GOYA: a teleoperated system for blasting applied to ships maintenance

This paper presents the GOYA Project, a teleoperated system for blasting applied to hull cleaning in ship maintenance. The objective of the project is to develop a reliable and cost effective technology regarding hull grit blasting, obtaining a high quality surface preparation together with a dramatic reduction of waste and zero emissions to environment. Present technology for hull cleaning and the problematic in shipbuilding industry are analysed. Selection of blasting technologies and materials is also approached in this paper, showing the different tests carried out to achieve a hull surface cleanliness of SA 2 ½. The desing of the robot is also presented, showing aspects of mechanical, control unit, teleoperation system and blasting head design. It also shows the consecution of a smooth hull surface and the reduction of operation costs atmospheric contamination. It also eliminates the hard working conditions of the operators in the present manual operation. This work is supported by the Spanish government and the European Union (CICYT-FEDER) and is tested in BAZAN Co.The authors want to acknowledge the Spanish government and European Communities for CICYT-FEDER support (1FD97-0823). Additional funds support from BAZAN and Spanish Ministry of Industry (ATYCA)

Influence of the ICFF decoupling technique on the stability of the current control loop of a grid-tied VSC

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.The control scheme of grid-tied converters is often implemented in the dq-frame due to simplicity of design. However, with this transformation, there exists an inherent cross-coupling term between the d-and q-channels which is often compensated for by using a feed-forward term in the current-control loop. It is shown, by applying the generalized Nyquist criterion (GNC) to the dq-frame ac impedance of the converter, that the inclusion of this decoupling term, in fact, degrades the stability of the controller when increasing the bandwidth of the synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (SRF-PLL). Harware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiments are also conducted and verify these results.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Tacit knowledges, mainstreaming touristic and local development. The example of a desolate city and in restructuring process: Lorca (Murcia Region, Spain)

La ciudad de Lorca (Región de Murcia, España) sufrió cuantiosos daños el pasado 11 de mayo de 2011, cuando dos terremotos afectaron a esa localidad ocasionando 8 víctimas mortales, cientos de heridos e innumerables daños materiales. Desde entonces se han emprendido numerosos proyectos de rehabilitación urbana y patrimonial. En 2014, el Grupo de Investigación “Dinámicas Territoriales, Análisis y Ordenación”, de la Universidad de Murcia, consigue financiación de la Fundación Séneca (Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia) para desarrollar el Proyecto de Investigación “El turismo cultural en la revitalización del patrimonio histórico de Lorca: actores y estrategias”. Conscientes de que la rehabilitación exige una revitalización en paralelo, capaz de originar una positiva y completa gentrificación, se plantea el análisis de las relaciones e interdependencias entre turismo, patrimonio, ciudades históricas y desarrollo local.The town of Lorca (Murcia, Spain) was badly damaged last May 11, 2011, when two earthquakes hit the city causing eight deaths, hundreds of injuries and countless material damage. Since then numerous projects of urban rehabilitation and of heritage have been undertaken. In 2014, the Research Group “Territorial Dynamics, Analysis and Management”, of the University of Murcia, gets funding from the Seneca Foundation (Agency for Science and Technology in the Region of Murcia) to develop the research project “Cultural tourism in the revitalization of the historical heritage of Lorca: actors and strategies”. We are aware that rehabilitation requires a revitalization in parallel, capable of causing a positive and complete gentrification, and therefore we propose the analysis of the relationships and interdependencies between tourism, heritage, historic towns and local development

Service robot for hull-blasting

Present grit blasting technology for hull cleaning is very pollutant, environmentally unaffordable, and it is progressively forbidden in the most environmental countries (mainly north of Europe). At the time being, the above methodology has been partially substituted by ultra highpressure water blasting, however they do not show as good performance as the grit blasting systems. This paper describes a service robot for hull blasting. The technology we developed consists of the cleaning head, the robot body, the remote control unit and the teleoperation platform. This solution allows a reliable and cost effective operation regarding hull grit blasting, obtaining a high quality surface preparation (SA 2 ½) together with a dramatic reduction of waste and zero emissions to environment. A prototype of the robot has been developed and tested in IZAR shipyards. We presents the functional requirements, system concept and architecture of this robot. This work was supported by the Spanish government, the European Union (CICYT-FEDER)The authors want to acknowledge the Spanish government and European Communities for CICYT-FEDER support (1FD97-0823). Additional funds support from IZAR and Spanish Ministry of Industry (ATYCA)

