A NOVEL PT-BASED CATHODE CATALYST DESIGN BY FIRST PRINCIPLES

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Dual-active bridge series resonant electric vehicle charger: A self-tuning method

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This paper presents a new self-tuning loop for a bidirectional dual-active bridge (DAB) series resonant converter (SRC). For different loading conditions, the two active bridges can be controlled with a minimum time displacement between them to assure zero voltage switching (ZVS) and minimum circulation current conditions. The tuning loop can instantly reverse the power direction with a fast dynamics. Moreover, the tuning loop is not sensitive to series resonant tank tolerances and deviations, which makes it a robust solution for power tuning of the SRCs. For simplicity, the power is controlled based on the power-frequency control method with a fixed time displacement between the active bridges. The main design criteria of the bidirectional SRC are the time displacement, operating frequency bandwidth, and the minimum and maximum power, which are simply derived and formulated based on the self-tuning loop’s parameters. Based on the parameters of the tuning loop, a simplified power equation and power control method is proposed for DAB-SRCs. The proposed control method is simulated in static and dynamic conditions for different loadings. The analysis and simulation results show the effectiveness of the new tuning method

Interoperabilidad en Sistemas Domóticos Mediante Pasarela Infrarrojos-ZigBee

La domótica consiste en la aplicación de técnicas provenientes de la automática industrial al hogar con objeto de ofrecer servicios que aporten, entre otras cosas, confort, seguridad y eficiencia energética a los usuarios. Hasta el momento la penetración de dichas técnicas en los hogares ha sido reducida. Una de las razones fundamentales de esta lenta transposición de técnicas de control al hogar es la dificultad de integración entre los diferentes sistemas presentes en el hogar. En este artículo se presenta un desarrollo encaminado a mejorar la integración de los sistemas domóticos con aquellos dispositivos que sean controlables mediante infrarrojos. En concreto se ha desarrollado una pasarela inalámbrica que permite a una red domótica el envío de tramas de infrarrojos. De esta manera se posibilita un despliegue rápido y económico de los nodos que sean necesarios para integrar dispositivos tales como los sistemas de aire acondicionado en una red domótica.Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio MITC-09-TSI-020100-2009-359Ministerio de Educación DPI2008-05818Junta de Andalucía TEP0272

4kscore test, prostate cancer prevention trial-risk calculator y european research screening prostate-risk calculator en la predicción del cáncer de próstata de alto grado; estudio preliminar

