Desarrollo de una herramienta de ayuda a la enseñanza de heurísticas

En el presente trabajo se presenta una aplicación desarrollada en entornos gráficos interactivos que permite simular, paso a paso, el desarrollo de heurísticas. Esta herramienta facilita la docencia al profesor de la asignatura optativa Heurísticas que se imparte en la Ingeniería Técnica en Informática de Gestión de la Universidad de La Laguna y permite al alumno comprender y asimilar conceptos, y mejorar el conocimiento práctico de estas técnicas

A comparison of perturbed initial conditions and multiphysics ensembles in a severe weather episode in Spain

Ensembles of numerical model forecasts are of interest to operational early warning forecasters as the spread of the ensemble provides an indication of the uncertainty of the alerts, and the mean value is deemed to outperform the forecasts of the individual models. This paper explores two ensembles on a severe weather episode in Spain, aiming to ascertain the relative usefulness of each one. One ensemble uses sensible choices of physical parameterizations (precipitation microphysics, land surface physics, and cumulus physics) while the other follows a perturbed initial conditions approach. The results show that, depending on the parameterizations, large differences can be expected in terms of storm location, spatial structure of the precipitation field, and rain intensity. It is also found that the spread of the perturbed initial conditions ensemble is smaller than the dispersion due to physical parameterizations. This confirms that in severe weather situations operational forecasts should address moist physics deficiencies to realize the full benefits of the ensemble approach, in addition to optimizing initial conditions. The results also provide insights into differences in simulations arising from ensembles of weather models using several combinations of different physical parameterizations.Funding from projects PPII10- 0162-5543 (JCCM), CGL2010-20787-C02-01, CGL2010- 20787-C02-02 (MiCInn), Cenit project Prometeo (CDTI), and UNCM08-1E-086 (MiCInn) is gratefully acknowledged

HPV-16 infection modifies overall survival of Puerto Rican HNSCC patients

International audienceThis paper presents a set of experimental results concerning the sliding mode control of an electro-pneumatic system. Two discrete-time control strategies are considered for the implementation of the discontinuous part of the sliding mode controller: explicit and implicit discretizations. While the explicit implementation is known to generate numerical chattering [6], [7], [12], [13], the implicit one is expected to significantly reduce chattering while keeping the accuracy. The experimental results reported in this work remarkably confirm that the implicit discrete-time sliding mode supersedes the explicit ones, with several important features: chattering in the control input is almost eliminated (while the explicit and saturated controllers behave like high-frequency bang-bang inputs), the input magnitude depends only on the perturbation size and is largely independent of the controller gain and sampling time

Ampicillin plus ceftriaxone combined therapy for enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis in opat

Ampicillin plus ceftriaxone (AC) is a well-recognized inpatient regimen for Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis (IE). In this regimen, ceftriaxone is usually administered 2 g every 2 h (AC12). The administration of AC in outpatient parenteral antibiotic treatment (OPAT) programs is challenging because multiple daily doses are required. AC regimens useful for OPAT programs include once-daily high-dose administration of ceftriaxone (AC24) or AC co-diluted and jointly administered in bolus every 4 h (ACjoined). In this retrospective analysis of prospectively collected cases, we aimed to assess the clinical effectivity and safety of three AC regimens for the treatment of E. faecalis IE. Fifty-nine patients were treated with AC combinations (AC12 n = 32, AC24 n = 17, and ACjoined n = 10). Six relapses occurred in the whole cohort: five (29.4%) treated with AC24 regimen and one (10.0%) with ACjoined. Patients were cured in 30 (93.3%), 16 (94.1%), and eight (80.0%) cases in the AC12, AC24 and ACjoined groups, respectively. Unplanned readmission occurred in eight (25.0%), six (35.3%), and two (20.0%) patients in the AC12, AC24 and ACjoined groups, respectively. The outcome of patients with E. faecalis IE treated with AC in OPAT programs relies on an optimization of the delivery of the combination. AC24 exhibit an unexpected rate of failures, however, ACjoined might be an effective alternative which clinical results should corroborate in further studies

Canine adenovirus type 1 (CAdV-1) in free-ranging European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos): A threat for Cantabrian population?

