Testing for alpha-1 antitrypsin in COPD in outpatient respiratory clinics in Spain: A multilevel, cross-sectional analysis of the EPOCONSUL study

Background Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is the most common hereditary disorder in adults, but is under-recognized. In Spain, the number of patients diagnosed with AATD is much lower than expected according to epidemiologic studies. The objectives of this study were to assess the frequency and determinants of testing serum α1-antitrypsin (AAT) levels in COPD patients, and to describe factors associated with testing. Methods EPOCONSUL is a cross-sectional clinical audit, recruiting consecutive COPD cases over one year. The study evaluated serum AAT level determination in COPD patients and associations between individual, disease-related, and hospital characteristics. Results A total of 4,405 clinical records for COPD patients from 57 Spanish hospitals were evaluated. Only 995 (22.5%) patients had serum AAT tested on some occasion. A number of patient characteristics (being male [OR 0.5, p < 0.001], ≤55 years old [OR 2.38, p<0.001], BMI≤21 kg/m2 [OR 1.71, p<0.001], FEV1(%)<50% [OR 1.35, p<0.001], chronic bronchitis [OR 0.79, p < 0.001], Charlson index ≥ 3 [OR 0.66, p < 0.001], or history or symptoms of asthma [OR 1.32, p<0.001]), and management at a specialized COPD outpatient clinic [OR 2.73,p<0.001] were identified as factors independently associated with ever testing COPD patients for AATD. Overall, 114 COPD patients (11.5% of those tested) had AATD. Of them, 26 (22.8%) patients had severe deficiency. Patients with AATD were younger, with a low pack-year index, and were more likely to have emphysema (p<0.05). Conclusion Testing of AAT blood levels in COPD patients treated at outpatient respiratory clinics in Spain is infrequent. However, when tested, AATD (based on the serum AAT levels ≤100 mg/dL) is detected in one in five COPD patients. Efforts to optimize AATD case detection in COPD are needed.SEPA

Urban transport in the EU Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities: preliminary data from applicants' expressions of interest

The EU Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities is an ambitious initiative to involve a wide range of stakeholders and deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030. These cities will act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050. The results from the expressions of interest suggest that the Mission's objectives are shared by a significant number of cities: 314 EU cities (representing 18% of EU population) plus 48 non-EU cities declared their ambition and preparedness to become climate neutral. Transport is a key sector to address, with the overwhelming majority of applicant cities setting specific targets and policy measures. Electrification of urban transport appears as the main approach towards decarbonization. Nevertheless, the required investments and the repercussion on the citizens' costs for mobility are major concerns

Corrigendum: Method for Improving EEG Based Emotion Recognition by Combining It with Synchronized Biometric and Eye Tracking Technologies in a Non-invasive and Low Cost Way

Inclou: López-Gil J-M, Virgili-Gomá J, Gil R, Guilera T, Batalla I, Soler-González J and García R (2016) Corrigendum: Method for Improving EEG Based Emotion Recognition by Combining It with Synchronized Biometric and Eye Tracking Technologies in a Non-invasive and Low Cost Way. Front. Comput. Neurosci. 10:119. doi: 10.3389/fncom.2016.00119Technical advances, particularly the integration of wearable and embedded sensors, facilitate tracking of physiological responses in a less intrusive way. Currently, there are many devices that allow gathering biometric measurements from human beings, such as EEG Headsets or Health Bracelets. The massive data sets generated by tracking of EEG and physiology may be used, among other things, to infer knowledge about human moods and emotions. Apart from direct biometric signal measurement, eye tracking systems are nowadays capable of determining the point of gaze of the users when interacting in ICT environments, which provides an added value research on many different areas, such as psychology or marketing. We present a process in which devices for eye tracking, biometric, and EEG signal measurements are synchronously used for studying both basic and complex emotions. We selected the least intrusive devices for different signal data collection given the study requirements and cost constraints, so users would behave in the most natural way possible. On the one hand, we have been able to determine basic emotions participants were experiencing by means of valence and arousal. On the other hand, a complex emotion such as empathy has also been detected. To validate the usefulness of this approach, a study involving forty-four people has been carried out, where they were exposed to a series of affective stimuli while their EEG activity, biometric signals, and eye position were synchronously recorded to detect self-regulation. The hypothesis of the work was that people who self-regulated would show significantly different results when analyzing their EEG data. Participants were divided into two groups depending on whether Electro Dermal Activity (EDA) data indicated they self-regulated or not. The comparison of the results obtained using different machine learning algorithms for emotion recognition shows that using EEG activity alone as a predictor for self-regulation does not allow properly determining whether a person in self-regulation its emotions while watching affective stimuli. However, adequately combining different data sources in a synchronous way to detect emotions makes it possible to overcome the limitations of single detection methods.This work has been supported by the Basque Government (IT421-10 and IT722-13), the Gipuzkoa Council (FA-208/2014-B) and the University of the Basque Country (PPV12/09). It has also been supported by InDAGuS (Spanish Government TIN2012-37826-C02) and INSPIRES, the Polytechnic Institute of Research and Innovation in Sustainability, Universitat de Lleida, Spain

