Aftertreatment DeNOx Systems for Future Light Duty Lean-Burned Emission Regulations

Future light duty vehicles in Europe and the United States are required to be certified, owing to progressively more and more stringent regulations [...]This research was funded by the Basque Government (Project IT1297-19)

Analysis and design of multiagent systems using MAS-CommonKADS

This article proposes an agent-oriented methodology called MAS-CommonKADS and develops a case study. This methodology extends the knowledge engineering methodology CommonKADSwith techniquesfrom objectoriented and protocol engineering methodologies. The methodology consists of the development of seven models: Agent Model, that describes the characteristics of each agent; Task Model, that describes the tasks that the agents carry out; Expertise Model, that describes the knowledge needed by the agents to achieve their goals; Organisation Model, that describes the structural relationships between agents (software agents and/or human agents); Coordination Model, that describes the dynamic relationships between software agents; Communication Model, that describes the dynamic relationships between human agents and their respective personal assistant software agents; and Design Model, that refines the previous models and determines the most suitable agent architecture for each agent, and the requirements of the agent network

Automated Purchase Negotiations in a Dynamic Electronic Marketplace

Nowadays, there is a surge of B2C and B2B e-commerce operated\ud on the Internet. However, many of these systems are often nothing\ud more than electronic product or service catalogues. Against this background,\ud it is argued that new generation systems based on automatic\ud negotiation will emerge. This paper covers a particular kind of automatic\ud negotiation systems, where a number of participants in a mobile\ud dynamic electronic marketplace automatically negotiate the purchase of\ud products or services, by means of multiple automated one-to-one bargainings.\ud In a dynamic e-marketplace, the number of buyers and sellers\ud and their preferences may change over time. By mobile we mean that\ud buyers in a commercial area may initiate simultaneous negotiations with\ud several sellers using portable devices like cell phones, laptops or personal\ud digital assistants, so these negotiations do not require participants to be\ud colocated in space. We will show how an expressive approach to fuzzy\ud constraint based agent purchase negotiations in competitive trading environments,\ud is ideally suited to work on these kind of e-marketplaces. An\ud example of mobile e-marketplace, and a comparison between an expressive\ud and an inexpressive approach will be presented to show the efficiency\ud of the proposed solution

Exceptional performance of gold supported on fluoridated hydroxyapatite catalysts in CO-cleanup of H2-rich stream: High activity and resistance under PEMFC operation conditions

Proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) appear to be the most promising solution for future automotive applications. Facing the lack of efficient hydrogen storage and transportation solutions, current research is focused on the development of on-board catalytic reformers. In this strategy, the purity of hydrogen stream is still an unresolved issue that needs to be addressed in order to avoid poisoning of the Pt electrodes of PEMFC. Here we report the extraordinary performance of gold supported on fluorine-substituted hydroxyapatite (HAP) catalysts in the CO preferential oxidation (COPROX) process. At 80 ◦C, the optimized catalyst (Au/F-(1)) proves to be highly active, selective (showing a CO conversion (XCO) of 100 % and selectivity towards CO2 production (SCO2) close to 62 %) and very resistant to deactivation, even in the presence of H2O (15 %) and CO2 (20 %). In addition, these results were obtained at relatively high weight hourly space velocity (WHSV: 60,000 cm3 g-1 h-1). It should be highlighted that our catalysts clearly outperform state-of-the-art gold catalysts. Our discovery introduces Au/F(x)-HAP catalysts as a viable solution for an effective elimination of CO to feed PEMFCs with CO-free hydrogen streams.The financial support for this work provided by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CTQ2015-73219-JIN (AEI/FEDER/UE) and ENE2016-74850-R) and Basque Government (GIC IT-1297-19) is gratefully acknowledged

Porous Hexacyanometallate(III) Complexes as Catalysts in the Ring-Opening Copolymerization of CO2 and Propylene Oxide

In this work, six porous hexacyanometallate complexes (Ni3[Co(CN)6]2, Co3[Co(CN)6]2, Fe3[Co(CN)6]2, Ni3[Fe(CN)6]2, Co3[Fe(CN)6]2, Fe4[Fe(CN)6]2) were synthesized by a complexing agent assisted coprecipitation method and thoroughly characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD), elemental analysis (EA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 physisorption, and gas–solid phase titration with NH3. The thermal stability, chemical composition, pore size and volume, crystallite size and density of surface acid sites were strongly sensitive to both the transition metal and the cyanometallate anion employed. On that basis, transition metal hexacyanometallates must be perceived as an adaptable class of zeolite-like microporous materials. The catalytic properties of these compounds were tested by copolymerization of propylene oxide and CO2, a green route to obtain biodegradable aliphatic polycarbonates. All compounds under study showed moderate activity in the target reaction. The obtained copolymers were characterized by modest CO2 content (carbonate units ranging from 16 to 33%), random structure (RPEC ≈ 70%), and moderate molecular weight (Mw = 6000–85,400 g/mol) with broad dispersity values (ĐM = 4.1–15.8).This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project PID2019-105960RBC21) and the Basque Government (GIC-IT1297-19). One of the authors (G.P.) is the recipient of a PhD research fellowship provided by the Basque Government (PRE_2021_2_0260)

