Evaluation of the conventional surveying equipment applied to deformation analysis of heritage buildings. A case study: the bell tower of Santa María la Blanca church in Agoncillo (La Rioja, Spain)

Contributed to: "Measuring the Changes": 13th FIG International Symposium on Deformation Measurements and Analysis; 4th IAG Symposium on Geodesy for Geotechnical and Structural Enginering (Lisbon, Portugal, May 12-15, 2008).

Application of a new pelletised organic bed for tex biodegradation in conventional biofilters

La problemática de las emisiones de gases contaminados generadas por las actividades humanas ha obligado al desarrollo de distintas tecnologías de tratamiento cuyo objetivo es minimizar el efecto de las mismas sobre el medio ambiente.La biofiltración es una de estas tecnologías de bajo coste que además es respetuosa con el entorno. Básicamente consiste en hacer pasar un gas contaminado a través de un medio poroso donde anida la biomasa que lleva a cabo la degradación de los contaminantes, generando productos no nocivos. El presente estudio se ha centrado en aportar soluciones a una de las principales limitaciones que presentan estos sistemas biológicos: el excesivo tiempo empleado por la biomasa para adaptarse a los contaminantes y degradarlos eficazmente.Se ha desarrollado una sistemática de aclimatación que ha permitido acortar el tiempo de adaptación de la biomasa específica para la eliminación de compuestos orgánicos volátiles (COVs). Estos compuestos, más específicamente los TEX (tolueno, p-xileno y etilbenceno), son uno de los grupos de contaminantes más habituales a nivel industrial, e incluso en ambientes interiores. La optimización de los parámetros de operación que afectan a esta tecnología (el nivel de humedad del soporte, temperatura, la interacción de varios contaminantes presentes en la misma corriente gaseosa, entre otros), ha llevado a la consecución de eficacias de depuración muy elevadas en el biotratamiento en continuo de corrientes gaseosas contaminadas.

Non-conventional advertising on TV

Non-Conventional ways of advertising TV Networks and advertisers have come up with in order to tackle proliferation of the media and discretion of the viewer from the TV experience.

Amplicon metagenomics for elucidating microbial community changes associated to conventional and organic farming of Beta vulgaris and Solanum lycopersicum

Soil microbial community changes associated to conventional and organic farming of two relevant crops (Beta vulgaris and Solanum lycopersicum) were analysed through 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing. This study revealed microbial communities in the agricultural soils studied to be similar to other reported nutrient-rich microbiomes, and some significant differences between the microbial communities associated to the two farming practices were found. Some phyla (Chloroflexi and Thermi) were found to be present in different abundances according to soil treatment. As chloroplast interference can be a stumbling block in plant-associated 16s rRNA amplicon metagenomics analysis of aerial plant tissues, two protocols for bacterial cell detachment (orbital shaking and ultrasound treatment) and two protocols for microbial biomass recovery (centrifugation and filtration) were tested regarding their efficiency at excluding plant-DNA. An alternative method to the one proposed by Rastogi et al (2010) for evaluating the chloroplast-amplicon content in post-PCR samples was tested, and the method revealed that filtration was the most efficient protocol in minimising chloroplast interference.

The conventional facade solution during the developmental period in Gipuzkoa: decline (and end) of a construction system

The article analyses the construction process, the evolution and the disturbing future of the facade enclosure of the collective housing constructions built during the developmental period in the province of Gipuzkoa. 128 residential complexes were checked, and 17 people who directly took part in the construction of many of these buildings were interviewed. After examining the material and elements that make up the conventional facade solution used in Gipuzkoa and in much of Spain not only during those years but also up to the present time, the effects and causes of its main damages and flaws were studied. Its complex and costly adaptation to current demands is going to require a strong effort from society at large, and this raises the question of whether the life cycle of this construction system should be terminated once and for all.