The representation of coupling interactions in the Material Properties Open Database (MPOD)

International audience; The Material Properties Open Database (MPOD, http//mpod.cimav.edu.mx) is a functional element of the web-based open databases system linked with crystallography. MPOD delivers single-crystal tensor properties in several representations, ranging from numerical matrices to 3D printing. Longitudinal moduli surfaces can be displayed in computers as well as in smart cell phones. Properties are stored as '.mpod' files. IUCr formatting standards (CIF) are followed. The original published paper containing the data is cited. Structural and experimental information is also registered and linked. 'Coupling properties', say piezo-effects and magnetoelectricity, represent interactions linking different subsystems in a material. Currently, piezoelectricity occupies a significant fraction of cases in MPOD. The implications of crystal symmetry in piezoelectricity are systematically taken into account. Matrices' elements and longitudinal moduli surfaces are checked for consistency with the Neumann principle. The inclusion of magnetoelectric axial tensors introduces exciting features into MPOD

Motor eléctrico: una experiencia en el aula

PDF de 8 páginas con gráficos y figuras a color. Pepe Lozano es maestro del CEIP Talhara en Benacazón. María Acosta Bono es maestra del CEIP Clara Campoamor en Bormujos. Mercedes Díaz Fuentes es maestra del EEI Mª Carmen Gutiérrez en Espartinas. Esteban Moreno Gómez es director de los recursos WEB del programa El CSIC en la Escuela.Presentamos un proyecto, desarrollado en el curso escolar 2013-14, que supuso el trabajo en el aula de conceptos relacionados con el electromagnetismo introducidos de manera experimental. El objetivo de este proyecto era que los alumnos y las alumnas realizasen un recorrido por la historia de esta ciencia para que llegaran a comprender, en último término, el desarrollo y funcionamiento del motor eléctrico. El proyecto tenía como objetivo que el alumnado realizase un recorrido por la historia de esta ciencia con el fin de llegar a comprender, en último término, el desarrollo y funcionamiento del motor eléctrico. En la experiencia participaron niños/as de distintas edades y ciclos educativos y de distintos centros; lo que implicó un trabajo de coordinación entre los distintos docentes. Una representación del alumnado participante presentó los resultados de sus investigaciones en el V Encuentro Científico entre Niños, Maestros e Investigadores celebrado el 27 de mayo de 2014.Peer reviewe

Enhanced removal of a pesticides mixture by single cultures and consortia of free and immobilized Streptomyces strains

Pesticides are normally used to control specific pests and to increase the productivity in crops; as a result, soils are contaminated with mixtures of pesticides. In this work, the ability of Streptomyces strains (either as pure or mixed cultures) to remove pentachlorophenol and chlorpyrifos was studied. The antagonism among the strains and their tolerance to the toxic mixture was evaluated. Results revealed that the strains did not have any antagonistic effects and showed tolerance against the pesticides mixture. In fact, the growth of mixed cultures was significantly higher than in pure cultures. Moreover, a pure culture (Streptomyces sp. A5) and a quadruple culture had the highest pentachlorophenol removal percentages (10.6% and 10.1%, resp.),while Streptomyces sp.M7 presented the best chlorpyrifos removal (99.2%).Mixed culture of all Streptomyces spp. when assayed either as free or immobilized cells showed chlorpyrifos removal percentages of 40.17% and 71.05%, respectively, and for pentachlorophenol 5.24% and 14.72%, respectively, suggesting better removal of both pesticides by using immobilized cells. These results reveal that environments contaminated with mixtures of xenobiotics could be successfully cleaned up by using either free or immobilized cultures of Streptomyces, through in situ or ex situ remediation techniques.Fil: Fuentes, María Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Briceño, Gabriela E.. Universidad de la Frontera; Chile;Fil: Sáez, Juliana María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Benimeli, Claudia Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - CONICET - Tucumán. Unidad de Administración Territorial; Argentina. Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Diez, Maria Cecilia. Universidad de la Frontera; Chile;Fil: Amoroso, Maria Julia del R.. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentina. Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino; Argentin

Performance of the reconstruction algorithms of the FIRST experiment pixel sensors vertex detector

