An accurate density functional theory for the vapor-liquid interface of associating chain molecules based on the statistical associating fluid theory for potentials of variable range.

Published versio

Modelling avalanches in martensites

Solids subject to continuous changes of temperature or mechanical load often exhibit discontinuous avalanche-like responses. For instance, avalanche dynamics have been observed during plastic deformation, fracture, domain switching in ferroic materials or martensitic transformations. The statistical analysis of avalanches reveals a very complex scenario with a distinctive lack of characteristic scales. Much effort has been devoted in the last decades to understand the origin and ubiquity of scale-free behaviour in solids and many other systems. This chapter reviews some efforts to understand the characteristics of avalanches in martensites through mathematical modelling.Comment: Chapter in the book "Avalanches in Functional Materials and Geophysics", edited by E. K. H. Salje, A. Saxena, and A. Planes. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45612-6_

Stability study of a model for the Klein-Gordon equation in Kerr spacetime

The current early stage in the investigation of the stability of the Kerr metric is characterized by the study of appropriate model problems. Particularly interesting is the problem of the stability of the solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation, describing the propagation of a scalar field of mass $\mu$ in the background of a rotating black hole. Rigorous results proof the stability of the reduced, by separation in the azimuth angle in Boyer-Lindquist coordinates, field for sufficiently large masses. Some, but not all, numerical investigations find instability of the reduced field for rotational parameters $a$ extremely close to 1. Among others, the paper derives a model problem for the equation which supports the instability of the field down to $a/M \approx 0.97$.Comment: Updated version, after minor change

Radial turbine sound and noise characterisation with acoustic transfer matrices by means of fast one-dimensional models

