Análisis del estado de la comunicación interna en una entidad socio-sanitaria

Este proyecto se ha realizado con el objetivo de conocer las opiniones y el grado de satisfacción de los trabajadores respecto a la comunicación interna en una entidad socio-sanitaria. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 18 trabajadores de los Servicios Centrales de dicha entidad, que respondieron a un cuestionario basado en el “Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire”(CSQ). Los resultados muestran que no existe correlación significativa entre las herramientas de comunicación ascendente y la satisfacción general de los trabajadores. Sin embargo, presentan una relación significativa entre el clima comunicativo y la satisfacción general con la comunicación interna (r = .55, p < .05), entre la cantidad y/o calidad de la información que se recibe sobre las responsabilidades del trabajo y la satisfacción global sobre la comunicación (r = .795, p < .01), entre la cantidad y/o calidad de la información que se recibe sobre los objetivos de la organización y la satisfacción general (r = .737, p < .01), junto al conocimiento de los problemas y la variable receptividad a la escucha (r = .615, p < .01)

Assessment of carbon black modified binder in a sustainable asphalt concrete mixture

Carbon black has been used as a modifier in conventional binders together with a relatively low percentage of SBS polymer. In addition, an Evotherm additive has been combined by the wet way with the aim of decreasing the manufacturing temperature of the asphalt mixtures. The impact of these two has been analysed with a DSR rheometer, showing an increase in stiffness. An Asphalt Concrete mixture was then designed using the experimental binder and the warm mix additive and compared with a reference mix, using a commercial polymer modified bitumen. The final experimental mixture was manufactured 15?°C cooler than usual, showing good mechanical performance despite the low percentage of natural aggregate, which was mostly composed of reclaimed asphalt and slag. Its stiffness and fatigue resistance were also investigated. Finally, the mixture was laid in an experimental road section under real conditions as proof of concept of the technology.The authors would like to acknowledge that the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration under Grant Agreement nº 605404

Evaluation of the rejuvenation of asphalt by means of oil-saturated porous aggregates

Road degradation is an increasing problem for assets managers. Roads deteriorate mainly due to the combination of different factors, such as temperature, climate and traffic loads. This causes the asphalt to age and, consequently, the bituminous mixtures become more fragile and microcracks begin to appear. To eliminate these degradation effects, the most widely used performed actions are based on the renovation of the pavement to achieve an asphalt surface under acceptable conditions of use. In order to reduce the application of corrective measures when the asphalt pavement is already facing significant defects, it is important to perform regular preventive maintenance that minimise the renovation works of the pavement and improves the asphalt durability. This paper shows a method for the continuous rejuvenation of asphalt, by analysing the evolution of asphalt mixture stiffness and the resistance to cracking on asphalt mixtures with rejuvenator added after having been submitted to a laboratory ageing protocol (short and long-term ageing). The rejuvenator was added to the mixtures following either of these two procedures: first, directly added to the mixture and the second, saturated in porous aggregates, what the authors call encapsulated. Results from this study demonstrate the effectiveness of the second method (encapsulated rejuvenator) as an original solution to achieve long-term performance mixtures with reduced cracking.The authors acknowledge the financial support from a National project, REPARA v2.0, funded by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) of the Spanish Government within the programme supporting the Strategic National Consortiums for Technical Investigation (CIEN).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Characterization and thermal performance evaluation of infrared reflective coatings compatible with historic buildings

Two infrared reflective coatings recently developed as part of the EFFESUS European research project are characterized and evaluated in this paper. Thermal performance, durability, compatibility with historic fabric, and reversibility are all analysed. The results of extensive research that include laboratory analysis of selected substrates, measurements on a large-scale traditional masonry mock-up, thermodynamic simulations, and finally application in to a real historic building in Istanbul, all support the potential of the new coatings to improve the thermal performance of historic buildings, in keeping with their visual integrity and cultural value. Besides their reflective properties, proven by the thermal stress reductions on the treated surfaces, the new coatings are characterized by low visual impact, easy application, material compatibility, and reversibility after application, as well as durability over time.The EFFESUS project has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No. 314678. The authors are grateful to Arianna Vivarelli for her contribution to the activities of the project

Photocatalytic lime render for indoor and outdoor air quality improvement

This article reports a novel photocatalytic lime render for indoor and outdoor air quality improvement that is composed of a lime binder and doped TiO2 (KRONOClean 7000®) nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were distributed throughout the bulk of the finishing render, instead of as a thin coating, thus ensuring the durability of the photocatalytic properties upon superficial damage. The physical properties of these renders were not affected by the addition of nanoparticles except in the case of surface area, which increased significantly. In terms of their photocatalytic activity, these novel lime renders were shown to degrade up to 12% NOx under UV light and up to 11% formaldehyde under visible light

Photocatalytic Lime Render for Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Improvement

This article reports a novel photocatalytic lime render for indoor and outdoor air quality improvement that is composed of a lime binder and doped TiO2 (KRONOClean 7000®) nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were distributed throughout the bulk of the finishing render, instead of as a thin coating, thus ensuring the durability of the photocatalytic properties upon superficial damage. The physical properties of these renders were not affected by the addition of nanoparticles except in the case of surface area, which increased significantly. In terms of their photocatalytic activity, these novel lime renders were shown to degrade up to 12% NOx under UV light and up to 11% formaldehyde under visible light.This research was funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under the Grant Agreement No. 609234 related to the ECO-SEE project: “Eco-innovative, Safe and Energy Efficient wall panels and materials for a healthier indoor environment” This work was partly developed within the scope of the project CICECO–Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020 & UIDP/50011/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. David Maria Tobaldi is overly grateful to Portuguese national funds (OE), through FCT, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of 29 August, changed by Law 57/2017, of 19 July

Comparative analysis of the performance of asphalt concretes modified by dry way with polymeric waste

An asphalt concrete has been modified by adding four polymeric wastes: polyethylene (PE) from micronized containers, polypropylene (PP) from ground caps, polystyrene (PS) from hangers and rubber from end-of-life tyres (ELT). These polymeric wastes were selected according to their availability, homogeneity and economic criteria considering the big amount of material required to build a road. The dry method has been used to modify the bituminous mixture due to its simplicity and the possibility to be carried out in any asphalt plant without important modifications. This is very important in order to spread the process and recycle the polymeric waste in the same place where it is produced, hence improving the environmental impact. The reference asphalt mixture and the four modified asphalt concretes have been analysed separately and their performance compared, evaluating their resistance against plastic deformation, stiffness, fatigue resistance and workability. The Master curve and the Black diagram of the mixtures were also calculated. The results showed that the use of polymeric wastes significantly increased the stiffness of the reference mixture in all cases, but especially when PE, PP and ELT were used. However, none of these materials significantly modifies the fatigue behaviour of the reference mixture. Regarding the resistance against plastic deformation, the use of both PE and ELT led to an increase of the resistance, whereas PP did not modify it and PS decreased it. As for workability, the energy of compaction of the modified mixtures did not suffer any important change. Therefore, according to the results obtained, PE, PP and ELT can be used to modify asphalt mixtures since they improve or do not change their properties. On the other hand, PS should be further studied because of the contradictory results obtained, and only when plastic deformation is not a problem this material could be used.POLYMIX is a project financed by the “LIFE+” program of the European Union, with reference number LIFE10 ENV ES 516. This project was carried out by a consortium coordinated by GITECO (Construction Technology Applied Research Group, University of Cantabria) and integrated by ACCIONA Infrastructures, AIMPLAS (Research Association of Plastic Materials), and VIA-M (Department of Road Construction from the Madrid Regional Government). The authors wish to acknowledge and especially thank Belén Monje and Eva Verdejo (AIMPLAS) and Raquel Casado and Elena Sáez (ACCIONA) for their collaboration

Genetically defined syngeneic mouse models of ovarian cancer as tools for the discovery of combination immunotherapy

Despite advances in immuno-oncology, the relationship between tumor genotypes and response to immunotherapy remains poorly understood, particularly in high-grade serous tubo-ovarian carcinomas (HGSC). We developed a series of mouse models that carry genotypes of human HGSCs and grow in syngeneic immunocompetent hosts to address this gap. We transformed murine-fallopian tube epithelial cells to phenocopy homologous recombination-deficient tumors through a combined loss of p53, Brca1, Pten, Nf1, and overexpression of Myc and p53R172H, which was contrasted to an identical model carrying wild-type Brca1. For homologous recombination-proficient tumors, we constructed genotypes combining loss of p53, and overexpression of Ccne1, Akt2, p53R172H, and driven by KRASG12V or Brd4 or Smarca4 overexpression. These lines form tumors recapitulating human disease, including genotype-driven responses to treatment, and enabled us to identify follistatin as a driver of resistance to checkpoint inhibitors. These data provide proof of concept that our models can identify new immunotherapy targets in HGSC

Innovative additives for asphalt mixtures : carbon black in warm mix asphalt and encapsulated rejuvenators in porous aggregates

RESUMEN: Las mezclas asfálticas son el material más utilizado para la construcción de carreteras, de ahí la importancia en diseñar mezclas con propiedades mejoradas para preservar los recursos naturales, a la vez que reducir los costes de mantenimiento y conservación de las carreteras. Son diversos los avances que se están llevando a cabo orientados a mejorar la sostenibilidad de la carretera, explorando materiales que pueden añadirse a la mezcla asfáltica y así mejorar su rendimiento y durabilidad. Entre estos materiales se encuentran los nanomateriales y los materiales autorreparables, que podríamos considerar como materiales de última generación. Es en estos materiales en los que se centra la presente tesis doctoral, cuyo objetivo es, por una parte, analizar la influencia del negro de carbono en el comportamiento mecánico de las mezclas bituminosas semicalientes y, por otra, evaluar la eficiencia de rejuvenecedores encapsulados en la mejora del envejecimiento de las mezclas. La investigación abarca el estudio de la respuesta de estos materiales incorporados a las mezclas bituminosas desde una fase inicial en laboratorio hasta su aplicación real. Fruto de la investigación se concluye que el uso de estos aditivos ofrece una ventaja competitiva frente a sus alternativas convencionales, posibilitando el salto tecnológico hacia una nueva generación de materiales para su empleo en mezclas bituminosas.ABSTRACT: Asphalt mixtures are the most widely used material for the construction of roads, thus the relevance of designing mixtures with improved properties to preserve natural resources at the same time of reducing costs of maintenance and conservation of roads. There are a number of advances being carried out in order to improve the sustainability of roads, exploring materials that may added to the asphalt road and so, enhancing their performance and durability. Among such materials there are nanomaterials and self-healing materials, which can be considered as last generation. It is on these materials that this doctoral thesis is focused on, whose objective is, on the one hand, to analyse the influence of the carbon black on the mechanical behaviour of the bituminous mixtures and, on the other hand, to assess the efficiency of encapsulated rejuvenating agents on the improvement of the aging of the mixtures. The research includes the study of the response of these materials incorporated to the bituminous mixtures from an initial stage in lab to its real application. As a result of the research, it is concluded that the use of these additives offers a competitive advantage in front of the conventional alternatives, making the technical leap possible towards a new generation of materials for their use in bituminous mixtures

Innovative additives for asphalt mixtures: carbon black in warm mix asphalt and encapsulated rejuvenators in porous aggregates

Tesis doctoral en período de exposición públicaDoctorado en Ingeniería Civi