Design and simulation of an energy homeostaticity system for electric and thermal power management in a building with smart microgrid

Nowadays, microgrids are gaining importance in electric power generation and distribution environments due to their flexibility, versatility, scalability and the possibility of supplying ancillary services when connected to the grid. They allow for the customization of electric supply for very different types of consumers. Therefore, a new control model for power and energy management based on homeostaticity of electric power systems (EPS) is presented, which has been already analyzed and approved by ENEL Chile in its developmental stage. ENEL, the largest electric utility in the country, is interested in incorporating smart microgrids in the electricity distribution market, as part of a worldwide policy. Such microgrids are to be installed in buildings serviced by ENEL. To demonstrate the model’s utility, a Simulink model of a real microgrid is used, which is comprised of PV generation, energy storage, an air conditioning (AC) equipment and thermal storage of the building upon which the microgrid is installed. The behavior of every element is simulated, including the dynamic thermal model of the building in order to optimize energy management and power supply versus consumption. The behavior of the whole system is analyzed under different environmental profiles and energy consumption patterns using the proposed homeostaticity system.Ministry of Education RTI2018-094917-B-I00Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación Tecnológica FPU16-03522,3170399,FP

Intense precipitation events in the Central Range of the Iberian Peninsula

Intense orographic precipitation associated with the Central Range was analysed using data of maximum accumulated precipitation in 24 h, occurring between 1958 and 2010. The 18 selected episodes were associated with a southwesterly tropospheric flow, a low-level jet, and high moisture flux at low levels. The observed moisture flux was higher than 100 (m g(s kg)−1) and the dry and wet Froude numbers were greater than 1. The selected area to study this synoptic situation was Gredos, broad and high range, which is located in the eastern part of the Central Range and generates a leeward “orographic shadow”. The effect of the Central Range on the spatial distribution of precipitation on the Iberian Peninsula plateau results in a sharp increase in precipitation in the south of the Central Range, followed by a decrease to the north of this range

Enantioselective Ring-Opening Polymerization of rac-Lactide Dictated by Densely Substituted Aminoacids

Organocatalysis is becoming an important tool in polymer science because of its versatility and specificity. To date a limited number of organic catalysts have demonstrated the ability to promote stereocontrolled polymerizations. In this work we report one of the first examples of chirality transfer from a catalyst to a polymer in the organocatalyzed ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of rac-lactide (rac-LA). We have polymerized rac-LA using the diastereomeric densely substituted amino acids (2S,3R,4S,5S)-1-methyl-4-nitro-3,5-diphenylpyrrolidine- 2-carboxylic acid (endo-6) and (2S,3S,4R,5S)-1-methyl-4- nitro-3,5-diphenylpyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid (exo-6), combined with 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) as a cocatalyst. Both diastereoisomers not only showed the ability to synthesize enriched isotactic polylactide with a Pm higher than 0.90 at room temperature but also were able to preferentially promote the polymerization of one of the isomers (L or D) with respect to the other. Thus, exo-6 preferentially polymerized Llactide, whereas endo-6 preferred D-lactide as the substrate. Density functional theory calculations were conducted to investigate the origins of this unique stereocontrol in the polymerization, providing mechanistic insight and explaining why the chirality of the catalyst is able to define the stereochemistry of the monomer insertion.Financial support of this research by the MINECO (CTQ2016-80375-P, Consolider CTQ2016-81797-REDC, SUSPOL, and FDI 16507), the Gobierno Vasco/Eusko Jaurlaritza (Grants IT673-13 and IT618-13), the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFI 11/22 QOSYC), and the European Commission (SUPSOL-EJD 642671) is gratefully acknowledged. A.S.-S. is thankful for the Postdoctoral Funding for Doctoral Research Staff Improvement Grant from the Basque Government

Exploiting symmetries for weight matrix design in CT imaging

In this paper we propose several methods of constructing the system matrix (SM) of a Computed Tomography (CT) scanner with two objectives: (1) to construct SMs in the shortest possible time and store them in an ordinary PC without losing quality, (2) to analyze the possible applications of the proposed method to 3D, taking into account SMs' sizes, computing time and reconstructed image quality. In order to build the SM, we propose two new field of view (FOV) pixellation schemes, based on a polar coordinate system (polar grid) by taking advantage of the polar rotation symmetries of CT devices. Comparisons between the SMs proposed are performed using two phantom and a real CT-simulator images. Global error, contrast, noise and homogeneity of the reconstructed images are discussed. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.This work is partially supported by Generalitat Valenciana GVPRE/2008/303 and the Spanish M.E.C. Grant MTM2009-08587.Rodríguez-Álvarez, M.; Sánchez Martínez, F.; Soriano Asensi, A.; Iborra Carreres, A.; Mora Mora, C. (2011). Exploiting symmetries for weight matrix design in CT imaging. Mathematical and Computer Modelling. 54(7-8):1655-1664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcm.2010.12.004S16551664547-

