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The need of governments to reduce energy consumption in homes has given rise to a rethinking of architecture from an energy point of view, in which energy is the protagonist material. This research focuses on the thermal behaviour of a passive solar system applied for the energetic rehabilitation of 40+ year old houses in the BShs climate. The effect of a solar gallery to store energy in the form of heat by exploiting the energy potential of the climate is analysed. The study focuses on the effect of terrace glazing as a solar gallery on the thermal behaviour of dwellings. In the on-site measurements of the system, the annual improvement of the hygrothermal conditions of the houses in Alicante is tested. The different measurements are carried out with different orientations, materials and mechanical elements. The aim of this methodology are different solar collection systems that define the type of thermodynamic use. The results show an improvement in the hygrothermal behaviour of the houses. The energetic use of these collectors is reflected in the improvement of the interior comfort of the rooms. The conclusions show that the combination of solar galleries with mechanical ventilation systems such as heat recovery systems reduces energy consumption and improves comfort. The system allows an appropriate use in the different seasons of the year through the application of artificial intelligence.

Over the last decade there has been a proliferation of glamping architecture. This study analyses the energy performance of geodesic domes for use in tourist glamping compared to more conventional prismatic architectural solutions. The energy analysis of geodesic domes applied to this type of singular construction project currently lacks detailed studies that provide conclusions about their relevance and suitability with respect to other types of architecture. The main objective of this research is to demonstrate the energy benefits of tourist accommodations that use geodesic structures compared to those with a simple geometry. A comparative study of a traditional and a geodesic geometry accommodation is carried out, considering that they share the same character istics and they are built with the same construction solution. An energy simulation of both archi tectures is carried out by using DesignBuilder software. The most influential strategies, such as Direct Passive Solar Gain, Heating, Natural Ventilation Cooling, Fan-Forced Ventilation Cooling and Window Solar Shading are considered. After demonstrating the greater efficiency of geodesic domes, this study analyses the relevance of subdividing the accommodations into several geodesic dome spaces. The results quantify an energy benefit of 52% for cooling consumption using the geodesic dome solution compared to a traditional prismatic solution.

Humans are spending more time indoors than ever due to urbanisation and industrialisation, leading to higher electricity consumption in lighting systems. Recent research has demonstrated the significance of maintaining a balance between daylight and electric light to create an ideal learning environment that can significantly impact students’ academic performance. The objective of this study is to analyse the changes in students’ emotional response depending on the type of lighting in the classroom—whether it is daylight, electric light, or a combination of both. A field study was conducted with 521 university students to assess their affective response to the lighting environment inside their classroom. The results show that students prefer a Clear-efficient lighting environment for writing–reading tasks and a Soft-calm atmosphere for using electronic devices. For the paying attention tasks, a combination of daylighting and electric lighting is determined to be the best solution, while for the tasks of discussing–teamwork, students prefer daylighting. Daylighting is found to be the only lighting option that students like. Despite this, students still consider electric lighting and the combination of daylight and electric light adequate for a classroom. The findings of this study may help educators and designers create learning spaces that promote a positive and stimulating student environment by understanding the relationship between the lighting environment and students’ affective responses.

The recent pandemic has emphasised the importance of guaranteeing comfort standards in nursing homes for older people. Most buildings show a lack of air ventilation, a key aspect in terms of respiratory diseases and disease transmission. The object of this research was to test if nursing home buildings are adapted to the specific thermal comfort sensation that older people have in a Dry Mediterranean Climate such as in Alicante (Spain). A case study building was evaluated through analytical models, simulations and air flux diagrams based on BIM models and digital twins. A comparison was made to observe how the building architecture and passive strategies determine thermal comfort for nursing home residents. Ventilation and solar gains were also evaluated as factors that influence thermal comfort. Results show that older peoples’ response to cold temperatures is worse than their response to warm temperatures, which they may be better at adapting to. Hybrid ventilation during winter reduces heat loss and cross natural ventilation during summer, with solar control, dissipates overheating and may improve comfort levels.

One of the greatest challenges in heritage management is to find a balance between the demands of visitor access and heritage conservation. The income generated prevents decay and benefits the conservation of buildings. At the same time, cultural tourism can accelerate the deterioration of buildings from increased use and an increase in agents harmful to conservation. This unique research analyses the influence of building use at San Juan del Hospital, the oldest church in the city of Valencia. Its architectural characteristics and the climate of the city mean that visits to the building put the conservation of its heritage assets at risk. Monitoring data from the summer months were put into a digital twin generated from a heritage building information model (HBIM), and the modelling of visitor numbers and the impact on indoor environmental quality was conducted. Monitoring and simulations confirmed that visitor numbers need to be reduced or mechanical conditioning systems need to be installed to prevent damage to the heritage artefacts within the building. This research provides building managers with information to make informed decisions about the preventive maintenance of heritage buildings. This research also demonstrates for the first time the value of using monitoring and a digital twin for conservation management.

Thermal comfort is an essential factor when designing or refurbishing schools because it helps to improve wellbeing and academic performance. However, little attention has been paid to assessing the thermal comfort level of children. Previous studies on thermal comfort have mainly focused on adults' perceptions, extrapolating their results to all ages without cross-checking them for relevance. The aim of this research was to determine whether children perceive temperature in a similar way to adults and if their thermal comfort limits are the same. A school in south-eastern Spain was selected as the case study. Thermal comfort surveys of children were conducted and compared with analytical calculations obtained using the Fanger method. The results showed that the Fanger method was not valid for the estimation of children's thermal comfort, especially in girls and younger children. The novelty of this research demonstrates that children have specific thermal comfort requirements that are not covered by current standards and calculation methods, such as the Fanger method. Analysis also determined the correction coefficients necessary for adapting Fanger's analytical method to children according to age and gender in BShs climate.

Sustainable development and energy savings are crucial to the significant worldwide trend in smart city-related research and projects. In this regard, public lighting systems have great energy-saving potential. Nevertheless, while citizen engagement is a key element of most conceptualisations of smart cities, many smart lighting projects and systems fail to take account of the citizen’s viewpoint. Applying a citizen-centric lighting design model, the objective of this study is to examine the affective impressions of local residents of the luminous environments in their areas, taking account of the activities they carry out there. Kansei Engineering is employed to connect luminous design elements with citizens’ affective responses. Lighting environments in 18 urban spaces were evaluated by 310 local residents. The results show that subjective assessments in the evaluation of urban lighting environments can be explained by the following dimensions: Expressive-interesting, Innovative-efficient, Defined-sufficient, Formal-uniform and Glaring. The relationship of these dimensions to urban social activities shows that public lighting should generate, in local residents, sensations consistent with the nature of the activities. Urban lighting must create in the citizen a feeling of innovation (being up-to-date and contemporary) if it is to be seen as energy-saving and caring for the environment. These findings may be valuable for governments, architects, engineers, and lighting designers when developing strategies to ensure their designs are evaluated as being efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.

The dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) is the European region with the highest number of hours of sunshine per year. The high annual solar radiation makes sun shading devices necessary to comply with current energy efficiency standards. However, these standards do not sufficiently consider their effect on the indoor lighting comfort of buildings. The objective is to qualitatively and quantitatively determine how movable sun shading devices jointly influence the energy efficiency, thermal comfort and lighting comfort of buildings in BShs climate. The scientific novelty of the work consists of demonstrating the limitations of the sun shading systems commonly used in southeastern Spain and determining the optimal technical solution in this climate to simultaneously improve thermal and lighting comfort. This research comparatively studies the influence of various movable sun shading systems on the daylighting and thermal performance of an educational building. This study conducted on-site measurements, user surveys and computer simulations to study how to improve the thermal and lighting performances of the building. This work demonstrates that interior solar shading provides little improvement in thermal comfort and reduces the cooling demand by only 25%. External movable sun shading improves thermal comfort and reduces the cooling demand by more than 60%, but only adjustable blinds or awnings achieve adequate and homogeneous illuminance values as they diffuse daylight. The paper concludes that energy efficiency standards should be modified to ensure adequate lighting comfort in buildings.

Thermal bridges significantly influence the energy performance of buildings. However, their impact varies depending on the type of thermal bridge, climate conditions, construction methodologies, and geometric characteristics of the building. On the Spanish Mediterranean coast, buildings with large balconies are predominant. Nevertheless, the Spanish energy efficiency regulations do not adequately specify the thermal bridges at the junctions of balconies with facades, leading to a lack of consideration for their influence in the majority of architectural projects. The objective of this study is to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the impact of such thermal bridges on the energy efficiency of buildings in a dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) within a warm semi-arid climate (BSh). As a case study, the influence of this thermal bridge is analyzed in two residential buildings located on the Mediterranean coast of southeastern Spain. The study also examines the modification of various construction parameters of this thermal bridge and determines the optimal design parameters to reduce its thermal transmittance. The results demonstrate that the energy needs caused by thermal bridges account for approximately 40% of the total annual energy needs of the studied residential buildings. Balcony thermal bridges account for 25% to 40% of the energy needs caused by all thermal bridges. The lack of differentiation in Spanish standards between balcony–facade and facade–slab edge junctions causes an imprecision in calculations equivalent to 12% of the total annual energy needs of dwellings. The novelty of this research lies in highlighting that current regulations and calculation programs need improvement to better characterize balcony thermal bridges and enhance the accuracy of building energy efficiency calculations.

En aquest treball de final de grau ens centrarem en el problema de classificació analítica de branques amb un exponent característic. El nostre objectiu és construir una estratificació per un invariant analític concret: el semigrup de valors de l’ideal Jacobià. Aquesta construcció es basa en resultats de Casas-Alvero. Té l’avantatge que cada estrat és un obert afí que està parametritzat per un nombre mínim de paràmetres rellevants: quan varia algun d’aquests paràmetres canvia el tipus analític de la corba, llevat d’un nombre finit de coincidències del mateix tipus analític. Aquesta propietat és ideal per estudiar com varien altres invariants analítics. En particular, refinarem aquesta estratificació amb l’obtinguda pel polinomi de Bernstein-Sato., En este trabajo de final de grado nos centraremos en el problema de clasificación analítica de ramas con un exponente característico. Nuestro objetivo es construir una estratificación por un invariante analítico concreto: el semigrupo de valores del ideal Jacobiano. Esta construcción se basa en resultados de Casas-Alvero. Tiene la ventaja de que cada estrato es un abierto afín que está parametrizado por un número mínimo de parámetros relevantes: cuando varia alguno de estos parámetros el tipo analítico de la curva cambia, salvo un numero finito de coincidencias del mismo tipo analítico. Esta propiedad es ideal para estudiar cómo varia otros invariantes analíticos. En particular, refinaremos esta estratificación con la obtenida por el polinomio de Bernstein-Sato., In this final degree thesis we will focus on the analytic classification problem of branches with one characteristic exponent. Our goal is to construct a stratification by a concrete analytic invariant: the semigroup of values of the Jacobian ideal. This construction is based on results from Casas-Alvero. It has the advantage that each stratum is an afine open set parametrized by a minimum number of relevant parameters: when one of these parameters is modified the analytic type of the curve changes, except for a finite number of coincidences of the same analytic type. This property is ideal for studying how other analytic invariants change. In particular, we will refine this stratification with the one obtained by the Bernstein-Sato polynomial.

We construct a field K and a valuation-algebraic valuation on (Formula presented.), whose underlying Maclane–Vaquié chain consists of an infinite (countable) number of limit augmentations. Communicated by Adrian Wadsworth.

In this work, we introduce a collision model specifically tailored for the simulation of inextensible textiles. The model considers friction, contacts, and inextensibility constraints all at the same time without any decoupling. Self-collisions are modeled in a natural way that allows considering the thickness of cloth without introducing unwanted oscillations. The discretization of the equations of motion leads naturally to a sequence of quadratic problems with inequality and equality constraints. In order to solve these problems efficiently, we develop a novel active-set algorithm that takes into account past active constraints to accelerate the resolution of unresolved contacts. We put to a test the developed collision procedure with diverse scenarios involving static and dynamic friction, sharp objects, and complex-topology folding sequences. Finally, we perform an experimental validation of the collision model by comparing simulations with recordings of real textiles as given by a Motion Capture System. The results are very accurate, having errors around 1 cm for DIN A2 textiles (42 x 59.4 cm) even in difficult scenarios involving fast and strong hits with a rigid object., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

In this work, we study the perception problem for garments using tools from computational topology: the identification of their geometry and position in space from point-cloud samples, as obtained e.g. with 3D scanners. We present a reconstruction algorithm based on a direct topological study of the sampled textile surface that allows us to obtain a cellular decomposition of it via a Morse function. No intermediate triangulation or local implicit equations are used, avoiding reconstruction-induced artifices. No a priori knowledge of the surface topology, density or regularity of the point-sample is required to run the algorithm. The results are a piecewise decomposition of the surface as a union of Morse cells (i.e. topological disks), suitable for tasks such as noise-filtering or mesh-independent reparametrization, and a cell complex of small rank determining the surface topology. This algorithm can be applied to smooth surfaces with or without boundary, embedded in an ambient space of any dimension., Comment: 40 pages, 17 figures, 1 table, 1 algorithm, 1 appendix

We construct a field K and a valuation-algebraic valuation on K[x] , whose underlying Maclane–Vaquié chain consists of an infinite (countable) number of limit augmentations., Partially supported by grants PID2020-116542GB-I00 and PID2019-103849GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by grants 2021-SGR-00603 and 2021-SGR-01468 funded by Generalitat de Catalunya., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

This research explores the energy behaviour of a traditional house on the Mediterranean coast of south-eastern Spain. The objective of the work is to determine the optimal passive strategies for rehabilitating a traditional house, improving its energy savings and comfort, considering the characteristics of the warm semi-arid Mediterranean climate. The main novelty of this article is that it demonstrates that the limits imposed by current regulations, based on globalised climate strategy approaches, undermine the energy efficiency capacity that passive solutions in vernacular architecture already employed. The methodology used consists of a systematised multi-objective study of various energy rehabilitation strategies. Four strategies were studied: raising the thermal insulation of enclosures, improving thermal insulation and solar control glazing with movable shading devices, increasing the size of windows and introducing the use of natural ventilation enhanced by ceiling fans. The results show that simultaneous improvement of these parameters reduces cooling and heating requirements by up to 87%, reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning systems. Indoor temperatures are also maintained within the comfort limits set by regulations for 91% of hours per year without the need for air conditioning systems. This results in a passive energy-efficient and comfortable house almost all year round. This work offers an alternative solution to the comfort standards of current Spanish regulations and demonstrates the need to adapt Fanger’s analytical method for comfort estimation. The research concludes that the comfort criteria of current energy regulations should be modified to better adapt the design criteria to the dry Mediterranean climate.

