A generalized Holling type II model for the interaction between dextral-sinistral snails and Pareas snakes

Producción CientíficaPareatic snakes possess outstanding asymmetry in the mandibular tooth number, which has probably been caused by its evolution to improve the feeding on the predominant dextral snails. Gene mutation can generate chiral inversion on the snail body. A sinistral snail population can thrive in this ecological context. The interactions between dextral/sinistral snails and Pareas snakes are modeled in this paper by using a new generalized functional response of Holling type II. Distinct Pareas species show different bilateral asymmetry degrees. This parameter plays an essential role in our model and determines the evolution of the populations. Stability of the solutions is also analyzed for different regimes in the space of parameters.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (grant MTM2014-57129-C2-1-P)Junta de Castilla y Leon (grant VA057U16

‘Digital pills’ for mental diseases: an ethical and social analysis of the issues behind the concept

Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration has given a landmark approval to the very first digital pill with a sensor embedded in the inside. These are complex systems that include a drug and an electronic tracker that is activated when the patient takes the pill. Accordingly, they might be an excellent tool for monitoring and potentially improving patients’ adherence to prescriptions. This would serve well to avoid unnecessary healthcare costs and reduce the anxiety of patients and their relatives. However, digital pills might also diminish patient autonomy, reduce privacy, or promote inadequate use of pharmaceutical resources. This article is aimed at contributing to adequate use of this new tool by showing the main ethical and social issues they involve and proposing measures meant to address them. Finally, we conclude by defending the idea that these new systems should be seen as means of complementing traditional strategies to promote adherence to treatment, and not as substitutes.Iñigo de Miguel Beriain’s work received funding from the EU Commission, H2020 SWAFS Programme, PANELFIT Project, research grant number 788039. Marina Morla’s work received funding from the Programa Propio de Investigación de la Universidad de León

Poly-l/dl-lactic acid films functionalized with collagen IV as carrier substrata for corneal epithelial stem cells

Limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs) are responsible for the renewal of corneal epithelium. Cultivated limbal epithelial transplantation is the current treatment of choice for restoring the loss or dysfunction of LESCs. To perform this procedure, a substratum is necessary for in vitro culturing of limbal epithelial cells and their subsequent transplantation onto the ocular surface. In this work, we evaluated poly-L/DL-lactic acid 70:30 (PLA) films functionalized with type IV collagen (col IV) as potential in vitro carrier substrata for LESCs. We first demonstrated that PLA-col IV films were biocompatible and suitable for the proliferation of human corneal epithelial cells. Subsequently, limbal epithelial cell suspensions, isolated from human limbal rings, were cultivated using culture medium that did not contain animal components. The cells adhered significantly faster to PLA-col IV films than to tissue culture plastic (TCP). The mRNA expression levels for the LESC specific markers, K15, P63α and ABCG2 were similar or greater (significantly in the case of K15) in limbal epithelial cells cultured on PLA-col IV films than limbal epithelial cells cultured on TCP. The percentage of cells expressing the corneal (K3, K12) and the LESC (P63α, ABCG2) specific markers was similar for both substrata. These results suggest that the PLA-col IV films promoted LESC attachment and helped to maintain their undifferentiated stem cell phenotype. Consequently, these substrata offer an alternative for the transplantation of limbal cells onto the ocular surface.This work was supported by the Carlos III National Institute of Health, Spain (CIBER-BBN and Spanish Network on Cell Therapy, (TerCel RD12/0019/0036), MINECO/FEDER, EU), and the Castilla y León Regional Government, Spain (Regional Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy, SAN673/VA/28/08 and SAN126/VA11/09)

Terms and meanings of participation in product design: From user involvement to co-design

[EN] Design thinking with the users, is a new way to understand and create new products and services. This new conception of design is leading to new larger ideas and more complex methods in order to improve this process. The new participatory methods, generates new design concepts and also, different experiences in the project. Since the development of technologies and social media the power of collaboration has become a way of thinking, which is changing the landscape of design. Participation of users and customers in the development of products and services started to be an important issue in Design Management literature in the last years. This paper presents the evolution of the terms related to participation, their use and interrelations. We consider that they are relevant nowadays, for the interpretation and communication of the user¿s role in the design as developers of relevant innovations in products and processes.Sánchez-De La Guía, L.; Puyuelo, M.; De-Miguel-Molina, B. (2017). Terms and meanings of participation in product design: From user involvement to co-design. The Design Journal (Online). 20(1):4539-4551. doi:10.1080/14606925.2017.1352951S4539455120