El significado psicológico de ciudadano , PRI y FOX

El objetivo de la presente investigación fue conocer el significado psicológico de "ciudadano" entre universitarios. Se trabajó con una muestra de 60 sujetos, distribuidos equitativamente por sexo. Las aplicaciones fueron grupales, utilizando la técnica de las redes semánticas naturales (Figueroa, González y Solís, 1981; Valdez, 1998). Los resultados obtenidos permiten observar de manera general que la tendencia de los grupos, al definir al ciudadano, fue con base en muchos elementos que giran en torno de él, pero que no necesariamente hablan de sus derechos y obligaciones. Por tanto, lo encontrado difiere de las propuestas idealistas de algunos autores, como el pensar que el ciudadano vive en sociedad buscando ayudarse los unos a los otros, lo cual, al parecer, sigue siendo una utopía

¿Mejoran los resultados con los nuevos instrumentos de evaluación de las asignaturas?

La puesta en marcha de los planes de estudios del plan Bolonia ha supuesto un cambio en los criterios de evaluación de las asignaturas de Contabilidad Financiera, impartidas en el primer curso del grado en Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ADE) de la Universidad de Murcia. El objeto de este trabajo consiste en determinar si la introducción de estos nuevos criterios ha supuesto un factor de cambio: a) en la calificación final de la asignatura, y b) en los conocimientos adquiridos (medidos a través de la prueba teórico-práctica final). Para analizar el primer objetivo comparamos, por un lado, los resultados obtenidos por los alumnos de las asignaturas Contabilidad Financiera I y II del grado en ADE durante los cursos académicos 2009/2010 y 2010/2011 con los obtenidos en las asignaturas de Contabilidad Financiera de la Licenciatura en ADE y la Diplomatura en Ciencias Empresariales en los dos cursos académicos inmediatamente anteriores: 2007/2008 y 2008/2009. Y para analizar el segundo objetivo comparamos la nota final (valorada sobre 10) de la prueba teórico-práctica de las asignaturas Contabilidad Financiera I y Contabilidad Financiera II en los cursos 2009/2010 y 2010/2011, con la nota final (valorada sobre 10) de dichas asignaturas en los cursos 2007/2008 y 2008/2009, con el fin de estudiar si los criterios adicionales de valoración influyen en la nota final a igualdad de conocimientos respecto a cursos anteriores. Los resultados evidencian una mejora de las calificaciones de los alumnos con los nuevos criterios de evaluación.Campus Mare Nostrum, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Universidad de Murcia, Región de Murci

Incomplete Mixing Model at Cross-Junctions in Epanet by Polynomial Equations

[EN] In Water Distribution Networks (WDN), the water quality could become vulnerable due to several operational and temporal factors. Epanet is a hydraulic and water quality simulation software, widely used, to preserve the control of chemical disinfectants in WDN among other capabilities. Several researchers have shown that the flow mixing at Cross-Junctions (CJs) is not complete as Epanet assumes for the cases of two contiguous inlets and outlets. This paper presents a methodology to obtain the outlet concentrations in CJs based on experimental scenarios and a validated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. In this work, the results show that the Incomplete Mixing Model (IMM) based on polynomial equations, represents in a better way the experimental scenarios. Therefore, the distribution of the concentration could be in different proportions in some sectors of the network. Some comparisons were made with the complete mixing model and the Epanet-Bulk Advective Mixing (BAM), obtaining relative errors of 90% in some CJs.To CONACYT for the scholarship of the first author Daniel Hernández; to Rubén Martínez, laboratory technician of the Universidad de Guanajuato, and to PROMEP projects of authors Jesús Mora, Xitlali Delgado, and Antonio Arciniega.Hernández Cervantes, D.; López Jiménez, PA.; Arciniega Nevárez, JA.; Delgado Galván, X.; Jiménez Magaña, MR.; Pérez-Sánchez, M.; Mora Rodríguez, JDJ. (2021). Incomplete Mixing Model at Cross-Junctions in Epanet by Polynomial Equations. Water. 13(4):1-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040453S120134Knobelsdorf Miranda, J., & Mujeriego Sahuquillo, R. (1997). Crecimiento bacteriano en las redes de distribución de agua potable: una revisión bibliográfica. Ingeniería del agua, 4(2). doi:10.4995/ia.1997.2719Grbčić, L., Kranjčević, L., Lučin, I., & Sikirica, A. (2021). Large Eddy Simulation of turbulent fluid mixing in double-tee junctions. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 12(1), 789-797. doi:10.1016/j.asej.2020.06.004Hernández-Cervantes, D., Delgado-Galván, X., Nava, J., López-Jiménez, P., Rosales, M., & Mora Rodríguez, J. (2018). Validation of a Computational Fluid Dynamics Model for a Novel Residence Time Distribution Analysis in Mixing at Cross-Junctions. Water, 10(6), 733. doi:10.3390/w10060733Mompremier, R., Pelletier, G., Fuentes Mariles, Ó. A., & Ghebremichael, K. (2015). Impact of incomplete mixing in the prediction of chlorine residuals in municipal water distribution systems. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology - Aqua, 64(8), 904-914. doi:10.2166/aqua.2015.148Shao, Y., Jeffrey Yang, Y., Jiang, L., Yu, T., & Shen, C. (2014). Experimental testing and modeling analysis of solute mixing at water distribution pipe junctions. Water Research, 56, 133-147. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.02.053Paez, N., Saldarriaga, J., & Bohorquez, J. (2017). Water Quality Modeling Considering Incomplete Mixing in Extended Periods. Procedia Engineering, 186, 54-60. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.207Ho, C. K. (2008). Solute Mixing Models for Water-Distribution Pipe Networks. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 134(9), 1236-1244. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9429(2008)134:9(1236)Yu, T. C., Shao, Y., & Shen, C. (2014). Mixing at Cross Joints with Different Pipe Sizes in Water Distribution Systems. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 140(5), 658-665. doi:10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0000372Shao, Y., Zhao, L., Yang, Y. J., Zhang, T., & Ye, M. (2019). Experimentally Determined Solute Mixing under Laminar and Transitional Flows at Junctions in Water Distribution Systems. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2019, 1-10. doi:10.1155/2019/3686510Austin, R. G., Waanders, B. van B., McKenna, S., & Choi, C. Y. (2008). Mixing at Cross Junctions in Water Distribution Systems. II: Experimental Study. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 134(3), 295-302. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9496(2008)134:3(295)Song, I., Romero-Gomez, P., & Choi, C. Y. (2009). Experimental Verification of Incomplete Solute Mixing in a Pressurized Pipe Network with Multiple Cross Junctions. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 135(11), 1005-1011. doi:10.1061/(asce)hy.1943-7900.0000095Romero-Gomez, P., Choi, C. Y., van Bloemen Waanders, B., & McKenna, S. (2008). Transport Phenomena at Intersections of Pressurized Pipe Systems. Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium 2006. doi:10.1061/40941(247)155Romero-Gomez, P., Ho, C. K., & Choi, C. Y. (2008). Mixing at Cross Junctions in Water Distribution Systems. I: Numerical Study. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 134(3), 285-294. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9496(2008)134:3(285)Ho, C. K., & O’Rear, L. (2009). Evaluation of solute mixing in water distribution pipe junctions. Journal - American Water Works Association, 101(9), 116-127. doi:10.1002/j.1551-8833.2009.tb09964.xAndrade, M. A., Rojano, F., Romero-Gomez, P., & Choi, C. Y. (2011). Integrated Water Quality Modeling of Water Distribution Systems. Water Distribution Systems Analysis 2010. doi:10.1061/41203(425)63Hernández Cervantes, D., Mora Rodríguez, J., Delgado Galván, X., Ortiz Medel, J., & Jiménez Magaña, M. R. (2015). Optimal use of chlorine in water distribution networks based on specific locations of booster chlorination: analyzing conditions in Mexico. Water Supply, 16(2), 493-505. doi:10.2166/ws.2015.161Boccelli, D. L., Tryby, M. E., Uber, J. G., & Summers, R. S. (2003). A reactive species model for chlorine decay and THM formation under rechlorination conditions. Water Research, 37(11), 2654-2666. doi:10.1016/s0043-1354(03)00067-8Jabari Kohpaei, A., & Sathasivan, A. (2011). Chlorine decay prediction in bulk water using the parallel second order model: An analytical solution development. Chemical Engineering Journal, 171(1), 232-241. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2011.03.03