Service robot for hull-blasting

Present grit blasting technology for hull cleaning is very pollutant, environmentally unaffordable, and it is progressively forbidden in the most environmental countries (mainly north of Europe). At the time being, the above methodology has been partially substituted by ultra highpressure water blasting, however they do not show as good performance as the grit blasting systems. This paper describes a service robot for hull blasting. The technology we developed consists of the cleaning head, the robot body, the remote control unit and the teleoperation platform. This solution allows a reliable and cost effective operation regarding hull grit blasting, obtaining a high quality surface preparation (SA 2 ½) together with a dramatic reduction of waste and zero emissions to environment. A prototype of the robot has been developed and tested in IZAR shipyards. We presents the functional requirements, system concept and architecture of this robot. This work was supported by the Spanish government, the European Union (CICYT-FEDER)The authors want to acknowledge the Spanish government and European Communities for CICYT-FEDER support (1FD97-0823). Additional funds support from IZAR and Spanish Ministry of Industry (ATYCA)

Parasitostatic effect of maslinic acid. I. Growth arrest of Plasmodium falciparum intraerythrocytic stages

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Natural products have played an important role as leads for the development of new drugs against malaria. Recent studies have shown that maslinic acid (MA), a natural triterpene obtained from olive pomace, which displays multiple biological and antimicrobial activities, also exerts inhibitory effects on the development of some Apicomplexan, including <it>Eimeria, Toxoplasma </it>and <it>Neospora</it>. To ascertain if MA displays anti-malarial activity, the main objective of this study was to asses the effect of MA on <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>-infected erythrocytes <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Synchronized <it>P. falciparum</it>-infected erythrocyte cultures were incubated under different conditions with MA, and compared to chloroquine and atovaquone treated cultures. The effects on parasite growth were determined by monitoring the parasitaemia and the accumulation of the different infective stages visualized in thin blood smears.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MA inhibits the growth of <it>P. falciparum </it>Dd2 and 3D7 strains in infected erythrocytes in, dose-dependent manner, leading to the accumulation of immature forms at IC₅₀concentrations, while higher doses produced non-viable parasite cells. MA-treated infected-erythrocyte cultures were compared to those treated with chloroquine or atovaquone, showing significant differences in the pattern of accumulation of parasitic stages. Transient MA treatment at different parasite stages showed that the compound targeted intra-erythrocytic processes from early-ring to schizont stage. These results indicate that MA has a parasitostatic effect, which does not inactivate permanently <it>P. falciparum</it>, as the removal of the compound allowed the infection to continue</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MA displays anti-malarial activity at multiple intraerythrocytic stages of the parasite and, depending on the dose and incubation time, behaves as a plasmodial parasitostatic compound. This novel parasitostatic effect appears to be unrelated to previous mechanisms proposed for current anti-malarial drugs, and may be relevant to uncover new prospective plasmodial targets and opens novel possibilities of therapies associated to host immune response.</p

Sistema Meteorológico con Comunicación Remota Usando Zigbee

This paper shows a weather station implementation which allows to watch, at the measurement site and remotely, different weather variables like wind speed, rain precipitation and Humidity. Initially, the sensors, such as the anemometer, pluviometer and thermo-hygrometer, were characterized by using a pattern and the specification given by the manufacturer. This data is represented graphically to obtain the trend equation, the later tested with its corresponding correlation. Following the characterization process, the sensors reading algorithm was programmed in an Arduino. At the same time, the data was send wirelessly through Xbee, Zigbee module. Finally, the values are shown in a liquid crystal screen located in the weather station and also is shown in the receptor through a computer previously configurated.En el presente artículo presenta la implementación de una estación meteorológica la cual permite observar en el lugar de medición y de forma remota, el cambio de las distintas variables climáticas, como lo son la velocidad del viento, precipitación de lluvia, temperatura y humedad relativa del ambiente. Inicialmente se hace la respectiva caracterización de los sensores utilizados, para el caso, el anemómetro, pluviómetro y el termo higrómetro, por medio de un patrón y las especificaciones dadas por el fabricante; estos datos son representados gráficamente generando la ecuación de tendencia, evaluada con su correlación correspondiente. Seguidamente del proceso de caracterización, por medio de la plataforma Arduino, se programa la lectura de los sensores e igualmente él envió inalámbrico de datos por medio de módulos Xbee, Zigbee. Como proceso final, los datos son visualizados en una pantalla de cristal líquido ubicada en la estación meteorológica y en el receptor por medio de un ordenador previamente configurado

