ADAMTS7 in cardiovascular disease: from bedside to bench and back again?

Work in Dr Andrés’ laboratory is supported by grants SAF2013-46663-R and RD12/0042/0028 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) with cofunding from the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), the European Commission (Liphos, grant agreement No. 317916), and the Progeria Research Foundation (Established Investigator Award). Work in Dr Arroyo’s laboratory is supported by grants SAF2011-25619 and RD12/0042/0023 from MINECO (FEDER cofunded), the European Commission (CardioNext, grant agreement No. 608027), and La Marató de TV3 Foundation. Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) is supported by the MINECO and the Pro-CNIC Foundatio

Calibration of piezoelectric positioning actuators using a reference voltage-to-displacement transducer based on quartz tuning forks

We use a piezoelectric quartz tuning fork to calibrate the displacement of ceramic piezoelectric scanners which are widely employed in scanning probe microscopy. We measure the static piezoelectric response of a quartz tuning fork and find it to be highly linear, non-hysteretic and with negligible creep. These performance characteristics, close to those of an ideal transducer, make quartz transducers superior to ceramic piezoelectric actuators. Furthermore, quartz actuators in the form of a tuning fork have the advantage of yielding static displacements comparable to those of local probe microscope scanners. We use the static displacement of a quartz tuning fork as a reference to calibrate the three axis displacement of a ceramic piezoelectric scanner. Although this calibration technique is a non-traceable method, it can be more versatile than using calibration grids because it enables to characterize the linear and non-linear response of a piezoelectric scanner in a broad range of displacements, spanning from a fraction of a nanometer to hundreds of nanometers. In addition, the creep and the speed dependent piezoelectric response of ceramic scanners can be studied in detail.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Characterization of single-molecule pentanedithiol junctions by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy and first-principles calculations

We study pentanedithiol molecular junctions formed by means of the break-junction technique with a scanning tunneling microscope at low temperatures. Using inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy and first-principles calculations, the response of the junction to elastic deformation is examined. We show that this procedure makes a detailed characterization of the molecular junction possible. In particular, our results indicate that tunneling takes place through just a single molecule.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures (accepted in Phys. Rev. B

Application of digital speckle interferometry to visualize surface changes in metallic samples immersed in Cu(NO3)2 solutions

Digital speckle pattern interferometry (DSPI) has been applied to analyze surface corrosion processes in a metallic sample immersed in a 0.1 M Cu(NO3)2 solution. The corrosion process induces changes in the surface and in the solution refractive index. A detailed analysis of the DSPI measurements has been performed to obtain a two-dimensional visualization of the surface changes and an evaluation of the refractive index changes of the solution. The possibilities of DSPI for measuring surface changes in these conditions have been analyzed.Funding of this research by Spanish MINECO and the European FEDER Program (Project MAT2011-22719) and by Gobierno de Aragón (Research groups T12 and T76) is gratefully acknowledged. Authors would also like to acknowledge the use of Servicio General de Apoyo a la Investigación-SAI, Universidad de Zaragoza.Peer Reviewe

Sistematización del programa escuela y café el caso de la institución educativa técnica Los Andes del municipio de Planadas, Tolima (2014-2017)

En la actualidad, el municipio de Planadas en el departamento del Tolima está permeado en todos sus sectores por el café. Esto se extiende incluso al campo educativo, con un programa de educación flexible denominado Programa Escuela y Café (PEC), creado por la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros en compañía del Plan de Consolidación del Sur del Tolima, la Secretaría de Educación del departamento del Tolima, el Ministerio de Educación Nacional, el programa Colombia Responde, y el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. El PEC busca incentivar a los jóvenes hacia el trabajo agropecuario para aumentar el relevo generacional, la principal debilidad por la que atraviesa el campo en casi todo el territorio colombiano. Este programa tuvo un éxito notable en el departamento de Caldas, por lo cual los anteriores entes decidieron replicarlo en el Tolima, dadas las características agroeconómicas de algunos municipios como el que nos concierne en este trabajo, PlanadasMagíster en Desarrollo RuralMaestrí

Correlación clínica e inmunohistopatológica de la nefropatía lúpica en un centro de referencia del Caribe colombiano durante los años 2012 a 2013

