El Coeficiente de Pulimento Acelerado y su relación con parámetros petrográficos (contraste de dureza y composición modal) y la microrrugosidad superficial de áridos naturales y artificiales

The goal of this work was first to establish the relationships between the PSV values and the microstructural and mineralogical features of the aggregates and surface micro-roughness, and then to establish the behavioural differences between natural and artificial aggregates. The results obtained indicate that the surface micro-roughness and the different PSV values of the natural aggregates are strongly governed by the existence of minerals with different degrees of hardness, together with the proportion of these minerals. In contrast, the different degree of porosity in artificial aggregates (a furnace slag) was seen to be responsible for its high surface micro-roughness and PSV values. Finally, the PSV and a petrographic parameter (Overall Hardness Contrast, ΔH) were seen to be related by an exponential curve (PSV=39.726ΔH0.057) with an extremely good fit, providing a good tool to estimate PSVs in natural and artificial aggregates from petrographic parameters.El objetivo de este trabajo es establecer, por un lado, las relaciones existentes del CPA con las características petrográficas de los áridos, así como su microrrugosidad superficial y, por otro, las diferencias de comportamiento entre áridos naturales y artificiales. Los resultados indican que en los áridos naturales la microrrugosidad superficial y el diferente valor del CPA están determinados, en gran medida, por las diferencias de dureza de sus minerales y también por la proporción en la que estos minerales se encuentran en las distintas litologías. Sin embargo, en los áridos artificiales (escorias de fundición) su elevada porosidad es la responsable de su marcada microrrugosidad superficial y su elevado valor del CPA. Finalmente, se relaciona el CPA con un parámetro petrográfico (Contraste de Dureza Global, ΔH) mediante una curva exponencial, cuyo excelente índice de regresión hace que sea factible estimar mediante el estudio petrográfico de un árido su valor del CPA (CPA=39,726ΔH0,057)

La asociacion Monzonitica del Domo Anatectico del Tormes: geoquimica y petrogenesis

In certain peripheral zones of the Anatectic Tormes Dome there exists a group of rocks, which are from basic to acid as well as rich in alkali feldspar, apatite and allanite. Such an unusual mineralogy makes the rocks to be enriched in K20, P2O5, LREE and other elements of low ionic potential. Their geochemical signature is related to the volcanic shoshonites, to the vaugnerites of the French Central Massif as well as to the monzonitic series of Ballon, being, in turn, almost exceptional in the iberian variscan. The least evolved terms are rather fractionated, therefore, they are not primary melts. During the differentiation, the saturation of accessory phases such as apatite, allanite and zircon exerts an important effect in the evolution of the residual liquid giving rise to an inflection point in the Harker diagrams. From the good adjustments obtained in mass balance and Rayleigh fractionation modelling, we can infer that the process of fractional crystallization is the dominant one. In this respect, the porphyritic granitoids can be derived from a liquid of monzodioritic composition, being rocks genetically to the associated acid rocks. The corroded cores of plagioclase and the spatial relations suggest the existence of different pulses of magma from basic to acid coming from the same magmatic chamber.En dos bandas del Domo anatéctico del Tormes aparece un conjunto de rocas plutónicas desde básicas a ácidas ricas en feldespato potásico, apatito y allanita. Esta mineralogía tan particular hace que estén enriquecidas en K20, P205, LREE y otros elementos de bajo potencial iónico. Su quimismo es afín a las shoshonitas volcánicas, a las vaugneritas del Macizo Central francés y a las series monzoníticas de Ballon, siendo, a su vez, casi excepcional en el varisco ibérico. Los términos menos evolucionados están bastante fraccionados por lo que no se trata de fundidos primarios. Durante la diferenciación existen fases accesorias como apatito, allanita y circón cuya saturación ejerce un importante efecto en la evolución del líquido residual originando evoluciones quebradas en los diagramas de Harker. A partir de los buenos ajustes obtenidos con las modelizaciones por balance de masas y fraccionación Rayleigh se infiere que el proceso de cristalización fraccionada es el dominante. En este sentido, se pueden hacer derivar los granitoides porfídicos a partir de un líquido de composición monzodiorítica, por lo que no quedan desconectadas las rocas básicas de las ácidas asociadas. Los núcleos corroídos de plagioclasa y las relaciones espaciales parecen indicar que han existido distintos pulsos de magma desde básicos a ácidos procedentes de la misma cámara magmática

Procedencia del material pétreo de los molinos de los yacimientos Cogotas I (Bronce Medio y Tardío) de la Cuenca del Duero y modelos consecuentes de flujo

The source provenance of twelve hand grindstones of Cogotian sites from the sedimentary Duero Basin was characterized using petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical criteria, according to an operational process previously proposed. Many of the provenances were determined after trace-element normalized diagrams and comparative diagrams with respect to available data from potential source areas. This methodology confirms that the geochemical signature can be seen as an archaeological fingerprint which allows the identification of facies or rock sub-types from the established source areas. Granite sources are the commonest provenance, although granodiorite, orthogneisses and sandstone are also involved, all of them belonging to the Variscan Basement. One of these source areas includes copper minerals, which could have been used for metallurgical purposes. Probably, since the early phase of Cogotas I, the principle of least effort no longer was a guiding force to boost the supply of material. The archaeological sites experienced a long-distance raw material supply in crossed directions, according to the established sources areas, indicating a dense network of connections between the commnunities of the region at a hecto-kilometric scale.Se ha estudiado la procedencia del material pétreo de doce molinos de diferentes yacimientos cogotenses de la Cuenca del Duero. Utilizando una marcha metodológica previa, se alcanza una caracterización petrográfica, mineralógica y geoquímica del material, incluyendo el tratamiento de elementos traza mediante diagramas de normalización y comparación con datos disponibles de áreas fuente potenciales. Esto ha permitido, en muchos casos, la identificación de áreas fuente locales ya que la signatura geoquímica representa una huella arqueológica fidedigna de las facies o subtipos de rocas implicadas. La mayoría de las áreas fuente identificadas son graníticas, existiendo también granodioritas, gneises y areniscas, todas ellas pertenecientes al basamento varisco. Una de estas áreas incluye minerales de cobre, eventualmente aprovechables para metalurgia. Probablemente, ya desde la fase inicial de Cogotas I dejó de regir el principio del mínimo esfuerzo en el aprovisionamiento del material. El suministro de materias primas a los yacimientos arqueológicos es de carácter lejano y en direcciones cruzadas, de acuerdo con las áreas fuente establecidas, indicando una densa red de conexiones entre las comunidades de la región a escala hectokilométric

Aislamiento de un extracto de BMP y estudio anatomopatológico del fenómeno de inducción ósea tras su implante en defectos óseos

El objetivo del presente trabajo fue determinar el potencial osteogénico de la proteína morfogenética ósea (BMP) en la reparación de grandes defectos diafisarios. Además, se investiga la acción coadyuvante de la fibronectina (FN). La BMP fue extraída a partir de hueso cortical bovino. Se utilizaron un total de 108 ratas Sprague Dawley. En cada animal, se resecó un segmento de diáfisis femoral de 1.5 cm, siendo inmovilizado el defecto óseo con una aguja en omega. Se rellenó el defecto implantando 25 mg de BMP con o sin 0.5 mg de FN en una cápsula de gelatina (36 animales en ambos grupos). Los resultados se compararon con los obtenidos en otro grupo (36 animales) en el que sólo se implantó FN que sirvió como grupo control. El proceso de reparación se evaluó mediante métodos histológicos y ultraestructurales. La aparición del fenómeno de inducción ósea con reconstrucción del defecto óseo fue mayor en el grupo con implante de BMP más FN (23 animales, 64%) que en el grupo en el que sólo se implantó BMP (20 animales, 56%). Ningún animal del grupo control manifestaba signos de inducción ósea.The aim of the present work was to evaluate the osteogenic potential of Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) for reparation of large segmental bone defects. In addition, the coadjuvant efect of fibronectin (FN) was investigated. BMP was partially purified from bovine cortical bone. A total of 108 Sprague Dawley rats were used in the experiment. Diaphyseal segments of the femur (1.5 cm) were removed in each animal, manteinant the bone defect with a wire. A gelatine capsula containing 25 mg of BMP without or with 0.5 mg of FN, were implanted into the bone defect (36 animal in each group). Results were compared to those obtained in a control group (36 animals) in which FN alone was implanted. The bone repair process was assessed by histologic and ultrastructural methods. Bone induction with reconstruction of the defect was found more of ten in the group with both BMP and FN implanted (23 animals, 64%) than in the group with BMP implant alone (20 animals, 56%). Animals of the control group showed no bone induction. The results suggest that BMP augments the capacity of the host bed to sucessfully regenerate large segmental bone defects. FN seens to increase bone induction. This protein migth stabilize BMP locally improving contact between BMP and the surrounding cells

Indicaciones Límite de las Fracturas de Húmero con Clavo Endomedular Cerrojado

El tratamiento de las fracturas diafisarias del húmero ha entrado en controversia en los últimos años, como lo refleja la literatura internacional. La problemática aumenta cuando se trata de fracturas diafisarias límites que alcanzan la zona metafisaria superior e inferior. En un intento de mejora terapéutica este grupo de autores ha testado un clavo cerrojado para el húmero diseñado por Seidel. El promedio de seguimiento ha sido de 12 meses con un mínimo de 6 meses. El número de casos evaluados ha sido 6. Siguiendo la cotación de Stewart, 4 de los seis pacientes obtuvieron resultados buenos o excelentes. Todos los pacientes consolidaron sus fracturas en un período de tiempo normal, entre 3 y 5 meses, con una media de 4 meses, 4 de los seis pacientes no se inmovilizaron con yeso en ningún momento. La bondad y sencillez del método hace augurar buenos resultados en otros grupos ampliando sus indicaciones.Treatment of dyaphyseal fractures of the humerus has been the source of considerable controversy in recent years. The problem increases in dimension when one is dealing with limiting diaphyseal fractures that invole the upper and lower metaphyseal zone. In an attempt to improve the therapy of this circunstance, the members of this research team have tested a locking nail for the humerus designed by Seidel. The mean follow-up time has been 12 months, with a minimum of six months. The number of cases evaluated was 6. According to the scale of Stewart, four of the cases obtained good or excellent results. All the patients consolidated their fractures within a normal period of time -between 3 and 5 months-, with a mean of 4 months. Four of the 6 patients wer e not immobilized with paster at any time. The goodness and simplicity of the method are suggestive of promising results in other groups by broadening its indications

Patchiness and Demographic Noise in Three Ecological Examples

Understanding the causes and effects of spatial aggregation is one of the most fundamental problems in ecology. Aggregation is an emergent phenomenon arising from the interactions between the individuals of the population, able to sense only -at most- local densities of their cohorts. Thus, taking into account the individual-level interactions and fluctuations is essential to reach a correct description of the population. Classic deterministic equations are suitable to describe some aspects of the population, but leave out features related to the stochasticity inherent to the discreteness of the individuals. Stochastic equations for the population do account for these fluctuation-generated effects by means of demographic noise terms but, owing to their complexity, they can be difficult (or, at times, impossible) to deal with. Even when they can be written in a simple form, they are still difficult to numerically integrate due to the presence of the "square-root" intrinsic noise. In this paper, we discuss a simple way to add the effect of demographic stochasticity to three classic, deterministic ecological examples where aggregation plays an important role. We study the resulting equations using a recently-introduced integration scheme especially devised to integrate numerically stochastic equations with demographic noise. Aimed at scrutinizing the ability of these stochastic examples to show aggregation, we find that the three systems not only show patchy configurations, but also undergo a phase transition belonging to the directed percolation universality class.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. To appear in J. Stat. Phy

Search for Cold Debris Disks around M-dwarfs

Debris disks are believed to be related to planetesimals left over around stars after planet formation has ceased. The frequency of debris disks around M-dwarfs which account for 70% of the stars in the Galaxy is unknown while constrains have already been found for A- to K-type stars. We have searched for cold debris disks around 32 field M-dwarfs by conducting observations at lambda = 850 microns with the SCUBA bolometerarray camera at the JCMT and at lambda = 1.2mm with the MAMBO array at the IRAM 30-m telescopes. This is the first survey of a large sample of M-dwarfs conducted to provide statistical constraints on debris disks around this type of stars. We have detected a new debris disk around the M0.5 dwarf GJ842.2 at lambda = 850 microns, providing evidence for cold dust at large distance from this star (~ 300AU). By combining the results of our survey with the ones of Liu et al. (2004), we estimate for the first time the detection rate of cold debris disks around field M-dwarfs with ages between 20 and 200 Myr. This detection rate is 13^{+6}_{-8} % and is consistent with the detection rate of cold debris disks (9 - 23 %) around A- to K-type main sequence stars of the same age. This is an indication that cold disks may be equally prevalent across stellar spectral types.Comment: A&A accepted on 15 september 200

High intensity neutrino oscillation facilities in Europe

The EUROnu project has studied three possible options for future, high intensity neutrino oscillation facilities in Europe. The first is a Super Beam, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of pions created by bombarding targets with a 4 MW proton beam from the CERN High Power Superconducting Proton Linac. The far detector for this facility is the 500 kt MEMPHYS water Cherenkov, located in the Fréjus tunnel. The second facility is the Neutrino Factory, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of μ+ and μ− beams in a storage ring. The far detector in this case is a 100 kt magnetized iron neutrino detector at a baseline of 2000 km. The third option is a Beta Beam, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of beta emitting isotopes, in particular He6 and Ne18, also stored in a ring. The far detector is also the MEMPHYS detector in the Fréjus tunnel. EUROnu has undertaken conceptual designs of these facilities and studied the performance of the detectors. Based on this, it has determined the physics reach of each facility, in particular for the measurement of CP violation in the lepton sector, and estimated the cost of construction. These have demonstrated that the best facility to build is the Neutrino Factory. However, if a powerful proton driver is constructed for another purpose or if the MEMPHYS detector is built for astroparticle physics, the Super Beam also becomes very attractive

Procalcitonin is not sufficiently reliable to be the sole marker of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin

BACKGROUND: It has recently been suggested that serum procalcitonin (PCT) is of value in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, with varying results. The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to assess the usefulness of PCT as a marker of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin. METHODS: One hundred infants aged between 4 and 28 days of life admitted to the Neonatology Services of 13 acute-care teaching hospitals in Spain over 1-year with clinical suspicion of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin were included in the study. Serum PCT concentrations were determined by a specific immunoluminometric assay. The reliability of PCT for the diagnosis of nosocomial neonatal sepsis at the time of suspicion of infection and at 12–24 h and 36–48 h after the onset of symptoms was calculated by receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curves. The Youden's index (sensitivity + specificity - 1) was used for determination of optimal cutoff values of the diagnostic tests in the different postnatal periods. Sensitivity, specificity, and the likelihood ratio of a positive and negative result with the 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. RESULTS: The diagnosis of nosocomial sepsis was confirmed in 61 neonates. Serum PCT concentrations were significantly higher at initial suspicion and at 12–24 h and 36–48 h after the onset of symptoms in neonates with confirmed sepsis than in neonates with clinically suspected but not confirmed sepsis. Optimal PCT thresholds according to ROC curves were 0.59 ng/mL at the time of suspicion of sepsis (sensitivity 81.4%, specificity 80.6%); 1.34 ng/mL within 12–24 h of birth (sensitivity 73.7%, specificity 80.6%), and 0.69 ng/mL within 36–48 h of birth (sensitivity 86.5%, specificity 72.7%). CONCLUSION: Serum PCT concentrations showed a moderate diagnostic reliability for the detection of nosocomial neonatal sepsis from the time of suspicion of infection. PCT is not sufficiently reliable to be the sole marker of sepsis, but would be useful as part of a full sepsis evaluation

The European Solar Telescope

The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a project aimed at studying the magnetic connectivity of the solar atmosphere, from the deep photosphere to the upper chromosphere. Its design combines the knowledge and expertise gathered by the European solar physics community during the construction and operation of state-of-the-art solar telescopes operating in visible and near-infrared wavelengths: the Swedish 1m Solar Telescope, the German Vacuum Tower Telescope and GREGOR, the French Télescope Héliographique pour l'Étude du Magnétisme et des Instabilités Solaires, and the Dutch Open Telescope. With its 4.2 m primary mirror and an open configuration, EST will become the most powerful European ground-based facility to study the Sun in the coming decades in the visible and near-infrared bands. EST uses the most innovative technological advances: the first adaptive secondary mirror ever used in a solar telescope, a complex multi-conjugate adaptive optics with deformable mirrors that form part of the optical design in a natural way, a polarimetrically compensated telescope design that eliminates the complex temporal variation and wavelength dependence of the telescope Mueller matrix, and an instrument suite containing several (etalon-based) tunable imaging spectropolarimeters and several integral field unit spectropolarimeters. This publication summarises some fundamental science questions that can be addressed with the telescope, together with a complete description of its major subsystems