La necesidad de pactos de Estado en la política española

Democracy in Spain has installed since 1977, which held its first democratic elections in an electoral system useful in those moments when it was necessary to maintain a system capable of strengthening democratic structures with a strong party that could meet any intention to return to dictatorship. Once that stage does not make sense to continue with a closed-list electoral law and some imbalances that prevail in some areas and punishes others. We review by the agreements would be necessary to create a more solid foundation from which we have on important matters such as education, health, electoral system and the fight against terrorism.La democracia en España está instalada desde 1977, en que se celebraron las primeras elecciones democráticas, en un sistema electoral  útil en aquellos momentos en los que era necesario mantener un sistema capaz de fortalecer las estructuras democráticas con unos partidos fuertes que pudieran hacer frente a cualquier intención de volver a la dictadura. Una vez superada esa etapa no tiene sentido continuar con una ley electoral de listas cerradas y unos desequilibrios que priman a unas zonas y castiga a otras. Hacemos un repaso por los pactos que serían necesarios para crear bases más sólidas de las que tenemos en materias importantes como la educación, la sanidad, el sistema electoral o la lucha contra el terrorismo

A Protocol Generator Tool for Automatic In-Vitro HPV Robotic Analysis

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) could develop precancerous lesions and invasive cancer, as it is the main cause of nearly all cases of cervical cancer. There are many strains of HPV and current vaccines can only protect against some of them. This makes the detection and genotyping of HPV a research area of utmost importance. Several biomedical systems can detect HPV in DNA samples; however, most of them do not have a procedure as fast, automatic or precise as it is actually needed in this field. This manuscript presents a novel XML-based hierarchical protocol architecture for biomedical robots to describe each protocol step and execute it sequentially, along with a robust and automatic robotic system for HPV DNA detection capable of processing from 1 to 24 samples simultaneously in a fast (from 45 to 162 min), efficient (100% markers effectiveness) and precise (able to detect 36 different HPV genotypes) way. It includes an efficient artificial vision process as the last step of the diagnostic.FIDETIA P055-12/E03Ministerio de Economía y Competitivida TEC2016-77785-

Conceptes actuals de la fisiopatologia de les tendinopaties. Enginyeria tissular

La tendinopatia és una lesió freqüent que es produeix durant la pràctica esportiva. El repartiment desigual de la càrrega de treball al llarg del tendó produeix trencaments heterogenis en extensió i distribució. Aquests trencaments posen en marxa processos de reparació defectuosos que produeixen un tendó degenerat amb alteració estructural i de la resposta funcional a l’exercici. En aquest treball s’estudien i analitzen els diferents factors predisponents, mecanismes d’acció dels agents químics i cel·lulars implicats en la fisiopatologia de les tendinopaties. D’altra banda, s’analitzen els components bàsics (suport, cèl·lules i substàncies químiques) que es fan servir per a la ingenieria tissular. Les probabilitats actuals d’ús dels components bàsics i les seves interrelacions i el nivell actual de desenvolupament

Conceptos actuales de la fisiopatología de las tendinopatías. Ingeniería tisular

La tendinopatía es una lesión frecuente que se produce durante la práctica deportiva. El reparto desigual de la carga de trabajo a lo largo del tendón produce roturas heterogéneas en extensión y distribución. Estas roturas ponen en marcha procesos de reparación defectuosos que producen un tendón degenerado con alteración estructural y de la respuesta funcional al ejercicio. En este trabajo se estudian y analizan los distintos factores predisponentes, mecanismos de acción de los agentes químicos y celulares implicados en la fisiopatología de la tendinopatías. Por otra parte, se analizan los componentes básicos (soporte, células y sustancias químicas) que se usan para la ingeniería tisular. Las posibilidades actuales de uso de los componentes básicos y sus interrelaciones, y el nivel actual de desarrollo

A Trypanosoma cruzi Genome Tandem Repetitive Satellite DNA Sequence as a Molecular Marker for a LAMP Assay for Diagnosing Chagas' Disease

Chagas' disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi which is endemic throughout Latin America and is spread by worldwide migration. Diagnosis is currently limited to serological and molecular techniques having variations regarding their sensitivity and specificity. This work was aimed at developing a new sensitive, applicable, and cost-effective molecular diagnosis technique for loop-mediated isothermal amplification-based detection of T. cruzi (Tc-LAMP). The results led to determining a highly homologous satellite repeat region (231 bp) among parasite strains as a molecular marker for diagnosing the disease. Tc-LAMP was performed correctly for detecting parasite DNA (5 fg for the CL Brener strain and 50 fg for the DM28, TcVI, and TcI strains). Assay results proved negative for DNA from 16 helminth species and 7 protozoa, including Leishmania spp. Tc-LAMP based on the highly repeated T. cruzi satellite region is thus proposed as an important alternative for diagnosing T. cruzi infection, overcoming other methods' limitations such as their analytic capability, speed, and requiring specialized equipment or highly trained personnel. Tc-LAMP could be easily adapted for point-of-care testing in areas having limited resources

The effect of velocity ratio on thermal-hydraulic performance of reciprocating scraped surface heat exchangers at low Reynolds number

The thermal-hydraulic performance of a reciprocating scraper inserted in a round tube at low Reynolds number is studied. Pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics have been experimentally determined in static conditions in laminar regime (Reh=30), and results are contrasted with dynamic performance at several velocity ratios (ω=0.1 - 1). Maximum increases of Fanning friction factor of the order of 1.2 have been found, together with increases in Nusselt number of the order of 2, using propylene-glycol as working fluid.This research has been partially financed by the DPI2007-66551-C02-01 grant of the ''Dirección General de Investigación del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia de España'' and the “HRS Spiratube” company

Flow field and heat transfer investigation in tubes of heat exchangers with motionless scrapers

Flow pattern and thermal-hydraulic characteristics in an innovative tube insert have been experimentally and numerically investigated. The insert device is a concept envisioned for reciprocating scraped surface heat exchangers. It consists of a concentric rod, that mounts an array of semicircular plugs fitted to the inner tube wall. In motionless conditions, the insert works as a turbulence promoter, enhancing heat transfer in laminar regime. Fundamental flow features in the symmetry plane of the tube have been assessed with Particle Image Velocimetry technique. A general model of the flow mechanism has been defined, identifying three regions along a geometrical pitch: recirculation bubbles, flow acceleration and transverse vortex. Results have been complemented with experimental data on pressure drop and heat transfer. The transition onset is clearly identified, and the mechanisms that promote turbulence at low Reynolds number are investigated and discussed. CFD simulations for different Reynolds numbers provide a further insight into the relation of the flow structures with wall shear stress, and their role on the local heat transfer augmentation

Performance evaluation of a zero-fouling reciprocating scraped surface heat exchanger

An innovative self-cleaning shell and tube heat exchanger is presented. Inside each interior tube (through which the product flows) a scraping rod is fitted. This rod moves in reciprocal manner and the scraping elements mounted on the rod fully clean the tube wall surface. Additionally, the macroscopic displacements of the flow, induced by the insert device motion, promote high flow mixing. Consequently, tube-side heat transfer coefficients are enhanced. Thermal-hydraulic and scraping power measurements are performed in laminar regime for 20<Reh<250 and 0≤ω≤1 (ω=uscr/uf). An extended Performance Evaluation Criterion is proposed, in order to balance the augmentations of heat transfer and the increased power consumption (pumping and scraping power) of the device. This study allows stating guidelines for the operation of the device, concluding that the performance of the heat exchanger is irrespective of the velocity ratio. The scraper can be used intermittently, or at the minimum scraping frequency that ensures fouling mitigation

Performance evaluation of a zero-fouling reciprocating scraped surface heat exchanger

An innovative self-cleaning shell and tube heat exchanger is presented. Inside each interior tube (through which the product flows) a scraping rod is fitted. This rod moves in reciprocal manner and the scraping elements mounted on the rod fully clean the tube wall surface. Additionally, the macroscopic displacements of the flow, induced by the insert device motion, promote high Flow mixing. Consequently, tube-side heat transfer coefficients are enhanced. Thermal-hydraulic and scraping power measurements are performed in laminar regime for 20<Reh<250 and 0≤ω≤1 (ω=uscr/uf). An extended Performance Evaluation Criterion is proposed, in order to balance the augmentations of heat transfer and the increased power consumption (pumping and scraping power) of the device. This study allows stating guidelines for the operation of the device, concluding that the performance of the heat exchanger is irrespective of the velocity ratio. The scraper can be used intermittently, or at the minimum scraping frequency that ensures fouling mitigation

Growing a population of Cynara cardunculus L. for further selection as a reference energy crop

A population of cultivated cardoon (Cynara cardunculus var. altilis DC) was grown in Madrid (Spain) as a reference crop to select outstanding individuals for energy applications. The work was carried out within the frame of the Spanish funded projects PROBIOCOM (INIA) and FP13-ENER. Seeds for this work were produced by one of the partners of PROBIOCOM - the Agro-Energy Group of UPM - and came from a clonal crop (in vitro propagated plants) previously grown in Madrid. IMIDRA, as Head of that Project, established the reference crop according to the protocol for cardoon energy crop and was responsible for the crop. Seeds were sown in seed trays and once the plants had true leaves they were transplanted into the field. Collection of field data involved 449 individuals at the rosette stage and the dataset comprised the measurement of plant height, rosette diameter and leaf length; leaf type was determined as well. Individuals exhibiting larger leaf size were selected and categorized into two categories: undivided-like leaf blade (16 individuals) and pinnately lobed leaf blade (12 individuals). For these individuals, leaf fresh weight, number of leaves and leaf length of previously selected leaves were determined. Furthermore, three measurements were performed with a SPAD chlorophyll meter and the Munsell color chart. Morphological features were taken according CPVO-OCVV and UPOV protocols. Most plants exhibited pinnately leaves which generally resulted in larger sizes than the undivided-like leaf plants. Results suggested that the morphological plant type could be used as a preliminary selection criterion of C. cardunculus for biomass production; however, further studies are needed at harvest time to confirm this trend