Structural instability of vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates

In this paper we study a gaseous Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) and show that: (i) A minimum value of the interaction is needed for the existence of stable persistent currents. (ii) Vorticity is not a fundamental invariant of the system, as there exists a conservative mechanism which can destroy a vortex and change its sign. (iii) This mechanism is suppressed by strong interactions.Comment: 4 pages with 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Educommunication and archaeological heritage in Italy and Spain: an analysis of institutions’ use of Twitter, sustainability, and citizen participation

Improving heritage educommunication on the web 2.0 is key to reaching certain sustainable development goals focused on educational quality and citizen participation. Although numerous partial studies have already been conducted, to date neither assessment tools nor detailed studies are available regarding the quality of educommunicative initiatives. Spain and Italy’s archaeological heritage museums have a consolidated track record on Twitter, which has been bolstered by museum closures due to COVID-19 and has resulted in a significant change to their educommunicative policies. The present article aims to analyze educommunicative actions undertaken on Twitter at Italian archaeological museums, compare their strategies with a previous study on Spanish institutions, and analyze to what degree the sustainability of heritage, citizen participation, learning opportunities, and universal access are being promoted. This mixed method analysis was carried out through the implementation of a web 2.0 heritage educommunication analysis tool focused on three key factors: educational procedure, R-elational interactions, and the prevailing learning paradigm, as well as a content analysis of the variables that comprise them. The key findings suggest that neither country is close to achieving a quality educommunicative strategy. Italian archaeological heritage institutions use Twitter simply as an advertising platform. Despite being a social media platform, participative initiatives are scarcely promoted, although heritage sustainability is promoted through raising awareness of conservation and appreciation. Spanish institutions, however, demonstrated the opposite pattern of use

La Promoción de los estudios de Informática mediante la olimpiada de informática

Durante los últimos años las carreras de Informática han sufrido un descenso generalizado en el número de alumnos. Esto ha provocado que muchas universidades hayan aumentado sus esfuerzos para acercar a los alumnos de secundaria a sus estudios y publicitarlos entre los posibles interesados. En esta ponencia se describe la Olimpiada de Informática que desde hace cuatro años venimos organizando en la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha para la promoción de nuestras titulaciones entre los alumnos de secundaria de nuestra región. El interés en esta competición ha ido creciendo año a año y hoy en día se encuentra plenamente consolidada.Peer Reviewe

Caracterización productiva de las estirpes de cerdo ibérico reconocidas dentro del libro genealógico de la raza y del catálogo oficial de razas de ganado de España

Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (España

Life cycle assessment of cost-optimized buttress earth-retaining walls: A parametric study

In this paper life cycle assessments are carried out on 30 optimized earth-retaining walls of various heights (4e13 m) and involving different permissible soil stresses (0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 MPa) in Spain. Firstly, the environmental impacts considered in the assessment method developed by the Leiden University (CML 2001) are analyzed for each case, demonstrating the influence of the wall height and permissible soil stress. Secondly, this paper evaluates the contribution range of each element to each impact. The elements considered are: concrete, landfill, machinery, formwork, steel, and transport. Moreover, the influence of the wall height on the contribution of each element over the total impact is studied. This paper then provides the impact factors per unit of concrete, steel, and formwork. These values enable designers to quickly evaluate impacts from available measurements. Finally, the influence of steel recycling on the environmental impacts is highlighted. Findings indicate that concrete is the biggest contributor to all impact categories, especially the global warming potential. However, the steel doubles its contribution when the wall heights increase from 4 m to 13 m. Results show that recycling rates affect impacts differently.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, along with the FEDER funding (BRIDLIFE Project: BIA2014-56574-R) and from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology under grant agreement no 20140262 Low Carbon Strategy in the Construction Industry (PGA_APED0094_2014-2.1-278_P066-10). Additionally, authors acknowledge the contributions of Nadia Ata and Vicent Penades in the overall review process.Zastrow, P.; Molina Moreno, F.; García-Segura, T.; Martí Albiñana, JV.; Yepes, V. (2017). Life cycle assessment of cost-optimized buttress earth-retaining walls: A parametric study. Journal of Cleaner Production. 140(3):1037-1048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.10.085S10371048140

Selective rearrangement of Nd3+ centers in LiNbO3 under ferroelectric domain inversion by electron beam writing

