Emergency-route, evacuation route finder for emergency and rescue scenarios

Con el creciente ritmo de desarrollo de aplicaciones para dispositivos móviles se dispone de diversos sistemas de localización. El GPS es el de mayor utilización, permite conocer la ubicación actual de un dispositivo en cualquier momento, además, posibilita el desarrollo de soluciones para una interacción más cercana entre dos o más personas independientemente del entorno geográfico en el que se encuentren. Esta investigación permitió desarrollar una aplicación móvil basada en el sistema operativo Android, con la finalidad de ayudar a los usuarios en las tareas de evacuación en situaciones de emergencia, presentando una ruta de salida óptima desde la ubicación actual del usuario hacia la zona de evacuación más cercana. Las rutas son calculadas y transmitidas a los usuarios en relación con los obstáculos reportados y las zonas seguras establecidas. // With the increasing pace of application development for mobile devices, several location systems are available, being GPS widely used, which allows to know the actual location of a device at any time, besides it makes it possible to develop solutions allowing a close interaction among two or more people regardless the geographical position they are. The present research allowed us to develop a mobile application based on Android OS, in order to help users evacuate at emergency situations, showing an optimal exit route from the actual location to the closest evacuation zone. Routes are calculated and transmitted to users based on reported obstacles and pre-established safety zones

Organic Molecules in the Galactic Center. Hot Core Chemistry without Hot Cores

We study the origin of large abundances of complex organic molecules in the Galactic center (GC). We carried out a systematic study of the complex organic molecules CH3OH, C2H5OH, (CH3)2O, HCOOCH3, HCOOH, CH3COOH, H2CO, and CS toward 40 GC molecular clouds. Using the LTE approximation, we derived the physical properties of GC molecular clouds and the abundances of the complex molecules.The CH3OH abundance between clouds varies by nearly two orders of magnitude from 2.4x10^{-8} to 1.1x10^{-6}. The abundance of the other complex organic molecules relative to that of CH3OH is basically independent of the CH3OH abundance, with variations of only a factor 4-8. The abundances of complex organic molecules in the GC are compared with those measured in hot cores and hot corinos, in which these complex molecules are also abundant. We find that both the abundance and the abundance ratios of the complex molecules relative to CH3OH in hot cores are similar to those found in the GC clouds. However, hot corinos show different abundance ratios than observed in hot cores and in GC clouds. The rather constant abundance of all the complex molecules relative to CH3OH suggests that all complex molecules are ejected from grain mantles by shocks. Frequent (similar 10^{5}years) shocks with velocities >6km/s are required to explain the high abundances in gas phase of complex organic molecules in the GC molecular clouds. The rather uniform abundance ratios in the GC clouds and in Galactic hot cores indicate a similar average composition of grain mantles in both kinds of regions. The Sickle and the Thermal Radio Arches, affected by UV radiation, show different relative abundances in the complex organic molecules due to the differentially photodissociation of these molecules.Comment: 18 pages, 10 Postscript figures, uses aa.cls, aa.bst, 10pt.rtx, natbib.sty, revsymb.sty revtex4.cls, aps.rtx and aalongtabl.sty. Accepted in A&A 2006. version 2. relocated figures and tables. Language editor suggestions. added reference

Whey protein gelation: the effect of tryptic hydrolysis

The ability of whey proteins (WP) to form heat induced gels and provide texture is desirable for some “solid like” foods like processed meat, dairy and bakery products. However, this property limits the application of whey proteins in “liquid like” foods including beverages, baby formula and salad dressings [1]. Enzymatic hydrolysis impairs the gelation ability and improves the thermal stability of WP and can be used to expand the applications of WP [2]. From a dietary point of view, the use of whey protein hydrolysates instead of the “whole” protein isolates is interesting to reduce alle rgenicity or improve digestibility. Whey protein hydrolysates are also a important source of bioactive peptides liberated, from native proteins, during the hydrolysis. Once liberated, peptides may act as regulatory compounds with hormonelike activity [3]. In this work, our main objective is to model the gelling properties of whey protein tryptic hydrolysates (WPTH) as a function of the degree of hydrolysis and the protein concentration. An experimental design was applied where protein concentration range between 10 and 17 % (w/w) and hydrolysis degree range between 0,9 and 4,2 %, according to pH-stat methodology. The rheological behaviour of WPTH during heat gelling under small deformation oscillatory shear was investigated using a controlled stress rheometer AR2000 (TA Instruments). Empirical quadratic models were extracted from the experimental results. The statistical results show a dramatic effect of enzymatic hydrolysis on the gelling behaviour and on the gel properties. This study suggests that enzymatic hydrolysates can be designed for specific food formulations according to the desired gel (meat, dairy or bakery products) or liquid character (beverages, salad dressings)

Luminescence and fine structure correlation in ZnO permeated porous silicon nanocomposites

Nanocomposites formed by porous silicon (PS) and zinc oxide (ZnO) have potential for applications in optoelectronic devices. However, understanding the distribution of both materials in the nanocomposite, and especially the fine structure of the synthesized ZnO crystals, is key for future device fabrication. This study focuses on the advanced characterization of a range of PS-ZnO nanocomposites by using photon- and ion-based techniques, such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and elastic backscattering spectroscopy (EBS), respectively. PS substrates formed by the electrochemical etching of p+-type Si are used as host material for the sol-gel nucleation of ZnO nanoparticles. Different properties are induced by annealing in air at temperatures ranging from 200°C to 800°C. Results show that wurtzite ZnO nanoparticles form only at temperatures above 200°C, coexisting with Si quantum dots (QDs) inside a PS matrix. Increasing the annealing temperature leads to structural and distribution changes that affect the electronic and local structure of the samples changing their luminescence. Temperatures around 800°C activate the formation of a new zinc silicate phase and transform PS into an amorphous silicon oxide (SiOx, x ≈ 2) matrix with a noticeably reduced presence of Si QDs. Thus, these changes affect dramatically the emission from these nanocomposites and their potential applicationsFunding through grant MAT2013-46572-C2-1-R from Ministerio de Economía y Competitivida

SARS-CoV-2 accessory protein 7b forms homotetramers in detergent

A global pandemic is underway caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The SARS-CoV-2 genome, like its predecessor SARS-CoV, contains open reading frames that encode accessory proteins involved in virus-host interactions active during infection and which likely contribute to pathogenesis. One of these accessory proteins is 7b, with only 44 (SARS-CoV) and 43 (SARS-CoV-2) residues. It has one predicted transmembrane domain fully conserved, which suggests a functional role, whereas most variability is contained in the predicted cytoplasmic C-terminus. In SARS-CoV, 7b protein is expressed in infected cells, and the transmembrane domain was necessary and sufficient for Golgi localization. Also, anti-p7b antibodies have been found in the sera of SARS-CoV convalescent patients. In the present study, we have investigated the hypothesis that SARS-2 7b protein forms oligomers with ion channel activity. We show that in both SARS viruses 7b is almost completely α-helical and has a single transmembrane domain. In SDS, 7b forms various oligomers, from monomers to tetramers, but only monomers when exposed to reductants. Combination of SDS gel electrophoresis and analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) in both equilibrium and velocity modes suggests a dimer-tetramer equilibrium, but a monomer–dimer–tetramer equilibrium in the presence of reductant. This data suggests that although disulfide-linked dimers may be present, they are not essential to form tetramers. Inclusion of pentamers or higher oligomers in the SARS-2 7b model were detrimental to fit quality. Preliminary models of this association was generated with AlphaFold2, and two alternative models were exposed to a molecular dynamics simulation in presence of a model lipid membrane. However, neither of the two models provided any evident pathway for ions. To confirm this, SARS-2 p7b was studied using Planar Bilayer Electrophysiology. Addition of p7b to model membranes produced occasional membrane permeabilization, but this was not consistent with bona fide ion channels made of a tetrameric assembly of α-helices

Management of Operational Parameters and Novel Spinneret Configurations for the Electrohydrodynamic Processing of Functional Polymers

[EN] Functional materials have become key drivers in the development of multiple high-end technologies. Electrohydrodynamic processing (EHDP) is a straightforward method to generate polymer micro- and nanostructures that can be applied to the food, pharmaceutical, environmental, and biomedical areas, among others, since these can yield materials with higher performance. Some of the EHDP's advantages over other polymer processing technologies rely on its high versatility, by which the final assembly can be modified in different ways to combine materials with multiple properties and also in different morphological structures, and the use of room processing conditions, meaning that thermolabile ingredients can be incorporated with minimal activity loss. This review provides the historical background, process basics, and the state-of-the-art of the most recent advances achieved in the EHDP technology dealing with the control of its operational parameters to optimize processability and achieve end-product quality and homogeneity. It also focuses on the newly developed modes of operation and spinneret configurations that can lead to the formation of a wide range of micro- and nanostructures with different functionalities and solve some of its current technical limitations. Finally, it also further highlights the potential applications of the resultant hierarchical functional polymer-based materials obtained by these novel EHDP methods.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and by the I&D&I AgriFood XXI project, operation number NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000041, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) under the scope of NORTE 2020 (ProgramaOperacional Regional do Norte 2014/2020). Pedro Silva is the recipient of a fellowship (SFRD/BD/130247/2017) supported by FCT. S. TorresGiner acknowledges Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICI) for the funding received during his Ramon y Cajal contract (RYC2019027784-I).Silva, PM.; Torres-Giner, S.; Vicente, AA.; Cerqueira, MA. (2022). Management of Operational Parameters and Novel Spinneret Configurations for the Electrohydrodynamic Processing of Functional Polymers. Macromolecular Materials and Engineering. 307(5):1-21. https://doi.org/10.1002/mame.202100858121307