El Teorema de Pick és un resultat geomètric que ens permet calcular l'àrea de polígons inscrits al pla enter, a partir del nombre de punts enters que hi ha a la vora i a l'interior del polígon. En aquest treball abordaré la demostració d'aquest teorema, així com una ampliació de la recerca associada. Finalment, presentaré diverses propostes didàctiques per a la seva exposició a alumnes preuniversitaris. L'objectiu és promoure la comprensió i aplicació del teorema de Pick com a eina per a resoldre problemes pràctics, desenvolupar habilitats de raonament geomètric i oferir una nova perspectiva sobre aquesta àrea de coneixement., El Teorema de Pick es un resultado geométrico que nos permite calcular el área de polígonos inscritos en el plano de números enteros, a partir del número de puntos enteros que hay en el borde y en el interior del polígono. En este trabajo abordaré la demostración de este teorema, así como una ampliación de la investigación asociada. Finalmente, presentaré varias propuestas didácticas para su exposición a alumnos preuniversitarios. El objetivo es promover la comprensión y aplicación del teorema de Pick como herramienta para resolver problemas prácticos, desarrollar habilidades de razonamiento geométrico y ofrecer una nueva perspectiva sobre esta área de conocimiento., The Pick's Theorem is a geometric result that allows us to calculate the area of polygons inscribed in the integer plane, based on the number of integer points on the boundary and in the interior of the polygon. In this paper, I will address the proof of this theorem, as well as an extension of the associated research. Finally, I will present various didactic proposals for its exposition to pre-university students. The main goal is to promote understanding and application of Pick's Theorem as a tool for solving practical problems, developing geometric reasoning skills, and offering a new perspective on this area of knowledge.

This paper analyses, as a case study, various balcony glazing arrangements in a typical tourist apartment building on the Mediterranean coast of south-eastern Spain, and their effects on the energy performance. The glazing of terraces has been very common in this type of flat over the last 40 years. The objective is to determine qualitatively and quantitatively how the glazing of terraces in such buildings influences their energy efficiency and indoor thermal comfort, considering the specific characteristics of the dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) within a warm semi-arid climate (BSh). The scientific novelty of the work consists of demonstrating that the installation of glazed enclosures on terraces allows the houses to be heated for free in winter, taking advantage of the greenhouse effect, and allows excess heat to be dissipated in summer by using natural ventilation. The results of the work enable the determination of appropriate terrace glazing solutions to improve the energy efficiency and thermal comfort of the dwelling, obtaining a reduction of more than 58% in annual energy demand and annual energy consumption. The work demonstrates the advantages that glazing systems for terraces can have in improving the energy efficiency of houses by using systems like glass curtains.

For an arbitrary valued field (K, v) and a given extension v(K*) ¿¿ ¿ of ordered groups, we analyze the structure of the tree formed by all ¿-valued extensions of v to the polynomial ring K[x]. As an application, we find a model for the tree of all equivalence classes of valuations on K[x] (without fixing their value group), whose restriction to K is equivalent to v., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

K. Saito va formular la pregunta de si una distribució continua és el límit de la distribució dels exponents espectrals de Hodge a l'interval [0,1) d'una hipersuperfície quan aquesta es mou en un sentit que s'ha de precisar. Ell ho va demostrar per a corbes irreductibles amb un límit molt específic. Aquest projecte es centra en el cas de singularitats de corbes planes. S'exploraran les diferents formes d'arribar a una distribució límit d'aquests invariants., K. Saito formuló la pregunta de si una distribución continua es el límite de la distribución de los exponentes espectrales de Hodge en el intervalo [0,1) de una hipersuperficie cuando esta se mueve en un sentido que se ha de precisar. Él lo demostró para curvas irreducibles con un límite muy específico. Este proyecto se centra en el caso de singularidades de curvas planas. Se explorarán las diferentes formas de llegar a una distribución límite de estos invariantes., K. Saito formulated the question whether a continuous distribution is the limit of the distribution of the Hodge spectral exponents in the interval [0,1) of a hypersurface as this hypersurface moves in a sense that has to be made precise. He proved it for irreducible plane curves with a very specific limit formulation. This project will focus on the case of irreducible plane curve singularities. Different formulations of achieving the limit of the distribution of these invariants will be explored.

Com podem aconseguir una caracterització densa d'un objecte altament deformable per a la manipulació robòtica utilitzant la percepció visual? L'espai d'estats de dimensió infinita que defineixen els objectes deformables fa que aquesta tasca sigui extremadament difícil. A més, a causa de la naturalesa d'aquests objectes, tractar amb auto-ocultacions es converteix en un important segon desafiament. La freqüència i complexitat d'aquestes augmenten amb el grau de deformabilitat de l'objecte. Per tant, és crucial tractar-les adequadament. Aquesta tesi proposa un mètode que, mitjançant l'ús de la percepció visual (imatges RGB), (1) proporciona una representació densa agnòstica a tasques d'una classe d'objecte, (2) permet generalitzar aquesta representació a través de diferents instàncies de la mateixa categoria d'objecte i (3) proporciona una mesura de confiança en l'assignació de correspondències entre diferents imatges. En aquest cas particular, l'enfocament està en la manipulació de roba, més específicament en la manipulació de diferents instàncies de samarretes. Per això, aquest treball també proporciona una metodologia per a la generació aleatòria de diferents tipus de samarretes. No obstant, tot el marc definit es podria generalitzar a qualsevol altre tipus d'objecte deformable., ¿Cómo podemos lograr una caracterización densa de un objeto altamente deformable para la manipulación robótica utilizando la percepción visual? El espacio de estados de dimensión infinita que definen a los objetos deformables hace que esta tarea sea extremadamente difícil. Además, debido a la naturaleza de estos objetos, tratar con autoocultaciones se convierte en un importante segundo desafío. Su frecuencia y complejidad aumentan con el grado de deformabilidad del objeto. Por lo tanto, es crucial tratarlas adecuadamente. Esta tesis propone un método que, mediante el uso de la percepción visual (imágenes RGB), (1) proporciona una representación densa agnóstica a tareas de una clase de objeto, (2) permite generalizar dicha representación a través de diferentes instancias de la misma categoría de objeto, y (3) proporciona una medida de confianza en la assignación de correspondencias entre distintas imágenes. En este caso en particular, el enfoque está en la manipulación de ropa, más específicamente en la manipulación de diferentes instancias de camisetas. Es por ello que este trabajo también proporciona una metodología para randomizar la generación de distintos tipos de ellas. Sin embargo, todo el marco definido se podría generalizar a cualquier otro tipo de objeto deformable., How can we achieve a dense characterization of a highly deformable object for robotic manipulation using visual perception? The infinite dimensional state space of deformable objects makes this task extremely difficult. Moreover, due to the nature of these objects, dealing with self-occlusions becomes a second major challenge. Their frequency and complexity increase with the degree of deformability of the object. Thus, it is crucial to properly deal with them. This thesis proposes a method that, by using visual perception (RGB images), (1) provides a task-agnostic dense representation of an object class, (2) enables to generalize such a representation across different instances of the same object category, and (3) provides a measure of confidence on pixelwise correspondence matching. In this particular case, the focus is on cloth manipulation, more specifically on instances of upper-body clothes. As a result, this work also provides a pipeline to generate a simulated dataset of randomized instances within this object category. However, the whole framework could be generalized to any other deformable object class., Outgoing

The dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) within a warm semi-arid climate (BSh) is the zone in Europe with the most annual hours of sunlight, and it has a smaller annual temperature variation than most climates. This allows the greenhouse effect caused by windows to be used to heat dwellings in winter. Balcony frameless retractable glazing systems known as “glass curtain” systems offer the highest proportion of glass and maximum openness in the façade, allowing for maximum sunlight and ventilation. This work studies a glazed terrace with a “glass curtain” in a dwelling on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline. The objective is to quantitatively determine the enhancement of the thermal comfort and energy efficiency of a dwelling using “glass curtain” systems. The modification of several design parameters of the glazed terrace is also analysed. The novelty of this study lies in demonstrating that the use and optimised design of “glass curtain” systems allows us to obtain nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) and thermally comfortable dwellings all year round. The research methods include a comparison of the current thermal performance of the dwelling with and without a “glass curtain” system via on-site measurements. The study also evaluates the influence of modifying design parameters using computer simulations. The results show that “glass curtain” systems increase the indoor temperatures inside the dwelling by about 4 °C in winter and reduce the annual indoor thermal oscillation from more than 16 °C to only 10 °C. Consequently, such systems reduce heating energy needs by almost 60%. Glazed terraces using the proposed design parameters show further improvement regarding thermal comfort and practically eliminate heating and cooling needs.

The energy-supply crisis, aggravated by the war in Ukraine, has prompted EU governments to approve urgent energy-saving measures. The new Spanish energy-saving standard aims to reduce energy consumption by changing the regulatory limits for indoor hygrothermal conditions in buildings. This regulation has provoked a great social debate about its real effectiveness and its impact on user comfort. This work explores the hygrothermal performance of an office building in southeastern Spain. The objective of this research is to determine qualitatively and quantitatively how the new energy-saving standard in Spain influences energy efficiency and indoor thermal comfort, by considering the characteristics of the dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) within a warm semi-arid climate (BSh). The scientific novelty of the study is to demonstrate that the new Spanish standard not only reduces energy costs but also makes the indoor comfort of buildings much worse; for this reason, an improvement in the standard is also proposed. The study methodology consists of a comparative study between the thermal performance, thermal comfort, and energy demand of the building, considering both the new and previous standards’ requirements. It also includes the evaluation of a proposal to improve the current standard. The results showed that the new energy-saving standard reduced energy consumption by 21.78% in comparison to former standards, but the new comfort ranges were not acceptable for 60% of the users. The proposed improvement does achieve acceptable comfort for most users (75%) and an additional reduction in energy demand of 48.76% compared to current standard. We conclude that the thermal comfort requirements of the current energy standard should be modified to better adapt the design criteria to the dry Mediterranean climate.

We study the perception problem for garments (e.g. a pair of pants) using tools from computational topology: the identification of their geometry and position from point-cloud samples, as obtained e.g. with 3D scanners. We present a reconstruction algorithm based on Morse theory that proceeds directly from the point-cloud to obtain a cellular decomposition of the surface derived via a Morse function. No intermediate triangulation or local implicit equations are used, avoiding reconstruction-induced artifices. The results are a piecewise parametrization of the surface as a union of Morse cells, suitable for tasks such as noise-filtering or mesh-independent reparametrization, and a cell complex of small rank determining the surface topology. This algorithm can be applied to smooth surfaces with or without boundary, embedded in an ambient space of any dimension., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Els mètodes tradicionals que intenten resoldre tasques a la vida real amb robots mitjançant l'ús de la IA, tenen molts inconvenients. L'aprenentatge per imitació dona bons resultats a l'hora de resoldre tasques molt específiques, però necessita una gran quantitat de demostracions d'experts per poder superar el problema de propagació d'errors. Els mètodes centrats en l'aprenentatge per reforç també presenten un problema fonamental, necessiten una funció de recompensa curosament dissenyada, que pot ser arbitràriament complicada d'especificar, en especial quan tractem amb imatges, i ha de ser densa per a poder resoldre les tasques més complicades. En aquest treball, explorem com els robots poden aprendre en el món real mitjançant aprenentatge autosupervisat a través d'un procés d'anotacions retrospectives. En particular, per aconseguir-ho utilitzem opinions humanes en forma de comparacions binàries, per tal de guiar l'exploració. Aquest tipus d'anotacions es poden recollir asíncronament i de manera molt escalable mitjançant el crowdsourcing. També ensenyem com el nostre mètode és robust als errors en les anotacions i com en necessita molt menys que altres algoritmes. Finalment, ensenyem com podem modificar el nostre mètode perquè pugui ser executat contínuament, sense reinicis. En aquest estudi mostrem com el nostre algoritme supera a altres mètodes clàssics i com pot ser aplicat en el món real., Los métodos tradicionales que tratan de resolver tareas en el mundo real con robots entrenados mediante IA, tienen muchos inconvenientes. El aprendizaje por imitación da buenos resultados a la hora de resolver tareas muy específicas, pero necesita gran cantidad de demostraciones de expertos para poder lidiar con la propagación de errores. Enfoques basados en aprendizaje por refuerzo también presentan un problema fundamental, necesitan una función de recompensa cuidadosamente diseñada, la cual es específica a una tarea en concreto, puede ser arbitrariamente difícil de especificar, especialmente cuando trabajamos con imágenes, y necesita ser densa para permitir resolver las tareas más complicadas. En este trabajo, exploramos como los robots pueden aprender en el mundo real usando aprendizaje autosupervisado a través de un proceso de anotaciones retrospectivas. En particular, para lograrlo usamos opiniones humanas, en forma de comparaciones binarias, para guiar la exploración. Este tipo de anotaciones se pueden recoger asíncronamente y de manera muy escalable usando crowdsourcing. También mostramos como nuestro método es robusto a los errores en las anotaciones y como necesita mucha menos supervisión humana que otros algoritmos. Finalmente, mostramos cómo podemos modificar nuestro algoritmo para que pueda ser ejecutado continuamente, sin reseteos. En este estudio, mostramos como nuestro algoritmo supera a otros métodos clásicos y como puede ser aplicado en la vida real., Traditional methods that aim to solve tasks involving robots in the real world leveraging AI, suffer from many drawbacks: Behaviour Cloning shows great results at solving specific tasks, but it requires a considerably large amount of expert demonstrations to deal with compounding errors. Approaches based on Reinforcement Learning also present a fundamental problem, namely reward shaping, which is task-specific, can be non-trivial to specify, especially when dealing with images, and needs to be dense in order to allow us to solve hard tasks. In this work, we explore how robots can learn in the real world by using self-supervised learning via hindsight relabeling. In particular, to do so, we leverage human feedback, in the form of binary comparisons, to guide exploration. This type of feedback can be collected asynchronously and is easily scalable via crowd-sourcing. We also show that our method is robust to noisy labels and requires less feedback than other algorithms. Finally, we show how we can adapt our algorithm to make it run continuously without resets. In this work, we show how our algorithm outperforms all baselines in some simulation benchmarks and how it can also be used in the real world., Outgoing

Robotic manipulation of cloth is a complex task because of the infinite-dimensional shape-state space of textiles, which makes their state estimation very difficult. In this paper we introduce the dGLI Cloth Coordinates, a finite low-dimensional representation of cloth states that allows us to efficiently distinguish a large variety of different folded states, opening the door to efficient learning methods for cloth manipulation planning and control. Our representation is based on a directional derivative of the Gauss Linking Integral and allows us to represent spatial as well as planar folded configurations in a consistent and unified way. The proposed dGLI Cloth Coordinates are shown to be more accurate in the representation of cloth states and significantly more sensitive to changes in grasping affordances than other classic shape distance methods. Finally, we apply our representation to real images of a cloth, showing that with it we can identify the different states using a distance-based classifier.