Science with Neutrino Telescopes in Spain

[EN] The primary scientific goal of neutrino telescopes is the detection and study of cosmic neutrino signals. However, the range of physics topics that these instruments can tackle is exceedingly wide and diverse. Neutrinos coming from outside the Earth, in association with othermessengers, can contribute to clarify the question of the mechanisms that power the astrophysical accelerators which are known to exist from the observation of high-energy cosmic and gamma rays. Cosmic neutrinos can also be used to bring relevant information about the nature of dark matter, to study the intrinsic properties of neutrinos and to look for physics beyond the Standard Model. Likewise, atmospheric neutrinos can be used to study an ample variety of particle physics issues, such as neutrino oscillation phenomena, the determination of the neutrino mass ordering, non-standard neutrino interactions, neutrino decays and a diversity of other physics topics. In this article, we review a selected number of these topics, chosen on the basis of their scientific relevance and the involvement in their study of the Spanish physics community working in the KM3NeT and ANTARES neutrino telescopes.The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support from the following Spanish programs: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades (MCIU): Programa Estatal de Generacion de Conocimiento (refs. PGC2018-096663-B-C41, -A-C42, -B-C43, -B-C44) (MCIU/FEDER); Generalitat Valenciana: Prometeo (PROMETEO/2020/019) and GenT (refs. CIDEGENT/2018/034, /2020/049, /2021/023); Junta de Andalucia (ref. A-FQM-053-UGR18).Hernández-Rey, JJ.; Ardid Ramírez, M.; Bou Cabo, M.; Calvo, D.; Díaz, AF.; Gozzini, SR.; Martínez Mora, JA.... (2022). Science with Neutrino Telescopes in Spain. Universe. 8(2):1-25. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe80200891258

Next-Generation Sequencing Identifies Potential Actionable Targets in Paediatric Sarcomas

Background: Bone and soft-tissue sarcomas represent 13% of all paediatric malignancies. International contributions to introduce next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches into clinical application are currently developing. We present the results from the Precision Medicine program for children with sarcomas at a reference centre. Results: Samples of 70 paediatric sarcomas were processed for histopathological analysis, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) with a consensus gene panel. Pathogenic alterations were reported and, if existing, targeted recommendations were translated to the clinic. Seventy paediatric patients with sarcomas from 10 centres were studied. Median age was 11.5 years (range 1-18). Twenty-two (31%) had at least one pathogenic alteration by NGS. Thirty pathogenic mutations in 18 different genes were detected amongst the 22 patients. The most frequent alterations were found in TP53, followed by FGFR4 and CTNNB1. Combining all biological studies, 18 actionable variants were detected and six patients received targeted treatment observing a disease control rate of 78%. Extrapolating the results to the whole cohort, 23% of the patients would obtain clinical benefit from this approach. Conclusions: Paediatric sarcomas have a different genomic landscape when compared to adult cohorts. Incorporating NGS targets into paediatric sarcomas' therapy is feasible and allows personalized treatments with clinical benefit in the relapse setting

Intratumoral immunosuppression profiles in 11q-deleted neuroblastomas provide new potential therapeutic targets

High‐risk neuroblastoma (NB) patients with 11q deletion frequently undergo late but consecutive relapse cycles with fatal outcome. To date, no actionable targets to improve current multi‐modal treatment have been identified. We analyzed immune microenvironment and genetic profiles of high‐risk NB correlating with 11q immune status. We show in two independent cohorts that 11q‐deleted NB exhibit various immune‐inhibitory mechanisms, including increased CD4+ resting T cells and M2 macrophages, higher expression of programmed death‐ligand 1, interleukin‐10, transforming growth factor‐beta‐1 and indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase 1 (P<0.05), and also higher chromosomal breakages (P≤0.02) and hemizygosity of immunosuppressive miRNAs than MYCN‐amplified and other 11q‐non‐deleted high‐risk NB. We also analyzed benefits of maintenance treatment in 83 high‐risk stage M NB patients focusing on 11q status, either with standard anti‐GD2 immunotherapy (n=50) or previous retinoic acid‐based therapy alone (n=33). Immunotherapy associated with higher EFS (50 vs. 30, P=0.028) and OS (72 vs. 52, P=0.047) at 3 years in the overall population. Despite benefits from standard anti‐GD2 immunotherapy in high‐risk NB patients, those with 11q deletion still face poor outcome. This NB subgroup displays intratumoral immune suppression profiles, revealing a potential therapeutic strategy with combination immunotherapy to circumvent this immune checkpoint blockade