On the oxy-combustion of lignite and corn stover in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor

This paper addresses an experimental investigation concerning oxy-combustion of coal and biomass in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor. While co-firing has been widely studied under conventional air conditions, few experiences are available to date for O2/CO2 atmospheres. The research is focused on SO2 and NOx emissions, along with the deposition rates and ashes mineralogy. The influences of the atmosphere (air vs. 30/70% O2/CO2), the coal-to-biomass energy input ratio (80/20%, 90/10%), the chlorine mass fraction in the biomass (0.35%, 1%, 2%) and the Ca:S mole ratio (2.5, 4) are reported and discussed in the paper, for two specific fuels: high sulfur lignite and high chlorine corn stover. Concerning SO2 emissions a correlation among the sulfur and the chlorine contents is clearly detected, being affected by the direct desulfurization mechanism occurring under oxy-firing conditions. The single effect of the chlorine content is found to be almost 1.5% of the desulfurization efficiency. NOx emissions are otherwise more dependent on oxygen excess and CO concentration in the reactor, rather than the fuel share or the chlorine supplied. Thick deposition is only detected when chlorine content in the corn is 2%. Potassium aluminosilication is found to be enhanced in comparison to potassium sulfation under oxy-firing, especially for the highest Ca:S mole ratio: observed aluminosilication is five times higher when Ca:S ratio is increased from 2.5 to 4. A significant enrichment in iron is also detected for the fly ash composition, with an increase of 30–50% in comparison to air combustion

Quality of Life, Physical and Mental Health, and Economic Evaluation of Family Caregivers of Chronic Dependent Children: INFAPRINT Cohort Study Protocol.

Background: Caregivers for children with complex chronic illnesses may experience emotional and physical strain, especially as concerns attention overload and the perceptions of their own psychosocial situation. These concerns, together with the additional financial cost and the socioeconomic inequalities that arise from caregiving responsibilities, create major challenges to the health status of this population group. Methods: A prospective analytical longitudinal study will be conducted, based on an exposed cohort of adult caregivers (parents or guardians) for children with complex chronic processes, to evaluate the impact of caregiving responsibilities on the health status of this population group. Conclusions and implications: The practical implications of this study are of great significance for clinical practice. The results of this study have the potential to inform the decision-making process in the healthcare sector and guide future research initiatives. The findings of this study will provide crucial insights into the health-related quality of life of caregivers of children with complex chronic illnesses, which will be valuable in addressing the challenges faced by this population group. This information can be used to improve the availability and accessibility of appropriate health services and to facilitate the development of more equitable health outcomes for caregivers of children with complex chronic illnesses. By highlighting the extent to which this population is affected both physically and mentally, the study can contribute to the development of clinical practices that prioritize the health and well-being of caregivers in the care of children with complex chronic illnesses.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Perfusión tisular periférica en talones de sujetos sanos expuestos a presión continua

Objetivos: 1) Observar los cambios que se producen en el flujo microvascular periférico de talones de sujetos sanos expuestos a patrones de presión continuo, 2) Observar los cambios que se producen en la temperatura periférico de talones de sujetos sanos expuestos a patrones de presión continuo. Metodología: Estudio experimental no controlado, no aleatorizado en fase preclínica. La población diana fueron los alumnos sanos de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. El procedimiento a seguir fue protocolizado y se llevó a cabo por igual en todos los sujetos: se evaluó el flujo capilar sanguíneo y la temperatura local de los talones de los sujetos, mediante láser Doppler. Los datos se analizaron con el software informático SPSS. Resultados: Los valores iniciales de flujo capilar sanguíneo y temperatura local obtenidos fueron: 5,06 UA (unidad arbitraria) y 26,24 ºC, respectivamente; después de las dos horas de medición los valores fueron: 6,91 UA y 26,84 ºC. Por tanto, el flujo vascular sanguíneo incrementó un 36,51% y la temperatura local un 2,29%. Discusión/ Conclusión: Los resultados obtenidos muestran un ligero aumento de los valores de la microcirculación capilar sanguínea y de la temperatura local después de una exposición continua a presión durante dos horas.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

