Applying a GIS to the underwater archaeology of Menorca

[EN] A Geographic Information System (GIS), as a software used to integrate and relate spatial variables, has tools which are widely used in archaeology, either on the land surface, to analyse the spatial distribution of artefacts/settlements, or on the marine subsurface, to explore and analyse underwater elements, providing valuable data. The Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) Archaeological Chart of underwater references currently consists of 285 elements that correspond to wrecks, anchorages and isolated finds from different chronological periods. The developed GIS was intended to define for the next few years the lines of research that can be promoted, as well as to recommend the vestiges that deserve to be protected. The Department of Culture of the Menorca Insular Council has, among its priority lines, the knowledge related to the underwater archaeology of the island; a primary objective list includes preserving, protecting, investigating and disseminating it. With this purpose, in recent decades, projects and works have been promoted aimed at knowing more precisely about the submerged archaeological heritage, drawing up inventories and charts that have been inserted in the Underwater Menorca Archaeological Map. The GIS project was developed to structure and analyse the information that can be extracted from the archaeological map, relating to the themes that have been incorporated from the variety of factors affecting the geophysical and environmental aspects associated with the Menorca maritime archaeology. This study focused on developing the information from the underwater archaeological map, and providing the most likely areas with findings for future surveys and research, shown as optimal areas. The archaeological chart was georeferenced and digitised into a shapefile layer to create a geographical database that could be managed in the ArcGis software. Environmental conditions of the Menorca underwater, such as wind direction, wind speed, meteotsunamis, underwater geology and oceanic currents, were analysed and spatially related using the GIS to predict potential best areas for the anchorage process. An approximation to a shoreline reconstruction (for 1000 BC period) was conducted through palaeoenvironmental interpretation, considering geomorphological features from aerial photography, erosion rates and variations in the past sea levels. Thanks to the GIS analyses, it was possible to define both the excellent conditions of some marine areas that were probably used as anchorages since ancient times, and the most likely coastline of the island that may offer new underwater remains. The analysis was adjusted to the landscape reconstruction, which was also helpful for establishing those certain optimal areas, but according to the territorial features estimated for various periods. Based on the spatial analysis of the archaeological chart underwater elements and on the analysis of optimal areas, possible anchorage places have been established, such as Ses Fontanelles, La Mola de Fornells and Cala Tamarells, where punic remains could be found. A series of areas with a higher probability of locating new underwater remains have been determined. The northern shore area, from Cap de Favaritx to Illes Bledes, was classified as the best area for finding new underwater remains. Inner bays such as Addaia, Favaritx or Fornells were the second-best area for finding remains. Stagnant waters areas, like Albufera d'es Grau or Cala n Bosch, would deserve special recognition and surveys since it is possibly one of the most inhabited areas north of the port of Mahón, due to the natural resources that lie in this territory. The GIS analysis of the findings distribution supported by palaeoenvironmental research appears to be a promising approach for underwater analysis; it provides reasonable estimations for future surveys. Constant underwater archaeological map updating and, consequently, completing the analysis of this study should be done periodically in order to classify newly surveyed areas.[ES] La Carta Arqueológica de Menorca (Islas Baleares, España) de temática subacuática se compone actualmente de 285 elementos que corresponden a pecios, fondeaderos y hallazgos aislados de diferentes periodos cronológicos. La plataforma del Sistema de Información Geográfica (SIG) que hemos diseñado pretendía definir para los próximos años, las líneas de investigación que se pudieran promover, así como recomendar los vestigios que merecen ser protegidos.   El Departamento de Cultura del Consell Insular de Menorca tiene, entre sus líneas prioritarias, el conocimiento relacionado con la arqueología subacuática de la isla, con el objetivo principal de preservarlo, protegerlo, investigarlo y difundirlo. Con este propósito, en las últimas décadas, se han promovido proyectos y trabajos encaminados a conocer con mayor precisión el patrimonio arqueológico sumergido, elaborando inventarios y catálogos que se han ido insertando en la Carta Arqueológica de Menorca. La elaboración del proyecto de SIG ha querido estructurar y poner en orden la información que puede extraerse de la Carta Arqueológica, relacionándose a las temáticas que se han incorporado de los factores que condicionan los aspectos geofísicos y medioambientales asociados a la arqueología marítima de Menorca. Los análisis calculados en el SIG, han permitido definir las excelentes condiciones de algunas zonas marinas, que pudieron utilizarse como fondeaderos desde la antigüedad, y el litoral más probable de la isla, que puede ofrecer nuevos vestigios subacuáticos.El proyecto ha sido subvencionado por el Consell Insular de Menorca mediante el expediente público C4300-2020-000195.Contreras Rodrigo, F.; Fernández Sánchez, A. (2022). Aplicación de un SIG a la arqueología subacuática de Menorca. Virtual Archaeology Review. 13(27):135-155. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2022.16917OJS135155132

