Renewable energy infrastructure. A challenge for Venezuelan industrial construction

The relevance of renewable energy has grown significantly in our global society. Important efforts are oriented to sustain it. Renewable energy depends on different technical, financial environmental and social complex processes. From the point of view of industrial construction sector this research evaluates some of the current trends in energy generation and use in Venezuela as well as environmental consequences and risks that derive from these. Additionally, authors highlight the importance of infrastructure as key issue to sustain renewable energy generation and use. The study present references of some energy renewable projects in process in Venezuela and the main problems that constrain their performance. Conclusions evidence the complex nature of industrial construction and suggest the need to improve industrial construction competitivenes as a strategy oriented to enhance renewable energy offer in the country. Additionally it is proposed to all stakeholders to work toghether to correct the conditions that currently limit industrial construction development. This is part of ongoing research.

Providing 3D video services: the challenge from 2D to 3DTV quality of experience

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) video has decisively burst onto the entertainment industry scene, and has arrived in households even before the standardization process has been completed. 3D television (3DTV) adoption and deployment can be seen as a major leap in television history, similar to previous transitions from black and white (B&W) to color, from analog to digital television (TV), and from standard definition to high definition. In this paper, we analyze current 3D video technology trends in order to define a taxonomy of the availability and possible introduction of 3D-based services. We also propose an audiovisual network services architecture which provides a smooth transition from two-dimensional (2D) to 3DTV in an Internet Protocol (IP)-based scenario. Based on subjective assessment tests, we also analyze those factors which will influence the quality of experience in those 3D video services, focusing on effects of both coding and transmission errors. In addition, examples of the application of the architecture and results of assessment tests are provided.

The challenge of sustainable building renovation: assessment of current criteria and future outlook

Artículo publicado en un número especial dedicado a la sostenibilidad. Se realiza un análisis crítico de las evaluación de la sostenibilidad en la rehabilitación y se plantea la perspectiva futura en este ámbito.

A Vision-based Quadrotor Multi-robot Solution for the Indoor Autonomy Challenge of the 2013 International Micro Air Vehicle Competition

This paper presents a completely autonomous solution to participate in the Indoor Challenge of the 2013 International Micro Air Vehicle Competition (IMAV 2013). Our proposal is a multi-robot system with no centralized coordination whose robotic agents share their position estimates. The capability of each agent to navigate avoiding collisions is a consequence of the resulting emergent behavior. Each agent consists of a ground station running an instance of the proposed architecture that communicates over WiFi with an AR Drone 2.0 quadrotor. Visual markers are employed to sense and map obstacles and to improve the pose estimation based on Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and ground optical flow data. Based on our architecture, each robotic agent can navigate avoiding obstacles and other members of the multi-robot system. The solution is demonstrated and the achieved navigation performance is evaluated by means of experimental flights. This work also analyzes the capabilities of the presented solution in simulated flights of the IMAV 2013 Indoor Challenge. The performance of the CVG UPM team was awarded with the First Prize in the Indoor Autonomy Challenge of the IMAV 2013 competition.

Hydromorphic change and biotic response challenge efficient river rehabilitation

From an extensive literature review and meta-analyses, this study has i) identified the most important hydromorphological process related to river degradation and rehabilitation, ii) conceptually linked it to evolutionary and functional response chains of aquatic biota, and iii) provided empirical evidence and ecological data for the respective hydromorphological requirements, preferences and limitations of aquatic plants, benthic invertebrates, lampreys, and freshwater fishes.

Individual-specific changes in the human gut microbiota after challenge with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and subsequent ciprofloxacin treatment

IA, JNP, and MP were partly supported by the NIH, grants R01-AI-100947 to MP, and R21-GM-107683 to Matthias Chung, subcontract to MP. JNP was partly supported by an NSF graduate fellowship number DGE750616. IA, JNP, BRL, OCS and MP were supported in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, award number 42917 to OCS. JP and AWW received core funding support from The Wellcome Trust (grant number 098051). AWW, and the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, receive core funding support from the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Science and Analysis Service (RESAS).

Changes in brain cell shape create residual extracellular space volume and explain tortuosity behavior during osmotic challenge

Diffusion of molecules in brain extracellular space is constrained by two macroscopic parameters, tortuosity factor λ and volume fraction α. Recent studies in brain slices show that when osmolarity is reduced, λ increases while α decreases. In contrast, with increased osmolarity, α increases, but λ attains a plateau. Using homogenization theory and a variety of lattice models, we found that the plateau behavior of λ can be explained if the shape of brain cells changes nonuniformly during the shrinking or swelling induced by osmotic challenge. The nonuniform cellular shrinkage creates residual extracellular space that temporarily traps diffusing molecules, thus impeding the macroscopic diffusion. The paper also discusses the definition of tortuosity and its independence of the measurement frame of reference.

The role of antigen and IL-12 in sustaining Th1 memory cells in vivo: IL-12 is required to maintain memory/effector Th1 cells sufficient to mediate protection to an infectious parasite challenge

IL-12 plays a central role in both the induction and magnitude of a primary Th1 response. A critical question in designing vaccines for diseases requiring Th1 immunity such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Leishmania major is the requirements to sustain memory/effector Th1 cells in vivo. This report examines the role of IL-12 and antigen in sustaining Th1 responses sufficient for protective immunity to L. major after vaccination with LACK protein (LP) plus rIL-12 and LACK DNA. It shows that, after initial vaccination with LP plus rIL-12, supplemental boosting with either LP or rIL-12 is necessary but not sufficient to fully sustain long-term Th1 immunity. Moreover, endogenous IL-12 is also shown to be required for the induction, maintenance, and effector phase of the Th1 response after LACK DNA vaccination. Finally, IL-12 is required to sustain Th1 cells and control parasite growth in susceptible and resistant strains of mice during primary and secondary infection. Taken together, these data show that IL-12 is essential to sustain a sufficient number of memory/effector Th1 cells generated in vivo to mediate long-term protection to an intracellular pathogen.

B7–CTLA4 interaction enhances both production of antitumor cytotoxic T lymphocytes and resistance to tumor challenge

Expression of B7-family costimulatory molecules CD80 (B7–1) and CD86 (B7–2) on tumor cells enhances host immunity. However, the role of the two B7 receptors, CD28 and CTLA4 (CD152), on T cells in antitumor immune response has not been clearly elucidated. Based on the effects of anti-CD28 and anti-CTLA4 mAbs on T cell response, it was proposed that CD28-B7 interaction promotes antitumor immunity, whereas B7-CTLA4 interaction down-regulates it. A critical test for the hypothesis is whether selective engagement of CTLA4 receptors by their natural ligands CD80 and CD86 enhances or reduces antitumor immunity. Here we used tumors expressing wild-type and mutant CD80, as well as mice with targeted mutation of CD28, to address this issue. We report that in syngeneic wild-type mice, B7W (W88>A), a CD80 mutant that has lost binding to CD28 but retained binding to CTLA4, can enhance the induction of antitumor cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL); B7Y (Y201>A), which binds neither CD28 nor CTLA4, fails to do so. Consistent with these observations, B7W-transfected J558 plasmocytoma and EL4 thymoma grow significantly more slowly than those transfected with either vector alone or with B7Y. Optimal tumor rejection requires wild-type CD80. Moreover, expression of a high level of CD80 on thymoma EL4 cells conveys immunity in mice with a targeted mutation of CD28 gene. Taken together, our results demonstrate that B7-CTLA4 interaction enhances production of antitumor CTL and resistance to tumor challenge and that optimal enhancement of antitumor immunity by CD80 requires its engagement of both CD28 and CTLA4.

