Experiences in teaching Hydrogen Technologies in the framework of the International Campus of Excellence Andalucia TECH

The increasing importance of hydrogen technologies is demanding prepared professionals in the numerous topics related to this energy vector. Apart from some basic and advanced courses given by actual experts in these topics, universities must play an important role in the general formation of future professionals. In this way, the International Campus of Excellence (ICE) Andalucía TECH has created several degrees taught jointly by its participating universities of Seville (US) and Málaga (UMA). Among those degrees, Energy Engineering is the best suited to the field of this conference because this degree provide future engineers with specialized training in energy generation, transformation and management. In relation to hydrogen technologies this degree includes a cross sectional optional unit named Hydrogen Based Systems (4.5 ECTS/112.5 h), which is placed in the last term of the fourth year and sharing space with work placement and mobility courses. This paper will present some author’s experiences as teachers of that unit during its short history of only three years. In spite of being a joint degree, which is coordinated between both universities (US and UMA) trying to give similar contents, it is interesting to highlight the differential experiences coming from the teachers of both universities in relation to the teaching methodologies and academic results.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Broadband linear-to-circular polarizing reflector for space applications in Ka-band

This communication presents a novel low-profile broadband polarizing reflector to convert dual linear polarization (LP) into dual circular polarization (CP). The polarizing cell is based on printed dipole technology and presents a wideband performance in Ka-band. The dimensions of the printed dipoles are adjusted cell by cell to improve the reflection phase performance against variations in the incidence angles or in the cell dimensions. A 25-cm flat polarizing reflector demonstrator has been designed, fabricated and tested. The design has been optimized for transmit (19.2-20.2 GHz) and receive (29-30 GHz) frequencies in Kaband, but the broadband behavior of the cell provides satisfactory results also at the intermediate frequencies. The measured patterns show a good agreement with the simulations, with an axial ratio lower than 1.8 dB within the 19.2-30 GHz band. The proposed polarizing reflector can be used for novel multibeam antenna configurations to produce multi-spot coverage in Ka-band with a smaller number of apertures.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. TEC2016-75103-C2-1-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. TEC2015-65353-REuropean Space Agency ESTEC | Ref. 4000117113/16/NL/A

Morphometric study of the nerve fibers of the oculomotor nerve in dog

The intracranial portion of the right oculomotor nerves was extracted from six adult German Shepherd dogs. The nerves were studied using light and electron microscopy. Nerve area was calculated, and myelinated and unmyelinated fibers were analized to determine number, diameter and area. Also in the myelinated fibers the area and diameter of the correspondent axon, and thickness of the myeline sheath were measured. The mean number of fibers was 8543.50±1231.85 for myelinated and 1402.00±241.58 for unmyelinated. The mean fiber diameter was 10.23±0.68 μm for myelinated and 0.43±0.21 μm for unmyelinated. This study demonstrated that the oculomotor nerves in dogs have structural and ultrastructural characteristics that are similar to those from other specie

Incidência de comportamentos de bullying e solidão na dieta seguida e na prática de atividade física em alunos do ensino fundamental

Resumen: Actualmente, la alimentación y la actividad física están siendo cada vez temas más alarmantes entre la población ya que una mala práctica de ambos desencadena una variedad de enfermedades, entre ellas la obesidad infantil, lo que, a su vez, se relaciona con conductas de bullying o soledad. Por esta razón, en este estudio en el que participaron 293 escolares de colegios de la provincia de Granada se pretende estudiar la relación entre la alimentación, la actividad física, el bullying y la soledad, así como definir cada uno de ellos. Los instrumentos utilizados han sido un cuestionario ad hoc, destinado a la recogida de variables de índole sociodemográfico, el test KIDMED el cual pretendía recoger los datos relacionados con la alimentación de los discentes y la escala de victimización en la escuela y escala de soledad UCLA, los cuales recogían datos relacionados con la victimización. Finalmente, los resultados muestran que cerca de la pluralidad de los discentes realizan más de tres horas de actividad física semanal, la mayoría de estudiantes necesitan mejorar la dieta seguida, la soledad que mayor puntuación refleja es la de red social y el tipo de victimización que mayores niveles refleja es la verbal.Abstract: Currently, diet and physical activity are becoming increasingly alarming issues among the population because a bad practice of both triggers a variety of diseases, including childhood obesity, which is related to bullying behaviors or loneliness. For this reason, in this study have participated 293 schoolchildren from Granada, it is intended to study the relationship between diet, physical activity, bullying and loneliness, as well as define each of them. The instruments used were an ad hoc questionnaire, aimed at collecting variables of a sociodemographic nature, the KIDMED test which sought to collect data related to the feeding of students and the scale of victimization in school and the UCLA loneliness scale, which collected data related to victimization. Finally, the results show that close to the plurality of students perform more than three hours of physical activity per week, most students need to improve their diet, the loneliness that reflects the highest score is that of the social network and the type of victimization that higher levels reflect is the verbal.Resumo: Atualmente, a alimentação e a atividade física tornam-se questões cada vez mais alarmantes entre a população, uma vez que a má prática de ambas desencadeia uma variedade de doenças, entre elas a obesidade infantil, que, por sua vez, está relacionada a comportamentos de bullying ou solidão. Por isso, neste estudo em que participaram 293 escolares de escolas da província de Granada, pretende-se estudar a relação entre alimentação, actividade física, bullying e solidão, bem como definir cada um deles. Os instrumentos utilizados foram um questionário ad hoc, visando coletar variáveis de natureza sociodemográfica, o teste KIDMED que buscou coletar dados relacionados à alimentação dos alunos e a escala de vitimização na escola e a escala de solidão da UCLA, que coletou dados relativos à vitimização. Por fim, os resultados mostram que perto da pluralidade de alunos realizarem mais de três horas de atividade física por semana, a maioria dos alunos precisa melhorar sua alimentação, a solidão que reflete a maior pontuação é a da rede social e o tipo de vitimização que níveis mais altos refletem é o verbal

