Development of 3D printed microfluidic platforms for the automatic determination of key analytes in the process of recovering valuable metals from electronic devices. Novel strategies based on microfluidic analyzer for monitoring elevated concentrations of Fe(III), Fe(II), Cu(II) and Co(II) in bioreactors used for e-waste recycling

Pòster amb el resum gràfic de la tesi doctoral en curs, que forma part de l'exposició "Doctorat en Recursos Naturals i Medi Ambient de la UPC Manresa. 30 anys formant en recerca a la Catalunya Central 1992-2022".Postprint (published version

Performance and loads data from a hover test of a 0.658-scale V-22 rotor and wing

A hover test of a 0.658-scale model of a V-22 rotor and wing was conducted at the Outdoor Aerodynamic Research Facility at Ames Research Center. The primary objectives of the test were to obtain accurate measurements of the hover performance of the rotor system, and to measure the aerodynamic interactions between the rotor and wing. Data were acquired for rotor tip Mach numbers ranging from 0.1 to 0.73. This report presents data on rotor performance, rotor-wake downwash velocities, rotor system loads, wing forces and moments, and wing surface pressures

Using Fractional Clock-Period Delays in Telemetry Arraying

A set of special digital all-pass finite-impulse- response (FIR) filters produces phase shifts equivalent to delays that equal fractions of the sampling or clock period of a telemetry-data-processing system. These filters have been used to enhance the arraying of telemetry signals that have been received at multiple ground stations from spacecraft (see figure). Somewhat more specifically, these filters have been used to align, in the time domain, the telemetry-data sequences received by the various antennas, in order to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the composite telemetric signal obtained by summing the signals received by the antennas. The term arraying in this context denotes a method of enhanced reception of telemetry signals in which several antennas are used to track a single spacecraft. Each antenna receives a signal that comprises a sum of telemetry data plus noise, and these sum data are sent to an arraying combiner for processing. Correlation is the means used to align the set of data from one antenna with that from another antenna. After the data from all the antennas have been aligned in the time domain, they are all added together, sample by sample

Heritage Stone 4. The Piedra Berroqueña Region: Candidacy for Global Heritage Stone Province Status

The Piedra Berroqueña region in the Guadarrama Mountains, part of Spain’s Central Range, supplies most of the construction granite used in Madrid and surrounding provinces. The region’s quarrying towns preserve their granite extraction and hewing traditions. Historic quarries form part of the landscape, as do current extraction sites with huge reserves that guarantee a speedy supply of variously finished dimension stone. Piedra Berroqueña granite has been in use as a construction material since long before Roman times. Many important monuments, including San Lorenzo Royal Monastery at El Escorial (1563−1584), Madrid’s Royal Palace (1738−1764), the Alcalá Gate (1770−1778), the Prado Museum (1785−1808) and Puerta del Sol (one of Madrid’s main squares), owe their good state of preservation to the stone’s petrophysical characteristics and durability. The granite is also found in most of the city’s housing and streets, as well as in modern buildings the world over, such as the airport terminals at Athens and Cork, and the British consulate at Hong Kong.   Four major types of monzogranite occur including: biotitic monzogranites containing some cordierite, biotitic monzogranites containing some amphibole, biotitic monzogranites having no cordierite or amphibole, and leucogranites. The petrological, petrophysical and chemical properties of Piedra Berroqueña, which afford it great durability, vary little from one variety to another and depend on the degree of alteration. Physical and chemical characteristics were determined for five granites representative of historic or active quarries in the Piedra Berroqueña region: Alpedrete (monzogranite containing cordierite); Cadalso de los Vidrios (leucogranite); La Cabrera (monzogranite containing amphibole); Colmenar Viejo (monzogranites containing cordierite) and Zarzalejo (monzogranites having no cordierite or amphibole).    The Piedra Berroqueña region meets the requirements of a Global Heritage Stone Province, and this paper supports the Piedra Berroqueña region's application for recognition as such. This distinction would enhance public awareness of an area committed to quarrying and working the local stone.RÉSUMÉLa région de Piedra Berroqueña dans les monts de Guadarrama, qui fait partie de la chaine centrale d'Espagne, est la principale source du granite de construction utilisé à Madrid et dans les provinces environnantes. Les agglomérations de la région qui exploitent une carrière conservent leur tradition d’extraction et de taille du granite. Les anciennes carrières font maintenant partie du paysage, comme les sites d'extraction actuels avec d'énormes réserves ce qui garantit un approvisionnement rapide en pierre de taille de fini varié. Le granite de Piedra Berroqueña a été utilisé comme matériau de construction bien avant l'époque romaine. De nombreux monuments importants, y compris le monastère royal de San Lorenzo à l'Escurial (1563–1584), le palais royal de Madrid (1738–1764), la porte d'Alcalá (1770–1778), le musée du Prado (1785–1808) et la Puerta del Sol (une des principales places de Madrid), doivent leur bon état de conservation aux caractéristiques pétrophysiques et à la durabilité de la pierre. Ce granite se retrouve également dans la plupart des habitations et des rues de la ville, ainsi que dans des bâtiments modernes du monde entier, tels que les terminaux de l'aéroport d'Athènes et de Cork, et le consulat britannique à Hong Kong.   Il est constitué de quatre grandes classes de monzogranite : des monzogranites à biotite contenant un peu de cordiérite, des monzogranites à biotite contenant un peu d’amphibole, des monzogranites à biotite ne contenant ni cordiérite ni amphibole, et les leucogranites. Les propriétés pétrographiques, pétrophysiques et chimiques des granites de Piedra Berroqueña qui leur assurent une grande durabilité, varient peu d'une variété à l'autre et dépendent du degré d'altération. Les caractéristiques physiques et chimiques ont été déterminées sur cinq granites représentatifs des carrières historiques et actives de la région de Piedra Berroqueña : Alpedrete (monzogranite à cordiérite); Cadalso de los Vidrios (leucogranite); La Cabrera (monzogranite à amphibole); Colmenar Viejo (monzogranite à cordiérite); et Zarzalejo (monzogranite sans cordiérite ni amphibole).   La région Piedra Berroqueña répond aux critères d'une Province pétrologique du patrimoine mondial, et le présent article documente la candidature de la région de Piedra Berroqueña à cet effet. Cette distinction permettrait d'améliorer la sensibilisation du public concernant une région spécialisée dans l’extraction et à la taille de la pierre locale.                                                      Traduit par le Traducteu

A Mean Field Model for the Quadrupolar Phases of UPd3_3

UPd$_3$ is known to exhibit four antiferroquadrupolar ordered phases at low temperatures. We report measurements of the magnetisation and magnetostriction of single crystal UPd$_3$, along the principal symmetry directions, in fields up to 33 T. These results have been combined with recent inelastic neutron and x-ray resonant scattering measurements to construct a mean field model of UPd$_3$ including up to fourth nearest neighbour interactions. In particular we find that anisotropic quadrupolar interactions must be included in order to explain the low temperature structures derived from the scattering data.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

Innovación, financiación y mercados financieros : análisis de las relaciones entre inversión en I+D, estructura de capital y señalización contable

Aquest treball té com a objectiu determinar l'existència de restriccions en el finançament de projectes empresarials de recerca i desenvolupament (R+D) i analitzar-ne les causes. Els resultats de la investigació mostren els fets següents: en primer lloc, hi ha restriccions financeres per a la realització d'inversions en R+D i es manifesten en la necessitat de les empreses de recórrer a recursos interns i a fons aliens a curt termini; en segon lloc, les restriccions esmentades fonamentalment sorgeixen a causa de dos factors, el desequilibri entre les característiques econòmiques de les inversions d'R+D i el comportament dels agents finançadors en els mercats de capitals, i l'existència d'asimetries d'informació entre agents gestors i finançadors; finalment, en tercer lloc, la formulació per part de les empreses de més informació comptable sobre l'R+D desenvolupada comporta la millora de la valoració de l'empresa en els mercats financers i, per tant, l'assignació de fons als processos d'innovació.El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo determinar la existencia de restricciones en la financiación de proyectos empresariales de investigación y desarrollo (I+D) y analizar sus causas. Los resultados de la investigación muestran los siguientes hechos: en primer lugar, existen restricciones financieras para la realización de inversiones en I+D y se manifiestan en la necesidad de las empresas de recurrir a recursos internos y a fondos ajenos a corto plazo; en segundo lugar, dichas restricciones emergen debido fundamentalmente a dos factores, el desequilibrio entre las características económicas de las inversiones de I+D y el comportamiento de los agentes financiadores en los mercados de capitales, y la existencia de asimetrías de información entre agentes gestores y financiadores; finalmente, en tercer lugar, la formulación por parte de las empresas de mayor información contable sobre la I+D desarrollada comporta la mejora de la valoración de la empresa en los mercados financieros y, por tanto, la asignación de fondos a los procesos de innovación.This working paper aims to determine what restrictions exist in terms of financing businesses' research and development (R+D) projects and analyse the causes. The results of the research show that: 1) there are financial restrictions on making investments in R+D and these are seen in companies' need to use internal resources or short-term third-party funding; 2) these restrictions emerge, fundamentally, as the result of two factors: the imbalance between the economic characteristics of investments in R+D and the behaviour of financial agents in the capitals markets, and the existence of information asymmetries between managing and financing agents, and 3) production by companies of more accounting information on the R+D undertaken leads to an improved valuation of the company in financial markets and, thus, the assignment of funds to innovation processes

