La enseñanza de la ecología : un objetivo de la educación ambiental

In this article we study the repercussion that studies on ecology may have on environmental education. To do so, we review the student's alternative ideas about concepts and principles of ecology selected for the study of the subject. We stress the idea that outings to the countryside to study a specific ecosystem helps to clarify the interactions between the living things and the environment. Finally, we give the data of a research performed with high school students, supporting the idea that those students who carry out work in the countryside are able to define a larger number of components and relationships. Such training favours the transfer of ecology knowledge, both in the evaluation of an environmental problem and in proposing solutions

Eigendegradation algorithm applied to visco-plastic weak layers

In geotechnical engineering, very often, the soil behavior varies with time. This is of particular interest in many cases such as embankments in soft clays, shear band progression in slopes or where the speed of the application of the load affects the bearing capacity of the material. In this paper, we study the extension of non-local failures using algorithms such as eigenerosion and eigensoftening, in order to evaluate the failure of weak layers. In particular, the time dependence of the progression of shear bands is analyzed through the integration of a Perzyna-type visco-plastic model with a degradation algorithm within the Optimal Transportation Meshfree (OTM) framework. The validation of the proposed algorithm is carried out through three different practical cases, showing very good agreement in all of them

Two-phase SPH modelling of a real debris avalanche and analysis of its impact on bottom drainage screens

Rapid flow-like landslides, particularly debris flows and debris avalanches, cause significant economic damage and many victims worldwide every year. They are usually extremely fast with the capability of travelling long distances in short times, sweeping away everything in their path. The principal objective of this paper is to test the ability of the ‘GeoFlow-SPH’ two-phase model developed by the authors, to reproduce the complex behaviour of natural debris avalanches where pore-water pressure evolution plays a key role. To reach this goal, the model is applied to reproduce the complex dynamic behaviour observed in Johnsons Landing debris avalanche including the observed bifurcation caused by the flowing out of part of the moving mass from the mid-channel. Initial thickness deposit trim-line, distribution of deposit volume, and the average velocities were provided for this real case, making it an appropriate case to validate the developed model. The paper also contributes to evaluate the SPH-FD model’s potentialities to simulate the structural countermeasure, like bottom drainage screens, used to reduce the impact of debris flows. The analysis of the results shows the adequacy of the proposed model to solve this complicated geophysical problem.Fil: Tayyebi, Saeid M.. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Pastor, Manuel. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Stickle, Miguel M.. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Yagüe, Ángel. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Manzanal, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long"; Argentina. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Molinos, Miguel. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Navas, Pedro. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; Españ

Clavo Gamma 3 (Stryker) para el tratamiento de fracturas trocantéreas: nuestra experiencia durante el año 2005

Objetivos: estudiar los resultados del sistema de enclavado Gamma 3 en el tratamiento de las fracturas trocantéreas durante el año 2005. Material y Métodos: 73 pacientes con fractura trocantérea mayores de 60 años tratados mediante enclavado céfalo-medular Gamma 3 durante el año 2005 con un seguimiento de 8 a18 meses. Edad media 80 años, 40% de los pacientes deambulantes de forma independiente previo a la fractura, 50% ASA III y IV. Resultados: tiempo quirúrgico 90 minutos, 54% de pacientes transfundidos con una media de 0,89 concentrados por paciente sin diferencias estadisticamente significativas entre aquellos en lo que se colocó y tapón y los que no; 63% de los pacientes deambulan si ayuda en el pstoperatorio. Conclusiones: el sistema Gamma 3 proporciona resultados fiables y reproducible en cualquier variedad de fractura trocanterea y nos parece un sistema eficaz y válido para el tratamiento de este tipo de fracturas.Objectives: to study the results of Gamma 3 for the treatment of trochanteric fractures. Material and Methods: 73 patients older than 60 years old with trochanteric fracture tre- ated using Gamma 3 nailing during year 2005. Follow-up 8-18 months. Mean age 80 years old, 40% preoperative walking without help, 50% ASA III and IV. Results: surgical time 90 minutes, 54% of the patients need blood transfusion with 0,89 concentrates per patients mean. No difference was found in blood transfusion with the use of end cup. 63% walking wit- hout help of with cane postoperatively. Conclusions: Gamma 3 nail is a valid system for the treatment of all types of tro- chanteric fractures

Modelling of propagation with sph of 1966 aberfan flowslide: special attention to the role of rheology and pore water pressure

