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Ionic liquids (ILs) have been extensively studied as replacements to sulfolane in the separation of aromatics from alkanes. The employment of ILs could reduce energy requirements and operating costs of the aromatic extraction unit as a result of their nonvolatile character. However, the ILs studied so far have shown mass-based aromatic distribution ratios lower than the sulfolane values, which would increase the solvent-to-feed ratio in the extractor. To overcome this drawback, we tested the performance of the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tricyanomethanide ([bmim][TCM]) and the 1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium tricyanomethanide ([4bmpy][TCM]) in the separation of toluene from n-heptane, exhibiting the [4bmpy][TCM] mass-based toluene distribution ratios and toluene/n-heptane selectivities higher than those of sulfolane. We also studied the vapor-liquid recovery of the extracted hydrocarbons from the ILs, obtaining relative volatilities of n-heptane from toluene substantially higher in the presence ILs than those without ILs. A thermophysical characterization of the ILs was also made by measuring their densities, viscosities, thermal stabilities, and estimating their maximum operation temperatures. Finally, the regeneration and reuse of the ILs was studied on successive recovery cycles. After five recovery cycles, ILs have shown the same extractive capacity., MINECO, Comunidad de Madrid, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

En esta Tesis Doctoral se aborda el uso de disolventes naturales, como son los terpenos y los disolventes eutécticos mediante de la extracción líquido-líquido para la eliminación de contaminantes y recuperación de compuestos de interés de aguas residuales. La técnica estudiada es la extracción líquido-líquido que habitualmente se emplean disolventes convencionales como compuestos orgánicos derivados del petróleo, con alta toxicidad y no renovables. En este sentido, surge la búsqueda de aplicar nuevos disolventes alternativos más sostenibles y verdes. Los terpenoides, compuestos derivados de las plantas, se han seleccionado para cumplir esta función. Además, también se han estudiado disolventes eutécticos formados por terpenos. La aplicación de los biodisolventes se ha aplicado a 3 problemáticas principales en las aguas residuales:- Eliminación de contaminantes de aguas residuales. Se ha enfocado la investigación en la eliminación de fenoles (fenol, clorofenol, nitrofenol), y bisfenol A, que pueden encontrarse en efluentes industriales de diferente procedencia.- Recuperación de compuestos de interés. Se ha enfocado la investigación a la obtención de antioxidantes de aguas residuales de la fabricación de aceite de oliva y la recuperación de ácidos grasos volátiles de efluentes acuosos.- Eliminación de contaminantes emergentes. La investigación se ha enfocado en la eliminación de fármacos de aguas hospitalarias y la separación de pesticidas azólicos. En el proceso de extracción se han estudiado diferentes condiciones de operación como son la relación disolvente/alimento, la temperatura, pH de la disolución acuosa inicial, tipo de matriz acuosa, concentración inicial de solutos y tipo de disolvente. Además, se ha comparado en todas las investigaciones los resultados con los disolventes naturales con convencionales. Se ha estudiado el escalado del proceso de extracción mediante ensayos en continuo, contracorriente y/o corriente cruzada. Por último, en busca del estudio d, This PhD Thesis deals with using natural solvents such as terpenes and eutectic solvents with the liquid-liquid extraction technique for removing pollutants and recovering compounds of interest from wastewater. This research arises from new technological and environmental challenges. The technique studied is liquid-liquid extraction. This requires the use of solvents, which conventionally have been organic compounds derived from petroleum, with high toxicity and non-renewable. In this sense, the search to apply new alternatives, more sustainable and green solvents has arisen. Terpenoids, plant-derived compounds, have been selected to fulfil this function. In addition, eutectic solvents formed by these compounds have also been studied. The application of biosolvents has been applied to 3 main problems in wastewater:- Removal of pollutants from wastewater. Research has focused on eliminating phenols (phenol, chlorophenol, nitrophenol) and bisphenol A, which can be found inindustrial effluents of different origin.- Recovery of compounds of interest. Research has focused on obtaining antioxidants from olive oil mill wastewater and recovering volatile fatty acids from aqueous effluents.- Elimination of emerging pollutants. Research has focused on the elimination of pharmaceuticals from hospital wastewaters and the separation of azole pesticides...

La presente investigación se ha realizado en el grupo de investigación de Catálisis y Procesos de Separación (CyPS) perteneciente al departamento de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). La investigación se encuentra dentro del proyecto del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Ref. CTM2017-84033-R) Utilización de CO2 capturado para la obtención de metanol en un reactor PSA (CARBONOL).Uno de los mayores desafíos a los que se enfrenta la sociedad en la actualidad es el Cambio Climático, y las consecuencias de este sobre los seres vivos. El Cambio Climático abarca todas las modificaciones que se producen globalmente en el clima, siendo algunas de ellas de origen humano, o antropogénicas, y otras de origen natural debidas a ciclos terrestres..., The present research has been developed in the Catalysis and Separation Processes (CyPS) research group belonging to the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). The research is within the project of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref. CTM2017-84033-R) Utilization of captured CO2 to obtain methanol in a PSA reactor (CARBONOL).One of society's greatest challenges today is Climate Change and its consequences on living beings. Climate Change encompasses all the modifications that occur globally in the climate, some of them being of human origin, or anthropogenic, and others of natural origin due to terrestrial cycles...

Using CO2 from biogenic sources to produce fuels is one of the most attractive applications in climate change mitigation, as it leads to the replacement of fossil fuels and contributes to the circular economy. By this means, the primary purpose of this paper is to design a biogas methanation process to produce synthetic natural gas (SNG) suitable to be fed into the gas grid. In this way, a SERP process was proposed in which the equilibrium is overcome by eliminating the co-produced water using a selective adsorbent, such as zeolite 3A. For this purpose, two different catalysts were (NiAl2O3 and Ni5A) and compared with a commercial catalyst. First, the catalytic performance of the three catalysts was studied in an experimental setup, discarding the Ni5A catalyst due to its lower reaction yields. Subsequently, a sorption-enhanced reaction process (SERP) was designed by simulation using the experimental kinetic data obtained and a theoretical model of reaction/adsorption cycles design. The PSASIM software, previously registered by the research group, was used for the simulation. The proposed process consisted of three main stages: a first reaction/adsorption stage where the biogas was upgraded to SNG with the corresponding water adsorption by the catalyst/adsorbent, and a second and third stages (purge and rinse) where the retained water in the adsorbent is desorbed and eliminated from the process. The process variables studied were temperature and biogas composition fed to the process. Finally, at 488 K and a residual waste biogas composition (55–60 % CH4), CO2 conversions of 99.55 % and selectivities towards methane of 99.99 % were achieved using NiAl2O3-zeolite3A mixture. In addition, the purity of the methane produced was 98.6 % molar in the product., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

La minería en el pasado ha dejado escombreras al descubierto que suponen un riesgo de transferencia de elementos traza a otras zonas por erosión hídrica y eólica. La acumulación de metales y metaloides puede representar un grave problema de contaminación ambiental debido a la transferencia de éstos a la cadena trófica. La fitorremediación es una técnica que utiliza plantas para restaurar suelos contaminados, logrando la eliminación, movilización, estabilización, neutralización y degradación de compuestos tóxicos presentes en el suelo y agua. Este proceso es más eficiente cuando se aplica en conjunto con microorganismos que promueven el crecimiento vegetal (fitorremediación asistida). Este tipo de asociación facilita el establecimiento de la planta en diversos ecosistemas otorgando a las plantas una ventaja competitiva sobre otras especies menos adaptadas. En este estudio se examina la fitorremediación como una solución natural para descontaminar suelos, con un enfoque específico en la mina de la Plata de Bustarviejo. Se ha evaluado el potencial de bacterias rizosféricas promotoras del crecimiento vegetal (PGPR), aisladas de la rizósfera de Digitalis thapsi. Las cepas seleccionadas incluyen Bacillus proteolyticus, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas fluorescens y Pseudomonas graminis. Se ha evaluado su capacidad para producir ácido indolacético (AIA) y de solubilizar fosfatos. Finalmente, con los resultados de la evaluación de las bacterias se propone un procedimiento para implementar la fitorremediación asistida con microorganismos en una escombrera de la mina.

