Steganography and watermarking on BMP images

In this work we perform some tests of steganography and watermarking on BMP images. We use the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Wavelets in order to insert information into high and medium frequencies. When steganography is used, we explain a method how to introduce secret data into an image and we show the capacity of the image to accept these data. For the watermarking technique we indicate where the data should be placed in order to achieve a robust insertion of the data even in the presence of image compression. Finally, we make a comparison between these two techniques

Efecto de la temperatura de recocido en las propiedades eléctricas del Bi1.8 Pb0.2Sr2CaCu2O8

El objeto de esta investigación, es determinar la existencia de superconductividad en unas muestras del sistema Bi1.8Pb0.2Sr2CaCu2O8+x, conocido como fase: Bi–2212. El tratamiento térmico a realizar en las muestras es el mismo, lo que las diferencia es el periodo de tiempo expuestas a ésta temperatura. A lo largo del estudio experimental, se verá cómo los diversos tratamientos térmicos efectuados a las muestras afectan a las propiedades del material estudiado. Mediante los ensayos eléctricos se obtendrán las magnitudes de IC (intensidad crítica) y TC (temperatura crítica), y para determinar sus propiedades mecánicas se realizarán ensayos de flexión. A lo largo de la realización de la fase experimental del proyecto, es importante conocer la estructura que adquiere el material después del tratamiento al que ha sido sometido, para este fin, se realizará sobre las diferentes muestras microscopia óptic

Increased adiposity appraised with cun-bae is highly predictive of incident hypertension. The sun project

Overweight and obesity are growing worldwide and strongly associated with hypertension. The Clínica Universidad de Navarra-Body Adiposity Estimator (CUN-BAE) index is proposed as an optimal indicator of body fatness. We aimed to investigate the association of body fat as captured by the CUN-BAE index with incident hypertension in a Mediterranean population. We assessed 15,950 participants of the SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) prospective cohort (63.7% women) initially free of hypertension. Participants completed follow-up questionnaires biennially. A validated 136-item food-frequency questionnaire was administered at baseline. We used Cox models adjusted for multiple confounders. Among 12.3 years of median follow-up (interquartile range: 8.3, 15.0 years), 2160 participants reported having received a diagnosis of hypertension. We observed a strong direct association between progressively higher the CUN-BAE index at baseline and incident hypertension during follow-up in multivariable-adjusted models for men and women, even after further adjustment for BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, showing a significant association also in non-obese participants. For each 2-unit increase in the CUN-BAE index, hypertension risk increased by 27% and 29% in men and women, respectively. The results remained significant when considering longitudinal repeated measures of changes in body fat assessed with the CUN-BAE index among the different biennial follow-up questionnaires. Our results emphasize the importance of reducing and maintaining a low body fat to prevent hypertension

Fuel poverty and well-being: a consmer theory and stochastic fronteir approach

Evidence and conventional wisdom suggest that general poverty has a negative effect on the well-being of individuals. However, the mechanisms through which this effect occurs are not well-understood. In this paper we analyse the effect of general and fuel poverty as well as the social dimension through peer comparison on the objective and perceived well-being of households. We develop a novel approach to analyse fuel poverty and well-being based on consumer theory. Individual preferences are modelled using indifference curves and a distance function where the preferences of individuals are affected by their poverty status. We use the survey data from the official Spanish Living Conditions Survey (SLCS) for 2013 which contains over 16,800 observations on household members. The results show that both general and fuel poverty influence the reference indifference curve but that individuals also compare themselves with their peers. The proposed model also allows us to corroborate how general and fuel poverty affect well-being and how effective policies can be designed to improve social welfare

In situ photoacoustic spectroscopy of phycobiliproteins in Gracilaria chilensis

peer reviewedPhycobiliproteins, the main polypeptidic components of the phycobilisomes (PBS), are biolog- ical macromolecules arranged in complex interaction systems to perform light harvesting and conduction. The optical properties of these systems can hardly be studied by conventional spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore this techniques also involve laborious chemical extraction methods. Photoacoustic (PA) spec- troscopy was successfully applied to an in situ study of the phycobiliproteins expression in the eukaryotic red algae: Gracilaria chilensis

Costly arbitrage and asset prices: evidence from closed-end funds

If arbitrage is costly and noise traders are active, asset prices may deviate from fundamental values for long periods of time. We use a sample of 158 closed-end funds to show that noise-trader sentiment, as proxied by retail-investor flows, leads to fluctuations in the discount. Nevertheless, we reject the hypothesis that noise-trader risk is the cause of the long-run discount. Instead we find that funds which are more difficult to arbitrage have larger discounts, due to: (i) the censoring of the discount by the arbitrage bounds, and (ii) the freedom of managers to increase charges when arbitrage is costly

