A SOLAR HIEROPHANY AT THE WESTERN TAULA ENCLOSURE OF SO NA CAÇANA (MENORCA)

El artículo presenta la primera evidencia documentada de una hierofanía solar en un monumento talayótico en la isla de Menorca. Durante el inicio de la trayectoria descendente del Sol en el horizonte, en el solsticio de invierno, existe un lapso en el que el astro se sitúa a la misma altura aparente que la ventana que se abre en la fachada del recinto de taula oeste de So na Caçana. En ese momento del año, un rayo de luz penetra por dicha abertura, iluminando el suelo ante el espacio en el que se colocaban las representaciones de las divinidades en este tipo de edificios. La documentación de este fenómeno aporta datos completamente novedosos acerca de los rituales que se llevaban a cabo en estos santuarios, además de establecer unas fechas claras e importantes en el desconocido calendario utilizado por las comunidades humanas menorquinas de la Segunda Edad del Hierro.The article presents the first documented evidence of a solar hierophany in a Talayotic monument on the island of Menorca. As the sun path approaches the horizon on the winter solstice day, there is a time frame in which the sun is at the same apparent height as the window on the facade of the west taula enclosure of So na Caçana. At that time of the year, a ray of light goes through that window, illuminating the floor in front of the space where the divine representations were placed. The documentation of this phenomenon provides completely new data about the rituals that took place in these sanctuaries, and it establishes a precise and important date in the unknown calendar used by Menorcan communities during the second Iron Age

Mathematical and computational modeling of flexoelectricity

We first revisit the mathematical modeling of the flexoelectric effect in the context of continuum mechanics at infinitesimal deformations. We establish and clarify the relation between the different formulations, point out theoretical and numerical issues related to the resulting boundary value problems, and present the natural extension to finite deformations. We then present a simple B-spline based computational technique to numerically solve the associated boundary value problems, which can be extended to handle unfitted meshes, hence allowing for arbitrarily-shaped geometries. Several numerical examples illustrate the flexoelectric effect in simple benchmark setups, as well as in new flexoelectric devices and metamaterials engineered for sensing or actuation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Weak enforcement of interface continuity and generalized periodicity in high-order electromechanical problems

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Barcelo, J. [et al.]. Weak enforcement of interface continuity and generalized periodicity in high-order electromechanical problems. "International journal for numerical methods in engineering", 28 Febrer 2022, vol. 123, núm. 4, p. 901-923, which has been published in final form at DOI10.1002/nme.6882. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.We present a formulation for the weak enforcement of continuity conditions atmaterialinterfacesinhigh-orderproblemsbymeansofNitsche’smethod,whichis particularly suited for unfitted discretizations. This formulation is extendedto impose generalized periodicity conditions at the unit cell boundaries of peri-odic structures. The formulation is derived for flexoelectricity, a high-orderelectromechanical coupling between strain gradient and electric field, mathe-matically modeled as a coupled system of fourth-order PDEs. The design of flex-oelectricdevicesrequiresthesolutionofhigh-orderboundaryvalueproblemsoncomplex material architectures, including general multimaterial arrangements.ThiscanbeefficientlyachievedwithanimmersedboundaryB-splinesapproach.Furthermore, the design of flexoelectric metamaterials also involves the anal-ysis of periodic unit cells with generalized periodicity conditions. Optimalhigh-order convergence rates are obtained with an unfitted B-spline approxi-mation, confirming the reliability of the method. The numerical simulationsillustrate the usefulness of the proposed approach toward the design of func-tional electromechanical multimaterial devices and metamaterials harnessingthe flexoelectric effect.Departament d'Universitats, Recerca i Societat de la Informació, 2017-SGR-1278; ICREA Academia; H2020 European Research Council, StG-679451; Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, CEX2018-000797-S; RTI2018-101662-B-I00.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 Expression as Worse Prognostic Marker in Invasive Breast Cancer

[EN] Discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) is arising as a promising therapeutic target in breast carcinoma (BC). The ability of DDR2 to bind to collagen promotes protumoral responses in cancer cells that influence the tumor microenvironment (TME). Nonetheless, the interrelation between DDR2 expression and TME modulation during BC progression remains poorly known. For this reason, we aim to evaluate the correlation between intratumoral expression of DDR2 and the infiltration of the main TME cell populations, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). First, collagen and DDR2 expression levels were analyzed in human invasive BC samples. Then, DDR2 status correlation with tumor aggressiveness and patient survival were retrieved from different databases. Subsequently, the main pathways, cell types, and tissues correlated with DDR2 expression in BC were obtained through bioinformatics approach. Finally, we studied the association of DDR2 expression with the recruitment of CAFs and TAMs. Our findings showed that, together with the expected overexpression of TME markers, DDR2 was upregulated in tumor samples. Besides, we uncovered that altered TME markers were linked to DDR2 expression in invasive BC patients. Consequently, DDR2 modulates the stromal reaction through CAFs and TAMs infiltration and could be used as a potential worse prognostic factor in the treatment response of invasive BC.The authors thank Basurto University Hospital (Bilbao, Spain) for supporting this study by the OSI grant

Fungal keratitis: do not lose faith

Obejtivo: Se pretende demostrar la agresividad de la infección corneal de etiología fúngica y la necesidad de realizar múltiples y largos tratamientos tanto médicos como quirúrgicos, para evitar la pérdida del globo ocular. Métodos: Para ello, se presenta un caso clínico de queratitis fúngica en una mujer de 40 años. El cuadro cursa de forma muy agresiva causando la rápida desestructuración del segmento anterior del ojo y la pérdida casi total de agudeza visual. A pesar del tratamiento médico intensivo con antifúngicos tópicos, sistémicos e intraoculares durante tres meses, no se logró frenar la infección, siendo necesaria la realización de dos trasplantes corneales con cirugía de catarata y glaucoma asociadas. Resultados: Después de más de dos años de tratamiento médico-quirúrgico y estrecho seguimiento, se ha conseguido la remisión completa de la enfermedad, el mantenimiento de la estética y funcionalidad del globo ocular con recuperación del 100% de la agudeza visual.Purpose: This article aimed to demonstrate the aggressiveness of fungal keratitis and the need to perform multiple and long medical-surgical treatments in order to avoid eyeball´s loss. Methods: We report the case of a 40-year-old woman with fungal keratitis. The infection acts very aggressively, causing the rapid destruction of the anterior segment of the eye and the almost total loss of visual acuity. Despite the intensive medical treatment with topical, systemic and intraocular antifungal agents for three months, the infection was not stopped and It was necessary to perform two corneal transplants with associated cataract and glaucoma surgery. Results: After more than two years of medical-surgical treatment and close monitoring, complete remission of the disease, maintenance of aesthetics and eye’s functionality has been achieved with a 100% recovery of visual acuity

Making city in the "Non-City": the integration of irregular settlements in Andalusia. A case study

The problems associated with numerous irregular buildings existing in Andalucia today, demands a new approach. In order to deepen the definition of strategies of urbano-territorial integration of these settlements, we present a case study in which, at the end of its implementation in agent-based simulation models, we summarize the ODD Protocol which will form the basis of the simulation, indicating the determining factors to consider for an effective and participatory planning, that minimize the progressive estrangement between the normative framework and the reality that is tried to order.

Percepción de Calidad de Vida en Adultos Mayores Chihuahuenses, Comparaciones por Género

La calidad de vida es un estado de satisfacción general que se manifiesta a partir de la percepción de los individuos de su estado físico, psicológico y social. En este orden, el objetivo de esta investigación consistió comparar los perfiles de calidad de vida percibida en adultos mayores chihuahuenses. La muestra total fue de 492 adultos mayores; 291 mujeres y 201 hombres, con edades entre los 60 y 90 años. El abordaje adoptado en la investigación se enmarcó dentro de un enfoque cuantitativo con un diseño descriptivo tipo encuesta. Los resultados del análisis multivariante de la varianza, seguido por los análisis de varianza univariados, muestran que los hombres reportaron una mejor percepción de calidad de vida en los factores función física, vitalidad, rol físico, dolor corporal, rol emocional y salud mental; y sin diferencias significativas en los factores salud general y función social. Estos resultados revelan que en general los hombres en comparación con las mujeres muestran mayores niveles de percepción de calidad de vida. No obstante, es preciso desarrollar más investigación al respecto pues el tema trasciende del todo los alcances de la presente investigación. The quality of life is a state of general satisfaction that is manifested from the perception of individuals of their physical, psychological and social status. In this order, the goal of the present research was to compare the profiles of perceived quality of life in elderly participants from the State of Chihuahua. The total sample was 492 elderly people; 291 women and 201 men, with age ranging between 60 and 90 years. The adopted approach was quantitative with a descriptive, survey-like design. Results from the multivariate analyses of variance, followed up by univariate analyses of variance, showed that men report a better perception of quality of life on the factors physical functioning, vitality, physical role, body pain, emotional role and mental health; with no significant differences on the general health and social functioning factors. These results reveal that in general men in comparison to women show higher levels of perception of quality of life. However, it is important to develop more research because the topic trascends the scope of the present study

