On the spectral mapping theorem for essential spectra

B. Gramsch and D. Lay have studied spectral mapping theorems for the essential spectra of an operator acting in a complex Banach space. Firstly they consider operators belonging to the Banach algebra of all bounded linear operators on the space, and later they derive the theorems for unbounded closed linear operators with non-empty resolvent from the aboye case ; but bounded closed linear operators with domain a proper subspace are not included.In this note we introduce a notion of extended essential spectra for any closed linear operator with non-empty resolvent, which covers the above cases. Then, in this more general context, we are able to prove the spectral mapping theorems by means of a more unified approach based on a factorization of the operators provided by the Dunford-Taylor calculus and well-known properties of products of operators present in Fredholm theory

Protocol of evaluation and calibration of low-cost gas sensors for the monitoring of air pollution

Metrology for Chemical Pollutants in Air (MACPoll) is a joint research project of the European Metrology Research Programme of EURAMET that among other activities deals with low-cost gas sensors for air quality monitoring. Gas sensors are identified as emerging measuring devices for “indicative measurements” regulated in the Air Quality Directive. Compared to reference measurements, gas sensors would allow air pollution monitoring at a lower cost. The Directive allows using indicative measurements without restriction in the zones where the upper assessment threshold (UAT) is not exceeded while they permit a reduction of 50 % of the minimum reference measurements where the UAT is exceeded. The Directive does not specify any indicative method but it requires to demonstrate that they can meet a data quality objective (DQO) that is about twice less stringent than the one of reference methods. The DQO is defined as a relative expanded uncertainty. Since the Directive does not give any guidance for this demonstration, within MACPoll it has been decided to draft a protocol for the evaluation of gas sensors.JRC.H.2-Air and Climat

Modulation of Amyloid-beta and Tau in Alzheimer's Disease Plasma Neuronal-Derived Extracellular Vesicles by Cerebrolysin (R) and Donepezil

Background: Plasma neuronal-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEV) contain proteins of pathological, diagnostic, and therapeutic relevance. Objective: We investigated the associations of six plasma NDEV markers with Alzheimer's disease (AD) severity, cognition and functioning, and changes in these biomarkers after Cerebrolysin (R), donepezil, and a combination therapy in AD. Methods: Plasma NDEV levels of A beta(42), total tau, P-T181-tau, P-S393-tau, neurogranin, and REST were determined in: 1) 116 mild to advanced AD patients and in 20 control subjects; 2) 110 AD patients treated with Cerebrolysin (R), donepezil, or combination therapy in a randomized clinical trial (RCT). Samples for NDEV determinations were obtained at baseline in the NDEV study and at baseline and study endpoint in the RCT. Cognition and functioning were assessed at the same time points. Results: NDEV levels of A beta(42), total tau, P-T181-tau, and P-S393-tau were higher and those of neurogranin and REST were lower in mild-to-moderate AD than in controls (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). NDEV total tau, neurogranin, and REST increased with AD severity (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). NDEV A beta 42 and P-T181-tau correlated negatively with serum BDNF (p < 0.05), and total-tau levels were associated to plasma TNF-alpha (p < 0.01) and cognitive impairment (p < 0.05). Combination therapy reduced NDEV A beta(42) with respect to monotherapies ( p < 0.05); and NDEV total tau, P-T181-tau, and P-S396-tau were decreased in Cerebrolysin-treated patients compared to those on donepezil monotherapy (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The present results demonstrate the utility of NDEV determinations of pathologic and synaptic proteins as effective AD biomarkers, as markers of AD severity, and as potential tools for monitoring the effects of anti-AD drugs.United States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) AG058252 AG073979 AG051848 AG057437 AG010483 AG062429Ever Neuro Pharma GmbH (Unterach, Austria) research gran

Electronic Noses Applications in Beer Technology

This chapter describes and explains in detail the electronic noses (e-noses) as devices composed of an array of sensors that measure chemical volatile compounds and apply classification or regression algorithms. Then, it reviews the most significant applications of such devices in beer technology, with examples about defect detection, hop classification, or beer classification, among others. After the review, the chapter illustrates two applications from the authors, one about beer classification and another about beer defect detection. Finally, after a comparison with other analytical techniques, the chapter ends with a summary, conclusions, and the compelling future of the e-noses applied to beer technology

Formación en la responsabilidad social del profesional en el ámbito universitario.