Viability of Au/La2O3/HAP catalysts for the CO preferential oxidation reaction under reformate gas conditions

The viability of gold supported on lanthanum-modified HAP catalysts is investigated for CO preferential oxidation (PROX) in H-2-rich stream. All samples comprise small nanoparticles (NPs) of Au (< 4 nm). Addition of La enhances the chemisorption of CO, whereas it lowers that of H-2 and H2O. Moreover, lanthanum improves the reducibility of the catalysts and the mobility of oxygen. FTIR studies show that under CO oxidation conditions Au exists in two distinct forms on La-promoted samples, namely Au sigma+ and Au+ species. The catalytic tests under different PROX conditions show an improvement of the performance with lanthanum addition. The observed improvement is linked to suitable chemical properties, whereas efficiency dependence on Au NP sizes is rather secondary. At 80 degrees C, La-rich catalysts completely eliminate CO and prove to be selective (66%) under realistic PROX conditions (in the presence of H2O and CO2). Moreover, they are exceptionally stable during an extended period (240 h).The financial support from the Basque Government (IT1509-22) is acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge the technical support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU Advanced Research Facilities/ERDF, EU)

Metodología de diseño, observación y cálculo de redes geodésicas exteriores para túneles de gran longitud = Methedology for designing, observing and computing external geodetic networks of long lengths tunnels

RESUMEN: La realización de túneles de gran longitud para ferrocarriles ha adquirido un gran auge en los últimos años. En España se han abordado proyectos de estas características, no existiendo para su ejecución una metodología completa y contrastada de actuación. Las características geométricas, de observación y de trabajo en túneles hace que las metodologías que se aplican en otros proyectos de ingeniería no sean aplicables por las siguientes causas: separación de las redes exteriores e interiores de los túneles debido a la diferente naturaleza de los observables, geometría en el interior siempre desfavorable a los requerimientos de observación clásica, mala visibilidad dentro del túnel, aumento de errores conforme avanza la perforación, y movimientos propios del túnel durante su ejecución por la propia geodinámica activa. Los patrones de observación geodésica usados deben revisarse cuando se ejecutan túneles de gran longitud. Este trabajo establece una metodología para el diseño de redes exteriores. ABSTRACT: The realization of long railway tunnels has acquired a great interest in recent years. In Spain it is necessary to address projects of this nature, but ther is no corresponding methodological framework supporting them. The tunnel observational and working geometrical properties, make that former methodologies used may be unuseful in this case: the observation of the exterior and interior geodetical networks of the tunnel is different in nature. Conditions of visibility in the interior of the tunnels, regardless of the geometry, are not the most advantageous for observation due to the production system and the natural conditions of the tunnels. Errors increase as the drilling of the tunnel progresses, as it becomes problematical to perform continuous verifications along the itinerary itself. Moreover, inherent tunnel movements due to active geodynamics must also be considered. Therefore patterns for geodetic and topographic observations have to be reviewed when very long tunnels are constructed

Un enfoque práctico para la localización de usuarios mediante Bluetooth en entornos domóticos

Para que un sistema domótico pueda adaptarse adecuadamente\ud a las preferencias de sus diferentes usuarios, debe ser capaz de determinar\ud en cada momento en qué habitación se encuentran éstos dentro\ud de la vivienda. Este artículo presenta un sistema de localización especialmente\ud orientado a su utilización dentro del hogar inteligente. Cada\ud usuario del sistema lleva consigo un dispositivo personal Bluetooth, a\ud partir del cual el sistema puede identi carle y localizarle dentro de la\ud vivienda. El sistema se ha desarrollado dentro de una arquitectura multiagente\ud específicamente diseñada para ser utilizada en un hogar digital\ud capaz de ofrecer servicios a sus habitantes en función de su ubicación

Aislamiento e identificación de volátiles de Physalis philadelphica LAM

El objetivo de este trabajo fue aislar e identificar los componentes volátiles del tomate de cáscara Physalis philadelphica Lam. Por lavado con hexano, aireación dinámica (AD) y micro extracción en fase sólida (MEFS) se aislaron volátiles de P. philadelphica, los cuales se analizaron e identificaron por cromatografía de gases (CG) y CG acoplada a espectrometría de masas (CG-EM). Los compuestos recolectados por AD y MEFS se identificaron como salicilato de metilo, &#946;-cariofileno, &#946;-pineno, alcohol bencílico, 3-careno, &#946;-elemeno, decanal y germacreno D. Los componentes recolectados lavando las plantas con hexano fueron &#946;-cariofileno, linolenato de etilo, salicilato de metilo, &#946;-pineno, ácido hexadecanoico, linolenato de metilo, alcohol bencílico, germacreno D, 3-careno, &#946;-elemeno y decanal