The challenge of contracting for technological information

Contracting to provide technological information (TI) is a significant challenge. TI is an unusual commodity in five ways. (i) TI is difficult to count and value; conventional indicators, such as patents and citations, hardly indicate value. TI is often sold at different prices to different parties. (ii) To value TI, it may be necessary to “give away the secret.” This danger, despite nondisclosure agreements, inhibits efforts to market TI. (iii) To prove its value, TI is often bundled into complete products, such as a computer chip or pharmaceutical product. Efficient exchange, by contrast, would involve merely the raw information. (iv) Sellers’ superior knowledge about TI’s value make buyers wary of overpaying. (v) Inefficient contracts are often designed to secure rents from TI. For example, licensing agreements charge more than marginal cost. These contracting difficulties affect the way TI is produced, encouraging self-reliance. This should be an advantage to large firms. However, small research and development firms spend more per employee than large firms, and nonprofit universities are major producers. Networks of organizational relationships, particularly between universities and industry, are critical in transmitting TI. Implicit barter—money for guidance—is common. Property rights for TI are hard to establish. Patents, quite suitable for better mousetraps, are inadequate for an era when we design better mice. Much TI is not patented, and what is patented sets fuzzy demarcations. New organizational forms are a promising approach to contracting difficulties for TI. Webs of relationships, formal and informal, involving universities, start-up firms, corporate giants, and venture capitalists play a major role in facilitating the production and spread of TI.

p53 as a target for cancer vaccines: recombinant canarypox virus vectors expressing p53 protect mice against lethal tumor cell challenge.

The p53 protein is an attractive target for immunotherapy, because mutations in the p53 gene are the most common genetic alterations found in human tumors. These mutations result in high levels of p53 protein in the tumor cell, whereas the expression level of wild-type p53 in nonmalignant tissue is usually much lower. Several canarypox virus recombinants expressing human or murine p53 in wild-type or mutant form were constructed. Immunization with these viruses protected BALB/c mice from a challenge with an isogenic and highly tumorigenic mouse fibroblast tumor cell line expressing high levels of mutant p53. The tumor protection was equally effective regardless of whether wild-type or mutant p53 was used for the immunization, indicating that the immunologic response was not dependent on any particular p53 mutation and that immunization with this live virus vaccine works effectively against mutant p53 protein expressed in a tumor cell. In tumors escaping immunologic rejection, the expression of the p53 protein was commonly down-regulated.

Geochemical challenge to earthquake prediction.

The current status of geochemical and groundwater observations for earthquake prediction in Japan is described. The development of the observations is discussed in relation to the progress of the earthquake prediction program in Japan. Three major findings obtained from our recent studies are outlined. (i) Long-term radon observation data over 18 years at the SKE (Suikoen) well indicate that the anomalous radon change before the 1978 Izu-Oshima-kinkai earthquake can with high probability be attributed to precursory changes. (ii) It is proposed that certain sensitive wells exist which have the potential to detect precursory changes. (iii) The appearance and nonappearance of coseismic radon drops at the KSM (Kashima) well reflect changes in the regional stress state of an observation area. In addition, some preliminary results of chemical changes of groundwater prior to the 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken nanbu) earthquake are presented.

Eosinophil recruitment into the respiratory epithelium following antigenic challenge in hyper-IgE mice is accompanied by interleukin 5-dependent bronchial hyperresponsiveness.

A murine model for antigen-induced bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) and airway eosinophilia, two hallmarks of asthma, was developed using ovalbumin-immunized mice, which produce large amounts of IgE (named BP2, "Bons Producteurs 2," for High Line of Selection 2). A single intranasal ovalbumin challenge failed to modify the bronchial responses, despite the intense eosinophil recruitment into the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and airways. When mice were challenged twice a day for 2 days or once a day for 10 days, BHR in response to i.v. 5-hydroxytryptamine or to inhaled methacholine was induced in BP2 mice but not in BALB/c mice. Histological examination showed that eosinophils reached the respiratory epithelium after multiple ovalbumin challenges in BP2 mice but remained in the bronchial submucosa in BALB/c mice. Total IgE titers in serum were augmented significantly with immunization in both strains, but much more so in BP2 mice. Interleukin 5 (IL-5) titers in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of BP2 mice were augmented by the antigenic provocation, and a specific anti-IL5 neutralizing antibody suppressed altogether airway eosinophilia and BHR, indicating a participation of IL-5 in its development. Our results indicate that the recruitment of eosinophils to the airways alone does not induce BHR in mice and that the selective effect on BP2 mice is related to their increased IgE titers associated with antigen-driven eosinophil migration to the epithelium, following formation and secretion of IL-5.