Differences in fatty acid metabolisms in domestic animals: some dilemmas and ideas to address body composition and obesity control

Relatively high amounts of fats or oils (mayor que 40-50 g/kg diet) are frequently used in animal nutrition. Vegetables oils are richer in polyunsaturated fatty acids than animal fats. Most of the works studying the effect of different dietary fat sources are focused either on the existing differences on fat digestibility depending on their fatty acid composition (Wiseman et al., 1991) or on their effect on the carcass fat fatty acid profile (Sanz et al., 1999a). lnformation regarding the effect of dietary fat saturation on fat utilization and deposition it is more limited. lt is generally assumed that, apart from differences in digestion, fatty acids of different composition are equally used for metabolic purposes.

ROAD: Domestic Assistant and Rehabilitation Robot

This study introduces the concept design and analysis of a robotic system for the assistance and rehabilitation of disabled people. Based on the statistical data of the most common types of disabilities in Spain and other industrialized countries, the different tasks that the device must be able to perform have been determined. In this study, different robots for rehabilitation and assistance previously introduced have been reviewed. This survey is focused on those robots that assist with gait, balance and standing up. The structure of the ROAD robot presents various advantages over these robots, we discuss some of them. The performance of the proposed architecture is analyzed when it performs the sit to stand activity.

Domestic hot water consumption vs. solar thermal energy storage: the optimum size of the storage tank

Many efforts have been made in order to adequate the production of a solar thermal collector field to the consumption of domestic hot water of the inhabitants of a building. In that sense, much has been achieved in different domains: research agencies, government policies and manufacturers. However, most of the design rules of the solar plants are based on steady state models, whereas solar irradiance, consumption and thermal accumulation are inherently transient processes. As a result of this lack of physical accuracy, thermal storage tanks are sometimes left to be as large as the designer decides without any aforementioned precise recommendation. This can be a problem if solar thermal systems are meant to be implemented in nowadays buildings, where there is a shortage of space. In addition to that, an excessive storage volume could not result more efficient in many residential applications, but costly, extreme in space consumption and in some cases too heavy. A proprietary transient simulation program has been developed and validated with a detailed measurement campaign in an experimental facility. In situ environmental data have been obtained through a whole year of operation. They have been gathered at intervals of 10 min for a solar plant of 50 m2 with a storage tank of 3 m3, including the equipment for domestic hot water production of a typical apartment building. This program has been used to obtain the design and dimensioning criteria of DHW solar plants under daily transient conditions throughout a year and more specifically the size of the storage tank for a multi storey apartment building. Comparison of the simulation results with the current Spanish regulation applicable, “Código Técnico de la Edificación” (CTE 2006), offers fruitful details and establishes solar facilities dimensioning criteria.

Energetic performance of landfill and digester biogas in a domestic cooker

The energetic performance of landfill biogas (LB) and biodigester biogas (BB) from municipal waste was examined in consumption tests. These tests were performed in situ at a gas generation plant associated with a landfill facility in Madrid (Spain) and following the standard UNE-EN 30-2-1 (1999). The jets of a domestic cooker commonly used for natural gas (NG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were modified to operate with the biogases produced at the facility. The working pressures best suited to the tested gases, i.e., to avoid flashback and flame lift, and to ensure the stability and correct functioning of the flame during combustion, were determined by trial and error. Both biogases returned optimum energetic performance for the transfer of heat to water in a metallic recipient (as required by the above standard) at a supply pressure of 10 mbar. Domestic cookers are normally supplied with NG at a pressure of 20 mbar, at which pressure the energetic performance of G20 reference gas was higher than that of both biogases (52.84% compared to 38.06% and 49.77% respectively). Data concerning these issues involving also unexplored feedstock are required for the correct conversions of domestic cookers in order to avoid risks of serious personal injuries or property damages.

The historical heritage of domestic architecture is a reliable model for a satisfactory design. The case of the Mediterranean region

The purpose of this paper is to expose the importance of observing cultural systems present in a territory as a reference for the design of urban infrastructures in the new cities and regions of rapid development. If we accept the idea that architecture is an instrument or cultural system developed by man to act as an intermediary to the environment, it is necessary to understand the elemental interaction between man and his environment to meet a satisfactory design. To illustrate this purpose, we present the case of the Eurasian Mediterranean region, where the architectural culture acts as a cultural system of adaptation to the environment and it is formed by an ancient process of selection. From simple observation of architectural types, construction systems and environmental mechanisms treasured in mediterranean historical heritage we can extract crucial information about this elemental interaction. Mediterranean architectural culture has environmental mechanisms responding to the needs of basics habitability, ethnics and passive conditioning. These mechanisms can be basis of an innovative design without compromising the diversity and lifestyles of human groups in the region. The main fundament of our investigation is the determination of the historical heritage of domestic architecture as holder of the formation process of these mechanisms. The result allows us to affirm that the successful introduction of new urban infrastructures in an area need a reliable reference and it must be a cultural system that entailing in essence the environmental conditioning of human existence. The urban infrastructures must be sustainable, understood and accepted by the inhabitants. The last condition is more important when the urban infrastructures are implemented in areas that are developing rapidly or when there is no architectural culture.

Integration of low-cost supervisory mobile robots in domestic wireless sensor networks

This paper presents a communication interface between supervisory low-cost mobile robots and domestic Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) based on the Zig Bee protocol from different manufacturers. The communication interface allows control and communication with other network devices using the same protocol. The robot can receive information from sensor devices (temperature, humidity, luminosity) and send commands to actuator devices (lights, shutters, thermostats) from different manufacturers. The architecture of the system, the interfaces and devices needed to establish the communication are described in the paper.