Study About Nitrogen Oxide Emissions and Fuel Consumption in Diesel Engines Fueled with B20

The use of biodiesel is one of the alternatives to reduce oil dependence in the transport sector and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most common engines in Europe was subjected to some tests, aiming to discover the efficiency effects and the emission characteristics when consuming a fuel containing 20% of biodiesel and 80% of diesel (B20), and comparing the results with the use of 100% diesel (B0). Using an engine test bench, several working points of the engine were chosen considering different engine rotation from idle speed to 3500 rpm and from residual torque to 120 Nm, covering the great majority of the normal running operation of this kind of engines when installed in light vehicles. The results revealed a non-proportional effect for fuel consumption for different engine regimes where the energetic differences were, in some operation regimes, totally compensated with efficiency increase. The NOx emission analysis allows to admit that the use of biodiesel in the fuel leads to a consequence on emissions increase that is not always obvious, since in some regimes that increase is noticeable, but for other regimes a slight decrease or no significant change was detected

Event-shape engineering for inclusive spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV

Peer reviewe

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

An integrated approach on energy consumption and indoor environmental quality performance in six Portuguese secondary schools

This work is part of a wider research project called Energy Efficient Schools (Escolas Energeticamente Eficientes, 3Es), granted by Teixeira Duarte in the framework of the Portuguese Program of R&D Projects associated with Large Public Tenders. The authors are thankful to Parque Escolar E.P.E. for the provision of the database on the Portuguese secondary schools. The presented work is framed under the Energy for Sustainability Initiative of the University of Coimbra and ‘SusCity: Urban data driven models for creative and resourceful urban transitions’ project (MITP-TB/CS/0026/2013). The authors acknowledge the support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under project grant UID/MULTI/00308/2013 and PhD research grant SFRH/BD/77105/2011.A major rehabilitation programme of secondary school buildings has been carried out in the last few years in Portugal. With the introduction of HVAC systems in buildings that were previously naturally ventilated, an increase on energy consumption has been verified. During the first occupancy periods of new and refurbished buildings, energy and indoor climate quality audits are important strategies to improve the buildings’ energy use. In this context, this paper aims at showing the relations between the energy consumption and indoor environment quality (IEQ) parameters, obtained from the energy and IEQ audit in six representative modernised secondary schools – part of a larger R&D project untitled 3Es – geographically and climatically distributed in Portugal mainland. The monitoring period during the mid-season 2013 varied between schools, between two and three weeks. Air exchange rates, more specifically infiltration rates, were quantified aiming at determining the current airtightness condition of the refurbished schools. A subjective IEQ assessment was also performed, focusing on occupants' feedback, providing insight on the potential linkages between energy use and occupants’ comfort. A reflection on the energy consumption indicators and the indoor conditions obtained in the classrooms was proposed, and some suggestions were anticipated

生産增加と貨幣需要

We report on two-particle charge-dependent cor- relations in pp, p\u2013Pb, and Pb\u2013Pb collisions as a function of the pseudorapidity and azimuthal angle difference, \u3b7 and \u3c6 respectively. These correlations are studied using the balance function that probes the charge creation time and the develop- ment of collectivity in the produced system. The dependence of the balance function on the event multiplicity as well as on the trigger and associated particle transverse momentum ( pT ) in pp, p\u2013Pb, and Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 7, 5.02, and 2.76 TeV, respectively, are presented. In the low transverse momentum region, for 0.2 < pT < 2.0 GeV/c, the balance function becomes narrower in both \u3b7 and \u3c6 directions in all three systems for events with higher multiplicity. The experimental findings favor models that either incorporate some collective behavior (e.g. AMPT) or different mecha- nisms that lead to effects that resemble collective behavior (e.g. PYTHIA8 with color reconnection). For higher values of transverse momenta the balance function becomes even narrower but exhibits no multiplicity dependence, indicating that the observed narrowing with increasing multiplicity at low pT is a feature of bulk particle production

Key conservation actions for European steppes in the context of the Post‑2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

et al.The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM–GBF) envisions a world living in harmony with nature by 2050, with 23 intermediate targets to be achieved by 2030. However, aligning international policy and national and local implementation of effective actions can be challenging. Using steppe birds, one of the most threatened vertebrate groups in Europe, as a model system, we identified 36 conservation actions for the achievement of the KM–GBF targets and we singled out—through an expert-based consensus approach—ten priority actions for immediate implementation. Three of these priority actions address at least five of the first eight KM–GBF targets, those related to the direct causes of biodiversity loss, and collectively cover all the targets when implemented concurrently. These actions include (i) effectively protecting priority areas, (ii) implementing on-the-ground habitat management actions, and (iii) improving the quality and integration of monitoring programmes. Our findings provide a blueprint for implementing effective strategies to halt biodiversity loss in steppe-like ecosystems. Our approach can be adapted to other taxonomic groups and ecosystems and has the potential to serve as a catalyst for policy-makers, prompting a transition from political commitment to tangible actions, thereby facilitating the attainment of the KM–GBF targets by 2030.This study was carried out with no public or private funding as part of the commitment of the recently created “Grupo de Investigación en Aves Esteparias—Grupo de Investigação em Aves Estepárias (GIAE)” to improve the current status of steppe birds and ecosystems in Europe. CPG acknowledges the support from Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional through the Beatriz Galindo Fellowship (Beatriz Galindo—2020 call). ATM was funded by the project NORTE-01-0246-FEDER-000063, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). JG was supported by a postdoc scholarship (BIOPOLIS 2022–13). ABL was supported by a Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC2021-031737-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/https:// doi. org/10.13039/ 50110 00110 33 and the EU (“NextGenerationEU”/PRTR). RT was funded by the project ‘CLU-2019-01—iuFOR Institute Unit of Excellence’ of the University of Valladolid, funded by the Junta de Castilla and co-financed by the European Union (ERDF ‘Europe drives our growth’). This paper is a contribution by MD and EDC to the PTI AGRIAMBIO, partially financed by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture. The paper contributes to the ELECTROSTEPPE Project (TED2021-130352B-I00), funded by MCIN/AEI/https:// doi. org/ 10.13039/ 50110 00110 33 and the European Union (“NextGenerationEU”/PRTR)Peer reviewe

Alarming conservation status of Western European steppe birds and their habitats: An expert-based review of current threats, traits and knowledge gaps

European steppe birds are facing unprecedented declines, positioning among the most threatened bird groups. We provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the available knowledge on Western European (WE) steppe birds, focusing on their ecology, functional traits, population range trends and major threats. Using an expert-based participatory approach, we first created a consensual list of 37 WE species and reviewed the current knowledge on these key topics. Although 67.6 % of species show declining population ranges, only 18.9 % are classified as Endangered or Vulnerable according to the European IUCN Red List. Notably, several species exhibit range contractions over 5 % yet remain listed as Least Concern, indicating a need for re-evaluation based on the most up-to-date data. Threatened species have distinct functional traits compared to non-threatened species, typically being sedentary, large-bodied, long-lived, and exhibiting ground-foraging and ground-nesting behaviours. This highlights the potential for functional diversity loss if threatened species become extinct. Species experiencing the greatest range contractions share many of these traits or exhibit arboreal or aerial lifestyles, carnivorous diets and partial to fully migratory behaviours. Experts identified land use change and human-caused mortality as the main threats, followed by pollution and climate change, although the effects of the latter remain poorly understood for most species. Because significant knowledge gaps on climate and pollution effects remain for most species, these two threats should be the focus of future investigations. This synthesis enhances our understanding of the threats faced by WE steppe birds and provides guidance for prioritizing future research and conservation efforts.This work is a contribution from the Research Group on Steppe Birds (GIAE, acronym in Spanish/Portuguese; https://giaesteparias.org/en/giae-en/). This paper is a contribution to the Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform (PTI) AGRIAMBIO (pti-agriambio.csic.es). Carolina Bravo was funded by the Steppe-Forward chair (UAM-CTFC-TotalEnergies; https://steppeforward.eu/en/home)

Key conservation actions for European steppes in the context of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM–GBF) envisions a world living in harmony with nature by 2050, with 23 intermediate targets to be achieved by 2030. However, aligning international policy and national and local implementation of effective actions can be challenging. Using steppe birds, one of the most threatened vertebrate groups in Europe, as a model system, we identified 36 conservation actions for the achievement of the KM–GBF targets and we singled out—through an expert-based consensus approach—ten priority actions for immediate implementation. Three of these priority actions address at least five of the first eight KM–GBF targets, those related to the direct causes of biodiversity loss, and collectively cover all the targets when implemented concurrently. These actions include (i) effectively protecting priority areas, (ii) implementing on-the-ground habitat management actions, and (iii) improving the quality and integration of monitoring programmes. Our findings provide a blueprint for implementing effective strategies to halt biodiversity loss in steppe-like ecosystems. Our approach can be adapted to other taxonomic groups and ecosystems and has the potential to serve as a catalyst for policy-makers, prompting a transition from political commitment to tangible actions, thereby facilitating the attainment of the KM–GBF targets by 2030.Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades EspañolasConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu

ALICE upgrades during the LHC Long Shutdown 2

A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) has been conceivedand constructed as a heavy-ion experiment at the LHC. During LHCRuns 1 and 2, it has produced a wide range of physics results usingall collision systems available at the LHC. In order to bestexploit new physics opportunities opening up with the upgraded LHCand new detector technologies, the experiment has undergone a majorupgrade during the LHC Long Shutdown 2 (2019–2022). This comprisesthe move to continuous readout, the complete overhaul of coredetectors, as well as a new online event processing farm with aredesigned online-offline software framework. These improvementswill allow to record Pb-Pb collisions at rates up to 50 kHz, whileensuring sensitivity for signals without a triggerable signature