Motivating Young Students to Start a Career in Nuclear: The Basic Course of Science and Nuclear Technology, An Educational Activity of Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (JÓVENES NUCLEARES)

The main objective of this course, conducted by Jóvenes Nucleares (Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear, JJNN), a non-profit organization that depends on the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE) is to pass on basic knowledge about Science and Nuclear Technology to the general public, mostly students and introduce them to its most relevant points. The purposes of this course are to provide general information, to answer the most common questions about Nuclear Energy and to motivate the young students to start a career in nuclear. Therefore, it is directed mainly to high school and university students, but also to general people that wants to learn about the key issues of such an important matter in our society. Anybody could attend the course, as no specific scientific education is required. The course is done at least once a year, during the Annual Meeting of the Spanish Nuclear Society, which takes place in a different Spanish city each time. The course is done also to whichever university or institution that asks for it to JJNN, with the only limit of the presenter´s availability. The course is divided into the following chapters: Physical nuclear and radiation principles, Nuclear power plants, Nuclear safety, Nuclear fuel, Radioactive waste, Decommission of nuclear facilities, Future nuclear power plants, Other uses of nuclear technology, Nuclear energy, climate change and sustainable development. The course is divided into 15 minutes lessons on the above topics, imparted by young professionals, experts in the field that belongs either to the Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear, either to companies and institutions related with nuclear energy. At the end of the course, a 200 pages book with the contents of the course is handed to every member of the audience. This book is also distributed in other course editions at high schools and universities in order to promote the scientific dissemination of the Nuclear Technology. As an extra motivation, JJNN delivers a course certificate to the assistants. At the end of the last edition course, in Santiago de Compostela, the assistants were asked to provide a feedback about it. Some really interesting lessons were learned, that will be very useful to improve next editions of the course. As a general conclusion of the courses it can be said that many of the students that have assisted to the course have increased their motivation in the nuclear field, and hopefully it will help the young talents to choose the nuclear field to develop their career

Ertapenem and Faropenem against Mycobacterium tuberculosis: in vitro testing and comparison by macro and microdilution

BACKGROUND: Interest in carbapenems has been rising in the last few years due to the emergence of drug resistant tuberculosis. Ertapenem (ETP), given once a day parenteral, and faropenem (FAR), oral, have a better administration profile than meropenem (MEM), imipenem (IPM) and doripenem (DOR). The addition of amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMC) inhibits the hydrolysis by the carbapenemase present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro activity of ETP and FAR against susceptible and resistant clinical MTB strains by two widely use methodologies, the BACTEC960 MGIT and microdilution. RESULTS: 19 clinical isolates with different susceptibility profiles and H37Rv were included. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing was performed using two methods of different concentrations of ETP and FAR with and without AMC. MIC50 was 2 and 8 for FAR with and without AMC by both methods. MIC90 was > 16 and > 8 by microdilution and MGIT respectively and did not change after AMC addition. 18/20 samples were resistant to the highest concentration of ETP, with and without AMC. Half of the samples had some susceptibility to FAR; addition of AMC further reduced the MIC level in seven isolates. 10/20 isolates showed susceptibility to FAR and the addition of AMC further reduced the MIC in 7 isolates. However, most of the MICs were near the limit of effectiveness (8 μg/mL). Resistance to FAR was associated with resistance to MEM (p = 0.04) but not to resistance profiles of other drugs, including M/XDR status. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of ETP activity may be associated with its degradation, independent of carbapenemase, during incubation. No susceptibility pattern to traditional drugs can predict susceptibility to FAR and susceptibility testing is not routinely available. PK/PD studies are needed as reaching the concentrations tested in these experiments may be challenging. This work highlighted some of the limitations of carbapenem use. More evidence is needed to clarify their true impact in TB treatment and outcome, considering the financial burden, complications and microbiota changes associated with their use

Are the newer carbapenems of any value against tuberculosis

Our aim was to assess whether newer carbapenems with a better administration profile than meropenem (ertapenem, faropenem and tebipenem) were more effective against Mycobacterium tuberculosis including M/XDRTB and determine if there was a synergistic/antagonistic effect with amoxicillin or clavulanate (inhibitor of beta-lactamases that MTB possesses) in vitro. Whilst meropenem is given three times a day intravenously, ertapenem, though given parenterally, is given once a day, faropenem and tebipenem are given orally. Eighty-two clinical drug-sensitive and -resistant MTB strains and a laboratory strain, H37Rv, were assessed by a microdilution methodology against ertapenem, faropenem, tebipenem and meropenem with and without amoxicillin or clavulanic acid. Ertapenem showed a limited activity. The addition of amoxicillin and clavulanate did not translate into significant improvements in susceptibility. Sixty-two isolates (75.6%) exhibited susceptibility to faropenem; the addition of amoxicillin and clavulanate further reduced the MIC in some isolates. Faropenem showed a limited activity (MIC of 8 mg/L or lower) in 21 strains completely resistant to meropenem (MIC of 16 mg/L or higher). Fifteen of the meropenem-resistant strains were susceptible to tebipenem. Carbapenems’ activity has been reported extensively. However, there remains uncertainty as to which of them is most active against TB and what the testing methodology should be

