NDT for the detection and characterization of superficial treatments on stone material from archaeological sites of Merida (Spain)

Different treatments (consolidation and water-repellent) were applied on samples of marble and granite from the Front stage of the Roman Theatre of Merida (Spain). The main goal is to study the effects of these treatments on archaeological stone material, by analyzing the surface changes. X-Ray Fluorescence and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy techniques, as well as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance have been used in order to study changes in the surface properties of the material, comparing treated and untreated specimens. The results confirm that silicon (Si) marker tracking allows the detection of applied treatments, increasing the peak signal in treated specimens. Furthermore, it is also possible to prove changes both within the pore system of the materialand in the distribution of surface water, resulting from the application of these products

Arquitectura + juego : (los años pop 1956-1967)

En 1938 surge en la escena académica un nuevo hombre –el homo ludens–, que llega de la mano del historiador Johan Huizinga. Ante el inminente aumento del tiempo libre, a partir de la disminución de la jornada de trabajo por una creciente automatización de la industria, el homo ludens viene a complementar el tiempo de trabajo ocupado desde la Revolución Industrial por el homo faber. La validez y fuerza de la propuesta de Huizinga está basada en el Juego como generador de cultura y desde allí el estudio del comportamiento de la sociedad desde su aspecto lúdico. Aquí radica la fortaleza representativa del HOMO LUDENS para las vanguardias de posguerra, que se proponen incluirlo en sus debates culturales analíticos y propositivos. En la posguerra Europa vivía el triunfalismo de la guerra en medio de sociedades y ciudades ruinosas que necesitaban una urgente reconstrucción. Se oían otras realidades, tanto el ‘American way of life’ como “The Americans” (Robert Frank, 1958): la sociedad de la abundancia, el gusto popular, la inclusión de lo cotidiano y lo banal, la publicidad, los medios de comunicación de masas, el consumo, la reconversión de la industria bélica en doméstica, las telecomunicaciones, los robots, los nuevos materiales, la carrera espacial y la ciencia ficción. Inglaterra surge como natural vínculo social y cultural con Estados Unidos, convirtiéndose en catalizador de las ideas vanguardistas. Ese panorama efervescente, ‘los años pop’, surge como una realidad cultural que representaba la complejidad, el caos, y la fascinación de la imaginería de un futuro presente, ilustrado en las propuestas artísticas de la época. Surgían, tanto desde Estados Unidos como desde Europa, ideas novedosas sobre la utilización lúdica del tiempo libre, como forma de potenciar la naturaleza creativa del ser humano: el Independent Group, Charles y Ray Eames, el Black Mountain Collage, el Theatre of Action, The Factory, la Internacional Situacionista y la Generación Beat. Estos grupos de gran impacto cultural basaron sus acciones en la utilización del Juego en sus propuestas, esencialmente bajo la in¬ fluencia dadá y singularmente de Marcel Duchamp cuyas propuestas revolucionaron la historia del arte del siglo XX. Todos ellos exploraron permanentemente la unión del arte a la vida a través de experiencias lúdicas, sirviendo como motivadores de las propuestas arquitectónico-urbanísticas en estudio en esta investigación. Estas principales son: de Alison y Peter Smithson “Berlín Hauptstadt” (1957); de ARCHIGRAM “Plug-in city” (1963-1964) e Instant City (1968); de Yona Friedman “Arquitectura Móvil” (1957); de Cederic Price “Fun Palace” (1960-1961); y de Constant Nieuwenhuys “New Babylon” (1959-64). La investigación fue conducida por una búsqueda ‘flexible’ de conceptos, hechos, personajes y proyectos. Desde el análisis de los escritos, gráficos, estudios y trabajos realizados por los protagonistas de la vanguardia, así como de una lectura contextual de la época enriquecida e ilustrada con hechos significativos y anécdotas divertidas, se opera en simultaneidad con una multiplicidad de fuentes. Se maneja un gran volumen de información proveniente de áreas de conocimiento muy diferentes (filosofía, arte, arquitectura, antropología, sociología, sicología, etc.), trabajándose con un objeto de estudio ‘vivo’, abierto y en constante reorganización. Pretende además de comunicar sus dérives, como construcción de discursos históricos, estimular el planteamiento de nuevas derivas. A través de un proceso minucioso se buscaron las relaciones entre los conceptos de Juego teóricos elaborados por distintos pensadores a partir de Kant y Schiller, que tuvieran una clara relación con los procesos proyectuales de los Arquitectos de la vanguardia en estudio. Dos factores son claves: el carácter de seriedad del Juego y la decisión de situar la investigación en el lugar del juego-play (juego libre y sin reglas). Se concluye sobre la estrecha relación Arquitectura y Juego en la vanguardia estudiada, profundizando en: el acto creativo del proyectar como proceso lúdico –por parte del Arquitecto–; el desarrollo de un homo ludens destinatario/usuario; las nuevas herramientas disciplinares desarrolladas: soporte topológico, plug-in, fragmentación, flexibilidad, on-off, transportabilidad. Una nueva arquitectura lúdica desde la que se profundiza en los aportes disciplinares teóricos y prácticos bajo este enfoque: la Arquitectura desde el automovimiento, lo efímero, el fragmento, el azar e indeterminación, lo ficticio, el vacío.

