Las nuevas formas de «religión civil» en el espacio público

Throughout the centuries, societies have enjoyed religious homogeneity and there has been a great level of interdependence between society and the existing religious systems. However, as history progressed and modernization impregnated social foundations, religious practice has been changing due to the rise of secularization and criticism of traditional religious systems. This change has ushered in new forms of religious expression, which have in turn assumed quasireligious forms known as «civil religion». This phenomenon can be seen as a deliberate attempt made by several civil authorities to monopolize man’s natural religious dimension and to hog the public sphere.En la medida que ha ido avanzando la historia y la modernidad, la práctica religiosa ha ido variando paulatinamente, entrando en escena la secularización y la crítica hacia los sistemas religiosos tradicionales. Este cambio ha traído consigo nuevas formas de manifestación religiosa, que incluso han ido asumiendo formas pararreligiosas a modo de «religión civil». Se trata de un intento deliberado por parte de los distintos poderes civiles de monopolizar la dimensión religiosa del hombre y de acaparar el ámbito público

CMOS linear laser driver for intermediate frequency over fiber (IFoF) links

The main objective of the proposed linear laser driver (LLD) is to reduce signal distortion in an analog direct modulation laser configuration used for intermediate frequency over fiber links. This work draws on an open-loop configuration featuring two differential pair blocks in a cascade arrangement to achieve a bandwidth measurement of 415 MHz at the half-power point, a total harmonic distortion of 4.57% for a fundamental frequency of 100 MHz, and an amplitude of 100 mVpp. The LLD provides a gain of 12.3 dB for a differential output and an output impedance of 46 Ω. The design, layout, and integration correspond to the process design kit for TSMC 65-nm CMOS technology. Experimental results show the advantage over other previously reported laser drivers

Fluorescence-Labeled Pyrenesulfonamide Response for Characterizing Polymeric Interfaces in Composite Materials

E-glass fibers were silanized using a 1% (v/v) aqueous solution of γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APES). Pyrene—sulfonamide conjugates were formed by reaction of 1-pyrenesulfonyl chloride (PSC) in acetonitrile (AcN), with the amine groups immobilized on the glass fiber surface. These pyrene—sulfonamide conjugates were used as fluorescence probes, being a relatively simple analytical method to study the coating microstructure of polyorganosiloxane layer on glass fibers. The first aim of this work was to estimate possible interactions of the polyaminosiloxane coating with surrounding molecules of different solvents (solvent accessibility to the chromophore). For this study, the fluorescence response of pyrene—sulfonamide dye (PSA) was correlated with solvent polarity parameters. It was concluded that all the studied solvents were accessible to the chromophore, and they can gather in two groups, depending on their ability to swell the poliorganosiloxane layer. The second objective was to estimate the rigidity of the coating polymer from the temperature dependence of PSA emission. At about 180 K, a sudden change in the behavior of different photophysical parameters of PSA were observed. This phenomenon was interpreted as a density change in the polyaminosiloxane attached to the glass fibersThis research was supported by integrated actions Portugal–Spain, Reference HP1998-0014. J. Baselga, A. Aznar, and J. González-Benito wish to acknowledge the European Commission for support under the Brite-EuRam program (BE97-4472)

Effect of Glass Fiber Surface Treatments on Mechanical Strength of Epoxy Based Composite Materials

Sizing glass fibers with silane coupling agents enhances the adhesion and the durability of the fiber/polymer matrix interface in composite materials. There are several tests to determine the interfacial strength between a fiber and resin, but all of them present difficulties in interpreting the results and/or sample preparation. In this study, we observed the influence of different aminosilanes fiber coatings on the resistance of epoxy-based composite materials using a very easy fractographic test. In addition, we tried a new fluorescence method to get information on a molecular level precisely at the interface. Strength was taken into account from two standpoints: (i) mechanical strength and (ii) the resistance to hydrolysis of the interface in oriented glass-reinforced epoxy-based composites. Three silanes: gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, gamma-Aminopropylmethyldiethoxysilane, and gamma-Aminopropyldimethylethoxysilane were used to obtain different molecular structures at the interface. It was concluded that: (i) the more accessible amine groups are, the higher the interface rigidity is; (ii) an interpenetrating network mechanism seems to be the most important for adhesion and therefore to the interfacial strength; and (iii) the higher the degree of crosslinking in the silane coupling layer is, the higher the hydrolytic damage rate is.The authors thank the Comunidad Auto´noma de Madrid (CAM: the Madrid regional government) for funding through Project (07N/0002/98)

Generación de una tensión de polarización variable para la compensación de efectos de proceso en LNA sin inductores

This work presents and evaluates different alternatives to implement a bias circuit that compensates for variations in the manufacturing process in a low noise amplifier (LNA) based on a common gate stage with transconductance enhancement. The study covers three topologies and a comparison and verification is made through corner analysis and Monte Carlo.Este trabajo presenta y evalúa diferentes alternativas para implementar un circuito de polarización que compense las variaciones del proceso de fabricación en un amplificador de bajo ruido (LNA) basado en una etapa puerta común con realce de transconductancia. El estudio cubre tres topologías y se efectúa una comparativa y comprobación mediante análisis de corners y Monte Carlo

Metodología de diseño de LNA de banda ancha robustos frente a variaciones de proceso

Los amplificadores de bajo ruido requieren cumplir unas especificaciones de diseño muy estrictas. Esto hace delicado y tedioso su diseño, especialmente si se desea garantizar su robustez al sufrir las variaciones de proceso. Para solventarlo, este trabajo presenta una metodología de optimización

Metodología de diseño de LNA de banda ancha robustos frente a variaciones de proceso

Los amplificadores de bajo ruido requieren cumplir unas especificaciones de diseño muy estrictas. Esto hace delicado y tedioso su diseño, especialmente si se desea garantizar su robustez al sufrir las variaciones de proceso. Para solventarlo, este trabajo presenta una metodología de optimización

LMO2 expression reflects the different stages of blast maturation and genetic features in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and predicts clinical outcome

BACKGROUND: LMO2 is highly expressed at the most immature stages of lymphopoiesis. In T-lymphocytes, aberrant LMO2 expression beyond those stages leads to T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, while in B cells LMO2 is also expressed in germinal center lymphocytes and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, where it predicts better clinical outcome. The implication of LMO2 in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia must still be explored. DESIGN AND METHODS: We measured LMO2 expression by real time RT-PCR in 247 acute lymphoblastic leukemia patient samples with cytogenetic data (144 of them also with survival and immunophenotypical data) and in normal hematopoietic and lymphoid cells. RESULTS: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases expressed variable levels of LMO2 depending on immunophenotypical and cytogenetic features. Thus, the most immature subtype, pro-B cells, displayed three-fold higher LMO2 expression than pre-B cells, common-CD10+ or mature subtypes. Additionally, cases with TEL-AML1 or MLL rearrangements exhibited two-fold higher LMO2 expression compared to cases with BCR-ABL rearrangements or hyperdyploid karyotype. Clinically, high LMO2 expression correlated with better overall survival in adult patients (5-year survival rate 64.8% (42.5%-87.1%) vs. 25.8% (10.9%-40.7%), P= 0.001) and constituted a favorable independent prognostic factor in B-ALL with normal karyotype: 5-year survival rate 80.3% (66.4%-94.2%) vs. 63.0% (46.1%-79.9%) (P= 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that LMO2 expression depends on the molecular features and the differentiation stage of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells. Furthermore, assessment of LMO2 expression in adult patients with a normal karyotype, a group which lacks molecular prognostic factors, could be of clinical relevance

Actividad física, ejercicio y deporte en la lucha contra la obesidad infantil y juvenil

El propósito del presente documento es proponer desde el grupo de expertos en ejercicio físico y salud de EXERNET (Red Española de Investigación en Ejercicio Físico y Salud) una serie de recomendaciones sobre la práctica de la actividad física y deportiva que a nivel individual, familiar e institucional ayuden a prevenir y tratar la obesidad infantil y juvenil, basadas en la evidencia científi ca actual

Helminth Communities of Owls (Strigiformes) Indicate Strong Biological and Ecological Differences from Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes and Falconiformes) in Southern Italy

We compared the helminth communities of 5 owl species from Calabria (Italy) and evaluated the effect of phylogenetic and ecological factors on community structure. Two host taxonomic scales were considered, i.e., owl species, and owls vs. birds of prey. The latter scale was dealt with by comparing the data here obtained with that of birds of prey from the same locality and with those published previously on owls and birds of prey from Galicia (Spain). A total of 19 helminth taxa were found in owls from Calabria. Statistical comparison showed only marginal differences between scops owls (Otus scops) and little owls (Athene noctua) and tawny owls (Strix aluco). It would indicate that all owl species are exposed to a common pool of 'owl generalist' helminth taxa, with quantitative differences being determined by differences in diet within a range of prey relatively narrow. In contrast, birds of prey from the same region exhibited strong differences because they feed on different and wider spectra of prey. In Calabria, owls can be separated as a whole from birds of prey with regard to the structure of their helminth communities while in Galicia helminths of owls represent a subset of those of birds of prey. This difference is related to the occurrence in Calabria, but not Galicia, of a pool of 'owl specialist' species. The wide geographical occurrence of these taxa suggest that local conditions may determine fundamental differences in the composition of local communities. Finally, in both Calabria and Galicia, helminth communities from owls were species-poor compared to those from sympatric birds of prey. However, birds of prey appear to share a greater pool of specific helmith taxa derived from cospeciation processes, and a greater potential exchange of parasites between them than with owls because of phylogenetic closeness