Balancing power production and coastal protection: A bi-objective analysis of Wave Energy Converters

Wave Energy Converters (WECs) have the potential to serve dual purposes, generating power and protecting coastlines. Although traditionally the focus has been on maximizing power generation for cost-effectiveness, growing impacts of climate change have made coastal protection increasingly imperative. However, power production and coastal protection have been addressed separately, missing potential synergies. This paper addresses this gap by conducting a bi-objective analysis to investigate the interactions between power extraction and wave attenuation for a single Oscillating Surge Wave Converter (OSWC) and WEC farms of three and five units. A linear Power Take-Off (PTO) system, with passive and reactive control strategies, is examined. By varying the PTO parameters, we assess their influence on both power production and wave field attenuation. Results demonstrate a significant impact of the PTO choice on wave attenuation, with a similar trend observed for power production. This finding highlights the potential for a trade-off, where maximizing wave attenuation may come at the cost of moderate energy output. Furthermore, the interactions observed within the WEC farms enhance this trend. The study emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to WEC technology development, promoting sustainable and resilient harnessing of wave energy resources, considering both power generation and coastal protection

Early csf biomarkers and late functional outcomes in spinal cord injury. A pilot study

open9noThis research was funded by the Italian Ministry of Health—call “Ricerca Finalizzata 2010” (project code RF-2010-2315118).Although, biomarkers are regarded as an important tool for monitoring injury severity and treatment efficacy, and for predicting clinical evolution in many neurological diseases and disorders including spinal cord injury, there is still a lack of reliable biomarkers for the assessment of clinical course and patient outcome. In this study, a biological dataset of 60 cytokines/chemokines, growth factorsm and intracellular and extracellular matrix proteins, analyzed in CSF within 24 h of injury, was used for correlation analysis with the clinical dataset of the same patients. A heat map was generated of positive and negative correlations between biomarkers and clinical rating scale scores at discharge, and between biomarkers and changes in clinical scores during the observation period. Using very stringent statistical criteria, we found 10 molecules which correlated with clinical scores at discharge, and five molecules, which correlated with changes in clinical scores. The proposed methodology may be useful for generating hypotheses regarding “predictive” and “treatment effectiveness” biomarkers, thereby suggesting potential candidates for disease‐modifying therapies using a “bed‐to‐bench” approach.openCapirossi R.; Piunti B.; Fernandez M.; Maietti E.; Rucci P.; Negrini S.; Giovannini T.; Kiekens C.; Calza' L.Capirossi R.; Piunti B.; Fernandez M.; Maietti E.; Rucci P.; Negrini S.; Giovannini T.; Kiekens C.; Calza' L

Production, activation and CO2 uptake capacity of a carbonaceous microporous material from palm oil residues

Funding This research was funded by many parts. C.M. would like to acknowledge the Royal Society for the award of an International Exchange award (IES\R1\211069). S.F. and B.A. would like to acknowledge the Erasmus KA01 grant. A.M.-F. would like to acknowledge the Scottish Government and the Royal Society of Edinburgh for the award of a SAPHIRE project, the University of Aberdeen, for the award of two internal pump research grants, and the Royal Academy of Engineering, for the award of a Newton Fund project (NRCP1516_4_61). C.F.M would like to acknowledge the Scottish Funding Council for the award of several grants to investigate the synthesis of activated carbons from waste to reduce CO2 emissions (Grants Codes: SF10233, SF10249, and SF10164).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Observations of Comet 2P/Encke During the Fall 2013 Apparition

We will present preliminary results from our observational campaign of Comet 2P/Encke during its 2013 perihelion passage. At optical wavelengths Encke is an extremely dust poor comet that has in past perihelion passages emitted a gas jet in the form a sunward fan. We expect to characterize both the morphology and lightcurve of the comet. The low optical dust means that even near perihelion the nuclear signature can be obtained in lightcurve data taken with narrowband continuum filters which cut out the gas emission. The campaign will consist of both narrowband and broadband imaging as well as infrared spectroscopy. Imaging will be obtained from 8 nights on the KPNO 2.1m between Sept. 7 and 14 UT. Additionally, the Murillo Family Observatory, a 0.5m telescope on the CSUSB campus which is equipped with both broadband filters and a narrowband Hale-Bopp set of filters will be used to observe the comet every clear night the moon allows between late August and early October to obtain extensive lightcurve data. These data will overlap both the Kitt Peak observations and the infrared spectroscopy which will be obtained with the SpeX instrument at the IRTF on four nights between September 26 UT and October 2 UT

A new approach for detection and quantification of microalgae in industrial-scale microalgal cultures

In industrial-scale cultures, non-target microalgae compete with the desired species for nutrients and CO2, thus reducing the growth rate of the target species and the quality of the produced biomass. Microalgae identification is generally considered a complicated issue although, in the last few years, new molecular methods have helped to rectify this problem. Of the different techniques available, DNA barcoding has proven very useful in providing rapid, accurate and automatable species identification; in this work, it is used to assess the genomic identity of the microalga species Scenedesmus almeriensis, a common strain in industrial-scale cultures. Barcode markers rbcL and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 were sequenced and the obtained genomic information was used to design a quantitative PCR assay to precisely quantify the S. almeriensis concentration in microalgal cultures of industrial interest. TaqMan chemistry was used to quantify down to 1 µg/L dry weight of S. almeriensis cells, as well as to detect the presence of other concentrated microalgae cultures. A simple direct PCR approach was also investigated to avoid classic DNA extraction and to reduce total experiment time to approximately 2 hours. The objective was to design strain-specific tools able to confirm and quantify the presence of different strains in any microalgae culture so as to achieve maximal productivity and quality of the produced biomass

Imprints, [Vol. 5]

This 1989 edition includes winners of the T. E. Ferguson writing Contest, two honorable mentions, and a number of other entries that we felt deserved to be published. I would like to give special thanks to all the judges of the Ferguson Writing Contest who helped make this publication possible, and especially to Dr. Patricia Russell, who one again proved to be an invaluable asset. Her dedication and love for the organization and all it stands for has made this one of the most successful years ever.https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/imprints/1000/thumbnail.jp

diverse human vh antibody fragments with bio therapeutic properties from the crescendo mouse

Abstract We describe the 'Crescendo Mouse', a human VH transgenic platform combining an engineered heavy chain locus with diverse human heavy chain V, D and J genes, a modified mouse Cγ1 gene and complete 3' regulatory region, in a triple knock-out (TKO) mouse background devoid of endogenous immunoglobulin expression. The addition of the engineered heavy chain locus to the TKO mouse restored B cell development, giving rise to functional B cells that responded to immunization with a diverse response that comprised entirely 'heavy chain only' antibodies. Heavy chain variable (VH) domain libraries were rapidly mined using phage display technology, yielding diverse high-affinity human VH that had undergone somatic hypermutation, lacked aggregation and showed enhanced expression in E. coli. The Crescendo Mouse produces human VH fragments, or Humabody® VH, with excellent bio-therapeutic potential, as exemplified here by the generation of antagonistic Humabody® VH specific for human IL17A and IL17RA