Using CO2 from biogenic sources to produce fuels is one of the most attractive applications in climate change mitigation, as it leads to the replacement of fossil fuels and contributes to the circular economy. By this means, the primary purpose of this paper is to design a biogas methanation process to produce synthetic natural gas (SNG) suitable to be fed into the gas grid. In this way, a SERP process was proposed in which the equilibrium is overcome by eliminating the co-produced water using a selective adsorbent, such as zeolite 3A. For this purpose, two different catalysts were (NiAl2O3 and Ni5A) and compared with a commercial catalyst. First, the catalytic performance of the three catalysts was studied in an experimental setup, discarding the Ni5A catalyst due to its lower reaction yields. Subsequently, a sorption-enhanced reaction process (SERP) was designed by simulation using the experimental kinetic data obtained and a theoretical model of reaction/adsorption cycles design. The PSASIM software, previously registered by the research group, was used for the simulation. The proposed process consisted of three main stages: a first reaction/adsorption stage where the biogas was upgraded to SNG with the corresponding water adsorption by the catalyst/adsorbent, and a second and third stages (purge and rinse) where the retained water in the adsorbent is desorbed and eliminated from the process. The process variables studied were temperature and biogas composition fed to the process. Finally, at 488 K and a residual waste biogas composition (55–60 % CH4), CO2 conversions of 99.55 % and selectivities towards methane of 99.99 % were achieved using NiAl2O3-zeolite3A mixture. In addition, the purity of the methane produced was 98.6 % molar in the product., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit. SMRs encompass a variety of reactor technologies including light water reactors, high temperature gas reactors, molten salt reactors, liquid metal cooled fast reactors, and heat pipe technology-based reactors. The research and design of these diverse SMR types require a broad set of technological capabilities related to nuclear engineering and safety. Within this context, this article attempts to assess the current state of research and technological progress achieved by the Spanish research groups and companies. The results reveal a significant level of maturity among these groups and companies in various domains such as neutronic analysis, thermal hydraulic analysis, the improvement of models related to severe accident scenarios and an active involvement in the design of novel SMR.

This study provides a comprehensive perspective on the deregulated pathways and impaired biological functions prevalent in human glioblastoma (GBM). In order to characterize differences in gene expression between individuals diagnosed with GBM and healthy brain tissue, we have designed and manufactured a specific, custom DNA microarray. The results obtained from differential gene expression analysis were validated by RT-qPCR. The datasets obtained from the analysis of common differential expressed genes in our cohort of patients were used to generate protein-protein interaction networks of functionally enriched genes and their biological functions. This network analysis, let us to identify 16 genes that exhibited either up-regulation (CDK4, MYC, FOXM1, FN1, E2F7, HDAC1, TNC, LAMC1, EIF4EBP1 and ITGB3) or down-regulation (PRKACB, MEF2C, CAMK2B, MAPK3, MAP2K1 and PENK) in all GBM patients. Further investigation of these genes and enriched pathways uncovered in this investigation promises to serve as a foundational step in advancing our comprehension of the molecular mechanisms underpinning GBM pathogenesis. Consequently, the present work emphasizes the critical role that the unveiled molecular pathways likely play in shaping innovative therapeutic approaches for GBM management. We finally proposed in this study a list of compounds that target hub of GBM-related genes, some of which are already in clinical use, underscoring the potential of those genes as targets for GBM treatment.

En la elaboración de un proyecto con contenido o interés patrimonial, entran en juego muchos factores, desde la evaluación de los elementos patrimoniales o su interés cultural, pasando por su adaptación al momento en que se ejecuta, con normativas, procesos y materiales tal vez más avanzados que en origen. En esencia, este TFE quiere exponer las líneas de actuación asumidas y ejecutadas, para la ejecución del proyecto, teniendo en cuenta su valor patrimonial, así como los compromisos adquiridos durante el proceso entre administración, técnicos y propiedad. Los aspectos económicos no se han tenido en cuenta. Este documento comprende varias partes, la inicial, siguiendo el “método sistémico de intervención en edificios existentes”, que comprende la caracterización del edifico, su valor histórico y su estado en origen. En segundo término, se estudia la propuesta del Proyecto Ejecutivo, teniendo en cuenta la integración de los elementos a conservar, las prestaciones que debe cubrir el edificio actualmente y haciendo unas reflexiones previas. A continuación, se estudia la ejecución del proyecto, prestando especial atención en cómo se integran definitivamente los elementos patrimoniales, sus cambios de funcionalidad y como se adecuan las prestaciones de energéticas y de confort del edificio al siglo XXI. Como base documental se han estudiado la propia documentación del Proyecto Nexus, el “PLA ESPECIAL URBANÍSTIC I DE MILLORA URBANA DE LA FINCA SITUADA AL CARRER MALLORCA NÚMERO 234 DE BARCELONA PER A LA CONSTRUCCIÓ D’UNA RESIDENCIA GERIÀTRICA EN EL SÒL D’EQUIPAMENT I D’HABITATGE PLURIFAMILIAR EN EL SÒL RESIDENCIAL”, el Proyecto Ejecutivo, el Plan de mantenimiento fachadas y patio central, los cálculos de Apeos, TFG ”DISSENY D'UNA METODOLOGIA D'AIXECAMENT FOTOGRAMÈTRIC PER RECTIFICACIÓ AMB PYTHON. CAS PRÀCTIC EN PAVIMENT NOLLA”, documentación gráfica aportada por DEO y propia, y visitas de obra realizadas con DEO. Como conclusión se muestran varios giros que suceden durante

The ionic liquids (ILs) has been widely studied as potential replacements of conventional solvents in the extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from alkanes. However, the majority of the papers have been focused in obtaining experimental data of liquid-liquid equilibria without studying whole process of extraction and separation of the extracted hydrocarbons from the solvent. In this paper, a computer-aided methodology combining molecular simulation by COSMO-based methodology and process simulation by Aspen Plus has been employed to study the extraction process of aromatic hydrocarbons from pyrolysis gasoline employing a binary mixture of 1-ethyl-4-methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([4empy][NTf2]) and the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([emim][DCA]) ILs as solvent. A comparison between experimental data and the predictions obtained by the COSMO-based thermodynamic model of liquid-liquid and vapor-liquid equilibria and physical properties of the ILs was made for validation purpose. Process simulations were performed employing three configurations with one, two, or three flash distillations in the recovery section and the IL mixture over the whole range of composition as solvent. The configuration with three flash distillations and the binary IL mixture with a 75 % of [4empy][NTf2] were selected as the optimal conditions to increase aromatic recovery and purity., MINECO, Comunidad de Madrid, MINECO, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) based on the cation choline have been proposed to date for a variety of applications due to their remarkable physicochemical properties. The thermal stability is one of the first properties of DESs that needs to be known since it limits the maximum operating temperature for which these solvents are useful in many applications. In this work, the thermal stability of eight different choline chloride-based DESs formed using levulinic acid, malonic acid, glycerol, ethylene glycol, phenylacetic acid, phenylpropionic acid, urea, and glucose as hydrogen bond donors (HBDs) has been studied using isothermal and dynamic thermogravimetric analysis/Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (TGA/FTIR-ATR) techniques. Isothermal and dynamic FTIR-ATR was carried out to confirm the formation and to show the structural changes with temperature of the DESs, respectively. The onset decomposition temperatures of the DESs were obtained from dynamic TGA. However, the maximum operating temperatures determined by isothermal TGA in long-term scenarios have demonstrated to be significantly much lower than the onset decomposition temperatures for every DES studied. The thermal stability and the boiling point of HBDs have a crucial impact on the maximum operating temperature of DESs., MINECO, Comunidad de Madrid, MINECO, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

This work has been supported by the Spanish MICINN through the project CATAD3.0 PID2020-116478RB-I00. In addition, the authors thank the financial support from the Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) through the Industrial PhD projects (IND2017/AMB-7720 and IND2019/AMB-17114), REMTAVARES Network (S2018/EMT-4341) and the European Social Fund. MVG also thanks Grant PID2021-125295OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” and the Junta de Extremadura and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER), through Grant No. GR21039. The authors are grateful for the Supercomputer facility LUSITANIA funded by CenitS and the Computaex Foundation., Research studies combining the detailed physicochemical properties' analysis, the catalytic activity in different real aqueous matrices, the proposal of degradation mechanisms and the stability of the intermediates/by-products by means of the Density-functional theory (DFT) are scarce. Therefore, this work gives a step forward in the field of circular economy and the removal of emerging pollutants such as the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, covering all the previously aspects mentioned, using four iron and nickel-based catalysts from two different sewage sludge. Experimental results revealed a significant influence of both the source of the sewage sludge and the activating agent used (iron chloride, nickel chloride and a mixture of both) on the physicochemical properties of the materials and, hence, on their catalytic activity. FTIR studies and chemical composition evidenced that the use of this biomass precursor leads to the generation of a wide variety of functional groups and heteroatoms in the synthesized catalyst structure. Moreover, they showed a combination of Type I-IV isotherms with H3-H4 type hysteresis loops, being mainly mesoporous materials and exhibiting a moderate microporosity except when nickel chloride was used solely as activating agent. The carbonaceous materials reached ciprofloxacin adsorption capacities in the range of 40.4–73.9 mg/g. The use of nickel chloride showed the lowest adsorption contribution and catalytic activity. The bimetallic catalyst (synthesized from a mixture of iron and nickel chloride) showed slightly higher catalytic activity than that found for the iron catalyst, but the metal leaching was also considerably higher. Consequently, the use of iron chloride solely as activating agent seems to be the better alternative, achieving a maximum ciprofloxacin removal around 99.7 % and an iron leaching concentration into the reaction medium of 0.48–0.61 mg/L. The main degradation pathways of ciprofloxacin were proposed according to the det, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, European Social Fund, Junta de Extremadura, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

The extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from reformer and pyrolysis gasolines is currently performed by liquid-liquid extraction using organic solvents. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are being widely studied as environmentally benign alternatives to conventional solvents since DES can be prepared using nontoxic and renewable chemicals. In this work, we have studied for the first time the application of DES in the extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from reformer and pyrolysis gasolines. We have tested six choline chloride-based DES formed by ethylene glycol, glycerol, levulinic acid, phenylacetic acid, malonic acid, and urea as hydrogen bond donors. COSMO-RS method was employed to predict the performance of the DES in the extraction of aromatics, whereas experimental results indicate that DES formed by choline chloride and levulinic acid has exhibited the most adequate extractive and physical properties. Afterward, the simulation and optimization of the whole process for extraction of aromatics, recovery of extracted hydrocarbons, and regeneration of the solvent have been performed. The proposed process of dearomatization could work at moderate temperatures using a cheap, sustainable, and nontoxic solvent., MINECO, Comunidad de Madrid, MINECO, MINECO for his Juan de la Cierva-Formación Contract, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

This work has been supported by the Spanish MICINN through the project CATAD3.0 PID2020–116478RB-I00. In addition, the authors thank the financial support from the Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) through the Industrial PhD projects (IND2017/AMB-7720 and IND2019/AMB-17114), REMTAVARES Network (S2018/EMT-4341) and the European Social Fund. MVG also thanks Grant PID2021-125295OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” and the Junta de Extremadura and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER), through Grant No. GR21039. The authors are grateful for the Supercomputer facility LUSITANIA funded by CenitS and the Computaex Foundation., In this work, the sewage sludge-derived activated carbon (SAC) loaded with iron nanoparticles (FeSAC) showed a highly effective catalytic activity in the degradation of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin by the CWAO reaction. The properties of FeSAC catalyst were studied by using N2 adsorption-desorption measurements at 77 K, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The CWAO reaction was evaluated at different temperatures (120–140 ºC), total pressure (10–30 bar) and catalyst doses (0.1–0.7 g/L) in a batch reactor. In this regard, temperature and catalyst dosage showed a significant impact on the removal of the tested antibiotic. By using a catalyst dose of 0.7 g/L, ciprofloxacin degradation and CO2 selectivity were higher than 99 % and 60 %, respectively, and were achieved within two hours at 140 °C and 20 bar. The loss of the active phase (Fe) of the catalyst in the reaction medium was measured, obtaining negligible values (less than 24 ppb). This catalyst showed high stability under the tested reaction conditions. In addition, a potential equation was proposed to correctly describe the evolution of ciprofloxacin degradation. The calculated activation energy of the CWAO process was 53.8 kJ/mol. Additionally, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed to illustrate the degradation mechanism of ciprofloxacin, where the electronic energies indicated the compounds that are most difficult to degrade by CWAO. Finally, a proof of concept using an environmentally-relevant matrix was carried out, verifying the technical feasibility of the synthesized catalyst for its application with more complex matrices, consecutive reaction cycles and at a low treatment cost, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

This research was funded by the General Direction of Universities and Regional Government of Madrid through REMTAVARES Network P2018/EMT-4321 and the European Social Fund. Ysabel Huaccallo-Aguilar thanks for her pre-doctoral scholarship to the National program Scholarship (PRONABEC, in Spanish abbreviations) of the Ministry of Education of Peru with the National Scholarship and Educational Loan Program PRONABEC-President of the Republic Scholarship., The study was focused on the application of catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) with a synthesized magnetic catalyst (Fe3O4/MWCNTs) for the treatment of real water matrices spiked with pharmaceutical compounds. CWPO was carried out by modifying the initial pH of surface water (SW), wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, brewery wastewater (BW) and hospital wastewater (HW), and the effect of the addition of the emerging pollutants naproxen (NAP) and diclofenac (DCF). From the experimental results, pH and concentration of NAP and DCF in CWPO were crucial factors in the successful pollutants removal from water matrices. The lab-prepared catalyst showed high removal rates of NAP and DCF from different water matrices spiked with the NAP-DCF mixture at pH 5.0. The highest average removal rate of TOC (75%), NAP (66%), DCF (76%), TN (39%) and aromaticity (68.39%) was obtained for SW matrix using 1.0 g L−1 of catalyst, pH ≈ 5.0, 5 mM of H2O2 and 60 °C. The mineralization decreased with the increase of the initial TOC concentration of the tested matrix. By CWPO tests of the real water matrices it was demonstrated that DCF removal was higher than NAP. From the recyclability tests, the catalyst demonstrated high activity and stability along three consecutive CWPO cycles of 8 h each one. The pseudo-second order model well-described the degradation of NAP and DCF. Finally, aromaticity and toxicity of the effluents were greatly reduced after CWPO treatment. This work demonstrated that CWPO with the magnetic catalyst is an efficient method to remove DCF-NAP mixtures from real aqueous matrices, Comunidad de Madrid, European Social Fund, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

The pyrolysis gasoline is one of the main sources of aromatic hydrocarbons as a result of their high content in these compounds. Organic solvents such as sulfolane are currently employed in the extraction of aromatic but the ionic liquids (ILs) have been recently proposed as potential replacement. In this work, we have studied the use of the bis(1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium) tetrathiocyanatocobaltate ([emim]2[Co(SCN)4]) and bis(1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium) tetrathiocyanatocobaltate ([bmim]2[Co(SCN)4]) ILs in the extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from pyrolysis gasoline. The extractive properties of both tetrathiocyanatocobaltate-based ILs were compared to those of other promising ILs and sulfolane, showing the highest values. To perform the simulation of the whole process, we have experimentally studied the liquid-liquid extraction of aromatics from pyrolysis gasoline and the recovery of the extracted hydrocarbons from the ILs. In addition, a thermophysical characterization of the ionic solvents was performed measuring their densities, viscosities, thermal stabilities, maximum operation temperatures, and specific heats. Employing the experimental data, the extractor was simulated using the Kremser equation whereas the recovery section formed by flash distillation units was simulated using a new algorithm specifically design to the case of a high concentration of non-volatile compounds., MINECO, Comunidad de Madrid, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit. SMRs encompass a variety of reactor technologies including light water reactors, high temperature gas reactors, molten salt reactors, liquid metal cooled fast reactors, and heat pipe technology-based reactors. The research and design of these diverse SMR types require a broad set of technological capabilities related to nuclear engineering and safety. Within this context, this article attempts to assess the current state of research and technological progress achieved by the Spanish research groups and companies. The results reveal a significant level of maturity among these groups and companies in various domains such as neutronic analysis, thermal hydraulic analysis, the improvement of models related to severe accident scenarios and an active involvement in the design of novel SMR., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Although mitochondria are widely studied organelles, the recent interest in the role of mitochondrial small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs), miRNAs, and more recently, piRNAs, is providing new functional perspectives in germ cell development and differentiation. piRNAs (PIWI-interacting RNAs) are single-stranded sncRNAs of mostly about 20–35 nucleotides, generated from the processing of pre-piRNAs. We leverage next-generation sequencing data obtained from mouse primordial germ cells and somatic cells purified from early-differentiating embryonic ovaries and testis from 11.5 to 13.5 days postcoitum. Using bioinformatic tools, we elucidate (i) the origins of piRNAs as transcribed from mitochondrial DNA fragments inserted in the nucleus or from the mitochondrial genome; (ii) their levels of expression; and (iii) their potential roles, as well as their association with genomic regions encoding other sncRNAs (such as tRNAs and rRNAs) and the mitochondrial regulatory region (D-loop). Finally, our results suggest how nucleo-mitochondrial communication, both anterograde and retrograde signaling, may be mediated by mitochondria-associated piRNAs.

In this chapter we illustrate the use of some Machine Learning techniques in the context of omics data. More precisely, we review and evaluate the use of Random Forest and Penalized Multinomial Logistic Regression for integrative analysis of genomics and immunomics in pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, we propose the use of association rules with predictive purposes to overcome the low predictive power of the previously mentioned models. Finally, we apply the reviewed methods to a real data set from TCGA made of 107 tumoral pancreatic samples and 117,486 germline SNPs, showing the good performance of the proposed methods to predict the immunological infiltration in pancreatic cancer.

This work has been supported by the Spanish MICINN through the project CATAD3.0 PID2020-116478RB-I00. In addition, the authors thank the financial support from the Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) through the Industrial PhD projects (IND2017/AMB-7720 and IND2019/AMB-17114), REMTAVARES Network (S2018/EMT-4341) and the European Social Fund. MVG also thanks Grant PID2021-125295OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” and the Junta de Extremadura and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER), through Grant No. GR21039. The authors are grateful for the Supercomputer facility LUSITANIA funded by CenitS and the Computaex Foundation., Research studies combining the detailed physicochemical properties' analysis, the catalytic activity in different real aqueous matrices, the proposal of degradation mechanisms and the stability of the intermediates/by-products by means of the Density-functional theory (DFT) are scarce. Therefore, this work gives a step forward in the field of circular economy and the removal of emerging pollutants such as the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, covering all the previously aspects mentioned, using four iron and nickel-based catalysts from two different sewage sludge. Experimental results revealed a significant influence of both the source of the sewage sludge and the activating agent used (iron chloride, nickel chloride and a mixture of both) on the physicochemical properties of the materials and, hence, on their catalytic activity. FTIR studies and chemical composition evidenced that the use of this biomass precursor leads to the generation of a wide variety of functional groups and heteroatoms in the synthesized catalyst structure. Moreover, they showed a combination of Type I-IV isotherms with H3-H4 type hysteresis loops, being mainly mesoporous materials and exhibiting a moderate microporosity except when nickel chloride was used solely as activating agent. The carbonaceous materials reached ciprofloxacin adsorption capacities in the range of 40.4–73.9 mg/g. The use of nickel chloride showed the lowest adsorption contribution and catalytic activity. The bimetallic catalyst (synthesized from a mixture of iron and nickel chloride) showed slightly higher catalytic activity than that found for the iron catalyst, but the metal leaching was also considerably higher. Consequently, the use of iron chloride solely as activating agent seems to be the better alternative, achieving a maximum ciprofloxacin removal around 99.7 % and an iron leaching concentration into the reaction medium of 0.48–0.61 mg/L. The main degradation pathways of ciprofloxacin were proposed according to the det, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), European Commission, Junta de Extremadura, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

Horizonte 2020. Marie-Curie Nº 847635., Recent evidence suggests that vitamin D is involved in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The aim of this study was to analyze the electrophysiological and contractile properties of pulmonary arteries (PAs) in vitamin D receptor knockout mice (Vdr−/−). PAs were dissected and mounted in a wire myograph. Potassium membrane currents were recorded in freshly isolated PA smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) using the conventional whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Potential vitamin D response elements (VDREs) in Kv7 channels coding genes were studied, and their protein expression was analyzed. Vdr−/− mice did not show a pulmonary hypertensive phenotype, as neither right ventricular hypertrophy nor endothelial dysfunction was apparent. However, resistance PA from these mice exhibited increased response to retigabine, a Kv7 activator, compared to controls and heterozygous mice. Furthermore, the current sensitive to XE991, a Kv7 inhibitor, was also higher in PASMCs from knockout mice. A possible VDRE was found in the gene coding for KCNE4, the regulatory subunit of Kv7.4. Accordingly, Vdr−/− mice showed an increased expression of KCNE4 in the lungs, with no changes in Kv7.1 and Kv7.4. These results indicate that the absence of Vdr in mice, as occurred with vitamin D deficient rats, is not sufficient to induce PAH. However, the contribution of Kv7 channel currents to the regulation of PA tone is increased in Vdr−/− mice, resembling animals and humans suffering from PAH., European Commission, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (España), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Depto. de Farmacología y Toxicología, Depto. de Fisiología, Fac. de Medicina, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

The ability to recover acetic acid and related byproducts from wastewater treatment plants would unlock a sustainable source of important building block-chemicals that are currently derived from fossil fuels. We report here a two-stage flow-based procedure for the extraction and alkaline back-extraction of acetic acid from an aqueous feed solution, using geraniol or eucalyptol as bio-derived organic solvents. In the first stage, acetic acid is extracted from the feed solution into the organic solvent; and, in the second stage, acetic acid is back-extracted into a 2-M NaOHaq solution, leaving a regenerated solvent that may be used for further extractions. Recovery efficiencies of up to 51 % and 37 % were obtained using geraniol and eucalyptol, respectively. By back-extracting acetic acid into a smaller volume of NaOH than the feed solution from which it was extracted, more than threefold enhancements in acetic acid concentration were achieved with respect to the feed solution. Overall acetic acid recovery efficiencies of 57 ±1% and 46 ±2% were obtained for geraniol and eucalyptol, respectively. Both solvents were successfully used for multiple extraction/back-extraction cycles, with geraniol giving a stable concentration of back-extracted acetic acid over the course of ten cycles., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

This work has been supported by the Spanish MICINN through the project CATAD3.0 PID2020–116478RB-I00. In addition, the authors thank the financial support from the Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) through the Industrial PhD projects (IND2017/AMB-7720 and IND2019/AMB-17114), REMTAVARES Network (S2018/EMT-4341) and the European Social Fund. MVG also thanks Grant PID2021-125295OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” and the Junta de Extremadura and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER), through Grant No. GR21039. The authors are grateful for the Supercomputer facility LUSITANIA funded by CenitS and the Computaex Foundation., In this work, the sewage sludge-derived activated carbon (SAC) loaded with iron nanoparticles (FeSAC) showed a highly effective catalytic activity in the degradation of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin by the CWAO reaction. The properties of FeSAC catalyst were studied by using N2 adsorption-desorption measurements at 77 K, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The CWAO reaction was evaluated at different temperatures (120–140 ºC), total pressure (10–30 bar) and catalyst doses (0.1–0.7 g/L) in a batch reactor. In this regard, temperature and catalyst dosage showed a significant impact on the removal of the tested antibiotic. By using a catalyst dose of 0.7 g/L, ciprofloxacin degradation and CO2 selectivity were higher than 99 % and 60 %, respectively, and were achieved within two hours at 140 °C and 20 bar. The loss of the active phase (Fe) of the catalyst in the reaction medium was measured, obtaining negligible values (less than 24 ppb). This catalyst showed high stability under the tested reaction conditions. In addition, a potential equation was proposed to correctly describe the evolution of ciprofloxacin degradation. The calculated activation energy of the CWAO process was 53.8 kJ/mol. Additionally, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed to illustrate the degradation mechanism of ciprofloxacin, where the electronic energies indicated the compounds that are most difficult to degrade by CWAO. Finally, a proof of concept using an environmentally-relevant matrix was carried out, verifying the technical feasibility of the synthesized catalyst for its application with more complex matrices, consecutive reaction cycles and at a low treatment cost, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), Junta de Extremadura, European Commission, Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

Valorization of greenhouse gas CO2 is needed to mitigate and reduce climate change impact. The sustainable production of methane to obtain synthetic natural gas (SNG) is one of the most attractive solutions, given current needs. The methanation reaction, known as the Sabatier reaction, is limited by the formation of CO as an intermediate at high temperatures and the formation of H2O as a by-product. For this reason, recent research has focused on the use of catalysts/adsorbents mixtures capable of retaining the water produced as well as being methane-selective at low temperatures. In this work, the kinetic model of a commercial Ni/SiAl catalyst in an experimental reaction bed was obtained. Moreover, the water adsorption capacity of the catalyst has been studied in the typical reaction temperature range (473–623 K), and the adsorption equilibrium and diffusional parameters were determined. With the data obtained from these experiments, the methane production in a cyclic Sorption Enhanced Reaction Process (SERP) has been simulated, adding zeolite 3A as a water selective adsorbent. The process consists of three consecutive stages: an adsorption/reaction stage and two other stages, rinse and purge, to desorb the adsorbed water and remove it by condensation. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to determine the effect of the operational variables on the process performance to obtain methane suitable for domestic natural gas consumption. A CO2 conversion of 99.7 %, methane selectivity of 99.9 %, molar purity of CH4 of 98.2 % as product, and compression energy consumption (6.97 kJ/mol CH4) 99 times lower than methane combustion energy has been obtained, proposing, therefore, a new process of methanation., Ministerio de Universidades (España), Ministerio de Economía (España), Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, APC financiada por la UCM

CO2 capture technologies must be developed to reduce Green House Gas emissions in order to fulfill the Paris Agreement. Adsorption is considered one of the available technologies due to the mild conditions used in the process. Selective sorbents with high CO2 adsorption capacities are needed. In this work, several types of branched polyethylenimines (PEI), with different average molecular weight, are used agglomerated with silica at different amounts by weight. The adsorption has been measured and the kinetic parameters are estimated from breakthrough experiments in a fixed bed. The results showed that the materials produced were selective to CO2 and can be used in adsorption processes, the sample lowest average molecular weight had the higher adsorption capacity., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, APC financiada por la UCM

Olive oil production leads to the generation of olive mill wastewater (OMWW). Due to the presence of phenolic compounds, they are difficult to process, but they represent a source of high-added value chemicals since they have antioxidant and therapeutic properties. This work has studied the extraction of phenolic compounds from a type of OMWW, olive vegetation water, which presents these compounds in a more diluted dosage than in other studied to date, to revalue this waste stream. A real olive vegetation water from a Spanish olive oil producer was used, and liquid-liquid extraction was applied. Terpenoids and terpene-based hydrophobic eutectic solvents were systematically used to extract phenolic compounds following the concentrations of tyrosol, catechol, caffeic acid, and total phenolic content. By molecular simulation with the COSMO-RS method, 4 terpenoids, and 2 eutectic solvents were selected and compared with 2 conventional solvents. The Solvent/Feed ratio in the extraction of phenolic compounds was studied, showing that the solvents with the highest extraction results were geraniol, eucalyptol, and eutectic solvent menthol + camphor, which outperformed conventional solvents methyl isobutyl ketone and diisopropyl ether. Menthol + camphor gave total phenol extraction yields of 88.73% at a Solvent/Feed ratio in volume of 0.50, surpassing all solvents tested. A solvent reuse and regeneration process was applied by back-extraction of the 4 solvents: FTIR results showed the stability of the solvents while maintaining yields in the solvent reuse process. The phenolic compounds could be concentrated in the alkaline phase to factors up to 49.3 to the initial concentration in olive vegetation water. The alkaline phases were neutralized to obtain a precipitate with a caffeic acid content of up to 26 % wt%, and a tyrosol-rich supernatant with a concentration of up to 6.54 g/L. This work proposes a process using natural solvents to extract phenolic compounds from olive v, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

The presence of azole fungicides in aquatic environments is a significant issue due to their toxicity and persistence related to a low removal of these compounds by conventional processes in wastewater treatment plants. A growing environmental public concern is reflected in the inclusion of these compounds in the 2020 and 2022 European Surface Water Watch Lists. Therefore, it is necessary to develop efficient processes that allow their removal sustainably. This work applies liquid-liquid extraction using terpenes as green solvents and terpene-based eutectic solvents to remove azole fungicides from aqueous streams imazalil, metconozale, penconazole, prochloraz, and tebuconazole. First, an initial screening was performed by molecular simulation using the COSMO-RS method. The selected solvents were applied in the individual extraction of azole fungicides, and selecting the solvents thymol+octanoic acid and carvacrol. These solvents have been tested in studies with surface water matrix on the effect of temperature, initial concentration, and pH on extraction performance. From these results, it has been shown that carvacrol is the solvent that is least affected by these variables and obtains extraction yields higher than 97.88%, with a Solvent/Feed ratio up to 0.050, outperforming the conventional solvent methyl isobutyl ketone. This solvent has been used in solvent reuse cycles obtaining a reduction of less than 1% in three extraction cycles. Therefore, carvacrol is presented as a sustainable solvent for the extraction of azole fungicides from aqueous environments., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

Este trabajo introduce una metodología innovadora para reconstruir el orden temporal de ritmos moleculares, un problema central en la cronobiología y la biología de sistemas. La metodología propuesta, denominada **CIRCUST**, permite identificar la relación temporal entre eventos moleculares oscilatorios, aportando un enfoque robusto y escalable para el análisis de datos temporales complejos., PID2019-106363RB-I00

Horizonte 2020. Marie-Curie Nº 847635., Recent evidence suggests that vitamin D is involved in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The aim of this study was to analyze the electrophysiological and contractile properties of pulmonary arteries (PAs) in vitamin D receptor knockout mice (Vdr−/−). PAs were dissected and mounted in a wire myograph. Potassium membrane currents were recorded in freshly isolated PA smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) using the conventional whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Potential vitamin D response elements (VDREs) in Kv7 channels coding genes were studied, and their protein expression was analyzed. Vdr−/− mice did not show a pulmonary hypertensive phenotype, as neither right ventricular hypertrophy nor endothelial dysfunction was apparent. However, resistance PA from these mice exhibited increased response to retigabine, a Kv7 activator, compared to controls and heterozygous mice. Furthermore, the current sensitive to XE991, a Kv7 inhibitor, was also higher in PASMCs from knockout mice. A possible VDRE was found in the gene coding for KCNE4, the regulatory subunit of Kv7.4. Accordingly, Vdr−/− mice showed an increased expression of KCNE4 in the lungs, with no changes in Kv7.1 and Kv7.4. These results indicate that the absence of Vdr in mice, as occurred with vitamin D deficient rats, is not sufficient to induce PAH. However, the contribution of Kv7 channel currents to the regulation of PA tone is increased in Vdr−/− mice, resembling animals and humans suffering from PAH., European Commission, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (España), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Depto. de Farmacología y Toxicología, Depto. de Fisiología, Fac. de Medicina, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

The ability to recover acetic acid and related byproducts from wastewater treatment plants would unlock a sustainable source of important building block-chemicals that are currently derived from fossil fuels. We report here a two-stage flow-based procedure for the extraction and alkaline back-extraction of acetic acid from an aqueous feed solution, using geraniol or eucalyptol as bio-derived organic solvents. In the first stage, acetic acid is extracted from the feed solution into the organic solvent; and, in the second stage, acetic acid is back-extracted into a 2-M NaOHaq solution, leaving a regenerated solvent that may be used for further extractions. Recovery efficiencies of up to 51 % and 37 % were obtained using geraniol and eucalyptol, respectively. By back-extracting acetic acid into a smaller volume of NaOH than the feed solution from which it was extracted, more than threefold enhancements in acetic acid concentration were achieved with respect to the feed solution. Overall acetic acid recovery efficiencies of 57 ±1% and 46 ±2% were obtained for geraniol and eucalyptol, respectively. Both solvents were successfully used for multiple extraction/back-extraction cycles, with geraniol giving a stable concentration of back-extracted acetic acid over the course of ten cycles., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

Olive oil production leads to the generation of olive mill wastewater (OMWW). Due to the presence of phenolic compounds, they are difficult to process, but they represent a source of high-added value chemicals since they have antioxidant and therapeutic properties. This work has studied the extraction of phenolic compounds from a type of OMWW, olive vegetation water, which presents these compounds in a more diluted dosage than in other studied to date, to revalue this waste stream. A real olive vegetation water from a Spanish olive oil producer was used, and liquid-liquid extraction was applied. Terpenoids and terpene-based hydrophobic eutectic solvents were systematically used to extract phenolic compounds following the concentrations of tyrosol, catechol, caffeic acid, and total phenolic content. By molecular simulation with the COSMO-RS method, 4 terpenoids, and 2 eutectic solvents were selected and compared with 2 conventional solvents. The Solvent/Feed ratio in the extraction of phenolic compounds was studied, showing that the solvents with the highest extraction results were geraniol, eucalyptol, and eutectic solvent menthol + camphor, which outperformed conventional solvents methyl isobutyl ketone and diisopropyl ether. Menthol + camphor gave total phenol extraction yields of 88.73% at a Solvent/Feed ratio in volume of 0.50, surpassing all solvents tested. A solvent reuse and regeneration process was applied by back-extraction of the 4 solvents: FTIR results showed the stability of the solvents while maintaining yields in the solvent reuse process. The phenolic compounds could be concentrated in the alkaline phase to factors up to 49.3 to the initial concentration in olive vegetation water. The alkaline phases were neutralized to obtain a precipitate with a caffeic acid content of up to 26 % wt%, and a tyrosol-rich supernatant with a concentration of up to 6.54 g/L. This work proposes a process using natural solvents to extract phenolic compounds from olive v, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

The presence of azole fungicides in aquatic environments is a significant issue due to their toxicity and persistence related to a low removal of these compounds by conventional processes in wastewater treatment plants. A growing environmental public concern is reflected in the inclusion of these compounds in the 2020 and 2022 European Surface Water Watch Lists. Therefore, it is necessary to develop efficient processes that allow their removal sustainably. This work applies liquid-liquid extraction using terpenes as green solvents and terpene-based eutectic solvents to remove azole fungicides from aqueous streams imazalil, metconozale, penconazole, prochloraz, and tebuconazole. First, an initial screening was performed by molecular simulation using the COSMO-RS method. The selected solvents were applied in the individual extraction of azole fungicides, and selecting the solvents thymol+octanoic acid and carvacrol. These solvents have been tested in studies with surface water matrix on the effect of temperature, initial concentration, and pH on extraction performance. From these results, it has been shown that carvacrol is the solvent that is least affected by these variables and obtains extraction yields higher than 97.88%, with a Solvent/Feed ratio up to 0.050, outperforming the conventional solvent methyl isobutyl ketone. This solvent has been used in solvent reuse cycles obtaining a reduction of less than 1% in three extraction cycles. Therefore, carvacrol is presented as a sustainable solvent for the extraction of azole fungicides from aqueous environments., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, Descuento UCM

The management of spent fuel is an issue of great relevance for the future of nuclear energy. In some countries, such as Finland, the construction of a Deep Geological Storage for the long-term cooling, has already begun. In others, the construction of a Centralized Temporary Storage is still being managed, as in Spain, and on-site Dry Cask Storage must be implemented in each nuclear power plant. Several considerations must be taken into account to start building new storage facilities, such as the proper heat removal considering the environmental conditions, the burnup of the spent fuel and the long-term behaviour of the dry cask materials. In order to better evacuate heat, the use of heat pipes is proposed in this study to cool fuel assemblies inside the TN24p dry cask. The objective is to calculate, using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) models, the heat that can be extracted from a TN24p cask with heat pipes and to perform a comparative analysis with respect to a base case without these devices. These data allow exploring the possibility of using the heat for additional applications and give us an idea of how much the temperature is reduced, increasing the temperature margin in the dry cask. The simulations of an eighth of the TN24p cask, carried out with the STAR-CCM+ code, are considered a good starting point to study sensitivity analyses. It was concluded that the determining factor is not the heat sink design but the heat pipe one, which leads to the modification of its equivalent conductivity.

CO2 capture technologies must be developed to reduce Green House Gas emissions in order to fulfill the Paris Agreement. Adsorption is considered one of the available technologies due to the mild conditions used in the process. Selective sorbents with high CO2 adsorption capacities are needed. In this work, several types of branched polyethylenimines (PEI), with different average molecular weight, are used agglomerated with silica at different amounts by weight. The adsorption has been measured and the kinetic parameters are estimated from breakthrough experiments in a fixed bed. The results showed that the materials produced were selective to CO2 and can be used in adsorption processes, the sample lowest average molecular weight had the higher adsorption capacity., Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, APC financiada por la UCM

Valorization of greenhouse gas CO2 is needed to mitigate and reduce climate change impact. The sustainable production of methane to obtain synthetic natural gas (SNG) is one of the most attractive solutions, given current needs. The methanation reaction, known as the Sabatier reaction, is limited by the formation of CO as an intermediate at high temperatures and the formation of H2O as a by-product. For this reason, recent research has focused on the use of catalysts/adsorbents mixtures capable of retaining the water produced as well as being methane-selective at low temperatures. In this work, the kinetic model of a commercial Ni/SiAl catalyst in an experimental reaction bed was obtained. Moreover, the water adsorption capacity of the catalyst has been studied in the typical reaction temperature range (473–623 K), and the adsorption equilibrium and diffusional parameters were determined. With the data obtained from these experiments, the methane production in a cyclic Sorption Enhanced Reaction Process (SERP) has been simulated, adding zeolite 3A as a water selective adsorbent. The process consists of three consecutive stages: an adsorption/reaction stage and two other stages, rinse and purge, to desorb the adsorbed water and remove it by condensation. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to determine the effect of the operational variables on the process performance to obtain methane suitable for domestic natural gas consumption. A CO2 conversion of 99.7 %, methane selectivity of 99.9 %, molar purity of CH4 of 98.2 % as product, and compression energy consumption (6.97 kJ/mol CH4) 99 times lower than methane combustion energy has been obtained, proposing, therefore, a new process of methanation., Ministerio de Universidades (España), Ministerio de Economía (España), Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub, APC financiada por la UCM

El electrocardiograma (ECG) es probablemente el método de diagnóstico no invasivo más importante de la medicina. Numerosos estudios han tratado el problema de la clasificación de enfermedades cardíacas mediante el uso de técnicas de deep learning generalmente, llegando a obtener una alta precisión en muchos casos. Sin embargo, la interpretación clínica que ofrecen es bastante limitada y el coste computacional llega a ser desorbitado. Se propone un enfoque interpretable a través de la descomposición de los latidos del ECG en sus cinco ondas primordiales (P, Q, R, S y T) mediante el novedoso modelo 3DFMMecg, formulado simultáneamente para las 12 derivaciones del ECG. A partir de estadísticos construidos sobre los parámetros de dicho modelo y de distintas covariables demográficas, se han entrenado distintos modelos de machine learning y se ha llevado a cabo un análisis sobre la base de datos PTB-XL. Se han obtenido resultados muy competitivos, de hasta 0,933 de macro AUC con tan solo 228 variables, algunas de las cuales han demostrado tener una gran nivel discriminante entre las clases. En este trabajo, se han desarrollado diversos modelos construidos en base a los parámetros del modelo 3DFMMecg que permiten hacer un diagnóstico automático interpretable y eficaz en tiempo real, de forma que pueda ser útil como apoyo en la toma de decisiones de los profesionales sanitarios., The electrocardiogram (ECG) is probably the most important noninvasive diagnostic method in medicine. Numerous studies have addressed the problem of classifying cardiac diseases by using deep laerning techniques in general, achieving high accuracy in many cases. However, the clinical interpretation they offer is quite limited and the computational cost becomes exorbitant. An interpretable approach is proposed through the decomposition of ECG beats into their five primordial waves (P, Q, R, S and T) by means of the novel 3DFMMecg model, formulated simultaneously for all 12 ECG leads. Based on statistics constructed on the parameters of this model and different demographic covariates, different machine learning models were trained and an analysis was performed on the PTB-XL database. Very competitive results of up to 0.933 macro AUC have been obtained with only 228 variables, some of which have been shown to have a high discriminant level between classes. In this work, several models built on the basis of the parameters of the 3DFMMecg model have been developed to provide an interpretable and efficient automatic diagnosis in real time, so that it can be useful as a decision support for health professionals., Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Grado en Estadística

Las alteraciones en los niveles de creatinina pueden ser indicador de patologías o fallos en la función renal. Los análisis de orina son una de las pruebas más empleadas en la práctica clínica, por su carácter no invasivo, para recoger información sobre una gran variedad de biomarcadores, entre ellos la creatinina. Se requiere de herramientas de diagnóstico precisas para evaluar los niveles y fluctuación de estos biomarcadores. Una de los procedimientos más utilizados por su simplicidad y fácil interpretación son los intervalos de referencia (IRs). Estos IRs proporcionan unos rangos globales de los valores de la medida que sirven como regla para determinar si los individuos están dentro de unos límites “normales”. Sin embargo, estos límites no siempre son útiles ya que el sexo o la edad podrían influir en las variaciones de los biomarcadores. Como alternativa para la construcción de estos IRs, se han utilizado en la literatura los modelos GAMLSS (del inglés Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape). Los GAMLSS son modelos aditivos semi-paramétricos muy flexibles que permiten construir IRs ajustados por las variables demográficas. Este trabajo analiza los datos tomados de la encuesta The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sobre el estado de salud de la población americana y propone el uso de los modelos GAMLSS para la construcción de IRs ajustados por edad, sexo y raza para los niveles de creatinina en población pediátrica y adulta. Los resultados muestran que existe una clara dependencia de la edad, sexo y raza, tanto en población pediátrica como adulta, y en los diferentes parámetros de las distribuciones de interés. Esto pone de manifiesto la utilidad de los modelos GAMLSS para la construcción de IRs., Alterations in creatinine levels can indicate renal pathologies or failures. Urine analysis is one of the most commonly used tests in clinical practice due to its non-invasive nature, to gather information about a wide variety of biomarkers, including creatinine. Accurate diagnostic tools are required to evaluate the levels and fluctuations of these biomarkers. One of the most commonly used procedures, due to its simplicity and easy interpretation, is the use of reference intervals (RIs). RIs provide overall ranges of measurement values that serve as a guideline to determine if individuals are within ”normal”limits. However, these limits may not always be useful as factors such as sex or age could influence biomarker variations. As an alternative for constructing RIs, the literature has employed Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape (GAMLSS) models. GAMLSS models are highly flexible semi-parametric additive models that allow the construction of RIs adjusted for demographic variables. This study analyzes data from The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on the health status of the American population and proposes the use of GAMLSS models to construct age, sex, and race adjusted RIs for creatinine levels in pediatric and adult populations. The results show a clear dependence on age, sex, and race in both pediatric and adult populations, as well as in the different parameters of the distributions of interest. This highlights the utility of GAMLSS models for constructing RIs., Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Grado en Estadística

