Adaptive control of a solar furnace for material testing

IFAC Adaptive Systems in Control and Signal Processing. Glasgow. Scotland. UK. 26/08/1998This paper presents an adaptive control system for controlling the temperature of a solar furnace, which is a high solar concentrating facility made up of heliostats tracking the sun and reflecting solar radiation onto a static parabolic concentrating system at the focal spot of which a high percentage of the solar energy collected by the collector system is concentrated in a small area. A large attenuator (shutter) placed between the collector system and the concentrator serves to control the amount of solar energy used for heating the samples placed at the focal spot. The paper shows the results obtained in the application of adaptive PI controllers to a solar furnace, incorporating feedforward action, anti-windup and slew rate constraint handling mechanisms

TranscriptAchilles: a genome-wide platform to predict isoform biomarkers of gene essentiality in cancer

Background Aberrant alternative splicing plays a key role in cancer development. In recent years, alternative splicing has been used as a prognosis biomarker, a therapy response biomarker, and even as a therapeutic target. Next-generation RNA sequencing has an unprecedented potential to measure the transcriptome. However, due to the complexity of dealing with isoforms, the scientific community has not sufficiently exploited this valuable resource in precision medicine. Findings We present TranscriptAchilles, the first large-scale tool to predict transcript biomarkers associated with gene essentiality in cancer. This application integrates 412 loss-of-function RNA interference screens of >17,000 genes, together with their corresponding whole-transcriptome expression profiling. Using this tool, we have studied which are the cancer subtypes for which alternative splicing plays a significant role to state gene essentiality. In addition, we include a case study of renal cell carcinoma that shows the biological soundness of the results. The databases, the source code, and a guide to build the platform within a Docker container are available at GitLab. The application is also available online. Conclusions TranscriptAchilles provides a user-friendly web interface to identify transcript or gene biomarkers of gene essentiality, which could be used as a starting point for a drug development project. This approach opens a wide range of translational applications in cancer

Blood viscoelasticity : experimental characterization and 2D-numerical simulation of the blood flow

Circulatory system diseases are the main cause of death in Europe and United States of America. This fact has promoted increasing research related to human body biomechanics. In this context, huge increase of computational capacity has become in a valuable tool for cardiovascular disease studies. Blood viscoelastic flow through healthy carotid artery was here studied. Both experimental and computational techniques were carried out in order to simulate a realistic human situation. On the one hand, regarding the experimental study, relaxation tests were performed on blood by using a rheometer. After that, the Generalized Maxwell model was used to fit experimental data time dependence of relaxation modulus. On the other hand, several numerical simulations were carried out by using finite volume methods implemented in open source software (Foam Extend 3.1). The effect of blood viscoelastic behaviour in a common human carotid artery was tested. Results from Viscoelastic and Newtonian models for blood were compared. The main conclusion of the work is that assuming blood as a Newtonian fluid can give rise to wrong predictions, especially at the near wall region.Papers presented to the 12th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Costa de Sol, Spain on 11-13 July 2016

Teaching-life Histories: An Analysis of Initial and Continuing Training for Twenty-first century Teachers

This research analyses the teaching practice of retired teachers with the objective of inquiring into the initial and continuing training that twenty-first century teachers need. To this end, a semistructured interview was conducted with an incidental, nonprobabilistic sample of 325 participants and performed quantitative analysis of the data with SPSS 23. The descriptive parameters were produced using frequency analysis. Contingency tables were produced to verify if sex or year of birth explained perceptions of the training required of to be a good teacher. The results revealed significant differences between those born before 1948 and those born after that year

Sex-specific behavioral and neurogenic responses to cocaine in mice lacking and blocking dopamine D1 or dopamine D2 receptors

Adult neurogenesis in rodents is modulated by dopaminergic signaling and inhibited by cocaine. However, the sex-specific role of dopamine D1 and D2 receptors (D1R, D2R) in the deleterious effect of cocaine on adult neurogenesis has not been described yet. Here, we explored sex differences in (a) cell proliferation (5′-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine [BrdU]), (b) neural precursor (nestin), (c) neuronal phenotype (BrdU/β3-tubulin), and (d) neuronal maturity (NeuN) in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricles and striatum of mice with genetic deletion (D1, D2) or pharmacological blockage (SCH23390: 0.1 mg/kg/day/5 days; Raclopride: 0.3 mg/kg/day/5 days) of D1R and D2R, and treated (10 mg/kg/day/5 days) and then challenged (5 mg/kg, 48 hr later) with cocaine. Results indicated that hyperactivity responses to cocaine were absent in D1 mice and reduced in SCH23390-treated mice. Activity responses to cocaine were reduced in D2 males, but absent in D2 females and increased in Raclopride-treated females. D1R deletion blocked the deleterious effect of cocaine on SVZ cell proliferation in males. Cocaine-exposed D1 males also had reduced neuronal phenotype of SVZ newborn cells and increased striatal neuronal maturity. D2 mice had lower proliferative and neural precursor responses. Cocaine in D2 females or coadministered with Raclopride in wild-type females improved SVZ cell proliferation, an effect that positively correlated with plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentrations. In conclusion, the sex-specific D1R and D2R signaling on SVZ cell proliferation, neural progenitor and neuronal maturity is differentially perturbed by cocaine, and BDNF may be required to link D2R to neuroplasticity in cocaine addiction in females.Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía, Grant/Award Number: C1-0049-2019; Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Grant/Award Numbers: CP19/00068, CPII17/00024, CPII19/00022, CPII19/00031, PI19/01577, PI19/00886, PI17/02026, RD16/0017/0001; Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, Grant/Award Numbers: PND2017/043, PND2018/033, PND2018/044, PND2019/04