Suchergebnisse

El cierre de la brecha digital constituye una de las metas más importante para el gobierno actual Colombiano. Las experiencias de otros países demostraron que existe una correlación entre el aumento en el acceso a las tecnologías de información y comunicación y la disminución de los indicies de pobreza de sus sociedades. Sin embargo, alrededor de este cambio positivo se genera una creciente preocupación debido al incremento en los índices de aislamiento y adicción a la Internet. El presente artículo explora algunas de las posibles causas de esta problemática y cómo afecta esto al individuo y las formas de interacción social. Finalmente propone, de manera general, la participación de las redes de la información y la comunicación en la estimulación de acciones colectivas reales con miras al mejoramiento del entorno, ayudando así a un cierre de la brecha digital de manera más integral. ; Abstract The closing of the digital gap is one of the most important goals for the current Colombian government. The experiences of other countries have demonstrated a correlation between increased access to information and communication technologies and the reduction of poverty rates of their societies. However, around this positive change a growing concern due to increased rates of isolation and Internet addiction is generated. This article explores some of the possible causes of this problem and how it affects the individual and his ways of social interaction. Finally it proposes, in a general way, the participation of information and communication networks to stimulate real collective actions for the improving of the environment, thus helping to close the digital gap in a more comprehensive way.

Nowadays, the majority of citizens are subjected to a great deal of (dis)information organized by marketing campaigns or by groups with political interests that indiscriminately abuse concepts such as sustainability, either bio or organic. One of the objectives of formal education in any developed country should be to transmit enough formal (scientific) knowledge about processes and products (related to chemistry, biology, economics, and mathematics) so that citizens can adequately reflect on what is really sustainable and what is not, and also to be able to evaluate the environmental impact of any process. In the first part of this work, we describe the results of a survey that has been carried out in order to assess whether citizens make decisions based on marketing campaigns or based on formal knowledge. It is analyzed if those that have followed STEM studies differ from the rest. In the second part, we propose an activity to be done, in a multidisciplinary approach, by students from both fine arts and engineering, with the objective of consolidating and putting into practice the formal knowledge they have acquired to adequately evaluate the sustainability of a process.

This is the first study to analyze variations in time estimation during 60 h of sleep deprivation and the relation between time estimation performance and the activation measures of skin resistance level, body temperature, and Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) scores. Among 30 healthy participants 18 to 24 years of age, for a 10-s interval using the production method, we found a lengthening in time estimations that was modulated by circadian oscillations. No differences in gender were found in the time estimation task during sleep deprivation. The variations in time estimation correlated significantly with body temperature, skin resistance level, and SSS throughout the sleep deprivation period. When body temperature is elevated, indicating a high level of activation, the interval tends to be underestimated, and vice versa. When the skin resistance level or SSS is elevated (low activation), time estimation is lengthened, and vice versa. This lengthening is important because many everyday situations involve duration estimation under moderate to severe sleep loss. Actual or potential applications of this research include transportation systems, emergency response work, sporting activities, and industrial settings in which accuracy in anticipation or coincidence timing is important for safety or efficiency.

The primary objective of this paper is to approach the use of the 3D Geographic Information Systems (3D GIS), as an instrumental tool that allows us to deal efficiently with the extensive amount of information that characterises a large part of the research carried out in the field of Urbanism and Regional Planning. Specifically, the study focuses on medium-sized cities in Andalusia, the most populous and the second largest region in Spain. The Andalusian urban system is substantially characterised by the historical importance of this type of cities within its territorial organisation, which dates back to more than two thousand years, and whose potential as sustainable and balanced stands out. In particular, it is intended to address features related to urban characterisation as medium-sized cities that have been declared as heritage sites, as well as, the integration of the cultural heritage into urban development planning as an active strategy by the cultural administration of the regional and local governments. In detail, this paper will analyse data relating to the development experienced, their characterisation through urban indicators or the evolution and traceability of their protection. In this sense, the use of 3D GIS will not only allow the efficient recording and the graphical representation of a significant amount of data resulting from the quantitative and qualitative analysis carried out but also model them using the third dimension to facilitate a cross analysis among the cities under study. Definitely, the aim is to demonstrate the suitability use of this technology in this type of scientific research.

