Gaseous Helium storage and management in the cryogenic system for the LHC

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presently under construction at CERN. Its main components are superconducting magnets which will operate in superfluid helium requiring cryogenics on a length of about 24 km around the machine ring with a total helium inventory of about 100 tonnes. As no permanent liquid helium storage is foreseen and for reasons of investment costs, only half of the total helium content can be stored in gaseous form in medium pressure vessels. During the LHC operation part of these vessels will be used as helium buffer in the case of multiple magnet quenches. This paper describes the storage, distribution and management of the helium, the layout and the connection to the surface and underground equipment of the cryogenic system

Arquitectos viajeros: influencias de ida y vuelta en el Japón de entreguerras

Entre finales del siglo XIX y las primeras décadas del siglo pasado, la sociedad japonesa se encontraba experimentando un cambio cultural de gran envergadura, su mirada se volvió hacia el mundo occidental y abrazó con entusiasmo no sólo los aspectos tecnológicos y políticos procedentes de Occidente, sino también los modos y costumbres de ese nuevo referente exterior, una vez China quedó desplazada de ese papel. El desarrollo de los medios de transporte en la misma época facilitó el intercambio de experiencia en amplios ámbitos del conocimiento entre los dos mundos. Numerosos intelectuales y estudiantes viajaron a otros países con la intención de tener acceso directo a los grandes centros del saber en Occidente. Entre los profesionales y estudiosos que viajaban a Europa y Estados Unidos se encontraban también los arquitectos recién graduados en la joven Universidad Imperial de Tokio. El viaje se convirtió en un factor decisivo en la influencia de ida y vuelta que se produjo entre arquitectos occidentales y japoneses, especialmente durante el periodo de entreguerras. Los viajes a Occidente supusieron un gran salto para la arquitectura moderna en Japón tanto por el aprendizaje de técnicas y teorías novedosas, como por la toma de consciencia de los arquitectos japoneses de su propia particularidad y originalidad estética, ya que muchos de los rasgos fundamentales de la arquitectura japonesa fueron observados por estos arquitectos viajeros en el trabajo de algunos de sus colegas en Occidente

Quality Testing of Gaseous Helium Pressure Vessels by Acoustic Emission

The resistance of pressure equipment is currently tested, before commissioning or at periodic maintenance, by means of normal pressure tests. Defects occurring inside materials during the execution of these tests or not seen by usual non-destructive techniques can remain as undetected potential sources of failure . The acoustic emission (AE) technique can detect and monitor the evolution of such failures. Industrial-size helium cryogenic systems employ cryogens often stored in gaseous form under pressure at ambient temperature. Standard initial and periodic pressure testing imposes operational constraints which other complementary testing methods, such as AE, could significantly alleviate. Recent reception testing of 250 m3 GHe storage vessels with a design pressure of 2.2 MPa for the LEP and LHC cryogenic systems has implemented AE with the above-mentioned aims

Displasia congénita de tibia : 12 años de seguimiento

Congenital dysplasia of the tibia, previously named congenital pseudoarthrosis, is a very rare disorder, affecting 1 in 140,000 live-born children. Some of those cases are associated with neurofibromatosis or Von Recklinghausen disease and involvement of the fibula has been reported in 62% of cases . The diagnosis is usually made at birth. The natural history of the disease is extremely dark and once a fracture occurs, there is no tendency to heal spontaneously. We would like to report a 12 years followed-up case, treated with different methods with the aim of revise different treatment techniques depending on the age of the patient and the kind of fracture

Factors influencing academic achievement: the mediating role of motivation in learning strategies and school climate

El objetivo principal de esta investigación consiste en analizar la relación existente entre estrategias de aprendizaje, motivación, clima escolar y el rendimiento académico y establecer cuáles son los mejores predoctores de este rendimiento. Para ello hemos utilizado una muestra de 101 alumnos de 4º ESO de centros de Granada y Málaga, a los que se les administró el CEAM II, para medir estrategias de aprendizaje y motivación; y el CECSCE para medir el clima escolar. Los resultados indican que altas puntuaciones en estrategias de aprendizaje, una mayor motivación y un mejor clima escolar se relacionan con un mejor rendimiento académico. A su vez, los resultados muestran que los factores que mejor predicen el rendimiento académico son la valoración de la tarea y percepción de autoeficacia (motivación), organización y esfuerzo (estrategias de aprendizaje) y percepción del centro (clima escolar). Por último, se observa que la motivación tiene un papel mediador entre las estrategias de aprendizaje y el clima escolar sobre el rendimiento académico. ABSTRACT The main objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between learning strategies, motivation, school climate and academic performance and establish which are the best predictors of this performance. We have used a sample of 101 students of 4 º ESO center of Granada and Malaga, who were administered the CEAM II, to measure learning strategies and motivation, and the CECSCE to measure school climate. Results indicate that high scores on learning strategies, increased motivation and improved school climate are related to better academic performance. In turn, results show that the factors that predict academic performance are the assessment of the task and self-efficacy (motivation), organization and effort (learning strategies) and perception of school (school climate). Finally, we observe that motivation has a mediating role between learning strategies and school climate on student achievement.The main objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between learning strategies, motivation, school climate and academic performance and establish which are the best predictors of this performance. We have used a sample of 101 students of 4º ESO center of Granada and Malaga, who were administered the CEAM II, to measure learning strategies and motivation, and the CECSCE to measure school climate. Results indicate that high scores on learning strategies, increased motivation and improved school climate are related to better academic performance. In turn, results show that the factors that predict academic performance are the assessment of the task and self-efficacy (motivation), organization and effort (learning strategies) and perception of school (school climate). Finally, we observe that motivation has a mediating role between learning strategies and school climate on student achievement.Proyecto de Innovación Docente "ReiDoCrea". Departamento de Psicología Social. Universidad de Granada

The role of multimorbidity in short-term mortality of lung cancer patients in Spain: a population-based cohort study

M.A.L.F. received support from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain (grant/award no. CP17/00206-EU-FEDER). This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain [EU-FEDER-FIS PI-18/01593], the Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBER en Epidemiologia y Salud Publica), the Cancer Epidemiological Surveillance Subprogram (VICA) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain, and the Andalusian Department of Health [PI-0152/2017]. The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study, data collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data, the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.Aim: Chronic diseases often occur simultaneously and tend to be associated with adverse health outcomes, but limited research has been undertaken to understand their role in lung cancer mortality. Therefore, this study aims to describe the prevalence and patterns of having one (comorbidity) or ≥ 2 chronic diseases (multimorbidity) among lung cancer patients in Spain, and to examine the association between comorbidity or multimorbidity and short-term mortality risk at six months after cancer diagnosis. Methods: In this population-based cohort study, data were drawn from two Spanish population-based cancer registries, Girona and Granada, and electronic health records. We identified 1259 adult lung cancer patients, diagnosed from 1st January 2011 to 31st December 2012. We identified the most common patterns of individual comorbidities and their pairwise correlations. We used a flexible parametric modelling approach to assess the overall short-term mortality risk 6 months after cancer diagnosis by levels of comorbidity after adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, province of residence, surgery, cancer stage, histology, and body mass index. Results: We found high prevalence of comorbidity in lung cancer patients, especially among the elderly, men, those diagnosed with advanced-stage tumours, smokers, and obese patients. The most frequent comorbidities were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (36.6%), diabetes (20.7%) and heart failure (16.8%). The strongest pairwise correlation was the combination of heart failure with renal disease (r = 0.20, p < 0.01), and heart failure with diabetes (r = 0.16, p < 0.01). Patients with either one or two or more comorbidities had 40% higher overall mortality risk than those without comorbidities (aHR for comorbidity: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.1–1.7; aHR for multimorbidity: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.1–1.8), when relevant confounding factors were considered. Conclusions: The presence of comorbid diseases, rather than the number of comorbidities, was associated with increasing the risk of short-term lung cancer mortality in Spain. Comorbidity was a consistent and independent predictor of mortality among lung cancer patients, six months after diagnosis. The most common comorbid conditions were age-, obesity- and tobacco-related diseases. Our findings highlight the need to develop targeted preventive interventions and more personalised clinical guidelines to address the needs of lung cancer patients with one or more comorbidities in Spain.Instituto de Salud Carlos III CP17/00206-EU-FEDER EU-FEDER-FIS PI-18/01593Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBER en Epidemiologia y Salud Publica)Cancer Epidemiological Surveillance Subprogram (VICA) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, SpainAndalusian Department of Health PI-0152/201

