Electron microscopy study of CeOx–Pd/α-Al2O3 catalysts for methane dry reforming

We have investigated the interaction between Pd and Ce in a 0.47 wt % CeOx–Pd 1 wt %/ -Al2O3 catalyst that is used in the reforming reaction of CH4 with CO2. The freshly reduced catalyst was characterized by various electron microscopy techniques, such as elemental mapping, Z-contrast imaging, and electron energy-loss spectroscopy to understand the role of Ce on a microscopic scale. The high spatial resolution elemental mapping indicates that CeOx is located in close proximity of the palladium nanoparticles. High-resolution lattice images and energy-loss spectra obtained in the vicinity of the Pd particles show an anisotropic distribution of CeOx crystallites limited to the interface region between Pd and the substrate but not covering the surface of the Pd nanoparticles. Energy-loss near edge fine structure of Pd M edges reveals that the Pd nanoparticles are not oxidized.Fil: Moreno, M. S.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Wang, Feiya. National Institute for Nanotechnology; CanadáFil: Malac, M.. National Institute for Nanotechnology; CanadáFil: Kasama, T.. University of Cambridge; Reino UnidoFil: Gigola, Carlos Eugenio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Costilla, Ignacio Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, M. D.. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física; Argentin

IMF - metallicity: a tight local relation revealed by the CALIFA survey

Variations in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) have been invoked to explain the spectroscopic and dynamical properties of early-type galaxies. However, no observations have yet been able to disentangle the physical driver. We analyse here a sample of 24 early-type galaxies drawn from the CALIFA survey, deriving in a homogeneous way their stellar population and kinematic properties. We find that the local IMF is tightly related to the local metallicity, becoming more bottom-heavy towards metal-rich populations. Our result, combined with the galaxy mass-metallicity relation, naturally explains previous claims of a galaxy mass-IMF relation, derived from non-IFU spectra. If we assume that - within the star formation environment of early-type galaxies - metallicity is the main driver of IMF variations, a significant revision of the interpretation of galaxy evolution observables is necessary.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL. 6 pages, 4 figure

Percepción de los riesgos asociados a la pérdida auditiva inducida por ruido. Estado del arte y diseño de herramientas interactivas para formación y concienciación

La exposición al ruido en el puesto de trabajo y la pérdida auditiva inducida por ruido se encuentran estrechamente relacionadas con las actitudes que tienen de los trabajadores sobre el uso de los dispositivos de protección auditiva. En estudios previos se ha demostrado que los trabajadores son reacios a su utilización por diferentes motivos: desconocimiento de los efectos que produce el ruido sobre la salud auditiva, dificultades para utilizarlos de forma correcta, incomodidad, etc. Con el objetivo de mejorar las actitudes de los trabajadores ante el uso de dispositivos de protección auditiva se llevó a cabo un estudio bibliográfico sobre los factores que influyen en la conducta de los trabajadores ante el uso de protectores auditivos, así como su conocimiento sobre los riesgos asociados. Una vez analizados los antecedentes y las actuales necesidades, se desarrollaron herramientas interactivas de fácil utilización para mejorar la concienciación de los trabajadores sobre este aspecto. Se presenta la revisión bibliográfica sobre el uso de protectores auditivos, un análisis de los diferentes enfoques comúnmente utilizados para formación y concienciación de trabajadores sobre los riesgos derivados de la pérdida auditiva inducida por ruido y finalmente las herramientas desarrolladas como propuesta para mejorar la percepción de dicho riesgo entre los trabajadores

El impacto del uso efectivo de las TIC sobre la eficiencia técnica de las empresas españolas

Los numerosos estudios llevados acabo acerca del efecto de las Tecnologíasde la Información y lasComunicaciones (TIC) sobre la productividadde las firmas han puestode manifiesto que no es suficienteinvertir en TIC, sino que una seriede inversiones adicionales, prácticasorganizativas específicas, etc, sonnecesarias. En este trabajo se muestracómo el efecto del simple uso delas TIC sobre el rendimiento de lasfirmas es irrelevante, mientras quesu uso para la comunicación conclientes y proveedores eleva significativamentesu desempeño. La magnitudutilizada para caracterizar estedesempeño es la eficiencia técnica enel proceso de conversión de inputs enoutputs. Esta eficiencia técnica se hacalculado utilizando un modelo deData Envelopment Analysis, metodologíaestándar en estudios sobreproductividad, pero que hasta lafecha apenas ha sido utilizada paraanalizar el impacto de las TIC sobreel rendimiento empresarial.Tecnologías de la Información, EficienciaTécnica, Data Envelopment Analysis, Cadena de Aprovisionamiento.