SANAA, Rolex Learning Center

En el curso 2012-2013 el Laboratorio de Crítica centró su atención en el Rolex Learning Center de l´Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne en Suiza, obra de indudable interés del estudio japonés SANAA que constituye en sí misma un auténtico experimento y, consecuentemente, un objeto de observación apropiado para el estudio dentro del Laboratorio. En octubre de 2012 se realizó un viaje para visitar el edificio y, posteriormente, se realizaron por parte de los alumnos, ejercicios críticos y experimentos de los que en esta publicación aparece una muestra representativa. También se recogen en este libro, publicado gracias al apoyo de la ETSAM dentro de su colección de Texto Académicos, algunas aportaciones externas como el escrito y los dibujos del arquitecto Javier Aguilera, así como otros textos de antiguos alumnos del Laboratorio como Rosa Ballester, Berta González Salinero o Daniel Sacristán que, además han contribuido decisivamente en la edición. Se incluye, asimismo, un artículo de Eider Holgado, alumna de doctorado que está realizando su tesis, dentro del G.I. ARKRIT

Escuela de arquitectura de Nantes y Palais de Tokio

Muchos son los aspectos que interesan en la arquitectura de Lacaton y Vassal y que son analizados en los distintos artículos que se incluyen en esta publicación. En ocasiones, las acciones humanas tienen la cualidad de despertar un interés que va más allá del objeto mismo para el que fueron realizadas. La mayor parte de los proyectos y obras de Lacaton y Vassal posee esta cualidad que, entre otras cosas, se traduce en un alto valor pedagógico que, en este caso, tiene carácter metodológico

Pathogenetics of alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins.

Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACDMPV) is a lethal lung developmental disorder caused by heterozygous point mutations or genomic deletion copy-number variants (CNVs) of FOXF1 or its upstream enhancer involving fetal lung-expressed long noncoding RNA genes LINC01081 and LINC01082. Using custom-designed array comparative genomic hybridization, Sanger sequencing, whole exome sequencing (WES), and bioinformatic analyses, we studied 22 new unrelated families (20 postnatal and two prenatal) with clinically diagnosed ACDMPV. We describe novel deletion CNVs at the FOXF1 locus in 13 unrelated ACDMPV patients. Together with the previously reported cases, all 31 genomic deletions in 16q24.1, pathogenic for ACDMPV, for which parental origin was determined, arose de novo with 30 of them occurring on the maternally inherited chromosome 16, strongly implicating genomic imprinting of the FOXF1 locus in human lungs. Surprisingly, we have also identified four ACDMPV families with the pathogenic variants in the FOXF1 locus that arose on paternal chromosome 16. Interestingly, a combination of the severe cardiac defects, including hypoplastic left heart, and single umbilical artery were observed only in children with deletion CNVs involving FOXF1 and its upstream enhancer. Our data demonstrate that genomic imprinting at 16q24.1 plays an important role in variable ACDMPV manifestation likely through long-range regulation of FOXF1 expression, and may be also responsible for key phenotypic features of maternal uniparental disomy 16. Moreover, in one family, WES revealed a de novo missense variant in ESRP1, potentially implicating FGF signaling in the etiology of ACDMPV

Executive and arousal vigilance decrement in the context of the attentional networks: The ANTI-Vea task

Background: Vigilance is generally understood as the ability to detect infrequent critical events through long time periods. In tasks like the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), participants tend to detect fewer events across time, a phenomenon known as “vigilance decrement”. However, vigilance might also involve sustaining a tonic arousal level. In the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), the vigilance decrement corresponds to an increment across time in both mean and variability of reaction time. New Method: The present study aimed to develop a single task –Attentional Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance – executive and arousal components (ANTI-Vea)– to simultaneously assess both components of vigilance (i.e., the executive vigilance as in the SART, and the arousal vigilance as in the PVT), while measuring the classic attentional functions (phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control). Results: In Experiment #1, the executive vigilance decrement was found as an increment in response bias. In Experiment #2, this result was replicated, and the arousal vigilance decrement was simultaneously observed as an increment in reaction time. Comparison with Existing Method: The ANTI-Vea solves some issues observed in the previous ANTI-V task with the executive vigilance measure (e.g., a low hit rate and no vigilance decrement). Furthermore, the new ANTI-Vea task assesses both components of vigilance together with others typical attentional functions. Conclusions: The new attentional networks test developed here may be useful to provide a better understanding of the human attentional system. The role of sensitivity and response bias in the executive vigilance decrement are discussed.Fil: Luna, Fernando Gabriel. Universidad de Granada; España. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Marino, Julián Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología. Laboratorio de Psicología Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Roca, Javier. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Lupiáñez, Juan. Universidad de Granada; Españ

