Energy exergetic and economic analysis (3E) in a flat solar collector with thermal storage for air heating

Solar energy has been considered as a carrier of primary energy to sustain life, representing a renewable energy resource that strengthens industrialization through its use as the main source of energy. This study evaluates the energy, exergetic and economic yields through an analytical approach applied to experimental data obtained in a flat solar collector (SAC) with paraffin as phase change material (PCM) and "V" absorber plate geometry, intended for air heating. The results of the investigation indicated that the energy, exergetic, and exergy destroyed efficiency of the SAC were 71.24%, 16.96%, and 79.66%, respectively. This research allowed us to carry out a sensitivity analysis applied to the results of the thermodynamic variables of the equipment: thermal efficiency, air mass flow and solar radiation; where an improvement in the thermodynamic yields is evidenced by obtaining a thermal efficiency of 91.25%, exergetic efficiency of 61.03% and a decrease in exergy destroyed up to 35.04% of the values obtained experimentally. Through the economic analysis, it was determined that the levelized cost of heating the SAC is 0.0927 USD/kWh, indicating that the project is economically profitable, due to the use of solar energy instead of electrical energy as an input source. Lastly, this research is expected to be a contribution that can support the authors of subsequent projects interested in this technology

Evaluation of a cocoa dryer prototype using LabVIEW software and Arduino hardware

In a country like Colombia, food drying plays an important role in the extension of technology so that farmers improve the quality of their productivity. The objective of this work is to develop a system for acquiring thermodynamic variables, to establish the energy efficiency of a product drying oven, specifically for cocoa beans using Arduino hardware and LabView software. This research begins by establishing the variables to be measured and recorded by the DHT11 sensors, such as temperature and humidity. These sensors are connected to an Arduino Uno board that has an Atmel microcontroller, which captures the information from each of these. An algorithm was also developed that captures the temperature and humidity data and sends it through the serial port to the LabView software, in which the visualization on the front panel and programming in the block diagram have been developed, being viewed from the HMI (Human Machine Interface). For the experimental tests, 3,309 grams of fermented cocoa beans were taken, and dried for 36 hours, removing a total mass of water of 1,650 grams. The results show an energy efficiency of 10.62%, concluding that the drying oven that takes advantage of the residual heat of an 18000 BTU condenser integrated with the proposed variable system is suitable for drying cocoa beans. Despite this efficiency being low, it meets the objective of removing moisture from them

Effect of oral anticoagulants on the outcome of faecal immunochemical test

Background: We aimed to evaluate whether oral anticoagulants (OACs) alter faecal immunochemical test (FIT) performance in average-risk colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Methods: Individuals aged 50–69 years were invited to receive one FIT sample (cutoff 75¿ng¿ml–1) between November 2008 and June 2011. Results: Faecal immunochemical test was positive in 9.3% (21 out of 224) of users of OAC and 6.2% (365 out of 5821) of non-users (P-trend=0.07). The positive predictive value (PPV) for advanced neoplasia (AN) in non-users was 50.4% vs 47.6% in users (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.3–1.8; P=0.5). The PPV for AN in OAC more antiplatelets (aspirin or clopidogrel) was 75% (odds ratio, 2; 95% CI, 0.4–10.8; P=0.4). Conclusions: Oral anticoagulant did not significantly modify the PPV for AN in this population-based colorectal screening program. The detection rate of advanced adenoma was higher in the combination OAC more antiplatelets

Effect of oral anticoagulants on the outcome of faecal immunochemical test

Background: We aimed to evaluate whether oral anticoagulants (OACs) alter faecal immunochemical test (FIT) performance in average-risk colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Methods: Individuals aged 50-69 years were invited to receive one FIT sample (cutoff 75 ng ml-1) between November 2008 and June 2011. Results: Faecal immunochemical test was positive in 9.3% (21 out of 224) of users of OAC and 6.2% (365 out of 5821) of non-users (P-trend ¼ 0.07). The positive predictive value (PPV) for advanced neoplasia (AN) in non-users was 50.4% vs 47.6% in users (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.3-1.8; P ¼ 0.5). The PPV for AN in OAC more antiplatelets (aspirin or clopidogrel) was 75% (odds ratio, 2; 95% CI, 0.4-10.8; P ¼ 0.4). Conclusions: Oral anticoagulant did not significantly modify the PPV for AN in this population-based colorectal screening program. The detection rate of advanced adenoma was higher in the combination OAC more antiplatelets

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

The Salmonella effector SseJ disrupts microtubule dynamics when ectopically expressed in Normal Rat Kidney cells

Salmonella effector protein SseJ is secreted by Salmonella into the host cell cytoplasm where it can then modify host cell processes. Whilst host cell small GTPase RhoA has previously been shown to activate the acyl-transferase activity of SseJ we show here an un-described effect of SseJ protein production upon microtubule dynamism. SseJ prevents microtubule collapse and this is independent of SseJ's acyl-transferase activity. We speculate that the effects of SseJ on microtubules would be mediated via its known interactions with the small GTPases of the Rho family

Eco-epidemiological analysis of rickettsial seropositivity in rural areas of Colombia: A multilevel approach

ABSTARCT: Rickettsiosis is a re-emergent infectious disease without epidemiological surveillance in Colombia. This disease is generally undiagnosed and several deadly outbreaks have been reported in the country in the last decade. The aim of this study is to analyze the eco-epidemiological aspects of rickettsial seropositivity in rural areas of Colombia where outbreaks of the disease were previously reported. A cross-sectional study, which included 597 people living in 246 households from nine hamlets in two municipalities of Colombia, was conducted from November 2015 to January 2016. The survey was conducted to collect sociodemographic and household characteristics (exposure) data. Blood samples were collected to determine the rickettsial seropositivity in humans, horses and dogs (IFA, cut-off = 1/128). In addition, infections by rickettsiae were detected in ticks from humans and animals by real-time PCR targeting gltA and ompA genes. Data was analyzed by weighted multilevel clog-log regression model using three levels (person, household and hamlets) and rickettsial seropositivity in humans was the main outcome. Overall prevalence of rickettsial seropositivity in humans was 25.62% (95%CI 22.11-29.12). Age in years (PR = 1.01 95%CI 1.01-1.02) and male sex (PR = 1.65 95%CI 1.43-1.90) were risk markers for rickettsial seropositivity. Working outdoors (PR = 1.20 95%CI 1.02-1.41), deforestation and forest fragmentation for agriculture use (PR = 1.75 95%CI 1.51-2.02), opossum in peridomiciliary area (PR = 1.56 95%CI 1.37-1.79) and a high proportion of seropositive domestic animals in the home (PR20-40% vs 40% vs <20% = 3.14 95%CI 2.43-4.04) were associated with rickettsial seropositivity in humans. This study showed the presence of Rickettsia antibodies in human populations and domestic animals. In addition, different species of rickettsiae were detected in ticks collected from humans and animals. Our results highlighted the role of domestic animals as sentinels of rickettsial infection to identify areas at risk of transmission, and the importance of preventive measures aimed at curtailing deforestation and the fragmentation of forests as a way of reducing the risk of transmission of emergent and re-emergent pathogens

A call to action for climate change research on Caribbean dry forests

The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1334-6Tropical dry forest (TDF) is globally one of the most threatened forest types. In the insular Caribbean, limited land area and high population pressure have resulted in the loss of over 60% of TDF, yet local people’s reliance on these systems for ecosystem services is high. Given the sensitivity of TDF to shifts in precipitation regimes and the vulnerability of the Caribbean to climate change, this study examined what is currently known about the impacts of climate change on TDF in the region. A systematic review (n = 89) revealed that only two studies addressed the ecological response of TDF to climate change. Compared to the rapidly increasing knowledge of the effects of climate change on other Caribbean systems and on TDF in the wider neotropics, this paucity is alarming given the value of these forests. We stress the need for long-term monitoring of climate change responses of these critical ecosystems, including phenological and hotspot analyses as priorities

Local and Landscape Factors Determining Occurrence of Phyllostomid Bats in Tropical Secondary Forests

Neotropical forests are being increasingly replaced by a mosaic of patches of different successional stages, agricultural fields and pasture lands. Consequently, the identification of factors shaping the performance of taxa in anthropogenic landscapes is gaining importance, especially for taxa playing critical roles in ecosystem functioning. As phyllostomid bats provide important ecological services through seed dispersal, pollination and control of animal populations, in this study we assessed the relationships between phyllostomid occurrence and the variation in local and landscape level habitat attributes caused by disturbance. We mist-netted phyllostomids in 12 sites representing 4 successional stages of a tropical dry forest (initial, early, intermediate and late). We also quantitatively characterized the habitat attributes at the local (vegetation structure complexity) and the landscape level (forest cover, area and diversity of patches). Two focal scales were considered for landscape characterization: 500 and 1000 m. During 142 sampling nights, we captured 606 individuals representing 15 species and 4 broad guilds. Variation in phyllostomid assemblages, ensembles and populations was associated with variation in local and landscape habitat attributes, and this association was scale-dependent. Specifically, we found a marked guild-specific response, where the abundance of nectarivores tended to be negatively associated with the mean area of dry forest patches, while the abundance of frugivores was positively associated with the percentage of riparian forest. These results are explained by the prevalence of chiropterophilic species in the dry forest and of chiropterochorous species in the riparian forest. Our results indicate that different vegetation classes, as well as a multi-spatial scale approach must be considered for evaluating bat response to variation in landscape attributes. Moreover, for the long-term conservation of phyllostomids in anthropogenic landscapes, we must realize that the management of the habitat at the landscape level is as important as the conservation of particular forest fragments