Conformal mapping of ultrasonic crystals: confining ultrasound and cochlear-like wave guiding

Conformal mapping of a slab of a two-dimensional ultrasonic crystal generate a closed geometrical arrangement of ultrasonic scatterers with appealing acoustic properties. This acoustic shell is able to confine ultrasonic modes. Some of these internal resonances can be induced from an external wave source. The mapping of a linear defect produces a wave-guide that exhibits a spatial-frequency selection analogous to that characteristic of a synthetic "cochlea". Both, experimental and theoretical results are reported here.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Healable Supramolecular Polymer Solids

The reversible nature of non-covalent interactions between constituting building blocks permits one to temporarily disassemble supramolecular polymers through the application of an appropriate external stimulus “on command”. This framework has recently emerged as a general design strategy for the development of healable polymer systems. The approach exploits that the temporary disassembly decreases the molecular weight and in the case of cross-linked polymers the cross-link density, and thereby causes an increase of the chain mobility and a reduction of the viscosity of the material. The transformation thus enables the disassembled material to flow and fill defects, before the original supramolecular polymer is re-assembled. Focusing on recent progress in the area of healable supramolecular polymer solids based on hydrogen-bonding, metal-ligand and π–π interactions, as well as supramolecular nanocomposites, this review article summarizes the development and current state of the field

Relación entre la imagen corporal y los trastornos del comportamiento alimentario en una serie de jóvenes españoles y argentinos

Se analizó la conformidad con la imagen corporal y prevalencia de trastornos del comportamiento alimentario (TCA) en una muestra de 517 jóvenes españoles y 490 argentinos. Se calculó el índice de masa corporal (IMC) y se relacionó la imagen real con la estimada mediante un método gráfico de siluetas. Para conocer la conducta alimentaria se utilizó un el test psicométrico de respuesta múltiple. Respecto a la autopercepción no existen diferencias significativas en función del país de origen pero si hay diferencias de género. También se tuvieron en cuenta las preferencias por el sexo contrario, así como la imagen considerada más saludable. La insatisfacción con la propia imagen aparece como probable factor de predisposición al desarrollo de TCA, que presenta una frecuencia mas elevada en la serie femenina española.Simposio: Nutrición en la globalización.Asociación de Antropología Biológica de la República Argentina (AABRA

Relación entre la imagen corporal y los trastornos del comportamiento alimentario en una serie de jóvenes españoles y argentinos

Se analizó la conformidad con la imagen corporal y prevalencia de trastornos del comportamiento alimentario (TCA) en una muestra de 517 jóvenes españoles y 490 argentinos. Se calculó el índice de masa corporal (IMC) y se relacionó la imagen real con la estimada mediante un método gráfico de siluetas. Para conocer la conducta alimentaria se utilizó un el test psicométrico de respuesta múltiple. Respecto a la autopercepción no existen diferencias significativas en función del país de origen pero si hay diferencias de género. También se tuvieron en cuenta las preferencias por el sexo contrario, así como la imagen considerada más saludable. La insatisfacción con la propia imagen aparece como probable factor de predisposición al desarrollo de TCA, que presenta una frecuencia mas elevada en la serie femenina española.Simposio: Nutrición en la globalización.Asociación de Antropología Biológica de la República Argentina (AABRA

Waist circumference percentiles for Hispanic-American children and comparison with other international references

Introduction Waist circumference (WC) constitutes an indirect measurement of central obesity in children and adolescents. Objective To provide percentiles of WC for Hispanic-American children and adolescents, and compare them with other international references. Materials and methods The sample comprised 13 289 healthy children between 6 and 18 years coming from public schools of middle and low socioeconomic levels in different parts of Argentina, Cuba, Spain, Mexico, and Venezuela. The LMS method to calculate WC percentiles was applied. Sex and age differences were assessed using Student'sttest and ANOVA (SPSS v.21.0). Comparisons were established with references from the United States, Colombia, India, China, Australia, Kuwait, Germany, Tunisia, Greece, and Portugal. Results WC increases with age in both sexes. Boys show higher WC in P3, P50, and P97. Comparison of 50th and 90th percentiles among populations from diverse sociocultural and geographical contexts shows high variability, not all justified by the measurement method. Discussion and conclusions Specific WC percentiles for sex and age, and P90 cut-off points are provided; these values are potentially useful to assess central obesity in Hispanic-American adolescent children

