Test Set-up for Power Factor Correction Boost Converter Circuits

This thesis will be the second part of a project whose goal is to build a test set-up of a DC-DC boost converter in the power electronics lab at h-da. Thanks to this set-up, future students will be able to see the differences between several control techniques with Power Factor Correction (PFC) in a boost converter. The main specification of the project is to transform the input energy into an output voltage of 50 DCV with a limitation of maximum 60 DCV. Since the power factor has become an element to take into account especially when it comes to charging batteries, it is very important to use power factor correction techniques. And this converter will be made by means of two different types of PFC control circuits: Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM) and Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM). So, the goal of this project is to test if this build-up works, to improve the safety circuit, to research about the different types of PFC circuits and to design and build them the in some interchangeable PCBs in order to make the circuit more didactic for students

Unequivocal single-molecule force spectroscopy of proteins by AFM using pFS vectors

Nanomechanical analysis of proteins by single-molecule force spectroscopy based on atomic force microscopy is increasingly being used to investigate the inner workings of mechanical proteins and substrate proteins of unfoldase machines as well as to gain new insight into the process of protein folding. However, such studies are hindered by a number of technical problems, including the noise of the proximal region, ambiguous single-molecule identification, as well as difficulties in protein expression/folding and full-length purification. To overcome these major drawbacks in protein nanomechanics, we designed a family of cloning/expression vectors, termed pFS (plasmid for force spectroscopy), that essentially has an unstructured region to surmount the noisy proximal region, a homomeric polyprotein marker, a carrier to mechanically protect the protein of interest (only the pFS-2 version) that also acts as a reporter, and two purification tags. pFS-2 enables the unambiguous analysis of proteins with low mechanical stability or/and complex force spectra, such as the increasingly abundant class of intrinsically disordered proteins, which are hard to characterize by traditional bulk techniques and have important biological and clinical implications. The advantages, applications, and potential of this ready-to-go system are illustrated through the analysis of representative proteins. © 2012 Biophysical Society.Peer Reviewe

Thoracic aortic aneurysm. Natural history, diagnosis and management

Indexación: Web of Science; Scielo.Los aneurismas corresponden a una dilatación arterial localizada que es producida por una debilidad de la pared; se clasifican en verdaderos y falsos. La incidencia es de aproximadamente 6 - 10 casos por 100.000 habitantes al año y los aneurismas de la aorta ascendente son los más frecuentes dentro del grupo de los aneurismas de la aorta torácica (AAT). Habitualmente se generan como resultado de una necrosis quística de la media que suele estar asociada a otras patologías. Los aneurismas suelen pesquisarse de manera incidental mediante exámenes imagenológicos solicitados por diferentes motivos. Su historia natural no está completamente clarificada, pero en términos generales los AAT tienen un crecimiento promedio de 0,1 cm por año. La angiografía por tomografía computada o por resonancia magnética, son los exámenes de elección para el diagnóstico. Para aquellos pacientes con aneurismas pequeños que no requieren cirugía, las medidas orientadas a la reducción del riesgo de ateroesclerosis son el pilar del tratamiento. Para los aneurismas de la aorta ascendente que cumplan con los requisitos, requieran de revascularización coronaria o reemplazo valvular, se recomienda el tratamiento quirúrgico. En relación a los aneurismas del cayado aórtico las opciones terapéuticas son tres: cirugía, terapia endovascular y terapia combinada. Para los aneurismas de la aorta descendente la terapia endovascular se perfila como la más eficiente. Los pacientes sin indicación de tratamiento quirúrgico o endovascular deben ser controlados de manera seriada con estudios imagenológicos.Aneurysms are defined as a localized dilatation caused by a weakness in the arterial wall. and may be classified as true or false aneurysm. The incidence is estimated to be 6-10 cases per 100,000 patient years. Aneurysms of the ascending aorta are the most common within the group of thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA). These often result from cystic medial degeneration, which tends to be associated with other pathologic entities. Aneurysms are diagnosed most commonly on imaging studies performed for an unrelated indication. Although its natural history remains unclear, it is known that current average growth is about 0.1 cm per year. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) are the preferred imaging tests to detect aortic aneurysms. Measures aimed to reduce atherosclerosis risk are the main treatment objective for patients with smaller aneurysms that do not require surgery. When ascending aortic aneurysms meet the size criteria or coronary revascularization and aortic valvular replacement are necessary, surgical treatment it's recommended. For aortic arch aneurysms, there are three therapeutic alternatives: surgery, endovascular therapy and combined therapy. For descending aortic aneurysms, endovascular therapy is the preferred procedure. Patients with no indication for surgical or endovascular therapy, should be followed up with serial imaging studies.http://ref.scielo.org/62pjw

