211 research outputs found

    Tres siglos de planificación regional en Uruguay: lecciones de experiencia para afrontar los retos de desarrollo en el siglo XXI

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    Nowadays decentralization has become one of the main issues in the political agenda of Uruguay. It is seen as a strategy to promote regional development, and involves the need for a restructured national space. Consequently there is an open debate about which type of regionalization is necessary to support development policies. This paper offers a global vision of the historical process of regional planning in Uruguay. Three periods have been identified in order to explore the origins of the current territorial division (Departments), as well as the unsuccessful attempts of regionalization. The analysis leads us to conclude that it is necessary to design a new long-term regionalization, that promotes voluntary participation of the Departments through shared development strategies.La República Oriental del Uruguay se encuentra inmersa en un proceso de reflexión en el que la descentralización como estrategia para promover el desarrollo ocupa un papel destacado en la agenda política. Esto alimenta el debate sobre la necesidad de una reestructuración del espacio nacional, en definitiva de una regionalización para aplicar las políticas de desarrollo. El objetivo del artículo es aportar una visión general del proceso histórico de toma en consideración de la cuestión regional en Uruguay. Para ello se han identificando tres grandes etapas que ayudan a explorar los orígenes de la actual división territorial por Departamentos, así como los sucesivos e infructuosos intentos de regionalizar el país. Este análisis nos lleva a concluir que es necesario afrontar una nueva alternativa cuyo carácter fundamental sea el de un proceso a medio plazo, en el que se promueva la participación voluntaria de los Departamentos a través de estrategias compartidas

    Hybrid direct carbon fuel cell anode processes investigated using a 3-electrode half-cell setup

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    A 3-electrode half-cell setup consisting of a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte support was employed to investigate the chemical and electrochemical processes occurring in the vicinity of a model hybrid direct carbon fuel cell (HDCFC) anode (Ni-YSZ) in contact with a molten carbon-alkali carbonate slurry. Electrochemical testing, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), with and without the Ni-YSZ layer highlighted the promotional effect of the Ni-YSZ anode layer, and revealed the contributions of Ni/NiO, and potentially K/K2O, redox couple(s). Treated anthracite and bituminous coals, as well as carbon black, were tested, revealing similar open circuit potential and activation energies in mixed 96–4 vol% N2–CO2 and 50–50 vol% CO–CO2 environments between 700 and 800 °C. Bituminous coal showed the highest activity, likely associated to a high O/C ratio and hydrogen content. Based on acquired data, a reaction scheme was proposed for processes at the working electrode, including the role of bubble formation in the vicinity of the electrochemically active solid/molten medium interface.This work was funded in part by the European Commission Research Fund for Coal and Steel, as the Efficient Conversion of Coal to Electricity – Direct Coal Fuel Cells project (RFC-PR-10007), in collaboration with the University of St. Andrews, University of Western Macedonia, and the Spanish Instituto Nacional del Carbón (INCAR). Additional funding was supplied by the Department of Energy Conversion and Storage at the Danish Technical University (DTU)-Risoe Campus. We extend our thanks to M. Nielsen, A. Petersen and F. Vico, as well as to Drs. C. Graves, P. Holtappels, D. Ippolito, M. Mogensen, and S. Veltzé at the DTU Department of Energy Conversion and Storage for all assistance.Peer reviewe

    Optimizing the Curie temperature of pseudo-binary RxR'2-xFe17 (R,R' = rare earth) for magnetic refrigeration

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    Several pseudo-binary RxR'2-xFe17 alloys (with R = Y, Ce, Pr, Gd and Dy) were synthesized with rhombohedral Th2Zn17-type crystal structure determined from x-ray and neutron powder diffraction. The choice of compositions was done with the aim of tuning the Curie temperature (TC) in the 270 ± 20 K temperature range, in order to obtain the maximum magneto-caloric effect around room temperature. The investigated compounds exhibit broad isothermal magnetic entropy changes, ΔSM(T), with moderate values of the refrigerant capacity, even though the values of ΔSMPeak are relatively low compared with those of the R2Fe17 compounds with R = Pr or Nd. The reduction on the ΔSMPeak is explained in terms of the diminution in the saturation magnetization value. Furthermore, the ΔSM(T) curves exhibit a similar caret-like behavior, suggesting that the magneto-caloric effect is mainly governed by the Fe-sublattice. A single master curve for ΔSM/ΔSMPeak(T) under different values of the magnetic field change are obtained for each compound by rescaling of the temperature axis.España MICINN MAT2011-27573-C04Basque Government IT-347-07CONACYT CB-2010-01-156932Slovak R&D Agency VVCE-0058-0