Impact of new technologies and social networks on a secondary education theatre project

This paper describes the potential impact of social media and new technologies in secondary education. The case of study has been designed for the drama and theatre subject. A wide set of tools like social networks, blogs, internet, multimedia content, local press and other promotional tools are promoted to increase students’ motivation. The experiment was developed at the highschool IES Al-Satt located in Algete in the Comunidad de Madrid. The students included in the theatre group present a low academic level, 80% of them had previously repeated at least one grade, half of them come from programs for students with learning difficulties and were at risk of social exclusion. This action is supported by higher and secondary education professors and teachers who look forward to implanting networked media technologies as new tools to improve the academic results and the degree of involvement of students. The results of the experiment have been excellent, based on satisfactory opinions obtained from a survey answered by students at the end of the course, and also revealed by the analytics taken from different social networks. This project is a pioneer in the introduction and usage of new technologies in secondary high-schools in Spain.

The water footprint of olives and olive oil in Spain

This paper evaluates the water footprint of Spanish olives and olive oil over the period 1997-2008. In particular, it analyses the three colour components of the water footprint: green (rainwater stored in the soil), blue (surface and groundwater) and grey (freshwater required to assimilate load of pollutants). Apparent water productivity and virtual water embedded in olive oil exports have also been studied. Results show more than 99.5% of the water footprint of one liter of bottled olive oil is related to the olive production, whereas less than 0.5% is due to the other components such as bottle, cap and label. Over the studied period, the green water footprint in absolute terms of Spanish olive oil production represents about 72% in rainfed systems and just 12% in irrigated olive orchards. Blue and grey water footprints represent 6% and 10% of the national water footprint, respectively. It is shown that olive production is concentrated in regions with the smallest water footprint per unit of product. However, the increase of groundwater consumption in the main olive producing region (Andalusia), from 98 to 378 Mm3 between 1997 and 2008, has added significant pressure in the upstream Guadalquivir basin. This raises questions about the sustainability of irrigated olive orchards for export from the region. Finally, the virtual water related to olive oil exports illustrate the importance of green water footprint of rainfed olives amounting to about 77% of the total virtual water exports.

