Modeling the Aerodynamics and Performances of a Historic Airplane: the Spanish

The process of modeling the aerodynamics and performances of a historic airplane is very similar to the conceptual and preliminary design phases of a new plane, with the advantage of knowing the configuration and that the airplane was airworthy; thus it is unnecessary to outline and assess many different alternatives. However, the drag polar, the real performances, stability features, etc, are still unknown. For various reasons (in particular because of two World Wars, or the Civil War in the Spanish case) most details of many historical airplanes have been lost.In the present research work, the situation is as follows. In June 1933 the "Cuatro Vientos", a Spanish-built Bréguet XIX Super TR, flew non-stop from Seville to Cuba; a distance of 7500 km (about 4100 nautical miles) in around 40 hours. A few days later, in a far less complicated stage between Havana and Mexico, the airplane was lost with its occupants to a storm in the Yucatan peninsula.The modeling considered in this paper starts by addressing the aerodynamic modifications introduced in the airplane for the extremely long flight. Then, with the help of old and present day aerodynamic data and methods the drag polar is estimated. The available engine data is completed and extrapolated to obtain information on power and fuel consumption. Finally, all this data is integrated to provide a reliable and technically sound reproduction of the Seville-Cuba flight

Analyzing Users' Activity in On-line Social Networks over Time through a Multi-Agent Framework

[EN] The number of people and organizations using online social networks as a new way of communication is continually increasing. Messages that users write in networks and their interactions with other users leave a digital trace that is recorded. In order to understand what is going on in these virtual environments, it is necessary systems that collect, process, and analyze the information generated. The majority of existing tools analyze information related to an online event once it has finished or in a specific point of time (i.e., without considering an in-depth analysis of the evolution of users activity during the event). They focus on an analysis based on statistics about the quantity of information generated in an event. In this article, we present a multi-agent system that automates the process of gathering data from users activity in social networks and performs an in-depth analysis of the evolution of social behavior at different levels of granularity in online events based on network theory metrics. We evaluated its functionality analyzing users activity in events on Twitter.This work is partially supported by the PROME-TEOII/2013/019, TIN2014-55206-R, TIN2015-65515-C4-1-R, H2020-ICT-2015-688095.Del Val Noguera, E.; Martínez, C.; Botti, V. (2016). Analyzing Users' Activity in On-line Social Networks over Time through a Multi-Agent Framework. Soft Computing. 20(11):4331-4345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-016-2301-0S433143452011Ahn Y-Y, Han S, Kwak H, Moon S, Jeong H (2007) Analysis of topological characteristics of huge online social networking services. In: Proceedings of the 16th WWW, pp 835–844Bastiaensens S, Vandebosch H, Poels K, Cleemput KV, DeSmet A, Bourdeaudhuij ID (2014) Cyberbullying on social network sites. an experimental study into behavioural intentions to help the victim or reinforce the bully. Comput Hum Behav 31:259–271Benevenuto F, Rodrigues T, Cha M, Almeida V (2009) Characterizing user behavior in online social networks. In: Proceedings of the 9th ACM SIGCOMM conference on Internet measurement conference. ACM, pp 49–62Borge-Holthoefer J, Rivero A, García I, Cauhé E, Ferrer A, Ferrer D, Francos D, Iñiguez D, Pérez MP, Ruiz G et al (2011) Structural and dynamical patterns on online social networks: the Spanish may 15th movement as a case study. PLoS One 6(8):e23883Borondo J, Morales AJ, Losada JC, Benito RM (2013) Characterizing and modeling an electoral campaign in the context of Twitter: 2011 Spanish presidential election as a case studyCatanese SA, De Meo P, Ferrara E, Fiumara G, Provetti A (2011) Crawling facebook for social network analysis purposes. In: Proceedings of the international conference on web intelligence, mining and semantics. ACM, p 52Cha M, Mislove A, Gummadi KP (2009) A measurement-driven analysis of information propagation in the flickr social network. In: Proceedings of the 18th international conference on World Wide Web. ACM, pp 721–730del Val E, Martínez C, Botti V (2015a) A multi-agent framework for the analysis of users behavior over time in on-line social networks. In: 10th International conference on soft computing models in industrial and environmental applications. Springer, Berlin, pp 191–201del Val E, Rebollo M, Botti V (2015b) Does the type of event influence how user interactions evolve on twitter? PLOS One 10(5):e0124049Eurostat (2016a) Internet use statistics—individuals. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Internet_use_statistics_-_individuals . Accessed 29 April 2016Eurostat (2016b) Social media—statistics on the use by enterprises. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Social_media_-_statistics_on_the_use_by_enterprises#Further_Eurostat_information . Accessed 29 April 2016García Fornes AM, Rodrigo Solaz M, Terrasa Barrena AM, Inglada J, Javier V, Jorge Cano J, Mulet Mengual L, Palomares Chust A, Búrdalo Rapa LA, Giret Boggino AS et al (2015) Magentix 2 user’s manualGolbeck J, Robles C, Turner K (2011) Predicting personality with social media. In: CHI’11, pp 253–262Guimerà R, Llorente A, Moro E, Sales-Pardo M (2012) Predicting human preferences using the block structure of complex social networks. PloS One 7(9):e44620Huberman BA, Romero DM, Wu F (2008) Social networks that matter: Twitter under the microscope. arXiv preprint arXiv:0812.1045Jamali M, Abolhassani H (2006) Different aspects of social network analysis. In: 2006 IEEE/WIC/ACM international conference on web intelligence (WI 2006 main conference proceedings)(WI’06). IEEE, pp 66–72Jiang Y, Jiang J (2014) Understanding social networks from a multiagent perspective. Parallel Distrib Syst IEEE Trans 25(10):2743–2759Kossinets G, Watts D (2006) Empirical analysis of an evolving social network. Science 311(5757):88–90Kumar R, Novak J, Tomkins A (2010) Structure and evolution of online social networks. In: Yu PS, Han J, Faloutsos C (eds) Link mining: models, algorithms, and applications. Springer, New York, pp 337–357Lazer D (2009) Life in the network: the coming age of computational social science. Science 323(5915):721–723Leskovec J, Adamic LA, Huberman BA (2007) The dynamics of viral marketing. ACM Trans Web 1(1):5Licoppe C, Smoreda Z (2005) Are social networks technologically embedded? How networks are changing today with changes in communication technology. Soc Netw 27(4):317–335Lotan G, Graeff E, Ananny M, Gaffney D, Pearce I, Boyd D (2011) The revolutions were tweeted: information flows during the 2011 tunisian and egyptian revolutions. Int J Commun 5:1375–1405Peña-López I, Congosto M, Aragón P (2013) Spanish indignados and the evolution of 15M: towards networked para-institutions. Big data: challenges and opportunities, pp 25–26Perliger A, Pedahzur A (2011) Social network analysis in the study of terrorism and political violence. PS Polit Sci Polit 44:45–50Romero DM, Galuba W, Asur S, Huberman BA (2011a) Influence and passivity in social media. In: Proceedings of the 20th WWW, pp 113–114Romero DM, Meeder B, Kleinberg J (2011b) Differences in the mechanics of information diffusion across topics: idioms, political hashtags, and complex contagion on Twitter. In: Proceedings of the 20th WWW, pp 695–704Stockman FN, Doreian P, (1997) Evolution of social networks: processes and principles. In: Doreian P, Stokman FN (eds) Evolution of social networks. Routledge, London, pp 233–250Traud AL, Mucha PJ, Porter MA (2012) Social structure of facebook networks. Phys A Stat Mech Its Appl 391(16):4165–4180Ugander J, Karrer B, Backstrom L, Marlow C (2011) The anatomy of the Facebook social graph. arXiv preprint arXiv:1111.4503Valero S, del Val E, Alemany J, Botti V (2015) Using magentix2 in smart-home environments. In: 10th International conference on soft computing models in industrial and environmental applications. Springer, Berlin, pp 27–37Wasserman S, Faust K (1994) Social network analysis: methods and applications. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeWersm (2015) How much data is generated every minute on social media? http://wersm.com/how-much-data-is-generated-every-minute-on-social-media/ . Accessed 29 April 201

Four main virotypes among extended-spectrum-β-lactamase-producing isolates of Escherichia coli O25b:H4-B2-ST131: bacterial, epidemiological, and clinical characteristics

A total of 1,021 extended-spectrum- -lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBLEC) isolates obtained in 2006 during a Spanish national survey conducted in 44 hospitals were analyzed for the presence of the O25b:H4-B2-ST131 (sequence type 131) clonal group. Overall, 195 (19%) O25b-ST131 isolates were detected, with prevalence rates ranging from 0% to 52% per hospital. Molecular characterization of 130 representative O25b-ST131 isolates showed that 96 (74%) were positive for CTX-M-15, 15 (12%) for CTX-M-14, 9 (7%) for SHV-12, 6 (5%) for CTX-M-9, 5 (4%) for CTX-M-32, and 1 (0.7%) each for CTX-M-3 and the new ESBL enzyme CTX-M-103. The 130 O25b-ST131 isolates exhibited relatively high virulence scores (mean, 14.4 virulence genes). Although the virulence profiles of the O25b-ST131 isolates were fairly homogeneous, they could be classified into four main virotypes based on the presence or absence of four distinctive virulence genes: virotypes A (22%) (afa FM955459 positive, iroN negative, ibeA negative, sat positive or negative), B (31%) (afa FM955459 negative, iroN positive, ibeA negative, sat positive or negative), C (32%) (afa FM955459 negative, iroN negative, ibeA negative, sat positive), and D (13%) (afa FM955459 negative, iroN positive or negative, ibeA positive, sat positive or negative). The four virotypes were also identified in other countries, with virotype C being overrepresented internationally. Correspondingly, an analysis of XbaI macrorestriction profiles revealed four major clusters, which were largely virotype specific. Certain epidemiological and clinical features corresponded with the virotype. Statistically significant virotype-specific associations included, for virotype B, older age and a lower frequency of infection (versus colonization), for virotype C, a higher frequency of infection, and for virotype D, younger age and community-acquired infections. In isolates of the O25b:H4-B2-ST131 clonal group, these findings uniquely define four main virotypes, which are internationally distributed, correspond with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles, and exhibit distinctive clinical-epidemiological association

Dry cooling with night cool storage to enhance solar power plants performance in extreme conditions areas

Solar thermal power plants are usually installed in locations with high yearly average solar radiation, often deserts. In such conditions, cooling water required for thermodynamic cycles is rarely available. Moreover, when solar radiation is high, ambient temperature is very high as well; this leads to excessive condensation temperature, especially when air-condensers are used, and decreases the plant efficiency. However, temperature variation in deserts is often very high, which drives to relatively low temperatures during the night. This fact can be exploited with the use of a closed cooling system, so that the coolant (water) is chilled during the night and store. Chilled water is then used during peak temperature hours to cool the condenser (dry cooling), thus enhancing power output and efficiency. The present work analyzes the performance improvement achieved by night thermal cool storage, compared to its equivalent air cooled power plant. Dry cooling is proved to be energy-effective for moderately high day–night temperature differences (20 °C), often found in desert locations. The storage volume requirement for different power plant efficiencies has also been studied, resulting on an asymptotic tendency

Steady-state thermal analysis of an innovative receiver for linear Fresnel reflectors

The study of the performance of an innovative receiver for linear Fresnel reflectors is carried out in this paper, and the results are analyzed with a physics perspective of the process. The receiver consists of a bundle of tubes parallel to the mirror arrays, resulting on a smaller cross section for the same receiver width as the number of tubes increases, due to the diminution of their diameter. This implies higher heat carrier fluid speeds, and thus, a more effective heat transfer process, although it conveys higher pumping power as well. Mass flow is optimized for different tubes diameters, different impinging radiation intensities and different fluid inlet temperatures. It is found that the best receiver design, namely the tubes diameter that maximizes the exergetic efficiency for given working conditions, is similar for the cases studied. There is a range of tubes diameters that imply similar efficiencies, which can drive to capital cost reduction thanks to the flexibility of design. In addition, the length of the receiver is also optimized, and it is observed that the optimal length is similar for the working conditions considered. As a result of this study, it is found that this innovative receiver provides an optimum design for the whole day, even though impinging radiation intensity varies notably. Thermal features of this type of receiver could be the base of a new generation of concentrated solar power plants with a great potential for cost reduction, because of the simplicity of the system and the lower weigh of the components, plus the flexibility of using the receiver tubes for different streams of the heat carrier fluid

Spain

This chapter presents a review of the situation concerning the various geomorphological hazards in the country, including some information about existing programmes for research, control and mitigation. With its great variety of climatic, geological and morphodynamic environments, Spain is subject to every kind of natural hazard: tsunamis, floods, volcanism, and mass movements. The whole of the territory is prone to some kind of geomorphological hazard but it is in the eastern and southern coastal strips that the risks are greatest. One of the main problems for the mitigation of geomorphological hazards in Spain is the lack of an appropriate regulatory framework for the incorporation of natural hazard assessments into land-use planning and management at the macro-, meso- and micro-planning levels. The coverage of hazard mapping is still far from complete or adequate, and much work remains to be done. There has been considerable diversity in the methods used for risk assessment and for the cartographic representation of natural hazards. An urgent need is to establish common, accepted methodologies and criteria, based on indicators defined as clearly as possible, and to standardize map legends and scales for different planning levels. Information programmes for the general public also need to be considerably expanded

Experimental analysis of direct thermal methane cracking

The analysis of the viability of Hydrogen production without CO2 emissions is one of the most challenging activities that have been initiated for a sustainable energy supply. As one of the tracks to fulfil such objective, direct methane cracking has been analysed experimentally to assess the scientific viability and reaction characterization in a broad temperature range, from 875 to 1700 ?C. The effect of temperature, sweeping/carrier gas fraction proposed in some concepts, methane flow rate, residence time, and tube material and porosity has been analysed. The aggregation of carbon black particles to the reaction tube is the main technological show-stopper that has been identified

Six-year follow-up of slaughterhouse surveillance (2008-2013): the Catalan Slaughterhouse Support Network (SESC)

Meat inspection has the ultimate objective of declaring the meat and offal obtained from carcasses of slaughtered animals fit or unfit for human consumption. This safeguards the health of consumers by ensuring that the food coming from these establishments poses no risk to public health. Concomitantly, it contributes to animal disease surveillance. The Catalan Public Health Protection Agency (Generalitat de Catalunya) identified the need to provide its meat inspectors with a support structure to improve diagnostic capacity: the Slaughterhouse Support Network (SESC). The main goal of the SESC was to offer continuing education to meat inspectors to improve the diagnostic capacity for lesions observed in slaughterhouses. With this aim, a web-based application was designed that allowed meat inspectors to submit their inquiries, images of the lesions, and samples for laboratory analysis. This commentary reviews the cases from the first 6 years of SESC operation (2008–2013). The program not only provides continuing education to inspectors but also contributes to the collection of useful information on animal health and welfare. Therefore, SESC complements animal disease surveillance programs, such as those for tuberculosis, bovine cysticercosis, and porcine trichinellosis, and is a powerful tool for early detection of emerging animal diseases and zoonoses

A canine leishmaniasis pilot survey in an emerging focus of visceral leishmaniasis: Posadas (Misiones, Argentina)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An increasing number of reports are calling our attention to the worldwide spread of leishmaniasis. The urbanization of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been observed in different South American countries, due to changes in demographic and ecological factors. In May 2006, VL was detected for the first time in the city of Posadas (Misiones, Argentina). This event encouraged us to conduct a clinical and parasitological pilot survey on domestic dogs from Posadas to identify their potential role as reservoirs for the disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and ten dogs from the city of Posadas were included in the study. They were selected based on convenience and availability. All dogs underwent clinical examination. Symptomatology related to canine leishmaniasis was recorded, and peripheral blood and lymph node aspirates were collected. Anti-<it>Leishmania </it>antibodies were detected using rK39-immunocromatographic tests and IFAT. Parasite detection was based on peripheral blood and lymph node aspirate PCR targeting the <it>SSUrRNA </it>gene. Molecular typing was addressed by DNA sequence analysis of the PCR products obtained by <it>SSUrRNA </it>and ITS-1 PCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>According to clinical examination, 69.1% (76/110) of the dogs presented symptoms compatible with canine leishmaniasis. Serological analyses were positive for 43.6% (48/110) of the dogs and parasite DNA was detected in 47.3% (52/110). A total of 63 dogs (57.3%) were positive by serology and/or PCR. Molecular typing identified <it>Leishmania infantum </it>(syn. <it>Leishmania chagasi</it>) as the causative agent.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This work confirms recent findings which revealed the presence of <it>Lutzomyia longipalpis</it>, the vector of <it>L. infantum </it>in this area of South America. This new VL focus could be well established, and further work is needed to ascertain its magnitude and to prevent further human VL cases.</p