Viability of bauxite deposits from Catalonia (Spain) for ceramic applications

This study provides a characterization of materials from wastes and outcrops of twoinactive bauxite mines located close to Sant Joan de Mediona and Peramola, Spain. Mineralogy wasdetermined via powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).Thermal properties were measured via differential thermal analysis–thermogravimetry (DTA-TG) andgresification tests. The crystalline phases are medium-high crystalline kaolinite and variable amountsof illite, quartz, calcite, boehmite, hematite and rutile/anatase. DTA show two endothermic peaksproduced by the dehydroxylation of minerals: the first peak, at 530–538 C, belongs to boehmite; thesecond peak, at 535–568 C, corresponds to kaolinite. An exothermic peak at 950–978 C is associatedwith mullite crystallization. The optimal sintering temperatures obtained from the gresification curves(firing shrinkage and water absorption) were 970 C for carbonate-poor, illite-rich clays; 1100 C forillite- and carbonate-poor samples; and near 1190 C for carbonate-rich materials. The carbonate-poorsamples fired at 1300 C contain sillimanite and mullite, and the carbonate-rich materials are richin gehlenite, anorthite, and hedenbergite. The mineralogy of these materials is sufficient to obtainceramic materials with suitable properties, but not their low plasticity. They could be used in theformulation of bricks or as part of mixtures to produce refractory ceramics.</p

Molecular Modeling of the M3 Acetylcholine Muscarinic Receptor and Its Binding Site

The present study reports the results of a combined computational and site mutagenesis study designed to provide new insights into the orthosteric binding site of the human M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor. For this purpose a three-dimensional structure of the receptor at atomic resolution was built by homology modeling, using the crystallographic structure of bovine rhodopsin as a template. Then, the antagonist N-methylscopolamine was docked in the model and subsequently embedded in a lipid bilayer for its refinement using molecular dynamics simulations. Two different lipid bilayer compositions were studied: one component palmitoyl-oleyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC) and two-component palmitoyl-oleyl phosphatidylcholine/palmitoyl-oleyl phosphatidylserine (POPC-POPS). Analysis of the results suggested that residues F222 and T235 may contribute to the ligand-receptor recognition. Accordingly, alanine mutants at positions 222 and 235 were constructed, expressed, and their binding properties determined. The results confirmed the role of these residues in modulating the binding affinity of the ligand

APPLICATION OF BIOMECHANICS TO THE PREVENTION OF OVERLOAD INJURIES IN ELITE SOCCER PLAYERS.

Structural alterations of the foot and inadequate design of sports footwear, as well as overtraining, have been determined to be risk factors for overload injuries during sports practice. A biomechanical analysis protocol was designed to study both, the foot and sports footwear statically and dynamically. This protocol was applied on 47 soccer players of the Spanish Premier League. Amongst the results we should point out that 53.3% of the players had cavus feet. 14.8% of the players deformed the boots. 44.7% of the players studied registered high pressures over the metatarsal heads. and 19.1 % registered high ones at the first toe. 44.7% of the players showed an excessive supination pattern. The data obtained gave us information about the static and dynamic patterns of the elite soccer player. With the individual information the assessment of suitable footwear was carried out for each player. The correct application of this protocol could be used in the diagnosis or prevention of overtraining and in the detection of foot and gait pathologies

Evaluation of hydraulic mixing performance in a full-scale anaerobic digester with an external liquid recirculation system using CFD and experimental validation

Anaerobic digestion (AD) has become an essential process for sludge treatment and its optimum performance is related to its mixing degree. In this study, a full-scale Anaerobic Digester (ADer) with an external recirculation mixing system was studied via single-phase 3D-CFD simulations to assess the influence of recirculation flow and a 3-blade propeller. The model was validated with inert tracer tests. The design and mixing parameters were studied to characterise the mixing efficiency in different scenarios. The design parameters were assessed first, but wide deviations from the recommended values were found. Local mixing parameters were found to be useful for defining the degree and type of mixing, and are highly recommended in the CFD studies of ADers. A second-order statistical moment was proposed as a global mixing parameter to describe geometrical and local mixing, and to state a reliable homogenisation time.Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Jaume

Modeling and Control of Drinking Water Supply Infrastructures Through Multi-Agent Systems for Sustainability

