Los kalathoi de cuello estrangulado de las necrópolis ibéricas de Coimbra del Barranco Ancho (Jumilla, Murcia)

This article is a study of a shape of pottery called kalathos with a «strangulation-neck» form which comes from iberian necropolis of Coimbra del Barranco Ancho, where there are three different forms depending on their morphology. This shape began in the fourth century b.C., but has a special period of increase during the third century and the first years of the second century before Christ.En este artículo se estudian los kalathoi de «cuello estrangulado» de las necrópolis ibéricas de Coimbra del Barranco Ancho, donde se han podido diferenciar tres variantes en función de su morfología. Aparecen cronológicamente en el siglo IV antes de Jesucristo, pero tienen un especial auge durante el siglo III y primeros años del siglo II a. de C

Cerámica ática del poblado ibérico de la Loma del Escorial (Los Nietos, Cartagena)

This paper describes an important group of Attic pottery eight bell craters from the first half of the 4 th century BC, discovered together in a room in the Iberian settlement of La Loma del Escorial on the coast of Murcia. The pottery demonstrates the importance of this enclave as a centre for redistributing sumptuous pottery among the indigenous populations of the south-east of the lberian península.Este trabajo da a conocer un importante lote de cráteras de campana áticas de la primera mitad del siglo IV a. C., halladas en una misma habitación del poblado ibérico de La Loma del Escorial, lo que pone de manifiesto la importancia de este enclave como centro redistribuidor de cerámica de lujo entre las poblaciones indígenas del sureste español

It Is Premature to Use Postmortem Sperm for Reproductive Purposes: a Data-Driven Opinion

Postmortem sperm retrieval for reproductive purposes is an assisted reproduction procedure that offers women an opportunity to have a child using sperm retrieved from their deceased partners. The ethical issues of this procedure have been discussed in previous works. However, an assessment of the procedure using a scientific perspective is still lacking. Here, we aim to ascertain, using a biological standpoint, whether postmortem sperm should be rescued for reproductive purposes. Data suggest that it is premature to use postmortem sperm for reproductive purposes. This procedure should not be clinically applied until appropriate and comprehensive analyses have been completed. Such analyses should be focused not only on fertilization, embryo development, and pregnancy outcomes, but also on potential postmortem alterations of sperm DNA, RNAs, and proteins. In addition, genetic and epigenetic analyses of sperm, pre-implantation embryos, and newborns, as well as mental and physical health follow-up of the resulting offspring during a whole life cycle, using appropriate non-human mammalian models, are warranted

Endocrinology and physiology of pseudocyesis

This literature review on pseudocyesis or false pregnancy aims to find epidemiological, psychiatric/psychologic, gynecological and endocrine traits associated with this condition in order to propose neuroendocrine/endocrine mechanisms leading to the emergence of pseudocyetic traits. Ten women from 5 selected studies were analyzed after applying stringent criteria to discriminate between cases of true pseudocyesis (pseudocyesis vera) versus delusional, simulated or erroneous pseudocyesis. The analysis of the reviewed studies evidenced that pseudocyesis shares many endocrine traits with both polycystic ovarian syndrome and major depressive disorder, although the endocrine traits are more akin to polycystic ovarian syndrome than to major depressive disorder. Data support the notion that pseudocyetic women may have increased sympathetic nervous system activity, dysfunction of central nervous system catecholaminergic pathways and decreased steroid feedback inhibition of gonadotropin-releasing hormone. Although other neuroendocrine/endocrine pathways may be involved, the neuroendocrine/endocrine mechanisms proposed in this review may lead to the development of pseudocyetic traits including hypomenorrhea or amenorrhea, galactorrhea, diurnal and/or nocturnal hyperprolactinemia, abdominal distension and apparent fetal movements and labor pains at the expected date of delivery

Changes in sex ratio from fertilization to birth in assisted-reproductive-treatment cycles

Background: In Western gender-neutral countries, the sex ratio at birth is estimated to be approximately 1.06. This ratio is lower than the estimated sex ratio at fertilization which ranges from 1.07 to 1.70 depending on the figures of sex ratio at birth and differential embryo/fetal mortality rates taken into account to perform these estimations. Likewise, little is known about the sex ratio at implantation in natural and assisted-reproduction-treatment (ART) cycles. In this bioessay, we aim to estimate the sex ratio at fertilization and implantation using data from embryos generated by standard in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in preimplantation genetic diagnosis cycles. Thereafter, we compare sex ratios at implantation and birth in cleavage- and blastocyst-stage-transfer cycles to propose molecular mechanisms accounting for differences in post-implantation male and female mortality and thereby variations in sex ratios at birth in ART cycles. Methods: A literature review based on publications up to December 2013 identified by PubMed database searches. Results: Sex ratio at both fertilization and implantation is estimated to be between 1.29 and 1.50 in IVF cycles and 1.07 in ICSI cycles. Compared with the estimated sex ratio at implantation, sex ratio at birth is lower in IVF cycles (1.03 after cleavage-stage transfer and 1.25 after blastocyst-stage transfer) but similar and close to unity in ICSI cycles (0.95 after cleavage-stage transfer and 1.04 after blastocyst-stage transfer). Conclusions: In-vitro-culture-induced precocious X-chromosome inactivation together with ICSI-induced decrease in number of trophectoderm cells in female blastocysts may account for preferential female mortality at early post-implantation stages and thereby variations in sex ratios at birth in ART cycles

Design of Novel Cooling Systems Based on Metal Plates with Channels of Shapes Inspired by Nature

The effect of the channel shape of aluminum plates on cooling capacity was evaluated by studying different configurations. Common shapes of the channel, such as square and fork shapes, were compared with novel configurations inspired by shapes found in nature, specifically the shape of the outline of flowers, inspired these new configurations, consisting of channels with crateriform, salverform, and cruciform shapes. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of the channel shape on the cooling capacity of the metal plate. To that end, all the configurations were analyzed from a geometrical point of view, determining the minimum distance of each point across the plate to the channel. A finite difference method was implemented to study both transient and steady state heat dissipation across the plates for each configuration. Even though the effect of the channel shape on the average temperature of the plate is slight, the maximum temperature, the size and location of hot spots, and the temperature homogeneity of the plate are strongly affected by the shape of the channel through which the cooling fluid is circulated. A reduction in the maximum temperature of the plate during transient cooling of around 2 C for the crateriform and salverform channels and approximately 4.5 C for the cruciform channel can be attained, compared to the standard configurations. The steady state heat dissipation analysis concluded that the crateriform and salverform configurations reduced the maximum variation in temperature of the common configurations by roughly 15%, whereas a reduction of approximately 28% could be reached by the cruciform configuration. Regarding the homogeneity of temperature across the plate, a reduction up to 34.5% of the index of uniform temperature can be attained using the novel configurations during the steady state refrigeration of the plate. The cruciform channel is the optimal configuration for both transient and steady state cooling processes, reducing the size and temperature of hot spots and improving the temperature homogeneity of the plate, a result already anticipated by the geometrical analysis. In fact, the main conclusions attained from the cooling study are in good agreement with the results of the geometrical analysis. Therefore, the geometrical analysis was found to be a simple and reliable method to design the shape of channels of a cooling system.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by Fundación Iberdrola under the program “Programa de Ayudas a la Investigación en Energía y Medioambiente”. This work has been supported by the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement with UC3M (“Fostering Young Doctors Research”, NANOCOOLEVBCM- UC3M) and in the context of the V PRICIT (Research and Technological Innovation Regional Programme). Eduardo Cano-Pleite acknowledges support from the CONEX-Plus programme funded by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 801538

Switching and Intelligent Management Systems for Battery Recharging in Electric Vehicles

This article starts from a model to recharge the batteries of an Electric Vehicle from a small-scale photovoltaic solar plant whereas the energy injected into the batteries is obtained at the instant production itself, with no need of storage in between. From here on, the paper commences by offering precise information on the devices that enable both switching and intelligent management of the different loads that are present in our system, where the Electric Vehicle is undoubtedly one of the most important but not the only one to consider and manage. Therefore, our goal will be to tackle how to manage the vehicle batteries from the photovoltaic inverter, how to manage the switching of both sources and loads with an Industrial Programmable Automaton (OMRON CP1-E), how it affects the network and how it should be adapted for a big-scale scenario, from the complete system dimensioning. For our purposes, a study of typical loads (including the Electric Vehicle), several solutions to implement a prioritisation of loads (with a review of several devices working under priority algorithms) and a real average of annual consumptions with a system projection by adding an Electric Vehicle with daily recharge and different charging features and patterns, will be shown

Impact of an antimicrobial stewardship program on the incidence of carbapenem resistant gram-negative bacilli: an interrupted time-series analysis

Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (CR-GNB) are a critical public health threat, and carbapenem use contributes to their spread. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have proven successful in reducing antimicrobial use. However, evidence on the impact of carbapenem resistance remains unclear. We evaluated the impact of a multifaceted ASP on carbapenem use and incidence of CR-GNB in a high-endemic hospital. An interrupted time-series analysis was conducted one year before and two years after starting the ASP to assess carbapenem consumption, CR-GNB incidence, death rates of sentinel events, and other variables potentially related to CR-GNB incidence. An intense reduction in carbapenem consumption occurred after starting the intervention and was sustained two years later (relative effect −83.51%; 95% CI −87.23 to −79.79). The incidence density of CR-GNB decreased by −0.915 cases per 1000 occupied bed days (95% CI −1.743 to −0.087). This effect was especially marked in CR-Klebsiella pneumoniae and CR-Escherichia coli, reversing the pre-intervention upward trend and leading to a relative reduction of −91.15% (95% CI −105.53 to −76.76) and −89.93% (95% CI −107.03 to −72.83), respectively, two years after starting the program. Death rates did not change. This ASP contributed to decreasing CR-GNB incidence through a sustained reduction in antibiotic use without increasing mortality rates

Estudio de la situación que dio origen a un tornado en Montesclaros (Toledo)

Ponencia presentada en: V Simposio Nacional de Predicción, celebrado en 2001 en Madrid.El objeto de estudio es el caso del día 21 de abril de 2000 en el que se produjo un tornado débil (F1) en las proximidades de Montesclaros (Toledo). Para elaborar los análisis sinópticos y mesoescalares se han usado las imágenes de satélite y radar, así como el sondeo de Madrid y la información de modelos numéricos y las ideas de los modelos conceptuales regionalizados. Se incluye un análisis preliminar basado en el estudio de campo realizado en las jornadas posteriores al evento