Critical Care Requirements Under Uncontrolled Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Objectives. To estimate the critical care bed capacity that would be required to admit all critical COVID-19 cases in a setting of unchecked SARS-CoV-2 transmission, both with and without elderly-specific protection measures. Methods. Using electronic health records of all 2432 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a large hospital in Madrid, Spain, between February 28 and April 23, 2020, we estimated the number of critical care beds needed to admit all critical care patients. To mimic a hypothetical intervention that halves SARS-CoV-2 infections among the elderly, we randomly excluded 50% of patients aged 65 years and older. Results. Critical care requirements peaked at 49 beds per 100 000 on April 1-2 weeks after the start of a national lockdown. After randomly excluding 50% of elderly patients, the estimated peak was 39 beds per 100 000. Conclusions. Under unchecked SARS-CoV-2 transmission, peak critical care requirements in Madrid were at least fivefold higher than prepandemic capacity. Under a hypothetical intervention that halves infections among the elderly, critical care peak requirements would have exceeded the prepandemic capacity of most high-income countries. Public Health Implications. Pandemic control strategies that rely exclusively on protecting the elderly are likely to overwhelm health care systems.S

Simultaneous Determination of Refractive Index and Thickness of Submicron Optical Polymer Films from Transmission Spectra

High-transparency polymers, called optical polymers (OPs), are used in many thin-film devices, for which the knowledge of film thickness (h) and refractive index (n) is generally required. Spectrophotometry is a cost-effective, simple and fast non-destructive method often used to determine these parameters simultaneously, but its application is limited to films where h > 500 nm. Here, a simple spectrophotometric method is reported to obtain simultaneously the n and h of a sub-micron OP film (down to values of a few tenths of a nm) from its transmission spectrum. The method is valid for any OP where the n dispersion curve follows a two-coefficient Cauchy function and complies with a certain equation involving n at two different wavelengths. Remarkably, such an equation is determined through the analysis of n data for a wide set of commercial OPs, and its general validity is demonstrated. Films of various OPs (pristine or doped with fluorescent compounds), typically used in applications such as thin-film organic lasers, are prepared, and n and h are simultaneously determined with the proposed procedure. The success of the method is confirmed with variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (MINECO) and European Community (FEDER) through grant no. MAT2015-66586-R

The TALP & I2R SMT Systems for IWSLT 2008

This paper gives a description of the statistical machine translation (SMT) systems developed at the TALP Research Center of the UPC (Universitat Polit`ecnica de Catalunya) for our participation in the IWSLT’08 evaluation campaign. We present Ngram-based (TALPtuples) and phrase-based (TALPphrases) SMT systems. The paper explains the 2008 systems’ architecture and outlines translation schemes we have used, mainly focusing on the new techniques that are challenged to improve speech-to-speech translation quality. The novelties we have introduced are: improved reordering method, linear combination of translation and reordering models and new technique dealing with punctuation marks insertion for a phrase-based SMT system. This year we focus on the Arabic-English, Chinese-Spanish and pivot Chinese-(English)-Spanish translation tasks.Postprint (published version

Fluorescence enhancement of fungicide thiabendazole by van der Waals interaction with transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets for highly specific sensors

Many molecules quench their fluorescence upon adsorption on surfaces. Herein we show that the interaction of thiabendazole, a widespread used fungicide of the benzimidazole family, with nanosheets of transition metal dichalcogenides, particularly of WS2, leads to a significant increase, more than a factor of 5, of the fluorescence yield. This surprising effect is rationalized by DFT calculations and found to be related to the inhibition of the intramolecular rotation between the benzimidazole and thiazole groups due to a bonding rigidization upon interaction with the MoS2 surface. This non-covalent adsorption leads to a redistribution of the molecular LUMO that blocks the non-radiative energy dissipation channel. This unusual behaviour does not operate either for other molecules of the same benzimidazole family or for other 2D materials (graphene or graphene oxide). Moreover, we found that a linear dependence of the emission with the concentration of thiabendazole in solution, which combined with the specificity of the process, allows the development of a highly sensitive and selective method towards thiabendazole determination that can be applied to real river water samples. An excellent detection limit of 2.7 nM, comparable to the best performing reported methods, is obtained with very good accuracy (Er ≤ 6.1%) and reproducibility (RSD ≤ 4.1%) in the concentration range assayedThe authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish MINECO (MAT2017-85089-C2-1-R, MAT2017-85089-C2-2-R) and the EU via the ERC-Synergy Program (grant ERC-2013-SYG-610256 NANOCOSMOS) and Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (Graphene Flagship-core2 – 785219) and the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (P2018/NMT-4349, TRANSNANOAVANSENS-CM and P2018/NMT-4367 FOTOART). J. I. M. acknowledges the support by the “Ramón y Cajal” Program of MINECO (grant RYC-2015-17730

Advances in the Characterization of Creole Cattle from Nayarit, Chihuahua, and Baja California Sur.