Hadrontherapy treatments use charged particles (e.g. protons and carbon ions) to treat tumors. During a therapeutic treatment with carbon ions, the beam undergoes nuclear fragmentation processes giving rise to significant yields of secondary charged particles. An accurate prediction of these production rates is necessary to estimate precisely the dose deposited into the tumours and the surrounding healthy tissues. Nowadays, a limited set of double differential carbon fragmentation cross-section is available. Experimental data are necessary to benchmark Monte Carlo simulations for their use in hadrontherapy. The purpose of the FIRST experiment is to study nuclear fragmentation processes of ions with kinetic energy in the range from 100 to 1000 MeV/u. Tracks are reconstructed using information from a pixel silicon detector based on the CMOS technology. The performances achieved using this device for hadrontherapy purpose are discussed. For each reconstruction step (clustering, tracking and vertexing), different methods are implemented. The algorithm performances and the accuracy on reconstructed observables are evaluated on the basis of simulated and experimental data

Comparison between xenogeneic and allogeneic adipose mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of acute cerebral infarct: Proof of concept in rats

Background: Rat adipose tissue-derived-mesenchymal stem cells (rAD-MSCs) have proven to be safe in experimental animal models of stroke. However, in order to use human AD-MSCs (hAD-MSCs) as a treatment for stroke patients, a proof of concept is needed. We analyzed whether the xenogeneic hAD-MSCs were as safe and effective as allogeneic rAD-MSCs in permanent Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (pMCAO) in rats. Methods: Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups, which were intravenously injected with xenogeneic hAD-MSCs (2 × 106), allogeneic rAD-MSCs (2 × 106) or saline (control) at 30 min after pMCAO. Behavior, cell implantation, lesion size and cell death were evaluated. Brain markers such as GFAP (glial fibrillary acid protein), VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and SYP (synaptophysin) and tumor formation were analyzed. Results: Compared to controls, recovery was significantly better at 24 h and continued to be so at 14 d after IV administration of either hAD-MSCs or rAD-MSCs. No reduction in lesion size or migration/implantation of cells in the damaged brain were observed in the treatment groups. Nevertheless, cell death was significantly reduced with respect to the control group in both treatment groups. VEGF and SYP levels were significantly higher, while those of GFAP were lower in the treated groups. At three months, there was no tumor formation. Conclusions: hAD-MSCs and rAD-MSCs were safe and without side effects or tumor formation. Both treatment groups showed equal efficacy in terms of functional recovery and decreased ischemic brain damage (cell death and glial scarring) and resulted in higher angiogenesis and synaptogenesis marker levelsThis research was supported by research grants FIS06/0575, FIS09/01606, FIS12/01754 and INVICTUS (RD12/0014/0006) (Spanish Neurovascular Network), Cellerix, and Research Institute Carlos III, Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain

Earned Schedule min-max: Two new EVM metrics for monitoring and controlling projects

[EN] Earned Value Management (EVM) is a well-known project management technique for monitoring project pro-gress. Over the last 15 years, many promising EVM metrics have been proposed to get, among other improve-ments, better actual project duration and cost estimates. Papers comparing the performance of all these metricsare, however, scarce and sometimes contradictory.In this paper, a simulation and empirical comparison of 26 deterministic project duration forecasting tech-niques under the EVM framework is developed. Among them, two new metrics: Earned Schedule min (ESmin) andEarned Schedule max (ESmax) are proposed.ESminandESmaxoffer a new and simpler activity-level calculationapproach of the traditional Earned Schedule metric. Top performing (most accurate) metrics: Earned Schedule(ES), Earned Duration (ED) and Effective Earned Schedule (ES(e)) with Performance Factor 1 (PF= 1), areslightly outperformed by the new metrics which also offer some interesting applications for enhanced projectcontrol.The first author acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for his Ramon y Cajal contract (RYC-2017-22222) co -funded by the European Social Fund. This work was also supported by the second author's "Estancias de movilidad en el extranjero Jose Castillejo para jovenes doctores, 2017 (grant ref. CAS17/00488)" and the fourth author's "Estancias de profesores e investigadores senior en centros extranjeros, incluido el programa "Salvador de Madariaga" 2018 (grant ref. PRX18/00381)", both also from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and UniversitiesBallesteros Pérez, P.; Sanz-Ablanedo, E.; Mora-Melià, D.; González-Cruz, M.; Fuentes Bargues, JL.; Pellicer, E. (2019). Earned Schedule min-max: Two new EVM metrics for monitoring and controlling projects. Automation in Construction. 103:279-290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2019.03.016S27929010

Soil Aggregation and Soil Organic Carbon Stabilization: Effects of Management in Semiarid Mediterranean Agroecosystems

In semiarid agroecosystems of the Ebro valley (NE Spain) soils are characterized by low soil organic matter (SOM) and a weak structure. In this study we investigated the individual and combined effect of tillage system (no-tillage, NT; reduced tillage, RT; conventional tillage, CT) and cropping system (barley–fallow rotation at the Peñaflor site, PN-BF and continuous barley at the Peñaflor site, PN-BB) on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage as well as the physical protection of SOM fractions by soil aggregates in three long-term experimental sites. In both cropping systems, total SOC content was more than 30% higher in NT compared with CT in the 0- to 5-cm depth. The suppression of fallowing in the PN-BB cropping system led to a greater SOC stabilization only in NT. In all the three sites, greater proportion of water-stable macroaggregates (>250 µm) was found under NT than under CT in the 0- to 5-cm depth. Macroaggregate organic C concentration (250–2000 µm) was greater in NT compared with CT in the BB cropping system, but did not differ with tillage treatment in the PN-BF rotation. Greater proportion of microaggregates within macroaggregates in NT compared with CT was only found in the Agramunt site (AG). However, greater C stabilized inside these microaggregates was observed in AG, Selvanera site (SV), and PN-BB in the 0- to 5-cm depth. The results of this study demonstrate that in the semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystems of the Ebro valley, the adoption of NT together with the suppression of long-fallowing period can significantly increase the amount of SOC stabilized in the soil surface and improve soil structure and aggregation.This research was supported by the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain (Grants AGL2001-2238-CO2-01, AGL 2004-07763-C02-02 and AGL2007-66320-CO2-02/AGR) and the European Union (FEDER funds).Peer reviewe

Toma de decisiones inteligente a partir de registros médicos almacenados en CDA-HL7

Debido al incremento exponencial de la información almacenada en las organizaciones, la Sociedad de la Información está siendo superada por la necesidad de nuevos métodos capaces de procesar la información y asegurar su uso productivo. Esto se hace lógicamente extensible a los centros hospitalarios, a partir del uso extendido de las Historias Clínicas en formato electrónico. Disponer de información sistematizada, gestionarla de forma eficiente y segura es esencial para garantizar mejores prácticas en salud. A esto se le añade la necesidad de soportar estándares que permitan el intercambio entre las instituciones de salud; específicamente HL7 se ha convertido en uno de los más utilizados debido a que proporciona el intercambio a partir del metalenguaje XML. En este trabajo se propone una metodología para el descubrimiento de conocimiento implícito en Historias Clínicas en formato semi-estructurado utilizando el contenido y la estructura de los mismos. Los principales resultados son: (1) La metodología para el agrupamiento de Historias Clínicas; (2) La interpretación de los resultados del agrupamiento para asistir la toma de decisiones diagnósticas; (3) La implementación del estándar HL7, para la manipulación de documentos médicos a partir de CDA.Palabras Clave: agrupamiento, descubrimiento de Conocimiento, HCE, XML, CDA

Resistin Regulates Pituitary Lipid Metabolism and Inflammation In Vivo and In Vitro

The adipokine resistin is an insulin-antagonizing factor that also plays a regulatory role in inflammation, immunity, food intake, and gonadal function and also regulates growth hormone (GH) secretion in rat adenopituitary cells cultures with the adipokine. Although adipose tissue is the primary source of resistin, it is also expressed in other tissues, including the pituitary. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible action of resistin on the lipid metabolism in the pituitary gland in vivo (rats in two different nutritional status, fed and fast, treated with resistin on acute and a chronic way) and in vitro (adenopituitary cell cultures treated with the adipokine). Here, by a combination of in vivo and in vitro experimental models, we demonstrated that central acute and chronic administration of resistin enhance mRNA levels of the lipid metabolic enzymes which participated on lipolysis and moreover inhibiting mRNA levels of the lipid metabolic enzymes involved in lipogenesis. Taken together, our results demonstrate for the first time that resistin has a regulatory role on lipid metabolism in the pituitary gland providing a novel insight in relation to the mechanism by which this adipokine can participate in the integrated control of lipid metabolism.Sara Borrell Postdoctoral program; BFU 2011 and CIBER Obesidad y Nutricion (Instituto de Salud Carlos Tercero (ISCIII), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion). Juan de la Cierva Program (Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia)S