Objectives: To determine the behavior of lupus nephropathy (LN) in a population group of a reference center in the Colombian Caribbean during 2012 and 2013, analyzing the most prevalent clinical and laboratory findings and its relation to the immunohistotopathological findings, define the class of Lupus nephritis with greater prevalence and the clinical or paraclinic data more correlated with this one. Methods: Descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study conducted from January 1st of 2012 to December 31st 2013, which included 53 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus according to diagnostic critearia of the Colegio Americano de Reumatologia, with manifestations of renal impairment. Results: In our study population in the Colombian Caribbean, LN predominates more in women and class IV represents 66.03% of the total cases analyzed, in which there was more hematuria present, hypertension and proteinuria with nephrotic pattern, as well as higher levels of serum creatinine. Despite the lack of data, none of the clinical or paraclinical variables was specific for a certain class of LN and in relation to the immunostaining, lambda chains were positive in 100% of the cases and only C4 and fibrinogen were specific to LN class IV. Conclusions: Class IV LN is the most prevalent and with a higher percentage of predominance of the variables hematuria, proteinuria, hypertension, elevated serum creatinine and bun levels. At the same time they are not specific for some class of LN in our population.Objetivos: Determinar el comportamiento de la nefropatía lúpica (NL) en un grupo poblacional de un centro de referencia del Caribe colombiano, durante los años 2012 y 2013, analizando los hallazgos clínicos  de laboratorio más prevalentes y su relación con los hallazgos inmunohistopatológicos, definir la clase de NL con mayor prevalencia y el dato clínico o paraclínico más correlacionado con esta.Métodos: Estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo, transversal, realizado desde el 1 de enero de 2012 al 31 de diciembre de 2013, que incluyó a 53 pacientes con lupus eritematoso sistémico (LES), según los criterios diagnósticos del Colegio Americano de Reumatología, con manifestaciones de compromiso renal.Resultados: En nuestra población de estudio del Caribe colombiano, la NL predomina más en mujeres y la clase IV representa el 66,03% del total de casos analizados, en los cuales hubo más presentación de hematuria, hipertensión y proteinuria con patrón nefrótico, al igual que mayores niveles de creatinina sérica. A pesar de la falta de datos, ninguna de las variables clínicas o paraclínicas fue específica para cierta clase de NL y con relación a la inmunomarcación, las cadenas lambda se presentaron positivas en el 100% de los casos y tan solo el C4 y el fibrinógeno fueron específicos de la NL clase IV.Conclusiones: La NL clase IV es la más prevalente y con mayor porcentaje de predominio de las variables como hematuria, proteinuria, hipertensión, niveles de creatinina y BUN séricos elevados y, a su vez, no son específicos para cierta clase de NL en nuestra población

Primordial magnetic fields from preheating at the electroweak scale

We analyze the generation of helical magnetic fields during preheating in a model of low-scale electroweak (EW) hybrid inflation. We show how the inhomogeneities in the Higgs field, resulting from tachyonic preheating after inflation, seed the magnetic fields in a way analogous to that predicted by Vachaspati and Cornwall in the context of the EW symmetry breaking. At this stage, the helical nature of the generated magnetic fields is linked to the non-trivial winding of the Higgs-field. We analyze non-perturbatively the evolution of these helical seeds through the highly non-linear stages of symmetry breaking (SB) and beyond. Electroweak SB occurs via the nucleation and growth of Higgs bubbles which squeeze the magnetic fields into string-like structures. The W-boson charge density clusters in lumps around the magnetic strings. After symmetry breaking, a detailed analysis of the magnetic field Fourier spectrum shows two well differentiated components: a UV radiation tail at a temperature T ~ 0.23 m_higgs slowly growing with time, and an IR peak associated to the helical magnetic fields, which seems to follow inverse cascade. The system enters a regime in which we observe that both the amplitude (\rho_B/\rho_{EW} ~ 0.01) and the correlation length of the magnetic field grow linearly with time. During this stage of evolution we also observe a power-law growth in the helical susceptibility. These properties support the possibility that our scenario could provide the seeds eventually evolving into the microgauss fields observed today in galaxies and clusters of galaxies.Comment: 55 pages, late

Characterisation of Au nanorod dynamics in optical tweezers via localised surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy

© 2014 SPIE. We present a study of the trapping properties of Au nanorods of different aspect ratios in an optical tweezers and comparison with other characterization techniques like transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging and dynamic light scattering (DLS). This study provides information on the dynamics and orientation of Au nanorods inside an optical trap based on a time study of their localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) features. The results indicate that the orientation of the Au nanorods trapped in our optical tweezers varies with time and LSPR spectra can provide information on the angle of the nanorod with respect to the direction of propagation of the trapping laser

Wavelength selective filter based on polarization control in a photonic bandgap structure with a defect

We present a technique for achieving wavelength specific half-wave retardation upon reflection from an asymmetric one-dimensional photonic band-gap structure with a defect. The approach is based on a high finesse Gires-Tournois type interferometer and makes use of the large mode splitting of TE and TM defect modes that occurs in structures with a wide photonic band-gap. We use this structure to demonstrate a polarization-based selective tuneable filter with a narrow pass-band and wide rejection-band