Light charged Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron electron Collider

We study the production of a light charged Higgs boson at the future Large Hadron electron Collider (LHeC), through the process $e^- p \to \nu_e H^- q$ considering both decay channels $H^- \to b \bar c$ and $H^- \to \tau \bar \nu_\tau$ in the final state. We analyse these processes in the context of the 2-Higgs Doublet Model Type III (2HDM-III) and assess the LHeC sensitivity to such $H^-$ signals against a variety of both reducible and irreducible backgrounds. We confirm that prospects for $H^-$ detection in the 2HDM-III are excellent assuming standard collider energy and luminosity conditions.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Accepted in Physical Review

Multi-criteria decision making applied to engineering education. Economic-environmental sustainability in the structure of single-family homes

[EN] This paper is based on the contents of the postgraduate course "Prediction and optimization models of concrete structures", taught in the Master of Concrete Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, in which civil engineering students are taught the various techniques of multi-criteria assessment, with a sustainable approach, applied to the optimal design of structures. This allows the student to compare complex aspects with generally contradictory objectives that characterize sustainability under criteria of economic, environmental and social efficiency, among others. Construction companies usually focus on cost optimization during the construction stage of structures that are currently not sufficient to meet the growing social demands of the 21st century world, needing to balance the criteria that support sustainability. The construction sector represents a relevant percentage of the total CO2 emissions, being responsible for a great part of the environmental impacts, which is enough reason for the European Union policies to be more and more oriented to the reduction of these emissions. This document presents a case study on a research being carried out by the faculty and students who are part of the research team, comparing two different construction alternatives, namely "traditional" in-situ concrete versus "prefabricated" with blocks and plates of Ytong. The aim is to find the structural optimum of an urban single-family house from the economic and environmental point of view throughout its life cycle. The objective is to find the structural optimum of an urban single-family house from the economic and environmental point of view throughout its life cycle. An analysis of indicators including the production phase, construction, the use and maintenance stage and the end of life has been carried out. The environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the alternatives have been evaluated on the basis of the Ecoinvent 3.3 environmental database, using the ReCiPe impact assessment methodology. Finally, to evaluate the different alternatives, we have applied the multiple attribute method TOPSIS, based on distance to establish the order of preference by similarity with the ideal solution. Our findings show that the most economical solution in each phase is not the most environmentally efficient. For sustainability-based decision making that does not lead to erroneous results a balance must be sought between all dimensions, including not only monetary aspects in the structure design process.The authors acknowledge the support received from the Ministry of Economy and Business and the FEDER funding (Research Project BIA2017-85098-R).Sánchez-Garrido, AJ.; Navarro, IJ.; Yepes, V. (2020). Multi-criteria decision making applied to engineering education. Economic-environmental sustainability in the structure of single-family homes. IATED Academy. 2170-2180. https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2020.0521S2170218

Multi-criteria decision techniques in civil engineering education. Comparative study applied to the sustainability of structures

[EN] Traditionally, technical degrees have focused on promoting the functionality and durability of designs, orienting the capacities of their students towards the optimization of economic aspects. The challenges that have recently emerged regarding the future of the construction sector and new cities require a paradigm shift in the conventional teaching of civil engineering and architecture. New training trends have been detected in higher education programs through the introduction of new concepts, such as sustainable design. According to UNESCO, "Education for Sustainable Development promotes competencies like critical thinking, and making decisions in a collaborative way". In the postgraduate course "Models of prediction and optimization of concrete structures", taught in the Master of Concrete Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, students are instructed in research methodologies that allow the evaluation of sustainability through different multi-criteria decision techniques in the selection of the best structural typology considering economic, environmental and social aspects. In this paper, a comparative study is made and the application of the different tools taught in the course for the decision making with multiple criteria, namely SAW, COPRAS, TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE, MIVES as well as AHP for the weightings. The assess offers a transversal vision, with the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of these multi-criteria techniques that are commonly used in the field of sustainability, applied in this case between three design alternatives for the structure of a single-family home.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which was co-financed with FEDER funds (Project: BIA2017-85098-R)Yepes, V.; Sánchez-Garrido, AJ.; Navarro, IJ. (2021). Multi-criteria decision techniques in civil engineering education. Comparative study applied to the sustainability of structures. IATED Academy. 2564-2573. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.0547S2564257

Evaluating the sustainability of soil improvement techniques in foundation substructures

[EN] The soil is not always suitable or competent to support a direct shallow foundation in construction. In many cases, to avoid costly deep foundations, it is indicated to replace, improve, or reinforce such soil. This paper focuses on evaluating the contribution to sustainability between different soil improvement techniques and the outcome of their application to the foundation of a single-family house as an alternative to the one built. The life-cycle performance in sustainability is compared between the baseline design (without intervention), backfilling and soil compaction, soil-cement columns, rigid inclusion of micropiles, and nailing of precast joists. To characterize sustainability, a set of 37 indicators is proposed that integrate the economic or environmental aspects of each design alternative and its social impacts. A sustainability ranking is obtained for the different alternatives based on the ELECTRE IS method for multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). The sensitivity of the obtained results is evaluated against different MCDM methods (TOPSIS, COPRAS) and different criteria weights. The evaluation provides a cross-cutting view, comparing the ability and reliability of each technique to prioritize the ground consolidation solution that best contributes to the sustainability in the design of a building's substructure.Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe". The authors would also like to thank Jose Fernando Moreno Serrano (co-director of the company "Alto Almanzora Geological Consulting") for providing some of the data and geotechnical information needed for this study.Sánchez-Garrido, AJ.; Navarro, IJ.; Yepes, V. (2022). Evaluating the sustainability of soil improvement techniques in foundation substructures. Journal of Cleaner Production. 351:1-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.13146312035

Engineering and architecture postgraduate student's perceptions on sustainable design

[EN] The construction sector is one of the principal contributors to the actual levels of environmental stress, but is also recognised as an essential sector to promote human well-being, access to education or poverty eradication through the development of infrastructures and services. Therefore, since the recent establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, architects and civil engineers have emerged as key actors for the sustainable future to which we all aspire. However, the complexity of sustainability claim for fundamental changes in current university curricula to educate professionals who can meet such challenge. Conventional university courses in engineering and architecture fall usually short in providing a holistic education where the students adequately perceive the relevance of considering not only the functional requirements of their designs, but also their social and environmental consequences. The present communication aims to provide an assessment tool to detect the main gaps in the education of engineers and architects based on the post-graduate students¿ perceptions of sustainable design. A survey is conducted on the students from the postgraduate courses ¿Models of prediction and optimization of concrete structures¿ from the Master¿s degree in Concrete Engineering, and ¿Innovation Management in the Construction Sector¿ from the Master's Degree in Planning and Management in Civil Engineering, both taught at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. The consistency of the responses is evaluated objectively based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process method, thus bringing to light the educational fields where special efforts shall be put when adapting university curricula towards the education on sustainability.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which was co-financed with FEDER funds (Project: BIA2017-85098-R).Navarro, IJ.; Sánchez-Garrido, AJ.; Yepes, V. (2021). Engineering and architecture postgraduate student's perceptions on sustainable design. IATED Academy. 2554-2563. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.0545S2554256

Ultrasonic characterization of the pulmonary venous wall: echographic and histological correlation

Background: Pulmonary vein isolation with radiofrequency catheter ablation techniques is used to prevent recurrences of human atrial fibrillation. Visualization of the architecture at the venoatrial junction could be crucial for these ablative techniques. Our study assesses the potential for intravascular ultrasound to provide this information. Methods and Results: We retrieved 32 pulmonary veins from 8 patients dying from noncardiac causes. We obtained cross-sectional intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images with a 3.2F, 30-MHz ultrasound catheter at intervals on each vein. Histological cross-sections at the intervals allowed comparisons with ultrasonic images. The pulmonary venous wall at the venoatrial junction revealed a 3-layered ultrasonic pattern. The inner echogenic layer represents both endothelium and connective tissue of the media (mean maximal thickness, 1.4±0.3 mm). The middle hypoechogenic stratum corresponds to the sleeves of left atrial myocardium surrounding the external aspect of the venous media. This layer was thickest at the venoatrial junction (mean maximal thickness, 2.6±0.8 mm) and decreased toward the lung hilum. The outer echodense layer corresponds to fibro-fatty adventitial tissue (mean maximal thickness, 2.15±0.36 mm). We found a close agreement among the IVUS and histological measurements for maximal luminal diameter (mean difference, -0.12±1.3 mm) and maximal muscular thickness (mean difference, 0.17±0.13 mm) using the Bland and Altman method. Conclusions: Our experimental study demonstrates for the first time that IVUS images of the pulmonary veins can provide information on the distal limits and thickness of the myocardial sleeves and can be a valuable tool to help accurate targeting during ablative procedures

Поверхностные скорости и айсберговый сток ледникового купола Академии Наук на Северной Земле

We have determined the ice-surface velocities of the Academy of Sciences Ice Cap, Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic, during the period November 2016 – November 2017, using intensity offset-tracking of Sentinel-1 synthetic-aperture radar images. We used the average of 54 pairs of weekly velocities (with both images in each pair separated by a12-day period) to estimate the mean annual ice discharge from the ice cap. We got an average ice discharge for 2016–2017 of 1,93±0,12 Gt a−1, which is equivalent to −0,35±0,02 m w.e. a−1 over the whole area of the ice cap. The difference from an estimate of ~1,4 Gt a−1 for 2003–2009 can be attributed to the initiation of ice-stream flow in Basin BC sometime between 2002 and 2016. Since the front position changes between both periods have been negligible, ice discharge is equivalent to calving flux. We compare our results for calving flux with those of previous studies and analyse the possible drivers of the changes observed along the last three decades. Since these changes do not appear to have responded to environmental changes, we conclude that the observed changes are likely driven by the intrinsic characteristics of the ice cap governing tidewater glacier dynamics.По 54 парам космических снимков Sentinel‐1, сделанных с ноября 2016 г. по ноябрь 2017 г., определены скорости движения ледникового купола Академии Наук на Северной Земле. На этой основе оценён среднегодовой расход льда в море этого купола (1,93±0,12 Гт/год), установлены основные пути стока льда, проведено сравнение с прежними оценками

Evidence of strong antiferromagnetic coupling between localized and itinerant electrons in ferromagnetic Sr2FeMoO6

Magnetic dc susceptibility ($\chi$) and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements in the paramagnetic regime, are presented. We found a Curie-Weiss (CW) behavior for $\chi$(T) with a ferromagnetic $\Theta = 446(5)$ K and $\mu_{eff} = 4.72(9) \mu_{B}/f.u.$, this being lower than that expected for either $Fe^{3+}(5.9\mu_{B})$ or $Fe^{2+}(4.9\mu_{B})$ ions. The ESR g-factor $g = 2.01(2)$, is associated with $Fe^{3+}$. We obtained an excellent description of the experiments in terms of two interacting sublattices: the localized $Fe^{3+}$ ($3d^{5}$) cores and the delocalized electrons. The coupled equations were solved in a mean-field approximation, assuming for the itinerant electrons a bare susceptibility independent on $T$. We obtained $\chi_{e}^{0} = 3.7$ $10^{-4}$ emu/mol. We show that the reduction of $\mu_{eff}$ for $Fe^{3+}$ arises from the strong antiferromagnetic (AFM) interaction between the two sublattices. At variance with classical ferrimagnets, we found that $\Theta$ is ferromagnetic. Within the same model, we show that the ESR spectrum can be described by Bloch-Hasegawa type equations. Bottleneck is evidenced by the absence of a $g$-shift. Surprisingly, as observed in CMR manganites, no narrowing effects of the ESR linewidth is detected in spite of the presence of the strong magnetic coupling. These results provide evidence that the magnetic order in $Sr_{2}FeMoO_{6}$ does not originates in superexchange interactions, but from a novel mechanism recently proposed for double perovskites

On the validity of the 630 nm Fe I nm lines for the magnetometry of the internetwork quiet Sun

The purpose of this work is to analyze the reliability of the magnetic field strengths inferred from the 630 nm pair of Fe I lines at internetwork quiet Sun regions. Some numerical experiments have been performed that demonstrate the inability of these lines to recover the magnetic field strength in such low flux solar regions. It is shown how different model atmospheres, with magnetic field strengths ranging from few hundred Gauss to kiloGauss, give rise to Stokes profiles that can not be distinguished. The reasons for this degeneracy are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&