Biogas Power Energy Production from a Life Cycle Thinking

The purpose of this chapter is to present a generalized model for the construction of inventories for the production of electricity through biogas. This general framework can be adjusted to any power plant that uses biogas, since it complies with the main material and energy balances. This chapter describes the main technologies used in biogas power energy production, separating them into five main subsystems that integrate the general life cycle inventory, as well as the inputs and outputs considered in the development of the inventories. The life cycle assessment (LCA) of two types of plants is presented as study cases: (i) the biogas power energy generation with organic waste in landfills as substrate and (ii) the biogas power energy generation using dairy cattle manure as substrate. Both systems, in addition to using different types of substrate, present differences in their substages. It is concluded that the generation of studies of life cycle analysis of technologies facilitates decision makers, producers, and government agencies to develop and identify areas of opportunity from life cycle thinking

Influence of the ectopic location on the antigen expression and functional characteristics of endometrioma stromal cells

Research question: Are the alterations observed in the endometriotic cells, such as progesterone resistance, already present in the eutopic endometrium or acquired in the ectopic location? Design: The response to decidualization with progesterone and cyclic AMP for up to 28 days was compared in different endometrial stromal cell (EnSC) lines established from samples of endometriomas (eEnSC), eutopic endometrium from women with endometriosis (eBEnSC), endometrial tissue from healthy women (BEnSC) and menstrual blood from healthy donors (mEnSC). Results: Usual features of decidualized cells, such as changes in cell morphology and expression of prolactin, were similarly observed in the three types of eutopic EnSC studied, but not in the ectopic cells upon decidualization. Among the phenotypic markers analysed, CD105 was down-regulated under decidualization in all cell types (mEnSC, P = 0.005; BEnSC, P = 0.029; eBEnSC, P = 0.022) except eEnSC. mEnSC and BEnSC underwent apoptosis during decidualization, whereas eBEnSC and eEnSC were resistant to the induction of cell death. Lastly, migration studies revealed that mEnSC secreted undetermined factors during decidualization that inhibited cell motility, whereas eEnSC showed a significantly lower ability to produce those migration-regulating factors (P < 0.0001, P  < 0.001 and P = 0.0013 for the migration of mEnSC at 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively; P  < 0.0001 for the migration of eEnSC at all times studied). Conclusions: This study provides novel insights into the differences between endometriotic and eutopic endometrial cells and reinforces the idea that the microenvironment in the ectopic location plays additional roles in the acquisition of the alterations that characterize the cells of the endometriotic foci.This work was supported by the Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016, ISCIII Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (Grant PI16/01642); the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/634 FEDER funding); and the Plan Propio, Universidad de Granada (Grant PP2021.PP-12)

Artificial-intelligence-augmented telemedicine applied to the management of diet-treated gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes (GD) confers an increased risk of complications as well as future type 2 diabetes. We assess the safety and efficacy of an artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented telemedicine system (ruled-based reasoning) that includes a blood glucose (BG) classifier (C4.5 Quinlan decision tree) in comparison with the standard care in the management of GD while insulin is not required

Momento Económico (17-18)

En este número Temas de hoy, 2/ Encuentro sobre la Deuda Externa de America Latina y el Caribe, México, Alonso Aguilar, 3/ Fernando Carmona, 5/ Heberto Castillo. 6/ Gantón Garcia Cantú, 7/ Pablo Gómez, 8/ Sergio Méndez Arceo, 9/ Carlos Tello, 11/ Mario J. Zepeda Martinez, 12/ Argentina, Enrique Garcia Vázquez, 16/ Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, 20/ Brasil, Frei Betto, 22/ Ecuador, Blanca Chancoso, 24/ El Salvador, Guillermo Ungo, 25/ República Dominicana, Juan Bosch, 27/ Venezuela, Miguel Ángel Capriles, 28/ Organismos Económicos Latinoamericanos, Homero L. Hernández, 3

Successful replacement of weekly face-to-face visits by unsupervised smart home telecare in diet-treated gestational diabetes (GD)

