Flow Induced by Dual-Turbine of Different Diameters in a Gas-Liquid Agitation System: the Agitation and Turbulence Indices

Flow induced by a dual turbine stirred tank was characterized measuring local velocities with a LDV and drawing the main velocity fields and the maps of turbulence intensities. The hydrodynamic regime studied in all the experiments was the so-called merging flow regime. Two impeller configurations were studied. In the first one, two disk style turbine of the same dimensions (configuration A) were used, while in the second one, the dimensions of the upper turbine were 20 % proportionally smaller than those of the lower turbine (configuration B). The agitation and turbulence indices were used to evaluate, as a first order approximation, the power consumption distribution between convective and turbulent flows. The comparison of the two-phase agitation systems studied showed that configuration B seems to be more efficient than configuration A, since both induce a similar global convective flow, but the first one assures a significant reduction of power consumption. The distribution of power consumption between convective and turbulent flows was evaluated using the agitation index and a new global parameter: turbulence ind

Provenance-based trust for grid computing: Position Paper

Current evolutions of Internet technology such as Web Services, ebXML, peer-to-peer and Grid computing all point to the development of large-scale open networks of diverse computing systems interacting with one another to perform tasks. Grid systems (and Web Services) are exemplary in this respect and are perhaps some of the first large-scale open computing systems to see widespread use - making them an important testing ground for problems in trust management which are likely to arise. From this perspective, today's grid architectures suffer from limitations, such as lack of a mechanism to trace results and lack of infrastructure to build up trust networks. These are important concerns in open grids, in which "community resources" are owned and managed by multiple stakeholders, and are dynamically organised in virtual organisations. Provenance enables users to trace how a particular result has been arrived at by identifying the individual services and the aggregation of services that produced such a particular output. Against this background, we present a research agenda to design, conceive and implement an industrial-strength open provenance architecture for grid systems. We motivate its use with three complex grid applications, namely aerospace engineering, organ transplant management and bioinformatics. Industrial-strength provenance support includes a scalable and secure architecture, an open proposal for standardising the protocols and data structures, a set of tools for configuring and using the provenance architecture, an open source reference implementation, and a deployment and validation in industrial context. The provision of such facilities will enrich grid capabilities by including new functionalities required for solving complex problems such as provenance data to provide complete audit trails of process execution and third-party analysis and auditing. As a result, we anticipate that a larger uptake of grid technology is likely to occur, since unprecedented possibilities will be offered to users and will give them a competitive edge

Effect of Dual Impeller-Sparger Geometry on the Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in Stirred Vessels

The understanding of the effect of impeller‐sparger configurations on gas dispersion and mass transfer is very important to improve the performance of gas/liquid contactor systems. The influence of the impeller positions, the upper turbine diameter, the sparger ring diameter and its location in regard to the lower impeller on the power consumption, the volumetric mass‐transfer coefficient and the overall oxygen transfer efficiency were studied in a nonstandard curved bottomed reactor with an agitated system with dual disk style turbines. In the range of the gas flow rates studied, the most efficient impeller‐sparger arrangement for the oxygen transfer is the impeller system with turbines of different diameters located at C = 0.25 and IC = 0.5, and with the sparger of smaller diameter than the lower impeller settled below the impeller. A new model to estimate the kLa with an average relative error of 8 %, which takes the reactor operation conditions and the influence of the impeller‐sparger geometry into account, was also proposed

Composición, propiedades físico-químicas y capacidad antioxidante del fruto Renealmia alpinia (Rottb.) Maas

Composition and bioactive properties of x`kijit fruit [ Renealmia alpinia (Rottb.) Maas] pulp and peel is unknown so far . Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate physicochemical, and nutritional characteristics, bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of peel, pulp of the fruit (x`kijit fruit). The fruit pulp was higher in soluble solids (10.53°Brix) and pH (6.2), while the peel had lower pH (3.9) and soluble solids (2.3°Brix). The protein and fat contents were higher in pulp with values 4.2 and 8.6%, respectively. Vitamin C, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and carotenoids were higher in pulp (28.3 mg ascorbic acid.100 g -1 FW, 567.8 mg catechin.100 g -1 FW, 102.4 mg GAE.100 g -1 FW, and 332 μg of carotenoid.100 g -1 FW, respectively) than peel. However, the peel was higher in anthocyanins (181.4 mg of cyanidin.100 g -1 FW), yielding an antioxidant activity of 23.3mMFe 2+ .100 g -1 . The x`kijit fruit demonstrated to have an important nutritional composition and a high antioxidant activity.Hasta el momento se desconoce la composición y propiedades bioactivas de la pulpa y piel del fruto x`kijit [ Renealmia alpinia (Rottb.) Maas]. Por lo anterior, el objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar las características fisicoquímicas, nutrimentales, compuestos bioactivos y la actividad antioxidante en la pulpa y piel del x`kijit. La pulpa del fruto presentó mayores valores de sólidos solubles (10,53°Brix) y pH (6,2), mientras que en la piel fueron más bajos pH (3,9) y sólidos solubles (2,3°Brix). Los contenidos de proteína y grasa fueron más elevados en pulpa, 4,2 y 8,6 %, respectivamente. La vitamina C, flavonoides, compuestos fenólicos y carotenoides fueron más elevados en la pulpa que en la piel (28,3 mg de ácido ascórbico 100 g -1 BH (Base Húmeda); 567,8 mg catequina 100 g -1 BH; 102,4 mg GAE.100 -1 BH y 332 μg 100 g -1 , respectivamente). Sin embargo, en la piel las antocianinas fueron mayores (181,4 mg de cianidina 100 g -1 BH), proveyendo una actividad antioxidante de 23,3 mM Fe 2+ 100 g -1 . La fruta X`kijit demostró poseer una importante composición nutrimental y una alta actividad antioxidante.Fil: Luna Guevara, María Lorena. Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (México)Fil: Ochoa Velasco, Carlos Enrique. Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (México)Fil: Hernández Carranza, Paola. Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (México)Fil: Contreras Cortes, Leonardo Ernesto Ulises. Chiapas (México). Colegio de la Frontera Sur Unidad San Cristóbal de las CasasFil: Luna Guevara, Juan José. Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (México