We present an update of the survey of Active Galaxies with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory. This work adds 567 days of HAWC data to the previously published survey, providing a refined analysis of an updated total exposure of 2090 days. The sample includes 138 nearby AGNs from the 3FHL catalog. We fit a modified power-law to their very high energy spectra, including the exponential attenuation caused by the Extragalactic Background Light. We found four sources with significant detections (above 5$\sigma$): the radio galaxy M87 and the BL Lac objects Mkn 421, Mkn 501 and 1ES 1215+303. We also report eight sources with a marginal detection (between 3$\sigma$ and 5$\sigma$) of which seven are classified as BL Lac objects and one as a radio galaxy., Comment: Contribution to the International Cosmic Ray Conference ICRC 2023. 7 pages, 3 figures

Blazars are the most abundant type of extragalactic gamma-ray source, usually presenting high variability across the electromagnetic spectrum. Their Very High Energy (VHE, above 0.1 TeV) emission has been studied in detail using Air Cherenkov Telescopes, with observations biased to flaring periods while their average activity has not been properly characterized. In this work, we report the results of 2090 days of quasi-continuous observations of the blazars 1ES 1215+303 and VER J0521+211, carried out with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory. Fitting a power-law attenuated by photon-photon interaction with the extragalactic background light, we obtained a 6.2 $\sigma$ level detection for 1ES 1215+303 and a 4.3 $\sigma$ marginal detection for VER J0521+211. With the inclusion of the HAWC TeV spectrum, we built quasi-simultaneous multiwavelength spectral distributions and fitted a leptonic emission model to the observed data., Comment: Contribution to the International Cosmic Ray Conference ICRC 2023. 7 pages, 2 figures

The decay or annihilation of dark matter particles may produce a steady flux of very-high-energy gamma rays detectable above the diffuse background. Nearby clusters of galaxies provide excellent targets to search for the signatures of particle dark matter interactions. In particular, the Virgo cluster spans several degrees across the sky and can be efficiently probed with a wide field-of-view instrument. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, due to its wide field of view and sensitivity to gamma rays at an energy scale of 300 GeV--100 TeV is well-suited for this search. Using 2141 days of data, we search for gamma-ray emission from the Virgo cluster, assuming well-motivated dark matter sub-structure models. Our results provide some of the strongest constraints on the decay lifetime of dark matter for masses above 10 TeV., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review D

Recently, the region surrounding eHWC J1842-035 has been studied extensively by gamma-ray observatories due to its extended emission reaching up to a few hundred TeV and potential as a hadronic accelerator. In this work, we use 1,910 days of cumulative data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory to carry out a dedicated systematic source search of the eHWC J1842-035 region. During the search we have found three sources in the region, namely, HAWC J1844-034, HAWC J1843-032, and HAWC J1846-025. We have identified HAWC J1844-034 as the extended source that emits photons with energies up to 175 TeV. We compute the spectrum for HAWC J1844-034 and by comparing with the observational results from other experiments, we have identified HESS J1843-033, LHAASO J1843-0338, and TASG J1844-038 as very-high-energy gamma-ray sources with a matching origin. Also, we present and use the multi-wavelength data to fit the hadronic and leptonic particle spectra. We have identified four pulsar candidates in the nearby region from which PSR J1844-0346 is found to be the most likely candidate due to its proximity to HAWC J1844-034 and the computed energy budget. We have also found SNR G28.6-0.1 as a potential counterpart source of HAWC J1844-034 for which both leptonic and hadronic scenarios are feasible., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, published in ApJ

We present a short overview of the TeV-Halos objects as a discovery and a relevant contribution of the High Altitude Water \v{C}erenkov (HAWC) observatory to TeV astrophysics. We discuss history, discovery, knowledge, and the next step through a new and more detailed analysis than the original study in 2017. TeV-Halos will contribute to resolving the problem of the local positron excess observed on the Earth. To clarify the latter, understanding the diffusion process is mandatory., Comment: Work presented in the 21st International Symposium on Very High Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions(ISVHECRI 2022) as part of the Ph. D. Thesis of Ramiro Torres-Escobedo (SJTU, Shanghai, China). Accepted for publication in SciPost Physics Proceedings (ISSN 2666-4003). 11 pages, 3 Figures. Short overview of HAWC and TeV Halos objects until 2022

The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a second-generation continuously operated, wide field-of-view, TeV gamma-ray observatory. The HAWC observatory and its analysis techniques build on experience of the Milagro experiment in using ground-based water Cherenkov detectors for gamma-ray astronomy. HAWC is located on the Sierra Negra volcano in M\'exico at an elevation of 4100 meters above sea level. The completed HAWC observatory principal detector (HAWC) consists of 300 closely spaced water Cherenkov detectors, each equipped with four photomultiplier tubes to provide timing and charge information to reconstruct the extensive air shower energy and arrival direction. The HAWC observatory has been optimized to observe transient and steady emission from sources of gamma rays within an energy range from several hundred GeV to several hundred TeV. However, most of the air showers detected are initiated by cosmic rays, allowing studies of cosmic rays also to be performed. This paper describes the characteristics of the HAWC main array and its hardware., Comment: Accepted for publications in Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (2023) 168253 ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168900223002437 ); 39 pages, 14 Figures

The latest High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) point-like source catalog up to 56 TeV reported the detection of two sources in the region of the Galactic plane at galactic longitude 52\deg < l < 55\deg, 3HWC J1930+188 and 3HWC J1928+178. The first one is associated with a known TeV source, the supernova remnant SNR G054.1+00.3. It was discovered by one of the currently operating Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT), the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS), detected by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), and identified as a composite SNR. However, the source 3HWC J1928+178, discovered by HAWC and coincident with the pulsar PSR J1928+1746, was not detected by any IACT despite their long exposure on the region, until a recent new analysis of H.E.S.S. data was able to confirm it. Moreover, no X-ray counterpart has been detected from this pulsar. We present a multicomponent fit of this region using the latest HAWC data. This reveals an additional new source, HAWC J1932+192, which is potentially associated with the pulsar PSR J1932+1916, whose gamma-ray emission could come from the acceleration of particles in its pulsar wind nebula. In the case of 3HWC J1928+178, several possible explanations are explored, in a attempt to unveil the origins of the very-high-energy gamma-ray emission.

We present the results of dark matter (DM) searches in a sample of 31 dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies within the field of view of the HAWC Observatory. dIrr galaxies are DM dominated objects, which astrophysical gamma-ray emission is estimated to be negligible with respect to the secondary gamma-ray flux expected by annihilation or decay of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). While we do not see any statistically significant DM signal in dIrr galaxies, we present the exclusion limits ($95\%~\text{C.L.}$) for annihilation cross-section and decay lifetime for WIMP candidates with masses between $1$ and $100~\text{TeV}$. Exclusion limits from dIrr galaxies are relevant and complementary to benchmark dwarf Spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. In fact, dIrr galaxies are targets kinematically different from benchmark dSph, preserving the footprints of different evolution histories. We compare the limits from dIrr galaxies to those from ultrafaint and classical dSph galaxies previously observed with HAWC. We find that the contraints are comparable to the limits from classical dSph galaxies and $\thicksim2$ orders of magnitude weaker than the ultrafaint dSph limits., Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables

Robotic manipulation of cloth is a complex task because of the infinite-dimensional shape-state space of textiles, which makes their state estimation very difficult. In this paper we introduce the dGLI Cloth Coordinates, a finite low-dimensional representation of cloth states that allows us to efficiently distinguish a large variety of different folded states, opening the door to efficient learning methods for cloth manipulation planning and control. Our representation is based on a directional derivative of the Gauss Linking Integral and allows us to represent spatial as well as planar folded configurations in a consistent and unified way. The proposed dGLI Cloth Coordinates are shown to be more accurate in the representation of cloth states and significantly more sensitive to changes in grasping affordances than other classic shape distance methods. Finally, we apply our representation to real images of a cloth, showing that with it we can identify the different states using a distance-based classifier., This work was developed under the project CLOTHILDE which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the EU-Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 741930). M. Alberich-Carramiñana is also with the Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath) and the Institut de Matemàtiques de la UPC-BarcelonaTech (IMTech), and she and J. Amorós are partially supported by the Spanish State Research Agency AEI/10.13039/501100011033 grant PID2019-103849GB-I00 and by the AGAUR project 2021 SGR 00603 Geometry of Manifolds and Applications, GEOMVAP. J. Borràs is supported by the Spanish State Research Agency MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033 grant PID2020-118649RB-I00 (CHLOE-GRAPH project)., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

(Eng) In this work we study various mathematical problems arising from the robotic manipulation of cloth. First, we develop a locking-free continuous model for the physical simulation of inextensible textiles. We present a novel 'finite element' discretization of our inextensibility constraints which results in a unified treatment of triangle and quadrilateral meshings of the cloth. Next, we explain how to incorporate contacts, self-collisions and friction into the equations of motion, so that frictional forces and inextensibility and collision constraints may be integrated implicitly and without any decoupling. We develop an efficient 'active-set' solver tailored to our non-linear problem which takes into account past active constraints to accelerate the resolution of unresolved contacts and moreover can be initialized from any non-necessarily feasible point. Then, we embark ourselves in the empirical validation of the developed model. We record in a laboratory setting --with depth cameras and motion capture systems-- the motions of seven types of textiles (including e.g. cotton, denim and polyester) of various sizes and at different speeds and end up with more than 80 recordings. The scenarios considered are all dynamic and involve rapid shaking and twisting of the textiles, collisions with frictional objects and even strong hits with a long stick. We then, compare the recorded textiles with the simulations given by our inextensible model, and find that on average the mean error is of the order of 1 cm even for the largest sizes (DIN A2) and the most challenging scenarios. Furthermore, we also tackle other problems relevant to robotic cloth manipulation, such as cloth perception and classification of its states. We present a reconstruction algorithm based on Morse theory that proceeds directly from a point-cloud to obtain a cellular decomposition of a surface with or without boundary: the results are a piecewise parametrization of the cloth surface as a union of M, (Esp) En este trabajo estudiamos varios problemas matemáticos relacionados con la manipulación robótica de textiles. En primer lugar, desarrollamos un modelo continuo libre de 'locking' para la simulación física de textiles inextensibles. Presentamos una novedosa discretización usando 'elementos finitos' de nuestras restricciones de inextensibilidad resultando en un tratamiento unificado de mallados triangulares y cuadrangulares de la tela. A continuación, explicamos cómo incorporar contactos, autocolisiones y fricción en las ecuaciones de movimiento, de modo que las fuerzas de fricción y las restricciones de inextensibilidad y colisiones puedan integrarse implícitamente y sin ningún desacoplamiento. Desarrollamos un 'solver' de tipo 'conjunto-activo' adaptado a nuestro problema no lineal que tiene en cuenta las restricciones activas pasadas para acelerar la resolución de los contactos no resueltos y, además, puede inicializarse desde cualquier punto no necesariamente factible. Posteriormente, nos embarcamos en la validación empírica del modelo desarrollado. Grabamos en un entorno de laboratorio -con cámaras de profundidad y sistemas de captura de movimiento- los movimientos de siete tipos de textiles (entre los que se incluyen, por ejemplo, algodón, tela vaquera y poliéster) de varios tamaños y a diferentes velocidades, terminando con más de 80 grabaciones. Los escenarios considerados son todos dinámicos e implican sacudidas y torsiones rápidas de los textiles, colisiones con obstáculos e incluso golpes con una varilla cilíndrica. Finalmente, comparamos las grabaciones con las simulaciones dadas por nuestro modelo inextensible, y encontramos que, de media, el error es del orden de 1 cm incluso para las telas más grandes (DIN A2) y los escenarios más complicados. Además, también abordamos otros problemas relevantes para la manipulación robótica de telas, como son la percepción y la clasificación de sus estados. Presentamos un algoritmo de reconstrucción basado en la, Postprint (published version)

In this work, we introduce a collision model specifically tailored for the simulation of inextensible textiles. The model considers friction, contacts, and inextensibility constraints all at the same time without any decoupling. Self-collisions are modeled in a natural way that allows considering the thickness of cloth without introducing unwanted oscillations. The discretization of the equations of motion leads naturally to a sequence of quadratic problems with inequality and equality constraints. In order to solve these problems efficiently, we develop a novel active-set algorithm that takes into account past active constraints to accelerate the resolution of unresolved contacts. We put to a test the developed collision procedure with diverse scenarios involving static and dynamic friction, sharp objects, and complex-topology folding sequences. Finally, we perform an experimental validation of the collision model by comparing simulations with recordings of real textiles as given by a $\textit{Motion Capture System}$. The results are very accurate, having errors around 1 cm for DIN A2 textiles (42 x 59.4 cm) even in difficult scenarios involving fast and strong hits with a rigid object., Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, 1 algorithm

Extended very-high-energy (VHE; 0.1-100 TeV) $\gamma$-ray emission has been observed around several middle-aged pulsars and referred to as ``TeV halos". Their formation mechanism remains under debate. It is also unknown whether they are ubiquitous or related to certain subgroup of pulsars. With 2321 days of observation, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory detected VHE $\gamma$-ray emission at the location of the radio-quiet pulsar PSR J0359+5414 with $>6\sigma$ significance. By performing likelihood tests with different spectral and spatial models and comparing the TeV spectrum with multi-wavelength observations of nearby sources, we show that this excess is consistent with a TeV halo associated with PSR J0359+5414, though future observation of HAWC and multi-wavelength follow-ups are needed to confirm this nature. This new halo candidate is located in a non-crowded region in the outer Galaxy. It shares similar properties to the other halos but its pulsar is younger and radio-quiet. Our observation implies that TeV halos could commonly exist around pulsars and their formation does not depend on the configuration of the pulsar magnetosphere.

In this work we study various mathematical problems arising from the robotic manipulation of cloth. First, we develop a locking-free continuous model for the physical simulation of inextensible textiles. We present a novel 'finite element' discretization of our inextensibility constraints which results in a unified treatment of triangle and quadrilateral meshings of the cloth. Next, we explain how to incorporate contacts, self-collisions and friction into the equations of motion, so that frictional forces and inextensibility and collision constraints may be integrated implicitly and without any decoupling. We develop an efficient 'active-set' solver tailored to our non-linear problem which takes into account past active constraints to accelerate the resolution of unresolved contacts and moreover can be initialized from any non-necessarily feasible point. Then, we embark ourselves in the empirical validation of the developed model. We record in a laboratory setting --with depth cameras and motion capture systems-- the motions of seven types of textiles (including e.g. cotton, denim and polyester) of various sizes and at different speeds and end up with more than 80 recordings. The scenarios considered are all dynamic and involve rapid shaking and twisting of the textiles, collisions with frictional objects and even strong hits with a long stick. We then, compare the recorded textiles with the simulations given by our inextensible model, and find that on average the mean error is of the order of 1 cm even for the largest sizes (DIN A2) and the most challenging scenarios. Furthermore, we also tackle other problems relevant to robotic cloth manipulation, such as cloth perception and classification of its states. We present a reconstruction algorithm based on Morse theory that proceeds directly from a point-cloud to obtain a cellular decomposition of a surface with or without boundary: the results are a piecewise parametrization of the cloth surface as a union of Morse c

We study the perception problem for garments (e.g. a pair of pants) using tools from computational topology: the identification of their geometry and position from point-cloud samples, as obtained e.g. with 3D scanners. We present a reconstruction algorithm based on Morse theory that proceeds directly from the point-cloud to obtain a cellular decomposition of the surface derived via a Morse function. No intermediate triangulation or local implicit equations are used, avoiding reconstruction-induced artifices. The results are a piecewise parametrization of the surface as a union of Morse cells, suitable for tasks such as noise-filtering or mesh-independent reparametrization, and a cell complex of small rank determining the surface topology. This algorithm can be applied to smooth surfaces with or without boundary, embedded in an ambient space of any dimension.

The coexistence of two pools of ATP synthase in mitochondria has been largely neglected despite in vitro indications for the existence of reversible active/inactive state transitions in the F1-domain of the enzyme. Herein, using cells and mitochondria from mouse tissues, we demonstrate the existence in vivo of two pools of ATP synthase: one active, the other IF1-bound inactive. IF1 is required for oligomerization and inactivation of ATP synthase and for proper cristae formation. Immunoelectron microscopy shows the co-distribution of IF1 and ATP synthase, placing the inactive “sluggish” ATP synthase preferentially at cristae tips. The intramitochondrial distribution of IF1 correlates with cristae microdomains of high membrane potential, partially explaining its heterogeneous distribution. These findings support that IF1 is the in vivo regulator of the active/inactive state transitions of the ATP synthase and suggest that local regulation of IF1-ATP synthase interactions is essential to activate the sluggish ATP synthase.

ATPase Inhibitory Factor 1 (IF1) regulates the activity of mitochondrial ATP synthase. The expression of IF1 in differentiated human and mouse cells is highly variable. In intestinal cells, the overexpression of IF1 protects against colon inflammation. Herein, we have developed a conditional IF1-knockout mouse model in intestinal epithelium to investigate the role of IF1 in mitochondrial function and tissue homeostasis. The results show that IF1-ablated mice have increased ATP synthase/hydrolase activities, leading to profound mitochondrial dysfunction and a pro-inflammatory phenotype that impairs the permeability of the intestinal barrier compromising mouse survival upon inflammation. Deletion of IF1 prevents the formation of oligomeric assemblies of ATP synthase and alters cristae structure and the electron transport chain. Moreover, lack of IF1 promotes an intramitochondrial Ca2+ overload in vivo, minimizing the threshold to Ca2+-induced permeability transition (mPT). Removal of IF1 in cell lines also prevents the formation of oligomeric assemblies of ATP synthase, minimizing the threshold to Ca2+-induced mPT. Metabolomic analyses of mice serum and colon tissue highlight that IF1 ablation promotes the activation of de novo purine and salvage pathways. Mechanistically, lack of IF1 in cell lines increases ATP synthase/hydrolase activities and installs futile ATP hydrolysis in mitochondria, resulting in the activation of purine metabolism and in the accumulation of adenosine, both in culture medium and in mice serum. Adenosine, through ADORA2B receptors, promotes an autoimmune phenotype in mice, stressing the role of the IF1/ATP synthase axis in tissue immune responses. Overall, the results highlight that IF1 is required for ATP synthase oligomerization and that it acts as a brake to prevent ATP hydrolysis under in vivo phosphorylating conditions in intestinal cells.

An algorithm for the reconstruction of a surface from a point sample is presented. It proceeds directly from the point-cloud to obtain a cellular decomposition of the surface derived from a Morse function. No intermediate triangulation or local implicit equations are used, saving on computation time and reconstruction-induced artifices. No a priori knowledge of surface topology, density or regularity of its point sample is required to run the algorithm. The results are a piecewise parametrization of the surface as a union of Morse cells, suitable for tasks such as noise-filtering or mesh-independent reparametrization, and a cell complex of small rank determining the surface topology. The algorithm can be applied to smooth surfaces with or without boundary, embedded in an ambient space of any dimension., The authors have been supported by Clothilde (ERC-AdG-741930), and PID2019-103849GB-I00 of MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Postprint (author's final draft)

A measurement with high statistics of the differential energy spectrum of light elements in cosmic rays, in particular, of primary H plus He nuclei, is reported. The spectrum is presented in the energy range from $6$ to $158$ TeV per nucleus. Data was collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory between June 2015 and June 2019. The analysis was based on a Bayesian unfolding procedure, which was applied on a subsample of vertical HAWC data that was enriched to $82\%$ of events induced by light nuclei. To achieve the mass separation, a cut on the lateral age of air shower data was set guided by predictions of CORSIKA/QGSJET-II-04 simulations. The measured spectrum is consistent with a broken power-law spectrum and shows a kneelike feature at around $E = 24.0^{+3.6}_{-3.1} $ TeV, with a spectral index $\gamma = -2.51 \pm 0.02$ before the break and with $\gamma = -2.83 \pm 0.02$ above it. The feature has a statistical significance of $4.1 \, \sigma$. Within systematic uncertainties, the significance of the spectral break is $0.8 \, \sigma$., Comment: 32 pages, 24 figures, published in Physical Review D

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy is still a rather young field of research, with strong historical connections to particle physics. This is why most observations are conducted by experiments with proprietary data and analysis software, as it is usual in the particle physics field. However in recent years, this paradigm has been slowly shifting towards the development and use of open-source data formats and tools, driven by upcoming observatories such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). In this context, a community-driven, shared data format (the gamma-astro-data-format or GADF) and analysis tools such as Gammapy and ctools have been developed. So far these efforts have been led by the IACT community, leaving out other types of ground-based gamma-ray instruments.We aim to show that the data from ground particle arrays, such as the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, is also compatible with the GADF and can thus be fully analysed using the related tools, in this case Gammapy. We reproduce several published HAWC results using Gammapy and data products compliant with GADF standard. We also illustrate the capabilities of the shared format and tools by producing a joint fit of the Crab spectrum including data from six different gamma-ray experiments. We find excellent agreement with the reference results, a powerful check of both the published results and the tools involved. The data from particle detector arrays such as the HAWC observatory can be adapted to the GADF and thus analysed with Gammapy. A common data format and shared analysis tools allow multi-instrument joint analysis and effective data sharing. Given the complementary nature of pointing and wide-field instruments, this synergy will be distinctly beneficial for the joint scientific exploitation of future observatories such as the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory and CTA.

