This study evaluates the geothermal potential in an Area of Interest (AOI) in the southeast of Gran Canaria, focusing on location selection near the rift zone and NW-SE vertical fracture zones.

Via a 3D resistivity model nine conductive bodies were identified in the AOI. Then interpretations of the location of these bodies were constructed based on magnetetelluric (MT), density, and S-wave velocity data with geochemical analyses of gas emissions, groundwater chemistry, temperature gradients and the geological history of the AOI. Eventually the geothermal potential of these locations within the AOI was assessed via six criteria: degree of hydrothermal alteration, depth, hydrothermal activity, marine intrusion, top-down area size and fracture density.

Finally a conceptual geological model of the most promising location was made with a sub-vertical fracture system. Several scenarios were tested as part of a sensitivity analysis, all of which are plausible and therefore not irrelevant. In these scenarios key parameters such as porosity, permeability, geothermal gradients, and the permeability ratio (kz/kx/ky) within the fracture zone were varied. One of the main findings was that the 10/10/1 permeability ratio, considered the most realistic for sub-vertical fractures, showed minimal impact on production performance.

Fast-moving industrial robots exert large varying reaction forces and moments on their base frame, inducing vibrations, wear and accuracy degeneration. These shaking forces and moments can be eliminated by a specific design of the mass distribution of the robot links, resulting in a dynamically balanced mechanism. Obtaining the conditions for dynamic balance proves to be a hurdle even for simple planar parallel mechanisms due to the required inclusion and inspection of the kinematic relations. In this paper, a screw theory based methodology is presented, which gives and solves the necessary instantaneous dynamic balance conditions for planar and spatial mechanisms in an uniform and geometrical manner. Instantaneous dynamic balance yields a pose in which robot accelerations induce no shaking forces and moments. This is interpreted as an intersection point of multiple reactionless paths. This method is applied to a 2-DOF planar mechanism, named the Fuga I, for which it resulted in two perpendicularly intersecting reactionless paths, intersecting in the middle of the workspace. Experiments on this demonstrator validated the instantaneous dynamic balance by showing a reduction of approximately 95% of the peak-to-peak shaking forces and moments over the intersecting reactionless paths.

Background: Clinical studies investigating medicinal products need to comply with laws concerning good clinical practice (GCP) and good manufacturing practice (GMP) to guarantee the quality and safety of the product, to protect the health of the participating individual and to assure proper performance of the study. However, there are no specific regulations or guidelines for non-Medicinal Investigational Products (non-MIPs) such as allergens, enriched food supplements, and air pollution components. As a consequence, investigators will avoid clinical research and prefer preclinical models or in vitro testing for e.g. toxicology studies. The aim of this article is to: 1) briefly review the current guidelines and regulations for Investigational Medicinal Products; 2) present a standardised approach to ensure the quality and safety of non-MIPs in human in vivo research; and 3) discuss some lessons we have learned. Methods and results: We propose a practical line of approach to compose a clarifying product dossier (PD), comprising the description of the production process, the analysis of the raw and final product, toxicological studies, and a thorough risk-benefit-analysis. This is illustrated by an example from a human in vivo research model to study exposure to air pollutants, by challenging volunteers with a suspension of carbon nanoparticles (the component of ink cartridges for laser printers). Conclusion: With this novel risk-based approach, the members of competent authorities are provided with standardised information on the quality of the product in relation to the safety of the participants, and the scientific goal of the study.