Diseño de un sistema de riego por goteo utilizando energía fotovoltaica para 1.6 mz del plátano en la finca ojo de agua en el municipio de San Francisco Libre, Managua.

Presenta un diseño de un sistema de riego por goteo utilizando energía fotovoltaica para 1.6 mz del plátano en la finca ojo de agua en el municipio de San Francisco Libre, Managua, incluye diseño agronómico, diseño hidráulico y elección del sistema fotovoltaico para el equipo de bombeo

Metaheuristic approaches for optimal broadcasting design in metropolitan MANETs

11th International Conference on Computer Aided Systems Theory. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, February 12-16, 2007Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) are composed of a set of communicating devices which are able to spontaneously interconnect without any pre-existing infrastructure. In such scenario, broadcasting becomes an operation of tremendous importance for the own existence and operation of the network. Optimizing a broadcasting strategy in MANETs is a multiobjective problem accounting for three goals: reaching as many stations as possible, minimizing the network utilization, and reducing the duration of the operation itself. This research, which has been developed within the OPLINK project (http://oplink.lcc.uma.es), faces a wide study about this problem in metropolitan MANETs with up to seven different advanced multiobjective metaheuristics. They all compute Pareto fronts of solutions which empower a human designer with the ability of choosing the preferred configuration for the network. The quality of these fronts is evaluated by using the hypervolume metric. The obtained results show that the SPEA2 algorithm is the most accurate metaheuristic for solving the broadcasting problem.Publicad

Spatial Dependence of the Phonon-Limited Mobility in Arbitrarily Oriented Si-Nanowires

The study of the transport properties of Si-Nanowires (NWs) is a research field of high interest. The spatial dependence of the low-field mobility and, in particular, the role of the corners is still not clear. Only recently, Lee et al. have considered their impact on the mobility through the development of a Spatial Dependent Mobility (SDM) expression. In this work, we extend their approach to study the phonon-limited mobility (μph ) of arbitrarily oriented square NWs.Work supported by the projects P09-TIC-4873, FIS-2008-05805 and FIS-2011-26005. E. González Marín also acknowledges the FPU program

MOL2ALL-VIDEOJUEGO PARA EL APRENDIZAJE DE LA ESTEQUIOMETRÍA: IDENTIFICACIÓN DE CARACTERÍSTICAS DEL JUEGO Y PERFIL DEL JUGADOR

For a large part of high school students learning stoichiometry is complex because they have deficiencies in mathematical logic and handling of proportions. This situation demotivates the student during their learning process, which exacerbates the problem of understanding this topic. This study proposes an investigation that will result in the implementation of a serious video game which motivates the learning of stoichiometric calculations. The scope of this article is the presentation of the study carried out to determine the profiles of the students in the role of players, and the characteristics of the video game that will be called Mol2All should have. In order to achieve it, this study used quantitative research, with a synthetic approach and a quasi-experimental design. It concluded that the profile of the student as a player is in accordance with Richard Bartle’s methodology, in addition, the study shows that the population that will benefit from the video game is wide, regardless of their socioeconomic status, their area of residence, gender or whether the educational institution is public or private. It was also determined that is important to use lightweight technologies adaptable to all types of electronic devices to be used in the construction of Mol2All.Para gran parte de los estudiantes de educación media aprender estequiometría es complejo porque presentan deficiencias de lógica matemática y manejo de proporciones. Esta situación desmotiva al estudiante durante su proceso de aprendizaje lo que agudiza el problema de comprensión de dicha temática. Se una investigación que dará como resultado la implementación de un videojuego serio que motive el aprendizaje de los cálculos estequiométricos. El alcance del presente artículo es la presentación del estudio realizado para determinar los perfiles de los estudiantes en rol de jugadores, y las características que deberá tener del videojuego que se denominará Mol2All. Para lograrlo, se usó una investigación cuantitativa, con enfoque sintético y diseño cuasi experimental. Se concluye que el perfil del estudiante como jugador está acorde con la metodología de Richard Bartle, además, el estudio arroja que la población que será beneficiaria del videojuego es amplia, sin importar su estrato socioeconómico, su zona de residencia, su género o si la institución educativa es de carácter público o privado. También se determinó que se deberán emplear tecnologías livianas adaptables a todo tipo de dispositivo electrónico en la construcción de Mol2All

Storm Gloria: sea state evolution based on in situ measurements and modeled data and its impact on extreme values

Storm Gloria, generated on January 17th, 2020 in the Eastern North Atlantic, crossed the Iberian Peninsula and impacted the Western Mediterranean during the following days. The event produced relevant damages on the coast and the infrastructures at the Catalan-Balearic Sea, due to extraordinary wind and wave fields, concomitant with anomalously intense rain and ocean currents. Puertos del Estado (the Spanish holding of harbors) has developed and operates a complex monitoring and forecasting system (PORTUS System), in collaboration with the Spanish Met Office (AEMET). The present work shows how Gloria was correctly forecasted by this system, alerts were properly issued (with special focus to the ports), and the buoys were able to monitor the sea state conditions during the event, measuring several new records of significant wave height and exceptional high mean wave periods. The paper describes, in detail, the dynamic evolution of the atmospheric conditions, and the sea state during the storm. It is by means of the study of both in situ and modeled PORTUS data, in combination with the AEMET weather forecast system results. The analysis also serves to place this storm in a historical context, showing the exceptional nature of the event, and to identify the specific reasons why its impact was particularly severe. The work also demonstrates the relevance of the PORTUS System to warn, in advance, the main Spanish Ports. It prevents accidents that could result in fatal casualties. To do so, the wave forecast warning performance is analyzed, making special focus on the skill score for the different horizons. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how a storm of this nature results in the need of changes on the extreme wave analysis for the area. It impacts all sorts of design activities at the coastline. The paper studies both how this storm fits into existing extreme analysis and how these should be modified in the light of this particular single event. This work is the first of a series of papers to be published on this issue. They analyze, in detail, other aspects of the event, including evolution of sea level and description of coastal damages

Back-Gate Biasing Influence on the Electron Mobility and the Threshold Voltage of Ultra Thin Box Multigate MOSFETs

This work studies the influence of the back-gate bias on the threshold voltage (V T ) and the electron mobility of silicon trigate devices over ultra-thin-box. The analysis allows us to confirm the possibility of achieving body factors higher than γ=0.1 as long as the width is increased and the height is reduced as much as possible. Also, we have demonstrated the impact of the back-gate biasing on the electron mobility using state-of-the-art scattering models for 2D confined devices.This work was supported by the Spanish Government under Project FIS2011-26005 and the FPU program, the Junta de Andalucía under Project P09-TIC4873, and the CEI-BioTIC GENIL program under the start-up project PYR-2012-5

Doxycycline-doped collagen membranes accelerate in vitro osteoblast proliferation and differentiation

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of doxycycline- and dexamethasone-doped collagen membranes on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts. Background: Collagen barrier membranes are frequently used to promote bone regeneration and to boost this biological activity their functionalization with antibacterial and immunomodulatory substances has been suggested. Methods: The design included commercially available collagen membranes doped with doxycycline (Dox-Col-M) or dexamethasone (Dex-Col-M), as well as undoped membranes (Col-M) as controls, which were placed in contact with cultured MG63 osteoblast-like cells (ATCC). Cell proliferation was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) assay and differentiation by measuring the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity using spectrophotometry. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to study the expression of the genes: Runx-2, OSX, ALP, OSC, OPG, RANKL, Col-I, BMP-2, BMP-7, TGF-β1, VEGF, TGF-βR1, TGF-βR2, and TGF-βR3. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study osteoblast morphology. Data were assessed using one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis tests, once their distribution normality was assessed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests (p > .05). Bonferroni for multiple comparisons were carried out (p < .05). Results: Osteoblast proliferation was significantly enhanced in the functionalized membranes as follows: (Col-M < Dex-Col-M < Dox-Col-M). ALP activity was significantly higher on cultured osteoblasts on Dox-Col-M. Runx-2, OSX, ALP, OSC, BMP-2, BMP-7, TGF-β1, VEGF, TGF-βR1, TGF-βR2, and TGF-βR3 were overexpressed, and RANKL was down-regulated in osteoblasts cultured on Dox-Col-M. The osteoblasts cultured in contact with the functionalized membranes demonstrated an elongated spindle-shaped morphology. Conclusion: The functionalization of collagen membranes with Dox promoted an increase in the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts

Body composition by dual X-ray absorptiometry in Mexican schoolchildren with or without obesity

Objective: Apply dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to determine the amount of fat mass, lean mass, and bone mineral density in Mexican schoolchildren with and without obesity. Material and methods: We performed an observational, analytical, comparative, cross-sectional study of 80 Mexican schoolchildren who attended the Nutrition Clinic of the Pediatric Medical Center in Monterrey, Mexico during the period of January to April 2005. Body mass index (BMI) was determined to classify the participants according to the growth charts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two groups of 40 children each (with and without obesity) were formed and DXA was carried out on each individual. Cronbach’s Alpha was used to determine instrument reliability and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test the normality of numerical variables. Means were compared using Student´s t test. Results: Statistically signiicant differences were found in fat mass (p≤0.001) and lean mass (p≤0.001), but not in bone mineral content (p=0.051) between both groups. Conclusions: Differences exist in fat mass and lean mass in both groups, but not in bone mineral content between both groups. A signiicant positive correlation was found between fat mass, determined by DXA, and BMI in schoolchildren with and without obesit

Integrative multi-platform meta-analysis of gene expression profiles in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients for identifying novel diagnostic biomarkers

Applying differentially expressed genes (DEGs) to identify feasible biomarkers in diseases can be a hard task when working with heterogeneous datasets. Expression data are strongly influenced by technology, sample preparation processes, and/or labeling methods. The proliferation of different microarray platforms for measuring gene expression increases the need to develop models able to compare their results, especially when different technologies can lead to signal values that vary greatly. Integrative meta-analysis can significantly improve the reliability and robustness of DEG detection. The objective of this work was to develop an integrative approach for identifying potential cancer biomarkers by integrating gene expression data from two different platforms. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), where there is an urgent need to find new biomarkers due its late diagnosis, is an ideal candidate for testing this technology. Expression data from two different datasets, namely Affymetrix and Illumina (18 and 36 PDAC patients, respectively), as well as from 18 healthy controls, was used for this study. A meta-analysis based on an empirical Bayesian methodology (ComBat) was then proposed to integrate these datasets. DEGs were finally identified from the integrated data by using the statistical programming language R. After our integrative meta-analysis, 5 genes were commonly identified within the individual analyses of the independent datasets. Also, 28 novel genes that were not reported by the individual analyses (`gained' genes) were also discovered. Several of these gained genes have been already related to other gastroenterological tumors. The proposed integrative metaanalysis has revealed novel DEGs that may play an important role in PDAC and could be potential biomarkers for diagnosing the disease.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant number DTS15/00201 to OC), Ministerio de Economía Competitividad (the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) (grant number TIN2015-71873-R to IR), Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía (PIN-0474-2016 to JP), Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía (P12-TIC-2082 to IR) and the University de Granada (grant number 15/13 to OC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Hepatocyte Growth Factor Reduces Free Cholesterol-Mediated Lipotoxicity in Primary Hepatocytes by Countering Oxidative Stress

Cholesterol overload in the liver has shown toxic effects by inducing the aggravation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to steatohepatitis and sensitizing to damage. Although the mechanism of damage is complex, it has been demonstrated that oxidative stress plays a prominent role in the process. In addition, we have proved that hepatocyte growth factor induces an antioxidant response in hepatic cells; in the present work we aimed to figure out the protective effect of this growth factor in hepatocytes overloaded with free cholesterol. Hepatocytes from mice fed with a high-cholesterol diet were treated or not with HGF, reactive oxygen species present in cholesterol overloaded hepatocytes significantly decreased, and this effect was particularly associated with the increase in glutathione and related enzymes, such as γ-gamma glutamyl cysteine synthetase, GSH peroxidase, and GSH-S-transferase. Our data clearly indicate that HGF displays an antioxidant response by inducing the glutathione-related protection system