The 'Portuguese Forestry Community' and Research Fellows abroad between 1915 and 1945

One of the areas of greatest interest to a researcher in the field of the history of technology are studies done on the process of appropriating new scientific theories and technologies in countries that can be classified as peripheral in terms of their scientific output. Peripheral countries have been usually classified as those whose academic community is distanced from advanced centers in terms of the research they produce and that have participated to a lesser extent in the process of technical development [SAIZ 2003, 223-245]. This article will attempt to reflect on the process of international technology transfer in the 20th Century, specifically between 1915 and 1946. During this period, the achievement and spread of technological innovations were vital to the development of Portuguese forestry. In less developed European countries such as Portugal, the transfer of foreign technical knowledge was more important than that generated within the nation itself. External technological transfer became an essential factor, without which there would have been no push toward the professionalization of this new profession. Portugal was a country in the periphery of European science and technology. This situation has translated into an external technological dependence in several economic sectors. Reports on travels of learning have become one of the main sources for research in Science and Technology History. The new works of these young engineers will be taken as a valid, albeit only partial, indicator of the direction and structure of the processes of innovation in the Portuguese forestry. Among other things, the degree of Portuguese dependence upon external technology, as well as which countries played an essential role in the transfer of technology; and which scientific specialties depended most on foreign technology can be ascertained. One of the most serious problems confronting any researcher interested in forestry innovation is the evaluation of travels’ importance as a technological indicator of investment tendencies in new technologies. The various means of innovation in an economy are well-known: advances in productive processes can be invented and incorporated, just as they can be imported directly from another country using foreign technicians in their construction. Only innovations that are applied, put into practice and remain productive can be considered as such. From our point of view, new technologies brought by forestry students from abroad are not only a partial technical indicator, but are also, depending on whether or not they are put in practice, an important indicator of those tendencies in new technologies. In general, the decision to send Portuguese students to international technological centers is based on expected profits from the new techniques to be imported, and how complex the new technology is. Taking into account the advantage that travels of learning provide as a source of study (as a consequence of the existence of some kind of travel reports), it is surprising that they have not been used more often as raw material for forest history research. Here, as already mentioned, we can draw valid conclusions and extrapolate them to the process of forestry renewal in Portugal. This permits an understanding of the nature and direction of technological changes, the structure of the transfer and the importance of outside technology. This study is based on a sample of articles found in various agronomy and forestry reviews. Bulletins has served, from its inception, as the agronomy and forestry students' official bulletin (Boletim Agros), in which travel reports were customarily published. With time we will look for all the foresters’ information in the Arquivo Histórico do Instituto Camões. We will study the cases of the following fellows: Mário Azevedo Gomes (USA, 1915), Joaquim Vieira Natividade (UK, 1931), Francisco Santos Hall (USA and Germany, 1931), Francisco Caldeira Cabral (Germany, 1936), Francisco Mimoso Flores (USA, 1936) and Carlos Manuel Baeta Neves (Spain, 1946)

La crisis energética y el carbón térmico

A través de este artículo, analizaremos la situación actual del mercado de la energía y la posibilidad jurídica y económica de recuperar el carbón como fuente de energía. Desde el Departamento de Energía de Lupicinio International Law Firm, se ha estado asesorando en los últimos años a empresas concesionarias que explotan carbón, en todos sus ámbitos operativos, desde la obtención de las concesiones de explotación u otro tipo de permisos y autorizaciones, al transporte y comercialización de carbón térmico nacional, pasando por la aprobación de los correspondientes planes de labores o la obtención de subvenciones de distinta índol

Modelo de Respuesta Aleatorizada Mixto de Kim y Warde: aplicación a estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Matemáticas de la UNMSM – 2015

Estudia el Modelo de Respuesta Aleatorizada Mixto (MRAM) propuesto por Kim y Warde (2004), el cual se aplicó en una encuesta realizada en la Facultad de Ciencias Matemáticas, para investigar el comportamiento de los jóvenes estudiantes con respecto a las malas prácticas académicas, realizar copias y consumo de drogas para mejorar el rendimiento académico en un examen. La población estudiada comprende a los alumnos matriculados en el Semestre 2015-I pertenecientes a las cuatro escuelas académico profesionales de la Facultad de Ciencias Matemáticas de la UNMSM.Tesi

Forecasting Recharging Demand to Integrate Electric Vehicle Fleets in Smart Grids

Electric vehicle fleets and smart grids are two growing technologies. These technologies provided new possibilities to reduce pollution and increase energy efficiency. In this sense, electric vehicles are used as mobile loads in the power grid. A distributed charging prioritization methodology is proposed in this paper. The solution is based on the concept of virtual power plants and the usage of evolutionary computation algorithms. Additionally, the comparison of several evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithm, genetic algorithm with evolution control, particle swarm optimization, and hybrid solution are shown in order to evaluate the proposed architecture. The proposed solution is presented to prevent the overload of the power grid

Monitoring and Fault Location Sensor Network for Underground Distribution Lines

One of the fundamental tasks of electric distribution utilities is guaranteeing a continuous supply of electricity to their customers. The primary distribution network is a critical part of these facilities because a fault in it could affect thousands of customers. However, the complexity of this network has been increased with the irruption of distributed generation, typical in a Smart Grid and which has significantly complicated some of the analyses, making it impossible to apply traditional techniques. This problem is intensified in underground lines where access is limited. As a possible solution, this paper proposes to make a deployment of a distributed sensor network along the power lines. This network proposes taking advantage of its distributed character to support new approaches of these analyses. In this sense, this paper describes the aquiculture of the proposed network (adapted to the power grid) based on nodes that use power line communication and energy harvesting techniques. In this sense, it also describes the implementation of a real prototype that has been used in some experiments to validate this technological adaptation. Additionally, beyond a simple use for monitoring, this paper also proposes the use of this approach to solve two typical distribution system operator problems, such as: fault location and failure forecasting in power cables.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Government of Spain project Sistema Inteligente Inalámbrico para Análisis y Monitorización de Líneas de Tensión Subterráneas en Smart Grids (SIIAM) TEC2013-40767-RMinisterio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Government of Spain, for the funding of the scholarship Formación de Profesorado Universitario 2016 (FPU 2016

Increasing the Efficiency of Rule-Based Expert Systems Applied on Heterogeneous Data Sources

Nowadays, the proliferation of heterogeneous data sources provided by different research and innovation projects and initiatives is proliferating more and more and presents huge opportunities. These developments create an increase in the number of different data sources, which could be involved in the process of decisionmaking for a specific purpose, but this huge heterogeneity makes this task difficult. Traditionally, the expert systems try to integrate all information into a main database, but, sometimes, this information is not easily available, or its integration with other databases is very problematic. In this case, it is essential to establish procedures that make a metadata distributed integration for them. This process provides a “mapping” of available information, but it is only at logic level. Thus, on a physical level, the data is still distributed into several resources. In this sense, this chapter proposes a distributed rule engine extension (DREE) based on edge computing that makes an integration of metadata provided by different heterogeneous data sources, applying then a mathematical decomposition over the antecedent of rules. The use of the proposed rule engine increases the efficiency and the capability of rule-based expert systems, providing the possibility of applying these rules over distributed and heterogeneous data sources, increasing the size of data sets that could be involved in the decision-making process

On the origin of the acoustic signáis generated in KDP by pulsed UV laser excitation

The origin of the acoustic signals that are generated in the bulk of a KDP crystal during irradiation with short UV laser pulses is determined. The generation of these signals by excitation with moderate or high optical fluences is linked to the evolution of the population of point defects that is generated in the crystal by absorption of two UV photons. These defects are bleached due to their efficient linear absorption of UV radiation, and their non-radiative relaxation is shown to be the origin of the acoustic signals. The rate constants for the different processes involved in both the linear and the non-linear interactions were determined from the experiments presented here. Characteristic values for the quantum efficiency for the generation of defects, ηB = 0.95 ± 0.05, and for the quantum efficiency for bleaching of defects, ηB = 0.065 ± 0.005, were obtained for 266-nm laser radiation. The model developed for the intensity of the acoustic signals reproduces the experimental facts with very good accuracy.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasCentro de Investigaciones Óptica

