Evaluation of Mechanical Characteristics of Cement Mortar with Fine Recycled Concrete Aggregates (FRCA)

[EN] One of the growing demands in concrete manufacture is the availability of natural fine aggregates, which account for 35% to 45% of the total concrete. An alternative method of disposal of fine recycled concrete aggregates (FRCA) generated from demolition and construction waste (C&DW) is their usage in mortar and the development of recycled mortar. The main aim of this research work is to evaluate the viability of incorporating FRCA from urban C&DW for the manufacture of cement-based mortars. Simple processing techniques like washing and sieving are adopted to improve the FRCA quality. Physical and chemical characterization of ingredients is carried out. In total four mixes of 1:3 (cement: sand) mortar with partial replacement of normalized sand with FRCA (0%, 25%, 50%, and 100%) are evaluated for mechanical properties. Water to cement ratio for all four mortar mixes are determined by fixed consistency. Mechanical and physical properties like density, compressive strength, and flexural strength are studied for various curing periods, and the result is that the optimum usage of FRCA is 25% based on a 90-day curing period.SIReutiliza S.L. for offering the recycled and natural aggregate used in this study free of cost. Eduardo Torroja Institute for Construction Science and FCT for financial support

Antiferromagnetic 4-d O(4) Model

We study the phase diagram of the four dimensional O(4) model with first (beta1) and second (beta2) neighbor couplings, specially in the beta2 < 0 region, where we find a line of transitions which seems to be second order. We also compute the critical exponents on this line at the point beta1 =0 (F4 lattice) by Finite Size Scaling techniques up to a lattice size of 24, being these exponents different from the Mean Field ones.Comment: 26 pages LaTeX2e, 7 figures. The possibility of logarithmic corrections has been considered, new figures and tables added. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Caracterización y origen de las dolomías del sector sudeste de Picos de Europa (Norte de España)

In this work we focus on the dolomitization processes which affected the southeastern sector of Picos de Europa Unit. The dolostones formed consequently with this process are rocks with a varied and irregular geometry, wich reminds that observed in intrusive rocks. Their chemical composition show a slight excess of calcium in relation to stoichiometric dolomite. Their iron and strontium contents are low in relation to other comparable dolomites. The abundance of dolostones is much bigger at the Frontal Unit than in upper structural Units. The dolomitization processes respond to an epigenetic dolomitization model and they are previous to the formation of Pb-Zn orebodies. We suggest a per ascensum dolomitization model tiggered by formation waters of the Pisuerga-Carrion Unit. With regard to age, the dolomitization was later than Lower Estephanian B and possibly earlier than some undetermined time during the Permian.En el presente trabajo se pone de manifiesto la existencia de un proceso de dolomitización que afectó al sector sudeste de la región de Picos de Europa. Las dolomías formadas como consecuencia de este proceso son rocas de geometría muy variada e irregular, que recuerda a la de las masas intrusivas. Su composición química muestra un ligero exceso en calcio respecto a la fórmula estequiométrica de la dolomita. Sus contenidos en hierro y estroncio son bajos respecto a los de otras dolomías comparables. El volumen de dolomías formado es mucho mayor en la Unidad Frontal de Picos de Europa que en Unidades estructurales superiores. Los procesos dolomitizadores obedecen a un modelo de dolomitización epigenético y son previos a la deposición de mineralizaciones de Pb-Zn. Se propone un modelo de dolomitización per ascensum a partir de aguas de formación de los sedimentos de la región de Pisuerga-Carrión. En cuanto a la edad, la dolomitización es posterior al Estefaniense B inferior y posiblemente anterior a un momento del Pérmico no determinado

Secondary REE-minerals in the karst bauxites of the Bahoruco Peninsula (Dominican Republic)

Rare earth elements (REE) are essential for numerous technological applications. Currently about 90% of the worldwide REE demand is supplied by China (Hatch, 2012), and therefore REE are defined as critical metals (Dutta et al., 2016). Bauxites, the main source for Al in the world, gained interest since they are capable of concentrating significant amounts of REE (Liu et al., 2016), and have been recently considered unconventional deposits for REE (Goodenough et al., 2017). Two types of bauxitic deposits are defined: a) lateritic bauxites (formed after intense weathering of an Al-bearing protolith), and b) karst bauxites (of controversial origin, hosted in carbonaceous rocks). One hypothesis of karst bauxite formation suggests dissolution of the carbonates, whereas the other implies an external contribution of Al-bearing minerals during or after carbonate deposition (Bárdossy, 1982)

Transbronchial and transesophageal fine-needle aspiration using a single ultrasound bronchoscope in the diagnosis of locoregional recurrence of surgically-treated lung cancer

The present study sought to evaluate the usefulness of EBUS-TBNA in the diagnosis of locoregional recurrence of lung cancer in a cohort of lung cancer patients who were previously treated surgically, and describe our initial experience of EUS-B-FNA in this clinical scenario. We retrospectively studied the clinical records of all patients with a previous surgically-treated lung cancer who were referred to our bronchoscopy unit after suspicion of locoregional recurrence. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and overall accuracy of EBUS-TBNA for the diagnosis of locoregional recurrence were evaluated. Seventy-three patients were included. EBUS-TBNA confirmed malignancy in 40 patients: 34 confirmed to have locoregional recurrence, six had metachronous tumours. Of the 33 patients with non-malignant EBUS-TBNA; 2 had specific non-malignant diseases, 26 underwent radiological follow up and 5 patients underwent surgery. Of the 26 patients who had radiological follow up; 18 remained stable, three presented thoracic radiological progression and 5 presented extrathoracic progression. Of the 5 patients who underwent surgery; 3 had metachronous tumours, one confirmed to be a true negative and one presented nodal invasion. Seven patients underwent EUS-B-FNA, four of them confirmed to have recurrence. The sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV and overall accuracy of EBUS-TBNA for the diagnosis of locoregional recurrence were 80.9, 100, 69.2, 100 and 86.6% respectively. EBUS-TBNA is an accurate procedure for the diagnosis of locoregional recurrence of surgically-treated lung cancer. EUS-B-FNA combined with EBUS-TBNA broads the diagnostic yield of EBUS-TBNA alone

Article Ubiquinol Short-Term Supplementation Prior to Strenuous Exercise Improves Physical Performance and Diminishes Muscle Damage

The benefits of physical exercise on health are diminished when it is non-planned, strenuous, or vigorous, which causes an increase in oxygen consumption and production of free radicals, particularly serious at the muscular level. Ubiquinol could help achieve an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and ergogenic effect. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether a supplementation of ubiquinol during a short period could have a positive effect on muscle aggression, physical performance, and fatigue perception in non-elite athletes after high intensity circuit weight training. One hundred healthy and well-trained men, (firemen of the Fire Department of Granada) were enrolled in a placebocontrolled, double-blinded, and randomized study, and separated into two groups: the placebo group (PG, n = 50); and the ubiquinol group (UG, n = 50), supplemented with an oral dose. Before and after the intervention, data related to the number of repetitions, muscle strength, and perceived exertion, as well as blood samples were collected. An increase was observed in the UG regarding average load and repetitions, revealing an improvement in muscle performance. Ubiquinol supplementation also reduced muscle damage markers, showing a protective effect on muscle fibers. Therefore, this study provides evidence that ubiquinol supplementation improves muscle performance and prevents muscle damage after strenuous exercise in a population of well-trained individuals who are not elite athletes.FPU contract with grant reference FPU21/04865Ministry of Education of Spai

Experimental study of subwavelength grating bimodal waveguides as ultrasensitive interferometric sensors

[EN] Over the recent years, subwavelength grating (SWG) structures have increasingly attracted attention in the area of evanescent-field photonic sensors. In this Letter, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, we demonstrate experimentally the real-time refractive index (RI) sensing using the SWG bimodal interferometric structures. Two different configurations are considered to compare the effect of the nonlinear phase shift, obtained between the two first transverse electromagnetic propagating modes, in the measured bulk sensitivity. Very high experimental values up to 2270 nm/RIU are reached, which perfectly match the numerical simulations and significantly enhance other existing SWG and spectralbased sensors. By measuring the spectral shift, the obtained experimental sensitivity does not depend on the sensor length. As a result, a highly sensitive and compact singlechannel interferometer is experimentally validated for refractive index sensing, thus opening new paths in the field of optical integrated sensors.European Commission (PHC-634013 PHOCNOSIS project); Spanish Government (TEC2015-63838-C3-1-R-OPTONANOSENS project); Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (grant PAID 01-18).Torrijos-Morán, L.; Griol Barres, A.; García-Rupérez, J. (2019). Experimental study of subwavelength grating bimodal waveguides as ultrasensitive interferometric sensors. Optics Letters. 44(19):4702-4705. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.44.004702S470247054419Cheben, P., Xu, D.-X., Janz, S., & Densmore, A. (2006). Subwavelength waveguide grating for mode conversion and light coupling in integrated optics. Optics Express, 14(11), 4695. doi:10.1364/oe.14.004695Schmid, J. H., Cheben, P., Janz, S., Lapointe, J., Post, E., & Xu, D.-X. (2007). Gradient-index antireflective subwavelength structures for planar waveguide facets. Optics Letters, 32(13), 1794. doi:10.1364/ol.32.001794Bock, P. J., Cheben, P., Schmid, J. H., Lapointe, J., Delâge, A., Janz, S., … Hall, T. J. (2010). Subwavelength grating periodic structures in silicon-on-insulator: a new type of microphotonic waveguide. Optics Express, 18(19), 20251. doi:10.1364/oe.18.020251Halir, R., Bock, P. J., Cheben, P., Ortega‐Moñux, A., Alonso‐Ramos, C., Schmid, J. H., … Janz, S. (2014). Waveguide sub‐wavelength structures: a review of principles and applications. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 9(1), 25-49. doi:10.1002/lpor.201400083Cheben, P., Halir, R., Schmid, J. H., Atwater, H. A., & Smith, D. R. (2018). Subwavelength integrated photonics. Nature, 560(7720), 565-572. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0421-7Gonzalo Wangüemert-Pérez, J., Cheben, P., Ortega-Moñux, A., Alonso-Ramos, C., Pérez-Galacho, D., Halir, R., … Schmid, J. H. (2014). Evanescent field waveguide sensing with subwavelength grating structures in silicon-on-insulator. Optics Letters, 39(15), 4442. doi:10.1364/ol.39.004442Donzella, V., Sherwali, A., Flueckiger, J., Grist, S. M., Fard, S. T., & Chrostowski, L. (2015). Design and fabrication of SOI micro-ring resonators based on sub-wavelength grating waveguides. Optics Express, 23(4), 4791. doi:10.1364/oe.23.004791Flueckiger, J., Schmidt, S., Donzella, V., Sherwali, A., Ratner, D. M., Chrostowski, L., & Cheung, K. C. (2016). Sub-wavelength grating for enhanced ring resonator biosensor. Optics Express, 24(14), 15672. doi:10.1364/oe.24.015672Yan, H., Huang, L., Xu, X., Chakravarty, S., Tang, N., Tian, H., & Chen, R. T. (2016). Unique surface sensing property and enhanced sensitivity in microring resonator biosensors based on subwavelength grating waveguides. Optics Express, 24(26), 29724. doi:10.1364/oe.24.029724Huang, L., Yan, H., Xu, X., Chakravarty, S., Tang, N., Tian, H., & Chen, R. T. (2017). Improving the detection limit for on-chip photonic sensors based on subwavelength grating racetrack resonators. Optics Express, 25(9), 10527. doi:10.1364/oe.25.010527Benedikovic, D., Berciano, M., Alonso-Ramos, C., Le Roux, X., Cassan, E., Marris-Morini, D., & Vivien, L. (2017). Dispersion control of silicon nanophotonic waveguides using sub-wavelength grating metamaterials in near- and mid-IR wavelengths. Optics Express, 25(16), 19468. doi:10.1364/oe.25.019468Halir, R., Cheben, P., Luque‐González, J. M., Sarmiento‐Merenguel, J. D., Schmid, J. H., Wangüemert‐Pérez, G., … Molina‐Fernández, Í. (2016). Ultra‐broadband nanophotonic beamsplitter using an anisotropic sub‐wavelength metamaterial. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 10(6), 1039-1046. doi:10.1002/lpor.201600213Luque-González, J. M., Herrero-Bermello, A., Ortega-Moñux, A., Molina-Fernández, Í., Velasco, A. V., Cheben, P., … Halir, R. (2018). Tilted subwavelength gratings: controlling anisotropy in metamaterial nanophotonic waveguides. Optics Letters, 43(19), 4691. doi:10.1364/ol.43.004691Jahani, S., Kim, S., Atkinson, J., Wirth, J. C., Kalhor, F., Noman, A. A., … Jacob, Z. (2018). Controlling evanescent waves using silicon photonic all-dielectric metamaterials for dense integration. Nature Communications, 9(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04276-8Torrijos-Morán, L., & García-Rupérez, J. (2019). Single-channel bimodal interferometric sensor using subwavelength structures. Optics Express, 27(6), 8168. doi:10.1364/oe.27.008168Levy, R., & Ruschin, S. (2009). Design of a Single-Channel Modal Interferometer Waveguide Sensor. IEEE Sensors Journal, 9(2), 146-1. doi:10.1109/jsen.2008.2011075Zinoviev, K. E., Gonzalez-Guerrero, A. B., Dominguez, C., & Lechuga, L. M. (2011). Integrated Bimodal Waveguide Interferometric Biosensor for Label-Free Analysis. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 29(13), 1926-1930. doi:10.1109/jlt.2011.2150734Kozma, P., Kehl, F., Ehrentreich-Förster, E., Stamm, C., & Bier, F. F. (2014). Integrated planar optical waveguide interferometer biosensors: A comparative review. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 58, 287-307. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2014.02.049Levy, R., & Ruschin, S. (2008). Critical sensitivity in hetero-modal interferometric sensor using spectral interrogation. Optics Express, 16(25), 20516. doi:10.1364/oe.16.020516García-Rupérez, J., Toccafondo, V., Bañuls, M. J., Castelló, J. G., Griol, A., Peransi-Llopis, S., & Maquieira, Á. (2010). Label-free antibody detection using band edge fringes in SOI planar photonic crystal waveguides in the slow-light regime. Optics Express, 18(23), 24276. doi:10.1364/oe.18.024276Zhang, W., Serna, S., Le Roux, X., Vivien, L., & Cassan, E. (2016). Highly sensitive refractive index sensing by fast detuning the critical coupling condition of slot waveguide ring resonators. Optics Letters, 41(3), 532. doi:10.1364/ol.41.000532Di Falco, A., O’Faolain, L., & Krauss, T. F. (2009). Chemical sensing in slotted photonic crystal heterostructure cavities. Applied Physics Letters, 94(6), 063503. doi:10.1063/1.3079671Molina-Fernández, Í., Leuermann, J., Ortega-Moñux, A., Wangüemert-Pérez, J. G., & Halir, R. (2019). Fundamental limit of detection of photonic biosensors with coherent phase read-out. Optics Express, 27(9), 12616. doi:10.1364/oe.27.01261

Conflictos sociales y mediación universitaria en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior

Este artículo expone los principales datos y conclusiones obtenidas en el Workshop realizado en el año 2016 entre la Universidad de Málaga y Leuven (Bélgica). La líneas de investigación se centra en los conflictos sociales que se producen en el ámbito universitario.El presente trabajo, trata de analizar los conflictos que se producen en el ámbito universitario relacionados con la implementación del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior y la nueva metodología docente derivada del mismo, que provocan disyuntivas sociales específicas. Estos conflictos, se hacen plausibles en la conciliación, el aprendizaje y el desarrollo del proceso educativo. Por un lado, con la asistencia obligatoria y la dedicación de tiempo que requiere al estudiante en la Universidad y de trabajo en casa. Por otro, por la situación devenida de los recortes en becas universitarias y la necesidad que impone esta reforma educativa de acreditación del B1 como lengua extranjera para la obtención del Título de Graduado. Estas circunstancias, construyen realidades relativas a los significados que el ámbito universitario tiene para las personas, e inciden en las oportunidades del alumnado en condiciones de igualdad en función de su situación social y personal. En el estudio, se analizan las causas y se definen los tipos de conflictos, así como su relación con la citada reforma

SPROUTY-2 represses the epithelial phenotype of colon carcinoma cells via upregulation of ZEB1 mediated by ETS1 and miR-200/miR-150

SPROUTY-2 (SPRY2) is a modulator of tyrosine kinase receptor signaling with receptor- and cell type-dependent inhibitory or enhancing effects. Studies on the action of SPRY2 in major cancers are conflicting and its role remains unclear. Here we have dissected SPRY2 action in human colon cancer. Global transcriptomic analyses show that SPRY2 downregulates genes encoding tight junction proteins such as claudin-7 and occludin and other cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix adhesion molecules in human SW480- ADH colon carcinoma cells. Moreover, SPRY2 represses LLGLL2/HUGL2, PATJ1/INADL and ST14, main regulators of the polarized epithelial phenotype, and ESRP1, an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inhibitor. A key action of SPRY2 is the upregulation of the major EMT inducer ZEB1, as these effects are reversed by ZEB1 knock-down by means of RNA interference. Consistently, we found an inverse correlation between the expression level of claudin-7 and those of SPRY2 and ZEB1 in human colon tumors. Mechanistically, ZEB1 upregulation by SPRY2 results from the combined induction of ETS1 transcription factor and the repression of microRNAs (miR-200 family, miR-150) that target ZEB1 RNA. Moreover, SPRY2 increased AKT activation by epidermal growth factor (EGF) whereas AKT and also Src inhibition reduced the induction of ZEB1. Altogether, these data suggest that AKT and Src are implicated in SPRY2 action. Collectively, these results show a tumorigenic role of SPRY2 in colon cancer that is based on the dysregulation of tight junction and epithelial polarity master genes via upregulation of ZEB1. The dissection of the mechanism of action of SPRY2 in colon cancer cells is important to understand the upregulation of this gene in a subset of patients with this neoplasia that have poor prognosis.This study was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (grant SAF2013-43468-R to A.M., SAF2011-29530 to F.X.R.); FEDERInstituto de Salud Carlos III (RD12/0036/0021 to A.M. and J.M.R., RD12/0036/0034 to F.X.R., RD12/0036/0016 to M.S., RD12/0036/0012 to H.G.P., RD06/0020/0003, PS09/00562 and PI13/00703 to J.M.R.); Comunidad de Madrid (S2010/BMD-2344 Colomics2 to A.M.); Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (to J.M.R.); U.S. Department of Defense (CA093471 and CA110602 to E.H.); National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (1R01CA155234-01 to E.H.); National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (1R21AR062239-01 to E.H.); and the Melanoma Research Alliance (to E. H.)