Una aproximación estadística al estudio de la carbonatación del hormigón

Carbonation is one of the factors that conditions reinforced concrete durability, while porosity is one of the parameters that determines the carbonation rate: as a rule, the greater the porosity, the higher the rate. While many papers have been published on the effect of CO2 penetration in the pore solutions of concretes prepared under different experimental conditions, the literature has yet to address the joint effect of the factors considered in concrete design, such as the water/cement (w/c) ratio, type of cement, type of aggregate and presence of admixtures. The present paper discusses the findings of a statistical study of the impact of the aforementioned factors on both system porosity and carbonation rate. The type of cement, individually and in its interaction with the rest of the factors, proved to be the major determinant in concrete carbonation.La carbonatación es uno de los factores que supedita la durabilidad del hormigón armado, siendo la porosidad uno de los parámetros que más condicionan la velocidad de carbonatación. Son muchos los trabajos que estudian el efecto de la penetración del CO2 en la solución de los poros de hormigones preparados bajo distintas condiciones experimentales, sin embargo, no se encuentran referencias que analicen de forma conjunta el efecto de ciertos factores como son la relación agua/cemento (a/c ratio), el tipo de cemento, el tipo de árido y la presencia de aditivos, normalmente consideradas a la hora de diseñar un hormigón. En este trabajo se discuten los resultados obtenidos tras realizar un estudio estadístico del efecto que tienen los factores previamente mencionados, tanto en la porosidad de estos sistemas como en su nivel de carbonatación. El cemento tanto de manera individual como en sus interacciones con el resto de los factores es el factor que mas afecta a la carbonatación del hormigón

Activación alcalina de cenizas volantes. Relación entre el desarrollo mecánico resistente y la composición química de la ceniza

Alkali-activated fly ash is the primary component of a new generation of high-strength, durable binders with excellent mechanical properties and durability (on occasion bettering traditional Portland cement performance). Moreover, development of these cements may contribute to mitigating CO2 emissions, since the base material is an industrial by-product. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of the composition of the initial materials (SiO2/Al2O3 and Na2O/Al2O3 ratios) on the mechanical properties, nature and composition of the reaction products. The results obtained indicate that there is no linear relationship between these ratios and mechanical strength, but rather a series of optimal values above and below which strength declines. In the specific case of the ratios studied in the present paper, these values were: SiO2/Al2O3= 4.0 and Na2O/Al2O3= 1.0 (molar ratios).Las cenizas volantes activadas alcalinamente constituyen la base de una nueva generación de cementos con muy interesantes propiedades mecánicas, adherentes y durables (a veces incluso mejores que las de los cementos Portland tradicionales). Adicionalmente el desarrollo de estos cementos podría contribuir a mitigar las emisiones de CO2 a la atmósfera, ya que el material base de los mismos puede estar formado por subproductos industriales. En la presente investigación se realizó un estudio para determinar la influencia de la composición de los materiales iniciales (ratios SiO2/Al2O3 y Na2O/Al2O3) en las propiedades mecánicas y en la naturaleza y composición de los productos de reacción. Los resultados obtenidos indican que no existe una relación lineal de dichas ratios con las resistencias mecánicas, sino que existen unos valores óptimos, por encima y debajo de los cuales las resistencias mecánicas disminuyen. En el caso concreto de las ratios estudiadas en el presente trabajo estos valores serian: SiO2/Al2O3= 4,0 y Na2O/Al2O3= 1,0 (relaciones molares

Biogeographical boundaries, functional group structure and diversity of rocky shore communities along the Argentinean coast

We investigate the extent to which functional structure and spatial variability of intertidal communities coincide with major biogeographical boundaries, areas where extensive compositional changes in the biota are observed over a limited geographic extension. We then investigate whether spatial variation in the biomass of functional groups, over geographic (10′s km) and local (10′s m) scales, could be associated to species diversity within and among these groups. Functional community structure expressed as abundance (density, cover and biomass) and composition of major functional groups was quantified through field surveys at 20 rocky intertidal shores spanning six degrees of latitude along the southwest Atlantic coast of Argentina and extending across the boundaries between the Argentinean and Magellanic Provinces. Patterns of abundance of individual functional groups were not uniformly matched with biogeographical regions. Only ephemeral algae showed an abrupt geographical discontinuity coincident with changes in biogeographic boundaries, and this was limited to the mid intertidal zone. We identified 3–4 main ‘groups’ of sites in terms of the total and relative abundance of the major functional groups, but these did not coincide with biogeographical boundaries, nor did they follow latitudinal arrangement. Thus, processes that determine the functional structure of these intertidal communities are insensitive to biogeographical boundaries. Over both geographical and local spatial scales, and for most functional groups and tidal levels, increases in species richness within the functional group was significantly associated to increased total biomass and reduced spatial variability of the group. These results suggest that species belonging to the same functional group are sufficiently uncorrelated over space (i.e. metres and site-to-site ) to stabilize patterns of biomass variability and, in this manner, provide a buffer, or “insurance”, against spatial variability in environmental conditions