Performance Evaluation of Distributed Mobility Management Protocols: Limitations and Solutions for Future Mobile Networks

Mobile Internet data traffic has experienced an exponential growth over the last few years due to the rise of demanding multimedia content and the increasing number of mobile devices. Seamless mobility support at the IP level is envisioned as a key architectural requirement in order to deal with the ever-increasing demand for data and to efficiently utilize a plethora of different wireless access networks. Current efforts from both industry and academia aim to evolve the mobility management protocols towards a more distributed operation to tackle shortcomings of fully centralized approaches. However, distributed solutions face several challenges that can result in lower performance which might affect real-time and multimedia applications. In this paper, we conduct an analytical and simulated evaluation of the main centralized and proposed Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) solutions. Our results show that, in some scenarios, when users move at high speed and/or when the mobile node is running long-lasting applications, the DMM approaches incur high signaling cost and long handover latency.This work was supported by the Government of Extremadura under Grant no. GR15099 and by the European Regional Development Fund Programme (2014–2020) and the Regional Fund, through Computing and Advanced Technologies Foundation of Extremadura (COMPUTAEX)

Uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura sobre os Processos de Design direcionados a Manufatura Aditiva em Fab Labs para melhoria da qualidade do produto e redução de resíduos

O presente artigo apresenta o estado da arte que aporta a pesquisa de mestrado, em andamento, onde a qualidade do produto em processos de impressão FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) em ambientes abertos de produção é o tema central. Os FabLabs são laboratórios voltados para produção de artefatos em pequena escala, sendo comum a presença de falhas na impressão dos produtos devido à ausência de processos de design voltados para a Manufatura Aditiva (MA) como o Design para Manufatura Aditiva (DFAM). A metodologia aplicada neste artigo trata da revisão sistemática da literatura na plataforma CAPES somada à análise dos textos mais relevantes sobre o referido tema. Como resultado, foram analisados um total de 131 artigos publicados a partir de 2018, dos quais 13 apresentaram relevância para a pesquisa, trazendo contribuições para proposição de alternativas que visem melhorar a qualidade dos produtos, bem como reduzir o desperdício de materiais.This article presents the state of the art that supports the ongoing master's research, where product quality in FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) printing processes in open production environments is the central theme. The FabLabs are laboratories for the production of artifacts on a small scale, being common the presence of flaws in the printing of products due to the absence of design processes focused on Additive Manufacturing (MA) such as Design for Additive Manufacturing (DFAM). The methodology used in this article shows a systematic review of the literature on the CAPES platform together with the analysis of the most relevant texts on the subject. As a result, a total of 131 articles published since 2018 were analyzed, in which 13 presented relevance to the research, bringing contributions to propose alternatives aimed at improving the quality of products, as well as reducing material waste

Immediate and 24-h post-marathon cardiac troponin T is associated with relative exercise intensity

