The relevance of grated inlets within surface drainage systems in the field of urban flood resilience. A review of several experimental and numerical simulation approaches

Urban drainage networks should be designed and operated preferably under open channel flow conditions without flux return, backwater, or overflows. In the case of extreme storm events, urban pluvial flooding is generated by the excess of surface runoff that could not be conveyed by pressurized sewer pipes, due to its limited capacity or, many times, due to the poor efficiency of surface drainage systems to collect uncontrolled overland flow. Generally, the hydraulic design of sewer systems is addressed more for underground networks, neglecting the surface drainage system, although inadequate inlet spacings and locations can cause dangerous flooding with rele-vant socio-economic impacts and the interruption of critical services and urban activities. Several experimental and numerical studies carried out at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) and other research institutions demonstrated that the hydraulic efficiency of inlets can be very low under critical conditions (e.g., high circulating overland flow on steep areas). In these cases, the hydraulic efficiency of conventional grated inlets and continuous transverse elements can be around 10–20%. Their hydraulic capacity, expressed in terms of discharge coefficients, shows the same criticism with values quite far from those that are usually used in several project practice phases. The grate clogging phenomenon and more intense storm events produced by climate change could further reduce the inlets’ performance. In this context, in order to improve the flood urban resilience of our cities, the relevance of the hydraulic behavior of surface drainage systems is clear

Visual and instrumental correlation of sparkle by the magnitude estimation method

Most real surfaces and objects show variations in appearance with viewing and illumination directions. Besides angular dependency, they also show spatial variation in color, i.e., they exhibit some sort of texture. Of the surfaces we see, surfaces colored by special-effect pigments produce several complex visual effects, like change in color and lightness with viewing and illumination angles, and effects like sparkle and gloss on other textures. In the last two decades, different commercial devices have appeared to help ensure the proper characterization of materials with special-effect pigments. However, the instrumental characterization of sparkle is currently available only by a commercial device integrated into a multi-angle spectrophotometer. As it is difficult to find complete open original studies about the sparkle effect for designing and calibrating this commercial instrument, the main objective of this work was to check whether a good visual and instrumental correlation exists between the sparkle that the observer perceives and the sparkle value provided by the device using some subsets of goniochromatic samples with different types of special-effect pigments and colors. Visual assessments were made by a conventional magnitude estimation method in a directional lighting booth, which belonged to the same company owner of the sparkle instrument, in different geometries and at distinct illuminance levels. The results revealed that there was a good visual correlation of the sparkle grade value. By separately analyzing the factors used in its instrument algorithm, such as sparkle intensity and sparkle area values, it was clearly shown that the correlation was not good or simply did not exist. Consequently, and perhaps in regards to the choice of new special-effect pigments, such as synthetic mica and other future ones, we generated herein even more questions about current mathematical algorithms, and only recognized calculating this texture effect at the industrial level.The authors are grateful to the EMRP for funding the project “Multidimensional Reflectometry for Industry”. The EMRP is jointly funded by EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union. We thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the coordinated project DPI2011-30090-C02 and project DPI-2015-68514 and University of Alicante for project GRE13-28. Omar Gómez Lozano would also like to thank the above-cited ministry for his pre-doctoral fellowship (FPI BES-2012-053080)

A Dynamic Kinetic Asymmetric Heck Reaction for the Simultaneous Generation of Central and Axial Chirality

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective, scalable Pd-catalyzed dynamic kinetic asymmetric Heck reaction of heterobiaryl sulfonates with electron-rich olefins is described. The coupling of 2,3-dihydrofuran or N-boc protected 2,3-dihydropyrrole with a variety of quinoline, quinazoline, phthalazine, and picoline derivatives takes place with simultaneous installation of central and axial chirality, reaching excellent diastereo- and enantiomeric excesses when in situ formed [Pd0/DM-BINAP] was used as the catalyst, with loadings reduced down to 2 mol % in large scale reactions. The coupling of acyclic, electron-rich alkenes can also be performed using a [Pd0/Josiphos ligand] to obtain axially chiral heterobiaryl α-substituted alkenes in high yields and enantioselectivities. Products from Boc-protected 2,3-dihydropyrrole can be easily transformed into N,N ligands or appealing axially chiral, bifunctional proline-type organocatalysts. Computational studies suggest that a β-hydride elimination is the stereocontrolling step, in agreement with the observed stereochemical outcome of the reaction.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Grants CTQ2016-76908-C2-1-P; CTQ2016-76908-C2-2-P; CTQ2016-78083-P; RYC-2013-12585)European Commission (FEDER Programme)Junta de Andalucía (Grant 2012/FQM 10787)Universidad de Sevilla (Grant No. 1800511201)European Union - Marie Skłodowska-Curie (COFUND—Grant Agreement nº 291780

Diseño de guías docentes con una metodología híbrida para la mejora del aprendizaje personalizado

El aprendizaje personalizado considera la existencia de diferentes perfiles de alumno en cuanto a su estilo de aprendizaje y a su estilo de comportamiento. Teniendo en cuenta estos dos aspectos, en este trabajo se desarrolla una metodología docente específica para una titulación concreta: el postgrado propio en “Tecnología del color para el sector de automoción” ofertado por la Universidad de Alicante. Las guías docentes y el diseño de los contenidos educativos de este postgrado han sido elaborados teniendo en cuenta las competencias y objetivos demandados por el sector industrial. La metodología propuesta emplea la plataforma Moodle para aprovechar las posibilidades del b-learning, adaptando los contenidos a los diferentes estilos de aprendizaje, perfiles de estudiantes, competencias iniciales (física, química, ingeniería, etc.), disponibilidad y grado de implicación. Esta metodología pretende maximizar el rendimiento académico del alumno, buscando la máxima motivación al adaptar las tareas propuestas a la tipología de cada estudiante. Para ello, se diseñan actividades individuales y grupales adaptadas para cada perfil, teniendo en cuenta los diferentes estilos de aprendizaje definidos por D. Kolb

Diseño de una metodología docente mediante el aprendizaje personalizado

Este trabajo resume el desarrollo de la metodología docente propuesta dentro del postgrado propio en Tecnología del color para el sector de automoción. Esta metodología está basada en b-learning usando para ello la plataforma Moodle que pretende seguir diferentes estilos de aprendizaje, y perfiles de estudiantes y sus competencias iniciales (física, química, ingeniería, etc.) y disponibilidad (trabajador activo, etc.). El objetivo de esta metodología es obtener el máximo rendimiento y satisfacción del alumnado y para ello, se han diseñado actividades individuales y grupales adaptadas para cada perfil, teniendo en cuenta diferentes estilos de aprendizaje definidos por Kolb. Este modelo teórico tiene en cuenta diferentes aspectos o capacidades básicas: experiencia concreta (EC, alumno activo), observación reflexiva (OR, alumno reflexivo), conceptualización abstracta (CA, alumno teorizador) y experimentación activa (EA, alumno pragmático), que combinándolos dan lugar a diferentes estilos de aprendizaje, siempre con el fin de conseguir un papel activo, satisfactorio a nivel dual (docente-discente) y de rendimiento en el proceso de aprendizaje

Association between combinations of genetic polymorphisms and epidemiopathogenic forms of bovine paratuberculosis

[EN] Control of major mycobacterial diseases affecting livestock is a challenging issue that requires different approaches. The use of genetic markers for improving resistance to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in cattle has been explored as a promising population strategy We performed paratuberculosis epidemiopathogenic phenotypic and genotypic characterization involving 24 SNPs in six candidate genes (NOD2, CD209, SLC11A1, SP110, TLR2 and TLR4) on 502 slaughtered Friesian cows. In the current study, we investigate whether recently proposed paratuberculosis (PTB) epidemiopathogenic (EP) forms (apparently free-AF, latent-LAT and patent-PAT) could be associated with some combination of these 24 SNPs. Best EP form grouping was obtained using a combination of 5 SNPs in four genes (CD209: rs210748127; SLC11A1: rs110090506; SP110: rs136859213 and rs110480812; and TLR2: rs41830058). These groups were defined according to the level of infection progression risk to patent epidemiopathogenic forms and showed the following distributions: LOWIN (low) with 39 (8%) cases (94.9% AF/5.1% LAT/0% PAT); LATIN (low) with 17 (3%) cases (5.9% AF/94.1% LAT/0% PAT); AVERIN (average) with 413 (82%) cases (52.1% AF/38.5% LAT/9.4% PAT) and PATIN (patent) with 33 (7%) cases (36.4% AF/24.2% LAT/39.4% PAT). Age of slaughter was significantly higher for LATIN (88.3 months) compared to AVERIN (65.3 months; p = 0.0007) and PATIN (59.1 months; p = 0.0004), and for LOWIN (73.9 months) compared to PATIN (p = 0.0233), and nearly significant compared to AVERIN (p = 0.0572) These results suggest that some selected genetic polymorphisms have a potential use as markers of PTB EP forms and thus add a new tool for the control of this widespread infectionSIThis work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (projects AGL2006-14315-C02 and RTA2014-00009), Basque Government (GV/EJ) (SAIOTEK program: SA-2010/00102), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and European Social Fund (ESF) is also gratefully acknowledged. Patricia V azquez was holder of a graduate fellowship award (FPI) (BES-2007-17170) from the Spanish MINEC

School-Based Cardiovascular Health Promotion in Adolescents: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.

IMPORTANCE School-based interventions offer an opportunity for health promotion in adolescence. OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of 2 multicomponent educational health promotion strategies of differing duration and intensity on adolescents' cardiovascular health (CVH). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The SI! Program for Secondary Schools is a 4-year cluster randomized clinical intervention trial conducted in 24 secondary schools from Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, from September 7, 2017, to July 31, 2021. Eligible participants were adolescents enrolled in the first grade of secondary school. INTERVENTIONS Schools and their participants were randomized to receive a health promotion intervention (SI! Program) over 4 school years (long-term intervention [LTI], 8 schools, 412 adolescents) or 2 school years (short-term intervention [STI], 8 schools, 504 adolescents) or to receive the standard curriculum (control, 8 schools, 441 adolescents). MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES The primary end point was the between-group difference at 2 and 4 years in the change from baseline of the overall CVH score, as defined by the American Heart Association (range, 0-14 points, with a higher score indicating a healthier CVH profile). Intervention effects were tested with multilevel mixed-effects models. A complete-case intention-to-treat analysis was performed as the primary analysis. RESULTS Of the randomized students, the study enrolled 1326 adolescents (684 [51.6%] boys, mean [SD] age, 12.5 [0.4] years at recruitment) with a study completion rate of 86.0%. Baseline overall CVH scores were 10.3 points in the LTI group, 10.6 points in the STI group, and 10.5 points in the control group. After 2 years, at halfway through the LTI and at the end of the STI, the difference in the CVH score change was 0.44 points (95% CI, 0.01-0.87; P = .04) between the LTI group and the control group and 0.18 points (95% CI, -0.25 to 0.61; P = .39) between the STI group and the control group. At 4 years, differences for the LTI and STI groups vs control were 0.12 points (LTI: 95% CI, -0.19 to 0.43; P = .42) and 0.13 points (STI: 95% CI, -0.17 to 0.44; P = .38). No adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Overall, the tested school-based health promotion strategies in this randomized clinical trial had a neutral effect on the CVH of the adolescents. Although there was evidence of a marginal beneficial effect at a point halfway through implementation in the LTI group, such a benefit was not noted at 4 years. Further research is warranted into the efficacy of school-based health promotion programs. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03504059.This work was supported by the SHE Foundation-la Caixa Foundation (LCF/PR/CE16/ 10700001) and the Fundació la Marató de TV3 (369/C/2016). Dr Santos-Beneit is recipient of grant LCF/PR/MS19/12220001 funded by “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). Dr Tresserra-Rimbau is a Serra Húnter Fellow. Dr Laveriano-Santos is supported by the FI-SDUR (EMC/503/2021) grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya. Mr Martínez-Gómez was a postgraduate fellow of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación at the Residencia de Estudiantes (2020-2022) and is a recipient of grant FPU21/04891 (Ayudas para la formación de profesorado universitario, FPU-2021) from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Dr Álvarez-Benavides is a María Zambrano fellow. Dr Fernández-Jiménez is recipient of grants PI19/01704 and PI22/01560 funded by the ISCIII and cofunded by the European Union. Support was also provided by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (AEI/FEDER, UE, grant PID2020-114022RB-I00), and Generalitat de Catalunya. The Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety Research (INSA-UB) is a Unit of Excellence (María de Maeztu CEX2021-001234-M). The Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) is supported by the ISCIII, the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (grant CEX2020-001041-S funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).S

High efficacy of Sofosbuvir plus Simeprevir in a large cohort of Spanish cirrhotic patients infected with genotypes 1 and 4

[Abstract] Background and Aims. Hepatitis C (HCV) therapy with Sofosbuvir (SOF)/Simeprevir (SMV) in clinical trials and real‐world clinical practice, showed high rates of sustained virological response (SVR) in non‐cirrhotic genotype (GT)‐1 and GT‐4 patients. These results were slightly lower in cirrhotic patients. We investigated real‐life effectiveness and safety of SOF/SMV with or without ribavirin (RBV) in a large cohort of cirrhotic patients. Methods. This collaborative multicentre study included data from 968 patients with cirrhosis infected with HCV‐GT1 or 4, treated with SOF/SMV±RBV in 30 centres across Spain between January‐2014 and December‐2015. Demographic, clinical, virological and safety data were analysed. Results. Overall SVR was 92.3%; the majority of patients were treated with RBV (62%) for 12 weeks (92.4%). No significant differences in SVR were observed between genotypes (GT1a:94.3%; GT1b:91.7%; GT4:91.1%). Those patients with more advanced liver disease (Child B/C, MELD≥10) or portal hypertension (platelet count≤100×109/L, transient elastography≥21 Kpa) showed significantly lower SVR rates (84.4%‐91.9%) than patients with less advanced liver disease (93.8%‐95.9%, P<.01 in all cases). In the multivariate analysis, the use of RBV, female gender, baseline albumin≥35 g/L, MELD<10 and lack of exposure to a triple therapy regimen were independent predictors of SVR (P<.05). Serious adverse events (SAEs) and SAE‐associated discontinuation events occurred in 5.9% and 2.6%. Conclusions. In this large cohort of cirrhotic patients managed in the real‐world setting in Spain, SOF/SMV±RBV yielded to excellent SVR rates, especially in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis. In addition, this combination showed to be safe, with low rates of SAEs and early discontinuations.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI15/0015

Everolimus plus minimized tacrolimus on kidney function in liver transplantation: REDUCE, a prospective, randomized controlled study

Background and aim: reduction in calcineurin inhibitor levels is considered crucial to decrease the incidence of kidney dysfunction in liver transplant (LT) recipients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and impact of everolimus plus reduced tacrolimus (EVR + rTAC) vs. mycophenolate mofetil plus tacrolimus (MMF + TAC) on kidney function in LT recipients from Spain. Methods: the REDUCE study was a 52-week, multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label, phase 3b study in de novo LT recipients. Eligible patients were randomized (1:1) 28 days post-transplantation to receive EVR + rTAC (TAC levels <_ 5 ng/mL) or to continue with MMF + TAC (TAC levels = 6-10 ng/mL). Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), clinical benefit in renal function, and safety were evaluated. Results: in the EVR + rTAC group (n = 105), eGFR increased from randomization to week 52 (82.2 [28.5] mL/min/1.73 m2 to 86.1 [27.9] mL/min/1.73 m2) whereas it decreased in the MMF + TAC (n = 106) group (88.4 [34.3] mL/min/1.73 m2 to 83.2 [25.2] mL/min/1.73 m2), with significant (p < 0.05) differences in eGFR throughout the study. However, both groups had a similar clinical benefit regarding renal function (improvement in 18.6 % vs. 19.1 %, and stabilization in 81.4 % vs. 80.9 % of patients in the EVR + rTAC vs. MMF + TAC groups, respectively). There were no significant differences in the incidence of acute rejection (5.7 % vs. 3.8 %), deaths (5.7 % vs. 2.8 %), and serious adverse events (51.9 % vs. 44.0 %) between the 2 groups. Conclusion: EVR + rTAC allows a safe reduction in tacrolimus exposure in de novo liver transplant recipients, with a significant improvement in eGFR but without significant differences in renal clinical benefit 1 year after liver transplantation

Flow cytometry for fast screening and automated risk assessment in systemic light-chain amyloidosis

Early diagnosis and risk stratification are key to improve outcomes in light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. Here we used multidimensional-flow-cytometry (MFC) to characterize bone marrow (BM) plasma cells (PCs) from a series of 166 patients including newly-diagnosed AL amyloidosis (N = 94), MGUS (N = 20) and multiple myeloma (MM, N = 52) vs. healthy adults (N = 30). MFC detected clonality in virtually all AL amyloidosis (99%) patients. Furthermore, we developed an automated risk-stratification system based on BMPCs features, with independent prognostic impact on progression-free and overall survival of AL amyloidosis patients (hazard ratio: ≥ 2.9;P ≤ .03). Simultaneous assessment of the clonal PCs immunophenotypic protein expression profile and the BM cellular composition, mapped AL amyloidosis in the crossroad between MGUS and MM; however, lack of homogenously-positive CD56 expression, reduction of B-cell precursors and a predominantly-clonal PC compartment in the absence of an MM-like tumor PC expansion, emerged as hallmarks of AL amyloidosis (ROC-AUC = 0.74;P < .001), and might potentially be used as biomarkers for the identification of MGUS and MM patients, who are candidates for monitoring pre-symptomatic organ damage related to AL amyloidosis. Altogether, this study addressed the need for consensus on how to use flow cytometry in AL amyloidosis, and proposes a standardized MFC-based automated risk classification ready for implementation in clinical practice