► Reliable kinetic data for HHR-char gasification reactions with H2O and CO2. ► Introducing CO2 alongside H2O results in a higher char gasification reaction rate. ► Gasifying a char under CO2 does ...not affect its reactivity toward H2O. ► Char reactivity in a H2O+CO2 atmosphere is the sum of the individual reactivities.
Gasification reactivity of high-heating-rate chars (HHR-chars) in steam, carbon dioxide and their mixtures was investigated in a new macro-TG experimental device. The higher reactivity of the HHR-chars was highlighted by a comparison with reference chars prepared at a low heating rate (LHR-chars). It was found that the char reactivity in a mixed atmosphere of steam and carbon dioxide can be expressed as the sum of the individual reactivities obtained in single-atmosphere gasification experiments. This result was not dependent on the pyrolysis heating rate. In addition, gas-alternation gasification experiments – for both HHR-chars and LHR-chars – showed that gasifying the char with CO2 up to 30% of conversion does not affect its reactivity to H2O. Altogether, the results tend to indicate that the two reactant gases H2O and CO2 react on separate active sites when mixed atmospheres are used, and that CO2 does not affect the char structure to favor or inhibit the char–H2O gasification reaction.
Autoimmunity appears to play a role in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) pathology. Although the chemokine CCL20 has been involved in autoimmune diseases, its relationship with the pathogenesis of AAA ...is unclear. We investigated CCL20 expression in AAA and evaluated it as a potential biomarker for AAA. CCL20 was measured in plasma of AAA patients (n = 96), atherosclerotic disease (AD) patients (n = 28) and controls (n = 45). AAA presence was associated with higher plasma levels of CCL20 after adjustments for confounders in the linear regression analysis. Diagnostic performance of plasma CCL20 was assessed by ROC curve analysis, AUC 0.768 (CI:0.678-0.858; p<0.001). Classification and regression tree analysis classified patients into two CCL20 plasma level groups. The high-CCL20 group had a higher number of AAA than the low-CCL20 group (91% vs 54.3%, p< 0.001). mRNA of CCL20 and its receptor CCR6 were higher in AAA (n = 89) than in control aortas (n = 17, p<0.001). A positive correlation was found between both mRNA in controls (R = 0674; p = 0.003), but not in AAA. Immunohistochemistry showed that CCR6 and CCL20 colocalized in the media and endothelial cells. Infiltrating leukocytes immunostained for both proteins but only colocalized in some of them. Our data shows that CCL20 is increased in AAA and circulating CCL20 is a high sensitive biomarker of AAA.
This paper examines the fast pyrolysis coupled with the steam gasification of agropellets prepared from the olive oil industries by-products via Macro-thermogravimetry. Three pellets samples were ...prepared from exhausted olive mill solid waste, impregnated olive mill wastewater/exhausted olive mill solid waste and impregnated olive mill wastewater/pine sawdust. The behavior of the three pellets during the fast pyrolysis and the char gasification stages were generally comparable despite some small differences in the conversion rates or char yields. The gasification of impregnated olive mill wastewater/exhausted olive mill solid waste pellets was selected as a promising route for their valorization and the reduction of the pollution impacts of olive mill wastewater. The impregnated olive mill wastewater/exhausted olive mill solid waste pellets pyrolysis rate was affected significantly by the temperature in the range of 750°C–950 °C. The mean char gasification rate was linearly dependent on temperature and steam molar fractions in the respective ranges of 750°C–950 °C and 10%–30% of steam concentration. The provided data on the fast pyrolysis and char gasification of the formulated impregnated olive mill wastewater/exhausted olive mill solid waste pellets constitute new set of experimental data that can serve for the design of gasifiers working with such kind of wastes.
•Pellets are produced from olive mill wastewater and exhaust olive mill solid waste.•Fast pyrolysis and steam gasification of the different pellets are investigated.•Characteristics time and reactivity of pyrolysis and gasification are determined.•Gasification of impregnated sample is promising for olive mill wastewater recovery.•Experimental data are suitable for the design of gasifiers using impregnated sample.
•This review describes an integrated and multidisciplinary approach for the “early” diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).•An overview of epidemiology, genetic risk factors, and different biomarkers ...of AD is provided.•Latest findings suggest EEG rhythms analysis as a valid screening tool to predict AD conversion.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease among the elderly with a progressive decline in cognitive function significantly affecting quality of life. Both the prevalence and emotional and financial burdens of AD on patients, their families, and society are predicted to grow significantly in the near future, due to a prolongation of the lifespan. Several lines of evidence suggest that modifications of risk-enhancing life styles and initiation of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments in the early stage of disease, although not able to modify its course, helps to maintain personal autonomy in daily activities and significantly reduces the total costs of disease management. Moreover, many clinical trials with potentially disease-modifying drugs are devoted to prodromal stages of AD. Thus, the identification of markers of conversion from prodromal form to clinically AD may be crucial for developing strategies of early interventions. The current available markers, including volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) analysis are expensive, poorly available in community health facilities, and relatively invasive. Taking into account its low cost, widespread availability and non-invasiveness, electroencephalography (EEG) would represent a candidate for tracking the prodromal phases of cognitive decline in routine clinical settings eventually in combination with other markers. In this scenario, the present paper provides an overview of epidemiology, genetic risk factors, neuropsychological, fluid and neuroimaging biomarkers in AD and describes the potential role of EEG in AD investigation, trying in particular to point out whether advanced analysis of EEG rhythms exploring brain function has sufficient specificity/sensitivity/accuracy for the early diagnosis of AD.
This work, performed in the context of Gaya project, focuses on the characterization and modelling of the effect of the pyrolysis heating rate on the steam gasification of char from woodchips. An ...experimental work was performed based on thermogravimetry and solid characterization of char samples prepared under different conditions. The results showed that gasification apparent reactivity increased with the increase of heating rate. The faster chemical kinetics of char prepared under high heating rate could be related to its higher catalytic inorganic content together with a more reactive carbonaceous structure. The increase of heating rate favours porosity development and the enlargement of pores, which would have a positive effect on gasification reaction rate by enhancing gas diffusion within the solid. The effect of heating rate on char gasification was included in a model previously developed, by correlating the chemical kinetics, particle density and diffusion rate to the char yield, which was selected as a suitable indicator of the heating rate. The new version of the model, considering the variability of heating rate during char formation, was validated through accurate predictions of the experimental results.
•The effect of pyrolysis heating rate on char from woodchips was studied.•The increase of heating rate leads to faster gasification rate.•Higher heating rate leads to a more reactive solid and higher ash catalytic activity.•Char tends to develop higher porosity and larger pores under higher heating rate.•A predictive gasification model including the effect of heating rate was developed.
Indoor location systems based on ultra-wideband (UWB) technology have become very popular in recent years following the introduction of a number of low-cost devices on the market capable of providing ...accurate distance measurements. Although promising, UWB devices also suffer from the classic problems found when working in indoor scenarios, especially when there is no a clear line-of-sight (LOS) between the emitter and the receiver, causing the estimation error to increase up to several meters. In this work, machine learning (ML) techniques are employed to analyze several sets of real UWB measurements, captured in different scenarios, to try to identify the measurements facing non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation condition. Additionally, an ulterior process is carried out to mitigate the deviation of these measurements from the actual distance value between the devices. The results show that ML techniques are suitable to identify NLOS propagation conditions and also to mitigate the error of the estimates when there is LOS between the emitter and the receiver.
The European Union Publications Office has recently presented a report on the European Union's coordinated action with the Joint Research Centre to determine certain fraudulent practices in the honey ...sector, in which it has been indicated that 74% of the samples analyzed, imported from China, and 93% of the samples analyzed, imported from Turkey, the two largest honey producers worldwide, presented at least one indicator of exogenous sugar or suspicion of being adulterated. This situation has revealed the critical state of the problem of honey adulteration worldwide and the need to develop analytical techniques for its detection. Even though the adulteration of honey is carried out in a general way with sweetened syrups derived from C4 plants, recent studies have indicated the emerging use of syrups derived from C3 plants for the adulteration of honey. This kind of adulteration makes it impossible to analyze its detection using official analysis techniques. In this work, we have developed a fast, simple, and economical method based on the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique, with attenuated total reflectance, for the qualitative, quantitative, and simultaneous determination of beetroot, date, and carob syrups, derived from of C3 plants; whose available bibliography is very scarce and analytically not very conclusive for its use by the authorities. The proposed method has been based on the establishment of the spectral differences between honey and the mentioned syrups at eight different points in the spectral region between 1200 and 900 cm−1 of the mid-infrared, characteristic of the vibrational modes of carbohydrates in honey, which allows the pre-discrimination of the presence or absence of the syrups studied, and their subsequent quantification, with precision levels lower than 2.0% of the relative standard deviation and relative errors lower than 2.0% (m/m).
