El Ejido Research Articles

A methodology for feasibility analyses of district heating networks: A case study applied to greenhouse crops

In this article, the preliminary routing, sizing, and cost structure of a heat network that supplies energy, in an agrarian district, to greenhouses located around a cogeneration plant in the municipality of El Ejido (Almería) is presented. A genetic algorithm is employed to select a set of points of consumption (plots of land)–which indirectly determine the network routing over the road network–resulting in a project with a better net present value. To obtain the routing, the Steiner tree problem is solved through an approximation that involves several algorithms derived from graph theory and the use of georeferenced information. The design is constrained to ensure technical feasibility, so that the available thermal power from the plant, averaged for hourly periods over a year, is greater than the demand from the greenhouses. The said demand is calculated through an empty-greenhouse climate model, considering temperature setpoints compatible with the most common crops in the region. According to the results, a network of total length equal to 1.3464 km and an average pipe diameter of 0.1532 m would be required to annually supply 8621.4 MWh of heat to 12 points of consumption. The net present value of the project would be 6 417 900 €, considering a 3% discount rate and useful life of 30 years, with an initial investment cost of 1 723 300 € and an annual operation cost of 15 800 €year−1. A sensibility analysis of the variables with greater economic impact is also presented.

Global energy assessment of the potential of photovoltaics for greenhouse farming

Agrivoltaic (APV) systems have emerged as a promising solution to reduce the land-use competition between PV technology and agriculture. Despite its potential, APV is in a learning stage and it is still necessary to devote big efforts to investigate its actual potential and outdoor performance. This work is focused on the analysis of APV systems in agriculture greenhouses at global scale in terms of energy yield. To conduct this study, we introduce here a novel dual APV model, which is projected in four representative locations with a high crop cultivation greenhouse implantation, i.e. El Ejido (Spain), Pachino (Italy), Antalya (Turkey) and Vicente Guerrero (Mexico), and for 15 representative plant cultivars from 5 different important socioeconomic families of crops, i.e. Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Solanacae, Poaceae, Rosaceae. At this stage, semi-transparent c-Si PV technology has been considered due its high efficiency and reliability. The results show that APV systems could have a transparency factor around 68% without significantly affecting the total crop photosynthetic rate. Taking this into account, APV systems would produce an average annual energy around 135 kWh/m2, and values around 200 kWh/m2 under a favourable scenario. This could represent a contribution to the total market share between 2.3% (México) and 6% (Turkey), and up to 100% of the consumption demand of greenhouses equipped with heating and cooling (GSHP), and lighting.

First report of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus in tomato in Spain.

In October 2019, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants showing chlorosis and brown necrosis in apical leaflets and rugose surface in fruits were observed in a greenhouse in Vicar, Almería, Spain. A total of 0.5% of the tomato plants in the greenhouse (1,38 ha) showed these symptoms. The presence of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) was suspected. A total of 5 symptomatic and 2 symptomless leaf samples were collected and analyzed by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA with antibodies for ToBRFV, tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) (Loewe Biochemica, Germany). Symptomatic samples tested positive by DAS-ELISA only for ToBRFV. Therefore, one sample was selected and analyzed by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR with specific primers ToBRFV-F5722/ToBRFV-R6179 for ToBRFV (Panno et al. 2019a) which amplified a 458 bp fragment of the coat protein gene. The sequence obtained by Sanger sequencing from the amplicon showed 99.7% nt identity with ToBRFV isolate from United Kingdom (Acc. No. MN182533) and was deposited in the GenBank database under the accession number MT211630. Further surveys were performed in Vicar and El Egido (Almería, Spain) on plants showing viral-like symptoms. A total of 50 tomato and two pepper leaf samples from 28 greenhouses were collected and analyzed by DAS-ELISA for ToBRFV, TMV, ToMV, pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) , tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) with respective antibodies (Loewe Biochemica, Germany). Five tomato plants (four from Vicar and one from El Ejido) tested positive for ToBRFV. PepMV, ToMV and TYLCV were also detected in one, three and five tomato plants, respectively. The ELISA positive results for ToBRFV were confirmed by end point RT-PCR with primer pairs ToBRFV-F5722/ToBRFV-R6179 and ToBRFV-F/ToBRFV-R (Alkouni et al., 2019) and by real-time RT-PCR with Taqman probe ToB-probe and specific primers ToB5520F/ToB5598R (Panno et al., 2019b). Tomato seeds used for plantation in these greenhouses were also analyzed, but ToBRFV was not detected. Eradication measures have been undertaken to prevent the virus spread and to control this outbreak. Official seed analysis by DAS-ELISA and real time RT-PCR (ISF, 2019) are being conducted on the tomato and pepper imported seeds to prevent the appearance of new sources of ToBRFV inoculum in Spain.

