Solar assisted cooling with sorption systems: status of the research in Mexico and Latin America

Solar refrigeration projects both national and international with sorption and other refrigeration systems have been developed in Mexico and other Latin American countries in the last 15 years. A review of the main projects, both for solar cooling and refrigeration and the results obtained are presented in this paper. A methodology where 19 solar technologies for cooling were identified is also presented. Although solar cooling is still not an economically viable technology, the advances made and the experience gained in the projects described and the improved systems envisaged, will make solar refrigeration systems play an important role in the future.     

仙人掌绿色素的提取及稳定性研究

研究了墨西哥"米邦塔"仙人掌绿色素的提取工艺及光、热、微波、碳水化合物、常见的金属离子、有机酸和防腐剂等因素对仙人掌绿色素的影响,并研究了该色素的耐酸碱性、耐氧化性和耐还原性.结果表明:以无水乙醇为提取剂、料液比为2∶5、60℃条件下浸提40min,进行2次浸提效果最佳,且微波对浸提有一定的促进作用;该色素在中性和近中性溶液中相对稳定,有两个吸收峰分别在410nm和670nm处;对光、热、氧化剂敏感,对弱还原剂较稳定;在部分碳水化合物、有机酸、食盐、防腐剂溶液中不稳定;在金属离子中,除Na 、K 、Mg2 外,大多数金属离子对该色素无不良影响.     

Impact of sulfur-in-gasoline on motor vehicle emissions in the metropolitan area of Mexico City

Light duty gasoline vehicles account for most of CO, hydrocarbons and NO_x emissions to the urban environment in Mexico City. From the beginning of year 2001, vehicles comply with Tier 1 emissions standards. Two types of Regular gasoline are available in the country. In those ozone non-attainment areas Regular oxygenated gasoline with an average of 450 ppm S is available, while on the rest of the country, a gasoline of 750 ppm S, is sold. It is anticipated then that many or all Tier 1 vehicles in ozone non-attainment zones would be occasionally or regularly fueled with high sulfur gasoline. In this work we evaluate the impact of sulfur on new, and in-use vehicles model years 1993-2001 with gasoline ranging from 90 to 815 ppm S. It is interesting to note that for Tier 0 vehicles, CO emissions are above the standard limits at all sulfur levels, while Tier 1 vehicles are very close to the limits for NO_x emissions.     

Operational active fire mapping and burnt area identification applicable to Mexican Nature Protection Areas using MODIS and NOAA-AVHRR direct readout data

Since 1999, the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of the Biodiversity (CONABIO) in Mexico has been developing and managing the “Operational program for the detection of hot-spots using remote sensing techniques”. This program uses images from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites and from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA-AVHRR), which are operationally received through the Direct Readout station (DR) at CONABIO. This allows the near-real time monitoring of fire events in Mexico and Central America. In addition to the detection of active fires, the location of hot spots are classified with respect to vegetation types, accessibility, and risk to Nature Protection Areas (NPA). Besides the fast detection of fires, further analysis is necessary due to the considerable effects of forest fires on biodiversity and human life. This fire impact assessment is crucial to support the needs of resource managers and policy makers for adequate fire recovery and restoration actions. CONABIO attempts to meet these requirements, providing post-fire assessment products as part of the management system in particular for satellite-based burnt area mapping. This paper provides an overview of the main components of the operational system and will present an outlook to future activities and system improvements, especially the development of a burnt area product. A special focus will also be placed on the fire occurrence within NPAs of Mexico.     

Comparison of Three Pharmaceutical Products Obtained from Mexico and the United States: A Case Study

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been much debate concerning the relative pros and cons of purchasing medications from foreign markets such as Mexico and Canada. The following study compares the content uniformity and weight variation for three medicinal products, acquired from pharmacies in both Mexico and the United States: amoxicillin capsules (500 mg), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid suspension (400 mg and 57 mg/5 mL, respectively), and furosemide tablets (40 mg). Twenty capsules/tablets were individually weighed and a designated aliquot was taken. Following dissolution in an appropriate solvent and sonication, a sample was taken and analyzed via high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The suspensions were prepared according to directions on the label. Five samples of the suspensions were then taken and analyzed via an appropriate HPLC method. The content uniformity for the amoxicillin capsules was found to be 15.4 ± 2.4% and 99.4 ± 9.3%, for Mexican and U.S. capsules, respectively. The percent relative standard deviation (% RSD) for weight variation was found to be 8.7% and 1.5% for capsules obtained from Mexico and the United States, respectively. Content uniformity analysis for the Mexican suspension product resulted in an average of 85.5 ± 1.2% for amoxicillin and 98.6 ± 1.9% for the clavulanic acid content, while the results for the U.S. suspension product were 104.4 ± 3.1% and 117.8 ± 3.6% for amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, respectively. Content uniformity for the furosemide tablets was found to be 90.3 ± 4.8% and 95.6 ± 2.1% for Mexican and U.S. tablets, respectively. The % RSD of weight variation for the Mexican tablets was 2.1%, while the % RSD for the U.S. tablets was found to be 1.0%. From the three products tested, content analysis revealed that the amount of active ingredients for two of the products acquired in Mexico were appreciably less than the concentrations for their U.S. counterparts.     

