Negative density dependence and environmental heterogeneity effects on tree ferns across succession in a tropical montane forest.

Although tree ferns are an important component of temperate and tropical forests, very little is known about their ecology. Their peculiar biology (e.g., dispersal by spores and two-phase life cycle) makes it difficult to extrapolate current knowledge on the ecology of other tree species to tree ferns. In this paper, we studied the effects of negative density dependence (NDD) and environmental heterogeneity on populations of two abundant tree fern species, Cyathea caracasana and Alsophila engelii, and how these effects change across a successional gradient. Species patterns harbor information on processes such as competition that can be easily revealed using point pattern analysis techniques. However, its detection may be difficult due to the confounded effects of habitat heterogeneity. Here, we mapped three forest plots along a successional gradient in the montane forests of Southern Ecuador. We employed homogeneous and inhomogeneous K and pair correlation functions to quantify the change in the spatial pattern of different size classes and a case-control design to study associations between juvenile and adult tree ferns. Using spatial estimates of the biomass of four functional tree types (short- and long-lived pioneer, shade- and partial shade-tolerant) as covariates, we fitted heterogeneous Poisson models to the point pattern of juvenile and adult tree ferns and explored the existence of habitat dependencies on these patterns. Our study revealed NDD effects for C. caracasana and strong environmental filtering underlying the pattern of A. engelii. We found that adult and juvenile populations of both species responded differently to habitat heterogeneity and in most cases this heterogeneity was associated with the spatial distribution of biomass of the four functional tree types. These findings show the effectiveness of factoring out environmental heterogeneity to avoid confounding factors when studying NDD and demonstrate the usefulness of covariate maps derived from mapped communities.

Evolution and breakup of viscous rotating drops

We study the evolution of a viscous fluid drop rotating about a fixed axis at constant angular velocity $Omega$ or constant angular momentum L surrounded by another viscous fluid. The problem is considered in the limit of large Ekman number and small Reynolds number. The analysis is carried out by combining asymptotic analysis and full numerical simulation by means of the boundary element method. We pay special attention to the stability/instability of equilibrium shapes and the possible formation of singularities representing a change in the topology of the fluid domain. When the evolution is at constant $Omega$, depending on its value, drops can take the form of a flat film whose thickness goes to zero in finite time or an elongated filament that extends indefinitely. When evolution takes place at constant L and axial symmetry is imposed, thin films surrounded by a toroidal rim can develop, but the film thickness does not vanish in finite time. When axial symmetry is not imposed and L is sufficiently large, drops break axial symmetry and, depending on the value of L, reach an equilibrium configuration with a 2-fold symmetry or break up into several drops with a 2- or 3-fold symmetry. The mechanism of breakup is also described

Temperature Evolution and Light Species Diffusion in Armor and Structural Material for Inertial Fusion Reactor Chambers: a Case for HiPER 4a

One of the most advance designs for HiPER fusion reactor is a spherical chamber 10 m in diameter based on dry wall concept. In this system, the first wall will have to withstand short energy pulses of 5 to 20 MJ at a repetition rate of 0.5-10 Hz mostly in form of X-rays and charged particles. To avoid melting of the inner surface, the first wall consists on a thin armor attached to the structural material. Thickness (th) and material of each layer have to be chosen to assure the proper functioning of the facility during its planned lifetime.

Evolution and treatment of vitamin B12 deficiency as a risk factor for (cognitive and functional) neurodegenerative diseases in institutionalized elderly = Evolución y tratamiento de la deficiencia de vitamina B12 como factor de riesgo de enfermedades neurodegenerativas (cognitivas y funcionales) en las personas mayores institucionalizadas.

Prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency is very common in elderly people and can reach values as high as 40.5% of the population. It can be the result of the interaction among several factors. Vitamin B12 deficiencies have been associated with neurological, cognitive deterioration, haematological abnormalities and cardiovascular diseases that have an important influence on the health of the elderly and their quality of life. It is necessary to approach the problems arisen from the lack of data relative to them. The main objective of this thesis was to analyse the evolution of vitamin B12 status and related parameters, lipid and haematological profiles and their relationship to health risk factors, and to functional and cognitive status over one year and to determine the effect of an oral supplementation of 500 μg of cyanocobalamin for a short period of 28 days. An additional objective was to analyze the possible effects of medicine intakes on vitamin B status. Three studies were performed: a) a one year longitudinal follow-up with four measure points; b) an intervention study providing an oral liquid supplement of 500 μg of cyanocobalamin for a 28 days period; and c) analysis of the possible effect of medication intake on vitamin B status using the ATC classification of medicines. The participants for these studies were recruited from nursing homes for the elderly in the Region of Madrid. Sixty elders (mean age 84 _ 7y, 19 men and 41 women) were recruited for Study I and 64 elders (mean age 82 _ 7y, 24 men and 40 women) for Study II. For Study III, baseline data from the initially recruited participants of the first two studies were used. An informed consent was obtained from all participants or their mentors. The studies were approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Granada. Blood samples were obtained at each examination date and were analyzed for serum cobalamin, holoTC, serum and RBC folate and total homocysteine according to laboratory standard procedures. The haematological parameters analyzed were haematocrit, haemoglobin and MCV. For the lipid profile TG, total cholesterol, LDL- and HDLcholesterol were analyzed. Anthropometric measures (BMI, skinfolds [triceps and subscapular], waist girth and waist to hip ratio), functional tests (hand grip, arm and leg strength tests, static balance) and MMSE were obtained or administered by trained personal. The vitamin B12 supplement of Study II was administered with breakfast and the medication intake was taken from the residents’ anamnesis. Data were analyzed by parametric and non-parametric statistics depending on the obtained data. Comparisons were done using the appropriate ANOVAs or non-parametric tests. Pearsons’ partial correlations with the variable “time” as control were used to define the association of the analyzed parameters. XIII The results showed that: A) Over one year, in relationship to vitamin B status, serum cobalamin decreased, serum folate and mean corpuscular volumen increased significantly and total homocysteine concentrations were stable. Regarding blood lipid profile, triglycerides increased and HDL-cholesterol decreased significantly. Regarding selected anthropometric measurements, waist circumference increased significantly. No significant changes were observed for the rest of parameters. B) Prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was high in the elderly studied, ranging from 60% to 90 % over the year depending on the cut-off used for the classification. LDL-cholesterol values were high, especially among women, and showed a tendency to increase over the year. Results of the balance test showed a deficiency and a tendency to decrease; this indicates that the population studied is at high risk for falls. Lower extremity muscular function was deficient and showed a tendency to decrease. A highly significant relationship was observed between the skinfold of the triceps and blood lipid profile. C) Low cobalamin concentrations correlated significantly with low MMSE scores in the elderly studied. No correlations were observed between vitamin B12 status and functional parameters. D) Regarding vitamin B12 status, holo-transcobalamin seems to be more sensitive for diagnosis; 5-10% of the elderly had a deficiency using serum cobalamin as a criterion, and 45-52% had a deficiency when using serum holotranscobalamin as a criterion. E) 500 μg of cyanocobalamin administered orally during 28 days significantly improved vitamin B12 status and significantly decreased total homocysteine concentrations in institutionalized elderly. No effect of the intervention was observed on functional and cognitive parameters. F) The relative change (%) of improvement of vitamin B12 status was higher when using serum holo-transcobalamin as a criterion than serum cobalamin. G) Antiaenemic drug intake normalized cobalamin, urologic drugs and corticosteroids serum folate, and psychoanaleptics holo-transcobalamin levels. Drugs treating pulmonary obstruction increased total homocysteine concentration significantly. H) The daily mean drug intake was 5.1. Fiftynine percent of the elderly took medication belonging to 5 or more different ATC groups. The most prevalent were psycholeptic (53%), antiacid (53%) and antithrombotic (47%) drugs.