TERRITORIAL EXPLORATION TO IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATION ON HISTORIC URBAN LANDSCAPES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AREA OF EL EJIDO IN CUENCA, ECUADOR

Abstract. Cuenca in Ecuador is a growing city, weak in the face of the changes that the expansion phenomenon implies. The area of El Ejido was the first expansion area of the city with valuable samples of the arrival of modernity in the city. Nowadays, this sector is not exempted from the effects of urban growth and deserves to be managed through a proper management plan for its preservation. Degraded landscapes have been identified, modern heritage architecture shows clear symptoms of abandonment and low maintenance, causing the disappearance of historic buildings. Given these and other problems associated with urban development, Cuenca, like other cities, has taken the initiative of adopting the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) adopted by UNESCO in 2011, as a measure to safeguard urban heritage. In 2014, the implementation of this relatively new approach was first initiated in the pilot area of the Historic City Centre of Cuenca. This area was included in the World Heritage List in 1999 based on criteria II, IV, and V.However, aware of the significant heritage values embedded at El Ejido and its close urban and landscape link with the Historical City Center, the aim of this research is the implementation of the HUL’s approach in a specific area located in El Ejido. Due to the clear difference between this sector and the Historical City Center, it is necessary to assess the first methodology used and work on a methodology that can be extrapolated to this sector and further on to other sectors of the city. To obtain the methodology for this area, it is essential to carry out a territorial exploration in cities with similar characteristics to Cuenca that are implementing an approach based on the study of the Historical Urban Landscape Recommendation.

Interhospital Transfers of a Mobile Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Team for Maastricht III Donations

ObjectiveThe objective is to describe the donations made with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a method of preservation to meet the characteristics of the donors and the transplants obtained. MethodsThis was a retrospective descriptive study, using the donation registration data made at Virgen de las Nieves Hospital from 2010 to February 2018. ResultsA total of 11 transfers occurred: 2 to the province of Jaen (Jaen Hospital, 92 km from Virgen de las Nieves Hospital; San Agustín Hospital, Linares, 136 km), 1 to Santa Ana Hospital, Motril (68 km), 1 to Poniente Hospital, El Ejido, Almeria (137 km), and 7 trips within the city of Granada.From these donations, a total of 21 kidneys, 3 livers, 10 corneal transplants, 4 extractions of osteotendinous tissue, and 1 extraction of vascular tissue were obtained. ConclusionExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation mobile teams can enable donation in controlled donation after circulatory death with normothermic preservation in hospitals without these resources, which increases the donor group and optimizes graft results.

A New Species of Alphasida Escalera, 1905 from South-Eastern Spain (Insecta: Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Alphasida (Alphasida) perezveraisp. nov. is described from areas near El Ejido, in Almeria province, South Eastern Spain. It is a one of the glabrous species in a subgenus where most taxa have a peculiar velvety pubescence on elytra. This new species correspond to A. geminaKoch, 1944, not available according to the Code (ICZN 1999) because being originally described as Alphasida lorcana ssp. mendizabali forma geminaKoch, 1944, an infrasubspecific name as a fourth name added to a trinomen. Habitus and aedeagus of the new species and its velvety “homologue” species A. mendizabaliKoch, 1944 are illustrated.

ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT OF VIEWS UNDER THE CONSIDERATIONS OF HISTORICAL URBAN LANDSCAPE (HUL). CASE STUDY CUENCA, ECUADOR

Abstract. The cities have developed over time responding to various urban dynamics, in this process have been configured representative images, product of the synergy created between the natural elements of the environment and those built by the communities. The analysis of visuals, materializes a landscape value, not evidenced at the time of planning and design projects for cities with value surroundings; you can take as an example those good practices that other countries have implemented to assess, preserve and protect views such as English Heritage (2011), London View Management Framework (2012) or View Protection Guidelines of the city of Vancouver (2011). The methodological analyzes the view in two stages: the first one strategic points of observation and view basins are identified and described as element integrators – what is seen, and through citizen participation accepts or does not accept the evaluation criteria; in the second, the view is evaluated through the relationship between quality and incidence, giving it an assessment of how fragile it is. The application of the methodology in the area known as El Ejido in the city of Cuenca – Ecuador, has resulted in a total of twentyeight visuals considered relevant. Nine of them, have been analyzed completely, evidencing that there is a view quality very High / High; nevertheless, they are affected by urban actions that generate that the incidence is High and therefore the fragility and vulnerability is greater.

Joint analysis of Rayleigh-wave dispersion curves and diffuse-field HVSR for site characterization: The case of El Ejido town (SE Spain)

The location of El Ejido town over a deep sedimentary basin in a zone of high seismicity in the Spanish context has motivated research on its seismic response characterization. To this aim, S-wave velocity models have been obtained from joint inversion of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves and full-wavefield modelling of the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio of ambient noise (HVSR) under the diffuse field assumption (DFA). Combination of spatial autocorrelation surveys (SPAC) with array apertures of several hundred metres and HVSRs displaying low-frequency peaks allowed to characterize deep ground features down to the Triassic bedrock. Predominant periods in the town ranged from 0.8 to 2.3 s, growing towards the SE, with few secondary peaks at higher frequencies.The shallow structure has been explored by means of geotechnical surveys, Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) and SPAC analysis in small-aperture arrays. Resulting models support a general classification of the ground as stiff soil.

Oxidation mechanisms of amoxicillin and paracetamol in the photo-Fenton solar process

The present study shows the results of solar photo-Fenton oxidation of paracetamol (PCT) and amoxicillin (AMX). Fe2(SO4)3 was used as the source of iron and EDDS as the iron complexing agent, employing different doses of hydrogen peroxide. Two aqueous matrices, a synthetic wastewater and real wastewater from El Ejido WWTP effluent (Almeria) were used. In all cases, the process was operated under conditions of natural sunlight.Results showed that the degradation of both drugs is favoured when the aqueous matrix presents low concentration of carbonates. Under the conditions studied here, degradation percentages above 90% were obtained in the synthetic wastewater and 80% in the actual effluent. The degradation products were determined using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry with hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight analyser. The intermediates detected throughout the oxidative process for both micro-contaminants were mainly products of hydroxylation reactions.The toxicity of the samples was determined using the bacterium Vibrio fischeri. In the acute toxicity test, it was observed that the bacteria did not undergo inhibition in any of the cases. However, chronic toxicity studies showed that the higher the Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) employed in the assays, the higher the bacterial inhibition.

Confusion and frustration as catalysts for change: ‘rich points’ in multicultural education

ABSTRACTDespite compelling need for transformational approaches to multiculturalism, the measures in place at many schools may be works in progress. Based on twelve months of fieldwork at the secondary-school level in El Ejido, Spain, and longitudinal interviews with key participants, this article examines conflicting articulations of race, racism, and civility shaping interactions in state mandated intercultural education courses. Interweaving analysis of in-class exchanges with attention to textual/audiovisual inputs and socio-historical contexts, this article employs a discourse-centred approach to untangle the tensions shaping local interpretations of race and racism, based particularly on the experiences of marginalised Moroccan immigrant youth. Drawing on Michael Agar’s notion of ethnographic ‘rich points’, or points of misunderstanding, I argue that the perspectives of diverse learners be leveraged to mindfully reconfigure top-down curricula through attention to distinctly local understandings of difference and inequality.

The White Whale. Offshore Architecture in the Almerian Camp.

The concept offshore has two meanings; the first on means literally in the sea far away from or at a distance from the coast; and the second one refers to what is made, situated, or registered abroad; especially in order to obtain benefits of lower taxes and costs, or from a less strict regulation. It is hard to notice offshore architectures, either because they remain conveniently hidden or because their existence has been assimilated too naturally.
 El Ejido in Almería, Spain, is a place blessed with 3000 hours of sunshine a year. This motivates that both, agriculture and tourism choose to settle in it. Campo de Dalías, one of the world's most important intensive agriculture sites, shines like a vast sea of ​​plastic. Tourism and delocalized food production coexist without any contact in this former agricultural colony.
 The sunshine hours, the immigrant workers and the logistics infrastructure have turned Almería into a participant of the global network. Mobile and seasonal, this highly technological urbanism is extremely complex and very sensitive to fluctuations in world order. These enclaves are areas that anticipate a new form of transnational network of displaced urban spaces.

Predictive Diagnosis of Agricultural Periurban Areas Based on Territorial Indicators: Comparative Landscape Trends of the So-Called “Orchard of Europe”

The Mediterranean southeastern area of Spain has traditionally been known as the “Orchard of Europe”. This configuration, which is based fundamentally on traditional agriculture in periurban areas, has evolved in recent decades as a consequence of the sophistication of the agrifood processes transforming its landscape. In addition, tourism, the growth of cities, and the impact of the real estate bubble between 1995 and 2007 have configured important alterations which have generated heterogeneous phenomena in these periurban areas. The present article studies this process by analyzing the evolution of the territory and diagnosing its transformation at a large scale. The evolution of three very representative periurban and similar in size environments of this so-called Europe’s orchard will be compared by using different GIS tools: the El Ejido area, the Campo de Cartagena—Mar Menor area and the Huerta de Murcia area. Through the implementation of different territorial indicators, the current issues will be established from an objective and quantifiable perspective. Moreover, possible future scenarios for 2030 will be raised according to the current transformation trends. This approach will lead us to consider the concept of life cycle in the transformation process of a territory.

Diagnóstico de factores de riesgo del rechazo social a inmigrantes en un municipio del Poniente Almeriense según un modelo Logit

The Almeria municipality of El Ejido in the western part of Almeria faces an unprecedented migratory reality as in the whole of Spain. For this study, we assessed the socio-demographic variables and the perceived realistic threat as risk factors that could influence the level of anxiety over perceived symbolic threat in the Municipality of El Ejido (Almeria). Ordinal logit models were adjusted for the identification of risk factors according to the type of variables considered, as well as for the classification of individuals at a specific level of response. The predicted causes of classification were interpreted at one level, in the variables that proved to be significant and could be considered as risk factors.

Four low central vowels in Eastern Andalusian Spanish: /a/ before underlying /-s/, /-r/, and /-θ/ in El Ejido

Abstract Coda-final consonant deletion has been extensively documented in Eastern Andalusian Spanish; however, its effects on neighbouring segments is still unknown. Scholars working on consonant deletion in Eastern Andalusian Spanish have mainly focused on /s/, given the semantic importance of this consonant in Spanish. As a result, other consonants which are often deleted syllable-finally in this geolect have been studied to a much lesser degree. The present paper aims to expand the traditional view on vowel doubling by analysing /-s/, /-r/, and /-Ɵ/ deletion before /a/. Firstly, the speech of 24 speakers from El Ejido (Eastern Andalusia) is analysed to ascertain how the deletion of word final /s/, /r/, and /Ɵ/ changes the quality of a preceding /a/. Secondly, a perception test is carried out with native speakers from the local area to confirm whether these speakers can differentiate perceptually between word-final /a/ and /a/ preceding underlying /-s/, /-r/, or /-Ɵ/. This paper presents two main conclusions: 1) /-s/, /-r/, and /-Ɵ/ deletion changes the quality of a preceding /a/ to different degrees; 2) EAS speakers can identify whether /a/ is followed or not by an underlying /-s/, /-r/, or /-Ɵ/, but they cannot identify which consonant has been deleted in each case.

High prevalence and diversity of HIV-1 non-B genetic forms due to immigration in southern Spain: A phylogeographic approach.

Phylogenetic studies are a valuable tool to understand viral transmission patterns and the role of immigration in HIV-1 spread. We analyzed the spatio-temporal relationship of different HIV-1 non-B subtype variants over time using phylogenetic analysis techniques. We collected 693 pol (PR+RT) sequences that were sampled from 2005 to 2012 from naïve patients in different hospitals in southern Spain. We used REGA v3.0 to classify them into subtypes and recombinant forms, which were confirmed by phylogenetic analysis through maximum likelihood (ML) using RAxML. For the main HIV-1 non-B variants, publicly available, genetically similar sequences were sought using HIV-BLAST. The presence of HIV-1 lineages circulating in our study population was established using ML and Bayesian inference (BEAST v1.7.5) and transmission networks were identified. We detected 165 (23.4%) patients infected with HIV-1 non-B variants: 104 (63%) with recombinant viruses in pol: CRF02_AG (71, 43%), CRF14_BG (8, 4.8%), CRF06_cpx (5, 3%) and nine other recombinant forms (11, 6.7%) and unique recombinants (9, 5.5%). The rest (61, 37%) were infected with non-recombinant subtypes: A1 (30, 18.2%), C (7, [4.2%]), D (3, [1.8%]), F1 (9, 5.5%) and G (12, 7.3%). Most patients infected with HIV-1 non-B variants were men (63%, p < 0.001) aged over 35 (73.5%, p < 0.001), heterosexuals (92.2%, p < 0.001), from Africa (59.5%, p < 0.001) and living in the El Ejido area (62.4%, p<0.001). We found lineages of epidemiological relevance (mainly within Subtype A1), imported primarily through female sex workers from East Europe. We detected 11 transmission clusters of HIV-1 non-B Subtypes, which included patients born in Spain in half of them. We present the phylogenetic profiles of the HIV-1 non-B variants detected in southern Spain, and explore their putative geographical origins. Our data reveals a high HIV-1 genetic diversity likely due to the import of viral lineages that circulate in other countries. The highly immigrated El Ejido area acts as a gateway through which different subtypes are introduced into other regions, hence the importance of setting up epidemiological control measures to prevent future outbreaks.

Urban Visions. Beyond the Ideal City | Report from the Habitat III Village, Pop-up Public Space

&lt;p&gt;‘Urban Visions. Beyond the Ideal City’ was an event held at Habitat III, the United Nations conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, in Ecuador, included in a series of meetings and events at the Pop-up Public Space, Habitat III Village, in Parque El Ejido in Quito. On 26&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; October 2016, we presented two research projects aiming at community engagement on issues related to the future of the urban environment:&lt;br /&gt;- the "InstaBooth", a telephone booth-inspired portable structure developed at the Urban Informatics Lab of the Queensland University of Technology - &lt;a href="http://www.urbaninformatics.net/projects/instabooth/"&gt;http://www.urbaninformatics.net/projects/instabooth/&lt;/a&gt; - which uses tangible and hybrid interaction such as multi-touch screens and media façades to facilitate face-to-face and digitally mediated discussions;&lt;br /&gt;- the cinematography competition "Urban Visions. Beyond the Ideal City", promoted by City Space Architecture - &lt;a href="http://www.cityspacearchitecture.org/?p=urban-visions-beyond-the-ideal-city"&gt;http://www.cityspacearchitecture.org/?p=urban-visions-beyond-the-ideal-city&lt;/a&gt; - which is the first film competition in the Italian context involving film-makers at a professional level on topics related to cities and urbanity.&lt;/p&gt;

Four mid back vowels in Eastern Andalusian Spanish

AbstractThe deletion of syllable-final consonants in Eastern Andalusian Spanish has been extensively documented; however, there is no consensus about its effect on neighbouring vowels. Researchers have focused on the effects of /s/ deletion on vowels to analyse how its semantic value is conveyed, while other consonants which are also deleted have been ignored. This paper examines the effects of word-final /s/, /r/, and /θ/ deletion on preceding /o/ from the point of view of production and perception. Regarding production, acoustic analyses of data from El Ejido (Eastern Andalusia), show specific changes to the F1 and F2 of /o/ depending on the underlying consonant it precedes (/s/, /r/, or /θ/). Likewise, a perception test demonstrates that Eastern Andalusian speakers can distinguish between more types of mid back vowels than previously thought.