This paper reports on the $\gamma$-ray properties of the 2018 Galactic nova V392 Per, spanning photon energies $\sim$0.1 GeV to 100 TeV by combining observations from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the HAWC Observatory. In one of the most rapidly evolving $\gamma$-ray signals yet observed for a nova, GeV $\gamma$ rays with a power law spectrum with index $\Gamma = 2.0 \pm 0.1$ were detected over eight days following V392 Per's optical maximum. HAWC observations constrain the TeV $\gamma$-ray signal during this time and also before and after. We observe no statistically significant evidence of TeV $\gamma$-ray emission from V392 Per, but present flux limits. Tests of the extension of the Fermi/LAT spectrum to energies above 5 TeV are disfavored by 2 standard deviations (95\%) or more. We fit V392 Per's GeV $\gamma$ rays with hadronic acceleration models, incorporating optical observations, and compare the calculations with HAWC limits., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures; submitted to The Astrophysical Journal

This paper looks at the energy efficiency of the Cité Frugès in Pessac, designed in 1924 by Le Corbusier. Many of the innovations introduced by the Modern movement, such as flat roofs, large windows and solar protection elements, are still evident in the way architecture is carried out today. Most of these contributions were implemented in the Cité Frugès. The aim is to evaluate the architectural design criteria that most influenced the energy performance of Le Corbusier’s works, and to analyse the improvement that could be achieved by energy rehabilitation. The methodology used consisted of a systematised study of the five dwellings designed by Le Corbusier. For the modelling and calculation of their energy performance the “Líder–Calener unified tool” was used for evaluation, under the standards of compliance with European regulations for nearly zero energy consumption buildings. Energy parameters, such as thermal transmittance, solar gains and overall annual energy demand, were tested. The results obtained provide information on energy performance and allow for the analysis of possible energy refurbishment alternatives. The analysis of the results makes it possible to identify and qualitatively and quantitatively assess the limitations of the most relevant architectural and construction aspects in relation to energy efficiency and to draw up an energy map of the Cité Frugès in Pessac.

The increasing regulatory requirements for energy efficiency in Europe imply a significant increase in insulation and solar control of buildings, especially in hot and semi-arid climates with high annual insolation such as the Spanish Mediterranean southeast. The consequences in architectural design to optimize compliance with the new technical and regulatory requirements of nearly zero-energy buildings are high. This paper analyzes the energy performance of a modern single-family house on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The objective is to determine which design parameters most influence the energy improvement of this case study in order to establish design strategies that can be generalized to other new construction or energy retrofit projects, taking into account the specific characteristics of the warm and semi-arid Mediterranean climate. The scientific novelty of the work is to demonstrate that the design criteria of most modern single-family houses built or rehabilitated in the Spanish Mediterranean in the last decade comply with the energy efficiency requirements of Directive 2010/31/EU but are not specifically adapted and optimized for the special characteristics of the dry Mediterranean climate. This is the case of the house studied in this paper. The methodology used consisted of a systematized study of the main construction and geometric parameters that most influence the thermal calculation of this project: the thermal insulation thickness, thermal transmittance of the glazing, solar control of the glazing, total solar energy transmittance of the glazing with the movable shading device activated, size of glazing and the size of façade overhangs. The results obtained show that the use of mobile solar protection devices in summer, such as awnings or blinds, reduces the cooling need in summer up to 44% and the overall annual energy need (Cooling + Heating) up to 20%. This implementation is more efficient than increasing the thermal insulation of facades an

La última modificación del Documento Básico de Ahorro de Energía (DB-HE) del Código Técnico de la Edificación, mediante la aprobación del Real Decreto 732/2019 de aplicación obligatoria a partir del 24 de septiembre de 2020, supone un notable incremento en las exigencias normativas de aislamiento térmico y eficiencia energética en edificación en España con el objetivo de construir Edificios de consumo de Energía Casi Nulo (EECN). Este cambio legislativo conlleva un importante aumento en los requerimientos de control de las ganancias solares, lo cual va a demandar el rediseño de muchas soluciones constructivas habituales y la modificación de los propios sistemas constructivos empleados actualmente con la potenciación de soluciones constructivas industrializadas de control solar, con implicaciones en el propio diseño arquitectónico. Todo ello en consonancia con los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible y con los nuevos objetivos de sostenibilidad, industrialización y digitalización del sector de la construcción propuestos desde el Gobierno de España y las autoridades europeas. Por todo ello, resultan pertinentes investigaciones y actividades docentes que potencien el estudio y diseño de metodologías constructivas que mejoren el control solar de las envolventes arquitectónicas mediante diseños arquitectónicos y constructivos innovadores. El interés de este trabajo de investigación desarrollado en colaboración con el Colegio Territorial de Arquitectos de Alicante y la empresa C3Systems, radica en determinar las limitaciones técnicas que presentan los actuales sistemas constructivos comúnmente empleados en nuestra provincia para el control y la limitación de las ganancias térmicas por radiación solar en los edificios junto con las limitaciones técnicas de concretas simulaciones en los programas validados por el gobierno español. Para posteriormente estudiar la aplicación de nuevas soluciones constructivas en proyectos reales para su estudio y análisis comparativo, poniendo

This paper studies the energy behavior of several public heated swimming pools with semi-transparent covers located in southeastern Spain with high consumption of their air-conditioning installations. The scientific novelty of the work is to determine the influence of solar radiation on the energy performance of this type of building and to demonstrate that the use of passive systems such as natural ventilation and solar control enhance the energy efficiency in glazed heated swimming pools in a warm semi-arid climate. The methodology used consisted of on-site measurements of current hygrometric behaviour and a study of alternative solutions by simulation of virtual models with improved hygrothermal conditions. In the on-site measurements, thermographic images were used to analyse the thermal envelope and hot-wire probe measurements to determine the temperature distribution and air velocity inside the pool enclosure. For the study of alternative solutions, simulations were carried out, including an analysis of incident solar radiation and different natural ventilation and solar control solutions. The results obtained showed that the current hygrothermal behaviour of the interior spaces does not comply with the regulations on the thermal quality of the indoor environment. The results show that the proposed natural ventilation and solar control solutions substantially improved the hygrothermal properties and energy savings of the pools analysed. This work offers an alternative solution that avoids the implementation of costly air conditioning systems and the energy consumption of installations, promoting more sustainable renovations that contribute to improving the indoor comfort of users with interventions that are compatible with existing buildings.

This work is about analytic invariants of isolated hypersurface singularities and combinatorial invariants of numerical semigroups. The first part deals with analytic and topological invariants of an isolated hypersurface singularity. Our main contributions are the following: first we provide a closed formula for the minimal Tjurina number in an equisingularity class of a plane branch in terms of topological invariants of the branch, secondly we address a question of Dimca and Greuel about the quotient of the Milnor and Tjurina numbers of an isolated plane curve singularity; we extend this question to isolated surface singularities in C3 which gives the clue to provide a complete answer to Dimca and Greuel's question. Moreover, we show the connection of the extended question with an old standing conjecture posed by Durfee. Finally, we establish K. Saito's continuous limit distribution for the spectrum of Newton non-degenerate isolated hypersurface singularities and link this problem with our generalization of Dimca and Greuel's question. As a consequence, this provides a new way of understanding the important role of Durfee's conjecture in the context of isolated hypersurface singularities...