This is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in International Journal of Engine Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published as https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087419889429.[EN] Estimating correctly the turbine acoustics can be valuable during the engine design stage; in fact, it can lead to a more optimised design of the silencer and aftertreatment, as well as to better prediction of the scavenging effects. However, obtaining the sound and noise emissions of radial turbocharger turbines with low computational costs can be challenging. To consider these effects in a time-efficient manner, the acoustic response of single-entry radial turbines can be characterised by means of acoustic transfer matrices that change with the operating conditions. Exploiting the different time-scales of the acoustic phenomena and the change in the operating point of the turbine, lookup tables of acoustic transfer matrices can be computed. Then, the obtained characterisation can be used in mean-value engine models. This article presents a method for generating these lookup tables by means of fast one-dimensional simulations of thoroughly validated fidelity, in terms of both acoustics and extrapolation capabilities. Due to the inherent behaviour of radial turbines, the number of computations needed to fill the lookup tables is relatively small, so the method can be used as a simple preprocessing phase before mean-value simulation campaigns.Torregrosa, AJ.; García-Cuevas González, LM.; Inhestern, LB.; Soler-Blanco, P. (2021). Radial turbine sound and noise characterisation with acoustic transfer matrices by means of fast one-dimensional models. International Journal of Engine Research. 22(4):1312-1328. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087419889429S13121328224Broatch, A., Galindo, J., Navarro, R., & García-Tíscar, J. (2014). Methodology for experimental validation of a CFD model for predicting noise generation in centrifugal compressors. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, 50, 134-144. doi:10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2014.06.006Galindo, J., Tiseira, A., Navarro, R., Tarí, D., & Meano, C. M. (2017). Effect of the inlet geometry on performance, surge margin and noise emission of an automotive turbocharger compressor. Applied Thermal Engineering, 110, 875-882. doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.08.099Peat, K. S., Torregrosa, A. J., Broatch, A., & Fernández, T. (2006). An investigation into the passive acoustic effect of the turbine in an automotive turbocharger. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 295(1-2), 60-75. doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2005.11.033Torregrosa, A., Galindo, J., Serrano, J. R., & Tiseira, A. (2009). A Procedure for the Unsteady Characterization of Turbochargers in Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines. Fluid Machinery and Fluid Mechanics, 72-79. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-89749-1_10Torregrosa, A. J., Broatch, A., Navarro, R., & García-Tíscar, J. (2014). Acoustic characterization of automotive turbocompressors. International Journal of Engine Research, 16(1), 31-37. doi:10.1177/1468087414562866Broatch, A., Galindo, J., Navarro, R., García-Tíscar, J., Daglish, A., & Sharma, R. K. (2015). Simulations and measurements of automotive turbocharger compressor whoosh noise. Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics, 9(1), 12-20. doi:10.1080/19942060.2015.1004788Broatch, A., Galindo, J., Navarro, R., & García-Tíscar, J. (2016). Numerical and experimental analysis of automotive turbocharger compressor aeroacoustics at different operating conditions. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, 61, 245-255. doi:10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2016.04.003Wallace, F. J., & Adgey, J. (1967). Paper 1: Theoretical Assessment of the Non-Steady Flow Performance of Inward Radial Flow Turbines. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Conference Proceedings, 182(8), 22-36. doi:10.1243/pime_conf_1967_182_211_02Piscaglia, F., Onorati, A., Marelli, S., & Capobianco, M. (2018). A detailed one-dimensional model to predict the unsteady behavior of turbocharger turbines for internal combustion engine applications. International Journal of Engine Research, 20(3), 327-349. doi:10.1177/1468087417752525Galindo, J., Fajardo, P., Navarro, R., & García-Cuevas, L. M. (2013). Characterization of a radial turbocharger turbine in pulsating flow by means of CFD and its application to engine modeling. Applied Energy, 103, 116-127. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.09.013Galindo, J., Tiseira, A., Fajardo, P., & García-Cuevas, L. M. (2014). Development and validation of a radial variable geometry turbine model for transient pulsating flow applications. Energy Conversion and Management, 85, 190-203. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2014.05.072Avola, C., Copeland, C., Romagnoli, A., Burke, R., & Dimitriou, P. (2017). Attempt to correlate simulations and measurements of turbine performance under pulsating flows for automotive turbochargers. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 233(2), 174-187. doi:10.1177/0954407017739123Galindo, J., Climent, H., Tiseira, A., & García-Cuevas, L. M. (2016). Effect of the numerical scheme resolution on quasi-2D simulation of an automotive radial turbine under highly pulsating flow. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, 291, 112-126. doi:10.1016/j.cam.2015.02.025Serrano, J. R., Arnau, F. J., García-Cuevas, L. M., Dombrovsky, A., & Tartoussi, H. (2016). Development and validation of a radial turbine efficiency and mass flow model at design and off-design conditions. Energy Conversion and Management, 128, 281-293. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2016.09.032Galindo, J., Navarro, R., García-Cuevas, L. M., Tarí, D., Tartoussi, H., & Guilain, S. (2018). A zonal approach for estimating pressure ratio at compressor extreme off-design conditions. International Journal of Engine Research, 20(4), 393-404. doi:10.1177/1468087418754899Payri, F., Olmeda, P., Arnau, F. J., Dombrovsky, A., & Smith, L. (2014). External heat losses in small turbochargers: Model and experiments. Energy, 71, 534-546. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2014.04.096Serrano, J. R., Olmeda, P., Arnau, F. J., Dombrovsky, A., & Smith, L. (2015). Turbocharger heat transfer and mechanical losses influence in predicting engines performance by using one-dimensional simulation codes. Energy, 86, 204-218. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2015.03.130Serrano, J. R., Olmeda, P., Tiseira, A., García-Cuevas, L. M., & Lefebvre, A. (2013). Theoretical and experimental study of mechanical losses in automotive turbochargers. Energy, 55, 888-898. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2013.04.042Piñero, G., Vergara, L., Desantes, J. M., & Broatch, A. (2000). Estimation of velocity fluctuation in internal combustion engine exhaust systems through beamforming techniques. Measurement Science and Technology, 11(11), 1585-1595. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/11/11/307Galindo, J., Serrano, J. R., Arnau, F. J., & Piqueras, P. (2009). Description of a Semi-Independent Time Discretization Methodology for a One-Dimensional Gas Dynamics Model. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 131(3). doi:10.1115/1.2983015Serrano, J. R., Arnau, F. J., Dolz, V., Tiseira, A., & Cervelló, C. (2008). A model of turbocharger radial turbines appropriate to be used in zero- and one-dimensional gas dynamics codes for internal combustion engines modelling. Energy Conversion and Management, 49(12), 3729-3745. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2008.06.031Serrano, J. R., Tiseira, A., García-Cuevas, L. M., Inhestern, L. B., & Tartoussi, H. (2017). Radial turbine performance measurement under extreme off-design conditions. Energy, 125, 72-84. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.118Welch, P. (1967). The use of fast Fourier transform for the estimation of power spectra: A method based on time averaging over short, modified periodograms. IEEE Transactions on Audio and Electroacoustics, 15(2), 70-73. doi:10.1109/tau.1967.1161901Serrano, J. R., Arnau, F. J., García-Cuevas, L. M., & Inhestern, L. B. (2019). An innovative losses model for efficiency map fitting of vaneless and variable vaned radial turbines extrapolating towards extreme off-design conditions. Energy, 180, 626-639. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2019.05.062Van Leer, B. (1974). Towards the ultimate conservative difference scheme. II. Monotonicity and conservation combined in a second-order scheme. Journal of Computational Physics, 14(4), 361-370. doi:10.1016/0021-9991(74)90019-9Toro, E. F., Spruce, M., & Speares, W. (1994). Restoration of the contact surface in the HLL-Riemann solver. Shock Waves, 4(1), 25-34. doi:10.1007/bf01414629Courant, R., Friedrichs, K., & Lewy, H. (1928). �ber die partiellen Differenzengleichungen der mathematischen Physik. Mathematische Annalen, 100(1), 32-74. doi:10.1007/bf0144883

