Early Cretaceous palynomorphes from ODP Hole 113-692B

Detailed descriptions of in situ ?Valanginian to Albian Antarctic palynofloras are presented from Weddell Sea claystones with high percentages of organic matter ("black shales") and intercalated volcanic ash layers. The claystones were recovered from two sites (ODP Leg 113, Sites 692 and 693) on the continental margin of Dronning Maud Land. Palynological investigations of these Cretaceous sediments revealed a ?Valanginian-Hauterivian age for the Site 692 sediments and an Aptian-Albian age for Site 693. This paper is focused on the palynomorphs of Site 692. Miospores, dinoflagellate cysts, and acritarchs are listed and compared with early Cretaceous microfloras from the Antarctic Peninsula, Australia, and South America. The dinocyst assemblage of Site 692 seems to be very similar in composition to an assemblage from the South Shetlands (?Valanginian-Hauterivian-Barremian). It also agrees well with associations described from early Early Cretaceous sequences from the Perth Basin, southwestern Australia. According to the Australian miospore zonation schemes, the sporomorph flora from Site 692 belongs to the South Australian Foraminisporis wonthaggiensis Zone (early Valanginian to Hauterivian) or the lower part of the dinocyst Muderongia Superzone (Valanginian to Hauterivian).

Paleogene and early Neogene stable isotope record of foraminifera from ODP Leg 119 samples

Oxygen and carbon isotopic records of monogeneric and monospecific benthic and planktonic foraminifer samples from Sites 744 and 738 drilled on the southern end of the Kerguelen Plateau during ODP Leg 119 reveal the evolution of polar Indian Ocean water masses from the early Paleocene to the middle Miocene. Results from Site 738 are from sediments of early Paleocene to late Eocene age and those from Site 744 are late Eocene to middle Miocene. They suggest that intermediate waters at this location did not originate in the high latitudes during the early Eocene. Surface and near-surface waters cooled gradually after the maximum warming at 56 Ma, when surface waters were about 18°C. Intermediate waters cooled after 52 Ma. The highest temperatures (lowest d18O values) of the Cenozoic occurred from 56 to 52 Ma. The records of equatorial Pacific Site 577 and Weddell Sea Site 690 resemble that of the polar Indian Ocean in this interval. The well-documented d13C excursions toward positive values in the late Paleocene and negative values in the early Eocene are represented by foraminifers increases of 1.5 per mil and following decreases of about 3 per mil. Most of the cooling in the Paleogene occurred in the middle and late Eocene. A 2°C decrease of surface water at about 38.4 Ma heralded the beginning of extensive glacial conditions in Antarctica in the early Oligocene. At Site 744, the global d18O shift just above the Eocene/Oligocene boundary is 1.15 per mil, and occurred gradually in sediments dated at 36.5-35.9 Ma. Ice-rafted debris was deposited beginning at 36.1 Ma for about the next 2 m.y. This simultaneous occurrence of the global d18O shift with ice-rafted debris is evidence for early Oligocene glaciation in East Antarctica. Moreover, early and late Oligocene Cibicidoides d18O values between 2 and 2.2 per mil indicate intermediate water cooling and a small ice-volume effect. Production of cold dense bottom water in Antarctica was intensified with continental cooling and glaciation in the early Oligocene. Comparison of Oligocene and early Miocene isotopic data from high-latitude and low-latitude deepsea sites indicates that there were probably at least two sources of bottom waters at this time.

Geochemistry and accumulation rates of the early Paleogene in the Weddel Sea, Maud Rise and Kerguelen Plateau

Marine biological productivity has been invoked as a possible climate driver during the early Paleogene through its potential influence on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. However, the relationship of export productivity (the flux of organic carbon (C) from the surface ocean to the deep ocean) to organic C burial flux (the flux of organic C from the deep ocean that is buried in marine sediments) is not well understood. We examine the various components involved with atmosphere-to-ocean C transfer by reconstructing early Paleogene carbonate and silica production (using carbonate and silica mass accumulation rates (MARs)); export productivity (using biogenic barium (bio-Ba) MARs); organic C burial flux (using reactive phosphorus (P) MARs); redox conditions (using uranium and manganese contents); and the fraction of organic C buried relative to export productivity (using reactive P to bio-Ba ratios). Our investigations concentrate on Paleocene/Eocene sections of Sites 689/690 from Maud Rise and Site 738 from Kerguelen Plateau. In both regions, export productivity, organic C burial flux, and the fraction of organic C buried relative to export productivity decreased from the Paleocene/early Eocene to the middle Eocene. A shift is indicated from an early Paleogene two-gyre circulation in which nutrients were not efficiently recycled to the surface via upwelling in these regions, to a circulation more like the present day with efficient recycling of nutrients to the surface ocean. Export productivity was enhanced for Kerguelen Plateau relative to Maud Rise throughout the early Paleogene, possibly due to internal waves generated by the plateau regardless of gyre circulation.

Middle Eocene-Early Pliocene Subantarctic planktic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of ODP Site 1090 on the Agulhas Ridge, South Atlantic

The analysis of planktic foraminiferal assemblages from Site 1090 (ODP Leg 177), located in the central part of the Subantarctic Zone south of South Africa, provided a geochronology of a 330-m-thick sequence spanning the Middle Eocene to Early Pliocene. A sequence of discrete bioevents enables the calibration of the Antarctic Paleogene (AP) Zonation with lower latitude biozonal schemes for the Middle-Late Eocene interval. In spite of the poor recovery of planktic foraminiferal assemblages, a correlation with the lower latitude standard planktic foraminiferal zonations has been attempted for the whole surveyed interval. Identified bioevents have been tentatively calibrated to the geomagnetic polarity time scale following the biochronology of Berggren et al. (1995). Besides planktic foraminiferal bioevents, the disappearance of the benthic foraminifera Nuttallides truempyi has been used to approximate the Middle/Late Eocene boundary. A hiatus of at least 11.7 Myr occurs between V78 and V71 m composite depth extending from the Early Miocene to the latest Miocene-Early Pliocene. Middle Eocene assemblages exhibit a temperate affinity, while the loss of several planktic foraminiferal species by late Middle to early Late Eocene time reflects cooling. During the Late Eocene-Oligocene intense dissolution caused impoverishment of planktic foraminiferal assemblages possibly following the emplacement of cold, corrosive bottom waters. Two warming peaks are, however, observed: the late Middle Eocene is marked by the invasion of the warmer water Acarinina spinuloinflata and Hantkenina alabamensis at 40.5 Ma, while the middle Late Eocene experienced the immigration of some globigerinathekids including Globigerinatheka luterbacheri and Globigerinatheka cf. semiinvoluta at 34.3 Ma. A more continuous record is observed for the Early Miocene and the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene where planktic foraminiferal assemblages show a distinct affinity with southern mid- to high-latitude faunas.

Auto component supply chain: a path to global India

Supply chain management works to bring the supplier, the distributor, and the customer into one cohesive process. The Supply Chain Council defined supply chain as ‘Supply Chain: The flow and transformation of raw materials into products from suppliers through production and distribution facilities to the ultimate consumer., and then Sunil Chopra and Meindl, (2001) have define Supply chain management as ‘Supply Chain Management involves the flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total profitability.’ After 1950, supply chain management got a boost with the production and manufacturing sector getting highest attention. The inventory became the responsibility of the marketing, accounting and production areas. Order processing was part of accounting and sales. Supply chain management became one of the most powerful engines of business transformation. It is the one area where operational efficiency can be gained. It reduces organizations costs and enhances customer service. With the liberalization of world trade, globalization, and emergence of the new markets, many organizations have customers and competitions throughout the world, either directly or indirectly. Business communities are aware that global competitiveness is the key to the success of a business. Competitiveness is ability to produce, distribute and provide products and services for the open market in competition with others. The supply chain, a critical link between supplier, producer and customer is emerged now as an essential business process and a strategic lever, potential value contributor a differentiator for the success of any business. Supply chain management is the management of all internal and external processes or functions to satisfy a customer’s order (from raw materials through conversion and manufacture through logistics delivery.). Goods-either in raw form or processed, whole sale or retailed distribution, business or technology services, in everyday life- in the business or household- directly or indirectly supply chain is ubiquitously associated in expanding socio-economic development. Supply chain growth competitive performance and supporting strong growth impulse at micro as well as micro economic levels. Keeping the India vision at the core of the objective, the role of supply chain is to take up social economic challenges, improve competitive advantages, develop strategies, built capabilities, enhance value propositions, adapt right technology, collaborate with stakeholders and deliver environmentally sustainable outcomes with minimum resources.

Knowledge pipeline in freight pipeline industry: competence- based model for open innovation

There is growing concern over the challenges for innovation in Freight Pipeline industry. Since the early works of Chesbrough a decade ago, we have learned a lot about the content, context and process of open innovation. However, much more research is needed in Freight Pipeline Industry. The reality is that few corporations have institutionalized open innovation practices in ways that have enabled substantial growth or industry leadership. Based on this, we pursue the following question: How does a firm’s integration into knowledge networks depend on its ability to manage knowledge? A competence-based model for freight pipeline organizations is analysed, this model should be understood by any organization in order to be successful in motivating professionals who carry out innovations and play a main role in collaborative knowledge creation processes. This paper aims to explain how can open innovation achieve its potential in most Freight Pipeline Industries.

State Convergence Theory Applied to a Delayed Teleoperation System

State convergence is a control strategy that was proposed in the early 2000s to ensure stability and transparency in a teleoperation system under specific control gains values. This control strategy has been implemented for a linear system with or without time delay. This paper represents the first attempt at demonstrating, theoretically and experimentantally, that this control strategy can also be applied to a nonlinear teleoperation system with n degrees of freedom and delay in the communication channel. It is assumed that the human operator applies a constant force on the local manipulator during the teleoperation. In addition, the interaction between the remote manipulator and the environment is considered passive. Communication between the local and remote sites is made by means of a communication channel with variable time delay. In this article the theory of Lyapunov-Krasovskii was used to demonstrate that the local-remote teleoperation system is asymptotically stable.

Idas y venidas. Los viajes de arquitectura en España entre 1920 y 1960

Esta tesis se propone indagar en las vias por las que la arquitectura española cambió en el periodo comprendido entre 1920 y 1960 y el papel que los viajes tuvieron en dicho cambio. La investigación busca demostrar que, junto a otros factores como la llegada de revistas y libros y las conferencias de arquitectos de la talla de Le Corbusier, Gropius, Mendelsohn, Neutra o Aalto, los viajes tuvieron un papel clave en el proceso de apertura de miras y que provocó que, bien a traves de lo publicado en las revistas por los “arquitectos viajeros” o por el reflejo que tuvo lo conocido fuera de nuestras fronteras en proyectos y obras concretas, un buen numero de arquitectos, que no tuvieron la posibilidad de viajar, pudieron conocer que existía una realidad muy distinta a la que los profesores en la Escuela les habían enseñado o a la que estaban acostumbrados a ver en otros arquitectos de generaciones anteriores basada, en buena medida, en la recuperación de un estilo propio nacional centrandose en los historicismos. A lo largo de la investigación trataremos de ver que efecto produjo la apertura de fronteras y que papel tuvieron los viajes en dicho proceso. También nos centraremos en comprobar hasta qué punto cambió la manera de ver la arquitectura de los protagonistas del viaje y de aquellos que recibieron la información por ellos encontrada. Veremos cómo dicha información es cuantificable, clasificable y demostrable en propuestas concretas. Será importante ver que motivó su salida, que buscaban y que encontraron así como, entre las influencias recibidas, cuales tuvieron un mayor calado: las propuestas europeas o las americanas, y dentro de las primeras, las holandesas, las alemanas o las francesas. Los objetivos que se persigue conseguir son: contribuir a un mayor conocimiento de la arquitectura entre 1920 y 1960 a través de las conexiones internacionales y el ensanchamiento de horizontes, recopilar, clasificar y analizar todo el material obtenido relacionando los viajes con las biografías de los arquitectos protagonistas, estudiar qué interesa a los arquitectos españoles cuando van fuera y porqué (será importante ver quiénes de entre los arquitectos son más abiertos a las corrientes europeas y que motivó su salida en busca de nuevos lenguajes), ordenar las reflexiones que exponen los arquitectos a la vuelta de sus viajes y ver en que propuestas y de qué forma los arquitectos plasman lo encontrado en su búsqueda en el extranjero. Para conseguir estos objetivos estructuraremos la investigación en tres bloques: En el primero de ellos nos centraremos en profundizar como era la arquitectura española a principios del siglo XX. Para poder entender mejor las transformaciones que los viajes provocaron será necesario conocer cuál era la arquitectura predominante en estos años que, como veremos, consistía en la búsqueda de un estilo nacional propio dirigiendo su mirada al pasado. También veremos cómo un grupo de arquitectos (Palacios, Flórez, Torres Balbás o Anasagasti) fueron pioneros en el deseo de mirar fuera de nuestras fronteras así como dedicaremos especial atención a cómo era la formación en la Escuela. El segundo capítulo, que abarca desde principios de los años 20 hasta la Guerra Civil, tratará de demostrar la importancia que tuvo en el proceso de permeabilidad frente a las corrientes extranjeras los viajes que los arquitectos realizaron y que, sumados a la llegada de revistas y las visitas de los principales arquitectos modernos, provocaron una primera apertura como respuesta a los historicismos predominantes. Entre los arquitectos viajeros destacaremos las figuras de Fernando García Mercadal (incidiendo en su importancia como difusor de la arquitectura moderna), Rafael Bergamín, Ramón Sánchez Arcas y Luis Lacasa. También nos detendremos en ver la importancia que tuvieron las exposiciones (con especial atención a la de Artes Decorativas de París de 1925 y la de la Deutscher Werkbund en Stuttgart en 1927) que se realizaron estos años y como llegó la información a nuestro país. El tercer y último capítulo arranca con el periodo de posguerra, una época de transición pues los viajes que se realizaron fueron escasos y en la mayoría de las ocasiones no se llevaron a cabo en busca de nuevos caminos. Veremos cómo tras la Guerra y de la mano de la dictadura se produce, de la misma forma que en la Alemania nazi, una vuelta al interés por los historicismos de principios de siglo. Para entender mejor este periodo haremos un repaso a la obra de Luis Gutiérrez Soto por ser explicativa de lo cambiante de las corrientes arquitectónicas de estos años. Tras el análisis de los sucedido en posguerra nos dedicaremos a analizar, de la misma forma que en el primer periodo, la manera en que se produjo el rechazo al estilo nacional de nuevo gracias a la llegada de libros y revistas, lo publicado por las revistas españolas, las visitas de arquitectos de prestigio así como los viajes de un grupo de arquitectos que, de manera individual, salieron al extranjero en busca de apoyo, de referencias en los que cimentar su arquitectura. De este grupo, por la importancia que los propios protagonistas dieron al hecho de viajar como complemento a su formación y por la manera en la que reflejaron lo aprendido en proyectos concretos destacamos a Francisco de Asís Cabrero, Miguel Fisac, Ramón Vázquez Molezún y Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza. De nuevo, igual que en el primer capítulo finalizaremos la investigación dedicando un apartado a las exposiciones (fundamentalmente la Interbau de Berlín de 1957) celebradas en estos años. Para finalizar estableceremos las conclusiones que nos llevarán a comprobar hasta qué punto la arquitectura española en los periodos previo y posterior a la guerra cambió y en qué medida tuvieron importancia los viajes que los arquitectos españoles realizaron al extranjero en dicho cambio… ABSTRACT This thesis aims to look at the ways which Spanish architecture changed in the period between 1920 and 1960, and the way it was effected by travelling . The research will demonstrate that, together with other factors, such as the arrival of magazines, books, conferences and architects like Le Corbusier, Gropius, Mendelsohn, Neutra or Aalto, travelling played a key role in architecture. Also, it changed the way we look at architecture. Travelling, thanks to the published journals by "travelling architects” and the influence that they had - known beyond our borders in projects and concrete works, caused the arrival of a new type of architects. Even those who were not able to travel, knew that there was a very different reality than the reality the teachers at the school had taught them. Also, the “new reality” was different from the one that they were used to seeing in other architects of earlier generations, based mainly on the recovery of a national style focused on historicism. Throughout the investigation I will try to show the effect that the opening of borders and travelling had on this process. We will also focus on checking how it changed the way we see the architecture, from the point of view of the protagonists of the travels and those who received the information . We will see how that information is quantifiable and demonstrably classifiable into concrete proposals. It will be important to see which led to their departure. They sought and found among the influences, which had a major impact: the proposed European or American, and within the first, Dutch, German or French. The objectives to be achieved are: To contribute to a better understanding of architecture between 1920 to 1960 by the international connections, and widening the horizon. To collect, classify and analyze all obtained materials related to travelling with biographies of architects protagonists. To study what the interests of the Spanish architects were when they went abroad and why ( it will be important to see who among those architects were more open to European trends and prompted their departures for new languages). To order reflections exhibited by architects around his travels and to see what proposals and how architects reflected what they found in their search abroad. To achieve these objectives we will structure this research in three areas: In the first one, we will focus on how the Spanish architecture in the early twentieth century was. To better understand the changes that travelling caused it is necessary to understand that the predominant architecture in these years was in pursuit of its own national style, directing its gaze to the past, like we shall see. We will also see how a group of architects (Palacios, Flórez, Torres Balbás or Anasagasti) pioneered by looking beyond our borders and devote special attention to how the training was in the School. The second chapter, ranging from early 20s to the Civil War, will try to demonstrate the importance that travelling had in the process of diffusion currents. That, together with the arrival of magazines and visits by leading modern architects, led to a first opening in architecture, in response to the prevailing historicism. Among the travelers we highlight architects like Fernando García Mercadal (stressing his importance as a disseminator of modern architecture), Rafael Bergamín, Ramón Sánchez Arcas and Luis Lacasa. We will also stop to see the importance of exhibitions (with special attention to the Decorative Arts in Paris in 1925 and the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart in 1927) that were held over the years and how the information came to our country . The third and final chapter starts with the post war period, a time of transition for the travels, which were scarce and in most cases were not conducted on new roads. We will see that after the war and with the dictatorship, a return to interest in historicism of the century occurred, just as in Nazi Germany. For better understanding of this period we will review the work of Luis Gutiérrez Soto. His work is explanatory of the changing of architectural trends over these years. After analyzing the case in post war, we turn to analyze, in the same way as in the first period, the manner in which rejection occurred in national style again with the arrival of books and magazines. Visits by prestigious architects and group travels of architects who, individually, went abroad in search of support, references on which to base their architecture. In this group of architects, due to the importance that the protagonists gave to the act of traveling to improve their training and the way in which they reflected what they learned in practical projects, I include Francisco de Asís Cabrero, Miguel Fisac, Ramon Vazquez Molezún and Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. Again, as in the first chapter, we will conclude the investigation dedicating a section to the exhibitions held in these years (mainly Interbau Berlin, 1957). Finally establishing conclusions lead us to see how far the Spanish architecture in the pre- and post -war periods changed and how much the trips were important to Spanish architects who performed abroad on the change...