The primary objective of this paper is to approach the use of the 3D Geographic Information Systems (3D GIS), as an instrumental tool that allows us to deal efficiently with the extensive amount of information that characterises a large part of the research carried out in the field of Urbanism and Regional Planning. Specifically, the study focuses on medium-sized cities in Andalusia, the most populous and the second largest region in Spain. The Andalusian urban system is substantially characterised by the historical importance of this type of cities within its territorial organisation, which dates back to more than two thousand years, and whose potential as sustainable and balanced stands out. In particular, it is intended to address features related to urban characterisation as medium-sized cities that have been declared as heritage sites, as well as, the integration of the cultural heritage into urban development planning as an active strategy by the cultural administration of the regional and local governments. In detail, this paper will analyse data relating to the development experienced, their characterisation through urban indicators or the evolution and traceability of their protection. In this sense, the use of 3D GIS will not only allow the efficient recording and the graphical representation of a significant amount of data resulting from the quantitative and qualitative analysis carried out but also model them using the third dimension to facilitate a cross analysis among the cities under study. Definitely, the aim is to demonstrate the suitability use of this technology in this type of scientific research.

This contribution aims to deepen the formulas for the application of 3D modelling tools in their application to the protection of heritage in the Spanish legislative framework: Although they emerge as instruments for their eminently industrial application, new architecture or infographics, the Rhinoceros software, together with the Vray rendering engine, constitute a tandem that has proved to be very useful for determining the degrees of impact (heights, perspectives, buildability, occupation and other urban parameters) in real estate environments declared to be of "Cultural Interest" (from now on referred to as "BIC" - or Asset of Cultural Interest), according to the regional legislation of Andalusia. In addition to the didactic character of the results, which allows their dissemination as teaching material applied in the Degree in Fundamentals of Architecture of the University of Seville, the three case studies presented facilitate the reading of the environment affected by the specific regulations, as well as the technical determination of the visual pollution that the surrounding buildings cause in the building itself. The three case studies include buildings declared "BIC", which are in very different situations of conservation and use, all in the city of Seville, in the south of Spain: while the City Council, which presides over the most important square in the city, is the paradigmatic model of a dynamic and inhabited square, the Atarazanas (former shipyard factory) are in a good state of conservation, but without defined use. The last case, the extinct convent of San Agustin, in addition to not being used, is in a state of ascending deterioration, since a large part of its construction has disappeared thanks to real estate expansion and the absence of legislative protection of the heritage.

[EN] In this work, the wet-laid technique has been used to obtain flax nonwovens thermally bonded with different contents of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and bicomponent polyamide 6/copolyamide (PA6/CoPA) fibers in the 10-30 wt.% range. Scanning electron microscopy has been used to evaluate the formation of interlock points through melted polymer and flax fibers. Volume porosity has been estimated through determination of thickness and surface mass. Tensile strength and elongation at break have been determined on longitudinal (preferential) and transversal directions to evaluate anisotropy. The sound absorption properties of stacked sheets of flax: PVA and flax: PA6/CoPA nonwovens have been evaluated. In addition, the thermal insulating properties of individual nonwovens have been obtained. Mechanical characterization shows slight anisotropy. The absorption coefficient is interesting in the medium frequencies range, and relatively low thermal conductivity and thermal resistance values are obtained with these nonwovens (in the 0.020-0.025Wm(-1) K-1 range for flax: PVA nonwovens and in the 0.09-0.10Wm(-1) K-1 range for flax: PA6/CoPA nonwovens). By taking into account these features, these nonwoven substrates could find interesting applications as sound absorbers and/or thermal insulation materials in technical applications. ; This work is part of the project IPT-310000-2010-037, "ECOTEXCOMP: Research and development of textile structures useful as reinforcement of composite materials with marked ecological character", and was supported by the "Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion", with a grant of (sic)189,540.20, within the Plan Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica 2008-2011 and funded by the European Union through FEDER funds, Technology Fund 2007-2013 and Operational Programme on R + D + i for and on behalf of the companies. The project is also known as "WET-TEX: Implementacion de la tecnologia wet-laid en el desarrollo de nuevos textiles medico-sanitario" with expedient number ...