Pràctiques de Eines de Disseny - Disseny de Circuits Impresos (PCBs)

Aquest document proporciona una guia completa per a les pràctiques d'Eines de Disseny de Circuits Impresos (PCBs) per als estudiants del Grau d'Enginyeria Electrònica de Telecomunicació. A través d'aquesta guia, els estudiants podran aprendre les tasques específiques que es requereixen per al disseny de PCBs, incloent-hi la concepció, l'esquemàtic, el Layout, verificació, i la fabricació. A més a més, aquest document també proporciona informació sobre l'ús de l'eina de disseny KiCad EDA, que és una eina de disseny de PCBs de codi obert i gratuïta. El document també ofereix una secció extensa de material addicional, incluint recursos sobre formats d'encapsulat estàndard, la incorporació de models SPICE a simulacions LTspice, i més. A més, es destaca la importància del control de versions en el disseny de PCBs, proporcionant enllaços a eines útils com CADLAB.io per a la gestió visual de versions de PCBs

Patrimonio arquitectónico moderno en la región de Murcia: análisis y puesta en valor

Desde nuestro punto de vista, la arquitectura moderna sí que genera identidad y por lo tanto constituye patrimonio. En la actualidad el concepto de valor patrimonial ha evolucionado y podemos entender la arquitectura del Movimiento Moderno como representativa del momento cultural que precede, conduce y explica el nuestro, formando parte de la memoria colectiva de la sociedad.Nuestra intención es poner de manifiesto el valor de la arquitectura y el urbanismo moderno como patrimonio cultural, en general, y de la Región de Murcia en particular. La relevancia del mismo está aún en debate y controversia ya que su consideración como patrimonio es susceptible de reconocimiento público. Hoy en día hemos logrado una suficiente distancia temporal con la producción del siglo como para emitir un juicio crítico sobre el valor y significación de las obras en el contexto del mismo para proceder a comparaciones que nos permitan identificar a las obras más representativas.Región de Murcia. Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena. Campus Mare Nostrum. Forum Unesco. Escuela de Arquitectura e Ingeniería de Edificación. (ARQUIDE). Universidad de Murcia. Facultad de Letras. Ayuntamiento de Cartagena Lorquimur. Restauración y construcción. Restauralia Cartago. Grupo Entorno

Textos sobre Educación Universitaria: la Docencia de la Estadística (2014)

Esta publicación recoge diversas contribuciones del Grupo de Innovación Docente Consolidado “ANDES - Análisis de Datos en Economía y Empresa” que difunden los trabajos relacionados con la innovación docente en el amplio universo del análisis de datos. Se trata, pues, de un texto que pretende hacer llegar a docentes universitarios (o personas interesadas en la docencia universitaria) la investigación y la innovación que se producen en este ámbito. El Grupo de Innovación Docente Consolidado “ANDES” tiene como objetivos estudiar, analizar, ajustar y movilizar los recursos y acciones necesarias para mejorar la docencia de la Estadística y otras asignaturas de análisis de datos, que se dirigen a estudiantes de diferentes Grados, como Estadística, ADE, Economía, etc. Fundamentalmente, el trabajo de innovación docente se focaliza en asignaturas obligatorias y troncales de los Grados mencionados.Este texto ha sido llevado a cabo en el marco de los proyectos 2012PID-UB/094, 2013PID-UB/004, REDICE12-1623-02 y REDICE-ACCIÓ-13-01. Agradecemos a la Universitat de Barcelona su apoyo y financiación.Este texto ha sido llevado a cabo en el marco de los proyectos 2012PID-UB/094, 2013PID-UB/004, REDICE12-1623-02 y REDICE-ACCIÓ-13-01. Agradecemos a la Universitat de Barcelona su apoyo y financiació

The mechanism of the transpersulfuration reaction in a cysteine desulfurase-sulfur acceptor model system

Trabajo presentado en las 1as Jornadas Españolas de Biocatálisis, celebradas en Madrid (España) del 02 al 03 de julio de 2015.Escherichia coli CsdA cysteine desulfurase (the sulfur donor) and the CsdE sulfur acceptor are involved in biological sulfur trafficking, in iron-sulfur cluster assembly, and tRNA hypermodification [1] in the model bacterium Escherichia coli. CsdA and CsdE form a stable complex through a polar interface. Although mechanisms for the transfer of a sulfur moiety across protein-protein interfaces have been proposed based on the IscS-IscU and IscS-TusA structures [2,3], the flexibility of the catalytic Cys loops involved has precluded a high resolution view of the active-site geometry and chemical environment responsible to facilitate sulfur transfer. Here, we have used a combination of X-ray crystallography, solution NMR, biophysical and computational chemistry methods to unravel how CsdA provides a specific recognition platform for CsdE and how their complex organizes a composite functional reaction environment. A mechanistic view of sulfur transfer across protein-protein interfaces emerges from the structural analysis of the CSD system

Innovació i investigació docent per millorar l’enginy i la creativitat dels alumnes d’Enginyeria i Arquitectura

El nou marc de l’EEES i l’experiència docent en las àrees de l’Enginyeria i l’Arquitectura, indueix a pensar en la introducció de noves metodologies docents motivades per la necessitat d’adaptar, en la mesura del possible, els coneixements que l’alumne adquireix a la Universidad al món professional de les empreses. L’ensenyament a Enginyeria i Arquitectura, s’ha ha basat, tradicionalment, en l’aplicació de models matemàtics. Així, els exercicis plantejats als alumnes es redueixen, la majoria de vegades, a aplicar aquest models matemàtics. La realitat professional és ben diferent, l’arquitecte i/o enginyer no tindrà sovint temps de fer anàlisis tant detallats com els que realitzava com alumne; és per això que sembla aconsellable variar el model d’ensenyança / aprenentatge.Peer Reviewe

Mechanism of sulfur transfer across protein-protein interfaces: The cysteine desulfurase model system

CsdA cysteine desulfurase (the sulfur donor) and the CsdE sulfur acceptor are involved in biological sulfur trafficking and in iron-sulfur cluster assembly in the model bacterium Escherichia coli. CsdA and CsdE form a stable complex through a polar interface that includes CsdA Cys328 and CsdE Cys61, the two residues known to be involved in the sulfur transfer reaction. Although mechanisms for the transfer of a sulfur moiety across protein-protein interfaces have been proposed based on the IscS-IscU and IscS-TusA structures, the flexibility of the catalytic cysteine loops involved has precluded a high resolution view of the active-site geometry and chemical environment for sulfur transfer. Here, we have used a combination of X-ray crystallography, solution NMR and SAXS, isothermal calorimetry, and computational chemistry methods to unravel how CsdA provides a specific recognition platform for CsdE and how their complex organizes a composite functional reaction environment. The X-ray structures of persulfurated (CsdA) and persulfurated (CsdA-CsdE) complexes reveal the crucial roles of the conserved active-site cysteine loop and additional catalytic residues in supporting the transpersulfuration reaction. A mechanistic view of sulfur transfer across protein-protein interfaces that underpins the requirement for the conserved cysteine loop to provide electrostatic stabilization for the in-transfer sulfur atom emerges from the analysis of the persulfurated (CsdA-CsdE) complex structure.BFU2008-02372/BMC, CSD 2006-23, and BFU2011-22588 to M.C., CTQ2012-36253-C03-03 and CTQ2015-66223-C2 to I.T., CTQ2015-64597-C2-1-P to J.J.B., and BFU2010-22266- C02-02 and CTQ2015-66206-C2-2-R to M.C.V. Further support for this work was obtained from the Generalitat Valenciana (ACOMP/2015/239 to I.T.) and from the European Commission FP7 ComplexINC grant (contract no. 279039) to M.C.V.Peer Reviewe

Low-oxidation-state Ru sites stabilized in carbon-doped RuO2 with low-temperature CO2 activation to yield methane

The generation of methane fuel using surplus renewable energy with CO as the carbon source enables both the decarbonization and substitution of fossil fuel feedstocks. However, high temperatures are usually required for the efficient activation of CO. Here we present a solid catalyst synthesized using a mild, green hydrothermal synthesis that involves interstitial carbon doped into ruthenium oxide, which enables the stabilization of Ru cations in a low oxidation state and a ruthenium oxycarbonate phase to form. The catalyst shows an activity and selectivity for the conversion of CO into methane at lower temperatures than those of conventional catalysts, with an excellent long-term stability. Furthermore, this catalyst is able to operate under intermittent power supply conditions, which couples very well with electricity production systems based on renewable energies. The structure of the catalyst and the nature of the ruthenium species were acutely characterized by combining advanced imaging and spectroscopic tools at the macro and atomic scales, which highlighted the low-oxidation-state Ru sites (Ru, 0 < n < 4) as responsible for the high catalytic activity. This catalyst suggests alternative perspectives for materials design using interstitial dopants.We thank the support of C. Cerdá and M. D. Soriano in the catalyst preparation and testing. This research was funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (grant nos. PID2021-1262350B-C31, PID2020-113006-RB-I00, PID2019-110018GA-I00 and MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), Generalitat Valenciana (grant no. CIAICO/2021/2138), the Department of Economy, Knowledge, Business and the University of the Regional Government of Andalusia (project reference FEDER-UCA18-107139). This study forms part of the Advanced Materials programme and was supported by MCIN with funding from the European Union Next Generation (EU PRTR-C17.11) and by Generalitad Valenciana (ref. MFA/2022/016). C.T.-S. acknowledges the Polytechnical University of Valencia for the economic support through an FPI scholarship associated with the PAID programme ‘Programa de Ayudas de Investigación y Desarrollo’. XAS, XPS and XRD experiments were performed at the ALBA Synchrotron with the collaboration of ALBA staff. Infrared experiments were performed at the SOLEIL Synchrotron with the collaboration of SOLEIL staff