Nanocomposites of silver nanoparticles embedded in glass nanofibres obtained by laser spinning

Nanocomposites made of non-woven glass fibres with diameters ranging from tens of nanometers up to several micrometers, containing silver nanoparticles, were successfully fabricated by the laser spinning technique. Pellets of a soda-lime silicate glass containing silver nanoparticles with varying concentrations (5 and 10 wt%) were used as a precursor. The process followed to obtain the silver nanofibres did not agglomerate significantly the metallic nanoparticles, and the average particle size is still lower than 50 nm. This is the first time that glass nanofibres containing silver nanoparticles have been obtained following a process different from electrospinning of a sol–gel, thus avoiding the limitations of this method and opening a new route to composite nanomaterials. Antibacterial efficiency of the nanosilver glass fibres, tested against one of the most common Gram negative bacteria, was greater than 99.99% compared to the glass fibres free of silver. The silver nanoparticles are well-dispersed not only on the surface but are also embedded into the uniform nanofibres, which leads to a long lasting durable antimicrobial effect. All these novel characteristics will potentially open up a whole new range of applications.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. 10DPI303014PRMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. MAT2009-14542-C02-0

Development of a biosensor protein bullet as a fluorescent method for fast detection of Escherichia coli in drinking water

Drinking water can be exposed to different biological contaminants from the source, through the pipelines, until reaching the final consumer or industry. Some of these are pathogenic bacteria and viruses which may cause important gastrointestinal or systemic diseases. The microbiological quality of drinking water relies mainly in monitoring three indicator bacteria of faecal origin, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Clostridium perfringens, which serve as early sentinels of potential health hazards for the population. Here we describe the analysis of three chimeric fluorescent protein bullets as biosensor candidates for fast detection of E. coli in drinking water. Two of the chimeric proteins (based on GFP-hadrurin and GFP-pb5 chimera proteins) failed with respect to specificity and/or sensitivity, but the GFP-colS4 chimera protein was able to carry out specific detection of E. coli in drinking water samples in a procedure encompassing about 8 min for final result and this biosensor protein was able to detect in a linear way between 20 and 103 CFU of this bacterium. Below 20 CFU, the system cannot differentiate presence or absence of the target bacterium. The fluorescence in this biosensor system is provided by the GFP subunit of the chimeric protein, which, in the case of the better performing sensor bullet, GFP-colS4 chimera, is covalently bound to a flexible peptide bridge and to a bacteriocin binding specifically to E. coli cells. Once bound to the target bacteria, the excitation step with 395 nm LED light causes emission of fluorescence from the GFP domain, which is amplified in a photomultiplier tube, and finally this signal is converted into an output voltage which can be associated with a CFU value and these data distributed along mobile phone networks, for example. This method, and the portable fluorimeter which has been developed for it, may contribute to reduce the analysis time for detecting E. coli presence in drinking water

Genetic diversity of HLA system in four populations from Baja California, Mexico: Mexicali, La Paz, Tijuana and rural Baja California

We studied HLA class I (HLA-A, -B) and class II (HLA-DRB1, -DQB1) alleles by PCR-SSP based typing in 250 Mexicans from the states of Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur living in Mexicali (N = 100), La Paz (N = 75), Tijuana (N = 25) and rural communities (N = 50) to obtain information regarding allelic and haplotypic frequencies. The most frequent haplotypes for the Baja California region include nine Native American and five European haplotypes. Admixture estimates revealed that the main genetic components are European (50.45 ± 1.84% by ML; 42.03% of European haplotypes) and Native American (43.72 ± 2.36% by ML; 40.24% of Native American haplotypes), while the African genetic component was less apparent (5.83 ± 0.98% by ML; 9.36% of African haplotypes)