Exhumation, crustal deformation, and thermal structure of the Nepal Himalaya derived from the inversion of thermochronological and thermobarometric data and modeling of the topography

Two end‐member kinematic models of crustal shortening across the Himalaya are currently debated: one assumes localized thrusting along a single major thrust fault, the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) with nonuniform underplating due to duplexing, and the other advocates for out‐of‐sequence (OOS) thrusting in addition to thrusting along the MHT and underplating. We assess these two models based on the modeling of thermochronological, thermometric, and thermobarometric data from the central Nepal Himalaya. We complement a data set compiled from the literature with 114 ^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar, 10 apatite fission track, and 5 zircon (U‐Th)/He thermochronological data. The data are predicted using a thermokinematic model (PECUBE), and the model parameters are constrained using an inverse approach based on the Neighborhood Algorithm. The model parameters include geometric characteristics as well as overthrusting rates, radiogenic heat production in the High Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) sequence, the age of initiation of the duplex or of out-of-sequence thrusting. Both models can provide a satisfactory fit to the inverted data. However, the model with out-of-sequence thrusting implies an unrealistic convergence rate ≥30 mm yr^(−1). The out-of-sequence thrust model can be adjusted to fit the convergence rate and the thermochronological data if the Main Central Thrust zone is assigned a constant geometry and a dip angle of about 30° and a slip rate of <1 mm yr^(−1). In the duplex model, the 20 mm yr^(−1) convergence rate is partitioned between an overthrusting rate of 5.8 ± 1.4 mm yr^(−1) and an underthrusting rate of 14.2 ± 1.8 mm yr^(−1). Modern rock uplift rates are estimated to increase from about 0.9 ± 0.31 mm yr^(−1) in the Lesser Himalaya to 3.0 ± 0.9 mm yr^(−1) at the front of the high range, 86 ± 13 km from the Main Frontal Thrust. The effective friction coefficient is estimated to be 0.07 or smaller, and the radiogenic heat production of HHC units is estimated to be 2.2 ± 0.1 µWm^(−3). The midcrustal duplex initiated at 9.8 ± 1.7 Ma, leading to an increase of uplift rate at front of the High Himalaya from 0.9 ± 0.31 to 3.05 ± 0.9 mm yr^(−1). We also run 3-D models by coupling PECUBE with a landscape evolution model (CASCADE). This modeling shows that the effect of the evolving topography can explain a fraction of the scatter observed in the data but not all of it, suggesting that lateral variations of the kinematics of crustal deformation and exhumation are likely. It has been argued that the steep physiographic transition at the foot of the Greater Himalayan Sequence indicates OOS thrusting, but our results demonstrate that the best fit duplex model derived from the thermochronological and thermobarometric data reproduces the present morphology of the Nepal Himalaya equally well

Performance and loads data from a hover test of a full-scale advanced technology XV-15 rotor

A hover test of a full-scale, composite, advanced technology XV-15 rotor was conducted at the Outdoor Aerodynamic Research Facility at Ames Research Center. The primary objective of the test was to obtain accurate measurements of the hover performance of this rotor system. Data were acquired for rotor tip Mach numbers ranging from 0.35 to 0.73. The rotor was tested with several alternate blade root and blade-tip configurations. Data are presented on rotor performance, rotor-wake downwash velocities, and rotor system loads