669 research outputs found

    Modelo de negocio y estrategia editorial: el caso del wsj.com

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    La investigación sobre modelos de negocios en la industria de la comunicación se ha caracterizado por un elevado grado de experimentación y la ausencia de respuestas unívocas al problema de la rentabilidad de los contenidos digitales. En este escenario, The Wall Street Journal suele ser mencionado como un referente del modelo de suscripción. Este artículo demuestra empíricamente que el modelo del diario económico más prestigioso del mundo ofrece un modelo híbrido en el que los contenidos gratuitos representan el 73% del total publicado en la portada del wsj.com y analiza cuáles son las características comunes que suelen compartir aquellos contenidos de pago frente a las compartidas por los contenidos gratuitos

    Self-tuning resonant control of a 7-leg back-to-back converter for interfacing variable speed generators to 4-wire loads

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    This paper considers the control of a 7-leg back-to-back Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) arrangement feeding a 4-wire load from a 3-phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) operating at variable speed. The PMSG is controlled using a sensorless Model Reference Adaptive System (MRAS) to obtain the rotor position angle. The 7-leg converter is regulated using Resonant Controllers (RCs) at the load side and self-tuning resonant controllers at the generator side. The control system is augmented by a feed-forward compensation algorithm which improves the dynamic performance during transients. Experimental results, obtained from a prototype, are presented and discussed

    Design and initial testing of a high speed 45 kW switched reluctance drive for aerospace application

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    This paper presents innovative research towards the development of a 45 kW high speed switched reluctance drive as an alternative starter-generator for future aero-engines. To perform such a function the machine had to be designed with a very wide constant power-speed range. During engine-start/motoring mode, a peak torque demand of 54 Nm at 8 krpm was met, whilst in generating mode, 19.2-32 krpm, the machine was designed to deliver a constant power of 45 kW. The key enabling feature of the design lies in the novel rotor structure developed so as to allow for such a wide speed range. The results presented, are those measured during the initial testing phase and validate the system design and performance in the low-speed region with the machine operated in starting-mode. The measured machine power density is at 9.8 kW/ltr, whilst the global system efficiency is at 82%

    Visual gaze patterns reveal surgeons' ability to identify risk of bile duct injury during laparoscopic cholecystectomy

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    BACKGROUND: Bile duct injury is a serious surgical complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The aim of this study was to identify distinct visual gaze patterns associated with the prompt detection of bile duct injury risk during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS: Twenty-nine participants viewed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy that led to a serious bile duct injury ('BDI video') and an uneventful procedure ('control video') and reported when an error was perceived that could result in bile duct injury. Outcome parameters include fixation sequences on anatomical structures and eye tracking metrics. Surgeons were stratified into two groups based on performance and compared. RESULTS: The 'early detector' group displayed reduced common bile duct dwell time in the first half of the BDI video, as well as increased cystic duct dwell time and Calot's triangle glances count during Calot's triangle dissection in the control video. Machine learning based classification of fixation sequences demonstrated clear separability between early and late detector groups. CONCLUSION: There are discernible differences in gaze patterns associated with early recognition of impending bile duct injury. The results could be transitioned into real time and used as an intraoperative early warning system and in an educational setting to improve surgical safety and performance

    An integrated converter and machine control system for MMC-based high power drives

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    The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) is a promising topology for high power drive applications. However, large voltage fluctuations are produced in the floating capacitors when the machine is operating with high stator currents at low rotational speed. To compensate these oscillations, relatively large mitigation currents are required to keep the capacitor voltages within an acceptable range. In this paper, a new integrated control scheme is discussed to regulate the voltage fluctuations. The strategy is based on closed-loop vector-control of the voltage fluctuations, maintaining them inside a pre-defined threshold. The proposed control system is also augmented using flux weakening operation of the machine at low rotational speeds. An experimental prototype composed of eighteen power cells, feeding a vector-controlled induction machine in the whole speed range, is used to validate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed control strategies

    Nanomedicines for the delivery of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs)

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    Microbial infections are still among the major public health concerns since several yeasts and fungi, and other pathogenic microorganisms, are responsible for continuous growth of infections and drug resistance against bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance rate is fostering the need to develop new strategies against drug-resistant superbugs. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small peptide-based molecules of 5–100 amino acids in length, with potent and broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties. They are part of the innate immune system, which can represent a minimal risk of resistance development. These characteristics contribute to the description of these molecules as promising new molecules in the development of new antimicrobial drugs. However, efforts in developing new medicines have not resulted in any decrease of drug resistance yet. Thus, a technological approach on improving existing drugs is gaining special interest. Nanomedicine provides easy access to innovative carriers, which ultimately enable the design and development of targeted delivery systems of the most efficient drugs with increased efficacy and reduced toxicity. Based on performance, successful experiments, and considerable market prospects, nanotechnology will undoubtedly lead a breakthrough in biomedical field also for infectious diseases, as there are several nanotechnological approaches that exhibit important roles in restoring antibiotic activity against resistant bacteria.Elena Sanchez-Lopez belongs to 2017SGR-1477. Elena Sanchez-Lopez, Marta Espina and Maria L. GarciaacknowledgethesupportfromtheInstituteofNanoscienceandNanotechnology(ART2018project). Eliana B. Souto acknowledges the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT/MCT) and European Funds (PRODER/COMPETE) for the projects M-ERA-NET-0004/2015-PAIRED and UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund), co-funded by FEDER, under the partnership Agreement PT2020. Maria C. Teixeira wishes to acknowledge FCT for the individual fellowship (PD/BDE/135086/2017).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Nuevos modelos de negocio, creación de valor y el cambiante rol de la prensa en los sistemas democráticos

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    Esta comunicación pretende profundizar en la relación que existe entre una prensa rentable y una democracia sana. La ausencia de un modelo de negocio que haga rentable el trabajo de las redacciones digitales plantea serios interrogantes sobre el modo en que los medios desempeñan tres funciones básicas para la normalidad de los sistemas democráticos: la selección de información, la vigilancia de los poderes políticos y económicos, y la generación del discurso que propicie un debate público. La pérdida de la exclusividad en la difusión de la información, el cuestionamiento de la autoridad de los periodistas como actores independientes y la desfragmentación de los mensajes inherente a internet ha debilitado la propia creación de valor de los medios tradicionales, lo que se ha derivado en una pérdida en la capacidad de generar ingresos por su actividad principal. Desde la investigación sobre modelos de negocios en la industria de la información apenas se ha dado respuesta a este problema, en parte por la escasa uniformidad conceptual, teórica y me-todológica, y en parte por una excesiva orientación hacia uno de los elementos de los modelos de negocio: los ingresos.This paper aims to analyze the relationship between a profitable press and a healthy democracy. The lack of a profitable business model for digital editions raises serious questions about how the media perform three key functions for the normality of democratic systems: selection of information, monitoring of political and economic powers, and generation of discourse that encourages the public debate. The loss of exclusivity in the dissemination of information, questioning the authority of journalists as independent actors, and the defragmentation of messages inherent to internet has undermined the creation of value of traditional media, which has resulted in a loss in the ability to generate income from their main activity. Research on business models in the media industry has barely responded to this problem in part by the limited conceptual, theoretical and methodological uniformity, and in part by an excessive focus on one element of the models business, the incomes

    Delayed presentation and diagnosis of breast cancer in African women: a systematic review.

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    Africa has low breast cancer incidence rates but high mortality rates from this disease due to poor survival. Delays in presentation and diagnosis are major determinants of breast cancer survival, but these have not been comprehensively investigated in Africa. MEDLINE, Embase, and Global Health were searched to identify studies reporting on delays in presentation and/or diagnosis of breast cancer published between January 1, 2000 and May 31, 2016. Data were synthesized in narrative, tabular, and graphical forms. Meta-analyses were not possible due to between-study differences in the way delays were reported. Twenty-one studies were included in the review. Study-specific average times between symptom recognition and presentation to a health care provider ranged from less than 1 to 4 months in North Africa and from less than 3 to greater than 6 months in sub-Saharan Africa. Study-specific average times from presentation to diagnosis were less than 1 month in North Africa but ranged from less than 3 to greater than 6 months in sub-Saharan Africa. Reported reasons for these delays included patient-mediated (e.g., socioeconomic factors) and health system-mediated factors (e.g., referral pathways). This systematic review revealed marked delays in presentation and diagnosis of breast cancer in Africa. Identification of their drivers is crucial to the development of appropriate control strategies in the continent

    Self-triggered sampling selection based on quadratic programming

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    This paper proposes a model-based control strategy for networked control systems subject to norm bounded disturbances. The communication channel is supposed to be shared with several processes and, therefore, the access to the network needs to be minimized to avoid collisions and packet losses. We propose to use a variable sample rate scheme in which the controller operates in open-loop between successive state measurements. The sampling time is decided on-line solving a sequence of quadratic optimization problems in order to minimize the access to the common network while guaranteeing closed-loop practical stability. Both discrete and continuous time schemes are considered

    Detection of novel allelic variations in soybean mutant population using Tilling by Sequencing

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    One of the most important tools in genetic improvement is mutagenesis, which is a useful tool to induce genetic and phenotypic variation for trait improvement and discovery of novel genes. JTN-5203 (MG V) mutant population was generated using an induced ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis and was used for detection of induced mutations in FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B genes using reverse genetics approach. Optimum concentration of EMS was used to treat 15,000 bulk JTN-5203 seeds producing 1,820 M2 population. DNA was extracted, normalized, and pooled from these individuals. Specific primers were designed from FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B genes that are involved in the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway for further analysis using next-generation sequencing. High throughput mutation discovery through TILLING-by-Sequencing approach was used to detect novel allelic variations in this population. Several mutations and allelic variations with high impacts were detected for FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B. This includes GC to AT transition mutations in FAD2-1A (20%) and FAD2-1B (69%). Mutation density for this population is estimated to be about 1/136kb. Through mutagenesis and high-throughput sequencing technologies, novel alleles underlying the mutations observed in mutants with reduced polyunsaturated fatty acids will be identified, and these mutants can be further used in breeding soybean lines with improved fatty acid profile, thereby developing heart-healthy-soybeans
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