On the origin of the acoustic signáis generated in KDP by pulsed UV laser excitation

The origin of the acoustic signals that are generated in the bulk of a KDP crystal during irradiation with short UV laser pulses is determined. The generation of these signals by excitation with moderate or high optical fluences is linked to the evolution of the population of point defects that is generated in the crystal by absorption of two UV photons. These defects are bleached due to their efficient linear absorption of UV radiation, and their non-radiative relaxation is shown to be the origin of the acoustic signals. The rate constants for the different processes involved in both the linear and the non-linear interactions were determined from the experiments presented here. Characteristic values for the quantum efficiency for the generation of defects, ηB = 0.95 ± 0.05, and for the quantum efficiency for bleaching of defects, ηB = 0.065 ± 0.005, were obtained for 266-nm laser radiation. The model developed for the intensity of the acoustic signals reproduces the experimental facts with very good accuracy.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasCentro de Investigaciones Óptica

Safety and preliminary activity results of the GATTO study, a phase Ib study combining the anti-TA-MUC1 antibody gatipotuzumab with the anti-EGFR tomuzotuximab in patients with refractory solid tumors

Colorectal cancer; Lung cancer; Monoclonal antibodyCáncer colorrectal; Cáncer de pulmón; Anticuerpo monoclonalCàncer colorectal; Càncer de pulmó; Anticòs monoclonalBackground The phase I GATTO study (NCT03360734) explored the feasibility, tolerability and preliminary activity of combining gatipotuzumab, a novel humanized monoclonal antibody binding to the tumor-associated epitope of mucin 1 (TA-MUC1) and an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) antibody in refractory solid tumors. Patients and methods Initially the study enrolled primary phase (PP) patients with EGFR-positive metastatic solid tumors, for whom no standard treatment was available. Patients received gatipotuzumab administered at 1400 mg every 2 weeks, 6 weeks after the start of the glyco-optimized anti-EGFR antibody tomuzotuximab at 1200 mg every 2 weeks. As this regimen was proven safe, enrollment continued in an expansion phase (EP) of patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer and breast cancer. Tomuzotuximab and gatipotuzumab were given at the same doses and gatipotuzumab treatment started 1 week after the first dose of the anti-EGFR antibody. Additionally, investigators could use a commercial anti-EGFR antibody in place of tomuzotuximab. Results A total of 52 patients were enrolled, 20 in the PP and 32 in the EP. The combined treatment was well tolerated and no dose-limiting toxicity was observed in the whole study, nor related serious adverse event or death. Preliminary activity of the combination was observed, with one and four RECIST partial responses in the PP and EP, all in colorectal cancer patients. The trial was accompanied by a comprehensive translational research program for identification of biomarkers, including soluble TA-MUC1 (sTA-MUC1) in serum. In the EP, patients with baseline sTA-MUC1 levels above the median appeared to have improved progression-free survival and overall survival. Conclusions Combination of a TA-MUC1-targeting antibody and an EGFR-targeting antibody is safe and feasible. Interesting antitumor activity was observed in heavily pretreated patients. Future studies should test this combination together with chemotherapy and explore the potential of sTA-MUC1 as a companion biomarker for further development of the combination.This work was supported by Glycotope GmbH (no grant number)

Geometric biplane graphs I: maximal graphs

We study biplane graphs drawn on a finite planar point set in general position. This is the family of geometric graphs whose vertex set is and can be decomposed into two plane graphs. We show that two maximal biplane graphs-in the sense that no edge can be added while staying biplane-may differ in the number of edges, and we provide an efficient algorithm for adding edges to a biplane graph to make it maximal. We also study extremal properties of maximal biplane graphs such as the maximum number of edges and the largest maximum connectivity over -element point sets.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft