experiments on local resources of their institution. Testing cases were performed in order to evaluate the required time for the whole executing process on a real cluster

Use of polar coordinates for improving the measurement of resistant cross-sections of existing timber elements combining laser scanner and drilling resistance tests

Historic timber structures typically have elements with irregular cross-sections often with decayed segments, making of extreme importance to have proper methods to obtain the resistant cross-section. Knowing as accurately as possible the measurements of the resistant section of these beams is fundamental for the structural safety analysis. Small changes on the size and geometry of the resistant cross-section may be fundamental in an intervention decision process. In this work an algorithm was created that allows to obtain the geometry of the resistant section of existing timber beams by use of data obtained by laser scanning of the external apparent sections combined with drilling resistance tests. The algorithm is based on polar coordinates and proved to obtain more reliable resistant cross-sections than those obtained solely by common practice using drilling resistant tests. The developed algorithm was calibrated with a laboratory beam and subsequently applied and validated in a case study.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the LASTING project (grant RTI2018-095893-B-C21) and SIRMA project, which is co-financed by the INTERREG Atlantic Area Programme through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with application code: EAPA_826/2018. Also, acknowl- edge to the University of Minho for the stay made by Manuel Cabaleiro (35563149C) in the academic year 2020-2021. This work was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R & D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE) , under reference UIDB/04029/2020. Funding for open access charge: Universidade de Vigo/CISUG

El paisaje tecnológico: relaciones entre la imagen secuenciada y el paisaje diseñado a través del concepto de palimpsesto

Esta investigación posee un carácter hipotético. Se hace manifiesto desde el principio el esfuerzo por evitar una línea de exposición categórica. Más bien se tiende a la apertura, a la flexibilidad y a la inclusión, haciendo hincapié en la importancia de la variabilidad, no sólo como materia perteneciente a la ontología de las computadoras, sino como creciente tendencia cultural. - Objetivos y resultados El propósito de este trabajo es el de establecer un análisis comparativo entre dos mundos no cotejados hasta el momento: el del paisaje diseñado y el de las tecnologías. En concreto las de la imagen audiovisual dentro del ámbito del projection mapping, un método de proyección que proporciona una realidad “mixta,” consistente en la convivencia en tiempo real de un entorno virtual y uno físico. El objetivo es comprobar si existen conceptos y características fundamentales del paisaje diseñado análogos a los conceptos y las características esenciales de la imagen secuenciada; y en los casos en los que así sea, identificarlos y relacionarlos, utilizando como hilo conductor la idea de palimpsesto. Entendemos un palimpsesto como un mecanismo en el que se da una sucesión de etapas o estados, ya sea en cuanto a su evolución en el tiempo, a su movimiento en el espacio o a cualquier otro tipo de acción secuenciada, física, ideológica o ambas combinadas; en el que todos estos pasos tienen cabida y en el que cada pisada no existiría sin su predecesora. Proponemos la hipótesis de que paisaje y tecnología comparten cualidades, procesos, usos y mecanismos, elementos que las relacionan en su devenir histórico y social..

HBIM application in historic timber structures: A systematic review

Despite the recent significant increase on the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the cultural heritage field, its application on heritage timber structures aiming at their conservation and assessment has not yet been fully established. Comparing with other construction materials, timber presents singular features that must be addressed in order to carry out a proper condition assessment. For this reason, this review summarizes existing works on historical timber structures using Historical BIM (HBIM), focusing not only on various geometric surveying and 3D modelling methods, but also on nongeometric information included in the model which are especially related with conservation, testing, and monitoring. In addition, this work illustrates the effectiveness increase given by a structural analysis, as to assess structural heath, after being implemented within a HBIM-based framework. To that aim, a global framework is proposed where the development and implementation level of different analysis stages are described.This work has been supported by Xunta de Galicia through grant GRC-ED431C 2020/01. This work was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 769255. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein

Assessment, Design and Implementation of a Private Cloud for MapReduce Applications

Scientific computation and data intensive analyses are ever more frequent. On the one hand, the MapReduce programming model has gained a lot of attention for its applicability in large parallel data analyses and Big Data applications. On the other hand, Cloud computing seems to be increasingly attractive in solving these computing problems that demand a lot of resources. This paper explores the potential symbiosis between MapReduce and Cloud Computing, in order to create a robust and scalable environment to execute MapReduce workflows regardless of the underlaying infrastructure. The main goal of this work is to provide an easy-to-install interface, so as non-expert scientists can deploy a suitable testbed for their MapReduce experiments on local resources of their institution. Testing cases were performed in order to evaluate the required time for the whole executing process on a real clusterS

ASSESSMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY DESIGN ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION ENVIRONMENT INCLUDING RAMS AND COST DISCIPLINES

The aim of the present paper is to assess the effect of new technologies on the whole aircraft product including its costs, reliability and maintainability characteristics. Several studies have been conducted dealing with the preliminary evaluation of Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety (RAMS) of conventional aircraft. They provide a very effective method to preliminary estimate RAMS characteristics but their employment is not completely suitable for the analysis of unconventional configurations adopting new technologies. This paper aims at evaluating how the aircraft costs and RAMS characteristics are affected by new structures material, natural laminar flow wing technology and unconventional actuator system (electro-hydrostatic actuators), hence an update of the state of the art models is needed. This evaluation is performed by means of a setup and execution of a Multidisciplinary Design Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) workflow. The MDAO environment includes the aircraft conceptual design, aircraft performance, structure design, engine design, on-board systems design, RAMS and maintenance cost modules. The RAMS module is used to obtain the failure rates and maintenance effort (in terms of maintenance man hour per flight hour) at subsystem level. The cost module is based on a new maintenance cost model able to estimate the operating cost of the different aircraft variants. The selected new technologies are applied to a regional jet developed within the framework of AGILE research project. For each technology, a different variant of this aircraft is analyzed. Results show that some important saves are reached both in terms of maintenance and fuel cost when new technologies are applied