Objective. This manuscript aims to contribute to disseminating the research conducted on creole cattle from Nayarit, Chihuahua, and Baja California, as these regions have been the focus of numerous studies. These studies include identifying the areas of opportunity that need to be addressed for the conservation of this zoogenetic resource present in Mexico. Description. Cattle farming in Mexico began with the arrival of the first bovines from the Iberian Peninsula to New Spain over 500 years ago. These cattle established itself in various regions of the country, developing specific characteristics that have allowed it to adapt primarily to harsh environmental conditions. As a result, these bovines are considered a productive alternative in various agroecological environments to address the challenges of climate change and mitigate the negative effects on the ecosystem. Limitations. To date, research on the morphological, productive, and genetic characterization, as well as the production environment of Creole cattle in Mexico, remains limited. Therefore, it is necessary to develop studies in this area to contribute to the conservation of this resource and, above all, to identify mechanisms for its rational use that justify its existence in a modern economic and productive environment. Conclusions. The documentary review conducted to present the current state of research on creole cattle herds in Nayarit, Chihuahua, and Baja California Sur revealed that the studies have primarily focused on productive aspects in various environments. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage research directed towards other productive areas of cattle, such as reproduction, animal health, and adaptation, in order to develop strategies that contribute to the conservation of this zoogenetic resource

Unveiling the collaborative effect at the cucurbit[8]urilMoS2 hybrid interface for electrochemical melatonin determination

Host-guest interactions are of paramount importance in supramolecular chemistry and in a wide range of applications. Particularly well known is the ability of cucurbit[n]urils (CB[n]) to selectively host small molecules. We show that the charge transfer and complexation capabilities of CB[n] are retained on the surface of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), allowing the development of efficient electrochemical sensing platforms. We unveil the mechanisms of host-guest recognition between the MoS2- CB[8] hybrid interface and melatonin (MLT), an important molecular regulator of vital constants in vertebrates. We find that CB[8] on MoS2 organizes the receptor portals perpendicularly to the surface, facilitating MLT complexation. This advantageous adsorption geometry is specific to TMDs and favours MLT electro-oxidation, as opposed to other 2D platforms like graphene, where one receptor portal is closed. This study rationalises the cooperative interaction in 2D hybrid systems to improve the efficiency and selectivity of electrochemical sensing platform

Hypertriglyceridemia Influences the Degree of Postprandial Lipemic Response in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome and Coronary Artery Disease: From the Cordioprev Study

Objective To determine whether metabolic syndrome traits influence the postprandial lipemia response of coronary patients, and whether this influence depends on the number of MetS criteria. Materials and Methods 1002 coronary artery disease patients from the CORDIOPREV study were submitted to an oral fat load test meal with 0.7 g fat/kg body weight (12% saturated fatty acids, 10% polyunsaturated fatty acids, 43% monounsaturated fatty acids), 10% protein and 25% carbohydrates. Serial blood test analyzing lipid fractions were drawn at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours during the postprandial state. Total and incremental area under the curves of the different postprandial parameters were calculated following the trapezoid rule to assess the magnitude of change during the postprandial state Results Postprandial lipemia response was directly related to the presence of metabolic syndrome. We found a positive association between the number of metabolic syndrome criteria and the response of postprandial plasma triglycerides (p<0.001), area under the curve of triglycerides (p<0.001) and incremental area under the curve of triglycerides (p<0.001). However, the influence of them on postprandial triglycerides remained statistically significant only in those patients without basal hypertriglyceridemia. Interestingly, in stepwise multiple linear regression analysis with the AUC of triglycerides as the dependent variable, only fasting triglycerides, fasting glucose and waist circumference appeared as significant independent (P<0.05) contributors. The multiple lineal regression (R) was 0.77, and fasting triglycerides showed the greatest effect on AUC of triglycerides with a standardized coefficient of 0.75. Conclusions Fasting triglycerides are the major contributors to the postprandial triglycerides levels. MetS influences the postprandial response of lipids in patients with coronary heart disease, particularly in non-hypertriglyceridemic patients

A mutation in THREONINE SYNTHASE 1 uncouples proliferation and transition domains of the root apical meristem: experimental evidence and in silico proposed mechanism

A continuum from stem to transit-amplifying to a differentiated cell state is a common theme in multicellular organisms. In the plant root apical meristem (RAM), transit-amplifying cells are organized into two domains: cells from the proliferation domain (PD) are displaced to the transition domain (TD), suggesting that both domains are necessarily coupled. Here, we show that in the Arabidopsis thaliana mto2-2 mutant, in which threonine (Thr) synthesis is affected, the RAM lacks the PD. Through a combination of cell length profile analysis, mathematical modeling and molecular markers, we establish that the PD and TD can be uncoupled. Remarkably, although the RAM of mto2-2 is represented solely by the TD, the known factors of RAM maintenance and auxin signaling are expressed in the mutant. Mathematical modeling predicts that the stem cell niche depends on Thr metabolism and that, when disturbed, the normal continuum of cell states becomes aborted