Physiology\u27s influence on the thermal comfort of the occupants: A study in Ensenada, Baja California

INTRODUCTION: Thermal environment\u27s adverse conditions can significantly affect the performance, comfort and well-being of people, so this study aims to estimate the thermal comfort range from the cold period in Ensenada city, Baja California: February month, from different levels of metabolic activity: passive, moderate and intense. PURPOSE: This study seeks to identify the relationship between the people thermal perception, their metabolic activity and the physical or psychological sensations involved in the process of adaptation indoors. Thermal sensations are caused by several factors: 1) Physical stimuli of the thermal environment, 2) Activity metabolic, as well as the intensity with which it is performed, 3) Clothing, 4) Experience and 5) Human expectation. METHODS: Data collection was based on the application of questionnaires, which considered physiological, perceptual and environmental characteristics measurements. The study case is located in Ensenada city (temperate-dry bioclimate); with a target population that is within the range of 15-19 years old and 20-24 years old. It was decided to apply the assessments to university students of the Autonomous University of Baja California, who represent 60 % of the statewide student community. RESULTS: Estimated thermal comfort during the cold period resulted from 16.9 °C to 23.9 °C for occupants that exercising passive activity (0.8 met to 1.2 met), from 16.6 °C to 23.9 °C for moderate activity (1.2 met to 1.6 met); and 17.1 °C to 23.2 °C for those who exercised intense activity (2.0 met to 2.4 met). CONCLUSION: According to the aforementioned, it is possible to inform that occupants metabolic activity and, thereby the production of generated internal heat, exerts an influence in the thermal sensation that they perceive from immediate environment

Social support, self-efficacy and academic satisfaction of university students during the COVID-19 lockdown

This work aimed to analyze the relationships between the students perceived institutional support, teachers’ support, peers’ support, and their academic satisfaction, mediated by their self-efficacy in information and comunication technologies (ICT). Participants were 157 students who were studying from first to fourth year in different disciplines of the Valencia University. Structural equation models with latent factors were tested. A final model had satisfactory fit indices to the observed data. It is worth highlighting the strong direct effect of the teaching staff support on student’ academic satisfaction, with less weight, although significant, being the effect of institutional support. In conclusion, teacher’s figure is of paramount importance for student’s academic satisfaction.Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo analizar las relaciones entre el apoyo institucional percibido por los estudiantes, el apoyo de los profesores, el apoyo de los compañeros y su satisfacción académica, mediada por su autoeficacia en las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC). Participaron 157 estudiantes que cursaban de primero a cuarto año en diferentes disciplinas de la Universidad de Valencia. Se probaron modelos de ecuaciones estructurales con factores latentes. El modelo final aportó índices de ajuste satisfactorios a los datos observados. Cabe destacar el fuerte efecto directo del apoyo del profesorado sobre la satisfacción académica de los estudiantes, mientras que tuvo menor peso, aunque también significativo, el efecto del apoyo institucional. En conclusión, la figura del docente es de suma importancia para la satisfacción académica de los estudiantes

Characterization of non‑linear mechanical behavior of the cornea

The objective of this study was to evaluate which hyperelastic model could best describe the nonlinear mechanical behavior of the cornea, in order to characterize the capability of the non-linear model parameters to discriminate structural changes in a damaged cornea. Porcine corneas were used, establishing two diferent groups: control (non-treated) and NaOH-treated (damaged) corneas (n= 8). NaOH causes a chemical burn to the corneal tissue, simulating a disease associated to structural damage of the stromal layer. Quasi-static uniaxial tensile tests were performed in nasaltemporal direction immediately after preparing corneal strips from the two groups. Three non-linear hyperelastic models (i.e. Hamilton-Zabolotskaya model, Ogden model and Mooney-Rivlin model) were ftted to the stress–strain curves obtained in the tensile tests and statistically compared. The corneas from the two groups showed a non-linear mechanical behavior that was best described by the Hamilton-Zabolotskaya model, obtaining the highest coefcient of determination (R2 > 0.95). Moreover, Hamilton-Zabolotskaya model showed the highest discriminative capability of the nonlinear model parameter (Parameter A) for the tissue structural changes between the two sample groups (p= 0.0005). The present work determines the best hyperelastic model with the highest discriminative capability in description of the non-linear mechanical behavior of the cornea.Ministry of Education DPI2017-83859-R DPI2014-51870-R EQC2018004508-P UNGR15-CE-3664Ministry of Health - Turkey DTS15/00093Junta de Andalucia PI16/00339 PI-0107-2017 PIN-0030-201

Design and integration of WAAM technology and in situ monitoring system in a gantry machine

Wire arc additive manufacturing, WAAM, is a popular wire-feed additive manufacturing technology that creates components through the deposition of material layer-by-layer. WAAM has become a promising alternative to conventional machining due to its high deposition rate, environmental friendliness and cost-competitiveness. In this research work, an adaptation of a gantry machine with in-situ monitoring and a control system has been carried out, in order to expose the ability of the WAAM technology to fabricate complex-shaped parts. The retrofitting of the machine has been done in several layers called respectively hardware, control and software layers. For the validation of the implemented system, a stainless steel 316L demonstrator has been manufactured, and the required stages have been employed, including part design (CAD), process parameters selection, tool-path definition (CAM) and part manufacturing. This study has shown the feasibility of the adapted machine for additive manufacturing as a controlled process.The authors acknowledge the European Commission for support from project AMAZE (FP7-2012-NMP-ICT-FoF, project 313781) and the Basque Government for support from project EUSK-ADDI (Etorgai 2014)

