Wattle and daub experimental workshop: durability testing after 14 years of uninterrupted use

An important factor to analyze when studying the useful lifetime of earth constructions is the detection of any constructive pathologies that may occur; an important consideration when building a house; yet in Argentina information on building with wattle and daub is scarce. This paper describes a durability test conducted on an experimental workshop built with wattle and daub technology in 2004, in the city of Mendoza, Argentina. The building has a floor area of 33.63 m2 (5.70 m x 5.90 m), and houses an experimental workshop for thermal energy research and the construction of solar equipment. During the 14 years that the workshop has been in use, the wattle and daub walls have been exposed to various environmental forces, such as rain, wind, and earthquakes. However, its thermal behavior has remained constant over time, maintaining a difference in temperature of 5.8ºC between the inside and outside without auxiliary heating. In general, the construction has been well-preserved and serves the purpose for which it was built, thus proving that wattle and daub constructions will remain in optimum condition for at least 14 years with minimal maintenance required to prevent surface materials from deteriorating.Fil: Cuitiño Rosales, Maria Guadalupe. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Aplicadas a la Industria; ArgentinaFil: Esteves Miramont, Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ambiente, Hábitat y Energía; Argentin

Financial Dependence, Formal Credit and Informal Jobs - New Evidence from Brazilian Household Data

This paper examines a much overlooked link between credit markets and formalization: since access to bank credit typically requires compliance with tax and employment legislation, firms are more likely to incur such formalization costs once bank credit is more widely available at lower cost. The relevance of this credit channel is gauged using the Rajan-Zingales measure of financial dependence and a difference-in-differences approach applied to household survey data from Brazil. It is found that formalization rates increase with financial deepening, especially in sectors where firms are typically more dependent on external finance. Also found is that, decomposing shifts in formalization rates into those within each firm size category and those between firm sizes, financial deepening significantly explains the former but not so much the latter. Some key policy implications are derived.Credit Markets, Financial Dependence, Informality, Brazil

Latino immigrant child welfare involvement & street-level bureaucracy: caseworkers' experiences within an organizational context

Latino immigrants are the fastest growing foreign group and appear to be suffering from disproportionate risks of involvement in the child welfare system. Yet, there is limited knowledge in regards to this population when involved in the child welfare system and the day-to-day complexity of issues, stressors, and barriers they face. This qualitative study aims to understand the day-to-day reality of being a Latino immigrant in this system as well as the organizations that work with this population. Street-level bureaucracy theory is used to explore how private non-profit child welfare agencies work to assist their Latino immigrant clients on a day-to-day basis. It also examines the perceptions and experiences of non-profit child welfare staff members in regards to accountability and discretion toward both the organization and their Latino immigrant clients. Qualitative methodology was used to gain in-depth knowledge of how these agencies are working with this population. Three private non-profit child welfare agencies located in Los Angeles County were selected. Each agency has a foster care and adoptions component as well as various other programs such as Project Fatherhood, Family Preservation, and Unaccompanied Child program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 19 staff members. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings from this study found that the complex issues that exist with this population in the child welfare system are not discussed at a detailed or formal level. Also, there are gaps between policies and practices, in that the universal policies in place are not meeting all the needs of these families and creating barriers in servicing these families. At the organizational level, it was found that these agencies have more time and availability for their immigrant clients due to a lower caseload and agency flexibility. They were able to be more accountable to their clients and used their discretion to spend more time with these clients, advocate more for them, provide more quality work, and have more creativity in filling the gaps these families are experiencing in regards to access to services and service use

Financial Dependence, Formal Credit, and Informal Jobs: New Evidence from Brazilian Household Data

This paper examines a much overlooked link between credit markets and formalization: since access to bank credit typically requires compliance with tax and employment legislation, firms are more likely to incur such formalization costs once bank credit is more widely available at lower cost; if so, well-functioning credit markets help foster formal employment at the expense of informal jobs. We gauge the relevance of this credit channel using the Rajan-Zingales measure of financial dependence and a difference-in-differences approach applied to household survey data from Brazil – a large emerging market where substantial changes in banking system depth and formalization ratios have taken place and for which consistent data exists. Our results show that formalization rates increase with financial deepening and the more so in sectors where firms are typically more dependent on external finance. We also decompose shifts in aggregate formalization into those within each firm size category and those associated with changes in firm size, and find that financial deepening significantly explains the former but not so much the latter.credit markets, financial dependence, informality, Brazil

Earth Construction: Ancestral Techniques for Current Problems

It is undeniable that earth architecture is found in all the regions and civilizations of the world, Fig. 1, strongly rooted in the culture of each town and popular knowledge of each region, being evidence of this the city of Jericho (Israel), the Village Katal Hüyuk (Turkey), the citadels of the Chimú culture in Chan Chan (Peru), the reinforced earth wall of Joya de Cerén (El Salvador), and different archaeological findings in Africa, Asia, Europe and America. It is a technology that is still used today, and due to technological knowledge, it has been possible to improve the different techniques that involve earth as a raw material. In many localities the housing situation is really critical, due to a housing deficit or the structural deterioration of precarious housing, which risk the lives of those people who inhabit those constructions. There are cases in which the use of alternative construction techniques is a solution to this problem, so it is resorted to buildings where clay soils, sand and straw are the main components in this construction types.Fil: Cuitiño Rosales, Maria Guadalupe. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Aplicadas a la Industria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentin

The Genetic Links between Archaic and Modern Humans

Our modern physiology is the mixture of many archaic humans that once roamed our planet. The evidence of these archaic humans is still present in our DNA. This poster reviews how our understanding of ancient human genetics has drastically changed due to advances in molecular genetics. Neanderthal and Denisovan remains have been sequenced for nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Neanderthal and Denisovan genetic ancestry have been identified by genomic studies in modern human populations across Eurasia and Pacific Island regions. Studies have shown a gene flow of 4±1% from Neanderthals to present-day Eurasians. Whereas, Papuan and Melanesian individuals share 4±0.7% more Denisovan alleles than other individuals studied. Neanderthal and Denisovan alleles have been linked to innate immunity. Neanderthal alleles have been linked to speech and environmental adaptations in modern humans. Neanderthal and Denisovan genes present in modern day humans continue to shape our biology. The study of our ancestors provides new insights about their influence in human genomic diversity

Conception and performance of IViST : a novel platform for real-time In Vivo Source Tracking in brachytherapy

La curiethérapie à haut débit de dose (HDR pour High Dose Rate) est une modalité de traitement du cancer qui délivre au volume cible la dose prescrite avec un débit de dose élevé. Malgré les distributions de doses hautement conformes obtenues avec cette modalité de traitement, le traitement lui-même n’est pas exempt d’erreurs. En raison des forts gradients de dose, typique de la curiethérapie, de petites erreurs dans le positionnement de la source peuvent entraîner des conséquences néfastes pour les patients. L’utilisation systématique de systèmes de vérification en temps réel est le seul moyen de savoir quelles doses ont été réellement données à la tumeur et aux organes à risque. Cette thèse présente les démarches effectuées pour créer et valider un système de dosimétrie à scintillateurs plastiques multipoints (mPSD pour Multipoint Plastic Scintillation Detector) capable d’effectuer avec précision des mesures in vivo en curiethérapie HDR. Un prototype a été optimisé, caractérisé et testé dans des conditions typiques de la curiethérapie HDR. Une analyse exhaustive a été réalisée pour obtenir un modèle optimisé du détecteur, capable de maximiser la collection de lumière de scintillation produite par l’interaction des photons ionisants. Il a été constaté que le scintillateur de longueur d’onde plus courte devrait toujours être placé plus près du photodétecteur, alors que le scintillateur émettant dans la longueur d’onde la plus élevée doit être en position distale. Si la configuration, comme mentionnée précédemment, n’est pas utilisée, des effets d’excitation et d’auto-absorption entre les scintillateurs peuvent se produire, et en conséquence, la transmission de la lumière à travers la fibre collectrice n’est pas optimale. Le détecteur a été rendu étanche à la lumière. Son noyau de 1 mm de diamètre permet son utilisation dans la majorité des applicateurs utilisés pour le parcours de la source en curiethérapie HDR avec l’192Ir. Pour la meilleure configuration du détecteur multipoints (3 mm de BCF10, 6 mm de BCF12, 7 mm BCF60), une optimisation numérique a été effectuée pour sélectionner les composants optiques (miroir dichroïque, filtre et tube photomultiplicateur (PMT pour Photomultiplier Tube)) qui correspondent le mieux au profil d’émission recherché. Ceci permet la déconvolution du signal en utilisant une approche multispectrale, en extrayant la dose de chaque élément tout en tenant compte de l’effet de tige Cerenkov. Le système de luminescence optimisé a été installé dans une boîte protectrice pour assurer la stabilité des composantes optiques lors de la manipulation. Les performances dosimétriques du système IViST (In Vivo Source Tracking) ont été évaluées en curiethérapie HDR, sur une plage clinique réaliste allant jusqu’à 10 cm de distance entre la source et les capteurs du mPSD. IViST peut simultanément mesurer la dose, trianguler la position et mesurer le temps d’arrêt de la source. En effectuant 100 000 mesures/s, IViST échantillonne suffisamment de données pour effectuer rapidement des tâches QA / QC clés, telles que l’identification d’un mauvais temps d’arrêt individuel ou des tubes de transfert interchangés. En utilisant 3 capteurs colinéaires et des informations planifiées pour une géométrie d’implant provenant des fichiers DICOM RT, la plateforme peut également trianguler la position de la source en temps réel avec une précision de positionnement de 1 mm jusqu’à 6 cm de la source. Le détecteur ne présentait aucune dépendance angulaire. Un essai clinique est actuellement en cours avec ce système.High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy is a cancer treatment modality that delivers to the target volume high doses in short amount of time in a few fractions. Despite the highly conformal dose distributions achieved with this treatment modality, the treatment itself is not free from errors. Because of the high dose gradient characteristics of the brachytherapy techniques, small errors in the source positioning can result in harmful consequences for patients. The routine use of a real-time verification system is the only way to know what dose was actually delivered to the tumor and organs at risk. This thesis presents the investigation done to obtain a Multi-point Plastic Scintillation Detector (mPSD) system capable of accurately performing in vivo dosimetry measurements in HDR brachytherapy. A first system’s prototype was optimized, characterized, and tested under typical HDR brachytherapy conditions. An exhaustive analysis was carried out to obtain an optimized mPSD design that maximizes the scintillation light collection produced by the interaction of ionizing photons. We found that the shorter wavelength scintillator should always be placed closer to the photodetector and the longer wavelength scintillator in the distal position for the best overall light-yield collection. If the latter configuration is not used, inter-scintillator excitation and self-absorption effects can occur, and as a consequence, the light transmission through the collecting fiber is not optimal. The detector was made light-tight to avoid environmental light, and its 1 mm diameter core allows their usage in most applicator channel used in 192Ir HDR brachytherapy. For the best mPSD design (3 mm of BCF10, 6 mm of BCF12, 7 mm BCF60), a numerical optimization was done to select the optical components (dichroic mirror, filter and Photomultiplier Tube (PMT)) that best match the light emission profile. It allows for signal deconvolution using a multispectral approach, extracting the dose to each element while taking into account the Cerenkov stem effect. The optimized luminescence system was enclosed into a custom-made box to preserve the optical chain stability and easy manipulation. The In Vivo Source Tracking (IViST) system’s dosimetric performance has been evaluated in HDR brachytherapy, covering a range of 10 cm of source movement around the mPSD’s sensors. IViST can simultaneously measure dose, triangulate source position, and measure dwell time. By making 100 000 measurements/s, IViST samples enough data to quickly perform key QA/QC tasks such as identifying wrong individual dwell time or interchanged transfer tubes. By using 3 co-linear sensors and planned information for an implant geometry (from DICOM RT), the platform can also triangulate source position in real-time with 1 mm positional accuracy up to 6 cm from the source. The detector further exhibited no angular dependence. A clinical trial is presently on-going using the IViST system

Optimization and mechanisms for biodecoloration of a mixture of dyes by Trichosporon akiyoshidainum HP 2023

Trichosporon akiyoshidainum HP2023 is a basidiomycetous yeast isolated from Las Yungas rainforest (Tucumán, Argentina) and selected based on its outstanding textile-dye-decolorizing ability. In this work, the decolorization process was optimized using Reactive Black 5 as dye model. Lactose and urea were chosen as carbon and nitrogen sources through a one-at-time approach. Afterwards, factorial designs were employed for medium optimization, leading to the formulation of a simpler optimized medium which contains in g L−1: lactose 10, yeast extract 1, urea 0.5, KH2PO4 1 and MgSO4 1. Temperature and agitation conditions were also optimized. The optimized medium and incubation conditions for dye removal were extrapolated to other dyes individually and a mixture of them. Dye removal process happened through both biosorption and biodegradation mechanisms, depending primarily on the dye structure. A positive relation between initial inoculum and dye removal rate and a negative relation between initial dye concentration and final dye removal percentages were found. Under optimized conditions, T. akiyoshidainum HP2023 was able to completely remove a mixture of dyes up to a concentration of 300 mg L−1, a concentration much higher than those expected in real effluents.Fil: Martorell, María Martha. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto. Direccion Nacional del Antártico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rosales Soro, Maria del Milagro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; ArgentinaFil: Pajot, Hipolito Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; ArgentinaFil: Castellanos, Lucia Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; Argentin

Financial Dependence, Formal Credit and Informal Jobs - New Evidence from Brazilian Household Data

This paper examines a much overlooked link between credit markets and formalization: since access to bank credit typically requires compliance with tax and employment legislation, firms are more likely to incur such formalization costs once bank credit is more widely available at lower cost. The relevance of this credit channel is gauged using the Rajan-Zingales measure of financial dependence and a difference-in-differences approach applied to household survey data from Brazil. It is found that formalization rates increase with financial deepening, especially in sectors where firms are typically more dependent on external finance. Also found is that, decomposing shifts in formalization rates into those within each firm size category and those between firm sizes, financial deepening significantly explains the former but not so much the latter. Some key policy implications are derived

Polypropylene Blends and Composite: Processing-Morphology-Performance Relationship of Injected Pieces

Polypropylene (PP) is a low-cost plastic commodity, which currently is in a transition zone between massive use and engineering applications due mainly to its limited mechanical properties, such as low tensile and impact resistance. That is the reason why PP is usually modified with additives and particles to improve its mechanical and thermal performance and thus meet the requirements demanded by engineering applications. Besides, PP composites are suitable materials to be processed by a simple, fast, automatic, and massive technique such as injection molding. This makes PP composites attractive for several applications. However, it is important to keep in mind that PP composites’ performance depends not only on their intrinsic properties but also on processing conditions. This chapter will summarize the relationship between processing and performance of several PP composite—micro, nano, and hybrid—injected parts with the aim of generating a bridge between technologic knowledge and scientist knowledge