Charmed hadrons in nuclear medium

We study the properties of charmed hadrons in dense matter within a coupled-channel approach which accounts for Pauli blocking effects and meson self-energies in a self-consistent manner. We analyze the behaviour in this dense environment of dynamically-generated baryonic resonances as well as the open-charm meson spectral functions. We discuss the implications of the in-medium properties of open-charm mesons on the $D_{s0}(2317)$ and the predicted X(3700) scalar resonances.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, invited parallel talk in the 5th International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP09), Beijing, September 21-26, 200

Strange and charm mesons at FAIR

We study the properties of strange and charm mesons in hot and dense matter within a self-consistent coupled-channel approach for the experimental conditions of density and temperature expected for the CBM experiment at FAIR/GSI. The in-medium solution at finite temperature accounts for Pauli blocking effects, mean-field binding of all the baryons involved, and meson self-energies. We analyze the behaviour in this hot and dense environment of dynamically-generated baryonic resonances together with the evolution with density and temperature of the strange and open-charm meson spectral functions. We test the spectral functions for strange mesons using energy-weighted sum rules and finally discuss the implications of the properties of charm mesons on the D_{s0}(2317) and the predicted X(3700) scalar resonances.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, invited talk at XXXI Mazurian Lakes Conference on Physics: Nuclear Physics and the Road to FAIR, August 30-September 6, 2009, Piaski, Polan

Fried potatoes: Impact of prolonged frying in monounsaturated oils

Fresh potatoes were intermittently deep-fried up to recommended limits (175 °C, 8 h/day, 28 h) in extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), peanut oil (PO) and canola oil (CO), and compared for diverse chemical components and sensorial attributes, aiming to quantify the impact of prolonged frying on potatoes nutrients, and the potential alterations resulting from the use of different monounsaturated-rich oils. Independently of oil type, its degradation promotes time-dependent losses of important potato nutrients, as vitamin C. Regarding the monounsaturated-rich oils tested, potatoes fried in CO had more equilibrated fatty acid profiles, but higher amounts of aldehydes derived from PUFA oxidation, while in EVOO were enriched with phenolic compounds. Acrylamide amounts were not affected by oil type or frying hours. Sensory degradation was gradually perceived by the panellists, except in PO. Prolonged frying should not be studied only on the basis of oil degradation because, even if within regulated limits, it induces loss of important food compounds.The authors acknowledge the financial support from PRODER (Contract n° 53988), co-financed by FAEDER, and from project UID/QUI/50006/2013 – POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds, co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 and the PhD Grant—SFRH/BD/82285/2011 attributed to Carla S.P. Santos. Lucía Molina García also acknowledges the financial support from Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario (ceiA3) and University of Jaén, from Spain

Critical Strain Region Evaluation of Self-Assembled Semiconductor Quantum Dots

A novel peak finding method to map the strain from high resolution transmission electron micrographs, known as the Peak Pairs method, has been applied to In(Ga) As/AlGaAs quantum dot (QD) samples, which present stacking faults emerging from the QD edges. Moreover, strain distribution has been simulated by the finite element method applying the elastic theory on a 3D QD model. The agreement existing between determined and simulated strain values reveals that these techniques are consistent enough to qualitatively characterize the strain distribution of nanostructured materials. The correct application of both methods allows the localization of critical strain zones in semiconductor QDs, predicting the nucleation of defects, and being a very useful tool for the design of semiconductor device

Predictors of diabetes risk in urban and rural areas in Colombia

Background: Nutritional habits low in fruits and vegetables and sedentary lifestyle are associated with a higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). However, it is important to assess differences between urban and rural areas. This study aimed to analyze the associations between the risk of developing T2D and setting in the Colombian north coast in 2017. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1,005 subjects. Data was collected by interviewing self-identified members of an urban community and a rural-indigenous population. The interaction terms were evaluated as well as the confounders. Then, adjusted binary logistic regressions were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). Results: subjects with a high risk of T2D are more likely to belong to the urban setting (OR = 1.908; 95%CI = 1.201-2.01) compared with those with lower T2D after adjusting for age, Body Mass Index (BMI), physical activity, history of high levels of glycemia, and diabetes in relatives. Conclusions: Urban communities are more likely to have T2D compared with rural-indigenous populations. These populations have differences from the cultural context, including personal, and lifestyle factors.Peer reviewe

Metabolic Responses of Two Assisted CPR Devices Versus Manual CPR during 1-Person CPR

