Background and approach to a definition of smart buildings

There is no possibility of finding a single reference about domotics in the first half of the 20th century. The best known authors and those who have documented this discipline, set its origin in the 1970’s, when the x-10 technology began to be used, but it was not until 1988 when Larousse Encyclopedia decided to include the definition of "Smart Building". Furthermore, even nowadays, there is not a single definition widely accepted, and for that reason, many other expressions, namely "Intelligent Buildings" "Domotics" "Digital Home" or "Home Automation" have appeared to describe the automated buildings and homes. The lack of a clear definition for "Smart Buildings" causes difficulty not only in the development of a common international framework to develop research in this field, but it also causes insecurity in the potential user of these buildings. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to propose a definition of the expression “Smart Buildings” that satisfactorily describes the meaning of this discipline. To achieve this aim, a thorough review of the origin of the term itself and the historical background before the emergence of the phenomenon of domotics was conducted, followed by a critical discussion of existing definitions of the term "Smart Buildings" and other similar terms. The extent of each definition has been analyzed, inaccuracies have been discarded and commonalities have been compared. Throughout the discussion, definitions that bring the term "Smart Buildings" near to disciplines such as computer science, robotics and also telecommunications have been found

An infrared study of galactic OH/IR stars. I. An optical/near-IR atlas of the Arecibo sample

In this paper we present optical and near-infrared finding charts, accurate astrometry (~1") and single-epoch near-infrared photometry for 371 IRAS sources, 96% of those included in the so-called Arecibo sample of OH/IR stars (Eder et al. 1988; Lewis et al. 1990a; Chengalur et al. 1993). The main photometric properties of the stars in the sample are presented and discussed as well as the problems found during the process of identification of the optical/near-infrared counterparts. In addition, we also identify suitable reference stars in each field to be used for differential photometry purposes in the future. We find that 39% of the sources (144 in number) have no optical counterpart, 8 of them being invisible even at near infrared wavelengths. The relative distribution of sources with and without optical counterpart in the IRAS two-colour diagram and their characteristic near infrared colours are interpreted as the consequence of the increasing thickness of their circumstellar shells. Among the objects not detected at near infrared wavelengths four non-variable sources are proposed to be heavily obscured post-AGB stars which have just very recently left the AGB. Eight additional objects with unusually bright and/or blue near-infrared colours are identified as candidate post-AGB stars and/or proto-planetary nebulae.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, for associated finding charts see: http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/aa/full/2005/08/aa1709/FINDING_CHARTS/are cibo_index.htm

Interpersonal perceptions of adverse peer experiences in first-grade students

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify which adverse peer experiences better predict perceived negative peer relationships among elementary school first graders according to sex. The peer experiences examined were peer rejection, peer victimization, and mutual antipathy; the interpersonal perceptions studied were perceived peer victimization, dyadic meta-perception of peer disliking, and loneliness. Methods: The participants were 809 children (Mage = 6.4 years, SD = 0.32; ngirls = 412, 50.9%) enrolled in 35 first-grade classes from 15 schools in 4 Spanish regions: Valencia, n = 276, 34.1%; Balearic Islands, n = 140, 17.3%; Andalusia, n = 199, 24.6%; Castile-Leon, n = 194, 24%. We calculated sex differences in peer experiences and interpersonal perceptions by means of one-way ANOVA for means differences and Fisher’s r-to-z transformation for correlations differences. We used a multilevel regression analysis (nesting variables: class and region) to determine whether the associations between each peer experiences and each perception were unique. Results: Each adverse peer relationship predicted each interpersonal perception differentially. Peer victimization was a good predictor of the three interpersonal perceptions, and the only predictor of perceived peer victimization. Peer rejection predicted loneliness, whereas mutual antipathies predicted dyadic meta-perception of peer disliking, although more so among girls. A significant effect at region level was found but not at class level. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that research should take into account the different levels of the social peer system when analyzing peer experiences within the classroom context. The study contributes to sensitize teachers about the greater responsiveness of 6-year-old girls to adverse peer experiences, and it could be useful for designing interventions that would help children oppose rejection and empower active bystanders to fight against peer mistreatment.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España EDU2012-35930Universitat Jaume I P1-1A2012-0

