QRTEngine: An easy solution for running online reaction time experiments using Qualtrics

Performing online behavioral research is gaining increased popularity among researchers in psychological and cognitive science. However, the currently available methods for conducting online reaction time experiments are often complicated and typically require advanced technical skills. In this article, we introduce the Qualtrics Reaction Time Engine (QRTEngine), an open-source JavaScript engine that can be embedded in the online survey development environment Qualtrics. The QRTEngine can be used to easily develop browser-based online reaction time experiments with accurate timing within current browser capabilities, and it requires only minimal programming skills. After introducing the QRTEngine, we briefly discuss how to create and distribute a Stroop task. Next, we describe a study in which we investigated the timing accuracy of the engine under different processor loads using external chronometry. Finally, we show that the QRTEngine can be used to reproduce classic behavioral effects in three reaction time paradigms: a Stroop task, an attentional blink task, and a masked-priming task. These findings demonstrate that QRTEngine can be used as a tool for conducting online behavioral research even when this requires accurate stimulus presentation times

Review and analysis of vehicle stability models during floods and proposal for future improvements

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bocanegra, RA, Vallés-Morán, FJ, Francés, F. Review and analysis of vehicle stability models during floods and proposal for future improvements. J Flood Risk Management. 2020; 13 ( Suppl. 1):e12551, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12551. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.[EN] Flood water can affect vehicles significantly, which in turn can increase the negative effects of floods as vehicles are washed away by the flow and become a form of debris. In cities, most fatalities during floods occur inside vehicles. Consequently, it is necessary to establish thresholds for vehicle stability during this type of event to provide information necessary for flood risk management. This article analyses the available stability models developed over recent years to determine such thresholds. The stability models were grouped according to the way in which they approached car watertightness and the stability thresholds proposed by each of them were compared. It was found that these thresholds vary over a relatively wide range. Additionally, the experimental data were compared with the results provided by these studies leading to the conclusion that several of the stability models analysed do not fit measured data well. New research is required to overcome the simplifications made by the state-of-the-art models and to try to standardise the decision criteria which should be adopted to define stability thresholds for vehicles of different characteristics.Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion COLCIENCIAS (Colombia) call 728-2015; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the research project TETISCHANGE, Grant/Award Number: RTI2018-093717-B-I00.Bocanegra, RA.; Vallés-Morán, FJ.; Francés, F. (2020). Review and analysis of vehicle stability models during floods and proposal for future improvements. Journal of Flood Risk Management. 13:1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12551S11313Arrighi, C., Alcèrreca-Huerta, J. C., Oumeraci, H., & Castelli, F. (2015). Drag and lift contribution to the incipient motion of partly submerged flooded vehicles. Journal of Fluids and Structures, 57, 170-184. doi:10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2015.06.010Arrighi C. Castelli F. &Oumeraci H.(2016). Effects of flow orientation on the onset of motion of flooded vehicles. InProceedings of the 4th IAHR Europe Congress. Liege DOI:https://doi.org/10.1201/b21902-140.Arrighi, C., Huybrechts, N., Ouahsine, A., Chassé, P., Oumeraci, H., & Castelli, F. (2016). Vehicles instability criteria for flood risk assessment of a street network. Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 373, 143-146. doi:10.5194/piahs-373-143-2016Bonham A. J. &Hattersley R. T.(1967).Low level causeways. WRL Report No. 100. University of New South Wales. Sydney Australia.Cox R. J. Shand T. D. &Blacka M. J.(2010). Appropriate safety criteria for people in floods.Australian Rainfall and Runoff. WRL Research Report 240. Report for Institution of Engineers Australia.DROBOT, S., BENIGHT, C., & GRUNTFEST, E. (2007). Risk factors for driving into flooded roads. Environmental Hazards, 7(3), 227-234. doi:10.1016/j.envhaz.2007.07.003FitzGerald, G., Du, W., Jamal, A., Clark, M., & Hou, X.-Y. (2010). Flood fatalities in contemporary Australia (1997-2008). Emergency Medicine Australasia, 22(2), 180-186. doi:10.1111/j.1742-6723.2010.01284.xGordon A. D. &Stone P. B.(1973).Car stability on road causeways. WRL Technical Report No. 73/12. University of New South Wales. Sydney Australia.Jonkman, S. N., & Kelman, I. (2005). An Analysis of the Causes and Circumstances of Flood Disaster Deaths. Disasters, 29(1), 75-97. doi:10.1111/j.0361-3666.2005.00275.xKellar, D. M. M., & Schmidlin, T. W. (2012). Vehicle-related flood deaths in the United States, 1995-2005. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 5(2), 153-163. doi:10.1111/j.1753-318x.2012.01136.xKeller R. J. &Mitsch B.(1993).Safety aspects of the design of roadways as floodways. Research Report No. 69 Urban Water Research Association of Australia.Kramer, M., Terheiden, K., & Wieprecht, S. (2016). Safety criteria for the trafficability of inundated roads in urban floodings. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 17, 77-84. doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.04.003Martínez-Gomariz, E., Gómez, M., Russo, B., & Djordjević, S. (2016). Stability criteria for flooded vehicles: a state-of-the-art review. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 11, S817-S826. doi:10.1111/jfr3.12262Martínez-Gomariz, E., Gómez, M., Russo, B., & Djordjević, S. (2017). A new experiments-based methodology to define the stability threshold for any vehicle exposed to flooding. Urban Water Journal, 14(9), 930-939. doi:10.1080/1573062x.2017.1301501Mens M. J. Erlich M. Gaume E. Lumbroso D. Moreda Y. Van der VatM. &Versini P. A.(2008).Frameworks for flood event management. Report Number T19‐07‐03. WL Delft Hydraulics. Delft Netherlands.Moore, K. A., & Power, R. K. (2002). Safe Buffer Distances for Offstream Earth Dams. Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 6(1), 1-15. doi:10.1080/13241583.2002.11465206Oshikawa H. &Komatsu T.(2014). Study on the risk evaluation for a vehicular traffic in a flood situation.Proceedings of the 19th IAHR‐APD Congress Hanoi Vietnam.Pregnolato, M., Ford, A., Wilkinson, S. M., & Dawson, R. J. (2017). The impact of flooding on road transport: A depth-disruption function. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 55, 67-81. doi:10.1016/j.trd.2017.06.020Shand T. Cox R. Blacka M. &Smith G.(2011).Australian Rainfall and Runoff (AR&R). Appropriate safety criteria for vehicles. Australian rainfall and runoff revision project 10: Report Number: P10/S2/020. Sidney Australia.Shu, C., Xia, J., Falconer, R. A., & Lin, B. (2011). Incipient velocity for partially submerged vehicles in floodwaters. Journal of Hydraulic Research, 49(6), 709-717. doi:10.1080/00221686.2011.616318Smith G. P. Davey E. K. &Cox R. J.(2014).Flood hazard. WRL Technical Report 2014/07. University of New South Wales. Sydney Australia.Smith G. P. Modra B. D. Tucker T. A. &Cox R. J.(2017).Vehicle stability testing for flood flows. WRL Technical Report 2017/07. University of New South Wales. Sydney Australia.Suarez, P., Anderson, W., Mahal, V., & Lakshmanan, T. R. (2005). Impacts of flooding and climate change on urban transportation: A systemwide performance assessment of the Boston Metro Area. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 10(3), 231-244. doi:10.1016/j.trd.2005.04.007Teo, F. Y., Xia, J., Falconer, R. A., & Lin, B. (2012). Experimental studies on the interaction between vehicles and floodplain flows. International Journal of River Basin Management, 10(2), 149-160. doi:10.1080/15715124.2012.674040Versini, P.-A., Gaume, E., & Andrieu, H. (2010). Application of a distributed hydrological model to the design of a road inundation warning system for flash flood prone areas. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 10(4), 805-817. doi:10.5194/nhess-10-805-2010Versini, P.-A., Gaume, E., & Andrieu, H. (2010). Assessment of the susceptibility of roads to flooding based on geographical information – test in a flash flood prone area (the Gard region, France). Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 10(4), 793-803. doi:10.5194/nhess-10-793-2010Xia, J., Falconer, R. A., Xiao, X., & Wang, Y. (2013). Criterion of vehicle stability in floodwaters based on theoretical and experimental studies. Natural Hazards, 70(2), 1619-1630. doi:10.1007/s11069-013-0889-2Xia, J., Teo, F. Y., Lin, B., & Falconer, R. A. (2010). Formula of incipient velocity for flooded vehicles. Natural Hazards, 58(1), 1-14. doi:10.1007/s11069-010-9639-

