Cartas de amor duraderas

Notícia i crítica sobre la publicació catalana de Cartes d'amor de Kahlil Gibran traduïda per Jordi Arbonès, publicada a La Vanguardia

La buena lid del césar Carlos o el panadero de Barbarroja

Este artículo versa sobre un episodio del “De bello Africo” del cronista Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, que sólo se encuentra narrado en la relación “Lo de La Goleta y Túnez, año 1535”, atribuida en un principio al historiador Luis de Ávila y Zúñiga, pero en cuyo trasiego también anduvieron envueltos Garcilaso de la Vega y Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. En este episodio se cuenta un acto de lealtad con el enemigo Barbarroja, que el emperador, no obstante, desmintió, por lo que Sepúlveda lo eliminó en todas las redacciones de su crónica latina de Carlos V. Para explicar este lance, se determina con precisión la fuente de la historiografía romana clásica con que glosó este episodio el docto cronista y se hacen algunas consideraciones sobre la actitud ética y política de Carlos V al respecto de la crónica de sus hechos, entre ellas, el comentario de un pasaje que el mismo Sepúlveda escribió contra Maquiavelo y que aquí se traduce por primera vez a partir del cotejo en el aparato crítico de la reciente edición de la obra de Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda donde se nos ha transmitido. This paper deals with an episode from Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda's De bello Africo, which is only found in Lo de La Goleta y Túnez, año 1535, a work attributed to Luis de Ávila y Zúñiga. In this piece, an act of loyalty to enemy Barbarossa, which the Emperor however denied, is narrated. In order to explain this feat, some considerations on Charles V's ethical and political attitude as reflected in the chronicle of his exploits are given; among these, a critical commentary on a passage that Sepúlveda wrote against Machiavelli is offered

The influence of oxygen concentration during embryo culture on obstetric and neonatal outcomes: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: A secondary analysis of a previous randomized controlled trial assessing clinical pregnancy outcomes was carried out. This analysis included 1125 consecutive oocyte donation cycles utilizing ICSI or IVF and Day 3 embryo transfers between November 2009 and April 2012. The whole cohort of donated oocytes from patients who agreed to participate in the study were randomly allocated (1:1 ratio) to a reduced O2 tension group (6% O2) or an air-exposed group (20% O2) based on a computergenerated randomization list. Fresh and vitrified oocytes were used for oocyte donation. Only those pregnancies with a live birth at or beyond 24 weeks of gestation were included. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Day 3 embryos were cultured in an atmosphere of 5.5% CO2, 6% O2, 88.5% N2 versus a dual gas system in air. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: From the eligible 1125 cycles, 564 were allocated to the 6% O2 group and 561 cycles to the 20% O2 group. However, 50 and 62 cycles did not reach embryo transfer in the 6% and 20% O2 groups, respectively. No differences were found between 6% O2 and atmospheric O2 tension in the number of livebirths per embryo transfer (mean § SD, 0.5 § 0.7 versus 0.5 § 0.7), pregnancy complications or neonatal outcomes. Both groups (6% and atmospheric O2) had similar single and twin delivery rates (40.8% versus 38.1% and 10.7% versus 12.3%, respectively). Preterm delivery rates and very preterm delivery rates (10.80% versus 13.24% and 1.25% versus 2.94%, respectively), birthweight (3229 § 561 g versus 3154 § 731 g), low birthweight (2.92% versus 2.45%), birth height (50.18 § 2.41 cm versus 49.7 § 3.59 cm), head circumference (34.16 § 1.87 cm versus 33.09 § 1.85 cm) and 1 min Apgar scores (8.96 § 0.87 versus 8.89 § 0.96) were also similar between 6% and atmospheric O2 groups, respectively. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The number of liveborns finally analyzed is still small and not all obstetric and neonatal variables could be evaluated. Furthermore, a small proportion of the obstetric and neonatal data was obtained through a questionnaire VC The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected] Human Reproduction, Vol.0, No.0, pp. 1-14, 2020 doi:10.1093/humrep/deaa152 One reason for the lack of effect of oxygen concentration on pregnancy outcome could be the absence of trophectoderm cells at cleavage stage, which may make Day 3 embryos less susceptible to hypoxic conditions. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Nowadays many IVF laboratories use a more physiological oxygen concentration for embryo culture. However, the benefits of using low oxygen concentration on both laboratory and clinical outcomes during embryo culture are still under debate. Furthermore, long-term studies investigating the effect of using atmospheric O2 are also needed. Gathering these type of clinical data is indeed, quite relevant from the safety perspective. The present data show that, at least in egg donation cycles undergoing Day 3 embryo transfers, culturing embryos under atmospheric oxygen concentration seems not to affect perinatal outcome

Simetrías potenciales de un modelo matemático que describe las vibraciones de una viga

En este trabajo presentamos un estudio, desde el punto de vista de la teoría de las simetrías potenciales clásicas y no clásicas para ecuaciones en derivadas parciales, del modelo que describe las vibraciones de una viga

Direct and indirect influences of objective socioeconomic position on adolescent health: the mediating roles of subjective socioeconomic status and lifestyles

The use of composite indices and subjective measures to evaluate socioeconomic position, taking into account the effect of inequalities on adolescent health-related behaviors, can contribute to understanding the effect of inequalities on health during adolescence. The aim of this study was to examine the direct and indirect contribution of objective and subjective socioeconomic factors in a broad range of health and lifestyles outcomes. The data come from a representative sample of adolescents (N = 15,340; M age = 13.69) of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study in Spain. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. A global index for evaluating objective socioeconomic position predicted both health and healthy lifestyles. Subjective socioeconomic status mediated the relationship between objective socioeconomic position and health but did not have a significant effect on healthy lifestyles when objective indicators were considered. Lastly, fit indices of the multiple-mediator model—including the direct effect of objective socioeconomic position on health and its indirect effects through the subjective perception of wealth and lifestyles—explained 28.7% of global health variance. Interventions aimed at reducing the impact of health inequalities should address, in addition to material deprivation, the psychological and behavioral consequences of feeling poor.Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía P11—SEJ—800

Influence of Titanium Oxide Pillar Array Nanometric Structures and Ultraviolet Irradiation on the Properties of the Surface of Dental Implants: A Pilot Study

Aim: Titanium implants are commonly used as replacement therapy for lost teeth and much current research is focusing on the improvement of the chemical and physical properties of their surfaces in order to improve the osseointegration process. TiO2, when it is deposited in the form of pillar array nanometric structures, has photocatalytic properties and wet surface control, which, together with UV irradiation, provide it with superhydrophilic surfaces, which may be of interest for improving cell adhesion on the peri-implant surface. In this article, we address the influence of this type of surface treatment on type IV and type V titanium discs on their surface energy and cell growth on them. Materials and methods: Samples from titanium rods used for making dental implants were used. There were two types of samples: grade IV and grade V. In turn, within each grade, two types of samples were differentiated: untreated and treated with sand blasting and subjected to double acid etching. Synthesis of the film consisting of titanium oxide pillar array structures was carried out using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition equipment. The plasma was generated in a quartz vessel by an external SLAN-1 microwave source with a frequency of 2.45 GHz. Five specimens from each group were used (40 discs in total). On the surfaces to be studied, the following determinations were carried out: (a) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, (b) scanning electron microscopy, (c) energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, (d) profilometry, (e) contact angle measurement or surface wettability, (f) progression of contact angle on applying ultraviolet irradiation, and (g) a biocompatibility test and cytotoxicity with cell cultures. Results: The application of ultraviolet light decreased the hydrophobicity of all the surfaces studied, although it did so to a greater extent on the surfaces with the studied modification applied, this being more evident in samples manufactured in grade V titanium. In samples made in grade IV titanium, this difference was less evident, and even in the sample manufactured with grade IV and SLA treatment, the application of the nanometric modification of the surface made the surface optically less active. Regarding cell growth, all the surfaces studied, grouped in relation to the presence or not of the nanometric treatment, showed similar growth. Conclusions. Treatment of titanium oxide surfaces with ultraviolet irradiation made them change temporarily into superhydrophilic ones, which confirms that their biocompatibility could be improved in this way, or at least be maintained

Reinforced silica-carbon nanotube monolithic aerogels synthesised by rapid controlled gelation

This work introduces a new synthesis procedure for obtaining homogeneous silica hybrid aerogels with carbon nanotube contents up to 2.50 wt.%. The inclusion of nanotubes in the highly porous silica matrix was performed by a two-step sol–gel process, resulting in samples with densities below 80 mg/cm3. The structural analyses (N2 physisorption and SEM) revealed the hierarchical structure of the porous matrix formed by nanoparticles arranged in clusters of 100 and 300 nm in size, specific surface areas around 600 m2/g and porous volumes above 4.0 cm3/g. In addition, a relevant increase on the mechanical performance was found, and an increment of 50% for the compressive strength and 90% for the maximum deformation were measured by uniaxial compression. This reinforcement was possible thanks to the outstanding dispersion of the CNT within the silica matrix and the formation of Si–O–C bridges between nanotubes and silica matrix, as suggested by FTIR. Therefore, the original synthesis procedure introduced in this work allows the fabrication of highly porous hybrid materials loaded with carbon nanotubes homogeneously distributed in the space, which remain available for a variety of technological applications

Multimodal Imaging of White Dot Syndromes

White dot syndromes are an uncommon group of posterior uveitis affecting the outer retina, retinal pigment epithelium, choriocapillaris, and/or choroidal stroma. Multimodal imaging, including fundus fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, autofluorescence, and optical coherence tomography angiography, has improved our understanding regarding their pathophysiology, helping us to rename or even regroup some of these disorders as one disease in opposition to the historical description. It also provides useful information to evaluate disease activity and monitor response to treatment. This chapter will review the different findings on multimodal imaging of these heterogenous disorders and classify them according to their primary anatomic involvement

School context and health in adolescence: The role of sense of coherence

The aim of this study was to examine the role of school variables and sense of coherence (SOC) in the explanation of health. For this purpose, data were collected from a representative sample of adolescents, aged 13 to 18 years, selected for the Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey in Spain. Using Structural Equation Modelling, three nested models were tested that represented different hypothesized models of the relationships among school factors, SOC and health. According to goodness-of-fit indices, in the best model, school-related stress and SOC mediated the influence of support from classmates and teachers on health, and SOC had a direct effect on stress. The results supported the idea that a supportive school climate and SOC are relevant to adolescents' health. Furthermore, SOC was the most influential variable; apart from its direct positive effect on health, SOC seemed to condition the degree to which students perceived school demands to be stressful. Specifically, students with a high SOC were less likely to suffer from high levels of school-related stress.Ministerio de Educación AP2009-097

Obtaining a Hierarchy of Contextual Factors in Shaping the SOC of Male and Female Adolescents

Sense of coherence (SOC) is an important predictor of health and subjective well-being, but research on the factors that shape SOC development is scarce. Using structural equation modeling, this study obtained a hierarchy of the contributions of several contextual factors to SOC in a representative sample of adolescents (N = 4,943, M age = 15.43) selected for the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey in Spain. Goodness-of-fit indices consistent with good fit, logical parameter estimates and a level of explained variability of 38.2 % were found in the final model. The examination of parameter estimates provided a hierarchy of contextual factors in shaping SOC. Quality of parent–child relationships was the most influential factor and appeared at the top of the hierarchy. Positive models of behavior in the peer group, neighborhood assets and classmate support occupied intermediate positions, and teacher support appeared at the bottom of the hierarchy. Multi-group analysis revealed more commonalities than differences between male and female adolescents, with the exception of teacher support, which seemed to have a higher significance for the SOC of females.Ministerio de Educación AP2009-0978Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Igualdad de Españ