IR and electrochemical synthesis and characterization of thin films of PEDOT grown on platinum single crystal electrodes in [EMMIM]Tf2N ionic liquid

Thin films of PEDOT synthesized on platinum single electrodes in contact with the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium triflimide ([EMMIM]Tf2N) were studied by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. It was found that the polymer grows faster on Pt(111) than on Pt(110) or Pt(100) and that the redox reactions associated with the PEDOT p-doping process are much more reversible in [EMMIM]Tf2N than in acetonitrile. Finally, the ion exchange and charge carriers’ formation during the p-doping reaction of PEDOT were studied using in situ FTIR spectroscopy.APS acknowledges the scholarship “Estudiantes sobresalientes de posgrado” at the “Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)” and COLCIENCIAS National Doctoral Scholarship (567). MFS acknowledges support of UNAL (Research Project 19030). JMF thanks MINECO (Spain) support through project CTQ2013-44083-P and Generalitat Valenciana (Feder) through project PROMETEOII/2014/013

Hydrogen redox reactions in 1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide on platinum single crystal electrodes

Hydrogen oxidation and the subsequent proton reduction are studied on platinum single crystal electrodes in purified 1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ionic liquid. The hydrogen redox reaction shows some dependence of the surface orientation. The highest reversibility is observed with Pt(111) whereas the reaction in electrodes with {100} sites is less reversible and with a slow kinetics. Adsorption states are observed in the presence of hydrogen along with the main oxidation reaction. Also, it is possible to detect protons after oxidation of water and H2O2.APS is grateful to the National University of Colombia (ESP-2011-02) for the scholarship “Estudiantes sobresalientes de posgrado”, and to COLCIENCIAS (567-2012) for the national doctoral scholarship. MFS acknowledges support from the National University of Colombia (Research Project 19030). JMF acknowledges support from Generalitat Valenciana (Feder) (PROMETEO/2009/045) through project PROMETEO/2009/045

Interaction of water with methanesulfonic acid on Pt single crystal electrodes

The electrochemical behavior of methanesulfonic acid on platinum single crystal electrode surfaces is investigated by cyclic voltammetry and infrared spectroscopy measurements. The results are compared with the voltammetric profiles of perchloric and trifluoromethanesulfonic acids. The differences are interpreted in terms of the effect of the anion on the structure of water. No adsorbed species are detected by infrared spectroscopy.APS acknowledges the scholarship “Estudiantes sobresalientes de posgrado” at the UNC and COLCIENCIAS National Doctoral Scholarship (567). MFS acknowledges the support of UNC (Research Project 19030). JMFwould like to thankGeneralitat Valenciana (Feder) through project PROMETEOII/2014/013

Sistema de Gestión Integral de Residuos en una Empresa Automotriz

A medida que el mundo ha ido evolucionando, la sociedad ha ido cambiando sus esquemas de consumo y producción, el mundo se ha tornado más productivo para sostener la demanda de la sociedad actual y a su vez, los productos y residuos han aumentado su ciclo de vida, se han tornado cada vez más complejos por su composición, antes los residuos era más de composición orgánica, hoy es más compleja lo que trae como consecuencia un aumento en los volúmenes siendo una preocupación la gestión de residuos a nivel mundial, haciéndose un tema de gran preocupación no sólo para el gobierno, sino también para las organizaciones no gubernamentales. La industria automotriz a nivel nacional, es el sector productivo que ocupa el tercer lugar en generación de residuos peligrosos por ello, se implementa un Sistema de Gestión Integral de Residuos, realizando un diagrama de proceso desde el inicio del proceso, analizando entradas y salidas a las entradas de la materia prima haciendo compras razonables con el enfoque de evitar que los residuos sean generados, hacer comprar más amigables al ambiente con el menor impacto ambiental, con menos empaque, con el menor riesgo posible al ambiente y al personal involucrado, por ello, como parte de la mejora continua, explícito en la norma ISO 14001:2004 en su elemento 4.1, se hace un análisis de entradas y salidas en una empresa automotriz, desde que inicia el proceso hasta que termina para determinar, categorizar y cuantificar los residuos peligrosos y de manejo especial realizando un sistema de gestión integral con un enfoque de prevención, minimización, reúso, reciclo, tratamiento, coprocesamiento o conexión a otro proceso, dejando al último el confinamiento que vaya más allá de un simple cumplimiento legal donde no solo lo ambiental se vea favorecido si no también lo económico y lo social

