Behavior of tumors under nonstationary theraphy

We present a model for the interaction dynamics of lymphocytes-tumor cells population. This model reproduces all known states for the tumor. Futherly,we develop it taking into account periodical immunotheraphy treatment with cytokines alone. A detailed analysis for the evolution of tumor cells as a function of frecuency and theraphy burden applied for the periodical treatment is carried out. Certain threshold values for the frecuency and applied doses are derived from this analysis. So it seems possible to control and reduce the growth of the tumor. Also, constant values for cytokines doses seems to be a succesful treatment.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Evidence Against the Sciama Model of Radiative Decay of Massive Neutrinos

We report on spectral observations of the night sky in the band around 900 angstroms where the emission line in the Sciama model of radiatively decaying massive neutrinos would be present. The data were obtained with a high resolution, high sensitivity spectrometer flown on the Spanish MINISAT satellite. The observed emission is far less intense than that expected in the Sciama model.Comment: 9 pages, accepted to Ap

Opportunities, Constraints and Perceptions of Rural Communities Regarding Their Potential to Contribute to Forest Landscape Transitions Under REDD+: Case Studies from Mexico

In Mexico, REDD+ is being presented as a win-win policy enabling forest communities to benefit financially and diversify their income sources while preserving and increasing their forest carbon stocks through more sustainable management. Under the national programme, it is expected that forest communities will have opportunities to tailor their own approaches. However, to date there is little understanding about what opportunities and constraints exist in reality for forest communities to contribute to REDD+, and even less about how their members perceive these opportunities. We assess potential and constraints at community level and investigate perceptions about opportunities in REDD+ and strategies that communities are currently envisaging for participation, in seven communities in the Ayuquila River Basin and around the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve in Jalisco, and in the area surrounding the Monarch Butterfly Reserve in Michoacan. We find that there is more opportunity for reduced degradation and forest enhancement than for reduced deforestation, in all the communities; that it may be difficult to establish additionality for REDD+ activities in some communities; that the amount of forest resource per community may greatly affect the potential to participate; that the presence of people with no land rights may complicate the distribution of benefits; that communities expect REDD+ in general to follow the Payment for Environmental Services model, and that lack of information about what activities may count as REDD+ activities and what level of financial rewards may be expected mean that communities cannot at present adequately appraise whether REDD+ will be worth their while or no

Reality conditions for Ashtekar gravity from Lorentz-covariant formulation

We show the equivalence of the Lorentz-covariant canonical formulation considered for the Immirzi parameter $\beta=i$ to the selfdual Ashtekar gravity. We also propose to deal with the reality conditions in terms of Dirac brackets derived from the covariant formulation and defined on an extended phase space which involves, besides the selfdual variables, also their anti-selfdual counterparts.Comment: 14 page

Hablamos Juntos (Together We Speak): Interpreters, Provider Communication, and Satisfaction with Care

The Hablamos Juntos—Together We Speak (HJ)—national demonstration project targeted the improvement of language access for Spanish-speaking Latinos in areas with rapidly growing Latino populations. The objective of HJ was to improve doctor-patient communication by increasing access to and quality of interpreter services for Spanish-speaking patients. To investigate how access to interpreters for adult Spanish-speaking Latinos is associated with ratings of doctor/office staff communication and satisfaction with care. Cross-sectional cohort study. A total of 1,590 Spanish-speaking Latino adults from eight sites across the United States who participated in the outpatient HJ evaluation. We analyzed two multi-item measures of doctor communication (4 items) and office staff helpfulness (2 items), and one global item of satisfaction with care by interpreter use. We performed regression analyses to control for patient sociodemographic characteristics, survey year, and clustering at the site of care. Ninety-five percent of participants were born outside the US, 81% were females, and survey response rates ranged from 45% to 85% across sites. In this cohort of Spanish-speaking patients, those who needed and always used interpreters reported better experiences with care than their counterparts who needed but had interpreters unavailable. Patients who always used an interpreter had better adjusted ratings of doctor communication [effect size (ES = 0.51)], office staff helpfulness (ES = 0.37), and satisfaction with care (ES = 0.37) than patients who needed but did not always use an interpreter. Patients who needed and always used interpreters also reported better experiences with care in all three domains measured [doctor communication (ES = 0.30), office staff helpfulness (ES = 0.21), and satisfaction with care (ES = 0.23)] than patients who did not need interpreters. Among adult Spanish-speaking Latinos, interpreter use is independently associated with higher satisfaction with doctor communication, office staff helpfulness, and ambulatory care. Increased attention to the need for effective interpreter services is warranted in areas with rapidly growing Spanish-speaking populations