Desarrollo de un módulo para la gestión deportiva de un gimnasio dentro de la aplicación gestora de complejos deportivos Nubapp

El objetivo principal del presente trabajo fin de carrera es el desarrollo del módulo de gestión deportiva de un gimnasio, como parte del proyecto de aplicación modular en la nube Nitro. Nitro es una aplicación de servicios en la nube desarrollada por Nubapp para la gestión de complejos deportivos de alto nivel. Nubapp es una start-up radicada en Londres. El objetivo de la empresa es el desarrollo, mantenimiento y comercialización de productos y aplicaciones cloudcomputing. Nitro consta de una serie de módulos con diferentes funcionalidades tales como reservas online y gestión de reservas, gestión de usuarios, gestión de acceso, pagos de usuarios, aplicación móvil personalizada, gestión de actividades y de las instalaciones, gestión de la domótica, estadísticas de uso de instalaciones, gestión de personal, programa de gestión del gimnasio por parte del monitor, gestión de torneos entre usuarios, etc.… Todo ello desde un enfoque social y basado en la web. De esta manera, se provee al cliente de una interfaz web desde donde poder gestionar su complejo de manera online y segura, y de una página front-end desde donde los usuarios del complejo pueden efectuar reservas, pagos o comunicarse entre ellos. Además, también dispone de una aplicación móvil para Android e iOS desde la cual los usuarios pueden realizar las tareas explicadas anteriormente. Actualmente, dado que hay muchos módulos en fase de desarrollo, se comercializa el servicio de reservas online, vía Facebook, front-end, App móvil o SMS bajo el nombre http://pro.bookpadel.co.uk/, orientado al creciente mundo del pádel en Inglaterra.Ingeniería en InformáticaInformatika Ingeniaritz

Diseño e implementación de un método para evitar colisiones en un sistema multi-robot

Este trabajo fin de grado se centra en el estudio del comportamiento y modelado de un sistema compuesto por varios robots que tienen que seguir cada uno una trayectoria de un conjunto de trayectorias posibles calculadas previamente utilizando algoritmos de planificación (por ejemplo utilizando descomposición en celdas (cell decomposition en inglés). En este trabajo no se va a ahondar en los métodos de cálculo de estas trayectorias sino en la implementación de un método para evitar los problemas inherentes en los sistemas multi-robot: las colisiones entre los distintos robots y los bloqueos del sistema que hace que algunos robots no acaben las trayectorias que han empezado. Partiendo de un conjunto de trayectorias prefijadas para cada robot, se modelará el sistema mediante el uso de las Redes de Petri, que no es más que una representación matemática con una representación gráfica de un sistema de eventos discretos. En concreto se va a usar un subconjunto de este tipo de redes, las llamadas redes S4PR. El entorno en el cual se mueven los robots se considera particionado en regiones y cada región del mapa se modela como un lugar en la red de Petri. Para evitar colisiones, se establecen regiones con capacidad finita (lugares de recurso), es decir, no pueden pasar por ellas más de un robot al mismo tiempo, de modo que si un segundo robot quiere pasar por esa misma región deberá esperar. Así que habrá que añadir lugares de espera, pero estos lugares de espera pueden conducir a bloqueos en la red, ocasionando que los robots no lleguen a su destino. Estos bloqueos se pueden caracterizar en este tipo de red de Petri utilizando algunos elementos estructurales de la red que se llaman sifones o cerrojos. Controlando que estos elementos no se vacíen, la red de Petri no se bloquea. Por tanto el objetivo principal y más laborioso de este trabajo es la implementación de un algoritmo para el cálculo de sifones en Redes de Petri S4PR, para así hallar los posibles estados de bloqueo. Existen otros métodos en la actualidad para su cálculo, pero no son tan potentes como el algoritmo que se va a desarrollar, en términos de tiempo de cálculo y necesidades de memoria. Una vez hallados los sifones se añadirán lugares monitor que evitarán que se vacíen y que se produzcan bloqueos. De este modo los robots podrán alcanzar su destino sin colisionar con los obstáculos del mapa, sin colisionar con otros robots y sin que se produzcan bloqueos que no los permitan seguir con su trayectoria. Por último, mencionar que este método de evitación de bloqueos que se va a desarrollar tiene muchas más aplicaciones. Cualquier sistema modelado con una red de Petri de la clase S4PR podría utilizar esta técnica aquí presentada. En la literatura hay ejemplos de sistemas flexibles de fabricación, sistemas de salud o sistemas de transporte modelados con redes de Petri pertenecientes a esta clase

Assessment of cyclists’ exposure to ultrafine particles along alternative commuting routes in Edinburgh