Building an Efficient Component for OCL Evaluation

In this paper we report on our experience developing the Eye OCL Software (EOS) evaluator, a Java component for efficient OCL evaluation. We first motivate the need for an efficient implementation of OCL in order to cope with novel usages of the language. We then discuss some aspects that, based on our experience, should be taken into account when building an OCL evaluator for medium-large scenarios. Finally, we explore various approaches for evaluating OCL expressions on really large scenarios

Checking Unsatisfiability for OCL Constraints

In this paper we propose a mapping from a subset of OCL into first-order logic (FOL) and use this mapping for checking the unsatisfiability of sets of OCL constraints. Although still preliminary work, we argue in this paper that our mapping is both simple, since the resulting FOL sentences closely mirror the original OCL constraints, and practical, since we can use automated reasoning tools, such as automated theorem provers and SMT solvers to automatically check the unsatisfiability of non-trivial sets of OCL constraints

Análisis económico financiero del turismo y sector hotelero en el Puerto de la Cruz. Principales diferencias del 2015 al 2020

El objetivo principal de este Trabajo de Fin de Grado, se basa en analizar la situación económica y financiera desde el 2015 hasta la llegada del coronavirus, de la afluencia de turismo y cambios en el sector hotelero, especialmente en el Puerto de la Cruz. Para ello se ha llevado a cabo un análisis vertical y horizontal a partir de las cuentas anuales del Hotel Sun Holidays y Hotel 4Dreams, además del cálculo de diversos ratios económico-financieros, que aportan la información principal sobre la liquidez, solvencia y rentabilidad de ambas empresas. En conclusión, la crisis sanitaria derivada del COVID-19 ha provocado una cadena de sucesos que ocasiona la disminución de la llegada de turistas a Canarias. Esto genera una reducción del número de establecimientos turísticos abiertos, que repercute negativamente en el número de contratos laborales en la hostelería y, por ende, en los ingresos derivados de este sectorThe main objective of this Final Degree Project is based on analysing the economic and financial situation from 2015 until the arrival of the coronavirus, the influx of tourism and changes in the hotel sector, especially in Puerto de la Cruz. For this purpose, a vertical and horizontal analysis has been carried out based on the annual accounts of Sun Holidays Hotel and 4Dreams Hotel, in addition to the calculation of various economic-financial ratios, which provide the main information on the liquidity, solvency and profitability of both companies. In conclusion, the health crisis resulting from COVID-19 has led to a chain of events resulting in a decrease in tourist arrivals to the Canary Islands. This has led to a reduction in the number of tourist establishments open, which has a negative impact on the number of employment contracts in the hotel industry and, consequently, on the income derived from this sector

Evaluación del hábitat físico para la especie Lefua echigonia mediante simulación en el río Yagawa, Japón

El rápido desarrollo que ha tenido lugar en los últimos años, como consecuencia del incremento poblacional y la aparición de distintos avances tecnológicos, tiene como consecuencia directa una degradación de los ecosistemas naturales, y por tanto una pérdida de la biodiversidad. Las actividades humanas, tales como la urbanización o la abstracción de agua resultan en presiones ejercidas sobre los sistemas naturales, sobre los que cabe destacar los ecosistemas acuáticos. Estas presiones pueden presentarse en diversas formas, alterando el ecosistema y dificultando a las especies que habitan en él el completar sus ciclos vitales y perpetuarse en el tiempo, conllevando así una pérdida de la biodiversidad, y por tanto de la resiliencia del sistema. En este contexto, Tokio adquiere un gran importancia, por ser una de las ciudades con mayor extensión del mundomás de 2000km2), representando por tanto un problema de gran envergadura en Japón. Dada la enorme extensión que ocupa, afectando a una gran proporción del terreno japonés, y dado que la tendencia es creciente, es de vital importancia recuperar y mantener su biodiversidad, realizando actuaciones que ayuden a mejorar las condiciones de estos ecosistemas profundamente alterados. Por eso, este estudio se centra en un pequeño río urbano, en el que habita Lefua echigonia, una especie nativa de Japón en peligro de extinción, con el objetivo de simular su hábitat, y proponer alternativas de mejora que ayuden a proteger esta especie, y mantener la biodiversidad. Para ello, se ha elaborado un modelo de idoneidad de hábitat, basado en curvas de idoneidad para Lefua echigonia, y se ha evaluado el hábitat a lo largo de un periodo temporal de 24 meses. Este estudio aporta por tanto una información muy valiosa en aras de mantener y recuperar la biodiversidad en un entorno tan grande como el de Tokio, la urbe más grande del planeta; dado que es uno de los primeros estudios de idoneidad de microhábitat realizados en Japón, al margen de los salmónidos, muy estudiados en todo el mundo, centrándose en una especie endémica en peligro de extinción, de gran importancia para la sostenibilidad de los ecosistemas; y siendo al mismo tiempo fundamental en la realización de estudios de caudales ecológicos posteriores. Por otro lado, al haberse realizado en un río urbano, adquiere una gran importancia, al estudiar así un tipo de río muy presente en esta gran metrópolis, que a pesar de haber sido normalmente ignorados en este tipo de estudios, son de vital importancia en el mantenimiento de ecosistemas clave para ciertas especies que en ellos habitan. Al mismo tiempo, las medidas de restauración propuestas para el caso de estudio pueden ser extrapolables a otros ríos cercanos que presenten la misma problemática.The rapid development that has taken place during the last decades, as a result of the population increase and the appearance of different technological advances, is a direct cause of the natural ecosystem degradation. Human activities, such as urbanization or water abstraction, result in pressures exerted on natural systems, among which aquatic ecosystems can be highlighted. These pressures affect the ecosystems in different ways, altering them or making it difficult for the inhabiting species to complete their life cycles, and last in time; leading to a loss of biodiversity and therefore to the resilience of the system. In this context, Tokyo acquires a great importance, being one of the largest cities in the world (over 2000 km2), turning into a big problem in Japan. Due to the enormous area that it occupies, affecting a large proportion of the Japanese land, and given the growing trend, it is essential to recover and maintain its biodiversity, performing actions that help improving the habitat conditions of this deeply disturbed ecosystems. This study focuses on a small urban river, inhabited by Lefua echigonia, an endangered native species from Japan, in order to simulate its habitat, and proposing different alternatives for improvement, to protect this species and maintain biodiversity. To this aim, a habitat suitability model was developed, based on suitability curves, and the habitat was evaluated for a 24-months-period. Therefore, this study provides valuable information in order to maintain and recover biodiversity in an environment as large as the one of Tokyo, along with the fact that it is one of the first microhabitat suitability studies carried in Japan (apart from the salmonids ones, very studied around the world), focusing on an endemic endangered species with a great importance for the ecosystems sustainability. The information obtained is essential while realizing later ecological flows studies accomplishment. As it was carried in an urban river, it acquires a great importance when studying similar rivers, with a great presence in this metropolis, which, in spite of having been often ignored in this kind of studies, show a vital importance in the maintenance of the key ecosystems for certain species. At the same time, the proposed restoration measures for the case of study may be extrapolated to other nearby rivers presenting the same problem.Miguel Gallo, MD. (2018). Evaluación del hábitat físico para la especie Lefua echigonia mediante simulación en el río Yagawa, Japón. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/113882TFG

Farmacogenética y medicina personalizada aplicadas al tratamiento del dolor.

25 p. : il. -- Bibliogr.: p. 21-25La definición de dolor más aceptada en la actualidad es la de la Asociación Internacional para el Estudio del Dolor, según la cual: “es una experiencia sensorial y emocional desagradable, asociada a un daño tisular, real o potencial, o descrita en términos de dicho daño”. Para el tratamiento del dolor se dispone de varias familias de medicamentos, entre los que destacan principalmente los opioides. El fracaso terapéutico que ocurre en el tratamiento del dolor con esta familia de fármacos se debe a la existencia de diferentes polimorfismos de un solo nucleótido (SNP) que afectan a los receptores opioides, así como a las enzimas encargadas de su metabolismo. Con el fin de predecir y evitar estos fracasos terapéuticos surge la medicina personalizada. Este campo se encuentra todavía en auge, por lo que resulta necesario indagar acerca de la situación actual y su impacto en un futuro. En este trabajo se estudia cómo afecta la farmacogenética al tratamiento del dolor con fármacos opioides, los polimorfismos que estos sufren, y su impacto en el desarrollo de la medicina personalizada

Black hole fusion in the extreme mass ratio limit

We present a simple, general, and accurate construction of the event horizons for the fusion of two neutral, rotating black holes with arbitrary orientation and values of their spins, in the extreme mass ratio limit where one black hole is much larger than the other. We compute several parameters that characterize the fusion and investigate their dependence on the black hole spin and orientation axis. We also exhibit and study the appearance of transient toroidal topology of the horizon. An earlier conjecture about universal critical exponents before and after an axisymmetric pinch is proven