Social factors related to the clinical severity of influenza cases in Spain during the A(H1N1)2009 virus pandemic

Background During the 2009 influenza pandemic, a change in the type of patients most often affected by influenza was observed. The objective of this study was to assess the role of individual and social determinants in hospitalizations due to influenza A (H1N1) 2009 infection. Methods We studied hospitalized patients (cases) and outpatients (controls) with confirmed influenza A (H1N1) 2009 infection. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect data. Variables that might be related to the hospitalization of influenza cases were compared by estimation of the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and the variables entered into binomial logistic regression models. Results Hospitalization due to pandemic A (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus infections was associated with non-Caucasian ethnicity (OR: 2.18, 95% CI 1.17 − 4.08), overcrowding (OR: 2.84, 95% CI 1.20 − 6.72), comorbidity and the lack of previous preventive information (OR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.50 − 4.83). Secondary or higher education was associated with a lower risk of hospitalization (OR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.36 − 0.87) Conclusions In addition to individual factors such as comorbidity, other factors such as educational level, ethnicity or overcrowding were associated with hospitalization due to A (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus infections

A Web Simulator to Assist in the Teaching of Bayes’ Theorem

Teaching some concepts in statistics greatly benefits from individual practice with immediate feedback. In order to provide such practice to a large number of students we have written a simulator based on an historical event: the loss in May 22, 1968, and subsequent search for the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion. Students work on a simplified version of the search and can see probabilities change in response to new evidence. The simulator is designed to assist in the teaching of Bayesian concepts, in particular Bayesian updating. It has been deployed in our courses and our experience and results are described, as well as the reactions of our students to its use. The simulator is open source, freely available and easy to implement and run, as it only requires a machine to serve web pages. We explain in detail our experience with its deployment and use

Generalización de la entropía de kolmogorov-SINAI: Mapas Z-Logísticos

En el umbral del caos, se calcula numéricamente la evolución temporal de la forma no extensiva de la entropía (ver PDF

Media de Ensambles y la No Extensividad en el Borde del Caos: Mapa de Kaplan-Yorke

En el marco de la mecánica estadística no extensiva, son estudiadas numéricamente, por medio de medias de ensambles, la sensibilidad a las condiciones iniciales y la producción de la entropía por unidad de tiempo del mapa disipativo bidemsional de Kaplan-Yorke para dos casos: caos fuerte y caos débil (en el borde del caos). Se verifica que las propiedades de la sensibilidad y la producción de la entropía están relacionadas a un mismo valor del índice entrópico: q=1 para el caos fuerte y q<1 para el caos débil. Tambien se verifica, numéricamente, la generalización de la identidad de Pesin

EPITAXIALLY GROWN CRYSTALLINE SILICON AS ELECTRON SELECTIVE CONTACT LAYER FOR CRYSTALLINE GERMANIUM TPV CELLS

Crystalline germanium has been proposed as a cost-effective absorber for the fabrication of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells which require, among other technologies, the development of electron-selective contacts. In this work, we explore the deposition process of n-type high-quality crystalline silicon (c-Si(n)) on p-type crystalline germanium (c-Ge) substrates using Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) to create c-Si(n)/c-Ge(p) heterojunctions that function as electron-selective contacts. Our analysis includes material characterization using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry measurements, confirming the crystalline nature of the epitaxially grown silicon layers. The interface quality of the heterojunction is studied by measuring the effective lifetime. The results demonstrate that the addition of a thin intrinsic amorphous silicon layer at the interface improves its passivation. Additional improvement is obtained after depositing a thin n-type amorphous layer on top of the c-Si(n), achieving a surface recombination velocity of 334 cm/s. This better passivation positively impacts both the open circuit voltage and the fill factor of 1x1 cm 2 finished devices, leading to an efficiency of 3.38%. The results suggest the potential of c-Si/c-Ge heterojunction for cost-effective c-Ge cells, with room for efficiency improvements through further optimization

Prevention of the Type 2 Diabetes by using Functional Olive Oil Enriched in Oleanolic Acid: The Prediabole Study: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Trabajo presentado en el 17th Euro Fed Lipid Congress And Expo (Oils, fats, and lipids. Driving science and technology to new horizons), celebrado en Sevilla del 20 al 23 de octubre de 2019.Diabetes, one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, represents a major public health problem worldwide. In 2017, there were 425 million diabetic people in 2017, and a significant increase in the prevalence is expected in the next years, estimating that the number of diabetics in the world will achieve 629 million in 2045. An essential topic of diabetes approach is prevention, especially in people at high risk. Oleanolic acid (OA), a natural component of olive (Olea europaea L.), has demonstrated antidiabetic action in vitro and in experimental animals. However, a similar action had not been proved in humans. The PREDIABOLE (PREvention of DIABetes with OLEanolic acid) Study is a randomised and controlled trial, entirely performed in primary care, designed to assess whether the regular intake of an OA-enriched olive oil is effective in the prevention of diabetes. Diabetes is preceded by a period of dysglycemia, known as prediabetes, in which plasma glucose is higher than normal but not meet the criteria for diabetes. Prediabetes is defined by impaired fasting glucose (IFG), and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or a glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) in the range 5.7¿6.4% (39¿47 mmol/mol). Prediabetes is associated with obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension. Compared to euglycemics, people with both IFG and IGT have 20-fold higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes at short time. Therefore, they are ideal target population to investigate new preventive strategies against diabetes. In PREDIABOLE, prediabetic individuals (IFG + IGT) of both sex (176 patients, 30-80 years old) were randomised to receive OA-enriched olive oil (equivalent-dose 30 mg OA/day) (intervention group; IG) or the same oil not enriched (control group; CG). The main outcome was the incidence of new onset type 2 diabetes in both groups. After a median 27.5 months of follow-up, 48 new diabetes cases occurred, 31 in the CG and 17 in the IG. Multivariate adjusted hazard ratio was 0.45 (95% CI, 0.24-0.83) for the IG when compared with the CG. Intervention-related adverse effects were not reported. In conclusion, the PREDIABOLE Study demonstrates that the intake of an OA-enriched olive oil results in a substantial risk reduction of developing type 2 diabetes in prediabetic patients. Furthermore, this dietary intervention is well accepted by the population and also safe and palatable, showing high potential to be long-term sustainable. The burst of diabetes prevalence demands urgent measures delaying or avoiding the appearance of the disease. In this scenario, the use of OA-enriched functional foods is an interesting strategy. Nevertheless, further research is needed to consolidate the evidence of PREDIABOLE and to extend the use of OA in the design of new foods and drugs. Clinical Trial Registration: Current Controlled Trials number ISRCTN0337266