The brain signature for reading in high-skilled deaf adults: behavior and electrophysiological evidence

327 p.La presente tesis investiga cómo se da el procesamiento de la información sintáctica y semántica en lectores sordos competentes. En primer lugar, investigamos qué similitudes y/o diferencias comparten los lectores sordos con los lectores oyentes nativos. En segundo lugar, puesto que sabemos que la experiencia lingüística impacta el procesamiento del lenguaje en el cerebro, también comparamos el mismo grupo de lectores sordos con un grupo de bilingües tardíos del español. Para tanto, evaluamos estas propuestas a través de la técnica de electroencefalograma (EEG) y de los Potenciales Evocados Relacionados a Eventos (ERP) para comprender cómo es la respuesta fisiológica de lectores sordos durante una tarea de lectura de frases. Las respuestas a estas preguntas aportarán conocimiento sobre los mecanismos cognitivos de los buenos lectores sordos, y conllevan implicaciones prácticas respecto a la creación de nuevos métodos de enseñanza

The brain signature for reading in high-skilled deaf adults: behavior and electrophysiological evidence

327 p.La presente tesis investiga cómo se da el procesamiento de la información sintáctica y semántica en lectores sordos competentes. En primer lugar, investigamos qué similitudes y/o diferencias comparten los lectores sordos con los lectores oyentes nativos. En segundo lugar, puesto que sabemos que la experiencia lingüística impacta el procesamiento del lenguaje en el cerebro, también comparamos el mismo grupo de lectores sordos con un grupo de bilingües tardíos del español. Para tanto, evaluamos estas propuestas a través de la técnica de electroencefalograma (EEG) y de los Potenciales Evocados Relacionados a Eventos (ERP) para comprender cómo es la respuesta fisiológica de lectores sordos durante una tarea de lectura de frases. Las respuestas a estas preguntas aportarán conocimiento sobre los mecanismos cognitivos de los buenos lectores sordos, y conllevan implicaciones prácticas respecto a la creación de nuevos métodos de enseñanza

Raw materials demand for wind and solar PV technologies in the transition towards a decarbonised energy system

Raw materials are essential to securing a transition to green energy technologies and for achieving the goals outlined in the European Green Deal. To meet the future energy demand through renewables, the power sector will face a massive deployment of wind and solar PV technologies. As result, the consumption of raw materials necessary to manufacture wind turbines and photovoltaic panels is expected to increase drastically in the coming decades. However, the EU industry is largely dependent on imports for many raw materials and in some cases is exposed to vulnerabilities in materials supply. These issues raise concerns on the availability of some raw materials needed to meet the future deployment targets for the renewable energy technologies. This study aims at estimating the future demand for raw materials in wind turbines and solar PV following several decarbonisation scenarios. For the EU, the materials demand trends were built on the EU legally binding targets by 2030 and deployment scenarios targeting a climate-neutral economy by 2050. At a global level, the generation capacity scenarios were selected based on various global commitments to limit greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency. Alongside the power generation capacity, the materials demand calculations considered three more factors such as the plant lifetime, sub-technology market share and materials intensity. By evaluating and combining those factors, three demand scenarios were built characterised by low, medium and high materials demands. For wind turbines, the annual materials demand will increase from 2-fold up to 15-fold depending on the material and the scenario considered. Significant demand increases are expected for both structural materials - concrete, steel, plastic, glass, aluminium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, and zinc - and technology specific materials such as rare earths and minor metals. In the EU the biggest increase in materials demand will be for onshore wind, with significantly lower variations for offshore wind, while on a global scale the situation is opposite. The most significant example is that of rare earths (e.g. dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium and terbium) used in permanent magnets-based wind turbines. In the most severe scenario, the EU annual demand for these rare earths can increase 6 times in 2030 and up to 15 times in 2050 compared to 2018 values. As consequence, by 2050, the deployment of wind turbines, according to EU decarbonisation goals, will require alone most of the neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium currently available to the EU market. In the high demand scenario, the global demand for rare earths in wind turbines could increase between 8-9 times in 2030 and 11-14 times in 2050 compared to 2018 values, a slightly lower increase compared to the EU. For solar PV technologies there are large differences in material demand between different scenarios, especially for those specific materials used in the manufacturing of PV cells. In the most optimistic case, improvements in material intensities can lead to a net decrease in materials demand. In the medium demand scenario, the balance between capacity deployment and the material intensities will result in a moderate increase in demand ranging from 3 to 8 fold for most materials. In the high demand scenario it is expected an increase in demand for all materials, for example a 4-fold increase for silver and up to a 12-fold increase for silicon in 2050. For cadmium, gallium, indium, selenium and tellurium the change in the demand will be more significant, up to a 40 times increase in 2050. The highest demand in 2050 is expected for germanium, which might increase up to 86 times compared to 2018 values. In the most severe conditions, the EU will require around 8 times in 2030 and up to 30 times in 2050 more structural materials such as used in frame and staffing materials compared to 2018 values. Instead, the EU annual demand for PV cells materials varies more broadly such as between 4 times for silver and 86 times for germanium in 2050 according to the high demand conditions. For silicon, the EU demand is expected to increase 2 times in 2030 and 4 times in 2050 under the medium demand scenario, and 7 times in 2030 and 13 times in 2050 under a high demand scenario. Considering both technologies, such high increases in materials demand will put additional stresses on the future availability of some raw materials. The EU transition to green energy technologies according to the current decarbonisation scenarios can be put in dangerous due to weaknesses in future supply security for several materials such as germanium, tellurium gallium, indium, selenium, silicon and glass for the solar PV and rare earths for the wind turbines technologies.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Assessment of potential bottlenecks along the materials supply chain for the future deployment of low-carbon energy and transport technologies in the EU: Wind power, photovoltaic and electric vehicles technologies, time frame: 2015-2030