Los ritmos circadianos en los seres vivos están controlados por un sistema de sincronización interno regulado a nivel transcripcional que genera redes de genes que oscilan en ciclos de 24 horas. Estos ritmos juegan un papel importante en los procesos biológicos, por lo que el estudio de los patrones de expresión de genes rítmicos cobra gran interés en investigación biomédica. En los estudios genéticos humanos, la repetición consecutiva de biopsias conlleva un grave riesgo. Por ello, habitualmente se trabaja con datos de expresiones post-mortem de distintos donantes para un mismo tejido, donde el instante de tiempo en el que se toman las muestras es generalmente desconocido o impreciso. Por tanto, el análisis de ritmicidad de expresiones génicas requiere resolver el problema de estimación del orden temporal, previo al estudio de los patrones rítmicos. Este trabajo propone una metodología para el análisis de expresiones de genes post-mortem en tejido muscular en humanos de la base de datos GTEX basada en el modelo FMM para el análisis de señales oscilatorias. El marco propuesto permite abordar de forma íntegra el análisis de ritmicidad en datos de expresión génica, desde el preprocesado hasta ofrecer una posible explicación biológica de los patrones rítmicos asociados a los genes, pasando por el problema de la estimación del orden., Circadian rhythms in living beings are controlled by an internal synchronization system regulated at the transcriptional level that generates gene networks that oscillate in 24-hour cycles. These rhythms play an important role in biological processes, so the study of rhythmic gene expression patterns is of great interest in biomedical research. In human genetic studies, the consecutive repetition of biopsies carries a serious risk. Therefore, we usually work with post-mortem expression data from different donors for the same tissue, where the timepoint at which the samples are taken is generally unknown or imprecise. Therefore, the analysis of gene expression rhythmicity requires solving the problem of estimating the temporal order prior to the study of the rhythmic patterns. This work proposes a methodology for the analysis of post-mortem gene expressions in human muscle tissue from the GTEX database based on the FMM model for the analysis of oscillatory signals. The proposed framework allows a comprehensive approach to the analysis of rhythmicity in gene expression data, from preprocessing to offering a possible biological explanation of the rhythmic patterns associated with genes, including the problem of order estimation., Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Grado en Estadística

Las alteraciones en los niveles de creatinina pueden ser indicador de patologías o fallos en la función renal. Los análisis de orina son una de las pruebas más empleadas en la práctica clínica, por su carácter no invasivo, para recoger información sobre una gran variedad de biomarcadores, entre ellos la creatinina. Se requiere de herramientas de diagnóstico precisas para evaluar los niveles y fluctuación de estos biomarcadores. Una de los procedimientos más utilizados por su simplicidad y fácil interpretación son los intervalos de referencia (IRs). Estos IRs proporcionan unos rangos globales de los valores de la medida que sirven como regla para determinar si los individuos están dentro de unos límites “normales”. Sin embargo, estos límites no siempre son útiles ya que el sexo o la edad podrían influir en las variaciones de los biomarcadores. Como alternativa para la construcción de estos IRs, se han utilizado en la literatura los modelos GAMLSS (del inglés Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape). Los GAMLSS son modelos aditivos semi-paramétricos muy flexibles que permiten construir IRs ajustados por las variables demográficas. Este trabajo analiza los datos tomados de la encuesta The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sobre el estado de salud de la población americana y propone el uso de los modelos GAMLSS para la construcción de IRs ajustados por edad, sexo y raza para los niveles de creatinina en población pediátrica y adulta. Los resultados muestran que existe una clara dependencia de la edad, sexo y raza, tanto en población pediátrica como adulta, y en los diferentes parámetros de las distribuciones de interés. Esto pone de manifiesto la utilidad de los modelos GAMLSS para la construcción de IRs., Alterations in creatinine levels can indicate renal pathologies or failures. Urine analysis is one of the most commonly used tests in clinical practice due to its non-invasive nature, to gather information about a wide variety of biomarkers, including creatinine. Accurate diagnostic tools are required to evaluate the levels and fluctuations of these biomarkers. One of the most commonly used procedures, due to its simplicity and easy interpretation, is the use of reference intervals (RIs). RIs provide overall ranges of measurement values that serve as a guideline to determine if individuals are within ”normal”limits. However, these limits may not always be useful as factors such as sex or age could influence biomarker variations. As an alternative for constructing RIs, the literature has employed Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape (GAMLSS) models. GAMLSS models are highly flexible semi-parametric additive models that allow the construction of RIs adjusted for demographic variables. This study analyzes data from The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on the health status of the American population and proposes the use of GAMLSS models to construct age, sex, and race adjusted RIs for creatinine levels in pediatric and adult populations. The results show a clear dependence on age, sex, and race in both pediatric and adult populations, as well as in the different parameters of the distributions of interest. This highlights the utility of GAMLSS models for constructing RIs., Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Grado en Estadística

Los ritmos circadianos en los seres vivos están controlados por un sistema de sincronización interno regulado a nivel transcripcional que genera redes de genes que oscilan en ciclos de 24 horas. Estos ritmos juegan un papel importante en los procesos biológicos, por lo que el estudio de los patrones de expresión de genes rítmicos cobra gran interés en investigación biomédica. En los estudios genéticos humanos, la repetición consecutiva de biopsias conlleva un grave riesgo. Por ello, habitualmente se trabaja con datos de expresiones post-mortem de distintos donantes para un mismo tejido, donde el instante de tiempo en el que se toman las muestras es generalmente desconocido o impreciso. Por tanto, el análisis de ritmicidad de expresiones génicas requiere resolver el problema de estimación del orden temporal, previo al estudio de los patrones rítmicos. Este trabajo propone una metodología para el análisis de expresiones de genes post-mortem en tejido muscular en humanos de la base de datos GTEX basada en el modelo FMM para el análisis de señales oscilatorias. El marco propuesto permite abordar de forma íntegra el análisis de ritmicidad en datos de expresión génica, desde el preprocesado hasta ofrecer una posible explicación biológica de los patrones rítmicos asociados a los genes, pasando por el problema de la estimación del orden., Circadian rhythms in living beings are controlled by an internal synchronization system regulated at the transcriptional level that generates gene networks that oscillate in 24-hour cycles. These rhythms play an important role in biological processes, so the study of rhythmic gene expression patterns is of great interest in biomedical research. In human genetic studies, the consecutive repetition of biopsies carries a serious risk. Therefore, we usually work with post-mortem expression data from different donors for the same tissue, where the timepoint at which the samples are taken is generally unknown or imprecise. Therefore, the analysis of gene expression rhythmicity requires solving the problem of estimating the temporal order prior to the study of the rhythmic patterns. This work proposes a methodology for the analysis of post-mortem gene expressions in human muscle tissue from the GTEX database based on the FMM model for the analysis of oscillatory signals. The proposed framework allows a comprehensive approach to the analysis of rhythmicity in gene expression data, from preprocessing to offering a possible biological explanation of the rhythmic patterns associated with genes, including the problem of order estimation., Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Grado en Estadística

El electrocardiograma (ECG) es probablemente el método de diagnóstico no invasivo más importante de la medicina. Numerosos estudios han tratado el problema de la clasificación de enfermedades cardíacas mediante el uso de técnicas de deep learning generalmente, llegando a obtener una alta precisión en muchos casos. Sin embargo, la interpretación clínica que ofrecen es bastante limitada y el coste computacional llega a ser desorbitado. Se propone un enfoque interpretable a través de la descomposición de los latidos del ECG en sus cinco ondas primordiales (P, Q, R, S y T) mediante el novedoso modelo 3DFMMecg, formulado simultáneamente para las 12 derivaciones del ECG. A partir de estadísticos construidos sobre los parámetros de dicho modelo y de distintas covariables demográficas, se han entrenado distintos modelos de machine learning y se ha llevado a cabo un análisis sobre la base de datos PTB-XL. Se han obtenido resultados muy competitivos, de hasta 0,933 de macro AUC con tan solo 228 variables, algunas de las cuales han demostrado tener una gran nivel discriminante entre las clases. En este trabajo, se han desarrollado diversos modelos construidos en base a los parámetros del modelo 3DFMMecg que permiten hacer un diagnóstico automático interpretable y eficaz en tiempo real, de forma que pueda ser útil como apoyo en la toma de decisiones de los profesionales sanitarios., The electrocardiogram (ECG) is probably the most important noninvasive diagnostic method in medicine. Numerous studies have addressed the problem of classifying cardiac diseases by using deep laerning techniques in general, achieving high accuracy in many cases. However, the clinical interpretation they offer is quite limited and the computational cost becomes exorbitant. An interpretable approach is proposed through the decomposition of ECG beats into their five primordial waves (P, Q, R, S and T) by means of the novel 3DFMMecg model, formulated simultaneously for all 12 ECG leads. Based on statistics constructed on the parameters of this model and different demographic covariates, different machine learning models were trained and an analysis was performed on the PTB-XL database. Very competitive results of up to 0.933 macro AUC have been obtained with only 228 variables, some of which have been shown to have a high discriminant level between classes. In this work, several models built on the basis of the parameters of the 3DFMMecg model have been developed to provide an interpretable and efficient automatic diagnosis in real time, so that it can be useful as a decision support for health professionals., Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Grado en Estadística