MMonCa: An Object Kinetic Monte Carlo simulator for damage irradiation evolution and defect diffusion

In this work, we introduce the Object Kinetic Monte Carlo (OKMC) simulator MMonCa and simulate the defect evolution in three different materials. We start by explaining the theory of OKMC and showing some details of how such theory is implemented by creating generic structures and algorithms in the objects that we want to simulate. Then we successfully reproduce simulated results for defect evolution in iron, silicon and tungsten using our simulator and compare with available experimental data and similar simulations. The comparisons validate MMonCa showing that it is powerful and flexible enough to be customized and used to study the damage evolution of defects in a wide range of solid materials.

Evolution and implementation of CDIO initiatives at ETSII-UPM

The School of Industrial Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSII-UPM) has been promoting student-centred teaching-learning activities, according to the aims of the Bologna Declaration, well before the official establishment of the European Area of Higher Education. Such student-centred teaching-learning experiences led us to the conviction that project based learning is rewarding, both for students and academics, and should be additionally promoted in our new engineering programmes, adapted to the Grade-Master structure. The level of commitment of our teachers with these activities is noteworthy, as the teaching innovation experiences carried out in the last ten years have led to the foundation of 17 Teaching Innovation Groups at ETSII-UPM, hence leading the ranking of teaching innovation among all UPM centres. Among interesting CDIO activities our students have taken part in especially complex projects, including the Formula Student, linked to the complete development of a competition car, and the Cybertech competition, aimed at the design, construction and operation of robots for different purposes. Additional project-based learning teamwork activities have been linked to toy design, to the development of medical devices, to the implementation of virtual laboratories, to the design of complete industrial installations and factories, among other activities detailed in present study. The implementation of Bologna process will culminate at ETSII-UPM with the beginning of the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, in academic year 2014-15. The program has been successfully approved by the Spanish Agency for Accreditation (ANECA), with the inclusion of a set of subjects based upon the CDIO methodology denominated generally “INGENIA”, linked to the Spanish “ingeniar” (to provide ingenious solutions), also related etymologically in Spanish with “ingeniero”, engineer. INGENIA students will live through the complete development process of a complex product or system and there will be different kind of projects covering most of the engineering majors at ETSII-UPM.

First 20 years of DNDC: Model evolution and GRAMP.

The DNDC (DeNitrification and DeComposition) model was first developed by Li et al. (1992) as a rain event-driven process-orientated simulation model for nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas emissions from the agricultural soils in the U.S. Over the last 20 years, the model has been modified and adapted by various research groups around the world to suit specific purposes and circumstances. The Global Research Alliance Modelling Platform (GRAMP) is a UK-led initiative for the establishment of a purposeful and credible web-based platform initially aimed at users of the DNDC model. With the aim of improving the predictions of soil C and N cycling in the context of climate change the objectives of GRAMP are to: 1) to document the existing versions of the DNDC model; 2) to create a family tree of the individual DNDC versions; 3) to provide information on model use and development; and 4) to identify strengths, weaknesses and potential improvements for the model.

Technology transfer of renewable energy for rural development: historical evolution and lessons of experience from the model WWP

Technology transfer (TT) in the area of renewable energy (RE) throughout history has been an important tool for rural development (RD). Initially, the TT has been conceptualized as the purchase or donation of machinery from first world countries - without any consideration of staff training and contextual conditions for the adaptation of technology to the needs of the country. Various researches have revealed the existence of different approaches to planning the TT of RE, demonstrating the high complexity of projects from the social and contextual dimension. This paper addresses the conceptual evolution of the TT of RE for RD, examining its different periods considered for three criteria: historical events occurred, the role of stakeholders and changing objectives for the TT of RE for RD. For the conceptual analysis of changes the model Working With People (WWP) is used for planning and project management of high social complexity in RD. The analysis defines the existence of four historical periods in the TT of RE and synthesizes the lessons of experience from the three dimensions (ethical-social, technical-entrepreneurial, and political-contextual) of the WWP model.