Pasteurización de leche en Managua con energía solar térmica

El proyecto pretende resolver un grave problema nicaragüense: el consumo de leche cruda en amplias zonas rurales produce enfermedades, a veces graves, a sus consumidores. La solución propuesta es diseñar la instalación de un sistema de pasteurización capaz de procesar 240 litros de leche diarios que eliminaría los riesgos sanitarios actuales, el cual consta de un circuito primario donde los colectores solares calientan el agua y de un circuito secundario donde la leche se pasteuriza pasando por un serpentín que se encuentra dentro del tanque acumulador de agua. Inicialmente, se narran las dificultades y posteriores modificaciones que sufrió el diseño del prototipo inicial del sistema de pasteurización. Diseño por AutoCAD de los varios elementos que conforman la pasteurizadora y de su conjunto, analizando para cada elemento las posibilidades en cuanto a dimensiones, tipo de material y otras, explicando los motivos de elección de un tipo concreto. Luego, se comenta la experiencia en Nicaragua describiendo el proceso de fabricación de los colectores y del montaje del circuito primario. Terminado de construir el circuito primario, se muestran los datos experimentales que se tomaron en diferentes días y condiciones climáticas y los cálculos para obtener el rendimiento del colector. A continuación, se realizan los cálculos teóricos de la pasteurización utilizando el programa informático, calculando la temperatura de salida de los colectores al tener los datos de irradiación solar horaria, la temperatura ambiente y la velocidad del viento. Luego, la temperatura de la leche después de recorrer el intercambiador para decidir si ha de pasar o no por el serpentín que se encuentra dentro del tanque. Se verifica si la leche ha quedado pasteurizada y de no ser así se la hace pasar por una fuente auxiliar de biomasa. Seguidamente, se obtiene la temperatura del tanque. Al terminar los cálculos, se elaboran las gráficas para que sea un estudio completo y se puedan comprender los datos obtenidos y verificar su viabilidad. Se hace un análisis de impacto ambiental con su correspondiente cálculo de emisiones de CO2 y del ahorro en combustible, así como un análisis económico hallando su coste inicial y los beneficios anuales a lo largo de su vida útil. Finalmente, se recogen una serie de conclusiones, mejoras y líneas futuras de investigación a modo de análisis final de los objetivos planteados al inicio de los documentos. __________________________________________This Project aims to solve a sensible problem in Nicaragua; raw-milk consumption in broad rural zones causes diseases, some of them really hazardous, to their consumers. The proposed solution is to design the installation of a pasteurization system capable of processing 240 litres of milk per day that would eliminate the current health risks. This system is composed of a primary circuit where the solar collectors heat the water and a secondary circuit where the milk is pasteurized by circulating through a heating coil located inside the water accumulator tank. Firstly, the difficulties and the modifications done to the initial pasteurization system prototype design are described. Then the AutoCAD design of the different elements that define the pasteurizer, analyzing for each element the dimension possibilities, the type of material used and others, explaining the reasons for choosing each particular type. Afterwards, the experience in Nicaragua is explained describing the collector manufacturing process and the primary circuit assembly. When the primary circuit is built, the experimental data that were taken in the different days and climate conditions are shown as well as the calculation of the collector performance. Then, a computer program is used to do the pasteurization theoretical calculations. Using the daily solar irradiation, the ambient temperature and the wind speed, the collectors’ output temperature is calculated. Next, the milks temperature is calculated after flowing through the heat exchanger to decide whether it should pass through the coil located inside the tank or not. And then to verify if the milk has been pasteurized or if the biomass auxiliary supply source is needed to reach the desired pasteurization temperature. After, the tanks temperature is calculated. When these calculations are finished, graphs are elaborated to complete the study, so that the obtained data can be understood and the viability verified. Right after the environment impact is analyzed with its corresponding CO2 emissions calculation and the fuel savings as well as the economic analysis, including the initial cost and the annual benefits all along its lifespan. Finally, a series of conclusions are reached, improvements and future investigation lines are proposed serving as a final analysis of the initial considered goals.Ingeniería Industria

Evolución de una aplicación informática para el análisis y simulación de vibraciones : ADEVI3.1

