Flow Boiling of R245fa in a Single Circular Microchannel

This paper describes an experimental setup for the investigation of two-phase heat transfer inside microchannels and reports local heat transfer coefficients measured during flow boiling of HFC-245fa in a 0.96-mm-diameter single circular channel. The test runs have been performed during vaporization at around 1.85 bar, corresponding to 31°C saturation temperature. As a peculiar characteristic of the present technique, the heat transfer coefficient is not measured by imposing the heat flux; instead, the boiling process is governed by controlling the inlet temperature of the heating secondary fluid. In the data, mass velocity ranges between 200 and 400 kg m^?2 s^?1, with heat flux varying from 5 to 85 kW m^?2 and vapor quality from 0.05 up to 0.8. Since these data are not measured at uniform heat flux conditions, a proper analysis is performed to enlighten the influence of the different parameters and to compare the present data to those obtained when the heat flux is imposed. Besides, the test runs have been carried out in a double mode: by increasing the water-to-refrigerant temperature difference and by decreasing it. Finally, the experimental data are compared to models available in the literature for predicting the heat transfer coefficients inside microchannels.     

The GAUGAA Motif Is Responsible for the Binding between circSMARCA5 and SRSF1 and Related Downstream Effects on Glioblastoma Multiforme Cell Migration and Angiogenic Potential

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a large class of RNAs with regulatory functions within cells. We recently showed that circSMARCA5 is a tumor suppressor in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and acts as a decoy for Serine and Arginine Rich Splicing Factor 1 (SRSF1) through six predicted binding sites (BSs). Here we characterized RNA motifs functionally involved in the interaction between circSMARCA5 and SRSF1. Three different circSMARCA5 molecules (Mut1, Mut2, Mut3), each mutated in two predicted SRSF1 BSs at once, were obtained through PCR-based replacement of wild-type (WT) BS sequences and cloned in three independent pcDNA3 vectors. Mut1 significantly decreased its capability to interact with SRSF1 as compared to WT, based on the RNA immunoprecipitation assay. In silico analysis through the “Find Individual Motif Occurrences” (FIMO) algorithm showed GAUGAA as an experimentally validated SRSF1 binding motif significantly overrepresented within both predicted SRSF1 BSs mutated in Mut1 (q-value = 0.0011). U87MG and CAS-1, transfected with Mut1, significantly increased their migration with respect to controls transfected with WT, as revealed by the cell exclusion zone assay. Immortalized human brain microvascular endothelial cells (IM-HBMEC) exposed to conditioned medium (CM) harvested from U87MG and CAS-1 transfected with Mut1 significantly sprouted more than those treated with CM harvested from U87MG and CAS-1 transfected with WT, as shown by the tube formation assay. qRT-PCR showed that the intracellular pro- to anti-angiogenic Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGFA) mRNA isoform ratio and the amount of total VEGFA mRNA secreted in CM significantly increased in Mut1-transfected CAS-1 as compared to controls transfected with WT. Our data suggest that GAUGAA is the RNA motif responsible for the interaction between circSMARCA5 and SRSF1 as well as for the circSMARCA5-mediated control of GBM cell migration and angiogenic potential.     

Energy intensity of maritime trades: Evidences from the EX-TREMIS database

This paper describes the energy consumption performance of sea-going ships engaged in the EU27 seaborne trades based on data and parameters resulting from the EX-TREMIS (EXploring non road TRansport EMISsions in Europe) database. EX-TREMIS is a comprehensive database of fleet and transport activity data, specific energy consumption, emission factors and total emissions from rail, maritime and air transport in the European Union. The EX-TREMIS maritime model derives from a mixture of top–down and bottom–up approaches for estimating pollutant emissions from shipping activities. The model did not use direct observations of actual trips, but empirically derived the number of equivalent-ships. Cargo type shipments were linked to seven ship type categories for which a further segmentation by ship size (three length classes), type and age of the main engine and type of fuel was applied.     

Low-power high-speed rail-to-rail LCD output buffer with dual-path push–pull operation and quiescent current control

The present paper addresses a new compact low-power high-speed output buffer amplifier topology for large-size liquid crystal display applications. The suggested buffer achieves fast driving performance, draws a low quiescent current during static operation and offers a rail-to-rail common-mode input range. The circuit provides enhanced slewing capabilities with a limited power consumption by simultaneously exploiting the push–pull output sections of two basic complementary-type input amplifiers to realize a dual-path push–pull operation of the output stage. An auxiliary biasing network integrated in the input differential stage allows the quiescent bias conditions of the class-AB output stage to be inherently controlled without additional current dissipation. Post-layout simulation results confirm that the proposed amplifier can drive a 1-nF column line load within a 0.9-μs settling time under a 3-V full voltage swing, while drawing only 3.5-μA quiescent current. Monte Carlo simulations are finally carried out, showing a good degree of robustness of the proposed output buffer against process and mismatch variations.