The era of sustainable development and the challenge of climate change

Sustainability makes it possible to understand that the human being is facing a world with exhaustible resources and limited needs, with a population in constant growth and with economic progress based on obsolete technologies that generate a huge energy consumption, apart from billions of tons of wastes added to the ecosystem. These factors unleash catastrophic climatic consequences that have put the “world” on alert when is understood that there is a limit of planetary support capacity and that we are approaching the collapse of the ecosystem and endangering future generations, in addition to undermining the quality of life of all living beings because they exceed the capacity for natural balance of the ecosystems that support it. The increase in poverty, the overproduction of waste, the enormous North-South differences, the desertification and climate change are some of the main factors that human beings must face with great urgency. Regarding this last factor, it should be noted that today it has become a problem of multidimensional proportions that involves governments, organizations and entire societies with the aim of reducing its catastrophic global consequences and has been categorized as one of the greatest challenges of the world in the 21st century. Damage to the environment is becoming an issue that has received greater interest and attention over the years. Therefore, it is necessary a construct that includes ecological and development perspectives, that is, Sustainable Development. Under this context, this article aims to analyse in detail this concept, its origins and evolution, as well as its dimensions, to also establish its link with climate change, both inseparable factors.Sustainability makes it possible to understand that human beings are facing a world with exhaustible resources, with a constantly growing population and with economic progress based on obsolete technologies that generate overflowing energy consumption, generating billions of tonnes of waste that are added to the ecosystem. These factors trigger catastrophic climatic consequences that have put the “world” on alert as it realizes that there is a planetary carrying capacity limit and that we are approaching the collapse of the ecosystem and endangering future generations. In addition to undermining the quality of life of all living beings present, by exceeding the natural equilibrium capacity of the ecosystems that sustain it. In order to answer this question, this article has reviewed the literature on the subject that is the subject of so much debate. The aim of this article is therefore to analyse the concept in detail, in order to establish its link with climate change, both of which are inseparable factors. It has concluded that climate change today has become a problem of multidimensional proportions, that involves entire institutions and societies, in order to mitigate its catastrophic global consequences, and has been categorized as one of the greatest challenges of this century. Not only that, but social justice is becoming increasingly important for social actors interacting with the environment

Physical Wigner functions

In spite of their potential usefulness, the characterizations of Wigner functions for Bose and Fermi statistics given by O'Connell and Wigner himself almost thirty years ago has drawn little attention. With an eye towards applications in quantum chemistry, we revisit and reformulate them in a more convenient way.Comment: Latex, 10 page

The effect of a stellar magnetic variation on the jet velocity

Stellar jets are normally constituted by chains of knots with some periodicity in their spatial distribution, corresponding to a variability of order of several years in the ejection from the protostar/disk system. A widely accepted theory for the presence of knots is related to the generation of internal working surfaces due to variations in the jet ejection velocity. In this paper we study the effect of variations in the inner disk-wind radius on the jet ejection velocity. We show that a small variation in the inner disk-wind radius produce a variation in the jet velocity large enough to generate the observed knots. We also show that the variation in the inner radius may be related to a variation of the stellar magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Coupled Biomechanical Response of the Cornea Assessed by Non-Contact Tonometry. A Simulation Study

The mechanical response of the cornea subjected to a non-contact air-jet tonometry diagnostic test represents an interplay between its geometry, the corneal material behavior and the loading. The objective is to study this interplay to better understand and interpret the results obtained with a non-contact tonometry test. A patient-specific finite element model of a healthy eye, accounting for the load free configuration, was used. The corneal tissue was modeled as an anisotropic hyperelastic material with two preferential directions. Three different sets of parameters within the human experimental range obtained from inflation tests were considered. The influence of the IOP was studied by considering four pressure levels (10–28 mmHg) whereas the influence of corneal thickness was studied by inducing a uniform variation (300–600 microns). A Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) air-jet simulation determined pressure loading exerted on the anterior corneal surface. The maximum apex displacement showed a linear variation with IOP for all materials examined. On the contrary, the maximum apex displacement followed a cubic relation with corneal thickness. In addition, a significant sensitivity of the apical displacement to the corneal stiffness was also obtained. Explanation to this behavior was found in the fact that the cornea experiences bending when subjected to an air-puff loading, causing the anterior surface to work in compression whereas the posterior surface works in tension. Hence, collagen fibers located at the anterior surface do not contribute to load bearing. Non-contact tonometry devices give useful information that could be misleading since the corneal deformation is the result of the interaction between the mechanical properties, IOP, and geometry. Therefore, a non-contact tonometry test is not sufficient to evaluate their individual contribution and a complete in-vivo characterization would require more than one test to independently determine the membrane and bending corneal behavior.The research leading these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seven Framework Program managed by REA Research Executive agency http://ec.europa.eu/research/rea (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement n° FP7-SME-2013 606634 and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (DPI2011-27939-C02-01)