Purpose We aimed at exploring whether cardiopulmonary ftness, echocardiographic measures and relative exercise intensity were associated with high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-TNT) rise and normalization following a marathon. Methods Nighty-eight participants (83 men, 15 women; 38.72±3.63 years) were subjected to echocardiographic assessment and a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) before the race. hs-TNT was measured before, immediately after and at 24, 48, 96, 144 and 192 h post-race. Speed and mean heart rate (HR) during the race were relativized to CPET values: peak speed (%VVMAX), peak HR (HR%MAX), speed and HR at the second ventilatory threshold (HR%VT2 and %VVT2). Results Hs-TNT increased from pre- to post-race (5.74±5.29 vs. 50.4±57.04 ng/L; p<0.001), seeing values above the Upper Reference Limit (URL) in 95% of the participants. At 24 h post-race, 39% of the runners still exceeded the URL (High hs-TNT group). hs-TNT rise was correlated with marathon speed %VVT2 (r=0.22; p=0.042), mean HR%VT2 (r=0.30; p=0.007), and mean HR%MAX (r=0.32; p=0.004). Moreover, the High hs-TNT group performed the marathon at a higher Speed %VVT2 (88.21±6.53 vs. 83.49±6.54%; p=0.002) and Speed %VVMAX (72±4.25 vs. 69.40±5.53%; p=0.009). hsTNT showed no signifcant associations with cardiopulmonary ftness and echocardiographic measures, except for a slight correlation with left ventricular end systolic diameter (r=0.26; p=0.018). Conclusion Post-race hs-TNT was above the URL in barely all runners. Magnitude of hs-TNT rise was correlated with exercise mean HR; whereas, its normalization kept relationship with marathon relative speed

TELMA: Entorno de formación personalizada online en Cirugía de Mínima Invasión

TELMA es un entorno de formación y aprendizaje online basado en edición de vídeo laparoscópico, la gestión del conocimiento y el trabajo colaborativo con el fin de mejorar la efectividad y eficacia de los procesos de formación (inicial y continuada) de los cirujanos de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión (CMI). TELMA explota el uso del vídeo laparoscópico como el núcleo de los contenidos didácticos y hace uso de tecnologías de formación online y gestión de contenidos digitales multimedia, para mejorar la adaptación, calidad y eficiencia del servicio ofrecido al usuario. TELMA persigue acortar las curvas de aprendizaje, proporcionando a los cirujanos un acceso ubicuo a contenidos educativos y metodologías didácticas, dotando al aprendizaje de mayor interactividad y proporcionando a los alumnos un papel más activo, una mejor adquisición de los conocimientos y habilidades y un mayor uso de las fuentes de información disponibles

Real-World Safety and Effectiveness Evidence of a Microcrystalline Tyrosine-Associated Mite Allergoid in Children and Adolescents with Allergic Rhinitis

Rinitis al·lèrgica; Infants i adolescents; Tirosina microcristal·linaRinitis alérgica; Niños y adolescentes; Tirosina microcristalinaAllerghic rhinitis; Children and adolescents; Microcrystalline tyrosineEvidence regarding allergen immunotherapy (AIT) in pediatric population is scarce. We have assessed safety and effectiveness of subcutaneous AIT with a microcrystalline tyrosine (MCT)-associated mite allergoid, Acarovac Plus®, in children and adolescents with allergic rhinitis (AR), with and without asthma, in the real-world setting. This was a retrospective, multicenter study including children and adolescents aged 5 years to 17 years with AR, with and without asthma, and sensitized to mites, receiving AIT with Acarovac Plus® during ≥6 months. Primary and secondary objectives were safety and effectiveness, respectively. Effectiveness variables were assessed during 12 months before and after AIT and included unscheduled visits to the healthcare center and emergency room admissions, rhinitis and asthma symptoms according to ARIA and GEMA classifications, respectively, medication use, and patients’ and physicians’ disease perception graded on a visual analog scale (VAS). All 79 patients included had a mean (SD) age of 12.7 (3.3) years. Two patients experienced systemic adverse reactions (none severe). Unscheduled visits to the healthcare center and emergency room admissions decreased (mean (SD) 3.02 [2.48] and 0.63 [1.35] vs. 1.08 [1.38] and 0.09 [0.38], before and after treatment, p < 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). After AIT, rhinitis and asthma classification changed (p < 0.0001 for all classifications), showing improvements in symptoms and a significant decrease in rhinitis and use of medication for asthma and VAS scores grading patients’ and physicians’ disease perception (p < 0.001). In conclusion, these results show that AIT with an MCT-associated mite allergoid appears safe and effective in children and adolescents with AR treated in the real-world setting.This study was supported by Allergy Therapeutics Ibérica