Design and Testing of a Structural Monitoring System in an Almería-Type Tensioned Structure Greenhouse

Greenhouse cultivation has gained a special importance in recent years and become the basis of the economy in south-eastern Spain. The structures used are light and, due to weather events, often collapse completely or partially, which has generated interest in the study of these unique buildings. This study presents a load and displacement monitoring system that was designed, and full scale tested, in an Almería-type greenhouse with a tensioned wire structure. The loads and displacements measured under real load conditions were recorded for multiple time periods. The traction force on the roof cables decreased up to 22% for a temperature increase of 30 °C, and the compression force decreased up to 16.1% on the columns or pillars for a temperature and wind speed increase of 25.8 °C and 1.9 m/s respectively. The results show that the structure is susceptible to daily temperature changes and, to a lesser extent, wind throughout the test. The monitoring system, which uses load cells to measure loads and machine vision techniques to measure displacements, is appropriate for use in different types of greenhouses

Effect of Oxy-Combustion Flue Gas on Mercury Oxidation

This study evaluates the effect of the gases present in a typical oxy-coal combustion atmosphere on mercury speciation and compares it with the mercury speciation produced in conventional air combustion atmospheres. The work was performed at laboratory scale at 150 °C. It was found that the minor constituents (SO2, NOx, and HCl) significantly modify the percentages of Hg2+ in the gas. The influence of these species on mercury oxidation was demostrated when they were tested individually and also when they were blended in different gas compositions, although the effect was different to the sum of their individual effects. Of the minor constituents, NOx were the main species involved in oxidation of mercury. Moreover, it was found that a large concentration of H2O vapor also plays an important role in mercury oxidation. Around 50% of the total mercury was oxidized in atmospheres with H2O vapor concentrations typical of oxy-combustion conditions. When the atmospheres have similar concentrations of SO2, NO, NO2, HCl, and H2O, the proportion of Hg0/Hg2+ is similar regardless of whether CO2 (oxy-fuel combustion) or N2 (air combustion) are the main components of the gas.The financial support for this work was provided by the project CTM2011-22921. The authors thank PCTI Asturias for awarding Nuria Fernandez-Miranda a pre-doctoral fellowship.Peer reviewe

Plasma-activated water: A cutting-edge technology driving innovation in the food industry

.Innovation regarding food production and processing is required to meet the emerging challenges of ensuring worldwide food security and meeting consumer demands for high-quality, safe and nutritious food products. This review provides insights into the current state-of-the-art of the emerging applications of Plasma Activated Water (PAW) in the food industry. PAW antimicrobial properties, inactivation mechanisms and the critical factors determining the lethal effect, as well as the bases for other technological applications are discussed. Overall, this review article describes the degree of success achieved by PAW technology in different applications and illustrates its feasibility and applicability in the food-processing industryS

Factors Relating to Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pain Management in Inpatients

Purpose: To describe factors associated with nurses’ attitudes or lack of knowledge regarding pain management in adult inpatients. Design: Transverse descriptive survey-based study. Methods: This was a transverse descriptive survey-based study. The population was obtained through non probabilistic convenience sampling. The Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was made available to 470 nurses at a tertiary level hospital. Associations were sought with the unit where assigned, years of experience, specific training on pain, and postgraduate education. Results: The sample included 134 nurses with a mean age of 41.6 ± 10.8 years; 87% were women, 64% worked rotating shifts, 64% had more than 10 years of experience, and 31% had specific training in pain management. The greatest number of correct responses was obtained from nurses with specific training in pain management (p ¼ .001) and nurses who worked in units of surgical hospitalization (p ¼ .004). The lack of training was associated with a deficit in knowledge and inadequate attitudes about pain management. In nurses with less than 10 years of experience, worse results were observed in knowledge, whereas the unit of work was decisive in the results about attitude (p < .05). Conclusions: Among the nurses surveyed, some knowledge gaps were detected, as were certain inap propriate attitudes, associated with lack of training, lack of experience, and being assigned to specific hospitalization units.S

Development of Gold Nanoparticle-Doped Activated Carbon Sorbent for Elemental Mercury

The control of mercury (Hg) from coal-fired power plants by adsorption in solid sorbents is an attractive way to reduce Hg emissions. In this study, a commercial activated carbon (Norit RB3) was impregnated with gold nanoparticles for the retention of Hg in the gas phase, with the intention to explore their potential to be regenerated in future investigations. The activated carbon (RB3) was impregnated with different gold contents using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride (THPC) to compare the performance of these two methods. Gold particles of ∼5 nm were obtained in the carbonaceous support for low gold contents (0.1%). With comparative purposes of the sorbent behavior, the Hg0 retention capacity was evaluated in a lab-scale device in an O2 + N2 atmosphere. Although the Hg retention capacities of these sorbents were similar by the two methods, a higher efficiency was achieved with THPC, being in some cases 80%. The results showed that the use of THPC is a promising means for dropping gold (0.1%) to make carbonaceous sorbents for use in Hg capture.The authors thank the CSIC (PIF-06-050) and the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CTQ2008-06860-C02-01) for financial support.Peer reviewe