Empleo de técnicas de estudio y éxito académico en estudiantes del Grado de Maestro de la Universidad de Alicante

Es frecuente que al alumnado universitario, se le presuponga unas adecuadas competencias y habilidades a la hora del estudio de contenidos académicos. En parte infundada esta presunción, por la trayectoria que este tiene hasta llegar a la universidad. Es esperable que nuestro alumnado haga una utilización adecuada de estrategias de aprendizaje, adaptadas estas al nivel de enseñanzas educativas en el que se encuentra y a los contenidos de estudio. Diversas estrategias de aprendizaje, debieran formar parte de su repertorio de hábitos de estudio frente a las diferentes formas de evaluación de conocimiento. Pero, a tenor de los resultados encontrados en el rendimiento de nuestro alumnado, nos preguntamos si realmente esto es así. Por lo tanto, nos proponemos con nuestro trabajo, averiguar que estrategias de aprendizaje utilizan nuestros alumnos de 1º de Grado y constatar si estas influyen en su rendimiento académico. Para ello empleamos un instrumento específico para el nivel universitario, el ACRA, que se ha administrado a dos grupos-clase de primero de Grado de Maestro en Educación Primaria

Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Ophthalmological Assistance in the Emergency Department at a Spanish Primary Level Hospital.

Purpose. To analyze the changes in ophthalmological emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown at a Spanish primary level hospital. Methods. The number and type of emergencies attended in the emergency department of Hospital Universitario del Henares between March 10 and August 31, 2020 (COVID-19 cohort) were compared with the emergencies attended during the same period of 2019 (pre-COVID-19 cohort). Data on the diagnosis, patient age, and gender was retrospectively collected from the electronic medical records of the hospital. The different diagnoses were organized into “clusters,” which include those conditions that affect the same ocular tissue and that have similar clinical expression. Results. The number of ophthalmological emergencies during the study period was 841, compared to 1343 during the same month of 2019, which represents a reduction of 37.4%. The percentage reduction in each cluster was as follows: conjunctiva (−65.4%), cornea (−35.8%), uveitis (−3.6%), eyelid and orbital and lacrimal (−35.5%), strabismus (−60%), neuro-ophthalmology (−11.8%), retina (−10.6%), cataract (+16.4%), glaucoma (−37%), and miscellaneous (−45.1%). The number of people seen with viral conjunctivitis decreased by −87.1% compared to 2019. Patients with complications due to conjunctivitis also decreased: patients with pseudomembranes dropped from 16 to 4 cases and patients with corneal subepithelial infiltrates from 9 to 3 cases. Conclusions. Most diagnostic clusters showed a similar decrease. Clusters that included vision-threating conditions (retina, neuro-ophthalmology, and uveitis) remained mostly stable. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the diagnosis of adenoviral conjunctivitis decreased nearly 10 times. This fact may represent a decrease in the transmission of these infections.post-print1182 K

Used Tires as Fuel in Clinker Production: Economic and Environmental Implications

[EN] This work analyzes how gases emitted during the manufacture of clinker vary in a cement plant using two types of fuel: petroleum coke and unusable tires (UTs). This study is based on a case study using real time data on more than 40 process variables. Gases are analyzed from two points of the production process: from the sintering kiln, where the main focus of emissions to the atmosphere is by chimney, and from the preheater. The variation of CO and NOx depending on the oxygen and fuel type is studied. The SO2 levels are also analyzed and a decrease was observed when using the UTs. The quality of the clinker is compared according to the fuel type. The results are analyzed, on the one hand, by the quality of the clinker, determined by the content of the majority (C3S, alite) and minority (free CaO) phases, and, on the other hand, by the kiln sintering temperature, the most influential parameter in the productive process. It is verified that the clinker quality is maintained regardless of the type of fuel used. Therefore, the use of UTs as fuel could generate important economic and environmental benefits for cement companies.SIThis research was funded by project ULE 2015-T-98 and the research ground of Materials and Geological Engineering (INGEOMAT)

Prokaryotic diversity and biogeochemical characteristics of benthic microbial ecosystems at La Brava, a hypersaline lake at Salar de Atacama, Chile