El objetivo principal ha sido obtener una aplicación informática más evolucionada que las ya existentes; la primera versión se llamó ADEVI, programado en MATLAB 6.0, y la sucesiva fue ADEVI2.0, programado en MATLAB 7.0. Para ello, se han ampliado las anteriores versiones añadiendo nuevas técnicas de análisis de vibraciones y nuevos programas que logren una mayor flexibilidad, velocidad e interactuación del usuario con los resultados. A esta nueva aplicación se la ha llamado ADEVI3.1. Para conseguir esto, ha sido necesario profundizar en el conocimiento técnico sobre los principales métodos de análisis vibratorio de la señal en el dominio frecuencial y/o temporal, en especial, el espectro tempo-frecuencial, el estudio de la transformada Wavelet, recopilación de los defectos más importantes producidos en máquinas convencionales, así como sus representaciones espectrales, familiarización con los rodamientos, parámetros, tipos,…Ha sido preciso usar la programación en MATLAB 7.0, y más concretamente el módulo GUIDE, el cual permite la creación de un interfaz gráfico específico para las necesidades concretas que requería esta aplicación para el análisis y simulación de señales vibratorias. Asimismo, ha sido necesario estudiar y comprender todas las instrucciones que conforman el programa ADEVI2.0. De este modo, se ha podido elaborar una nueva estructuración, como, por ejemplo, la creación de nuevos enlaces para la generación de nuevos análisis en simulación de señales vibratorias. Por supuesto, al introducir nuevos programas para que la aplicación anterior incorporara nuevas técnicas de análisis se han tenido que realizar las pertinentes modificaciones para poder integrar armónicamente los nuevos programas y depurar la aplicación, para conseguir una mayor velocidad en la obtención de resultados. Otra tarea que ha habido que abordar ha sido la de depurar y actualizar los diagramas, pues los anteriores se habían quedado obsoletos. Una última novedad que conviene destacar consiste en la traducción al inglés de esta aplicación, para que puedan acceder a ella un mayor número de personas.Ingeniería Técnica en Mecánic

L’immigrazione nella trasformazione dei contesti urbani: il caso siciliano, l’esigenza del recupero culturale ed il rifiuto della marginalizzazione

The issue of the immigration leads to reorganize the whole social architecture of the societies in which it occurs. Considering the urban environment as a microcosm which has a great deal of influence on global dynamics, it is right to think about the living conditions of urban citizens who live in the multicultural present societies, often suffering marginalization. As the last researches claim, the local government system is the one that could help to deal with the immigration matter in the best way and this also needs to be urgently addressed, as the “Immigration in Sicily” case study could show

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #26 to #36

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 1510*, 2130*, 2250*, 3180*, 3260, 5230*, 6410, 7140, 7220*, 9320 are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 14 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 20 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria

Genetic landscape of congenital insensitivity to pain and hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies

Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) and hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSAN) are clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders exclusively or predominantly affecting the sensory and autonomic neurons. Due to the rarity of the diseases and findings based mainly on single case reports or small case series, knowledge about these disorders is limited. Here, we describe the molecular workup of a large international cohort of CIP/HSAN patients including patients from normally under-represented countries. We identify 80 previously unreported pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in a total of 73 families in the >20 known CIP/HSAN-associated genes. The data expand the spectrum of disease-relevant alterations in CIP/HSAN, including novel variants in previously rarely recognized entities such as ATL3-, FLVCR1- and NGF-associated neuropathies and previously under-recognized mutation types such as larger deletions. In silico predictions, heterologous expression studies, segregation analyses and metabolic tests helped to overcome limitations of current variant classification schemes that often fail to categorize a variant as disease-related or benign. The study sheds light on the genetic causes and disease-relevant changes within individual genes in CIP/HSAN. This is becoming increasingly important with emerging clinical trials investigating subtype or gene-specific treatment strategies

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #45 to #59

New Italian data on the distribution of Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 27 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Apulia, Campania, Calabria, Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria, Sardinia, and Sicily

Normal and pathogenic variation of RFC1 repeat expansions: implications for clinical diagnosis