Working for social sustainability: insights from a Spanish organic production enclave

ABSTRACTCan the emergence of organic agriculture in global enclaves of food production be interpreted as contributing to more socially sustainable agriculture? This article discusses three narratives from semistructured interviews with farmers, farmworkers, and trade union representatives in the case of El Ejido, Spain. Here, organic agriculture can be seen to offer a small degree of breathing space from the harshest dynamics of conventional industrial food systems. In conclusion, in this case, the study shows that organic agriculture has been accompanied by experiences of small social sustainability gains and opportunities for workers and farmers, in a particularly challenging context.

Manejo de la fertilización fosforada en el cultivo de maíz, El Ejido, Panamá 2004-2013.

&lt;p class="p1"&gt;El objetivo del presente trabajo fue determinar, en el cultivo de maíz, el efecto del manejo de la fertilización fosforada a mediano y largo plazo con dos métodos de aplicación. Se estableció un experimento en El Ejido, Panamá, del 2004 al 2013 en un suelo Udic Haplustalf. Se evaluaron dos componentes en un factorial 5 x 4 con arreglo de fajas bajo un diseño de bloques al azar con tres repeticiones. En la parcela principal se aplicó P al voleo en dosis de 0, 25, 50, 75 y 100 kgP/ha (aplicado sólo el primer año), en las sub-parcelas se aplicó durante diez años, P en banda junto al N y K en dosis de 0, 10, 20 y 30 kgP/ha. El máximo rendimiento de grano se logró con la aplicación acumulada de 304 kg (en promedio 30,4 kgP/año). El efecto residual de las aplicaciones de 0 y 25 kgP/ha al voleo presentaron un rendimiento relativo por debajo del 80%. El tratamiento de 50 kgP/ha se mantuvo en 82%, mientras que el de 75 disminuyó a partir del año 2007 a un valor cercano al 80%. El tratamiento de 100 kgP/ha al voleo presentó un rendimiento relativo cercano al 100%. La aplicación al voleo de más de 50 kgP/ha no difirió de la respuesta obtenida con aplicaciones anuales de 30 P/ha en los primeros cinco años. Estos resultados sugieren que el efecto residual de la aplicación del fósforo al voleo e incorporado previo a la siembra, bajo el tipo de suelo empleado varió según la dosis aplicada inicialmente, en donde las dosis superiores a 50 kg/ha deben repetirse después de seis años para mantener una buena productividad, ya que, a partir de este tiempo el efecto residual se redujo en forma drástica.&lt;/p&gt;

Selección de estadísticos para la estimación de la precisión experimental en ensayos de maíz.

The objective of this study was to select the most optimal statistic to estimate the experimental accuracy and to assess the Coefficient of Variation often used to estimate the validity of experiments. For the analysis, 406 trials were included; from research conducted at El Ejido Experimental Station and at cornfields of contributing producers of Azuero Region, Panama, during 2000-2013. To each trial it was calculated the various components of variance or Mean Square (MS), Coefficient of Variation (CV), Repeatability, Rank, Least Significant Differences (LSD), Standard Error (SE), Coefficient of determination (R2) of treatment and residual. We found that the CV is more related than repeatability with the overall mean of the experiment (correlation index of 0.57 vs. 0.24), thus being less robust to indicate experimental accuracy. Increasing the number of repetitions of experiments with the same MS Error reduced the SE and increased accuracy. The repeatability of the experiment was highly related to both treatments R2 (0.93) and the unexplained fraction model (0.87), in contrast with the CV (0.23 and 0.23, respectively). When repeatability and CV were linked to the DMS/Range ratio, it was found that repeatability is highly correlated (R2 = 0.76) with this ratio, while the CV provided an R2 of 0.18. This result suggests that the repeatability is a better indicator than the CV for good experimental accuracy.