Manual on prototyping methodology and multifunctional crop rotation

This VEGINECO manual is one of a series of publications resulting from the VEGINECO project. VEGINECO specialises in producing tested and improved multi-objective farming methods for key farming practices – e.g. crop rotation, fertilisation and crop protection – to facilitate the integration of potentially conflicting objectives like economy and ecology. This report consists of two parts. The first part describes the prototyping methodology and how it was used in the VEGINECO project (Chapters 2 - 5). The second part describes the methodology for developing crop rotation strategies with examples of its application under different conditions in Europe (Chapter 6 - 11)

Cation and anion effect on the biodegradability and toxicity of imidazolium-and choline-based ionic liquids

This work studies the effect of the cation and anion on the biodegradability and inhibition of imidazolium- and choline-based ionic liquids (ILs) using activated sludge. Six commercial ILs, formed by combination of 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium (Bmim+) and N,N,N-trimethylethanolammonium (Choline+) cations and chloride (Cl-), acetate (Ac-) and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (NTf2-) anions were evaluated, all representative counter-ions with markedly different toxicity and biodegradability. Inherent and fast biodegradability tests were used to evaluate both the microorganism inhibition and the IL biodegradability. In addition, the ecotoxicological response (EC50) of the ILs was studied using activated sludge and Vibrio fischeri (Microtox® test). Bmim+ and NTf2- can be considered as non-biodegradable, whereas aerobic microorganisms easily degraded Choline+ and Ac-. The biodegradation pattern of each cation/anion is nearly unaffected by counter-ion nature. Moreover, concentrations of CholineNTf2 higher than 50 mg/L caused a partial inhibition on microbial activity, in good concordance with its low EC50 (54 mg/L) measured by respiration inhibition test, which alerts on the negative environmental impact of NTf2-containing ILs on the performance of sewage treatment plantsThe authors greatly appreciate financial support from the Spanish MINECO (CTM2016–76564–R), Comunidad de Madrid (BIOTRES–CM, S2018/EMT–4344), and UAM–Santander (CEAL–AL/2015–08). I.F. Mena wishes to thank the MINECO and the ESF for a research grant (BES–2014–069986). The valuable contribution of J. Lemus is also acknowledge

Properties of aluminium nodules foamed with concentrated solar energy

Commercial aluminium foam filled structures and sandwich panels are available for structural applications. As alternative to these materials, small granular foamed pieces are proposed to fill structures as well as sandwich panels. On the present work, foam precursors are obtained by Powder Metallurgy (PM) route, using natural calcium carbonate as foaming agent instead of titanium hydride. Extruded precursor bars were cut into small pieces (around 4.5 mm long and 5mm in diameter). Foaming treatment was carried out on two different ways: electrical preheated furnace and by solar furnace. Foamed nodules presented a low cell size, density e.g. 0.67 g/cm3 to 0.88 g/cm3 and a height/diameter ratio between 0.72 and 0.84 as a function of precursor size. These properties depend on the foaming particle size, foaming cycle and precursor dimensions. Carbonate precursors are easily foamed by concentrated solar energy, due to the lower risk of cell collapse than with hydride precursors, resulting from cell stabilization by oxide skin formation into cells and a low degree of foamed nodules bonding

Tratamiento térmico de espumación de precursores de aluminio-silicio en horno solar de lecho fluidificado

La fabricación de espumas de aluminio de poro cerrado mediante técnicas pulvimetalúrgias, conlleva una etapa de calentamiento del material (precursor) hasta su fusión y la formación de la espuma. En el presente trabajo, como continuación de los trabajos con energía solar concentrada aplicada directamente a la espumación de precursores Al10Si+0.8%TiH2, se han sometido al tratamiento de espumación en un horno solar de lecho fluidificado con el objetivo de obtener un tratamiento en volumen más homogéneo y uniforme, de manera que se puedan determinar la viabilidad del tratamiento, el procedimiento y los tiempos de residencia necesarios para llevar a cabo este proceso de manera discontinua o preindustrial. Así se han obtenido espumas 0,68 g/cm3 de densidad sin colapso de poros o decantación de aluminio, si bien como consecuencia del calentamiento preferencial por la base del molde, las espumas obtenidas presentan un tamaño de poro ligeramente más grande en la base de la espuma

Short-term effects of traffic noise on suicides and emergency hospital admissions due to anxiety and depression in Madrid (Spain)

Studies show a relationship between some mental illnesses and suicides and different environmental variables such as air pollution, characterized by stress at the neuropsychological level. Despite the fact that traffic noise is also a powerful neurological stressor, studies that relate traffic noise to these mental disorders are practically non-existent. The objective is to analyze the short-term impact that chemical air pollution, traffic noise and thermal extremes have on emergency hospital admissions due to anxiety, dementia and suicides in the city of Madrid. This ecological, longitudinal study uses generalized linear models with Poisson link to analyze the short-term impact of the average daily concentrations of chemical pollutants (NO2, PM10, PM2.5, O3), noise pollution indicators (Leqday, Leqnight and Leq24h) and temperatures during heat waves (Theat) and cold waves (Tcold) on daily admissions to emergency services in the city of Madrid from 2010 to 2013 due to anxiety (ICD-10: F32), depression (ICD-10: F40-F42) and suicide (ICD-10: X60-X84). The results show no association between any of the chemical pollutants considered and the dependent variables studied. On the contrary, the values of Leqday are associated with the three variables analyzed in lag 0 for the cases of anxiety and depression and in lag 1 for suicides, with RR: 1.20 (IC95% 1.14 1.26), RR: 1.11 (IC95% 1.06 1.16) and RR: 1.17 (IC95% 1.05 1.30), respectively, for increases of 1 dB(A) in the values of Leqday. An association was also found between Tcold and admissions for anxiety in lag 9 with RR: 1.62 (IC95% 1.18 2.22) for increases of 1 °C in the values of Tcold. Traffic noise can be considered an important risk factor related to the illnesses and anxiety and depression and for suicides in the city of Madrid, although new studies are needed to support the findings shown here.The authors gratefully acknowledge Project ENPY 376/18 and Project ENPY 107/18 grants from the Institute of Health Carlos III.S

Vector Meson Dominance as the first order of a sequence of Pade Approximants

The use of Pade Approximants for the analysis of the pion vector form-factor is discussed and justified in this talk. The method is tested first in a theoretical model and applied then on real experimental data. It is shown how the Pade Approximants provide a convenient and reliable framework to incorporate both low and high energy information in the euclidean region, leading to improved determinations of the low energy parameters such as, e.g., the quadratic radius ^pi_V.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, espcrc2 style. To appear in the proceedings of the 14th International QCD Conference, QCD 08, 7-12 July 2008, Montpellier (France

Direct confocal lifetime measurements on rare-earth-doped media exhibiting radiation trapping

Radiation trapping occurs in rare-earth-doped active media with strong spectral overlap of luminescence and ground-state absorption. It is demonstrated experimentally that a confocal measurement mitigates the influence of radiation trapping on the measured luminescence lifetime, hence allowing for direct extraction of the lifetime from the measured decay curves. The radiation trapping effect is largely suppressed by probing a small sample volume and rejecting the photons reemitted from the unpumped region. This non-destructive measurement method is applied to ytterbium (Yb3+) activated potassium double tungstate crystalline layers with Yb3+ concentrations ranging from 1.2 at.% up to 76 at.% (~8 × 1019 – 5 × 1021 cm−3). The measured lifetime values are comparable to the results reported for Yb3+-doped potassium double tungstate powder diluted in liquid