Height cohorts and district of residence in the city of Madrid during the 20th century

OBJECTIVE: in recent decades, an interesting literature has accumulated regarding the biological living standard in Spain at the end of the 19th Century and during the 20th Century. Adult height has been one of the most studied variables, specifically its temporal change at the national and provincial levels, the impact of the Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship, and the differences between urban and rural areas. We want to contribute to this general overview with the presentation of a project about an intra-urban perspective of the city of Madrid. METHODS: We present the stature data of the male population of two Madrid districts, Salamanca and Vallecas, for the period 1936-1986 (year of measurement). RESULTS: In these years, height increased by 5.58 cm, from 166.40 to 171.98 cm, with significant differences observed between both districts as well as a simultaneous decrease of that difference, for those born in 1915 and 1953 from 3.09 to 1.2 cm. The negative effect of the Civil War and the years of autarky are also observed in this urban sample. CONCLUSION: Considering these data together with those available for other demographic and socioeconomic variables, before and after the period studied, we can conclude that the division by districts represents an effective stratification in the biological living standard of the population of the city of Madrid. These results constitute a first intra-urban approximation using height to the debate on inequality and biological living standards in Spain during the 20th Century.Objetivo: en las últimas décadas se ha acumulado una interesante bibliografía sobre los niveles biológicos de vida en España a finales del siglo xix y durante el siglo xx. La talla ha sido una de las variables más estudiadas: su cambio a nivel nacional y provincial, el impacto de la Guerra Civil y de la posterior dictadura y las diferencias entre las áreas urbanas y las rurales. Queremos contribuir a este panorama general con este trabajo, una perspectiva intraurbana de la ciudad de Madrid. Métodos: presentamos el análisis comparativo del cambio temporal en la talla de los madrileños de los distritos de Salamanca y de Vallecas correspondientes al periodo 1936-1986. Resultados: en esos años, la talla total se incrementó en 5,58 cm, pasando de 166,40 a 171,98 cm, aunque se observan diferencias significativas entre ambos distritos; diferencias que se reducen (de 3,09 a 1,2 cm) entre Salamanca y Vallecas para los nacidos en 1915 y 1953, respectivamente. También se observa el efecto negativo de la Guerra Civil y de los años de autarquía. Conclusión: considerando estos primeros datos, junto a los disponibles para otras variables demográficas y socioeconómicas previas y posteriores al periodo estudiado, podemos considerar que la división por distritos representa una estratificación efectiva en los niveles biológicos de vida dentro de la ciudad de Madrid. Estos resultados constituyen una primera aproximación intraurbana con la talla al debate sobre la desigualdad y los niveles de vida en España durante el siglo xxLa publicación de este trabajo ha sido sufragada con fondos del proyecto HAR2016- 76814-C2-2-P del Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO-FEDER-UE

Solvothermal synthesis and thermoelectric properties of indium telluride nanostring-cluster hierarchical structures

A simple solvothermal approach has been developed to successfully synthesize n-type α-In2Te3 thermoelectric nanomaterials. The nanostring-cluster hierarchical structures were prepared using In(NO3)3 and Na2TeO3 as the reactants in a mixed solvent of ethylenediamine and ethylene glycol at 200°C for 24 h. A diffusion-limited reaction mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of the hierarchical structures. The Seebeck coefficient of the bulk pellet pressed by the obtained samples exhibits 43% enhancement over that of the corresponding thin film at room temperature. The electrical conductivity of the bulk pellet is one to four orders of magnitude higher than that of the corresponding thin film or p-type bulk sample. The synthetic route can be applied to obtain other low-dimensional semiconducting telluride nanostructures

Geodivulgar: Geología y Sociedad

Con el lema “Geología para todos” el proyecto Geodivulgar: Geología y Sociedad apuesta por la divulgación de la Geología a todo tipo de público, incidiendo en la importancia de realizar simultáneamente una acción de integración social entre estudiantes y profesores de centros universitarios, de enseñanza infantil, primaria, de educación especial y un acercamiento con público con diversidad funcional

