Preliminary mineralogy and ore petrology of the intermediate-sulfidation pallancata deposit, Ayacucho, Peru

Se investiga la compleja mineralogía del Yacimiento de Pallancata (6º productor de plata del mundo) y se establecen las condiciones de formación (P.T) basadas en la petrología de las menas comparada con los datos de mineralogía experimental y en la petrografía y microtermometría de inclusiones fluídas en la ganga silicatada, resultando un depósito típicamente caracterizado como epitermal de sulfuración intermedia.ABSTRACT:Pallancata is a world-class intermediate-sulfidation epithermal deposit, hosted by upper Miocene volcanics of the south-central Peruvian Andes in a sinuous N70ºW, ∼75º SW strike-slip structure, with wide (up to 35 m) pull-apart dilation zones related to bends of the vein strike. The structural evolution of the vein from earlier brecciation to later open space infill resembles the Shila Paula district (Chauvet et al. 2006). Fluid inclusion petrography and microthermometry show that ore deposition is related to protracted boiling of very diluted, mainly meteoric fluids, starting at 250–260 ºC, under ∼300 m hydrostatic head. The mineralogical-petrological study reveals a complex sequence of mineralization (eight stages) and mineral reactions consistent with Ag2S enrichment or Sb2S3 depletion, or both, during cooling over the temperature range 250–200 ºC: pyrite, sphalerite, galena, miargyrite, pyrargyrite-proustite, chalcopyrite, polybasite-pearceite, argentite (now acanthite), and Au–Ag alloy (“electrum”). This Ag2S enrichment and Sb2S3depletion during cooling may be explained by decay of a Ag-rich galena precursor at deeper levels (Pb2S2–AgSbS2 solid solution), which rapidly becomes unstable with decreasing temperature, producing residual (stoichiometric) PbS and more mobile Ag and Sb sulfide phases, which migrated upward and laterally away from the thermal core of the system. The core is still undisclosed by mining works, but the available geochemical evidence (logAg/log Pb ratios decreasing at depth) is consistent with this interpretation, implying a deeper potential resource. Data from sulfide geothermometry, based on mineral equilibria, document the thermal evolution of the system below 200 ºC (stephanite, uytenbogaardtite, jalpaite, stromeyerite, mckinstryite, among others). The end of the most productive stages (3, 4, and 5) is marked by the precipitation of stephanite at temperatures below 197 ± 5 ºC, but precipitation of residual silver continues through the waning stages of the hydrothermal system down to <93.3 ºC (stromeyerite) or in a supergene redistribution (stage 8, acanthite II).

Educating in Project Management: an innovative approach. A shared-experience among Spanish Universities

This work presents an educational formal initiative aimed to monitor the acquisition and strengthening of competences by students that are being taught in project management subject. Groups of students belonging to three universities, embracing different knowledge areas such as engineering, biology, etc., were selected to run the experience. All of them had nevertheless a common and basic starting point: inexperience in project management field. In this scenario, we propose a new theoretical and practical approach oriented to reinforce problem-solving and related competences in a project management subject context. For this purpose, a Project-Based Learning (PjBL) initiative has been specifically designed and developed. The main idea is to bring a real world engineering project management case into the classroom, where students must face up to a completely new learning approach –groups in different locations, collaborative mode and unspecific solution, supported by a powerful internet platform:.project.net (http://www.Project.net). Other relevant aspects such as project climate, knowledge increasing, have also been monitored during the course. Results show and overall improvement in key competences. The obtained information will be used in two ways: to feed the students back about personal opportunities for improvement in specific competences, and to fine-tune the experience for further initiatives.

Analysis of the information about Doctoral Degrees presented in the Spanish universities websites.

Globalization has intensified competition, as evidenced by the growing number of international classification systems (rankings) and the attention paid to them. Doctoral education has an international character in itself. It should promote opportunities for graduate students lo participate in these international studies. The quality and competitiveness are two of the most important issues for universities. To promote the interest of graduates to continue their education after the graduate level, it would be necessary to improve the published information of ihe doctoral programs. It should increase the visibility and provide high-quality, easily accessible and comparable information which includes all the relevant aspects of these programs. The authors analysed the website contents of doctoral programs, it was observed a lack of quality of them and very poor information about the contents, so that it was decided that any of them could constitute a model for creating new websites. The recommendations on the format and contents in the web were made by a discussion group. They recommended an attractive design; a page with easy access to contents and easy to find on Ihe net and with the information in more than one language. It should include complete program and academic staff information. It should also be included the study's results which should be easily accessible and includes quantitative data, such as number of students who completed scholars, publications, research projects, average duration of the studies, etc. It will facilitate the choice of program

Web-based education in Spanish Universities. A Comparison of Open Source E-Learning Platforms

Web-based education or „e-learning‟ has become a critical component in higher education for the last decade, replacing other distance learning methods, such as traditional computer training or correspondence learning. The number of university students who take on-line courses is continuously increasing all over the world. In Spain, nearly a 90% of the universities have an institutional e-learning platform and over 60% of the traditional on-site courses use this technology as a supplement to the traditional face-to-face classes. This new form of learning allows the disappearance of geographical barriers and enables students to schedule their own learning process, among some other advantages. On-line education is developed through specific software called „e-learning platform‟ or „virtual learning environment‟ (VLE). A considerable number of web-based tools to deliver distance courses are currently available. Open source software packages such as Moodle, Sakai, dotLRN or Dokeos are the most commonly used in the virtual campuses of Spanish universities. This paper analyzes the possibilities that virtual learning environments provide university teachers and learners and offers a technical comparison among some of the most popular e-learning learning platforms.

Foreigner? Want to study in Spain? The integration process at universities

The student exchange programs being carried out at universities for over 50 years, have led to changes in the institutions, which had to adapt to accommodate these students. Despite those changes, the integration of foreign students not coming from the aforementioned exchange programs that come to our country to study at the University has been neglected. These students face many barriers (language, cultural and origin customs mainly), so a clear and detailed information would be highly desirable in order to facilitate the necessary arrangements This study aims to show the deficiencies in the integration process and hosting programs faced by a foreign student at University. The study is performed by means of an analysis of statistical data from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the Civil Engineering School over the last 12 school years (1999 - 2000 to 2010 - 2011), as well as surveys and interviews with some of these students. The study is enhanced with the analysis of the measures and integration methods of the various minorities, which had been implemented by the foremost public universities in Spain, as well as other public and private universities abroad. It illustrates the existing backlog at the Spanish universities with regards to supporting the integration of diversity among foreign students, providing data concerning the growth of such population and its impact at the university, and on the institutions in particular. In an increasingly globalized world, we must understand and facilitate the integration of minorities at University, supplying them, from the first day, and before the enrollment process, the essential elements that will allow their adequate adaptation to the educational process at University. It concludes by identifying the main subjects that need to be tackled to endorse such integration.

A Coordinated Plan for Teaching Software Engineering in the University Rey Juan Carlos.

Un plan para organizar las enseñanzas de la ingeniería del software en las titulaciones de informática de la URJC. Nowadays both industry and academic environments are showing a lot of interest in the Software Engineering discipline. Therefore, it is a challenge for universities to provide students with appropriate training in this area, preparing them for their future professional practice. There are many difficulties to provide that training. The outstanding ones are: the Software Engineering area is too broad and class hours are scarce; the discipline requires a high level of abstraction; it is difficult to reproduce real world situations in the classroom to provide a practical learning environment; the number of students per professor is very high (at least in Spain); companies develop software with a maturity level rarely over level 2 of the CMM for Software (again, at least in Spain) as opposed to what is taught at the University. Besides, there are different levels and study plans, making more difficult to structure the contents to teach in each term and degree. In this paper we present a plan for teaching Software Engineering trying to overcome some of the difficulties above.

World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet: ISSIS, the imaging instrument

The Imaging and Slitless Spectroscopy Instrument (ISSIS) will be flown as part of the science instrumentation in the World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet (WSO-UV). ISSIS will be the first UV imager to operate in a high Earth orbit from a 2 m class space telescope. In this contribution, the science driving the ISSIS design and the main characteristics of this instrument are presented.