Fanconi anemia cells with unrepaired DNA damage activate components of the checkpoint recovery process

International audienceBACKGROUND:The FA/BRCA pathway repairs DNA interstrand crosslinks. Mutations in this pathway cause Fanconi anemia (FA), a chromosome instability syndrome with bone marrow failure and cancer predisposition. Upon DNA damage, normal and FA cells inhibit the cell cycle progression, until the G2/M checkpoint is turned off by the checkpoint recovery, which becomes activated when the DNA damage has been repaired. Interestingly, highly damaged FA cells seem to override the G2/M checkpoint. In this study we explored with a Boolean network model and key experiments whether checkpoint recovery activation occurs in FA cells with extensive unrepaired DNA damage.METHODS:We performed synchronous/asynchronous simulations of the FA/BRCA pathway Boolean network model. FA-A and normal lymphoblastoid cell lines were used to study checkpoint and checkpoint recovery activation after DNA damage induction. The experimental approach included flow cytometry cell cycle analysis, cell division tracking, chromosome aberration analysis and gene expression analysis through qRT-PCR and western blot.RESULTS:Computational simulations suggested that in FA mutants checkpoint recovery activity inhibits the checkpoint components despite unrepaired DNA damage, a behavior that we did not observed in wild-type simulations. This result implies that FA cells would eventually reenter the cell cycle after a DNA damage induced G2/M checkpoint arrest, but before the damage has been fixed. We observed that FA-A cells activate the G2/M checkpoint and arrest in G2 phase, but eventually reach mitosis and divide with unrepaired DNA damage, thus resolving the initial checkpoint arrest. Based on our model result we look for ectopic activity of checkpoint recovery components. We found that checkpoint recovery components, such as PLK1, are expressed to a similar extent as normal undamaged cells do, even though FA-A cells harbor highly damaged DNA.CONCLUSIONS:Our results show that FA cells, despite extensive DNA damage, do not loss the capacity to express the transcriptional and protein components of checkpoint recovery that might eventually allow their division with unrepaired DNA damage. This might allow cell survival but increases the genomic instability inherent to FA individuals and promotes cancer

Connectivity for Healthcare and Well-Being Management: Examples from Six European Projects

Technological advances and societal changes in recent years have contributed to a shift in traditional care models and in the relationship between patients and their doctors/carers, with (in general) an increase in the patient-carer physical distance and corresponding changes in the modes of access to relevant care information by all groups. The objective of this paper is to showcase the research efforts of six projects (that the authors are currently, or have recently been, involved in), CAALYX, eCAALYX, COGKNOW, EasyLine+, I2HOME, and SHARE-it, all funded by the European Commission towards a future where citizens can take an active role into managing their own healthcare. Most importantly, sensitive groups of citizens, such as the elderly, chronically ill and those suffering from various physical and cognitive disabilities, will be able to maintain vital and feature-rich connections with their families, friends and healthcare providers, who can then respond to, and prevent, the development of adverse health conditions in those they care for in a timely manner, wherever the carers and the people cared for happen to be

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Introducción al cultivo de la rana

El cultivo de ranas o "ranicultura", se inserta dentro del contexto general de la acuicultura, término que se refiere al cultivo de organismos acuáticos, la ranicultura es un campo de explotación animal altamente rentable, pero que exige una gran dedicación. La captura y procesamiento doméstico de las ranas solo está difundida en zonas rurales, pero la cría de ranas viene creciendo de ser una actividad tipo casero y sin dimensión comercial significativo, se ha convertido para los productores una opción de renta debido a la calidad de la carne, poco a poco las ranas han dejado de ser un producto silvstre para convertirse en una fuente de ingresos económicos con su cultivo (García, 2005)

Guest Editorial New perspectives on Causal Networks: the ®rst CaNew workshop

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijar We are pleased to introduce a selection of the papers presented at the 1998 workshop on `Causal Networks from Inference to Data Mining&apos;, CaNew &apos;98, [59]. This workshop was initiated from the feeling, shared by the organizers and co-chairs, that the ®eld of Bayesian and, in general, Causal Networks deserved special attention from the international research community. We had a growing feeling that several areas had been neglected in research or deserved more attention. The common background of the editors and co-chairs being in Machine Learning, we felt that some ideas that had been long been in use in Machine Learning had not been applied to Causal Networks. However, we also felt that other aspects dealing with the knowledge representation aspects of the Causal Network formalism were also of interest, namely, the construction of networks that used di€erent uncertainty formalisms, new inference methods and the relationship between the classical interpretation of Causal Network and the new ones. The rest of the Workshop Programme Committee members had a similar feeling about that and we tried to convey this by introducing in the workshop title both ends of the Causal Networks research spectrum: from inference to Data Mining. We comment in more detail in Section 3 the opportunities that, from our point of view, lay hidden between both