Analysis of two sources of variability of basin outflow hydrographs computed with the 2D shallow water model Iber: Digital Terrain Model and unstructured mesh size

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract:] Modelling hydrological processes with fully distributed models based on the shallow water equations implies a high computational cost, which often limits the resolution of the computational mesh. Therefore, in practice, modellers need to find a compromise between spatial resolution, numerical accuracy and computational cost. Moreover, this balance is probably related to the accuracy and resolution of the underlying Digital Terrain Model (DTM). In this work, it is studied the effect of the DTM resolution and the size of the computational mesh on the results and on the runtime of a hydrological model based on the 2D shallow water equations. Seven rainfall events in four different basins have been modelled using 3 DTMs and 3 different mesh resolutions. The results obtained highlight the relevance of the vertical accuracy versus the horizontal resolution of the DTMs. Furthermore, it has been observed that mesh resolutions greater than 25 m, together with LiDAR-based DTMs with horizontal resolution greater than 25 m, provide comparable outflow hydrographs.Xunta de Galicia; ED481B-2021-108Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2021/44Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2018/56Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); 0034_RISC_ML_6_

Strain driven migration of In during the growth of InAs/GaAs quantum posts

Using the mechano-optical stress sensor technique, we observe a counter-intuitive reduction of the compressive stress when InAs is deposited on GaAs (001) during the growth of quantum posts. Through modelling of the strain fields, we find that such anomalous behaviour can be related to the strain-driven detachment of In atoms from the crystal and their surface diffusion towards the self-assembled nanostructures.We acknowledge the financial support by Spanish MINECO through Grant Nos. ENE2012-37804-C02-02 and TEC2011-29120-C05-04, and by Spanish CAM through Grant Nos. S2009/ESP-1503 and S2009/ENE-1477.Peer Reviewe

Expanding the genetic spectrum of TUBB1-related thrombocytopenia

β1-Tubulin plays a major role in proplatelet formation and platelet shape maintenance, and pathogenic variants in TUBB1 lead to thrombocytopenia and platelet anisocytosis (TUBB1-RT). To date, the reported number of pedigrees with TUBB1-RT and of rare TUBB1 variants with experimental demonstration of pathogenicity is limited. Here, we report 9 unrelated families presenting with thrombocytopenia carrying 6 β1-tubulin variants, p.Cys12LeufsTer12, p.Thr107Pro, p.Gln423*, p.Arg359Trp, p.Gly109Glu, and p.Gly269Asp, the last of which novel. Segregation studies showed incomplete penetrance of these variants for platelet traits. Indeed, most carriers showed macrothrombocytopenia, some only increased platelet size, and a minority had no abnormalities. Moreover, only homozygous carriers of the p.Gly109Glu variant displayed macrothrombocytopenia, highlighting the importance of allele burden in the phenotypic expression of TUBB1-RT. The p.Arg359Trp, p.Gly269Asp, and p.Gly109Glu variants deranged β1-tubulin incorporation into the microtubular marginal ring in platelets but had a negligible effect on platelet activation, secretion, or spreading, suggesting that β1-tubulin is dispensable for these processes. Transfection of TUBB1 missense variants in CHO cells altered β1-tubulin incorporation into the microtubular network. In addition, TUBB1 variants markedly impaired proplatelet formation from peripheral blood CD34+ cell-derived megakaryocytes. Our study, using in vitro modeling, molecular characterization, and clinical investigations provides a deeper insight into the pathogenicity of rare TUBB1 variants. These novel data expand the genetic spectrum of TUBB1-RT and highlight a remarkable heterogeneity in its clinical presentation, indicating that allelic burden or combination with other genetic or environmental factors modulate the phenotypic impact of rare TUBB1 variants.This work was partially supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and Feder (PI17/01311, PI17/01966, PI20/00926 and CB15/00055), Fundacion Séneca (19873/ GERM/15), Gerencia Regional de Salud (GRS 2061A/19 and 1647/A/17), Fundacion Mutua Madrile´ña (AP172142019), and ~ Sociedad Espanola de Trombosis y Hemostasia (Premio L ~ opez Borrasca 2019 and Ayuda a Grupos de Trabajo en Patologıa Hemorragica). The authors’ research on inherited platelet disorders is conducted in accordance with the aims of the Functional and Molecular Characterization of Patients with Inherited Platelet Disorders Project, from Grupo Espanol de Alteraciones Plaqueta- ~ rias Congenitas, which is supported by the Spanish Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. V.P.-B. has a predoctoral contract from CIBERER. L.B. was supported by a fellowship from Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. M.E.d.l.M.-B. holds a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Murcia. A.M.-Q. holds a predoctoral grant from the Junta de Castilla y Leon

Comorbidities in patients with Primary Sjögren's Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A comparative registries-based study

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of the main comorbidities in 2 large cohorts of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with a focus on cardiovascular (CV) diseases. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study where the prevalence of more relevant comorbidities in 2 cohorts was compared. Patients under followup from SJOGRENSER (Spanish Rheumatology Society Registry of Primary SS) and RELESSER (Spanish Rheumatology Society Registry of SLE), and who fulfilled the 2002 American-European Consensus Group and 1997 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria, respectively, were included. A binomial logistic regression analysis was carried out to explore potential differences, making general adjustments for age, sex, and disease duration and specific adjustments for each variable, including CV risk factors and treatments, when appropriate. RESULTS: A total of 437 primary SS patients (95% female) and 2,926 SLE patients (89% female) were included. The mean age was 58.6 years (interquartile range [IQR] 50.0-69.9 years) for primary SS patients and 45.1 years (IQR 36.4-56.3 years) for SLE patients (P?<?0.001), and disease duration was 10.4 years (IQR 6.0-16.7 years) and 13.0 years (IQR 7.45-19.76 years), respectively (P?<?0.001). Smoking, dyslipidemia, and arterial hypertension were associated less frequently with primary SS (odds ratio [OR] 0.36 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.28-0.48], 0.74 [95% CI 0.58-0.94], and 0.50 [95% CI 0.38-0.66], respectively) as were life-threatening CV events (i.e., stroke or myocardial infarction; OR 0.57 [95% CI 0.35-0.92]). Conversely, lymphoma was associated more frequently with primary SS (OR 4.41 [95% CI 1.35-14.43]). The prevalence of severe infection was lower in primary SS than in SLE (10.1% versus 16.9%; OR 0.54 [95% CI 0.39-0.76]; P?<?0.001). CONCLUSION: Primary SS patients have a consistently less serious CV comorbidity burden and a lower prevalence of severe infection than those with SLE. In contrast, their risk of lymphoma is greater

Base de datos multicéntrica de hemorragia subaracnoidea espontánea del Grupo de Trabajo de Patología Vascular de la Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía: presentación,criterios de inclusión y desarrollo de una base de datos en internet = Spontaneous Subarachnoid Haemorrhage multicenter database from the Group for the Study of Vascular Pathology of the Spanish Society for Neurosurgery: Presentation, inclusion criteria and development of an internet-based registry

Introducción. La hemorragia subaracnoidea (HSA) continúa siendo una de las enfermedades de interés neuroquirúrgico de más alta morbilidad y mortalidad. Su estudio es clave a la hora de mejorar la atención de estos enfermos en nuestro medio. Con este fin el Grupo de Trabajo de Patología Vascular de la SENEC decidió la creación de una base de datos multicéntrica para su estudio. Material y métodos. Se incluyen en esta base de datos todos los casos de hemorragia subaracnoidea espontánea ingresados en los centros participantes de forma prospectiva desde Noviembre del año 2004 hasta Noviembre del 2007. Se decidieron de forma consensuada los campos a recoger incluyendo edad, antecedentes personales, características clínicas, características radiológicas y del aneurisma, tipo de tratamiento y complicaciones de la enfermedad, evolución según la escala de evolución de Glasgow (GOS) al alta y a los seis meses así como el resultado angiográfico del tratamiento. Todos los campos se recogieron en un formulario rellenable a través de una página web segura. Resultados. En los tres años en los que ha estado activa la base se han recogido un total de 1149 casos de HSA espontánea recogidos por 14 centros participantes. Se ha estimado que es necesario aproximadamente un tiempo de 3.4 minutos para rellenar cada caso. En cuanto a sus características generales la serie es similar a otras series hospitalarias no seleccionadas. La edad media de los enfermos incluidos es de unos 55 años y la relación mujer:hombre 4:3. En cuanto a la gravedad del sagrado inicial un 32% de los enfermos se encontraba en mal grado clínico (WFNS = 4 ó 5). El 5% de los pacientes fallecieron antes de realizarse una angiografía que confirmara el origen aneurismático del sangrado. Se confirmó el origen aneurismático en el 76% de los pacientes mientras que en el 19% no se encontró ninguna lesión vascular responsable del sangrado, siendo clasificados como HSA idiopática. En los pacientes en los que se detectó un aneurisma su tratamiento fue endovascular en el 47% de los casos, quirúrgico en el 39, mixto en el 3% y no recibieron tratamiento de su aneurisma el 11% de los pacientes por fallecimiento precoz. En cuanto a su evolución, la mortalidad global de la serie se sitúa en el 22%. Sólo el 40% de los enfermos con HSA aneurismática presentaron una buena evolución (GOS=5). Conclusiones. La HSA espontánea continúa siendo una enfermedad con alta morbilidad y mortalidad. Esta base de datos puede ser un instrumento para conocer mejor sus características en nuestro medio y mejorar sus resultados, ya que se trata de una serie multicéntrica hospitalaria no seleccionada. Sería pues recomendable que esta base constituyera el germen de un registro nacional de HSA espontánea. Introduction. Subarachnoid haemorrhage is one of the most severe neurosurgical diseases. Its study is crucial for improving the care of these patients in our environment. With this goal the Group for the Study of Neurovascular Pathology of the Spanish Society for Neurosurgery (SENEC) decided to create a multicenter registry for the study of this disease. Materials and methods. In this database we have prospectively included all cases with spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage admitted to the participant hospitals from November 2004 to November 2007. The fields to be included in the database were selected by consensus, including age, past medical history, clinical characteristics at admission, radiological characteristics including presence or absence of an aneurysm and its size and location, type and complications of the aneurysm treatment, outcome assessed by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at discharge and six months after the bleeding as well as the angiographic result of the aneurysm treatment. All fields were collected by means of an electronic form posted in secure web page. Results. During the three years of study a total of 1149 patients have been included by 14 Hospitals. The time needed to fill in a patient in the registry is approximately 3.4 minutes. This series of patients with spontaneous SAH is similar to other non-selected in-hospital series of SAH. The mean age of the patients is 55 years and there is a 4:3 female to male ratio. In relation to the severity of the bleeding 32% of the patients were in poor clinical grade at admission (WFNS 4 or 5). 5% of the patients died before angiography could be performed. An aneurysm was confirmed as the origin of the bleeding in 76% of the patients (aSAH), while in 19% of the patients no lesion was found in the angiographic studies and were thus classified as idiopathic subarachnoid hemorrhage (ISAH). Of those patients with aSAH, 47% were treated endovascularly, 39% surgically, 3% received a combined treatment and 11% did not receive any treatment for their aneurysm because of early death. Regarding outcome, there is a 22% mortality in the series. Only 40% of the patients with aSAH reached a good outcome at discharge (GOS = 5). Conclusions. Spontaneous SAH continues to be a disease with high morbidity and mortality. This database can be an ideal instrument for improving the knowledge about this disease in our environment and to achieve better results. It would be desirable that this database could in the future be the origin of a national registry of spontaneous SAH

Cardiovascular events in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: a nationwide study in Spain from the RELESSER Registry

This article estimates the frequency of cardiovascular (CV) events that occurred after diagnosis in a large Spanish cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and investigates the main risk factors for atherosclerosis. RELESSER is a nationwide multicenter, hospital-based registry of SLE patients. This is a cross-sectional study. Demographic and clinical variables, the presence of traditional risk factors, and CV events were collected. A CV event was defined as a myocardial infarction, angina, stroke, and/or peripheral artery disease. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the possible risk factors for atherosclerosis. From 2011 to 2012, 3658 SLE patients were enrolled. Of these, 374 (10.9%) patients suffered at least a CV event. In 269 (7.4%) patients, the CV events occurred after SLE diagnosis (86.2% women, median [interquartile range] age 54.9 years [43.2-66.1], and SLE duration of 212.0 months [120.8-289.0]). Strokes (5.7%) were the most frequent CV event, followed by ischemic heart disease (3.8%) and peripheral artery disease (2.2%). Multivariate analysis identified age (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 1.03 [1.02-1.04]), hypertension (1.71 [1.20-2.44]), smoking (1.48 [1.06-2.07]), diabetes (2.2 [1.32-3.74]), dyslipidemia (2.18 [1.54-3.09]), neurolupus (2.42 [1.56-3.75]), valvulopathy (2.44 [1.34-4.26]), serositis (1.54 [1.09-2.18]), antiphospholipid antibodies (1.57 [1.13-2.17]), low complement (1.81 [1.12-2.93]), and azathioprine (1.47 [1.04-2.07]) as risk factors for CV events. We have confirmed that SLE patients suffer a high prevalence of premature CV disease. Both traditional and nontraditional risk factors contribute to this higher prevalence. Although it needs to be verified with future studies, our study also shows-for the first time-an association between diabetes and CV events in SLE patients

Type II InAs/GaAsSb quantum dots: Highly tunable exciton geometry and topology

External control over the electron and hole wavefunctions geometry and topology is investigated in a p-i-n diode embedding a dot-in-a-well InAs/GaAsSb quantum structure with type II band alignment. We find highly tunable exciton dipole moments and largely decoupled exciton recombination and ionization dynamics. We also predicted a bias regime where the hole wavefunction topology changes continuously from quantum dot-like to quantum ring-like as a function of the external bias. All these properties have great potential in advanced electro-optical applications and in the investigation of fundamental spin-orbit phenomena

Comprehensive description of clinical characteristics of a large systemic Lupus Erythematosus Cohort from the Spanish Rheumatology Society Lupus Registry (RELESSER) with emphasis on complete versus incomplete lupus differences

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by multiple organ involvement and pronounced racial and ethnic heterogeneity. The aims of the present work were (1) to describe the cumulative clinical characteristics of those patients included in the Spanish Rheumatology Society SLE Registry (RELESSER), focusing on the differences between patients who fulfilled the 1997 ACR-SLE criteria versus those with less than 4 criteria (hereafter designated as incomplete SLE (iSLE)) and (2) to compare SLE patient characteristics with those documented in other multicentric SLE registries. RELESSER is a multicenter hospital-based registry, with a collection of data from a large, representative sample of adult patients with SLE (1997 ACR criteria) seen at Spanish rheumatology departments. The registry includes demographic data, comprehensive descriptions of clinical manifestations, as well as information about disease activity and severity, cumulative damage, comorbidities, treatments and mortality, using variables with highly standardized definitions. A total of 4.024 SLE patients (91% with ≥4 ACR criteria) were included. Ninety percent were women with a mean age at diagnosis of 35.4 years and a median duration of disease of 11.0 years. As expected, most SLE manifestations were more frequent in SLE patients than in iSLE ones and every one of the ACR criteria was also associated with SLE condition; this was particularly true of malar rash, oral ulcers and renal disorder. The analysis-adjusted by gender, age at diagnosis, and disease duration-revealed that higher disease activity, damage and SLE severity index are associated with SLE [OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.08-1.20 (P < 0.001); 1.29; 95% CI: 1.15-1.44 (P < 0.001); and 2.10; 95% CI: 1.83-2.42 (P < 0.001), respectively]. These results support the hypothesis that iSLE behaves as a relative stable and mild disease. SLE patients from the RELESSER register do not appear to differ substantially from other Caucasian populations and although activity [median SELENA-SLEDA: 2 (IQ: 0-4)], damage [median SLICC/ACR/DI: 1 (IQ: 0-2)], and severity [median KATZ index: 2 (IQ: 1-3)] scores were low, 1 of every 4 deaths was due to SLE activity. RELESSER represents the largest European SLE registry established to date, providing comprehensive, reliable and updated information on SLE in the southern European population

Hormonal dependence and cancer in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective: To estimate the incidence and analyze any cancer-associated factors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), differentiating between hormone-sensitive (HS) and non-HS cancers. Methods: This was a retrospective multicenter study of a patient cohort from the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Registry of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology. Included were the first cancer post-SLE diagnosis, clinical and sociodemographic information, cumulative damage, severity, comorbidities, treatments, and refractoriness. Cancers were classified as HS (prostate, breast, endometrium, and ovarian) and non-HS (the remainder). The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated and logistic regression models were built. Results: A total of 3,539 patients (90.4% women) were included, 154 of whom had cancer (91% female), and 44 had HS cancer (100% female). The cancer SIR was 1.37 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.15-1.59), with higher values in women age <65 years (SIR 2.38 [95% CI 1.84-2.91]). The SIR in women with HS versus non-HS cancer was 1.02 (95% CI 0.13-1.91) and 1.93 (95% CI 0.98-2.89). In HS versus non-HS cancers, SLE diagnostic age (odds ratio [OR] 1.04 [P = 0.002] versus 1.04 [P = 0.019]), and period of disease evolution (OR 1.01 [P < 0.001] versus 1.00 [P = 0.029]) were associated with cancer. The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (OR 1.27 [P = 0.022]) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor prescriptions (OR 2.87 [P = 0.048]) were associated with non-HS cancers. Conclusion: Cancer incidence in patients with SLE was higher than in the Spanish population, particularly among young women. This increase might be due to non-HS cancers, which would be associated with SLE involving greater cumulative damage where more ACE inhibitors are prescribed.The RELESSER Registry was partially funded by GSK, Roche, UCB, Lilly and Novartis. The sponsors had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation, in writing the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication. Dr. Pego-Reigosa is supported by grant 316265 (BIOCAPS) from the European Union 7th Framework Program (FP7/REGPOT-2012- 2013.1). The FIS Grant PI11/02857 (Instituto Carlos III, Fondos FEDER) supported this study

Stress compensation by GaP monolayers for stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots solar cells

Trabajo presentado en el 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, celebrado en San Diego, CA (Estados Unidos), del 11 al 16 de mayo de 2008In this work we report the stacking of 10 and 50 InAs quantum dots layers using 2 monolayers of GaP for stress compensation and a stack period of 18 nm on GaAs (001) substrates. Very good structural and optical quality is found in both samples. Vertical alignment of the dots is observed by transmission electron microscopy suggesting the existence of residual stress around them. Photocurrent measurements show light absorption up to 1.2 µm in the nanostructures together with a reduction in the blue response of the device. As a result of the phosphorus incorporation in the barriers, a very high thermal activation energy (431 meV) has also been obtained for the quantum dot emission.The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support by the Spanish MEC and CAM through projects 200560M089, S-05050/ENE-0310, TEC-2005-05781-C03- 01 and -02, Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2006-0004, the Junta de Andalucia (project TEP383, group TEP120) and by the European Commission through the SANDIE Network of Excellence (NMP4-CT-2004-500101).Peer reviewe