A supervised cooperative learning system for early detection of language disorders

The Quality of Life of a person may depend on early attention to his neurodevel-opment disorders in childhood. Identification of language disorders under the age of six years old can speed up required diagnosis and/or treatment processes. This paper details the enhancement of a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) aimed to assist pediatricians and language therapists at early identification and re-ferral of language disorders. The system helps to fine tune the Knowledge Base of Language Delays (KBLD) that was already developed and validated in clinical routine with 146 children. Medical experts supported the construction of Gades CDSS by getting scientific consensus from literature and fifteen years of regis-tered use cases of children with language disorders. The current research focuses on an innovative cooperative model that allows the evolution of the KBLD of Gades through the supervised evaluation of the CDSS learnings with experts¿ feedback. The deployment of the resulting system is being assessed under a mul-tidisciplinary team of seven experts from the fields of speech therapist, neonatol-ogy, pediatrics, and neurology.

The Use of Patents to Assess National Innovation Systems: Evidences from Spanish Biotechnology

Spain’s economy recorded a high rate of growth from the mid-1990s onwards. At the same time, the resources allocated to Research and Development (R&D) grew at a much faster pace than in other European Union (EU) countries. Spain’s growth recorded an average rate of 2.93% from the early 1990s to 2004. Over the same period, the average growth in the EU was 0.46%. This circumstance, together with several sound policy decisions implemented between 2004 and 2009, ushered in a “golden age of Spanish biotechnology”. In terms of the national patent licenses issued by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) between 2004 and 2009, the number in biotechnology grew from 84 to 151. However, the current economic situation in Spain, along with a series of political decisions taken over the past two or three years to cut spending on R&D, predicts a sharp downturn in the performance of Spanish biotechnology. This scenario makes Spain one of the best places to study the successes and failures of the management of science and allows transfer this experience to the other international regions. We need to analyze the influence of political decisions as a major factor with a bearing on the quality of science. Using patents as an indicator of scientific development, this paper analyzes the evolution of the biotechnology sector in Spain and its relationship with scientific policy and the management of R&D.

La arquitectura religiosa de Luis Cubillo de Arteaga (1954-1974)

Esta Tesis Doctoral viene a cubrir el vacío existente referido a la arquitectura religiosa de Luis Cubillo de Arteaga, arquitecto conocido fundamentalmente por su aportación a la vivienda social madrileña en los años 50 y 60, pero con una abundante obra sacra. Para ello se ha estudiado la totalidad de su producción, que abarca desde 1954 hasta 1974. La Tesis analiza su arquitectura religiosa desde varios puntos de vista, que incluyen la implantación de los edificios y sus aspectos formales, constructivos y tipológicos, estos últimos especialmente destacados tras las directrices emanadas del Concilio Vaticano II. Previamente se analizan cuatro ámbitos relevantes en la arquitectura religiosa de Cubillo. En primer lugar se estudia la labor de la Dirección General de Asuntos Eclesiásticos, a la que estaba adscrito el arquitecto y para la que realizó sus primeros trabajos. Dentro de ella se expone la evolución del modelo de Seminario entre los años 40 y 60, para analizar la relevancia de la propuesta de Cubillo para el Seminario de Castellón. A continuación se trata la participación de Cubillo en la construcción de la periferia de Madrid, aunque no referida a sus conocidos trabajos sobre vivienda social, sino a los edificios dotacionales. Así mismo se expone una iniciativa hasta ahora inédita de la Comisaría de Ordenación Urbana de Madrid para dotar de centros parroquiales a los nuevos barrios. Un tercer bloque estudia un tema recurrente a finales de los años 50, la integración de las artes en la nueva arquitectura religiosa, propiciada principalmente por José Luis Fernández del Amo. En el caso de Cubillo, las colaboraciones más notables y objeto de estudio en esta Tesis, fueron las realizadas con los artistas Arcadio Blasco y José Luis Sánchez. Por último se describe la situación de la iglesia madrileña posconciliar y su plan de construcción de nuevos templos, en el que jugó un papel muy destacado Cubillo, convertido en arquitecto de confianza de la Oficina Técnica del Arzobispado-------------------------ABSTRACT------------------------------ This Doctoral Thesis fills the emptiness of knowledge about the religious architecture of Luis Cubillo de Arteaga, architect mainly known for his contribution to Madrid's social housing in the 50s and 60s, but with a wide sacred work. To this end it have been studied his entire production, ranging from 1954 to 1974. The thesis discusses his religious architecture from several points of view, including the implementation of the buildings and their formal, constructive and typological aspects, the latter especially important by following the guidelines issued by Vatican II. Previously, four relevant areas in Cubillo’s religious architecture are analyzed. First of all, it’s studied the work of the Department of Ecclesiastical Affairs, to which the architect was assigned and for whom he made his early works. As a part of it, is exposed the evolution of Seminar model between 40s and 60s, to discuss the relevance of Cubillo’s design for the Seminar of Castellón. Next, it´s studied the participation of Cubillo in the construction of the outskirts of Madrid, although not referring to his well known work on social housing, but to the design of the comunitary buildings. It’s also explained an unpublished initiative from Commissariat for Urban Planning of Madrid to provide parish centers to new neighborhoods. A third section examines a recurring theme in the late 50s, the integration of the arts in the new religious architecture, mainly leaded by José Luis Fernández del Amo. For Cubillo, the most notable collaborations, studied in this thesis, were with the artists Arcadio Blasco and José Luis Sánchez. Finally, it´s described the situation of the post-conciliar church in Madrid and its plan to build new temples, with a prominent role of Cubillo, that became in trusted architect of the Technical Office of the Archbishop.