Subscapular and triceps skinfolds reference values of Hispanic American children and adolescents and their comparison with the reference of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Introduction: the assessment of the skinfold thickness is an objective measure of adiposity. Therefore, it is a useful tool for nutritional diagnosis and prevention of metabolic risk associated with excess fat in chilhood and adolescence. Objective: to provide percentiles of subscapular and triceps skinfolds for Hispanic American schoolchildren and compare them with those published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from United States, that it have been commonly used as a reference in most of these countries. Methods: subscapular and triceps skinfolds were measured in 9.973 schoolchildren 4-19 aged from Spain, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico with Holtain caliper with 0.2 mm accuracy. Percentiles were obtained with the LMS statistical method and were presented in tables divided in stages of 6 months and in curves graphics. The difference between Hispanic American and CDC mean values were provided for P3, P50 and P97 in mm and also were graphically represented. Results: skinfolds measurements obviously increased with age in both sexes but, in boys, this increase is much more marked in highest percentiles between 8 and 13 years; this maximum is reached earlier than what occurs in CDC reference. In both sexes, all percentiles analized in Hispanic American schoolchildren were higher than the CDC reference except P97 up to 10 or 13 years that was notably smaller. Conclusions: the skinfolds percentiles of Hispanic American children and adolescents differ from CDC that are usually used as reference. The values of subscapular and triceps skinfolds provided in this study, could be applied to populations of a similar ethnic background, especially in comparative studies of body composition

Study of the properties of thermoset materials derived from epoxidized soybean oil and protein fillers

[EN] Novel bio-based thermoset formulations were prepared by using epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO), nadic methyl anhydride as a hardener and with different types of proteins as fillers. In the first part of the study, the effect of the protein-type (wheat gluten, soy protein, casein and ovalbumin) on cured ESBO materials was investigated. Thermal and mechanical properties were characterized by flexural tests, Shore D hardness, Charpy impact tests, Vicat softening temperature and heat deflection temperature. In addition, a study of the morphology of fractured surfaces by scanning electron microscopy was carried out. In general, the addition of protein-based fillers improved the mechanical and thermal properties. It was found that the highest increase of thermal and mechanical properties was achieved by ovalbumin. In the second part of the work, the effect of the total amount of ovalbumin filler was studied. Bio-based thermoset materials from ESBO and 15 wt % ovalbumin improved flexural modulus more than 150 % when compared to the unfilled material. Similar evolution was observed for other mechanical properties. Moreover, the brittleness of this composition was the minimum from the studied systems. A direct relationship between energy absorption capacity and morphologies of the failure surface was evidenced by SEM.This work is a part of the project IPT-310000-2010-037,"ECOTEXCOMP: Research and development of textile structures useful as reinforcement of composite materials with marked ecological character" funded by the "Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion", with an aid of 189540.20 euros, within the "Plan Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica 2008-2011" and funded by the European Union through FEDER funds, Technology Fund 2007-2013, "Operational Programme on R+D+I for and on behalf of the companies". Also, Generalitat Valenciana ACOMP/2012/087 is acknowledged for financial support.Fombuena Borrás, V.; Sánchez Nacher, L.; Samper Madrigal, MD.; Juárez Varón, D.; Balart Gimeno, RA. (2013). Study of the properties of thermoset materials derived from epoxidized soybean oil and protein fillers. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society. 90(3):449-457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-012-2171-2S449457903Alonso MV, Oliet M, Garcia J, Rodriguez F, Echeverria J (2006) Gelation and isoconversional kinetic analysis of lignin-phenol-formaldehyde resol resins cure. Chem Eng J 122:159–166Altuna FI, Esposito LH, Ruseckaite RA, Stefani PM (2011) Thermal and mechanical properties of anhydride-cured epoxy resins with different contents of bio-based epoxidized soybean oil. J Appl Polym Sci 120:789–798Boquillon N, Fringant C (2000) Polymer networks derived from curing of epoxidised linseed oil: influence of different catalysts and anhydride hardeners. 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Scattering of elastic waves by periodic arrays of spherical bodies

We develop a formalism for the calculation of the frequency band structure of a phononic crystal consisting of non-overlapping elastic spheres, characterized by Lam\'e coefficients which may be complex and frequency dependent, arranged periodically in a host medium with different mass density and Lam\'e coefficients. We view the crystal as a sequence of planes of spheres, parallel to and having the two dimensional periodicity of a given crystallographic plane, and obtain the complex band structure of the infinite crystal associated with this plane. The method allows one to calculate, also, the transmission, reflection, and absorption coefficients for an elastic wave (longitudinal or transverse) incident, at any angle, on a slab of the crystal of finite thickness. We demonstrate the efficiency of the method by applying it to a specific example.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, Phys. Rev. B (in press