The ambitious EU policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in combination with a significant adoption of low-carbon energy and transport technologies will lead to strong growth in the demand for certain raw materials. This report addresses the EU resilience in view of supply of the key materials required for the large deployment of selected low-carbon technologies, namely wind, photovoltaic and electric vehicles. A comprehensive methodology based on various indicators is used to determine the EU’s resilience to supply bottlenecks along the complete supply chain – from raw materials to final components manufacturing. The results revealed that, in 2015, the EU had low resilience to supply bottlenecks for dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium and graphite, medium resilience to supply of indium, silver, silicon, cobalt and lithium and high resilience to supply of carbon fibre composites. In the worst case scenario where no mitigation measures are adopted, the materials list with supply issues will grow until 2030. Indium, silver, cobalt and lithium will add up to the 2015 list. However, the probability of material supply shortages for these three low-carbon technologies might diminish by 2030 as a result of mitigation measures considered in the present analysis, i.e. increasing the EU raw materials production, adoption of recycling and substitution. In such optimistic conditions, most of the materials investigated are rated as medium or high resilience. The exceptions are neodymium and praseodymium in electric vehicles, for which the EU resilience will remain low.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Hybrid molecular dynamic Monte Carlo simulation and experimental production of a multi-component Cu-Fe-Ni-Mo-W alloy

ABSTRACT: High-entropy alloys are a class of materials intensely studied in the last years due to their innovative properties. Their unconventional compositions and chemical structures hold promise for achieving unprecedented combinations of mechanical properties. The Cu-Fe-Ni-Mo-W multicomponent alloy was studied using a combination of simulation and experimental production to test the possibility of formation of a simple solid solution. Therefore, Molecular Dynamics and hybrid Molecular Dynamic/Monte Carlo simulations from 10K up to the melting point of the alloy were analyzed together with the experimental production by arc furnace and powder milling. The Molecular Dynamics simulations starting with a bcc type-structure show the formation of a singlephase bcc solid solution type-structure, whereas using Monte Carlo one, generally produced a two-phase mixture. Moreover, the lowest potential energy was obtained when starting from a fcc type-structure and using Monte Carlo simulation giving rise to the formation of a bcc Fe-Mo-W phase and a Cu-Ni fcc type-structure. Dendritic and interdendritic phases were observed in the sample produced by arc furnace while the milled powder evidence an separation of two phases Cu-Fe-Ni phase and W-Mo type-structures. Samples produced by both methods show the formation of bcc and a fcc type-structures. Therefore, the Monte Carlo simulation seems to be closer with the experimental results, which points to a two-phase mixture formation for the Cu-Fe-Ni-Mo-W multicomponent system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cobalt: demand-supply balances in the transition to electric mobility

The expansion of the electric vehicle market globally and in the EU will increase exponentially the demand for cobalt in the next decade. Cobalt supply has issues of concentration and risk of disruption, as it is mainly produced in Democratic Republic of Congo and China. According to our assessment these risks will persist in the future, likely increasing in the near term until 2020. Minerals exploration and EV batteries recycling can make for an improvement in the stability of cobalt supply from 2020 on, which together with the expected reduction in the use of cobalt, driven by substitution efforts, should help bridge the gap between supply and demand. Despite this, worldwide, demand is already perceived to exceed supply in 2020 and such a loss making trend is expected to become more consistent from 2025 on. In the EU, although the capacity to meet rising demand is projected to increase through mining and recycling activities, there is an increasing gap between endogenous supply and demand. The EU's supplies of cobalt will increasingly depend on imports from third countries, which underscores the need for deploying the Raw Materials Initiative and the Battery Alliance frameworks.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