PREDIRCAM eHealth platform for individualized telemedical assistance for lifestyle modification in the treatment of obesity, diabetes, and cardiometabolic risk prevention: a pilot study (PREDIRCAM 1)

Background: Healthy diet and regular physical activity are powerful tools in reducing diabetes and cardiometabolic risk. Various international scientific and health organizations have advocated the use of new technologies to solve these problems. The PREDIRCAM project explores the contribution that a technological system could offer for the continuous monitoring of lifestyle habits and individualized treatment of obesity as well as cardiometabolic risk prevention. Methods: PREDIRCAM is a technological platform for patients and professionals designed to improve the effectiveness of lifestyle behavior modifications through the intensive use of the latest information and communication technologies. The platform consists of a web-based application providing communication interface with monitoring devices of physiological variables, application for monitoring dietary intake, ad hoc electronic medical records, different communication channels, and an intelligent notification system. A 2-week feasibility study was conducted in 15 volunteers to assess the viability of the platform. Results: The website received 244 visits (average time/session: 17 min 45 s). A total of 435 dietary intakes were recorded (average time for each intake registration, 4 min 42 s ± 2 min 30 s), 59 exercises were recorded in 20 heart rate monitor downloads, 43 topics were discussed through a forum, and 11 of the 15 volunteers expressed a favorable opinion toward the platform. Food intake recording was reported as the most laborious task. Ten of the volunteers considered long-term use of the platform to be feasible. Conclusions: The PREDIRCAM platform is technically ready for clinical evaluation. Training is required to use the platform and, in particular, for registration of dietary food intake.

A water footprint assessment of a pair of jeans: the influence of agricultural policies on the sustainability of consumer products.

This study reports the results of a water footprint (WF) assessment of five types of textiles commonly used for the production of jeans, including two different fibres (cotton and Lyocell fibre) and five corresponding production methods for spinning, dyeing and weaving. The results show that the fibre production is the stage with the highest water consumption, being cotton production particularly relevant. Therefore, the study pays particular attention to the water footprint of cotton production and analyses the effects of external factors influencing the water footprint of a product, in this case, the incentives provided by the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the relevance of agricultural practices to the water footprint of a product is emphasised. An extensification of the crop production led to higher WF per unit, but a lower overall pressure on the basins water resources. This study performs a sustainability assessment of the estimated cotton WFs with the water scarcity index, as proposed by Hoekstra et al. (2011), and shows their variations in different years as a result of different water consumption by crops in the rest of the river basin. In our case, we applied the assessment to the Guadalquivir, Guadalete and Barbate river basins, three semi-arid rivers in South Spain. Because they are found to be relevant, the available water stored in dams and the outflow are also incorporated as reference points for the sustainability assessment. The study concludes that, in the case of Spanish cotton production, the situation of the basin and the policy impact are more relevant for the status of the basin s water resources than the actual WF of cotton production. Therefore, strategies aimed at reducing the impact of the water footprint of a product need to analyse both the WF along the value chain and within the local context.

Changes in Petrophysical Properties of the Stone Surface due to Past Conservation Treatments in Archaeological Sites of Merida (Spain)

Petrophysical properties, such as porosity, permeability, density or anisotropy de-termine the alterability of stone surfaces from archaeological sites, and therefore, the future preservation of the material. Others, like superficial roughness or color, may point out changes due to alteration processes, natural or man-induced, for ex-ample, by conservation treatments. The application of conservation treatments may vary some of these properties forcing the stone surface to a re-adaptation to the new conditions, which could generate new processes of deterioration. In this study changes resulting from the application of consolidating and hydrophobic treatments on stone materials from the Roman Theatre (marble and granite) and the Mitreo’s House (mural painting and mosaics), both archaeological sites from Merida (Spain), are analyzed. The use of portable field devices allows us to perform analyses both on site and in la-boratory, comparing treated and untreated samples. Treatments consisted of syn-thetic resins, consolidating (such as tetraethoxysilane TEOS) and hydrophobic products. Results confirm that undesirable changes may occur, with consequences ranging from purely aesthetic variations to physical, chemical and mechanical damages. This also permits us to check limitations in the use of these techniques for the evaluation of conservation treatments.