An effective promotion of commuting by bicycle requires a set of complementary actions, with one of the key measures being the definition of bike-friendly routes, both in terms of road safety and exposure to air pollution. In this study, bike commuters’ exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) was assessed using mobile measurements and video recording along three alternative routes from central Edinburgh to the science and engineering campus of the University of Edinburgh. Results indicate significant differences in UFP exposure across the three alternative routes, with mean particle number counts (PNC) of 7,990, 9,824 and 19,310 particles/cm3 respectively. With respect to the different types of bike infrastructure present along routes, the findings suggest that bicycle boxes (spaces at intersections that allow cyclists to position themselves ahead of vehicle traffic) are effective for reducing UFP exposure and that using shared bus-bike lanes should be avoided where possible. Heavy duty vehicles (i.e. buses and trucks) and construction sites were identified as the main sources of peaks in UFP exposure. All routes in the city of Edinburgh showed markedly lower PNC levels than those reported by studies conducted in other cities. The findings of this study can inform the implementation of bike-sharing schemes and the design of future cycling infrastructure, for example in the context of developing the low emission zone proposed for implementation across Edinburgh for 2020

Implications for phase separation

Funding Information: The authors would also like to acknowledge Prof. Dr. Jaime Mota, Dra. Irina Franco for the technical assistance with the microscopic experiments, Philip O'Toole for the aid in protein production and Dr. Aldino Viegas and Dr. David Pantoja-Uceda for the support and valuable discussions regarding NMR spectroscopy. This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT-Portugal) for funding UCIBIO project (UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020) and Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy – i4HB Project (LA/P/0140/2020). The authors also thank FCT-Portugal for the PhD grant attributed to SF (PD/BD/148028/2019) under the PTNMRPhD Program. JO is a recipient of a Leonardo Grant from the Spanish BBVA Foundation (BBM_TRA_0203) and a Ramón y Cajal Grant (RYC2018-026042-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future.”) JO and DVL are supported by the Spanish Grants PID-2019-109276RA-I00 and PID-2019-109306RB-I00, respectively, both funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The NMR spectrometers are part of the National NMR Facility supported by FCT-Portugal (ROTEIRO/0031/2013–PINFRA/22161/2016, co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE 2020, POCI and PORL and FCT through PIDDAC). The 800 MHz spectrometer present in the “Manuel Rico” NMR laboratory (LMR-CSIC) is a node of the Spanish Large-Scale National Facility (ICTS R-LRB-MR). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Protein Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Protein Society.The mediation of liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) for fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein is generally attributed to the low-complexity, disordered domains and is enhanced at low temperature. The role of FUS folded domains on the LLPS process remains relatively unknown since most studies are mainly based on fragmented FUS domains. Here, we investigate the effect of metabolites on full-length (FL) FUS LLPS using turbidity assays and differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, and explore the behavior of the folded domains by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. FL FUS LLPS is maximal at low concentrations of glucose and glutamate, moderate concentrations of NaCl, Zn2+, and Ca2+ and at the isoelectric pH. The FUS RNA recognition motif (RRM) and zinc-finger (ZnF) domains are found to undergo cold denaturation above 0°C at a temperature that is determined by the conformational stability of the ZnF domain. Cold unfolding exposes buried nonpolar residues that can participate in LLPS-promoting hydrophobic interactions. Therefore, these findings constitute the first evidence that FUS globular domains may have an active role in LLPS under cold stress conditions and in the assembly of stress granules, providing further insight into the environmental regulation of LLPS.publishersversionpublishe

Structural transitions in orb2 prion-like domain relevant for functional aggregation in memory consolidation

Grant BBM_TRA_0203 PD/BD/148028/2019 UIDB/04378/2020The recent structural elucidation of ex vivo Drosophila Orb2 fibrils revealed a novel amyloid formed by interdigitated Gln and His residue side chains belonging to the prion-like domain. However, atomic-level details on the conformational transitions associated with memory consolidation remain unknown. Here, we have characterized the nascent conformation and dynamics of the prion-like domain (PLD) of Orb2A using a nonconventional liquid-state NMR spectroscopy strategy based on 13C detection to afford an essentially complete set of 13Ca, 13Cb, 1Ha, and backbone 13CO and 15N assignments. At pH 4, where His residues are protonated, the PLD is disordered and flexible, except for a partially populated a-helix spanning residues 55–60, and binds RNA oligos, but not divalent cations. At pH 7, in contrast, His residues are predominantly neutral, and the Q/H segments adopt minor populations of helical structure, show decreased mobility and start to self-associate. At pH 7, the His residues do not bind RNA or Ca21, but do bind Zn21, which promotes further association. These findings represent a remarkable case of structural plasticity, based on which an updated model for Orb2A functional amyloidogenesis is suggested.publishersversionpublishe