Fish composition in the Guadiamar River basin after one of the worst mining spills in Europe

On 25 April 1998, the tailing pond of the Los Frailes mine in Aznalcollar (Seville, Spain) ruptured, causing one of the most harmful environmental disasters in Europe in recent decades. Through the crack, 6 hm3 of acidic water and metallic mud were spilt, defaunating a large area of the Guadiamar River. After the spill cleanup and habitat restoration, multiple anthropogenic impacts continued to degrade the affected area. This work aimed to provide the most updated list of fish species in the Guadiamar River basin after the spill. Data were collected between 1999 and 2011 by electrofishing, light-traps, minnow-traps and multimesh gill-nests in 78 sampling sites. Species richness values for both native and exotic species in the Guadiamar River basin were high when compared with values for other right bank tributaries of the Guadalquivir River. This may be due to direct contact with the mouth of the Guadalquivir, which allowed the presence of migratory species. It may also be due to its location in the lower part of the Guadalquivir River basin, where exotic species accumulated. Among the Guadiamar River basin species, Luciobarbus sclateri and Squalius alburnoides have the widest distribution. The former is a generalist species resistant to unfavourable habitat changes, and the latter has a very successful breeding strategy. However, when focused on the affected area, there was a marked increase in exotic species, and both pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) and carp (Cyprinus carpio) co-dominated together with the native L. sclateri and S. alburnoides. The distribution of species within the river basin suggests that the upper section (except the Agrio reservoir) and middle section tributaries may be acting as native species shelters, while the affected area becomes an exotic species source. This information should be useful for monitoring future changes in the species composition and for management planning measures

Enhancer-associated H3K4 methylation safeguards in vitro germline competence.

Funder: Studienstiftung des Deutschen VolkesGermline specification in mammals occurs through an inductive process whereby competent cells in the post-implantation epiblast differentiate into primordial germ cells (PGC). The intrinsic factors that endow epiblast cells with the competence to respond to germline inductive signals remain unknown. Single-cell RNA sequencing across multiple stages of an in vitro PGC-like cells (PGCLC) differentiation system shows that PGCLC genes initially expressed in the naïve pluripotent stage become homogeneously dismantled in germline competent epiblast like-cells (EpiLC). In contrast, the decommissioning of enhancers associated with these germline genes is incomplete. Namely, a subset of these enhancers partly retain H3K4me1, accumulate less heterochromatic marks and remain accessible and responsive to transcriptional activators. Subsequently, as in vitro germline competence is lost, these enhancers get further decommissioned and lose their responsiveness to transcriptional activators. Importantly, using H3K4me1-deficient cells, we show that the loss of this histone modification reduces the germline competence of EpiLC and decreases PGCLC differentiation efficiency. Our work suggests that, although H3K4me1 might not be essential for enhancer function, it can facilitate the (re)activation of enhancers and the establishment of gene expression programs during specific developmental transitions

Current challenges of research on filamentous fungi in relation to human welfare and a sustainable bio-economy: a white paper.

The EUROFUNG network is a virtual centre of multidisciplinary expertise in the field of fungal biotechnology. The first academic-industry Think Tank was hosted by EUROFUNG to summarise the state of the art and future challenges in fungal biology and biotechnology in the coming decade. Currently, fungal cell factories are important for bulk manufacturing of organic acids, proteins, enzymes, secondary metabolites and active pharmaceutical ingredients in white and red biotechnology. In contrast, fungal pathogens of humans kill more people than malaria or tuberculosis. Fungi are significantly impacting on global food security, damaging global crop production, causing disease in domesticated animals, and spoiling an estimated 10 % of harvested crops. A number of challenges now need to be addressed to improve our strategies to control fungal pathogenicity and to optimise the use of fungi as sources for novel compounds and as cell factories for large scale manufacture of bio-based products. This white paper reports on the discussions of the Think Tank meeting and the suggestions made for moving fungal bio(techno)logy forward

Resting Oxygen Uptake Value of 1 Metabolic Equivalent of Task in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Descriptive Analysis

Background It is important for sport scientists and health professionals to have estimative methods for energy demand during diferent physical activities. The metabolic equivalent of task (MET) provides a feasible approach for classifying activity intensity as a multiple of the resting metabolic rate (RMR). RMR is generally assumed to be 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute (mL O2 kg−1 min−1), a value that has been criticized and considered to be overestimated in the older adult population. However, there has been no comprehensive efort to review available RMR estimations, equivalent to 1 MET, obtained in the older adult population. Objective The aim of this review was to examine the existing evidence reporting measured RMR values in the older adult population and to provide descriptive estimates of 1 MET. Methods A systematic review was conducted by searching PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and Cochrane Library, from database inception to July 2021. To this end, original research studies assessing RMR in adults≥60 years old using indirect calorimetry and reporting results in mL O2 kg−1 min−1 were sought. Results Twenty-three eligible studies were identifed, including a total of 1091 participants (426 men). All but two studies reported RMR values lower than the conventional 3.5 mL O2 kg−1 min−1. The overall weighted average 1 MET value obtained from all included studies was 2.7±0.6 mL O2 kg−1 min−1; however, when considering best practice studies, this value was 11% lower (2.4±0.3 mL O2 kg−1 min−1). Conclusion Based on the results of this systematic review, we would advise against the application of the standard value of 1 MET (3.5 mL O2 kg−1 min−1) in people ≥ 60 years of age and encourage the direct assessment of RMR using indirect calorimetry while adhering to evidence-based best practice recommendations. When this is not possible, assuming an overall value of 2.7 mL O2 kg−1 min−1 might be reasonable. Systematic review registration: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews on 30 September 2020, with registration number CRD42020206440

Simultaneous sleep study and nasoendoscopic investigation in a patient with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome refractory to continuous positive airway pressure: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is nasal continuous positive airway pressure. In most cases the obstruction is located at the oropharyngeal level, and nasal continuous positive airway pressure is usually effective. In cases of non-response to nasal continuous positive airway pressure other treatments like mandibular advancement devices or upper airway surgery (especially bi-maxillary advancement) may also be considered.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 38-year-old Caucasian man with severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, initially refractory to nasal continuous positive airway pressure (and subsequently also to a mandibular advancement devices), in which the visualization of the upper airway with sleep endoscopy and the concomitant titration of positive pressure were useful in the investigation and resolution of sleep disordered breathing. In fact, there was a marked reduction in the size of his nasopharynx, and a paresis of his left aryepiglotic fold with hypertrophy of the right aryepiglotic fold. The application of bi-level positive airway pressure and an oral interface successfully managed his obstructive sleep apnoea.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is a rare case of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome refractory to treatment with nocturnal ventilatory support. Visualization of the endoscopic changes, during sleep and under positive pressure, was of great value to understanding the mechanisms of refractoriness. It also oriented the therapeutic option. Refractoriness to obstructive sleep apnoea therapy with continuous positive airway pressure is rare, and each case should be approached individually.</p

A high throughput screen for next-generation leads targeting malaria parasite transmission

Spread of parasite resistance to artemisinin threatens current frontline antimalarial therapies, highlighting the need for new drugs with alternative modes of action. Since only 0.2–1% of asexual parasites differentiate into sexual, transmission-competent forms, targeting this natural bottleneck provides a tangible route to interrupt disease transmission and mitigate resistance selection. Here we present a high-throughput screen of gametogenesis against a ~70,000 compound diversity library, identifying seventeen drug-like molecules that target transmission. Hit molecules possess varied activity profiles including male-specific, dual acting male–female and dual-asexual-sexual, with one promising N-((4-hydroxychroman-4-yl)methyl)-sulphonamide scaffold found to have sub-micromolar activity in vitro and in vivo efficacy. Development of leads with modes of action focussed on the sexual stages of malaria parasite development provide a previously unexplored base from which future therapeutics can be developed, capable of preventing parasite transmission through the population