Introducción: Frente al sobrediagnóstico y al sobretratamiento en cáncer de próstata (CaP) se establecen estrategias terapéuticas como la vigilancia activa o la terapia focal, o métodos para precisar el diagnóstico del CaP de alto grado (CaP-AG), Gleason = 7, como la resonancia magnética multiparamétrica o nuevos marcadores como el 4Kscore Test (4KsT).: Es nuestro propósito testar mediante un estudio piloto la capacidad del 4KsT como identificador de CaP-AG (suma de Gleason = 7) en biopsia de próstata (Bx) y compararlo con otros modelos pronósticos multivariantes disponibles, como el Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial-Risk Calculator 2.0 (PCPTRC 2.0) y el European Research Screening Prostate Cancer-Risk Calculator 4 (ERSPC-RC 4). Material y métodos: Cincuenta y un pacientes sometidos a BxP según práctica clínica habitual, con un mínimo de 10 cilindros. Diagnóstico de CaP-AG consensuado por 4 uropatólogos. Comparación de las predicciones ofrecidas por los diferentes modelos mediante prueba U Mann-Whitney, áreas bajo la curva ROC (AUC) (test de DeLong), funciones de densidad de probabilidad, diagramas de caja y curvas de utilidad clínica (CUC). Resultados: Un 43% presentaron CaP y un 23,5% CaP-AG. Las medianas de probabilidad de 4KsT, PCPTRC 2.0 y ERSPC-RC 4 fueron significativamente diferentes entre los pacientes con CaP-AG y no CaP-AG (p = 0,022), siendo más diferenciadas en el caso de 4KsT (mediana en CaP-AG: 51,5% [percentil 25-75: 25-80,5%], frente a 16% [P 25-75: 8-26,5%] en no CaP-AG [p = 0,002]). Todos los modelos mostraron AUC por encima de 0,7 sin diferencias significativas entre ninguno de ellos y 4KsT (p = 0,20). Las funciones de densidad de probabilidad y diagramas de caja muestran una buena capacidad discriminativa, especialmente en los modelos de ERSPC-RC 4 y 4KsT. Las CUC muestran como un punto de corte del 9% de 4KsT identifica a todos los CaP-AG y permite un ahorro del 22% de biopsias, similar a lo que ocurre con los modelos de ERSPC-RC 4 y un punto de corte del 3%. Conclusiones: Los modelos predictivos evaluados ofrecen una buena capacidad de discriminación del CaP-AG en Bx. 4KsT es un buen modelo clasificatorio en su conjunto, seguido de ERSPC-RC 4 y PCPTRC 2.0. Las CUC permiten sugerir puntos de corte de decisión clínica: 9% para 4KsT y 3% en ERSPC-RC 4. Este estudio preliminar debe ser interpretado con cautela por su limitado tamaño muestral. Introduction: To prevent the overdiagnosis and overtreatment of prostate cancer (PC), therapeutic strategies have been established such as active surveillance and focal therapy, as well as methods for clarifying the diagnosis of high-grade prostate cancer (HGPC) (defined as a Gleason score =7), such as multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and new markers such as the 4Kscore test (4. KsT).By means of a pilot study, we aim to test the ability of the 4. KsT to identify HGPC in prostate biopsies (Bx) and compare the test with other multivariate prognostic models such as the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial Risk Calculator 2.0 (PCPTRC 2.0) and the European Research Screening Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator 4 (ERSPC-RC 4). Material and methods: Fifty-one patients underwent a prostate Bx according to standard clinical practice, with a minimum of 10 cores. The diagnosis of HGPC was agreed upon by 4 uropathologists. We compared the predictions from the various models by using the Mann-Whitney U test, area under the ROC curve (AUC) (DeLong test), probability density function (PDF), box plots and clinical utility curves. Results: Forty-three percent of the patients had PC, and 23.5% had HGPC. The medians of probability for the 4. KsT, PCPTRC 2.0 and ERSPC-RC 4 were significantly different between the patients with HGPC and those without HGPC (p=.022) and were more differentiated in the case of 4. KsT (51.5% for HGPC 25-75 percentile: 25-80.5%] vs. 16% P 25-75: 8-26.5%] for non-HGPC; p = 002). All models presented AUCs above 0.7, with no significant differences between any of them and 4. KsT (p=.20). The PDF and box plots showed good discriminative ability, especially in the ERSPC-RC 4 and 4. KsT models. The utility curves showed how a cutoff of 9% for 4. KsT identified all cases of HGPC and provided a 22% savings in biopsies, which is similar to what occurs with the ERSPC-RC 4 models and a cutoff of 3%. Conclusions: The assessed predictive models offer good discriminative ability for HGPCs in Bx. The 4. KsT is a good classification model as a whole, followed by ERSPC-RC 4 and PCPTRC 2.0. The clinical utility curves help suggest cutoff points for clinical decisions: 9% for 4. KsT and 3% for ERSPC-RC 4. This preliminary study should be interpreted with caution due to its limited sample size

Neurofuzzy model based predictive control for thermal batch processes

10 páginas, 11 figuras, 1 tablaIn many cases, it is difficult to derive a precise mathematical model, based on first principles, for a given process. Besides, the computation of the solution of models obtained through this methodology may require a large computational effort making them useless for real time tasks like control or optimization. Neurofuzzy modelling, which permits an easy way to derive successful models, is a good alternative which can be employed to overcome such limitations. In this paper, together with the neurofuzzy modelling, several strategies based on non-linear predictive control are presented. The low computational cost associated with neurofuzzy models and controllers makes them suitable candidates to be implemented into industrial Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC). Both the model and controllers are validated and implemented in a pilot plant for the thermal sterilization of solid canned food in steam retorts and based on the results, a comparison between the different predictive control strategies is presentedThe authors acknowledge MCYT-Spain for funding this work under grants DPI2004-07444-C04 and DPI2007-66718-C04-01Peer reviewe

Nutrition label design and its effect on purchase intentions through readability considering consumer nutrition knowledge

