479 research outputs found
Análisis y causas del retroceso de la línea de costa del arenal de Sa Ràpita (Mallorca)
[Resumen] Se han estudiado los cambios de la línea de costa en la playa del arenal de Sa
Rapita (SE de la isla de Malllorca). A parte de la presión a trópica por el uso masivo de bañistas en época estival, el basculamiento producido por la construcción de un puerto deportivo en la parte occidental de la misma parece ser la causa principal de su retroceso.
La fotografía aérea y el trabajo de campo han permitido elaborar una cartografía que nos muestra su retroceso desde 1968. El resultado final ha sido una acumulación en la zona más próxima al puerto del orden de 1.3 miaño y una erosión en el resto de la playa que alcanza los 0.7 miaño[Abstract] Shoreline changes in s'arenal de sa Rapita beach (SE of the Island of Mallorca) has been studied. The building of a marina at the west end of the beach seems to be the main cause of the shoreline backward movement, furthermore recreation activities in summer time. Aerial photograph and fieldwork have allowed a cartography showing the shoreline evolution since 1968. The final outcome has been a ratio of 1,3 m/year of beach acretion at the nearest zone of the harbour and 0,7 m/year of beach erosion in the rest of the beach
Participación vegetal en la construcción de los sistemas dunares litorales de Mallorca
[Resumen] Se establecen las relaciones entre la zonación vegetal y las áreas geomorfológicas de los sistemas dunares litorales de la isla de Mallorca. Para ello, se clasifican dichos sistemas en cuatro categorías en base a criterios morfológicos y de vegetación y se analiza la situación actual en cada uno de ellos, definiendose el papel que juega la vegetación en su arquitectura..[Abstract] The relationship between plant zonation and geomorphological areas have been studied in the coastal dunar systems of the island of Mallorca. Trough a four type classification based in vegetation and morphological criteria we point out their state of conservation and the role of the vegetation in their build-up
The central parsecs of M87: jet emission and an elusive accretion disc
We present the first simultaneous spectral energy distribution (SED) of M87
core at a scale of 0.4 arcsec () across the electromagnetic
spectrum. Two separate, quiescent, and active states are sampled that are
characterized by a similar featureless SED of power-law form, and that are thus
remarkably different from that of a canonical active galactic nuclei (AGN) or a
radiatively inefficient accretion source. We show that the emission from a jet
gives an excellent representation of the core of M87 core covering ten orders
of magnitude in frequency for both the active and the quiescent phases. The
inferred total jet power is, however, one to two orders of magnitude lower than
the jet mechanical power reported in the literature. The maximum luminosity of
a thin accretion disc allowed by the data yields an accretion rate of , assuming 10% efficiency. This power
suffices to explain M87 radiative luminosity at the jet-frame, it is however
two to three order of magnitude below that required to account for the jet's
kinetic power. The simplest explanation is variability, which requires the core
power of M87 to have been two to three orders of magnitude higher in the last
200 yr. Alternatively, an extra source of power may derive from black hole
spin. Based on the strict upper limit on the accretion rate, such spin power
extraction requires an efficiency an order of magnitude higher than predicted
from magnetohydrodynamic simulations, currently in the few hundred per cent
range.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Quantifying Li-content for compositional tailoring of lithium ferrite ceramics
Owing to their multiple applications, lithium ferrites are relevant materials
for several emerging technologies. For instance, LiFeO2 has been spotted as an
alternative cathode material in Li-ion batteries, while LiFe5O8 is the lowest
damping ferrite, holding promise in the field of spintronics. The Li-content in
lithium ferrites has been shown to greatly affect the physical properties, and
in turn, the performance of functional devices based on these materials.
