2,035 research outputs found
Episodios caballerescos del Espejo de prÃncipes y cavalleros en La tempestad de Shakespeare: posibles transferencias
El artÃculo pretende profundizar en el tema de las posibles influencias que Espejo de prÃncipes y caballeros, un popular libro de caballerÃas, traducido al inglés, pudo haber ejercido en el dramaturgo William Shakespeare en el proceso creativo de La tempestad. Se estudian en especial los paralelos entre los episodios marÃtimos, los personajes de Artidón y Calibán, los sabios y magos (Artemidoro, Polisteo y Próspero), la maga Artimaga y la bruja Artimaga y la bruja Sycorax
In silico experiments as a tool to reduce preclinical tests of magnetic hyperthermia
In silico models can be useful tools to guide preclinical tests of magnetic hyperthermia, which employs Magnetic Nanoparticles (MNPs) excited by AC magnetic fields, as heat mediators for cancer cure. We virtually reproduce the heating process induced by magnetic hyperthermia in murine models, as a function of field applicator features, properties and size of target tissue, MNP dose and animal size
Oral debates in Spanish as an Additional Language classroom: assessment criteria to improve student performance
The oral debate is a classroom discourse genre commonly used to assess the interactional competence of language learners. Nevertheless, its multidimensional features are often not explicitly spelled out to students, and empirical data related to student performance of this genre has thus far received little attention in the literature. With these two issues in mind, a group of Australian students of Spanish as an Additional Language were audio-recorded as they performed during two oral debates, one a practice session, the other a final debate intended to showcase their oral interaction skills for assessment purposes. Between the two debates, the students received feedback from classmates and their instructor on their preliminary debate performance, and the criteria and indicators of achievement by which their final debate performance would be judged were discussed with them. Transcripts of the two debates were subjected to thematic analysis and the results compared. This comparison revealed improvements in student debate performance, especially in terms of effective turn-requesting and turn-alternation. A second outcome was the elaboration of a revised, more detailed set of criteria for assessing the performance in oral debates of upper intermediate-level students, an instrument which will be useful in any Additional Language contex
From Micromagnetic to In Silico Modeling of Magnetic Nanodisks for Hyperthermia Applications
Magnetic nanodisks have been recently proposed as biomedical tools for therapeutics at the nanoscale level, with a special focus on hyperthermia for cancer cure. Here we present a detailed study of permalloy nanodisks to be used in alternative to superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, as efficient heating agents that release heat via magnetic hysteresis. A micromagnetic modeling analysis is carried out to identify sizes and ac field parameters that maximize the specific loss power (SLP), guaranteeing the fulfillment of biophysical constraints (Hergt–Dutz limit) and vortex state at remanence (reduced agglomeration effects). The highest SLP (790 W g−1) is found for 100 nm diameter and 20 nm thickness nanodisks, excited at a frequency of 75 kHz. Further analysis elucidates the influence of magnetostatic interactions and local nanodisk-field orientation on the SLP of nanodisk clusters, which originate from the deposition in target tissues. At high concentrations, magnetostatic interactions can lead to a reduction of 40–50% in the hysteresis losses. From thermal simulations, we finally demonstrate that in a murine model temperature increments comparable to that obtained in calorimetric measurements under quasi-adiabatic conditions can be achieved only by using an order of magnitude larger dosage of nanodisks, due to blood perfusion effects
Application of Magnonic Crystals in Magnetic Bead Detection
This paper aims at studying a sensor concept for possible integration in magnetic field-based lab-on-chip devices that exploit ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) phenomena in magnonic crystals. The focus is on 2D magnetic antidot arrays, i.e., magnetic thin films with periodic non-magnetic inclusions (holes), recently proposed as magnetic field sensor elements operating in the gigahertz (GHz) range. The sensing mechanism is here demonstrated for magnetic nano/microbeads adsorbed on the surface of permalloy (Ni80Fe20) antidot arrays with a rhomboid lattice structure and variable hole size. Through extensive micromagnetic modelling analysis, it is shown that the antidot arrays can be used as both bead traps and high-sensitivity detectors, with performance that can be tuned as a function of bead size and magnetic moment. A key parameter for the detection mechanism is the antidot array hole size, which affects the FMR frequency shifts associated with the interaction between the magnetization configuration in the nanostructured film and the bead stray field. Possible applications of the proposed device concept include magnetic immunoassays, using magnetic nano/microbeads as probes for biomarker detection, and biomaterial manipulation
Influence of size, volume concentration and aggregation state on magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia properties versus excitation conditions
Treatment planning in magnetic hyperthermia requires a thorough knowledge of specific loss power of magnetic nanoparticles as a function of size and excitation conditions. Moreover, in biological tissues the magnetic nanoparticles can aggregate into clusters, making the evaluation of their heating performance more challenging because of the magnetostatic dipole–dipole interactions. In this paper, we present a comprehensive modelling analysis of 10–40 nm sized spherical magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles, investigating how their heating properties are influenced by magnetic field parameters (peak amplitude and frequency), and by volume concentration and aggregation state. The analysis is performed by means of an in-house micromagnetic numerical model, which solves the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation under the assumption of single-domain nanoparticles, including thermal effects via a Langevin approach. The obtained results provide insight into how to tune hyperthermia properties by varying magnetic nanoparticle size, under different excitation magnetic fields fulfilling the Hergt–Dutz limit (frequency between 50 kHz and 1 MHz, and peak amplitude between 1 kA m−1 and 50 kA m−1). Special attention is finally paid to the role of volume concentration and aggregation order, putting in evidence the need for models able to account for stochasticity and clustering in spatial distribution, to accurately simulate the contribution of magnetostatic dipole–dipole interactions in real applications
An attempt to correct erroneous ideas among teacher education students: The effectiveness of refutation texts
There is sound evidence about the high prevalence of misconceptions about education
among pre-service teachers. This trend continues after students complete the degree in
education and once they are in the exercise of their profession. In fact, several studies
show that these misconceptions are widespread among in-service teachers. Erroneous
ideas about education may divert material and human resources to poor grounded
methods and teaching tools, compromising the quality of education. Strategies to
debunk misconceptions among future teachers, who may not have a firm position
about many educational issues, might contribute to reversing this trend. The main goal
of the present study was to assess the efficacy of refutation texts in the correction
of misconceptions among pre-service teachers. As in previous studies with in-service
teachers, refutation texts were effective in reducing participants’ endorsement of
misconceptions. But this effect was short-lived and did not affect participants’ intention
to use educational methods that are based on the misconceptions addressed in the
refutation textsMF was supported by grant AYD-000-235 from bizkaia:talent,
Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, and by a postdoctoral grant
from Programa Posdoctoral de Perfeccionamiento de Personal
Investigador Doctor, Gobierno Vasco. MV was supported by
grants PSI2017-85159-P (AEI / FEDER, UE) and 2016-T1/SOC-
1395 (Comunidad de Madrid, Programa de Atracción de Talento
Investigador)
Medical treatment of early stage and rare histological variants of epithelial ovarian cancer
Epithelial ovarian cancer is often considered a single pathological entity, but increasing evidence suggests that it is rather a group of different
neoplasms, each with unique pathological characteristics, molecular features, and clinical behaviours. This heterogeneity accounts for the
different sensitivity to antineoplastic drugs and makes the treatment of ovarian tumours a challenge.
For early-stage disease, as well as for heavily pre-treated patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, the benefit of chemotherapy remains
uncertain.
Clear-cell, mucinous, low-grade serous, and endometrioid carcinomas show different molecular characteristics, which require different
therapeutic approaches. In the era of personalised cancer medicine, understanding the pathogenesis and the genetic background of each
subtype of epithelial ovarian tumour may lead to a tailored therapy, maximising the benefits of specific treatments and possibly reducing
the side effects. Furthermore, personal factors, such as the patient’s performance status, should be taken into account in the management
of ovarian cancer, with the aim of safeguarding the patients’ quality of life
Fuel cell cogeneration for building sector: European status
The advantages of fuel cell based micro-cogeneration systems are the high electrical and total efficiency coupled with zero pollutants emission, which makes them good candidates for distributed generation in the building sector. The status of installations, worldwide and European initiatives and the available supporting schemes in Europe are presented
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