[EN] Canine adenovirus type 1 (CAdV-1) is responsible for infectious canine hepatitis. The disease has been described in captive American black bear (Ursus americanus) and European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos), with just one recently reported case in a cub of a free-ranging brown bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) from Alaska. The aim of this work is to summarize findings related to presence and associated mortality of CAdV-1 in 21 free-ranging Cantabrian brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos) submitted to necropsy in Asturias and Castilla y León (northwestern Spain) from 1998 to 2018. On the basis of the anatomopathological findings and laboratory results three free-ranging brown bears died due to infectious canine hepatitis, which is to our knowledge the first description of death due to this disease in free-ranging bears in Europe. Gross lesions consisted of petechial haemorrhages and congestion in different internal organs, haemorrhagic fluid in internal cavities, friable and yellowish liver and thickening of gall bladder. Microscopic lesions were observed mainly in liver, kidney and brain and consisted of multifocal necrosis of cells with presence of basophilic intranuclear inclusions. Immunohistochemical (IHC) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) techniques were used to assess the presence of CAdV-1 in paraffin-embedded liver samples. Viral antigens were detected by IHC labelling within hepatocytes and Küppfer cells in the three animals. The presence of viral DNA was confirmed by qPCR in one of them. In order to evaluate the circulation of CAdV-1 in brown bears, a retrospective study was performed using both IHC and qPCR techniques in 11 and 12 additional brown bears, respectively. An extra brown bear was found positive by IHC. This study shows that CAdV-1 surveillance of brown bears and sympatric carnivores should be considered as major concern for the monitoring the population evolution throughout time in this endangered species.SIAuthors thank colleagues from SERIDA (A. Espí, J. M. Prieto and R.A. Juste), University of León (C. Pérez Martínez and M. J. GarcíaIglesias), Servicio de Espacios Protegidos y Conservación de la Natu-raleza, Dirección General de Biodiversidad from Viceconsejería deMedio Ambiente del Principado de Asturias (L. M. Álvarez) and Con-sejería de Fomento y Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Castilla y Léonfor the invaluable collaboration. Authors also thank Andrea Balboni(Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie, Università di Bologna)for providing CAdV‐1 DNA sample. We thank Donal Savage for criti-cally reviewing the manuscrip

A comparison of the First View of GPM with Ground Radar and NWCSAF CRPh over Continental Spain

Póster presentado en NWCSAF 2015 Users Workshop. 24-26 de febrero de 2015, MadridThe first, preliminary, data from the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Satellite illustrate the potential of this spacecraft for science and societal applications. Here we show a glimpse on the first overpasses over Spain. The DPR measurements and the GMI estimates area qualitatively compared with Ground Radar (GR) measurements from the National Radar Network of Spain (PPI); with EUMESAT NWCSAF Convective Rainfall Rate from Cloud Physical Properties (CRPh, based on VIS and IR: day-only product); and with Meteosat imagery (HRV and 10.8 mm IR channels from MSG). Notwithstanding the provisional character of the data and all the applicable caveats and isclaimers, both the GPM radar and the radiometer provide precipitation estimates that are remarkably close to ground radar observations. This is specially noticeable for the GMI, as the estimates used here come from the original, day-1 database. Also CRPh product shows a good behavior in all cases. The adequacy of using GPM data to calibrate/validate the NWCSAF CRPh product is being studied

Actividad física, hidratación y salud

Since the beginning of mankind, man has sought ways to promote and preserve health as well as to prevent disease. Hydration, physical activity and exercise are key factors for enhancing human health. However, either a little dose of them or an excess can be harmful for health maintenance at any age. Water is an essential nutrient for human body and a major key to survival has been to prevent dehydration. However, there is still a general controversy regarding the necessary amount to drink water or other beverages to properly get an adequate level of hydration. In addition, up to now the tools used to measure hydration are controversial. To this end, there are several important groups of variables to take into account such as water balance, hydration biomarkers and total body water. A combination of methods will be the most preferred tool to find out any risk or situation of dehydration at any age range. On the other hand, physical activity and exercise are being demonstrated to promote health, avoiding or reducing health problems, vascular and inflammatory disea ses and helping weight management. Therefore, physical activity is also being used as a pill within a therapy to promote health and reduce risk diseases, but as in the case of drugs, dose, intensity, frequency, duration and precautions have to be evaluated and taken into account in order to get the maximum effectiveness and success of a treatment. On the other hand, sedentariness is the opposite concept to physical activity that has been recently recognized as an important factor of lifestyle involved in the obesogenic environment and consequently in the risk of the non-communicable diseases. In view of the literature consulted and taking into account the expertise of the authors, in this review a Decalogue of global recommendations is included to achieve an adequate hydration and physical activity status to avoid overweight/obesity consequences.Desde los comienzos del género humano, el hombre ha buscado el modo de promover y preservar la salud, así como prevenir la enfermedad. La hidratación, la actividad física y el ejercicio son factores clave para mejorar la salud. Sin embargo, estos factores en dosis excesivamente bajas o en exceso pueden ser perjudiciales para el mantenimiento de la salud a cualquier edad. El agua es un nutriente esencial para el organismo y un factor clave para la supervivencia y la prevención de la deshidratación. Sin embargo, hay todavía una controversia general en cuanto a la cantidad necesaria de ingesta de agua u otros líquidos con objeto de conseguir un nivel adecuado de hidratación. Además, hasta la fecha no hay consenso sobre las herramientas a utilizar para medir la hidratación. Con este fin, hay varios grupos importantes de variables a tener en cuenta, como el equilibrio de agua, biomarcadores de hidratación y el agua total corporal. Se prefiere en general una combinación de métodos para evaluar riesgo de situaciones de deshidratación en cualquier franja etaria. Por otro lado, se ha demostrado que la actividad física y el ejercicio promueven la salud, evitando o reduciendo la susceptibilidad a enfermedades de tipo vascular o inflamatorio, así como para ayudar en el manejo del peso. Por todo ello, la actividad física está siendo utilizada también a modo de “píldora” en terapias para promover la salud y reducir el riesgo de enfermedad. Como en el caso de los medicamentos, hay que evaluar la dosis, intensidad, frecuencia, duración y tener en cuenta las precauciones necesarias para conseguir la máxima eficacia y el mayor éxito del tratamiento. Por el contrario, el sedentarismo es el concepto opuesto a la actividad física y se ha reconocido recientemente como un factor importante de estilo de vida implicado en el ámbito obesogénico y en consecuencia en el riesgo de las enfermedades no transmisibles. Teniendo en cuenta la bibliografía consultada y la experiencia de los autores, en esta revisión se concluye con unas recomendaciones a modo de decálogo dirigido a la población general para conseguir un estatus de hidratación y actividad física adecuados con el fin de evitar las consecuencias del sobrepeso y la obesidad