Optimización de la agitación de un digestor anaerobio mediante mecánica de fluidos computacional

Debido al gran interés existente en el ahorro y recuperación de energía, y en el deseo de obtener productos que permitan usos beneficiosos del fango procedente de la depuración del agua residual, la digestión anaerobia es el proceso de estabilización de uso más extendido. El tiempo de retención de sólidos es un factor clave en el proceso de digestión anaerobia. En base al tiempo de retención de sólidos, se dimensiona el volumen de los digestores anaerobios para así obtener la reducción de materia orgánica deseada, con la correspondiente producción de biogás. La geometría del digestor y su sistema de agitación deben ser adecuados para alcanzar el tiempo de retención de sólidos de diseño. Los primeros trabajos sobre la agitación de los digestores realizaban únicamente experimentos con trazadores y otros métodos de medición. En otros casos, la mezcla era evaluada mediante la producción de biogás. Estas técnicas tenían el gran hándicap de no conocer lo que sucedía realmente dentro del digestor y sólo daban una idea aproximada de su funcionamiento. Mediante aplicación de la mecánica de fluidos computacional (CFD) es posible conocer con detalle las características del fluido objeto de estudio y, por lo tanto, simular perfectamente el movimiento del fango de un digestor anaerobio. En esta tesis se han simulado mediante CFD diferentes digestores a escala real (unos 2000 m3 de volumen) agitados con bomba/s de recirculación para alcanzar los siguientes objetivos: establecer la influencia de la relación entre el diámetro y la altura, de la pendiente de la solera, del número de bombas y del caudal de recirculación en dichos digestores, definir el campo de velocidades en la masa de fango y realizar un análisis energético y económico. Así, es posible conocer mejor cómo funciona el sistema de agitación de un digestor anaerobio a escala real equipado con bomba/s de recirculación. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que una relación diámetro/altura del digestor por encima de 1 empeora la agitación del mismo y que la pendiente en la solera del digestor favorece que la masa de fango esté mejor mezclada, siendo más determinante la esbeltez del tanque que la pendiente de su solera. No obstante, también es necesario elegir adecuadamente los parámetros de diseño del sistema de agitación, en este caso el caudal de recirculación de fango, para obtener una agitación completa sin apenas zonas muertas. En el caso de un digestor con una geometría inadecuada es posible mejorar su agitación aumentando el número de bombas de recirculación y el caudal de las mismas, pero no se llegará a alcanzar una agitación total de la masa de fango debido a su mal diseño original. Anaerobic digestion is the process for waste water treatment sludge stabilization of more widespread use due to the huge interest in saving and recovering energy and the wish to obtain products that allow beneficial uses for the sludge. The solids retention time is a key factor in the anaerobic digestion. Based on the solids retention time, volume anaerobic digester is sized to obtain the desired reduction in organic matter, with the corresponding production of biogas. The geometry of the digester and the stirring system should be adequate to achieve the design solid retention time. Early works on digesters stirring just performed tracer experiments and other measurement methods. In other cases, mixing was evaluated by biogas production. These techniques had the great handicap of not knowing what really happened inside the digester and they only gave a rough idea of its operation. By application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), it is possible to know in detail the characteristics of the fluid under study and, therefore, simulate perfectly the sludge movement of an anaerobic digester. Different full-scale digesters (about 2000 m3 of volume) agitated with pump/s recirculation have been simulated by CFD in this thesis to achieve the following objectives: to establish the influence of the relationship between the diameter and height, the slope of the bottom, the number of pumps and the recirculation flow in such digesters, to define the velocity field in the mass of sludge and carry out an energy and economic analysis. Thus, it is possible to understand better how the agitation system of a full-scale anaerobic digester equipped with pump/s recirculation works. The results achieved show that a diameter/height ratio of the digester above 1 worsens its stirring and that the slope of the digester bottom favors that the mass of sludge is better mixed, being more decisive the tank slenderness than the slope of its bottom. However, it is also necessary to select properly the design parameters of the agitation system, in this case the sludge recirculation flow rate, for a complete agitation with little dead zones. In the case of a digester with inadequate geometry, its agitation can be improved by increasing the number of recirculation pumps and flow of them, but it will not reach a full agitation of the mass of sludge because of the poor original design.