Apoyo docente, compromiso académico y satisfacción del alumnado universitario

El objetivo es analizar la influencia del compromiso académico sobre la satisfacción de los estudiantes universitarios con su facultad, a partir del apoyo a la autonomía por el profesorado. Se administran escalas de Apoyo a la Autonomía, Compromiso Académico y Satisfacción con la Facultad, a 870 estudiantes universitarios dominicanos (50.6% hombres, 49.4% mujeres). Se aplican Análisis Factoriales Confirmatorios y Modelos de Ecuaciones Estructurales. Los resultados reflejan la influencia del apoyo a la autonomía por los profesores sobre la satisfacción con la facultad a través del compromiso académico, así como el efecto directo de la percepción de apoyo a la autonomía por los profesores sobre la satisfacción de los estudiantes universitarios con su centro educativo.The aim of this paper is to analyze the infl uence of academic engagement on university students’ satisfaction with their faculty from teachers’ autonomy support. Scales of Autonomy Support, Academic Engagement and Satisfaction with the Faculty are administered to 870 Dominican university students (50.6% male and 49.4% female). Confi rmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling are carried out. The results refl ect the infl uence of teachers’ autonomy support on the satisfaction with the faculty mediated by academic engagement, as well as the direct effect of perception of teachers’ autonomy support on university students’ satisfaction with their educational center

Apoyo docente, compromiso académico y satisfacción del alumnado universitario

El objetivo es analizar la influencia del compromiso académico sobre la satisfacción de los estudiantes universitarios con su facultad, a partir del apoyo a la autonomía por el profesorado. Se administran escalas de Apoyo a la Autonomía, Compromiso Académico y Satisfacción con la Facultad, a 870 estudiantes universitarios dominicanos (50.6% hombres, 49.4% mujeres). Se aplican Análisis Factoriales Confirmatorios y Modelos de Ecuaciones Estructurales. Los resultados reflejan la influencia del apoyo a la autonomía por los profesores sobre la satisfacción con la facultad a través del compromiso académico, así como el efecto directo de la percepción de apoyo a la autonomía por los profesores sobre la satisfacción de los estudiantes universitarios con su centro educativo.The aim of this paper is to analyze the infl uence of academic engagement on university students’ satisfaction with their faculty from teachers’ autonomy support. Scales of Autonomy Support, Academic Engagement and Satisfaction with the Faculty are administered to 870 Dominican university students (50.6% male and 49.4% female). Confi rmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling are carried out. The results refl ect the infl uence of teachers’ autonomy support on the satisfaction with the faculty mediated by academic engagement, as well as the direct effect of perception of teachers’ autonomy support on university students’ satisfaction with their educational center

Variability of nutrients and carbon dioxide in the Antarctic Intermediate Water between 1990 and 2014

Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) formation constitutes an important mechanism for the export of macronutrients out of the Southern Ocean that fuels primary production in low latitudes. We used quality-controlled gridded data from five hydrographic cruises between 1990 and 2014 to examine decadal variability in nutrients and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the AAIW (neutral density range 27 < γ n <  27.4) along the Prime Meridian. Significant positive trends were found in DIC (0.70 ± 0.4 μmol kg− 1 year− 1) and nitrate (0.08 ± 0.06 μ mol kg− 1 year− 1) along with decreasing trends in temperature (− 0.015 ± 0.01∘C year− 1) and salinity (− 0.003 ± 0.002 year− 1) in the AAIW. Accompanying this is an increase in apparent oxygen utilization (AOU, 0.16 ± 0.07 μ mol kg− 1 year− 1). We estimated that 75% of the DIC change has an anthropogenic origin. The remainder of the trends support a scenario of a strengthening of the upper-ocean overturning circulation in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean in response to the positive trend in the Southern Annular Mode. A decrease in net primary productivity (more nutrients unutilized) in the source waters of the AAIW could have contributed as well but cannot fully explain all observed changes

Significant Release of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients From the Shallow Submarine Volcano Tagoro (Canary Islands) Based on Seven-Year Monitoring

Tagoro, the shallow submarine volcano that erupted south of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain) in October 2011, has been intensely monitored for over 7 years, from the early eruptive stage to the current degassing stage characterized by moderate hydrothermal activity. Here, we present a detailed study of the emissions of inorganic macronutrients (NO2– + NO3–, PO4, and Si(OH)4) comprising a dataset of over 3300 samples collected through three different sampling methodologies. Our results show a significant nutrient enrichment throughout the whole studied period, up to 8.8-fold (nitrate), 4.0-fold (phosphate), and 16.3-fold (silicate) in the water column, and larger enrichments of phosphate (10.5-fold) and silicate (325.4-fold), but not of nitrate, in the samples collected directly from the vents. We also provide some preliminary results showing ammonium (NH4+) concentrations up to 1.97 μM in the vent fluids as compared to 0.02 μM in the surrounding waters. Nutrient fluxes from the volcano during the degassing stage were estimated as 3.19 ± 1.17 mol m–2 year–1 (NO2– + NO3–), 0.02 ± 0.01 mol m–2 year–1 (PO4), and 0.60 ± 1.35 mol m–2 year–1 (Si(OH)4), comparable to other important nutrient sources in the region such as fluxes from the NW-African upwelling. Nutrient ratios were affected, with a minimum (NO3– + NO2–):PO4 ratio of 2.36:1; moreover, a linear correlation between silicate and temperature enabled the use of this nutrient as a mixing tracer. This study sheds light on how shallow hydrothermal systems impact the nutrient-poor upper waters of the ocean.En prens