New WC-Cu thermal barriers for fusion applications: high temperature mechanical behaviour

ABSTRACT: The combination of tungsten carbide and copper as a thermal barrier could effectively reduce the thermal mismatch between tungsten and copper alloy, which are proposed as base armour and heat sink, respectively, in the divertor of future fusion reactors. Furthermore, since the optimum operating temperature windows for these divertor materials do not overlap, a compatible thermal barrier interlayer between them is required to guarantee a smooth thermal transition, which in addition may mitigate radiation damage. The aim of this work is to study the thermo-mechanical properties of WC-Cu cermets fabricated by hot pressing. Focus is placed on the temperature effect and composition dependence, as the volume fraction of copper varies from 25 to 50 and 75 vol%. To explore this behaviour, fracture experiments are performed within a temperature range from room temperature to 800 degrees C under vacuum. In addition, elastic modulus and thermal expansion coefficient are estimated from these tests. Results reveal a strong dependence of the performance on temperature and on the volume fraction of copper and, surprisingly, a slight percent of Cu (25 vol%) can effectively reduce the large difference in thermal expansion between tungsten and copper alloy, which is a critical point for in service applications. The thermal performance of these materials, together with their mechanical properties could indeed reduce the heat transfer from the PFM to the underlying element while supporting the high thermal stresses of the joint. Thus, the presence of these cermets could allow the reactor to operate above the ductile to brittle transition temperature of tungsten, without compromising the underlying materials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Genus Corynebacterium in the Genomic Era

This chapter will address the main omics approaches used in studies involving the genus Corynebacterium, Gram-positive microorganisms that can be isolated from many diverse environments. Currently, the genus Corynebacterium has more than 130 highly diversified species, many of which present medical, veterinary and biotechnological importance, such as C. diphtheriae, C. pseudotuberculosis, C. ulcerans and C. glutamicum. Due to the wide application in these fields, several omics methodologies are used to better elucidate the species belonging to this genus, such as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. The genomic era has contributed to the development of more advanced and complex approaches that enable the increase of generated data, and consequently the advance on the structural, functional and dynamic knowledge of biological systems

Damage threshold of CuCrFeTiV high entropy alloys for nuclear fusion reactors

A CuCrFeTiV high entropy alloy was prepared and irradiated with swift heavy ions in order to check its adequacy for use as a thermal barrier in future nuclear fusion reactors. The alloy was prepared from the elemental powders by ball milling, followed by consolidation by spark plasma sintering at 1178 K and 65 MPa. The samples were then irradiated at room temperature with 300 keV Ar+ ions with fluences in the 3 × 1015 to 3 × 1018 Ar+/cm2 range to mimic neutron-induced damage accumulation during a duty cycle of a fusion reactor. Structural changes were investigated by X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy, both coupled with X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. Surface irradiation damage was detected for high fluences (3 × 1018 Ar+/cm2) with formation of blisters of up to 1 μm in diameter. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of intergranular cavities only in the sample irradiated with 3 × 1018 Ar+/cm2, while all irradiation experiments produced intragranular nanometric-sized bubbles with increased density for higher Ar+ fluence. The Williamson-Hall method revealed a decrease in the average crystallite size and an increase in residual strain with increasing fluence, consistent with the formation of Ar+ bubbles at the irradiated surface.publishedVersio

Behavior of Cu-Y2O3 and CuCrZr-Y2O3 composites before and after irradiation

ABSTRACT: The Cu-Y2O3 and CuCrZr-Y2O3 materials have been devised as thermal barriers in nuclear fusion reactors. It is expected that in the nuclear environments, the materials should be working on extreme conditions of irradiation. In this work the Cu-Y2O3 and CuCrZr-Y2O3 were prepared and then irradiated in order to understand the surface irradiation resistance of the material. The composites were prepared in a glove box and consolidated with spark plasma sintering. The microstructures revealed regions of Y2O3 dispersion and Y2O3 agglomerates both in the Cu matrix and in the CuCrZr. The irradiated samples did not show any surface modification indicating that the materials seem to be irradiation resistant in the present situation. The thermal conductivity values for all the samples measured are lower than pure Cu and higher than pure W, however are higher than those expected, and therefore, the application of these materials as thermal barriers is compromised.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio