Seguimiento de la calidad de un embalse de abastecimiento de agua potable según las directrices de la Directiva Marco (embalse del Añarbe. Cuenca Norte)

The Añarbe reservoir is located in the Iberic-Macaronesian region and is a water body provisionally identified as heavily modified, comparable to 'lake', that according to the "A" classification system of the WFD is "siliceous, lowlands, big and very deep", and according to the "B" system is ¨lowlands, northern, warm monomictic and of acidic waters". Two annual cycles of studies have been completed (from May of 2004 to January of 2006) looking to the main biological, physicochemical and hydromorphological parameters. The trophic state is oligotrophic for most of the parameters, except for the total phosphorus, that classifies it as mesotrophic. It does not present algal blooms and the average oxygen concentration in the hypolimnion in the zone of the dam during the stratification is 4.5 mg O2/l. The percentage of variation of the water volume of the reservoir respective to the maximum volume varies between 40 and 33% for the years 2004 and 2005, respectively. It shows a good ecological potential and could be considered as a reference within its group.El embalse del Añarbe se encuentra en la Región ibérico-macaronésica y es una masa de agua identificada provisionalmente como muy modificada, asimilable a 'lago', que según el Sistema A de clasificación de la DMA es del tipo 'silíceo, tierras bajas, grande y muy profundo' y según el Sistema B; 'tierras bajas, septentrional, monomíctico cálido y de aguas 'acidas'. Se han completado dos ciclos anuales de estudio (desde mayo de 2004 hasta enero de 2006) con los principales parámetros biológicos, fisicoquímicos e hidromorfológicos. Su estado trófico es de oligotrofia para la mayoría de parámetros, excepto para el fósforo total, que lo clasifica como mesotrófico. No presenta blooms algales y la concentración media de oxígeno en el hipolimnion de la zona de la presa durante la estratificación es de 4.5 mg O2/l. El porcentaje de variación del volumen del embalse con respecto al volumen máximo varía entre el 40 y el 33 %, para los años 2004 y 2005, respectivamente. Presenta un buen potencial ecológico y podría ser considerado como de referencia para su tipología

Nuclear structure of Ac-231

The low-energy structure of 231Ac has been investigated by means of gamma ray spectroscopy following the beta-decay of 231Ra. Multipolarities of 28 transitions have been established by measuring conversion electrons with a mini-orange electron spectrometer. The decay scheme of 231Ra --> 231Ac has been constructed for the first time. The Advanced Time Delayed beta-gamma-gamma(t) method has been used to measure the half-lives of five levels. The moderately fast B(E1) transition rates derived suggest that the octupole effects, albeit weak, are still present in this exotic nucleus

Finding answers in lipid profile in COVID-19 patients

Introduction: A small percentage of patients will develop a severe form of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, it is important to predict the potential outcomes identifying early markers of poor prognosis. In this context, we evaluated the association of SARS-CoV-2 infection with lipid abnormalities and their role in prognosis. Methods: Single-center, retrospective, observational study of COVID-19 patients admitted from March to October 2020. Clinical and laboratory data, comorbidities, and treatments for COVID-19 were evaluated. Main outcomes including intensive care unit (ICU) admission and mortality were analyzed with a multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: We selected 1489 from a total of 2038 consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19, who had a complete lipid profile before ICU admission. During the follow-up performed in 1109 patients, we observed a decrease in T-c, HDL-c, and LDL-c in 28.6%, 42.9%, and 30.4% of patients, respectively, and an increase in TG in 76.8%. The decrease of both T-c and HDL- c was correlated with a decrease in albumin levels (r = 0.39 and r = 0.37, respectively). Kaplan–Meier survival curves found an increased ICU admission in patients with lower T-c (HR 0.55, CI 0.36–0.86), HDL-c (HR 0.61, CI 0.45–0.84), and LDL-c (HR 0.85, CI 0.74–0.97). Higher values of T-c (HR 0.45, CI 0.36–0.57), HDL-c (HR 0.66, CI 0.54–0.81), and LDL-c (HR 0.86, CI 0.78–0.94) showed a protective effect on mortality. Conclusions: Abnormalities in lipid profile are a frequent complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection and might be related to morbidity and mortalityThis work was supported by the following grants: Proyectos de Investigación en Salud (FIS) PI16-02091 and PI19-00584 (funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III), TIRONET2-CM, B2017/BMD-3724 (funded by Comunidad de Madrid) and cofinanced by FEDER funds to M.M

Probing ferroelectricity in PbZr

The reduction in symmetry associated with the onset of ferroelectric order in PbZr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8}O{sub 3} (PZT) thin films leads to a pronounced difference at the Ti L{sub 3,2} absorption edges between spectra measured with the x-ray linear polarization perpendicular and parallel to the ferroelectric polarization. We introduce a general method to analyze the observed difference spectra using atomic multiplet calculations. Moreover, we find experimental evidence for structural changes in PZT induced by the reversal of the ferroelectric polarization

Strongly coupled matter near phase transition

In the Hartree approximation of Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis (CJT) formalism of the real scalar field theory, we show that for the strongly coupled scalar system near phase transition, the shear viscosity over entropy density is small, however, the bulk viscosity over entropy density is large. The large bulk viscosity is related to the highly nonconformal equation of state. It is found that the square of the sound velocity near phase transition is much smaller than the conformal value 1/3, and the trace anomaly at phase transition deviates far away from 0. These results agree well with the lattice results of the complex QCD system near phase transition.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, contributed to the International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter 2008, Beijing, China, 6-10 October 200

Shear Viscosity of a Hot Pion Gas

The shear viscosity of an interacting pion gas is studied using the Kubo formalism as a microscopic description of thermal systems close to global equilibrium. We implement the skeleton expansion in order to approximate the retarded correlator of the viscous part of the energy-momentum tensor. After exploring this in $g\phi^4$ theory we show how the skeleton expansion can be consistently applied to pions in chiral perturbation theory. The shear viscosity $\eta$ is determined by the spectral width, or equivalently, the mean free path of pions in the heat bath. We derive a new analytical result for the mean free path which is well-conditioned for numerical evaluation and discuss the temperature and pion-mass dependence of the mean free path and the shear viscosity. The ratio $\eta/s$ of the interacting pion gas exceeds the lower bound $1/4\pi$ from AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Revision includes additional Appendix B. Matches published versio

FDG-PET: a new diagnostic approach in hip prosthesis infection

Infection following hip arthroplasties can present a diagnostic challenge. No test is 100 % sensitive and 100 % specific; this prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the utility of FDG-PET imaging for diagnosing infected joint replacements. 24 hip joint replacements were studied prospectively and we have complete diagnoses with clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory test, radiography, joint aspiration, radionuclide imaging including FDG-PET, and histopathologic examination. 11 of 24 prostheses were infected. The sensitivity and specificity of PET for detecting infection associated with prostheses were 64,3 % and 64,7 % respectively, in our hands. FDG imaging is not useful in patients with suspected prosthetic infection like a screening tes

Teaching-life Histories: An Analysis of Initial and Continuing Training for Twenty-first century Teachers

This research analyses the teaching practice of retired teachers with the objective of inquiring into the initial and continuing training that twenty-first century teachers need. To this end, a semistructured interview was conducted with an incidental, nonprobabilistic sample of 325 participants and performed quantitative analysis of the data with SPSS 23. The descriptive parameters were produced using frequency analysis. Contingency tables were produced to verify if sex or year of birth explained perceptions of the training required of to be a good teacher. The results revealed significant differences between those born before 1948 and those born after that year

Deformation of the N=Z nucleus 76Sr using beta-decay studies

A novel method of deducing the deformation of the N=Z nucleus 76Sr is presented. It is based on the comparison of the experimental Gamow-Teller strength distribution B(GT) from its beta decay with the results of QRPA calculations. This method confirms previous indications of the strong prolate deformation of this nucleus in a totally independent way. The measurement has been carried out with a large Total Absorption gamma Spectrometer, "Lucrecia", newly installed at CERN-ISOLDE.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev. Letter

Monitoring System for Laboratory Mice Transportation: A Novel Concept for the Measurement of Physiological and Environmental Parameters

Laboratory mice are used in biomedical research as “models” for studying human disease. These mice may be subject to significant levels of stress during transportation that can cause alterations that could negatively affect the results of the performed investigation. Here, we present the design and realization of a prototypical transportation container for laboratory mice, which may contribute to improved laboratory animal welfare. This prototype incorporates electric potential integrated circuit (EPIC) sensors, which have been shown to allow the recording of physiological parameters (heart rate and breathing rate) and other sensors for recording environmental parameters during mouse transportation. This allows for the estimation of the stress levels suffered by mice. First experimental results for capturing physiological and environmental parameters are shown and discussed