Motivating Young Students to Start a Career in Nuclear: The Basic Course of Science and Nuclear Technology, An Educational Activity of Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (JÓVENES NUCLEARES)

The main objective of this course, conducted by Jóvenes Nucleares (Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear, JJNN), a non-profit organization that depends on the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE) is to pass on basic knowledge about Science and Nuclear Technology to the general public, mostly students and introduce them to its most relevant points. The purposes of this course are to provide general information, to answer the most common questions about Nuclear Energy and to motivate the young students to start a career in nuclear. Therefore, it is directed mainly to high school and university students, but also to general people that wants to learn about the key issues of such an important matter in our society. Anybody could attend the course, as no specific scientific education is required. The course is done at least once a year, during the Annual Meeting of the Spanish Nuclear Society, which takes place in a different Spanish city each time. The course is done also to whichever university or institution that asks for it to JJNN, with the only limit of the presenter´s availability. The course is divided into the following chapters: Physical nuclear and radiation principles, Nuclear power plants, Nuclear safety, Nuclear fuel, Radioactive waste, Decommission of nuclear facilities, Future nuclear power plants, Other uses of nuclear technology, Nuclear energy, climate change and sustainable development. The course is divided into 15 minutes lessons on the above topics, imparted by young professionals, experts in the field that belongs either to the Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear, either to companies and institutions related with nuclear energy. At the end of the course, a 200 pages book with the contents of the course is handed to every member of the audience. This book is also distributed in other course editions at high schools and universities in order to promote the scientific dissemination of the Nuclear Technology. As an extra motivation, JJNN delivers a course certificate to the assistants. At the end of the last edition course, in Santiago de Compostela, the assistants were asked to provide a feedback about it. Some really interesting lessons were learned, that will be very useful to improve next editions of the course. As a general conclusion of the courses it can be said that many of the students that have assisted to the course have increased their motivation in the nuclear field, and hopefully it will help the young talents to choose the nuclear field to develop their career

The Universal Kaehler Modulus in Warped Compactifications

We construct the effective theory of the universal Kaehler modulus in warped compactifications using the Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity. The spacetime dependent 10d solution is constructed at the linear level for both the volume modulus and its axionic partner, and nontrivial cancellations of warping effects are found in the dimensional reduction. Our main result is that the Kaehler potential is not corrected by warping, up to an overall shift in the background value of the volume modulus. We extend the analysis beyond the linearized approximation by computing the fully backreacted 10d metric corresponding to a finite volume modulus fluctuation. Also, we discuss the behavior of the modulus in strongly warped regions and show that there are no mixings with light Kaluza-Klein modes. These results are important for the phenomenology and cosmology of flux compactifications.Comment: 28 pages, 1 figure; v2. corrected typos, added refs & minor clarification

A practical laboratory method to determine ceftazidime-avibactam-aztreonam synergy in patients with New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) producing Enterobacterales infection

Background: In response to infection with New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) producing Enterobacterales, combination antimicrobial therapy with ceftazidime/avibactam (CAZ/AVI) plus aztreonam (ATM) has been explored. This study evaluated a practical laboratory method of testing for clinically significant synergy between CAZ/AVI+ATM in NDM producing Enterobacterales. Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of clinical NDM producing isolates were determined for ATM alone and CAZ/AVI+ATM using broth dilution. Restoration of ATM breakpoint following the addition of CAZ/AVI was explored. A CAZ/AVI E-test/ATM disc method was compared to broth dilution. Results: Of 43 isolates, 33/43 (77%) isolates were ATM resistant (median [range] MIC=56 [16 – 512] mg/L). Addition of CAZ/AVI restored the ATM breakpoint (MIC <4mg/L) in 29/33 (89%) of resistant isolates. Overall, the E-test/disc method correlated with findings from broth dilution in 35/43 (81%) of cases. E-test/disc sensitivity was 77% and specificity 85%. Positive predictive value was 92% and negative predictive value 61%. Conclusion: CAZ/AVI+ATM demonstrated significant synergy in most ATM resistant NDM producing Enterobacterales. The E-test/disc method is a quick, reproducible, and reliable method of testing for clinically relevant synergy in the microbiology laboratory

Nonlinear dynamics and transport driven by energetic particle instabilities using a gyro-Landau closure model

Energetic particle (EP) destabilized Alfvén eigenmode (AE) instabilities are simulated for a DIII-D experimental case with a pulsed neutral beam using a gyro-Landau moments model which introduces EP phase-mixing effects through closure relations. This provides a computationally efficient reduced model which is applied here in the nonlinear regime over timescales that would be difficult to address with more complete models. The long timescale nonlinear evolution and related collective transport losses are examined including the effects of zonal flow/current generation, nonlinear energy cascades, and EP profile flattening. The model predicts frequencies and mode structures that are consistent with experimental observations. These calculations address issues that have not been considered in previous modelling: The EP critical gradient profile evolution in the presence of zonal flows/currents, and the dynamical nature of the saturated state. A strong level of intermittency is present in the predicted instability-driven transport; this is connected to the zonal flow growth and decay cycles and nonlinear energy transfers. Simulation of intermittent AE-enhanced EP transport will be an important issue for the protection of plasma facing components in the next generation of fusion devices.This material is based upon work supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science using the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility, under Awards DE-AC05-00OR22725, DE-FC02-04ER54698, and the US DOE SciDAC ISEP Center. Support is also acknowledged from project 2019-T1/AMB-13648 founded by the Comunidad de Madrid and Comunidad de Madrid (Spain)&#8212;multiannual agreement with UC3M Excelencia para el Profesorado Universitario EPUC3M14 Fifth regional research plan 2016-2020. This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a US Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, operated under Contract No. DE-AC02- 05CH11231. We would like to thank Matt Beidler of Oak Ridge National Laboratory for helpful suggestions on this manuscript

Complex brain circuits studied via simultaneous and permanent detection of three transported neuroanatomical tracers in the same histological section.

Experimental neuroanatomical tracing methods lie at the basis of the study of the nervous system. When the scientific question is relatively straightforward, it may be sufficient to derive satisfactory answers from experiments in which a single neuroanatomical tracing method is applied. In various scientific paradigms however, for instance when the degree of convergence of two different projections on a particular cortical area or subcortical nucleus is the subject of study, the application of single tracing methods can be either insufficient or uneconomical to solve the questions asked. In cases where chains of projections are the subjects of study, the simultaneous application of two tracing methods or even more may be compulsory. The present contribution focuses on combinations of several neuroanatomical tract-tracing strategies, enabling in the end the simultaneous, unambiguous and permanent detection of three transported markers according to a three-color paradigm. A number of combinations of three tracers or of two tracers plus the immunocytochemical detection of a neuroactive substance can be conceived; we describe several of these combinations implemented by us using the present multitracer protocol

Re-examining the consumption-wealth relationship : the role of model uncertainty

This paper discusses the consumption-wealth relationship. Following the recent influential workof Lettau and Ludvigson [e.g. Lettau and Ludvigson (2001), (2004)], we use data on consumption, assets andlabor income and a vector error correction framework. Key …ndings of their work are that consumption doesrespond to permanent changes in wealth in the expected manner, but that most changes in wealth are transitoryand have no e¤ect on consumption. We investigate the robustness of these results to model uncertainty andargue for the use of Bayesian model averaging. We …nd that there is model uncertainty with regards to thenumber of cointegrating vectors, the form of deterministic components, lag length and whether the cointegratingresiduals a¤ect consumption and income directly. Whether this uncertainty has important empirical implicationsdepends on the researcher's attitude towards the economic theory used by Lettau and Ludvigson. If we workwith their model, our findings are very similar to theirs. However, if we work with a broader set of models andlet the data speak, we obtain somewhat di¤erent results. In the latter case, we …nd that the exact magnitudeof the role of permanent shocks is hard to estimate precisely. Thus, although some support exists for the viewthat their role is small, we cannot rule out the possibility that they have a substantive role to play

The Arabidopsis SAL1-PAP Pathway: A Case Study for Integrating Chloroplast Retrograde, Light and Hormonal Signaling in Modulating Plant Growth and Development?

Plant growth and development are dependent on chloroplast development and function. Constitutive high level accumulation of a chloroplast stress signal, 3′-phosphoadenosine-5′-phosphate (PAP), confers drought tolerance to plants, but slow downs and alters plant growth and development. PAP, a by-product of sulfur metabolism, is maintained at very low levels by the SAL1 phosphatase during vegetative growth of Arabidopsis and accumulates in rosettes during drought and excess light. Eight independent forward genetic screens in Arabidopsis identified SAL1 as the regulator of multiple phenotypes related to stress responses, hormonal signaling and/or perception. In this perspective article, we collate all the sal1 phenotypes published in the past two decades, and distill the different pathways affected. Our meta-analysis of publicly available sal1 microarray data coupled to preliminary hormonal treatment and profiling results on sal1 indicate that homeostasis and responses to multiple hormones in sal1 are altered during rosette growth, suggesting a potential connection between SAL1-PAP stress retrograde pathway and hormonal signaling. We propose the SAL1-PAP pathway as a case study for integrating chloroplast retrograde signaling, light signaling and hormonal signaling in plant growth and morphogenesis