Manual for inspection of sprayers in use and PRITEAF, dedicated software for inspection of sprayers: success tools developed for the inspector’s training process in Spain

Software dedicated to inspection of sprayers in use has been developed with the aim to facilitate the accomplishment of the mandatory requirements from EU Directive for a Sustainable Use of Pesticides, specifically those concerning the inspection of sprayers in use. The software- PRITEAF- has been developed according to the European standards EN 13790 concerning mandatory inspection of sprayers in use and it is ready to be used not only for inspectors among all the EU members but also for training purposes all over the world. The software is ready to be on line –after minor arrangements - with the recently approved new international inspection standards ISO 16122, and its main features are: to facilitate the sprayer’s inspection procedure, to manage, storage and transfer all the information to the official bodies in charge of the procedure, and to be used as a support tool to improve the training activities during the process, according the European Directive 2009/128/CE for a Sustainable Use of Pesticides. For this purpose, PRITEAF has been designed for three different types of users: inspection teams, inspection workshops and regional authorities. PRITEAF has been developed using the File Maker Pro package and it is composed of three databases – inspections activities, database on sprayers already inspected, and owners or official responsible for the agricultural activity. The software is completed with specific modules for data acquisition and for generating official reports, files and communications. For its implementation, PRITEAF uses specific hardware (a PC server, a tablet and local Wi-Fi) necessary to ensure proper data collection in the field. After data collection, the software generates an official inspection report and an inspection certificate, as required by law. Using PRITEAF reduces inspection time by 33% compared to traditional sprayer inspection systems. Following its validation, PRITEAF has been made available to regional authorities and inspection workshops across Spain, and is also being used to train all inspection teams in the country. More than 800 inspectors have been officially trained using the developed software, resulting in an interesting tool to improve the daily activities to be executed in all the inspection’s workshops in Europe

Ultradiscrete kinks with supersonic speed in a layered crystal with realistic potentials

We develop a dynamical model of the propagating nonlinear localized excitations, supersonic kinks, in the cation layer in a silicate mica crystal. We start from purely electrostatic Coulomb interaction and add the Ziegler-Biersack-Littmark short-range repulsive potential and the periodic potential produced by other atoms of the lattice. This approach allows the construction of supersonic kinks which can propagate in the lattice within a large range of energies and velocities. The interparticle distances in the lattice kinks with high energy are physically reasonable values. The introduction of the periodic lattice potential results in the important feature that the kinks propagate with a single velocity and a single energy which are independent on the excitation conditions. The found kinks are ultra-discrete and can be described with the "magic wave number" $q\simeq 2\pi/3a$, which was previously revealed in the nonlinear sinusoidal waves and supersonic kinks in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice. The extreme discreteness of the supersonic kinks, with basically two particles moving at the same time, allows the interpretation of their double-kink structure. The energy of the supersonic kinks is between the possible source of $^{40}$K recoil in beta decay and the energy necessary for the ejection of an atom at the border as has been found experimentally.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure

On the evolutionary connection between AGB stars and PNe

The `O-rich AGB sequence' is a sequence of colours describing the location of O-rich AGB stars in the IRAS two-colour diagram [12]--[25] vs [25]--[60]. We propose an evolutionary scenario for this sequence in which all stars, independent of their progenitor mass, start the AGB phase in the blue part of the `O-rich AGB sequence' and then evolve toward redder colors, although only the more massive stars would reach the very end of the `O-rich AGB sequence'. The sources located in the blue part of the sequence are mainly Mira variables, whose mean period is increasing with the IRAS colours. Most of them will evolve into O-rich Type II (and III) Planetary Nebulae. Part of the stars located in the red part of the sequence will change their chemical composition from O-rich to C-rich during their evolution in the AGB phase, and might evolve into C-rich Type II Planetary Nebulae. Hot bottom burning may prevent the conversion to carbon stars of the rest of sources located in the red part of the sequence and they will end up as N-rich Type I Planetary Nebulae.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of the conference 'Planetary Nebulae as Astrophysical Tools', held in Gdansk, Poland (June 28 - July 2, 2005

La Pedagogía Hospitalaria.

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