CMB polarization as a probe of the anomalous nature of the Cold Spot

One of the most interesting explanations for the non-Gaussian Cold Spot (CS) detected in the WMAP data by Vielva et al. 2004, is that it arises from the interaction of the CMB radiation with a cosmic texture (Cruz et al. 2007b). In this case, a lack of polarization is expected in the region of the spot, as compared to the typical values associated to large fluctuations of a GIRF. In addition, other physical processes related to a non-linear evolution of the gravitational field could lead to a similar scenario. However, some of these alternative scenarios (e.g., a large void in the large scale structure) have been shown to be very unlikely. In this work we characterise the polarization properties of the Cold Spot under both hypotheses: a large Gaussian spot and an anomalous feature generated, for instance, by a cosmic texture. We propose a methodology to distinguish between them, and we discuss its discrimination power as a function of the instrumental noise level. In particular, we address the cases of current experiments, like WMAP and Planck, and others in development as QUIJOTE. We find that for an ideal experiment the Gaussian hypothesis could be rejected at a significance level better than 0.8%. While WMAP is far from providing useful information in this respect, we find that Planck will be able to reach a significance of around 7%; in addition, we show that the ground-based experiment QUIJOTE could provide a significance of around 1%. If these results are combined with the significance level found for the CS in temperature, the capability of QUIJOTE and Planck to reject the alternative hypothesis becomes 0.025% and 0.124%, respectively.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted in MNRAS. Minor changes made to match the final versio

The radial BAO scale and Cosmic Shear, a new observable for Inhomogeneous Cosmologies

As an alternative explanation of the dimming of distant supernovae it has recently been advocated that we live in a special place in the Universe near the centre of a large spherical void described by a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) metric. In this scenario, the Universe is no longer homogeneous and isotropic, and the apparent late time acceleration is actually a consequence of spatial gradients. We propose in this paper a new observable, the normalized cosmic shear, written in terms of directly observable quantities, and calculable in arbitrary inhomogeneous cosmologies. This will allow future surveys to determine whether we live in a homogeneous universe or not. In this paper we also update our previous observational constraints from geometrical measures of the background cosmology. We include the Union Supernovae data set of 307 Type Ia supernovae, the CMB acoustic scale and the first measurement of the radial baryon acoustic oscillation scale. Even though the new data sets are significantly more constraining, LTB models -- albeit with slightly larger voids -- are still in excellent agreement with observations, at chi^2/d.o.f. = 307.7/(310-4)=1.005. Together with the paper we also publish the updated easyLTB code used for calculating the models and for comparing them to the observations.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, the code can be downloaded at http://www.phys.au.dk/~haugboel/software.shtm

El impacto de la orientación emprendedora en el desempeño exportador de la firma

Esta investigación evalúa un modelo que relaciona la orientación emprendedora de la firma (innovación, riesgo y proactividad) y su desempeño exportador. El modelo incorpora variables ambientales (dinamismo, hostilidad y heterogeneidad) y variables internas (edad, tamaño y estructura) que afectarían la postura emprendedora. Se aplicó una encuesta a gerentes de 108 empresas exportadoras en Chile. Para la valoración del modelo se utilizaron ecuaciones estructurales (Partial Least Square). Los resultados apoyan la hipótesis que cuanto mayor es el grado de postura emprendedora de la firma mayor es su desempeño exportador, y a mayor dinamismo ambiental mayor es la postura emprendedora

La orientación emprendedora a nivel de la firma

El crecimiento económico de los países pasa por incentivar y desarrollar la creación de nuevas empresas, las que deben poseer ciertas capacidades para un mejor desempeño y generar ventajas competitivas. El propósito de esta publicación es estudiar las tendencias en las investigaciones en el ámbito del emprendimiento a nivel de la firma, analizar el constructo de orientación emprendedora (EO), las variables utilizadas con mayor frecuencia por los autores para su medición e identificar un instrumento adecuado para su operacionalización. Para lo anterior, se analizaron investigaciones publicadas en revistas de corriente principal entre los años 1995 y 2004, seleccionadas a través de una búsqueda de palabras claves. En este proceso se identificaron 274 investigaciones que fueron analizadas y categorizadas según el tipo de investigación y área de dominio. Por otra parte, se identificó el constructo de emprendimiento a nivel de la firma utilizado con mayor frecuencia, el que incorpora las variables de capacidad de innovar, enfrentar proactivamente los cambios y asumir riesgos. El principal aporte de esta investigación es presentar un instrumento de medición para este constructo, que ha sido utilizado y validado en investigaciones internacionales, y facilitar futuras investigaciones empíricas en Chile, y potencialmente en otros países de habla hispana.Countries' economic growth depends on fostering and developing new companies. For better performance, thosecompanies must have capabilities that enable them to generate competitive advantages. This paper aims to study the research tendencies on the firm's entrepreneurship, to analyze the entrepreneurship orientation (EO) construct and to find the authors' most used variables in measuring and identifying an appropriate operational instrument. With these objectives, papers in mainstream publications were reviewed for the period 1995-2004, chosen by keywords. In this process 274 papers were found, which were analyzed and categorized by research type and domain area. On the other hand, the most used entrepreneurship orientation (EO) construct was identified, considering the following variables: innovation capacities, proactivity to meet changes and willingness to assume risks. This research's main contribution is to present a measuring instrument for this construct, validated by several international investigations, and also facilitates future investigations in Chile and, possibly, in other Spanish speaking countries

Varón inmunocompetente con gonartritis séptica por streptococcus grupo A.

La artritis séptica es una urgencia médica que precisa un diagnóstico y tratamiento precoz. Las mani - festaciones clínicas y agentes causales varían según edad y estado clínico del paciente. Su localización más frecuente es la rodilla. Presentamos un caso de gonartritis séptica por Streptococcus pyogenes que se manifestó con fascitis necrotizante y fracaso multiorgánico. Se prescribieron tratamientos médicos agresivos, curas-desbridamientos de la herida y fisioterapia hasta su mejoría.Septic arthritis is a medical emergency that needs early diagnosis and treatment. Clinical manifesta - tions and causal agents depend on age and clinical status. Knee joint is most affected. We report a case of Streptococ - cus pyogenes septic gonarthritis that manifested with necrotizing fasciitis and multiorgan failure. Debridement of the wound, cures-aggressive medical and physiotherapy treatments were prescribed to his improvement

Bozepinib: A Promising Selective Derivative Targeting Breast Cancer Stem Cells

Bozepinib is a potent antitumour compound that shows an IC50 of 0.166 μM against MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line. It is also a very selective drug that presents a therapeutic index (TI) of 11.0 against MDA-MB-231 in relation to the normal MCF-10A. It is important to identify new cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) anticancer drugs to struggle against the resistance and the high risk of relapse in patients. In the present chapter, we show how bozepinib demonstrated selectivity on cancer cells and showed an inhibitory effect over kinases involved in carcinogenesis, proliferation and angiogenesis. Bozepinib inhibits HER-2 signaling pathway and JNK and ERK kinases. In addition, it has an inhibitory effect on AKT and VEGF together with anti-angiogenic and anti-migratory activities. Interestingly, bozepinib suppresses the formation of both mammo- and colonospheres and eliminated ALDH+ CSC subpopulations at a low micromolar range similar to salinomycin. It also induces the downregulation of SOX2, c-MYC and β-CATENIN and upregulation of the GLI-3 Hedgehog signaling repressor. Finally, bozepinib shows in vivo antitumor and anti-metastatic efficacy in xenotransplanted nude mice without presenting subacute toxicity. However, further studies in cancer patients are needed to confirm the therapeutic potential of bozepinib

Structure and genetic diversity in wild and cultivated populations of Zapote mamey (Pouteria sapota, Sapotaceae) from southeastern Mexico: its putative domestication center

Tropical fruit trees are an important component of the human diet; however, little is known about their genetic diversity levels. Zapote mamey (Pouteria sapota) is a tree native to southeastern Mexico and Central America, and Mexico is the leading producer in the world. Studies of the genetic diversity of Zapote mamey have been based on cultivated materials using morphological and biochemical characterization or dominant molecular markers. To gain a deeper understanding about the conservation status of Zapote mamey in its center of origin and domestication, we collected 188 individuals from eight wild and five cultivated populations in southeastern Mexico and characterized them using eight microsatellite loci. STRUCTURE, 3D-PCoA, and neighbor-joining analyses showed three groups in the wild gene pool and one group in the cultivated gene pool. FST values were significant between wild and cultivated gene pools, among the four groups observed and among the 13 populations collected (0.13, 0.25, and 0.36, respectively). Overall, we found low levels of genetic diversity (A = 2.77, HO = 0.29, HE = 0.39), permutation tests did not show significant differences between wild and cultivated gene pools. The Garza–Williamson index showed low values in both gene pools (wild = 0.16, cultivated = 0.11) and the Bottleneck program indicated a decrease in genetic diversity in both gene pools (wild, P = 0.027; cultivated, P = 0.054); both analyses suggest a potential genetic bottleneck within this species. This study can help to generate adequate sampling techniques and to develop effective management strategies for Zapote mamey of southeastern Mexico

Lesiones por bayoneta en la Morella carlista (s. XIX)

X Congreso Nacional de Paleopatología. Univesidad Autónoma de Madrid, septiembre de 200

Real-Time and Low-Cost Sensing Technique Based on Photonic Bandgap Structures

This paper was published in OPTICS LETTERS and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.36.002707. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law[EN] A technique for the development of low-cost and high-sensitivity photonic biosensing devices is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In this technique, a photonic bandgap structure is used as transducer, but its readout is performed by simply using a broadband source, an optical filter, and a power meter, without the need of obtaining the transmission spectrum of the structure; thus, a really low-cost system and real-time results are achieved. Experimental results show that it is possible to detect very low refractive index variations, achieving a detection limit below 2 x 10(-6) refractive index units using this low-cost measuring technique. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America[This work was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN) under contracts TEC2008-06333, JCI-009-5805, and TEC2008-05490. Support by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia through program PAID-06-09 and the Conselleria d'Educacio through program GV-2010-031 is acknowledged.García Castelló, J.; Toccafondo, V.; Pérez Millán, P.; Sánchez Losilla, N.; Cruz, JL.; Andres, MV.; García-Rupérez, J. (2011). Real-Time and Low-Cost Sensing Technique Based on Photonic Bandgap Structures. Optics Letters. 36(14):2707-2709. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.36.002707S270727093614Fan, X., White, I. M., Shopova, S. I., Zhu, H., Suter, J. D., & Sun, Y. (2008). Sensitive optical biosensors for unlabeled targets: A review. 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