Design of Round-Nozzle Inertial Impactors Review with Updated Design Parameters

Round-nozzle inertial impactors are widely used aerosol measuring instruments to characterize the mass and chemical composition of airborne aerosol particles as a function particle aerodynamic diameter. This article summarizes the most important design considerations with updated recommended design parameters taken from our review of published research articles and discusses some of the more common non-idealities seen in the operation and performance of inertial impactors. With this information, it is now possible to design a cascade impactor with near-ideal particle separation performance, and with stage cutpoints that can be predicted with excellent accuracy and verified experimentally using state-of-the-art calibration techniques

Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown in a European Regional Monitoring Network (Spain): Are We Free from Pollution Episodes?

The impact of the lockdown, during the period from March to June in 2020, upon the air quality of the Basque Country in northern Spain is analyzed. The evaluation accounts for the meteorology of the period. Daily and sub-daily analysis of aerosol and ozone records show that the territory was repeatedly affected by episodes of pollutants from outer regions. Three episodes of PM10 and ten of PM2.5 were caused by transported anthropogenic European sulfates, African dust, and wildland fires. The region, with a varied orographic climatology, shows high and diverse industrial activity. Urban and interurban road traffic of the region decreased by 49% and 53%, respectively, whereas industrial activity showed a lower reduction of 20%. Consequently, the average concentrations of NO2 in the cities during the period fell to 12.4 µg·m−3 (−45%). Ozone showed up to five exceedances of the WHOAQG for the daily maximum 8-h average in both rural and urban sites, associated with transport through France and the Bay of Biscay, under periods of European blocking anticyclones. However, averages showed a moderate decrease (−11%) in rural environments, in line with the precursor reductions, and disparate changes in the cities, which reproduced the weekend effect of their historical records. The PM10 decreased less than expected (−10% and −21%, in the urban and rural environments, respectively), probably caused by the modest decrease of industrial activity around urban sites and favorable meteorology for secondary aerosol formation, which could also influence the lower changes observed in the PM2.5 (−1% and +3% at the urban and rural sites, respectively). Consequently, in a future low NOx traffic emission scenario, the inter-regional PM and ozone control will require actions across various sectors, including the industry and common pollution control strategies.This research was funded by the Basque Government and the University of the Basque Country (GIC15/152 and GIU13/03) and by the Environment Vice-Department of the Basque Government for the measurement of biogenic volatile organic compounds in Valderejo Natural Park

Galernas: A history of coastally trapped disturbances (2003−2020) with hidden frontogenesis in the Bay of Biscay

Galerna is the term accepted for an abrupt westerly change that affects the north coast of Spain. The wind surge travels from the mid-north coast of Spain to France, generally reaching their maximum intensity at the Basque Coast, and cuts off a period of hot weather, clear skies, and calm conditions at sea. The galernas have a large history of shipwrecks and fishermen deaths. They have been characterized as coastally trapped disturbances (CTD) and their propagation, enhanced with the local formation of a micro-front, was documented to behave like a density current. Alternatively, synoptic fronts have also been reported to cause galernas, considered to be more intense than those generated by a local micro-front. In this article we have generated the first climatology (2003–2020) of these events based on an objective identification methodology. The developed Event Identification Software (EIS), based on both 10-min surface station data and hourly ERA5 reanalysis fields, together with a new Front Identification Scheme (FIS) have enabled a deeper study into the origin and development of these micro-fronts, and a more comprehensive exploration of the interaction of the oceanic fronts entering the Bay of Biscay. Our results show that the area receives an average of four to five relatively intense galernas (Vmax > 50 km h−1) per year. Their number shows a great interannual variability (from one to seven) and a marked seasonality: May and June concentrate the largest fraction (almost one episode each year) and practically no episodes in winter. They occur more frequently between noon and the late afternoon, where the most intense wind records concentrate. Very strong galernas (Vmax > 72 km h−1) have occurred in all 18 years, can happen in any month from February to November, and their monthly distribution does not show the mentioned seasonality. On the contrary, the highest rates of temperature decrease across the galerna front in the coastal stations (−∆T/0.5 h > 4 °C) do have a stronger seasonality, with May and June concentrating a relatively large number of cases with a more abrupt temperature drop. The FIS shows that most of the galernas (83.5%) have a local origin inside the Bay of Biscay, and only a few ones (16.5%) are caused by oceanic fronts initiated out of the region. The local frontogenesis is more frequently initiated by the relatively cold marine southwesterly pre-frontals preceding a parent oceanic front and blowing against the warm continentals inside the Bay of Biscay, after being ducted along the north and northwestern coast of Spain. This hidden local frontogenesis, first revealed by the FIS, seems to be enhanced by the observed lee troughing, which could have both a thermal and dynamic origin, acting simultaneously after the intense Foehn at the coastal strip, preceding the formation of the galerna front. The local front enhancement appears to be the reason for the apparent jump of the primary front, which may eventually weaken, and even disappear, as the galerna front sharpens. Even during the more occasional frontal galernas, directly caused by the westerlies or north-westerlies behind the oceanic front, their eastward propagation is more rapid over the coastal area. The front deforms in shape and may cause its characteristic unexpected/abrupt irruption. All the EIS detected galernas, even the frontal ones, are wind reversals caused by a coastally trapped marine boundary layer. The upper-level ridge over Europe, observed in all of them, seems to be a synoptic ingredient for their development, preventing the eastward propagation of Atlantic depressions and enhancing at the same time the temperature and pressure gradients between the marine and continental air masses.The authors wish to thank the Basque Government and the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU as the source of our main financial support: GIA consolidated Research Groups (https://www.ehu.eus/es/web/gia) IT1057-16 (GIC15/152) and GIU13/03. These financing bodies have played an exclusively economic role in the study

Paleoecología y cultura material en el complejo tumular prehistórico de Castillejo del Bonete (Terrinches, Ciudad Real)

Castillejo del Bonete es un complejo tumular situado en el borde meridional de la Meseta Ibérica, ocupado en fechas calcolíticas y de la Edad del Bronce, vinculado a la Cultura de las Motillas. Materiales arqueológicos muy diversos han sido recuperados asociados a las arquitecturas del lugar (túmulos, corredores, potentes muros, etc.). Se presenta un avance de la investigación paleoecológica sobre las colecciones de carbón, polen y microvertebrados. Además se presentan cuentas de piedra y madera, colgantes de concha, material lítico, la colección cerámica, nuevas metalografías e industria metálica y botones de marfil. El conjunto de estas evidencias arqueológicas pone de manifiesto la celebración ritual de banquetes y ofrendas durante la Prehistoria Reciente en una cueva monumentalizada mediante túmulos en el interior de la Península Ibérica

ClinPrior: an algorithm for diagnosis and novel gene discovery by network-based prioritization

BackgroundWhole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) have become indispensable tools to solve rare Mendelian genetic conditions. Nevertheless, there is still an urgent need for sensitive, fast algorithms to maximise WES/WGS diagnostic yield in rare disease patients. Most tools devoted to this aim take advantage of patient phenotype information for prioritization of genomic data, although are often limited by incomplete gene-phenotype knowledge stored in biomedical databases and a lack of proper benchmarking on real-world patient cohorts.MethodsWe developed ClinPrior, a novel method for the analysis of WES/WGS data that ranks candidate causal variants based on the patient's standardized phenotypic features (in Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) terms). The algorithm propagates the data through an interactome network-based prioritization approach. This algorithm was thoroughly benchmarked using a synthetic patient cohort and was subsequently tested on a heterogeneous prospective, real-world series of 135 families affected by hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and/or cerebellar ataxia (CA).ResultsClinPrior successfully identified causative variants achieving a final positive diagnostic yield of 70% in our real-world cohort. This includes 10 novel candidate genes not previously associated with disease, 7 of which were functionally validated within this project. We used the knowledge generated by ClinPrior to create a specific interactome for HSP/CA disorders thus enabling future diagnoses as well as the discovery of novel disease genes.ConclusionsClinPrior is an algorithm that uses standardized phenotype information and interactome data to improve clinical genomic diagnosis. It helps in identifying atypical cases and efficiently predicts novel disease-causing genes. This leads to increasing diagnostic yield, shortening of the diagnostic Odysseys and advancing our understanding of human illnesses

Derecho, género e igualdad : cambios en las estructuras jurídicas androcéntricas. Vol 2

Este libro es producto de una selección de ponencias y comunicaciones presentadas en el "I Congreso Internacional Derecho, Género e Igualdad", organizado por el Grupo Antígona de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona durante el año 2009

Systematic literature review on the efficacy and safety of immunomodulatory drugs in patients with nonifectious intermediate and posterior uveitis, panuveitis and macular oedema

Sin financiación14.299 JCR (2018) Q1, 2/31 Rheumatology7.081 SJR (2018) Q1, 6/263 Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)No data IDR 2018UE

THU0549 Systemic treatment for acute anterior uveitis (synthetic and biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs): A systematic review

Background Acute anterior uveitis (AAU) is the most common form of uveitis. Most of them are idiopathic, followed by those related to rheumatic conditions. One third of AAU patients may present recurrences, some requiring systemic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The use of DMARDs in AAU is heterogeneous. Objectives To perform a systematic and critical review of the literature about the use of synthetic and biologic DMARDs in adult patients with AAU. Methods Selection criteria: Articles including adult patients with non-infectious AU treated with synthetic or biologic DMARDs including efficacy, and/or safety or cost-effectivity data were selected. Only meta-analysis, systematic reviews, clinical trials and observational studies (OS) were included. Search strategies for Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library databases up to 3–2016 were designed. Article selection: 2 independent reviewers. Selected articles were analyzed in detail. Quality asessment of the studies: Oxford scale and Jadad scale were used. Analysis and data presentation: evidence and results tables. Results 14 articles included, 2 RCTs and 12 OSs, with low or moderate quality. The mean duration/follow-up, number (n) and patients characteristics were highly variable. The definition of the anatomic classification of AUs was generally not clear. Systemic DMARDs were used, including Methotrexate (MTX), Azathioprine (AZA), Cyclosporine A (CsA) and anti-TNFα (Adalimumab (ADA), Golimumab (GLM)), at usual dosage prescription. Number of flares, disease activity and corticoid sparing (CS) effect were the most common outcomes, with big differences between studies in variables included and their definitions. MTX showed efficacy in disease remission, n of flares, time between flares, lower activity and CS effect. SSZ showed lower n of flares and improvement in visual acuity (VA) in AS-associated AAU patients. AZA (low quality RCT) showed no differences in VA, Tyndall, flares or IOP. A prospective OS showed lower activity and CS effect. CsA (moderate quality OS) showed efficacy improving activity and as CS agent (mid/long term). Anti-TNFα: ADA, (2 OSs) with SpA-associated AU patients lowered n of flares (mid/long term), can improve VA, Tyndall and be used as CS agent. GLM in AU patients refractory to DMARDs (some to other biologics), showed CS effect in 2 studies. One showed improvement in VA and Tyndall, but not in OCT or n of flares. Adverse events recorded were those usually registered for all these drugs.Sin financiación12.350 JCR (2017) Q1, 2/30 Rheumatology7.699 SJR (2017) Q1, 5/255 Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)No data IDR 2017UE

Efficacy and safety of immunomodulatory drugs in patients with non-infectious intermediate and posterior uveitis, panuveitis and macular edema: A systematic literature review

Background: Non-infectious non-anterior uveitis (NINA) is a sight-threatening condition that often requires immunomodulatory drugs (IMDs) for its management. Objectives: To evaluate the published evidence regarding the use of IMDs in adult patients with NINA uveitis including intermediate (IU) and posterior uveitis (PU), panuveitis (PanU) and macular edema (ME). Methods: We performed a systematic literature review. Search strategies were designed for Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Libraries for articles up to 2019 to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the IMDs. A quality assessment was performed using the Jadad Scale. Results: Nineteen randomized clinical trials were selected from the 1,103 articles retrieved. Characteristics of patients, treatment dosages and outcome measures were heterogeneous. The outcomes most frequently analyzed were visual acuity (VA), macular thickness and vitreous haze (VH). Different IMDs were used at their usual dosages. Methotrexate (MTX), micophenolate mofetil, cyclosporine A (CsA), tacrolimus, adalimumab and sarilumab were effective in NINA uveitis. Rituximab combined with MTX was effective in PU. Interferon-β was superior to MTX, albeit with more adverse events in IU with ME. CsA was similar to cyclophosphamide (Cyc) in Behçet uveitis. Tacrolimus was safer and similar to CsA. Cyc was effective in serpiginoid choroiditis, but when combined with azathioprine in PU, but did not improve VA. Secukinumab did not prevent NINA uveitis recurrences, although intravenously it showed a higher response rate than when used subcutaneously. Daclizumab did not show any benefits in Behçet NINA uveitis. Conclusion: Several IMDs and their combinations can be useful in treating NINA uveitis. The available studies were heterogeneous regarding patient characteristics and outcomes.Sin financiación5.532 JCR (2020) Q2, 7/34 Rheumatology1.955 SJR (2020) Q1, 6/122 Anesthesiology and Pain MedicineNo data IDR 2020UE

Diagnostic value of different anti-citrullinated peptides antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis

Póster presentat al 6th European Workshop on Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases, celebrat a Niça (França) el 201