Numerical Investigation of Steady-State and Transient Operations of a Turbocharged SI Engine with Electric Supercharger

Gasoline engine downsizing, associated with turbocharging, has proved to be one of the most effective ways to reduce specific fuel consumption of the internal combustion engine. This tendency introduces a number of technical challenges, such as reduced steady-state low speed torque, delay in transient response caused by the turbocharger, combustion limitations due to propensity to knock. Advanced boosting systems can succeed in overcoming these issues; of particular interest is the solution featuring a second, electrically-driven, compressor in series with the turbocharger compressor. The engine considered in this work is a four-cylinder inline, turbocharged and electrically supercharged engine by FCA. In this work a 1D simulation of the mentioned engine is performed with and without the use of the electric supercharger in order to analyze its effect on steady-state and transient performance. The exploited software is GT-Power Version 7.4, by Gamma Technologies

Determining the suitability of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) and Endothelial Colony Forming Cells (ECFC) against Human Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells (HCAEC) as cell models for studying cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most common cause of mortality globally and can be defined as disorders of the heart and blood vessels. CVD mortality rate and complications are on the rise, especially in developing countries. Age, obesity, smoking, diet, hypertension, genetics and diabetes are a few of the risk factors associated with CVD. Atherosclerosis is a significant contributor to CVD and is characterised by an accumulation of atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries, over time causing narrowing of the vessel lumen, limiting flow and causing tissue ischemia as well as acute occlusion due to atherothrombosis. Atherosclerosis initiates via dysfunction or damage of the endothelial cells (EC) that line the vessel wall. Endothelial dysfunction is amplified at branch points and curved sections in the vessel wall, exposed to disturbed blood flow patterns and limited in regions of arteries exposed to laminar flow, leading to focal development of disease. The protection in sections that experience laminar flow is predominantly driven through shear-regulated activation of KLF2, KLF4 and Nrf2 and suppression of NFκB activation in endothelial cells. In turn regulating the expression of over 1000 genes to modify endothelial behaviour and limit oxidative stress, inflammation and permeability. Huge amounts of research have been carried out to understand the processes, using a number of cell models to perform the research, including human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC), which might be considered the gold standard, as well as human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), because of their lower cost. This project assessed the relative gene expression of HCAECs and HUVECs cultured under identical conditions: static 4 | Page culture, ‘plaque promoting’ oscillatory shear stress (±5 dynes/cm2 , 1Hz), or ‘plaque-limiting’ physiological laminar shear stress (15 dynes/cm2 ). We concurrently evaluated the response of endothelial colony forming cells (ECFC), under the same conditions, evaluating whether these blood isolated cells can also be used as a model to investigate pathological processes involved in atherosclerosis from different patient groups. Our data concluded that KLF2 is significantly upregulated by laminar flow in HCAECs, whilst KLF4 is significantly upregulated by flow in all 3 cell types. The KLF2 and KLF4 responsive genes demonstrated a range of responses, with only eNOS showing significant upregulation in HCAECs by laminar flow. Additionally, Nrf2 regulated genes showed the largest upregulation in HCAECs under laminar flow whereas little difference was seen in within the NFκB regulated genes. The results obtained from the project provide evidence that HCAEC remain the most suitable cell model, with HUVECs demonstrating potential with additional work however ECFCs are rendered as unsuitable, due to their inability to provide significant upregulation of atherosclerosis-relevant genes

Diagnóstico psicopedagógico: la construcción de observables a partir del juego

This research explores the current modes of analysis in the field of psycho-pedagogical diagnosis, focusing on the different ways in which professionals build observable inputs from playing situations in the framework of psycho-pedagogical practice. This research is framed within the paradigm of qualitative exploration with a descriptive- exploratory approach and it aims at explaining the problematic situation posed in terms of a logic focused on the analysis of the object of study in its context of production. Because this is an ongoing research, we present preliminary and provisional results regarding the way in which professionals establish -or not- potential connections between school content and games, mainly in reference to mathematics and language practice along the process of psycho-pedagogical diagnosis. We have found out different positions: a) no connection at all between games and school contents; b) games could be a plausible format for investigating school contents; c) playing could be a clinical tool depending on the professional’s point of view that may open up the possibility of “playing school contents”El presente estudio indaga modalidades de análisis vigentes en el campo del diagnóstico psicopedagógico, centrándose en los modos en que lxs profesionales construyen observables a partir del juego en el marco de las prácticas psicopedagógicas. La investigación se inserta en el paradigma de la investigación cualitativa con un enfoque descriptivo-exploratorio y se orienta a dar cuenta de la situación problemática planteada en términos de una lógica centrada en el análisis del objeto de estudio en su contexto de producción. Se trata de una investigación en curso, por lo que ofrecemos algunos resultados parciales y provisorios referidos a los modos en que lxs profesionales establecen, o no, relaciones posibles entre el juego y los contenidos escolares, especialmente los referidos a las prácticas del lenguaje y la matemática, a lo largo de un proceso de diagnóstico psicopedagógico. Al respecto encontramos lecturas donde: a) no se reconoce relación alguna entre el juego y los contenidos escolares; b) el juego es considerado un formato posible para indagar los contenidos escolares y c) el juego es un operador clínico cuya presencia depende de la posición del profesional que abre a la posibilidad de “jugar los contenidos escolares"

Radiological feature heterogeneity supports etiological diversity among patient groups in Meniere's disease

We aimed to determine the prevalence of radiological temporal bone features that in previous studies showed only a weak or an inconsistent association with the clinical diagnosis of Meniere's disease (MD), in two groups of MD patients (n = 71) with previously established distinct endolymphatic sac pathologies; i.e. the group MD-dg (ES degeneration) and the group MD-hp (ES hypoplasia). Delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI and high-resolution CT data were used to determine and compare between and within (affected vs. non-affected side) groups geometric temporal bone features (lengths, widths, contours), air cell tract volume, height of the jugular bulb, sigmoid sinus width, and MRI signal intensity alterations of the ES. Temporal bone features with significant intergroup differences were the retrolabyrinthine bone thickness (1.04 ± 0.69 mm, MD-hp; 3.1 ± 1.9 mm, MD-dg; p < 0.0001); posterior contour tortuosity (mean arch-to-chord ratio 1.019 ± 0.013, MD-hp; 1.096 ± 0.038, MD-dg; p < 0.0001); and the pneumatized volume (1.37 [0.86] cm3, MD-hp; 5.25 [3.45] cm3, MD-dg; p = 0.03). Features with differences between the affected and non-affected sides within the MD-dg group were the sigmoid sinus width (6.5 ± 1.7 mm, affected; 7.6 ± 2.1 mm, non-affected; p = 0.04) and the MRI signal intensity of the endolymphatic sac (median signal intensity, affected vs. unaffected side, 0.59 [IQR 0.31-0.89]). Radiological temporal bone features known to be only weakly or inconsistently associated with the clinical diagnosis MD, are highly prevalent in either of two MD patient groups. These results support the existence of diverse-developmental and degenerative-disease etiologies manifesting with distinct radiological temporal bone abnormalities

La educación especial hace de lo común un momento transitorio

Este articulo plantea la idea de que la Educación Especial se introduce en lo común articulando el Derecho a la Diferencia con la Diferencia de Derechos, abriendo así una vía alternativa entre la pura lógica de la diferencia y la pura lógica de lo idéntico, o sea, entre la oferta educativa diferenciada y la homogenización. Para ello parte de escenas escolares cotidianas respecto del tratamiento de la diferencia, analizando en cada caso la lógica y las operaciones que se ponen en juego para retornar a la escena escolar con una viñeta que nos llevará a concluir que “para poder ser iguales tenemos que poder hacer cosas diferentes". Cada una de las experiencias escolares que se presentan queda enmarcada en una ética que renuncia a las “tareas a realizar" (Agamben; 2006) y para la que lo propio de todo sujeto es ser su misma posibilidad.This article raises the idea of Special Education incorporating into the norm by putting together the Right to Difference and the Difference between Rights, thus opening an alternative pathway between pure logic of difference and pure logic of identity, that is to say between a differential educational offer and homogeneity. Abstract To that end, the matter takes daily school scenes that discuss the approach to the notion of difference, analyzing in each case the logic and the operations at stake, returning to the school scene with a vignette that leads us to the conclusion that “in order to achieve equality we must be able to do different things. Each of the school experiences coming into view is contained within an ethics that rejects the “tasks to be done" (Agamben; 2006) and establishes that an individual’s selfness is based on him/her being a possibility in itself.Fil: Filidoro, Norma