Characterization of protons accelerated from a 3 TW table-top laser system

[EN] We report on benchmark tests of a 3 TW/50 fs, table-top laser system specifically developed for proton acceleration with an intrinsic pump rate up to 100 Hz. In two series of single-shot measurements differing in pulse energy and contrast the successful operation of the diode pumped laser is demonstrated. Protons have been accelerated up to 1.6 MeV in interactions of laser pulses focused on aluminium and mylar foils between 0.8 and 25 mu m thickness. Their spectral distributions and maximum energies are consistent with former experiments under similar conditions. These results show the suitability of our system and provide a reference for studies of laser targets at high repetition rate and possible applications.This project has been funded by Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial (CDTI, Spain) within the INNPRONTA program, grant no. IPT-20111027, by EUROSTARS project E9113, and by the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness within the Retos-Colaboracion 2015 initiative, ref. RTC-2015-3278-1.Bellido-Millán, PJ.; Lera, R.; Seimetz, M.; Ruiz-De La Cruz, A.; Torres Peiró, S.; Galán, M.; Mur, P.... (2017). Characterization of protons accelerated from a 3 TW table-top laser system. Journal of Instrumentation. 12:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/12/05/T05001S11212Daido, H., Nishiuchi, M., & Pirozhkov, A. S. (2012). Review of laser-driven ion sources and their applications. Reports on Progress in Physics, 75(5), 056401. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/75/5/056401Macchi, A., Borghesi, M., & Passoni, M. (2013). Ion acceleration by superintense laser-plasma interaction. Reviews of Modern Physics, 85(2), 751-793. doi:10.1103/revmodphys.85.751Ledingham, K., Bolton, P., Shikazono, N., & Ma, C.-M. (2014). Towards Laser Driven Hadron Cancer Radiotherapy: A Review of Progress. Applied Sciences, 4(3), 402-443. doi:10.3390/app4030402Kraft, S. D., Richter, C., Zeil, K., Baumann, M., Beyreuther, E., Bock, S., … Pawelke, J. (2010). Dose-dependent biological damage of tumour cells by laser-accelerated proton beams. New Journal of Physics, 12(8), 085003. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/12/8/085003Yogo, A., Sato, K., Nishikino, M., Mori, M., Teshima, T., Numasaki, H., … Daido, H. (2009). Application of laser-accelerated protons to the demonstration of DNA double-strand breaks in human cancer cells. Applied Physics Letters, 94(18), 181502. doi:10.1063/1.3126452Fritzler, S., Malka, V., Grillon, G., Rousseau, J. P., Burgy, F., Lefebvre, E., … Ledingham, K. W. D. (2003). Proton beams generated with high-intensity lasers: Applications to medical isotope production. Applied Physics Letters, 83(15), 3039-3041. doi:10.1063/1.1616661Kishimura, H., Morishita, H., Okano, Y. H., Okano, Y., Hironaka, Y., Kondo, K., … Nemoto, K. (2004). Enhanced generation of fast protons from a polymer-coated metal foil by a femtosecond intense laser field. Applied Physics Letters, 85(14), 2736-2738. doi:10.1063/1.1803915Nakamura, S., Iwashita, Y., Noda, A., Shirai, T., Tongu, H., Fukumi, A., … Wada, Y. (2006). Real-Time Optimization of Proton Production by Intense Short-Pulse Laser with Time-of-Flight Measurement. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 45(No. 34), L913-L916. doi:10.1143/jjap.45.l913Nishiuchi, M., Fukumi, A., Daido, H., Li, Z., Sagisaka, A., Ogura, K., … Nakamura, S. (2006). The laser proton acceleration in the strong charge separation regime. Physics Letters A, 357(4-5), 339-344. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2006.04.053Yogo, A., Daido, H., Fukumi, A., Li, Z., Ogura, K., Sagisaka, A., … Itoh, A. (2007). Laser prepulse dependency of proton-energy distributions in ultraintense laser-foil interactions with an online time-of-flight technique. Physics of Plasmas, 14(4), 043104. doi:10.1063/1.2721066Robinson, A. P. L., Foster, P., Adams, D., Carroll, D. C., Dromey, B., Hawkes, S., … Neely, D. (2009). Spectral modification of laser-accelerated proton beams by self-generated magnetic fields. New Journal of Physics, 11(8), 083018. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/11/8/083018Nemoto, K., Maksimchuk, A., Banerjee, S., Flippo, K., Mourou, G., Umstadter, D., & Bychenkov, V. Y. (2001). Laser-triggered ion acceleration and table top isotope production. Applied Physics Letters, 78(5), 595-597. doi:10.1063/1.1343845Lee, K., Park, S. H., Cha, Y.-H., Lee, J. Y., Lee, Y. W., Yea, K.-H., & Jeong, Y. U. (2008). Generation of intense proton beams from plastic targets irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse. Physical Review E, 78(5). doi:10.1103/physreve.78.056403Yogo, A., Daido, H., Bulanov, S. V., Nemoto, K., Oishi, Y., Nayuki, T., … Tajima, T. (2008). Laser ion acceleration via control of the near-critical density target. Physical Review E, 77(1). doi:10.1103/physreve.77.016401Lee, K., Lee, J. Y., Park, S. H., Cha, Y.-H., Lee, Y. W., Kim, K. N., & Jeong, Y. U. (2011). Dominant front-side acceleration of energetic proton beams from plastic targets irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse. Physics of Plasmas, 18(1), 013101. doi:10.1063/1.3496058OKIHARA, S., SENTOKU, Y., SUEDA, K., SHIMIZU, S., SATO, F., MIYANAGA, N., … SAKABE, S. (2002). Energetic Proton Generation in a Thin Plastic Foil Irradiated by Intense Femtosecond Lasers. Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 39(1), 1-5. doi:10.1080/18811248.2002.9715150McKenna, P., Ledingham, K. W. D., Spencer, I., McCany, T., Singhal, R. P., Ziener, C., … Clark, E. L. (2002). Characterization of multiterawatt laser-solid interactions for proton acceleration. Review of Scientific Instruments, 73(12), 4176-4184. doi:10.1063/1.1516855Spencer, I., Ledingham, K. W. D., McKenna, P., McCanny, T., Singhal, R. P., Foster, P. S., … Davies, J. R. (2003). Experimental study of proton emission from 60-fs, 200-mJ high-repetition-rate tabletop-laser pulses interacting with solid targets. Physical Review E, 67(4). doi:10.1103/physreve.67.046402Kaluza, M., Schreiber, J., Santala, M. I. K., Tsakiris, G. D., Eidmann, K., Meyer-ter-Vehn, J., & Witte, K. J. (2004). Influence of the Laser Prepulse on Proton Acceleration in Thin-Foil Experiments. Physical Review Letters, 93(4). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.045003Ceccotti, T., Lévy, A., Popescu, H., Réau, F., D’Oliveira, P., Monot, P., … Martin, P. (2007). Proton Acceleration with High-Intensity Ultrahigh-Contrast Laser Pulses. Physical Review Letters, 99(18). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.99.185002Neely, D., Foster, P., Robinson, A., Lindau, F., Lundh, O., Persson, A., … McKenna, P. (2006). Enhanced proton beams from ultrathin targets driven by high contrast laser pulses. Applied Physics Letters, 89(2), 021502. doi:10.1063/1.2220011Steinke, S., Henig, A., Schnürer, M., Sokollik, T., Nickles, P. V., Jung, D., … Habs, D. (2010). Efficient ion acceleration by collective laser-driven electron dynamics with ultra-thin foil targets. Laser and Particle Beams, 28(1), 215-221. doi:10.1017/s0263034610000157Strickland, D., & Mourou, G. (1985). Compression of amplified chirped optical pulses. Optics Communications, 56(3), 219-221. doi:10.1016/0030-4018(85)90120-8Yogo, A., Kondo, K., Mori, M., Kiriyama, H., Ogura, K., Shimomura, T., … Bolton, P. R. (2014). Insertable pulse cleaning module with a saturable absorber pair and a compensating amplifier for high-intensity ultrashort-pulse lasers. Optics Express, 22(2), 2060. doi:10.1364/oe.22.002060Trisorio, A., Grabielle, S., Divall, M., Forget, N., & Hauri, C. P. (2012). Self-referenced spectral interferometry for ultrashort infrared pulse characterization. Optics Letters, 37(14), 2892. doi:10.1364/ol.37.002892Seimetz, M., Bellido, P., Soriano, A., Garcia Lopez, J., Jimenez-Ramos, M. C., Fernandez, B., … Benlloch, J. M. (2015). Calibration and Performance Tests of Detectors for Laser-Accelerated Protons. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 62(6), 3216-3224. doi:10.1109/tns.2015.2480682Nürnberg, F., Schollmeier, M., Brambrink, E., Blažević, A., Carroll, D. C., Flippo, K., … Roth, M. (2009). Radiochromic film imaging spectroscopy of laser-accelerated proton beams. Review of Scientific Instruments, 80(3), 033301. doi:10.1063/1.3086424Oishi, Y., Nayuki, T., Fujii, T., Takizawa, Y., Wang, X., Yamazaki, T., … Andreev, A. A. (2005). Dependence on laser intensity and pulse duration in proton acceleration by irradiation of ultrashort laser pulses on a Cu foil target. Physics of Plasmas, 12(7), 073102. doi:10.1063/1.1943436Nishiuchi, M., Daito, I., Ikegami, M., Daido, H., Mori, M., Orimo, S., … Yoshiyuki, T. (2009). Focusing and spectral enhancement of a repetition-rated, laser-driven, divergent multi-MeV proton beam using permanent quadrupole magnets. Applied Physics Letters, 94(6), 061107. doi:10.1063/1.3078291Antici, P., Fuchs, J., d’ Humières, E., Lefebvre, E., Borghesi, M., Brambrink, E., … Pépin, H. (2007). Energetic protons generated by ultrahigh contrast laser pulses interacting with ultrathin targets. Physics of Plasmas, 14(3), 030701. doi:10.1063/1.2480610Green, J. S., Carroll, D. C., Brenner, C., Dromey, B., Foster, P. S., Kar, S., … Zepf, M. (2010). Enhanced proton flux in the MeV range by defocused laser irradiation. New Journal of Physics, 12(8), 085012. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/12/8/085012Zeil, K., Kraft, S. D., Bock, S., Bussmann, M., Cowan, T. E., Kluge, T., … Schramm, U. (2010). The scaling of proton energies in ultrashort pulse laser plasma acceleration. New Journal of Physics, 12(4), 045015. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/12/4/045015Nishiuchi, M., Daido, H., Yogo, A., Orimo, S., Ogura, K., Ma, J., … Azuma, H. (2008). Efficient production of a collimated MeV proton beam from a polyimide target driven by an intense femtosecond laser pulse. Physics of Plasmas, 15(5), 053104. doi:10.1063/1.2928161Macchi, A., Sgattoni, A., Sinigardi, S., Borghesi, M., & Passoni, M. (2013). Advanced strategies for ion acceleration using high-power lasers. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 55(12), 124020. doi:10.1088/0741-3335/55/12/124020Fuchs, J., Antici, P., d’ Humières, E., Lefebvre, E., Borghesi, M., Brambrink, E., … Audebert, P. (2005). Laser-driven proton scaling laws and new paths towards energy increase. Nature Physics, 2(1), 48-54. doi:10.1038/nphys199Schwoerer, H., Pfotenhauer, S., Jäckel, O., Amthor, K.-U., Liesfeld, B., Ziegler, W., … Esirkepov, T. (2006). Laser-plasma acceleration of quasi-monoenergetic protons from microstructured targets. Nature, 439(7075), 445-448. doi:10.1038/nature04492Margarone, D., Klimo, O., Kim, I. J., Prokůpek, J., Limpouch, J., Jeong, T. M., … Korn, G. (2012). Laser-Driven Proton Acceleration Enhancement by Nanostructured Foils. Physical Review Letters, 109(23). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.109.234801Flippo, K. A., d’ Humières, E., Gaillard, S. A., Rassuchine, J., Gautier, D. C., Schollmeier, M., … Hegelich, B. M. (2008). Increased efficiency of short-pulse laser-generated proton beams from novel flat-top cone targets. Physics of Plasmas, 15(5), 056709. doi:10.1063/1.291812