Transmission of Beauveria bassiana from male to female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Resistance to chemical insecticides plus high morbidity rates have lead to rising interest in fungi as candidates for biocontrol agents of mosquito vectors. In most studies fungal infections have been induced by exposure of mosquitoes to various surfaces treated with conidia. In the present study eight Mexican strains of <it>Beauveria bassiana </it>were assessed against <it>Aedes aegypti </it>by direct exposure of females to 6 × 10⁸conidia ml ^-1on a filter paper, afterwards, the transmission of the least and most virulent isolates was evaluated by mating behavior from virgin, fungus-contaminated male to females, to examine this ethological pattern as a new approach to deliver conidia against the dengue vector.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In an exposure chamber with a filter paper impregnated with 6 × 10⁸conidia ml ^-1of the least and most virulent strains of <it>B. bassiana</it>, 6-8 day old males of <it>A. aegypti </it>were exposed for 48 hours, and then transferred individually (each one was a replicate) to another chamber and confined with twenty healthy females of the same age. Clean males were used in controls. Survival, infection by true mating (insemination) or by mating attempts (no insemination) and fecundity were daily registered until the death of last female. Data analysis was conducted with proc glm for unbalanced experiments and means were separated with the Ryan test with SAS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All strains were highly virulent with LT₅₀ranging from 2.70 (± 0.29) to 5.33 (± 0.53) days. However the most (Bb-CBG2) and least virulent (Bb-CBG4) isolates were also transmitted by mating behavior; both killed 78-90% of females in 15 days after being confined with males that had previously been exposed for 48 hours to fungi. Of these mortality rates, 23 and 38% respectively, were infections acquired by copulations where insemination occurred. The LT₅₀for sexually-infected females were 7.92 (± 0.46) and 8.82 (± 0.45) days for both strains, while the one in control was 13.92 (± 0.58). Likewise, fecundity decreased by 95% and 60% for both Bb-CBG2 and Bb-CBG4 isolates in comparison with control. The role of mating attempts in this delivery procedure of <it>B. bassiana </it>is discussed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first report about transmission of <it>B. bassiana </it>by mating behavior from virgin, fungus-contaminated males to females in <it>A. aegypti</it>. Fungal infections acquired by this route (autodissemination) infringed high mortality rates (90%) in mated or approached females. However, prior to releasing virgin, fungus-contaminated males to spread <it>B. basasiana </it>among females of <it>A. aegypti</it>, this novel alternative needs further investigations.</p

Cannabidiol induces antioxidant pathways in keratinocytes by targeting BACH1

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a major non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid that attracted a great attention for its therapeutic potential against different pathologies including skin diseases. However, although the efficacy in preclinical models and the clinical benefits of CBD in humans have been extensively demonstrated, the molecular mechanism(s) and targets responsible for these effects are as yet unknown. Herein we characterized at the molecular level the effects of CBD on primary human keratinocytes using a combination of RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and sequential window acquisition of all theoretical mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS). Functional analysis revealed that CBD regulated pathways involved in keratinocyte differentiation, skin development and epidermal cell differentiation among other processes. In addition, CBD induced the expression of several NRF2 target genes, with heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX1) being the gene and the protein most upregulated by CBD. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing, RNA interference and biochemical studies demonstrated that the induction of HMOX1 mediated by CBD, involved nuclear export and proteasomal degradation of the transcriptional repressor BACH1. Notably, we showed that the effect of BACH1 on HMOX1 expression in keratinocytes is independent of NRF2. In vivo studies showed that topical CBD increased the levels of HMOX1 and of the proliferation and wound-repair associated keratins 16 and 17 in the skin of mice. Altogether, our study identifies BACH1 as a molecular target for CBD in keratinocytes and sets the basis for the use of topical CBD for the treatment of different skin diseases including atopic dermatitis and keratin disorders.This work was supported by the Medical Research Institute of the University of Dundee, Cancer Research UK (C52419/A22869) (LV) and Tenovus Scotland (T18/07) (LC) and by grant SAF2017-87701-R (EM) from the Ministry of the Economy and Competition (MINECO) co-financed with the European Union FEDER funds. InnoHealth Group and Emerald Health Biotechnology also supported this work.Ye

