CFD investigation of a complete floating offshore wind turbine

This chapter presents numerical computations for floating offshore wind turbines for a machine of 10-MW rated power. The rotors were computed using the Helicopter Multi-Block flow solver of the University of Glasgow that solves the Navier-Stokes equations in integral form using the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation for time-dependent domains with moving boundaries. Hydrodynamic loads on the support platform were computed using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method. This method is mesh-free, and represents the fluid by a set of discrete particles. The motion of the floating offshore wind turbine is computed using a Multi-Body Dynamic Model of rigid bodies and frictionless joints. Mooring cables are modelled as a set of springs and dampers. All solvers were validated separately before coupling, and the loosely coupled algorithm used is described in detail alongside the obtained results

Pathways to Equitable and Sustainable Education through the Inclusion of Roma Students in Learning Mathematics

Education is a key feature in the development of an agenda for a sustainable world. Education usually is associated with developing a responsible and ethical citizenship, aware of the main challenges for a sustainable development. Mathematics used to play a role as gatekeeper to achieve good educational performance. This article explores six case studies of Roma developing successful learning stories in learning mathematics. We identify five main characteristics in their educational trajectories that may explain Roma students' success in the school. This article moves forward previous studies characterizing Roma cultural features of mathematics learning, reporting stereotypes towards Roma in school. We conclude that in order to promote educational inclusion, successful stories may inform effective educational programs that, ultimately, may lead towards a sustainable education, including students from the most disadvantaged groups, as in the case of the Roma people

El profesor don Mariano del Amo y Mora. Primer centenario de su fallecimiento

On the occasion of the first centenary of the death of Professor Amo y Mora (1804-1894), who was a founder member, first Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Granada, an analysis of his biograpby and scientific work bas be en made, commenting on sorne aspects scarcely discussed by previous autbors. A catalogue of publications has been compiled, as well as an inventory of the writings on bis work and his life, and a report about the bibliographic legacy he donated to the Faculty of Pharmacy.Con motivo del centenario del fallecimiento del profesor Amo y Mora (1809-1894), fundador, primer catedrático y decano de la Facultad de Farmacia de Granada, bemos realizado un análisis de su biografia y obra científica, comentando algunos aspectos poco tratados por los autores que anteriormente han escrito sobre él. Recogemos, además, un catálogo de sus publicaciones, un inventario de los escritos sobre su actividad o su biografia y una relación del legado bibliográfico que donó a la Facultad de Farmacia

Managing Workflows on top of a Cloud Computing Orchestrator for using heterogeneous environments on e-Science

[EN] Scientific workflows (SWFs) are widely used to model processes in e-Science. SWFs are executed by means of workflow management systems (WMSs), which orchestrate the workload on top of computing infrastructures. The advent of cloud computing infrastructures has opened the door of using on-demand infrastructures to complement or even replace local infrastructures. However, new issues have arisen, such as the integration of hybrid resources or the compromise between infrastructure reutilisation and elasticity. In this article, we present an ad hoc solution for managing workflows exploiting the capabilities of cloud orchestrators to deploy resources on demand according to the workload and to combine heterogeneous cloud providers (such as on-premise clouds and public clouds) and traditional infrastructures (clusters) to minimise costs and response time. The work does not propose yet another WMS but demonstrates the benefits of the integration of cloud orchestration when running complex workflows. The article shows several configuration experiments from a realistic comparative genomics workflow called Orthosearch, to migrate memory-intensive workload to public infrastructures while keeping other blocks of the experiment running locally. The article computes running time and cost suggesting best practices.This paper wants to acknowledge the support of the EUBrazilCC project, funded by the European Commission (STREP 614048) and the Brazilian MCT/CNPq N. 13/2012, for the use of its infrastructure. The authors would like also to thank the Spanish 'Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad' for the project 'Clusters Virtuales Elasticos y Migrables sobre Infraestructuras Cloud Hibridas' with reference TIN2013-44390-R.Carrión Collado, AA.; Caballer Fernández, M.; Blanquer Espert, I.; Kotowski, N.; Jardim, R.; Dávila, AMR. (2017). Managing Workflows on top of a Cloud Computing Orchestrator for using heterogeneous environments on e-Science. International Journal of Web and Grid Services. 13(4):375-402. doi:10.1504/IJWGS.2017.10003225S37540213

Effectiveness and safety of sofosbuvir‐based regimens plus an NS5A inhibitor for patients with HCV genotype 3 infection and cirrhosis: results of a multicenter real‐life cohort

[Abstract] Patients with HCV genotype 3 (GT3) infection and cirrhosis are currently the most difficult to cure. We report our experience with sofosbuvir+daclatasvir (SOF+DCV) or sofosbuvir/ledipasvir (SOF/LDV), with or without ribavirin (RBV) in clinical practice in this population. This was a multicenter observational study including cirrhotic patients infected by HCV GT3, treated with sofosbuvir plus an NS5A inhibitor (May 2014‐October 2015). In total, 208 patients were included: 98 (47%) treatment‐experienced, 42 (20%) decompensated and 55 (27%) MELD score >10. In 131 (63%), treatment was SOF+DCV and in 77 (37%), SOF/LDV. Overall, 86% received RBV. RBV addition and extension to 24 weeks was higher in the SOF/LDV group (95% vs 80%, P=.002 and 83% vs 72%, P=.044, respectively). A higher percentage of decompensated patients were treated with DCV than LDV (25% vs 12%, P=.013). Overall, SVR12 was 93.8% (195/208): 94% with SOF+DCV and 93.5% with SOF/LDV. SVR12 was achieved in 90.5% of decompensated patients. Eleven treatment failures: 10 relapses and one breakthrough. RBV addition did not improve SVR (RR: 1.08; P=.919). The single factor associated with failure to achieve SVR was platelet count <75×10E9/mL (RR: 3.50, P=.019). In patients with MELD <10, type of NS5A inhibitor did not impact on SVR12 (94% vs 97%; adjusted RR: 0.49). Thirteen patients (6.3%) had serious adverse events, including three deaths (1.4%) and one therapy discontinuation (0.5%), higher in decompensated patients (16.7% vs 3.6%, P<.006). In patients with GT3 infection and cirrhosis, SVR12 rates were high with both SOF+DCV and SOF/LDV, with few serious adverse events

Bevacizumab dose adjustment to improve clinical outcomes of glioblastoma.

Background Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive and vascularized brain tumors in adults, with a median survival of 20.9 months. In newly diagnosed and recurrent GBM, bevacizumab demonstrated an increase in progression-free survival, but not in overall survival. Methods We conducted an in silico analysis of VEGF expression, in a cohort of 1082 glioma patients. Then, to determine whether appropriate bevacizumab dose adjustment could increase the anti-angiogenic response, we used in vitro and in vivo GBM models. Additionally, we analyzed VEGFA expression in tissue, serum, and plasma in a cohort of GBM patients before and during bevacizumab treatment. Results We identified that 20% of primary GBM did not express VEGFA suggesting that these patients would probably not respond to bevacizumab therapy as we proved in vitro and in vivo. We found that a specific dose of bevacizumab calculated based on VEGFA expression levels increases the response to treatment in cell culture and serum samples from mice bearing GBM tumors. Additionally, in a cohort of GBM patients, we observed a correlation of VEGFA levels in serum, but not in plasma, with bevacizumab treatment performance. Conclusions Our data suggest that bevacizumab dose adjustment could improve clinical outcomes in Glioblastoma treatment.post-print1360 K

Reconstruction of Past Environment and Climate Using Wetland Sediment Records from the Sierra Nevada

Understanding the effects of climate change and human activities on fragile mountain ecosystems is necessary to successfully managing these environments under future climate scenarios (e.g., global warming, enhanced aridity). This can be done through the study of paleoecological records, which can provide long paleoenvironmental databases containing information on how ecosystems reacted to climate change and human disturbances before the historical record. These studies can be particularly interesting when focusing on especially warm and/or dry past climatic phases. Biotic (pollen, charcoal) and abiotic (physical, geochemistry) analyses from wetland sediment records from the Sierra Nevada, southern Spain record changes in vegetation, fire history and lake sedimentation since ~11,700 years (cal yr BP). This multiproxy paleoecological study indicates that maxima in temperature and humidity occurred in the area in the Early and Middle Holocene, with a peak in precipitation between ~10,500 and 7000 cal yr BP. This is deduced by maxima in water runoff, the highest abundance of tree species and algae and high total organic carbon values recorded in the alpine wetland’s sedimentary records of the Sierra Nevada during that time period. In the last 7000 cal yr BP, and especially after a transition period between ~7000 and 5000 cal yr BP, a progressive aridification process took place, indicated by the decrease in tree species and the increase in xerophytic herbs in this region and a reduction in water runoff evidenced by the decrease in detritic input in the wetland sedimentary records. An increasing trend in Saharan dust deposition in the Sierra Nevada wetlands is also recorded through inorganic geochemical proxies, probably due to a coetaneous loss of vegetation cover in North Africa. The process of progressive aridification during the Middle and Late Holocene was interrupted by millennial-scale climatic oscillations and several periods of relative humid/droughty conditions and warm/cold periods have been identified in different temperature and/or precipitation proxies. Enhanced human impact has been observed in the Sierra Nevada in the last ~3000 cal yr BP through the increase in fires, grazing, cultivation, atmospheric pollution as well as reforestation by Pinus and the massive cultivation of Olea at lower altitudes.This study was supported by projects CGL2013-47038-R and CGL2017-85415-R funded by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER; Séneca Project 20788/PI/18; Junta de Andalucía I+D+i Junta de Andalucía 2020 Retos P-20-00059, FEDER Project B-RNM-144-UGR18, UGR-FEDER B-RNM-144-UGR18 Proyectos I + D + i del Programa Operativo FEDER 2018 and the research group RNM-190 (Junta de Andalucía). M.J.R.R. acknowledges the postdoctoral funding provided by the European Commission/H2020 (ERC-2017-ADG, project number 788616). J.C. acknowledges the postdoctoral funding provided by the Academy of Finland (project number 316702). A.G.-A. acknowledges the Ramón y Cajal fellowship RYC-2015-18966 provided by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of the Spanish Government. M.R.G. acknowledges funding by the Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación program in the University of Granada (IJCI-2017-33755) from Secretaría de Estado de I+D+i, Spain. RSA acknowledges several travel grants from Northern Arizona University to support this work

Effect of the aniline fragment in Pt(II) and Pt(IV) complexes as anti-proliferative agents. Standard reduction potential as a more reliable parameter for Pt(IV) compounds than peak reduction potential

The problems of resistance and side effects associated with cisplatin and other chemotherapeutic drugs have boosted research aimed at finding new compounds with improved properties. The use of platinum(IV) prodrugs is one alternative, although there is some controversy regarding the predictive ability of the peak reduction potentials. In the work described here a series of fourteen chloride Pt(II) and Pt(IV) compounds was synthesised and fully characterised. The compounds contain different bidentate arylazole heterocyclic ligands. Their cytotoxic properties against human lung carcinoma (A549), human breast carcinoma (MCF7) and human colon carcinoma (HCT116 and HT29) cell lines were studied. A clear relationship between the type of ligand and the anti-proliferative properties was found, with the best results obtained for the Pt(II) compound that contains an aniline fragment, (13), thus evidencing a positive effect of the NH2 group. Stability and aquation studies in DMSO, DMF and DMSO/water mixtures were carried out on the active complexes and an in-depth analysis of the two aquation processes, including DFT analysis, of 13 was undertaken. It was verified that DNA was the target and that cell death occurred by apoptosis in the case of 13. Furthermore, the cytotoxic derivatives did not exhibit haemolytic activity. The reduction of the Pt(IV) compounds whose Pt(II) congeners were active was studied by several techniques. It was concluded that the peak reduction potential was not useful to predict the ability for reduction. However, a correlation between the cytotoxic activity and the standard reduction potential was found.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (RTI2018-100709-B-C21 to BRM, RTI2018-100709-B-C22 to AM, RTI2018-094093-B-I00 to RSP), Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha-FEDER (JCCM) (grant SBPLY/19/180501/000260 to BRM), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Project PID2019-104381GB-I00 to GC), Fundación Leticia Castillejo Castillo to MJRH, Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de Educación y Cultura y Fondo Social Europeo (Projects BU263P18 and BU087G19 to JVC) as well as UCLM-FEDER (grants 2019-GRIN-27183 and 2019-GRIN-27209 to BRM) and University of Girona (MPCUdG2016/076 to AM)

The ancient forests of La Gomera, Canary Islands, and their sensitivity to environmental change

Garajonay National Park in La Gomera (Canary Islands) contains one of the largest remnant areas of a forest formation once widespread throughout Europe and North Africa. Here, we aim to address the long-term dynamics (the last 9600 cal. years) of the monteverde forest (laurel forest and Morella-Erica heath) located close to the summit of the National Park (1487 m a.s.l.) and determine past environmental and human impacts. 2. We used palaeoecological (fossil pollen, microscopic and macroscopic charcoal) and multivariate ecological techniques to identify compositional change in the monteverde forest in relation to potential climatic and human influences, based on the analysis of a core site at 1250-m elevation. 3. The regional mid-Holocene change towards drier conditions was matched in this system by a fairly rapid shift in representation of key forest elements, with declines in Canarian palm tree (Phoenix canariensis), Canarian willow (Salix canariensis) and certain laurel forest taxa and an increase in representation of the Morella–Erica woody heath. 4. Charcoal data suggest that humans arrived on the island between about 3000 and 1800 years ago, a period of minimal vegetation change. Levels of burning over the last 800 years are among the lowest of the entire 9600 years. 5. Synthesis. A rapid climatic-induced shift of forest taxa occurred 5500 years ago, with a decrease in hygrophilous species in the pollen record. In contrast, we found no evidence of a significant response to human colonization. These findings support the idea that Garajonay National Park is protecting a truly ancient relict, comprising a largely natural rather than cultural legacy

II Jornadas de la Sociedad Española para la Conservación y Estudio de Los Mamíferos (SECEM) Soria 7-9 diciembre 1995

Seguimiento de una reintroducción de corzo (Capreolus capreolus) en ambiente mediterráneo. Dispersión y área de campeoModelos de distribución de los insectívoros ern la Península IbéricaDieta anual del zorro, Vulpes vulpes, en dos hábitats del Parque Nacional de DoñanaDesarrollo juvenil del cráneo en las poblaciones ibéricas de gato montés, Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777Presencia y expansión del visón americano (Mustela vison) en las provincias de Teruel y Castellón (Este de España).Preferencias de hábitat invernal de la musaraña común (Crocidura russula) en un encinar fragmentado de la submeseta norteUso de cámaras automáticas para la recogida de información faunística.Dieta del lobo en dos zonas de Asturias (España) que difieren en carga ganadera.Consumo de frutos y dispersión de semillas de serbal (Sorbus aucuparia L.) por zorros y martas en la cordillera Cantábrica occidentalEvaluación de espermatozoides obtenidos postmorten en el ciervo.Frecuencia de aparición de diferentes restos de conejo en excrementos de lince y zorroAtlas preliminar de los mamíferos de Soria (España)Censo y distribución de la marmota alpina (Marmota marmota) en Navarra.Trampeo fotográfico del género Martes en el Parque Nacional de Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici (Lleida)Peer reviewe