Desarrollo de membranas híbridas dieléctricas de tipo Nafión con óxidos de zirconio, hafnio y lantano

En el presente trabajo se realizó la síntesis de membranas híbridas tipo Nafion/(MxOy)n donde M=Zr, Hf o La y n=1wt%. Las membranas fueron preparadas mediante el proceso Sol-Gel. Tres nuevas membranas fueron obtenidas con espesores de 61, 67 y 300 μm respectivamente. Cada membrana fue caracterizada mediante espectroscopia infrarroja, análisis termogravimétrico y microscoía electrónica de barrido. Obteniendo que las membranas híbridas presentan mayor resistencia térmica que el polimero por si solo adquiriendo 40ºC más, lo que da como resultado una temperatura de trabajo de 120ºC, además en los espectros de infrarrojo se evidencia la presencia del efecto del material inorgánico sobre el incremento en el carácter autohumidificante de la membrana híbrida, finalmente la microscopía electrónica de barrido nos permite identificar la obtención de la membrana híbrida mediante las micrografías así como el espesor de las mismas

The parasporal crystals of Bacillus pumilus strain 15.1: a potential virulence factor?

Bacillus pumilus strain 15.1 was previously found to cause larval mortality in the Med-fly 27 Ceratitis capitata and was shown to produce crystals in association with the spore. As 28 parasporal crystals are well-known as invertebrate-active toxins in entomopathogenic 29 bacteria such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Cry and Cyt toxins) and Lysinibacillus sphaericus (Bin 30 and Cry toxins), the B. pumilus crystals were characterised. The crystals were composed of a 31 45 kDa protein that was identified as an oxalate decarboxylase by peptide mass 32 fingerprinting, N-terminal sequencing and by comparison with the genome sequence of strain 33 15.1. Synthesis of crystals by a plasmid-cured derivative of strain 15.1 (produced using a 34 novel curing strategy), demonstrated that the oxalate decarboxylase was encoded 35 chromosomally. Crystals spontaneously solubilized when kept at low temperatures and the 36 protein produced was resistant to trypsin treatment. The insoluble crystals produced by 37 B. pumilus 15.1 did not show significant toxicity when bioassayed against C. capitata larvae, 38 but once the OxdD protein was solubilized, an increase of toxicity was observed. We also 39 demonstrate that the OxdD present in the crystals has oxalate decarboxylate activity as the 40 formation of formate was detected, which suggests a possible mechanism for B. pumilus 15.1 41 activity. To our knowledge, the characterization of the B. pumilus crystals as oxalate 42 decarboxylase is the first report of the natural production of parasporal inclusions of an 43 enzyme

Modelling the Interaction Levels in HCI Using an Intelligent Hybrid System with Interactive Agents: A Case Study of an Interactive Museum Exhibition Module in Mexico

Technology has become a necessity in our everyday lives and essential for completing activities we typically take for granted; technologies can assist us by completing set tasks or achieving desired goals with optimal affect and in the most efficient way, thereby improving our interactive experiences. This paper presents research that explores the representation of user interaction levels using an intelligent hybrid system approach with agents. We evaluate interaction levels of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with the aim of enhancing user experiences. We consider the description of interaction levels using an intelligent hybrid system to provide a decision-making system to an agent that evaluates interaction levels when using interactive modules of a museum exhibition. The agents represent a high-level abstraction of the system, where communication takes place between the user, the exhibition and the environment. In this paper, we provide a means to measure the interaction levels and natural behaviour of users, based on museum user-exhibition interaction. We consider that, by analysing user interaction in a museum, we can help to design better ways to interact with exhibition modules according to the properties and behaviour of the users. An interaction-evaluator agent is proposed to achieve the most suitable representation of the interaction levels with the aim of improving user interactions to offer the most appropriate directions, services, content and information, thereby improving the quality of interaction experienced between the user-agent and exhibition-agent

Implementation and Performance of the tau trigger in the ATLAS experiment

Triggering on hadronic taus at the LHC is a difficult task due to the high rate and occupancy of the events. On the other hand, the tau trigger increases the discovery potential of ATLAS in many physics channels, among others the Standard Model or SuperSymmetric Higgs (charged or neutrals) production. In order to cope with the rate and optimize the efficiency on important physics channels, the results of the current simulation studies indicate that the ATLAS tau trigger should be used either with relatively high transverse momentum thresholds alone, or with more relaxed threshold requirements in combination with other triggers, like the missing transverse energy trigger or a leptonic or jet trigger. In this contribution we describe the ATLAS tau trigger, and we present some of the current results from the simulation studies, focusing both on early physics and on physics at high luminosity

Extracellular vesicles in parasitic diseases

Parasitic diseases affect billions of people and are considered a major public health issue. Close to 400 species are estimated to parasitize humans, of which around 90 are responsible for great clinical burden and mortality rates. Unfortunately, they are largely neglected as they are mainly endemic to poor regions. Of relevance to this review, there is accumulating evidence of the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in parasitic diseases, acting both in parasite–parasite inter-communication as well as in parasite–host interactions. EVs participate in the dissemination of the pathogen and play a role in the regulation of the host immune systems. Production of EVs from parasites or parasitized cells has been described for a number of parasitic infections. In this review, we provide the most relevant findings of the involvement of EVs in intercellular communication, modulation of immune responses, involvement in pathology, and their potential as new diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents in some of the major human parasitic pathogens

Ferrous Iron Is a Significant Component of Bioavailable Iron in Cystic Fibrosis Airways

Chronic, biofilm-like infections by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are a major cause of mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. While much is known about P. aeruginosa from laboratory studies, far less is understood about what it experiences in vivo. Iron is an important environmental parameter thought to play a central role in the development and maintenance of P. aeruginosa infections, for both anabolic and signaling purposes. Previous studies have focused on ferric iron [Fe(III)] as a target for antimicrobial therapies; however, here we show that ferrous iron [Fe(II)] is abundant in the CF lung (~39 µM on average for severely sick patients) and significantly correlates with disease severity (ρ = −0.56, P = 0.004), whereas ferric iron does not (ρ = −0.28, P = 0.179). Expression of the P. aeruginosa genes bqsRS, whose transcription is upregulated in response to Fe(II), was high in the majority of patients tested, suggesting that increased Fe(II) is bioavailable to the infectious bacterial population. Because limiting Fe(III) acquisition inhibits biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa in various oxic in vitro systems, we also tested whether interfering with Fe(II) acquisition would improve biofilm control under anoxic conditions; concurrent sequestration of both iron oxidation states resulted in a 58% reduction in biofilm accumulation and 28% increase in biofilm dissolution, a significant improvement over Fe(III) chelation treatment alone. This study demonstrates that the chemistry of infected host environments coevolves with the microbial community as infections progress, which should be considered in the design of effective treatment strategies at different stages of disease. IMPORTANCE: Iron is an important environmental parameter that helps pathogens thrive in sites of infection, including those of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Ferric iron chelation therapy has been proposed as a novel therapeutic strategy for CF lung infections, yet until now, the iron oxidation state has not been measured in the host. In studying mucus from the infected lungs of multiple CF patients from Europe and the United States, we found that ferric and ferrous iron change in concentration and relative proportion as infections progress; over time, ferrous iron comes to dominate the iron pool. This information is relevant to the design of novel CF therapeutics and, more broadly, to developing accurate models of chronic CF infections

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal