Auditoría energética de edificio de oficinas

Los objetivos de este proyecto, realizado sobre el edificio de oficinas propiedad de Sanz y Asociados, son: conseguir ahorro energético; conseguir ahorro económico; obtener la máxima calificación energética, todo ello sin modificar el confort de sus usuarios. Para alcanzar estos objetivos se realiza una auditoría energética del edificio con el fin de conocer y entender el comportamiento energético del mismo. Para ello se estudian las características de la envolvente del edificio (muros, ventanas, soleras…), los sistemas energéticos (iluminación, fuerza y climatización), el sistema de agua caliente sanitaria y los consumos en el edificio. La auditoría consta de tres partes diferenciadas: el levantamiento de datos, en el que se realiza la anotación de todos los datos que directa o indirectamente influyen en el consumo energético del edificio en estudio; Análisis y comparación, en el que se calculan y determinan los factores objeto de estudio y se comparan con valores límite para establecer su eficiencia energética; Diagnosis y toma de decisiones, en el que se valoran los resultados obtenidos y se determinan las modificaciones a emprender en pro del ahorro energético. Basándonos en el análisis de la auditoría se proponen medidas para conseguir los objetivos del proyecto.Ingeniería Técnica IndustrialIndustria Ingeniaritza Tekniko

A 3D Heterotypic Breast Cancer Model Demonstrates a Role for Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Driving a Proliferative and Invasive Phenotype

Previous indirect 2D co-culture studies have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) promote breast cancer (BC) progression through secretion of paracrine factors including growth factors, cytokines and chemokines. In order to investigate this aspect of the tumour microenvironment in a more relevant 3D co-culture model, spheroids incorporating breast cancer cells (BCCs), both cell lines and primary BCCs expanded as patient-derived xenografts, and MSCs were established. MSCs in co-cultures were shown to enhance proliferation of estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR)-positive BCCs. In addition, co-culture resulted in downregulation of E-cadherin in parallel with upregulation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-relation transcription factor, SNAIL. Cytoplasmic relocalization of ski-related novel protein N (SnON), a negative regulator of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signalling, and of β-catenin, involved in a number of pathways including Wnt signalling, was also observed in BCCs in co-cultures in contrast to monocultures. In addition, the β-catenin inhibitor, 3-[[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]amino]-benzoic acid methyl ester (MSAB), mediated reduced growth and invasion in the co-cultures. This study highlights the potential role for SnON as a biomarker for BC invasiveness, and the importance of interactions between TGF-β and Wnt signalling, involving SnON. Such pathways may contribute towards identifying possible targets for therapeutic intervention in BC patients

Cold-Inducible RNA Binding Protein as a Vaccination Platform to Enhance Immunotherapeutic Responses against Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Therapies based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPI) have yielded promising albeit limited results in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Vaccines have been proposed as combination partners to enhance response rates to ICPI. Thus, we analyzed the combined effect of a vaccine based on the TLR4 ligand cold-inducible RNA binding protein (CIRP) plus ICPI. Mice were immunized with vaccines containing ovalbumin linked to CIRP (OVA-CIRP), with or without ICPI, and antigen-specific responses and therapeutic efficacy were tested in subcutaneous and orthotopic mouse models of liver cancer. OVA-CIRP elicited polyepitopic T-cell responses, which were further enhanced when combined with ICPI (anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4). Combination of OVA-CIRP with ICPI enhanced ICPI-induced therapeutic responses when tested in subcutaneous and intrahepatic B16-OVA tumors, as well as in the orthotopic PM299L HCC model. This effect was associated with higher OVA-specific T-cell responses in the periphery, although many tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes still displayed an exhausted phenotype. Finally, a new vaccine containing human glypican-3 linked to CIRP (GPC3-CIRP) induced clear responses in humanized HLA-A2.01 transgenic mice, which increased upon combination with ICPI. Therefore, CIRP-based vaccines may generate anti-tumor immunity to enhance ICPI efficacy in HCC, although blockade of additional checkpoint molecules and immunosuppressive targets should be also considered

Conducting polymers grown in hydrogel scaffolds coated on neural prosthetic devices

The conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) was electrochemically grown on hydrogel scaffolds deposited on the surface of microfabricated neural prosthetic devices. It is shown that the pyrrole monomer can be grown vertically through the hydrogel layer up to the surface without affecting the adjacent sites on the probes. The electrochemical properties of the conducting polymer-modified hydrogels were studied by impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. It is also found that the conducting polymers could still be readily grown through the hydrogel after the microstructure is disrupted by freeze drying. Impedance measurements at the biologically important frequency of 1 kHz showed that the minimum impedance of this polymer-modified hydrogel was 7 kΩ. This is much lower than the minimum impedance of polypyrrole film (∼100 kΩ). © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 71A: 577–585, 2004Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34437/1/30124_ftp.pd

Análisis de un sistema de gestión de ganado en semilibertad mediante tecnología GPS

Ingeniería AgronómicaNekazaritza Ingeniaritz