The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) problem has attracted the attention of many researchers, because it is convenient to obtain the maximum power of a photovoltaic module regardless of the ...weather conditions and the load. In this paper, a novel control for a boost DC/DC converter has been introduced. It is based on a sliding mode controller (SMC) that takes a current signal as reference instead of a voltage, which is generated by a neuronal reference current generator. That reference current indicates the current ( I M P P ) at the maximum power point (MPP) for given weather conditions. In order to test the designed control system, a photovoltaic module model based on a second artificial neuronal network (ANN) has been obtained from experimental data gathered during 18 months in the Faculty of Engineering Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain). We have analyzed the performance of such model and we found that it is very accurate (MSE = 0.062 A and R = 0.991 with test dataset). We also have tested the performance of the overall SMC design with both simulated and real tests, concluding that it guarantees that the power in the output of the converter is very close to the power of the photovoltaic module output.
Hypertension is considered as a low-grade inflammatory disease, with adaptive immunity being an important mediator of this pathology. TLR4 may have a role in the development of several cardiovascular ...diseases; however, little is known about its participation in hypertension. We aimed to investigate whether TLR4 activation due to increased activity of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) contributes to hypertension and its associated endothelial dysfunction. For this, we used aortic segments from Wistar rats treated with a non-specific IgG (1 µg/day) and SHRs treated with losartan (15 mg/kg·day), the non-specific IgG or the neutralizing antibody anti-TLR4 (1 µg/day), as well as cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from Wistar and SHRs. TLR4 mRNA levels were greater in the VSMC and aortas from SHRs compared with Wistar rats; losartan treatment reduced those levels in the SHRs. Treatment of the SHRs with the anti-TLR4 antibody: 1) reduced the increased blood pressure, heart rate and phenylephrine-induced contraction while it improved the impaired acetylcholine-induced relaxation; 2) increased the potentiation of phenylephrine contraction after endothelium removal; and 3) abolished the inhibitory effects of tiron, apocynin and catalase on the phenylephrine-induced response as well as its enhancing effect of acetylcholine-induced relaxation. In SHR VSMCs, angiotensin II increased TLR4 mRNA levels, and losartan reduced that increase. CLI-095, a TLR4 inhibitor, mitigated the increases in NAD(P)H oxidase activity, superoxide anion production, migration and proliferation that were induced by angiotensin II. In conclusion, TLR4 pathway activation due to increased RAS activity is involved in hypertension, and by inducing oxidative stress, this pathway contributes to the endothelial dysfunction associated with this pathology. These results suggest that TLR4 and innate immunity may play a role in hypertension and its associated end-organ damage.
The purpose of this study is to compare group B
Streptococcus
(GBS) infection incidence in HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) and HIV-unexposed (HU) infants in a Spanish cohort. We conducted a ...retrospective study in 5 hospitals in Madrid (Spain). Infants ≤ 90 days of life with a GBS infection were included from January 2008 to December 2017. Incidence of GBS infection in HEU and HU children was compared. HEU infants presented a sevenfold greater risk of GBS infection and a 29-fold greater risk of GBS meningitis compared to HU, with statistical significance. Early-onset infection was tenfold more frequent in HEU children, with statistical significance, and late-onset infection was almost fivefold more frequent in the HUE infants’ group, without statistical significance.
Conclusion
: HEU infants presented an increased risk of GBS sepsis and meningitis. One in each 500 HEU infants of our cohort had a central nervous system infection and 1 in each 200, a GBS infection. Although etiological causes are not well understood, this should be taken into account by physicians when attending this population.
What is Known:
• HIV-exposed uninfected infants are at higher risk of severe infections.
• An increased susceptibility of these infants to group B Streptococcus infections has been described in low- and high-income countries, including a higher risk of meningitis in a South African cohort.
What is New:
• Group B Streptococcal meningitis is more frequent in HIV-exposed uninfected infants also in high-income countries.
• Physicians should be aware of this increased risk when attending these infants.
There is increasing evidence that inflammation plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular complications in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). No previous works have ...studied levels of soluble tumour necrosis factor-alpha receptor (sTNFR)-1 in patients with OSA. The aims of the present study were to examine serum levels of sTNFR-1 and the effect of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with OSA. A prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled crossover study was performed. In total, 30 consecutive newly diagnosed OSA patients (apnoea/hypopnoea index 43.8+/-27.0 events x h(-1)) and 15 healthy obese patients were selected. Urinary levels of norepinephrine and epinephrine, as well as plasma sTNFR-1, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6 and leukotriene (LT)B(4) levels were obtained at baseline and after 3 months of CPAP or sham CPAP. Nocturnal urinary levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine and sTNFR-1 (1,053+/-269 versus 820+/-166 pg x mL(-1)) were significantly higher in OSA patients. There were no significant differences in plasma levels of IL-6, LTB(4), or TNF-alpha between the two study groups. There were no significant differences in blood pressure, urinary catecholamine levels, or plasma IL-6, LTB(4) and TNF-alpha levels after both treatment modalities. However, after 3 months of effective CPAP usage, sTNFR-1 levels were significantly reduced (1,053+/-269 versus 899+/-254 pg x mL(-1)). Obstructive sleep apnoea patients have higher levels of soluble tumour necrosis factor-alpha receptor 1 than individuals without OSA; soluble tumour necrosis factor-alpha receptor 1 levels are lowered by continuous positive airway pressure therapy. These findings further corroborate a potential role of inflammation in the natural history of obstructive sleep apnoea.
Our aim in this study was to outline phenolic and color characteristic that characterize the labeled unifloral resin spurge (Euphorbia resinifera) honey. With respect to phenolic composition, 17 ...phenolic compounds have been analyzed in the 29 honey samples. The proposed markers (syringic acid, ethyl gallate, m-coumaric acid and naringenin) might help to the enhancement of this honey type and thus, guarantee its commercial value. The color characterization by diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry revealed typical values of light amber honey (lightness ranged from 36 to 70 units, and chroma from 18 to 30 units). On the other hand, many correlations between the color attributes and phenolic acids, total phenolic compounds, caffeic acid, p- and m-coumaric acids and hesperidin have been demonstrated, also, correlation between phenols, color parameters and percentage of pollen of E. resinifera has been found. This study is one of the rare researches which have correlated the CIELAB color parameters with the individual phenolic acids and flavonoid compounds within the same unifloral honey.
•Validation of the analytical method for phenol acids in honey.•Validation of the analytical method for flavonoids in honey.•Correlations between CIELAB color parameters and the phenolic compounds.•Correlation between phenol compounds, color and % of pollen of Euphorbia resinifera.
•The energy consumption and energy use efficiency of conventional, minimum and no-tillage were assessed for rainfed crops in a long-term, 29 years, experiment for semiarid conditions.•No-tillage ...provided significant direct use energy savings for all the cropping systems considered followed by minimum tillage and conventional tillage.•In the cropping systems considered, no significant differences were observed between mean yields, number of standing plants and crop production per standing plant in each tillage system.•A direct and significant correlation between energy productivity and rainfall from sowing to crop maturity is envisaged.
In the last thirty years, grain producers in central Spain have begun a slow transition from conventional tillage (CT) to reduced tillage (RT) systems for the production of cereal crops in semiarid conditions, and nowadays most of them have adopted minimum tillage (MT) and an increasing number even no-tillage (NT) practices. The main reason underlying this shift is the cut down of the production costs through a reduction in the total energy use for crop production. The objectives of this study were to assess the crop yields, energy output and energy use efficiency for monoculture cereal and cereal-fallow rotation each managed using CT, MT and NT on a Vertic Luvisol in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Cropping systems included monoculture winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) (WB) six years; spring barley (SB) one year; monoculture winter wheat (WW) (Triticum aestivum L.) sixteen years; winter wheat-fallow rotation (F-WW), 4 years; and winter barley-fallow rotation (F-WB), 2 years. Total energy use was significantly lower in NT than in MT, and in this the latter was also significantly lower than in CT, regardless of cropping system considered. Average energy saved was 11% and 14% for MT and NT, respectively, in comparison with CT. Irrespective of cropping system, direct energy use averaged 2.68±0.28GJha−1year−1 in CT; 1.97±0.29GJha−1year−1 in MT; and 1.27±0.27GJha−1year−1 in NT, being all these figures significantly different. Indirect energy use averaged across cropping systems was highest in NT, 5.93±1.16GJha−1year−1; intermediate in CT, 5.7±1.26GJha−1year−1; and lowest in MT, 5.49±1.27GJha−1year−1. As all tillage systems received the same rates of seed and fertilizer, increased herbicide consumption in NT was responsible for its highest indirect energy use that was offset by its lowest direct energy use. In the cropping systems considered, no significant differences were observed between the crop yields, and crop yields per standing plant, obtained in each tillage system. Energy productivity mean values of each crop rotation were similar in NT and MT, and higher than those of CT. The pooled average energy productivity across crop rotations was 15% higher in MT than in CT, 19% higher in NT than in CT, and 3.7% higher in NT than in MT. Energy productivity of each tillage system increased linearly with the amount of rainfall from sowing to maturity. The slope of the regression lines reflects the efficiency of a tillage system in converting each millimetre of water received in energy productivity. For wheat, the largest slope corresponded to NT, intermediate to MT, and lowest to CT. For barley the largest slope was that of MT, intermediate that of NT, and the lowest that of CT.
•Overall the commercial quality parameter values were lower in cherry varieties.•‘Cherry cereja’ showed the highest values of total sugars.•‘Green Zebra’ showed the highest levels of phenolics.•The ...highest lycopene levels were found in ‘Tigerella’.•The highest phytoene levels were found in ‘Orange’.
The aim of this study was to assess commercial quality parameters, sugars, phenolics, carotenoids and plastid in diverse and little studied tomato varieties to gain insight into their commercial and functional quality and reveal possible noticeable differences. Five cherry tomato varieties and six common (i.e., non-cherry) tomatoes were evaluated. The highest levels of lycopene were detected in ‘Tigerella’ and ‘Byelsa’, and those of phytoene in ‘Orangeʾ, those of phenolics in ‘Green Zebra’, all of them common tomatoes. The levels of sugars in both groups of tomatoes were comparable. Interesting differences in plastid carotenoid-accumulating sub-structures as a function of the carotenoid profile were observed. Given the importance of chromoplasts in the deposition of carotenoids in plants and their release during digestion, this information can be valuable in investigations on the regulation of the biosynthesis and the bioavailability of tomato carotenoids.
The interviews of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) done in the Dispensario "Martínez Anido" of Madrid in the period understood between September of 1984 and September of 1985 are revised. Among ...all of the 1,370 surveys, the trichomonal urethritis in the male, represents 2.2% of all of the urethritis and 4.6% of the nongonococcal urethritis in the male. Mean age of patients was 35 years, the social-economic level was inferior than those which we observed in others STD, all of the cases were heterosexual and the source of contamination was in 100% a prostitute of a low level. The answer to the treatment with metronidazole of the only doses of 2 gr. was satisfactory in all cases.
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