Evaluation of the shrinkage and creep of medium strength self compacting concrete

The difference between self compacting concrete (SCC) and conventional concrete (CC) is in fresh state, is the high fluidity at first and the need for vibration at second, but in hardened state, both concretes must comply with the resistance specified, in addition to securing the safety and functionality for which it was designed. This article describes the tests and results for shrinkage and creep at some medium strength Self Compacting Concrete with added sand (SCC-MSs) and two types of cement. The research was conducted at the Laboratorio de Tecnología de Estructuras (LTE) of the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (UPC), in dosages of 200 liters; with the idea of evaluating the effectiveness of implementation of these new concretes at elements designed with conventional concrete (CCs).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Colorless devices and reception techniques for polarization multiplexed communications

Future optical networks call for flexible, high performance and low cost coherent optical receivers. We present here several advances towards such receivers, including integrated optical couplers with ultra-broad bandwidth, as well as novel reception techniques and architectures that will enable high performance coherent reception without filtering and polarization splitting elements.Universidad de Málaga - Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Spanish Ministry of Science under project TEC2013-46917-C2-1-

An Antimethanogenic Nutritional Intervention in Early Life of Ruminants Modifies Ruminal Colonization by Archaea

The aim of this work was to study whether feeding a methanogen inhibitor from birth of goat kids and their does has an impact on the archaeal population colonizing the rumen and to what extent the impact persists later in life. Sixteen goats giving birth to two kids were used. Eight does were treated (D+) with bromochloromethane after giving birth and over 2 months. The other 8 goats were not treated (D−). One kid per doe in both groups was treated with bromochloromethane (k+) for 3 months while the other was untreated (k−), resulting in four experimental groups: D+/k+, D+/k−, D−/k+, and D−/k−. Rumen samples were collected from kids at weaning and 1 and 4 months after (3 and 6 months after birth) and from does at the end of the treating period (2 months). Pyrosequencing analyses showed a modified archaeal community composition colonizing the rumen of kids, although such effect did not persist entirely 4 months after; however, some less abundant groups remained different in treated and control animals. The different response on the archaeal community composition observed between offspring and adult goats suggests that the competition occurring in the developing rumen to occupy different niches offer potential for intervention

Subwavelength gratings for sensing and polarization management

Sub-wavelength grating (SWGs) structures are becoming important building blocks in planar waveguide photonic devices [1]. SWG structures have been successfully applied in the design of a range of devices with remarkable performance by using refractive index engineering and dispersion engineering techniques [2]. In this work we explore two new promising applications of these structures, namely in evanescent field waveguide sensing and polarization management. For the evanescent waveguide sensing devices, we show that sub- wavelength patterning of silicon wires can be used to control the delocalization of the waveguide mode and therefore enhance both bulk and surface sensitivities (Fig. 1). We will also discuss the implementation of subwavelength structures in efficient polarization splitter and rotator (PSR) devices [3]. PSR devices based on asymmetrical directional couplers typically exhibit stringent fabrication tolerances. We show that by implementing SWG structures in PSR design both the effective mode index and its derivatives with respect to critical dimensions can be controlled, which significantly improves tolerance to fabrication errors (Fig. 2).Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Crystal structure, cobalt and iron speciation and oxygen non-stoichiometry of La0.6Sr0.4Co1-yFeyO3-δ nanorods for IT-SOFC cathodes

Single-phased La0.6Sr0.4Co1-yFeyO3-δ (y = 0.2, 0.5, 0.8) nanorods exhibiting the rhombohedral perovskite-type phase were synthesized by a pore-wetting technique. We studied their chemical composition, crystal and electronic structures, morphology and hyperfine properties as a function of the Co/Fe content of the samples. Our results demonstrate that Co cations exhibit a slightly lower oxidation state than Fe ones, resulting in a higher oxygen non-stoichiometry δ for Co-rich samples. In addition, the values of δ determined in this work for nanostructured samples are much higher than those reported in the literature for bulk materials. This can be attributed to the high number of defects in nanomaterials and is probably one important factor in the high electrochemical performance for the oxygen reduction reaction of nanostructured La0.6Sr0.4Co1-yFeyO3-δ IT-SOFC cathodes, which have been reported in a previous work.Fil: Mejía Gómez, Augusto Enrique. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Sacanell, Joaquin Gonzalo. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Constituyentes; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Huck Iriart, Cristián. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ramos, Cinthia Paula. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Constituyentes; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Soldati, Analía Leticia. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Figueroa, Santiago Jose Alejandro. Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tabacniks, Manfredo H.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Fantini, Márcia C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Craievich, Aldo Felix. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Lamas, Diego Germán. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Re-inventing Multimode Interference Couplers Using Subwavelength Gratings

We use the concept of subwavelength grating (SWG) refractive-index-engineering to propose and experimentally demonstrate a reduced size, slotted 2x2 MMI coupler. We also present an ultra-broadband 2x2 MMI coupler which is based on SWG dispersion engineering.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia (project TEC2009-10152), a Formación del Profesorado Universitario scholarship (AP-2006-03355), the European Mirthe project (FP7-2010-257980) and “Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

An Antimethanogenic Nutritional Intervention in Early Life of Ruminants Modifies Ruminal Colonization by Archaea

The aim of this work was to study whether feeding a methanogen inhibitor from birth of goat kids and their does has an impact on the archaeal population colonizing the rumen and to what extent the impact persists later in life. Sixteen goats giving birth to two kids were used. Eight does were treated (D+) with bromochloromethane after giving birth and over 2 months. The other 8 goats were not treated (D−). One kid per doe in both groups was treated with bromochloromethane (k+) for 3 months while the other was untreated (k−), resulting in four experimental groups: D+/k+, D+/k−, D−/k+, and D−/k−. Rumen samples were collected from kids at weaning and 1 and 4 months after (3 and 6 months after birth) and from does at the end of the treating period (2 months). Pyrosequencing analyses showed a modified archaeal community composition colonizing the rumen of kids, although such effect did not persist entirely 4 months after; however, some less abundant groups remained different in treated and control animals. The different response on the archaeal community composition observed between offspring and adult goats suggests that the competition occurring in the developing rumen to occupy different niches offer potential for intervention

Compulsive sexual behavior disorder in 42 countries: Insights from the International Sex Survey and introduction of standardized assessment tools

© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/Background and aims Despite its inclusion in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, there is a virtual paucity of high-quality scientific evidence about compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD), especially in underrepresented and underserved populations. Therefore, we comprehensively examined CSBD across 42 countries, genders, and sexual orientations, and validated the original (CSBD-19) and short (CSBD-7) versions of the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder Scale to provide standardized, state-of-the-art screening tools for research and clinical practice. Method Using data from the International Sex Survey (N = 82,243; Mage = 32.39 years, SD = 12.52), we evaluated the psychometric properties of the CSBD-19 and CSBD-7 and compared CSBD across 42 countries, three genders, eight sexual orientations, and individuals with low vs. high risk of experiencing CSBD. Results A total of 4.8% of the participants were at high risk of experiencing CSBD. Country- and gender-based differences were observed, while no sexual-orientation-based differences were present in CSBD levels. Only 14% of individuals with CSBD have ever sought treatment for this disorder, with an additional 33% not having sought treatment because of various reasons. Both versions of the scale demonstrated excellent validity and reliability. Discussion and conclusions This study contributes to a better understanding of CSBD in underrepresented and underserved populations and facilitates its identification in diverse populations by providing freely accessible ICD-11-based screening tools in 26 languages. The findings may also serve as a crucial building block to stimulate research into evidence-based, culturally sensitive prevention and intervention strategies for CSBD that are currently missing from the literature.Peer reviewe

A Non-Lévy Random Walk in Chacma Baboons: What Does It Mean?

The Lévy walk is found from amoebas to humans and has been described as the optimal strategy for food research. Recent results, however, have generated controversy about this conclusion since animals also display alternatives to the Lévy walk such as the Brownian walk or mental maps and because movement patterns found in some species only seem to depend on food patches distribution. Here I show that movement patterns of chacma baboons do not follow a Lévy walk but a Brownian process. Moreover this Brownian walk is not the main process responsible for movement patterns of baboons. Findings about their speed and trajectories show that baboons use metal maps and memory to find resources. Thus the Brownian process found in this species appears to be more dependent on the environment or might be an alternative when known food patches are depleted and when animals have to find new resources

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions in the forward region in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions, produced in protonproton collisions at a 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy, are studied using a data sample collected by the LHCb experiment. The signature for Bose-Einstein correlations is observed in the form of an enhancement of pairs of like-sign charged pions with small four-momentum difference squared. The charged-particle multiplicity dependence of the Bose-Einstein correlation parameters describing the correlation strength and the size of the emitting source is investigated, determining both the correlation radius and the chaoticity parameter. The measured correlation radius is found to increase as a function of increasing charged-particle multiplicity, while the chaoticity parameter is seen to decreas