Supply Chain Risk of Obsolescence at Simultaneous Robust Perturbations

The earlier planning methods of supply chains (SC) in the skeleton of the extended material requirements planning (EMRP), where the time horizon of the reverse Laplace is infinite, were not convenient to estimate the impact of the technical obsolescence of the product or technology involved, which has economic, environmental, and social consequences. Therefore, the perturbations of timing are presented until the possible obsolescence, with parallel execution of the network simulation model (NSM) to evaluate the impact of the finite lifespan on the value of the chain. The EMRP, as well as the NSM, are based on the skeleton of the material requirements planning model, where delays and their perturbations are presented transparently. Contrary to the previous studies of the net present value (NPV) in the EMRP skeleton, where the infinite horizon is assumed, the impact of shortening the horizon of activities is shown here, in order to also evaluate the risk of financing investments in the SC with a shorter lifespan of products or technology. Owing to the simultaneous appearances of the stochastic variables, the parallel execution and exchanging of data, using NSM is advised. The procedures for estimation of correction factors of the NPV and their values are given.This research was partly funded by the Slovenian Research Agency, grant P5-0364 and J6-9396, and partly by the University of Padua

Traumatismo de columna vertebral: valoración por TC de las lesiones extraóseas

Introducción y objetivos: los traumatismos espinales son comunes y potencialmente graves por el riesgo de lesión medular asociada. Uno de los principales objetivos del estudio por imagen ante cualquier traumatismo espinal es determinar la estabilidad-inestabilidad de la fractura, porque de ello va a depender en gran medida la necesidad de intervención urgente. La estabilidad fue definida por White y Panjabi como la capacidad de la columna de mantener la carga fisiológica normal sin deformidad mecánica ni síntomas neurológicos progresivos. Dicha estabilidad depende de la integridad de los componentes ligamento-esqueléticos de la columna, siendo el complejo ligamentario posterior (CLP) una de las estructuras más importantes. Actualmente las clasificaciones que se utilizan para determinar la severidad de los traumatismos espinales son la SLIC (The Sub-axial Cervical Spine Fracture Classification) y la TLICS (Thoracolumbar Injury Classification and Severity Score), las cuales evalúan 3 parámetros: morfología (tipo de fractura), clínica neurológica, e integridad del CLP. La RM es la técnica más sensible y específica para determinar el grado de afectación del CLP, sin embargo su disponibilidad es menor y su coste es mayor que el de la TC. La TC es útil para determinar las fracturas óseas típicas de los traumas espinales, sin embargo sólo observa la lesión ligamentaria de manera indirecta. No obstante hay estudios que apoyan que en el trauma cervical espinal en pacientes obnubilados en los que la TC fue normal, los hallazgos de RM no han cambiado el manejo quirúrgico, y los resultados de la RM no proporciona información adicional a la de la TC de la estabilidad de la columna cervical. De ahí la importancia de investigar la capacidad de la TC para la valoración de las lesiones extraóseas; objetivo de nuestro estudio. Material y métodos: descripción de la muestra: Entre enero de 2009 y febrero de 2011 se realizó en nuestro centro estudio urgente de TC de cuerpo entero a 368 pacientes politraumatizados y estudio urgente de TC de columna a 41 pacientes que acudieron por traumatismos focalizados en columna cervical, dorsal o lumbar. Se encontraron 160 lesiones espinales en un total de 118 pacientes. En 38 fracturas correspondientes a 30 de estos pacientes se realizó además estudio de RM, objeto del estudio que aquí se presenta. Criterios de inclusión: pacientes mayores de 15 años que ingresaron en nuestro centro en el periodo de tiempo mencionado, con lesiones vertebrales traumáticas en el estudio TC, a los que posteriormente se realizó estudio de columna vertebral por RM. Descripción técnica y definición de los datos: se evaluó la utilidad de la TC para la detección de lesiones ligamentarias y discales, empleando la RM como estándar de referencia. Para ello se midió el espacio interespinoso en las reconstrucciones sagitales de los estudios de TC con el fin de predecir lesión del CLP. Cuando el espacio interespinoso se encontraba aumentado en relación con los adyacentes, superior e inferior, se consideró que había lesión del mismo. En los estudios de RM se estableció la integridad de los ligamentos cuando estos aparecieron hipointensos en todas las secuencias. Cuando existía hiperintensidad (como consecuencia de la presencia de edema) ó disrupción (indicativo de rotura completa del ligamento) se estableció el diagnóstico de lesión ligamentaria. En cuanto al estado de los discos intervertebrales, se valoró mediante TC si la altura discal era igual a los espacios discales adyacentes, craneal y caudal o estaba disminuída o aumentada con respecto a ellos. En caso de sospecha de lesión a múltiples niveles, se consideraron el resto de espacios interdiscales conservados. En RM, se estableció lesión discal en presencia de hernia, rotura o pseudohernia. Análisis de los datos: se realizó el análisis de validez y fiabilidad de la presencia o no de aumento de espacio interespinoso para la valoración del CLP y de la existencia de aumento o disminución del espacio discal para la detección de la lesión discal mediante TC