Design, Manufacture and Characterization of an Acoustic Barrier Made of Multi-Phenomena Cylindrical Scatterers Arranged in a Fractal-Based Geometry

In this work we present the design and the manufacturing processes, as well as the acoustics standard-ization tests, of an acoustic barrier formed by a set of multi-phenomena cylindrical scatterers. Periodic arrangements of acoustic scatterers embedded in a fluid medium with different physical properties are usually called Sonic Crystals. The multiple scattering of waves inside these structures leads to attenuation bands related to the periodicity of the structure by means of Bragg scattering. In order to design the acoustic barrier, two strategies have been used: First, the arrangement of scatterers is based on fractal geometries to maximize the Bragg scattering; econd, multi-phenomena scatterers with several noise con- trol mechanisms, as resonances or absorption, are designed and used to construct the periodic array. The acoustic barrier reported in this work provides a high technological solution in the field of noise control.This work was supported by MCI Secretaria de Estado de Investigacion (Spanish government) and the FEDER funds, under Grant No. MAT2009-09438 and by Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Programa INNOVA 2010) under grant "INNOVA 2010 PDC PANTALLA ACUSTICA". The authors would like to thank Applus+ (LGAI Technological Center S.A.) for their help. V.R.G. is grateful for the support of post-doctoral contracts of the UPV (CEI-01-11).Castiñeira Ibáñez, S.; Rubio Michavila, C.; Romero García, V.; Sánchez Pérez, JV.; García Raffi, LM. (2012). Design, Manufacture and Characterization of an Acoustic Barrier Made of Multi-Phenomena Cylindrical Scatterers Arranged in a Fractal-Based Geometry. Archives of Acoustics. 37(4):455-462. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10168-012-0057-9S45546237

Effect of soundscape dimensions on acoustic comfort in urban open public spaces

Soundscapes in public squares play important roles in urban open spaces. This study aimed to discover the effect of four soundscape dimensions, namely relaxation, communication, spatiality and dynamics, on acoustic comfort in urban open public spaces. A typical city square in China was selected as a case site. Sound environment measurements and questionnaire surveys were carried out for 8 survey positions. The results showed that the perceived dominance of sound sources had a significant effect on relaxation, communication, spatiality and dynamics. Relaxation was greater when the natural sound was perceived dominantly, while it was lower when mechanical sounds or anthropogenic sounds were perceived dominantly. Acoustic comfort had a significant correlation with the soundscape dimensions and LAeq, with spearman's correlation coefficients of 0.495 (relaxation), 0.210 (sound pressure level) and 0.288 (spatiality). In terms of the differences in perceived sound types, acoustic comfort was positively correlated with relaxation when natural sound or anthropogenic sound was perceived dominantly. As spatiality increased, acoustic comfort first decreased and later increased when relaxation was higher, while there were positive correlations between acoustic comfort and relaxation under the other situations. Moreover, when spatiality or communication was higher, there were significant correlations between acoustic comfort and dynamics. According to these results, acoustic comfort can be increased as soundscape dimensions change in an urban open public space

Quimiohipertermia intravesical conductiva con Mitomicina en el c?ncer de vejiga no m?sculo invasivo: revisi?n de gu?as e investigaci?n en marcha.

El c?ncer de vejiga no m?sculo invasivo se caracteriza por una alta tasa de recurrencia y progresi?n de la enfermedad. En base a esto, los pacientes se clasifican en grupos de riesgo con el fin de individualizar su tratamiento. Entre las opciones terap?uticas destacan la mitomicina y el Bacilo de Calmette-Gu?rin, pero este ?ltimo presenta problemas de desabastecimiento o de recurrencia, entre otros, por lo que se investigan terapias que aumenten la eficacia de la mitomicina. Entre ellas se encuentra la quimiohipertermia intravesical conductiva, pero las gu?as no la incluyen entre sus recomendaciones. Se necesitan m?s estudios cl?nicos que avalen su seguridad y eficacia

Functional complementation of yeast cytosolic pyrophosphatase by bacterial and plant H(+)-translocating pyrophosphatases

Two types of proteins that hydrolyze inorganic pyrophosphate (PP(i)), very different in both amino acid sequence and structure, have been characterized to date: soluble and membrane-bound proton-pumping pyrophosphatases (sPPases and H(+)-PPases, respectively). sPPases are ubiquitous proteins that hydrolyze PP(i) releasing heat, whereas H(+)-PPases, so far unidentified in animal and fungal cells, couple the energy of PP(i) hydrolysis to proton movement across biological membranes. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two sPPases that are located in the cytosol and in the mitochondria. Previous attempts to knock out the gene coding for a cytosolic sPPase (IPP1) have been unsuccessful, thus suggesting that this protein is essential for growth. Here, we describe the generation of a conditional S. cerevisiae mutant (named YPC-1) whose functional IPP1 gene is under the control of a galactose-dependent promoter. Thus, YPC-1 cells become growth arrested in glucose but they regain the ability to grow on this carbon source when transformed with autonomous plasmids bearing diverse foreign H(+)-PPase genes under the control of a yeast constitutive promoter. The heterologously expressed H(+)-PPases are distributed among different yeast membranes, including the plasma membrane, functional complementation by these integral membrane proteins being consistently sensitive to external pH. These results demonstrate that hydrolysis of cytosolic PP(i) is essential for yeast growth and that this function is not substantially affected by the intrinsic characteristics of the PPase protein that accomplishes it. Moreover, this is, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence that H(+)-PPases can mediate net hydrolysis of PP(i) in vivo. YPC-1 mutant strain constitutes a convenient expression system to perform studies aimed at the elucidation of the structure–function relationships of this type of proton pumps

