Method for promoting in-situ hydrochar porosity in hydrothermal carbonization of almond shells with air activation

In this work, a new procedure for in situ hydrochar activation during hydrocarbonization of biomass (almond shell) is proposed. This approach suggests the addition of a controlled oxidizing gas stream (i.e. synthetic air) during the process for different periods of time, in order to promote the hydrochar porosity. Characterization of prepared materials revealed a noticeable development of porosity with apparent surfaces areas up to 320 m2/g. A highlighting variety of functional acid groups especially sensitive to air supply time was confirmed by surface chemistry analysis. Promising preliminary results show the effectiveness of this alternative approach synthesis strategy in converting a low value lignocellulosic biomass into porous materials with potential applications such as adsorption, electrical energy and gas storage or catalysis

Los composites. Características y aplicaciones en la edificación

In this paper; the authors analyse composite materials from the point of view of their applications in the building construction field. An overview through the different distinctive aspects of composites is presented: concepts, types and characteristics of their components. Following, and from a practical point of view, advantages and disadvantages of the application of composites in construction are analysed. The article includes also a number of cases, real applications of these composite materials in the construction industry.En este artículo los autores analizan los materiales compuestos desde el punto de vista de sus aplicaciones en el campo de la construcción. Se realiza un recorrido por los diferentes aspectos definitorios de los mismos: conceptos, tipos y características de cada uno de sus componentes, para, a continuación, desde un punto de vista práctico, analizar las propiedades, ventajas e inconvenientes de su aplicación en la construcción arquitectónica. Finalmente, se completa el trabajo con una exposición de casos reales en los que han sido aplicados estos materiales en el mundo de la construcción

Waveguide manufacturing technologies for next-generation millimeter-wave antennas

Some recent waveguide-based antennas are presented in this paper, designed for the next generation of communication systems operating at the millimeter-wave band. The presented prototypes have been conceived to be manufactured using different state-of-the-art techniques, involving subtractive and additive approaches. All the designs have used the latest developments in the field of manufacturing to guarantee the required accuracy for operation at millimeter-wave frequencies, where tolerances are extremely tight. Different designs will be presented, including a monopulse antenna combining a comparator network, a mode converter, and a spline profile horn; a tunable phase shifter that is integrated into an array to implement reconfigurability of the main lobe direction; and a conformal array antenna. These prototypes were manufactured by diverse approaches taking into account the waveguide configuration, combining parts with high-precision milling, electrical discharge machining, direct metal laser sintering, or stereolithography with spray metallization, showing very competitive performances at the millimeter-wave band till 40 GHzThis work was supported by the Spanish Government under Grant TEC2016-76070- C3-1/2-R (ADDMATE); in part under Grant PID2020-116968RB-C32/33 (DEWICOM), Agencia Estatal de Investigación MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional: AEI/FEDER, UE. This work was also partially supported under Grant S2013/ICE3000 (SPADERADARCM), Madrid Regional Governmen

MYC directly transactivates CR2/CD21, the receptor of the Epstein-Barr virus, enhancing the viral infection of Burkitt lymphoma cells.

MYC is an oncogenic transcription factor dysregulated in about half of total human tumors. While transcriptomic studies reveal more than 1000 genes regulated by MYC, a much smaller fraction of genes is directly transactivated by MYC. Virtually all Burkitt lymphoma (BL) carry chromosomal translocations involving MYC oncogene. Most endemic BL and a fraction of sporadic BL are associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. The currently accepted mechanism is that EBV is the BL-causing agent inducing MYC translocation. Herein we show that the EBV receptor, CR2 (also called CD21), is a direct MYC target gene. This is based on several pieces of evidence: MYC induces CR2 expression in both proliferating and arrested cells and in the absence of protein synthesis, binds the CR2 promoter and transactivates CR2 in an E-box-dependent manner. Moreover, using mice with conditional MYC ablation we show that MYC induces CR2 in primary B cells. Importantly, modulation of MYC levels directly correlates with EBV's ability of infection in BL cells. Altogether, in contrast to the widely accepted hypothesis for the correlation between EBV and BL, we propose an alternative hypothesis in which MYC dysregulation could be the first event leading to the subsequent EBV infection.S

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Cherry stones as precursor of activated carbons for supercapacitors

5 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables.-- Available online Oct 31, 2008.It is shown that cherry stones-wastes can be recycled as activated carbons for electrode material in supercapacitors. KOH-activation of this precursor at 800–900°C is an efficient process to obtain carbons with large specific surface areas (1100–1300 m2 g−1), average pore sizes around 0.9–1.3 nm, which makes them accessible to electrolyte ions, and conductivities between 1 and 2 S cm−1. These features lead to capacitances at low current density as high as 230 F g−1 in 2 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte and 120 F g−1 in the aprotic medium 1 M (C2H5)4NBF4/acetonitrile. Furthermore, high performance is also achieved at high current densities, which means that this type of materials competes well with commercial carbons used at present in supercapacitors.Financial support from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (project BQU2002-03600) of Spain is gratefully acknowledged. The authors wish to thank NORIT and ARKEMA-CECA for the gift of carbons Super DLC-30 and SC-10, respectively.Peer reviewe