Competitiveness of shallow water hydrocarbon development projects in Mexico after 2015 actualization of fiscal reforms: Economic benchmark of new production sharing agreement versus typical U.S. federal lease terms

Development of Mexican hydrocarbon reservoirs by foreign operators has become possible under Mexico's new Hydrocarbon Law, effective as per January 2015. Our study compares the economic returns of shallow water fields in the Gulf of Mexico applying the royalty and taxes due under the fiscal regimes of the U.S. and Mexico. The net present value (NPV) of the base case scenario is US$1.4 billion, assuming standard development and production cost (opex, capex), 10% discount rate accounting for the cost of capital and revenues computed using a reference oil price of $75/bbl. The impact on NPV of oil price volatility is accounted for in a sensitivity analysis. The split of the NPV of shallow water hydrocarbon assets between the two contractual parties, contractor and government, in Mexico and the U.S. is hugely different. Our base case shows that for similar field assets, Mexico's production sharing agreement allocates about $1,150 million to the government and $191 million to the contractor, while under U.S. license conditions the government take is about $700 million and contractor take is $553 million. The current production sharing agreement leaves some marginal shallow water fields in Mexico undeveloped for reasons detailed and quantified in our study.     

Where to for Brazil's Cities? Citizen Empowerment or Global Marketing?

An awakening interest in public space in Brazilian cities is emphasising the value of existing civic areas. Guilherme Wisnik , a critic, curator and professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo, looks at the history and potential future of Brazil's urban spaces. He highlights how despite the introduction of innovative Modernist design in the mid-20th century, which forged ‘a new relationship between architecture, urbanism and landscape design’, more recently the country's cities have been subject to the vicissitudes of market and political forces.     

Global Village Media: Coming Together in the Early 1970s at Whiz Bang Quick City

Felicity D Scott , Associate Professor of Architecture at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), describes here the instant city events of the early 1970s. These foreshadowed current global village media practices in what now seems a quaintly material manner: communication between sites involved the physical mailing of videotapes and ‘wire photos’ through the postal service. The sites themselves – in the US and elsewhere – were transformed into ‘instant cities’ through the erection of physical geodesic domes, teepees and inflatables in seas of mud. The true antecedents of today's instant networking, these pioneers embraced the newest technology available at the time and the most innovative forms of temporary architecture.     

TYIN tegnestue Architects. Integrating On-Site Education and Practice

Founded by Andreas Grøntvedt Gjertsen and Yashar Hanstad, TYIN tegnestue Architects grew out of an initiative to provide sleeping accommodation for an orphanage in Thailand when the principals were only third-year architecture students. Norwegian architect Lisbet Harboe explains how the student-architects built up a practice while in schools by refocusing their studies and those of their peers on learning through their own experiences of construction.     

Capacity Building for the Water Sector in Mexico An Analysis of Recent Efforts

Abstract

Present and future improvements in efficiency of the water sector in Mexico depend on the development of a cadre of well-trained professional managers in the public and private sectors, as well as on the strengthening of the private and public sector institutions. Considerable investments are needed, but the efforts will pay back in terms of more rational policy-making and management practices. This paper analyzes several important exercises on capacity building in Mexico, which took place between 1990 and 2000. Present efforts on capacity building, achievements, and concerns are also considered in terms of the training and education needed to build a new generation of water professionals who can meet the current challenges and the needs of the coming decades. The needs of the water sector in terms of capacity building have been assessed in Mexico several times in the past. The conclusions and the results have always been the same: there is an urgent need to develop better educated managers and water professionals, both in terms of numbers and skills. Even though the needs have been identified repeatedly for over a decade, and despite continuous official rhetorics on the importance and urgency of capacity building, no long-term country-specific program on capacity building has yet been developed, let alone implemented.