The Influence of Openings on Energy Demand of Buildings: Analysis of their Characteristic Parameters Using LIDER Software (Spain)

Openings on buildings façades perform several functions, namely, illumination, ventilation, vision, and communication with outside conditions. Furthermore, when energy efficiency is to be considered, the opening plays a major part in the energetic balance of a building. This article studies the opening as a specialized low technology system which regulates the external climatic conditions having an impact on the building energy demand. First, it was analysed the main parameters that characterize the opening as an element of solar reception in order to indentify the influence of each of them with regard to energy demand. By means of LIDER software calculation method the opening is studied as a solar gain element. LIDER is a recognized free computer programme of Spanish Building Regulation (Código Técnico de la Edificación, CTE). The contribution of 14 specific parameters of the opening to energy demand is evaluated, specifically, orientation, window-to-wall ratio, frame percentage, degree of absorption, glazing g-value, frame U-value, glazing U-value, overhangs, returns, louver blinds, awnings, air permeability, infiltration and air change rate. With this approach, it was obtained the relative relevance of the 14 parameters under study with regards to energy performance of a simulated space considering the conditions set in the analysis. The alteration in those parameters allows for variations in energy demand estimated at the range 10-60% in heating, and between 2-150% in cooling. The outcomes are more important in qualitative than in quantitative terms due to the limitations of the method and to the working hypotheses of the onset conditions

Metacognitive Knowledge and Skills in Students with Deep Approach to Learning. Evidence from Mathematical Problem Solving

Student approaches to learning and metacognitive strategies are two important conditioning factors in solving mathematical problems. The evidence suggests that it is the deep approach to learning which leads to student success in such tasks. The present study focused on analyzing the differences in metacognitive knowledge and skills in a sample of 524 fifth and sixth grade students divided into three groups based on their different levels of use of a deep a pproach (241 = low; 152 = medium; and 131 = high). Metacognitive knowledge was assessed using the Learning Strategies Knowledge Questionnaire, while evidence about metacognitive skills was gathered by means of process measures (Triple Tasks Procedure) during students’ solving of two mathematical word problems. Statistically significant differences in metacognitive knowledge were found among groups while differences in metacognitive skills were only found in the second task, with a low effect size.; El enfoque de aprendizaje y las estrategias metacognitivas son importantes condicionantes en la resolución de problemas matemáticos. La investigación ha puesto de relevancia que el enfoque profundo de aprendizaje dirige al estudiante al éxito en la ejecución de estas tareas. Este trabajo ha pretendido analizar las diferencias en el conocimiento y habilidades metacognitivas de 524 estudiantes de quinto y sexto de primaria clasificados en tres grupos en función del nivel de uso del enfoque profundo (241 = bajo; 152 = medio; 131 = alto). El conocimiento metacognitivo fue evaluado con el cuestionario de conocimiento de estrategias de aprendizaje, y las habilidades metacog nitivas con medidas del proceso (Triple Tarea) durante la resolución de dos problemas matemáticos. Los resultados mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el conocimiento metacognitivo y, en las habilidades metacognitivas en la segunda tarea con un bajo tamaño del efecto

Effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid in combination with monounsaturated fatty acids on the composition and quality traits of cooked loin

Publicado en: Food Chemistry 124 (2011) 518–526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.06.063Tres niveles (0%, 1% y 2%) de un aceite de ácido linoleico conjugado (CLA) se combinaron con dos niveles de ácidos grasos monoinsaturados (MUFA) (bajo - 19% promedio y alto - 39% promedio) para la alimentación del cerdo ( n = 48, ocho animales por tratamiento). Se estudiaron los rasgos de composición y calidad (contenido de grasa, pérdida de cocción, oxidación de lípidos, perfil de ácidos grasos, perfil volátil y análisis sensorial) de lomo cocido, según se vieron afectados por la interacción CLA, MUFA y CLA × MUFA. CLA y CLA × MUFA no afectaron el contenido de grasa intramuscular, las pérdidas por cocción, la oxidación de los lípidos, el perfil volátil y los rasgos sensoriales de la carne cocida. Por lo tanto, el CLA podría complementarse con la dieta del cerdo sin detrimento de los rasgos de calidad medidos de la carne cocida, e independientemente del nivel de MUFA de las dietas de los cerdos. El CLA dietético aumentó el contenido de SFA y disminuyó el nivel de MUFA de la carne, y condujo a un enriquecimiento de CLA, independientemente del nivel de MUFA de las dietas de cerdo, pero el contenido de los isómeros de CLA de la carne fresca disminuyó después del proceso de cocción.Three levels (0%, 1% and 2%) of a conjugated linoleic acid oil (CLA) were combined with two levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (low – 19% average and high – 39% average) for pig feeding (n = 48, eight animals per treatment). The composition and quality traits (fat content, cooking losses, lipid oxidation, fatty acid profile, volatile profile and sensory analysis) of cooked loin, as affected by dietary CLA, MUFA, and CLA × MUFA interaction were studied. CLA and CLA × MUFA did not affect the intramuscular fat content, cooking losses, lipid oxidation, volatile profile and sensory traits of cooked meat. Therefore, CLA could be supplemented to the pig diet without detriment of the measured quality traits of cooked meat, and regardless of the MUFA level of pig diets. Dietary CLA increased the content of SFA and decreased the level of MUFA of meat, and led to a CLA enrichment, regardless the MUFA level of pig diets, but the content of CLA isomers of fresh meat decreased after the cooking process.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia: Ayuda AGL 2003-0353

Geochemical evolution of pleistocene bears dentine amino acids

A linear correlation was established between aspartic acid racemization ratio from cave bear dentine collagen and absolute dating. The high correlation coefficient obtained allowed age calculation through amino acid racemization. Aspartic acid and glutamic acid racemization kinetics have also been explored in dentine from a North American black bear (Ursus americanus Pallas). Three sample sets were prepared for kinetic heating experiments in nitrogen atmosphere: one water soaked, one with a water-saturated nitrogen atmosphere, and one without any moisture. It was possible to show that the presence of water is a factor controlling amino acid racemization rate. The aspartic acid in a heating experiment at 105° C shows an "apparent kinetics reversal" which can be explained by a progressive hydrolysis of amino acid chains (proteins and polypeptides). Because of t h e low potential of collagen preservation over long periods of time, the apparent kinetics reversal phenomenon will not affect the dating of old material where no traces of collagen remain. An apparent kinetics reversal was not observed in glutamic acid, which racemizates more slowl

Identification of arid phases during the last 50 kyr Cal BP from the Fuentillejo maar lacustrine record (Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Field, Spain).

Geochemical (element analysis, molecular analysis of organic compounds), physical, palynological, mineralogical and sedimentary facies analysis were performed to characterise the sedimentary record in Fuentillejo maar-lake in the Central Spanish Volcanic Field of Campo de Calatrava, in order to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic processes which controlled vegetation patterns and deposition of different sedimentary facies. The upper 20 m of core FUENT-1 show variations in clastic input, water chemistry, vegetation and organic fraction sources in the lake throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The temporal framework provided by14C accelerator mass spectrometry dating allows assigning the sequence to the last 50 cal. ka BP. Arid phases identified in the FUENT-1 sequence are correlated to Heinrich events (HE) and to stadials of the Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) cycles. Siliciclastic facies with high magnetic susceptibility values, high Juniperus pollen content, a low Paq index (aquatic macrophysics proxy index), a decrease in the relative percentage of the n-C27 and an increase in the n-C31 alkanes are indicative of arid and colder climatic events related to HE 2, HE 1 and the Younger Dryas (YD). Similar short cold and arid phases during the Holocene were identified at 9.2–8.6, 7.5–7 and 5.5–5 cal. ka BP. In dolomite–mud facies, the pollen data show an increase in the herbs component, mainly – Chenopodiaceae, Artemisia andEphedra – steppe taxa; a low Paq index, a decrease in the relative percentage of the n-C27 alkane and an increase in the n-C31 alkane are also observed. This facies was probably the result of lower lake levels and more saline–alkaline conditions, which can be interpreted as linked to arid–warm periods. These warm and arid phases were more frequent during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and the interstadials of MIS 2. HE 4, HE 2, HE 1 and the YD in core FUENT-1 were immediately followed by increases of warm steppe pollen assemblages that document rapid warming similar to the D/O cycles but do not imply increasing humidity in the area. Fuentillejo hydrology is controlled by changes in the atmospheric and oceanic systems that operated on the North Atlantic region at millennial scale during the last 50 cal. ka B

Identificación de episodios climáticos fríos mediante el registro de susceptibilidad magnética en la secuencia lacustre del maar de Fuentillejo (Ciudad Real).

Resumen: El maar de Fuentillejo está localizado en la Región Volcánica Central de Campo de Calatrava (Ciudad Real). Desde su inicio se ha comportado como un sistema cerrado y presenta una potencia total de 142 m de sedimentos lacustres, organizados en 23 unidades sedimentarias. Se ha realizado un estudio de la susceptibilidad magnética y densidad aparente de los sedimentos, mediante un equipo de testificación multisensor Geotek. Para obtener la edad del registro se han efectuado dataciones absolutas mediante radiocarbono, U-Th y con el estudio de polaridad magnética, obteniéndose un modelo de edad que permite datar el sondeo FUENT-1 en torno a los 350 ka. Los datos del registro de susceptibilidad magnética, junto con las dataciones efectuadas, permiten identificar una secuencia de eventos erosivos relacionados con los últimos estadios glaciares (LGM: Ultimo Máximo Glaciar y los estadios isotópicos MIS 6 y 8). El registro de susceptibilidad magnética se encuentra atenuado por procesos de disolución de los óxidos de Fe-Ti. Abstract: The Fuentillejo maar is located in the Central Spanish Volcanic Field of Campo de Calatrava (Ciudad Real). Fuentillejo maar-lake was a closed system where up to 142 m depth of lacustrine sediments were deposited. Magnetic susceptibility and bulk density were measured by a GEOTEK multisensor core logger. The chronological framework was constructed based on radiocarbon and U-Th methods, as well as a detailed study of magnetic polarity, yielding an age model that covers last 350 ka. Intervals with terrigenous sediments correspond to high magnetic susceptibility values. These intervals were correlated with erosive events during the Last Glacial Maximum and the MIS 6 and 8 isotopic stages. The record of magnetic susceptibility is attenuated by disolution processes of Fe-Ti oxides

Differential efficacy of neurofeedback in children with ADHD presentations

Journal of Clinical Medicine, 8(2), 204 (2019); https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm802020

Funciones ejecutivas en niños y adolescentes : implicaciones del tipo de medidas de evaluación empleadas para su validez en contextos clínicos y educativos

Las funciones ejecutivas implican un amplio rango de habilidades relacionadas con la regulación del pensamiento, el comportamiento y el propio estado emocional. Teniendo en cuenta la variedad de componentes que forman este constructo, no es sorprendente que su evaluación plantee ciertas dificultades. En este sentido, pese a que numerosos estudios han mostrado la importancia de dichos componentes como determinantes del desempeño académico y social, así como su utilidad en el diagnóstico y la intervención en diversas problemáticas durante la infancia y la adolescencia, aspectos como la validez ecológica de las medidas tradicionalmente empleadas para su evaluación, imponen hoy ciertas limitaciones a la validez y generalización de los resultados obtenidos en este ámbito. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar las características de las medidas de evaluación más ampliamente empleadas y su grado de aplicabilidad en contextos clínicos y educativos, de lo cual se desprenden una serie de implicaciones práctica

Air pollution from traffic during pregnancy impairs newborn's cord blood immune cells: The NELA cohort

©2020. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This document is the Accepted version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Environmental Research. To access the final edited and published work see https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110468Background: Hazards of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) on the developing immune system are poorly understood. We sought to investigate the effects of prenatal exposure to TRAP on cord blood immune cell distributions; and to identify gestational windows of susceptibility. Methods: In-depth immunophenotyping of cord blood leukocyte and lymphocyte subsets was performed by flow cytometry in 190 newborns embedded in the Nutrition in Early Life and Asthma (NELA) birth cohort (2015-2018). Long-term (whole pregnancy and trimesters) and short-term (15-days before delivery) residential exposures to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), and ozone (O3) were estimated using dispersion/chemical transport modelling. Associations between TRAP concentrations and cord blood immune cell counts were assessed using multivariate Poisson regression models. Results: Mean number of natural killer (NK) cells decreased 15% in relation to higher NO2 concentrations (≥36.4 μg/m3) during whole pregnancy (incidence relative risk (IRR), 0.85; 95% CI, 0.72, 0.99), with stronger associations in the first trimester. Higher PM2.5 concentrations (≥13.3 μg/m3) during whole pregnancy associated with a reduced mean number of cytotoxic T cells (IRR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78, 0.99). Newborns exposed to higher PM10 (≥23.6 μg/m3) and PM2.5 concentrations during the first and third trimester showed greater mean number of helper T type 1 (Th1) cells (P < 0.05). Decreased number of regulatory T (Treg) cells was associated with greater short-term NO2 (IRR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.80, 1.01) and PM10 (IRR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.77, 0.99) concentrations. Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to TRAP, particularly in early and late gestation, impairs fetal immune system development through disturbances in cord blood leukocyte and lymphocyte distributions