Extra-auditory effects of noise in laboratory animals: the relationship between noise and sleep

Noise has both auditory and extra-auditory effects. Some of the most deleterious extra-auditory effects of noise are those leading to sleep disturbances. These disturbances seem to be related to both endogenous (physical parameters) and exogenous (sex, age) factors of noise. Despite correlative relations between noise level and awakenings, the scientific community has not reached consensus regarding a specific action of these factors on the different sleep stages. In animal research, 2 complementary main fields of research exist. One is focused on the positive modulation of sleep by repeated tone stimulation. The other concerns noise-related sleep disturbances. The few studies that have investigated noise-related sleep disturbances suggest the following conclusions. First, sleep disturbances are greater upon exposure to environmental noise, whose frequency spectrum is characterized by high and ultrasonic sounds, than white noise. Second, unpredictability and pattern of noise events are responsible for extractions from both SWS and PS. Third, chronic exposure to noise permanently reduces and fragments sleep. Finally, in chronic noise exposure, an inter-individual variability in SWS deficits is observed and correlated to a psychobiological profile related to an incapability to face stressful situations. Based on results from other research, acute noise-related sleep perturbations could result from an imbalance in the sleep-wake cycle in favor of arousing ascending systems. Chronic noise-related sleep disturbances may arise due to imbalance of the sleep-wake cycle and malfunctioning of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis which may both contribute to the development of pathology

Visual determination of lane type for micromobility

En aquest treball presentem el procés de desenvolupament d'un model d'Aprenentatge automàtic que detecta el tipus de via per vehicles de micromobilitat a partir d'imatges capturades amb un dispositiu mòbil. Aquest model serà integrat a una aplicació dissenyada per assegurar millor la seguretat dels usuaris de tals vehicles i la dels peatons. Aquesta aplicació serà desenvolupada a CARNET per altres membres de l'equip. L'aplicació està pensada per funcionar en dispositius mòbils, així doncs, la limitació computacional dicta quins mètods i models seran considerats per solucionar la tasca d'aprenentatge. Hem fet servir dues famílies d'arquitectures dissenyades per ser capaces de córrer en dispositius mòbils, les xarxes X3D i les Mobile Video Network. També utilitzarem quantització per millorar la velocitat i així l'eficiència.In this work we present the process of developing a machine learning model that detects the lane type for micromobility vehicles from the images captured with a mobile. This model will be integrated into an application designed to better ensure the safety of users of these micromobility vehicles and pedestrians. This app will be developed at CARNET by other members of the team. The application is meant to run on mobile devices; hence, the computational constraint determines which methods and models will be considered to solve the learning task. We use two families of architectures designed to run in mobile devices, X3D networks, and Mobile Video Networks. We also use quantization methods to further increase the speed and thus the efficiency

On the Attitude Control by Thruster of a Spinning Solar Sail and Bending Moment's Effect Analysis

The membrane dynamics of spinning solar sails have a special relevance when considering attitude control of the spacecraft. Because of being non-rigid structures, local deformation occurs, changing the overall effect of the Solar Radiation Pressure, which might lead to attitude disturbances and unexpected behavior. Thus, an accurate model and study of such dynamics is needed. Until this point, several researches on the topic have been conducted (Nakano, T., et al., 2005 - Takao, Y., 2018), modeling the membrane as a completely flexible body. However, the deformation observed in IKAROS (a spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to demonstrate solar sail technology) during its low-spin operation suggested a higher rigidity of the sail than the predicted one (Shirasawa, Y.,et al., 2012). The difference between the observed and the predicted deformation of IKAROS is believed to be caused by the bending stiffness present in the membrane. First, this study shows that the bending moment has strong effects on the attitude of the sail during its spin axis reorientation. Given the difficulty of measuring the actual bending stiffness of the membrane, it is necesOutgoin

Effect of water saturation on strength and deformability of building calcarenite stones: Correlations with their physical properties

Stone construction elements are frequently in moist environments or in direct contact with water. Design and test standards have traditionally ignored the water impact on rock materials. However, several studies have shown that moisture can cause drastic strength reductions and deformability increase in some sedimentary rocks. For that reason, the main objectives of this work are: a) to quantify and understand the influence of water saturation on strength and deformability of four porous calcarenite building stones widely used in SE Spain; b) to establish correlations between physical and mechanical properties of these rock materials in dry and saturated states and c) to compare the results with previous findings. The results showed a very significant reduction of mechanical properties such as unconfined compressive strength, Young’s modulus and point load strength index when these stones undergo saturated. In addition, significant correlations between physical properties (density, porosity, P wave velocity and dynamic elastic parameters) and the mentioned mechanical properties were established in dry and saturated conditions. Additionally, relationships among the mechanical properties of stones in both states are also proposed.This work was supported by the Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento of the University of Alicante through Predoctoral grant FPUUA53-2018 and the projects UAUSTI18-21 and UAEEBB2018-09

Assessing water-induced changes in tensile behaviour of porous limestones by means of uniaxial direct-pull test and indirect methods

Understanding the uniaxial tensile behaviour of rocks and its water-induced variation are key issues for designing effective mining and civil engineering structures and for assessing numerous geotechnical hazards. However, these aspects remain poorly analysed because conducting uniaxial direct pull tests is a difficult and time-consuming laboratory task that requires the use of sophisticated equipment and complex rock sample preparation and processing. This work attempts to expand knowledge by determining several tensile properties of three porous limestone lithotypes under dry and water-saturated conditions through two different approaches: by conducting direct tensile tests and by means of indirect methods (i.e. Brazilian and point load tests). The results revealed that water saturation generated important reductions in their uniaxial tensile strength (UTS), tensile elastic modulus (Et), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) and point load strength index (Is(50)). In addition, their petrological characteristics and mineralogical composition are used to discuss the main causes of the observed tensile softening. Furthermore, highly accurate correlation functions were established between the direct tensile strength parameters (UTS and Et) and the indirect ones (BTS and Is(50)) for the whole set of tested rocks. The proposed relationships are a novel and useful contribution to geomechanics because they enable the estimation of pure tensile parameters using alternative, cheap, rapid and versatile tests.This work was partially supported by the Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento of the University of Alicante through the projects UAEEBB2018-09, UAUSTI18-21, UAUSTI20-20 and UAUSTI19-25

Advances in the understanding of the role of degree of saturation and water distribution in mechanical behaviour of calcarenites using magnetic resonance imaging technique

A thorough knowledge of the variations of mechanical properties of rock materials with their water content is essential for evaluating the structural behaviour and durability of stone constructions exposed to different moist environments during their lifetime and for solving a broad range of rock mechanics issues. In this study, the effect of degree of saturation (Sr) and water distribution inside pore network on mechanical parameters such as Uniaxial Compressive Strength, Young’s modulus, Brazilian Tensile Strength and Point Load Strength Index was assessed for three varieties of a calcarenite. To this aim, the corresponding mechanical tests and Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique were applied during different time intervals in specimens prepared with different Sr values through two different wetting procedures: (1) the oven drying of saturated samples and (2) the water immersion of dry samples. In general terms, the results showed that for small Sr values (≤50%) the specimens wetted using the drying process exhibit greater mechanical properties reductions than those moistened through the immersion process while for higher Sr values (>50%) the decreases are quite similar for both wetting procedures. As a consequence, different negative exponential functions can be used to describe the relationship between water content and mechanical parameters of calcarenites depending on the wetting procedure used. These results can be explained by the different water distributions inside the partial-saturated specimens and the main involved water-weakening mechanisms. Additionally, slightly different correlation functions between the mechanical parameters were established for specimens moistened using each of the wetting processes.This research was supported by the Vice-rector of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Alicante through predoctoral grant FPUUA53-2018 and projects UAUSTI18-21, UAUSTI19-25, UAUSTI20-20, UAEEBB2018-09 and GRE18-15 and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project TEC2017-85244-C2-1-P

Magnetoresistance and magnetic properties of annealed NiFeN thin films

As-sputtered and annealed NiFe thin films were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Their magnetoresistive and magnetic properties were characterized. It was found that both the microstructure and the physical properties of NiFe are affected by nitrogen addition in as-sputtered and annealed films. The out-diffusion of nitrogen during annealing strongly affects these properties and both the magnetoresistance and magnetic properties depend on the initial nitrogen content of the film

La circulación de espectadores en el estadio metropolitano

Es norma que un estadio en esta magnitud puede llenarse en 2 ó 3 horas pero su punto crítico de circulación está en la evaluación que debe poder realizarse en siete y medio minutos

Aplicabilidad del penetrómetro cónico en la determinación del límite líquido en suelos de baja y media plasticidad

Actualmente, en España, la determinación del límite líquido de un suelo se realiza a través del método de Casagrande. Este método se rige por la Norma UNE 103-103-94, siendo su utilización una práctica común en todos los laboratorios de mecánica de suelos. Uno de los principales inconvenientes para su determinación es la gran influencia que tiene el operador sobre los resultados obtenidos, ya que la variación en el ritmo de golpeo, la forma de la hendidura realizada o la visualización de cuando se cierra la misma hace variar considerablemente los resultados obtenidos. Sin embargo, existe otro procedimiento alternativo para determinar el límite líquido denominado método del penetrómetro cónico, cuyo uso está respaldado por la norma británica BS 1377:1990 y que se utiliza como método alternativo en otros países. Sin embargo, el empleo de este método no se ha difundido ni estudiado en España, no habiéndose validado su posible aplicación a suelos de nuestro país. En este trabajo se realiza un estudio comparativo entre ambos métodos, se discute la aplicabilidad del penetrómetro cónico en suelos de baja y media plasticidad y se proponen fórmulas de correlación entre ambos ensayos