Can the periphery achieve core? The case of the automobile components industry in Spain

The paper analyses changes experienced by Spain as a European peripheral region in the automobile global value chain (GVC). Our attention is focused on both spatial concentration of value‐added and high‐skill activities, and generation of technology in the components industry. The analysis of plants set up (investments) and relocated (divestments) by multinationals (MNEs) between 2001 and 2010 shows that Spain is no longer a place for labour‐intensive activities and standardized processes using simple technologies in comparison with other peripheral regions. However, the continuing majority presence of foreign‐owned companies is limiting decision power for generating and transferring technology, concentrating it mainly in the areas in which Spanish MNEs are specialized.     

Development of Hybrid Polymeric Materials Based on Thiol‐Ene/Cationic Formulations

Novel materials were prepared from dual photo and thermal polymerization of hybrid thiol‐ene/cationic systems. In the first stage, the thiol‐ene system proceeded to high conversions, while the cationic photopolymerization was inhibited. The formation of sulfides during this stage was the main factor for the inhibition of the cationic photopolymerization of the epoxy monomers. Once those sulfides were formed, they reacted with the oxonium‐terminated growing polyether chains to form trialkylsulfonium salts. These salts promoted the thermal polymerization of the epoxy monomers in the second stage. The viscoelastic properties of the resulting polymers were measured by DMA.

     

Postpyloric enteral nutrition in the critically ill child with shock: a prospective observational study

Objective-

Insulin resistance (IR) is an important risk factor for type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Metabolic Syndrome (MS) is a clustering of metabolic alterations associated to IR; however, there is no international consensus for defining its diagnosis. Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of MS identified by the ATP III and IDF criteria in adults from Talca city.

Research and methods-

We studied 1007 individuals, aged 18–74, and residents from Talca. MS subjects were defined according to ATP III (three altered factors) and IDF criteria (patients with waist circumference >80/90 cm (W/M) and two others altered factors).

Results-

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to the IDF and ATP III criteria was 36.4% and 29.5%, respectively after adjustment for age and sex. The agreement for both criteria was 89%. The prevalence in men was higher than in women for both MS definitions, although not significant. MS probability increased with age, and the highest risk was in the 57–68 age group (ATP-MS) and 53–72 age group (IDF-MS). Hypertension, high triglycerides and abdominal obesity are the most frequent alterations in MS.

Conclusion-

MS prevalence in adults was higher when diagnosed with IDF than with ATP criterion; in both, age is directly related with the MS presence. The MS subjects showed higher levels of blood pressure, waist circumference and plasma triglycerides. Considering our results, it is worrisome that one third of our population has a high risk of developing DM2 and CVD in the future.     

Noncovalent functionalization of carbon nanotubes with porphyrins: meso-tetraphenylporphine and its transition metal complexes

Noncovalent functionalization of carbon nanotubes with meso-tetraphenylporphine (H2TPP) and its metal(II) complexes NiTPP and CoTPP was studied by means of different experimental techniques and theoretical calculations. As follows from the experimental adsorption curves, free H2TPP ligand exhibits the strongest adsorption of three porphyrins tested, followed by CoTPP and NiTPP. At the highest porphyrin concentrations studied, the adsorption at multi-walled carbon nanotubes was about 2% (by weight) for H2TPP, 1% for CoTPP, and 0.5% for NiTPP. Transmission electron microscopy observations revealed carbon nanotubes with a variable degree of surface coverage with porphyrin molecules. According to scanning electron microscopy, the nanotubes glue together rather than debundle; apparently, a large porphyrin excess resulting in polymolecular adsorption is essential for exfoliation/debundling of the nanotube ropes. The nanotube/porphyrins hybrids were studied by infrared and Raman spectroscopy, as well as by scanning tunneling microscopy. Electronic structure calculations were performed at the B3LYP/LANL2MB theoretical level with the unsubstituted porphine (H2P) and its Co(II) complex, on one hand, and open-end armchair (5,5) (ANT) and zigzag (8,0) (ZNT) SWNT models, on the other hand. The interaction of H2P with ANT was found to be by 3.9 kcal mol(-1) stronger than that of CoP. At the same time, CoP+ZNT complex is more stable by 42.7 kcal mol(-1) as compared to H2P+ZNT According to these calculated results, the free porphyrins interact less selectively with zigzag and armchair (i.e., semiconducting and metallic) nanotubes, whereas the difference becomes very large for the metal porphyrins. HOMO-LUMO structure, electrostatic potential and spin density distribution for the paramagnetic cobalt(II) complexes were analyzed.     

Ozonation and advanced oxidation technologies to remove endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water effluents

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) constitute a promising technology for the treatment of wastewaters containing pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and especially endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Data concerning the degradation of PPCPs and EDCs by means of AOPs reported during the period January 2000-May 2007 are evaluated in this work. Ozonation was the oxidation process most studied, gives the best expectatives to be applied with successful results.     

Radiocaesium and natural gamma emitters in mushrooms collected in Spain

Mushrooms can accumulate heavy metals in general, including radionuclides found in the nature. However, little attention has been paid to the radioactive content of mushrooms collected in Spain and the dose for the population due to their ingestion. To address this, we analysed the contents of 137Cs, 40K, 226Ra and 7Be present in different species of mushrooms, according to their genus and nutritional mechanism. We observed that mycorrhizal mushrooms accumulate 137Cs more than saprophytes, and vice versa for 7Be. 40K and 226Ra are accumulated to the same degree by the two groups of mushrooms. We estimated the dose due to ingestion of mushrooms in Spain to be 2 microSv/year, and the contribution of 40K and 226Ra to be generally greater than that of 137Cs. The contribution of 137Cs to the dose was calculated by taking into account the results of an experiment carried out under the controlled laboratory conditions, which showed that approximately 98% of 134Cs was associated with the readily digestible fraction of the mushrooms.     

Control electronic platform based on floating-point DSP and FPGA for a NPC multilevel back-to-back converter

Modern energy concepts as Distributed Power Generation are changing the appearance of electric distribution and transmission and challenging power electronics researchers, which try to develop new solutions of electronic controllers. The aim is to enable the implementation of new and more complex control algorithms to verify the last standards related to the grid energy quality for new power converters, and, also, for equipments which nowadays are operating. This paper presents the design, implementation and test of a novel real-time controller for a Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) (three-level) multilevel converter based on a floating-point Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and on a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), by operating in a cooperative way. Although the proposed system can be readily applied to any power electronic application, in this work, it is focused on the next system: a 150 kVA back-to-back three-level NPC Voltage Source Converter (VSC) for wind power applications.