Automatic code generation for ATLAS communications drivers

ATLAS is a software development platform created in our Department. Among other benefits, it provides support to easily distribute applications over a network. In these applications, communications issues among the different processes should be faced. Pursuing to isolate application developers from the intricacies of these issues, communication drivers are automatically generated from an interface declaration of each process. This automatic code generation --not unlike the generation of stubs in CORBA from the IDL specification-- is the main topic of this report.Postprint (published version

La hiperglucemia del estrés como predictor de diabetes mellitus

SITUACIÓN ACTUAL: La hiperglucemia de estrés3, también denominada diabetes del estrés o diabetes por lesión aguda, es la hiperglucemia (nivel de glucosa sanguínea >1,26g/l en ayuno o un valor superior a 2,0g/l medido en cualquier momento), que aparece en un paciente crítico u hospitalizado por enfermedad no crítica sin antecedentes previos de diabetes mellitus de tipo 1 ó 24. Así mismo, se caracteriza por la existencia de hiperglucemia, hiperinsulinemia con resistencia periférica a la acción de la insulina e hiperproducción de glucosa5. La hiperglucemia de estrés incrementa la morbimortalidad en el paciente crítico y se ha reconocido a la variabilidad de la glucemia como un predictor pronóstico independiente de mortalidad13,4,6,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31. El grado de hiperglucemia y la duración de la misma se asocian al pronóstico de la enfermedad crítica18,24. FORMULACIÓN DEL PROBLEMA. Durante su ingreso en una Unidad de Medicina Intensiva, algunos de nuestros pacientes presentan hiperglucemia de estrés, pero no disponemos de datos sobre la posterior evolución de esta descompensación glucémica, por lo tanto esta tesis doctoral pretende investigar la evolución de los pacientes que presentan hiperglucemia de estrés tras su ingreso en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI). OBJETIVO DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN. Interesa saber la evolución glucémica de los pacientes que desarrollan hiperglucemia de estrés después de su ingreso en una unidad de medicina intensiva polivalente, valorando la posibilidad de desarrollar diabetes mellitus en los 12 meses siguientes al ingreso en la UCI. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS. Para valorar la aparición de diabetes mellitus (DM) tras un año de seguimiento en pacientes según hayan presentado o no hiperglucemia de estrés (HGST) durante su estancia en UCI, se ha aplicado como método más adecuado el estudio de una cohorte prospectiva en la que el grupo de expuestos lo constituyen aquellos pacientes que han presentado HGST en UCI y el grupo de no expuestos, aquellos que no presentaron HGST en UCI, considerando la selección de un paciente no expuesto por cada uno expuesto con reposición de ambos en el caso de pérdidas o éxitus hasta alcanzar en cada grupo el tamaño muestral considerado 58 en cada brazo. Al año del alta de UCI se valoraría la presencia de DM en cada grupo. RESULTADOS Y CONCLUSIONES: Entre las principales conclusiones que sacamos de esta tesis destacan: 1. Se comprueba una asociación entre el antecedente de presentar hiperglucemia de estrés durante el ingreso en Medicina Intensiva y la aparición de Diabetes Mellitus a medio plazo. 2. Entre los factores que pueden predecir el desarrollo de Diabetes Mellitus posterior en los pacientes ingresados en Medician Intensiva son: la hiperglucemia de estrés, la edad, el sexo femenino, la ausencia de hábito tabáquico, los antecedentes familiares de primer grado de Diabetes Mellitus y el tratamiento hemoterápico durante su ingreso en UCI. 3. La aparición de hiperglucemia de estrés se podría considerar un estado de prediabetes que multiplica por seis el riesgo de desarrollar Diabetes Mellitus evolutiva, en el año posterior al ingreso en Medicina Intensiva. 4. Sería recomendable una vigilancia periódica de los pacientes con hiperglucemia de estrés al alta de UCI. 5. La hiperglucemia de estrés conlleva una mayor comorbilidad asociada a la enfermedad crítica al ir asociada de forma estadísticamente significativa a mayor escala de gravedad del APACHE II y del SOFA, mayor mortalidad asociada al APACHE II, mayor tiempo de estancia, mayor necesidad de ventilación mecánica, mayor tiempo de ventilación mecánica, mayor tratamiento con aminas y corticoides, mayor necesidad de nutrición parenteral, más complicaciones y más infecciones.MedicinaEnfermerí

Research Note : Persistent Salmonella problems in slaughterhouses related to clones linked to poultry companies

Salmonellosis remains one of the main foodborne zoonoses in Europe, with poultry products as the main source of human infections. The slaughterhouse has been identified as a potential source for Salmonella contamination of poultry meat. Despite the mandatory programme of the EU, there are companies with persistent Salmonella that are unable to remove the bacteria from their processing environment, compromising the entire production line. In this context, an intensive sampling study was conducted to investigate a slaughterhouse with persistent Salmonella problems, establishing the genetic relationship among Salmonella strains isolated during the slaughter process. A total of 36 broiler flocks were sampled during processing at the slaughterhouse. Salmonella was identified based on ISO 6579-1:2017 (Annex D), serotyped by Kauffman-White-Le-Minor technique, and the genetic relationship was assessed with ERIC-PCR followed by PFGE. The outcomes showed that 69.4% of the batches sampled carried Salmonella upon arrival at the slaughterhouse and that 46.3% of the different samples from carcasses were contaminated with Salmonella. The two serovars isolated at the different steps in the slaughterhouse were Enteritidis (98.2%) and Kentucky (1.8%). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis revealed a low genetic diversity, with all S. Enteritidis isolates showing a nearly identical pulsotype (similarity >85%) and S. Kentucky strains showed the same XbaI PFGE profile (95.0% genetic similarity). The results of this study showed a high genetic relationship among isolates recovered from carcasses and environmental samples in the slaughterhouse from both Salmonella -positive and Salmonella -free flocks. Salmonella strains re-circulated across to poultry flocks and re-entered the slaughterhouse to survive on the processing line. Thus, it is necessary to implement molecular diagnosis methods in time at the field level to determine the Salmonella epidemiology of the flock, to make rapid decisions for the control of Salmonella and prevent entry into the slaughterhouse environment

El comercio electrónico en España

El comercio electrónico es un tema en auge dado el desarrollo tecnológico que se ha producido en los últimos años. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el impacto que tiene tanto en las empresas como en los consumidores. Otro de los propósitos de este trabajo es conocer cómo se comporta el comercio electrónico en España y en Canarias, su evolución y conocer la normativa reguladora, así como su fiscalidad. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que una gran parte de las PYMES aún no se han sumado al comercio online, mientras que, en relación con los consumidores y a pesar de su desconfianza en este tipo de compras, la mayoría de la población adquiere productos y/o servicios, al menos, una vez al año a través de internet. Por lo tanto, este tipo de comercio es una oportunidad tanto para los compradores como vendedores que quieran estar conectadosElectronic commerce is a booming topic given the technological development that has occurred in recent years, so this work has been done with the aim of analyzing the impact it has on both companies and consumers. Another purpose of this work is to know how electronic commerce behaves in Spain and the Canary Islands, its evolution and to know the regulatory regulations as well as its taxation. The results obtained shows that a large part of SMEs have not yet joined online commerce, while, in relation to consumers and despite their distrust of this type of purchase, the majority of the population purchases products and / or services, at least once a year through the internet. Therefore, this type of trade is an opportunity for both buyers and sellers who want to be connected

Assessing the Establishment and Implementation of Environmental Flows in Spain

The alteration of natural flows due to water withdrawals and the presence of hydraulic infrastructure poses significant threats to the integrity of riverine ecosystems. The establishment of environmental flows (EF) has been conceived as a water management tool to mitigate the impact of in-stream flows alteration. To date, a large body of literature has focused on methods to define EF, but less attention has been paid to documenting and assessing their actual implementation on the ground. This article provides a framework to describe and assess the process of design, application, and monitoring of EF at a river basin level. The framework is applied to Spain, where significant efforts have been made during the past decade to define and implement EF across the country. The goal of the paper is to identify strengths and opportunities for improving the implementation of EF at country level. The Spanish legislation establishes that EF should contribute to the achievement of the good ecological status of surface water bodies as required by the European Union Water Framework Directive. Several pitfalls in the design, application, and monitoring of this important river management measure constrain the ability of the existing EF to deliver that fundamental outcome

Analysis of the Evolution of Climatic and Hydrological Variables in the Tagus River Basin, Spain

During the second half of the 20th century, several Spanish rivers experienced a decrease in the availability of water resources which coincided with an increase in human water demands. This situation is expected to be exacerbated by climate change. This study analyses the evolution of annual streamflow in 16 sub-basins of the Tagus River basin (Spain) during the 1950–2010 period and its relationship with selected variables. Our main objective is to characterize changes in in-stream flows and to identify what factors could have contributed to them. First, we used non-parametric tests to detect trends in the hydro-climatic series. Then, we analyzed changes in the runoff coefficient and applied regression-based techniques to detect anthropic drivers that could have influenced the observed trends. The analysis revealed a general decreasing trend in streamflow and an increasing trend in air temperature, while trends in precipitation are less clear. Residuals from regression models indicate that the evolution of several non-climatic factors is likely to have influenced the decline in streamflow. Our results suggest that the combination of the expansion of forested areas (a 60% increase from 1950 to 2010) and irrigated land (a 400% increase since 1950) could have played an important role in the reduction of streamflow in the Tagus basin

Conformational study of lanthanide(III) complexes of N-(2-salicylaldiminatobenzyl)-1-aza-18-crown-6 by using X-ray and ab initio methods

[Abstract] A structural study of lanthanide complexes with the deprotonated form of the monobracchial lariat ether N-2-salicylaldiminatobenzyl-aza-18-crown-6 (L4) (Ln = La(III)–Tb(III)) is presented. Attempts to isolate complexes of the heaviest members of the lanthanide series were unsuccessful. The X-ray crystal structures of [Pr(L4)(H2O)](ClO4)2 · H2O · C3H8O and [Sm(L4)(H2O)](ClO4)2 · C3H8O show the metal ion being bound to the eight donor atoms of the ligand backbone. Coordination number nine is completed by the oxygen atom of an inner-sphere water molecule. Two different conformations of the crown moiety (labelled as A and B) are observed in the solid state structure of the Pr(III) complex, while for the Sm(III) complex only conformation A is observed. The complexes were also characterized by means of theoretical calculations performed in vacuo at the HF level, by using the 3-21G∗ basis set for the ligand atoms and a 46 + 4fn effective core potential for lanthanides. The optimized geometries of the Pr(III) and Sm(III) complexes show an excellent agreement with the experimental structures obtained from X-ray diffraction studies. The calculated relative energies of the A and B conformations for the different [Ln(L4)(H2O)]2+ complexes (Ln = La, Pr, Sm, Ho or Lu) indicate a progressive stabilization of the A conformation with respect to the B one upon decreasing the ionic radius of the Ln(III) ion. For the [Ln(L4)(H2O)]2+ systems, most of the calculated bond distances between the metal ion and the coordinated donor atoms decrease along the lanthanide series, as usually observed for Ln(III) complexes. However, our ab initio calculations provide geometries in which the Ln–O(5) bond distance [O(5) is an oxygen atom of the crown moiety] increases across the lanthanide series from Sm(III) to Lu(III).Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia; CTQ2006-0787