Coupling of morphology to surface transport in ion-beam irradiated surfaces. I. Oblique incidence

We propose and study a continuum model for the dynamics of amorphizable surfaces undergoing ion-beam sputtering (IBS) at intermediate energies and oblique incidence. After considering the current limitations of more standard descriptions in which a single evolution equation is posed for the surface height, we overcome (some of) them by explicitly formulating the dynamics of the species that transport along the surface, and by coupling it to that of the surface height proper. In this we follow recent proposals inspired by ``hydrodynamic'' descriptions of pattern formation in aeolian sand dunes and ion-sputtered systems. From this enlarged model, and by exploiting the time-scale separation among various dynamical processes in the system, we derive a single height equation in which coefficients can be related to experimental parameters. This equation generalizes those obtained by previous continuum models and is able to account for many experimental features of pattern formation by IBS at oblique incidence, such as the evolution of the irradiation-induced amorphous layer, transverse ripple motion with non-uniform velocity, ripple coarsening, onset of kinetic roughening and other. Additionally, the dynamics of the full two-field model is compared with that of the effective interface equation.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures. Movies of figures 6, 7, and 8 available at http://gisc.uc3m.es/~javier/Movies

Artrosis postraumática en pacientes con fractura-luxacion de Lisfranc.

La artrosis postraumática es una de las complicaciones más frecuentes y más invalidantes de la fractura-luxación de Lisfranc (FLL). Objetivo . Evaluar el grado de incidencia de artrosis postraumática como complicación y secuela en pacientes con fractura-luxación de Lisfranc y valorar qué factores muestran relación directa o influyen en su aparición y desarrollo. Material y Método . Se realizó un estudio de cohortes ambispectivo transversal de 83 pacientes con diagnóstico de fractura-luxación de Lisfranc. Se utilizó un protocolo de recogida de datos con variables relacionadas con la lesión, parámetros clínicos, terapéuticos, complicaciones y escalas de valoración clínica. La valoración de artrosis se realiza mediante aparición de signos radiológicos de la clasifica - ción radiológica de Kellgren y Lawrence y su correlación clínica con presencia de dolor. Resultados . La artrosis se mostró como un factor influyente en los resultados, puntuaciones regulares y malas presentan mayor tasa de artrosis (p=0,001), y en cuanto al grado de artrosis, los casos más graves de artrosis se situaban en el grupo de puntuaciones malas (p=0,025). Este grupo de pacientes presentaron peores puntuaciones porque referían más dolor, mayor consumo de analgésicos, más limitación de las actividades de la vida diaria, de las actividades deportivas y limitación de la distancia caminada. Conclusiones . La artrosis se mostró como un factor influyente en los resultados (p=0,001). Los pacientes que desarrollaron artrosis tardaron más tiempo en reincorporarse a su empleo o actividad laboral previa, tenían un tiempo más demorado desde la cirugía al alta y mayor número total de incapacidades laborales y compensaciones económicas con respecto a los pacientes que no desarrollaron artrosis, siendo todos estos valores estadísticamente significativos.The posttraumatic degenerative osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent complications and more disabling of Lisfranc's fracture - luxation (FLL). Objetive. Evaluate the degree of frequency of posttraumatic degenerative osteoarthritis as complication and adverse effect in patients with Lisfranc's fracture - luxation and value what factors show straight relation or influence in its appearance and development. Material and Method.We have made a transversal prospective and retrospective study of cohorts on 83 patients with diagnosis of Lisfranc's fracture - luxation. We have used a data collecting protocol of items related to the injury, clinical, therapeutic parameters, complications and scales of clinical valuation. The assessment valuation of degenerative osteoarthritis is made under radiological signs realized by means of appearance of radiological signs of Kellgren and Lawrence classification and clinical correlation with presence of pain. Results . The degenerative osteoarthri tis appeared as an influential factor in the results, regular and bad punctuations present major rate of degenerative osteoarthritis (p=0,001), and as for the degree of degenerative osteoarthritis, the most serious cases of degenerative osteoarthritis were placing in the group of bad punctuations (p=0,025). This group of patients presented worse punctuations because they were recounting more pain, major consumption of analgesics, more limitation of the activities of the daily life, of the sports activities and limitation of the travelled distance. Conclusions . The degenerative osteoarthritis appeared as an influential factor in the results (p=0,001). The patients who developed degenerative osteoarthritis were late more time in coming back to his employment or labor previous activity; they had a time more delayed from the surgery to the discharge and major total number of labor disabilities and economic compensations with regard to the patients who did not develop degenerative osteoarthritis, being all these statistically significant values

Bioeconomic multistock reference points as a tool for overcoming the drawbacks of the landing obligation

The landing obligation policy was one of the major innovations introduced in the last Common Fisheries Policy reform in Europe. It is foreseen that the policy will affect the use of fishing opportunities and hence the economic performance of the fleets. The problem with fishing opportunities could be solved if single-stock total allowable catches (TACs) could be achieved simultaneously for all the stocks. In this study, we evaluate the economic impact of the landing obligation policy on the Spanish demersal fleet operating in the Iberian Sea region. To generate TAC advice, we used two sets of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) reference points, the single-stock MSY reference points defined by ICES and a set of multistock reference points calculated simultaneously using a bioeconomic optimization model. We found that the impact of the landing obligation is time and fleet dependent and highly influenced by assumptions about fleet dynamics. At fishery level, multistock reference points mitigate the decrease in the net present value generated by the implementation of the landing obligation. However at fleet level, the effect depends on the fleet itself and the period. To ensure the optimum use of fishing opportunities, the landing obligation should be accompanied by a management system that guarantees consistency between single-stock TACs. In this regard, multistock reference points represent an improvement over those currently in use. However, further investigation is necessary to enhance performance both at fleet level and in the long term.Versión del edito

Monitoring of hepatitis E virus in zoo animals from Spain, 2007–2021

Hepatitis E virus (HEV, family Hepeviridae) is an important emerging and zoonotic pathogen. In recent decades, the number of human cases of zoonotic hepatitis E has increased considerably in industrialized countries and HEV has been detected in an expanding range of mammal species. Although domestic pigs and wild boar are considered the main reservoirs of zoonotic HEV genotypes, the role of other susceptible animals in the epidemiology of the virus is still poorly understood. A large-scale, long-term study was carried out (1) to assess HEV exposure in captive zoo animals in Spain and (2) to determine the dynamics of seropositivity in individuals that were sampled longitudinally during the study period. Between 2007 and 2021, serum samples from 425 zoo animals belonging to 109 animal species (including artiodactyls, carnivores, perissodactyls, proboscideans and rodents) were collected from 11 different zoological parks in Spain. Forty-six of these animals at seven of these zoos were also longitudinally sampled. Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 36 (8.5%; 95% CI: 5.8–11.1) of 425 sampled zoo animals. Specific antibodies against HEV-3 and HEV-C1 antigens were confirmed in ELISA-positive animals using western blot assay. Two of 46 longitudinally surveyed animals seroconverted during the study period. Seropositivity was significantly higher in carnivores and perissodactyls than in artiodactyls, and also during the period 2012–2016 compared with 2007–2011. HEV RNA was not detected in any of the 262 animals that could be tested by RT-PCR. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first large-scale, long-term surveillance on HEV in different orders of zoo mammals. Our results indicate exposure to HEV-3 and HEV-C1 in zoo animals in Spain and confirm a widespread but not homogeneous spatiotemporal circulation of HEV in captive species in this country. Further studies are required to determine the role of zoo species, particularly carnivores and perissodactyls, in the epidemiology of HEV and to clarify the origins of infection in zoological parks

Alectinib after failure to crizotinib in patients with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer : results from the Spanish early access program

Altres ajuts: Roche Farma, S.A.This retrospective observational study analyzed the clinical characteristics, treatment patterns and outcomes of 120 patients with advanced ALK-positive nonsmall-cell lung cancer (ALK+ NSCLC) according to data collected between November 2019 and October 2020 in 38 Spanish hospitals. Patients had progressed after 1-5 prior treatment lines (which included crizotinib in any prior line) and received subsequent therapy with alectinib in a local expanded access program. Median age was 58.7 years, 50% of patients were female, 64.1% had ECOG PS of 0-1, 85% presented stage IV, 95% had adenocarcinoma histology and 20.8% had brain metastases. After a median 9.6 months of alectinib treatment, objective response rate (ORR) was 54.5%, disease control rate (DCR) was 80%, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 9.4 months and median overall survival (OS) was 24.1 months. Patients with brain metastases achieved an intracranial DCR of 71.4%. Adverse events (AEs) were reported in 35.8% of patients (14.2% of AEs were grade ≥3). Over 40% of patients received some treatment after alectinib, most frequently lorlatinib (65.2%) and brigatinib (32.6%). This study provides information on real-world treatment patterns and confirms the tolerability and prolonged PFS and OS observed with alectinib in clinical trials, in unselected pretreated patients with advanced ALK+ NSCLC

Evaluación actual y propuestas para el desarrollo urbano en México

La revista Problemas del Desarrollo recoge en su colección de ediciones especiales las disertaciones y ponencias que se presentan en los seminarios, simposia y conferencias a que convoca y realiza anualmente el Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. El propósito es contribuir a la mayor difusión de textos de contenido analítico, descriptivo y propositivo que se presentan en tales actos y que tienen gran valor para el mejor conocimiento y comprensión de la estructura y problemática económica y social de nuestro país. Pero también la revista quiere convertirse en foro abierto para la expresión de comentarios y ampliaciones que deseen hacer los lectores de estas ediciones especiales sobre temas particulares de los comprendidos en cada uno de sus libros. Estos aportes, por lo tanto, serán muy bien recibidos. Para ello, solo se requiere que los lectores los remitan, por escrito, al Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Torre II de Humanidades, Ciudad Universitaria

Altered profile of circulating microparticles in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Abstract Microparticles (MPs) could be considered biomarkers of cell damage and activation as well as novel signalling structures. Since rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by immune and endothelial activation, the main aim of the present study was to analyse MP counts in RA patients. Citrated-blood samples were obtained from 114 RA patients, 33 healthy controls (HC) and 72 individuals with marked cardiovascular (CV) risk without autoimmune manifestations (CVR). MPs were analysed in platelet-poor plasma (PPP) and different subsets were identified by their surface markers: platelet-(CD41 + ), endothelial-(CD146 + ), granulocyte-(CD66 + ), monocyte-(CD14 + ) and Tang-(CD3 + CD31 + ) derived. Disease activity score (DAS28), clinical and immunological parameters as well as traditional CV risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and obesity) were registered from clinical records and all data were integrated using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Absolute MP number was increased in RA patients compared with HC and positively correlated with traditional CV risk factors, similar to that of CVR subjects. In addition, frequency of the different MP subsets was different in RA patients and significantly associated with disease features. Moreover, in vitro assays revealed that MPs isolated from RA patients were able to promote endothelial activation and exhibited detrimental effects on human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-I) endothelial cell functionality. Circulating MPs from RA patients displayed quantitative and qualitative alterations that are the result of both disease-specific and traditional CV risk factors. Accordingly, this MP pool exhibited in vitro detrimental effects on endothelial cells, thus supporting their role as biomarkers of vascular damage

A genome-wide association study follow-up suggests a possible role for PPARG in systemic sclerosis susceptibility

Introduction: A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising a French cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) reported several non-HLA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing a nominal association in the discovery phase. We aimed to identify previously overlooked susceptibility variants by using a follow-up strategy.<p></p> Methods: Sixty-six non-HLA SNPs showing a P value <10-4 in the discovery phase of the French SSc GWAS were analyzed in the first step of this study, performing a meta-analysis that combined data from the two published SSc GWASs. A total of 2,921 SSc patients and 6,963 healthy controls were included in this first phase. Two SNPs, PPARG rs310746 and CHRNA9 rs6832151, were selected for genotyping in the replication cohort (1,068 SSc patients and 6,762 healthy controls) based on the results of the first step. Genotyping was performed by using TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Results: We observed nominal associations for both PPARG rs310746 (PMH = 1.90 × 10-6, OR, 1.28) and CHRNA9 rs6832151 (PMH = 4.30 × 10-6, OR, 1.17) genetic variants with SSc in the first step of our study. In the replication phase, we observed a trend of association for PPARG rs310746 (P value = 0.066; OR, 1.17). The combined overall Mantel-Haenszel meta-analysis of all the cohorts included in the present study revealed that PPARG rs310746 remained associated with SSc with a nominal non-genome-wide significant P value (PMH = 5.00 × 10-7; OR, 1.25). No evidence of association was observed for CHRNA9 rs6832151 either in the replication phase or in the overall pooled analysis.<p></p> Conclusion: Our results suggest a role of PPARG gene in the development of SSc

Using a 3-tier Training Model for Effective Exchange of Good Practices in as ERASMUS+ Project

VISIR+ is an Erasmus+ project that aims to develop educational modules for electric and electronic circuits theory and practice following an enquiry-based teaching and learning methodology. The project has installed five new VISIR remote labs in Higher Education Institutions located in Argentina and Brazil, to allow students doing more experiments and hence acquire better experimental skills, through a combination of traditional (hands-on), remote and virtual laboratories. A key aspect for the success of this project was to motivate and train teachers in the underpinning educational methodology. As such, VISIR+ adopted a 3-tier training process to effectively support the use of VISIR in the Institutions that received it. This process is based on the “train the trainer” approach, which required the participating partner institutions to identify and engage a number of associated partners, interested in using their newly installed remote lab. To measure the quality of the training process, the same satisfaction questionnaire was used in all training actions. This paper presents a detailed description of the training actions along with the analysis of the satisfaction questionnaire results. Major conclusions are that the quality level of the training process remained practically the same across all training actions and that trainees sometimes considered the practical use of the VISIR remote lab as difficult, irrespectively of where and when the training action took place.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio