Evolution in the use of natural building stone in Madrid, Spain

Many types of stone have been used for construction in Madrid. In historical times, their use was determined by the proximity of the geological resources, the ease of quarrying and transportation links to the city. More recently, as transport connections and quarrying techniques have improved, quality and durability have become key determinants of building stone selection. Local flint was used intensively from the ninth to the eleventh century, when it was replaced by Redueña dolostone, used in turn until the seventeenth century. Granitic rocks from the Guadarrama Mountain Range that crop out in the northern and western area of the province increasingly began to be used in the city from the sixteenth century. Traditionally known as Berroqueña stone, this building stone was quarried in a number of areas; the primary point of supply was Zarzalejo, and from the eighteenth century the granite used was mainly quarried in the Alpedrete area. Eighteenth century advances in underground quarrying made it possible to extract a limestone (Colmenar stone) located in the southeastern part of the region. Together with Berroqueña stone, this limestone became one of Madrid's traditional building stones, and both, highly esteemed for their excellent petrophysical properties and durability, are still used today

Oftalmopatía tiroidea: determinación de parámetros de actividad clínica de la oftalmopatía tiroidea como factor pronóstico de respuesta al tratamiento inmunosupresor

Objective: To determine the usefulness of the clinical, biochemical and thyroid imaging parameters in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy, in predicting their response to immunosuppressive treatment. Methods: This retrospective study of 16 patients with thyroid ophthalmopathy considered a number of variables including sex, age, thyroid hormone levels, treatment of the thyroid dysfunction, clinical activity score (CAS), severity (NOSPECS) of the ophthalmopathy, signs in standardized A-mode ultrasonography, in CAT and/or NMR, and previously used treatments and their effectiveness. Results: The average age of the patients was 50.81 (S.D: 11.89) years; there were 5 males (31.3%) and 11 females (68.8%). The ophthalmopathy was classified as active in 10/16 patients (62.5%) and inactive in 6/16 (37.5%); and as moderate in 9/16 (56.25%) and severe in 7/16 (43.75%) according to the severity defined in NOSPECS. Ultrasonography was diagnostic in 100% of the cases. The severity decreased significantly (p ≤ 0.05), however the clinical activity decrease did not reach significance (p=0.38) during immunosuppressive therapy. Better results were obtained during treatment of patients with a higher CAS (p=0.04) and in those with more severe ophthalmopathy (p=0.02). There was a tendency for the patients with higher levels of TSI to respond better to the treatment (p=0.06). Conclusions: The CAS is the best parameter to quantify the activity of the disease and predicting the response to treatment. The higher the CAS and the more severe the ophthalmopathy, the better the response to treatment. No association existed between thyroid function and the activity or severity of the ophthalmopathy; or the effectiveness of treatmen

Neuropatía óptica autoinmune recidivante bilateral en la infancia

Clinical case: A ten year-old girl, after a Yersinia gastroenteritis, developed an optic neuritis in the left eye. She was not treated and resulted ultimately in optic atrophy on the affected side. Six months later a similar episode occurred in the contralateral eye. On this occasion corticosteroid therapy was given. During this therapy the neuritis diminished; however the patient had three relapses, so it was decided to give her immunosuppressive treatment with azathioprine and continue this indefinitely. Discussion: After considering the differential diagnoses of bilateral recurrent optical neuritis in childhood, we concluded that it was most likely to have an autoimmune basis. After considering the benefits and risks of the long-term treatment, we believe immunosuppressive therapy is most useful in controlling the disease allowing corticosteroid therapy to be reduced (Arch Soc Esp Oftalmol 2006; 81: 607-610)

Aceite de silicona para el tratamiento de la maculopatía hipotónica

Case report: We report a case of a man who developed hypotonic maculopathy after vitreoretinal surgery for anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy. After an injection of intravitreal triamcinolone, the ocular pressure did not increase, therefore silicone oil was injected. After this, the visual acuity increased and the choroidal and retinal folds regressed. Discussion: Hypotonic maculopathy is a frustrating problem, often resulting in poor visual acuity. There are not many effective treatments. The injection of silicone oil could be an alternative to increase the intraocular pressure and re-establish the normal anatomy of the eye, improving the visual acuity in some patient

Hemorragia submacular traumática tratada con rt-PA y SF6

This patient was afflicted by a traumatic submacular hemorrhage. A posterior vitrectomy was performed and intravitreal rt-PA and SF6 were administered. Four weeks later, the visual acuity had increased from 0.1 to 0.8. No complications due to the treatment with rt-PA were reported. DISCUSSION: It is known that waiting for the spontaneous blood removal in such cases results in a poor visual acuity recovery due to a toxic effect of the blood products. Both rt-PA and the SF6 are useful for the treatment of submacular hemorrhages secondary to age-related macular degeneration, and this case report has shown they are also useful to lyse traumatic blood clots, thus contributing to a better recovery of visual acuity

Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and Renal Cell Cancer Syndrome in Spain: Clinical and Genetic Characterization

Simple Summary Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC) syndrome is a very rare hereditary disorder characterized by cutaneous leiomyomas (CLMs), uterine leiomyomas (ULMs), renal cysts (RCys) and renal cell cancer (RCC), with no data on its prevalence worldwide. No genotype-phenotype associations have been described. The aim of our study was to describe the genotypic and phenotypic features of the largest series of patients with HLRCC from Spain reported to date. Of 27 FH germline pathogenic variants, 12 were not previously reported in databases. Patients with missense pathogenic variants showed higher frequencies of CLMs, ULMs and RCys, than those with loss-of-function variants. The frequency of RCCs (10.9%) was lower than those reported in the previously published series. Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer syndrome (HLRCC) is a very rare hereditary disorder characterized by cutaneous leiomyomas (CLMs), uterine leiomyomas (ULMs), renal cysts (RCys) and renal cell cancers (RCCs). We aimed to describe the genetics, clinical features and potential genotype-phenotype associations in the largest cohort of fumarate hydratase enzyme mutation carriers known from Spain using a multicentre, retrospective study of individuals with a genetic or clinical diagnosis of HLRCC. We collected clinical information from medical records, analysed genetic variants and looked for genotype-phenotype associations. Analyses were performed using R 3.6.0. software. We included 197 individuals: 74 index cases and 123 relatives. CLMs were diagnosed in 65% of patients, ULMs in 90% of women, RCys in 37% and RCC in 10.9%. Twenty-seven different pathogenic variants were detected, 12 (44%) of them not reported previously. Patients with missense pathogenic variants showed higher frequencies of CLMs, ULMs and RCys, than those with loss-of-function variants (p = 0.0380, p = 0.0015 and p = 0.024, respectively). This is the first report of patients with HLRCC from Spain. The frequency of RCCs was lower than those reported in the previously published series. Individuals with missense pathogenic variants had higher frequencies of CLMs, ULMs and RCys

The Vega debris disc: A view from Herschel

We present five band imaging of the Vega debris disc obtained using the Herschel Space Observatory. These data span a wavelength range of 70–500 μm with full-width half-maximum angular resolutions of 5.6–36.9”. The disc is well resolved in all bands, with the ring structure visible at 70 and 160 μm. Radial profiles of the disc surface brightness are produced, and a disc radius of 11” (~85 AU) is determined. The disc is seen to have a smooth structure thoughout the entire wavelength range, suggesting that the disc is in a steady state, rather than being an ephemeral structure caused by the recent collision of two large planetesimals

Relationship of weather types on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield in the western Mediterranean basin

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale based on the large dataset and number of soil erosion experimental stations