Randomised controlled trial comparing effectiveness and acceptability of an early discharge, hospital at home scheme with acute hospital care

Objective: To compare effectiveness and acceptability of early discharge to a hospital at home scheme with that of routine discharge from acute hospital.

Rab4 and cellubrevin define different early endosome populations on the pathway of transferrin receptor recycling.

During receptor mediated endocytosis, at least a fraction of recycling cargo typically accumulates in a pericentriolar cluster of tubules and vesicles. However, it is not clear if these endosomal structures are biochemically distinct from the early endosomes from which they are derived. To better characterize this pericentriolar endosome population, we determined the distribution of two endogenous proteins known to be functionally involved in receptor recycling [Rab4, cellubrevin (Cbvn)] relative to the distribution of a recycling ligand [transferrin (Tfn)] as it traversed the endocytic pathway. Shortly after internalization, Tfn entered a population of early endosomes that contained both Rab4 and Cbvn, demonstrated by triple label immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. Tfn then accumulated in the pericentriolar cluster of recycling vesicles (RVs). However, although these pericentriolar endosomes contained Cbvn, they were strikingly depleted of Rab4. The ability of internalized Tfn to reach the Rab4-negative population was not blocked by nocodazole, although the characteristic pericentriolar location of the population was not maintained in the absence of microtubules. Similarly, Rab4-positive and -negative populations remained distinct in cells treated with brefeldin A, with only Rab4-positive elements exhibiting the extended tubular morphology induced by the drug. Thus, at least with respect to Rab4 distribution, the pathway of Tfn receptor recycling consists of at least two biochemically and functionally distinct populations of endosomes, a Rab4-positive population of early endosomes to which incoming Tfn is initially delivered and a Rab4-negative population of recycling vesicles that transiently accumulates Tfn on its route back to the plasma membrane.

Development of Valpha4+ NK T cells in the early stages of embryogenesis.

The majority of T lymphocytes start to develop at around day 15 of gestation (d15)-d17 in the thymus and comprise the peripheral repertoire characterized by the expression of polymorphic T-cell antigen receptors (TCRs). Contrary to these conventional T cells, a subset of T cells, called natural killer (NK) T cells (most of them expressing an invariant TCR encoded by the Valpha14Jalpha281 gene with a 1-nt N-region), preferentially differentiates extrathymically and dominates the peripheral T-cell population at a high frequency (5% in splenic T cells and 40% in bone marrow T cells). Here, we investigated the development of NK T cells and found that the invariant Valpha14+ TCR transcripts and the circular DNA created by Valpha14 and Jalpha281 gene rearrangements can be detected in the embryo body at d9.5 of gestation and in the yolk sac and the fetal liver at d11.5-d13.5 of gestation, but not in the thymus, whereas T cells with Valpha1+ TCR expression, a major population in the thymus, were not observed at these early stages of gestation. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis also demonstrated that there exist CD3+ alpha beta+ T cells, almost all of which are Valpha14/Vbeta8+ NK+ T cells, during early embryogenesis. To our knowledge, this demonstrates for the first time that a T lymphocyte subset develops in extrathymic tissues during the early stages of embryogenesis.