A Nori but not a Konbu, dietary supplement decreases the cholesterolaemia, liver fat infiltration and mineral bioavailability in hypercholesterolaemic growing Wistar rats

The nutritional consequences of algae consumption in young populations consuming hypercholesterolaemic diets have hardly been investigated. This study tests the effect of algae supplementation of cholesterol-enriched balanced diets on growth, dietary efficiency ratio, mineral intake and absorption, organ weight and structure and cholesterolaemia in growing Wistar rats. Three groups of ten rats each were fed for 3 weeks with experimental diets containing 93% casein-soyabean oil base with 2.4% cholesterol-raising agent and 7% supplement. The control group received cellulose (35%), group 2 consumed Nori (33.8% fibre) and group 3 consumed Konbu (36.1% fibre). Food intake and body weight gain were not significantly affected. Algae groups presented significantly higher dietary efficiency ratio values than control rats. Apparent absorption of several minerals appeared significantly affected, mainly in Nori-fed rats, with a significant decrease in the ratio of Zn and Cu intakes and apparent absorption. Nori diet significantly decreased plasma cholesterol. Algae supplement did not significantly affect organ size and structure. Control and Konbu rats showed severe liver fat infiltration, while Nori rats exhibited a significantly lower degree of lipid-like hepatocyte vacuolization but light to moderate leukocyte infiltration. Light to moderate scaling off of the epithelium and moderate submucosa oedema was observed in all groups. Although long-term studies are needed to check the possible extrapolation of these data to human subjects, it can be concluded that a Nori, but not a Konbu, dietary supplement reverses the negative effect of dietary cholesterol intake and also appears to be related to mineral availability in growing subjects. © 2007 The Authors.This work was granted by the Spanish Ministerio de Investigación y Ciencia, Project AGL 2005-07204-C02-C1/ALI.Peer Reviewe

Experimental evaluation of mode II fracture properties of Eucalyptus globulus L.

research projects BIA 2015-64491-P. UIDB/00667/2020 (UNIDEMI).Eucalyptus globulus Labill is a hardwood species of broad growth in temperate climates, which is receiving increasing interest for structural applications due to its high mechanical properties. Knowing the fracture behaviour is crucial to predict, through finite element models, the load carrying capacity of engineering designs with possibility of brittle failures such as elements with holes, notches, or certain types of joints. This behaviour can be adequately modelled on a macroscopic scale by the constitutive cohesive law. A direct identification of the cohesive law of Eucalyptus globulus L. in Mode II was performed by combining end-notched flexure (ENF) tests with digital image correlation (DIC) for radial-longitudinal crack propagation system. The critical strain energy release for this fracture mode, which represents the material toughness to crack-growth, was determined by applying the Compliance Based Beam Method (CBBM) as data reduction scheme and resulted in a mean value of 1.54 N/mm.publishersversionpublishe

Understanding spatio-temporal variability in the reproduction ratio of the bluetongue (BTV-1) epidemic in southern Spain (Andalusia) in 2007 using epidemic trees