The pattern of Comorbidities and Associated Risk Factors among Colorectal Cancer Patients in Spain: CoMCoR study

AbstractColorectal cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in Spain. Cancer treatment and outcomes can be influenced by tumor characteristics, patient general health status and comorbidities. Numerous studies have analyzed the influence of comorbidity on cancer outcomes, but limited information is available regarding the frequency and distribution of comorbidities in colorectal cancer patients, particularly elderly ones, in the Spanish population. We developed a population-based high-resolution cohort study of all incident colorectal cancer cases diagnosed in Spain in 2011 to describe the frequency and distribution of comorbidities, as well as tumor and healthcare factors. We then characterized risk factors associated with the most prevalent comorbidities, as well as dementia and multimorbidity, and developed an interactive web application to visualize our findings. The most common comorbidities were diabetes (23.6%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (17.2%), and congestive heart failure (14.5%). Dementia was the most common comorbidity among patients aged ≥75 years. Patients with dementia had a 30% higher prevalence of being diagnosed at stage IV and the highest prevalence of emergency hospital admission after colorectal cancer diagnosis (33%). Colorectal cancer patients with dementia were nearly three times more likely to not be offered surgical treatment. Age ≥75 years, obesity, male sex, being a current smoker, having surgery more than 60 days after cancer diagnosis, and not being offered surgical treatment were associated with a higher risk of multimorbidity. Patients with multimorbidity aged ≥75 years showed a higher prevalence of hospital emergency admission followed by surgery the same day of the admission (37%). We found a consistent pattern in the distribution and frequency of comorbidities and multimorbidity among colorectal cancer patients. The high frequency of stage IV diagnosis among patients with dementia and the high proportion of older patients not being offered surgical treatment are significant findings that require policy actions.</jats:p

Effects of agricultural use on endangered plant taxa in Spain

Agriculture is one of the most widespread human activities and has the greatest impact on terrestrial ecosystems, as it transforms natural ecosystems into artificial landscapes using, in many cases, large amounts of pesticides as well as overexploiting natural resources. Therefore, for effective biodiversity conservation, it is necessary to include agricultural systems in conservation programs. In this work, the 50 plant taxa described for Spain as threatened by agricultural use were selected. These were divided according to the type of threat into those affected by crop extension, intensification, or abandonment. In addition, information was obtained concerning their conservation status, level of protection and functional traits (life form, pollination, and dispersal). Finally, the evolution of land use, in the areas near the populations of the selected species, was identified. The selected taxa belong to 21 families and present different life forms and modes of dispersal or pollination. Forty-six percent are endangered (EN) and most are included in legal protection lists. Nearly three-quarters are threatened by crop expansion and land use dynamics, reflecting an expansion of cultivated areas, which adds further pressure to these species. In addition to agricultural expansion, taxa are also at risk, due to important rates of agricultural land abandonment, and mention agricultural intensification. Nevertheless, conservation measures do exist to promote biodiversity in agricultural landscapes that may help to reverse the negative effect of land use dynamics on selected species, but few are specific to threatened flora. Therefore, if threatened plants are to be conserved in agricultural areas, it is necessary to promote a profound transformation of our socioecological systems. One of these transformative changes could come from the human-nature reconnection

The Drift Chambers Of The Nomad Experiment

We present a detailed description of the drift chambers used as an active target and a tracking device in the NOMAD experiment at CERN. The main characteristics of these chambers are a large area, a self supporting structure made of light composite materials and a low cost. A spatial resolution of 150 microns has been achieved with a single hit efficiency of 97%.Comment: 42 pages, 26 figure