Algunas aportaciones de la psicologia al ámbito de los enfermos en situación terminal

En el presente trabajo se analiza, por un lado, el grado de precision del pronostico de longitud de vida de los enfermos en situación terminal en el momento del ingreso en una unidad de cuidados paliativos, y por otro, las principales preocupaciones manifestadas por los enfermos en el mismo periodo de tiempo. Asimismo, se describen, brevemente, algunas de las posibles intervenciones del psicólogo en la atención de este tipo de enfermosThe aim of this study was: a) to analyse the accuracy of prognosis life expectancy of terminally illpatients when Unit, and, b) to assess the main worries expressed by terminally cancerpatients at the moment of the admission in the Palliative Care Unit. From this point on, possible psychological interventions in this field are describe

Gauge and Yukawa mediated supersymmetry breaking in the triplet seesaw scenario

We propose a novel supersymmetric unified scenario of the triplet seesaw mechanism where the exchange of the heavy triplets generates both neutrino masses and soft supersymmetry breaking terms. Our framework is very predictive since it relates neutrino mass parameters, lepton flavour violation in the slepton sector, sparticle and Higgs spectra and electroweak symmetry breakdown. The phenomenological viability and experimental signatures in lepton flavor violating processes are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 3 eps figs. Comments and references added. Final version to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Blockade of adenosine A2A receptors prevents protein phosphorylation in the striatum induced by cortical stimulation

©2006 Society for NeurosciencePrevious studies have shown that cortical stimulation selectively activates extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation and immediate early gene expression in striatal GABAergic enkephalinergic neurons. In the present study, we demonstrate that blockade of adenosine A2A receptors with caffeine or a selective A2A receptor antagonist counteracts the striatal activation of cAMP– protein kinase A cascade (phosphorylation of the Ser845 residue of the glutamate receptor 1 subunit of the AMPA receptor) and mitogenactivated protein kinase (ERK1/2 phosphorylation) induced by the in vivo stimulation of corticostriatal afferents. The results indicate that A2A receptors strongly modulate the efficacy of glutamatergic synapses on striatal enkephalinergic neurons.This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Department of Health and Human Services

Indirect assessment of the contribution of NSM CFRP laminates for the shear strengthening of RC beams

Near Surface Mounted (NSM) strengthening technique has received increasing attention within the scientific and technical communities due to the positive indicators that this technique can provide in terms of strengthening performance. The NSM is especially effective for the shear strengthening of RC beams due to the ease of its application and the possibility of installing the Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) elements in the most appropriate locations for the optimization of their contribution in terms of shear resistance. Furthermore, the FRP elements are protected against acts of vandalism and do not change the geometric configuration of the strengthened components since they are installed into thin slits opened on the concrete cover. Although either circular or rectangular FRP bars are used, recent research shows that the latter (herein designated as laminates) are more effective and easier to install. Research carried out in the area of NSM for the shear strengthening of RC beams reveals that the percentage, inclination and spacing of FRP laminates have a considerable influence on the effectiveness of this technique. The percentage of existent internal stirrups, the relative position of stirrups and FRP laminates and concrete strength class are also important aspects for the performance of the NSM technique. To estimate the influence of these parameters, a new test setup is proposed and an experimental program has been planned. The test setup is similar to the indirect tensile test (Brazilian test). The experimental program consists of 27 cylindrical concrete specimens of 180 mm thickness and 600 mm diameter, grouped in series for evaluating the influence of the aforementioned parameters. The test setup is detailed, and the results of the first series are presented and discussed.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - POCTI/ECM/59033/2004

A business service selection model for automated web service discovery requirements

Automated web service (WS) discovery, i.e. discovery without human intervention, is a goal of service-oriented computing. So far it is an elusive goal. The weaknesses of UDDI and other partial solutions have been extensively discussed, but little has been articulated concerning the totality of requirements for automated web service discovery. Our work has led to the conclusion that solving automated web service discovery will not be found through solely technical thinking. We argue that the business motivation for web services must be given prominence and so have looked to processes in business for the identification, assessment and selection of business services in order to assess comprehensively the requirements for web service discovery and selection. The paper uses a generic business service selection model as a guide to analyze a comprehensive set of requirements for facilities to support automated web service discovery. The paper presents an overview of recent work on aspects of WS discovery, proposes a business service selection model, considers a range of technical issues against the business model, articulates a full set of requirements, and concludes with comments on a system to support them

Radiatively induced leptogenesis in a minimal seesaw model

We study the possibility that the baryon asymmetry of the universe is generated in a minimal seesaw scenario where two right-handed Majorana neutrinos with degenerate masses are added to the standard model particle content. In the usual framework of thermal leptogenesis, a nonzero $CP$ asymmetry can be obtained through the mass splitting induced by the running of the heavy Majorana neutrino masses from their degeneracy scale down to the seesaw scale. Although, in the light of the present neutrino oscillation data, the produced baryon asymmetry turns out to be smaller than the experimental value, the present mechanism could be viable in simple extensions of the standard model.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, uses RevTeX4, calculations improved, comments adde