Recent Developments in Chiral Unitary Dynamics of Resonances

In this talk I summarize recent findings made on the description of axial vector mesons as dynamically generated states from the interaction of peseudoscalar mesons and vector mesons, dedicating some attention to the two $K_1(1270)$ states. Then I review the generation of open and hidden charm scalar and axial states. Finally, I present recent results showing that the low lying $1/2^+$ baryon resonances for S=-1 can be obtained as bound states or resonances of two mesons and one baryon in coupled channels dynamics.Comment: Talk at the International Conference on Hadron Physics, Troia07, Canakkale, Turkey, Sep. 2007 and at the Chiral Symmetry in Hadron and Nuclear Physics Workshop, Chiral07, Osaka, November 200

A Test Vector Generation Method Based on Symbol Error Probabilities for Low-Complexity Chase Soft-Decision Reed-Solomon Decoding

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permissíon from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertisíng or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.[EN] This paper presents a low-complexity chase (LCC) decoder for Reed-Solomon (RS) codes, which uses a novel method for the selection of test vectors that is based on the analysis of the symbol error probabilities derived from simulations. Our results show that the same performance as the classical LCC is achieved with a lower number of test vectors. For example, the amount of test vectors is reduced by half and by 1/16 for the RS(255,239) and RS(255,129) codes, respectively. We provide an evidence that the proposed method is suitable for RS codes with different rates and Galois fields. In order to demonstrate that the proposed method results in a reduction of the complexity of the decoder, we also present a hardware architecture for an RS(255,239) decoder that uses 16 test vectors. This decoder achieves a coding gain of 0.56 dB at the frame error rate that is equal to 10(-6) compared with hard-decision decoding, which is higher than that of an eta = 5 LCC. The implementation results in ASIC show that a throughput of 3.6 Gb/s can be reached in a 90-nm process and 29.1XORs are required. The implementation results in Virtex-7 FPGA devices show that the decoder reaches 2.5 Gb/s and requires 5085 LUTs.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad and FEDER under Grant TEC2015-70858-C2-2-R. This paper was recommended by Associate Editor M. Boukadoum.Valls Coquillat, J.; Torres Carot, V.; Canet Subiela, MJ.; García-Herrero, FM. (2019). A Test Vector Generation Method Based on Symbol Error Probabilities for Low-Complexity Chase Soft-Decision Reed-Solomon Decoding. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I Regular Papers. 66(6):2198-2207. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSI.2018.2882876S2198220766

Renal ammonia in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

Renal ammonia in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Recent studies have suggested that defective medullary trapping of ammonia underlies the acidosis associated with renal failure and sets in motion maladaptive compensatory mechanisms that contribute to the progression of renal disease. Since a renal concentrating defect is an early functional abnormality in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), defective medullary trapping and urinary excretion of ammonia may also occur early and have important pathophysiological consequences. The urinary pH and excretions of ammonia, titratable acid, and bicarbonate, were measured during a 24-hour baseline period and following the administration of ammonium chloride (100 mg/kg body wt) in ADPKD patients with normal glomerular filtration rate and in age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects. The distal nephron hydrogen ion secretory capacity was assessed during a bicarbonate infusion. Ammonia, sodium, pH, C3dg, and C5b-9 were measured in cyst fluid samples. The excretion rates of ammonia during the 24-hour baseline period and following the administration of ammonium chloride were significantly lower, and the relationship of ammonia excretion to urinary pH was significantly shifted downward in ADPKD. No difference in the increment of urinary pCO2 (Δ pCO2) or the peripheral blood-urine pCO2 gradient (U-B pCO2) between ADPKD patients and control subjects was detected during a sodium bicarbonate infusion. Calculated concentrations of free-base ammonia in cyst fluid samples exceeded those calculated from reported concentrations of ammonia in renal venous blood of normal subjects. C3dg and C5b-9 were detected in some cyst fluids. The urinary excretion of ammonia is reduced in ADPKD patients with normal glomerular filtration rate. This reduction is not explained by a lower production of ammonia in the renal cortex or by a defect of proton secretion in the collecting ducts. It is likely due to an impaired renal concentrating mechanism and reduced trapping of ammonia in the renal medulla. It may contribute to the pathogenesis of nephrolithiasis and, more importantly, to the progression of the interstitial inflammation and cystic changes seen in ADPKD