Ammonia observations of the nearby molecular cloud MBM 12

We present NH3(1,1) and NH3(2,2) observations of MBM 12, the closest known molecular cloud (65 pc distance), aimed to find evidence for on-going star formation processes. No local temperature (with a T_rot upper limit of 12 K) nor linewidth enhancement is found, which suggests that the area of the cloud we mapped (~ 15' size) is not currently forming stars. Therefore, this close ``starless'' molecular gas region is an ideal laboratory to study the physical conditions preceding new star formation. A radio continuum source was found in Very Large Array archive data, close but outside the NH3 emission. This source is likely to be a background object.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRA

Lunar impact flashes from Geminids, analysis of luminous efficiencies and the flux of large meteoroids on Earth

We analyze lunar impact flashes recorded by our team during runs in December 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2014. In total, 12 impact flashes with magnitudes ranging between 7.1 and 9.3 in V band were identified. From these, 9 events could be linked to the Geminid stream. Using these observations the ratio of luminous energy emitted in the flashes with respect to the kinetic energy of the impactors for meteoroids of the Geminid stream is estimated. By making use of the known Geminids meteoroid flux on Earth we found this ratio to be 2.1x10$^{-3}$ on average. We compare this luminous efficiency with other estimations derived in the past for other meteoroid streams and also compare it with other estimations that we present here for the first time by making use of crater diameter measurements. We think that the luminous efficiency has to be revised downward, not upward, at least for sporadic impacts. This implies an increase in the influx of kilogram-sized and larger bodies on Earth that has been derived thus far through the lunar impact flash monitoring technique

Boundary conditions effects by Discontinuous Galerkin solvers for Boltzmann-Poisson models of electron transport

In this paper we perform, by means of Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) Finite Element Method (FEM) based numerical solvers for Boltzmann-Poisson (BP) semiclassical models of hot electronic transport in semiconductors, a numerical study of reflective boundary conditions in the BP system, such as specular reflection, diffusive reflection, and a mixed convex combination of these reflections, and their effect on the behavior of the solution. A boundary layer effect is observed in our numerical simulations for the kinetic moments related to diffusive and mixed reflection.Comment: appears in Computational Electronics (IWCE), 2014 International Workshop on, Paris, France. (2014). IEEE Xplore Digital Library 6865873.pd

Design of a case management model for people with chronic disease (Heart Failure and COPD). Phase I: modeling and identification of the main components of the intervention through their actors: patients and professionals (DELTA-ICE-PRO Study

Background Chronic diseases account for nearly 60% of deaths around the world. The extent of this silent epidemic has not met determined responses in governments, policies or professionals in order to transform old Health Care Systems, configured for acute diseases. There is a large list of research about alternative models for people with chronic conditions, many of them with an advanced practice nurse as a key provider, as case management. But some methodological concerns raise, above all, the design of the intervention (intensity, frequency, components, etc). Methods/Design Objectives: General: To develop the first and second phases (theorization and modeling) for designing a multifaceted case-management intervention in people with chronic conditions (COPD and heart failure) and their caregivers. Specific aims: 1) To identify key events in people living with chronic disease and their relation with the Health Care System, from their point of view. 2) To know the coping mechanisms developed by patients and their caregivers along the story with the disease. 3) To know the information processing and its utilization in their interactions with health care providers. 4) To detect potential unmet needs and the ways deployed by patients and their caregivers to resolve them. 5) To obtain a description from patients and caregivers, about their itineraries along the Health Care System, in terms of continuity, accessibility and comprehensiveness of care. 6) To build up a list of promising case-management interventions in patients with Heart Failure and COPD with this information in order to frame it into theoretical models for its reproducibility and conceptualization. 7) To undergo this list to expert judgment to assess its feasibility and pertinence in the Andalusian Health Care. Design: Qualitative research with two phases: For the first five objectives, a qualitative technique with biographic stories will be developed and, for the remaining objectives, an expert consensus through Delphi technique, on the possible interventions yielded from the first phase. The study will be developed in the provinces of Almería, Málaga and Granada in the Southern Spain, from patients included in the Andalusian Health Care Service database with the diagnosis of COPD or Heart Failure, with the collaboration of case manager nurses and general practitioners for the assessment of their suitability to inclusion criteria. Patients and caregivers will be interviewed in their homes or their Health Centers, with their family or their case manager nurse as mediator. Discussion First of a series of studies intended to design a case-management service for people with heart failure and COPD, in the Andalusian Health Care System, where case management has been implemented since 2002. Accordingly with the steps of a theoretical model for complex interventions, in this study, theorization and intervention modeling phases will be developed.This research was carried out with the support of one research grant, awarded by the Regional Health Ministry of Andalusia (Exp. 0222/2008

Usefulness of open data to determine the incidence of COVID-19 and its relationship with atmospheric variables in Spain during the 2020 lockdown

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the spread of the COVID-19 disease led to a lockdown being imposed in Spain to minimise contagion from 16 March 2020 to 1 May 2020. Over this period, measures were taken to reduce population mobility (a key factor in disease transmission). The scenario thus created enabled us to examine the impact of factors other than mobility (in this case, meteorological conditions) on the incidence of the disease, and thus to identify which environmental variables played the biggest role in the pandemic's evolution. Worthy of note, the data required to perform the study was entirely extracted from governmental open data sources. The present work therefore demonstrates the utility of such data to conduct scientific research of interest to society, leading to studies that are also fully reproducible. The results revealed a relationship between temperatures and the spread of COVID-19. The trend was that of a slightly lower disease incidence as the minimum temperature rises, i.e. the lower the minimum temperature, the greater the number of cases. Furthermore, a link was found between the incidence of the disease and other variables, such as altitude and proximity to the sea. There were no indications, however, in the study's data, of a relationship between incidence and precipitation or wind.This work is funded by GVA-COVID19/2021/103 project from “Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital de la Generalitat Valenciana”

Intersecting Attractors

We apply the entropy formalism to the study of the near-horizon geometry of extremal black p-brane intersections in D>5 dimensional supergravities. The scalar flow towards the horizon is described in terms an effective potential given by the superposition of the kinetic energies of all the forms under which the brane is charged. At the horizon active scalars get fixed to the minima of the effective potential and the entropy function is given in terms of U-duality invariants built entirely out of the black p-brane charges. The resulting entropy function reproduces the central charges of the dual boundary CFT and gives rise to a Bekenstein-Hawking like area law. The results are illustrated in the case of black holes and black string intersections in D=6, 7, 8 supergravities where the effective potentials, attractor equations, moduli spaces and entropy/central charges are worked out in full detail.Comment: 1+41 pages, 2 Table

Phenotyping Genetic Diseases Using an Extension of μ-Scores for Multivariate Data

As the field of genomics matures, more complex genotypes and phenotypes are being studied. Fanconi anemia (FA), for example, is an inherited chromosome instability syndrome with a complex array of variable disease phenotypes including congenital malformations, hematological manifestations, and cancer. To better understand specific aspects of the genetic etiology of FA and other rare diseases with complex phenotypes, it is often necessary to reduce the dimensions of the disease phenotype information. Towards this end, we extend a novel non-parametric approach to include information about a hierarchical structure among disease phenotypes. The proposed extension increases information content of the phenotype scores obtained and, thereby, the power of genotype-phenotype relationships studies