    IL-22 controls iron-dependent nutritional immunity against systemic bacterial infections

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    This publication hasn't any creative commons license associated.This publication has a exclusive licensee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.The deposited article contains attached the supplementary materials.Host immunity limits iron availability to pathogenic bacteria, but whether immunity limits pathogenic bacteria from accessing host heme, the major source of iron in the body, remains unclear. Using Citrobacter rodentium, a mouse enteric pathogen and Escherichia coli, a major cause of sepsis in humans as models, we find that interleukin-22, a cytokine best known for its ability to promote epithelial barrier function, also suppresses the systemic growth of bacteria by limiting iron availability to the pathogen. Using an unbiased proteomic approach to understand the mechanistic basis of IL-22 dependent iron retention in the host, we have identified that IL-22 induces the production of the plasma hemoglobin scavenger haptoglobin and heme scavenger hemopexin. Moreover, the anti-microbial effect of IL-22 depends on the induction of hemopexin expression, while haptogloblin is dispensable. Impaired pathogen clearance in infected Il22(-/-) mice was restored by administration and hemopexin-deficient mice had increased pathogen loads after infection. These studies reveal a previously unrecognized host defense mechanism regulated by IL-22 that relies on the induction of hemopexin to limit heme availability to bacteria leading to suppression of bacterial growth during systemic infections.Japan Society for the Promotion of Science fellowship; Kanae Foundation for the Promotion of Medical Science; Mishima Kaiun Memorial Foundation; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología of Mexico post-doctoral fellowship: (454848); NIH grants: (DK091191, DK095782); Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian;info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Efecto del tratamiento preoperatorio con estatinas sobre los resultados de la cirugía coronaria

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    IntroducciónEl uso de estatinas se asocia a una reducción de accidentes coronarios en prevención primaria y secundaria y después de angioplastia primaria.ObjetivoInvestigar si el empleo de estatinas en pacientes sometidos a cirugía de revascularización coronaria (CRC) se asocia a beneficio clínico.MétodosSe incluyeron 102 pacientes consecutivos con enfermedad coronaria para CRC electiva y aislada. En el momento de la inclusión se registró el tratamiento preoperatorio y las variables clínicas basales. En el seguimiento se registró la aparición de muerte de origen cardíaco e infarto agudo de miocardio (IAM) en los primeros 30 días.ResultadosRecibían estatinas 61 pacientes (60%) frente a 41 (40%) que no las recibían. No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ambas poblaciones respecto a las características basales. A los 30 días se produjo una muerte cardíaca (1,6%) en el grupo que recibió estatinas, frente a cinco (12,2%) en el grupo que no las recibían (p=0,02), el IAM ocurrió en cuatro (6,6%) frente a 8 (19,5%) (p=0,04) y el resultado compuesto de muerte cardíaca o IAM ocurrió en cinco (8,2%) frente a 10 (24,4%) (p=0,02). En un modelo multivariado, el tratamiento preoperatorio con estatinas se mantuvo como un factor independiente de predicción (p=0,01; odds ratio [OR]: 3,6) de la aparición de muerte de causa cardíaca o IAM durante los primeros 30 días después de la intervención.ConclusiónEl tratamiento previo con estatinas se asocia de forma significativa e independiente a un menor riesgo de IAM o muerte de origen cardíaco en pacientes sometidos a CRC.IntroductionStatin treatment diminishes adverse cardiac events both in primary and secondary prevention and also after percutaneous coronary intervention.ObjectiveTo study if preoperative statin treatment is associated with any clinical advantage after coronary artery surgery.MethodsWe enrolled 102 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease, scheduled for elective coronary artery surgery. Combined procedures were excluded. Preoperative treatment and the clinical baseline characteristics were recorded in all patients at inclusion. Cardiac death and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were recorded during the first 30 days.ResultsSixty one patients (60%) were on preoperative statin treatment vs. 41 (40%) who were not. There were no differences at baseline level between both groups. There was one cardiac death at 30 days (1.6%) in the statin-treatment group vs. five deaths (12.2%) in the nostatin group (p=0.02). Acute myocardial infarction presented in four (6.6%) vs. eight (19.5%) (p=0.04). The primary combined cardiac endpoint made of cardiac death or AMI occurred in five (8.2%) vs. 10 (24.4%) (p=0.02). In a multivariate model, preoperative statin treatment remained an independent predictor (p=0.01; odds ratio [OR] 3.6) of cardiac death or AMI during the first 30 days after surgery.ConclusionPreoperative statin-treatment was significative and independently associated with less risk of AMI or cardiath death in patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting

    Magnetovolume and magnetocaloric effects in Er2Fe17

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    Combining different experimental techniques, investigations in hexagonal P63/mmc Er2Fe17 show remarkable magnetovolume anomalies below the Curie temperature, TC. The spontaneous magnetostriction reaches 1.6×10−2 at 5 K and falls to zero well above TC, owing to short-range magnetic correlations. Moreover, Er2Fe17 exhibits direct and inverse magnetocaloric effects (MCE) with moderate isothermal magnetic entropy ΔSM, and diabatic temperature ΔTad changes [ΔSM∼−4.7 J(kgK)−1 and ΔTad∼2.5 K near the TC, and ΔSM∼1.3 J(kgK)−1 and ΔTad∼−0.6 K at 40 K for ΔH=80 kOe, respectively, determined from magnetization measurements]. The existence of an inverse MCE seems to be related to a crystalline electric field-level crossover in the Er sublattice and the ferrimagnetic arrangement between the magnetic moments of the Er and Fe sublattice. The main trends found experimentally for the temperature dependence of ΔSM and ΔTad as well as for the atomic magnetic moments are qualitatively well described considering a mean-field Hamiltonian that incorporates both crystalline electric field and exchange interactions. ΔSM(T) and ΔTad(T) curves are essentially zero at ∼150 K, the temperature where the transition from direct to inverse MCE occurs. A possible interplay between the MCE and the magnetovolume anomalies is also discussed.Financial support from Spanish MICINN (MAT2011-27573-C04-02) and from the Basque Government (IT-347- 07) is acknowledged. J.L.S.Ll. acknowledges the support received from CONACYT, Mexico, under the project CB2010-01-156932, and Laboratorio Nacional de Investigaciones en Nanociencias y Nanotecnología (LINAN, IPICyT). J.A.R.V. acknowledges the support from the research project MAT2007-61621. We thank ILL and CRG-D1B for allocating neutron beamtime, and ESRF for synchrotron beamtime. The SCTs at the University of Oviedo and the technical support received from M.Sc. G. J. Labrada-Delgado and B. A. Rivera-Escoto (DMA, IPICyT) are also acknowledged

    Magneto-caloric effect in the pseudo-binary intermetallic YPrFe17 compound

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    We have synthesized the intermetallic YPrFe17 compound by arc-melting. X-ray and neutron powder diffraction show that the crystal structure is rhombohedral with View the MathML source space group (Th2Zn17-type). The investigated compound exhibits a broad isothermal magnetic entropy change {\Delta}SM(T) associated with the ferro-to-paramagnetic phase transition (TC \approx 290 K). The |{\Delta}SM| (\approx 2.3 J kg-1 K-1) and the relative cooling power (\approx 100 J kg-1) have been calculated for applied magnetic field changes up to 1.5 T. A single master curve for {\Delta}SM under different values of the magnetic field change can be obtained by a rescaling of the temperature axis. The results are compared and discussed in terms of the magneto-caloric effect in the isostructural R2Fe17 (R = Y, Pr and Nd) binary intermetallic alloys.Comment: Preprint, 5 pages (postprint), 4 figures, regular pape

    KoopaML, a Machine Learning platform for medical data analysis

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    Machine Learning allows facing complex tasks related to data analysis with big datasets. This Artificial Intelligence branch allows not technical contexts to get benefits related to data processing and analysis. In particular, in medicine, medical professionals are increasingly interested in Machine Learning to identify patterns in clinical cases and make predictions regarding health issues. However, many do not have the necessary programming or technological skills to perform these tasks. Many different tools focus on developing Machine Learning pipelines, from libraries for developers and data scientists to visual tools for experts or platforms to learn. However, we have identified some requirements in the medical context that raise the need to create a customized platform adapted to end-user found in this context. This work describes the design process and the first version of KoopaML, an ML platform to bridge the data science gaps of physicians while automatizing Machine Learning pipelines. The platform is focused on enhanced interactivity to improve the engagement of physicians while still providing all the benefits derived from the introduction of Machine Learning pipelines in medical departments, as well as integrated ongoing training during the use of the tool’s features

    Reporte del proyecto: Planeación jurídica para prevención de riesgos de empresas tecnológicas

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    Documento que describe el trabajo realizado en asesoria a las empresas del Parque Tecnológico del ITESO, por cuestiones de confidencialidad se suprime la información de las empresas y se registra sin anexos.ITESO, A.C
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