The Plan for Energy Saving and Efficiency as an Example of the University of Valladolid's Commitment to Sustainability

This paper presents the University of Valladolid's Plan for Energy Saving and Efficiency (February 2023) and focuses on the keys developed in relation to the sustainable design and use of university buildings and the promotion of sustainable mobility, as well as on the objectives pursued by the Plan: to reduce the environmental impact and the associated energy costs, eliminate fossil fuels and seek self-consumption. The University of Valladolid has been working for years to improve its energy and environmental performance, using biomass as the main energy resource for heating and sanitary hot water systems in most of its facilities, for the construction of sustainable and efficient buildings, for carrying out energy renovations and continuous actions to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings, and for promoting sustainable mobility models among the university community. With these actions, the University of Valladolid has managed to reduce emissions of thousands of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, improving conditions in university spaces and keeping energy consumption stable. This reduction in energy consumption has made it possible to contain energy costs in global scenarios of rising prices, as well as to minimize the application of harsh measures to reduce energy consumption (closing buildings, turning off air conditioning, etc.) that most higher education institutions in our country have been forced to apply

Interregional input-ouptut system for Ecuador, 2007: methodology and results

In this paper, we explore the structural characteristics of the interregional input-output system developed for Ecuador for the year 2007. As part of an ongoing project that aims to develop an interregional CGE model for the country, this database was developed under conditions of limited information. It provides the opportunity to better understand the spatial linkage structure associated with the national economy in the context of its 22 provinces, 15 sectors and 60 different products. This exploratory analysis is based on the description of structural coefficients and the use of traditional input-output techniques. Finally, we further explore the spatial linkage structure by looking at the regional decomposition of final demand. It is hoped that this exercise might result in a better appreciation of a broader set of dimensions that might improve our understanding of the integrated interregional economic system in Ecuador.Interregional input-output model; Ecuador; spatial linkages

Lignin-Based Polyols with Controlled Microstructure by Cationic Ring Opening Polymerization

Lignin-based polyols (LBPs) with controlled microstructure were obtained by cationic ring opening polymerization (CROP) of oxiranes in an organosolv lignin (OL) tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution. The control on the microstructure and consequently on the properties of the LBPs such as hydroxyl number, average molecular weight, melting, crystallization and decomposition temperatures, are crucial to determine the performance and application of the derived-products. The influence of key parameters, for example, molar ratio between the oxirane and the hydroxyl groups content in OLO, initial OL concentration in THF, temperature, specific flow rate and oxirane nature has been investigated. LBPs with hydroxyl numbers from 35 to 217 mg KOH/g, apparent average Mw between 5517 and 52,900 g/mol and melting temperatures from −8.4 to 18.4 °C were obtained. The CROP procedure allows obtaining of tailor-made LBPs for specific applications in a very simple way, opening the way to introduce LBPs as a solid alternative to substitute currently used fossil-based polyols.Basque Government (grant KK-2019/00097

An FPGA smart camera implementation of segmentation models for drone wildfire imagery

Wildfires represent one of the most relevant natural disasters worldwide, due to their impact on various societal and environmental levels. Thus, a significant amount of research has been carried out to investigate and apply computer vision techniques to address this problem. One of the most promising approaches for wildfire fighting is the use of drones equipped with visible and infrared cameras for the detection, monitoring, and fire spread assessment in a remote manner but in close proximity to the affected areas. However, implementing effective computer vision algorithms on board is often prohibitive since deploying full-precision deep learning models running on GPU is not a viable option, due to their high power consumption and the limited payload a drone can handle. Thus, in this work, we posit that smart cameras, based on low-power consumption field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), in tandem with binarized neural networks (BNNs), represent a cost-effective alternative for implementing onboard computing on the edge. Herein we present the implementation of a segmentation model applied to the Corsican Fire Database. We optimized an existing U-Net model for such a task and ported the model to an edge device (a Xilinx Ultra96-v2 FPGA). By pruning and quantizing the original model, we reduce the number of parameters by 90%. Furthermore, additional optimizations enabled us to increase the throughput of the original model from 8 frames per second (FPS) to 33.63 FPS without loss in the segmentation performance: our model obtained 0.912 in Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC),0.915 in F1 score and 0.870 in Hafiane quality index (HAF), and comparable qualitative segmentation results when contrasted to the original full-precision model. The final model was integrated into a low-cost FPGA, which was used to implement a neural network accelerator.Comment: This paper has been accepted at the 22nd Mexican International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (MICAI 2023

Light-induced capacitance tunability in ferroelectric crystals

The remote controlling of ferroic properties with light is nowadays a hot and highly appealing topic in materials science. Here, we shed light on some of the unresolved issues surrounding light–matter coupling in ferroelectrics. Our findings show that the capacitance and, consequently, its related intrinsic material property, i.e., the dielectric constant, can be reversibly adjusted through the light power control. High photodielectric performance is exhibited across a wide range of the visible light wavelength because of the wavelength-independence of the phenomenon. We have verified that this counterintuitive behavior can be strongly ascribed to the existence of “locally free charges” at domain wall.Postprint (author's final draft

Interregional input-ouptut system for Ecuador, 2007: methodology and results

In this paper, we explore the structural characteristics of the interregional input-output system developed for Ecuador for the year 2007. As part of an ongoing project that aims to develop an interregional CGE model for the country, this database was developed under conditions of limited information. It provides the opportunity to better understand the spatial linkage structure associated with the national economy in the context of its 22 provinces, 15 sectors and 60 different products. This exploratory analysis is based on the description of structural coefficients and the use of traditional input-output techniques. Finally, we further explore the spatial linkage structure by looking at the regional decomposition of final demand. It is hoped that this exercise might result in a better appreciation of a broader set of dimensions that might improve our understanding of the integrated interregional economic system in Ecuador

Interregional input-ouptut system for Ecuador, 2007: methodology and results

In this paper, we explore the structural characteristics of the interregional input-output system developed for Ecuador for the year 2007. As part of an ongoing project that aims to develop an interregional CGE model for the country, this database was developed under conditions of limited information. It provides the opportunity to better understand the spatial linkage structure associated with the national economy in the context of its 22 provinces, 15 sectors and 60 different products. This exploratory analysis is based on the description of structural coefficients and the use of traditional input-output techniques. Finally, we further explore the spatial linkage structure by looking at the regional decomposition of final demand. It is hoped that this exercise might result in a better appreciation of a broader set of dimensions that might improve our understanding of the integrated interregional economic system in Ecuador

Plan estratégico de una empresa automotriz en el mercado chino para el periodo 2023-2027

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como propósito plantear un plan estratégico para una empresa automotriz de nombre Mega Red Motor Corporation (MRMC) para los periodos del 2023 al 2027. MRMC es una empresa europea muy reconocida por la venta de autos de excelente calidad y busca competir en el mercado chino con la producción y venta de vehículos eléctricos (VE) en su línea Eco-Friendly. El desarrollo de la presente investigación incluyó un análisis del entorno encontrando amenazas generadas por una coyuntura de conflicto global y oportunidades en el crecimiento de ventas de VE y políticas favorables del estado chino. Adicionalmente, se identificó fuerzas en la industria que podrán ayudar con la rentabilidad en un mercado chino con intensidad media de competitividad

¿Anafilaxia perioperatoria? Serie de casos

Objetivos: Identificar agente causal de POH, para evitar reexposición y valorar uso de alternativa de tratamiento. Métodos: Se describen 10 casos de POH inmediata, en todos antecedente de procedimientos quirúrgicos previos, realizándose protocolo de 3 pasos: 1°documentar registro quirúrgico para identificar exposiciones, 2° realización de pruebas cutáneas y/o epicutáneas y 3° búsqueda de alternativa de tratamiento en caso de requerir nuevo procedimiento quirúrgico y en casos seleccionados pruebas de reto. Resultados: De un total de 10 pacientes con POH inmediata, se realizaron pruebas según el caso: bloqueadores neuromusculares, anestésicos, opioides, AINE, antibióticos, diuréticos, látex, isodine y clorhexidina; encontrando pruebas positivas en 7 pacientes (70%): en 4 (40%) bloqueadores neuromusculares, uno de ellos también positivo para látex, en 2 (20%) anestésicos y finalmente encontrando alternativa farmacológica en 2 (2%) y recomendando quirófano libre de látex en 2 casos (20%), el resto (30%) fueron catalogados como relacionados con procedimiento quirúrgico y manejo de medicamentos. Conclusión: El estudio de las POH está enfocado en asegurar seguridad en exposiciones posteriores, por lo que además de la identificación de agente causal, el papel del alergólogo también conlleva a una búsqueda de alternativa segura en el manejo del paciente

Light-induced strain and its correlation with the optical absorption at charged domain walls in polycrystalline ferroelectrics

Photostrictive materials have a growing interest because of their great potential as light-driven actuators, among other optomechanical applications. In this context, the optical control of macroscopic strain in ferroelectrics has recently attracted remarkable attention as an effective alternative to the conventional electric control of strain. Here, a clear correlation between optical absorption and light-induced strain in polycrystalline BaTiO3 is shown. Specifically, the grain size and the sample thickness dependence of optical absorption when the material is irradiated with energy photons lower than the band gap evidence that light absorption at charged domain walls is the core of the observed photo-response in ferroelectrics. The photoinduced electronic reconstruction phenomenon is proposed as the primary physical mechanism for light absorption at charged domain walls. Results open a new pathway to designing ferroelectric-based devices with new functionalities like thickness gradient-based photo-controlled nanoactuators.Postprint (published version