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Litter on beaches is one of the most difficult problems in coastal management and every year, much efforts and public money are invested to try to alleviate and solve the problem. Cigarette butts (CB) are among the most widespread abandoned personal items in the world. In Spain, they are found on all types of beaches, where they are discarded by beach users; however, rivers and streams can also deposit CB on shores. This paper analyses the abundance of CB on different beaches in Southern Spain in order to address and better understand this relevant environmental problem and propose sound solutions to decrease or eliminate their presence. The main factors favouring CB accumulation were identified, namely the seasonality and number of beach users, beach typology (remote, rural, village or urban sites), type of beach sediment and methods and frequency of cleaning operations. Mean and median CB abundance values per 100 m of beach length, calculated from all the data used in this study, were 159 and 68 items, respectively. The largest number of CB were observed at urban sites, followed by village, rural and remote beaches. Further, sand beaches registered higher values of CB than cobble or pebble beaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exposes the existing problems for optimal industrial preventive maintenance intervals when decisions are made with right-censored data obtained from a network of sensors or other sources. A methodology based on the use of the z transform and a semi-Markovian approach is presented to solve these problems and obtain a much more consistent mathematical solution. This methodology is applied to a real case study of the maintenance of large marine engines of vessels dedicated to coastal surveillance in Spain to illustrate its usefulness. It is shown that the use of right-censored failure data significantly decreases the value of the optimal preventive interval calculated by the model. In addition, that optimal preventive interval increases as we consider older failure data. In sum, applying the proposed methodology, the maintenance manager can modify the preventive maintenance interval, obtaining a noticeable economic improvement. The results obtained are relevant, regardless of the number of data considered, provided that data are available with a duration of at least 75% of the value of the preventive interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibromyalgia patients experience difficulties in their daily lives that are difficult to identify and recognize due to the stigma associated with the disease. Nurses can help identify them to establish biopsychosocial coping and treatment. The main aim of this study was to explore Spanish nurses' perceptions of the illness experiences of their fibromyalgia patients. Qualitative content analysis from the etic perspective was used. Eight nurses met in focus groups to report their perceptions of the illness experiences of FM patients after led group-based problem-solving therapy in fibromyalgia patients. Four themes emerged: (1) the presence of a "specific trigger" (stressful event) for FM symptoms; (2) fulfilling expected gender roles; (3) a lack of support from the family; (4) abuse. Nurses recognize the mind–body connection after the impact of stress on patients' bodies. The expected gender roles interfere with patients' recovery because they feel frustration and guilt about not being able to fulfil them. Managing emotions and improving communication in fibromyalgia is recommended. Clinicians might also consider issues such as abuse and the absence of social–family support for the comprehensive evaluation and effective management of fibromyalgia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on mathematics teachers' knowledge has generally focused more on mathematics concepts than mathematical processes. This paper addresses the latter with a focus on mathematical problem solving (PS). It reports on a study that investigated the pedagogical knowledge for PS of prospective elementary school teachers of mathematics (PTs). Participants were 149 PTs at a university in Spain. They were at the end of their teacher education program. Data sources consisted of a questionnaire on knowledge of learning PS and a questionnaire on knowledge of teaching PS. Findings indicated that the PTs held combination of different levels of knowledge of PS learning and teaching. Many of them demonstrated appropriate knowledge of many characteristics for (1) PS learning consisting of student as a problem-solver, PS as a worthwhile task, non-cognitive factor related to PS, and (2) PS teaching consisting of PS teaching approaches, discourse in PS, intervention during stuck state in PS, PS assessment, and PS resources. However, there were also contradictions and limitations to their knowledge with implications for teacher education. These combination of appropriate and inappropriate knowledge resulted in some conflicts that are related to teaching actions and would limit student' learning of PS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teaching guides that complement textbooks have key importance in the assessment of competence in problem solving, because these materials contain the assessment tools that teachers frequently use to quantify the achievements of their students. In this paper, we set two aims: to analyze which curriculum contents are given priority in the assessment tests of the teaching guides; and to check to what extent these tests assess the steps of the mathematical problem solving process. For this, an analysis of the initial and final assessment tests of six Spanish publishers was conducted. The results show that the distribution of mathematical tasks by type of content does not fully conform to the theoretical framework proposed by TIMSS. In addition, only one of the six publishers considered the problem-solving process as evaluable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the sensor technology and its applications in Spain. He says that researchers on sensor technology must consider the capabilities of the sensors, the significance of sensors in problem solving, and the methods for data processing as supplied by the sensors. He mentions the capabilities of various sensor devices including wireless sensor networks, sonar sensors, and bio-chemical sensors. He adds that intelligent-based architectures are ideal for multisensory integration.

In order to solve connectivity problems in metropolitan areas, the development of underground metro lines constitutes an unquestionable requirement. However, the construction work thereof encounters unfavourable circumstances when surface excavations must be carried out that cross historical areas of the city, due to the need to control surface movements. The design of the metro in the city of Seville (Spain) from 2004 to 2006 provides a representative example of this situation and triggered major upheavals that exerted repercussions on historical buildings. For these reasons, the excavation stages of Line 1 of this metro have been simulated by numerical methods using FLAC3D software and validated with the results provided by the real conditions. Consequently, various surface settlements have been evaluated by taking not only variates of the main parameters that characterise the soil of Seville, but also of the various load situations and excavation conditions. Notable results have been achieved through calibration of 54 variants of the same model corresponding to Line 1, and their comparison with the real results obtained in nine critical areas of the itinerary. The results obtained have made it possible to determine the effects of excavation on the subsoil of the city of Seville with great accuracy, since the percentage error of calculated vertical surface movements varies from 0.1% to 5.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice straw is a residue that causes significant environmental problems, as burning it causes CO2 and ash emissions, while buried waste can cause issues associated with eutrophication. The extraction of straw from fields for alternative uses may contribute to solving these problems, but research into its economic viability is necessary. The straw can be used for crop mulching, biofuel, bedding for livestock, and so on. In this study, we analyse the work carried out by straw harvesting machines (rakes, balers, bundlers, and loaders) and calculate the costs of packing, road-siding, and transportation of the straw from the rice fields to stockage points in the producer area, as well as to locations outside of the rice production area, in order to assess the viability. The costs of all elemental operations were calculated. The costs of all the operations included between raking and unloading in the producer area stocking point ranged between 28.1 and 51 EUR t−1. These costs were compared with the price of rain-fed cereal straw (wheat and barley), which is the most abundant, noting that the years in which rain-fed cereal straw reached high prices, rice straw could serve as a competitive product; however, in years when the former is cheap, it would be necessary to subsidise the harvesting of rice straw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]