Retinoschisis and macular detachment associated with acquired enlarged optic disc cup

We describe a case of maculopathy consisting of macular retinoschisis and serous macular detachment occurring in a patient with an acquired enlarged optic disc cup, similar to the maculopathy observed in congenital optic nerve abnormalities, mainly optic nerve pits and colobomas, without vitreomacular traction nor angiographic leak. Pars plana vitrectomy with argon laser endophotocoagulation and gas tamponade was found to be useful. Traction from membranes covering deep optic disc cups may create small retinal dehiscences, as described in congenital optic nerve abnormalities, which will enable the liquefied vitreous to pass, leading to retinoschisis with or without associated neurosensory detachment. Vitrectomy, photocoagulation, and gas tamponade may be a useful therapy for this entity

A MATLAB Tool for Visualizing the 3D Polar Power Patterns and Excitations of Conformal Arrays

[Abstract] This paper describes the implementation of a MATLAB® tool to plot the three-dimensional polar radiation diagram generated by a conformal antenna array. A related tool has also been developed for visualizing the geometrical arrangement (positions and orientations) of the elements, as well as the relative values of the amplitudes and phases of their excitations. Supporting M-files are available.Xunta de Galicia; 09TIC008105PRMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación; TEC2007-68020-C04-01Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; CSD2008-0001

A MATLAB Interface for Analyzing Conformal Arrays Composed of Polarized Heterogeneous Elements

[Abstract] As an extension and improvement of a previous work, this paper presents a graphical interface designed with MATLAB®, which is capable of representing both the spatial and electrical configurations of a conformal antenna array, as well as the different patterns radiated by the array. The tool considers the polarization of the elements of the array, which are not necessarily congruent to each other

Sistema SAGAS: herramienta de soporte al subtitulado para personas sordas

Siguiendo legislación en España, en televisión se deben alcanzar unas cuotas en el servicio de subtitulado para personas sordas, además, los subtítulos deben elaborarse siguiendo normativa. Este marco regulador conlleva una demanda de tecnología que facilite a los radiodifusores y productores de contenido la generación de subtitulado, como es la generación automática de subtitulado a partir de reconocimiento de audio. En este trabajo se presenta “SAGAS, Sistema Avanzado de Generación Automática de Subtítulos”, que proporciona subtítulos adecuados a la norma española para contenido vídeo que vaya acompañado de un guión o transcripción.Following legislation in Spain specific TV quotas must achieved in Subtitling Service for deaf people and additionally subtitles should be developed according to regulations. This regulatory framework implies a technology demand to facilitate broadcasters and content producers to generate subtitling, like automatic subtitling from Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). This paper introduces “SAGAS prototype (Advanced System for automatic generation of subtitles)” which provides subtitles according to Spanish standard from an audio and a transcript

Benchmarking tertiary water treatments for the removal of micropollutants and pathogens based on operational and sustainability criteria

In a context of increasing water scarcity, it is essential to ensure an integrated watershed management, savings in the consumption of water as a finite resource and improve the performance of wastewater treatment plants to guarantee the quality of treated effluents. Therefore, advanced technologies for tertiary wastewater treatment have been widely studied in recent decades. These treatments have been reviewed over the years mainly providing comparisons from a technical perspective. However, there is a lack of a holistic evaluation considering environmental and economic aspects together with the aforementioned technical aspects. In this review, treatment alternatives for micropollutant and pathogen abatement have been identified based on technologies implemented on a large scale (ozonation, ultraviolet treatment, adsorption on activated carbon or membrane filtration) as well as those treatments in the process of implementation, such as electrochemical, Fenton-based or photocatalytic techniques. Thus, a systematic bibliographic search was performed considering works applying pilot and full-scale equipment, leaving lab-scale results out of the analysis. The description of each process allowed the identification of the technical feasibility, operating costs and associated environmental impacts, providing a comparative assessment that will help decision-making in the development and application of the different technologies. The benchmarking results reveal that the selected treatment should be chosen based on the source and specific pollutants present in the wastewater, as there is no single solution for the treatment of micropollutants and pathogens. In addition, recommendations are presented for the publication of reliable process-related data to facilitate comparison between different technologies and treatment scenarios.This research was supported by HP-NANOBIO (PID2019-111163RB-I00) and SPOTLIGHT (PDC2021-121540-I00) projects, granted by Spanish Ministry of Science and InnovationS

Sun, heat and electricity. A comprehensive study of non-pollutant alternatives to produce green hydrogen

Water-based hydrogen production is currently an attractive research field, as it provides a greener method to produce hydrogen than existing alternatives. Green hydrogen is expected to progressively replace fossil fuels, which are highly harmful environmentally. This paper presents a critical analysis over time of the main water splitting technologies currently in use for sustainable hydrogen production. As a result of the critical analysis, all the studied techniques have been ordered chronologically in the way that it is possible to understand how new materials have driven to new techniques, more efficient and less expensive. This allows having a complete vision of these technologies. A high level of maturity has been reached in electrolysis, while other techniques still have a long way to go, although many improvements and relevant advancements have been made over the years. The paper offers a global and comparative vision of each technology. From this, it is possible to identify the different paths where efforts are needed to make water-based hydrogen production a mature, stable and efficient technology.This work is a contribution of the following Projects: “H2Integration&Control. Integration and Control of a hydrogen-based pilot plant in residential applications for energy supply”, Ref. PID2020-116616RB-C31 supported by the Spanish State Program of R + D + I Oriented to the Challenges of Society; “Saltes. Smartgrid with reconfigurable Architecture for testing control Techniques and Energy Storage priority”, Ref. P20-00730 supported by Regional Andalusian Government, under the European Union Regional Development Fund; and the project “G2GH2-Going to Green Hydrogen. High efficiency and low degradation system for the hydrogen production without contaminant waste”, Ref. UHU-1259316 supported by the European Union Regional Development Fund 2014/2020. Funding for Open Access charge: University of Huelva (UHU) / CBUA

A Finite Element Method Integrated with Terzaghi's Principle to Estimate Settlement of a Building due to Tunnel Construction

This study presents the application of the finite element method integrated with Terzaghi’s principle. The definition of a model in oedometric or confinement conditions for settlement estimation of a building after the construction of a tunnel, including the effect of Terzaghi’s principle, is an unresolved problem. The objectives of this work include the demonstration of the need for a minimum of three methodological states to estimate said settlement. For this, a specific methodology is applied to a case study, with eight load steps and four types of coarse-grained soils. In the studied case, two layers of 50 m and 5 m with different degrees of saturation are overlaying an assumed impermeable rock layer. The excavation of a tunnel of 15 m in diameter at a depth of 30 m with drainage lining inside the tunnel is assumed. The minimum distance from the tunnel’s outline to the mat foundation is 15.8 m. It is determined that the settlement, according to Terzaghi’s principle, is around 11% of the total settlement for the most compacted soil types, reaching 35% for the loose soil type, from the tunnel’s outline. In the mat foundation, it implies an increase in the differential settlement of up to 12%. It shows a nonlinear relationship between some of the variables in the analysis. To detect the collapse due to uplifting the tunnel invert, it was determined that it was not appropriate to model in oedometric conditions. The novelty of the investigation relies on identifying and determining the need for a minimum of three states for methodological purposes for a proper quantification of the total settlement: (i) before the construction of the tunnel, (ii) immediately after the excavation of the tunnel, but without groundwater inflow into the tunnel, and (iii) after the tunnelling, with stabilised groundwater inflow into the tunnel.The authors would like to thank Deryck J. Barker Fraser for the translation of the manuscript. Comments by two anonymous reviewers were extremely helpful in improving the manuscript. The third author acknowledges the support of the Catalan Government through the Fluvial Dynamics Research Group (2021 SGR 01114)

Rhinoorbitocerebral mucormycosis : A case report and literature review

Mucormycosis is a rare oportunistic infection typically described in diabetic patients with a ketoacidotic status, as well as neutropenic patients. The infection is caused by a group of saprophytic fungi of the class Phycomicetes, being the most frequent ones the Rhizomucor, Rhizopus and Mucor. Its hystological findings include vascular trombosis and tissue necrosis, predominantly in the rino-orbito-cerebral area. Even though the frequency of presentation is very low, given its rapid evolution and severe consequences which include a high mortality rate, it is very important to be aware of the main features of the disease and treat it promptly. Although the diagnosis is based on the high clinical suspect, the computed tomography (CT) and the magnetic resonance image (MRI) plays an important role in determining the extension. The patients should receive treatment in a reference hospital so that a multidisciplinary approach is ensured. In this sense, we present a case of rhino-orbito-cerebralmucormycosis in a diabetic patient, recently treated in our Department. A comprehensive review of the literature has been performed to update the physiopathology and diagnosis. Finally, we describe the different treatment options focusing in the surgical approach, as well as the medical treatment with amphotericine and posaconzol