On average, 44% of total water abstraction in Europe is used in agriculture. Evidence of water scarcity in Europe is borne out by research that shows increasing strain on water resources in 30% of EU member states. Current research seems to validate the view that wastewater treatment and reuse is a technical opportunity to address the imbalances between agricultural water demand and European water resources in the long term. Currently, just 2.4% of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are reused, and thus the water reuse potential in Europe remains high. This document reports on and analyses the performance of a prototype-scale plant installed to treat real wastewater in rural Spain using a Treat & Reuse Membrane Bioreactor (T&R MBR). It shows that the T&R MBR is an improvement on MBR operations due to the fact that it produced a solids-free, nutrient rich and high-quality permeate in which Escherichia Coli was removed to values < 1 ufc/100ml. Furthermore, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Turbidity and Suspended Solids (SS) were typically lowered to concentrations below the legal limit established in countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal. Additionally, the system was able to extract nutrients from the wastewater inflow and to retain them in the permeate at 80% and 60% of the Nitrogen (once transformed to Nitrates) and Phosphorous, respectively. These results, combined with the continuing reduction of capital and operating costs for the T&R MBRs, suggest that they are an increasingly cost-effective technology for producing treated effluents suitable for water reuse in agriculture. This study also suggests possible limitations regarding the fate of micro-pollutants during treatment. Nevertheless, the system works efficiently so long as the wastewater input meets the typical composition of raw municipal wastewater with minor contributions of industrial wastewater. This would imply low concentration of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) and Heavy Metals, as well as slight to moderate salinity (i.e. 0.7-3.0 dS/m). In spite of the fact that the T&R MBR technology can reduce the fresh water and fertilizer consumption of the agriculture sector, this system cannot be implemented in countries where the legislation restricts the reuse of effluents with significant concentrations of Nitrates and Phosphorous (e.g., Germany). Therefore, the present document suggests a set of technical criteria addressing the European challenges regarding water reuse in agriculture.

Tesis de Nicolás Osorio para optar al título de Doctor en Medicina, en la Facultad de Medicina de París, en 1865. A lo largo del documento, escrito en francés, Osorio analiza el comportamiento de los tumores que obstruyen el líquido cefalorraquídeo.

¿Es posible perdonar crímenes de lesa humanidad? Una respuesta a dicha pregunta sólo se puede alcanzar una vez se haya aclarado suficientemente el concepto de perdón y su relación con la justicia y el orden jurídico. Para ello la tesis explora las connotaciones religiosas del perdón, más exactamente el contexto judeocristiano del que proviene. De esta manera se busca una comprensión alternativa a la propuesta por Derrida según la cual el perdón es, en rigor, imposible. La tesis comienza por hacer un análisis de las teorías de Walter Benjamin acerca de la violencia y su relación con la ley. El resultado demuestra que todo orden jurídico es esencialmente violento desde su fundación, y por ende la figura de ‘crímenes de lesa humanidad’ forma parte de esta esfera de la violencia. Se explora la figura del mandamiento como alternativa a la ley penal. Posteriormente se exploran metáforas del perdón (perdón y olvido, poner la otra mejilla), para pasar luego a una relectura del evangelio según san Mateo, y así plantear una posible comprensión del perdón más allá de los límites de la soberanía y el ejercicio del poder. En este punto se recurre a la idea de ‘democracia por venir’ en la que el perdón aparece bajo una perspectiva mesiánica, sin la cual parece no hacer sentido. De esta manera se pretende restituir el fenómeno del perdón dentro de la tradición judeocristiana de la que proviene.

Résumé: Le sujet de recherche en Master 2 présenté dans le projet de mémoire ci-dessous, fait allusion à l’identification et l’analyse de La structure et le contenu de la Twittersphère politique colombienne afin de connaître ses particularités et ses différences avec l’espace public traditionnel, et par conséquent de pouvoir identifier un seul espace public politique pour le pays sud-américain. Nous allons donc parler d’un projet de recherche dont le but est de connaître la manière dont Twitter devient un outil d’échange d’idées et d’arguments politiques, dans une société où la participation de tous les citoyens est importante à l’heure de construire la démocratie. Dans ce projet de mémoire de Master 2, nous allons étudier le cas de messages politiques publiés sur Twitter afin de comparer ce qui se passe sur le réseau social numérique et les médias traditionnels comme la télévision et la presse au niveau politique, ainsi que la structure des acteurs qui y participent, et le contenu qu’ils produisent. Tout cela en utilisant les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication afin de savoir si elles peuvent élargir l’espace public traditionnel, traiter des sujets très divers et rassembler la réalité politique d’une société. Dans un premier temps, ce projet parlera de la communication politique qui dans certains cas a été appelée communication publique et qui est définie comme celle qui s’adresse aux membres d’une société aux caractéristiques particulières.Nous pouvons remarquer que dans toutes les sociétés du monde, il y a une relation directe entre les gouvernements et les hommes politiques avec leurs citoyens; afin de les informer de leurs décisions, politiques et projets, ainsi que pour donner la parole à la population pour contribuer au bon fonctionnement de la démocratie. Il y a une différence entre la communication politique, électorale et gouvernementale qui est exprimée ultérieurement dans le projet de recherche afin de bien définir le sujet traité. La Communication politique est fondée sur l’argument d’être un pont entre les citoyens et leur gouvernement et les hommes politiques.Elle est la deuxième étape de la communication publique et cherche à informer sur les fonctions, les actions et les stratégies des cadres directifs (élus ou candidats) en relation avec les pouvoirs publics, services publics et promouvoir les politiques de l’Etat. Néanmoins, il est important de souligner que ces dernières années la présence d’Internet comme stratégie de communication et d’information, a bouleversé les échanges et les contenus entre les membres d’une société commune. Il est aussi pertinent de parler de la relation entre la politique et la communication, ainsi que de faire une comparaison entre les pratiques de communication politique et les différentes positions de pouvoir qui sont conçues dans cet espace public. Pour cela, il faudra parler de sujets tels que l’information, l’exercice du pouvoir, la participation des citoyens et les processus d’élection. Ainsi, il est indispensable de savoir ce qu’est l’espace public pour trouver des problématiques intéressantes à étudier. Dans un deuxième temps, il est important de dire que la communication et les activités politiques se produisent dans des espaces que nous pouvons appeler : les espaces publics, c’est-à-dire, des lieux physiques ou normatifs où se produisent les échanges argumentatifs, les prises de parole et des décisions de nos sociétés modernes et démocratiques; par exemple, les médias comme la télévision et ses débats politiques, la presse, la radio, et plus récemment Internet comme support de communication et d’information, qui permet l’échange de propos sur des sujets variés comme la politique et l’interaction des acteurs multiples de la société. C’est pour cette raison que nous avons identifié l’importance d’Internet comme espace public pour la diffusion des contenus communicatifs à caractère politique, et surtout la pertinence des réseaux sociaux numériques comme Twitter dans la vie politique d’un pays. Compte tenu de ce qui précède, il est important de dire que ce travail est focalisé sur l’identification et l’analyse de la structure et du contenu de la communication politique colombienne dans la Twittersphère, afin de connaître qui sont ses acteurs les plus importants, les relations qu’il y a entre eux, les hiérarchies qu’y s’y dressent, les contenus qu’y s’y partagent et d’autres dynamiques permettant de faire une caractérisation de la communication politique qui s’établit dans les médias traditionnels et sur le réseau social Twitter comme espace alternatif, afin de trouver une seule réalité politique du pays, sachant que se sont produites les élections législatives et présidentielles pendant le premier semestre de 2014, mais que nous avons étudié exclusivement pour ce travail les élections législatives. Resumen: La red social Twitter se ha convertido en un espacio público alternativo que tiene como característica principal las interacciones virtuales entre miembros desconocidos de una sociedad, es por esta razón que este proyecto de investigación buscó identificar y analizar la estructura y el contenido del espacio público digital presente en esta plataforma de microblogging, con el fin de compararla con el espacio público político tradicional en Colombia. Este proyecto de investigación basó su marco teórico en tres ejes temáticos: la comunicación política, el espacio público y las redes sociales digitales, utilizando una metodología tradicional para analizar los contenidos presentes en la prensa y la televisión, al igual que una metodología digitalizada para analizar la cartografía web presente en las conversaciones digitales producidas en Twitter. La mezcla metodológica, así como temática logró identificar estructuras y contenidos tradicionales, al igual que espacios y comunidades netamente virtuales que no son fácilmente evidenciables en el espacio público de una sociedad como la colombiana. Este trabajo logró identificar que en Colombia el espacio público está dominado aún por las estructuras y los medios tradicionales, sin embargo existe un público que utiliza los soportes digitales como las redes sociales, para crear contrapeso a los poderes hegemónicos tradicionales del país. Cabe resaltar, que los cambios sociales y políticos no se fundamentan exclusivamente en la visibilización que proveen los medios sociales, sino que los electores deben hacer uso de su derecho al voto, puesto que a pesar que la comunicación sea el fundamento de la democracia, el voto es el que la valida y las redes sociales como Twitter no son aún generalizadas en todas las esferas de la sociedad.

This study presents an analysis on data from multiple power meters across Monash University in Australia. Special emphasis is made on the methodology to fill the missing values and fix the wrong data. Different techniques were used to analyse the data: visual analytics, k-means clustering and principal component analysis. Este estudio presenta un analisis de datos provenientes de multiples medidores de consumo eletrico en la Universidad Monash en Australia. Se hace especial enfasis en la metodologia para llenar los datos faltantes y depurar los existentes. Ademas de “visual analytics” se usaron diversas tecnicas, entre ellas: “principal component analysis” y “k-means clustering”.

Education policies in the last years have focused on access and at less extent quality of education. In the case of Colombia, and particularly in the city of Bogotá, they have also been characterized by their targeting nature, assigning scarce resources to students from low socio economic backgrounds in public schools. This study questions at what extent such policies can contribute to reduce social exclusion in the presence of a highly segmented society. It suggests that this kind of policies have contributed to raise accessibility and quality to education. However, they have failed in two ways: First, by their nature, they have strengthened a polarized or segmented education system, eroding social cohesion. Secondly, they have diverted attention from other non educational factors such as differentials in social capital that contribute to reproduce the unequal structures of society and thus generate social exclusion.

This thesis examines my theoretical research and practical experimentation performed over a period of 10 months concerning stereophonic recording arrays and the effect of Stereophonic Recording Angle (SRA) and Angular Distortion (AD), based on Williams’ research. In essence, the objective of this personal experience is to serve as a guide for any recording engineer or audio student interested in taking a closer look into stereophonic microphone arrays and its relation to the recorded stereo image. The emphasis made on the study of Stereophonic Recording Angle and Angular Distortion will provide the reader with the necessar information in order to decide which stereo microphone combination will provide the best result for any given recording situation. The research portion of this paper delivers a comprehensive approach to the fundamental physics and psychoacoustics involved in the recording and reproduction of stereophonic microphone techniques and how they relate to SRA and AD. Furthermore, the sections of analysis of the recording exercises and final recordings describe the methodology and results of hours of recorded rehearsals with several acoustic music ensembles at Middle Tennessee State University. 

Fee-for-service (FFS) payment system has been criticized for affecting quality of care, contributing to the fragmentation of health care, and for rising costs of health care systems. Alternative payment plans (APP) have been introduced as options to the traditional FFS. Despite a link between payment methods and behaviour of physicians has been established, there is a lack of evidence about the impact of payment systems on well-being (motivation and daily distress) of physicians. This dissertation explored the impact of APP on physicians’ perceptions of professional equity and daily distress. The following questions guided this dissertation: 1) Does professional equity perceived by physicians vary among practitioners paid by FFS, APP, or blended alternatives? 2) Is the payment method associated with daily distress of medical practitioners? and 3) Are levels of professional equity, daily distress, and career satisfaction of physicians different by gender and payment methods? In 2011, Physicians practicing in the Saskatoon Health Region, the largest health authority of Saskatchewan, Canada, completed a questionnaire evaluating their perceptions of professional equity and daily distress. In total, 382 (48.1%) physicians participated in the study. Response bias was tested and found to be negligible. The study identified that physicians paid by APP perceived higher professional equity (fair economic rewards and appropriate recognition) in comparison to those paid by FFS. Particularly, family practitioners (FPs) paid by APP perceived higher professional equity than those FPs paid by FFS. The payment method was identified as a factor associated with distress; lower levels of daily distress were predicted among physicians paid by APP who see high proportions of patients with complex conditions. Notwithstanding, female physicians had poorer well-being indicators and the impact of APP on professional equity was only distinguished among males. A potential unequal impact of APP must be recognized between female and male physicians.

Colombia is a privileged country with the amount of water it has, but due to the inadequate conjunction between hydric wealth and land use, we have lived in continuous tragedy, spending huge resources on ongoing reconstructions and helping the floods and landslides victims. However, floods are natural events, in many cases exacerbated by men’s actions over the territory; events to which no country is exempted, but with consequences that vary according to the characteristics of the duo people-territory and its relationships with the water bodies. This document, offers a review of the characteristics and criteria that define a river in good ecological status, and the anthropic pressures, with its impacts and effects over the water courses, deepening into the hydraulic risk, water quality and the disturbance of the natural environments. Continue presenting the “River Restoration” as a new form of river management, reasoning about the Colombian hydric problems, making emphasis on the pollution problems and disasters related to water; and suggesting solutions from the River Restoration perspective for some specific urban cases and linking this new fluvial hydraulic with the “National Police for Integral Management of the Hydric Resource”.

The present work aims to describe and analyse the influence of the reliability and maintainability of the pump systems on the overall plant availability. The study was developed into an aliphatic solvent plant situated in Colombia and owned by the state company Ecopetrol S.A. This plant is composed of six pump systems, each one of them with parallel redundancy, working in series. The first step during the process was the identification of the dominant failure modes for these pump systems according to historical maintenance information collected during the last nine years and recorded in the CMMS of the company. For these dominant failure modes a Weibull analysis was carried out in order to determine the main parameters of the failure probability distribution function and, in this way, to build a mathematical model useful for predictions of future failures. Additionally, a maintainability model was developed based on the current repair process capability of the work shop employed by the company. By employing reliability block diagrams the reliability dependencies between components, items, units, and systems were taking into account. A general model for the whole plant unit was built and several simulations were performed using Monte Carlo techniques. The simulation results were helpful to identify the more sensitive elements for the overall plant availability and suggest some maintenance and operational actions in order to reduce plant downtime and maintenance costs.