Effective electrochemical n-type doping of ZnO thin films for optoelectronic window applications

[EN] An effective n-type doping of ZnO thin films electrochemically synthetized was achieved by varying the chloride ion concentration in the starting electrolyte. The ratio between chloride and zinc cations was varied between 0 and 2 while the zinc concentration in the solution was kept constant. When the concentration of chloride in the bath increases an effective n-type doping of ZnO films takes place. n-type doping is evidenced by the rise of donors concentration, obtained from Mott-Schottky measurements, as well as from the blueshift observed in the optical gap owing to the Burstein-Moss effect.This work was supported by Spanish Government through MCINN grant MAT2009-14625-C03-03 and European Commission through NanoCIS project FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IRSES (ref. 269279).Cembrero Coca, P.; Mollar García, MA.; Singh, K.; Marí Soucase, B. (2013). Effective electrochemical n-type doping of ZnO thin films for optoelectronic window applications. 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Informe sobre la evolución de la asistencia psiquiátrica en la provincia de Alicante (1981-1988).

Hasta el año 1981, la asistencia psiquiátrica en la provincia, se reduce a un único dispositivo asistencial de características manicomiales y asilares: el Sanatorio Psiquiátrico Provincial que depende económica y administrativamente de la Diputación Provincial. A título orientativo, señalamos algunos datos que dan cuenta de su estructura y funcionamiento: Según el censo de primero de enero de ese año, eran 620 las camas ocupadas. Escasa dotación de personal asistencial (dos médicos psiquiatras a dedicación parcial)

Informe sobre la evolución de la asistencia psiquiátrica en la provincia de Alicante (1981-1988).

Hasta el año 1981, la asistencia psiquiátrica en la provincia, se reduce a un único dispositivo asistencial de características manicomiales y asilares: el Sanatorio Psiquiátrico Provincial que depende económica y administrativamente de la Diputación Provincial. A título orientativo, señalamos algunos datos que dan cuenta de su estructura y funcionamiento: Según el censo de primero de enero de ese año, eran 620 las camas ocupadas. Escasa dotación de personal asistencial (dos médicos psiquiatras a dedicación parcial)

Informe sobre la evolución de la asistencia psiquiátrica en la provincia de Alicante (1981-1988).

Hasta el año 1981, la asistencia psiquiátrica en la provincia, se reduce a un único dispositivo asistencial de características manicomiales y asilares: el Sanatorio Psiquiátrico Provincial que depende económica y administrativamente de la Diputación Provincial. A título orientativo, señalamos algunos datos que dan cuenta de su estructura y funcionamiento: Según el censo de primero de enero de ese año, eran 620 las camas ocupadas. Escasa dotación de personal asistencial (dos médicos psiquiatras a dedicación parcial)

Mutation status and immunoglobulin gene rearrangements in patients from northwest and central region of Spain with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and mutation status of the immunoglobulin heavy variable chain (IGHV) in a cohort of 224 patients from northwest and central region of Spain diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and to correlate it with cytogenetic abnormalities, overall survival (OS) and time to first treatment (TTFT). 125 patients had mutated IGHV, while 99 had unmutated IGHV. The most frequently used IGHV family was IGHV3, followed by IGHV1 and IGHV4. The regions IGHV3-30, IGHV1-69, IGHV3-23, and IGHV4-34 were the most commonly used. Only 3.1% of the patients belonged to the subfamily IGHV3-21 and we failed to demonstrate a worse clinical outcome in this subgroup. The IGHV4 family appeared more frequently with mutated pattern, similar to IGHV3-23 and IGHV3-74. By contrast, IGHV1-69 was expressed at a higher frequency in unmutated CLL patients. All the cases from IGHV3-11 and almost all from IGHV5-51 subfamily belonged to the group of unmutated CLL.The study was partially supported by grants from the Spanish Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias 02/1041, FIS 09/01382, FIS 09/01543, and PI12/00281; RD12/0036/0069 from Red Tematica de Investigación Cooperativa en Cáncer (RTICC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness & European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) “Una manera de hacer Europa”; and Caja de Burgos-Banca Cívica. A. Rodrígues was fully supported by an Ayuda Predoctoral FIS de Formación en Investigacion by the Spanish Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias. M. Hernandez-Sanchez was partially supported by a grant from the “Fundacion Española de Hematología y Hemoterapia.” Partially supported by grants from “Proyectos de Investigacion Biomédica del SACYL” 106/A/06.Peer Reviewe

Recovery of polyclonal immunoglobulins during treatment in patients ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation is a prognostic marker of longer progression-free survival and overall survival

Immunoparesis is the suppression of normal polyclonal immunoglobulins and is present in most patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). The association of immunoparesis at diagnosis, and particularly its recovery along with treatment, with survival in patients ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) has not been well established. This retrospective study evaluated the impact of immunoparesis in 431 patients diagnosed with MM, ineligible for ASCT, with a median overall survival of 36 months [95% confidence interval (CI): 31–40]. Immunoparesis was present in 81.2% of patients at diagnosis and was associated with a trend to a worse overall response rate (ORR: 84.8% vs. 74.9%; OR 1.88 (95% CI: 0.97–3.63), shorter progression-free survival (PFS) [22.0 vs. 18.2 months; hazard ratio (HR) 0.775; 95%CI: 0.590–1.018; p = 0.066], and overall survival (OS) (45.9 vs. 34.2 months; HR 0.746; 95% CI: 0.551–1.010; p = 0.057). Twenty-four per cent of patients who had immunoparesis at diagnosis recovered polyclonal immunoglobulins in the follow-up period. Interestingly, these patients had a better ORR (96.3% vs. 68.2%; OR 12.29 (95% CI: 3.77–40.06), PFS (HR 0.703; 95CI%: 0.526–0.941; p = 0.018) and OS (HR 0.678; 95 CI%: 0.503–0.913; p = 0.011) than patients who did not recover it. In summary, restoring a healthy immune system along with first-line treatment in patients with MM, not receiving ASCT, is associated with better outcomes

Acercando los archivos a los ciudadanos. Una experiencia desde el <em>Portal de Archivos Españoles (PARES)</em> del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte

The Spanish Archives Portal is the third generation in the computerization of the State Archives. It is intended to provide citizens and researchers with integrated on-line access to the archival databases of the eight state general archives distributed across Spain, while facsimiles or digital versions of the documents are added to the archival description catalogue. At the same time, PARES is producing a line of tools for electronic management of the public services offered in the network of the State Archives to researchers and members of the public visiting the archive in person. And thirdly, PARES is an archival platform intended to promote the whole range of possible dissemination strategies. The platform today is fundamentally a repository for the creation, management and dissemination of historical records. However, also it is involved in a process of transformation to accommodate the concepts of “open files” and web 2.0 principles. To do this, different courses of action are being pursued such as converting PARES into an OAI-PMH repository, which allows interoperability with other archival information systems, both Spanish and international, and the development of new tools and standards for the incorporating multilingual access Points.<br><br>El <em>Portal de Archivos Españoles</em> supone la tercera generación en la informatización de los Archivos Estatales. Está destinado a facilitar a los investigadores y a los ciudadanos el acceso integrado en red a las bases de datos archivísticas de los ocho grandes archivos de titularidad estatal distribuidos por la geografía española, al mismo tiempo que se van incorporando los facsímiles u objetos digitales de los documentos. Al mismo tiempo, <em>PARES</em> elabora una línea de herramientas para la gestión electrónica de los servicios públicos ofrecidos en la red de centros a los investigadores y ciudadanos que acceden presencialmente. Y en tercer lugar, <em>PARES</em> es una plataforma destinada a favorecer todas las estrategias de difusión posibles. Fundamentalmente, la plataforma es a día de hoy un repositorio para la creación, gestión y difusión de los archivos históricos; no obstante, se encuentra en proceso de transformación para adecuarse a los conceptos de “archivos abiertos”, al mismo tiempo que hacia los presupuestos de la Web 2.0. Para ello, se están llevando a cabo diferentes líneas de actuación como es la conversión de <em>PARES</em> en un repositorio <em>OAI-PMH</em>, que permita interoperar con otros sistemas de información archivístico, tanto españoles como internacionales; y se están elaborando nuevas herramientas y estándares para la incorporación de Puntos de Acceso multilingües

Clinical characteristics, treatment, and blood pressure control in patients with hypertension seen by primary care physicians in Spain: the IBERICAN study

Objectives: To determine the clinical profile, according to the history of hypertension, the risk of developing hypertension, current antihypertensive treatment and BP control rates in patients with hypertension from the IBERICAN cohort. Methods: IBERICAN is an ongoing prospective cohort study, whose primary objective is to determine the frequency, incidence, and distribution of CVRF in the adult Spanish population seen in primary care settings. This analysis shows the baseline clinical characteristics of patients with hypertension. Adequate BP control was defined as BP <140/90 mmHg according to 2013 ESH/ESC guidelines. Results: A total of 8,066 patients were consecutively included, of whom 3,860 (48.0%) had hypertension. These patients were older (65.8 ± 10.9 vs. 51.6 ± 14.7 years; p < 0.001), had more cardiovascular risk factors, target organ damage and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in comparison with those without hypertension. The risk of hypertension increased with the presence of associated CV risk factors and comorbidities, particularly diabetes, obesity and the metabolic syndrome, and decreased with the intensity of physical activity. Regarding antihypertensive treatments, 6.1% of patients did not take any medication, 38.8% were taking one antihypertensive drug, 35.5% two drugs, and 19.6% three or more antihypertensive drugs. Overall, 58.3% achieved BP goals <140/90 mmHg. A greater probability of BP control was observed with increasing age of patients and the greater number of antihypertensive drugs. Blood pressure control was lower in hypertensive patients with diabetes, obesity, the metabolic syndrome, increased urinary albumin excretion, higher pulse pressure, and lack of antihypertensive treatment. Conclusions: About half of patients attended in primary care settings have hypertension in Spain. Patients with hypertension have a worse CV clinical profile than non-hypertensive patients, with greater association of CVRF and CVD. Around four out of ten patients do not achieve the recommended BP goals, and higher use of combination therapies is associated with a better BP control

Primary care referrals of patients with potentially serious diseases to the emergency department or a quick diagnosis unit: a cross-sectional retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: In Spain, primary healthcare (PHC) referrals for diagnostic procedures are subject to long waiting-times, and physicians and patients often use the emergency department (ED) as a shortcut. We aimed to determine whether patients evaluated at a hospital outpatient quick diagnosis unit (QDU) who were referred to ED from 12 PHC centers could have been directly referred to QDU, thus avoiding ED visits. As a secondary objective, we determined the proportion of QDU patients who might have been evaluated in a less rapid, non-QDU setting. METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional retrospective cohort study of patients with potentially serious conditions attended by the QDU from December 2007 to December 2012. We established 2 groups of patients: 1) patients referred from PHC to QDU (PHC-QDU group) and 2) patients referred from PHC to ED, then to QDU (PHC-ED-QDU group). Two observers assessed the appropriateness/inappropriateness of each referral using a scoring system. The interobserver agreement was assessed by calculating the kappa index. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with the dependent variable 'ED referral'. RESULTS: We evaluated 1186 PHC-QDU and 1004 PHC-ED-QDU patients and estimated that 93.1% of PHC-ED-QDU patients might have been directly referred to QDU. In contrast, 96% of PHC-QDU patients were found to be appropriately referred to QDU first. The agreement for PHC-QDU referrals (PHC-QDU group) was rated as excellent (ϰ=0.81), while it was rated as good for PHC-ED referrals (PHC-ED-QDU group) (ϰ=0.75). The mean waiting-time for the first QDU visit was longer in PHC-QDU (4.8 days) than in PHC-ED-QDU (2.6 days) patients (P=.001). On multivariate analysis, anemia (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.49-4.55, P<.001), rectorrhagia (OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.10-3.77, P=.01) and febrile syndrome (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.33-4.12, P=.002) were independent factors associated with ED referral. Nearly one-fifth of all QDU patients were found who might have been evaluated in a less rapid, non-QDU setting. CONCLUSIONS: Most PHC-ED-QDU patients might have been directly referred to QDU from PHC, avoiding the inconvenience of the ED visit. A stricter definition of QDU evaluation criteria may be needed to improve and hasten PHC referrals