Steam reforming of water-soluble fast pyrolysis bio-oil: Studies on bio-oil composition effect, carbon deposition, and catalyst modifications

Bio-oils from fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass can be phase separated into a heavy water insoluble portion and a light water-soluble portion. The water-rich portion contains mainly carboxylic acids, carbohydrates, aldehydes, ketones and alcohols. This highly oxygenated water-rich portion was evaluated for production of the renewable hydrogen required for the upgrading reactions. There are certain challenges introduced due to the complexity of these mixtures. Catalyst deactivation by coking and the formation of carbon deposits are major limitations although the specific causes were previously unidentified. A bio-oil fractionating system can separate heavier components from the light-end components. This light-end fraction has shown to be better suited for hydrogen production via steam reforming at moderate temperatures generating mainly hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Due to their chemical instability the bio-oils showed evident aging leading to decreased hydrogen production potential when stored for long periods of time. Model compounds representing the water-soluble components we compared in controlled tests to find troublesome species in terms of resistance to reaction and carbon deposition tendency. Experiments were performed under kinetic control conditions at low conversions to reveal reaction characteristics while avoiding thermodynamics and transport limitations. It was found that levoglucosan, acetic acid, and furfural were the species with the highest limitation in terms of carbon deposition leading to decreased hydrogen production and lowcatalyst stability. Levoglucosan was found to decompose more easily leading to carbon deposition even in the absence of a catalyst. Acetic acid and furfural were then found to tend to coke over the catalyst but where mostly thermally stable. Acetic acid was found to be one of the most abundant and troublesome compounds in water-soluble bio-oil. Magnesium and Cobalt modified Nickel/Alumina steam reforming catalysts were tested at 460 and 650yC using acetic acid as a probe molecule. These temperatures corresponded respectively to reforming regimes where no coke removal by steam was observed and where coke removal happened at an accelerated rate as determined by temperature program oxidation. The addition of Magnesium as support modifier led to reduced coke accumulation by promoting coke gasification at 650yC, but at 460yC a different trend was observed where coke removal rate was not prevalent. A supported bimetallic Ni-Co catalyst showed a coke reduction effect at 460yC, but at 650yC it seemed to promote coke formation. When comparing the results of supported and unsupported Ni-Co catalysts the presence of an Alumina support was appeared to be necessary to achieve high hydrogen formation with decreased coking. The data suggest that a synergistic effect exists between the Ni-Co and the Alumina support, where the latter may enhance water activation contributing to the reduced coking for the bimetallic catalyst

Producing Monolingual and ParallelWeb Corpora at the Same Time – SpiderLing and Bitextor’s Love Affair

This paper presents an approach for building large monolingual corpora and, at the same time, extracting parallel data by crawling the top-level domain of a given language of interest. For gathering linguistically relevant data from top-level domains we use the SpiderLing crawler, modified to crawl data written in multiple languages. The output of this process is then fed to Bitextor, a tool for harvesting parallel data from a collection of documents. We call the system combining these two tools Spidextor, a blend of the names of its two crucial parts. We evaluate the described approach intrinsically by measuring the accuracy of the extracted bitexts from the Croatian top-level domain .hr and the Slovene top-level domain .si, and extrinsically on the English–Croatian language pair by comparing an SMT system built from the crawled data with third-party systems. We finally present parallel datasets collected with our approach for the English–Croatian, English–Finnish, English–Serbian and English–Slovene language pairs.This research is supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement PIAP-GA-2012-324414 (AbuMaTran)

In situ synthesis of fluorescent silicon nanodots for determination of total carbohydrates in a paper microfluidic device combined with laser prepared graphene heater

We report a simple, rapid, low-resource and one-step method for formation of fluorescent silicon nanodots (SNDs) in a microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD) incorporated in a reusable, portable and flexible heater for determination of total carbohydrates. The synthesis of SNDs is based on the redox reaction between (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTS) reagent and carbohydrates, which act as a reducer. The graphene-based heater was fabricated by laser ablation of Kapton polyimide. Thereby, the developed system heat the μPAD during the synthesis of SNDs at 80 °C for 30 min. The blue emitting SNDs formed have an emission peak wavelength at 475 nm. We used a digital camera and smartphone for the quantitative analysis of total carbohydrates expressed such as index of glucose or fructose with grey scale value as the analytical parameter. Under the optimal conditions, the method has a low detection limit (0.80 μM for glucose and 0.51 μM for fructose, respectively), and a linear response (10–200 μM for glucose and 10–100 μM for fructose). The method has been applied to the determination of glucose in biological fluids (serum and urine samples). In addition, determination of total carbohydrates in commercial juices and teas have been carried outThis work was founded by Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (Projects PID2019-103938RB-I00 and CTQ2017-86125-P) and Junta de Andalucía (Projects B-FQM-243-UGR18 and P18-RT-2961). The projects were partially supported by European Regional Development Funds (ERDF)

