Characterization of Nb22O54 microrods grown from niobium oxide powders recovered from mine tailings

In this work, the possibility of using niobium oxide recovered from tailings from the Penouta Sn-Nb-Ta deposit (located at the North of Spain) as starting material for growing microstructures is demonstrated. The properties of the starting material have been studied to understand its crystal structure, quality and purity. Recovered niobium oxide powders are mainly of TT-Nb2O5. These powders have been used to grow Nb22O54 microrods by an evaporation method in an argon atmosphere. Different characterization techniques (X-Ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, luminescence) have been used to determine the properties of Nb22O54 microrods, mainly focusing on the crystal quality and refractive index. The present study opens the way to the transformation of waste (mine tailings) into a material of high technological value as niobium oxide, and its reintroduction into the value chain for a wide range of applications, from coatings to batteries and supercapacitors

The cure among the Embera indigenous population: a social, cultural and physiological communication process

Esp: El artículo se propone analizar un acto de cura entre la cultura embera e iniciar el abordaje de la comprensión de la terapéutica utilizada por el chamán y señalar que, en la terapéutica indígena, no aparece la dicotomía cuerpo-alma, individuo-sociedad-cosmos. . El proceso de curación indígena, a diferencia del occidental, es un proceso de comunicación sociocultural y fisiológica; es un acto que traspasa fronteras, ya que permite la medicina tradicional y también la occidental. A lo largo del artículo, queda implícito que la medicina tradicional, a pesar de su falta de reputación y la persecución sufrida, se mantiene viva entre el grupo embera

On-line quizzes to evaluate comprehension and integration skills

This work demonstrates the use of a 2.0 tool, namely, Socrative, to evaluate one of the cross-curricular competences indicated by the Universitat Politècnica de València, specifically, comprehension and integration. It has been applied to the courses in different areas: sciences, engineering and languages. As part of its implementation, activities were proposed that could be done at the beginning, during or at the end of the class to, on the one hand, help students acquire the knowledge associated with the course(s), and on the other, gather evidence that demonstrates acquisition of said competence. The results show a high level of satisfaction by the students with the use of the Socrative tool as an element to promote active participation and the acquisition of the cross-curricular competence of comprehension and integration; therefore, its extension to other courses has been suggested

Hepatitis E 3ra genotype infection in people living with HIV in Spain

[Abstract] Background: The objective of our study was to assess the prevalence and incidence of HEV in people living with HIV (PLWH) in a Spanish national cohort. Methods: Retrospective longitudinal study including PLWH recruited in the cohort of adult HIV-infected patients of the AIDS Research Network in follow-up at 28 Spanish hospitals with available serum samples in 2014 and 2015. All samples were tested for HEV IgG, IgM, and RNA. Samples with detectable HEV viral loads were genotyped. Prevalence and incidence of HEV infection were calculated. Results: The study sample comprised 845 PLWH. At baseline, 101 patients were positive for HEV IgG antibodies (11.9%), none had HEV IgM antibodies, and 2 presented detectable HEV RNA (0.23%). Forty-two seroconverted for IgG, supposing a cumulative incidence of 5.7%. One subject was positive for IgM (0.13%), and 2 showed detectable HEV RNA (0.27%). One case was infected by the emergent HEV genotype 3ra. Conclusion: Our study identifies one case of HEV 3ra genotype infection, the main host of which is rabbit, showing a potential zoonotic role of this emerging genotype in Spain.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RD16/0025/0017Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RD16/0025/0034Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RD16/0025/0040Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RD12/0017/0012Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI16/01297Junta de Andalucía; PIN-0477-201

On the Optimal Identification of Tag Sets in Time-Constrained RFID Configurations

In Radio Frequency Identification facilities the identification delay of a set of tags is mainly caused by the random access nature of the reading protocol, yielding a random identification time of the set of tags. In this paper, the cumulative distribution function of the identification time is evaluated using a discrete time Markov chain for single-set time-constrained passive RFID systems, namely those ones where a single group of tags is assumed to be in the reading area and only for a bounded time (sojourn time) before leaving. In these scenarios some tags in a set may leave the reader coverage area unidentified. The probability of this event is obtained from the cumulative distribution function of the identification time as a function of the sojourn time. This result provides a suitable criterion to minimize the probability of losing tags. Besides, an identification strategy based on splitting the set of tags in smaller subsets is also considered. Results demonstrate that there are optimal splitting configurations that reduce the overall identification time while keeping the same probability of losing tags

Occurrence and risk assessment of pesticides in a Mediterranean Basin with strong agricultural pressure (Guadiana Basin: Southern of Portugal)

The study aimed to assess the occurrence and the environmental risk of a group of 51 selected pesticides in the Guadiana Basin (a biodiversity hotspot, in the Mediterranean). The most abundant pesticides were bentazone and 2,4-D, while terbuthylazine together with terbutryn constituted the most ubiquitous pesticides. Eighteen out of the 38 pesticides detected are no longer approved in Europe, and 5 of them are included in the list of priority substances. The risk assessment showed that azinphos ethyl, diflufenican, irganol, imidacloprid, and oxadiazon occurred occasionally, but always in concentrations above their respective ecotoxicological threshold value. Contrary, bentazone, terbuthylazine, and terbutryn presented a high risk in most of the sampled locations and periods. The site-specific risk assessment showed a spatial and temporal pattern, with a higher risk occurring mainly in intermittent streams, in the drought period. The presence of pesticides banned from the EU market since 2009 showed the importance of improving the monitoring process, to identify the main sources of pollution and the fate of these emerging compounds. The results showed the need of implementing actions to improve the sustainable use of pesticides in agricultural areas,workingwith farmers and management entities to reduce the contamination of aquatic ecosystems. Transboundarywater governance is also required to solve potential transboundary contamination problems

Vertical flotation of particles in a paramagnetic fluid

Hirota et al. [6] found that the magneto-Archimedes force could be used to levitate biological materials at different heights in pressurized oxygen, providing the possibility to separate them. However the magnetic levitation of mineral particles has not been widely explored. With this in mind some preliminary experiments were performed by levitating pure mineral materials in a paramagnetic solution manganese (II) chloride. Besides the report of levitation heights of various mineral particles in manganese (II) chloride solution, the lines obtained from the basic formula provided by previous researchers were compared with experimental data. The act of cryogenic paramagnetic fluid in the magneto-Archimedes levitation was also demonstrated. The obtained results are compared with the same particle levitation heights in manganese (II) chloride solution