The twisting index in semitoric systems

In 2009-2011 Pelayo and V\~{u} Ngoc classified semitoric integrable systems in terms of five invariants. Four of the invariants were already well-understood prior to the classification, but the fifth invariant, the so-called twisting index invariant, came as a surprise. Having a better understanding of the twisting index invariant of a semitoric system is a necessary step towards extending the symplectic classification result to more general situations, such as almost-toric systems, hypersemitoric systems, or higher dimensional systems which admit underlying complexity-one torus actions. The twisting index encodes how the structure in a neighborhood of a focus-focus fiber compares to the large-scale structure of the semitoric system. Pelayo and V\~{u} Ngoc originally defined the twisting index in terms of comparing certain momentum maps. The first half of the paper is devoted to giving an equivalent definition of the twisting index in terms of topological-geometric objects, such as homology cycles. The second half of the paper is concerned with computing the twisting index of a specific family of systems (the generalized coupled angular momenta) with two focus-focus singular points, which is the first time that the twisting index has been computed for a system with more than one focus-focus point. Along the way, we also compute the terms of the Taylor series invariant up to second order, completing the computation of all five semitoric invariants for this system. Thus there is now a fully classified third family of semitoric systems after the completion of the classification of spin oscillators and coupled angular momenta (Alonso $\&$ Hohloch $\&$ Dullin in 2019 and 2020).Comment: 46 page, 16 figure

Inventory analysis and carbon footprint of coastland-hotel services: A Spanish case study

Tourism is a key industry in the Spanish economy. Spain was in the World top three ranking by international tourist arrivals and by income in 2015. The development of the tourism industry is essential to maintain the established economic system. However, if the environmental requirements were not taken into account, the country would face a negative effect on depletion of local environmental resources from which tourism depends. This case study evaluates, through a life cycle perspective, the average carbon footprint of an overnight stay in a Spanish coastland hotel by analyzing 14 two-to-five-stars hotels. Inventory and impact data are analyzed and presented both for resource use and greenhouse gases emissions, with the intention of helping in the environmental decision-making process. The main identified potential hotspots are electricity and fuels consumption (6 to 30 kWh/overnight stay and 24 to 127 MJ/overnight stay respectively), which are proportional to the number of stars and unoccupancy rate and they produce more than 75% of the impact. It is also revealed that voluntary implementation of environmental monitoring systems (like EMAS regulation) promotes collection of more detailed and accurate data, which helps in a more efficient use of resources. A literature review on LCA and tourism is also discussed. Spanish hotels inventory data presented here for the first time will be useful for tourism related managers (destination managers, policy makers and hotel managers among others) to calculate sustainability key indicators, which can lead to achieve real sustainable-tourism goals. Further data collection will be needed in future projects to gather representative data from more hotels, other accommodation facilities and also other products/services offered by tourist sector in Spain (like transport of tourists, food and beverage, culture-sports & recreation and others)

Stochastic nonlinear modelling and application of price-based energy flexibility

DSF1305-00027B 8090-00069B EP/S001670/1If CO2-emissions are to be reduced, the shares of renewable energy sources will have to be significantly increased. However, energy flexibility is required to cope with the increased share of renewable energy. Utilising it necessitates mathematical models of the operational response of energy flexible consumers. In this paper we present an accurate and general dynamic model of energy flexibility based on stochastic differential equations. The intuitive interpretation of the parameters is explained, to show the generality of the proposed model. To validate the approach, the parameters are estimated for three water towers and three buildings controlled by economic model predictive controllers. The model is then used to offer the energy flexibility on the current electricity market of Scandinavia, Nord Pool, using the so called “flexi orders”. Finally, the energy flexibility is used by controlling the demand of the water towers indirectly, through price signals designed based on the proposed model. Compared to having perfect foresight of electricity prices and future demand, between 63% and 98% of the potential savings were obtained in for these case studies. This shows that even without direct control of energy flexible systems, most of the potential can be reached under the current market conditions.publishersversionpublishe

Cost-Effective eHealth System Based on a Multi-Sensor System-on-Chip Platform and Data Fusion in Cloud for Sport Activity Monitoring

eHealth systems provide medical support to users and contribute to the development of mobile and quality health care. They also provide results on the prevention and follow-up of diseases by monitoring health-status indicators and methodical data gathering in patients. Telematic management of health services by means of the Internet of Things provides immediate support and it is cheaper than conventional physical presence methods. Currently, wireless communications and sensor networks allow a person or group to be monitored remotely. The aim of this paper is to develop and assess a system for monitoring physiological parameters to be applied in different scenarios, such as health or sports. This system is based on a distributed architecture, where physiological data of a person are collected by several sensors; next, a Raspberry Pi joins the information and makes a standardization process; then, these data are sent to the Cloud to be processed. Our Cloud system stores the received data and makes a data fusion process in order to indicate the athlete's fatigue status at every moment. This system has been tested in collaboration with a small group of voluntary tri-athletes. A network simulation has been performed to plan a monitoring network for a bigger group of athletes. Finally, we have found that this system is useful for medium-term monitoring of the sports activitie

In search of the desired sustainable tourism: a review of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tourism studies