Despite this, lithium content is rarely accurately quantified, as a result of
the low number of electrons in Li hindering its identification by means of
routine materials characterization methods. In the present work, magnetic
lithium ferrite powders with Li:Fe ratios of 1:1, 1:3 and 1:5 have been
synthesized, successfully obtaining phase-pure materials (LiFeO2 and LiFe5O8),
as well as a controlled mixture of both phases. The powders have been compacted
and subsequently sintered by thermal treatment (Tmax = 1100 {\deg}C) to
fabricate dense pellets which preserve the original Li:Fe ratios. Li-content on
both powders and pellets has been determined by two independent methods: (i)
Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy combined with nuclear reaction analysis
and (ii) Rietveld analysis of powder X-ray diffraction data. With good
agreement between both techniques, it has been confirmed that the Li:Fe ratios
employed in the synthesis are maintained in the sintered ceramics. The same
conclusion is drawn from spatially-resolved confocal Raman microscopy
experiments on regions of a few microns. Field emission scanning electron
microscopy has evidenced the substantial grain growth taking place during the
sintering process - mean particle sizes rise from about 600 nm in the powders
up to 3.8(6) um for dense LiFeO2 and 10(2) um for LiFe5O8 ceramics
Energy Recovery in Capacitive Deionization Technology
Capacitive deionization technique (CDI) represents an interesting alternative to compete with reverse osmosis by reducing energy consumption. It is based on creating an electric field between two electrodes to retain the salt ions on the electrode surface by electrostatic attraction; thus the CDI cell operates as a supercapacitor storing energy during the desalination process. Most of the CDI research is oriented to improving the electrode materials in order to increase the effective surface and ionic retention. However, if the CDI overall efficiency is to be improved, it is necessary to optimize the CDI cell geometry and the charge/discharge current used during the deionization process. A DC/DC converter is required to transfer the stored energy from one cell to another with the maximum possible efficiency during energy recovery, thus allowing the desalination process to continue. A detailed description of energy losses and the DC/DC converter used to recover part of the energy involved in the CDI process will provide the hints to optimize the efficiency of the CDI technique for water desalination. The proposed chapter presents an electric model to characterize the power losses in CDI cells and the power converter required for the energy recovery process
Elastic properties of B-C-N films grown by N2-reactive sputtering from boron carbide targets
The following article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 114.21 (2013): 213508 and may be found at http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jap/114/21/10.1063/1.4837655Boron-carbon-nitrogen films were grown by RF reactive sputtering from a B4C target and N2 as reactive gas. The films present phase segregation and are mechanically softer than boron carbide films (a factor of more than 2 in Young's modulus). This fact can turn out as an advantage in order to select buffer layers to better anchor boron carbide films on substrates eliminating thermally induced mechanical tensions.This work has been supported by Spanish MINECO under contracts MAT2009-08786 and MAT2012-37276- C03-01 as well as by the Madrid Regional Government though contract S2009/MAT-1756
Plant’s gypsum affinity shapes responses to specific edaphic constraints without limiting responses to other general constraints
Aims: Harsh edaphic environments harbor species with different soil affinities. Plant’s responses to specific edaphic constraints may be compromised against responses to prevalent stresses shared with other semi-arid environments. We expect that species with high edaphic affinity may show traits to overcome harsh soil properties, while species with low affinity may respond to environmental constraints shared with arid environments. Methods: We quantified the edaphic affinity of 12 plant species co-occurring in gypsum outcrops and measured traits related to plant responses to specific gypsum constraints (rooting and water uptake depth, foliar accumulation of Ca, S and Mg), and traits related to common constraints of arid environments (water use efficiency, macronutrients foliar content). Results: Plants in gypsum outcrops differed in their strategies to face edaphic limitations. A phylogenetic informed PCA segregated species based on their foliar Ca and S accumulation and greater water uptake depths, associated with plant responses to specific gypsum limitations. Species’ gypsum affinity explained this segregation, but traits related to water or nutrient use efficiency did not contribute substantially to this axis. Conclusions: Plant’s specializations to respond to specific edaphic constraints of gypsum soils do not limit their ability to deal with other non-specific environmental constraints
The SED of Low-Luminosity AGNs at high-spatial resolution
The inner structure of AGNs is expected to change below a certain luminosity
limit. The big blue bump, footprint of the accretion disk, is absent for the
majority of low-luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs). Moreover, recent simulations suggest
that the torus, a keystone in the Unified Model, vanishes for nuclei with L_bol
< 10^42 erg/s. However, the study of LLAGN is a complex task due to the
contribution of the host galaxy, which light swamps these faint nuclei. This is
specially critical in the IR range, at the maximum of the torus emission, due
to the contribution of the old stellar population and/or dust in the nuclear
region. Adaptive optics imaging in the NIR (VLT/NaCo) together with diffraction
limited imaging in the mid-IR (VLT/VISIR) permit us to isolate the nuclear
emission for some of the nearest LLAGNs in the Southern Hemisphere. These data
were extended to the optical/UV range (HST), radio (VLA, VLBI) and X-rays
(Chandra, XMM-Newton, Integral), in order to build a genuine spectral energy
distribution (SED) for each AGN with a consistent spatial resolution (< 0.5")
across the whole spectral range. From the individual SEDs, we construct an
average SED for LLAGNs sampled in all the wavebands mentioned before. Compared
with previous multiwavelength studies of LLAGNs, this work covers the mid-IR
and NIR ranges with high-spatial resolution data. The LLAGNs in the sample
present a large diversity in terms of SED shapes. Some of them are very well
described by a self-absorbed synchrotron (e.g. NGC 1052), while some other
present a thermal-like bump at ~1 micron (NGC 4594). All of them are
significantly different when compared with bright Seyferts and quasars,
suggesting that the inner structure of AGNs (i.e. the torus and the accretion
disk) suffers intrinsic changes at low luminosities.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the proceedings of "Astrophysics at
High Angular Resolution" (AHAR 2011
A scientific approach in wind energy courses for electrical engineers
Teaching and research are joint activities at
University level, but in many cases it is found that both activities
have a poor connection. While the scientific method based on
well-known steps is commonly applied at research level, this
methodology and the associated know-how are rarely integrated
in degree courses. This work describes the integration of theory,
simulation, lab-scale experiments and industrial developments in
wind energy courses for electric engineers. The proposed
methodology reuses the knowledge from the research that is
performed at University level to bring the students the latest
industry developments and scientific trends with a scientific
approach in multidisciplinary wind energy courses
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