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•According to APIMONDIA the problem of honey adulteration has not been solved.•C3-plants-derivated syrups can't be detected in honey by using official methods.•C3-plants-derivated syrups have been established as emerging honey adulterants.•Dates and carob syrups have been detected in Spanish commercial honey.
Chemotherapy remains as the only systemic treatment option available for basal-like breast cancer (BC) patients. Preclinical models and several phase II studies suggested that platinum salts are ...active drugs in this BC subtype though there is no randomized study supporting this hypothesis. This study investigates if the addition of carboplatin to a combination of an alkylating agent together with anthracyclines and taxanes is able to increase the efficacy in the neoadjuvant treatment context. Patients with operable breast cancer and immunophenotypically defined basal-like disease (ER-/PR-/HER2- and cytokeratin 5/6+ or EGFR+) were recruited. Patients were randomized to receive EC (epirubicin 90 mg/m
2
plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m
2
for 4 cycles) followed either by D (docetaxel 100 mg/m
2
× 4 cycles; EC–D) or DCb (docetaxel 75 mg/m
2
plus carboplatin AUC 6 × 4 cycles; EC–DCb). The primary end point was pathological complete response (pCR) in the breast following the Miller and Payne criteria. Ninety-four patients were randomized (46 EC–D, 48 EC–DCb). pCR rate in the breast was seen in 16 patients (35 %) with EC–D and 14 patients (30 %) with EC–DCb (
P
value = 0.61). pCR in the breast and axilla was seen in 30 % of patients in both arms. The overall clinical response rate was 70 % (95 % CI 56–83) in the EC–D arm and 77 % (95 % CI 65–87) in the EC–DCb arm. Grade 3/4 toxicity was similar in both arms. The addition of carboplatin to conventional chemotherapy with EC–D in basal-like breast cancer patients did not improve the efficacy probably because they had already received an alkylating agent. These findings should be taken into consideration when developing new agents for this disease.
A CuNi-CeO2/YSZ/LSF solid oxide fuel cell has been fabricated and tested with respect to its electrochemical activity for direct oxidation of dry methane. The electrodes have been prepared by ...impregnation of corresponding porous YSZ layers, using reverse microemulsions as impregnating medium for the anode (constituted by Cu-Ni at 1:1 atomic ratio in combination with CeO2). On the basis of I-V electrochemical testing complemented by impedance spectroscopy (IS) measurements it is shown the ability of the SOFC for direct oxidation of methane in a rather stable way. Differences in the behavior as a function of operating temperature (1023-1073 K) are also revealed and examined on the basis of analysis of IS spectra.
Abstract We report here the performance and first results of the new multiband optical polarimeter DIPOL-1, installed at the Sierra Nevada Observatory 90 cm T90 telescope (SNO, Granada, Spain). ...DIPOL-1 is equipped with a plane parallel calcite plate and λ /2 retarder for modulating the intensity of two perpendicularly polarized beams, and a high readout speed CMOS camera that allows for fast, time-dense coverage. We characterize the performance of this instrument through a series of tests on zero- and high-polarization standard stars. The instrumental polarization in the Nasmyth focus was well determined, with a very stable contribution of 4.0806% ± 0.0014% in the optical R band. For bright high-polarization standards ( m R < 8) we reach precisions <0.02% in polarization degree and 0.°1 in polarization angle for exposures of 2–4 min. The polarization properties of these stars have been constrained, providing more recent results also about possible variability for future studies of some of the most used calibrators. Moreover, we have tested the capability of observing much fainter objects, in particular through blazar observations, where we reach a precision of <0.5%−0.6% and <0.°5 for faint targets ( m R ∼ 16.5) with exposures of ∼1 hr. For brighter targets ( m R ∼ 14.5−15), we can aim for time-dense observations with errors <0.2%−0.4% and <1°−1.°5 in 5–20 min. We have successfully performed a first campaign with DIPOL-1, detecting significant polarized emission of several blazars, with special attention to the highest ever polarization degree measured from blazar 3C 345 at ∼32%.
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