ETA receptor-mediated Ca2+ signaling in thin descending limbs of Henle's loop: Impairment in genetic hypertension

ETA-mediated Ca2+ signaling in thin descending limbs of Henle's loop: Impairment in genetic hypertension.BackgroundEndothelins (ET) have diuretic and natriuretic actions via ETB receptors that are found in most renal tubular segments, although the thin limbs have not been studied. Data also suggest that dysfunction of the renal ET system may be important in the pathogenesis of hypertension. The present study was aimed at determining the presence and nature of ET receptors in the thin limbs of Henle's loop and their ability to activate a Ca2+-dependent signaling pathway, as well as whether ET-induced Ca2+ signals are altered in hypertension.MethodsReverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Fura 2 fluorescence measurements of [Ca2+]i were made to characterize ET receptors in descending thin limbs (DTL) of Sprague-Dawley rats, spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats, and control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, and the three selected strains of Lyon rats with low-normal (LL), normal (LN), and high (LH) blood pressure.ResultsIn SD rats, ET induced Ca2+ signals in DTL of long-looped nephrons, but not in DTL of short loops, or in ascending thin limbs. Ca2+ increases were abolished by BQ123, an antagonist of the ETA receptor, but not by BQ788, an antagonist of the ETB subtype. Endothelin-3 and sarafotoxin 6c, two ETB receptor agonists, were both inactive. RT-PCR showed the presence of both ETA and ETB receptor mRNA. Ca2+ signals measured in DTL of WKY LL and LN rats were similar to those in Sprague-Dawley rats, but were significantly diminished (LH) or abolished (SH) in hypertensive rats.ConclusionA functional ETA receptor activating a Ca2+-dependent pathway is expressed in DTL. This ETA-induced calcium signaling is impaired in two strains of genetically hypertensive rats

León (Spain) Health professionals’ knowledge and clinical practice towards the relationship between cardiovascular diseases and periodontal disease

Cardiovascular pathologies have a high prevalence in the geriatric population, with acute myocardial infarction being one of the main causes of death in Spain. These pathologies have a systemic inflammatory component that is of vital importance. We also know in dentistry that the main gingival pathogens are capable of generating a systemic inflammatory response, being indirectly involved in the development of the atherosclerotic lesion, assuming, therefore, that periodontal disease is a cardiovascular risk factor. The objective of this study is to determine the knowledge of health professionals who treat cardiovascular diseases about periodontal disease and its relationship with heart disease.A health survey was carried out on 100 Cardiologists, Internists and General Practitioners in the province of León. Points of interest in this survey: the professional’s own oral health, knowledge of the relationship between periodontal and heart disease and, lastly, the training received in medicine on oral health.60% of professionals reviewed their oral health annually and 20% randomly. 48% of health professionals were unaware of periodontal diseases, 77% claimed to have not received university training in this regard, only 13% of those surveyed acknowledged having received more than 10 hours of training on oral health in their experience and finally, 90% thought that training in both Medicine and Dentistry should be collaborative.The degree of knowledge of health professionals regarding oral health is poor (77%), therefore the number of collaborative consultations with dental professionals is low (<63%). Training projects targeting a correct preventive medicine are shown to be necessary

Right radical hemicolectomy secondary to cecal appendix mucocele: case report

The cecal appendix mucocele is considered a cystic dilation of obstructive etiology that produces an accumulation of mucoid substance. It may be of benign or malignant origin. 50-year-old female, with no significant personal pathological history, presents with repetitive clinical symptoms of abdominal pain, similar to the process of acute appendicitis, without systemic inflammatory response data, which improves with analgesic management, is protocolized by laboratory studies and imaging, diagnosing appendicular tumor, so it is protocolized for surgical resolution, during which it is decided to do right hemicolectomy due to the macroscopic features of ascending colon. The clinical course and prognosis of mucinous appendicular lesions are closely related to their histology and the presence and extent of peritoneal dissemination. With a survival of 91 to 100% after a conventional appendectomy. The cecal appendix mucocele is considered a benign neoplasm; with good survival provided it is diagnosed in time and an appropriate surgical approach is performed; in our case fortunately it could be protocolized correctly; perform a surgical resection with free edges of oncological cells confirmed by histopathology, so our patient could be discharged from the service being free of oncological pathology at this time