Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis and characterisation of phase change materials for waste heat recovery at high temperature for sustainable energy-intensive industry

A latent heat storage system based on Phase Change Materials (PCMs) is proposed to increase the energy and environmental efficiency by recovering and storing waste heat from combustion gases or other surplus sources at in the energy-intensive industries (EII), currently unused. The final configuration design is specifically adapted to the plant operational requirements, by means of a methodology combining the search of the best conceptual design and a proper selection of core PCMs. To that end, a selection of suitable PCM is carried out by using characterisation techniques and thermal stability testing. Furthermore, relevant key factors are weighted by an in-house Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to define the most promising design options to be implemented in two plants belonging to the EII sector. For the ceramic sector, the design resulted in a shell-and-tube system with 1188 kg of a PCM melting at 885 °C and encapsulated in double concentric tubes, involving a storage capacity of 227 MJ. Similarly, 1606 kg of PCM, whose phase-change temperature is 509 °C, is selected for the steel sector providing a PCM-TES system capable to store 420 MJ

Project SKY-EYE: applying UAVs to forest fire fighter support and monitoring

Peer Reviewe

Cohomological tautness for Riemannian foliations

In this paper we present some new results on the tautness of Riemannian foliations in their historical context. The first part of the paper gives a short history of the problem. For a closed manifold, the tautness of a Riemannian foliation can be characterized cohomologically. We extend this cohomological characterization to a class of foliations which includes the foliated strata of any singular Riemannian foliation of a closed manifold

La metodología de aprendizaje basado en proyectos (ABP) aplicada a asignaturas de ciencia de los materiales en ingeniería en la red IdM@ti

En este trabajo se va a presentar una experiencia docente llevada a cabo de forma coordinada entre profesorado de la red de innovación docente en ciencia de materiales IdM@ti. Se trata por tanto de una experiencia interuniversitaria que se ha desarrollado entre cuatro universidades públicas españolas de manera simultánea. Concretamente, el presente trabajo muestra la implementación y el desarrollo de la aplicación de la metodología de aprendizaje basado en proyectos en asignaturas de grados de ingeniería en el ámbito de ciencia de los materiales e ingeniería metalúrgica. Se presentan las experiencias llevadas a cabo durante los últimos cuatro años, mostrando los puntos fuertes y débiles de esta metodología, así como la problemática asociada a la implementación de la misma en asignaturas de curso general de grado. Se presentarán también los resultados obtenidos, así como las principales conclusiones a las que ha llegado el equipo de trabajo de la red IdM@ti

Artificial intelligence techniques point out differences in classification performance between light and standard bovine carcasses

The validity of the official SEUROP bovine carcass classification to grade light carcasses by means of three well reputed Artificial Intelligence algorithms has been tested to assess possible differences in the behavior of the classifiers in affecting the repeatability of grading. We used two training sets consisting of 65 and 162 examples respectively of light and standard carcass classifications, including up to 28 different attributes describing carcass conformation. We found that the behavior of the classifiers is different when they are dealing with a light or a standard carcass. Classifiers follow SEUROP rules more rigorously when they grade standard carcasses using attributes characterizing carcass profiles and muscular development. However, when they grade light carcasses, they include attributes characterizing body size or skeletal development. A reconsideration of the SEUROP classification system for light carcasses may be recommended to clarify and standardize this specific beef market in the European Union. In addition, since conformation of light and standard carcasses can be considered different traits, this could affect sire evaluation programs to improve carcass conformation scores from data from markets presenting a great variety of ages and weights of slaughtered animals

Impact of Potentially Toxic Compounds in Cow Milk: How Industrial Activities Affect Animal Primary Productions

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) frequently coexist in soils near industrial areas and sometimes in environmental compartments directly linked to feed (forage) and food (milk) production. However, the distribution of these pollutants along the dairy farm production chain is unclear. Here, we analyzed soil, forage, and milk samples from 16 livestock farms in Spain: several PTEs and PAHs were quantified. Farms were compared in terms of whether they were close to (5 km) industrial areas. The results showed that PTEs and PAHs were enriched in the soils and forages from farms close to industrial areas, but not in the milk. In the soil, the maximum concentrations of PTEs reached 141, 46.1, 3.67, 6.11, and 138 mg kg-1 for chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead, respectively, while fluoranthene (172.8 µg kg-1) and benzo(b)fluoranthene (177.4 µg kg-1) were the most abundant PAHs. Principal component analysis of the soil PTEs suggested common pollution sources for iron, arsenic, and lead. In the forage, the maximum contents of chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead were 32.8, 7.87, 1.31, 0.47, and 7.85 mg kg-1, respectively. The PAH found in the highest concentration in the feed forage was pyrene (120 µg kg-1). In the milk, the maximum PTE levels were much lower than in the soil or the feed forages: 74.1, 16.1, 0.12, 0.28, and 2.7 µg kg-1 for chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead, respectively. Neither of the two milk samples exceeded the 20 µg kg-1 limit for lead set in EU 1881/2006. Pyrene was the most abundant PAH found in the milk (39.4 µg kg-1), while high molecular weight PAHs were not detected. For PTEs, the results showed that soil-forage transfer factors were higher than forage-milk ratios. Our results suggest that soils and forages around farms near industries, as well as the milk produced from those farms, have generally low levels of PTE and PAH contaminants.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020- 117282RB-I00, MCI-20-PID2019-000081, PID2019-109698GB-I00, PID2021-126010OR-I00), and by Principado de Asturias Regional Government co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (grants IDI/2021/000081 and IDI/2021/000102). S.F. received an FPI fellowship (grant BES-2017-081314) supported by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the Investments for the Future program of the European Social Fund, “El FSE invierte en tu futuro”

Charge Transport in Trap-Sensitized Infrared PbS Quantum-Dot-Based Photoconductors: Pros and Cons

Control of quantum-dot (QD) surface chemistry offers a direct approach for the tuning of charge-carrier dynamics in photoconductors based on strongly coupled QD solids. We investigate the effects of altering the surface chemistry of PbS QDs in such QD solids via ligand exchange using 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI). The roll-to-roll compatible doctor-blade technique was used for the fabrication of the QD solid films as the photoactive component in photoconductors and field-effect phototransistors. The ligand exchange of the QD solid film with MPA yields superior device performance with higher photosensitivity and detectivity, which is due to less dark current and lower noise level as compared to ligand exchange with TBAI. In both cases, the mechanism responsible for photoconductivity is related to trap sensitization of the QD solid, in which traps are responsible of high photoconductive gain values, but slow response times under very low incident optical power (100 pW), where traps are filled, both MPA- and TBAI-treated photodevices exhibit similar behavior, characterized by lower responsivity and faster response time, as limited by the mobility in the QD solid

Active interventions in hypercholeteroloemia patiens with high cardiovascular risk in primary care

Introduction: Hypercholesterolemia is a major modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Its reduction reduces morbidity and mortality from ischemic heart disease and CVD in general, primary prevention and secondary prevention especially. Objective: To determine whether a notarized and intensive clinical practice can overcome inertia and achieve the therapeutic goal (OT) LDL-C &lt;100 mg &lt;dL in high-risk patients attended in Primary Care (PC) in our country. Methodology: epidemiological, prospective, multicenter study conducted in centers of different ACs By AP consecutive sampling 310 patients at high cardiovascular risk (diabetic or established CVD) previously treated with statins, which did not reach the OT included c-LDL. Results: The study subjects had a mean age of 65.2 years, of which 60.32% were male. The 41.64% had a previous EVC, acute myocardial infarction (20.33%), angina (16.07%), stroke /TIA (9.19%), arthropathy (5.25%), diabetes (70 , 87%), hypertension (71.01%), and abdominal obesity (69.62%). The 43.57% (95% CI: 37,21; 50,08) of patients who performed the 2nd visit (241) got the OT. 62.50% (95% CI: 55.68, 68.98) of those who took the 3rd (216) got the OT. Finally, 77.56% (95% CI: 72.13, 83.08) patients who performed the last visit (205) got the OT. Throughout the study there was a reduction in LDL-C levels from 135.6 mg /dL at baseline, 107.4 mg /dL in the 2nd visit, 97.3 mg /dL in the 3rd visit, up to 90.7 mg /dL at the final visit (p &lt;0.0001) The increase in HDL-C from baseline (50.9 mg /dL) and final (53.6 mg /dL) was also significant (p = 0.013). Conclusions: The reassessment and intensification of treatment in patients at high cardiovascular risk treated in primary care, applying the indications of the guides, achieves the OT in more than three quarters of the previously uncontrolled within half a year. These results should encourage us to overcome the therapeutic inertia in the control of CVD by early and energetic performance against hypercholesterolemia.Introducción: La hipercolesterolemia es uno de los principales factores de riesgo modificables de la enfermedad cardiovascular (ECV). Su reducción disminuye la morbimortalidad por cardiopatía isquémica y ECV en general, en prevención primaria y en prevención secundaria especialmente. Objetivo: Comprobar si una práctica clínica protocolizada e intensiva permite vencer la inercia y alcanzar el objetivo terapéutico (OT) de c-LDL < 100 mg/dL en pacientes de alto riesgo asistidos en Atención Primaria (AP) de nuestro país. Metodología: Estudio epidemiológico, prospectivo, multicentrico, realizado en Centros de AP de diferentes CC.AA. Mediante muestreo consecutivo se incluyeron 310 pacientes de alto riesgo cardiovascular (diabéticos o con ECV establecida), tratados previamente con estatinas, que no alcanzaban el OT de c-LDL. Resultados: Los sujetos del estudio tenían una edad media de 65,2 años, de los que el 60,32% eran varones. El 41,64% presentaba un EVC previo, infarto agudo de miocardio (20,33%), angina (16,07%), ictus/AIT (9,19%), artropatía (5,25%), diabetes (70,87%), hipertensión (71,01%), y obesidad abdominal (69,62%). El 43,57% (IC95%: 37,21; 50,08) de los pacientes que realizaron la 2a visita (241) consiguieron el OT. El 62,50% (IC95%: 55,68; 68,98) de los que realizaron la 3a (216) consiguieron el OT. Finalmente, el 77,56% (IC95%: 72,13; 83,08) de los pacientes que realizaron la última visita (205) consiguieron el OT. A lo largo del estudio hubo una reducción de los niveles de c-LDL desde los 135,6 mg/ dL en la visita basal, 107,4 mg/dL en la 2a visita, 97,3 mg/ dL en la 3a visita, hasta los 90,7 mg/dL en la visita final (p < 0,0001) El incremento de c-HDL entre la visita basal (50,9 mg/dL) y la final (53,6 mg/dL) también fue significativo (p = 0,013). Conclusiones: La reevaluación e intensificación del tratamiento en pacientes de alto riesgo cardiovascular atendidos en Atención Primaria, aplicando las indicaciones de las guías, permite alcanzar el OT en más de las tres cuartas partes de los previamente no controlados en el plazo de medio año. Estos resultados nos deben estimular a superar la inercia terapéutica en el control de la ECV mediante una actuación precoz y enérgica ante la hipercolesterolemi