Benthic microbial ecosystems of Laguna La Brava, Salar de Atacama, a high altitude hypersaline lake, were characterized in terms of bacterial and archaeal diversity, biogeochem-istry, (including O2 and sulfide depth profiles and mineralogy), and physicochemical characteristics. La Brava is one of several lakes in the Salar de Atacama where microbial communities are growing in extreme conditions, including high salinity, high solar insolation, and high levels of metals such as lithium, arsenic, magnesium, and calcium. Evaporation creates hypersaline conditions in these lakes and mineral precipitation is a characteristic geomicrobiological feature of these benthic ecosystems. In this study, the La Brava non-lithifying microbial mats, microbialites, and rhizome-associated concretions were compared to each other and their diversity was related to their environmental conditions. All the ecosystems revealed an unusual community where Euryarchaeota, Crenarchaeota, Acetothermia, Firmicutes and Planctomycetes were the most abundant groups, and cyanobacteria, typically an important primary producer in microbial mats, were relatively insignificant or absent. This suggests that other microorganisms, and possibly novel pathways unique to this system, are responsible for carbon fixation. Depth profiles of O2 and sulfide showed active production and respiration. The mineralogy composition was calcium carbonate (as aragonite) and increased from mats to microbialites and rhizome-associated concretions. Halite was also present. Further analyses were performed on representative microbial mats and microbialites by layer. Different taxonomic compositions were observed in the upper layers, with Archaea dominating the non-lithifying mat, and Planctomycetes the microbialite. The bottom layers were similar, with Euryarchaeota, Crenarchaeota and Planctomycetes as dominant phyla. Sequences related to Cyanobacteria were very scarce. These systems may contain previously uncharacterized community metabolisms, some of which may be contributing to net mineral precipitation. Further work on these sites might reveal novel organisms and metabolisms of biotechnological interest.Centro de Investigaciones Geológica

Proyecto de prescripción de actividad física en pacientes con movilidad reducida y Diabetes Mellitus tipo dos

Tesis (Profesor de Educación Física para la Enseñanza Básica, Licenciado en Educación)El proyecto consiste en la elaboración de una batería de ejercicios enfocados en usuarios que padecen diabetes mellitus tipo dos y presentan movilidad reducida. Las carencias en cuanto a movilidad conllevan a que presenten altos niveles de sedentarismo, eso produce como resultado una disminución en el uso de insulina disponible en sangre. El propósito del proyecto es mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas mediante ejercicios físicos guiados, que posibiliten la disminución del sedentarismo. Conjuntamente se manejará una estrategia que se utilizará para motivar a los pacientes a la realización del proyecto constara con charlas explicativas y motivacionales una vez cada dos semanas, adicional a esto se les entregarán sus resultados del hemoglucotest para que durante cada sesión vayan comprobando sus mejoras tras el ejercicio. El proyecto tiene una duración de 15 semanas durante las cuales se intervendrá a los sujetos, la intervención se realizará 3 días por semana, con una duración de 45 minutos cada sesión. Este proyecto tendrá como costo $1.983.345, su financiamiento será proporcionado por cada estudiante significando esto un 38,7% del gasto, el equipamiento de salud será solventado por el establecimiento de salud equivalente al 61,3% de los gastos total

Diseño del sistema de gestión sustentable de playa grande en el corregimiento de Taganga, Santa Marta – Magdalena, Colombia

  Abstract Certification of tourist destinations such as sustainable destinations is a new subject in Colombia, which is based on Sectoral Technical Standards, having a specific pattern for each type of destination to certify (indoor or beach). For this research project, the requirements were established in the Technical Standard for Sustainable Tourism - NTS TS 001-2: 2007, which is the corresponding certification standard for beach destinations. This standard aims to improve, through the implementation of a management system, not only the conditions in the environmental field, but there is a crosscutting between cultural socio-environmental component, the economy and security, contributing to progress of society that engages directly with tourism. Its main purpose is to create a culture of excellence in providing services to consumers, conducted in tourist destinations

Emotion Regulation and Excess Weight: Impaired Affective Processing Characterized by Dysfunctional Insula Activation and Connectivity

Emotion-regulation strategies are understood to influence food intake. This study examined the neurophysiological underpinnings of negative emotion processing and emotion regulation in individuals with excess weight compared to normal-weight controls. Fifteen participants with excess-weight (body mass index >25) and sixteen normal-weight controls (body mass index 18-25) performed an emotion-regulation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants were exposed to 24 negative affective or neutral pictures that they were instructed to Observe (neutral pictures), Maintain (sustain the emotion elicited by negative pictures) or Regulate (down-regulate the emotion provoked by negative pictures through previously trained reappraisal techniques). When instructed to regulate negative emotions by means of cognitive reappraisal, participants with excess weight displayed persistently heightened activation in the right anterior insula. Decreased responsivity was also found in right anterior insula, the orbitofrontal cortex and cerebellum during negative emotion experience in participants with excess weight. Psycho-physiological interaction analyses showed that excess-weight participants had decreased negative functional coupling between the right anterior insula and the right dlPFC, and the bilateral dmPFC during cognitive reappraisal. Our findings support contentions that excess weight is linked to an abnormal pattern of neural activation and connectivity during the experience and regulation of negative emotions, with the insula playing a key role in these alterations. We posit that ineffective regulation of emotional states contributes to the acquisition and preservation of excess weight