Sustainable tourism should be promoted as a new system for the sustainable management of resources from a socioeconomic and environmental point of view. For this purpose, it is necessary to develop a tool capable of assessing the impacts associated with each of the stages of the sector and to identify which actions are currently being addressed in the tourism sector in order to achieve the desired sustainability in the sector. This timely study aims to describe the current framework of life cycle assessment (LCA) and its application to the tourism sector. To address these questions, the geographical distribution, the temporal evolution of the publications, as well as the most relevant characteristics of the tourism industry articles were evaluated such as the functional unit and system boundaries considered. The study identifies key recommendations on the progression of LCA for this increasingly important sustaining tourism sector. As important results, it stands out that 94% of articles focused on LCA methodology were from the last decade and almost 26% of the articles reviewed cover sustainable tourism term, considering environmental, social and economic aspects. Specifically, LCA is a highly effective tool capable of assessing direct and indirect carbon emissions at all stages of the activity as well as the socioeconomic and environmental impacts generated in the tourism sector. This review showed that the most common environmental indicator in the LCA methodology is the carbon footprint. COVID-19 pandemic is also an object of discussion in the framework of the sustainable tourism together with advocating support for the eco-labelling and digitalisation of the tourism experiences as valuable tools to minimize environmental negativities, to promote mechanisms to access green markets and to frame successful synergies.This research was funded by the INTERREG SUDOE Programme, grant number GREENTOUR: Circular Economy and Sustainable Tourism in Destinations of the SUDOE space (SOE4/P5/E1089). Furthermore, the authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose comments and corrections have significantly improved the quality of this contribution

Life Cycle Assessment of a solar thermal system in Spain, eco-design alternatives and derived climate change scenarios at Spanish and Chinese national levels

Solar thermal energy is considered a ‘clean’ form of energy; however, environmental impacts occur during its life-cycle. The present work compares the environmental performance of two scenarios: a solar thermal system for providing domestic hot water (DHW) used in conjunction with a traditional natural gas heating system, and the natural gas heating system on its own. Weak points are found and different eco-design scenarios are evaluated in order to achieve a more circular economy. In addition, the authors explore what would be the national Greenhouse Gas emission reduction potential of a wider use of domestic solar hot water systems (DSHW) in China’s and Spain’s built environment. In this case, five displacement methods are suggested to show how the emissions reduction vary. Through a review of the state of the art and a Life Cycle Assessment of a solar system the two scenarios are assessed. Some impact categories, such as global warming, suggest a markedly better performance of the solar system (-65%). However, weak points in the solar solution have been identified as there is an increase of impacts in cases such as acidification (+6%) and eutrophication (+61%), mostly due to the metals used. The components with higher environmental impact are the collector, the tank, and the copper tubes. The reduction of national emissions by promoting DSHW depends on the actual displaced technology/ies. The consequences on national emissions reduction depending on these choices are assessed. The potential reduction of emissions, if 30% of the DHW were covered with solar sources, would be between 0.38% and 0.50% in the case of Spain and between 0.12% and 0.63% in China

Effect of the haematocrit layer geometry on Plasmodium falciparum static thin-layer in vitro cultures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>In vitro </it>cultivation of <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>is usually carried out through the continuous preservation of infected erythrocytes deposited in static thin layers of settled haematocrit. This technique, called the candle-jar method, was first achieved by Trager and Jensen in 1976 and has undergone slight modifications since then. However, no systematic studies concerning the geometry of the haematocrit layer have been carried out. In this work, a thorough investigation of the effects of the geometric culturing conditions on the parasite's development is presented.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Several experimental trials exploring different settings have been carried out, covering haematocrit layer depths that ranged from 6 mm to 3 mm and separation between the walls of the culturing device that ranged from 7.5 mm to 9 mm. The obtained results have been analysed and compared to different system-level models and to an Individual-Based Model.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In line with the results, a mechanism governing the propagation of the infection which limits it to the vicinity of the interface between the haematocrit layer and the culture medium is deduced, and the most appropriate configurations are proposed for further experimental assays.</p

Analysis of mutant allele fractions in driver genes in colorectal cancer - biological and clinical insights

Sequencing of tumors is now routine and guides personalized cancer therapy. Mutant allele fractions (s, or the 'mutation dose') of a driver gene may reveal the genomic structure of tumors and influence response to targeted therapies. We performed a comprehensive analysis of s of driver alterations in unpaired primary and metastatic colorectal cancer () at our institution from 2010 to 2015 and studied their potential clinical relevance. Of 763 samples, 622 had detailed annotation on overall survival in the metastatic setting (met) and 89 received targeted agents matched to ( inhibitors), ( inhibitors), or 3 mutations (3K pathway inhibitors). s of each variant were normalized for tumor purity in the sample (adjs). We found lower adjs for 600E and 3 than for , , and non-V600 variants. 53 and 600E adjs were higher in metastases as compared to primary tumors, and high adjs were found in metastases of patients with wild-type primary tumors previously exposed to antibodies. Patients with - or 600E -mutated tumors, irrespective of adjs, had worse met. There was no significant association between adjs and time to progression on targeted therapies matched to , , or 3 mutations, potentially related to the limited antitumor activity of the employed drugs (overall response rate of 4.5%). In conclusion, the lower 600E and 3 adjs in subsets of primary tumors indicate subclonality of these driver genes. Differences in adjs between metastases and primary tumors suggest that approved therapies may result in selection of 600E - and -resistant clones and an increase in genomic heterogeneity with acquired 53 alterations. Despite significant differences in prognosis according to mutations in driver oncogenes, adjs levels did not impact on survival and did not help predict benefit with matched targeted agents in the metastatic setting