Landslides can cause major economic damage and a large number of casualties as it is possible to see from past events occurred all over the world. Being able to predict these kind of hazards would then suppose the achievement of great benefits. Here a model that combines a depth integrated description of the soil-pore fluid mixture together with a set of 1D models dealing with pore pressure evolution with in the soil mass is presented. The mathematical model is based on the Biot-Zienkiewicz equations, from where a depth averaged model is derived. Concerning the material behaviour, the approach used is the one suggested by the Perzyna viscoplasticity, which has been extensively used in the past to model solid behavior prior to failure. In this framework, a simple shear rheological model is derived, providing the basal friction needed in depth integrated models. The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) has been the numerical technique chosen to spatially discretized the depth integrated equations of the mathematical model. The purpose of this work is to apply the SPH depth integrated numerical model, together with the sub-model that predicts the evolution of the pore water pressure inside the landslide, to simulate the propagation phase of the Aberfan flowslide occurred in1966

PCR clonality detection in Hodgkin lymphoma

B-cell clonality detection in whole tissue is considered indicative of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). We tested frozen tissue of 24 classical Hodgkin lymphomas (cHL) with a varying tumor cell load with the multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer sets for IGH and IGK gene rearrangement (BIOMED-2). A clonal population was found in 13 cases with the IGH FR1 and/or FR2/FR3 PCRs. Using the IGK-VJ and IGK-DE PCRs, an additional six cases had a dominant clonal cell population, resulting in a detection rate of 79% in frozen tissue. Of 12 cases, also the formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue was tested. Surprisingly, in eight of the 12 FFPE cases with acceptable DNA quality (allowing PCR amplification of >200 nt fragments), the IGK multiplex PCRs performed better in detecting clonality (six out of eight clonal IGK rearrangements) than the IGH PCRs (four out of nine clonal rearrangements), despite a rather large amplicon size. There was no evidence of B-cell lymphoma during follow-up of 1 to 6 years and no correlation was found between the presence of a clonal result and Epstein–Barr virus in the tumor cells. Our results indicate that the present routine PCR methods are sensitive enough to detect small numbers of malignant cells in cHL. Therefore, the presence of a clonal B-cell population does not differentiate between cHL and NHL

A more fine-grained measure towards animal welfare: a study with regards to gender differences in Spanish students

The environmental issue is nowadays taking more importance in the environmental awareness all around the world, and in this field, animal consideration is more and more spread. A highlighted part in globalisation is the animal welfare awareness. This article presents a study comparing attitudes towards animals among secondary and university students in reference to gender. It was carried out on 1394 Spanish participants from 11 to 26 years. The instrument used in the study is the reviewed version of the Animal Welfare Attitude Scale which was renamed as “Animal Welfare Attitude-Revised Scale” (AWA-R Scale), with a Cronbach a reliability value of 0.85. It is subdivided into four components namely C1: animal abuse for pleasure or due to ignorance; C2: leisure with animals; C3: farm animals; and C4: animal abandonment. These components have been deeply detailed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which highly contributes to define the position of participants for the different dimensions of animal welfare. It is concluded that significant differences exist between males’ and females’ attitudes in all components of the AWA-R Scale. It is also suggested that two social characteristics—people’s attitudes towards animals and towards environmental protection—are, at the very least, coexistent and may indeed be interdependent. These differences between gender in matters of socialisation could thus be reflected in environmental attitudes, and also in others related to them, i.e. animal welfare attitudes

XIII International Conference on Computational Plasticity. Fundamentals and Applications -COMPLAS XIII

ABSTRACT Landslides can cause major economic damage and a large number of casualties as it is possible to see from past events occurred all over the world. Being able to predict these kind of hazards would then suppose the achievement of great benefits. Here a model that combines a depth integrated description of the soil-pore fluid mixture together with a set of 1D models dealing with pore pressure evolution within the soil mass is presented. In this way, pore pressure changes caused by vertical consolidation, changes of total stresses resulting from height variations and changes of basal surface permeability can be taken into account with more precision. The mathematical model is based on the Biot-Zienkiewicz equations, from where a depth averaged model is derived. Concerning the material behaviour, the approach used is the one suggested by the Perzyna viscoplasticity, which has been extensively used in the past to model solid behaviour prior to failure. Three different yield criterion are considered in the framework of Perzyna's model: a Von Mises, a Mohr Coulomb and a Cam Clay yield criterion. The obtained results lead to a good agreement with the results achieved using classical rheological models. Then, a simple shear rheological model is derived, providing the basal friction needed in depth integrated models. The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) has been the numerical technique chosen to spatially discretised the depth integrated equations of the mathematical model. The SPH technique has been enriched by adding a 1D finite differences grid associated at each SPH node in order to improve the description of pore water profiles in the avalanching soil. The purpose of this work is to apply the SPH depth integrated numerical model, together with the sub-model that predicts the evolution of the pore water pressure inside the landslide, to simulate the propagation phase of the Aberfan flowslide occurred in 1966. REFERENCES [1] M. Pastor, M