Adquisición automática de recursos para traducción automática en el proyecto Abu-MaTran

This paper provides an overview of the research and development activities carried out to alleviate the language resources' bottleneck in machine translation within the Abu-MaTran project. We have developed a range of tools for the acquisition of the main resources required by the two most popular approaches to machine translation, i.e. statistical (corpora) and rule-based models (dictionaries and rules). All these tools have been released under open-source licenses and have been developed with the aim of being useful for industrial exploitation.Este artículo presenta una panorámica de las actividades de investigación y desarrollo destinadas a aliviar el cuello de botella que supone la falta de recursos lingüísticos en el campo de la traducción automática que se han llevado a cabo en el ámbito del proyecto Abu-MaTran. Hemos desarrollado un conjunto de herramientas para la adquisición de los principales recursos requeridos por las dos aproximaciones m as comunes a la traducción automática, modelos estadísticos (corpus) y basados en reglas (diccionarios y reglas). Todas estas herramientas han sido publicadas con licencias libres y han sido desarrolladas con el objetivo de ser útiles para ser explotadas en el ámbito comercial.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement PIAP-GA-2012-324414 (Abu-MaTran)

Latent tuberculosis infection treatment completion in Biscay: differences between regimens and monitoring approaches

IntroductionContact tracing and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a key element of tuberculosis (TB) control in low TB incidence countries. A TB control and prevention program has been active in the Basque Country since 2003, including the development of the nurse case manager role and a unified electronic record. Three World Health Organization-approved LTBI regimens have been used: isoniazid for 6 months (6H), rifampicin for 4 months (4R), and isoniazid and rifampicin for 3 months (3HR). Centralized follow-up by a TB nurse case manager started in January 2016, with regular telephone follow-up, telemonitoring of blood test results, and monitoring of adherence by electronic review of drugs dispensed in pharmacies.ObjectiveTo estimate LTBI treatment completion and toxicity of different preventive treatment regimens in a real-world setting. Secondary objective: to investigate the adherence to different approaches to preventive treatment monitoring.MethodsA multicentre retrospective cohort study was conducted using data collected prospectively on contacts of patients with TB in five hospitals in Biscay from 2003 to 2022.ResultsA total of 3,066 contacts with LTBI were included. The overall completion rate was 66.8%; 86.5% of patients on 3HR (n = 699) completed treatment vs. 68.3% (n = 1,260) of those on 6H (p < 0.0001). The rate of toxicity was 3.8%, without significant differences between the regimens. A total of 394 contacts were monitored by a TB nurse case manager. In these patients, the completion rate was 85% vs. 67% in those under standard care (p < 0.001). A multivariate logistic regression model identified three independent factors associated with treatment completion: being female, the 3HR regimen, and nurse telemonitoring.Conclusion3HR was well tolerated and associated with a higher rate of treatment completion. Patients with nurse telemonitoring follow-up had better completion rates

Contribución de la producción animal en pequeña escala al desarrollo rural

La producción y el consumo de productos de origen animal han experimentado un rápido crecimiento en todo el mundo, y se prevé que continuarán aumentando. Se considera que la mayor parte del incremento en la producción provendrá de sistemas de producción en pequeña escala, que representan el medio de vida de hasta un 70% de la población rural pobre del mundo.1 La producción animal en pequeña escala se reconoce en todo el mundo como un elemento que contribuye al alivio de la pobreza en el medio rural, mediante generación de ingresos, oportunidades de ocupación y dinamismo del uso de los recursos disponibles. Por lo tanto, es de suma importancia conocer las dinámicas de estos sistemas de producción animal y su contribución al desarrollo rural en México. Investigadores y extensionistas deben priorizar las demandas de la producción animal en las comunidades rurales, ya que la producción animal en pequeña escala ha contribuido a mejorar la calidad de vida y a disminuir la vulnerabilidad de las familias productoras. En el México prehispánico la población sólo criaba xoloitzcuintle y guajolotes como animales domésticos, y complementaba en proteínas su dieta con la caza y la pesca. Sin embargo, con la llegada de los españoles en 1521 llegaron también los primeros bovinos a la Nueva España, que se reprodujeron con suma rapidez. La carne de bovino llegó a constituir una parte sustancial de la dieta alimenticia de toda la población.2 A pesar de que al inicio la producción animal era casi nula, ésta empezó a desarrollarse rápidamente y en la actualidad representa un pilar importante para el desarrollo rural en las familias campesinas de nuestro país, pues es vista como una fuente de ingreso

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Background: Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. // Methods: We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung's disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. // Findings: We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung's disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middle-income countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in low-income countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. // Interpretation: Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030