Fast model predictive control for hydrogen outflow regulation in ethanol steam reformers

© 20xx IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.In the recent years, the presence of alternative power sources, such as solar panels, wind farms, hydropumps and hydrogen-based devices, has significantly increased. The reasons of this trend are clear: contributing to a reduction of gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Hydrogen-based devices are of particular interest due to their significant efficiency and reliability. Reforming technologies are among the most economic and efficient ways of producing hydrogen. In this paper we consider the regulation of hydrogen outflow in an ethanol steam reformer (ESR). In particular, a fast model predictive control approach based on a finite step response model of the process is proposed. Simulations performed using a more realistic non-linear model show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in driving the ESR to different operating conditions while fulfilling input and output constraints.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Effect of off-pump coronary surgery with right ventricular assist device on organ function and inflammatory response: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Right ventricular assist devices (RVADs) have been proposed to improve exposure of the coronary arteries in off-pump surgery. In this study we investigated the impact of the A-Med RVAD on inflammatory response and organ function in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS: Sixty patients were prospectively randomized to conventional surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and cardioplegic arrest, beating heart surgery (off-pump), or beating heart surgery with the RVAD. Serial blood samples were collected postoperatively, for analysis of inflammatory markers, troponin I, protein S100, and free hemoglobin. Renal tubular function was assessed by measuring urine N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity. RESULTS: No hospital deaths or major postoperative complications occurred in the study population. Interleukin-6, interleukin-8, C3a, and troponin I levels after surgery were significantly higher in the CPB group compared with the off-pump and RVAD groups. Free hemoglobin levels immediately after the operation, peak and total S100 levels, and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity were also significantly higher in the CPB group. CONCLUSIONS: Off-pump coronary revascularization, with or without RVAD, reduces inflammatory response, myocardial, neurologic, and renal injury, and decreases hemolysis when compared with conventional surgery with CPB and cardioplegic arrest

New insights about the putative role of myokines in the context of cardiac rehabilitation and secondary cardiovascular prevention.

Exercise training prevents the onset and the development of many chronic diseases, acting as an effective tool both for primary and for secondary prevention. Various mechanisms that may be the effectors of these beneficial effects have been proposed during the past decades: some of these are well recognized, others less. Muscular myokines, released during and after muscular contraction, have been proposed as key mediators of the systemic effects of the exercise. Nevertheless the availability of an impressive amount of evidence regarding the systemic effects of muscle-derived factors, few studies have examined key issues: (I) if skeletal muscle cells themselves are the main source of cytokine during exercise; (II) if the release of myokines into the systemic circulation reach an adequate concentration to provide significant effects in tissues far from skeletal muscle; (III) what may be the role carried out by muscular cytokine regarding the well-known benefits induced by regular exercise, first of all the anti-inflammatory effect of exercise. Furthermore, a greater part of our knowledge regarding myokines derives from the muscle of healthy subjects. This knowledge may not necessarily be transferred per se to subjects with chronic diseases implicating a direct or indirect muscular dysfunction and/or a chronic state of inflammation with persistent immune-inflammatory activation (and therefore increased circulating levels of some cytokines): cachexia, sarcopenia due to multiple factors, disability caused by neurological damage, chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) or coronary artery disease (CAD). A key point of future studies is to ascertain how is modified the muscular release of myokines in different categories of unhealthy subjects, both at baseline and after rehabilitation. The purpose of this review is to discuss the main findings on the role of myokines as putative mediators of the therapeutic benefits obtained through regular exercise in the context of secondary cardiovascular prevention

L’ATTIVITÀ DELL’ORTO BOTANICO DI PALERMO E DELLE STRUTTURE COLLEGATE PER LA CONSERVAZIONE DEGLI ANTICHI FRUTTIFERI DELLA SICILIA

B6 = L’ATTIVITÀ DELL’ORTO BOTANICO DI PALERMO E DELLE STRUTTURE COLLEGATE PER LA CONSERVAZIONE DEGLI ANTICHI FRUTTIFERI DELLA SICILIA P. MARINO1, M. GERACI2, D. CRISÀ2, F. M. RAIMONDO1, R. SCHICCHI1 1Dipartimento di Biologia ambientale e Biodiversità dell’Università, Via Archirafi, 38 - 90123 Palermo. [email protected] 2Ente Parco dei Nebrodi, Piazza Duomo – 98076 Sant’Agata di Militello, Messina L’attività di individuazione, valutazione e raccolta del germoplasma delle specie arboree da frutto di prevalente interesse negli agrosistemi tradizionali della Sicilia, iniziata nel 2005 (Schicchi et al., 2008a; Schicchi et al., 2008b) si protrae ancora oggi attraverso azioni volte alla conservazione ed alla diffusione delle risorse genetiche vegetali a rischio di erosione, tramite l’adesione ad iniziative a carattere pubblico previste dal PSR Sicilia 2007/2013 Reg. CE 1698/2005 Misura 214/2 - Azione A: Preservazione della biodiversità. Al riguardo, l’Orto botanico di Palermo ha promosso tre progetti attivando collaborazioni con Enti di ricerca, Enti locali e territoriali. L’attività, finalizzata alla costituzione di un network regionale per la conservazione e diffusione della biodiversità degli antichi fruttiferi, si articola in più fasi: a) individuazione, raccolta e caratterizzazione di ecotipi e varietà; b) realizzazione di centri, ex situ, per la conservazione, caratterizzazione, propagazione e utilizzazione del germoplasma agrario, in vivo e in vitro; c) allestimento dei campi collezione; d) realizzazione di centri per la produzione di piante madri; e) attività di diffusione sul territorio; f) predisposizione e implementazione di reti e azioni di accompagnamento. Per il raggiungimento dei suddetti obiettivi sono stati presentati e ammessi a finanziamento tre progetti. Il primo progetto (CenBioS), attivato dal Dipartimento di Biologia ambientale e Biodiversità dell’Università di Palermo, prende in considerazione il germoplasma del ciliegio (Prunus avium L.), melo (Malus domestica Bork.), pero (Pyrus communis L.) e fico (Ficus carica L.) a rischio di erosione genetica, di cui si propone la conservazione nell’ambito di due distinti campi collezione e la realizzazione di un campo di piante madri da realizzare rispettivamente a Montagnareale (Messina) e Cammarata (Agrigento). Il secondo progetto (MadBioS), di cui è soggetto proponente il Consorzio Universitario della Provincia di Palermo, prevede la realizzazione di tre distinti campi collezione. Il primo, nell’agro di Pollina (Palermo), ospiterà il germoplasma delle antiche cultivar di frassini da manna afferenti a Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl e Fraxinus ornus L.; il secondo, nel territorio di Isnello, ospiterà le cultivar locali di pero e melo; il terzo, da realizzare presso l’azienda dell’Istituto Professionale per l’Agricoltura e l’Ambiente di Castelbuono (Palermo), riguarda diverse cultivar di albicocco (Prunus armeniaca L.), pesco [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] e susino (Prunus domestica L.) presenti nell’area delle Madonie. Il terzo progetto, di cui è capofila l’Ente Parco dei Nebrodi, prevede l’implementazione dell’attuale “Banca vivente del germoplasma vegetale dei Nebrodi” attraverso l’allestimento e il potenziamento di campi collezione e di piante madri nella sede di Ucria (Messina) e presso l’Istituto Professionale per l’Agricoltura e l’Ambiente di Caronia (Messina). Tali campi ospiteranno le cultivar tradizionali e antiche dell’area nebroidea di melo, albicocco, pesco, susino e pero. Nel complesso, oltre all’accertamento della corrispondenza varietale e delle condizioni fitosanitarie di oltre 150 etnovarietà, è prevista la caratterizzazione pomologica e genetica e la propagazione delle stesse nel territorio regionale, nell’ambito delle aziende agricole che aderiscono alla Misura 214/2 az. B del PSR. Schicchi R., Marino P. & Raimondo F.M., 2008. Individuazione, valutazione e raccolta del germoplasma delle specie arboree da frutto di prevalente interesse negli agrosistemi tradizionali della Sicilia. Collana Sicilia Foreste, Palermo. Schicchi R., Marino P., Saporito L., Di Noto G. & Raimondo F.M., 2008. Catalogo pomologico degli Antichi fruttiferi di Sicilia. Università di Palermo, Dip. Scienze Botaniche, Palermo

Multifrequency observations of XTE J0421+560/CI Cam in outburst

We report on two X-ray observations of the transient source XTE J0421+560 performed by BeppoSAX, and on a series of observations performed by the 0.7m Teramo-Normale Telescope. Outburst peak occurrence time and duration depend on photon energy: the outburst peak is achieved first in the X-ray band, then in the optical and finally in the radio. An exponential decay law fits well the X-ray data except in the TOO2 0.5-1.0 keV band, where erratic time variability is detected. During TOO1 the e-folding time scale decreases with energy up to ~ 20 keV, when it achieves a saturation; during TOO2 it decreases up to ~ 2 keV and then increases. This change is correlated with a spectral change, characterized by the onset of a soft (< 2 keV) component in TOO2 (Orr et al. 1998). This component might originate from the relativistic jets, while the hard component is more likely associated to processes occurring in the circumstellar matter and/or near the compact object. Optical observations show that the object appears intrinsically red even during the outburst. The nature of the compact object is discussed.Comment: Four pages. Accepted for publication in A&A Lette

