Structural assessment of gravity dams by means of a semi-discrete approach

A new numerical model for the structural assessment of gravity dams by means of a semidiscrete approach is proposed. Gravity dams are massive structures, which their stability depends on the gravity loads applied into the structure. Mainly, its structural assessment is performed by means of a gravity approach. However, this approach is too conservative and mostly does not reflect the real structural behaviour of the dam. In this context, there is the need of models that are simplified enough to allow a simple and fast parametric analyses. The proposed model idealizes the dam as a set of rigid elements, where the damage and the deformation are concentrated in the contact sides between adjacent elements. Thus, the elements are rigid, but the material is considered as deformable. As the proposed model is semi-discrete, it can detect separation or sliding between elements. However, initial contacts do not change during the analyisis and a relative continuity among elements exists, in order to simplify the computational effort. The effective performance of the proposed model is demonstrated by numerical validation and by comparisons with some numerical models presented in the literature.Peer Reviewe

Inter-spikes-intervals exponential and gamma distributions study of neuron firing rate for SVITE motor control model on FPGA

This paper presents a statistical study on a neuro-inspired spike-based implementation of the Vector-Integration-To-End-Point motor controller (SVITE) and compares its deterministic neuron-model stream of spikes with a proposed modification that converts the model, and thus the controller, in a Poisson like spike stream distribution. A set of hardware pseudo-random numbers generators, based on a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR), have been introduced in the neuron-model so that they reach a closer biological neuron behavior. To validate the new neuron-model behavior a comparison between the Inter-Spikes-Interval empirical data and the Exponential and Gamma distributions has been carried out using the Kolmogorov–Smirnoff test. An in-hardware validation of the controller has been performed in a Spartan6 FPGA to drive directly with spikes DC motors from robotics to study the behavior and viability of the modified controller with random components. The results show that the original deterministic spikes distribution of the controller blocks can be swapped with Poisson distributions using 30-bit LFSRs. The comparative between the usable controlling signals such as the trajectory and the speed profile using a deterministic and the new controller show a standard deviation of 11.53 spikes/s and 3.86 spikes/s respectively. These rates do not affect our system because, within Pulse Frequency Modulation, in order to drive the motors, time length can be fixed to spread the spikes. Tuning this value, the slow rates could be filtered by the motor. Therefore, this SVITE neuro-inspired controller can be integrated within complex neuromorphic architectures with Poisson-like neurons

La exigencia de responsabilidades políticas como mecanismo represivo especial: la Serratella (Castellón), 1939-1942

La Ley de Responsabilidades Políticas se utilizó como herramienta para el castigo de la población vinculada a la defensa de la República. Sin embargo, no sólo se utilizó para reprimir a los republicanos con mayor proyección pública y económica, sino que se aplicó también al sector de los republicanos que había escapado de los consejos de guerra franquistas por no ser responsables de ningún acto delictivo. Así, se convirtió en un mecanismo represivo que permitía el ajuste de cuentas con las familias de los republicanos, un aspecto decisivo a nivel local, como en el caso de la Serratella (Castellón).Law of Political Responsibilities was used as a tool for punishment of the population involved in the defense of the Republic. However, not only used to suppress the Republicans with the greatest public and economic, but also applied to the field of Republicans who had fled Franco’s courts-martial not be liable for any criminal act. Thus, it became a repressive mechanism that allowed the settling of accounts with the families of the Republicans, crucially locally, as in the case of Serratella (Castellón).La Ley de Responsabilidades Políticas se utilizó como herramienta para el castigo de la población vinculada a la defensa de la República. Sin embargo, no sólo se utilizó para reprimir a los republicanos con mayor proyección pública y económica, sino que se aplicó también al sector de los republicanos que había escapado de los consejos de guerra franquistas por no ser responsables de ningún acto delictivo. Así, se convirtió en un mecanismo represivo que permitía el ajuste de cuentas con las familias de los republicanos, un aspecto decisivo a nivel local, como en el caso de la Serratella (Castellón)

Estructuras familiares en España y en Navarra en los siglos XVIII y XIX: Factores etnoculturales, diferenciación socioeconómica y comportamientos estratégicos.

Sin resume

Morfología, deterioro urbano y precio de la vivienda en Madrid

La reciente crisis financiera ha puesto de manifiesto las extraordinarias discrepancias existentes entre la bonanza que disfrutaba nuestra economía hasta hace unos meses y su verdadera base material. El universo inmobiliario parece el más claro candidato a ilustrar esa discrepancia con un hundimiento espectacular, dando por fin, aunque con notable e inexplicable retraso, la razón a aquellos que anunciaban el "pinchazo de la burbuja" desde hace mucho tiempo. Pero no sólo se ha retrasado el pinchazo sino que sus efectos sobre los precios quedan, de momento, bastante por debajo de lo anunciado. Este comportamiento paradójico unido a la evolución contradictoria de los precios, desde hace décadas, respecto a las leyes mercantiles que en teoría los rigen, son el punto de partida de esta investigación que conduce al desarrollo de un marco teórico más complejo en el que las dimensiones sociales y urbanas adquieren un papel determinante. En ese marco se articula la evolución de la morfología urbana con las formas de alojamiento y una revisión de la "economía política" del espacio social. El deterioro urbano y los fenómenos observados de exclusión social y desposesión de la ciudad componen la patología asociada a la evolución de estos modelos en La Almendra Central madrileña, que nos ha servido de laboratorio.Recent financial crisis has revealed the extraordinary discrepancies between the prosperity that our economy was enjoying until a few months ago and her real material ground. The real-estate universe seems to be the clearest candidate to illustrate this discrepancy with a spectacular collapse, giving finally, though with notable and inexplicable delay, the reason to those that announced the "snap of the bubble" long time ago. A prick that, till now, has not reached the dimensions predicted. This paradoxical behavior and the contradictory evolution of prices for decades, regarding the market laws that govern them in theory, are at the beginning of this research that leads to the most complex development of a theoretical frame in which social and urban dimensions acquire a determinant role. This new frame articulates the evolution of urban morphology with the forms of housing and a new approach to the "political economy" of the social space. Urban deterioration and the phenomena observed of social exclusion and dispossession of the city integrate the pathology linked to the evolution of these models in "La Almendra Central" of Madrid, used as a laboratory

El hogar rural en España a mediados del siglo XIX: algunas consideraciones desde la perspectiva de la historia agraria

The calculation of various quotients based on the information of the 1860 census allows us to distinguish the family structures and size of rural households in traditional Spain. Moreover, the importance of cultural factors may be appreciated in this family geography, as well as the existence of a socioeconomic the domestic groups points to a greater elasticity in the stem family in comparison with the nuclear family