INTRODUCCIÓN. La Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible exige a la Educación Superior un mayor esfuerzo por crear una conciencia social en los universitarios. No obstante, son pocas las iniciativas encaminadas concretamente al desarrollo de la conciencia social del universitario. La asignatura de “Educación para la Responsabilidad Social”, de una universidad privada de Madrid, busca formar profesionales con conciencia social y comprometidos con el bien común. Veinticinco años después de su implantación en varios grados universitarios, se busca analizar su impacto cuando el egresado ya se encuentra en el desempeño de su profesión. MÉTODO. A través de un estudio empírico ex post facto en el que se analiza un grupo clave (272 sujetos) que cursó la asignatura y un grupo cuasi-control (252 sujetos) que no la cursó, se trata de determinar si existe un efecto diferencial en el grado de responsabilidad social. En concreto: en sus valores, en su conciencia social, en su compromiso con los demás y con el medio ambiente, y en el planteamiento de la profesión como servicio. Se elaboró un instrumento de medida de la Responsabilidad Social del Profesional y posteriormente se confirmó satisfactoriamente su fiabilidad y validez. RESULTADOS. Los resultados muestran que existen diferencias significativas a favor de los profesionales que cursaron la asignatura en la universidad (F(1,522) = 4.25; p = .040; η² = .008). Tienen mayor responsabilidad social global, una mejor percepción de los valores y un mejor planteamiento de la profesión como servicio. DISCUSIÓN. Se espera que se adopten iniciativas similares en otras universidades, con el fin de crear una diferencia significativa en la formación de profesionales socialmente responsables. Se aconseja la creación de programas que potencien la sensibilidad y el compromiso social. Las iniciativas en las que el alumno desarrolla una labor social o tiene un contacto directo con un colectivo en exclusión social son las más educativas.post-print424 K

Behavioural patterns in aggregated demand response developments for communities targeting renewables

Encouraging consumers to embrace renewable energies and energy-efficient technologies is at stake, and so the energy players such as utilities and policy-makers are opening up a range of new value propositions towards more sustainable communities. For instance, developments of turn-key demand response aggregation and optimisation of distributed loads are rapidly emerging across the globe in a variety of business models focused on maximising the inherent flexibility and diversity of the behind-the-meter assets. However, even though these developments" added value is understood and of wide interest, measurement of the desired levels of consumer engagement is still on demonstration stages and assessment of technology readiness. In this paper, we analyse the characteristics of the loads, the behaviour of parameters, and in a final extent, the behaviour of each kind of consumer participating in aggregated demand scheduling. We apply both non-automatic and machine learning methods to extract the relevant factors and to recognise the potential consumer behaviour on a series of scenarios that are drawn using both synthetic data and living labs datasets. Our experimentation showcases a number of three patterns in which factors like the community"s demand volume and the consumer"s flexibility dominate and impact the performance of the tested development. The experimentation also makes current limitations arise within the existing electricity consumption datasets and their potential for inference and forecasting demand flexibility analytics.Comunidad de Madri

Borax induces osteogenesis by stimulating NaBC1 transporter via activation of BMP pathway

[EN] The intrinsic properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) make them ideal candidates for tissue engineering applications. Efforts have been made to control MSC behavior by using material systems to engineer synthetic extracellular matrices and/or include soluble factors in the media. This work proposes a simple approach based on ion transporter stimulation to determine stem cell fate that avoids the use of growth factors. Addition of borax alone, transported by the NaBC1-transporter, enhanced MSC adhesion and contractility, promoted osteogenesis and inhibited adipogenesis. Stimulated-NaBC1 promoted osteogenesis via the BMP canonical pathway (comprising Smad1/YAP nucleus translocation and osteopontin expression) through a mechanism that involves simultaneous NaBC1/BMPR1A and NaBC1/alpha (5)beta (1)/alpha (v)beta (3) co-localization. We describe an original function for NaBC1 transporter, besides controlling borate homeostasis, capable of stimulating growth factor receptors and fibronectin-binding integrins. Our results open up new biomaterial engineering approaches for biomedical applications by a cost-effective strategy that avoids the use of soluble growth factors. Rico et al. propose a simple approach based on borax stimulation of NaBC1 transporter, which enhances FN-binding integrin-dependent mesenchymal stem cell adhesion and contractility, promotes osteogenesis and inhibits adipogenesis. Osteogenic differentiation depends on activation of the BMP pathway through a mechanism that involves simultaneous co-localization of NaBC1 with FN-binding integrins and BMPR1A.P.R. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (RTI2018-096794), and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). 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Design of a Bubble Reactor for Altitude Simulators Used to Humidify a Combustion Air Stream by Means of CFD Multi-Phase Models

[EN] In this paper, a procedure for the design of a bubble reactor which allows the control of the humidity of a gas stream used as combustion air is presented. This reactor is designed to be used as a component of an altitude simulator test facility for the optimization, homologation and calibration of new hybrid engines. The design has been carried out by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) multi-phase models and validated against the experimental data obtained from the developed prototype. A discussion about the adequate mesh topology and cell size is presented, as well as a comparison between the two available models for the air-water interphase. Lastly, a validation of the CFD results using experimental data shows that the model that should be used is the multi-regime interaction model, from which the final design for the bubble reactor was obtained.This research has been partially supported by Universitat Politecnica de Valencia through project PAID-01-18.Serrano, J.; Gil, A.; Quintero-Igeño, P.; Tabet-Aleixandre, R.; Gómez, J. (2021). Design of a Bubble Reactor for Altitude Simulators Used to Humidify a Combustion Air Stream by Means of CFD Multi-Phase Models. Applied Sciences. 11(1):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010295S11511

A wireless and portable electronic nose to differentiate musts of different ripeness degree and grape varieties

Two novel applications using a portable and wireless sensor system (e-nose) for the wine producing industry—The recognition and classification of musts coming from different grape ripening times and from different grape varieties—Are reported in this paper. These applications are very interesting because a lot of varieties of grapes produce musts with low and similar aromatic intensities so they are very difficult to distinguish using a sensory panel. Therefore the system could be used to monitor the ripening evolution of the different types of grapes and to assess some useful characteristics, such as the identification of the grape variety origin and to prediction of the wine quality. Ripening grade of collected samples have been also evaluated by classical analytical techniques, measuring physicochemical parameters, such as, pH, Brix, Total Acidity (TA) and Probable Grade Alcoholic (PGA). The measurements were carried out for two different harvests, using different red (Barbera, Petit Verdot, Tempranillo, and Touriga) and white (Malvar, Malvasía, Chenin Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc) grape musts coming from the experimental cellar of the IMIDRA at Madrid. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Probabilistic Neural Networks (PNN) have been used to analyse the obtained data by e-nose. In addition, and the Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) method has been carried out to correlate the results obtained by both technologies. © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work is being supported by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) of the Economía y Competitividad Ministry, under the project RTA2011-00095-C02-02. We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer Reviewe

Engineered microenvironments for synergistic VEGF - integrin signalling during vascularization

We have engineered polymer-based microenvironments that promote vasculogenesis both in vitro and in vivo through synergistic integrin-growth factor receptor signalling. Poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA) triggers spontaneous organization of fibronectin (FN) into nanonetworks which provide availability of critical binding domains. Importantly, the growth factor binding (FNIII12-14) and integrin binding (FNIII9-10) regions are simultaneously available on FN fibrils assembled on PEA. This material platform promotes synergistic integrin/VEGF signalling which is highly effective for vascularization events in vitro with low concentrations of VEGF. VEGF specifically binds to FN fibrils on PEA compared to control polymers (poly(methyl acrylate), PMA) where FN remains in a globular conformation and integrin/GF binding domains are not simultaneously available. The vasculogenic response of human endothelial cells seeded on these synergistic interfaces (VEGF bound to FN assembled on PEA) was significantly improved compared to soluble administration of VEGF at higher doses. Early onset of VEGF signalling (PLCγ1 phosphorylation) and both integrin and VEGF signalling (ERK1/2 phosphorylation) were increased only when VEGF was bound to FN nanonetworks on PEA, while soluble VEGF did not influence early signalling. Experiments with mutant FN molecules with impaired integrin binding site (FN-RGE) confirmed the role of the integrin binding site of FN on the vasculogenic response via combined integrin/VEGF signalling. In vivo experiments using 3D scaffolds coated with FN and VEGF implanted in the murine fat pad demonstrated pro-vascularization signalling by enhanced formation of new tissue inside scaffold pores. PEA-driven organization of FN promotes efficient presentation of VEGF to promote vascularization in regenerative medicine applications