An injectable bone marrow-like scaffold enhances T cell immunity after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative treatment for multiple disorders, but deficiency and dysregulation of T cells limit its utility. Here we report a biomaterial-based scaffold that mimics features of T cell lymphopoiesis in the bone marrow. The bone marrow cryogel (BMC) releases bone morphogenetic protein-2 to recruit stromal cells and presents the Notch ligand Delta-like ligand-4 to facilitate T cell lineage specification of mouse and human hematopoietic progenitor cells. BMCs subcutaneously injected in mice at the time of HSCT enhanced T cell progenitor seeding of the thymus, T cell neogenesis and diversification of the T cell receptor repertoire. Peripheral T cell reconstitution increased ~6-fold in mouse HSCT and ~2-fold in human xenogeneic HSCT. Furthermore, BMCs promoted donor CD4+ regulatory T cell generation and improved survival after allogeneic HSCT. In comparison to adoptive transfer of T cell progenitors, BMCs increased donor chimerism, T cell generation and antigen-specific T cell responses to vaccination. BMCs may provide an off-the-shelf approach for enhancing T cell regeneration and mitigating graft-versus-host disease in HSCT

HEAT SHOCK PROTEINS AND ULCERATIVE COLITIS: THE START OF A NEW ERA?

We read with great interest the article written by Abou El Azm and coworkers, published in the last issue of the Arab Journal of Gastroenterology [1]. In this article, the authors investigated the molecular expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) 70 and 90 in relation to the grades of inflammation and dysplasia in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) before and after treatment. In this study, in agreement with other published studies [2–4], the authors not only found a potential role for HSP 70 and HSP 90 for assessment of the activity and prognosis of UC, but also such markers predicted the presence of dysplasia and differentiated it from reactive atypia [1]. HSP had been found not only a marker of active disease, thus considering UC as a ‘‘chaperonopathy by mistake’’, but also show a key role in the psychosocial setting in which inflammatory bowel diseases manifest themselves [5]. Furthermore, they could represent a new diagnostic tool to differentiate the different phenotypes of UC, thus allowing to tailor a targeted approach to better manage UC patients [6]. However, some unresolved issues still remain about the potential roles of HSP in both the acute and the longstanding disease. First, it should be interesting to assess the role of HSP in the infections associated to UC flares, like Clostridium difficile and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. In fact, HSP could be investigated as a further marker of inflammation in case of severe and steroid-refractory disease; with regard to CMV infection, mucosal levels of HSP could differentiate when CMV plays a role of direct pathogen or when it represents merely a ‘‘silent bystander’’. Second, in longstanding UC, an integrated approach of colorectal cancer surveillance, by using the advanced endoscopic imaging together with mucosal markers, like HSP, could result in being markedly helpful, both to clinicians and pathologist. In fact, current guidelines recommend that image-enhanced endoscopy (IEE) may increase the yield of detection of dysplasia, thus representing a reasonable alternative to the random sampling of colon using standard white light [7]. The use of both IEE and new biomarkers, like HSP, predicting future occurrence of colonic neoplasia, could lead to a more centralised approach of UC patients, in which a ‘‘biomarker-based surveillance’’ might play a pivotal rol

Imaging to study solid tumour origin and progression: lessons from research and clinical oncology

Biomedical imaging in recent decades has clarified our understanding of normal and pathological cellular processes in vivo. In particular, this approach recently provided insights into processes occurring at a molecular or genetic level rather than at the anatomical level. The evolution of this discipline by engineering have led to its integration into biomedical research to (1) increase sensitivity and resolution imaging and to (2) improve tissue and cell specificity. Currently, imaging approaches are used in three different biomedical areas: (a) identification of cellular processes in physiological and disease state; (b) in vivo single-cell imaging; and (c) identification of new prognostic and therapeutical strategies. In this review, we will focus on the state of art of biomedical imaging in cancer. Specifically, we will highlight the most important advances in imaging tools available for basic and translational cancer research, with a particular emphasis on solid tissue malignancies.Immunology and Cell Biology advance online publication, 4 April 2017; doi:10.1038/icb.2017.17