Una revolución científica a la que Caderno Brasileiro de Ensino de Física quiere contribuir

Al inicio de este siglo XXI ha comenzado a desarrollarse un nuevo dominio científico, la Ciencia de la Sostenibilidad (KATES et al., 2001), con el objetivo de integrar las aportaciones a la Sostenibilidad de distintas disciplinas que están dando una respuesta positiva a los numerosos llamamientos realizados para que la comunidad científica contribuya a hacer frente a la grave situación de emergencia planetaria (LUBCHENCO, 1998). Una integración necesaria debido a la estrecha vinculación de los problemas que se pretende resolver (DIAMOND, 2006; DUARTE, 2006), que incluyen desde el agotamiento de recursos esenciales y una contaminación que está degradando todos los ecosistemas, a una explosión demográfica que ha sobrepasado ya la capacidad de carga del planeta, pasando por el desarreglo climático, la pérdida de diversidad biológica y cultural, desigualdades inaceptables o conflictos y violencias fruto de un sistema socioeconómico insolidario, guiado por la búsqueda del máximo beneficio particular a corto plazo

Dual Fluidized Bed Gasification Configurations for Carbon Recovery from Biomass

Techniques that produce chemicals and fuels from sustainable carbon sources will have to maximize the carbon recovery to support circularity. In dual fluidized bed (DFB) gasification, to facilitate carbon recovery, the CO2\ua0from the flue gas can be concentrated using pure oxygen as an oxidant. The heat required by the process can also be provided electrically or by oxidizing an oxygen-carrying bed material, rather than combusting part of the char, thereby concentrating all of the carbon in the syngas. In this work, the three configurations of oxyfuel, electrical, and chemical-looping gasification (CLG) are compared to each other, as well as to the standard or “air” configuration, which corresponds to the combustion of char with air and the separation of CO2\ua0from both the flue gas and syngas. The configurations are compared based on their carbon distributions and energy demands for CO2\ua0separation. We show that the air and oxyfuel configurations lead to similar carbon distributions, whereas the CLG configuration gives the lowest carbon recovery in the form of an end product. The oxyfuel and CLG configurations show the lowest energy demands for CO2\ua0separation, while the air configuration exhibits the highest. The electrical configuration has the lowest potential to benefit from heat integration to cover this energy demand. An investigation into the optimal gasification temperature for the air and oxyfuel configurations shows that there is no driver for operation at high temperatures

SiGe HMOSFET monolithic inverting current mirror

Accepted versio

Average drift mobility and apparent sheet-electron density profiles in strained-Si-SiGe buried-channel depletion-mode n-MOSFETs

Published versio

The ROCK inhibitor Fasudil prevents chronic restraint stress-induced depressive-like behaviors and dendritic spine loss in rat hippocampus

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.Background: Dendritic arbor simplification and dendritic spine loss in the hippocampus, a limbic structure implicated in mood disorders, are assumed to contribute to symptoms of depression. These morphological changes imply modifications in dendritic cytoskeleton. Rho GTPases are regulators of actin dynamics through their effector Rho kinase. We have reported that chronic stress promotes depressive-like behaviors in rats along with dendritic spine loss in apical dendrites of hippocampal pyramidal neurons, changes associated with Rho kinase activation. The present study proposes that the Rho kinase inhibitor Fasudil may prevent the stress-induced behavior and dendritic spine loss. Methods: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with saline or Fasudil (i.p., 10 mg/kg) starting 4 days prior to and maintained during the restraint stress procedure (2.5 h/d for 14 days). Nonstressed control animals were injected with saline or Fasudil for 18 days. At 24 hours after treatment, forced swimming test, Golgi-staining, and immuno-western blot were performed. Results: Fasudil prevented stress-induced immobility observed in the forced swimming test. On the other hand, Fasudiltreated control animals showed behavioral patterns similar to those of saline-treated controls. Furthermore, we observed that stress induced an increase in the phosphorylation of MYPT1 in the hippocampus, an exclusive target of Rho kinase. This change was accompanied by dendritic spine loss of apical dendrites of pyramidal hippocampal neurons. Interestingly, increased pMYPT1 levels and spine loss were both prevented by Fasudil administration. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Fasudil may prevent the development of abnormal behavior and spine loss induced by chronic stress by blocking Rho kinase activity.https://academic.oup.com/ijnp/article/20/4/336/263217

SiGe HMODFET "KAIST" micropower model and amplifier realization

Published versio

Optimization of the technologycal properties of porcelain tile bodies containing rice straw ash using the deseign of experiments methodology

This study examines the effects of replacing fluxing and filler materials with rice straw ash (RSA) in manufacturing porcelain stoneware tile, using the design of experiments (DOE) methodology. The results of the characterization were used to obtain statistically significant, valid regression equations, relating the technological properties of the dried and fired test pieces to the raw materials content in the unfired mixtures. The regression models were analysed in relation to the X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy results and used to determine the most appropriate combinations of traditional raw materials and RSA to produce porcelain stoneware tiles with specific technological properties. The studied range of tile body compositions: clay (40 wt%), feldspar (20–50 wt%), feldspathic sand (5–20 wt%), and RSA (0–25 wt%) was shown to be appropriate for porcelain stoneware tile manufacture.The authors would like to thank Universidad del Valle (Colombia), the Instituto de Tecnología Cerámica (ITC), Spain, and COLCIENCIAS for their support in the development of this project. In particular, in this paper, the authors present partial results from the research project “Triaxial ceramics based on rice straw ash”, code 110652128358, supported by COLCIENCIAS, Official Call 521 of 2010, contract RC. no. 325–2011

Effectiveness of a pharmacogenetic tool at improving treatment efficacy in major depressive disorder : A meta-analysis of three clinical studies

Several pharmacogenetic tests to support drug selection in psychiatric patients have recently become available. The current meta-analysis aimed to assess the clinical utility of a commercial pharmacogenetic based tool for psychiatry (Neuropharmagen®) in the treatment management of depressive patients. Random-effects meta-analysis of clinical studies that had examined the effect of this tool on the improvement of depressive patients was performed. Effects were summarized as standardized differences between treatment groups. A total of 450 eligible subjects from three clinical studies were examined. The random effects model estimated a statistically significant effect size for the pharmacogenetic guided prescription (d = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.11-0.56, p-value = 0.004), which corresponded to approximately a 1.8 fold increase in the odds of clinical response for pharmacogenetic guided vs. unguided drug selection. After exclusion of patients with mild depression, the pooled estimated effect size increased to 0.42 (95% CI = 0.19-0.65, p value = 0.004, n = 287), corresponding to an OR = 2.14 (95% CI = 1.40-3.27). These results support the clinical utility of this pharmacogenetic based tool in the improvement of health outcomes in patients with depression, especially those with moderate-severe depression. Additional pragmatic RCTs are warranted to consolidate these findings in other patient populations