Patrón de comportamiento tipo A, ira y enfermedades cardiovasculares (ECV) en población urbana chilena

Diaz, EM (Moyano Diaz, Emilio)1; Icaza, G (Icaza, Gloria); Mujica, V (Mujica, Veronica); Nunez, L (Nunez, Loreto); Leiva, E (Leiva, Elba); Vasquez, M (Vasquez, Marcela); Palomo, I (Palomo, Ivan)A worldwide raise in the number of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the existence of a higher percentage in Maule (Chile) than the national media, and increased attention in the analysis of psychological factors motivate to analyze the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) and anger in relation to CVD. The sample was 1007 adults between 18 and 74 years old (citizens of Talca, Chile), mostly women. They provided information about their demographic details, eating habits and lifestyle, answered the Novaco's Anger inventory and the Retiro Scale of Type A Behavior (RSTAB), and also were taken measurements like weight, body mass index and blood pressure and blood tests related to risk factors to traditional cardiovascular diseases. The results show Overall, that the participants appear highly sedentary (79.9%) with relatively high levels of tabaquism (53.6%), and hypercholesterolemia (44.5%), overweight (40.7%) and obesity (32.6%). A quarter of the sample also presents hyperglycemic indexes, hypertension and TABP unequally distributed by sex. The absence of PCTA (or PCTB presence) appeared mostly associated with traditional cardiovascular risk factors (CRF). Regarding anger, women present more high than men (2.1% against 0.3%; c(2)(3) = 27.99,p<.0001), decreasing for both sexes with age, while also befall stroke by sex

Prevalencia de factores de riesgo cardiovascular clásicos en población adulta de Talca, Chile, 2005

Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunohematología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile. Instituto de Matemática y Física, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile. Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile. Escuela de Psicología, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has several traditional risk factors (RF), and some of them are potentially modifiable. Aim: To determine the prevalence of most common risk factors in adult population in Talca in Central Chile. Subjects and methods: We studied 1007 subjects aged 18 to 74 years (66% women), living in Talca, selected by a probability sampling. They answered a questionnaire and anthropometry, blood pressure, lipid profile and blood glucose were measured. Results: Thirty seven percent of subjects smoked, 70.1% had a body mass index over 25 kg/m2 and 41% had an abnormally high circumference. High blood pressure was found in 37% (36% of these subjects were unaware of this condition), 44.5% had hypercholesterolemia, 21.5% had low HDL cholesterol, 40.1% had hypertriglyceridemia and 26.3% had high blood glucose levels. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of risk factors for CVD in adult population from Talca. The prevalence of risk factors is higher than that reported by the 2003 National Health Survery

Using the second-order information for reconfigurability analysis and design in the fault tolerant framework

The control reconfigurability measure defines the capability of a control system to allow recovery of performance when faults occur; therefore, it has been intended to be a tool for designing and synthesizing approaches in the fault tolerant control context. Reconfigurability depends on the controllability gramian, also known as the second-order information (SOI) in a broad sense. This paper proposes the assignation, by feedback, of the deterministic SOI in order to set the control reconfigurability of a given linear system. The theory concerned with this assignation is reviewed, then constructive theorems are given for finding constant feedback gains that approximate a required control reconfigurability for ease implementation. Also an unification of the reconfigurability measures proposed in the fault tolerance literature is given. Once the SOI is assigned by feedback, it can be computed online by using an identification method, which uses process input/output data. Results from simulation of the three tanks hydraulic benchmark, show that this approach can provide information about the system performance for fault tolerant purposes, thus online control reconfigurability computation and fault accommodation are considered. The approach presented in the paper gives an alternative for supervision taking into account the reconfigurability assigned by design

Role of platelets as mediators that link inflammation and thrombosis in atherosclerosis

Platelets, crucial mediators of the acute complications of atherosclerosis that cause life-threatening ischemic events at late stages of the disease, are also key effectors of inflammation throughout plaque development through their interaction with endothelial and immune cells in the injured vessel wall. During the first steps of atherosclerosis, blood inflammatory leukocytes interact with the damaged endothelium in areas rich in platelet aggregates. In late stages of the disease, platelets secrete several inflammatory molecules, even without forming aggregates. These molecules exacerbate the inflammation and induce the transition from chronic to acute disease, featuring increased instability of the atherosclerotic lesion that results in plaque rupture and thrombosis. Moreover, platelets play an important role in vascular wall remodeling induced by chronic inflammation by controlling vascular cell differentiation and proliferation. In this review, we discuss the role of platelets as cell mediators that link inflammation and thrombosis in atherosclerotic disease and their potential in the development of new therapeutic tools to fight cardiovascular disease.Work in the author’s laboratories is supported by Centro de Estudios en Alimentos Procesados (CEAP), Conicyt-Regional, Gore Maule, R09I2001, Talca, Chile (Proyecto Basal); The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) and the European Regional Development Fund (grant SAF2010-16044); Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares [RECAVA], grant RD06/0014/0021). O.M.P. holds a Juan de la Cierva contract (MICINN). The CNIC is supported by the MICINN and the Pro-CNIC Foundation.S