Exploring the spatial interference effects elicited by social and non-social targets: A Conditional Accuracy Function Approach

In the present exploratory study the Conditional Accuracy Function (CAF) tool has been employed to analyze datasets from studies using the social variant of the spatial Stroop task (Marotta et al., 2018), with the goal of examining how accuracy rates vary over reaction time intervals, uncovering temporal dynamics underlying the dissociation observed between social and non-social attentional mechanisms. Through this approach, we expect to explore hidden aspects of social and non-social information processing not discernible through mean analysis alone, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of the interplay between social and non-social attentional mechanisms

Competing Working Memory Contents: Perceptual over Semantic Prioritization and Voluntary Retrieval following Retro-Cueing

Retrospective attention can select working memory (WM) contents either involuntarily or voluntarily. While prior research has delved into its impact on low-level visual features, the examination of its influence on high-level semantic dimensions, particularly with real-world objects, remains unexplored. This study investigated whether voluntary and involuntary attention have a different impact on competing low-level visual features (perceptual dimension) versus high-level categories (semantic dimension) of real-world WM representations. To address this, reaction time and accuracy data from two retro-cueing experiments were modeled with a hierarchical drift-diffusion model to elucidate how attention impacts on the representation quality (drift rate) and retrieval time (non-decision time) of WM contents. Surprisingly, the voluntariness of attention did not interact with the type ofWM content. In turn, drift rates indicated that attention exerted greater retro-cueing effects on perceptual versus semantic WM contents, while non‐decision times revealed retro-cueing effects for voluntary attention but not for involuntary attention. The present findings yield three conclusions: first, voluntariness does not differentially impact perceptual and semantic contents when both compete for WM storage; second, retrospective attention has a stronger prioritization on the quality of perceptual over semantic contents; and third, voluntariness is critical for retrieving WM contents in advance of decision-making. This study underscores the independent contributions of the type of WM content and voluntariness in conditioning the effects of retrospective attention

On the oxy-combustion of lignite and corn stover in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor

This paper addresses an experimental investigation concerning oxy-combustion of coal and biomass in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor. While co-firing has been widely studied under conventional air conditions, few experiences are available to date for O2/CO2 atmospheres. The research is focused on SO2 and NOx emissions, along with the deposition rates and ashes mineralogy. The influences of the atmosphere (air vs. 30/70% O2/CO2), the coal-to-biomass energy input ratio (80/20%, 90/10%), the chlorine mass fraction in the biomass (0.35%, 1%, 2%) and the Ca:S mole ratio (2.5, 4) are reported and discussed in the paper, for two specific fuels: high sulfur lignite and high chlorine corn stover. Concerning SO2 emissions a correlation among the sulfur and the chlorine contents is clearly detected, being affected by the direct desulfurization mechanism occurring under oxy-firing conditions. The single effect of the chlorine content is found to be almost 1.5% of the desulfurization efficiency. NOx emissions are otherwise more dependent on oxygen excess and CO concentration in the reactor, rather than the fuel share or the chlorine supplied. Thick deposition is only detected when chlorine content in the corn is 2%. Potassium aluminosilication is found to be enhanced in comparison to potassium sulfation under oxy-firing, especially for the highest Ca:S mole ratio: observed aluminosilication is five times higher when Ca:S ratio is increased from 2.5 to 4. A significant enrichment in iron is also detected for the fly ash composition, with an increase of 30e50% in comparison to air combustion.The work described in this paper was partially co-funded by the RþD Spanish National Program (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) and the European Regional Development Funds (European Commission), under the Project ENE2012-39114.Peer reviewe