Dispositivo reductor de flujo de seno coronario en el tratamiento de la angina refractaria

La angina refractaria es una condici?n caracterizada por isquemia mioc?rdica reversible en presencia de enfermedad arterial obstructiva cr?nica, con s?ntomas persistentes. El diagn?stico se basa en datos cl?nicos, anat?micos y funcionales. El abordaje terap?utico incluye cambios en el estilo de vida, tratamiento farmacol?gico y revascularizaci?n percut?nea o quir?rgica. Sin embargo, hay pacientes con s?ntomas persistentes para los que se han investigado alternativas terap?uticas como el dispositivo reductor de flujo del seno coronario. El objetivo del estudio es evaluar la eficacia, seguridad y costes de este dispositivo en el tratamiento de la angina refractaria en pacientes no aptos para otras opciones terap?uticas.A anxina refractaria ? unha condici?n caracterizada por isquemia mioc?rdica reversible en presencia de enfermidade arterial obstructiva cr?nica, con s?ntomas persistentes. O diagn?stico bas?ase nos datos cl?nicos, anat?micos e funcionais. O enfoque terap?utico incl?e cambios no estilo de vida, tratamento farmacol?xico e revascularizaci?n percut?nea ou cir?rxica. Sen embargo, hai pacientes con s?ntomas persistentes para os que se investigaron alternativas terap?uticas como o dispositivo reductor de fluxo de seno coronario. O obxectivo do estudo ? avaliar a efectividade, seguridade e custos deste dispositivo no tratamento da anxina refractaria en pacientes non aptos para outras opci?ns terap?uticas

Efficacy, safety and cost-efficiency of adalimumab 80 mg every other week in previously intensified IBD patients under treatment with adalimumab 40 mg every week

Background Dose escalation is often recommended for loss of response in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) under maintenance treatment with anti-TNF, but in normal conditions this strategy considerably increases the cost. A new presentation of Adalimumab (ADA) 80 mg has been approved in our hospital with the same price per unit as the ADA 40 mg presentation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, safety and cost-efficiency of ADA 80 mg every other week (eow) in IBD patients under previously intensified treatment with ADA 40 mg every week. Methods A prospective and observational study was performed. Inclusion criteria were all IBD patients under intensified maintenance therapy with ADA 40 mg every week. Physicians informed all patients the reasons (cost and convenience) for changing to a ADA 80 mg eow dose and asked for their consent. So far we have evaluated a period of 1 month, although the complete follow-up period will be 12 months. The Harvey?Bradshaw index (HBI ?4) and the Mayo partial index (Mayo partial index ?2) were used to evaluate clinical remission in Crohn?s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, respectively. Adverse events were monitored. Faecal calprotectin (FC) and C reactive protein (CRP) were collected at baseline (week 0, before first dose of subcutaneous injection of ADA 80 mg) and after 1 month. Biological remission was defined as clinical remission and FC < 250 ?g/g and CRP < 5 mg/dl. A descriptive analysis was performed and data are shown as percentage, median and range. Cost efficiency analysis was also performed. Results We offered to 18 consecutive IBD patients the possibility of participating in the study, but only 16 agreed to participate. We included 15 CD and 1 extensive UC with a median age of 40. 56.3% were male, 37.5% non-smokers and 31.3% ex-smokers. In CD, 46.7% had ileal disease, 13.3% colonic disease and 40% ileocolonic disease. 46.7% CD patients presented fistulising behaviour. At baseline, 86.7% of patients were in clinical remission and 92.3% were in clinical remission after 1 month. Median FC concentration at inclusion was 210 (range 6?1900) and 1 month later 91 (range 10?3754). Median CRP concentration at inclusion was 0.14 (range 0?19) and 0.21 (range 0.01?2.94) at month 1. 60% of patients at month 0 and 53.3% at month 1 were in biological remission. No adverse events were registered. After 1 month in total we had saved more than 13.000 euros and if all patients complete 1 year of treatment we predict savings of more than 150.000 euros with our new schedule of treatment. Conclusions Changing to a single dose ADA 80 mg eow is an efficacy, safety and cost-efficient strategy in IBD patients under intensified maintenance therapy with ADA 40 mg every week

Conditional cash transfer programmes: the recent experience in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes BibliographySpanish version available at the LibraryForeword Alicia BárcenaThis document summarizes experience with conditional cash transfer or "co-responsibility" (CCT) programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean, over a period lasting more than 15 years. During this time, CCTs have consolidated and spread through the region's various countries as a tool of choice for poverty-reduction policy. This document, which it is hoped will serve as a basis and input for discussion and progress in building social-protection systems premised on inclusion and universal rights, provides detailed information on the different components of CCTs. It also reviews their main characteristics in terms of the definition and registration of programme users, the targeting mechanisms used, the various types of benefits provided, and the conditionalities attached to them. It then analyses the historical trend of the indicators of CCT investment and coverage, and the information available 8 ECLAC on their effects in different domains. Lastly, it makes an assessment of the experience and the main challenges that these programmes pose in terms of their sustainability, legal framework, accountability, participation, institutionality and inter-sectoral characteristics