Crystal structure of the N-benzyloxycarbonyl-Alanyl-Phenylalanyl-methyl ester: the importance of the H-bonding pattern

Large crystals of the methyl ester of the N-a-benzyloxycarbonyl protected Ala-Phe dipeptide (Z-AF-OMe) were obtained after the very slow evaporation of a solution of the corresponding carboxylic acid (Z-AF-OH) in methanol containing an excess of HCl. The structure was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction data. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P212121 with unit cell dimensions a = 5.0655(6) Å, b = 8.4614(8) Å, c = 46.856(5) Å, V = 2008.3(4) Å3, Z = 4. In the crystal, the molecules form hydrogen bonded chains running along the a axis of the unit cell. Other secondary interactions are also discussed

Regional devolopment and solidarity in Spain: the relationship between the E.C. and the internal solidarity funds.

This paper will analyse the importance that the Regional Solidarity Funds have acquired in the financial systems of those Autonomous Communities able to benefit from them, and the influence that these Funds have had in their development. In addition, the special role that Structural Funds have had in order to bring the Autonomous Communities’ development in line with the average level of the European Member States will be referred to. Then, the different EC tools that are connected with regional development will be described and analysed; next, the Spanish regions that have benefited from these tools since Spain joined the European Union in 1986 will be studied. The Internal Solidarity Funds and their relationship with the EC Structural Funds will also be analysed. The effects of these mechanisms will be examined from three different points of view. First of all, the impact of these resources on the regional financial system will be considered; secondly, the coordination between the EC Structural Funds and the Internal Solidarity Funds, and the impact of this relationship will be analysed; and finally, whether or not these mechanisms are efficient enough to achieve the aim of regional unity will be determined, and their influence in different areas of production will also be observed. Key words: Fiscal Federalism, Spanish Autonomous Communities, Structural Funds, Inter-regional Solidarity. JEL Codes: H7, H77.

Las armaduras de cubierta en los tratados del siglo XVII francés

Las armaduras de cubierta en los tratados del siglo XVII francé

On the Use of Running Trends as Summary Statistics for Univariate Time Series and Time Series Association

Given a time series, running trends analysis (RTA) involves evaluating least squares trends over overlapping time windows of L consecutive time points, with overlap by all but one observation. This produces a new series called the “running trends series,” which is used as summary statistics of the original series for further analysis. In recent years, RTA has been widely used in climate applied research as summary statistics for time series and time series association. There is no doubt that RTA might be a useful descriptive tool, but, despite its general use in applied research, precisely what it reveals about the underlying time series is unclear and, as a result, its interpretation is unclear too. This paper contributes to such interpretation in two ways: 1) an explicit formula is obtained for the set of time series with a given series of running trends, making it possible to show that running trends, alone, perform very poorly as summary statistics for univariate time series and time series association; and 2) an equivalence is established between RTA and the estimation of a (possibly nonlinear) trend component of the underlying time series using a weighted moving average filter. Such equivalence provides a solid ground for RTA implementation and interpretation/validation. In this respect, the authors propose as diagnostic tools for RTA 1) the plot of the original series, with RTA trend estimation superposed, 2) the average R2 value and the percentage of statistically significant running trends across windows, and 3) the plot of the running trends series with the corresponding confidence intervals.This work has been supported by Projects CGL2010-12153-E and AYA2010-22039-C02-01 from the Spanish Department of Science and Innovation (MICINN)

Activation energy in particle suspensions

Assuming that the molar activation energy in a fluid is interpreted as a measure of the potential energy barrier required for the molecular movement [1], the viscosity of a fluid depends on the actual size of the molecules, and the presence of solid particles in a suspension increases the dissipation of energy when the system flows, therefore it is expected that the viscosity of the suspension is higher than that of the pure solvent at a given temperature. The dependence of the viscosity of some silica/glycol suspensions with the temperature can be fitted using an empirical function analogous to the Arrhenius equation, ln⁡η=E/RT-ln⁡C, where η is the viscosity, C is a system-dependent constant, E is the molar activation energy for the viscous flow, T is the absolute temperature and R is the gas universal constant. When the temperature of the suspension decreases two effects are observed. First, larger aggregates of particles are formed due to the reduction of the thermal agitation and, second, the number of links among the molecules of the liquid phase increases. These two effects give place to a higher increase in the viscosity with the temperature compared to the pure solvent. Assuming that a higher viscosity value is due to a smaller free volume available for the molecular movement, and taking into account that the free suspension volume is limited only to the liquid fraction [2], it should be expected that the viscosity of the suspension is less sensitive to temperature than that of the pure solvent. In this work the dependence on the temperature of the viscosity values of the silica/glycol suspensions is compared to that of the liquid media. The results have shown a lower activation energy when the solid volume fraction increases, which has been explained with a scheme that assumes that the particle links are less sensitive to thermal energy absorption than the joining bonds among the solvent molecules. Our conclusion is that, for a given mechanical energy applied to the system, the thermal energy absorbed by the system is mainly used in the rupture of bonds between the solvent molecules. This study can be useful to understand the mechanisms that govern the differences in the activation energy values found between samples of foods, in which many factors are connected with sample composition [3]. [1] Briscoe B, Luckham P, Zhu S. Rheological properties of poly (ethylene oxide) aqueous solutions. J Appl Polym Sci 70 (1998) 419-429. [2] Shenoy AV. Rheology of filled polymer systems. Kluwer Acad Pub, 1999, The Netherlands. [3] Alvarez MD, Canet W. Time-independent and time-dependent rheological characterization of vegetable-based infant purees. J Food Eng 114 (2013) 449-464.Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

