Utilization of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) in a Euro 6 Dual-Loop EGR Diesel Engine: Behavior as a Drop-In Fuel and Potentialities along Calibration Parameter Sweeps

This study examines the effects on combustion, engine performance and exhaust pollutant emissions of a modern Euro 6, dual-loop EGR, compression ignition engine running on regular EN590-compliant diesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). First, the potential of HVO as a "drop-in" fuel, i.e., without changes to the original, baseline diesel-oriented calibration, was highlighted and compared to regular diesel results. This showed how the use of HVO can reduce engine-out emissions of soot (by up to 67%), HC and CO (by up to 40%), while NOx levels remain relatively unchanged. Fuel consumption was also reduced, by about 3%, and slightly lower combustion noise levels were detected, too. HVO has a lower viscosity and a higher cetane number than diesel. Since these parameters have a significant impact on mixture formation and the subsequent combustion process, an engine pre-calibrated for regular diesel fuel could not fully exploit the potential of another sustainable fuel. Therefore, the effects of the most influential calibration parameters available on the tested engine platform, i.e., high-pressure and low-pressure EGR, fuel injection pressure, main injection timing, pilot quantity and dwell-time, were analyzed along single-parameter sweeps. The substantial reduction in engine-out soot, HC and CO levels brought about by HVO could give the possibility to implement additional measures to limit NOx emissions, combustion noise and/or fuel consumption compared to diesel. For example, higher proportion of LP EGR and/or smaller pilot quantity could be exploited with HVO, at low load, to reduce NOx emissions to a greater extent than diesel, without incurring penalties in terms of incomplete combustion species. Conversely, at higher load, delayed main injection timings and reduced rail pressure could reduce combustion noise without exceeding soot levels of the baseline diesel case

Characterization of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) in a Euro 6 Diesel Engine as a Drop-In Fuel and With a Dedicated Calibration

Renewable fuels can play an important role in achieving future goals of energy sustainability and CO2 reduction. In particular, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) represents one of the most promising alternatives to petroleum-derived diesel fuels. Several studies have shown that conventional diesel engines can run on 100% HVO without significant modifications to the hardware and control strategies. The current activity has experimentally evaluated the potential of HVO as a “drop-in” fuel, i.e., without changes to the original baseline calibration, comparing it to conventional diesel fuel on a 2.3-litre Euro 6 compression ignition engine. Tests revealed that HVO can significantly reduce engine-out soot (by more than 60%), HC and CO emissions (by about 40%), compared to diesel, while NOx levels and fuel conversion efficiency remain relatively unchanged under steady-state warmed-up conditions. The advantages of HVO proved to be further enhanced when the engine has not yet warmed up. Using statistical techniques of design of experiments (DoE) at three warmed-up steady-state operating points, the main engine control parameters were recalibrated to demonstrate that engine-out emissions can be further optimized with a dedicated calibration

Enhanced disengagement of auditory attention and phonological skills in action video gamers

Video games play a major role in the everyday life of children, teenagers, and adults. Several studies show that action video games (AVGs) improve visual attentional efficiency. AVGs also appear to improve reading speed and phonological skills in children with developmental dyslexia. These results have been linked to the intrinsic characteristics of AVGs, in which fast disengagement of multisensory attention allows for efficient extraction of relevant dynamic information, a skill that is crucially also involved in phonological and reading skills. We tested the hypothesis that AVG players demonstrate faster auditory attention disengagement in an auditory spatial cuing task, as well as better phonological and reading performance than non-players. We found that AVG players were faster in spatial localization of auditory targets and showed enhanced attentional disengagement as indexed by a smaller cuing effect. AVG players also showed better phonological decoding and working memory skills. Moreover, the beneficial effects of AVGs, as measured by faster attentional disengagement, were linked to better phonological and reading skills in adult AVG players. We suggest that a more efficient attentional disengagement - controlled by the posterior parietal cortex - induces enhanced multisensory processing in AVG players

Flexibility From Distributed Multienergy Systems

Multienergy systems (MES), in which multiple energy vectors are integrated and optimally operated, are key assets in low-carbon energy systems. Multienergy interactions of distributed energy resources via different energy networks generate the so-called distributed MES (DMES). While it is now well recognized that DMES can provide power system flexibility by shifting across different energy vectors, it is essential to have a systematic discussion on the main features of such flexibility. This article presents a comprehensive overview of DMES modeling and characterization of flexibility applications. The concept of ``multienergy node'' is introduced to extend the power node model, used for electrical flexibility, in the multienergy case. A general definition of DMES flexibility is given, and a general mathematical and graphical modeling framework, based on multidimensional maps, is formulated to describe the operational characteristics of individual MES and aggregate DMES, including the role of multienergy networks in enabling or constraining flexibility. Several tutorial examples are finally presented with illustrative case studies on current and future DMES practical applications

Posterolateral arthrodesis in lumbar spine surgery using autologous platelet-rich plasma and cancellous bone substitute: an osteoinductive and osteoconductive effect

Study Design Prospective cohort study. Objectives To analyze the effectiveness and practicality of using cancellous bone substitute with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in posterolateral arthrodesis. Methods Twenty consecutive patients underwent posterolateral arthrodesis with implantation of cancellous bone substitute soaked with PRP obtained directly in the operating theater on the right hemifield and cancellous bone substitute soaked with saline solution on the right. Results Computed tomography scans at 6 and 12 months after surgery were performed in all patients. Bone density was investigated by comparative analysis of region of interest. The data were analyzed with repeated-measures variance analyses with value of density after 6 months and value of density after 12 months, using age, levels of arthrodesis, and platelet count as covariates. The data demonstrated increased bone density using PRP and heterologous cancellous block resulting in an enhanced fusion rate during the first 6 months after surgery. Conclusions PRP used with cancellous bone substitute increases the rate of fusion and bone density joining osteoinductive and osteoconductive effect

European Antibiotic Awareness Day: a five-year perspective of Europe-wide actions to promote prudent use of antibiotics.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Following the European Union (EU) Council Recommendation on prudent use of antimicrobial agents in human medicine in 2001, and the success of national campaigns, i.e. Belgium and France, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) decided to establish the European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) on 18 November as platform to support national campaigns across Europe. This article provides an overview of EAAD tools, materials, and activities developed during the first five years. It shows that EAAD has been successful due to good cooperation between ECDC and national institutions, strong political and stakeholder support and evidence-based development of campaign materials. EAAD has provided a platform for pre-existing national campaigns and encouraged similar campaigns to develop where neither political support had been secured, nor financial support had been available. As a result, participating countries have continuously expressed strong support for ECDC to continue its work on EAAD. This has been endorsed by a steadily increasing number of countries participating and the growing interest of varied professional and stakeholder organisations. We conclude that EAAD should continue to act as catalyst for discussion and as mechanism to raise awareness of the public and prescribers about prudent use of antibiotics