On the applications of IBA techniques to biological samples analysis: PIXE and RBS

The analyticaltechniques based on ion beamsorIBA techniquesgive quantitativeinformationonelemental concentrationin samples of awide variety of nature. In this work, weinformation on elemental concentrationin samples of awide variety of nature. In this work, weinformation on elemental concentrationin samples of awide variety of nature. In this work, weinformation on elemental concentrationin samples of awide variety of nature. In this work, wefocus on PIXE technique,analyzingthick target biologicalspecimens (TTPIXE),using 3MeVfocus on PIXE technique,analyzingthick target biologicalspecimens (TTPIXE),using 3MeVfocus on PIXE technique,analyzingthick target biologicalspecimens (TTPIXE),using 3MeVfocus on PIXE technique,analyzingthick target biologicalspecimens (TTPIXE),using 3MeVprotons producedby an electrostaticaccelerator.Anuclear microprobewas used performingprotons producedby an electrostaticaccelerator.Anuclear microprobewas used performingprotons producedby an electrostaticaccelerator.Anuclear microprobewas used performingprotons producedby an electrostaticaccelerator.Anuclear microprobewas used performingPIXEandRBSsimultaneously,inordertosolvetheuncertaintiesproducedintheabsolutePIXEPIXEandRBSsimultaneously,inordertosolvetheuncertaintiesproducedintheabsolutePIXEPIXEandRBSsimultaneously,inordertosolvetheuncertaintiesproducedintheabsolutePIXEPIXEandRBSsimultaneously,inordertosolvetheuncertaintiesproducedintheabsolutePIXEquantifying. Theadvantages of using both techniquesand anuclear microprobearediscussed.quantifying.Theadvantages of using both techniquesand anuclear microprobearediscussed.quantifying.Theadvantages of using both techniquesand anuclear microprobearediscussed.quantifying.Theadvantages of using both techniquesand anuclear microprobearediscussed.Quantitative resultsare shown to illustrate themultielemental resolutionof the PIXE technique;Quantitativeresults are shown to illustrate themultielemental resolutionof the PIXE technique;Quantitativeresults are shown to illustrate themultielemental resolutionof the PIXE technique;Quantitativeresults are shown to illustrate themultielemental resolutionof the PIXE technique;forthis,abloodstandardwasused.forthis,abloodstandardwasused.forthis,abloodstandardwasused.forthis,abloodstandardwasused

Cytokine-like activity of European sea bass ISG15 protein on RGNNV-infected E−11 cells

IFN-I generates an antiviral state by inducing the expression of numerous genes, called IFN-stimulated genes, ISGs, including ISG15, which is the only ISG with cytokine-like activity. In a previous study, we developed the Dl_ISG15_E11 cell line, which consisted of E11 cells able to express and secrete sea bass ISG15. The current study is a step forward, analysing the effect of secreted sea bass ISG15 on RGNNV replication in E11 cells, and looking into its immunomodulatory activity in order to corroborate its cytokine-like activity. The medium from ISG15- produccing cells compromised RGNNV replication, as it has been demonstrated both, by reduction in the viral genome synthesis and, specially, in the yield of infective viral particles. The implication of sea bass ISG15 in this protection has been demonstrated by ISG15 removal, which decreased the percentage of surviving cells upon viral infection, and by incubation of RGNNV-infected cells with a recombinant sea bass ISG15 protein, which resulted in almost full protection. Furthermore, the immunomodulatory activity of extracellular sea bass ISG15 has been demonstrated, which reaffirms a cytokine-like role for this proteinThis study has been supported by projects AGL2017-84644-R (MINECO/AEI/FEDER, UE) (Spanish Government) and UMA20- FEDERJA-103 (Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento/Programa Operativo FEDER 2014–20, UE) (Junta de Andalucía). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de M ́alaga/CBUA. Authors thank I. Bandin for the viral isolate

Load limiters on temporary shoring structures: Tests on a full-scale building structure under construction

[EN] Temporary shoring structures are used in the construction of reinforced concrete buildings to transmit the loads of newly poured slabs onto the lower floors. The main problems involved in the use of shores/props are: a) the possibility of having higher loads than those initially foreseen, and b) the structural efficiency and cost of the system, which is normally over-sized due to being designed to bear the maximum load of the most demanding building operation. This paper describes a test carried out on a full-scale one-story building to analyze the behaviour of load limiters (LLs) installed on shores under actual construction loading conditions. The theoretical approach and development of this new LL concept were described in previous papers. As these LLs still had not been tested in actual buildings, this paper covers the existing need for a test in the form of a "proof of concept". It also includes computer simulations and recommendations for the use of LLs.The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport for funding received under the FPU Program [FPU13/02466], to the Generalitat Valenciana [GV/2015/063] and also to the Levantina, Ingenieria y Construcción S.L. and Encofrados J. Alsina S.A. business companies for their invaluable cooperation.Buitrago, M.; Calderón García, PA.; Moragues, JJ.; Alvarado, YA.; Adam, JM. (2021). Load limiters on temporary shoring structures: Tests on a full-scale building structure under construction. Journal of Structural Engineering. 147(3):1-9. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0002948S191473Adam, J. M., Buitrago, M., Moragues, J. J., & Calderón, P. A. (2017). Limitations of Grundy and Kabaila’s Simplified Method and Its Repercussion on the Safety and Serviceability of Successively Shored Building Structures. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 31(5), 04017040. doi:10.1061/(asce)cf.1943-5509.0001038Adam, J. M., Parisi, F., Sagaseta, J., & Lu, X. (2018). Research and practice on progressive collapse and robustness of building structures in the 21st century. Engineering Structures, 173, 122-149. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.06.082Alvarado, Y. A., Calderón, P. A., Adam, J. M., Payá-Zaforteza, I. J., Pellicer, T. M., Pallarés, F. J., & Moragues, J. J. (2009). An experimental study into the evolution of loads on shores and slabs during construction of multistory buildings using partial striking. Engineering Structures, 31(9), 2132-2140. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2009.03.021Buitrago, M., Adam, J. M., Alvarado, Y. A., Calderón, P. A., & Gasch, I. (2016). Maximum loads on shores during the construction of buildings. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings, 169(7), 538-545. doi:10.1680/jstbu.15.00089Buitrago, M., Adam, J. M., Alvarado, Y. A., Moragues, J. J., Gasch, I., & Calderón, P. A. (2016). Designing construction processes in buildings by heuristic optimization. Engineering Structures, 111, 1-10. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2015.12.009Buitrago, M., Adam, J. M., Calderón, P. A., & Moragues, J. J. (2018). Load limiters on shores: Design and experimental research. Engineering Structures, 173, 1029-1038. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.07.063Buitrago, M., Alvarado, Y. A., Adam, J. M., Calderón, P. A., Gasch, I., & Moragues, J. J. (2015). Improving construction processes of concrete building structures using load limiters on shores. Engineering Structures, 100, 104-115. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2015.06.007Buitrago, M., Moragues, J. J., Calderón, P. A., & Adam, J. M. (2018). Structural failures in cast-in-place reinforced concrete building structures under construction. Handbook of Materials Failure Analysis, 153-170. doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-101928-3.00008-2Buitrago, M., Sagaseta, J., & Adam, J. M. (2018). Effects of sudden failure of shoring elements in concrete building structures under construction. Engineering Structures, 172, 508-522. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.06.052Buitrago, M., Sagaseta, J., & Adam, J. M. (2020). Avoiding failures during building construction using structural fuses as load limiters on temporary shoring structures. Engineering Structures, 204, 109906. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.109906Calderón, P. A., Alvarado, Y. A., & Adam, J. M. (2011). A new simplified procedure to estimate loads on slabs and shoring during the construction of multistorey buildings. Engineering Structures, 33(5), 1565-1575. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2011.01.027Carper, K. L. (1987). Structural Failures During Construction. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 1(3), 132-144. doi:10.1061/(asce)0887-3828(1987)1:3(132)Ellirtgwood, B. (1987). Design and Construction Error Effects on Structural Reliability. Journal of Structural Engineering, 113(2), 409-422. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9445(1987)113:2(409)El-Tawil, S., Li, H., & Kunnath, S. (2014). Computational Simulation of Gravity-Induced Progressive Collapse of Steel-Frame Buildings: Current Trends and Future Research Needs. Journal of Structural Engineering, 140(8). doi:10.1061/(asce)st.1943-541x.0000897Epaarachchi, D. C., Stewart, M. G., & Rosowsky, D. V. (2002). Structural Reliability of Multistory Buildings during Construction. Journal of Structural Engineering, 128(2), 205-213. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9445(2002)128:2(205)Gasch, I., Alvarado, Y. A., Calderón, P. A., & Ivorra, S. (2014). Construction loads using a shoring–clearing–striking process. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings, 167(4), 217-229. doi:10.1680/stbu.12.00006Ghali, A., & Gayed, R. B. (2014). Sustainable Serviceability of Structural Concrete: Control of Deflection and Cracking. Journal of Structural Engineering, 140(7), 04014042. doi:10.1061/(asce)st.1943-541x.0000965Hadipriono, F. C. (1985). Analysis of Events in Recent Structural Failures. Journal of Structural Engineering, 111(7), 1468-1481. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9445(1985)111:7(1468)Hadipriono, F. C., & Wang, H.-K. (1987). Causes of falsework collapses during construction. Structural Safety, 4(3), 179-195. doi:10.1016/0167-4730(87)90012-9Karshenas, S., & Ayoub, H. (1994). Analysis of Concrete Construction Live Loads on Newly Poured Slabs. Journal of Structural Engineering, 120(5), 1525-1542. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9445(1994)120:5(1525)Liu, X., Chen, W., & Bowman, M. D. (1985). Construction Load Analysis for Concrete Structures. Journal of Structural Engineering, 111(5), 1019-1036. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9445(1985)111:5(1019)Qian, K., & Li, B. (2013). Performance of Three-Dimensional Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Substructures under Loss of a Corner Column Scenario. Journal of Structural Engineering, 139(4), 584-594. doi:10.1061/(asce)st.1943-541x.0000630Sasani, M., Kazemi, A., Sagiroglu, S., & Forest, S. (2011). Progressive Collapse Resistance of an Actual 11-Story Structure Subjected to Severe Initial Damage. Journal of Structural Engineering, 137(9), 893-902. doi:10.1061/(asce)st.1943-541x.0000418Sasani, M., & Sagiroglu, S. (2008). Progressive Collapse Resistance of Hotel San Diego. Journal of Structural Engineering, 134(3), 478-488. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9445(2008)134:3(478)Schellhammer, J., Delatte, N. J., & Bosela, P. A. (2013). Another Look at the Collapse of Skyline Plaza at Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 27(3), 354-361. doi:10.1061/(asce)cf.1943-5509.0000333Zhang, H., Reynolds, J., Rasmussen, K. J. R., & Ellingwood, B. R. (2016). Reliability-Based Load Requirements for Formwork Shores during Concrete Placement. Journal of Structural Engineering, 142(1), 04015094. doi:10.1061/(asce)st.1943-541x.000136

Oral cyanocobalamin is effective in the treatment of vitamin B12 deficiency in crohn’s disease

Cobalamin deficiency is common in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Intramuscular cobalamin continues to be the standard therapy for the deficiency and maintenance treatment in these patients, although oral route has been demonstrated to be effective in other pathologies with impaired absorption. Our aims were to evaluate the efficacy of oral therapy in the treatment of cobalamin deficiency and in long-term maintenance in patients with Crohn’s disease. We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study that included 94 patients with Crohn’s disease and cobalamin deficiency. Seventy-six patients had B12 deficiency and 94.7% of them normalized their cobalamin levels with oral treatment. The most used dose was 1 mg/day, but there were no significant differences in treatment effectiveness depending on the dose used (=1 mg/24 h vs. <1 mg/24 h). Eighty-two patients had previous documented B12 deficiency and were treated with oral B12 to maintain their correct cobalamin levels. After a mean follow-up of 3 years, the oral route was effective as maintenance treatment in 81.7% of patients. A lack of treatment adherence was admitted by 46.6% of patients in who the oral route failed. In conclusion, our study shows that oral cyanocobalamin provides effective acute and maintenance treatment for vitamin B12 deficiency caused by CD with or without ileum resection

Situational analysis of the subjective well-being of university software developers in Puebla

Integral well-being is vital for the optimal functioning of people. The requirements for a software developer in the performance of their professional activity are varied and complex. These requirements range from working in multidisciplinary and multilingual teams, going through the challenge of technological advances of the discipline to commit to quality and innovation. To face these demands, it is essential that the developers have an optimal functioning, where the experience emotional and satisfaction with life play an important role. The objective of this article is to analyze the subjective well-being of university software developers in Puebla. The research is a quantitative cross-correlation study to identify statistically significant relationships between the different welfare variables. The study involved 47 university software developers from the city of Puebla. We use Pearson's multivariate correlation to validate the instruments and find relationships between variables, and Chi-squared statistics to calculate the dependency between them. The results reveal that the university software developers experience with higher incidence and intensity, the positive affections over the negatives. The affective balance (Net Affect), calculated as the difference of the weighted averages by duration between positive affective states and negative, was positive (mean = 1.31). "Concentrated" is the positive affective state with the highest incidence and with the highest reported intensity. "Tired" is the most experienced negative affect and highest in intensity. Developers spend 40% of their time experiencing negative affective states (U-index) and are moderately satisfied with their lives in general

Chemical conversion treatments to protect biodegradable magnesium in applications as temporary implants for bone repair

7 páginas, 7 figuras, 1 tabla.[ES] El presente estudio se desarrolló para mejorar la resistencia a la corrosión del magnesio puro, modificando su superficie mediante recubrimientos de conversión química. Se generaron capas de carbonato y fluoruro por inmersión en soluciones de NaHCO3 al 9 % y de HF al 48 %, respectivamente. La resistencia a la corrosión de las muestras con recubrimiento se evaluó en comparación con la del sustrato desnudo mediante técnicas electroquímicas en una solución fisiológica (PBS). Los resultados obtenidos han mostrado que el recubrimiento de carbonato no es capaz de proteger de la degradación al sustrato de magnesio. Por el contrario, el recubrimiento de fluoruro ha demostrado aumentar, significativamente, la resistencia a la corrosión del magnesio en medio fisiológico. La alta compacidad y adherencia al sustrato metálico de la capa de MgF2 generada mediante este sencillo tratamiento de conversión química confieren al recubrimiento buenas propiedades protectoras.[EN] The present study was developed to improve the corrosion resistance of pure magnesium by applying chemical conversion coatings. Carbonate and fluoride layers were generated by immersion in solutions of NaHCO3 of concentration 9 wt.%and HF of concentration 48 wt.%, respectively. Corrosion resistance of the coated samples was evaluated in comparison with that of the uncoated substrate by electrochemical techniques in a physiological solution (PBS). Results have shown that the carbonate coating is not viable to be used for protecting magnesium against corrosion.On the contrary, the fluoridemagnesiumcoating significantly increases the corrosion resistance ofmagnesium in physiological medium. The high compactness and adherence to the base metal of theMgF2 layer produced by this simple chemical conversion treatment confer the protective properties to the coating.Los autores agradecen al MEC la financiación del proyecto con referencia MAT 2008-06719-C03-01. M. Carboneras agradece al CSIC la concesión de un contrato JAE-Doc.Peer reviewe

Xenopus laevis and Emerging Amphibian Pathogens in Chile

Amphibians face an extinction crisis with no precedence. Two emerging infectious diseases, ranaviral disease caused by viruses within the genus Ranavirus and chytridiomycosis due to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), have been linked with amphibian mass mortalities and population declines in many regions of the globe. The African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) has been indicated as a vector for the spread of these pathogens. Since the 1970s, this species has been invasive in central Chile. We collected X. laevis and dead native amphibians in Chile between 2011 and 2013. We conducted post-mortem examinations and molecular tests for Ranavirus and Bd. Eight of 187 individuals (4.3 %) tested positive for Ranavirus: seven X. laevis and a giant Chilean frog (Calyptocephallela gayi). All positive cases were from the original area of X. laevis invasion. Bd was found to be more prevalent (14.4 %) and widespread than Ranavirus, and all X. laevis Bd-positive animals presented low to moderate levels of infection. Sequencing of a partial Ranavirus gene revealed 100 % sequence identity with Frog Virus 3. This is the first report of Ranavirus in Chile, and these preliminary results are consistent with a role for X. laevis as an infection reservoir for both Ranavirus and Bd

ERCP and splenic injury

Abstractendoscopic Retrograde Colangiopancreatography (eRCP) is an invasive procedure with important complications that occurs in 5%-10% of the cases. The most frequent procedure related complications are: acute pancreatitis, hemorrhage, perforation and infection. an infrequent but potentially life threatening eRCP complication is the splenic injury, with very few cases reported in the literature. We report a patient with cholecholithiasis and biliary pancreatitis who was diagnosed with a subcapsular splenic laceration a few hours after an eRCP. Clinicians should be alerted to this potential post-procedure complication associated with eRCP

Novel perovskite materials for thermal water splitting at moderate temperature

Materials with the formula Sr_2CoNb_1-xTi_xO_(6-delta) (x=1.00, 0.70; delta=number of oxygen vacancies) present a cubic perovskite-like structure. They are easily and reversibly reduced in N_2 or Ar and re-oxidized in air upon heating. Oxidation by water (wet N_2), involving splitting of water at a temperature as low as 700 ºC, produces hydrogen. Both compounds displayed outstanding H_2 production in the first thermochemical cycle, the Sr_2CoNb_(0.30)Ti_(0.70)O_(6-delta) material retaining its outstanding performance upon cycling, whereas the hydrogen yield of the x=1 oxide showed a continuous decay. The retention of the materials' ability to promote water splitting correlated with their structural, chemical, and redox reversibility upon cycling. On reduction/oxidation, Co ions reversibly changed their oxidation state to compensate the release/recovery of oxygen in both compounds. However, in Sr_2CoTiO_(6-delta), two phases with different oxygen contents segregated, whereas in Sr_2CoNb_(0.30)Ti_(0.70)O_(6-delta) this effect was not evident. Therefore, this latter material displayed a hydrogen production as high as 410 mu molH_2/g_(perovskite) after eight thermochemical cycles at 700 ºC, which is among the highest ever reported, making this perovskite a promising candidate for thermosolar water splitting in real devices