Seismic structure of the northern continental margin of Spain from ESCIN deep seismic profiles

By the end of the Carboniferous, the crust of the continental shelf in northwestern Spain was made up of deeply rooted structures related to the Variscan collision. From Permian to Triassic times the tectonic setting had changed to mainly extensional and the northern Iberian continental margin underwent rifting during Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous times, along with sea-floor spreading and the opening of the Bay of Biscay until the Late Cretaceous. Subsequently, the northern Iberian margin was active during the north-south convergence of Eurasia and Iberia in the Tertiary. A multichannel seismic experiment, consisting of two profiles, one north-south (ESCIN-4) crossing the platform margin offshore Asturias, and another (ESCIN-3) crossing the platform margin to the northwest of Galicia, was designed to study the structure of the northern Iberian margin. The ESCIN-4 stacked section reveals inverted structures in the upper crust within the Le Danois Basin. North of the steep continental slope, ESCIN-4 shows a thick sedimentary package from 6 to 9.5 s, two-way travel time (TWT). Within this latter package, a 40-km-long, north-tapering wedge of inclined, mainly south-dipping reflections is thought to represent a buried, Alpine-age accretionary prism. In the north western part of the ESCIN-3 (ESCIN-3-1) stacked section, horizontal reflections from 6.5 to 8.5 s correspond to an undisturbed package of sediments lying above oceanic-type basement. In this part of the line, a few kilometres long, strong horizontal reflection at 11.2 s within the basement may represent an oceanic Moho reflection. Also, a band of reflections dips gently towards the southeast, from the base of the gently dipping continental slope. The part of ESCIN-3 line that runs parallel to the NW-Galicia coast (ESCIN-3-2), is characterized by bright, continuous lower crustal reflections from 8 to 10 s. Beneath the lower crustal reflectivity, a band of strong reflections dips gently toward the southwest from 10 to 13.5 s. The part of ESCIN-3 that parallels the northern margin (ESCIN 3-3), shows good reflectivity in all levels. Upper crustal reflections image the sedimentary fill of probable Mesozoic to recent basins. Mid-crustal reflectivity is characterized by dipping reflections until 8 s that are probably related to compressional Variscan features. The lower crustal level shows 'layered' reflections between 8 and 12 s. Dipping reflections are found below the continental Moho.J. Alvarez-Marrón held a post-doc research grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain. The ESCI-N program was sponsored by the Spanish agencies CICYT (project GEO 90-0660) and FICYT, and STRIDE Program of the EU.Peer Reviewe

Self-reported DHA supplementation during pregnancy and its association with obesity or gestational diabetes in relation to DHA concentration in cord and maternal plasma: results from NELA, a prospective mother-offspring cohort.

©2021. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by /4.0/ This document is the Published, version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Nutrients. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030843Maternal supplementation of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during pregnancy has been recommended due to its role in infant development, but its effect on materno-fetal DHA status is not well established. We evaluated the associations between DHA supplementation in pregnant women with obesity or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and maternal and neonatal DHA status. Serum fatty acids (FA) were analyzed in 641 pregnant women (24 weeks of gestation) and in 345 venous and 166 arterial cord blood samples of participants of the NELA cohort. Obese women (n = 47) presented lower DHA in serum than those lean (n = 397) or overweight (n = 116) before pregnancy. Linoleic acid in arterial cord was elevated in obese women, which indicates lower fetal retention. Maternal DHA supplementation (200 mg/d) during pregnancy was associated with enhanced maternal and fetal DHA levels regardless of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), although higher arterial DHA in overweight women indicated an attenuated response. Maternal DHA supplementation was not associated with cord venous DHA in neonates of mothers with GDM. The cord arteriovenous difference was similar for DHA between GDM and controls. In conclusion, maternal DHA supplementation during pregnancy enhanced fetal DHA status regardless of the pre-pregnancy BMI while GDM may reduce the effect of DHA supplementation in newborns