Aplicació d’un test d’esforç intervàlic (Test de Probst) per valorar la qualitat aeròbica en futbolistes de la lliga espanyola

Els tests continus realitzats en ergòmetres estandarditzats són poc específics per al futbol. El test intervàlic de Probst permet de valorar la velocitat màxima aeròbica (VMA) i el LAn (llindar anaeròbic) en el camp de futbol, car no existeixen dades de referència. Es pretenen de valorar aquests paràmetres en futbolistes espanyols per comprovar la sensibilitat a nivell de pràctica i la utilitat per determinar el LAn. Van participar-hi 231 futbolistes de categories juvenil (n = 26), amateur (n= 74), semiprofessional (n = 36) i professional (n = 95); es va registrar la VMA i la freqüència cardíaca (Fc), i es van calcular les velocitats i Fc en el LAn, determinat manualment (LAnI) i matemàticament (LAnM). Va existir inflexió de la Fc en més del 89 % dels tests. Les Fc en el LAn van ser similars a les descrites a la literatura (90-95% respecte a la màxima) i la velocitat en el LAn va obtenir rangs amplis de VMA (72-96%). El test va ser sensible al nivell de pràctica en les variables LAnI i VMA. El protocol intervàlic de Probst va permetre de realitzar un test de camp específic sensible al grau de professionalització dels futbolistes, i es van establir dades de referència per a les categories estudiades. L’anàlisi de la Fc va permetre d’identificar un punt d’inflexió que pogués correspondre’s amb el LAn

Transmit–receive parabolic reflectarray to generate two beams per feed for multispot satellite antennas in Ka-band

This contribution describes the design of a multibeam parabolic reflectarray to produce two adjacent beams per feed in orthogonal circular Polarization (CP) simultaneously at transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) frequencies in Ka-band. The Variable Rotation Technique (VRT) has been applied to reflectarray cells based on two types of resonant elements, which makes it possible to provide orthogonal beams at Tx and Rx, as well as to implement an in-band optimization procedure to reduce the cross-polarization. A 90-cm parabolic reflectarray has been designed, manufactured and tested to produce multiple adjacent beams in RHCP and LHCP at both 20 and 30 GHz. The results are satisfactory and validate the concept of generating two spaced beams in orthogonal CP by a single feed, changing the polarization of the beam between Tx and Rx. This concept can be suitable for multispot satellites in Ka-band, enabling to halve the number of onboard antennas and feedsAgencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. TEC2016-75103-C2-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. FJCI-2016-29943European Space Agency | Ref. 4000117113/16/NL/A

Aplicación de un test de esfuerzo interválico (Test de Probst) para valorar la cualidad aeróbica en futbolistas de la liga española

Los tests continuos realizados en ergómetros estandarizados son poco específicos para el fútbol. El test interválico de Probst permite valorar la velocidad máxima aeróbica (VMA) y el UAn en el campo de fútbol, no existiendo datos de referencia. Se pretenden valorar estos parámetros en futbolistas españoles para comprobar la sensibilidad al nivel de práctica y la utilidad para determinar el UAn. Participaron 231 futbolistas de categorías juvenil (n = 26), amateur (n = 74), semiprofesional (n = 36) y profesional (n = 95), registrando la VMA y la frecuencia cardíaca (Fc), y calculando las velocidades y Fc en el UAn determinado manualmente (UAnI) y matemáticamente (UAnM). Existió inflexión de la Fc en más del 89 % de los tests. Las Fc en el UAn fueron similares a las descritas en la literatura (90-95 % respecto a la máxima) y la velocidad en el UAn obtuvo rangos amplios de VMA (72-96 %). El test fue sensible al nivel de práctica en las variables UAnI y VMA. El protocolo interválico de Probst permitió realizar un test de campo específico sensible al grado de profesionalización de los futbolistas, estableciéndose datos de referencia para las categorías estudiadas. El análisis de la Fc permitió identificar un punto de inflexión que pudiera corresponderse con el UAn