Annual distribution of the Sun’s angular positions, study at 21 degrees of latitude

Por experiencia sabemos que la posición del Sol, relativa a un observador situado sobre la superficie de la Tierra, cambia según el día del año y la latitud en la que se encuentra dicho observador. En general, el Sol describe, en la bóveda celeste, una trayectoria diferente para cada día del año que está determinada por los ángulos del azimut y del zenit. El cálculo analítico para determinar la posición angular en cualquier momento (hora solar) resulta ser una tarea abrumadora. En el lenguaje de programación del software Mathematica®, desarrollamos un código que nos permite determinar, con precisión temporal de 60 segundos (1 minuto), y para cualquier latitud, los ángulos del azimut y del zenit que determinan la posición del Sol a lo largo de un año. Con el propósito de presentar resultados de interés en situaciones prácticas, en este trabajo estudiamos resultados de la distribución anual de las posiciones angulares y las horas de luz en la latitud 21 grados (correspondiente a la Ciudad de Mérida). Los resultados muestran que el Sol sigue trayectorias con inclinación hacia el norte para días de más de 12 horas de luz solar, y hacia el sur para días de menos de 12 horas de luz solar. La información que se presenta puede utilizarse en diversas situaciones, por ejemplo, para un aprovechamiento óptimo de las horas de luz de colectores solares, sistemas autónomos de seguimiento solar, ubicación y orientación de paneles solares, así como para el diseño y orientación espacial de casas habitación en las que se desee que la radiación solar incida de manera parcial sobre paredes verticales y aumentar el confort térmico.It is well know that the Sun position, measured over the heart surface is a function of the latitude and the hour of a particular day. Usually, the Sun follows a different path from one day to the next, and this is determined by the azimuth and zenith angles. The analytical calculations for determining the angular position at any time (solar hour) are an overwhelming task. We use the Mathematica® software to write a home code for determining at any time (in intervals of one minute) and latitude, the azimuth and zenith angles of the Sun for every day of the year. In order to show general results of interest, in this work we present the annual distribution of the angular positions and the length of the day (hours of light) for the 21 degrees of latitude. This information could be used for optimizing the orientation of solar panels and collectors and for the design of cheap houses where the walls can be exposed to the minimal solar incidence.Peer Reviewe

Application surface of CPT, an advanced DInSAR displacement near Itoiz dam, Navarra, Spain

Itoiz reservoir is located in Navarra, northern Spain, being a newly constructed gravity dam that stores the water from the Irati and the Urrobi rivers. The dam has a total height of 121 m, a total length of 525 m and a maximum water storage volume of 410 hm3. The aim of this work is to study the surface displacement field during the impoundment of the Itoiz water reservoir. Orbital SAR Differential Interferometry (DInSAR) techniques have been proven to be a useful and powerful tool in tectonic areas for surveying subtle surface deformations over several years related to geodynamic phenomena. An advanced DInSAR observation technique, Coherent Pixel Technique (CPT), has been applied to study the existence of deformation in the dam area in order to obtain mean velocities and time series of deformation. We have studied the applicability of this technique to study the surface displacement field during the impoundment of the Itoiz water reservoir. Specifically, we focus on the analysis of the stability of the left slope of the reservoir. We have used ERS and ENVISAT descending and ascending images concerning to the 1992-2008 and 2003-2008 periods respectively. We compare the observation results with the displacement induced by water loading obtained using a theoretical model

On the applicability of an advanced DInSAR techniques near Itoiz and Yesa reservoirs, Navarra, Spain

In this paper we show the applicability of orbital Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Differential Interferometry (DInSAR) with multiple images for terrain deformation episodes monitoring. This paper is focused on the Coherent Pixels Technique (CPT). This technique has been tested with ERS SAR and ENVISAT ASAR data for the period 1992-2008 from The Itoiz and Yesa reservoirs. These ones, located in Navarra, northern Spain, are constructed gravity dams that stores the water from the Irati and the Urrobi rivers, and the Aragón river respectively. The results has been compared with theoretical results obtained using an analytical model

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele