All-optical radiofrequency modulation of Anderson-localized modes

All-optical modulation of light relies on exploiting intrinsic material nonlinearities. However, this optical control is rather challenging due to the weak dependence of the refractive index and absorption coefficients on the concentration of free carriers in standard semiconductors. To overcome this limitation, resonant structures with high spatial and spectral confinement are carefully designed to enhance the stored electromagnetic energy, thereby requiring lower excitation power to achieve significant nonlinear effects. Small mode-volume and high quality (Q)-factor cavities also offer an efficient coherent control of the light field and the targeted optical properties. Here, we report on optical resonances reaching Q - 10^5 induced by disorder on novel photonic/phononic crystal waveguides. At relatively low excitation powers (below 1 mW), these cavities exhibit nonlinear effects leading to periodic (up to - 35 MHz) oscillations of their resonant wavelength. Our system represents a test-bed to study the interplay between structural complexity and material nonlinearities and their impact on localization phenomena and introduces a novel functionality to the toolset of disordered photonics

EFFECT OF PREVIOUS HAMSTRING INJURY AND LIMB DOMINANCE ON KICKING BIOMECHANICS IN ELITE FEMALE SOCCER PLAYERS

The hamstring injury is one of the most common injuries occurring in soccer. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of a previous hamstring injury and limb dominance on the kicking pattern of elite female soccer players. 14 players belonging to a top first division soccer team volunteered to take part in the study. They were asked about their injury history and leg dominance in a questionnaire, and they performed 5 instep soccer kicks with either limb into a target 7m away. The results showed that limb dominance had no effect on the kicking pattern in elite players. Significant differences were found in the maximum hip angular velocity while kicking with a previously injured limb as compared to a previously uninjured limb. This indicates that rehabilitation programs probably should treat the injury differently in female soccer players

Cannabidiol Enhances the Passage of Lipid Nanocapsules across the Blood–Brain Barrier Both in Vitro and in Vivo

Diseases affecting the central nervous system (CNS) should be regarded as a major health challenge due to the current lack of effective treatments given the hindrance to brain drug delivery imposed by the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Since efficient brain drug delivery should not solely rely on passive targeting, active targeting of nanomedicines into the CNS is being explored. The present study is devoted to the development of lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) decorated with nonpsychotropic cannabinoids as pioneering nonimmunogenic brain-targeting molecules and to the evaluation of their brain-targeting ability both in vitro and in vivo. Noticeably, both the permeability experiments across the hCMEC/D3 cell-based in vitro BBB model and the biodistribution experiments in mice consistently demonstrated that the highest brain-targeting ability was achieved with the smallest-sized cannabinoid-decorated LNCs. Importantly, the enhancement in brain targeting achieved with the conjugation of cannabidiol to LNCs outperformed by 6-fold the enhancement observed for the G-Technology (the main brain active strategy that has already entered clinical trials for the treatment of CNS diseases). As the transport efficiency across the BBB certainly determines the efficacy of the treatments for brain disorders, small cannabinoid-decorated LNCs represent auspicious platforms for the design and development of novel therapies for CNS diseases

Improving accuracy and speeding up Document Image Classification through parallel systems

This paper presents a study showing the benefits of the EfficientNet models compared with heavier Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in the Document Classification task, essential problem in the digitalization process of institutions. We show in the RVL-CDIP dataset that we can improve previous results with a much lighter model and present its transfer learning capabilities on a smaller in-domain dataset such as Tobacco3482. Moreover, we present an ensemble pipeline which is able to boost solely image input by combining image model predictions with the ones generated by BERT model on extracted text by OCR. We also show that the batch size can be effectively increased without hindering its accuracy so that the training process can be sped up by parallelizing throughout multiple GPUs, decreasing the computational time needed. Lastly, we expose the training performance differences between PyTorch and Tensorflow Deep Learning frameworks

A PREVIOUS HAMSTRING INJURY AFFECTS LIMB DOMINANCE IN SOCCER KICKING

The objective of this study was to study if the influence of limb dominance on kicking is affected by a previous hamstring injury to either limb. Forty-five players (26 females and 19 males) belonging to elite soccer teams volunteered to take part in the study. They performed 5 instep soccer kicks with either limb into a target 7m away. Differences were found across limb dominance for the uninjured group in peak linear velocities, hip flexion velocity, knee angle at ball impact, and hip moments. A previous injury prevented the rapid extension of the hamstring muscle fibres, being more predominant in the nondominant limb. Thus the effects of a previous hamstring injury must be taken into account while dealing with the kicking technique, and the location of the injury on the dominant or non-dominant limb is equally important

GENDER EFFECTS ON LIMB DOMINANCE IN KICKING BIOMECHANICS IN ELITE SOCCER PLAYERS

The objective of this study was to study the effect of gender on the limb dominance in kicking in soccer players. Forty-five players (twenty-six females and nineteen males) belonging to elite soccer teams volunteered to take part in the study. They performed 5 instep soccer kicks with either limb into a target 7m away. Female soccer players h d a lesser flexed knee at ball impact in the non-dominant limb which contributed to lower ball velocities in the toe and subsequently in the ball. Both gen&rs had a shorter backswing with the non-dominant limb, but this difference was made up in the follow through for males and in the subsequent phases for females. Working on bilateral symmetry and coordination would help improve kicking with the non-dominant limb, especially in females

Valorization of Linen Processing By-Products for the Development of Injection-Molded Green Composite Pieces of Polylactide with Improved Performance

[EN] This work reports the development and characterization of green composites based on polylactide (PLA) containing fillers and additives obtained from by-products or waste-streams from the linen processing industry. Flaxseed flour (FSF) was first produced by the mechanical milling of golden flaxseeds. The resultant FSF particles were melt-compounded at 30 wt% with PLA in a twin-screw extruder. Two multi-functionalized oils derived from linseed, namely epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) and maleinized linseed oil (MLO), were also incorporated during melt mixing at 2.5 and 5 parts per hundred resin (phr) of composite. The melt-compounded pellets were thereafter shaped into pieces by injection molding and characterized. Results showed that the addition of both multi-functionalized linseed oils successfully increased ductility, toughness, and thermal stability of the green composite pieces whereas water diffusion was reduced. The improvement achieved was related to both a plasticizing effect and, more interestingly, an enhancement of the interfacial adhesion between the biopolymer and the lignocellulosic particles by the reactive vegetable oils. The most optimal performance was attained for the MLO-containing green composite pieces, even at the lowest content, which was ascribed to the higher solubility of MLO with the PLA matrix. Therefore, the present study demonstrates the potential use of by-products or waste from flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) to obtain renewable raw materials of suitable quality to develop green composites with high performance for market applications such as rigid food packaging and food-contact disposable articles in the frame of the Circular Economy and Bioeconomy.This research work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (MICIU) project numbers RTI2018-097249-B-C21 and MAT2017-84909-C2-2-R.Agüero, Á.; Lascano-Aimacaña, DS.; Garcia-Sanoguera, D.; Fenollar, O.; Torres Giner, S. (2020). Valorization of Linen Processing By-Products for the Development of Injection-Molded Green Composite Pieces of Polylactide with Improved Performance. Sustainability. 12(2):1-24. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020652S124122Fritsch, C., Staebler, A., Happel, A., Cubero Márquez, M., Aguiló-Aguayo, I., Abadias, M., … Belotti, G. (2017). 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Processing and characterization of high environmental efficiency composites based on PLA and hazelnut shell flour (HSF) with biobased plasticizers derived from epoxidized linseed oil (ELO). Composites Part B: Engineering, 86, 168-177. doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2015.09.063Mahendran, A. R., Wuzella, G., Aust, N., Kandelbauer, A., & Müller, U. (2012). Photocrosslinkable modified vegetable oil based resin for wood surface coating application. Progress in Organic Coatings, 74(4), 697-704. doi:10.1016/j.porgcoat.2011.09.027Agüero, A., Morcillo, M. del C., Quiles-Carrillo, L., Balart, R., Boronat, T., Lascano, D., … Fenollar, O. (2019). Study of the Influence of the Reprocessing Cycles on the Final Properties of Polylactide Pieces Obtained by Injection Molding. Polymers, 11(12), 1908. doi:10.3390/polym11121908Torres-Giner, S., Gimeno-Alcañiz, J. V., Ocio, M. J., & Lagaron, J. M. (2011). Optimization of electrospun polylactide-based ultrathin fibers for osteoconductive bone scaffolds. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 122(2), 914-925. doi:10.1002/app.34208Balart, J. F., Montanes, N., Fombuena, V., Boronat, T., & Sánchez-Nacher, L. (2017). Disintegration in Compost Conditions and Water Uptake of Green Composites from Poly(Lactic Acid) and Hazelnut Shell Flour. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 26(2), 701-715. doi:10.1007/s10924-017-0988-3Barczewski, M., Sałasińska, K., & Szulc, J. (2019). Application of sunflower husk, hazelnut shell and walnut shell as waste agricultural fillers for epoxy-based composites: A study into mechanical behavior related to structural and rheological properties. Polymer Testing, 75, 1-11. doi:10.1016/j.polymertesting.2019.01.017Torres-Giner, S., Chiva-Flor, A., & Feijoo, J. L. (2014). Injection-molded parts of polypropylene/multi-wall carbon nanotubes composites with an electrically conductive tridimensional network. Polymer Composites, 37(2), 488-496. doi:10.1002/pc.23204Keener, T. ., Stuart, R. ., & Brown, T. . (2004). Maleated coupling agents for natural fibre composites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 35(3), 357-362. doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2003.09.014Yang, H.-S., Wolcott, M. P., Kim, H.-S., Kim, S., & Kim, H.-J. (2007). Effect of different compatibilizing agents on the mechanical properties of lignocellulosic material filled polyethylene bio-composites. Composite Structures, 79(3), 369-375. doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2006.02.016Torres-Giner, S., Montanes, N., Fombuena, V., Boronat, T., & Sanchez-Nacher, L. (2016). Preparation and characterization of compression-molded green composite sheets made of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) reinforced with long pita fibers. Advances in Polymer Technology, 37(5), 1305-1315. doi:10.1002/adv.21789Mathew, A. P., Oksman, K., & Sain, M. (2005). Mechanical properties of biodegradable composites from poly lactic acid (PLA) and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). 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Enhancement of the mechanical and thermal properties of injection-molded polylactide parts by the addition of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil. Materials & Design, 140, 54-63. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2017.11.031Quiles-Carrillo, L., Blanes-Martínez, M. M., Montanes, N., Fenollar, O., Torres-Giner, S., & Balart, R. (2018). Reactive toughening of injection-molded polylactide pieces using maleinized hemp seed oil. European Polymer Journal, 98, 402-410. doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2017.11.039Li, M., Liu, P., Zou, W., Yu, L., Xie, F., Pu, H., … Chen, L. (2011). Extrusion processing and characterization of edible starch films with different amylose contents. Journal of Food Engineering, 106(1), 95-101. doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2011.04.021Lourdin, D., Bizot, H., & Colonna, P. (1997). ?Antiplasticization? in starch-glycerol films? 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Lagrangian Model‐Based Fault Diagnosis in a PVTOL

A Lagrangian formalism is used to model a PVTOL in order to obtain an aircraft model. The Euler‐Lagrange model of the PVTOL is used to develop an algorithm for fault diagnosis. Diagnosis implies the detection, isolation and identification of a fault. The considered approach is based on the knowledge of a system model as well as the model of the possible faults. The idea is to use non‐linear decoupling approach to derivate a set of subsystems, each related to a specific fault or a set of faults. An observer‐based residual generation is designed for each subsystem, this structure allows the fault detection and isolation stage, for fault identification a kind of approximated inversion algorithm to meet the different diagnostic levels. The results are obtained taking advantage of the structure given by the Euler‐Lagrange modelling of the PVTOL as well as from recent results related to observer design and fault identification

Dried blood spots for qPCR diagnosis of acute Bartonella bacilliformis infection.

Bartonella bacilliformis is the etiological agent of a life-threatening illness. Thin blood smear is the most common diagnostic method for acute infection in endemic areas of Peru but remains of limited value because of low sensitivity. The aim of this study was to adapt a B. bacilliformis-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for use with dried blood spots (DBS) as a sampling method and assess its performance and use for the diagnosis and surveillance of acute Bartonella infection. Only two of 65 children (3%) that participated in this study had positive blood smears for B. bacilliformis, whereas 16 (including these two) were positive by PCR performed on DBS samples (24.6%). The use of DBS in combination with B. bacilliformis-specific PCR could be a useful tool for public health in identifying and monitoring outbreaks of infection and designing control programs to reduce the burden of this life-threatening illness

Salud y Medio Ambiente: estrategias metodológicas para valorar el impacto de los daños ambientales sobre la salud

Este artículo presenta   distintas metodologías utilizadas para valorar los impactos que la contaminación ambiental tiene sobre la salud de la población  y algunos resultados de los estudios más destacados en el tema. Estos impactos, denominados desde la economía como externalidades, cobran importancia, dado que cuando se toman  las decisiones de inversión -como el tipo de tecnología utilizada en un proceso de producción o la ubicación de una planta eléctrica- es evidente que a la sociedad le interesará saber los impactos que se generarán sobre el ambiente y la salud, por tanto, al final se deberán incluir esos efectos externos en el proceso de toma de decisiones. No obstante, la estimación de los efectos de la contaminación sobre la salud trae consigo un alto grado de incertidumbre. Una parte importante de esa incertidumbre no es de carácter científico sino de los resultados de elecciones éticas y por el desconocimiento del futuro. Todo esto implica un análisis de sistemas multidisciplinarios, con aportes de los ingenieros, salubristas, epidemiólogos, ecólogos y economistas