An analysis of fast-response pressure probes dynamics for ORC power systems

Abstract The dynamic response of line-cavity systems in ideal and non-ideal compressible-fluid conditions is investigated numerically using the SU2 open-source suite for multi-physics simulations. The response of the system is studied for small but finite pressure perturbations, to predict the behaviour of fast-response pressure probes in turbomachinery for gas and ORC power systems. The probe step-response is found to present significant damping due to non-linear wave propagation. Non-idealities in the close proximity of the liquid-vapour curve increase the signal damping due to non-monotone variations of the speed of sound. A simplified approach is proposed to predict the probe dynamic characteristics in ideal regime. The estimation of the probe dynamics in non-ideal regime is found to be very critical and to strongly depend on the thermodynamic state of the fluid. The present results provides a guideline for the design of fast-response pressure probes to be used e.g. past the rotor stage of ORC turbine vanes

Towards filling the gap between AOSE methodologies and infrastructures: requirements and meta-model

Many different methodologies have been proposed in Agent Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) literature, and the concepts they rely on are different from those adopted when implementing the system. This conceptual gap often creates inconsistencies between specifications and implementation. We propose a metamodel-based approach that aims to bridge this gap, resulting in an integrated meta-model that merges the best aspects of four relevant AOSE methodologies (GAIA, Tropos, SODA and PASSI). The meta-model assembly followed a welldefined process: for each methodology to be integrated in the meta-model, we elicited the requirements, identified a set of process fragments, thoroughly compared the concepts belonging to the various fragments, and finally composed the meta-model

El funcionamiento materno y el vínculo madre-hijo-padre

En este trabajo de tesina se intenta profundizar el estudio sobre el funcionamiento materno y el vínculo madre-hijo-padre, y observar sus manifestaciones en aquellos casos en los que el hijo presenta una enfermedad persistente. Partiendo de la relación de salud física y salud mental y considerando la relación mente-cuerpo como un aspecto importante a tener en cuenta en la investigación. El objetivo de esta tesina es mostrar, a partir del análisis cualitativo de tres casos clínicos, la presencia de pautas de funcionamiento materno y/o paterno en aquellos casos en los que el hijo presenta una enfermedad persistente. Teniendo en cuenta los conceptos de reverie materno (Bion), madre suficientemente buena, función materna y/o paterna fallida (Winnicott), y los modelos de funcionamiento postulado por Liberman de “madre que rebota” y “madre metebombas”. Para ello, se utiliza una metodología descriptiva con entrevistas semidirigidas. Se seleccionaron tres casos clínicos teniendo en cuenta que reúnan las siguientes características: madres de hijos con edades comprendidas entre uno y cinco años y que los mismos presenten una enfermedad persistente. Del análisis de los casos clínicos se observa cierta incapacidad materna para desarrollar funciones intuitivas y empáticas, desconexión afectiva, ambivalencia, dificultad para metabolizar las ansiedades de sus hijos, sentimientos de rechazo, dificultad en los procesos de separación-individuación, ausencia del sostén emocional que ofrece el padre a la madre para que ésta pueda desempeñar su función.In this thesis work is trying to deepen the study on maternal functioning and mother-son-father, and observe its manifestations in cases where the child has a persistent disease. Based on the relationship of physical and mental health and considering the mind-body as an important aspect to consider in the investigation. The objective of this thesis is to show, from a qualitative analysis of three clinical cases, the presence of maternal working patterns and / or paternal in cases where the child has a persistent disease. Taking into account the concepts of maternal reverie (Bion), good enough mother, maternal role and / or parental failure (Winnicott), and operating models Liberman postulated by the "mother bounces" “metebombas mother”. This is done using a descriptive methodology with semi-structured interviews. Three cases were selected taking into account the following characteristics: Mothers of children aged between one and five years and that they present a persistent disease. An analysis of clinical cases there was some maternal inability to develop intuitive features and empathetic, emotional disconnection, ambivalence, difficulty metabolizing the anxieties of their children, feelings of rejection, difficulty in separation-individuation processes, lack of emotional support offered by the father to mother to enable it to perform its function.Fil: Molesini, Sisina Andre

United in Diversity? A Study on the Implementation of Sanctions in the European Union

The implementation of European Union (EU) policies has been investigated for several policy areas, but Decisions made under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) have rarely been considered. While many CFSP measures are applicable throughout the EU without the need for further action on the domestic level, some Decisions must be implemented by Council Regulations. These Council Regulations adopted with the intent to implement CFSP Decisions have qualities of Directives, which delegate implementing tasks to member states and require transposition. The aim of this article is to investigate whether restrictive measures imposed by the EU are uniformly implemented across the member states, and, if not, to what extent implementation performance varies. We observe significant differences in implementation performance across member states. The findings of this article are twofold. First, we claim that implementation and compliance studies should involve CFSP decisions more systematically. Second, empirical confirmation is provided of how uneven transposition and application occurs also in CFSP matters. This study is based on empirical work that consisted of desk research and semi-structured interviews with national competent authorities of 21 EU member states taking place between March 2020 and January 2021

Determinantes de la salida de mujeres del mercado laboral y sus efectos sobre la evolución de la participación laboral femenina

En varias regiones del mundo las tasas de participación laboral femenina han disminuido su crecimiento entre fines de los años 90 y principios de los años 2000. Una de las posibles causas es el aumento del fenómeno conocido como “Opting out": La salida de mujeres del mercado laboral por razones familiares, especialmente por lo presencia de hijos en el hogar. El trabajo estudia los efectos del Opting Out en mujeres argentinas en los últimos 15 años. Para el trabajo se utilizan los datos de la Encuesta Permanente de Hogares que realiza el INDEC. Los resultados muestran que el Opting Out disminuye las probabilidades de participación laboral de la mujer, y sus horas trabajadas semanales. Las mujeres con educación primaria incompleta, primaria completa y educación secundaria disminuyen su probabilidad de participación laboral en una mayor proporción ante la presencia de hijos en el hogar; mientras que la mayor caída en horas trabajadas se da en madres con mayor nivel educativo, con títulos terciarios, universitarios y de posgrado. Al tomar solamente al grupo de mujeres jóvenes, entre 24 y 39 años, el efecto negativo del Opting Out es mayor en mujeres con un alto nivel educativo, tanto en la probabilidad de participación laboral como en las horas semanales trabajadas. Las mujeres solteras no presentan grandes niveles de Opting Out. Especialmente para las mujeres con alto capital humano (título terciario o superior), donde la presencia de hijos produce un efecto positivo en la participación laboral femenina.Fil: Molesini, Rodolfo Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

Expression profile analysis of early fruit development in iaaM-parthenocarpic tomato plants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fruit normally develops from the ovary after pollination and fertilization. However, the ovary can also generate seedless fruit without fertilization by parthenocarpy. Parthenocarpic fruit development has been obtained in tomato (<it>Solanum lycopersicum</it>) by genetic modification using auxin-synthesising gene(s) (<it>DefH9-iaaM</it>; <it>DefH9-RI-iaaM</it>) expressed specifically in the placenta and ovules.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We have performed a cDNA Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) analysis on pre-anthesis tomato flower buds (0.5 cm long) collected from <it>DefH9-iaaM </it>and <it>DefH9-RI-iaaM </it>parthenocarpic and wild-type plants, with the aim to identify genes involved in very early phases of tomato fruit development. We detected 212 transcripts differentially expressed in auxin-ipersynthesising pre-anthesis flower buds, 65 of them (31%) have unknown function. Several differentially expressed genes show homology to genes involved in protein trafficking and protein degradation via proteasome. These processes are crucial for auxin cellular transport and signaling, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The data presented might contribute to elucidate the molecular basis of the fruiting process and to develop new methods to confer parthenocarpy to species of agronomic interest. In a recently published work, we have demonstrated that one of the genes identified in this screening, corresponding to #109 cDNA clone, regulates auxin-dependent fruit initiation and its suppression causes parthenocarpic fruit development in tomato.</p

Expression of self-complementary hairpin RNA under the control of the rolC promoter confers systemic disease resistance to plum pox virus without preventing local infection

BACKGROUND: Homology-dependent selective degradation of RNA, or post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS), is involved in several biological phenomena, including adaptative defense mechanisms against plant viruses. Small interfering RNAs mediate the selective degradation of target RNA by guiding a multicomponent RNAse. Expression of self-complementary hairpin RNAs within two complementary regions separated by an intron elicits PTGS with high efficiency. Plum pox virus (PPV) is the etiological agent of sharka disease in Drupaceae, although it can also be transmitted to herbaceous species (e.g. Nicotiana benthamiana). Once inside the plant, PPV is transmitted via plasmodesmata from cell to cell, and at longer distances, via phloem. The rolC promoter drives expression in phloem cells. RolC expression is absent in both epidermal and mesophyll cells. The aim of the present study was to confer systemic disease resistance without preventing local viral infection. RESULTS: In the ihprolC-PP197 gene (intron hair pin rolC PPV 197), a 197 bp sequence homologous to the PPV RNA genome (from base 134 to 330) was placed as two inverted repeats separated by the DNA sequence of the rolA intron. This hairpin construct is under the control of the rolC promoter.N. benthamiana plants transgenic for the ihprolC-PP197 gene contain siRNAs homologous to the 197 bp sequence. The transgenic progeny of ihprolC-PP197 plants are resistant to PPV systemic infection. Local infection is unaffected. Most (80%) transgenic plants are virus free and symptomless. Some plants (20%) contain virus in uninoculated apical leaves; however they show only mild symptoms of leaf mottling. PPV systemic resistance cosegregates with the ihprolC-PP197 transgene and was observed in progeny plants of all independent transgenic lines analyzed. SiRNAs of 23–25 nt homologous to the PPV sequence used in the ihprolC-PP197 construct were detected in transgenic plants before and after inoculation. Transitivity of siRNAs was observed in transgenic plants 6 weeks after viral inoculation. CONCLUSIONS: The ihprolC-PP197 transgene confers systemic resistance to PPV disease in N. benthamiana. Local infection is unaffected. This transgene and/or similar constructs could be used to confer PPV resistance to fruit trees where systemic disease causes economic damage

Genome-Wide Transcriptional Changes and Lipid Profile Modifications Induced by Medicago truncatula N5 Overexpression at an Early Stage of the Symbiotic Interaction with Sinorhizobium meliloti.

Plant lipid-transfer proteins (LTPs) are small basic secreted proteins, which are characterized by lipid-binding capacity and are putatively involved in lipid trafficking. LTPs play a role in several biological processes, including the root nodule symbiosis. The Medicago truncatula nodulin 5 (MtN5) LTP has been proved to positively regulate the nodulation capacity, controlling rhizobial infection and nodule primordia invasion. To better define the lipid transfer protein MtN5 function during the symbiosis, we produced MtN5-downregulated and -overexpressing plants, and we analysed the transcriptomic changes occurring in the roots at an early stage of Sinorhizobium meliloti infection. We also carried out the lipid profile analysis of wild type (WT) and MtN5-overexpressing roots after rhizobia infection. The downregulation of MtN5 increased the root hair curling, an early event of rhizobia infection, and concomitantly induced changes in the expression of defence-related genes. On the other hand, MtN5 overexpression favoured the invasion of the nodules by rhizobia and determined in the roots the modulation of genes that are involved in lipid transport and metabolism as well as an increased content of lipids, especially galactolipids that characterize the symbiosome membranes. Our findings suggest the potential participation of LTPs in the synthesis and rearrangement of membranes occurring during the formation of the infection threads and the symbiosome membrane