Application of the QCM in lead acid batteries electrolyte measurements

AbstractThis paper describes the application of a Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) sensor in density-viscosity measurements of the electrolyte of the lead acid batteries. In battery applications, especially in automotive applications, submarines and remote communication systems it is necessary to know the state of charge of the batteries in order to manage them efficiently [1]. One of the physical parameters with information about the state of charge is the electrolyte density; the product ηρ1/2 as well varies with the state of charge [2]. Due the quartz crystal oscillator frequency depends on the density and the viscosity (1), it is possible to measure the electrolyte density changes by means of a QCM sensor. The frequency shift is monitoring in solutions with H2SO4 concentration in the battery electrolyte range. Furthermore, real time experiments are conducted, placing the quartz crystal inside the battery cell

Assessing Terrestrial Water Storage Variations in Southern Spain Using Rainfall Estimates and GRACE Data

This paper investigates the relationship between rainfall, groundwater and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data to generate regional-scale estimates of terrestrial water storage variations in the Andalucía region of southern Spain. These estimates can provide information on groundwater depletion (caused by periods of low rainfall or droughts) and groundwater recovery. The spatial distribution of groundwater bodies in southern Spain is complex and current in situ groundwater monitoring methods are deficient, particularly in terms of obtaining representative samples and in implementing and maintaining groundwater monitoring networks. The alternative approach proposed here is to investigate the relationship between precipitation time series and changes in the terrestrial water storage estimated from GRACE observations. The results were validated against the estimated fluctuation in regional groundwater. The maximum correlation between the mean groundwater level and the GRACE observations is 0.69 and this occurs at a lag of one month because the variation in gravity is immediate, but rainfall water requires around one month to travel across the vadose zone before it reaches the groundwater table. Using graphical methods of accumulated deviations from the mean, we show that, in general, groundwater storage follows the smooth, multi-year trends of terrestrial water storage but with less short-term trends; the same is true of rainfall, for which the local trends are more pronounced. There is hysteresis-like behaviour in the variations in terrestrial water storage and in the variations of groundwater. In practical terms, this study shows that, despite the abnormal dryness of the Iberian Peninsula during the 2004–2010 drought, the depleted groundwater storage in Andalucía recovered almost to its pre-drought level by 2016. In addition, groundwater storage and terrestrial water storage show very similar trends but with a delay in the groundwater trendProjects PID2019-106435GB-I00 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación)CGL2015-66835-P (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades

La Generación Interactiva frente a un nuevo escenario de comunicación. Retos sociales y educativos

A lo largo de los últimos años se ha configurado un escenario de comunicación al que niños y jóvenes se han adaptado rápidamente. Por este motivo, surge en nuestra sociedad el reto de averiguar las fórmulas de protección y educación más adecuadas para evitar que los menores naufraguen en este nuevo entorno, así como formular las oportunas reflexiones que ayuden en esta tarea a sus padres y responsables para alcanzar un uso y consumo responsable de las pantallas audiovisuales (televisión, teléfonos móviles, Internet y videojuegos). El Consejo Audiovisual de Navarra (CoAN), con este estudio y otras iniciativas –entre las que destaca la campaña de alfabetización mediática “Familia y Pantallas Audiovisuales”–, dirige sus esfuerzos hacia la defensa de los intereses legítimos de los usuarios de los medios de comunicación audiovisual y, muy especialmente, los intereses de los menores para preservar su correcto desarrollo físico, mental y moral

SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF TOARCIAN SEDIMENTS FROM THE VALDORBIA SECTION (UMBRIA-MARCHE APENNINES): THE ASTRONOMICAL INPUT IN THE FORAMINIFERAL RECORD

Toarcian sections studied mainly in Europe have revealed the incidence of Milankovitch forcing with a well-developed, highly stable, 405 ky component of eccentricity, a short-term eccentricity of ~100 kyr, the cycle of obliquity ~36 kyr, and the precession signal at ~21 kyr. Cyclostratigraphic analysis of the Toarcian succession at the Valdorbia section (Umbria-Marche Apennines) was conducted based on time-series of foraminiferal assemblages. Well-developed cyclic patterns were obtained, with several significant cycles corresponding to thicknesses of 3.8-4.1 m / 5.8-6.3 m / 8.2 m / 10.4 m. Comparison with previous studies at the Valdorbia section led us to interpret the cycle of ~4 m as directly related with the short-term eccentricity (95-105 kyr). The rest of the cycles could be assigned to a periodicity of ~140-160 kyr, ~200 kyr and ~250 kyr, and interpreted as indirect signals of the long-term eccentricity, obliquity and precession, whose record would be impeded by the incompleteness of the studied succession and the sampling interval. Studied components in the foraminiferal assemblage show variable cyclostratigraphic patterns, allowing for a differentiation of groups based on similar registered cycles. These groups reveal different responses by the foraminiferal assemblage, associated with particular requirements, to the palaeoenvironmental changes of Milankovitch origin

Evolution of a fluvial-dominated delta during the Oligocene of the Colombian Caribbean: Sedimentological and ichnological signatures in well-cores

We would like to thank Dr. Pazos (JSAES Guest Editor) and two anonymous reviewers by constructive comments and suggestions. Thanks to the National Hydrocarbons Agency-ANH, and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion-Minciencias to allow the study of well-core (project Contrato RC 494-2017) . The Vicerrectoria de Inves-tigaciones y Posgrados and the Instituto de Investigaciones en Estrati-grafia-IIES of Universidad de Caldas gave economic and logistic support. The research was conducted within the "Ichnology and Palaeoenviron-ment RG" (UGR) . Financial support of Rodriguez-Tovar was provided by scientific Projects CGL 2015-66835-P and CTM 2016-75129-C3-2-R (Secretaria de Estado de I + D + I, Spain) , and B-RNM-072-UGR18 (FEDER Andalucia) , and Research Group RNM-178 (Junta de Andalucia) . Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada/CBUA. Thanks to Fabian Gallego for his contribution in some sedimentological discussions.Basin analysis from Colombian Caribbean is particularly important given the interest in finding hydrocarbon reservoirs, but their complex geological evolution, and the frequent lateral and vertical variation of facies difficult a conclusive characterization, highlights the need for detailed sedimentological and ichnological studies. The study succession corresponds to an interval of a well core drilled in the south of the Sinu-San Jacinto Basin (Colombian Caribbean), with 1069 ft (similar to 326 m) thick of an Oligocene siliciclastic succession, interpreted in general terms, as deposited in a deltaic system. The integrated sedimentological/ichnological analysis allows the differentiation of dominant facies, with predominant lithologies such as conglomerates, sandstones, mudrocks, bioclastic sediments, as well as coal beds. The ichnological assemblage is low in abundance and moderately diverse, composed by Conichnus, Cylindrichnus, Dactyloidites, Macaronichnus, Ophiomorpha, Phycosiphon, Skolithos, Taenidium, Teichichnus, and Thalassinoides, as well as rhizoliths. The complexity of the sedimentary system is reflected in its evolution throughout the Oligocene. A type succession with coarsening-upward trend was identified and it is repeated through the succession studied. It presents a general trend from bioclastic sediments (bioclastic conglomerates, sandstones and mudrocks) that pass into horizontal lamination and massive mudrocks occasionally bioturbated by Phycosiphon, and interbedded by mudrocks and sandstones with lenticular bedding, and the occurrence of Teichichnus. Above, bioturbated muddy sandstones with Ophiomorpha, Taenidium, Thalassinoides, and rarely Teichichnus, muddy sandstones with planar cross-lamination, and horizontal lamination sandstones with Dactyloidites, Ophiomorpha, Skolithos, and Thalassinoides are registered. Transition to carbonaceous mudrocks with Teichichnus, coal medium beds, and fine-to coarse-grained sandstones sometimes with Macaronichnus and/or Ophiomorpha is observed. Towards the top, are observed mudrocks with rhizoliths. This succession is interrupted by massive and horizontal lamination sandstones with low bioturbation index generated by the ichnological assemblage and/or by the exclusive occurrence of Ophiomorpha and/or Taenidium. Massive sandstones with erosive bases, asymmetrical ripples, and high content of organic debris are occasionally recorded. This succession reflects a progradational trend similar to those of fluvial-dominated deltaic sequences. Detailed analysis revealed that even the fluvial processes were dominant in the deltaic system; however, local tidal and wave influence is recorded. Moreover, integration of sedimentological and ichnological information allows characterizing the evolution of the different sub-environments of the deltaic system, as prodelta bay, distal delta front, proximal delta front, distributary channels, mouth bars, and lower delta plain, and this is essential for areas of economic interest.Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion-Minciencias RC 494-2017Secretaria de Estado de I + D + I, Spain CGL 2015-66835-P- CTM 2016-75129-C3-2-RFEDER Andalucia B-RNM-072-UGR18Junta de Andalucia RNM-178Universidad de Granada/CBU

Rasgos de personalidad y burnout en médicos de familia

ObjetivoInvestigar los rasgos de personalidad que podrían asociarse con puntuaciones altas en las escalas de burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory) en médicos de atención primaria.DiseñoEstudio observacional, descriptivo, transversal.EmplazamientoNoventa y tres centros de atención primaria de la ciudad de Barcelona y las comarcas del norte de la provincia: Vallès Oriental, Vallès Occidental, Maresme, Osona, Bages y Berguedà (región sanitaria centro).MétodoEncuesta directa por entrevista personal o grupal a 528 médicos de atención primaria. Se administraron 3 cuestionarios: uno de datos sociodemográficos generales, el Maslasch Burnout Inventory (MBI) y el test de personalidad de Cattell 16 PF-5.ResultadosUn 40% de los encuestados presentaba algún síntoma de burnout sin diferencia entre sexos. De éstos, un 12,4% manifestaba niveles muy altos de «quemazón» profesional. Los sujetos con criterios de burnout obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente diferentes en los rasgos de estabilidad, tensión y vigilancia y en la dimensión ansiedad.ConclusionesAlgunos rasgos de personalidad, como la baja estabilidad emocional, la tensión y la ansiedad, se asocian de manera significativa a puntuaciones altas de burnoutExisten algunas diferencias entre estos factores internos por sexo.ObjectiveWith this research we try to study personality traits that could be associated with high punctuation at burnout scales (Maslach Burnout Inventory) in primary care physicians.DesignObservational descriptive transversal studySetting93 primary care centres in Barcelona-city and the northern province's region: Vallès Oriental, Vallès Occidental, Maresme, Osona, Bages and Berguedà (centre sanitary region).MethodIndividual or collective direct interview to 528 primary care physicians. Three questioners were administrated: a sociodemographyc items one, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Cattell personality test 16-PF.ResultsThe 40% of the interviewed physicians had some burnout symptom without any difference between sexes. The 12.4% of these ones showed very high burnout levels. Those subjects with burnout criteria punctuated different at stability, tension and vigilance traits and anxiety dimension.ConclusionSome personality traits like low stability, the tension and the anxiety are associated with high punctuation of burnout

Ab initio study of the influence of nanoscale doping inhomogeneities in the phase separated state of La1−x_{1-x}Cax_{x}MnO3_3

The chemical influence in the phase separation phenomenon that occurs in perovskite manganites is discussed by means of ab initio calculations. Supercells have been used to simulate a phase separated state, that occurs at Ca concentrations close to the localized to itinerant crossover. We have first considered a model with two types of magnetic ordering coexisting within the same compound. This is not stable. However, a non-isotropic distribution of chemical dopants is found to be the ground state. This leads to regions in the system with different effective concentrations, that would always accompany the magnetic phase separation at the same nanometric scale, with hole-rich regions being more ferromagnetic in character and hole-poor regions being in the antiferromagnetic region of the phase diagram, as long as the system is close to a phase crossover.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Novel parallelization of simulated annealing and Hooke & Jeeves search algorithms for multicore systems with application to complex fisheries stock assessment models

[Abstract] Estimating parameters of a statistical fisheries assessment model typically involves a comparison of disparate datasets to a forward simulation model through a likelihood function. In all but trivial cases the estimations of these models tend to be time-consuming due to issues related to multi-modality and non-linearity. This paper develops novel parallel implementations of popular search algorithms, applicable to expensive function calls typically encountered in fisheries stock assessment. It proposes two versions of both Simulated Annealing and Hooke & Jeeves optimization algorithms with the aim of fully utilizing the processing power of common multicore systems. The proposals have been tested on a 24-core server using three different input models. Results indicate that the parallel versions are able to take advantage of available resources without sacrificing the quality of the solution.Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; R2014/04

Maximum levels of global phylogenetic diversity efficiently capture plant services for humankind

The divergent nature of evolution suggests that securing the human benefits that are directly provided by biodiversity may require counting on disparate lineages of the Tree of Life. However, quantitative evidence supporting this claim is still tenuous. Here, we draw on a global review of plant-use records demonstrating that maximum levels of phylogenetic diversity capture significantly greater numbers of plant-use records than random selection of taxa. Our study establishes an empirical foundation that links evolutionary history to human wellbeing, and it will serve as a discussion baseline to promote better-grounded accounts of the services that are directly provided by biodiversity.Comunidad de MadridUniversidad de AlcaláConsejería de Ciencia, Universidades e Innovació

Presentación de las actividades que lleva a cabo el grupo ORIÓN de investigación del área de óptica de la Universidad de Extremadura

Per ser conseqüents amb la nostra línia de treball d'innovació en l’ensenyament de la física i amb la línia editorial d'aquesta revista, aquest article sobre els treballs d'innovació i investigació educativa del nostre grup Orión d’investigació, es presenta en forma de mapa conceptual. La millor manera de llegir-lo és, si es té instal·lat el CmapTools a l'ordinador, visitar el lloc Cmap Universitat d'Extremadura (Espanya) i entrar a la carpeta Investigaciones del Grupo Orión. Encara que d'una forma una mica més limitada (no es podran obrir els Post-its aclaridors que hi apareixen), també pot llegir-se anant a l'adreça web: <http://grupoorion.unex.es:8001> i entrant a la carpeta indicada. Per qualsevol d'aquests dos procediments s'arriba al mapa conceptual que apareix més endavant i que resumeix les activitats del nostre grup. En aquest mapa apareixen multitud de vincles que porten als resultats dels diferents treballs duts a terme.Para resultar consecuentes con nuestra línea de trabajo de Innovación en la Enseñanza de la Física y con la línea editorial de esta revista, este artículo sobre los trabajos de Innovación e Investigación Educativa de nuestro Grupo Orión de Investigación, se presenta en forma de Mapa Conceptual. La mejor forma de leerlo es, si se tiene instalado CmapTools en el ordenador, visitar el Sitio Cmap “Universidad de Extremadura (España)” y entrar en la carpeta “Investigaciones del Grupo Orión”. Aunque de una forma algo más limitada (no se podrán abrir los post-it aclaratorios que aparecen), también puede leerse yendo a la dirección Web: http://grupoorion.unex.es:8001 y entrando en la carpeta antes indicada. Por cualquiera de estos 2 procedimientos se llega al mapa conceptual que aparece más adelante y que resume las actividades de nuestro grupo. En dicho mapa aparecen multitud de vínculos que llevan a los resultados de los diferentes trabajos llevados a cabo