Traditionally, drinking water supply infrastructures have been designed to store as much water as possible and to do so during the energy cheap hours. This approach is unsustainable today. The use of digital systems capable of modeling the behavior of infrastructures and the creation of intelligent control systems can help to make drinking water supply systems more efficient and effective, while still meeting minimum service requirements. This work proposes the development of a control system, based on multi-agent systems (MAS), capable of generating an intelligent control over a drinking water infrastructure, based on the use of local interests of the agents and with an emergent behavior coherent with the needs. To validate the proposal, a simulator based on the infrastructures of a medium-sized Spanish city of 5000 inhabitants has been built and the control has been simulated using the MAS. The results show how the system can maintain the objectives set, handling unknown situations, and facilitating the development of future physical systems based on a just-in-time paradigm that guarantees sustainability, as it allows the generation of virtualizations of the infrastructures and their behavior, thus being able to study the best option for an infrastructure to resolve a supply situation.This work was supported by the UAIND22-01B Project “Adaptive Control of Urban Supply Systems” by the Office of the Vice President of Research of the University of Alicante, and the INNTA3/2022/3 project “Adaptive Control of Urban Supply Systems”, by Agencia Valenciana de la Innovación

Variable buoyancy anchor deployment analysis for floating wind applications using a Marine Simulator

The research presented in this paper has been primarily sponsored by EPSRC’s Supergen ORE Hub & ORE Catapult Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (grant number FF2021-1040). The authors acknowledge funding received from Energy Technology Partnership Knowledge Exchange Network scheme (grant number PR057-ME) that provided additional funding to support this work. The authors wish to thank Oceanetics Inc. and Aubin Group for their support towards this project. This work has benefited from the support and funding received from Net Zero Technology Centre and The University of Aberdeen through their partnership in The National Decommissioning Centre (NDC) and The Scottish Government’s Decommissioning Challenge Fund in part-funding the establishment of the Marine Simulator research facility at the NDC.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Dynamics of alternative modes of RNA replication for positive-sense RNA viruses

[EN] We propose and study nonlinear mathematical models describing the intracellular time dynamics of viral RNA accumulation for positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Our models consider different replication modes ranging between two extremes represented by the geometric replication (GR) and the linear stamping machine replication (SMR). We first analyse a model that quantitatively reproduced experimental data for the accumulation dynamics of both polarities of turnip mosaic potyvirus RNAs. We identify a non-degenerate transcritical bifurcation governing the extinction of both strands depending on three key parameters: the mode of replication (a), the replication rate (r) and the degradation rate (d) of viral strands. Our results indicate that the bifurcation associated with a generically takes place when the replication mode is closer to the SMR, thus suggesting that GR may provide viral strands with an increased robustness against degradation. This transcritical bifurcation, which is responsible for the switching from an active to an absorbing regime, suggests a smooth (i.e. secondorder), absorbing-state phase transition. Finally, we also analyse a simplified model that only incorporates asymmetry in replication tied to differential replication modes.This work was funded by the Human Frontier Science Program Organization grant RGP12/2008, by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion grants BIO2008-01986 (J.A.D.) and BFU2009-06993 (S.F.E.) and by the Santa Fe Institute. F. M. is the recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. We also thank the hospitality and support of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (University of California at Santa Barbara), where part of this work was developed (grant NSF PHY05-51164).Sardanyes Cayuela, J.; Martinez, F.; Daros Arnau, JA.; Elena Fito, SF. (2012). Dynamics of alternative modes of RNA replication for positive-sense RNA viruses. 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Structured model of influenza virus replication in MDCK cells. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 88(1), 1-14. doi:10.1002/bit.20096Lim, K., Lang, T., Lam, V., & Yin, J. (2006). Model-Based Design of Growth-Attenuated Viruses. PLoS Computational Biology, 2(9), e116. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020116Eigen, M., McCaskill, J., & Schuster, P. (2007). The Molecular Quasi-Species. Advances in Chemical Physics, 149-263. doi:10.1002/9780470141243.ch4Krakauer, D. C., & Komarova, N. L. (2003). Levels of selection in positive-strand virus dynamics. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 16(1), 64-73. doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00481.xSRIVASTAVA, R., YOU, L., SUMMERS, J., & YIN, J. (2002). Stochastic vs. Deterministic Modeling of Intracellular Viral Kinetics. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 218(3), 309-321. doi:10.1006/jtbi.2002.3078Zhdanov, V. P. (2004). Bifurcation in a generic model of intracellular viral kinetics. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General, 37(5), L63-L66. doi:10.1088/0305-4470/37/5/l03Domingo, E., Sabo, D., Taniguchi, T., & Weissmann, C. (1978). Nucleotide sequence heterogeneity of an RNA phage population. Cell, 13(4), 735-744. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(78)90223-4Sanjuan, R., Nebot, M. R., Chirico, N., Mansky, L. M., & Belshaw, R. (2010). Viral Mutation Rates. Journal of Virology, 84(19), 9733-9748. doi:10.1128/jvi.00694-10MANRUBIA, S., & LAZARO, E. (2006). Viral evolution. Physics of Life Reviews, 3(2), 65-92. doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2005.11.002Sardanyes, J., Sole, R. V., & Elena, S. F. (2009). Replication Mode and Landscape Topology Differentially Affect RNA Virus Mutational Load and Robustness. Journal of Virology, 83(23), 12579-12589. doi:10.1128/jvi.00767-09Thébaud, G., Chadœuf, J., Morelli, M. J., McCauley, J. W., & Haydon, D. T. (2009). The relationship between mutation frequency and replication strategy in positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1682), 809-817. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1247Martínez, F., Sardanyés, J., Elena, S. F., & Daròs, J.-A. (2011). Dynamics of a Plant RNA Virus Intracellular Accumulation: Stamping Machine vs. Geometric Replication. Genetics, 188(3), 637-646. doi:10.1534/genetics.111.129114Denhardt, D. T., & Silver, R. B. (1966). An analysis of the clone size distribution of ΦX174 mutants and recombinants. Virology, 30(1), 10-19. doi:10.1016/s0042-6822(66)81004-8Luria, S. E. (1951). THE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF SPONTANEOUS BACTERIOPHAGE MUTANTS AS EVIDENCE FOR THE EXPONENTIAL RATE OF PHAGE REPRODUCTION. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 16(0), 463-470. doi:10.1101/sqb.1951.016.01.033Chao, L., Rang, C. U., & Wong, L. E. (2002). Distribution of Spontaneous Mutants and Inferences about the Replication Mode of the RNA Bacteriophage  6. 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Anomaly Detection System for Data Quality Assurance in IoT infrastructures based on Machine Learning

The inclusion of IoT in digital platforms is very common nowadays due to the ease of deployment, low power consumption and low cost. It is also common to use heterogeneous IoT devices of ad-hoc or commercial development, using private or third-party network infrastructures. This scenario makes it difficult to detect invalid packets from malfunctioning devices, from sensors to application servers. These invalid packets generate low quality or erroneous data, which negatively influence the services that use them. For this reason, we need to create procedures and mechanisms to ensure the quality of the data obtained from IoT infrastructures, regardless of the type of infrastructure and the control we have over them, so that the systems that use this data can be reliable. In this work we propose the development of an Anomaly Detection System for IoT infrastructures based on Machine Learning using unsupervised learning. We validate the proposal by implementing it on the IoT infrastructure of the University of Alicante, which has a multiple sensing system and uses third-party services, over a campus of one million square meters. The contribution of this work has been the generation of an anomaly detection system capable of revealing incidents in IoT infrastructures, without knowing details about the infrastructures or devices, through the analysis of data in real time. This proposal allows to discard from the IoT data flow all those packets that are suspected to be anomalous to ensure a high quality of information to the tools that consume IoT data.This project has been funded by the UAIND22-01B project "Adaptive control of urban supply systems" of the University of Alicante

Oxidative Dehydrogenation of an Amine Group of a Macrocyclic Ligand in the Coordination Sphere of a Cu\u3csup\u3eII\u3c/sup\u3e Complex

The spontaneous oxidation of an amine group to an imine has been observed experimentally in an octa-aza macrocyclic dinucleating ligand LH4 coordinated to CuII. The reaction is bimolecular and spontaneous in which amine groups of one macrocycle are oxidised and the CuII centres of a second macrocyclic complex are reduced. No additional oxidating or external base agents are required. DFT calculations are carried out to compare the reaction with that recently reported for a ligand coordinated to an FeIII centre, but which requires an external base as proton acceptor. The computational results show that the copper and iron catalysed amine to imine reactions proceed via different mechanisms

Deployment feasibility studies of variable buoyancy anchors for floating wind applications

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