Reduction Procedures in Classical and Quantum Mechanics

We present, in a pedagogical style, many instances of reduction procedures appearing in a variety of physical situations, both classical and quantum. We concentrate on the essential aspects of any reduction procedure, both in the algebraic and geometrical setting, elucidating the analogies and the differences between the classical and the quantum situations.Comment: AMS-LaTeX, 35 pages. Expanded version of the Invited review talk delivered by G. Marmo at XXIst International Workshop On Differential Geometric Methods In Theoretical Mechanics, Madrid (Spain), 2006. To appear in Int. J. Geom. Methods in Modern Physic

Feynman problem in the noncommutative case

In the context of the Feynman's derivation of electrodynamics, we show that noncommutativity allows other particle dynamics than the standard formalism of electrodynamics.Comment: latex, 7 pages, no figure

The Jak2 Pathway Is Activated In Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most rapidly progressive and fatal fibrotic disorder, with no curative therapies. The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) protein is activated in lung fibroblasts and alveolar type II cells (ATII), thereby contributing to lung fibrosis in IPF. Although activation of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) has been implicated in proliferative disorders, its role in IPF is unknown. The aim of this study was to analyze JAK2 activation in IPF, and to determine whether JAK2/STAT3 inhibition is a potential therapeutic strategy for this disease. Methods and results: JAK2/p-JAK2 and STAT3/pSTAT3 expression was evaluated using quantitative real time-PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. Compared to human healthy lung tissue (n = 10) both proteins were upregulated in the lung tissue of IPF patients (n = 12). Stimulating primary ATII and lung fibroblasts with transforming growth factor beta 1 or interleukin (IL)-6/IL-13 activated JAK2 and STAT3, inducing epithelial to mesenchymal and fibroblast to myofibroblast transitions. Dual p-JAK2/p-STAT3 inhibition with JSI-124 or silencing of JAK2 and STAT3 genes suppressed ATII and the fibroblast to myofibroblast transition, with greater effects than the sum of those obtained using JAK2 or STAT3 inhibitors individually. Dual rather than single inhibition was also more effective for inhibiting fibroblast migration, preventing increases in fibroblast senescence and Bcl-2 expression, and ameliorating impaired autophagy. In rats administered JSI-124, a dual inhibitor of p-JAK2/p-STAT3, at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day, bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis was reduced and collagen deposition in the lung was inhibited, as were JAK2 and STAT3 activation and several markers of fibrosis, autophagy, senescence, and anti-apoptosis. Conclusions: JAK2 and STAT3 are activated in IPF, and their dual inhibition may be an attractive strategy for treating this disease

Quantum mechanical modeling of excited electronic states and their relationship to cathodoluminescence of BaZrO3

First-principles calculations set the comprehension over performance of novel cathodoluminescence (CL) properties of BaZrO3 prepared through microwave-assisted hydrothermal. Ground (singlet, s*) and excited (singlet s** and triplet t** ) electronic states were built from zirconium displacement of 0.2 Å in {001} direction. Each ground and excited states were characterized by the correlation of their corresponding geometry with electronic structures and Raman vibrational frequencies which were also identified experimentally. A kind of optical polarization switching was identified by the redistribution of 4dz2 and 4dxz (Zr) orbitals and 2pz O orbital. As a consequence, asymmetric bending and stretching modes theoretically obtained reveal a direct dependence with their polyhedral intracluster and/or extracluster ZrO6 distortions with electronic structure. Then, CL of the as-synthesized BaZrO3 can be interpreted as a result of stable triplet excited states, which are able to trap electrons, delaying the emission process due to spin multiplicity changes

Economic Analysis of Thrombo inCode, a Clinical-Genetic Function for Assessing the Risk of Venous Thromboembolism

Background: Patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) commonly have an underlying genetic predisposition. However, genetic tests nowadays in use have very low sensitivity for identifying subjects at risk of VTE. Thrombo inCode is a new genetic tool that has demonstrated very good sensitivity, thanks to very good coverage of the genetic variants that modify the function of the coagulation pathway. Objective: To conduct an economic analysis of risk assessment of VTE from the perspective of the Spanish National Health System with Thrombo inCode (a clinical-genetic function for assessing the risk of VTE) versus the conventional/standard method used to date (factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A). Methods: An economic model was created from the National Health System perspective, using a decision tree in patients aged 45 years with a life expectancy of 81 years. The predictive capacity of VTE, based on identification of thrombophilia using Thrombo inCode and using the standard method, was obtained from two case-control studies conducted in two different populations (S. PAU and MARTHA; 1,451 patients in all). Although this is not always the case, patients who were identified as suffering from thrombophilia were subject to preventive treatment of VTE with warfarin, leading to a reduction in the number of VTE events and an increased risk of severe bleeding. The health state utilities (quality-adjusted life-years [QALYs]) and costs (in 2013 EUR values) were obtained from the literature and Spanish sources. Results: On the basis of a price of EUR 180 for Thrombo inCode, this would be the dominant option (more effective and with lower costs than the standard method) in both populations. The Monte Carlo probabilistic analyses indicate that the dominance would occur in 100 % of the simulations in both populations. The threshold price of Thrombo inCode needed to reach the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) generally accepted in Spain (EUR 30,000 per QALY gained) would be between EUR 3,950 (in the MARTHA population) and EUR 11,993 (in the S. PAU population). Conclusion: According to the economic model, Thrombo inCode is the dominant option in assessing the risk of VTE, compared with the standard method currently used