Analysis of advanced European nuclear fuel cycle scenarios including transmutation and economic estimates

Four European fuel cycle scenarios involving transmutation options (in coherence with PATEROS and CPESFR EU projects) have been addressed from a point of view of resources utilization and economic estimates. Scenarios include: (i) the current fleet using Light Water Reactor (LWR) technology and open fuel cycle, (ii) full replacement of the initial fleet with Fast Reactors (FR) burning U?Pu MOX fuel, (iii) closed fuel cycle with Minor Actinide (MA) transmutation in a fraction of the FR fleet, and (iv) closed fuel cycle with MA transmutation in dedicated Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS). All scenarios consider an intermediate period of GEN-III+ LWR deployment and they extend for 200 years, looking for long term equilibrium mass flow achievement. The simulations were made using the TR_EVOL code, capable to assess the management of the nuclear mass streams in the scenario as well as economics for the estimation of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and other costs. Results reveal that all scenarios are feasible according to nuclear resources demand (natural and depleted U, and Pu). Additionally, we have found as expected that the FR scenario reduces considerably the Pu inventory in repositories compared to the reference scenario. The elimination of the LWR MA legacy requires a maximum of 55% fraction (i.e., a peak value of 44 FR units) of the FR fleet dedicated to transmutation (MA in MOX fuel, homogeneous transmutation) or an average of 28 units of ADS plants (i.e., a peak value of 51 ADS units). Regarding the economic analysis, the main usefulness of the provided economic results is for relative comparison of scenarios and breakdown of LCOE contributors rather than provision of absolute values, as technological readiness levels are low for most of the advanced fuel cycle stages. The obtained estimations show an increase of LCOE ? averaged over the whole period ? with respect to the reference open cycle scenario of 20% for Pu management scenario and around 35% for both transmutation scenarios. The main contribution to LCOE is the capital costs of new facilities, quantified between 60% and 69% depending on the scenario. An uncertainty analysis is provided around assumed low and high values of processes and technologies

Efecto del Dimetilsulfóxido en una lesión traumática de nervio periférico en un modelo animal

Diferentes mecanismos se han empleado mundialmente en el intento de incrementar el éxito de la regeneración nerviosa, sin embargo son métodos poco asequibles para la mayoría de la población que requiere este tipo de intervenciones en nuestro país. Por lo anterior, el propósito de este estudio fue determinar los efectos del Dimetilsulfóxido (DMSO), como tratamiento alternativo, en la regeneración nerviosa posterior a una lesión por compresión en un modelo animal, y comparar estos efectos con los resultados obtenidos utilizando esteroides sistémicos, tratamiento estándar en el manejo de lesiones de nervio periférico.Sepropone como alternativa terapéutica el DMSO, dada su capacidad como barredor de radicales libres de oxígeno y sus efectos antiinflamatorios. Metodología: Se utilizaron 32 conejos hembra raza Nueva Zelanda, con peso entre 2 kg ± 0.5 kg., las cuales permanecieron en jaulas aisladas, una unidad experimental por jaula, administrándosele concentrado de alimento para conejo y agua ad libitum. Se dividieron en 4 grupos de forma aleatoria: Grupo A (control), Grupo B (Aplicación únicamente de DMSO), Grupo C (Aplicación únicamente de Esteroide), Grupo D (aplicación conjunta de DMSO y esteroide), los cuales se sometieron a procedimiento quirúrgico y fueron observados por 4 semanas posterior a lo cual se realizó una segunda intervención quirúrgica, además de las siguientes evaluaciones funcionales de regeneración: Porcentaje de déficit motor, Test de nocicepción o latencia del reflejo de retirada, Electromiografía e Histopatología. Resultados: Dentro del Test de nocicepción se demostró una obvia mejoría en el grupo C lo cual refleja una recuperación funcional sensitiva más rápida en comparación a los otros grupos intervenidos. El menor rendimiento registrado por los grupos intervenidos con DMSO en este estudio podría explicarse ya que este fármaco tiene una comprobada acción analgésica por el bloqueo parcial de las fibras C.El porcentaje de déficit motor el test de ANOVA de una cola no demostró significancia estadística (p=0-0559), pese a ello, los porcentajes promedio de afectación motora de mayor a menor fueron: grupo A 70.05%, grupo B 69.93%, grupo D 63.08%, y grupo C 625.59%.El análisis estadístico, para los resultados de tiempos de conducción,demuestra que hay diferencias y significancia estadística entre los grupos en cuanto al factor comparativo de evolución basal y post-traumática (p<0.0001) y entre cada grupo de tratamiento (p<0.0001).Según los resultados de histopatología podemos aseverar que los grupos intervenidos tuvieron hallazgos histológicos acordes a la regeneración nerviosa esperada, reportándose resultados igualmente óptimos tanto para el grupo B como C, por lo que se puede inferir que tanto el DMSO como el esteroide tuvieron efectos similares a nivel anatómico. El grupo D presentó resultados mixtos, variando desde el espectro de retracción de perineuro similar al grupo control (2/7 muestras) hasta encontrar muestras histológicamente normales (2/7 muestras)Tesis para optar al Título de Doctor en Medicin

A systematic review about the characteristics and patterns of use of outdoor gyms

The outdoor gyms have risen exponentially during the last years as a way of revitalizing public areas to enhance the practice of physical activity by insufficiently active older people. However, little is known about their use patterns that might help to maximize its benefits. To know the outdoor gyms profile, an exhaustive scientific literature review was made on research databases (WOS, Scopus, SportDiscus, CINAHL, Cochrane Library Plus, PubMed, Proquest Dissertations and Theses, and Google Scholar). Only 24 studies met the selection criteria of the 17,035 gathered. In general, outdoor gyms were used 3-5 days per week. They are 10-20 min away from users’ home and distance was between 500 and 2007 m. Most activities on outdoor gyms were a supplement of other main PA. More rigorous study designs (intervention programs) are needed. It is necessary to operate in a community setting with local government. Current studies have indicated the existence of potential safety risks due to inappropriate usage behaviours. The most demanded improvements were more instructors, benches, variety devices, small roofs over the equipment, toilets, maintenance, lighting the area, security city guards, better promotion and placing information signs. The average number of devices per outdoor gym was 4,6. The dimensions were between 100-200 m2.This work was supported by the European Union and conducted within the framework of the Erasmus+ project Communities of Practice for a Healthy Lifestyle [grant number 587982-EPP-1-2017-1-NL-EPPKA2-KA]

Gamification in Physical Education: effect of M-Learning methodology in the assimilation of academic knowledge

Introducción: La inclusión de nuevas tecnologías en la metodología docente ha sido reconocida como fuente de motivación para el alumnado y profesorado. No obstante, el impacto del uso de la metodología Mobile Learning (M-Learning) sobre la asimilación y evaluación de los contenidos académicos ha sido poco estudiado. El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar el efecto de la implementación de una metodología gamificadora en la asimilación y evaluación de contenidos académicos en asignaturas afines al área de Educación Física. Material y método: Participaron un total de 232 alumnos y alumnas, matriculados en seis grupos en los grados de Educación Primaria y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte. Fueron evaluados en tres cortes, al inicio de la asignatura como evaluación inicial, una segunda como evaluación formativa y al final del semestre como evaluación sumativa. Para la evaluación se utilizó un test de respuesta múltiple de 10 preguntas programado en Socrative y/o Kahoot. El alumnado respondió individualmente a través de sus dispositivos móviles. Para analizar la valoración por parte del alumnado, así como la sugerencia de posibles mejoras, se utilizó una encuesta de satisfacción elaborada por el profesorado. Resultados: Los resultados arrojan que la metodología M-Learning es altamente valorada por el alumnado (85,4%), que la percibe como una herramienta para mejorar el aprendizaje (75,1%) e incrementar su motivación en el aula (82,8%), aunque no su rendimiento académico (49,4%). La repetición y frecuencia de utilización de la aplicación aumentó la asimilación de contenidos en las evaluaciones periódicas (evaluación inicial-final: 5,6 vs 7,6 puntos). Conclusión: Estos datos sugieren la utilidad académica de la metodología M-Learning como favorecedora de la asimilación de contenidos, siendo una herramienta útil para la mejora del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Se requieren estudios de corte longitudinal en los que se evalúe esta metodología.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The impact of the M-learning methodology on university students

Our goal in this paper is to analyse the impact of the implementation of M-Learning methodology on the motivation and assimilation of academic contents. A total of 283 university students participated in our study. They were assessed on two different occasions. For the assessment, a 10-question multiple-answer test set up in the Socrative mobile applications was used. To take into consideration the students’ opinion on the experiment a satisfaction survey was used. The results from the global satisfaction survey show that the M-Learning methodology is perceived as a motivating tool (74.6%) which generates a more pleasant environment in the classroom (71%), increases student satisfaction attending classes (80.5%) and helps students acquire learning contents better (72.5%). The repetition and frequency of use of the application increased the final score in all groups (initial-final assessment: 5.9 vs 7.4 points). Data obtained suggest that the M-Learning methodology as a facilitator of content assimilation is useful in the academic environment and is a useful tool for improving the teaching-learning process tooPeer Reviewe

Stability and Thermal Properties Study of Metal Chalcogenide-Based Nanofluids for Concentrating Solar Power

Nanofluids are colloidal suspensions of nanomaterials in a fluid which exhibit enhanced thermophysical properties compared to conventional fluids. The addition of nanomaterials to a fluid can increase the thermal conductivity, isobaric-specific heat, diffusivity, and the convective heat transfer coefficient of the original fluid. For this reason, nanofluids have been studied over the last decades in many fields such as biomedicine, industrial cooling, nuclear reactors, and also in solar thermal applications. In this paper, we report the preparation and characterization of nanofluids based on one-dimensional MoS2 and WS2 nanosheets to improve the thermal properties of the heat transfer fluid currently used in concentrating solar plants (CSP). A comparative study of both types of nanofluids was performed for explaining the influence of nanostructure morphologies on nanofluid stability and thermal properties. The nanofluids prepared in this work present a high stability over time and thermal conductivity enhancements of up to 46% for MoS2-based nanofluid and up to 35% for WS2-based nanofluid. These results led to an increase in the efficiency of the solar collectors of 21.3% and 16.8% when the nanofluids based on MoS2 nanowires or WS2 nanosheets were used instead of the typical thermal oil

Review and comparison of effective delayed neutron fraction calculation methods with Monte Carlo codes

The calculation of the effective delayed neutron fraction, beff , with Monte Carlo codes is a complex task due to the requirement of properly considering the adjoint weighting of delayed neutrons. Nevertheless, several techniques have been proposed to circumvent this difficulty and obtain accurate Monte Carlo results for beff without the need of explicitly determining the adjoint flux. In this paper, we make a review of some of these techniques; namely we have analyzed two variants of what we call the k-eigenvalue technique and other techniques based on different interpretations of the physical meaning of the adjoint weighting. To test the validity of all these techniques we have implemented them with the MCNPX code and we have benchmarked them against a range of critical and subcritical systems for which either experimental or deterministic values of beff are available. Furthermore, several nuclear data libraries have been used in order to assess the impact of the uncertainty in nuclear data in the calculated value of beff

Cancer-Stem-Cell Phenotype-Guided Discovery of a Microbiota-Inspired Synthetic Compound Targeting NPM1 for Leukemia

The human microbiota plays an important role in human health and disease, through the secretion of metabolites that regulate key biological functions. We propose that microbiota metabolites represent an unexplored chemical space of small drug-like molecules in the search of new hits for drug discovery. Here, we describe the generation of a set of complex chemotypes inspired on selected microbiota metabolites, which have been synthesized using asymmetric organocatalytic reactions. Following a primary screening in CSC models, we identified the novel compound UCM-13369 (4b) whose cytotoxicity was mediated by NPM1. This protein is one of the most frequent mutations of AML, and NPM1-mutated AML is recognized by the WHO as a distinct hematopoietic malignancy. UCM-13369 inhibits NPM1 expression, downregulates the pathway associated with mutant NPM1 C+, and specifically recognizes the C-end DNA-binding domain of NPM1 C+, avoiding the nucleus-cytoplasm translocation involved in the AML tumorological process. The new NPM1 inhibitor triggers apoptosis in AML cell lines and primary cells from AML patients and reduces tumor infiltration in a mouse model of AML with NPM1 C+ mutation. The disclosed phenotype-guided discovery of UCM-13369, a novel small molecule inspired on microbiota metabolites, confirms that CSC death induced by NPM1 inhibition represents a promising therapeutic opportunity for NPM1-mutated AML, a high-mortality disease.This work was supported by grants PID2022-138797OB-I00, PGC2018-096049-B-I00 and PID2021-126663NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”; grant PID2019-106279RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; grant PDC2022-133488-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”; grants PI21/00191 and CP19/00140 funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III; CNIO agreements 2017-2020, 2020-2023 funded by Foundation CRIS contra el Cancer; grants BIO-198 and P18-FR-3487 funded by Junta de Andalucía; VI PPIT program funded by Universidad de Sevilla; and by Ramón Areces Foundation. The authors acknowledge technological support from NMR, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis CAIs (Complutense University of Madrid), Biointeractomicts Platform (cicCartuja, Seville), and the Services at CITIUS (University of Seville). S.A., A.S.-M., I.A.-A. and R.L.G.-A. are grateful to Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Complutense University of Madrid for predoctoral fellowships; M.V.-E. to European Union’s Horizon 2020 for Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant; and P.A.-G. to Fundación Española de Hematología y Hemoterapia for grant. The authors thank Dr. Adrián Velázquez-Campoy at the University of Saragossa for helping in fitting ITC analysis and Prof. Miguel A. De la Rosa at the University of Seville for critical reading of the manuscript.Peer reviewe

Aprendizaje-Servicio en el entorno rural de León

[ES] A través del grupo de Innovación Docente BIOMETAC, nace esta experiencia de ApS para promover en los estudiantes de los grados en Biología, Biotecnología y Ciencias Ambientales de la ULE, la iniciativa cívica de participación en la sociedad. El objetivo general del proyecto es que el alumnado aplique sus conocimientos y habilidades para sensibilizar y dinamizar a la población de varios municipios rurales de León frente a retos de la Agenda 2030 asociados a la salud y la sostenibilidad ambiental. Se establecieron 3 grupos de trabajo, cada uno integrado por 12 estudiantes de los tres grados, que trabajan en 3 municipios rurales de la provincia de León: Cistierna, Truchas y Villablino, con diversas problemáticas en el ámbito de la salud y medioambiente. El Proyecto se realiza en tres fases: Preparación, Ejecución y Evaluación y Difusión. Durante la primera fase (curso 2021/22), se realizaron reuniones con el alumnado para guiarlos en el diagnóstico de cada municipio. Los datos obtenidos permitieron detectar los problemas que más preocupaban a la población de cada municipio. En una segunda fase (curso 2022/23), los alumnos profundizarán en las distintas problemáticas mediante actuaciones propuestas por ellos mismos y presentarán sus conclusiones en cada municipio. Esta experiencia pretende que los estudiantes pongan los conocimientos y las competencias adquiridas al servicio de comunidades rurales, trabajando directamente sobre varios Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), mejorando su capacidad de iniciativa, autonomía en la organización del trabajo, y responsabilidad para la resolución de problemas

Effectiveness of Fosfomycin for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infections

IMPORTANCE The consumption of broad-spectrum drugs has increased as a consequence of the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli. Finding alternatives for these infections is critical, for which some neglected drugs may be an option. OBJECTIVE To determine whether fosfomycin is noninferior to ceftriaxone or meropenem in the targeted treatment of bacteremic urinary tract infections (bUTIs) due to MDR E coli. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This multicenter, randomized, pragmatic, open clinical trial was conducted at 22 Spanish hospitals from June 2014 to December 2018. Eligible participants were adult patients with bacteremic urinary tract infections due to MDR E coli; 161 of 1578 screened patients were randomized and followed up for 60 days. Data were analyzed in May 2021. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized 1 to 1 to receive intravenous fosfomycin disodium at 4 g every 6 hours (70 participants) or a comparator (ceftriaxone or meropenem if resistant; 73 participants) with the option to switch to oral fosfomycin trometamol for the fosfomycin group or an active oral drug or pa renteral ertapenem for the comparator group after 4 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was clinical and microbiological cure (CMC) 5 to 7 days after finalization of treatment; a noninferiority margin of 7% was considered. RESULTS Among 143 patients in the modified intention-to-treat population (median [IQR] age, 72 [62-81] years; 73 [51.0%] women), 48 of 70 patients (68.6%) treated with fosfomycin and 57 of 73 patients (78.1%) treated with comparators reached CMC (risk difference, -9.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI, -21.5 to infinity percentage points; P = .10). While clinical or microbiological failure occurred among 10 patients (14.3%) treated with fosfomycin and 14 patients (19.7%) treated with comparators (risk difference, -5.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI. -infinity to 4.9; percentage points; P = .19), an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations occurred with fosfomycin vs comparators (6 discontinuations [8.5%] vs 0 discontinuations; P = .006). In an exploratory analysis among a subset of 38 patients who underwent rectal colonization studies, patients treated with fosfomycin acquired a new ceftriaxone-resistant or meropenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria at a decreased rate compared with patients treated with comparators (0 of 21 patients vs 4 of 17 patients [23.5%]; 1-sided P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study found that fosfomycin did not demonstrate noninferiority to comparators as targeted treatment of bUTI from MDR E coli; this was due to an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations. This finding suggests that fosfomycin may be considered for selected patients with these infections