We have developed a computer-based smart telemedicine system with the aim of giving automated support to GD patients while insulin is not required. The smart telemedicine system combines a platform for remote monitoring of diabetes-related parameters with a decision-support system (DSS) based on expert knowledge that generates automatic feedback to patients and/or clinicians. The DSS generates initial and follow-up diet treatments and detects the need to start insulin. Blood glucose (BG) data downloaded to the system from the patient?s glucose meter is automatically classified into mealtime intervals and moments of measurement (preprandial,postprandial) by a classifier based on a decision tree. After downloading BG data and informing on ketonuria fasting status, the patient receives an evaluation of the data and, if needed, a proposal of diet adjustment. In case insulin therapy is advised, the system also informs the responsible doctor who schedules a face-to-face appointment. Sixty-nine patients diagnosed of GD following the NDDG criteria were randomized (2:1) to use the system (active group) or to attend the usual face-to-face visits (control group). At baseline, groups were comparable regarding all the clinical variables tested. During the follow-up period (36 days (1-141)), no correction of the automated-proposed treatment was done by doctors. Mean number of BG downloads by patients was 10.2±8 (1-29) and the mean number of changes in diet automatically proposed was 0.46. Mean number of BG values/day, mean BG and the % of BG values above 140 mg/dl, pre-partum HbA1c, and all the perinatal outcomes tested were similar between the groups. Mean number of face-to-face visits performed including first visit and training was 4.8±2.8 for the control group and 1.4±0.6 for the active group (p<0.001). In conclusion, this computer-based smart telemedicine system successfully replaced face-to-face follow-up visits in women diagnosed of GD while insulin therapy was not required

Evolutionary and pulsational properties of white dwarf stars

Abridged. White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary stage of the vast majority of stars, including our Sun. The study of white dwarfs has potential applications to different fields of astrophysics. In particular, they can be used as independent reliable cosmic clocks, and can also provide valuable information about the fundamental parameters of a wide variety of stellar populations, like our Galaxy and open and globular clusters. In addition, the high densities and temperatures characterizing white dwarfs allow to use these stars as cosmic laboratories for studying physical processes under extreme conditions that cannot be achieved in terrestrial laboratories. They can be used to constrain fundamental properties of elementary particles such as axions and neutrinos, and to study problems related to the variation of fundamental constants. In this work, we review the essentials of the physics of white dwarf stars. Special emphasis is placed on the physical processes that lead to the formation of white dwarfs as well as on the different energy sources and processes responsible for chemical abundance changes that occur along their evolution. Moreover, in the course of their lives, white dwarfs cross different pulsational instability strips. The existence of these instability strips provides astronomers with an unique opportunity to peer into their internal structure that would otherwise remain hidden from observers. We will show that this allows to measure with unprecedented precision the stellar masses and to infer their envelope thicknesses, to probe the core chemical stratification, and to detect rotation rates and magnetic fields. Consequently, in this work, we also review the pulsational properties of white dwarfs and the most recent applications of white dwarf asteroseismology.Comment: 85 pages, 28 figures. To be published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Revie

INNOVASONORA: gestión de archivos sonoros, sonido inmersivo y realidad virtual en plataformas LMS

Memoria del proyecto de innovación docente "Innovasonora" (Curso 2021-2022

5to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

El V Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2019, realizado del 6 al 8 de febrero de 2019 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, ofreció a la comunidad académica nacional e internacional una plataforma de comunicación unificada, dirigida a cubrir los problemas teóricos y prácticos de mayor impacto en la sociedad moderna desde la ingeniería. En esta edición, dedicada a los 25 años de vida de la UPS, los ejes temáticos estuvieron relacionados con la aplicación de la ciencia, el desarrollo tecnológico y la innovación en cinco pilares fundamentales de nuestra sociedad: la industria, la movilidad, la sostenibilidad ambiental, la información y las telecomunicaciones. El comité científico estuvo conformado formado por 48 investigadores procedentes de diez países: España, Reino Unido, Italia, Bélgica, México, Venezuela, Colombia, Brasil, Estados Unidos y Ecuador. Fueron recibidas un centenar de contribuciones, de las cuales 39 fueron aprobadas en forma de ponencias y 15 en formato poster. Estas contribuciones fueron presentadas de forma oral ante toda la comunidad académica que se dio cita en el Congreso, quienes desde el aula magna, el auditorio y la sala de usos múltiples de la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, cumplieron respetuosamente la responsabilidad de representar a toda la sociedad en la revisión, aceptación y validación del conocimiento nuevo que fue presentado en cada exposición por los investigadores. Paralelo a las sesiones técnicas, el Congreso contó con espacios de presentación de posters científicos y cinco workshops en temáticas de vanguardia que cautivaron la atención de nuestros docentes y estudiantes. También en el marco del evento se impartieron un total de ocho conferencias magistrales en temas tan actuales como la gestión del conocimiento en la universidad-ecosistema, los retos y oportunidades de la industria 4.0, los avances de la investigación básica y aplicada en mecatrónica para el estudio de robots de nueva generación, la optimización en ingeniería con técnicas multi-objetivo, el desarrollo de las redes avanzadas en Latinoamérica y los mundos, la contaminación del aire debido al tránsito vehicular, el radón y los riesgos que representa este gas radiactivo para la salud humana, entre otros

El reto de la inclusión de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible en la formación inicial de profesores de secundaria: creación del MOOC curso cero sobre educación y ODS, inclusión en asignaturas y en trabajos fin de máster

Memoria ID-041. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2021-2022