PV Hosting Capacity Analysis and Enhancement Using High Resolution Stochastic Modeling

Reduction of CO2 emissions is a main target in the future smart grid. This goal is boosting the installation of renewable energy resources (RES), as well as a major consumer engagement that seeks for a more efficient utilization of these resources toward the figure of ‘prosumers’. Nevertheless, these resources present an intermittent nature, which requires the presence of an energy storage system and an energy management system (EMS) to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. Moreover, network-related issues might arise due to the increasing power of renewable resources installed in the grid, the storage systems also being capable of contributing to the network stability. However, to assess these future scenarios and test the control strategies, a simulation system is needed. The aim of this paper is to analyze the interaction between residential consumers with high penetration of PV generation and distributed storage and the grid by means of a high temporal resolution simulation scenario based on a stochastic residential load model and PV production records. Results of the model are presented for different PV power rates and storage capacities, as well as a two-level charging strategy as a mechanism for increasing the hosting capacity (HC) of the network

Cooperative Education in Green Chemistry: The Spanish Experience

A common postgraduate training in Green Chemistry is currently being carried out by several Spanish universities. This initiative considers the corresponding Máster and PhD programs in Sustainable Chemistry and has been successfully achieved with the participation of experts from different Universities and Research Institutions grouped within the coverage of the Spanish Network on Sustainable Chemistry (REDQS). A cooperative effort and a modular design are the key elements that have allowed maintaining the Spanish Interuniversity Máster and PhD programs for more than a decade, providing a high level of quality and a unique possibility, for many students, of being trained at an advanced level in Green Chemistry

Designing Hydrocolloid-Based Oleogels With High Physical, Chemical, and Structural Stability

Numerous studies conducted have shown a direct relationship between the high consumption of saturated and trans-fats and the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and different cancers. Oleogels, with a suitable lipid profile of mono-, poly-unsaturated fatty acids, and similar functionality to traditional solid fat, can be a healthy alternative in food formulation. The aim of this study is to develop edible oleogels with a healthy and stable lipid profile, using the emulsion-template approach and hydrocolloids as oleogelators. Oleogels were developed from sunflower oil and sunflower oil with a high content of monounsaturated acids, using hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and xanthan gum (XG) as oleogelators. The influence of two drying conditions (60°C for 24 h and 80°C for 10 h 30 min) along with the composition of the oil on the structural, physical, and oxidative stability of oleogels were studied. All oleogels presented a stable network and high physical stability with oil losses 105 Pa related to solid gel-like behavior. Oleogels made with sunflower oil rich in monounsaturated fatty acids resulted in higher oxidative stability, with those developed at drying temperatures of 80°C for 10 h 30 min having a greater structural and physical stability.The authors would like to thank Universitat Politècnica de València by FPI-UPV 2017 grant and the project RTI2018-099738-B-C22 from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades.Peer reviewe

Volume cardiac SPECT image registration

The registration of cardiac images is relevant for the diagnosis of cardiac pathologies. In the case of SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography) datasets, this is difficult because of the low resolution of the images. In this paper we present a new registration method for 3D images with poor resolution. Our method is based on the maximization of the mutual information (MI) using a new interpolation method which significantly improves the result of an MI-based strategy on low resolution images. We also use a different optimization strategy than other MI-based algorithms, typically achieving errors of the order of one pixel. We also discuss experimental results of our method.Postprint (published version

Liderazgo en enfermería : ¿una cuestión de género?

Enfermería es una profesión históricamente feminizada ,donde los estereotipos de género dan lugar a comportamientos discriminatorios, impidiendo el acceso de las mujeres a los puestos de máxima responsabilidad (Miró Bonet 2008 ). En este trabajo me planteo, conocer la opinión que tienen sobre el liderazgo de las mujeres los y las 60 profesionales de enfermería de atención especializada encuestados/as, con la idea de encontrar claves para entender por qué la alta representatividad de las mujeres, no se ve reflejada en la ocupación de cargos de alta responsabilidad y gestión en el sistema sanitario. Para ello, se realiza un estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal, que se inicia con una actitud de estudio exploratorio, utilizando la Womens As Management Scale (WAMS) (Peters et al., 1974) que mide la percepción de los y las trabajadores/as de una organización y la opinión que les merece que las mujeres ocupen cargos directivos, analizando las posibles relaciones del liderazgo de las enfermeras con variables como el sexo, la edad, la formación postgrado, el deseo de los y las profesionales de ocupar cargos de gestión, etc. Los resultados señalan los prejuicios hacía las mujeres como líderes, y su discriminación en los cargos de más responsabilidad