University of Extremadura

About: University of Extremadura is a education organization based out in Badajoz, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Hyperspectral imaging. The organization has 7856 authors who have published 18299 publications receiving 396126 citations. The organization is also known as: Universidad de Extremadura.

Preservice Teachers‘ Classroom Practice and Their Conceptions of the Nature of Science

Abstract: The present article describes research carried out in Badajoz (Spain) with student teachers of Primary and Secondary science education. The preservice teachers‘ conceptions of the nature of science were analyzeda and compared with their classroom practice when teaching a science lesson. The results indicated that there was no correspondence between the conceptions of the nature of science and the classroom practice. The implications of the research for science teacher education are dealt with.

An approach based on current and sound signals for in-process tool wear monitoring

Abstract: This paper presents a tool condition monitoring system (TCMS) for on-line tool wear monitoring in turning. The proposed TCMS was developed taking into account the necessary trade-off between cost and performance to be applicable in practice, in addition to a high success rate. The monitoring signals were the feed motor current and the sound signal. The former was used to estimate the feed cutting force using the least squares version of support vector machines (LS-SVM). Singular spectrum analysis (SSA) was used to extract information correlated with tool wear from the sound signal. The estimated feed cutting force and the SSA decomposition of the sound signal alone with the cutting conditions constitute the input data to the TCMS. Again LS-SVM was used to estimate tool condition and its reliability for on-line implementation was validated by experiments using AISI 1040 steel. The results showed that the proposed TCMS is fast and reliable for tool condition monitoring.

Determination of Surface Tension and Contact Angle from the Shapes of Axisymmetric Fluid Interfaces without Use of Apex Coordinates

Abstract: Drop shape techniques, such as axisymmetric drop shape analysis, are widely used to measure surface properties, as they are accurate and reliable. Nevertheless, they are not applicable in experimental studies dealing with fluid configurations that do not present an apex. A new methodology is presented for measuring interfacial properties of liquids, such as surface tension and contact angles, by analyzing the shape of an axisymmetric liquid-fluid interface without use of apex coordinates. The theoretical shape of the interface is generated numerically as a function of surface tension and some geometrical parameters at the starting point of the interface, e.g., contact angle and radius of the interface. Then, the numerical shape is fitted to the experimental profile, taking the interfacial properties as adjustable parameters. The best fit identifies the true values of surface tension and contact angle. Comparison between the experimental and the theoretical profiles is performed using the theoretical image fitting analysis (TIFA) strategy. The new method, TIFA-axisymmetric interfaces (TIFA-AI), is applicable to any axisymmetric experimental configuration (with or without apex). The versatility and accuracy of TIFA-AI is shown by considering various configurations: liquid bridges, sessile and pendant drops, and liquid lenses.

Female reproductive effort depends on the degree of ornamentation of their mates

Abstract: Sexual selection theory assumes that secondary sexual characters do not influence female reproductive effort. Female animals may invest relatively more in reproduction if they acquire mates of high phenotypic quality, because offspring sired by preferred males may be relatively more viable than offspring sired by less preferred males. Here we report for the first time in a field study that females of the monogamous barn swallow Hirundo rustica adjust their reproductive effort to the attractiveness of their mates. Experimental manipulation of male tail length, which is a trait currently subject to a directional female mating preference, affected the reproductive effort by females in single broods as well as their decision on the seasonal number of clutches. These results, and those of previous experiments, demonstrate that female barn swallows assess the quality of their mates throughout the reproductive season and adjust their reproductive decisions accordingly. This result has important implications for the theory of sexual selection and for the possibility of testing current models of female mate preferences, because the viability of offspring will be confounded by differential reproductive effort.