An improved tool of water data analytics for flowmeters data

This paper presents an improved tool for data validation and reconstruction of flowmeters. These sensors are installed in the Catalonia regional water network from Barcelona (Spain). Here a new time series model with exogenous variable is proposed with excellent results for data validation. It is postulated that the integration of the electronics alarms, along with other tests about the daily data accumulated and a later analysis of the data reconstruction allow to improve the results of the existing tools. This is accomplished by decreasing the false alarms and missing alarms of more than 6000 hourly data retrieved from more than 200 flowmeters each day. This new tool provides reliable information daily reliable information of the state of the water network. This information could potentially contribute to optimally control and manage this large and complex water network.Postprint (published version

A block algorithm for the algebraic path problem and its execution on a systolic array

The solution of the algebraic path problem (APP) for arbitrarily sized graphs by a fixed-size systolic array processor (SAP) is addressed. The APP is decomposed into two subproblems, and SAP is designed for each one. Both SAPs combined produce a highly implementable versatile SAP. The proposed SAP has p*p processing elements (PEs) solving the APP of an N-vertex graph in N/sup 3//p/sup 2/+N/sup 2//p+3p-2 cycles. With slight modifications in the operations performed by the PEs, the problem is optimally solved in N/sup 3//p/sup 2/+3p-2 cycles.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

High-throughput and reliable determination of 13 haloacetic acids and dalapon in water and evaluation of control strategies

A simple, fast, highly-sensitive and selective method for the determination of 13 HAAs and dalapon in water has been optimized and validated. The method is based on large volume injection (200 μL) and analyte determination with liquid chromatography coupled to negative electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (LVI-LC-ESI(−)-HRMS). High throughput is possible due to minimum sample manipulation and short analysis time (16 min in total). This is the first analytical LC-MS-based method that covers the whole suite of HAAs for which analytical standards are available and dalapon, and thus, represents a less costly option than ion-chromatography-based technologies developed for the same purpose. The method provided satisfactory trueness (91–120%) and precision (<17%) values for all analytes, except for CAA. Matrix effects, always in the form of ionization suppression effects, were not relevant (<25%), except in the case of CAA, and they were all well compensated with the use of internal standard calibration. This methodology allows quantifying HAAs in tap waters at concentrations below 1 μg L−1, except in the case of DBCAA and TCAA (3 μg L−1) and CAA and DCBAA (6 μg L−1). Thus, the presented analytical approach is satisfactory for the routine monitoring of HAA5 in drinking waters and obtaining additional knowledge on the formation and occurrence of other HAAs and dalapon that may be of relevance to ensure the provision of safe drinking water in the future. The concentrations of some of the brominated HAAs in chlorine-quenched disinfected water stored in the dark at −20 °C for seven days decreased between 26 and 46%, and thus, water samples should be analysed within 24 hours of their collection. As part of the validation method, the optimized approach was applied to evaluate two strategies to control HAA concentrations in water, i.e., lowering the water pH during the coagulation-flocculation step to improve process efficiency and using a household water pitcher filtration unit to remove HAAs in tap water.CP acknowledges support from Fundación General del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (FGCSIC) through the 2nd edition of the ComFuturo Programme. This work was supported by the Government of Catalonia (Consolidated Research Groups 2017 SGR 01404) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project CEX2018-000794-S). Phenomenex is acknowledged for the gift of the HPLC column and AB Sciex for LC-MS instrumentation loan. Nicola Montemurro and Roser Chaler, from IDAEA-CSIC, are acknowledged for assisstance in the use of the analytical instrumentation. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe

Depositional evolution of La Parra karstic lake (Iberian Chain, Spain) during the last 1,600 years: climate and human impact implications

La laguna de La Parra (39o 50.948’, 1o 52’, 1014 m) es un lago pequeño relativamente profundo (Zmax = 17.5 m) de agua dulce, monomíctico y con morfología circular (116 m diámetro). Forma parte de un complejo kárstico constituido por siete lagos situado en la Cordillera Ibérica (Cuenca, este de España), originado en una dolina que interceptó el acuífero regional. El registro sedimentario de la zona más profunda del lago se ha estudiado mediante técnicas sedimentológicas, microscópicas, geoquímicas y físicas. Está constituido principalmente por sedimentos clásticos carbonatados, caracterizados por una gran variabilidad de facies sedimentarias que están controladas por cambios en la entrada de detríticos al sistema. Al mismo tiempo, estas fluctuaciones reflejan una amplia variabilidad hidrológica durante los últimos 1600 años. El modelo cronológico de la secuencia sedimentaria se basa en 7 dataciones de 14C AMS. La historia sedimentaria de la laguna de La Parra comprende 5 etapas: (i) el comienzo de la sedimentación lacustre hacia el año 300 DC; (ii) un lago somero que aumenta progresivamente su nivel durante la Baja Edad Media (500 – 900 DC); (iii) niveles del lago bajos, con aumento en los aportes detríticos coincidiendo con la Anomalía Climática Medieval (ACM); (iv) un periodo con predominio de niveles altos del lago, pero algún episodo de niveles bajos, con desarrollo de meromixis frecuente durante la Pequeña Edad del Hielo (PEH, 1400 . 1850 DC) y (v) un ligero aumento de los niveles del lago en tiempos recientes (1900 - actualidad), precedido por un periodo inicial de bajo nivel de agua a finales del siglo XIX. La principal afección antrópica en el lago y su entorno está relacionada con cambios en el uso de la tierra durante la Edad Media debido a la agricultura y la transhumancia, lo que implicó un aumento en los aportes detríticos al lago; y más recientemente, con la extracción de aguas subterráneas del acuífero regional mediante pozosagrícolas. Las fluctuaciones paleohidrológicas y paleoambientales de la laguna de La Parra son coherentes con otros registros paleoclimáticos de la Península Ibérica, mostrando una fase más árida durante la ACM y más húmeda durante la PEH en el Mediterráneo occidental. Este nuevo aporte refuerza la hipótesis de un comportamiento antitético este-oeste del clima en la region mediterránea desde el 900 DC

Food Quality Management Systems in the Dairy Industry: A Case Study on the Application of Predictive Microbiology in the Microbial Quality of Milk

Agri-food industries must guarantee the safety of the produced foods through the application of the existing regulations, by correctly implementing quality control systems. In relation to the quality of drinking milk, it is extremely important to monitor the industrial treatments to which it is subjected to avoid the multiplication of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Raw milk must undergo strict quality controls at the primary production level based on the knowledge of the main factors that influence their quality and microbiological safety: hygienic practices, health status of cows, frequency and moment of collection, storage temperature and time of transportation. To improve food safety and estimate food shelf life, predictive microbiology is a widely used tool for the estimation of microbial behavior as a function of intrinsic and extrinsic by using mathematical models. Throughout this chapter, a description of the current food quality management systems (FQMS) carried out by dairy industries will be provided by reflecting the current challenges, the guidelines, and available tools. A case study based on the application of predictive microbiology considering the importance of controlling certain factors in the primary production dairy chain will be developed

The role of education and ethnicity on amenable mortality due to five leading non-communicable diseases among Blacks and Whites in the United States, 1990-2015

Background General mortality consistently declined in the United States (US) from 1969 to 2013. During the same period, a decrease has been described in the percentage of deaths attributed to main non-communicable diseases (NCD) including heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes. Amenable mortality trend and pace has been proposed as a good indicator of health care performance. We aimed to measure the impact of attained education and ethnicity on amenable mortality caused by cancer, CVD, COPD, cerebrovascular disease and diabetes among Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHB) in the US from 1990 to 2015. Methods We analyzed data from death certificates downloaded from the US National Center for Health Statistics using a modified version of the Nolte’s list of amenable mortality causes related to appropriate health care. The US Population estimates (1990 to 2015) by age, gender and ethnicity came from the US Census Bureau. We analyzed annual percentage changes in age-standardized mortality rates for cancer, CVD, COPD, cerebrovascular disease and diabetes for the period 1990-2015. Results Between the time periods of 1990 and 2015, age-adjusted amenable mortality rates due to the five studied causes of death increased among the uneducated, while it decreased among the most educated in both sexes and races. Age-standardized NCD amenable mortality rates were higher among the least educated NHB and NHW males, compared to NHB and NHW females respectively during the entire period. The least educated NHW men and women born in the 1980’s presented cancer amenable mortality rates almost 3 times higher than those NHW men and women born in 1955; however, among the most educated NHW individuals, no significant differences were found in amenable mortality across birth cohorts. No notable variation was observed among NHB born before or after 1955, a finding that was consistent for all five studied diseases as well as the combined adjusted-amenable mortality rate. NHW men and women showed the greatest gap between the most and the least educated. Findings also demonstrated that a disparate cohort and year of death effect between the most and the least educated groups widened the gap in cause specific amenable mortality risk and ratio among NHW. Conclusions Our analysis showed a strong effect of attained education as a key factor for developing and directing health programs aiming to decrease NCD mortality among predominant US races. This reality calls for interventions targeting disadvantaged groups, to remove barriers to quality healthcare, and a healthy longer life. Assertive policy efforts should be made in the US to implement universal healthcare that includes quality curative medicine and innovative preventive services for all, thereby reducing the growing disparities in segments of the population and leading to a more efficient use of available resources

Analysis of the MPEG-2 Encoding Algorithm with ROSA1 1This work has been supported by the CICYT project “Performance Evaluation of Distributed Systems”, TIC2000-0701-C02-02.

AbstractThe authors present both the specification and a performance analysis of the MPEG2 algorithm for video encoding, by using the Stochastic Process Algebra ROSA. This process algebra is a very general framework for describing and analyzing more complex Real Time Systems than the one presented. Some interesting results about the temporal behaviour of the algorithm and an immediate estimation of benefits when having a twin-processors platform have been obtained

The name of the corporate brand. A taxonomy of the names of family business in Spain

Introducción: En nuestro trabajo realizamos una revisión crítica de la literatura en torno al nombre de marca. Efectuamos una aproximación categorial a los criterios habituales para establecer nombres de marca y proponemos una taxonomía nueva en torno al criterio patronímico. Metodología: A partir de una muestra de nombres comerciales de empresas familiares españolas, con el planteamiento de variables y subvariables, referidas a criterios denominativos y a rasgos característicos de la empresa, formulamos nuevas categorías denominativas a partir de hibridar las comúnmente establecidas. Resultados: Una original taxonomía de patronímicos, a partir del análisis de los nombres comerciales de empresas familiares, lo cual representa un avance en los procesos de investigación, tanto académica como aplicada, en torno al naming corporativo.Introduction: In this work we carry out a critical review of the literature on brand name. We examine the most frequent criteria for brand naming and we put forward a new taxonomy based on the patronym. Methodology: We propose new denominative categories by combining the already existing ones. For this we start from a sample of business names of Spanish family firms, with the approach of variables and sub-variables which refer to denominative criteria and distinctive traits of the company. Results: An original taxonomy of patronyms, from the analysis of the business names of family firms, which is a step forward in academic and applied research processes on corporate naming