This contribution aims to deepen the formulas for the application of 3D modelling tools in their application to the protection of heritage in the Spanish legislative framework: Although they emerge as instruments for their eminently industrial application, new architecture or infographics, the Rhinoceros software, together with the Vray rendering engine, constitute a tandem that has proved to be very useful for determining the degrees of impact (heights, perspectives, buildability, occupation and other urban parameters) in real estate environments declared to be of "Cultural Interest" (from now on referred to as "BIC" - or Asset of Cultural Interest), according to the regional legislation of Andalusia. In addition to the didactic character of the results, which allows their dissemination as teaching material applied in the Degree in Fundamentals of Architecture of the University of Seville, the three case studies presented facilitate the reading of the environment affected by the specific regulations, as well as the technical determination of the visual pollution that the surrounding buildings cause in the building itself. The three case studies include buildings declared "BIC", which are in very different situations of conservation and use, all in the city of Seville, in the south of Spain: while the City Council, which presides over the most important square in the city, is the paradigmatic model of a dynamic and inhabited square, the Atarazanas (former shipyard factory) are in a good state of conservation, but without defined use. The last case, the extinct convent of San Agustin, in addition to not being used, is in a state of ascending deterioration, since a large part of its construction has disappeared thanks to real estate expansion and the absence of legislative protection of the heritage.

The conservation of buildings in the Basque Country made of Eocene sandstone is somewhat problematical, because this type of rock is relatively unstable. This instability is due to the variable content of carbonate cement (0-28%) and the presence of K-feldspar grains (1-13%) which appear to have been dissolved by both diagenetic and environmental processes. We have compared the results of the application of two commercial consolidating products: Sicof SM 296 (product A) and Consistone FS-hA (product B), both ethylsilicates, on Eocene sandstones of the Oquendo Admiral House (16th century) and the Gipuzkoa Provincial Government Palace (19th century), which are both located in the city of San Sebastián (Province of Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Northern Spain). On the basis of different chemical and physical laboratory tests, together with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis, product A seems to be more efficient in consolidating such Eocene sandstone materials, since it penetrates into the first 8 mm of the rock, occupies very homogeneously even the smallest pore spaces and leaves a certain degree of remaining porosity which allows ventilation of the rock. In contrast, product B seems to be more appropriate for larger pore-sized rocks, because it only penetrates into the first 3 mm of the Eocene sandstone samples due to the thin pores of the matter. Our results demonstrate that the suitability of a commercial product depends not only on its own chemical composition, but also on the textural and lithological features of the rock material upon which it is to be applied. ; La conservación de los edificios del País Vasco construidos con areniscas del Eoceno es problemática porque este tipo de roca es relativamente inestable debido a su contenido variable en cemento carbonatado (0-28%) y a la presencia de granos de feldespato potásico (1-13%) disueltos tanto por procesos diagenéticos como ambientales. Hemos aplicado dos consolidantes comerciales: Sicof SM 296 (producto A) y Consistone FS+A (producto B), ambos silicatos de etilo, sobre las areniscas de la Casa del Almirante Oquendo (siglo XVI) y el Palacio de la Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (siglo XIX), ambos edificios en San Sebastián (País Vasco, norte de España). Los diferentes ensayos físicos y químicos junto con las observaciones al microscopio electrónico de barrido (SEM) revelan que el producto A es más eficiente para la consolidación de este tipo de areniscas, dado que penetra los primeros 8 mm de la roca, ocupa muy regularmente incluso los poros más pequeños y deja un cierto grado de porosidad remanente que permite la aireación de la roca. Por el contrario, el producto B parece más adecuado para rocas con mayor tamaño de poro, dado que sólo penetra los primeros 3 mm. Con ello, queda claro que la eficiencia de un consolidante comercial depende no sólo de su composición química, sino, en gran medida, de las características texturales y litológicas de la roca sobre la que se va a aplicar.

Biodiversity hotspots understandably attract considerable conservation attention. However, deserts are rarely viewed as conservation priority areas, due to their relatively low productivity, yet these systems are home to unique species, adapted to harsh and highly variable environments. While global attention has been focused on hotspots, the world's largest tropical desert, the Sahara, has suffered a catastrophic decline in megafauna. Of 14 large vertebrates that have historically occurred in the region, four are now extinct in the wild, including the iconic scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah). The majority has disappeared from more than 90% of their Saharan range, including addax (Addax nasomaculatus), dama gazelle (Nanger dama) and Saharan cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) - all now on the brink of extinction. Greater conservation support and scientific attention for the region might have helped to avert these catastrophic declines. The Sahara serves as an example of a wider historical neglect of deserts and the human communities who depend on them. The scientific community can make an important contribution to conservation in deserts by establishing baseline information on biodiversity and developing new approaches to sustainable management of desert species and ecosystems. Such approaches must accommodate mobility of both people and wildlife so that they can use resources most efficiently in the face of low and unpredictable rainfall. This is needed to enable governments to deliver on their commitments to halt further degradation of deserts and to improve their status for both biodiversity conservation and human well-being. Only by so-doing will deserts be able to support resilient ecosystems and communities that are best able to adapt to climate change. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.