Role of the interfacial water structure on electrocatalysis: Oxygen reduction on Pt(1 1 1) in methanesulfonic acid

Most of electrocatalytic reactions occur in an aqueous environment. Understanding the influence of water structure on reaction dynamics is fundamental in electrocatalysis. In this work, the role of liquid water structure on the oxygen reduction at Pt(1 1 1) electrode is analyzed in methanesulfonic (MTSA) and perchloric acids. This is because these different anions can exert a different influence on liquid water structure. Results reveal a lower ORR electrode activity in MTSA than in HClO4 solutions and they are discussed in light of anion's influence on water structural ordering. From them, the existence of an outer-sphere, rate determining, step in the ORR mechanism is suggested.This work has been carried out under MINECO project CTQ2013-44083-P (Spain). APSR acknowledges the scholarship “Estudiantes sobresalientes de posgrado” at the UNAL and COLCIENCIAS National Doctoral Scholarship (567). MFS acknowledges the support of UNAL (Research Project 19030)

Factores asociados a insuficiencia renal postoperatoria en cirugía de revascularización miocárdica

Motivation: To determine which medical history and surgical procedure factors are associated to the onset of postoperative kidney failure in patients undergoing myocardial revascularisation. Methods: Case-control cohort study carried out between January 2005 and December 2013 which included patients who had undergone elective myocardial revascularisation and showed postoperative kidney failure immediately after surgery and until discharge. Controls consisted of patients who had undergone elective myocardial revascularisation and did not develop postoperative kidney failure immediately after surgery. A logistic regression model was used to determine the factors associated to postoperative kidney failure. Associations were expressed as grounds of disparity with their corresponding confidence intervals. Results: old age [OR 1.03 CI 95% (1.01-1.04)], preoperative presence of diabetes mellitus [OR 1.8 CI 95% (1.9-3.4)], cardiac insufficiency [OR 2.7 CI 95% (1.1-6.7)] and a longer perfusion time [OR 1.02 CI 95% (1.01-1.03)] were associated to a higher risk of postoperative kidney failure, while higher hematocrit [OR 0.86 CI 95% (0.82-0.91)] and higher ejection fraction [OR 0.94 CI 95% (0.92-0.96)] were associated with a decrease of the risk of postoperative kidney failure. Conclusions: In patients who had undergone myocardial revascularisation, risk factors associated to postoperative kidney failure where comorbidities related to internal and external gradual kidney damage outside the context of the surgery. This implies that strategies to minimise this event should be focused on identifying these patients in a timely manner and offering appropriate nephroprotection. © 2015 Sociedad Colombiana de Cardiología y Cirugía Cardiovascular

Design and construction of automatic sorting station with machine vision

Este artículo presenta el diseño, construcción y caracterización de un sistema automatizado de clasificación de producto en transportador de banda con visión de máquina que integra tecnología Free and Open Source Software y equipos comerciales Allen Bradley. Se definen requerimientos que determinan características: mecánicas de la estación de manufactura, de una aplicación clasificadora de productos con visión de máquina y de automatización del sistema. Para la aplicación de visión de máquina se usa la librería de procesamiento óptico digital de imágenes Open CV, para el diseño mecánico de la estación de manufactura se usa la herramienta CAD Solid Edge y para el diseño e implementación de la automatización se usan normas ISA junto a una metodología de proyectos de ingeniería en automatización integrando un PLC, un inversor, un Panel View y una Red DeviceNet. Se presentan pruebas de funcionamiento clasificando botellas y piezas de PVC en cuatro tipos establecidos, se comprueba el funcionamiento del sistema integrado y la eficiencia de la misma. El tiempo de procesamiento en visión de máquina es 0,290 s en promedio para una pieza de PVC, una capacidad de 206 accesorios x minuto, para botellas se logró un tiempo de procesamiento de 0,267 s, una capacidad de 224 botellas x minuto. Se obtiene un rendimiento mecánico máximo de 32 productos por minuto (1920 productos hora) con el transportador a 22 cm/s y con 40 cm de distancia entre productos obteniendo un error promedio de 0,8%.This article presents the design, construction and testing of an automatic product sorting system in belt conveyor with machine vision that integrates Free and Open Source Software technology and Allen Bradley commercial equipment. Requirements are defined to determine features such as: mechanics of manufacturing station, an app of product sorting with machine vision and for automation system. For the app of machine vision a library is used for optical digital image processing Open CV, for the mechanical design of the manufacturing station is used the CAD tool Solid Edge and for the design and implementation of automation ISA standards are used along with an automation engineering project methodology integrating a PLC, an inverter, a Panel View and a DeviceNet Network. Performance tests are shown by classifying bottles and PVC pieces in four established types, the behavior of the integrated system is checked so as the efficiency of the same. The processing time on machine vision is 0.290 s on average for a piece of PVC, a capacity of 206 accessories per minute, for bottles was obtained a processing time of 0.267 s, a capacity of 224 bottles per minute. A maximum mechanical performance is obtained with 32 products per minute (1920 products/hour) with the conveyor to 22 cm/s and 40 cm of distance between products obtaining an average error of 0.8%

Population History and Gene Divergence in Native Mexicans Inferred from 76 Human Exomes.

Native American genetic variation remains underrepresented in most catalogs of human genome sequencing data. Previous genotyping efforts have revealed that Mexico's Indigenous population is highly differentiated and substructured, thus potentially harboring higher proportions of private genetic variants of functional and biomedical relevance. Here we have targeted the coding fraction of the genome and characterized its full site frequency spectrum by sequencing 76 exomes from five Indigenous populations across Mexico. Using diffusion approximations, we modeled the demographic history of Indigenous populations from Mexico with northern and southern ethnic groups splitting 7.2 KYA and subsequently diverging locally 6.5 and 5.7 KYA, respectively. Selection scans for positive selection revealed BCL2L13 and KBTBD8 genes as potential candidates for adaptive evolution in Rarámuris and Triquis, respectively. BCL2L13 is highly expressed in skeletal muscle and could be related to physical endurance, a well-known phenotype of the northern Mexico Rarámuri. The KBTBD8 gene has been associated with idiopathic short stature and we found it to be highly differentiated in Triqui, a southern Indigenous group from Oaxaca whose height is extremely low compared to other Native populations

Shot noise in magnetic tunneling structures with two-level quantum dots

We analyze shot noise in a magnetic tunnel junction with a two-level quantum dot attached to the magnetic electrodes. The considerations are limited to the case when some transport channels are suppressed at low temperatures. Coupling of the two dot's levels to the electrodes are assumed to be generally different and also spin dependent. To calculate the shot noise we apply the approach based on the full counting statistics. The approach is used to account for experimental data obtained in magnetic tunnel junctions with organic barriers. The experimentally observed Fano factors correspond to the super-Poissonian statistics, and also depend on relative orientation of the electrodes' magnetic moments. We have also calculated the corresponding spin shot noise, which is associated with fluctuations of spin current

Digestibility of Duddingtonia flagrans chlamydospores in ruminants: in vitro and in vivo studies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of <it>Duddingtonia flagrans </it>as a tool for the biological control of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) is a promising alternative to anthelmintics. The chlamydospores of <it>D. flagrans </it>are orally dosed and their thick cell wall gives them the capacity to resist digestion and pass through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Chlamydospores reaching the faeces are able to germinate and trap nematode larvae. The efficacy of this control method is based on reducing the numbers of infective larvae leaving the faeces. Techniques have recently been developed for quantifying the numbers of chlamydospores in faeces. As the number of non-digested spores could be relevant in the design and optimization of dosing programmes for the control of GIN infective larvae, the aim of the present study was to estimate the loss of <it>D. flagrans </it>chlamydospores during their passage through the ruminant gastrointestinal tract using <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>techniques.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After <it>in vitro </it>rumen digestion, chlamydospore recovery was not different from the quantity originally incubated (undigested spores) (P > 0.05). <it>In vitro </it>rumen+abomasum digestion caused nearly 36% loss of the chlamydospores originally incubated (P < 0.05). Germination of chlamydospores classified as viable was 24.3%. Chlamydospores classified as non-viable did not germinate. Rumen digestion resulted in more spore germination (R1 = 35.7% and R2 = 53.3%) compared to no digestion (time 0 h = 8.7%). Subsequent abomasal digestion reduced germination (R1+A = 25%) or stopped it (R2+A = 0%). <it>In vivo </it>apparent chlamydospore digestibility in sheep showed a loss of 89.7% of the chlamydospores (P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The loss of chlamydospores was evident under <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>conditions. Negligible amounts of spores were lost during the <it>in vitro </it>rumen digestion. However, <it>in vitro </it>rumen+abomasum digestion resulted in a chlamydospore loss of approximately 36%. <it>In vivo </it>passage through the sheep GIT resulted in a total loss of 89.7% of the orally administered spores.</p