Estudio del comportamiento cívico en el trabajo en el personal de enfermería

Dentro de la gestión sanitaria, en los últimos años ha cobrado especial importancia la formación y capacidad de los gestores de cuidados, en este caso supervisores o directores de enfermería, para dirigir a profesionales sanitarios que, por la propia naturaleza de su trabajo, se enfrentan a importantes riesgos psicosociales, entre los que destaca el síndrome de burnout. El cuidado y promoción de aspectos como la calidad de vida en el trabajo, la motivación laboral y el apoyo al trabajador que presta los servicios asistenciales, son factores que se espera que contribuyan al éxito de la organización y la mejora y calidad en la atención al paciente. Esta investigación se centra en evaluar el desarrollo del Comportamiento Cívico en la Organización en el personal de enfermería, junto con otras variables relacionadas con el trabajo y que influyen en la salud de los trabajadores sanitarios. Para ello, se comparan las puntuaciones de dos grupos profesionales (enfermeros/as y auxiliares de enfermería), así como de cinco servicios hospitalarios (UVI, Urgencias, Medicina interna, Quirófano y Consultas externas). El tipo de estudio realizado fue de tipo observacional, de corte transversal, y se llevó a cabo con una muestra total de 222 participantes de un hospital de tercer nivel. Todas las variables estudiadas fueron auto-informadas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el desempeño cívico se relaciona estrechamente con las variables estudiadas, que existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el grado en el que los profesionales realizan conductas de ciudadanía en el trabajo, dependiendo de su categoría profesional y del servicio en el que prestan servicio. En conjunto, los resultados obtenidos tienen gran valor para el desarrollo de estrategias de gestión sanitaria que promuevan el comportamiento cívico en el contexto laboral, mejorando así la calidad de vida de los profesionales sanitarios e incentivando su implicación en el trabajo

Energetic evaluation of a double-effect LiBr-H2O absorption heat pump coupled to a multi-effect distillation plant at nominal and off-design conditions

This paper presents the experimental characterization of a double-effect absorption heat pump (DEAHP) using lithium bromide-water (LiBr-H2O) which recovers the low-energy latent heat from the last effect of a multi-effect distillation (MED) plant. The experimental facility is located at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) and the test campaign has been performed with the aim to find the best operating strategies that minimize the energy consumption and maximize the energetic efficiency of the DEAHP-MED system taking also into account the distillate production of the MED unit. For this purpose, the impact of the variation of the input variables by which the DEAHP-MED system can be controlled (MED inlet hot water flow rate, MED inlet hot water temperature, the live steam flow rate and the DEAHP cooling water flow rate) on the coefficient of performance (COP), the performance ratio (PR) and on the total distillate production, has been analysed in two different coupling schemes between the DEAHP and the MED unit (indirect and direct). The results revealed that in direct mode, the rise in the live steam flow rate has the greatest impact on the distillate production and the increase of the MED inlet hot water flow rate and the DEAHP cooling flow rate on the COP. In the indirect mode, the rise in the MED inlet hot water temperature was the most influential in both parameters. The maximum COP, distillate production and PR was 2.08±0.34, 2.42±0.07 m3/h, and 18.53±1.94, respectively in the direct mode and 2.04±0.39, 1.92±0.11 m3/h, 16.67±3.42, respectively the indirect mode. Moreover, empirical correlations that forecast the PR and the distillate production as a function of the COP were developed from the characterization results and were validated statistically by the coefficient of determination (R^2) and the adjusted R^2(R_adj^2)

Techno-economic assessment of a Multi-effect Distillation plant installed 1 for the production of irrigation water in Arica (Chile)

In the context of a regional Chilean project (FIC Taltape project, BIP code 30158422-0), a multi-effect distillation (MED) pilot plant has been built and installed in a small community in the north of Chile (Taltape, Arica) in order to supply treated water for agricultural and domestic purposes. The aim of this paper is to assess the techno-economic feasibility of this system for supplying water with the required quality to the population. The characterization of the feed water and the effluents from the MED pilot plant (distillate and brine), obtained during five months of operation, has been firstly performed. Then, the prediction of the operation of the water treatment system with solar energy has been carried out using a typical meteorological year and the design of a static solar field that cover the thermal energy needs of the water treatment plant

Techno-economic analysis of stand-alone solar desalination at variable load conditions

The operation of large-scale reverse osmosis units in combination with different solar power plants, both, Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaics (PV) has been evaluated under variable load conditions. In the case of the Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit, configurations with and without an energy recovery device have been considered. In the case of the CSP plant, a thermal storage system with several capacities (8-14 h) covers the periods with low solar radiation and no storage has been taken into account for the PV plant due to the prohibitively high cost of batteries at large scale. The analysis has been done for a specific location in Algeria, considering different scenarios to adapt the operation of the RO unit at partial load in order to assure a stable operation. The dynamic performance of the RO unit is presented for each scenario, together with an economic analysis

Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress and Prevalence of Major Depression and Its Predictors in Female University Students

Depression, anxiety and stress are increasingly concerning phenomena in our society, with serious consequences on physical and mental health. The repercussions may be particularly devastating in particular population subgroups, such as female university students. The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress and the prevalence of depression and associated factors, in Spanish university women. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample of 871 students from the Santiago de Compostela University (mean age 20.7 years, SD = 2.8). Information was collected on sociodemographic and academic characteristics; symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress; diagnosis of major depression; optimism, resilience, social support, life engagement, and five personality domains, using validated instruments. Of the participants, 18.1%, 22.8% and 13.5% presented with severe/very severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. A total of 12.9% had major depression. Higher life engagement was associated with lower risk of depression (OR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.87–0.98), while higher levels of neuroticism (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.12–1.28) and openness to experience (OR = 1.08, 95% CI, 1.02–1.14) were associated with greater risk. These findings reveal an alarming percentage of female university students who experience major depression and severe/very severe stressThis study was funded by the University of Santiago de Compostela (2019-PU005)S

Optimal operation of a combined cooling system

[Resumen] Uno de los retos que se plantea en plantas termosolares de producción de electricidad es el elevado consumo de agua, que proviene principalmente del proceso de refrigeración del ciclo de potencia. Los sistemas de refrigeración combinados (húmeda+seca) se presentan como una potencial solución, ya que además del menor consumo de agua requerido, evitan la penalización en la eficiencia del bloque de potencia en comparación con los sistemas de refrigeración convencionales. El presente trabajo analiza la aplicación de estrategias de optimización para un sistema de refrigeración combinado con el fin de evaluar la configuración de operación más adecuada atendiendo a distintos criterios de operación y ambientales. Para ello, se han desarrollado modelos basados en redes neuronales de cada componente del sistema combinado, para lo que se ha llevado a cabo una exhaustiva campaña experimental en una planta piloto de la Plataforma Solar de Almería - CIEMAT. El potencial de la estrategia de optimización es analizada mediante la simulación de distintos casos de estudio.[Abstract] One of the challenges related to solar thermal power plants is the high water consumption, which mainly comes from the cooling process of the power cycle. Combined cooling systems are presented as a potential solution to reduce water consumption, while also avoiding a high penalty due to efficiency loss in the power block. This paper analyzes the application of optimization strategies for a combined cooling system in order to evaluate the most suitable operating configuration according to different operating and environmental criteria. For this purpose, it has been necessary to carry out an exhaustive experimental campaign in a pilot plant at Plataforma Solar de Almería - CIEMAT, in order to train and obtain models based on neural networks. The potential of the optimization strategy is analyzed by simulating different case studies.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; PID2021-126452OA-I0

Thermodynamic performance and water consumption of hybrid cooling system configurations for concentrated solar power plants

The use of wet cooling in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants tends to be an unfavourable option in regions where water is scarce due to the high water requirements of the method. Dry-cooling systems allow a water consumption reduction of up to 80% but at the expense of lower electricity production. A hybrid cooling system (the combination of dry and wet cooling) offers the advantages of each process in terms of lower water consumption and higher electricity production. A model of a CSP plant which integrates a hybrid cooling system has been implemented in Thermoflex software. The water consumption and the net power generation have been evaluated for different configurations of the hybrid cooling system: series, parallel, series-parallel and parallel-series. It was found that the most favourable configuration in terms of water saving was series-parallel, in which a water reduction of up to 50% is possible compared to the only-wet cooling option, whereas an increase of 2.5% in the power generation is possible compared to the only-dry cooling option. The parallel configuration was the best in terms of power generation with an increase of 3.2% when compared with the only-dry cooling option, and a reduction of 30% water consumption compared to the only-wet cooling optio

Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap

The grand challenges of contemporary fundamental physics—dark matter, dark energy, vacuum energy, inflation and early universe cosmology, singularities and the hierarchy problem—all involve gravity as a key component. And of all gravitational phenomena, black holes stand out in their elegant simplicity, while harbouring some of the most remarkable predictions of General Relativity: event horizons, singularities and ergoregions. The hitherto invisible landscape of the gravitational Universe is being unveiled before our eyes: the historical direct detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration marks the dawn of a new era of scientific exploration. Gravitational-wave astronomy will allow us to test models of black hole formation, growth and evolution, as well as models of gravitational-wave generation and propagation. It will provide evidence for event horizons and ergoregions, test the theory of General Relativity itself, and may reveal the existence of new fundamental fields. The synthesis of these results has the potential to radically reshape our understanding of the cosmos and of the laws of Nature. The purpose of this work is to present a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the relevant fields of research, summarize important open problems, and lay out a roadmap for future progress. This write-up is an initiative taken within the framework of the European Action on 'Black holes, Gravitational waves and Fundamental Physics'