Prolonged, one-person CPR is exhausting and associated with decayed CPR quality over time. Active compression-decompression-CPR (ACD-CPR) requires the rescuer to actively work during both phases of CPR. We evaluated the metabolic cost of manual CPR (M-CPR), ACD-CPR1, and ACD-CPR2 (with adhesive pad) during a 10-min resuscitation period. We hypothesized that the metabolic cost for the devices would be similar to M-CPR. Twenty (10 female) participants (23.5±3.5y, 165.8±25.6cm, 72.5±12.2kg) completed 3 randomized trials with performance feedback by investigators. Expired air was analyzed for estimations of metabolic cost via indirect calorimetry. Participants rested for 10 minutes before the baseline data collection followed by 10 min of CPR to simulate one-person CPR. Treatment effects were observed for VO2, METS, VCO2, HR, RR, blood lactate, and RPE. No such effect was observed for RQ, SBP, or DBP. VO2 (ml/kgBW/min) was significantly higher with ACD-CPR1 (17.8±1.4) vs. MCPR and ACD-CPR2 (15.9±0.9 and 14.2±1.1, respectively). Metabolic equivalent (MET) was significantly lower with ACD-CPR2 (4.1±0.3) vs. MCPR and ACD-CPR1 (4.7±0.3 and 5.1±0.4, respectively). All three groups’ blood lactate data differed significantly with ACD-CPR1 \u3e M-CPR \u3e ACD-CPR2. The RR required by the ACD-CPR1 during a 10 min CPR simulation is significantly higher than the ACD-CPR2 and M-CPR. No group differences were observed for RQ, SBP, or DBP. CPR performance metrics were averaged over the 10-min resuscitation period. RPE was significantly higher following ACD-CPR1 compared to both M-CPR and ACD-CPR2. The metabolic work required by the ACD-CPR2 during 10-min simulated one-person resuscitation (80/min) is far less than the ACD-CPR1. However, the ACD-CPR2 metabolic cost is similar to that of M-CPR, despite the latter method’s higher rate of compressions (110/min) and passive decompressions

Comparative Fingerprint Changes of Toxic Volatiles in Low PUFA Vegetable Oils Under Deep-Frying

The volatile fraction of three vegetable oils recommended for deep-frying due to their high MUFA:PUFA ratios, namely extra-virgin olive oil, peanut oil and canola oil, was compared before and after frying potatoes, with a particular focus on toxic volatiles. For the purpose, a headspace solid-phase-micro extraction technique coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry was optimized, with semi-quantification achieved using two internal standards. Significant qualitative and quantitative differences were observed, both before and after frying. From a total of 51 compounds, aldehydes were the main group formed after deep-frying, their nature and abundance being highly associated with the initial fatty acid composition, particularly linoleic acid (r2 = −0.999, p ≤ 0.001). Globally, extra-virgin olive oil revealed fewer formations of unsaturated aldehydes, including toxic ones, and correlated with lower amounts of degradation indicators, as polar compounds (r2 = 0.998, p ≤ 0.001) and p-anisidine value (r2 = 0.991, p ≤ 0.001). Despite the similarities in total unsaturation degree between canola and peanut oils, the former presented lower amount of volatiles, including E,E-2,4-decadienal and acrolein, the more toxic ones. These results highlight for the pertinence of volatile analyses to evaluate and compare oil degradation under thermal and oxidative stress, while complementing other degradation indicators. Additionally, the optimized methodology allows a direct comparison of different oil matrices, supporting further developments into more general methods for volatiles quantification, enabling more efficient comparison of results between research teams.The authors acknowledge the financial support from PRODER (Contract No. 53989), co-financed by FAEDER, and from project UID/QUI/50006/2013-POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds, cofinanced by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 and the PhD Grant—SFRH/BD/82285/2011 attributed to CSPS. LMG also acknowledges the financial support from Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario (ceiA3) and University of Jaén, from Spain

Regulating Data Exchange in Service Oriented Applications

We define a type system for COWS, a formalism for specifying and combining services, while modelling their dynamic behaviour. Our types permit to express policies constraining data exchanges in terms of sets of service partner names attachable to each single datum. Service programmers explicitly write only the annotations necessary to specify the wanted policies for communicable data, while a type inference system (statically) derives the minimal additional annotations that ensure consistency of services initial configuration. Then, the language dynamic semantics only performs very simple checks to authorize or block communication. We prove that the type system and the operational semantics are sound. As a consequence, we have the following data protection property: services always comply with the policies regulating the exchange of data among interacting services. We illustrate our approach through a simplified but realistic scenario for a service-based electronic marketplace