Nutrition labels are the only accurate source of information of a product’s nutritional contents. They are intended to serve as a guide for consumers in selecting their food. However, these labels can only be effective if consumers read them. An identified gap on nutrition label use among consumers has raised concerns on the label’s need for improvement. One way of improving them is through their design as this was found to have a significant influence on consumer purchasing behavior. However, current international guidelines on nutrition labels are only concerned with the information displayed. There is no set standard for its design. Additionally, the consumer’s nutrition knowledge must also be considered to narrow the impact that various nutrition label designs have. This could help in increasing the effectiveness of the labels in positively influencing consumers with their purchase intention. In this study, the four factors incorporated were nutrition label design, readability, consumer nutrition knowledge, and purchase intention. Readability was hypothesized to mediate the effect of nutrition label design factors to purchase intention, whereas nutrition knowledge was hypothesized as a moderator of readability to purchase intention. The design factors tested were font size, highlighting critical information, and background color. The objective of this study is to formulate guidelines for nutrition label design to have a positive influence on purchase intention through readability. This is done through determining which design factors are significant to the consumer’s purchase intention, analyzing both the mediating role of readability and the moderating role of nutrition knowledge. A total of 320 participants took part in this study which were all literate Filipino consumers of four-side seal sachet products. The main experiment was done through an online survey that includes a photo and video of the sachet product with the nutrition label and a series of questions pertaining to the label. A total of eight surveys, each containing different combinations of the nutrition label design factors, were randomly assigned to each participant. Post-survey interviews were also conducted with willing participants for additional insights and information. A pilot experiment was first conducted to test the process and reliability of the questionnaire. The data obtained from the main experiment was then analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). From the results of the experiment, it was seen that the design factors of font size and background color are recommended. Both factors were found to have an indirect effect on purchase intention through readability and a positive effect on purchase intention. Participants noted that increasing font size for calories (8pt) helped emphasize this important component of the label while having a background with a higher color contrast ratio of 21:1, more clearly displays the nutrients allowing them to be easily evaluated. Additionally, nutrition knowledge was found to moderate these two indirect effects through moderated mediation. The indirect effects of font size and background color on purchase intention are more profound among people with lower nutrition knowledge compared to the population with higher nutrition knowledge. The findings of this study can help food manufacturers implement design guidelines for nutrition labels. Additionally, government regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can also use them to create a standard nutrition label design. The findings highlight that nutrition label design should focus on increasing readability as this was found to mediate the relationship between the design factors and purchase intention. Lastly, the findings of this research provide insights on the importance of considering the varying levels of nutrition knowledge consumers have when creating nutrition label designs

Isosymmetric structural phase transition of the orthorhombic lanthanum gallate structure as a function of temperature determined by Rietveld analysis

High energy planetary ball milling has been used to synthesize pseudo-cubic highly-pure LaGaO in one hour from its oxide components in an air atmosphere. Calcination at different temperatures led to the crystallization of lanthanum gallate in an orthorhombic structure with its local lanthanum coordination number environment changing from 12 to 7 when the temperature was increased. This change was attributed to the thermal expansion of the Ga-O bonds that varied non-monotonically inducing GaO tilting. Rietveld analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to elucidate the LaGaO structures at different temperatures.This work was supported by the Spanish Government financed in part by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ramón y Cajal Program RYC-2013-12437

FT-IR Microspectroscopy and grazing-incidence X-Ray difractions study on granites.

Non destructive physical methods have been applied to the characterization of granites. Reflectance spectra, recorder using the FT_IR, microscope, was used to identify the individual minerals and its distrbution in the surface. The grazing-incide X-Ray diffraction allows the analysis of very thin layers of the materials, being applied to the study of the first steps of the alteration propcesses.Peer reviewe

SWI/SNF-dependent genes are defined by their chromatin landscape

Summary: SWI/SNF complexes are evolutionarily conserved, ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling machines. Here, we characterize the features of SWI/SNF-dependent genes using BRM014, an inhibitor of the ATPase activity of the complexes. We find that SWI/SNF activity is required to maintain chromatin accessibility and nucleosome occupancy for most enhancers but not for most promoters. SWI/SNF activity is needed for expression of genes with low to medium levels of expression that have promoters with (1) low chromatin accessibility, (2) low levels of active histone marks, (3) high H3K4me1/H3K4me3 ratio, (4) low nucleosomal phasing, and (5) enrichment in TATA-box motifs. These promoters are mostly occupied by the canonical Brahma-related gene 1/Brahma-associated factor (BAF) complex. These genes are surrounded by SWI/SNF-dependent enhancers and mainly encode signal transduction, developmental, and cell identity genes (with almost no housekeeping genes). Machine-learning models trained with different chromatin characteristics of promoters and their surrounding regulatory regions indicate that the chromatin landscape is a determinant for establishing SWI/SNF dependency