A singular structure: Monopost made in composites

p. 3002-3012This work presents the design process, the analysis, and the performance of a cylindrical hollow monopost, made entirely in composites. It is about a translucent structure of height 40m, external diameter 1.60m and the average wall-thickness 11mm. The material is a polymer made up of vinylster resin and reinforced by glass fiber (GFRP). The manufactured processing used is filament winding. Moreover, due to geographical emplacement where it is situated, the structure has to support wind velocity value above 180Km/h and its elastic modulus of the material does not exceed 25GPa. Eventually, we was able to achieve an optimum solution and strentgh structure, considering and developing differents types of approaches and analysis, such as linear, non-linear and buckling.Rovira, JA.; Martin, P.; Pons, D.; Almerich Chulia, AI. (2009). A singular structure: Monopost made in composites. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/670

Density functional theory in transition-metal chemistry: a self-consistent Hubbard U approach

Transition-metal centers are the active sites for many biological and inorganic chemical reactions. Notwithstanding this central importance, density-functional theory calculations based on generalized-gradient approximations often fail to describe energetics, multiplet structures, reaction barriers, and geometries around the active sites. We suggest here an alternative approach, derived from the Hubbard U correction to solid-state problems, that provides an excellent agreement with correlated-electron quantum chemistry calculations in test cases that range from the ground state of Fe$_2$ and Fe$_2^-$ to the addition-elimination of molecular hydrogen on FeO$^+$. The Hubbard U is determined with a novel self-consistent procedure based on a linear-response approach.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett., in pres

Circulación marina en la plataforma continental del Ebro determinada a partir de la distribución de masas de agua y los microcontaminantes orgánicos en el sedimento

XI Congreso Español de Sedimentología, celebrado del 15 al 18 de septiembre de 1986 en Barcelona.-- 7 pages, 6 figures[ES] El análisis hidrográfico de las masas de agua en la plataforma continental del Ebro y las concentraciones de diversos microcontaminantes orgánicos en los sedimentos en las proximidades del delta, permiten aportar conclusiones sobre el régimen de circulación marina. Las aguas del río son frenadas por la corriente procedente del NE, ocasionando que parte del material en suspensión sedimente en el centro de un giro anticiclónico que se forma cerca de la desembocadura. El resto del material particulado es arrastrado hacia el S y desplazado progresivamente hacia la costa[EN] The continental margin of Ebro River delta lays in the region of the general southwestwards circulation of the Northwestern Mediterranean. South of paralle141° N the continental shelf widens suddenly and causes a deflection of 90" in the direction of the isobaths. The continental slope becomes then a barrier for the progression of the main current. The important discharge of Ebro river waters also influences the circulation on the continental shelfPeer reviewe

Evaluation of laser range-finder mapping for agricultural spraying vehicles

In this paper, we present a new application of laser range-finder sensing to agricultural spraying vehicles. The current generation of spraying vehicles use automatic controllers to maintain the height of the sprayer booms above the crop. However, these control systems are typically based on ultrasonic sensors mounted on the booms, which limits the accuracy of the measurements and the response of the controller to changes in the terrain, resulting in a sub-optimal spraying process. To overcome these limitations, we propose to use a laser scanner, attached to the front of the sprayer's cabin, to scan the ground surface in front of the vehicle and to build a scrolling 3d map of the terrain. We evaluate the proposed solution in a series of field tests, demonstrating that the approach provides a more detailed and accurate representation of the environment than the current sonar-based solution, and which can lead to the development of more efficient boom control systems

Circulación marina en la plataforma continental del Ebro determinada a partir de la distribución de masas de agua y los microcontaminantes orgánicos en el sedimento

El análisis hidrográfico de las masas de agua en la plataforma continental del Ebro y las concentraciones de diversos microcontaminantes orgánicos en los sedimentos en las proximidades del delta, permiten aportar conclusiones sobre el régimen de circulación marina. Las aguas del río son frenadas por la corriente procedente del NE, ocasionando que parte del material en suspensión sedimente en el centro de un giro anticiclónico que se forma cerca de la desembocadura. El resto del material particulado es arrastrado hacia el S y desplazado progresivamentehacia la costa

Association of the tumour necrosis factor alpha -308 but not the interleukin 10 -627 promoter polymorphism with genetic susceptibility to primary sclerosing cholangitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease of unknown aetiology. Abnormalities in immune regulation and genetic associations suggest that PSC is an immune mediated disease. Several polymorphisms within the tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) promoter genes have been described which influence expression of these cytokines. This study examines the possible association between polymorphisms at the −308 and −627 positions in the TNF-α and IL-10 promoter genes, respectively, and susceptibility to PSC. METHODS TNF-α −308 genotypes were studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 160 PSC patients from Norway and the UK compared with 145 ethnically matched controls. IL-10 −627 genotypes were studied by PCR in 90 PSC patients compared with 84 ethnically matched controls. RESULTS A total of 16% of Norwegian PSC patients and 12% of British PSC patients were homozygous for the TNF2 allele compared with 3% and 6% of respective controls. The TNF2 allele was present in 60% of PSC patients versus 30% of controls (ORcombined data=3.2 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.8–4.5); pcorr=10−5). The association between the TNF2 allele and susceptibility to PSC was independent of the presence of concurrent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the PSC patients; 61% of PSC patients without IBD had TNF2 compared with 30% of controls (ORcombined data=3.2 (95% CI 1.2–9.0); pcorr=0.006 ). There was no difference in the −627 IL-10 polymorphism distributions between patients and controls in either population. The increase in TNF2 allele in PSC patients only occurs in the presence of DRB1*0301 (DR3) and B8. In the combined population data, DRB1*0301 showed a stronger association with susceptibility to PSC than both the TNF2 and B8 alleles (ORcombined data=3.8, pcorr=10−6 v ORcombined data=3.2, pcorr=10−5 vORcombined data =3.41, pcorr=10−4, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study identified a significant association between possession of the TNF2 allele, a G→A substitution at position −308 in the TNF-α promoter, and susceptibility to PSC. This association was secondary to the association of PSC with the A1-B8-DRB1*0301-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 haplotype. No association was found between the IL-10 −627 promoter polymorphism and PSC

Empleo de isótopos ambientales para discernir la contaminación salina de la cuenca del río Llobregat

La formación geológica salina de la comarca del Bages(Barcelona) y su explotación minera en diferentes puntos de la cuenca del Llobregat, influyen en la salinización de los ríos Cardener y Llobregat. La cuenca potásica catalana presenta dos peculiaridades: la formación salina tiene un afloramiento en Cardona, y en algunas zonas las capas de mineral se encuentran cerca de la superficie pero sin aflorar. La geología del terreno puede influir en la salinidad de las aguas de la cuenca por contacto directo con los materiales salinos. La actividad minera de Cardona (cerrada en 1990), Suria,Balsareny y Sallent, genera en la producción del mineral un residuo salino que se acumula en el exterior de las minas formándose las escombreras salinas o «runams». Sus salessolubles se disuelven con la lluvia, y pueden llegar a las aguas superficiales y aguas subterráneas del entorno. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar las aportaciones salinas a la cuenca del río Llobregat, separando las de origen natural y las de procedencia antrópica, utilizando la composición isotópica del azufre y del oxigeno del sulfato disuelto en sus aguas. También se cuantifica el origen natural y antrópico de los cloruros que se aportan

Fitting in a complex chi^2 landscape using an optimized hypersurface sampling

Fitting a data set with a parametrized model can be seen geometrically as finding the global minimum of the chi^2 hypersurface, depending on a set of parameters {P_i}. This is usually done using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The main drawback of this algorithm is that despite of its fast convergence, it can get stuck if the parameters are not initialized close to the final solution. We propose a modification of the Metropolis algorithm introducing a parameter step tuning that optimizes the sampling of parameter space. The ability of the parameter tuning algorithm together with simulated annealing to find the global chi^2 hypersurface minimum, jumping across chi^2{P_i} barriers when necessary, is demonstrated with synthetic functions and with real data

NUEVAS COMUNIDADES FRUTICOSAS DE LOS PORTS DE BESEIT (S.W. DE CATALUNA) Y TERRITORIO CIRCUNDANTE (ESPAÑA)

Four new shruby communities (at subassociation leve]) from the western hills of Ports de Beseit and surrounding low areas are described: Anthyllido-Cistetum clusii Br.BI. et al. 1935 subassoc. Convolvuletosum lanuginosi Molero & Rovira, nova; Erico-Thymelaetum tictoriae (Br.-BI. et al., 1935) A. & O. Bolos 1950 subassoc. ononidetosum fruticosae Molero & Rovira, nova; Buxo-Juiperetum phoeniceae Rivas Martínez 1969 subassoc. cytisetosum heterochroui Molero & Rovira, nova and Quercetum cocciferae Br.-B1. 1924 subassoc. saturejètosum innotae Molero & Rovira, nova.Se describen con el nivel de subasociación, cuatro comunidades arbustivas procedentes de la franja occidental montañosa de los Ports de Beseit y territorio basal circundante: Anthyllido-Cistetum clusii Br.-B1. Et al. 1935 subasoc. convolvuletosum lanuginosi Molero & Rovira, nova; Erico-Thymelaetum tinctoriae (Br.-B1. & al. 1935) A. & O. Bolbs 1950 subasoc. onidetosum fruticosae Molero & Rovira, nova; Buxo-Juniperetum phoeniceae Rivas Martínez 1969 subasoc. cytisetosum heterochroui Molero & Rovira, nova y Quercetum cocciferae Br.-B1. 1924 subasoc. saturejetosum innotae Molero & Rovira, nova