The following article appeared in Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics 78.1 (2008): 014114 and may be found at https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.014114Different values of the electronic charge provided by a direct electron beam writing system have been used to produce polarization inverted domain regions in the micrometer range on Nd3+ optically activated LiNbO3. The effect of the electronic charge on the Nd3+ center structure has been studied by means of low-temperature luminescence from Nd3+ ions. The axial crystal field acting on the Nd3+ centers has been analyzed through the F4 3/2 energy-level splitting of the Nd3+ ions. From there we have determined the position of Nd3+ ions into the Li+ octahedra for the different unequivalent centers in domains reversed with different electronic doses. The results show that the axial crystal field acting on the unequivalent Nd3+ centers can be selectively modified by means of the different doses applied to produce the inversion of the polarization. Moreover, a control of the discrete shifts suffered by the Nd3+ ions into the Li+ octahedra after the inversion process can be carried out in the range 0-0.02Å by selecting the type of Nd center to be shifted by means of the different electronic charge. The behavior of each Nd3+ center after the polarization inversion under different doses can be discriminated and the different nature, as well as the polar character of the Nd3+ centers, is clearly manifeste

Globally-Linked Vortex Clusters in Trapped Wave Fields

We put forward the existence of a rich variety of fully stationary vortex structures, termed H-clusters, made of an increasing number of vortices nested in paraxial wave fields confined by trapping potentials. However, we show that the constituent vortices are globally linked, rather than products of independent vortices. Also, they always feature a monopolar global wave front and exist in nonlinear systems, such as Bose-Einstein condensates. Clusters with multipolar global wave fronts are non-stationary or at best flipping.Comment: 4 pages, 5 PostScript figure

Validation of a Spanish version of the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR)

8 p.[EN]The Revised version of the Fibromyalgia Background The Revised version of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) was published in 2009. The aim of this study was to prepare a Spanish version, and to assess its psychometric properties in a sample of patients with fibromyalgia. Methods The FIQR was translated into Spanish and administered, along with the FIQ, the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), to 113 Spanish fibromyalgia patients. The administration of the Spanish FIQR was repeated a week later. Results The Spanish FIQR had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α was 0.91 and 0.95 at visits 1 and 2 respectively). The test-retest reliability was good for the FIQR total score and its function and symptoms domains (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC > 0.70), but modest for the overall impact domain (ICC = 0.51). Statistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) were also found between the FIQR and the FIQ scores, as well as between the FIQR scores and the remaining scales’ scores. Conclusions The Spanish version of the FIQR has a good internal consistency and our findings support its validity for assessing fibromyalgia patients. It might be a valid instrument to apply in clinical and investigational grounds.[ES]Antecedentes El Cuestionario de Impacto de Fibromialgia (FIQ) ha sido utilizado como medida de valoración en numerosos estudios clínicos. En 2009 se publicó en inglés su versión revisada (FIQR). El presente estudio se llevó a cabo para traducir al español y validar dicha versión. Pacientes y Método La traducción fue realizada por dos de los autores. La versión traducida del FIQR se administró a 113 pacientes con fibromialgia junto con el FIQ, la Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión, el Cuestionario de Salud SF-36 y la versión abreviada del Cuestionario Breve de Dolor. Una semana después se administró de nuevo el FIQR. Su consistencia interna se evaluó mediante el coeficiente α de Cronbach. Se calcularon los coeficientes de correlación intraclase (ICC) entre las puntaciones de la nueva versión y la anterior, así como las subescalas del Cuestionario SF-36, de la Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión y del Inventario Breve de Dolor. La fiabilidad test-retest se evaluó igualmente mediante coeficientes de correlación intraclase. Resultados El coeficiente α de Cronbach de la versión en estudio fue elevado (0,91 en la primera visita y de 0,95 en la segunda). La fiabilidad test-retest fue buena para la puntuación total del FIQR y para las dimensiones de función y síntomas ( ICC ≥ 0,70) pero modesta para la dimensión de impacto global (ICC = 0,51). Asimismo se encontraron coeficientes de correlación elevados y estadísticamente significativos respecto a las restantes escalas aplicadas (p < 0,05). Conclusión La versión española del FIQR es un instrumento válido para su uso en la evaluación e investigación clínicas

Sofosbuvir improves HCV-induced insulin resistance by blocking IRS1 degradation

In the present study, we have demonstrated that sofos buvir (SOF) treatment improves systemic insulin resis tance in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-patients, and, for the first time, revealed which molecular mechanisms are involved in SOF effects on the impaired insulin response induced by HCV in hepatocytes

Directional dependence of the second harmonic response in two-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals

The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters 96.26 (2010): 261111 and may be found at https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3459975A two-dimensional periodic arrangement of alternating ferroelectric domains in LiNbO3, with asymmetric domain duty cycle has been used to demonstrate that counterpropagating beams along the polar axis can generate disparate second harmonic patterns, which are nonsymmetrical with respect to the source and the point of observation. These findings provide alternative routes to generate dissimilar light-matter interaction processes in two-dimensional structures assembled onto polar surfaces, including metals for plasmonics or biological compound