Andalusia (Southern Spain) is considered one of the main routes of introduction of bluetongue virus (BTV) into Europe, evidenced by a devastating epidemic caused by BTV-1 in 2007. Understanding the pattern and the drivers of BTV-1 spread in Andalusia is critical for effective detection and control of future epidemics. A long-standing metric for quantifying the behaviour of infectious diseases is the case-reproduction ratio (Rt), defined as the average number of secondary cases arising from a single infected case at time t (for t>0). Here we apply a method using epidemic trees to estimate the between-herd case reproduction ratio directly from epidemic data allowing the spatial and temporal variability in transmission to be described. We then relate this variability to predictors describing the hosts, vectors and the environment to better understand why the epidemic spread more quickly in some regions or periods. The Rt value for the BTV-1 epidemic in Andalusia peaked in July at 4.6, at the start of the epidemic, then decreased to 2.2 by August, dropped below 1 by September (0.8), and by October it had decreased to 0.02. BTV spread was the consequence of both local transmission within established disease foci and BTV expansion to distant new areas (i.e. new foci), which resulted in a high variability in BTV transmission, not only among different areas, but particularly through time, which suggests that general control measures applied at broad spatial scales are unlikely to be effective. This high variability through time was probably due to the impact of temperature on BTV transmission, as evidenced by a reduction in the value of Rt by 0.0041 for every unit increase (day) in the extrinsic incubation period (EIP), which is itself directly dependent on temperature. Moreover, within the range of values at which BTV-1 transmission occurred in Andalusia (20.6°C to 29.5°C) there was a positive correlation between temperature and Rt values, although the relationship was not linear, probably as a result of the complex relationship between temperature and the different parameters affecting BTV transmission. Rt values for BTV-1 in Andalusia fell below the threshold of 1 when temperatures dropped below 21°C, a much higher threshold than that reported in other BTV outbreaks, such as the BTV-8 epidemic in Northern Europe. This divergence may be explained by differences in the adaptation to temperature of the main vectors of the BTV-1 epidemic in Andalusia (Culicoides imicola) compared those of the BTV-8 epidemic in Northern Europe (Culicoides obsoletus). Importantly, we found that BTV transmission (Rt value) increased significantly in areas with higher densities of sheep. Our analysis also established that control of BTV-1 in Andalusia was complicated by the simultaneous establishment of several distant foci at the start of the epidemic, which may have been caused by several independent introductions of infected vectors from the North of Africa. We discuss the implications of these findings for BTV surveillance and control in this region of Europe

Direct and inverse cohesive law identification of hardwood bonded joints with 1C-PUR adhesive using DCB test

Funding Information: The work is part of the R&D&I Project PID2020-112954RA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 . The authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the financial support associated to “Laboratório Associado de Energia, Transportes e Aeronáutica” (LAETA) by the project UID/EEA/04436/2019, and UNIDEMI by the project UIDB/00667/2020. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The AuthorsFracture characterisation under mode I loading of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. bonded joints with one-component polyurethane adhesive (1C-PUR) is addressed in this work. The objective is to estimate the cohesive law representative of the fracture behaviour of these joints. A direct and two inverse procedures were employed to determine the softening laws. The direct method is based on local measurement of crack tip displacements using digital image correlation in the course of Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) tests, while the inverse methods rely on load–displacement data and on load-crack tip opening displacement relations by finite element modelling. It was verified that consistent results can be obtained from the three methodologies leading to the conclusion that the classical inverse procedure is the most appealing one owing to its simplicity.publishersversionpublishe

MAPA DE FALLAS DE LOS VOLCANES CHILES-CERRO NEGRO (NARIÑO) A PARTIR DE MINERÍA DE DATOS Y CONFIRMACIÓN DE CAMPO

Se realizó la compilación de un mapa de fallas y lineamientos en la región de interés del proyecto binacional geotérmico Tufiño-Chiles-Cerro Negro en la frontera colombo-ecuatoriana. El mapa se construyó mediante minería de datos consultando todas las fuentes de información publicadas y disponibles que incluyen trazos de fallas y lineamientos. Se descartaron las estructuras que presentaron repetición entre fuentes teniendo en cuenta la georreferenciación resultante de los diferentes mapas publicados. Adicionalmente se proponen nuevos lineamientos con base en la inspección visual de un modelo de elevación digital (DEM) con resolución de 30 m, e imágenes satelitales LANDSAT con resolución de 15 m. De la literatura se extrajeron un total de 30 lineamientos, mientras que la inspección visual del DEM reveló 50 potenciales lineamientos. En total 14 lineamientos cruzan el área de interés del proyecto binacional geotérmico, presentando dos tendencias en orientación: SE-NW (sistema transversal) y SW-NE (sistema longitudinal), con una clara predominancia del sistema transversal. El presente estudio reviste importancia en la localización de lineamientos controladores de la circulación de fluidos geotérmicos.A compilation of faults and lineaments within the region of interest of the Binational Geothermal Project Tufiño- Chiles-Cerro Negro (Colombia-Ecuador border) was achieved by means of data mining among all available published sources of information, which included fault traces and lineaments. Examination and georeferencing of features included in the various sources of information allowed discarding repeated structures. A number of new potential lineaments are proposed based on visual inspection of a 30-m resolution DEM and a 15-m resolution LANDSAT image. A total of 30 potential lineaments were found in the literature, 50 additional lineaments were inferred from images analyses and 14 lineaments were found which include segments that cross the interest area of the geothermal project. The latter are oriented SE-NW (transversal system) and SW-NE (longitudinal system), with dominance of the transversal system. The present study highlights the importance of lineaments and faults on the controls on geothermal fluids circulation

Linearizing Control Based on Adaptive Observer for Anaerobic Continuous Sulphate Reducing Bioreactors with Unknown Kinetics

Anaerobic reactors are a typical example of processes that exhibit non-linear behavior and, also time varying parameters; hence their operation is known to be difficult to model and control. In contrast to modeling approaches, in practice linear controllers are widely employed for industrial processes because of their easy implementation and manipulation by plant operators; nevertheless linear approaches are not robust when the operating conditions change suddenly and/or strong disturbances are present. In order to introduce robust controllers to these processes, this paper addresses the tracking problem for the substrate (sulphate) control in a class of continuous bioreactors. An experimentally corroborated bioreactor model serves as benchmark problem for advanced non-linear analysis and control techniques; taking into account system non-linearities, stability and performance objectives over large operating regions. It is considered that, as it is common in practice, the rate of substrate consumption exhibits uncertainty. Results show that the proposed controller exhibits better dynamic performance than a classical Proportional-Integral control tuned using the methodology suggested by Internal Model Control

Epidemiology and spatio‐temporal analysis of West Nile virus in horses in Spain between 2010 and 2016

During the last decade, West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks have increased sharply in both horses and human in Europe. The aims of this study were to evaluate characteristics and spatio‐temporal distribution of WNV outbreaks in horses in Spain between 2010 and 2016 in order to identify the environmental variables most associated with WNV occurrence and to generate high‐resolution WNV suitability maps to inform risk‐based surveillance strategies in this country. Between August 2010 and November 2016, a total of 403 WNV suspected cases were investigated, of which, 177 (43.9%) were laboratory confirmed. Mean values of morbidity, mortality and case fatality rates were 7.5%, 1.6% and 21.2%, respectively. The most common clinical symptoms were as follows: tiredness/apathy, recumbency, muscular tremor, ataxia, incoordination and hyperaesthesia. The outbreaks confirmed during the last 7 years, with detection of WNV RNA lineage 1 in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016, suggest an endemic circulation of the virus in Spain. The spatio‐temporal distribution of WNV outbreaks in Spain was not homogeneous, as most of them (92.7%) were concentrated in western part of Andalusia (southern Spain) and significant clusters were detected in this region in two non‐consecutive years. These findings were supported by the results of the space–time scan statistics permutation model. A presence‐only MaxEnt ecological niche model was used to generate a suitability map for WNV occurrence in Andalusia. The most important predictors selected by the Ecological Niche Modeling were as follows: mean annual temperature (49.5% contribution), presence of Culex pipiens (19.5% contribution), mean annual precipitation (16.1% contribution) and distance to Ramsar wetlands (14.9% contribution). Our results constitute an important step for understanding WNV emergence and spread in Spain and will provide valuable information for the development of more cost‐effective surveillance and control programmes and improve the protection of horse and human populations in WNV‐endemic areas.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Thermal Performance Investigation of a Mini Natural Circulation Loop for Solar PV Panel or Electronic Cooling Simulated by Lattice Boltzmann Method

The natural circulation loop (NCL) consists of a thermal-hydraulic system that convoys thermal energy from a heat source to a heat sink without a pump. Applications of those loops can be found in solar energy, geothermal, nuclear reactors, and electronic cooling. The lattice Boltzmann method is a numerical method that can simulate thermal-fluid dynamics, using a mesoscopic approach based on the Boltzmann equation for the density function. A square NCL model with fixed temperatures at the heater and heat sink sections was developed in a bi-dimensional lattice with double distribution dynamics, one distribution for the hydrodynamic field and the other for the thermal field. The different cooler–heater configurations (vertical or horizontal) were investigated. We found that by positioning the source or sink vertically, the flow direction can be controlled. In contrast, in a loop with symmetric horizontal heater - horizontal cooler configuration where both fluid directions are equally probable. The effectiveness of the loop was studied by calculating the heat sink temperature gradient. The lower value was obtained for the horizontal heater horizontal cooler orientation (0.71) and the higher value for the vertical heater vertical cooler configuration with an increment of 34%; simultaneously, the flow rate (Reynolds number) was reduced by 47%.This research was funded by Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR, Italy), grant number PRIN-2017F7KZWS