A new lack-of-fit test for censored quantile regression models with multiple or even high-dimensional covariates will be presented. The test is based on the cumulative sum of residuals with respect to unidimensional linear projections of the covariates. The test is then adapting the ideas presented in [1], to cope with high-dimensional covariates, to the test proposed by [2]. The limit distribution of the empirical process associated with the test statistic will be shown. Furthermore, in order to approximate the critical values of the test, a bootstrap mechanism is used, which is similar to the proposal developed in [3]. In addition, an extensive simulation study and an interesting real data application will be presented in order to show the behaviour of the new test in practice

Tesi amb menció de Doctorat Industrial, (English) This thesis explores the intersection of deep learning and spatio-temporal forecasting, focusing on the challenges and opportunities present in applying machine learning methods to predict complex geospatial and temporal phenomena. Specifically, we focus on two critical domains: weather prediction and traffic forecasting. Firstly, we delve into the nuances of encoding traffic data optimally for deep learning models, recognizing the potential of these methods to revolutionize mobility patterns, city planning, and freight delivery services. Our work aims to provide a clear pathway to effectively harness GPS data and utilize deep learning models for accurate traffic prediction, thereby influencing real-world decision-making significantly. Next, we turn our attention to weather forecasting. Given the substantial impact of weather on human activities and the environment, our aim is to establish best practices for encoding weather data for deep learning applications. We explore various machine learning models, assessing their performance, and identifying the most efficient and accurate approach for weather prediction. Throughout the thesis, we emphasize the urgent need for a robust benchmark in the field of spatio-temporal forecasting, to enable systematic comparison of methods and accelerate research advancements. We discuss the essential components of such a benchmark, including open data of free access, specific tasks, relevant metrics, viable baselines, and comprehensive evaluation methodologies. To further illustrate the practical application of these principles, we have contributed to the scientific community by publishing two novel benchmarks. The first is a high-resolution, multimodal weather forecasting benchmark, derived from satellite data, which provides comprehensive insights into the complexities of meteorological prediction. The second is a ground-breaking high-resolution precipitation benchmark, which innovatively utilizes satellite to radar data, (Català) Aquesta tesi explora la intersecció entre l'aprenentatge profund i la predicció espaiotemporal, centrant-se en els reptes i oportunitats presents en l'aplicació de mètodes d'aprenentatge automàtic per predir fenòmens geoespacials i temporals complexos. Específicament, ens centrem en dos àmbits crítics: la predicció del temps i la predicció del trànsit. En primer lloc, ens endinsem en les matisos de la codificació òptima de les dades de trànsit per a models d'aprenentatge profund, reconeixent el potencial d'aquests mètodes per revolucionar els patrons de mobilitat, la planificació urbana i els serveis de lliurament de mercaderies. El nostre treball té com a objectiu proporcionar un camí clar per aprofitar eficaçment les dades del GPS i utilitzar models d'aprenentatge profund per a una predicció precisa del trànsit, influenciant significativament la presa de decisions en el món real. A continuació, dirigim la nostra atenció cap a la predicció del temps. Donat l'impacte substancial del temps en les activitats humanes i l'entorn, el nostre objectiu és establir les millors pràctiques per codificar les dades meteorològiques per a aplicacions d'aprenentatge profund. Explorem diversos models d'aprenentatge automàtic, avaluant el seu rendiment i identificant l'enfocament més eficient i precís per a la predicció del temps. Al llarg de la tesi, emfatitzem la necessitat urgent de marcs de referència en el camp de la predicció espaiotemporal, per permetre la comparació sistemàtica de mètodes i accelerar els avenços en la recerca. Discutim els components essencials d'un marc de referència, incloent dades obertes d'accés lliure, tasques específiques, mètriques rellevants, línies de base viables i metodologies d'avaluació exhaustives. Per il·lustrar encara més l'aplicació pràctica d'aquests principis, hem contribuït a la comunitat científica publicant dos marcs de referències nous. El primer és un marc de referència de predicció meteorològica multimodal d'alta resolució, d, Postprint (published version)

Aquest treball té com a objectiu millorar un programa d'estabilitat de vehicle en Microsoft Excel ja existent. S'ha ampliat i renovat el model que parametritza els pneumàtics, utilitzant la Magic Formula 6.1 de Hans Pacejka, s'estudia la precisió de la direcció en funció de la rigidesa, s'ha implementat un estudi de la velocitat de guinyada, de l'acceleració lateral i del balanceig del vehicle. Per a aquest treball s'ha creat un algoritme genètic per a la creació d'un model d'un pneumàtic. En el treball s'ha escollit modelitzar el pneumàtic Hoosier 18 x 7,5 – 10 R25B, ja que gràcies al Carlspan Tyre Test Consortium es tenen dades suficients per a poder fer funcionar aquesta eina. En el treball s'explica el funcionament general de tots els algoritmes genètics, i com s'han aplicat les diferents eines que s'exposaran per a la creació d'un algoritme capaç de generar un model. S'amplia el programa afegint la rigidesa de direcció. Considerant que la direcció no és completament rígida, les forces laterals que rep el pneumàtic i, per tant, l'eix direccional, afecten l'angle de roda final. Aquesta rigidesa direccional es fa en dos passos, ja que en la majoria de vehicles comercials, hi ha una barra torsional que en petits angles de volant varia la rigidesa de l'eix. Es fa un estudi seguint el model de bicicleta de la guinyada, l'acceleració lateral i el balanceig del vehicle. L'estudi de guinyada i l'acceleració lateral es realitza a partir d'un model d'espai d'estats d'on s'obté la funció de transferència d'aquestes sortides en funció de l'angle girat de roda. La representació d'aquesta funció es fa amb un diagrama de Bode analitzant l'angle de guinyada i l'acceleració lateral per a diferents entrades sinusoidals amb diferents freqüències de gir de roda. L'estudi del balanceig del vehicle es fa a partir d'un pas intermedi, ja que el model de bicicleta no contempla que el vehicle pugui balancejar. Per a conèixer el balanceig cal conèixer l'acceleració lateral del vehicle, i

[Background]: Although we seem to be recovering from COVID-19, we are now facing the long-term consequence of the pandemic on vulnerable subgroup of patients such as patients with early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC). We aim to study how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the diagnosis and clinic-pathological characteristics, treatment and outcomes of patients with EOCRC., [Methods]: This is an observational retrospective study including patients with EOCRC diagnosed between September 2016 and August 2021 at Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain. Two cohorts were stablished: before and after March 14, 2020, the day of the first lockdown in Spain., [Results]: A total of 1409 patients with CRC were included. Of those, 5,2% were EOCRC (n=75). Fifty-five (73%) and 20 (27%) were diagnosed pre, and post pandemic. The rate of EOCRC diagnosis per month was 1,8 and 1,1 in the pre and postpandemic group, respectively. Fifty percent of patients in the postpandemic group were diagnosed with metastatic disease, while only 29% had stage IV at diagnosis in the prepandemic subgroup (P = 0,09). High tumor budding, surgical margins affected, lymphovascular, and perineural invasion were also pathological features more observed in the postpandemic subgroup, although results are not statistically significant. The differences between both groups are depicted. After a median follow-up of 23 months (33 and 14 months in the pre and postpandemic group, respectively), 11 patients have died (15%). Median overall survival (OS) was not reached in either group. At 12 months, 94% and 89% of patients were alive in the pre and postpandemic group, respectively., [Conclusions]: COVID-19 has influenced the diagnosis and staging of patients with EOCRC. Long-term follow-up is needed to assess the survival in this population. The role of primary care in the diagnosis and early referral of these patients is, more than ever, crucial.

Los días 16, 18 y 21 de marzo se celebraron en el InstitutoCajal las jornadas "Cajal de su Química a Neurodivertirse", con los autores arriba indicados.

Recent evidence suggests that vitamin D is involved in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The aim of this study was to analyze the electrophysiological and contractile properties of pulmonary arteries (PAs) in vitamin D receptor knockout mice (Vdr−/−). PAs were dissected and mounted in a wire myograph. Potassium membrane currents were recorded in freshly isolated PA smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) using the conventional whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Potential vitamin D response elements (VDREs) in Kv7 channels coding genes were studied, and their protein expression was analyzed. Vdr−/− mice did not show a pulmonary hypertensive phenotype, as neither right ventricular hypertrophy nor endothelial dysfunction was apparent. However, resistance PA from these mice exhibited increased response to retigabine, a Kv7 activator, compared to controls and heterozygous mice. Furthermore, the current sensitive to XE991, a Kv7 inhibitor, was also higher in PASMCs from knockout mice. A possible VDRE was found in the gene coding for KCNE4, the regulatory subunit of Kv7.4. Accordingly, Vdr−/− mice showed an increased expression of KCNE4 in the lungs, with no changes in Kv7.1 and Kv7.4. These results indicate that the absence of Vdr in mice, as occurred with vitamin D deficient rats, is not sufficient to induce PAH. However, the contribution of Kv7 channel currents to the regulation of PA tone is increased in Vdr−/− mice, resembling animals and humans suffering from PAH.