Mercury Retention by Fly Ashes from Oxy-fuel Processes

The objective of this study is to determine the mechanism of mercury retention in fly ashes, the main solid waste from coal combustion power plants, and to evaluate the interactions between the type of mercury and fly ashes. The work was based on the results of mercury speciation in the gas and the solid fly ash before and after mercury retention. The identification of the mercury species in the gas was performed using previously validated methods, but the speciation of the mercury retained in the fly ashes was carried out using a mercury temperature-programmed desorption technique (HgTPD) still under development. The fly ashes were sampled from conventional coal combustion in air and oxy-combustion power plants. The main mercury species identified in the raw fly ashes and after they were subjected to an oxy-combustion atmosphere were mercury bound to organic matter and HgS, the ratio of these species depending on the characteristics of the ashes. The results obtained indicate that fly ashes are the route of mercury oxidation in an oxy-combustion atmosphere, although they hardly retain any mercury unless the unburned carbon content is high. HgTPD analysis shows that the main mechanism for mercury retention in the fly ashes is via the carbon matter.The financial support for this work was provided by the National Research Program under project CTM2011–22921. The authors thank CIEMAT (Department of Energy) and CIUDEN for supplying the fly ashes employed in this study, PCTI Asturias for awarding Ms. Nuria Fernandez-Miranda a pre-doctoral fellowship and the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) for awarding Ms. Marta Rumayor a JAE-predoc fellowship.Peer reviewe

Microbiological Safety and Shelf-Life of Low-Salt Meat Products—A Review

[EN] Salt is widely employed in different foods, especially in meat products, due to its very diverse and extended functionality. However, the high intake of sodium chloride in human diet has been under consideration for the last years, because it is related to serious health problems. The meat-processing industry and research institutions are evaluating different strategies to overcome the elevated salt concentrations in products without a quality reduction. Several properties could be directly or indirectly affected by a sodium chloride decrease. Among them, microbial stability could be shifted towards pathogen growth, posing a serious public health threat. Nonetheless, the majority of the literature available focuses attention on the sensorial and technological challenges that salt reduction implies. Thereafter, the need to discuss the consequences for shelf-life and microbial safety should be considered. Hence, this review aims to merge all the available knowledge regarding salt reduction in meat products, providing an assessment on how to obtain low salt products that are sensorily accepted by the consumer, technologically feasible from the perspective of the industry, and, in particular, safe with respect to microbial stability.S

Attitude towards oral biopsy among general dentists in Murcia

Objective: The present study explores the attitude of general dentists towards oral biopsy as a diagnostic method in application to oral lesions. Material and methods: A questionnaire was administered by mail to 520 general dentists in the Autonomous Community of Murcia (Spain), addressing a number of items: sociodemographic parameters, years of professional experience, the diagnosis of mucosal lesions, the performance of oral biopsies, and their histopathological evaluation. Results: The global response rate was 32.7% (55.9% for males and 43.5% for females), with a global mean age of 35.9 years. Of note is the fact that the group with least professional experience did not include oral biopsy as diagnostic procedure, with statistically significant differences versus the other groups of experience (p=0.048) Conclusion: The assimilation of oral biopsy as a diagnostic procedure is seen to increase with the number of years of professional experience

El ocio y los enfoques de aprendizaje en estudiantes universitarios de Enfermería

P. 53-70Se analiza la relación establecida entre percepción de tiempo libre y ocio y enfoques de aprendizaje en estudiantes universitarios. Para ello se realiza una investigación por encuesta en la que participan 210 alumnos de la Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de León. La hipótesis de partida es que los estudiantes que presentan un enfoque de aprendizaje predominantemente profundo percibirán disponer de menos tiempo de ocio que aquellos que presentan un enfoque más superficial, debido al carácter competidor de ambas actividades. Para recoger la información se ha utilizado la encuesta Tiempo Libre y Ocio (ETLO) y el cuestionario sobre Procesos de Estudio en su versión reducida de dos factores (R-CPE-2F). Los resultados avalan las hipótesis propuestas, encontrándose también diferencias tanto en la utilización del tiempo libre como los enfoques de aprendizaje en función del género. Se discuten los resultados y se señalan orientaciones para la aplicación práctica.S

Determinants of Physical Activity performed by Young Adults

Despite the World Health Organization considering it important to promote physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle, the o cial data show an increase in the percentage of physical inactivity, which has brought about the development of strategies at di erent levels (national and international) to reverse this trend. For the development of these strategies, it is relevant to know what the determinants of physical activity (at leisure and at work) are. Therefore, this is going to be analysed in the autochthonous young adults from Seville. A cross-sectional survey of their health behaviours was carried out. The sample was selected through a proportionally stratified random sampling procedure. From the results, we highlight that the general perceived health status is good and that most physical activity is performed during leisure time. However, a majority of the population analysed reported overweight or obesity. Participants with a low perceived health status, those who have low social support from their family and friends, and those who do not smoke are the ones who have more probability of engaging in physical activity during their leisure time. However, gender, education level, and alcohol consumption are revealed as determinants of the intensity of physical activity at work. In this regard, men and/or participants with a low level of studies are those who carry out more physically demanding activities at work