In-line evanescent-field-coupled THz bandpass mux/demux fabricated by additive layer manufacturing technology

In this research, we present the design, fabrication, and experimental validation of 3D printed bandpass filters and mux/demux elements for terahertz frequencies. The filters consist of a set of in-line polystyrene (PS) rectangular waveguides, separated by 100 µm, 200 µm, and 400 µm air gaps. The principle of operation for the proposed filters resides in coupled-mode theory. Q-factors of up to 3.4 are observed, and additionally, the experimental evidence demonstrates that the Q-factor of the filters can be improved by adding fiber elements to the design. Finally, using two independent THz broadband channels, we demonstrate the first mux/demux device based on 3D printed in-line filters for the THz range. This approach represents a fast, robust, and low-cost solution for the next generation of THz devices for communications

Glucemia y rendimiento en ciclistas amateur de resistencia participantes de “La Quebrantahuesos”

Debido al aumento del número de personas que compiten en eventos deportivos y la importancia que tiene la nutrición, salud y rendimiento en las diferentes disciplinas deportivas, más concretamente en las de larga duración como el ciclismo, el objetivo de nuestro estudio fue analizar la asociación entre los niveles de glucosa en sangre post-ejercicio con los síntomas clínicos manifestados, la edad, el entrenamiento previo y el rendimiento en ciclistas amateur que compiten en pruebas de larga duración. La muestra fue de 104 (6 de ellos no finalizaron la prueba) ciclistas amateur masculinos españoles, los cuales realizaron la prueba cicloturista llamada “Quebrantahuesos”. Se realizaron análisis de Chi-cuadrado (x2), t-student, y regresiones logísticas. Se observó una clara disminución de la glucemia y el peso corporal pre y post- ejercicio. No se encontró ninguna correlación entre la glucemia post-ejercicio y la edad de los ciclistas, kilómetros de entrenamiento previos a la carrera, rendimiento de la prueba y cortisol. Por los resultados de esta investigación, podemos concluir que las pruebas de ciclismo en carretera de larga duración inducen a una clara disminución de la glucemia durante el ejercicio. Pese a esto, la hipoglucemia en el deportista parece que es bien tolerada, ya que los sujetos presentaron una escasa clínica al finalizar la prueba y esta no se correspondía con los signos o síntomas clásicos de la hipoglucemia. Además, el nivel de glucosa en sangre al finalizar la prueba no influyó en el rendimiento de la misma. Owing to the increased number of persons taking part in sporting events and the importance of diet, health, and performance in different sports disciplines, especially those of long duration such as cycling, the aim of our study was to analyze the association between post-exercise glycemia and clinical symptoms, age, pre-training, and performance in amateur cyclists competing in long-duration races. The sample was composed by 104 (six cyclists did not finish the race) Spanish male amateur cyclists, who performed the cycle-tourist race "Quebrantahuesos". Chi-square (x(2)), t-student, and logistic regression analyses were performed. There was a significant decrease in glycemia and weight pre and post-exercise. No correlation was found between post-exercise glycemia and the age of cyclists, kilometers covered in previous trainings, performance, and cortisol levels. Based on the results of this study, we can conclude that long-duration-race cycling leads to a clear decrease in blood glucose during exercise. Despite this, hypoglycemia in athletes seems to be well tolerated, as the subjects manifested very few symptoms at the end of the race and these did not correspond to the classic signs of hypoglycemia. Further, glycemia post-exercise did not affect performance

Design and fabrication of 3-D printed conductive polymer structures for THz polarization control

In this paper, we numerically and experimentally demonstrate the inverse polarization effect in three-dimensional (3-D) printed polarizers for the frequency range of 0.5 - 2.7 THz. The polarizers simply consist of 3-D printed strip lines of conductive polylactic acid (CPLA, Proto-Pasta) and do not require a substrate or any further metallic deposition. The experimental and numerical results show that the proposed structure acts as a broadband polarizer between the range of 0.3 THz to 2.7 THz, in which the inverse polarization effect is clearly seen for frequencies above 0.5 THz. In the inverse polarization effect, the transmission of the transverse electric (TE) component exceeds that of the TM component, in contrast to the behavior of a typical wire-grid polarizer. We show how the performance of the polarizers depends on the spacing and thickness of the CPLA structure; extinction ratios higher than 20 dB are achieved. This is the first report using CPLA to fabricate THz polarizers, demonstrating the potential of using conductive polymers to design THz components efficiently and robustly

