Water balance and nitrate and salt exports from a saline–sodic irrigation district in Castelflorite (Huesca, NE Spain)

In the current context of climate change, there is growing interest in the optimization of water management in irrigated areas, in semi-arid environments. The design of adequate adaptation and mitigation measures requires specific data at different scales of the water management hierarchy, up to basin level. In this work, the irrigation and drainage system of San Pedro de Castelflorite Irrigation Community (Huesca province, NE Spain), first set up as a flood irrigation system around 1970 and then modernized to sprinkler irrigation around 2008, was studied over two irrigation seasons. The land in this basin, with a surface of 11,450 ha, is affected by severe sodicity problems, which impedes cultivation in large areas. Most of the drainage water discharges into Clamor Vieja ravine, in which the quantity and quality of drainage, using water, salt, and nitrogen balances, were monitored. The water regime was found to be essentially regulated by irrigation. From the water balance, the consumed and the recoverable fractions were estimated at 76% and 23%, respectively, and the depleted beneficial fraction for the irrigated area at 73%. A predominance of salt dissolution processes over precipitation processes was found, with salt exports of approximately 2000 kg·ha−1·year−1. The nitrogen exported by the drainage water was 7 kg N·ha−1·year−1. This value, remarkably lower than those reported for nearby basins in the central Ebro valley, can be attributed to the flooding of rice fields and to the low permeability of the soils present in this basin, which would hamper nitrate washing through the soil profile

Development of Magnetostrictive Transducer Prototype for Blockage Detection on Molten Salt Pipes

In solar thermal power plants molten salt is often used to store and transport the energy that is collected during the day. The external pipe temperature is measured to activate an electric heating system if the temperature approaches the melting point. However, salt solidification cannot be completely excluded from the plant management. Once occurred, the location of a salt blockage is very complex due to the high temperature of the pipe. Therefore, when this problem arises, power plants have to stop production with the consequences in time and cost that this entails. Electro-magnetic acoustic transducers can be used as non-destructive testing systems for this application. A method for salt blockage detection is proposed that is applicable in straight sections of pipes by employing torsional guided waves that are generated with magnetostrictive transducers. The present paper deals with the transducer conception and the design of the power supply to activate it. Two alternatives are proposed and compared to determine the improvement in the amplitude/noise ratio. Finally, the experimental results show the performance of the equipment in a small prototype, thus validating the technique presented

Conditional and Unconditional Tests (and Sample Size) Based on Multiple Comparisons for Stratified 2 × 2 Tables

The Mantel-Haenszel test is the most frequent asymptotic test used for analyzing stratified 2x2 tables. Its exact alternative is the test of Birch, which has recently been reconsidered by Jung. Both tests have a conditional origin: Pearson’s chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test, respectively. But both tests have the same drawback that the result of global test (the stratified test) may not be compatible with the result of individual tests (the test for each stratum). In this paper, we propose to carry out the global test using a multiple comparisons method (MC method) which does not have this disadvantage. By refining the method (MCB method) an alternative to the Mantel-Haenszel and Birch tests may be obtained. The new MC and MCB methods have the advantage that they may be applied from an unconditional view, a methodology which until now has not been applied to this problem. We also propose some sample size calculation methods.This research was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spanish, Grant no. MTM2012-35591

La coerción sexual en las relaciones de los y las adolescentes y jóvenes: naturaleza del problema y estrategias de intervención

La coerción sexual entre los adolescentes, se ha convertido en un importante problema en nuestra sociedad, tanto por su amplitud como por las consecuencias que a menudo de ella se derivan. Sin duda, como profesionales de la Psicología y la Educación hemos de intentar ofrecer respuestas eficaces a esta situación, y una de las prioritarias es el desarrollo de programas de prevención que reduzcan su incidencia. En este trabajo nos acercamos a la problemática de la coerción sexual en la adolescencia con el objeto de contribuir a su prevención. De este modo analizamos los factores de riesgo asociados, tanto a la perpetración de la coerción, como a la victimización, para posteriormente plantear, en función de ello, cuáles podrían ser los aspectos más relevantes a trabajar en un programa de prevención en el contexto educativo.Sexual coercion among adolescents has becoming an important problem in our society, because of its high prevalence, as well as the negative consequences that this phenomenon can cause; for this reason, psychologists and educators must try to offer effective responses to this situation. In this sense, one of the most important objectives in this field is to develop preventive programs to decrease its incidence. In this paper, we seek to approach to the understanding of sexual coercion among youths in order to contribute to its prevention. With this aim, in this work we analyze some risk factors associated to the perpetration of sexual coercion as well as episodes of sexual victimization, and before that we speak about key points that should be taken into account to design preventive programs for educational contexts

Regional state capacity and the optimal degree of fiscal decentralization

We study the optimal degree of fiscal decentralization in a federation. Regional governments are characterized by their abilities to deliver public goods (administrative capacity) and to raise tax revenues (fiscal capacity). Two regimes are compared on efficiency grounds. Under partial decentralization, regional governments rely on central bailouts to complete local projects in financing needs. Under full decentralization, marginal financing is achieved via local capital taxes. We show that the presence of sufficiently low levels of administrative capacity is a necessary condition for full decentralization dominance. This condition may also be sufficient, depending on the projects’ characteristics. Some extensions are presented

Modelo computacional para la formación de clases de equivalencia

A computational model of neuronal net closely related with the formation of equivalence classes is developed. First the formal pattern of the neuronal net is presented and then its operation and its direct relationship with the phenomenon of the formation of the equivalence classes and with the derived relationships are explained. Later on, the validation of the pattern is described carrying out several simulations allowing verification of the pattern so it is able to generate relationships not explicitly trained, these results being adjusted to the basic results of this investigation line. These simulations were carried out using a training of classic conditioning and a test phase by means of conditional discriminations

Guiding properties of a photonic quasi-crystal fiber based on the thue-morse sequence

© 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.We present a novel microstructured optical fiber having a quasi-periodic distribution of air holes based on the Thue–Morse sequence. The transverse section of these fibers is basically a two-dimensional photonic quasi-crystal that can also provide complete photonic bandgaps without being a perfect periodic structure. Like in the conventional photonic crystal fibers, if the quasi-periodicity is broken by decreasing the size of some air holes or by introducing an extra air hole, the modified holes become defects that localize and guide light along the fiber. The guidance is attributed to the inhibition of transverse radiation produced by the photonic quasi-crystal cladding. Dispersion curves of guided modes for different structural parameters are calculated, along with the transverse intensity distribution of the fundamental mode. In particular, several specially designed Thue–Morse quasi-crystal fibers with nearly zero ultraflattened group-velocity dispersion are presented.This work was supported in part by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, under Grant ACOMP/2014/180 and Grant PROMETEOII/2014/072, and in part by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad under Grant FIS2011-23175 and Grant TEC2013-46643-C2-1-R. (Corresponding author: Juan A. Monsoriu.)Ferrando Martín, V.; Coves, Á.; Andrés, P.; Monsoriu Serra, JA. (2015). Guiding properties of a photonic quasi-crystal fiber based on the thue-morse sequence. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters. 27(18):1903-1906. https://doi.org/10.1109/LPT.2015.2444991S19031906271

Quiebra

La continuación de la explotación de la empresa en quiebra por las cooperativas de trabajo se presenta como una oportunidad que no se debe desaprovechar dado que permite la conservación y administración del activo falencial, lo que resulta en mayores posibilidades de cobro del dividendo concursal por parte de los acreedores y la oportunidad de mantener las fuentes de trabajo para los trabajadores, lo que impacta directamente en la situación socioeconómica del país. En el presente trabajo abordaremos la continuación de la explotación de la empresa por los trabajadores nucleados en cooperativas de trabajo, luego de decretada la quiebra. Está orientado al análisis de la evolución de las mismas en el derecho concursal argentino y al estudio de la doctrina y leyes vinculadas con el tema.Fil: Brunetti Martín, Melisa. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Carello, Alberto Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Molina Arrué, Javier Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Venturi, Eliana Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

Tomb Location and Grave Goods: Continuous Use and Destruction in the Rio de Gor Megalithic Necropoleis

Rio de Gor Megalithic necropoleis are one of the most important funerary clusters in Southern Iberian Peninsula. We attempted to study megalith and settlement characteristics in relation to social organization according to the scarce and old available data. Firstly, an evaluation of previous unsystematic surveys and looters destructions of monuments has been made by taking into account location of preserved tombs. Visibility GIS analysis, with the help of ancient cartographic data, have let us to suggest a hypothetical location of graves that have disappeared. GIS techniques have been used to geo-reference old archaeological maps in order to identify their approximate position. Secondly, analysis of topographic location, Total Viewshed and Cumulative Viewshed Analysis using GIS was performed to evaluate the role of visual dominance over the entire terrain. The results have shown that graves were used to mark routes in two ways, from South to North along the river course and from the valley to the plateau. Settlements were located near the valley bottom although there are some chronological and hierarchical differences. Thirdly, we have seen that tombs were not only used for a long period of time but also that they were probably arranged in groups around some of the most monumental examples, those containing rich grave goods and marking the river course in the Chalcolithic period. Probably routes from the valley to the plateau were generated by the addition of tombs from the beginning of the Late Neolithic and the system was completed with the building of great trapezoidal tombs during the third millennium BC. Fourthly, tomb reuse has been proven in the Middle and the Late Bronze Age, when there was not only pursuit for justification by tradition but also redefinition of territorial control linked to elite. This is shown by the fact that the Late Bronze Age use of the megaliths was only in relation to rich burials as can be inferred from the great amount of silver ornaments they contain.Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucí

Plataforma digital interactiva como modelo de gestión en el campo de la arquitectura e ingeniería: ecosistema parque natural de 'El Hondo'

Plataforma digital interactiva como modelo de gestión en el campo de la arquitectura e ingeniería: ecosistema parque natural de 'El Hondo