Continuando con la labor docente del Dr. José Ramírez del Pozo: Preparación de Colecciones Didácticas de microfósiles para enseñanzas pre-universitarias

Este trabajo continúa con la labor docente del Dr. José Ramírez del Pozo en la preparación de colecciones didácticas, un importante método de divulgación y aprendizaje de la Paleontología, en este caso, de la Micropaleontología para estudiantes pre-universitarios. El Dr. Ramírez del Pozo fue un destacado micropaleontólogo español. Su formación en Micropaleontología fue autodidacta mientras trabajaba para compañías de hidrocarburos. Tuvo una extensa producción científica que abarcó un gran abanico de intervalos temporales, con preferencia del Jurásico y Cretácico. Siempre estuvo muy interesado en la divulgación y la enseñanza, y daba clases de doctorado de Paleontología en la UCM. El contenido principal se centra en la preparación de las Colecciones Didácticas que consisten en formar 10 juegos de colecciones con 20 preparaciones cada juego con representantes de todos los grandes grupos en cada colección: foraminíferos, divididos en tres subórdenes: Textulariina, Miliolina y Rotaliina; ostrácodos; carófitas; y por último otros grupos menores en donde se agrupan: radiolarios, briozoos, gasterópodos, etc. Estas colecciones se acompañan de fichas didácticas en las cuales se hace una descripción básica de cada género y su distribución geográfica y estratigráfica. Aunque este trabajo está enfocado para las enseñanzas pre-universitarias, principalmente secundaria y bachillerato, se puede adaptar para colectivos con otras necesidades modificando las fichas didácticas y añadiendo materiales de apoyo.Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEsubmitte

Transcriptome Profiling of Petal Abscission Zone and Functional Analysis of an Aux/IAA Family Gene RhIAA16 Involved in Petal Shedding in Rose.

Roses are one of the most important cut flowers among ornamental plants. Rose flower longevity is largely dependent on the timing of petal shedding occurrence. To understand the molecular mechanism underlying petal abscission in rose, we performed transcriptome profiling of the petal abscission zone during petal shedding using Illumina technology. We identified a total of 2592 differentially transcribed genes (DTGs) during rose petal shedding. Gene ontology term enrichment and pathway analysis revealed that major biochemical pathways the DTGs were involved in included ethylene biosynthesis, starch degradation, superpathway of cytosolic glycolysis, pyruvate dehydrogenase and TCA cycle, photorespiration and the lactose degradation III pathway. This suggests that alterations in carbon metabolism are an important part of rose petal abscission. Among these DTGs, approximately 150 genes putatively encoding transcription factors were identified in rose abscission zone. These included zinc finger, WRKY, ERF, and Aux/IAA gene families, suggesting that petal abscission involves complex transcriptional reprogramming. Approximately 108 DTGs were related to hormone pathways, of which auxin and ethylene related DTGs were the largest groups including 52 and 41 genes, respectively. These also included 12 DTGs related to gibberellin and 6 DTGs in jasmonic acid pathway. Surprisingly, no DTGs involved in the biosynthesis/signaling of abscisic acid, cytokinin, brassinosteroid, and salicylic acid pathways were detected. Moreover, among DTGs related to auxin, we identified an Aux/IAA gene RhIAA16 that was up-regulated in response to petal shedding. Down-regulation of RhIAA16 by virus-induced gene silencing in rose promoted petal abscission, suggesting that RhIAA16 plays an important role in rose petal abscission

Transcriptome profiling of petal abscission zone and functional analysis of an Aux/IAA family gene RhIAA16 involved in petal shedding in rose

Roses are one of the most important cut flowers among ornamental plants. Rose flower longevity is largely dependent on the timing of petal shedding occurrence. To understand the molecular mechanism underlying petal abscission in rose, we performed transcriptome profiling of the petal abscission zone during petal shedding using Illumina technology. We identified a total of 2592 differentially transcribed genes (DTGs) during rose petal shedding. Gene ontology term enrichment and pathway analysis revealed that major biochemical pathways the DTGs were involved in included ethylene biosynthesis, starch degradation, superpathway of cytosolic glycolysis, pyruvate dehydrogenase and TCA cycle, photorespiration and the lactose degradation III pathway. This suggests that alterations in carbon metabolism are an important part of rose petal abscission. Among these DTGs, approximately 150 genes putatively encoding transcription factors were identified in rose abscission zone. These included zinc finger, WRKY, ERF, and Aux/IAA gene families, suggesting that petal abscission involves complex transcriptional reprogramming. Approximately 108 DTGs were related to hormone pathways, of which auxin and ethylene related DTGs were the largest groups including 52 and 41 genes, respectively. These also included 12 DTGs related to gibberellin and 6 DTGs in jasmonic acid pathway. Surprisingly, no DTGs involved in the biosynthesis/signaling of abscisic acid, cytokinin, brassinosteroid, and salicylic acid pathways were detected. Moreover, among DTGs related to auxin, we identified an Aux/IAA gene RhIAA16 that was up-regulated in response to petal shedding. Down-regulation of RhIAA16 by virus-induced gene silencing in rose promoted petal abscission, suggesting that RhIAA16 plays an important role in rose petal abscission

Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering and Fluorescence of CdS-ZnS Nanoparticle Composites

Hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) or incoherent second-order light scattering technique has been used to investigate the second-order optical nonlinearities of nanoparticles and seems sensitive to nanoparticle aggregation. In the present work, CdS and ZnS nanoparticle colloids are prepared by the method of colloidal chemistry. From absorption spectra their average diameters are determined to be 5.0 nm for CdS and 2.5 nm for ZnS. Composite CdS-ZnS colloids are obtained by mixing the two colloids at different concentration ratio. The formation of the composites is confirmed by fluorescence measurement. The reduction of emission intensity of the ZnS colloid at 428 nm is observed with increasing CdS concentration, due to fluorescence quenching of the ZnS colloid after forming CdS-ZnS composites. The apparent combining constant of the two nanoparticles is determined to be 8.1„e104 mol-1„ªL by fitting the relative fluorescence intensity of F0/F vs. the added CdS concentration. Upon 1064 nm laser pulse excitation, HRS signal is determined at frequency-doubling wavelength (532 nm) using photomultiplier tube (PMT). HRS experiments show that the composite CdS-ZnS colloids exhibit stronger HRS signal than both CdS and ZnS colloids, and a maximum of HRS signal appears at concentration ratio of [CdS]/[ZnS]=1. This is attributed to that the composite CdS-ZnS nanoparticles have lower symmetry which contributes substantially to the second-order optical nonlinearity of nanoparticles in the electric dipole approximation

Clinical Benefits of Acupuncture for the Reduction of Hormone Therapy–Related Side Effects in Breast Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review

Importance. Acupuncture can help reduce unpleasant side effects associated with endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Nevertheless, comprehensive evaluation of current evidence from randomized controlled trials(RCTs) is lacking. Objective. To estimate the efficacy of acupuncture for the reduction of hormone therapy-related side effects in breast cancer patients. Evidence review. RCTs of acupuncture in breast cancer patients that examined reductions in hormone therapy–related side effects were retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Ovid MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library databases through April 2016. The quality of the included studies was evaluated according to the 5.2 Cochrane Handbook standards, and CONSORT and STRICTA (Revised Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture) statements. Intervention . Interventions included conventional acupuncture treatment compared with no treatment, placebo, or conventional pharmaceutical medication. Major outcome measures were the alleviation of frequency and symptoms and the presence of hormone therapy–related side effects. Findings/Results. A total of 17 RCTs, including a total of 810 breast cancer patients were examined. The methodological quality of the trials was relatively rigorous in terms of randomization, blinding, and sources of bias. Compared with control therapies, the pooled results suggested that acupuncture had moderate effects in improving stiffness. No significant differences were observed in hot flashes, fatigue, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, Kupperman index, general well-being, physical well-being, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interleukin (IL). Conclusions. Acupuncture therapy appears to be potentially useful in relieving functional stiffness. However, further large-sample trials with evidence-based design are still needed to confirm these findings