An Historical Review of the Simplified Physical Fire Spread Model PhyFire: Model and Numerical Methods

A historical review is conducted of PhyFire, a simplified physical forest fire spread model developed by the research group on Numerical Simulation and Scientific Computation (SINUMCC) at the University of Salamanca. The review ranges from the first version of the model to the current one now integrated into GIS, considering all the mathematical problems and numerical methods involved throughout its development: finite differences, mixed, classical and adaptive finite elements, data assimilation, sensitivity analysis, parameter adjustment, and parallel computation, among others. The simulation of processes as complex as forest fires involves a multidisciplinary effort that is constantly being enhanced, while posing interesting challenges from a mathematical, numerical, and computational perspective, without losing sight of the overriding aim of developing an efficient, effective, and useful simulation tool

Benign Bilateral Adenomyoepithelioma of the Mammary Gland in a Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)

Naturally occurring mammary tumours are uncommon in prosimians. A 20-year-old female ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) developed bilateral enlargement of the mammary glands. Surgical removal revealed that both masses were comprised of multiple nodules and cystic areas that entirely replaced the normal glands. Histologically, a benign neoplastic biphasic cellular proliferation, composed of luminal–epithelial and basal–myoepithelial components, was identified. Immunohistochemical analysis for expression of cytokeratin (CK) AE1/AE3, CK7, CK5 + 8, CK14, vimentin, p63 and 14-3-3σ highlighted the biphasic nature of the neoplasm. A low mitotic count, low Ki67 labelling index, expression of oestrogen receptor-α, lack of expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor and a 3-year disease-free period without recurrence supported the benign nature of the tumour. Macroscopically, histologically and immunohistochemically this neoplasm resembled benign adenomyoepithelioma of the breast in women. This is the first complete report of a naturally occurring mammary tumour in a ring-tailed lemur

Microestructura del esmalte de los incisivos de roedores (Mammalia, Rodentia)

Abstract not availabl

Consensus on the Clinical Approach to Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis in Spain: A Delphi Survey

Background. The purpose of this study was to gather information on the current assessment and management of patients with moderate-to-severe AD in routine daily practice. Methods. A cross-sectional two-round Delphi survey with the participation of dermatologists and allergologists throughout Spain was conducted. They completed a 46-item questionnaire, and consensus was defined when responses of >= 80% of participants coincided in the categories of a 5-point Likert scale for that item. Results. A total of 105 specialists (aged 40-59 years) completed the two rounds. Participants agreed regarding the consideration of AD as a multifaceted disease and the differences in clinical presentation of AD according to the patient's age. It is recommendable to perform a skin biopsy to exclude early stage T-cell cutaneous lymphoma, psoriasis, or dermatitis herpetiformis, among others (99.1%). Also, consensus was reached regarding the use of the SCORAD index to quantify the severity of the disease (86.7%), the use of wet wraps to increase the effect of topical corticosteroids (90.4%), the usefulness of proactive treatment during follow-up (85.6%) and tacrolimus ointment (91.2%) to reduce new flares, and the fact that crisaborole is not the treatment of choice for severe AD (92.4%). AD was not considered a contraindication for immunotherapy in patients with allergic respiratory diseases (92.4%). In patients with severe AD, the use of immune response modifier drugs (97.6%) or phototherapy (92.8%) does not sufficiently cover their treatment needs. Consensus was also obtained regarding the role of the new biologic drugs (93.6%) targeting cytokines involved in the Th2 inflammatory pathway (92.0%) and the potential role of dupilumab as first-line treatment (90.4%) in moderate-to-severe AD patients. Conclusion. This study contributes a reference framework to the care of AD patients. There is no diagnostic test or biomarkers to direct treatment or to assess the severity of the disease, and many therapeutic challenges remain

Fiber sensors for the high-speed railway environment

Specialty Optical Fibers 2014, Barcelona, Spain, 27–31 July 2014We review some recent work on fiber-optic sensors for the high-speed railway environment. In particular, we show convenient fiber-optic solutions for rail and wheel monitoring, perimeter security and catenary protection in changeover section

Phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometer assisted by first-order raman amplification for distributed vibration sensing over >100 km

In this study, the authors present an experimental and theoretical description of the use of first order Raman amplification to improve the performance of a Phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometer (φ OTDR) when used for vibration measurements over very long distances. A special emphasis is given to the noise which is carefully characterized and minimized along the setup. A semiconductor optical amplifier and an optical switch are used to greatly decrease the intra-band coherent noise of the setup and balanced detection is used to minimize the effects of RIN transferred from the Raman pumps. The sensor was able to detect vibrations of up to 250 Hz (close to the limits set by the time of flight of light pulses) with a resolution of 10 m in a range of 125 km. To achieve the above performance, no post-processing was required in the φOTDR signal. The evolution of the φOTDR signal along the fiber is also shown to have a good agreement with the theoretical model.European CommissionMinisterio de Economía y CompetitividadComunidad de Madri

Two isoforms of vasa maternal factor in Senegalese sole: Biotechnological applications

Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs) identification and manipulation present considerable potential for hatchery practice and surrogate broodstocks. To carry out the PGCs characterization a specific molecular marker is required. The vasa gene is a good candidate to identify PGCs and others germinal cells (Nagasawa et al., 2009). The aim of this study was the cloning of the Solea senegalensis vasa cDNA and its expression pattern during early development and adulthood

Brillouin optical time-domain analysis over a 240 km-long fiber loop with no repeater

22nd International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS2012), Beijing, China, October 14, 2012In this paper we combine the use of optical pulse coding and seeded second-order Raman amplification to extend the\ud sensing distance of Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) sensors. Using 255-bit Simplex coding, the power\ud levels of the Raman pumps and the Brillouin pump and probe signals were adjusted in order to extend the real physical\ud sensing distance of a BOTDA sensor up to 120 km away from the sensor interrogation unit, employing a 240-km long\ud loop of standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) with no repeater. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that\ud distributed measurements are carried out over such a long distance with no active device inserted into the entire sensing\ud loop, constituting a considerable breakthrough in the field

Novel InN/InGaN multiple quantum well structures for slow‐light generation at telecommunication wavelengths

The third order susceptibility is responsible for a variety of optical non-linear phenomena -like self focusing, phase conjugation and four-wave mixing- with applications in coherent control of optical communication. InN is particularly attractive due to its near-IR bandgap and predicted high nonlinear effects. Moreover, the synthesis of InN nanostructures makes possible to taylor the absorption edge in the telecomunication spectral range and enhance nonlinear parameters thanks to carrier confinement. In this work, we assess the nonlinear optical behavior of InN/InxGa(1-x)N (0.9 > x > 0.7) multiplequantum-well (MQW) structures grown by plasma-assisted MBE on GaN-on-sapphire templates. Low-temperature (5 K) photoluminescence measurements show near-IR emission whose intensity increases with the In content in the barriers, which is explained in terms of the existence of piezoelectric fields in the structures. The nonlinear optical absorption coefficient, α2, were measured at 1.55 μm using the Z-scan method. We observe a strong dependence of the nonlinear absorption coefficient on the In content in the barriers. Saturable absorption is observed for the sample with x = 0.9, with α2 ̃ -9x103 cm/GW. For this sample, an optically controlled reduction of the speed of light by a factor S ∼ 80 is obtained at 1.55 μm. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Local wind speed forecasting based on WRF-HDWind coupling

Wind speed forecasts obtained by Numerical Weather Prediction models are limited for fine interpretation in heterogeneous terrain, in which different roughnesses and orographies occur. This limitation is derived from the use of low-resolution and grid-box averaged data. In this paper a dynamical downscaling method is presented to increase the local accuracy of wind speed forecasts. The proposed method divides the wind speed forecasting into two steps. In the first one, the mesoscale model WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) is used for getting wind speed forecasts at specific points of the study domain. On a second stage, these values are used for feeding the HDWind microscale model. HDWind is a local model that provides both a high-resolution wind field that covers the entire study domain and values of wind speed and direction at very located points. As an example of use of the proposed method, we calculate a high-resolution wind field in an urban-interface area from Badajoz, a South-West Spanish city located near the Portugal border. The results obtained are compared with the values read by a weathervane tower of the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) in order to prove that the microscale model improves the forecasts obtained by the mesoscale model