Application of the DRAG Methodology to the Analysis of Road Safety in Spain and Evaluation of the Main Factors of Influence.

Application of the DRAG methodology to the analysis of road safety in Spain and evaluation of the main factors of influence

Monitoring the phenolic ripening of red grapes using a multisensor system based on metal-oxide nanoparticles

Producción CientíficaThe maturity of grapes is usually monitored by means of the sugar concentration. However, the assessment of other parameters such as the phenolic content is also important because the phenolic maturity has an important impact on the organoleptic characteristics of wines. In this work, voltammetric sensors able to detect phenols in red grapes have been developed. They are based on metal oxide nanoparticles (CeO2, NiO, and TiO2,) whose excellent electrocatalytic properties toward phenols allows obtaining sensors with detection limits in the range of 10−8 M and coefficients of variation lower than 7%. An electronic tongue constructed using a combination of the nanoparticle-based sensors is capable to monitor the phenolic maturity of red grapes from véraison to maturity. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) can be successfully used to discriminate samples according to the ripeness. Regression models performed using Partial Least Squares (PLS-1) have established good correlations between voltammetric data obtained with the electrochemical sensors and the Total Polyphenolic Index, the Brix degree and the Total Acidity, with correlation coefficients close to 1 and low number of latent variables. An advantage of this system is that the electronic tongue can be used for the simultaneous assessment of these three parameters which are the main factors used to monitor the maturity of grapes. Thus the electronic tongue based on metal oxide nanoparticles can be a valuable tool to monitor ripeness. These results demonstrate the exciting possible applications of metal oxide nanoparticles in the field of electronic tongues.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project AGL2015-67482- R)Junta de Castilla y Leon - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project VA011U16)Junta de Castilla y León (grant BOCYL-D-24112015-9

Bringing the circular economy closer to small and medium enterprises: improving water circularity without damaging plant productivity

From a shop-floor perspective, this piece of research addresses how lean practices (5S) simultaneously affect circular economy (CE) objectives and plant performance. Using the lens of the "Theory of Swift, Even Flow" and combining quasi-experiments with financial time series data, the case study proposed assesses the evolution of the Water Circularity Index and labor productivity in a lean environment. The paper highlights 5S practices that enable the creation of a proper working environment to simultaneously improve water efficiency and plant performance. In fact, the results obtained confirm that the join implementation of lean-CE initiatives can reduce water usage about 45% by improving the water circularity at the same time that labor productivity increases by 20%. These findings not only bring valuable lessons to managers, but also show policymakers a truly viable path in which firms (particularly small and medium-sized enterprises) may be more interested in the transition toward a more circular economy. There are also some side social implications to public budgets and their opportunity costs. The reduction in water withdrawal requirements will deliver additional savings regarding the reduction of daily operations and maintenance (i.e., monetary and environmental) and on future investments in public utilities (e.g., water and sewerage infrastructure).Ref. PREDOC 001/11/2018Xunta de Galicia | Ref. PREDOC 001/11/201

Análisis de los programas educativos del Parque Ecológico Chipinque, A.C.

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo evaluar los programas educativos del Parque Ecológico Chipinque (PECh), ubicado en Nuevo León, México. Utilizando un nivel de confianza de 90% para estimar el número de muestras necesarias. Se EDUARDO ALANÍS R., ESMERALDA MÉNDEZ V., LIBERTAD LEAL L. ENRIQUE JURADO Y., JAVIER JIMÉNEZ P., HORACIO VILLALÓN M., JOSÉ M. MATA B. 200 CIENCIA UANL / VOL. XII, No. 2, ABRIL - JUNIO 2009 analizó la percepción de los profesores responsables de grupos estudiantiles (de 6 a 24 años de edad) en relación a la duración y contenido del los programas, además del lenguaje y dominio del tema. Los resultados muestran una buena percepción de los programas impartidos en el PECh con una frecuencia de 85%. El 15% lo considera de calidad regular, y tan sólo 1% deficientes

Análisis de los programas educativos del Parque Ecológico Chipinque, A.C.

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo evaluar los programas educativos del Parque Ecológico Chipinque (PECh), ubicado en Nuevo León, México. Utilizando un nivel de confianza de 90% para estimar el número de muestras necesarias. Se analizó la percepción de los profesores responsables de grupos estudiantiles (de 6 a 24 años de edad) en relación a la duración y contenido de los programas, además del lenguaje y dominio del tema. Los resultados muestran una buena percepción de los programas impartidos en el PECh con una frecuencia de 85%. El 15% lo considera de calidad regular, y tan sólo 1% deficientes

From efficiency‐driven to low‐carbon operations management: Implications for labor productivity

We use 9 years of dynamic panel data (4,090 observations) to explore how decarbonization moderates the association between a selection of efficiency-driven shop-floor initiatives and labor productivity. The results are mixed: the relationship between materials efficiency and labor productivity is positively moderated by decarbonization, but the relationship between increases in inventory turnover or the average firm wage as a multiple of average sector wages are negatively moderated by decarbonization. Overall, we find that decarbonization leads to an average drop in sales of 1.8% per worker. This evidence therefore suggests that climate change goals impacting industrial firms might be difficult to accomplish if managers expect to achieve decarbonization for free with current organizational best practices.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. ECO2016‐76625‐RXunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2018/4

Unravelling the genetic basis of simplex Retinitis Pigmentosa cases

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is the most common form of inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) characterized ultimately by photoreceptors degeneration. Exhibiting great clinical and genetic heterogeneity, RP can be inherited as an autosomal dominant (ad), autosomal recessive (ar) and X-linked (xl) disorder. Although the relative prevalence of each form varies somewhat between populations, a major proportion (41% in Spain) of patients represent simplex cases (sRP) in which the mode of inheritance is unknown. Molecular genetic diagnostic is crucial, but also challenging, for sRP patients because any of the 81 RP genes identified to date may be causative. Herein, we report the use of a customized targeted gene panel consisting of 68 IRD genes for the molecular characterization of 106 sRP cases. The diagnostic rate was 62.26% (66 of 106) with a proportion of clinical refinements of 30.3%, demonstrating the high efficiency of this genomic approach even for clinically ambiguous cases. The high number of patients diagnosed here has allowed us to study in detail the genetic basis of the sRP. The solved sRP cohort is composed of 62.1% of arRP cases, 24.2% of adRP and 13.6% of xlRP, which implies consequences for counselling of patients and families.Union Europea PI15-01648España Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad PI11-02923Junta de Andalucía,Ministerio de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo CTS-166

Performance of artificial neural networks and genetical evolved artificial neural networks unfolding techniques

With the Bonner spheres spectrometer neutron spectrum is obtained through an unfolding procedure. Monte Carlo methods, Regularization, Parametrization, Least-squares, and Maximum Entropy are some of the techniques utilized for unfolding. In the last decade methods based on Artificial Intelligence Technology have been used. Approaches based on Genetic Algorithms and Artificial Neural Networks have been developed in order to overcome the drawbacks of previous techniques. Nevertheless the advantages of Artificial Neural Networks still it has some drawbacks mainly in the design process of the network, vg the optimum selection of the architectural and learning ANN parameters. In recent years the use of hybrid technologies, combining Artificial Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms, has been utilized to. In this work, several ANN topologies were trained and tested using Artificial Neural Networks and Genetically Evolved Artificial Neural Networks in the aim to unfold neutron spectra using the count rates of a Bonner sphere spectrometer. Here, a comparative study of both procedures has been carried out