Alkylsiloxane/alkoxysilane sols as hydrophobic treatments for concrete: A comparative study of bulk vs surface application

Water and waterborne decay agents (e.g. salts, microorganisms) are commonly associated with undesired alterations and damages on concrete elements. A strategy to mitigate their impact is to decrease water retention in the material either by surface treatments or admixtures. In this work, hydrophobic concretes were developed by the addition of a hydrophobic sol containing TEOS and PDMS oligomers, synthetized by a surfactant-assisted sol-gel route, either as an admixture or as a surface treatment. The hydrophobic performance was similar for both application modes (>70% capillary absorption reduction) and higher than concrete containing a commercial (calcium stearate) admixture or a nanosilica-based hydrophobic coating. Addition as an admixture led to a higher durability in the rain and abrasion tests. The hydrophobic sol as an admixture promotes an increase of surface roughness and porosity, as well as the formation of C–S–H like reaction products with the cement matrix components, as evidenced by AFM, MIP, SEM and FTIR. Despite the higher porosity, impact resistance and material cohesion were not negatively affected respect to the plain concrete. Application as a surface treatment decreased porosity and led to a higher amorphous SiO2 content. The material cohesion and impact resistance was increased by this application, although penetration was limited to the first 4 mm and the hydrophobic properties were more susceptible to mechanical damages to the surface. © 2021 The AuthorsThis project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme under grant agreement No 760858; This work has been financed by the Spanish State Research Agency R&D program 2020 (Project reference: PID2020-115843RB-I00); This work has been co-financed by the European Union under the 2014-2020 ERDF Operational Programme and by the Department of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge, and Universities of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Project reference: FEDER- UCA18-106613)

The impact of modern migrations on present-day multi-ethnic Argentina as recorded on the mitochondrial DNA genome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The genetic background of Argentineans is a mosaic of different continental ancestries. From colonial to present times, the genetic contribution of Europeans and sub-Saharan Africans has superposed to or replaced the indigenous genetic 'stratum'. A sample of 384 individuals representing different Argentinean provinces was collected and genotyped for the first and the second mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable regions, and selectively genotyped for mtDNA SNPs. This data was analyzed together with additional 440 profiles from rural and urban populations plus 304 from Native American Argentineans, all available from the literature. A worldwide database was used for phylogeographic inferences, inter-population comparisons, and admixture analysis. Samples identified as belonging to hg (hg) H2a5 were sequenced for the entire mtDNA genome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Phylogenetic and admixture analyses indicate that only half of the Native American component in urban Argentineans might be attributed to the legacy of extinct ancestral Argentineans and that the Spanish genetic contribution is slightly higher than the Italian one. Entire H2a5 genomes linked these Argentinean mtDNAs to the Basque Country and improved the phylogeny of this Basque autochthonous clade. The fingerprint of African slaves in urban Argentinean mtDNAs was low and it can be phylogeographically attributed predominantly to western African. The European component is significantly more prevalent in the Buenos Aires province, the main gate of entrance for Atlantic immigration to Argentina, while the Native American component is larger in North and South Argentina. AMOVA, Principal Component Analysis and hgs/haplotype patterns in Argentina revealed an important level of genetic sub-structure in the country.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Studies aimed to compare mtDNA frequency profiles from different Argentinean geographical regions (e.g., forensic and case-control studies) should take into account the important genetic heterogeneity of the country in order to prevent false positive claims of association in disease studies or inadequate evaluation of forensic evidence.</p

Power Balance of a Hybrid Power Source in a Power Plant for a Small Propulsion Aircraft

This paper analyzes two different architectures for a hybrid power source comprising a PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) fuel cell and a Li ion battery. The hybrid power source feeds the propulsion motor of an all electrical aircraft, the Boeing Fuel Cell Demonstrator. The architectures are an unregulated and a regulated hybrid power source. The regulation is achieved by means of a controllable series boost converter (SBC) connected in series with the fuel cell. Both architectures have been simulated, implemented and tested in the Boeing Fuel Cell Demonstrator Airplane

Epigenetic age estimation in saliva and in buccal cells

Age estimation based on epigenetic markers is a DNA intelligence tool with the potential to provide relevant information for criminal investigations, as well as to improve the inference of age-dependent physical characteristics such as male pattern baldness or hair color. Age prediction models have been developed based on different tissues, including saliva and buccal cells, which show different methylation patterns as they are composed of different cell populations. On many occasions in a criminal investigation, the origin of a sample or the proportion of tissues is not known with certainty, for example the provenance of cigarette butts, so use of combined models can provide lower prediction errors. In the present study, two tissue-specific and seven age-correlated CpG sites were selected from publicly available data from the Illumina HumanMethylation 450 BeadChip and bibliographic searches, to help build a tissue-dependent, and an age-prediction model, respectively. For the development of both models, a total of 184 samples (N = 91 saliva and N = 93 buccal cells) ranging from 21 to 86 years old were used. Validation of the models was performed using either k-fold cross-validation and an additional set of 184 samples (N = 93 saliva and N = 91 buccal cells, 21–86 years old). The tissue prediction model was developed using two CpG sites (HUNK and RUNX1) based on logistic regression that produced a correct classification rate for saliva and buccal swab samples of 88.59 % for the training set, and 83.69 % for the testing set. Despite these high success rates, a combined age prediction model was developed covering both saliva and buccal cells, using seven CpG sites (cg10501210, LHFPL4, ELOVL2, PDE4C, HOXC4, OTUD7A and EDARADD) based on multivariate quantile regression giving a median absolute error (MAE): ± 3.54 years and a correct classification rate ( %CP±PI) of 76.08 % for the training set, and an MAE of ± 3.66 years and a %CP±PI of 71.19 % for the testing set. The addition of tissue-of origin as a co-variate to the model was assessed, but no improvement was detected in age predictions. Finally, considering the limitations usually faced by forensic DNA analyses, the robustness of the model and the minimum recommended amount of input DNA for bisulfite conversion were evaluated, considering up to 10 ng of genomic DNA for reproducible results. The final multivariate quantile regression age predictor based on the models we developed has been placed in the open-access Snipper forensic classification websiteThis project was funded by the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria e da Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria from Xunta de Galicia, Spain (Modalidade B, ED481B 2018/010) by a postdoctorate grant awarded to AFA. MVL is supported by the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Ciencia, Spain (PID2019-107876RB-I00).M.d.l.P. is supported by a post-doctorate grant funded by the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria e da Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria from Xunta de Galicia, Spain (ED481D-2021-008). J.R. is supported by the “Programa de axudas á etapa predoutoral” funded by the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria e da Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria from Xunta de Galicia, Spain (ED481A-2020/039)S

Matching microscopic and macroscopic responses in glasses

Primero reproducimos en las computadoras Janus y Janus II un experimento importante que mide la longitud de la coherencia de los hilados de vidrio a través de la reducción de las barreras de energía libre inducidas por el efecto Zeeman. En segundo lugar, determinamos el comportamiento de escala que permite un análisis cuantitativo de un nuevo experimento informado en la Carta complementaria [S. Guchhait y R. Orbach, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 157203 (2017)]. El valor de la longitud de coherencia estimada a través del análisis de las funciones de correlación microscópicas resulta ser cuantitativamente consistente con su medición a través de las funciones de respuesta macroscópica. Además, las susceptibilidades no lineales, recientemente medidas en líquidos formadores de vidrio, se escalan como potencias de la misma longitud microscópica.We first reproduce on the Janus and Janus II computers a milestone experiment that measures the spin glass coherence length through the lowering of free-energy barriers induced by the Zeeman effect. Secondly, we determine the scaling behavior that allows a quantitative analysis of a new experiment reported in the companion Letter [S. Guchhait and R. Orbach, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 157203 (2017)]. The value of the coherence length estimated through the analysis of microscopic correlation functions turns out to be quantitatively consistent with its measurement through macroscopic response functions. Further, nonlinear susceptibilities, recently measured in glass-forming liquids, scale as powers of the same microscopic length.• European Research Council. Beca No. NPRGGLASS. Ayuda para Marco Baity Jesi • Unión Europea. Marie Skłodowska- Curie. Beca No. 654971 • Consejo Europeo de Investigación (ERC). Subvención 694925 • University of Syracuse. Beca No. NSF-DMR-305184, para David Yllanes Mosquera • Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. No. FIS2012-35719-C02, No. FIS2013-42840-P (I+D+i), No. FIS2015-65078-C2, No. FIS2016-76359-P (I+D+i), y No. TEC2016-78358-R • Junta de Extremadura y Fondos FEDER. Contrato parcial GRU10158 • Dipùtación General de Aragón y Fondos Social Europeo. AyudapeerReviewe

Development and evaluations of the ancestry informative markers of the VISAGE Enhanced Tool for Appearance and Ancestry

The VISAGE Enhanced Tool for Appearance and Ancestry (ET) has been designed to combine markers for the prediction of bio-geographical ancestry plus a range of externally visible characteristics into a single massively parallel sequencing (MPS) assay. We describe the development of the ancestry panel markers used in ET, and the enhanced analyses they provide compared to previous MPS-based forensic ancestry assays. As well as established autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that differentiate sub-Saharan African, European, East Asian, South Asian, Native American, and Oceanian populations, ET includes autosomal SNPs able to efficiently differentiate populations from Middle East regions [...]The study was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 740580 within the framework of the VISible Attributes through GEnomics (VISAGE) Project and Consortium. M.d.l.P. is supported by a post-doctorate grant funded by the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria e da Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria from Xunta de Galicia, Spain (ED481D-2021–008). J.R. is supported by the “Programa de axudas á etapa predoutoral” funded by the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria e da Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria from Xunta de Galicia, Spain (ED481A-2020/039). C.P., A.F.A., A.M.M., M.d.l.P., M.V.L. and the work to compile ancestry informative tri-allelic SNPs and microhaplotypes are supported by MAPA, ‘Multiple Allele Polymorphism Analysis’ (BIO2016–78525-R), a research project funded by the Spanish Research State Agency (AEI) and co-financed with ERDF funds. The population studies by S.O. at University of Santiago de Compostela, were financed by the Fundação de Apoio a Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF), BrazilS

Expression of Interest: The Canfranc Axion Detection Experiment (CADEx)

Trabajo presentado al 29th Meeting of the LSC Scientific Committee, celebrado online del 30 de noviembre al 1 de diciembre de 2021.Peer reviewe