Cerebellar Ataxia, Neuropathy and Vestibular Areflexia Syndrome (CANVAS) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease, usually caused by biallelic AAGGG repeat expansions in RFC1. In this study, we leveraged whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from nearly 10,000 individuals recruited within the Genomics England sequencing project to investigate the normal and pathogenic variation of the RFC1 repeat. We identified three novel repeat motifs, AGGGC (n=6 from 5 families), AAGGC (n=2 from 1 family), AGAGG (n=1), associated with CANVAS in the homozygous or compound heterozygous state with the common pathogenic AAGGG expansion. While AAAAG, AAAGGG and AAGAG expansions appear to be benign, here we show a pathogenic role for large AAAGG repeat configuration expansions (n=5). Long read sequencing was used to fully characterise the entire repeat sequence and revealed a pure AGGGC expansion in six patients, whereas the other patients presented complex motifs with AAGGG or AAAGG interruptions. All pathogenic motifs seem to have arisen from a common haplotype and are predicted to form highly stable G quadruplexes, which have been previously demonstrated to affect gene transcription in other conditions. The assessment of these novel configurations is warranted in CANVAS patients with negative or inconclusive genetic testing. Particular attention should be paid to carriers of compound AAGGG/AAAGG expansions, since the AAAGG motif when very large (>500 repeats) or in the presence of AAGGG interruptions. Accurate sizing and full sequencing of the satellite repeat with long read is recommended in clinically selected cases, in order to achieve an accurate molecular diagnosis and counsel patients and their families

An overview of the Italian forest biodiversity and its conservation level, based on the first outcomes of the 4th Habitat Report ex-Art. 17

In 2019 the 4th Report ex-Art. 17 on the conservation status (CS) of Annex I Habitats of the 92/43/EEC Directive was expected by every EU/28 country, with reference to the period 2013-18. In Italy, the process was in charge to the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), on behalf of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (MATTM), with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society (SBI). A large group of thematic and territorial experts elaborated the available data concerning the 124 types of terrestrial and inland water Habitats present in Italy, 39 of which are represented by Forest Habitats (Group 9),. The main aim of the work was the evaluation of the overall CS of each Habitat by Biogeographic Region (Mediterranean, Continental and Alpine), for a total amount of 294 assessments. A high proportion of these (92, corresponding to 31% of the total) referred to Forest Habitats, including 20 marginal types for which the CS was not requested. The analysis was carried out at different scales: a) administrative territory, through the data contained in the ISPRA database, whose compilation was in charge to the Regions and Autonomous Provinces; b) Natura 2000 site, with the latest updates available (Standard Data Forms updated to 2018); c) national scale, implementing the distribution maps for each Habitat based on the European grid ETRS89-LAEA5210 (10x10 km2 mesh); d) Biogeographic Region, scale of the final assessment. Cartographic outcomes, associated databases and additional data used for the assessments will be available online on the ISPRA Portal as soon as the validation process by the European Commission will be completed. A dedicated archive named "HAB_IT" has been created in the national database "VegItaly" (1), managed by the Italian Society of Vegetation Science, where the phytosociological relevés representative of the various Annex I Habitats in Italy will be archived and freely accessible. An overview of the results regarding the Forest habitats is here provided, including a comparison with the outcomes of the former reporting cycle, the 3rd Report ex-Art. 17 (2). In several cases (e.g. 9120, 91L0), the distribution maps have been remarkably improved due to better knowledge and more fitful interpretation. The conservation status resulted as Favourable (FV) for 6,7%, Inadequate (U1) for 58,7% and Bad (U1) for 32,0% of the 72 assessed forest Habitat types. In no case there was an improvement of the conservation status, while in 6 cases a worsening of the conditions resulted from the data analysis, pointing out the Habitats types with a higher need of action. Similarly to other projects carried out as a team by the network of Annex I Habitat experts of the Italian Botanical Society and the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (e.g. 3, 4), this is another step in the direction of supporting the implementation of the 92/43/EEC "Habitat" Directive in Italy and Europe. On this ground, the high biodiversity of the Italian forest Habitats could be emphasized, however results pointed out that some rare or endemic types (e.g. Alnus cordata or Betula aetnensis-dominated forests) are still scarcely acknowledged by the most prominent EU conservation tools such as the Annex I to the "Habitat" Directive. 1) F. Landucci et al. (2012) Plant Biosyst., 146(4), 756-763 2) P. Genovesi et al. (2014) ISPRA, Serie Rapporti, 194/2014 3) E. Biondi et al. (2009) Società Botanica Italiana, MATTM, D.P.N., http://vnr.unipg.it/habitat/ 4) D. Gigante et al. (2016) Plant Sociology, 53(2), 77-8