Healthcare workers hospitalized due to COVID-19 have no higher risk of death than general population. Data from the Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

Aim To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20-65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.211, 95%CI 0.067-0.667, p = 0.008). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality

Challenges of adapting English médium instruction into the Spanish university curricula and some novel solutions

The integration of the Spanish university system in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) demands a series of concrete proposals. As we advance in the implementation of the process of Bologna, it is necessary to contemplate a new paradigm of teaching/learning. Central to this new paradigm is the adaptation of the curricula into the English language medium (EMI). Among many strategies for internationalization of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) under adoption, this university has funded a project TechEnglish intends to facilitate the conversion of subjects and eventually degree programs into the delivery in the English Language. This paper details a work in progress and describes the collaboration between content teachers and applied linguistics. The three collaborative actions are currently underway: observation of classes by applied linguists, seminar delivery on topics requested by the content teachers, and materials development with the help of teaching assistants. We are convinced that this collaboration is the necessary ingredient to promote teaching and learning through English at our university

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Releyendo el fenómeno de la neolitización en el Bajo Aragón a la luz de la excavación del Cingle de Valmayor XI (Mequinenza, Zaragoza)

[EN] This paper presents the preliminary results of the excavation of the Valmayor xi rock shelter, in the context of the research project ‘The pathways of the Neolithic’. Through the analysis of the radiocarbon dates and a detailed stratigraphic interpretation three occupations have been established with chronologies within different periods of the vith millennium cal bc. A general description of the archaeological events documented in each phase, and of most of the recovered material –pottery, lithic artefacts, bone industry and ornaments, faunal and carpological remains– is offered. Moreover, in the light of the new dates presented, a review of the Neolithisation process in the Lower Aragón region, and also in the Ebro valley, is proposed. Also the identification of archaeological sites as Neolithic ones only on the basis of the presence of some elements considered as ‘Neolithic markers’, without any consideration of the subsistence strategies or territorial exploitation, is questioned. [ES] Este trabajo presenta los resultados preliminares obtenidos en la excavación del Cingle de Valmayor XI, desarrollada dentro del proyecto de investigación ‘Los caminos del Neolítico’. A través del análisis de las dataciones radiocarbónicas y de una detallada lectura estratigráfica se han podido establecer tres horizontes de ocupación diferentes con cronologías que corresponden a distintos momentos del vi milenio cal bc. Se ofrece una descripción general de los eventos arqueológicos documentados en cada una de estas fases, así como de gran parte del material recuperado –cerámica, lítica, industria ósea, elementos de adorno, fauna y restos carpológicos–. Por otra parte, a la luz de las nuevas dataciones presentadas, se propone una revisión del fenómeno de la neolitización en la región del Bajo Aragón y, por extensión, en todo el valle del Ebro; también se cuestiona la identificación de contextos como propios de economías productoras simplemente a través de la presencia de ciertos elementos materiales considerados tradicionalmente como ‘marcadores neolíticos’, sin que existan variaciones con respecto a las estrategias subsistenciales o de explotación del territorio.Peer Reviewe

El prácticum del Grado de Pedagogía : la implicación del estudiante en la optimización del itinerario formativo

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónSe pretende identificar la importancia que tiene la búsqueda de sinergias entre las instituciones de prácticas y la Universidad para la construcción de marcos mentales y conceptuales compartidos, así como para consolidar las bases del modelo de evaluación del prácticum del Grado de Pedagogía, donde participan las tres miradas de los agentes implicados: alumnado, profesorado tutor de la Universidad de Barcelona y tutores de las organizaciones de prácticas. Se ha querido implicar a los estudiantes en su proceso de aprendizaje —a raíz de sus experiencias y vivencias—, con el propósito de mejorar el itinerario formativo del prácticum- de este grado universitario. Todos sus elementos surgen del planteamiento y la contextualización de los estudiantes universitarios y de su identidad profesional en una sociedad cada vez más compleja, global, cambiante e innovadora. De este modo, se concibe el prácticum como un elemento esencial para la adquisición de competencias y conocimientos que contribuyen al desarrollo formativo y la construcción de la identidad profesional del alumnado universitario. Se ofrece un panorama sobre el estado y los retos de las tres asignaturas del prácticum, proporcionando una mayor comprensión de la necesidad de cambio e interrelación para la calidad del proceso de aprendizaje en educación superior de los alumnos del Grado de Pedagogía. Se resalta, así, la necesidad de profesionales que estén en constante formación.ES