Desarrollo de una metodología de simulación de secuencias en accidente en centrales nucleares de agua ligera considerando actuaciones del operador

This thesis presents the work carried out to develop a simulation system for nuclear power plants, denominated TRETA / COPMA-III integrated simulator, which allows the simulation of the thermalhydraulic processes that take place in this type of facilities, in normal operation and emergency operation, as well as the control room crew actions related with the management of the emergency situations. The simulation of the thermalhydraulic processes is carried out by means of the TRETA (PWR) or TIZONA (BWR) simulators, both developed by the Spanish Nuclear Council (CSN). In what concerns to the simulation of the human performance, and taking into account the fact that in this type of facilities the management of the emergencies is strongly proceduralized, the COPMA-III procedures simulator is used. This simulator has been developed by the Halden Reactor Project (HRP), and it was adapted by the HRP development team for its use in the integrated simulator. This new tool is characterized mainly by its modular structure and its interconnection ability with other codes. In an individual way, the different codes that compose the simulator present advanced capacities in its models. Firstly, the TRETA simulator presents great versatility in defining the grade of complexity in the simulation of the processes. On the other hand, regarding to the COPMA-III simulator, it enables the automatic simulation of human actions proceduralized or planned, that means, all of those manual performances of which it is possible to develop a deterministic scheme, including aspects of timing and work load. Concerning the simulator package modular structure, it makes possible even the substitution of the process or procedures simulators and the implementation of any other simulator that it is considered more appropriate for specific necessities. This simulation system not only could be applied to validate the procedures design, but rather could be use in the verification of the consistency of the analyses made in the safety analysis. This last aspect is specially relevant, because these studies don’t include, except for seldom cases, the dynamic evaluation of the operator actions impact in the analysis of the accidental sequences

Developtment of a software tool for the analysis and verification of emergency operating procedures through the integrated simulation of plant and operators actions

Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) includes operator actions as elements in the set of the considered protection performances during accident sequences. Nevertheless, its impact throughout a sequence is not usually analyzed dynamically. In this sense, it is convenient to make a more detailed analysis about its importance in the dynamics of the sequences, allowing for sensitivity studies with respect to human reliability and response times. For this reason, new developments in simulation software must be able to incorporate operator actions in conventional thermalhydraulic simulations. In this paper, we present one of these new tools, the TRETA/TIZONA–COPMA III coupled codes, which can be used for evaluating the impact in the final plant state of the execution by operators of procedures and the evaluation of the available times for the manual actions of the operators. This software tool consists of a closed-loop plant/operator simulator: a thermalhydraulic code for simulating the plant transient (TRETA for PWR NPPs and TIZONA for BWR NPPs) and the procedures processor (COPMA III) to simulate the operator actions requested by the procedures, both coupled by a data communication system which allows the information exchange (SWBus). The first pilot cases have been performed in order to analyze sequences initiated by secondary side breaks leading to loss of heat sink sequences in a PWR plant. These tests have been carried out using the real plant EOPs for COPMA-III and a PWR plant model for TRETA code. The results of these simulations are presented in this paper

Certificaciones profesionales en recursos humanos: estudio comparativo y propuesta para España

The human resources function lives −suffers− in Spain a permanent debate between the generalized consideration that people are the center of the activity of any organization and many business practices that do not always just reflect this reality. Human resources professionals themselves devote a very relevant time to claiming that their role is not frequently recognized and that other functional activities −such as finance, marketing or logistics− do receive that recognition of their technical specificity and their unique value. In other countries, the existence of institutions and associations −centennial, in some cases− that subsequently certify and confirm the certification of their members with deontological, technical, methodological and continuous development criteria contribute decisively to the professional reputation of the function of human Resources. By studying the opinion of local professionals about this situation, we will understand if the problem is whether that the need for the human resources function is not perceived or that its professionals do not have enough social strength. We will also propose some initiatives that could serve −as they have done in other countries with success− for human resources function to reinforce its social prestige, its professional reputation, its effectiveness and its organizational value.La función de recursos humanos vive −sufre− en España un permanente debate entre la consideración generalizada de que las personas son el centro de la actividad de toda organización y unas prácticas empresariales que no siempre acaban de reflejar esta realidad. Los propios profesionales de recursos humanos dedican un tiempo muy relevante a reivindicar que su papel no es frecuentemente reconocido y que otras actividades funcionales −como finanzas, márketing o logística− sí reciben ese reconocimiento de su especificidad técnica y de su valor único. En otros países, la existencia de instituciones y asociaciones −centenarias, en algún caso− que certifican y confirman con posterioridad la certificación de sus miembros con unos criterios deontológicos, técnicos, metodológicos y de desarrollo continuo contribuyen decisivamente a la reputación profesional de la función de recursos humanos. Estudiando la opinión de profesionales locales acerca de esta situación comprenderemos si el problema es que no se percibe la necesidad de la función de recursos humanos o que sus profesionales no tienen la suficiente fortaleza social y propondremos algunas iniciativas que podrían servir −como así lo han hecho en otros países con éxito− a que la función de recursos humanos refuerce su prestigio social, su reputación profesional, su efectividad y su valor organizativo

Gongolarones as antiamoeboid chemical scaffold

Free Living Amoeba (FLA) infections caused by Acanthamoeba genus include chronic nervous system diseases such as Granulomatous Amoebic Encephalitis (GAE), or a severe eye infection known as Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). Current studies focused on therapy against these diseases are aiming to find novel compounds with amoebicidal activity and low toxicity to human tissues. Brown algae, such as Gongolaria abies-marina (previously known as Cystoseira abies-marina, S.G. Gmelin), presents bioactive molecules of interest, including some with antiprotozoal activity. In this study, six meroterpenoids were isolated and purified from the species Gongolaria abies-marina. Gongolarones A (1), B (2) and C (3) were identified as new compounds. Additionally, cystomexicone B (4), 1′-methoxyamentadione (5) and 6Z-1′-methoxyamentadione (6) were isolated. All compounds exhibited amoebicidal activity against Acanthamoeba castellanii Neff, A. polyphaga and A. griffini strains. Gongolarones A (1) and C (3) showed the lowest IC50 values against the two stages of these amoebae (trophozoite and cyst). Structure-activity relationship revealed that the cyclization by ether formation from C-12 to C-15 of 1, and the isomerization Δ2 t to Δ3 t of 3, increased the antiamoeboid activity of both compounds. Furthermore, gongolarones A (1) and C (3) triggered chromatin condensation, mitochondrial malfunction, oxidative stress, and disorganization of the tubulin-actin cytoskeleton in treated trophozoites. Moreover, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images analysis revealed that compounds 1 and 3 induced autophagy process and inhibited the encystation process. All those results suggest that both compounds could induce programmed cell death (PCD) in Acanthamoeba.This study was supported funded by projects PID2019-109476RB-C21 (BIOALGRI) (Spanish Ministry of Science), Madrid, Spain; Fundación CajaCanarias–Fundación Bancaria “La Caixa” (2019SP52). Red de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET), Spain (project no. RD16/0027/0001 of the programe of Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa, FIS). Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER), Área de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029, Madrid, Spain (CB21/13/00100). Project No. 21/0587 funded by the Cabildo de Tenerife, Tenerife innova, Marco Estratégico de Desarrollo Insular (MEDI) and Fondo de Desarrollo de Canarias (FDCAN). Project number ProID2021010118 funded by Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI). RLRE was funded by a grant from ACIISI cofunded by Fondo Social Europeo (FSE) and FEDER, (TESIS2020010117). MOM was supported by the Programa de Apoyos para la Superación del Personal Académico de la UNAM (PASPA 2021) for carrying out the research stay between the Universidad de La Laguna and la Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala.Peer reviewe

The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes

Electric Conduction of Group IV Alloy and Group III-V as Metal Gate Device

在本篇論文之中，主要研究分成三個部份，探討四族半導體內有潛力及可應用在未來的光電元件和電子元件的特性。久以來，四族半導體在光電上的應用ㄧ直受限於其間接能隙，因需外加如聲子等使其達成動量守衡，相較於三五半導體直接能隙有較低的效率。在理論計算，應變鍺在可以形成直接能隙，但實際上不容易被製作出來；然而鍺錫合金結構在實驗上已經被成功製造出來，鍺錫合金可形成狹窄直接能隙材料，可以應用在遠紅外光偵測器上；本論文第一部份討論 透過模擬計算出鍺錫合金的能帶結構，並求出多少含量的錫合金，可以形成直接能隙。 變矽技術是目前當今半導體的主流，然而隨著對電子元件效率的需求，矽鍺通道、鍺通道、三五族半導體通道，更被廣泛的研究希望有朝一日可以取代目前的矽通道，此研究主題在於模擬應變矽鍺通道在電晶體(N-MOSFETs) 內電子遷移率受到合金散射機制的影響。著高介電質(High-k)取代二氧化矽應用在場效電晶體(MOSFETs)內的絕緣體，多晶矽閘極也必須被不同的金屬閘極所取代，此主題第一次使用三五族半導體材料製作成在金屬氧化半導體元件(MOS)的閘極電極，運用三五族半導體的能隙大小來調變其功函數，並對實驗結果做探討分析。Abstractn this thesis, three topics are included. One is the direct band gap Ge1-xSnx alloys simulated by valence band anti-crossing method and nonlocal empirical pseudopotential method and the other is the Si-like (x<0.85) strained Si1-xGex N-MOSFETs mobility calculations which include alloy scattering, phonon scattering and roughness scattering. Lastly, Poly-III-V compound semiconductor was proposed to be used as gate electrode first time.art I : or a long time, group IV semiconductors applied on photoelectric devices have been limited in efficiency by nature indirect band gap. Tensile strained Ge can also be a direct band gap material in theoretical simulations, but not easy to fabricate in practice. However, Ge1-xSnx alloys can form the narrow direct band gap and have been fabricated in the reported experiments successfully. Ge1-xSnx alloys can be applied on infrared optoelectronic applications and may be fabricated new high speed transistors further. In this thesis, chapter 2, energy band structures of Ge1-xSnx alloys are simulated to find the possible direct band gap in group IV semiconductors.art II :trained silicon is the main stream to produce higher mobility in transistors. However, the reasons of increase mobility in N-MOSFETs are not only split the lower delta 2 subband and higher delta 4 subband but also change some important elements under strain. In this topic, chapter 3, we simulate the mobility of Si on Si1-xGex substrates and Si1-xGex on Si1-xGex substrates N-MOSFETs and include difference kinds of scattering effects.art III : s High-k dielectrics were used to replace conventional SiO2 as insulators of MOSFETs, poly-silicon gate must also been replaced by different kinds of metals. In this topic, chapter 4, ploy-III-V semiconductor was fabricated as gate electrode of metal-oxide semiconductors (MOS) first time. Utilizing band gap of III-V semiconductor can adjust the work function and the results of experiments were discussed.Contentshapter 1 Introduction.1 Motivation………………………………………………………………………………………………………......1..2 Organization……………………………………………………………………………………………………….2hapter 2 Using Nonlocal Pseudopotential method and Valence band anti-crossing method to study energy band gap properties of Ge1-xSnx alloys .1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………...………..5.2 Valence-band anticrossing method ……………………………………………………………….…….7.2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………….7.2.2 VBAC Simulation ……………………………………………………………………………..……….7.3 Empirical Nonlocal Pseudopotentials Method…………………………………………..……..10.3.1 Empirical Pseudopotential Method………………………………………………………..10.3.2 Nonlocal pseudopotential calculations……………………………………….…………..12.3.3 Including spin-orbit interactions……………………………………………………..……..152.3.4 Ge1-xSnx alloys ……………………………………………………………………............……..……...18.4 Results and Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..22.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………..26eferences……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....27hapter 3 Mobility simulations of strained Si1-xGex on Si1-xGex substrates for N-MOSFETs.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..………………..29.2 Physics of Strained Silicon……………….…………………………………..……………………………..30.3 The flow path of electron mobility calculation of Si1-xGex N-MOSFETs…………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………..31.4 Results and Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………….….40.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………….………..42eferences…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...……..43hapter 4 Using Poly-InAs as Gate electrode and flat band voltage adjustment measured by C-V methods.1Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………..…………...45.2 Experiment, Operation Principle , and Material……………………………………………..46.2.1 Growth of Poly-InAs by MBE…………………………………………….…………………..46.2.2 MOS capacitor device fabrication and C-V measurement…………………..46.3 Result and Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………48.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..51eferences………………………………………………………………………………………………………...………..51hapter 5 Conclusion and Future work .1 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………..53.2 Future work……………………………………………………………………………….………………………...54eference……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………55ppendix A Derivation of expression for scattering by alloy disorder in 2D quantum layer…………………………………………………………………………5

Antiamoeboid activity of squamins C–F, cyclooctapeptides from Annona globifora

Free-living amoebae of Acanthamoeba spp. are causative agents of human infections such as granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) and Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). The exploration of innovative chemical entities from natural sources that induce intrinsic apoptotic pathway or a Programmed Cell Death (PCD) in Acanthamoeba protozoa is essential to develop new therapeutic strategies. In this work, the antiamoeboid activity of squamins C–F (1–4), four cyclooctapeptides isolated from Annona globiflora was tested in vitro against Acanthamoeba castellanii Neff, A. polyphaga, A. quina, and A. griffini, and a structure–activity relationship was also established. The most sensitive strain against all tested cyclooctapeptides was A. castellanii Neff being the R conformers of the S-oxo-methionine residue, squamins D (2) and F (4), the most active against the trophozoite stage. It is remarkable that all four peptides showed no cytotoxic effects against murine macrophages cell line J774A.1. The analysis of the mode of action of squamins C–F against A. castellanii indicate that these cyclopeptides induced the mechanisms of programmed cell death (PCD). All peptides trigger mitochondrial damages, significant inhibition of ATP production compared to the negative control, chromatin condensation and slight damages in membrane that affects its permeability despite it conserves integrity at the IC90 for 24 h. An increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) was observed in all cases.This study was supported by This study was supported by the Government of the State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Veracruz Council for Scientific Research and Technological Development [COVEICyDET, grant number 14 1953/2021],.; PI18/01380 (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER) and RICET (project no. RD16/0027/0001 of the programme of Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa, FIS), and Project PID2019-109476RB-C21 (BIOALGRI) (Spanish Ministry of Science, Madrid, Spain). ARDM was funded by Agustín de Betancourt Programme, Cabildo de Tenerife, Tenerife 2030, FDCAN, MEDI. RLRE was funded by a grant from Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI) cofunded by Fondo Social Europeo (FSE) y FEDER, (TESIS2020010117).Peer reviewe

The management of patients with venous thromboembolism in Italy: insights from the PREFER in VTE registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third most common cardiovascular disease. Real-life data on the clinical presentation, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment of VTE in Italy and Europe are required to optimize the management of this disease. The PREFER in VTE registry, a prospective non-interventional real-life study, was designed to assess clinical characteristics and management of patients with VTE, use of health care resources, and on-treatment patient quality of life. Eligible consecutive patients with objectively diagnosed VTE were enrolled in the registry and followed up for 12 months. Between January and December 2013, 816 Italian and 1027 patients from 6 European countries other than Italy (European patients) were enrolled in the registry, and followed up until December 2014. Italian patients were the oldest (mean age 65.7 years) among the European patients. The Italian patients with a history of cancer were 24.6 % of whom 63.2 % had an active cancer (18.2 and 57.0 %, respectively, in Europe). Parenteral heparin was given, as initial treatment, in 73.8 % of Italian patients (66.4 % in Europe); VKA in combination with other treatments in 45.8 % (34.7 % in Europe); and VKA as the only anticoagulant treatment in 24.4 % (17.2 % in Europe). Of the Italian patients, 43.2 and 90.6 % of patients were hospitalized for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, respectively; 65.4 % were admitted to the hospital through the emergency department. Following a real world approach, PREFER in VTE shows that the Italian patients, among and compared to the European patients, are the oldest, have a history of cancer more commonly, receive an initial treatment with heparin more commonly, and are more commonly hospitalized, particularly if affected by PE