Nurse experiences of medication administration to people with swallowing difficulties living in aged care facilities: a systematic review of qualitative evidence

To identify nurses' experiences of administering oral medications to residents of aged care facilities (ACFs) with swallowing difficulties.Administering medicines to older people with swallowing difficulties is a challenging task. Nurses frequently modify oral medications e.g. by crushing/splitting tablets or opening capsules, to facilitate the administration process. These practices are associated with an increased risk of medication administration errors. However, the reasons for these practices from the nurse's perspective are not well understood.The review investigated studies on the experiences of nurses of any level with the responsibility of medication administration in ACFs in terms of problems and challenges they encountered when administering oral medicines to aged care residents with swallowing difficulties. Aged care facilities providing all levels of care were considered for inclusion. Qualitative studies including, but not limited to, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and action research designs as well as mixed methods studies and text and opinion papers were considered.A comprehensive database search of PubMed, CINAHL, Embase and Scopus was conducted between October and December 2016. MedNar and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses were used to search for gray literature. No date limitation was applied. The Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument critical appraisal tool (JBI-QARI) was used to assess the quality of the papers. The JBI-QARI data extraction instrument was used to extract qualitative findings. Data synthesis was not applicable in the final analysis due to the inclusion of only one article.The initial search resulted in 1681 unique titles for screening. A total of 202 abstracts were screened, after which a full-text review conducted for 19 articles. After the full-text review, only one article was eligible to be included in the final report. The included study scored highly in terms of methodological quality. The findings highlighted issues around time constraints, complexity of medication administration process to residents of ACFs with swallowing difficulties, cost and resources for alternative strategies, inefficient information flow and communication among healthcare professionals, and nurses' knowledge and training needs.The limited findings of this systematic review indicate that further research is necessary to provide evidence of nurses' experiences with regards to administering oral medications to older people with swallowing difficulties living in ACFs. A comprehensive understanding of these experiences may lead to organizational system changes to support nurses and older people with swallowing difficulties in ACFs

Supplementation of porcin in vitro maturation medium with FGF2, LIF, and IGF1 enhances cytoplasmic maturation in prepubertal gilts oocytes and improves embryo quality

In porcine production (IVP) systems, the use of oocytes derived from prepubertal gilts, whilst being commercially attractive, remains challenging due to their poor developmental competence following maturation (IVM). Follicular fluid contains important growth factors and plays a key role during oocyte maturation; therefore, it is a common supplementation for porcine IVM medium. However, follicular fluid contains many poorly characterized components, is batch variable, and its use raises biosecurity concerns. In an effort to design a defined IVM system, growth factors such as cytokines have been previously tested. These include leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), the combination of which is termed 'FLI'. Here, using abattoir-derived oocytes in a well established porcine IVP system, we compared follicular fluid and FLI supplementation during both IVM and embryo culture to test the hypothesis that FLI can substitute for follicular fluid without compromising oocyte nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation. We demonstrate that in oocytes derived from prepubertal gilts, FLI supplementation enhances oocyte meiotic maturation and has a positive effect on the quality and developmental competence of embryos. Moreover, for the first time, we studied the effects of follicular fluid and FLI combined showing no synergistic effects

Scaling Laws in Human Language

Zipf's law on word frequency is observed in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and so on, yet it does not hold for Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters. A model for writing process is proposed to explain the above difference, which takes into account the effects of finite vocabulary size. Experiments, simulations and analytical solution agree well with each other. The results show that the frequency distribution follows a power law with exponent being equal to 1, at which the corresponding Zipf's exponent diverges. Actually, the distribution obeys exponential form in the Zipf's plot. Deviating from the Heaps' law, the number of distinct words grows with the text length in three stages: It grows linearly in the beginning, then turns to a logarithmical form, and eventually saturates. This work refines previous understanding about Zipf's law and Heaps' law in language systems.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Cross-Resistance to Abiraterone and Enzalutamide in Castration Resistance Prostate Cancer Cellular Models Is Mediated by AR Transcriptional Reactivation

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and novel hormonal agents (NHAs) (Abiraterone and Enzalutamide) are the goal standard for metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) treatment. Although ADT is initially effective, a subsequent castration resistance status (CRPC) is commonly developed. The expression of androgen receptor (AR) alternative splicing isoforms (AR-V7 and AR-V9) has been associated to CRPC. However, resistance mechanisms to novel NHAs are not yet well understood. Androgen-dependent PCa cell lines were used to generate resistant models to ADT only or in combination with Abiraterone and/or Enzalutamide (concomitant models). Functional and genetic analyses were performed for each resistance model by real-time cell monitoring assays, flow cytometry and RT-qPCR. In androgen-dependent PCa cells, the administration of Abiraterone and/or Enzalutamide as first-line treatment involved a critical inhibition of AR activity associated with a significant cell growth inhibition. Genetic analyses on ADT-resistant PCa cell lines showed that the CRPC phenotype was accompanied by overexpression of AR full-length and AR target genes, but not necessarily AR-V7 and/or AR-V9 isoforms. These ADT resistant cell lines showed higher proliferation rates, migration and invasion abilities. Importantly, ADT resistance induced cross-resistance to Abiraterone and/or Enzalutamide. Similarly, concomitant models possessed an elevated expression of AR full-length and proliferation rates and acquired cross-resistance to its alternative NHA as second-line treatment.Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI17/00989European Regional Development Fund "A way to build Europe"Ramon y Cajal - Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness RYC-2015-18382Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport FPU14/05461University of Granad

Chemical Abundance Analysis of Tucana III, the Second rr-process Enhanced Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy

We present a chemical abundance analysis of four additional confirmed member stars of Tucana III, a Milky Way satellite galaxy candidate in the process of being tidally disrupted as it is accreted by the Galaxy. Two of these stars are centrally located in the core of the galaxy while the other two stars are located in the eastern and western tidal tails. The four stars have chemical abundance patterns consistent with the one previously studied star in Tucana III: they are moderately enhanced in $r$-process elements, i.e. they have $\approx +$0.4 dex. The non-neutron-capture elements generally follow trends seen in other dwarf galaxies, including a metallicity range of 0.44 dex and the expected trend in $\alpha$-elements, i.e., the lower metallicity stars have higher Ca and Ti abundance. Overall, the chemical abundance patterns of these stars suggest that Tucana III was an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy, and not a globular cluster, before being tidally disturbed. As is the case for the one other galaxy dominated by $r$-process enhanced stars, Reticulum II, Tucana III's stellar chemical abundances are consistent with pollution from ejecta produced by a binary neutron star merger, although a different $r$-process element or dilution gas mass is required to explain the abundances in these two galaxies if a neutron star merger is the sole source of $r$-process enhancement.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures; accepted by Ap

SIRT7 mediates L1 elements transcriptional repression and their association with the nuclear lamina

Long interspersed elements-1 (LINE-1, L1) are retrotransposons that hold the capacity of self-propagation in the genome with potential mutagenic outcomes. How somatic cells restrict L1 activity and how this process becomes dysfunctional during aging and in cancer cells is poorly understood. L1s are enriched at lamin-associated domains, heterochromatic regions of the nuclear periphery. Whether this association is necessary for their repression has been elusive. Here we show that the sirtuin family member SIRT7 participates in the epigenetic transcriptional repression of L1 genome-wide in both mouse and human cells. SIRT7 depletion leads to increased L1 expression and retrotransposition. Mechanistically, we identify a novel interplay between SIRT7 and Lamin A/C in L1 repression. Our results demonstrate that SIRT7-mediated H3K18 deacetylation regulates L1 expression and promotes L1 association with elements of the nuclear lamina. The failure of such activity might contribute to the observed genome instability and compromised viability in SIRT7 knockout mice. Overall, our results reveal a novel function of SIRT7 on chromatin organization by mediating the anchoring of L1 to the nuclear envelope, and a new functional link of the nuclear lamina with transcriptional repression