Switchable tribology of ferroelectrics

Artificially induced asymmetric tribological properties of ferroelectrics offer an alternative route to visualize and control ferroelectric domains. Here, we observe the switchable friction and wear behavior of ferroelectrics using a nanoscale scanning probe where down domains having lower friction coefficient than up domains can be used as smart masks as they show slower wear rate than up domains. This asymmetry is enabled by flexoelectrically coupled polarization in the up and down domains under a sufficiently high contact force. Moreover, we determine that this polarization-sensitive tribological asymmetry is universal across ferroelectrics with different chemical composition and crystalline symmetry. Finally, using this switchable tribology and multi-pass patterning with a domain-based dynamic smart mask, we demonstrate three-dimensional nanostructuring exploiting the asymmetric wear rates of up and down domains, which can, furthermore, be scaled up to technologically relevant (mm-cm) size. These findings establish that ferroelectrics are electrically tunable tribological materials at the nanoscale for versatile applications.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Gut epithelial barrier markers in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Background: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is now being recognized as an additional contributing factor to the pathogenesis of obesity-related comorbidities. At the same time, there is now increasing evidence to suggest that intestinal wall permeability plays a role in the development of metabolic syndrome. In the present study, circulating zonulin and fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) were measured in association with metabolic, hepatic, and inflammatory parameters. Results: compared with controls, plasma I-FABP levels were significantly higher in patients with OSA (571 pg/mL [IQR 290-950] vs 396 pg/mL [IQR 234-559], p = 0.04). Zonulin levels were similar between groups. Significant relationships were observed between zonulin levels and waist circumference (p < 0.05), glucose (p < 0.05), and insulin (p < 0.05). In addition, in the OSA group, zonulin levels correlated negatively with the mean nocturnal oxygenation saturation (p < 0.05) and positively with total cholesterol (p < 0.05), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (p < 0.005), aminotransferase (AST) (p < 0.01), gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT) (p < 0.005), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that associations between zonulin and ALT, AST, and hs-CRP were attenuated, but not eliminated, after adjustment for other variables. Conclusions: the results of this study suggest that OSA is a risk factor for intestinal damage, regardless of metabolic profile, and that intestinal permeability might be a possible contributor to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with OSA

Futuros arquitectos formadores: didáctica de la Arquitectura en la escuela

La enseñanza de la Arquitectura está reservada a los estudiantes: futuros arquitectos y arquitectas a quienes se les presupone actitud y aptitud para repensar la forma de habitar y de construir. Una vez formados en el manejo de diferentes disciplinas y ejercitados para el dominio de destrezas arquitectónicas, la sociedad pone en sus manos la responsabilidad de conformar nuestra forma de vivir, de relacionarnos, en definitiva, de ser. La educación temprana en conceptos arquitectónicos desarrolla en la persona capacidades que la hacen más creativa, independiente y, sobre todo, más crítica con su entorno construido. Enseñar Arquitectura a los niños y niñas es innovar fomentando un futuro donde todos y todas seamos capaces de replantear nuestra ocupación del territorio desde el conocimiento. En la actualidad, la introducción de la arquitectura en centros educativos es una realidad. Formar a estudiantes de arquitectura para que, durante su vida profesional, enseñen arquitectura a los niños y niñas, no sólo es un nuevo enfoque profesional sino que asegura una oportunidad para que mañana, ciudad y vivienda sean, al menos, diferentes. Este trabajo estudia el método de enseñar arquitectura a niños y niñas con ejemplos prácticos como base para su introducción en las Escuelas de Arquitectura