Procjena gama-aktina, beta-aktina, gliceraldehid-3-fosfat dehidrogenaze i 18S kao referentnih gena za qRT-PCR uporabom uzoraka krvi u istraživanju mliječnih žlijezda kujica

Mammary tumours are the most frequent group of neoplasia in female dogs. Tumorigenesis is associated with gene expression changes in a wide variety of genes. For this reason, real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) is used in routine diagnostic procedures in clinical practice due to its the specificity, sensitivity, simplicity, and high performance. qRT-PCR is also widely used to measure the expression of target genes compared to reference genes in several tissues. We collected blood samples from healthy female dogs and females with canine mammary cancer in Manizales, Colombia between June 2018 and January 2019, and mRNA was isolated from each sample for cDNA synthesis. qRT-PCR-based expression assays were performed using primers designed for gamma-actin, beta-actin, GAPDH, and 18S genes. We calculated the amplification efficiency, specificity, and stability using geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and the ΔCt comparative method. We obtained linear regressions to verify constant gene expression and conducted an ANOVA to detect expression differences regarding Ct values and healthy vs. ill conditions. We found stability for primers 18S-1, GAPDH-1, GAPDH-NM, and Gamma-actin-1 (in increasing order). Furthermore, these genes showed constant expression levels in patients (R2>0.80). We report novel primers for gamma-actin and GAPDH, which proved to be efficient endogenous control genes for qRT-PCR applications in blood tissue. These primers are useful for gene expression research in canine mammary cancer.Tumori mliječnih žlijezda najčešća su skupina neoplazija u kujica. Tumorogeneza je povezana s promjenama u ekspresiji gena u širokom rasponu gena. Iz tog razloga se rabi kvantitativna lančana reakcija polimerazom u stvarnom vremenu (qRT-PCR) u rutinskim dijagnostičkim postupcima u kliničkoj praksi, uslijed specifičnosti, osjetljivosti, jednostavnosti i visoke učinkovitosti ove tehnike. qRT-PCR se široko rabi i za mjerenje ekspresije ciljanih gena u usporedbi s referentnim genima u više vrsta tkiva. Prikupili smo uzorke krvi zdravih kujica i kujica s tumorom mliječnih žlijezda u Manizalesu, Kolumbiji, od lipnja 2018. do siječnja 2019. godine. Izolirali smo mRNK iz svakog uzorka za cDNK sintezu. Pokusi ekspresije na bazi qRT-PCR obavljeni su uporabom primera dizajniranih za gama-aktin, beta-aktin, gliceraldehid- 3-fosfat dehidrogenazu (GAPDH) i 18S gene. Izračunali smo pojačanu učinkovitost, specifičnost i stabilnost uporabom geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper i ΔCt komparativne metode. Dobili smo linearne regresije za potvrđivanje stalne ekspresije gena i proveli smo analizu varijance (ANOVA) za detekciju razlika u ekspresiji s obzirom na Ct vrijednosti te zdrava u usporedbi s bolesnim stanjima. Otkrili smo i stabilnost za primere 18S-1, GAPDH-1, GAPDH-NM i Gamma-actin-1 (rastućim redoslijedom). Nadalje, ovi geni su pokazali konstantne razine ekspresije u pacijenata (R2>0,80). Izvještavamo o novim primerima za gama-aktin i GAPDH, koji su se pokazali učinkovitim endogenim kontrolnim genima za qRT-PCR primjene u krvnom tkivu. Ti primeri su korisni za istraživanje ekspresije gena u tumora psećih mliječnih žlijezda

Laser-Induced Crystallization of Sputtered Unhydrogenated Silicon at Low Temperatures

10-um-thick non-hydrogenated amorphous-silicon (a-Si) films were deposited at relatively high rates (_>10 Å/s) by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS) on different large-area buffer-layer-coated glass substrates at deposition temperatures ranging from room temperature (RT) to 300oC. These amorphous samples were subsequently crystallized by means of a continuous-wave diode laser, looking for conditions to reach liquid-phase crystallization. The influence of deposition conditions on the quality of the final micro-crystalline silicon films has been studied