Report to the American Physical Society by the study group on research planning for coal utilization and synthetic fuel production

El deterioro de la calidad del agua de mar debido a la contaminación es un tema muy importante en la actualidad ya que ha aumentado con el paso de los años. El mayor aporte de residuos que desembocan en los mares y océanos se genera a partir de actividades terrestres como el desarrollo urbano, las actividades agrícolas, el turismo, etc. Para poder monitorear los niveles de contaminación marina es necesario el desarrollo de dispositivos sensores que permitan el control de especies contaminantes como metales pesados, compuestos organoclorados, hidrocarburos aromáticos, toxinas, etc. Por esta razón, en el presente estudio se han realizado ensayos para desarrollar un biosensor electroquímico capaz de medir la concentración de fosfato en el agua de mar. Para ello se ha escogido una reacción bioquímica que se cataliza por la enzima Fosfatasa alcalina (ALP), la cual es inhibida por el fosfato. El sustrato de la reacción es 4-Aminofenil fosfato (PAP), que en presencia de agua se hidroliza y genera como producto 4-Aminofenol (PAF). El producto de la reacción es electroactivo y cuando se oxida genera para-quinonaimina. Se han utilizado electrodos serigrafiados de carbono en todos los ensayos para aplicar las técnicas voltamperométricas. De este modo se ha comprobado que tanto en medio acuoso como en agua de mar sintética el PAF presenta respuesta electroquímica, la ALP posee actividad catalizadora y que el fosfato inhibe la ALP. Por otra parte, se ha encapsulado la proteína ALP en una matriz de sílice a través del método de Sol-Gel y se ha obtenido respuesta catalizadora en la reacción de hidrólisis de PAP a PAF, de modo que se puede desarrollar un sensor que detecte fosfato utilizando este método. Se ha escogido el fosfato como especie contaminante debido a que, en los océanos, el fósforo tiene una gran importancia como nutriente primario para organismos fotosintéticos y para autótrofos. Pero si este se encuentra en cantidades excesivas, induce el crecimiento desmesurado de algas y otros organismos provocando la eutrofización de las aguas. Cuando estas algas y otros vegetales mueren, al ser descompuestos por los microorganismos, se agota el oxígeno y se hace imposible la vida de otros seres vivos

British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus statement on evidence-based treatment of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders

Sleep disorders are common in the general population and even more so in clinical practice, yet are relatively poorly understood by doctors and other health care practitioners. These British Association for Psychopharmacology guidelines are designed to address this problem by providing an accessible up-to-date and evidence-based outline of the major issues, especially those relating to reliable diagnosis and appropriate treatment. A consensus meeting was held in London in May 2009. Those invited to attend included BAP members, representative clinicians with a strong interest in sleep disorders and recognized experts and advocates in the field, including a representative from mainland Europe and the USA. Presenters were asked to provide a review of the literature and identification of the standard of evidence in their area, with an emphasis on meta-analyses, systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials where available, plus updates on current clinical practice. Each presentation was followed by discussion, aimed to reach consensus where the evidence and/or clinical experience was considered adequate or otherwise to flag the area as a direction for future research. A draft of the proceedings was then circulated to all participants for comment. Key subsequent publications were added by the writer and speakers at draft stage. All comments were incorporated as far as possible in the final document, which represents the views of all participants although the authors take final responsibility for the document. © The Author(s) 2010

Internal annular flow condensation and flow boiling: Context, results, and recommendations

This chapter reviews in-tube boiling and condensing flows, a subset of the area of phase-change heat transfer, with emphasis on their annular regime realizations in innovative devices. This review, in the light of numerous and excellent existing books and reviews, is also relevant because of recently reported experimental and technological approaches that make it feasible for annular/stratified regimes to cover the entire lengths of millimeter-scale flow-boilers and flow-condensers. The review chapter\u27s content also relates to new ways of addressing challenges that have emerged in the area of high heat-flux (500-1000 W/cm2 or greater) cooling of data centers, super computers, laser weapons, and other devices. The chapter summarizes current knowledge base and provides a design example each for steady annular operations of flow-boilers and flow-condensers. Furthermore, the chapter deals with some recent breakthroughs in the simulation of annular boiling/condensing flows and how such approaches can be extended - in conjunction with well-planned and parallel experiments - to further develop the science and innovative applications associated with steady or pulsatile operations of annular flow-boilers and flow-condensers